A WORD TO CHURCH LEADERS
Ephesians 3:1-13 (v.7)
Dr. Wm. J. Maxwell
First Presbyterian Church, Newport, RI
January 6, 2008
It happens every year on the first Sunday in January – you can expect it! I’m not talking about Holy Communion – although I could, as we have Holy Communion on the first Sunday of every month. But what I’m talking about here is the ordination and installation of new church officers. It’s such a special time in the life of our church, as ordained ministry is critically important ... and I do mean critically important! While not to be seen exclusively, the health of a church is often contingent upon the spiritual health of its leadership.
So, this morning, I’d like to address those of you who are presently serving as deacons or elders and especially those of you who will be ordained and installed officially as church officers of FPC this morning. Although applicable to all, I want to address those of you who will serve our Lord and His church this year in ordained ministry here at FPC. As I give you this “charge” or “commission,” I want us to turn to the letter of Ephesians, as the apostle Paul describes for us his own ministry.
PAUL AND THE EPHESIAN CHRISTIANS.
Paul wrote this letter during his two-year period of incarceration under house arrest in Rome. He had visited Ephesus on his second missionary journey, bringing these Gentiles the Gospel of Christ with the result of the founding of a church in this very pagan area of the world. The church had come to mean so much to Paul and so, ten years later, he wrote this letter to be circulated among a number of churches in the area known today as western Turkey.
In our passage, Paul continues the theme of God’s gracious purpose in bringing Jew and Gentile together in Christ. Before he records a prayer that he prays for his Gentile-Christian readers, he explains to them the character of his own ministry in proclaiming the Gospel to all - to Jew and to Gentile - and then in seeing God’s grace at work.
That’s when a wonderful verse should catch our eye and our attention: “I became a servant of the gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of His power.” Paul clearly understood that he had been converted by God’s grace alone. Paul realized fully that his heart was not so inclined that he should lean naturally toward the Gospel. After all, he’d been a violent persecutor of the church and had blasphemed the name of Jesus before any and all!
He also clearly understood that his calling to serve was just as much a gift of God‘s grace. It was all a matter of God’s kindness that Paul should be called to faith and ministry and be entrusted with so important an office as that of bringing the Gospel to the Gentiles. In the realm of sheer grace and in the working of God’s great power, this very unlikely candidate for the faith or the ministry came to both! And it was in that same realm of sheer grace and the working of God’s great power that this man was given so much success and fruitfulness in ministry.
ELDERS and DEACONS,
MAY I SAY ON THIS SPECIAL DAY
THAT WE MUST SAY THE VERY SAME
AS THAT OF THE APOSTLE.
Ministry, be it as a minister of the Word and Sacrament, deacon or elder, must always be seen as a gift of God’s grace and is accomplished only by the working of the Holy Spirit. If you desire faithful service to Christ and His Church, then you must never see ministry in any other way than this. I respectfully charge you, then, to remember that you are a servant of the Gospel by God’s grace. As such, there’s no place to be given for pride. Just like Paul, we are saved by grace alone and we are called to some form of ministry by grace alone.
Paul’s admonition to yet another church, that of the Corinthians, is to be recalled by us here: “It is because of (God) that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God – that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written, ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.’” [i]
Robert Robinson became quite aware of this, although certainly not at first in his young life. He was born of poor parents in England and at the age of only eight, his father died. At a time when people didn’t live long lives, he was sent by his mother at age 14 to learn a trade in London. Unfortunately for him, he learned far more – he got mixed up with a notorious gang, and his life became a sordid and sorry one.
At the age of 17, he and his “friends” tried to make trouble. They decided to go to a meeting held by George Whitefield, a famous evangelist of the day, and scoff at and ridicule anyone who attended or who had an interest in such “delusion.” They did go to that meeting and they did just that. Only the strong, passionate preaching of George Whitefield was too much for Robinson – he came to trust in Christ himself! He would never be the same again.
In time, Robinson became a Methodist minister and then a Baptist pastor, writing many theological works and several hymns. One of these hymns bears the memorable lines: “Come, Thou Fount of ev’ry blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace; Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise.” and “O to grace how great a debtor Daily I’m constrained to be! Let Thy goodness like a fetter Bind my wandering heart to Thee.” [ii]
A follower and servant of Christ should sing the very same! “Streams of mercy” “call for songs of loudest praise,” and the closer our relationship becomes with Christ, the more we realize “how great a debtor” to God’s loving-kindness we are “daily … constrained to be!” No, there is no room for pride for the servant of Christ and of His Gospel.
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But, secondly, may I also respectfully charge you to remember to serve in dependence upon “the working of (God’s) power,” that is the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. There are certain skills, talents and experience that all add to the fruitfulness of any ministry. But, as evidenced in the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles, real fruitfulness, influence and impact in ministry occur only in humble reliance upon the Holy Spirit’s presence and power. We need to be filled with the Spirit, and we need to keep on being filled with the Spirit in order to serve Christ fully and faithfully.
In his book on the Holy Spirit, Dr. Billy Graham tells us of the lesson he learned out of his own personal experience. It was back in 1954 when he was sailing across the Atlantic for a three-month evangelistic crusade in England. Not surprisingly, Dr. Graham found himself in a period of spiritual warfare and oppression. Here, we need to remember that opposition in some form or another is always to be found when one is seeking to serve Christ faithfully. As for Dr. Graham, he tells us:
Satan seemed to have assembled a formidable array of his artillery against me. Not only was I oppressed, I was overtaken by a sense of depression, accompanied by a frightening feeling of inadequacy for the task that lay ahead. [iii]
As he continued across the Atlantic Ocean, so did this inner battle as he prayed, night and day, day and night. Finally, after much prayer with his wife and colleagues, relief came to him. Again, as he tells us,
As I wept before the Lord, I was filled with deep assurance that power belonged to God and He was faithful. I had been baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ when I was saved, but I believe God gave me a special anointing on the way to England. From that moment on I was confident that God the Holy Spirit was in control for the task of the 1954 Crusade in London. That proved true. [iv]
Dr. Graham reports in his book that similar experiences happened before and since this event. But all of them indicate the necessity of prayerful dependence upon the Holy Spirit, which should be to us of no surprise, for it is always “the working of His power” in us and through us that much is accomplished for the kingdom!
Paul summed it all up for us in saying of his ministry: “I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of His power.” May the same be also said of us, who seek to faithfully and fruitfully serve in Jesus’ name!