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The Privilege of Service
Larry Kirkpatrick
3 May 2002?
Introduction
Today we look at the privilege of service. Keep in mind that the phrase “service in the church” as used in this series refers to what the members of our church congregation do in harmony with God and each other to fulfill the goals of heaven for this local church. Our text is found at Ezekiel 44:16: “They shall enter into My sanctuary, and they shall come near to My table, to minister unto Me, and they shall keep My charge.” It speaks of the Levites who kept service in the Hebrew sanctuary.
Notice what occurs for these Levites: they enter into God's sanctuary; they come near to God's table to minister unto Him. Then those were the Levites. But there is another question. Who are the Levites today? And paragraphs from Great Controversy answer. Referring to the time of the great disappointment in 1844 we discover:
Christ had come, not to the earth, as they expected, but, as foreshadowed in the type, to the most holy place of the temple of God in heaven. He is represented by the prophet Daniel as coming at this time to the Ancient of Days: ‘I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came’—not to the earth, but—‘to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him.’ Daniel 7:13.
This coming is foretold also by the prophet Malachi: “The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.” Malachi 3:1. The coming of the Lord to His temple was sudden, unexpected, to His people. They were not looking for Him there. They expected Him to come to earth, “in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel.” 2 Thessalonians 1:8.
But the people were not yet ready to meet their Lord. There was still a work of preparation to be accomplished for them. Light was to be given, directing their minds to the temple of God in heaven; and as they should by faith follow their High Priest in His ministration there, new duties would be revealed. Another message of warning and instruction was to be given to the church.
Another message? Yes, more than the first angel, more than the second angel. The third angel:
Says the prophet: ‘Who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.’ Malachi 3:2, 3. Those who are living upon the earth when the intercession of Christ shall cease in the sanctuary above are to stand in the sight of a holy God without a mediator. Their robes must be spotless, their characters must be purified from sin by the blood of sprinkling. Through the grace of God and their own diligent effort they must be conquerors in the battle with evil. While the investigative judgment is going forward in heaven, while the sins of penitent believers are being removed from the sanctuary, there is to be a special work of purification, of putting away of sin, among God's people upon earth. This work is more clearly presented in the messages of Revelation 14.
When this work shall have been accomplished, the followers of Christ will be ready for His appearing. ‘Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years.’ Malachi 3:4. Then the church which our Lord at His coming is to receive to Himself will be a ‘glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.’ Ephesians 5:27. Then she will look ‘forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.’ Song of Solomon 6:10.
Besides the coming of the Lord to His temple, Malachi also foretells His second advent, His coming for the execution of the judgment, in these words: ‘And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not Me, saith the Lord of hosts.’ Malachi 3:5.
The coming of Christ as our high priest to the most holy place, for the cleansing of the sanctuary, brought to view in Daniel 8:14; the coming of the Son of man to the Ancient of Days, as presented in Daniel 7:13; and the coming of the Lord to His temple, foretold by Malachi, are descriptions of the same event.…
In the parable it was those that had oil in their vessels with their lamps that went in to the marriage. Those who, with a knowledge of the truth from the Scriptures, had also the Spirit and grace of God, and who, in the night of their bitter trial, had patiently waited, searching the Bible for clearer light—these saw the truth concerning the sanctuary in heaven and the Saviour's change in ministration, and by faith they followed Him in His work in the sanctuary above. And all who through the testimony of the Scriptures accept the same truths, following Christ by faith as He enters in before God to perform the last work of mediation, and at its close to receive His kingdom—all these are represented as going in to the marriage. (Great Controversy, pp. 424-427).
Who are the modern Levites? You and me. We are. And the plan of God is that we serve him. And as with the Levites, so with us. Theirs was the highest privilege in the kingdom. So is ours today. To serve God, to approach unto Jesus, in ministry to stand between the living and the dead. You are important to God.
Let Leaders Serve
Another passage from Scripture commends itself to us. Turn to Matthew 20:25-28).
Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:25-28).
Leaders are to be permitted the privilege of service. Blend this text with another: Hebrews 13:7: “Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.” Add to this Hebrews 13:17: “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.”
We are counseled to be diligent in following the counsels of our leaders, who are the head servants. But also to compare what they share with us with inspiration. We are called to submit ourselves even, because they must give an account for our souls.
Sometimes I wish others would try to see through the pastoral perspective. I wish they could look out onto the congregation and see all the souls. I wish they could sense the unimaginable responsibility we feel when we are trying to serve, to give the message from God, to deliver a people from themselves, to deliver our own soul. I wish we could think as a family and as a group, rather than as isolate individuals.
For many months I have had this text in my mind. “That they may do it [watch for your souls] with joy, and not with grief. For that is unprofitable for you.” God wants what is profitable for you.
