Taking Up Space
Never be lacking in zeal, keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Romans 12:11
No one keeps up his enthusiasm automatically. Enthusiasm must be nourished with new actions, new aspirations, new efforts, new vision. It is one's own fault if his enthusiasm is gone. He has failed to feed it.
--Anonymous
We all have zeal for certain things. They are not the things that require discipline to keep us involved. We are the first ones in line to participate. People who are zealous for their hobbies, pursuits or their causes have influence over those who may be totally uninformed of them.
Even after Constantine had made Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire, there came to the throne another Emperor called Julian, who wished to put the clock back and to bring back the old gods. His complaint, as Ibsen puts it, was:
"Have you looked at these Christians closely? Hollow-eyed, pale- cheeked, flat-breasted all; they brood their lives away, unspurred by ambition: the sun shines for them, but they do not see it: the earth offers them its fullness, but they desire it not; all their desire is to renounce and to suffer that they may come to die."
As Julian saw it, Christianity took the vividness out of life.
Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, "I might have entered the ministry if certain clergymen I knew had not looked and acted so much like undertakers." Robert Louis Stevenson once entered in his diary, as if he was recording an extraordinary phenomenon, "I have been to Church today, and am not depressed."
To speak of matters of faith without passion is to bore the listener. It is to convince him/her that there is no real reason that they should investigate further. There are things that people unconsciously substitute for passion in their faith. People who are upset at the sinfulness of society can rave about it’s decadence, thinking that this is zeal when it is merely anger. There are particular sins that people devote their lives to opposing. They are good causes and the world would be a better place if these “sins” were vanquished. But we need to remember that the absence of any particular vice in a person’s life does not indicate that he is redeemed – only that he is free in that area. We could eliminate a host of “sins” and be no more redeemed in their absence than we are in their presence.
Why is “service” so important to the presence of “zeal” and the preservation of “spiritual fervor”?
q Service to God is an emptying experience. I believe that what God gives us is meant to be spent in the interests of his kingdom. It is the process of spending it that brings spiritual fervor. There are no people in this church with the zeal for missions that those have who have been a part of spending themselves and emptying themselves in this cause. As they are spent then they are refilled. And the refilling is a spiritually invigorating process.
q We are repeatedly taken to the end of our own resources. We can never tap into God’s supply we exhaust our own. Many Christians profess a life of faith but live within their own means for a lifetime. No wonder they are bored. They never experience the miraculous because they never need it. You see the church is not a business, it is a living organism, it is the bride of Christ. It thrives on principles that make no sense from a human perspective.
A real Christian is an odd number, anyway. He feels supreme love for One who he has never seen; talks familiarly every day to Someone he cannot see; expects to go to heaven on the virtue of Another; empties himself in order to be full; admits he is wrong so he can be declared right; goes down in order to get up; is strongest when he is weakest; richest when he is poorest and happiest when he feels the worst. He dies so he can live; forsakes in order to have; gives away so he can keep; sees the invisible, hears the inaudible, and knows that which passeth knowledge.
-- A.W. Tozer
Christians are not differentiated from other people by country, language or customs; you see, they do not live in cities of their own, or speak some strange dialect, or have some peculiar lifestyle.
This teaching of theirs has not been contrived by the invention and speculation of inquisitive men; nor are they propagating mere human teaching as some people do. They live in both Greek and foreign cities, wherever chance has put them. They follow local customs in clothing, food and the other aspects of life. But at the same time, they demonstrate to us the wonderful and certainly unusual form of their own citizenship.
They live in their own native lands, but as aliens; as citizens, they share all things with others; but like aliens, suffer all things. Every foreign country is to them as their native country, and every native land as a foreign country.
They marry and have children just like every one else; but they do not kill unwanted babies. They offer a shared table, but not a shared bed. They are at present "in the flesh" but they do not live "according to the flesh". They are passing their days on earth, but are citizens of heaven. They obey the appointed laws, and go beyond the laws in their own lives.
They love every one, but are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death and gain life. They are poor and yet make many rich. They are short of everything and yet have plenty of all things. They are dishonored and yet gain glory through dishonor.
Their names are blackened and yet they are cleared. They are mocked and bless in return. They are treated outrageously and behave respectfully to others. When they do good, they are punished as evildoers; when punished, they rejoice as if being given new life. They are attacked by Jews as aliens, and are persecuted by Greeks; yet those who hate them cannot give any Reason for their hostility.
