PATIENCE & SERVING: PATIENCE WHEN ON CALL
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. Patience And Serving
a) Ever get the feeling that you're always doing for others and don't get time to do what you want to do? Perhaps you are doing stuff for some people that they ought to be doing for themselves. But more likely you are simply being a servant to people who need your help.
b) The scriptures say, "Through love serve one another" (Galatians 5:13). The Lord Jesus was a servant (Philippians 2:7). He showed his willingness to serve when, at the last supper, he took off his clothes, wrapped a towel about his loins, and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that girded him. This “lesson of the towel” encourages us all to be humble, willing, and blessed servants in his name (John 13:1-17).
c) Sounds good, doesn't it? Yes but it's easier said than done. There are at least three things that a servant needs. The first is humility. The second is unselfishness. The third, of course, is patience. That's the one we are mainly concerned with.
2. Patience When On Call
a) Jesus, teaching about faithful service to God, illustrates with a parable about a slave. "Which of you having a slave ploughing, or tending sheep, will say to him when he comes from the field, 'Come right now and recline to eat'? No, won't he say to him, 'Prepare me something to eat, dress yourself, and serve me until I have had enough to eat and drink. After that, you can eat and drink'? He doesn't thank the slave because he did these things commanded of him, does he? So you too, when you have done everything commanded of you, say, 'We are unworthy servants and have only done our duty'" (Luke 17:7-10).
b) Think about that slave. He comes in from a hard day's work in the fields. Now he has to set about cooking a meal. After that he has to quickly dress himself properly. Then he has to serve at the master's table. Finally, toward the evening's end, he can get himself something to eat — if he's still got any energy! That's a pretty hard ask. That servant would have to be a Jack of all trades. He would have to bear with not having time to himself. Above all else, he would need to be a very patient man.
c) There are no longer any slaves nowadays. Yet you might feel more like a slave than free. People frequently call upon you to do something for them — as if you haven't got things to do yourself. You may be an obliging person, ever ready to drop what you are doing in order to help someone else. Unfortunately that exposes you to being exploited.
d) On the other hand, there are folk who struggle and are overwhelmed. They genuinely need people to serve them. It is unlikely we will be called to such service at a convenient time, when we have nothing else to do. So we need to be patient in serving one another. Remember, the Lord says, "Serve one another by love" (Galatians 5:13). He also says, "Love is patient, love is kind..." (1 Corinthians 13:4). So when we are genuinely called to serve, we serve with patience.
The End ...
1. Patience And Servinga) Ever get the feeling that you're always doing for others and don't get time to do what you want to do? Perhaps you are doing stuff for some people that they ought to be doing for themselves. But more likely you are simply being a servant to people who need your help.
b) The scriptures say, "Through love serve one another" (Galatians 5:13). The Lord Jesus was a servant (Philippians 2:7). He showed his willingness to serve when, at the last supper, he took off his clothes, wrapped a towel about his loins, and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that girded him. This “lesson of the towel” encourages us all to be humble, willing, and blessed servants in his name (John 13:1-17).
c) Sounds good, doesn't it? Yes but it's easier said than done. There are at least three things that a servant needs. The first is humility. The second is unselfishness. The third, of course, is patience. That's the one we are mainly concerned with.
2. Patience When On Call
a) Jesus, teaching about faithful service to God, illustrates with a parable about a slave. "Which of you having a slave ploughing, or tending sheep, will say to him when he comes from the field, 'Come right now and recline to eat'? No, won't he say to him, 'Prepare me something to eat, dress yourself, and serve me until I have had enough to eat and drink. After that, you can eat and drink'? He doesn't thank the slave because he did these things commanded of him, does he? So you too, when you have done everything commanded of you, say, 'We are unworthy servants and have only done our duty'" (Luke 17:7-10).
b) Think about that slave. He comes in from a hard day's work in the fields. Now he has to set about cooking a meal. After that he has to quickly dress himself properly. Then he has to serve at the master's table. Finally, toward the evening's end, he can get himself something to eat — if he's still got any energy! That's a pretty hard ask. That servant would have to be a Jack of all trades. He would have to bear with not having time to himself. Above all else, he would need to be a very patient man.
c) There are no longer any slaves nowadays. Yet you might feel more like a slave than free. People frequently call upon you to do something for them — as if you haven't got things to do yourself. You may be an obliging person, ever ready to drop what you are doing in order to help someone else. Unfortunately that exposes you to being exploited.
d) On the other hand, there are folk who struggle and are overwhelmed. They genuinely need people to serve them. It is unlikely we will be called to such service at a convenient time, when we have nothing else to do. So we need to be patient in serving one another. Remember, the Lord says, "Serve one another by love" (Galatians 5:13). He also says, "Love is patient, love is kind..." (1 Corinthians 13:4). So when we are genuinely called to serve, we serve with patience.
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