Amelia Church of Christ - Christian Church in Amelia, OH near Cincinnati in Clermont County

This is the final installment in our Developing a Servant’s Heart journey. Throughout the last six weeks, we’ve been exploring the life of service and ministry that God has called us to live.

We wrap things up today by talking about the joy of serving. In our culture, joy and serving would seem to be polar opposites. We are taught that joy is experienced when you are served. Serving someone else definitely would not be perceived as a happy or a joyful experience by our culture…and yet that is exactly what God tells us is true. Joy and serving are attached at the hip.

A couple of years ago, Good Morning America featured a series that focused on how you can find happiness in your life. Diane Sawyer said that physiologists are trying to create a revolution: a revolution of happiness. They are trying to create this revolution because there has been a ten time increase of depression among teens and adults since the 1950's.

Something is wrong, so Good Morning America asked questions like, “What do we do differently? How do we discover this elusive thing called happiness or joy?” The show offered all kinds of solutions. They talked about the importance of sports and activity. They talked about the value of doing things that you love to do. They talked about the importance of genuine belly laughter every day. One doctor even said he could vaccinate against unhappiness. If that were true, he would have to be a very wealthy man. It's a huge issue and struggle in our culture. Where do we find joy? Where do we find, not only happiness, but a joy that lasts and coexists with our lives as they really are?

I begin to look at the Bible and I see that kind of joy lived out by people in very difficult and hard circumstances.

Philippians 4:4, Paul writes from a jail cell and says, “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again, I say, Rejoice!” (KJV)

James 1:2: “Consider it pure joy…whenever you face trials of many kinds…” (NIV) Now wait, how does joy go with trials? How do these things fit together?

It seems to me that the Biblical writers had something figured out. They discovered a joy and a peace that surpasses understanding. A happiness that's not just dependent on happenings, but in some ways is even independent of circumstances.

Particularly, I think of the Apostle Paul. We’ve been talking about him throughout this series. Paul was one of the greatest Christian leaders ever. He was a top-drawer mind. He wrote many of our books in the New Testament of the Bible. He was a missionary that took the message of Jesus Christ way, way, way out to different corners of the world. He had a tremendous impact. When you look at the life and ministry of Paul, particularly in the book of Philippians, you find that Paul was a guy who had been framed and found himself in jail. He appealed to Rome, and he found himself in jail there waiting for trial.

He writes this letter, the book Philippians in the New Testament, to the believers in the city of Philippi because they are all asking, “How's Paul? Have you heard about Paul? What's going on with Paul? Do you think he really did it? I don't know, what do you think? I don't know.” There’s all this buzz floating around, some positive, some negative. Paul writes the letter of Philippians to address all this stuff and encourage the different followers of Christ in that city.

Look at what he says in Philippians 1. This is so relevant to our lives and our culture today. He says, “Because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.

I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.” (Philippians 1:18b-20, NIV)

Notice he says, “I rejoice. Yes, I will continue to rejoice.” Twice he says that he rejoices. He doubly rejoices even though he finds himself in this terrible circumstance. Even though he's in prison. He says, “I expect it will turn out for my deliverance.”

The first lesson we learn from Paul when it comes to discovering joy in life is this: We've got to rejoice in God's control. Paul rejoiced in the fact that God was in control, even when he found himself in a very difficult circumstance.

Imagine what it would have been like to be Paul. He's separated from his friends, he's separated from family, and he's locked up in this cell. It was very lonely. In fact, instead of visiting him, people were spreading a lot of rumors about him, which is a very painful thing to endure. Some people would say this; some people would say that. Here he is alone in this prison cell. His friends could visit him but many of them didn't.

Not only that, but he couldn't do the things he loved to do. He loved to speak. He was a pastor. He loved to debate with the different learned people of the city. That's where he really shined. As you read the Bible you'll see that he did it again and again. He's not able to do that.

Not only that, he has hardly any privacy. How many of you get bothered when somebody gets into your personal space? Do you know what that is about? You know those people who come right into your space, they get this close and they are talking? And you keep moving back. But they keep moving in. Paul had a Roman guard in his personal space all the time. In fact, he was chained to him. He couldn't speak a single word; he couldn't do a single thing without this Roman guard in his face, looking over his shoulder. Yet in spite of all of that Paul says, “I rejoice.” Paul knew that God was in control. He learned it from difficult circumstances and hardships.

In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul outlines some of the difficulties and hardships he went through. I want to read this to you just to encourage you. I go to this passage when I'm having a really bad day. Do you know what I'm talking about? Anybody know what a really bad day is? Oh yeah! If you are having a really bad day, it's really hard, you feel all alone, the grass is green everywhere else but in your world it's brown. If that’s they you’re feeling, check this out.

Paul says, “I have…been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one [which by the way it was thirty-nine because the fortieth lash more often than not meant death for sure. So forty minus one, you may still live.] Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked.