To put it simply -- the soul is to the body as Christians are to the world. The soul is spread through all parts of the body and Christians through all the cities of the world. The soul is in the body but is not of the body; Christians are in the world but not of the world.
-- From an anonymous letter to Diognetus, possibly dating from the second century.
q It is an endurance experience. I have enjoyed the whole experience of training for and running marathons. I have gained perspectives that no other experience has brought me. I know what I can take – more. I know that finishing is what counts – not the speed, not the cheers of the crowd – just knowing that I have the ability to rule my own life, my attitudes and responses to people, to be able to differentiate between activity that will sap my energy and passion for no apparent benefit. The whole preparatory experience in itself is educational.
q It represents an external focus. I am sure that the more focused we are on ourselves in this life the greater our lack of fulfillment, restlessness, boredom will be. To be distracted is all that we can do when we focus on ourselves. And it is expensive to live life trying to distract ourselves from the ache of an empty heart that is destined to be filled with God. You have to be independently wealthy to hope to be able to do this for a lifetime. We all know of too many people who leave their unspent fortunes in this life supremely unhappy because of the perpetual soul ache.
The “Third Soil Syndrome. Matthew 13:22
“The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.”
q The worries of this life. There are relatively few things that can rob us of precious energy and life giving vision like worries and most of us have them. Worry is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.
--Arthur Somers Roche
I was helping K.J., my man child complete some home work the other day. He was creating components for a “coat-of-arms” and there was a banner across the bottom of this blank drawing that was to be filled by a “motto”. I was laboring in my mind to explain to him what a motto was when he blurted out, “a kuna ma tata”. Elaine wasn’t immediately impressed by the thought but I thought it was perfect. Too profoundly simple for most people to grasp when they are in the middle of their distress. “It means don’t worry for the rest of your days. It’s a problem free philosophy, a kuna ma tata” Really nothing more than what Jesus advocated.
Now this may be too simple for you as well but if a person is to live well with passion and zeal for God then we need to learn this most basic of Christian principles. “Trust in the Lord, lean not unto your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.”
Trust is not denial any more than courage is the absence of fear. Trust is a decision to turn the circumstances of my life over to God because I cannot change them ever in any way by reviewing them over and over in my mind and draining myself emotionally in the process.
q The deceitfulness of wealth. The deceitfulness of wealth brings many untruths to us. It gives us the illusion of self-sufficiency. Trusting God is a deliberate choice based on our belief that God will take care of his own. Wealth makes us feel that we need nothing and therefore we are lulled and dulled into spiritual apathy. It tends to make us focus on leisure and our own self-serving agenda. We think that we have earned all by ourselves what it is that we have gained.
Deuteronomy 8:10 ¶ When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today. 19 If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. 20 Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God.
Wealth tends to make us label others as sluggards or lazy as though they too should make their own way and we lose compassion for people. What’s the bottom line of this deceit?
q Unfruitfulness. It makes us “unfruitful”. These plants grew, they stood, they were visible and perhaps even held the semblance of health but they were barren. There is the feeling among Christians that if they look right, if they restrain themselves from habits that are evil. If they come to church each Sunday and speak the lingo with ease then they will be all right. Think about this:
Ø Jesus cursed the barren fig tree
Mark 11:13 Seeing in the distance a fig-tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. * 14 Then he said to the tree, "May no-one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard him say it. 15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money-changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: "`My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it `a den of robbers'." 18 The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching. 19 When evening came, they went out of the city. 20 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig-tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig-tree you cursed has withered!" 22 "Have faith in God," Jesus answered. 23 "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, `Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." 26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your sins.
*The time of year was Passover (cf. 14:1), the middle of the month of Nisan (April). In Palestine fig trees produced crops of small edible buds in March followed by the appearance of large green leaves in early April. This early green “fruit” (buds) was common food for local peasants. (An absence of these buds despite the tree’s green foliage promising their presence indicated it would bear no fruit that year.) Eventually these buds dropped off when the normal crop of figs formed and ripened in late May and June, the fig season. Thus it was reasonable for Jesus shortly before Passover (mid-April) to expect to find something edible on that fig tree even though it was not the season for figs.[1]
I believe that as Christ looks at our life he interprets fruitfulness according to a natural process. It seems once again to be a seasonal thing. There will be times when we reap, other times when we sow and other times when we water, nurture and care for our spiritual health. Jesus cursed the fig-less fig tree because there at least was no evidence of the process.