But we must also realize that sometimes it is easier to be a martyr than not. Does that seem mistaken? Consider the plight of Paul:
For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith. (Philippians 1:24-25).
It would be easier for the aged warrior to lay down his weary frame and fold his hands in sleep until the resurrection morn. To finally attain his goal, to see Jesus again, that was “far better.” But to remain in harness, to keep on in the battle of faith and the founding of the new church was more needful for those precious young congregations. Paul chose the latter although the former was “far better.”
Sometimes it is easier to be the martyr, to throw oneself' into the fire and expire. But that is not always God's plan. Often it is to finish your work in one place and move on to another. Dealing with people is harder; it requires so much more sometimes. A machine is predictable, a machine is rational. It may be stupid but you can tell where it is going. It has a program. Enter the human mind and all the bets are off! Precious days and hours are spent in ministry only to be counted as nothing.
One thinks pastorally, another thinks in terms of extreme individualism. A captain of a ship trying to set sail would be dismayed if his officers were always drilling holes in the bottom of it. Maybe on a whim, maybe to see whether their drill-bits worked. Sometimes we become fanciful, whimsical, misguided. And a whole church pays a price.
Anarchy or Order
Our service sets others an example of anarchy or order. We either work with our brethren or apart from them. It is a high privilege to set others an example, but woe unto the one who sets others an example that will lead them to stumble. I have seen committees denying the very same motion that created them, fulfilling but a part of their mandate. I have seen even unions vote in ways that set their own constitution and bylaws out of harmony with their own constitution and bylaws, and never blink an eye. Ellen White said, “I question whether genuine rebellion is ever curable” (Selected Messages, vol. 2, p. 394).
And so do I.
Let us hope that none of us ever become genuine, that is, confirmed, rebels.
True teamwork is much less common than we might think. We are far more prone to "cowboys and Indians" than really working together.
Another way we manifest this anarchy mentality sometimes is because we are too afraid of hurting the feelings of others. Somehow, the prime directive of our era, the most important principle sometimes seems to be that we will twist away everything from any responsibility of confronting others. No such confrontation is allowed under any circumstances. So when a teacher has a student who writes something that is awful and sub-par work, and familiarity with the student makes clear that he isn't even trying, he still must receive a fantastic grade and a bright smiley-face on his paper. His need for "self-esteem" takes priority over the necessity that he learn.
We are irresponsible when we refuse the privilege of serving others by (and I mean doing this in a proper manner) confronting them. We make many excuses in order that we might serve ourselves rather than the Lord our God.
Words are fantastic implements. We are all, I hope, still learning more and yet more care in using them. Possibly, nothing is so central to the advance of our civilization and the advance of our knowledge of God than the thoughtful use of words. The gift this church received from Him through Ellen G. White of her writings is a case in point. What a privilege to serve was she granted in heaven's gift to her! She spoke with great tact and also great plainness. The need of the hour was met in the hour. She never rounded the corners.
But I think, were she to look upon us today, she would be largely unimpressed by the motivations to soften and de-tooth much of what we say. The saga of Willard the Pharisee will help us here.
Saga of Willard the Pharisee
Willard the Pharisee came to the Jordan to be baptized of John the Baptist. But, when he arrived he was greeted with John's very stern words, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matthew 3:7). Surprised, Willard turned on his heals and left. “Such harsh words,” he thought. Surely they had not been from God. Some months passed, and on another occasion Willard the Pharisee was standing in the background while Jesus himself spoke, saying that it was better that a millstone be hanged around one's neck than that one child is allowed to be injured. Willard's mind raced. “Surely this man cannot be from God. He speaks so pointedly.”
Eventually, Willard became an aged person and expired. When he arrived at the gate of heaven, St. Peter met him there. Ready to enter, he was stopped by Peter, who looked up his name in a logbook kept at the gate. “Ah, I see. The name is Willard, is it not?” “Yes, kind sir,” offered Willard. “I'm so glad to be here.” Peter responded, “Well, I see that that's temporary. It says here that you never accepted God's plan of salvation for you. It mentions certain excuses here.” “Oh yes,” replied Willard, “That's right. You see, When I went to be baptized, John the Baptist spoke so harshly that I knew what he said couldn't have been from God.” “But may I ask,” interjected Peter, “whether what he said of your life then was accurate? Were you repentant and ready for a real commitment to God then in your experience?” Willard answered, “No, probably not.” “And,” added Peter, “What about when you were there, right in the presence of the Master Himself?” Willard cast his eyes to his feet. “Actually, I did overhear Jesus. But he was, well, he was speaking so harshly. I was repelled.” “Well, that's too bad. John was God's man for that time and place, and Jesus was God Himself. You should have listened. OK. Take this one away into outer darkness.” “Please, no!” squealed Willard. And the rest is history.
