Afterwords -- week 23
"For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (Revelation 7:17 ESV)
May 28, 2022
Dear friends,
"What use am I?" I have heard this from older saints who are homebound, impaired, or in a nursing home. They often think, "Why has God left me here? How am I being useful to anybody?" As we age, it's only natural that we see our abilities, energy, mind, and mobility diminish. It may take every effort just to stay awake for the online church service! Our circle of direct influence becomes smaller. It's easy to feel that we are being useless to God's work on earth, especially when we can't "do" anything. Why does God leave people in the paddock while others are out working in the field of ministry?
Though I'm not homebound or immobile (I won't discuss my own mental ability at this point!), I can sympathize with these feelings. Retirement does remove you from some of the more active circles of ministry and influence. You are less visible. You are not in the loop anymore. There are both advantages and disadvantages to that situation. But here are four things that are vital in the ongoing work of ministry in this world right now. These avenues of service are available to any believer in any circumstance, whether early or late in life.
1) PRAYER. Sometimes prayer seems to be the least effective, or least impressive, thing we as Christians can do. However, in Rev 5:8 (and Rev 8:3-4), we are shown that our prayers are treated as holy in heaven. They are seen, valued, and offered in golden bowls like temple incense before the Lord (cf Ps 141:2). They fill heaven with a holy aroma. Many accomplishments that we have on earth don't seem to merit quite the attention in heaven that is given to prayer. The prayers of God's saints are given special delivery status by the holy angels! Let us never think that prayer is ever a minor thing to God. It is an active participation in God's cosmic work of redemption, even if we ourselves might be in a wheelchair or bed. Here's a little more about offering kingdom-centered prayer, rather than me-centered prayer.
2) WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT. Whether in verbal or written form, words of encouragement to others engaged in service is a very real participation in their ministry. Our words, which help keep others going, are vital to their ongoing ministry. How many, many times the uplifting words of others kept me going when I wanted to quit. Their encouragement was an essential part of any success I ever had. And this includes words of testimony that we give to others about the Lord Jesus. Gospel-oriented words spoken in kindness to caretakers, shopkeepers, service persons, hairdressers, mechanics, young mothers at the park, international students, and so on, will bear fruit in time as the Lord wills (Isa 55). Such words have power to give life.
3) KEEP GROWING. It's easy to think our lives are winding down, getting smaller, and having less influence. But the opposite is true. We will take more from this life than we realize, and what we learn here will be useful in our resurrected life. The good stewards (household servants) who were faithful in small tasks were given governing authority over cities, many cities (Lu 19:17-19). If we stay faithful in the battle we will sit on Jesus' throne (Rev 3:21), which means we will share in his reign as "kings of the earth" (Rev 21:24). We must not be disheartened by limitations we face now. Whether it is a matter of time, health, age, family responsibilities, finances, or any other circumstance, we are on our way to expansive positions in God's glorious kingdom. The lessons we learn here of patience, endurance, prayerfulness, faithfulness, integrity, purity, and hope will continue with us into the new creation. We shouldn't dwell on the (perceived) littleness of our usefulness at this time, but we should think about the vastness and greatness of the coming Kingdom, a new world where righteousness dwells (2 Pet 3:13). As we age, we are not being diminished, we are being enlarged. We need to keep growing because our life is just beginning!
4) STAY IN THE FIGHT. We might not be in a visible, public arena, but we must remember that the spiritual battle is ongoing, seen and unseen (Eph 6). Even at the end of his life the Apostle Paul was fighting the good fight against the world, the flesh, and the devil (2 Tim 4:7). Satan would have us succumb to weariness and despair. But until the Lord returns, we must stay the course and keep the faith. It will be the soldiers of the cross in this age who wear the crown in the next. These things -- prayer, words of encouragement, continued growth, and staying in the fight -- may seem little and insignificant, but they are very important in the eyes of the Lord, at every stage of life. If you and I are doing these things, then, whether we realize it or not, we are being useful to the Lord here and now.
CURRENTLY READING...
-- On the dangers and duty of science. Abraham Kuyper writes, "The whole creation is nothing but the visible curtain behind which radiates the exalted working of this divine thinking. ... God’s honor requires the human spirit to probe the entire complexity of what has been created, in order to discover God’s majesty and wisdom and to express those in human thoughts with human language." (From Wisdom and Wonder: Common Grace in Science & Art)
-- "What’s to be done? For one, we need to accept our own finitude and resist the dogma that says every horrible thing has a technocratic solution if we are merely willing to receive it." (Samuel D. James) On the children who kill children.
-- In college sports, here's an encouraging feature on VT softball outfielder, Emma Ritter.
-- "False prophets may come in sheep’s clothing, but there are clear signs that reveal wolves for who they really are." Recognizing abusive church leadership before it’s too late.
FINAL QUOTE. "For me, the fundamental problem we have may best be described as an orientation of the will: we suffer from a settled determination to avoid thinking. Relatively few people want to think. Thinking troubles us; thinking tires us." (Alan Jacobs, How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds)
That's it for week 23!
Sandy
Image credit. Photo above is of the Cascades waterfall in nearby Giles County, taken by my daughter Bekah on her iPhone. Waterfalls, along with springs and fountains, are beautiful images in this world that point us to God. He is the "fountain of living water" (Jer 2:13; 17:13; cf. Ps 42:7; Zech 14:8; Rev 7:17). Every waterfall whispers his name!