The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his086/notmin.lzh/NOTMIN.TXT

Text File | 1991-07-08 | 19KB | 350 lines

DEV:Not to be ministered unto  by J.H. Horsburgh

   formerly issued under the title of,     "What Made You Cross?"

   by J. H. Horsburgh, M.A.(n.d.)

   "For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto [=to be
served], but to minister [=to serve], and to give His life a ransom for
many." (Mark 10:45)

   A great fact is here stated concerning the Son of Man. The speaker
is our Lord Himself, Who in this, as in all matters, left us an example
that we should follow in His steps.

   The incident that geve rise to His words is a sad one. Two of His
disciples, James and John, wanted to be ministered unto by being
granted the chief places in His glory (Mark 10:35-37). When the others
heard it, they were highly indignant, for they wanted to be ministered
unto by having the chief places themselves. But out of the ferment the
Lord brought good. He made it an occasion to remind His disciples that
they were not of the world, and that their distinguishing mark must be
lowliness and readiness to serve one another.

   "Jesus called them unto Him" (Mark 10:42). Notice the tenderness and
pathos here. He had been telling the Twelve about Himself--of the awful
betrayal, the cruel sufferings and indignity, the shameful death that
awaited Him at Jerusalem (Mark 10:32-34). Surely their hearts are
melted? Nay, they seem unable to think of Him. They begin to quarrel
among themselves as to who should be the greatest. Picture their
flushed faces, their angry tones, their violent gestures! "But Jesus
called them unto Him," and gently quelled the storm. Earthly rulers, He
tells them, exercise lordship over others: "but so shall it not be
among you: but whosoever desires to be great among you must be your
servant, and whosoever of you desires to be first must be the bondslave
of all. For even the Son of Man came NOT TO BE MINISTERED UNTO, but to
minister, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:42-45). In a
word, "Remember that you are My disciples. The disciple must be as his
Master."

   Evidently this is something which closely concerns us all if we are
Jesus'disciples. It tells us something of what spirit we should have
and what our life ought to be to-day--and every day.

   The passage tells us that the Son of Man came to minister. This is a
great subject. It is not that incidentally He ministered unto a few or
to many; but He came to minister. It was His set purpose.

   But this wonderful passage tells us something else about the Son of
Man. He "came NOT TO BE MINISTERED UNTO."

   We are apt to slur over this, to forget it, or perhaps to pass it by
altogether unnoticed. The disciples of Jesus are to be "even as the Son
of Man" in coming to minister. Yes, and the disciples of Jesus are to
be "even as the Son of Man" in coming "NOT TO BE MINISTERED UNTO."

   If a word of personal testimony may be allowed, I should like to say
this. In the ups and downs, the wear and tear of daily life, there are
few passages of Scripture which search me as this does. It convicts,
rebukes, and condemns me. It is always finding me out. And, yet, how it
encourages, quiets, strengthens, comforts, and helps me!

   This desire to be ministered unto is at the bottom of disagreements
in the nursery, fights in the school, quarrels amongst private
individuals, wars among nations. And, alas, not only in the world is
this spirit prevalent, but in the Church also. As Christians we do not
adequately realize--perhaps we hardly realize at all--how much of sin
and failure, how much of vexation and discontent, how much of
peevishness and irritability, how much of discord and unhappiness in
our lives, is due to our DESIRE TO BE MINISTERED UNTO instead of coming
NOT to be ministered unto.

   Are we not too often cross, vexed, rasped, indignant? Sometimes we
show it by a foolish exhibition of temper; sometimes we restrain
ourselves, but there the nasty feeling is! and why? In all probability
because we want to be ministered unto and have been disappointed.

   The fact is we are always wanting to be ministered unto by people,
by circumstances, by fortune ("luck" perhaps you call it), by the
weather, by something. To be ministered unto is so natural, so
necessary, so proper! We have been brought up to expect it. And if we
are thwarted, as we often are, we are apt to get cross, sulky, moody,
nervous, and perhaps end by making ourselves miserable, and others too.

   How different it would be if, like the Son of Man, we always "came
NOT TO BE MINISTERED UNTO." Take a few illustrations.