Independence
I say again, it is a privilege to serve. We must sacrifice our propensity to act as independent atoms who care not what the rest of the church, either worldwide or local, think of what we do.
It is his [Satan's] studied effort to lead professed Christians just as far from heaven's arrangement as he can; therefore he deceives even the professed people of God and makes them believe that order and discipline are enemies to spirituality; that the only safety for them is to let each pursue his own course, and to remain especially distinct from bodies of Christians who are united and are laboring to establish discipline and harmony of action. All the efforts made to establish this are considered dangerous, a restriction of rightful liberty, and hence are feared as popery. These deceived souls consider it a virtue to boast of their freedom to think and act independently. They will not take any man's say so. They are amenable to no man. It was and now is Satan's special work to lead men to feel that it is God's order to strike out for themselves and choose their own order independent of their brethren. —Letter 32, 1892. (Evangelism, p. 318).
Some are quick today to condemn the “organized” Seventh-day Adventist church. They have a whole medicine cabinet full of excuses.
In contrast to those who refuse her, I say embrace her. Now in this troublous hour is when she most needs persons of strong conviction and determined purpose. She needs your steadfast help. You can make a difference right here. You can be a part of reformation and revival, of strengthening her fealty to truth.
Don't think I've never been tempted to throw the whole thing over the side. On a rather frequent basis I hear from people scattered through the world who tell me that the church has apostasized, that God can't use her anymore, that we should cease to return our tithe through her, that there is no hope for her. Some have freely criticized me for bringing people into her structure, to be, they say, corrupted by her.
Those making these claims have varied experiences with the church, sometimes next to none, for they were never able to work with their local church in any capacity without having mighty conflicts; others, even having served in varied capacities and at varied posts in the church still had that problem: inability to work with others.
It was my privilege to serve the church in a variety of offices before ever called to serve in the pastoral ministry. From the beginning things have never been just easy. There have been challenges and depressing experiences. And don't think there are any less when you are charged to lead a single church or a district of churches. It may be that as pastor one sees up close some of the most disappointing things.
But although faced with our own failures and the failures of our people, although seeing both in your local church and in the denominational administrative leadership sometimes the most surprising things, having viewed up close and personal deficiencies of sometimes tragic proportion in her, still I share today my conviction that God is not through with her. However much we see, heaven sees more; however much we sigh and cry for the things in her that shouldn't be, heaven sighs and cries more.
And still heaven is not through with her; still God is working behind the veil of our vision. If the push for Sunday observance moves forward in the obscurity of darkness, so seemingly also does the battle for Sabbath observance. We cannot see how God is perfecting His work of righteousness in every detail, but He is at work.
How many Adventists will there be who in the end, who after having trashed God's church will, as when Job sought to question God, find themselves exclaiming, “I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth Thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6).
To those out there leaving the SDA church organization I say, you are moving too fast, you are mistaken. Where is the patience of the saints—patience not to be indifferent to sin and departure from truth but patience to stand your ground, to remain within her and say, “My feet are nailed to the floor of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. I will stand right here in the church and I will stand for truth right here in the church, so help me God.”
There is nowhere else to go. Some speak of the bondage in the church, but look more closely. There is a bondage among those outside of her. There is a bondage of critical spirit, a bondage of painting very broadly many things with a very tiny monochrome brush dipped in black. There is a bondage that focuses on the issues to the exclusion of pastoral needs. Away with such a bondage I say. It is a privilege to serve God, and to do it in and through the formal denominational structure of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Sometimes the gripes people have about the church border on the comical. One is the idea that the non-profit corporation status that is foundationally a part of the church's structure somehow renders it offensive to God, or means that she is operating under a fictitious name. Some trace this back to the reorganization of the church around the turn of the century. But let me point something out. Did you know that the United States Supreme Court began non-profit status in the year of our Lord 1819? When James and Ellen White and others founded the initial organized structure of the our church it was non-profit status in harmony with the 1819 law. Thus, either the prophet goofed and the current complainers know more than she did, or the fanatics are wrong. God deliver us from fanaticism.
Conclusion
The privilege of service in the church is to be used of God in doing that which aids in building-up the body of Christ. It is always a privilege to serve. Sometimes it may not seem like it. It may be wearing. Disappointments may cause us almost to loose hope. Our hair may grey or fall out. Wrinkles may begin to line our faces, not always laugh-lines. We may shake our head in disbelief of this or that foolish choice someone, some church has made. But God isn't through with her yet. We must never let experience drain away our hope. The promise of God always remains. We need to trust in God more than we have. We need to be glad that He has chosen us for His modern-day Levites. And we need to be faithful and serve Him. If we will cling to the cross, we will see His deliverance. God calls us to serve faithfully. He calls us to stand in our lot, whatever that lot is. There is much to do. Never forget, never—forget, that it is a privilege to serve.
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