I spent a night and day in the open sea. I've been constantly on the move. I've been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea, in danger from false brothers.

I’ve labored and toiled. I’ve often gone without sleep. I’ve known hunger and thirst. I’ve gone without food. I’ve been cold and naked.” (2 Corinthians 11:23b-27, NIV)

Man, my life’s not so bad. All of a sudden I’m feeling a little better.

This guy has learned in hard times to rejoice because God was in control. That was his firm conviction. In fact, in just a few verses earlier from the passage I read in Philippians, Paul talks about his chains.

He says, “Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.” (Philippians 1:14, NIV)

He recognized that God was in control even in this dark prison cell. Even though he found himself with all these obstacles he looked beyond that and saw the opportunity. God was going to be glorified.

When you think about it, we all have chains in our lives, don't we? They may not be the literal chains in a prison cell but we all come in here with chains. For some of you that chain may be depression and anxiety. It may be that you wake up on a regular basis and you don’t see the point. Maybe you take medication and you go see a counselor. You are trying to work through it and figure out what is going on in your life. But the pieces don't all fit together. That's your chain.

Maybe for some of you it is family issues. Children who have walked away from the faith. Parents with failing health. Strained or broken relationships in your family. Your family is your chain.

For some your chain is pain. I talked with a lady in our church just a few days ago who was sharing with me that she is experiencing incredible back pain. She may be facing yet another back surgery; and this is on top of other very severe health problems she has. She can’t work because of her poor health. She’s in constant pain. It’s her chain.

We all have chains. The question that Paul's life puts on my life and yours is this: Will we look at the obstacle of those chains? Or will we look beyond them on how God can use that situation to bring glory to Himself? Will we rejoice in the fact that God is in control? When I’m hurting or feeling anxiety about a situation, I try to remind myself that God is not freaking out and wringing His hands. I might be, but God isn’t. God is in control. I try to remind myself that, even when things seem out of control, God is in control. He's in control of my life. He's in control of our world. Paul says because of that, “I'm going to rejoice.”

Philippians 1:19 talks about the two things that anchor Paul’s life even in the midst of difficulty. He says, “…I know through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.” (NIV)

He says, “Through your prayers and with the help given by God’s Spirit, I can rejoice.”

Paul’s anchor was prayer. And it is just as applicable in our lives as it was in his life. Prayer just means talking to God. It’s communicating with God. It's laying your heart out. “God here is where I am in my life. Here is what I am struggling with.” You don't have to have all the right words. You don't have to have it all figured out. You don't have to have a degree in theology. You don't have to be a pastor. Do you know what you have to do? Show up! “God here I am. I have this need in my life and I'm struggling in this area. God you know my heart.” Just begin to pray. For some of you it will be a huge risk just to take a step in prayer, even the smallest prayer.

For others of you, you just need to remember to continue to pour your heart out to God. He'll move in response to that.

Notice that Paul in this passage says he rejoices in God's control because he knows that other people are praying for him, too. Did you know that we have a group of people that meet every Tuesday to pray for our church? We’ve got prayer request cards in our foyer. Every time you submit a prayer request, they pray over it. They lift that prayer need to God. Isn't that cool? You can anchor and hold onto the fact that you are not alone.

Not only that, Paul says, he rejoices because of the spirit of Jesus Christ. The Bible says when we become followers of Christ, God's Spirit comes and dwells in us. We can depend on His Spirit to face our difficulties and challenges. God never intended for us to carry our chains alone. That’s critically important, so let me say it again. God never intended for us to carry those chains alone. That's why He gave us His Spirit.

In fact, if you look in the Old Testament, one of the great promises of God is in Zechariah 4:6: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty--you will succeed because of my Spirit.” (TLB) We have a power source, a God that we can rely on even when circumstances are overwhelming. We can rejoice in that. Paul is rejoicing in the fact that he has people praying for him, that God's spirit is with him and that God is in control.

Another thing we see in Paul's life is he's rejoicing and living out God's purpose. He's living for God's purpose. Could you imagine what it would be like to be chained to a Roman guard all day every day? Apparently in Rome there were ten to sixteen thousand different troops of this guard. These guards would rotate in and out on four hour shifts.

So here’s this guard, chained to you all the time. He's right there. There's no way for him to escape it. What Paul realized is that he could view it as an obstacle or see it as an opportunity. Paul thought, “The guy that's chained to me is truly a captive audience…and I get a new one every four hours.” So Paul shared the message of what God had done for them and how God loved them. The Bible says that the word began to spread out among the guards. He saw a huge opportunity when some of us may see an obstacle. He chose to live out God's purpose.

Look at what he says back in Philippians 1:21: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.” (Philippians 1:21-24, NIV)

First of all, he says, “To live is Christ.” Literally translated it means to live Christ. That's Paul's entire mode of life. That's what it all boils down to. That word live is zoai in Greek. It has the idea of life or what makes us tick or "what we're alive to."

