The Life of Service

Yesterday I went for a hair cut and my friend, Richard, was talking about a university course he had started called "Exploring Faith". He was having a problem sorting out just what was meant by the "Biblical Canon". This is about how the two groups of books (66 in total) came to be accepted as The Old Testament and The New Testament. It is an interesting story and when you get right down into it you feel its challenge.

But our conversation moved on to other things and eventually we were talking about things we do for others. Richard annually organises a golf tournament to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support. It is always a great day, whether you play golf or not. We were looking at the reasons why he did this and whether it was wholly for the benefit of Macmillan patients. Richard wondered if he was also organising the day for his own benefit, and whether this watered down the quality of what was done for others.

I believe that very often we do things for others and get a partial thrill from doing it that boosts our egos. On Sunday I shall be leading worship at my church and preaching a sermon. Richard was asking about my motivation for this. On examination I am sure that I gave him an honest answer when I said it was to share something I had discovered with others. It also seems to happen that I get a thrill and not a little inspiration out of leading worship and sharing what I have discovered in my sermon preparation. I never know what the new discovery is going to be but it happens neverthless. But does this reduce the quality of the wish to do some good through the medium of preaching?

If you consider someone who is gifted with a wonderful singing voice like Andrea Bocelli, does he sing for the benefit of others or does he get pleasure from it too? The answer must be that he loves to sing and he gets pleasure too. There again, take the fact that I like helping other people. When I have helped another person I get a lot of personal satisfaction out of it. Does this diminish what I have done because I get a kick out of it? Take the life's work of Mother Theresa. This is always held up as an example of altruism. But did she get a kick out of what she did? The answer must be yes.

Take the question back to the work of Jesus. Do you think Jesus got a kick out of healing the sick, telling parables, preaching God's love and leading disciples. Of course he did. He talked of the joy in heaven over one penitent. Is this not God's kick out of helping people?

So we return to the question of whether we are truly altruistic in our Christian service. I leave the answer to you. But I can tell you that it all fits into a life-long belief I have had that says there is absolutely nothing wrong in enjoying being a Christian. Some preachers never include humour in their services and sermons, but I do where it is appropriate. Making people laugh or smile in church is often an excellent tool for effectively delivering the message. But it must not be for entertainment only.

Over a lifetime I have sat under a wide variety of preachers. Under some of them I have suffered and wondered why they ever took it up. Some have been simply inspirational. Most of them have just "done a good job". But in many cases the mediocre preachers have got to me and that is what counts. I remember one preacher who had a very humble and soft style to his preaching and you would not have given him top marks. But an old lady, for whom I had a great deal of respect said to him, "Mr Glenn, you irritate me." That was the best compliment he could have received from her. You see, we are there to irritate in addition to everything else. Jesus irritated the people who could not help but follow him to hear more wonderful, inspiring words. It is what he came to do.

That irritation is what starts seeds growing in the mind. It is the start of a great challenge to rethink the way you have been living. That irritation probably began as a few words from a local preacher who would get a thrill out of knowing what he/she had started in you. If that few words has begun something important it is good that the preacher (if he/she did) enjoyed leading worship that day.

I think it is a mark of the value of our words if our preaching bears fruit and we have the right to derive pleasure from this. Just on the matter of leading worship, it is a good think to enjoy doing it. If you are there to fly a kite or simply because you think it is a clever thing to do, my advice is to stop immediately and find another interest.

Finally, I can see nothing wrong is smiling to yourself when you know a sermon has gone well, or a prayer has been effectively delivered. I have no doubt that it is a sign that you are engaged in something for which you have a gift and that is important in life. It enhances life - yours and others. That is what God calls us to do. It glorifies his name, which is another of our Christian tasks.