Serve the Word!

This is our calling 
when we follow Jesus: 
we are “servants of the Word.” 
He is the Word! 
He speaks to us, 
through Scripture texts 
(the written Word) 
and also through his Spirit, 
our Counselor, our Guide.

He lives inside me,
makes my heart’s eyes
see the highlights
he has stroked across
those texts so relevant
to me, my life.
Do I take note?
Do I get up and follow through?

How do I feel the nudge,
or hear that still small voice
that is the GPS 
showing the path ahead;
note the amber alert  
when danger is near;
hold to the word of truth
that tells me to go,
to keep on running 
to spread the news?

My part is to be still,
to stay attached
and welcome his instructions
and then to carry through.

My inner ears will learn
to carefully discern
that precious voice
that worms its way
through all distractions
to direct my moves,
my steps, my words –
to guide my growth
in this profession,
this divine obsession:
that I might learn the ways
to be a servant of the Word!

Easter worship brought intense joy as we contemplated all that Messiah Jesus accomplished for us on the cross, and reveled in the truth that he is alive! Then his last words to his disciples hit me in a very personal way: “I am now the authority over the universe, the Savior of the world! Go and tell this news to everyone, your kind of people and those who are very unlike you, even far away! I have died and risen for you all, for them all, and I long to offer them the gift of life that never ends! Cling to this: I will walk with you and guide you the whole way. Just serve me, doing what I give you to do.” (my interpretation–see Mat 28:18-19).

His disciples wrote his words down so that they could be passed on. They also did as the Master had said, traveling to many places in the Roman Empire including Greece and Lebanon to tell people the Good News about Jesus. Thomas went to India, Matthew to Mediterranean regions and Ethiopia. All were martyred except John, who nevertheless was confined to the island of Patmos because of his faith.

This has always underlined for me the truth of the historical account of the resurrection. If it were not true that Jesus died and rose to life, and had then told his disciples to go spread the news, would these men have given up their lives rather than be killed or imprisoned? No! They had known Jesus intimately and experienced his living presence after his resurrection. It was worth losing their lives. It was also worth doing exactly what he had said to do. One of them stayed in Jerusalem to lead the church there and do what the Lord gave him to do. The rest scattered, wherever they were led to go.

They were serving the Word of God! As John, one of them, wrote in his introduction to his written account of Jesus’ life and ministry:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (Jn. 1:1-5 NIV)

And Luke, making sure that his friend, Theophilus, would know the whole truth about Jesus, started his  book by writing:

I have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, ² just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. (Lk. 1:1 NIV).

 The disciples themselves told the congregation in Jerusalem that this was their priority:

We ourselves will continue to devote ourselves to prayer and to the service of the word.”

If it had not been clear to them that the “word” was Jesus himself, this calling would not have meant so much. They had known him intimately, and they knew that God had communicated his good news of salvation through Jesus, through his teaching and his life. To serve the word was to serve him!  I would write it this way: to serve the Word was to serve Jesus! And that was what life was now about.

Is that our passion too? Do we do what he says to do, go where he wants us to go, live out his love? When he is the Master, that is our life work. We can trust his goodness and his plans, since he is God and God is completely good. And God is love! He has given himself for us. We need to give ourselves over to him in gratitude and joyful obedience!

So how can we know what he is telling us to do? First of all, let him renew us, change us. When our inner focus switches to him we will be able to discern how he is leading. Paul put it this way:

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is– his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Rom. 12:2 NIV)

The world is enticing, with all that it offers in the way of fun and riches and even power. But walking with Jesus requires turning our backs on those as goals. They are not what we are to spend our lives grasping for. Instead, when we are transformed we will learn to listen to our Master and recognize when he is the one speaking. He is the Word, the one trustworthy Word, and he does gift each of us with ways to spread his Good News. He will empower us to bless others, to serve them with the best of food: the bread of life and living water! Remember these words:

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. (Jn. 6:35 NIV)

Let’s keep on serving the Word who supplies us with all that we need to accomplish what he has planned for us! May we each learn the ways he has in mind for us to be a servant of the Word!