   ARE YOU SLIGHTED?

   You are slighted, ignored, brushed aside. Or your employer, or
employee, does not show you proper consideration. Or your neighbor does
not treat you with the respect which is due to your position, your
abilities, your character. You feel it very much; in fact, you are
upset about it. Why? Is it because you came to minister, and were
deprived of the privilege? No, not that at all. It is because your
feelings, your rights, your gifts, your position, your dignity, your
importance were not recognized. YOU were not ministered unto. And you
came to be ministered unto. Hence the storm!

   ARE YOU JEALOUS?

   Or consider that most hateful thing, Jealousy. What is it? Another
is praised or put before you. Another does better than you. Another is
more fortunate than you. The honor, the success, the money, the
popularity, the reward has gone to him. You wanted it for yourself. You
came to be ministered unto. And because he has been ministered unto,
and not you, you are jealous!

   NOT RIGHT TO IGNORE ME

   "But it was not right, " you say, "he had no business to ignore me,
to snub me, to treat me as he did. And it was most unjust; that other
person ought not to have been placed over my head."

   That may be perfectly true, and we make no excuse for wrong and
injustice. But you are a disciple of Jesus (I am speaking only to
such), and I ask you--if you had come, like your Master, "NOT TO BE
MINISTERED UNTO, but to minister," would you be feeling so sore and
angry and jealous? The trouble is, you came to be ministered unto.

   NOT PRAISED

   You have been kind to someone. You have rendered him a service. It
has cost you something to do it. Naturally you thought your goodness
would be appreciated. And it wasn't, at least not as much as you think
it ought to have been. You expected profuse thanks, and quite a little
fuss to be made over it. And your friend took it cooly. You are
disgusted. You wish you hadn't helped him. And you feel half inclined
to say in your haste you will never do anybody a kindness again! Why?
You have ministered unto another: you have helped someone who was in
need. Yes, but YOU HAVE NOT BEEN MINISTERED UNTO. You wanted to be
thought exceedingly good and kind and generous. That is to say, you
expected to be ministered unto by the thanks and praise, and a little
flattery too, perhaps, of the other. Yes, when we come to be ministered
unto we do meet sometimes with severe shocks!

   NOT CONSULTED

   You are a person of excellent taste, sound judgment, good common
sense. And you find your advice has been ignored--perhaps it was not
even asked in a matter, too, in which you pose as an authority. You
cannot understand it. You feel rubbed the wrong way. Your spirit within
you is ruffled. Your equilibrium is quite disturbed. What is the
trouble? Is it that you came wanting to minister to your friend, and by
neglecting to take your advice he has got himself into a sad mess? Not
at all. As it happens, he has managed very nicely indeed without your
help. The trouble is this: YOU have not been acknowledged. Your
reputation as an "authority" in the matter of taste or judgment has not
been ministered unto. You came not to minister but to be ministered
unto. And you have been disappointed!

   ARE YOU A PUBLIC SPEAKER?

   You had been announced to speak on a special occasion. A good
audience assembled, and you noticed with peculiar satisfaction that Mr.
X, a well-known and influential Christian, was present. You had a great
subject, and waxed very eloquent. At the close you felt extremely
pleased with yourself, and you naturally expected Mr. X to come up at
once, grasp your hand, and thank you warmly "for such an able,
interesting, and moving address."

   But Mr. X walked quietly out of the hall without a word! How
crestfallen you were! The joy you had felt was extinguished like a
snuffed-out candle! How was this? You had the opportunity of
ministering to a number of people. But this was not quite what you came
for. In your heart of hearts you wanted that speech to minister UNTO
YOU. It is the old trouble again. YOU CAME TO BE MINISTERED UNTO.

   ABOUT YOUR WORK--

   You are a professional man, or you are a man of business. You are
doing fairly well. You have enough for all your needs. But you have set
your heart on great things. And your success has fallen short of your
expectations. This is weighing on your mind. It is a daily trouble to
you. You are feeling constantly depressed. What is really at the bottom
of it? Is it that you came to minister, and you are disappointed not to
be able to minister as fully as you hoped to do? No, not that. But you
desire to gratify yourself more; you want to make a bigger show; to be
thought more of; you covet to be rich. And your desire for these things
is not gratified. YOU ARE NOT MINISTERED UNTO.