I had an interesting conversation with a lady yesterday who asked me if I thought that perhaps we might never know if our lives have been fruitful or not until we get to heaven. That may be. We certainly will never know the extent of our fruitfulness until we get to heaven.
But we will have no doubt as to whether or not we have deliberately and intentionally invested our time, talent and treasure in order to bring a return for the kingdom.
Ø He is not content with our failure to produce fruit.
John 15:1 ¶ "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
In John 15:2, Jesus reveals two actions of the vinedresser; one, He does something with the branch that isn't bearing any fruit at all; two, He does something with the branch that isn't bearing enough fruit. In the first case, He "takes away"; in the second, He "prunes." Vines occasionally yield an unproductive, fruitless branch. When that happens, the gardener immediately goes to work, as Merrill Tenney notes in his commentary.
Viticulture... consists mainly of pruning. In pruning a vine, two principles are generally observed: first, all dead wood must be ruthlessly removed; and second, the live wood must be cut back drastically. Dead wood harbors insects and disease and may cause the vine to rot, to say nothing of being unproductive and unsightly. Live wood must be trimmed back in order to prevent such heavy growth that the life of the vine goes into the wood rather than into fruit. The vineyards in the early spring look like a collection of barren, bleeding stumps; but in the fall they are filled with luxuriant purple grapes. As the farmer wields the pruning knife on his vines, so God cuts dead wood out from among His saints, and often cuts back the living wood so far that His method seems cruel. Nevertheless, from those who have suffered the most there often comes the greatest fruitfulness.
-- Merrill C. Tenney, John: The Gospel of Belief (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1948), pp.227-28
Ø We will one day be judged by what we have done.
1 Corinthinas 3:10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11 ¶ For no-one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.
Remember as well the parable of the talents. The man who returned to his master what had been given to him was judged by what he should have done.
Matthew 25:24 "Then the man who had received the one talent came. `Master,' he said, `I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' 26 "His master replied, `You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 28 "`Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29 For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'
How can I rediscover spiritual passion through service?
q Awareness of need - To see need is a call to action.
James 2:14 ¶ What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
When we see it we are to respond to it. I believe that there are many Christian folks who see need and wonder who God will call to meet the need. We have need in our midweek children’s programming this year. Parents who worked with their own children are moving on to other ministries as their children move on as well.
q Exercising spiritual gifts for the building of the body. It is often those in a given church who are not “exercising” their own spiritual gifts who are the most critical – like the fans in the stands who have the detached luxury of observing the mistakes of others but are never gripped with the reality of the struggle. On the days when I fail to exercise, I am dull. My mind is clouded, my responses are slow and it is because there is something missing that takes away from my personal balance
q Commission by the local church.
Acts 13:1 ¶ In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2 While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
Acts 15:22 ¶ Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, two men who were leaders among the brothers. 23 With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings. 24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorisation and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul-- 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing.
I believe that there are times when others see gifts within our lives that we cannot identify ourselves and we need to listen to them and accept their commission. There are times when we are asked to serve within the context of the local church and that call is somehow ordained and directed by God.
q Doing what comes naturally. There are times when we look around to try to determine where we might serve and what God would like is for you to give your hobby or interest to him and to offer it as a gathering point for others. That’s really all that we need many times today – the opportunity to gather with others over a common interest and somehow God works through that to build each other and in turn his church.
q Special direction in response to specific inquiry. Of course God calls or directs us in response to our prayers as well. If we prayerfully ask God what it is that He would like us to do then He will direct us in one way or another. Perhaps He will plainly tell us that He wants us to do this or that. Perhaps someone will approach us to seek our involvement. Perhaps we will be burdened for some particular ministry area. Rather than being critical of the absence of ministry in this area, accept this as God’s direction for you.
There are areas in our lives where in our effort to be right we may go wrong, so wrong as to lead to spiritual deformity. To be specific let me name a few:
1. When in our determination to be bold we become brazen.
2. When in our desire to be frank we become rude.
3. When in our effort to be watchful we become suspicious.
4. When we seek to be serious and become somber.
5. When we mean to be conscientious and become overscrupulous.
n A. W. Tozer from That Incredible Christian. Christianity Today, Vol. 29, no. 17.
----
[1]Walvoord, John F., and Zuck, Roy B., The Bible Knowledge Commentary, (Wheaton, Illinois: Scripture Press Publications, Inc.) 1983, 1985.