January 2011
Periodically, I like to remind all of us of our role in the kingdom of God. Simply put, we are ministers – servants of the King of kings. Though you may not lead or preach or teach or sing, if you are a Christian, then you are a minister (see 1 Peter 2:5). To help you contemplate and grasp that reality, I have included the words of poet Amos R. Wells on the subject, The Ministry:
Not to sit on a lifted throne,
not to rule superbly alone;
Not to be ranked on the left or right
in the kingdom’s glory, the kingdom’s might;
Not to be great and first of all,
not to hold others in humble thrall;
Not to lord it over the world,
a scepter high and a flag unfurled;
Not with authority, not with pride,
vain dominion, mastery wide –
Nothing to wish for, nothing to do –
not, in short, to be ministered to!
Ah, but to minister!
Lowly to sup with the servant’s bread and the servant’s cup;
Down where the waters of sorrow flow,
full-baptized in the stream of woe;
Out where the people of sorrow are,
walking brotherly, walking far;
Known to bitterness, known to sin,
to the poor and the wretched comrade and kin;
So to be helper, the last and least, serf in the kingdom, slave at the feast,
So to obey, so to defer, and so, my Savior to minister.
Yes, for never am I alone; this is Thy glory and this is Thy throne.
Infinite Servant, well may I be
Bondman and vassal and toiler – with Thee!
In Christ’s love,
David
Saw a link to this post over at Twitter. Thanks for sharing it.