   --AND PLAY

   Even our recreation is disturbed by this
coming-to-be-ministered-unto spirit. You went in for a race, a
competition, a game. You failed; you were beaten. How "horrid" you
felt! To this day that feeling haunts you.

   A Cambridge athlete won a race three years in succession. If he
could win it a fourth year it would be a record. And he was expected to
win. But he lost! I am told that for weeks he never smiled. He wanted
that race to minister to his family. He wanted people to be able to
point to him and say, "He has done what nobody else has done." And
because he was not ministered unto, he was crushed.

   "But, " you reply, "in our sports and competitions we are out to do
our best and to win. Our aim is to be ministered unto." Yes, of course.
But after all, it is only a game. And a disciple of Christ must not
take his games too seriously. Even on the playing fields he can
manifest the came-not-to-be-ministered-unto-but-to-minister spirit.
When he is beaten he can enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that in
losing he has been the means of ministering unto the winner.

   CHRISTIAN SERVICE

   But to return to something more serious than sport. You are engaged
in Christian work. You are a Sunday School teacher, or a District
visitor or a church officer. Or perhaps you help at the Mother's
Meeting, the Band of Hope, or the Mission Room. Now you are thinking of
giving up the work. Why? Has your health failed? Have you not now the
time for it? Are home duties too pressing? No, none of these is the
reason. Then you are not wanted? Is there no longer need of your
services? Is the opportunity to minister withdrawn from you? No, the
need is as great as ever. The door of opportunity remains wide open.
Then why are you giving up? Well, you are tired of the work, so you
think you will drop it. You expected it would be an interest to you. It
would bring you into touch with others. It would give you a position in
the Church. In fact, YOU THOUGHT YOU WOULD LIKE IT. And you did like it
for a time, but now you are tired of it. Ah! we are beginning to
understand. You thought the work would minister unto you. And as long
as it ministered unto you, you were willing to go on with it. Now that
it no longer ministers unto you, you will give it up. But "the Son of
Man came NOT TO BE MINISTERED UNTO, but to minister, and to give his
life..." And are not you His disciple?

   These are only a few illustrations. They may not be applicable to
you. But think it out, and whatever may be your walk in life, or your
relation to your fellow-men, you will be surprised to find how much of
your unrest, how many of your troubles, arise from this same cause--THE
DESIRE TO BE MINISTERED UNTO, instead of coming to minister.

   IN THE HOME

   You and your friend are living together. Your mutual happiness is
interrupted by little jars. You are quick, and your friend is slow. You
are economical, and your friend is extravagant. You are punctual, and
your friend is unpunctual. You are a very tidy person, and your friend
is untidy. You like everything done in your own particular way, your
friend does them any-how! So there is constant friction. But why? Is it
because you cannot minister to your friend? No, indeed. It is because
your love of tidiness or whatever it may be, your liking to have things
your own way, is not ministered unto.

   Or, perhaps you are the free and easy person, and you are annoyed
because your happy-go-lucky way is not ministered unto!

   Suppose you both try desiring NOT TO BE MINISTERED UNTO, but to
minister and to give?

   It is astounding what a number of little things disturb us. Your
plan for the afternoon is upset. You desire a wet day; it persists in
being fine. A visitor calls just when you want to go out. You are asked
to sing and your voice is husky and does not do you credit. The answer
to your letter has not come. Your request is not granted. You are
interrupted in the middle of an interesting book. The pen won't write.
The dress doesn't fit. The fire won't burn. Something is wrong with
dinner. The children are so noisy!

   Sometimes everything seems wrong. There is nothing big, nothing we
can lay our finger upon. But we are always coming into the world with
our likes and dislikes, our whims and fancies, our wishes and hobbies,
our fads and foibles. And if we are not ministered unto in these little
things, we are apt to be distressed and to get put out with ourselves
and with everybody else.