Since March Madness is in full swing, if you followed some of our guys around right now, you might say that for them, “to live is basketball.” Or maybe you walk behind your husband and you say for him, “To live is golf. To live is work.”

For some of you ladies, “To live is scrap booking. To live is shopping.”

All those things are fine, but the question we have to lay over our lives today is this: “If you followed me around this week would you also say for me, to live is Christ?” To live Christ - Jesus is the center of my life. Could people say that about your life? He's the center, He's the most important thing or He's the thing that makes you tick?

Paul is saying that because Jesus is the center of his life, that even though he's in chains and he can't see all his family and friends, even though he's been alienated by certain people, even though there is gossip going on, he's alive to Christ. He doesn't notice all those negative things as much as he sees what Christ is doing. To live is Christ!

Then he says something very fascinating: to die is gain. Notice what he didn't say. He didn't say, “To live is money because to die is to leave it all behind.” He didn't say, “To live is fame because to die is to be quickly forgotten.” He didn't say, “To live is power and influence because to die is to lose both.” He didn't say, “To live is possessions because to die is to depart with nothing in my hands.” He says, “To live is Christ and therefore to die is gain.”

Paul describes his own personal philosophy a little more in Philippians 3:8. He says, “What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ…” (NIV) The King James Version translates that word rubbish as dung. I consider it all dung that I may gain Christ. That's what he's alive to.

He realized that because he's alive to Christ that death has lost its sting. To die is gain. What happens then? Then I'm in the presence of Jesus Christ. Then I'm just with Him a lot sooner. Could you imagine being a guard chained to Paul when that's his philosophy?

The guard says, “Stop talking about your Jesus. You are driving me crazy.”

Paul says, “What are you going to do? Kill me? To die is gain. We have three more hours here, buddy!” That was his philosophy of life. He was living for God’s purpose.

The questions for us are many. Have we surrendered our lives to God's purpose? Can we say to live Christ and therefore to die gain? When we get to that place, that's where joy is.

A final thing we see in Paul is not only did he rejoice in God's control, not only did he live out God's purpose, but he served in God's joy.

In Philippians 1:25-26, Paul says, “Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith [those words are linked together. In other words, their progress will lead to their joy and Paul himself will experience joy as he serves them.] so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.” (Philippians 1:25-26, NIV)

Paul knew the pathway to joy in our lives. The pathway to joy is one of surrendering to God and one of service to others.

The Good Morning America episodes about finding happiness and joy were all about self. It was about serving yourself, helping yourself, doing this for yourself, doing that for yourself. Nowhere did they talk about how joy often comes into our lives when we serve others. When we pour our service into others.

I’ve got a sponge here. God is calling us to be sponges. He’s calling us to be SpongeMikes, and SpongeJoes, and SpongeNancys, and SpongeJudys, and yes, even SpongeBobs. Just fill in the blank with your name. God has called you to be a sponge.

God is calling us to be the kind of people that are not only filled with Him, but also a people that fills others. When we are filled with Him and fill others; that's the pathway to joy. You can't have it one way or another.

A sponge isn't made to just be dry. There's not much use for a sponge that's dry. The sponge has to be filled up. So we fill the sponge up. Just like we are filled up with God. We come to church. We get charged up. We learn new things. We learn new insights and we get inspired. Now the question becomes, what do we do with all that stuff, those new inspirations? It is possible for a sponge to just get full. A sponge that's full and not doing anything it isn't serving its purpose either, is it? There are some followers of Christ that just drink, drink, drink, drink, I need to be filled up, I'm full, no wait, I need more, wait a minute I need a little more, got to make sure I'm okay. We miss the blessing of taking what God is giving us and pouring it into the lives of someone else. God's created us to find joy in Him. To take that strength and that joy and that purpose and use our gifts and pour into the lives of others. It's not one way or the other.

Some of you are here and you are a dry sponge because you have poured into so many people's lives. You serve. You are dedicated. You are at the church all the time. You are going one hundred miles an hour. You need to stop and get filled up again. Allow God to restore you and pour into your life.

Others may be on the other extreme. You are coming and you're here. You are attending. You are taking and taking and taking and taking and taking. For you to get the full value of what you are receiving you just need to turn around and start pouring into the life of someone else. That's where the joy is.

When we see the word service, we should lay the word joy right over top of it because those two things go hand in hand. Paul reminds us that if we are wrestling with life, if the chains in our life are pulling us down, we can rejoice in the fact that God is in control of the world. He can be in control of my life. We can live out God's purposes. We can begin to say, “To live is Christ and to die is gain.” Everything else doesn't matter. Live as Christ. That's the most important thing.

Then we can begin to serve in God's joy. Be filled with who He is. Pour out our spiritual gifts into the lives of others. That's where joy is.

Mike Edmisten

Tags: Developing a Servant's Heart, joy, ministry, service, purpose