Ministering to the Lord

     Dr. Roxanne Brant has written a challenging little book called "Ministering to the Lord" in which she states, "One of the main reasons for "power failure" in the Christian Church
is that believers have neglected to minister to the Lord." By this she means that people and churches may have focused on doing the right things, but not dome them simply "out of love for the Lord." Or they have seen God primarily as One who supplies what then need, like a heavenly grocery store. How much this reminds me of the following story about Abraham Lincoln:
     A very  elderly lady made an appointment to see the President one afternoon. As she entered the office, he arose, seated her and asked, "How may I be of service to you, Madam?" The little lady said, "Mr. President, I know you are a busy man. I have not come to ask you for anything. I simply came to bring you this box of cookies because I heard that you enjoy them so much." A silence followed in which tears overflowed from Mr. Lincoln's eyes. Finally, he raised his head and spoke, "Madam, I thank you for your thoughtful gift. I am greatly moved by it. Since I have been President of this country, thousands of people have come into this office asking for favors and demanding things of me. You are the first person who has entered these premises asking no favor, and indeed, bringing a gift for me. I thank you from the bottom of my heart."
     In the same way, God longs for us to come to Him for Himself, not simply for what He can give us. He has formed us for Himself, and it is we who are to present ourselves to Him and offer Him our worship, as we minister to Him out of love.
     There are many ways to minister to the Lord. We learn how to do it by studying in the Scriptures how God's people ministered to Him. Among these are :
     1.   praise and worship - Praise is responding to God for what He has done (mighty works, etc.) while worship centers in who God is, in His person (How Great Thou Art, etc.) Many of us are limited by our vocabulary when it comes to expressing words of praise and worship! Nicky Gumbel, in one of the Alpha videos, makes this point when he says, "Try writing a thank-you letter. After you've described their kindness, your gratitude, and the gift, what else is there left to say?"  After you've thanked God for His wonderful, beautiful, precious, loving, and 10-other-adjectives gift of salvation, and you've told Him how you feel happy, grateful, amazed, thankful, and appreciative, that about does it!  And yet the Creator of the Universe is so much more! How do you worship Him adequately? This is one reason why music is such an important part of worship! The combined melody and words have the capacity to engage our entire being, intellect as well as emotion, as we use ears, eyes, voices, and hands to praise God. Music is a means of offering ourselves to the Lord wholly and  completely, whether we sing like angels or can't carry a tune in a bucket; even when our "perfect harmony" is totally wrecked by Zoom! In the words of Psalm 150, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!"
     2.    Holy Communion - The sacrament of the Eucharist was given by Jesus, as He sought for a way to make His presence felt even after death and resurrection. When we take the bread, and receive the wine (or juice) we re-enact the experience of the first disciples who spent not just "worship time" but daily life with the Master. We minister to the Lord when we share the meal with Him, acknowledging His gift and His presence.
     3.     service to those whom God loves - Jesus said, "When you have done it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you have done it to me." Christ made it clear that our faith in Him is authenticated by our ministry to the poor, the imprisoned, the blind, the lame, the naked;  in short, to those who are in need. This may mean physical need, or spiritual/emotional need, for many are "poor" because they don't have Jesus in their lives. They are imprisoned by doubts, fears, anger, etc., blind because they cannot see the truth of the Gospel, crippled by their failures, naked because they do not have the covering of the blood of Jesus. It is our responsibility and our joy, to minister to God by caring for others as if they were Jesus in human form.
     4.     presenting Him with our tithes and offerings - The Bible refers to sacrificial offerings as  "a sweet fragrance" to the Lord. We m minister to God when we honor Him with our financial and material giving. Jesus is not the Lord of your life if He is not the Lord of your money! Giving is to be sacrificial, as Abraham indicated when he went to offer up his son Isaac to the Lord, "I and the boy will go yonder and worship."  The wise men worshipped Jesus by presenting Him with gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
     5.     obedience -- God commanded King Saul to put the entire nation of the Amalekites to the sword, including all the animals, but Saul thought he had a better idea! He would save some to sacrifice to the Lord at Gilgal, Saul's favorite shrine. To him, the prophet Samuel said, "To obey is better than sacrifice!!"  We minister to the Lord when we obey Him, when we do not try to gain an advantage for ourselves, or figure out some other way.

To whom do you minister? Do you do what you do out of love for the Lord, or because you think you have something to gain? Only what is done for love is ministry, the rest is just good works!     See you in church!  Randa