   THE HAPPY WAY

   I am persuaded that the happiness of our lives depends enormously on
the spirit in which we come afresh into the world each day. If we come
to be ministered unto, we shall soon be fretting and inwardly fuming.
But if we come NOT TO BE MINISTERED UNTO, but to minister, it will be
very different. "It is more blessed to give than to receive." It is
happier to minister than to be ministered unto. And it is far nobler:
"Whosoever will be CHIEF among you, let him be your servant." (Matt.
20:27)

   A WORD OF CAUTION

   Now for a word of caution. Our text does not say that we are to be
like Stoics, that whatever happens we are not to feel it. Annoyances,
rubs, disappointments--the things that we have been talking about--of
course we feel them. (They would be of no use to us if we didn't feel
them). But they need not distress us. Someone has said: "You cannot
prevent a crow from alighting on your head, but you can prevent its
building a nest in your hair." When we want to be ministered unto, we
harbor a grievance, we exaggerate it, we give way to it, we let it
build its nest and hatch its mischievous eggs. But when we desire NOT
TO BE MINISTERED UNTO, but to minister, we do not harbor the grievance,
we give it no welcome, we pay it scant attention, we are too occupied
to trouble about it. Let us be like Jesus. He was always too busy
thinking of others, and ministering to them, to concern Himself as to
whether He was being ministered unto or not. One sovereign remedy
against touchiness is to be busy caring for your neighbor.

   ANOTHER WORD OF CAUTION

   Again our text does not say that we are not to be ministered unto.
It does not say that we are always to be slighted, never courted; that
we are never to meet with success; that no reward and prizes are ever
to come our way; that we are to go about the world looking for
injustice, insults and ill-treatment. Nothing of the kind. There is no
harm in being ministered unto, and He appreciated it very much. We
shall often be ministered unto; perhaps all the more if we do not
expect it. The harm is in ALWAYS TO BE MINISTERED UNTO instead of to
minister: in wanting to be ministered unto: in seeking it, in setting
our heart upon wanting it, and in being disappointed, chagrined,
ruffled and cross if we are not ministered unto.

   We have lingered long talking about this failing--THE WISH TO BE
MINISTERED UNTO--because it is so prevalent, its consequences are so
sad, and chiefly because so many of us who are habitually guilty are
unconscious of the fact.

   SELF MUST DIE

   And now for a few brief words concerning the remedy. Be well assured
that at the bottom of the trouble, and in all its ramifications, is
SELF. And this old enemy Self must be mortified--put to death. We must
give Self no quarter. "I send you my best wishes for your birthday. I
hope you are dead," wrote one. And she was right. "I seem spoiled for
everything but to see people die," wrote another. And she was right.
SELF MUST DIE.

   With this fact in view, in what a different light must we regard NOT
BEING MINISTERED UNTO. Welcome disappointment! Welcome hardship!
Welcome slight! Welcome thorns and pricks! THESE MAY ALL BE TURNED TO
EXCELLENT ACCOUNT. To fail in getting what we want may be a piece of
good fortune! To be thwarted may be so good for us! To have our wishes
crossed may be positive blessing! To be trampled upon may be a splendid
thing! For every time we are not ministered unto, a fresh opportunity
is given for Self to die! And the person who snubs us may well be
regarded as a friend for administering to our arch-enemy--SELF--a stout
knock on the head! SELF MUST BE MORTIFIED. For it is only as Self dies
that we can live the happy and victorious life.

   CHRIST MUST LIVE

   But it is not enough that Self dies. Something else must happen.
Christ must live. Self dying--Christ living. And it is in proportion as
Self dies in us that Christ can live in us. Let us not then be afraid
of death--death to the Self-life. It is only as Self dies and Christ
lives in us that we shall be able to come fresh into the world each day
"NOT TO BE MINISTERED UNTO, but to minister," and in our tiny measure
to give our lives, to sacrifice OURSELVES, for the glory of God and the
good of our fellows.

   For information on short-term international mission opportunities
and training, call or write:

   Operation Mobilization USA