“Servant’s Fire”

October 03, 2010

Luke 17:5-10 2 Timothy 1:1-14

This morning as we celebrate World Communion Sunday, we remember that we are members of the Body of
Christ, those of us who have been left on earth to do the work of Jesus until his return at the end of time. We are,
literally, the hands and feet of Jesus to a lost and hurting world. As we do the work of Jesus Christ we sometimes
wonder how to stay motivated. In our culture we are familiar with entrepreneurs, those individuals with a dream
and a drive to succeed. These people have an idea that ignites something within them, that puts a fire in their
belly and drives them to work 60, 70 or even 100 hour work weeks. The difficulty that we have in the church, is
that most often, because we think of ourselves as servants (servants of one another and servants of Christ) it is
hard for us to connect with the passion and enthusiasm that fills an entrepreneur who is the boss and is building
something for herself. As a result, too many times we are tempted to coast through life and be pulled along by the
current instead of allowing our enthusiasm to drive us. Famed coach Vince Lombardi once said, “If you aren’t
fired with enthusiasm, you’ll be fired with enthusiasm!” Since most work in the church is done by volunteers, it’s
hard to fire anyone, but there is difficulty in the church when we fail to connect ourselves with something that
ignites our enthusiasm and passion. Our temptation as Christians is often to simply pray that God would do for
us the things that we ought to be doing for ourselves. Worse, when we do the things that we are called to do, we
often expect to be praised and rewarded of our efforts. As is often the case, we find that this is not a new
temptation. In Luke 17:5-10, Jesus discovers these same feelings in his disciples…
5
The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
6
He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and
planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.
7
"Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he
comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? 8Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get
yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? 9Would he thank the
servant because he did what he was told to do? 10So you also, when you have done everything you were told to
do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' "

Jesus asks his friends to be realistic. He says that if they were in a position to have servants they would expect
servants to act like servants. You would expect that your servant would prepare your supper, not sit down to
supper with you. Your servant would work for you because he or she was your servant not because they expected
to be paid or even because they expected to be thanked for their trouble. This is a difficult message for us
because we like praise. We like to be thanked and we like for others to notice when we do good but that is not
what Jesus teaches us to expect. Jesus reminds us that we are to act as if we are servants and to align our
expectations with our servanthood. At the end of the day, after we have done all that we can for the body of
Christ, Jesus says that our expectation should be to say, “'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our
duty.'” This is not an easy thing and often it’s just not how we’re wired. How often do we feel like we deserve to

1
be invited to sit at the Master’s table just because we’ve done was expected of us? It is a measure of our faith (or
lack of it) that we feel the need to be complimented, have our egos stroked and our backs patted for every little
thing that we do. Jesus calls us simply to do what we were told to do, just as any servant would do, without any
expectation of praise or reward.

The difficulty for many of us is that having the attitude of a servant often results in… well… having the attitude
of a servant. If we do what is asked of us without any expectation of reward, then what is it that motivates and
inspires us? What is it that puts the “fire in our belly?” Having just read this scripture, and having already read it
together in the responsive reading, we know that we should find at least a part of our motivation and enthusiasm
in our faith. If we had faith as small as a mustard seed, we could command a tree to be planted in the sea. Quite
literally, we could move mountains so having enthusiasm ought not to be too terribly difficult but the pathway to
deeper faith is not always an easy one and so let’s look for some signposts to look for along the way.

In 2 Timothy 1:1-14, Paul writes to encourage his young friend and protégé, Timothy.
1
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
2
To Timothy, my dear son:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3
I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly
remember you in my prayers. 4Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5I have been
reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am
persuaded, now lives in you also. 6For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you
through the laying on of my hands. 7For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and
of self-discipline.
8
So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for
the gospel, by the power of God, 9who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have
done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of
time, 10but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death
and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11And of this gospel I was appointed a herald
and an apostle and a teacher. 12That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I
have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
13
What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14Guard the
good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

Paul reminds Timothy that he remembers him regularly, even constantly, and is praying for him. He also reminds
Timothy that God has given us a gift and that we should not simply let God’s gift lay still within us. Paul knew
that often times it was easier for us to be happy and cozy just warming ourselves by the embers of God’s gift but
he reminds us that this isn’t what God wants. Instead of just comfortably warming ourselves beside the embers of
our faith, we are called to take what remains of what God has given to us and to fan the embers back into flames.
We need to allow our faith and the gift of God’s Spirit to flare up once again to become the fire in our bellies that
motivates and inspires us. As Paul said, we were not created to be quiet and timid and ashamed of who we are,
but to be bold, to be filled with power, with love and with self-discipline.
2
Paul calls upon us to fan the embers of our faith into flame but clearly, doing so requires our active participation
and not simply being passive spectators. Fanning the embers of our faith into flame requires us to do something
and because we are each a unique and wonderful creation, we must each find what that something will be for us.
For some it will be listening to inspirational and to Christian music, for some reading books (or listening to audio
books) and of others it will be prayer, taking time for silent meditation or even an occasional weekend retreat of
some kind. Paul calls upon us to fan the embers of our faith into flame. Doing so will require conscious,
thoughtful and deliberate effort but the results will be nothing short of transformational.

Finally, we need to take a look at our last verse. Paul reminds Timothy to “Guard the good deposit that was
entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.” So what is the good deposit that has
been entrusted to us? I believe that from Paul’s own words we can understand that the good deposit has been
given to Timothy by Paul, by his grandmother Lois and by his mother Eunice, and of course the many gifts of the
Holy Spirit that live within Timothy and within each and every believer in Jesus Christ. This is a bigger thing
than we might anticipate if we think about this for a minute. What is a deposit? If we make a deposit with a
contractor or on a new apartment, we are making a promise and pledging to pay the full amount sometime in the
future. Paul says that all of the good gifts that we have been given by the Holy Spirit, by our Christian families,
by fellow believers and by God are just a deposit, a portion of what we will receive in the future. These present
gifts are God’s pledge that we hold in anticipation of the full amount. As wonderful as God’s gifts on earth can
be, they are only a taste of what is to come.

As believers in, and as servants of, Jesus Christ, we need to rediscover our passion and enthusiasm. We must not
mope about acting as if our servanthood is a horrible burden that crushes, oppresses and depresses us. Whether it
is music that does it, or Bible study, or meditation, or retreat or something else, we must fan the embers of our
faith into flame once again. We must remember that while we are indeed servants of the living Christ, we are also
being paid beyond measure or human imagination. We have already received a deposit that fills us with wonder
and only hints at the unspeakable joy that is to come.

Come, let us do whatever must be done to put a “fire in our belly” for the work of Jesus Christ.

3

You have been reading a message presented at Barnesville First United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of
the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor of Barnesville First. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media
ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of
the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Barnesville First UMC at 123 W. Church St., Barnesville,
OH 43713. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these
messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at
subscribe@barnesvillefirst.com. If you have questions, you can ask them in our discussion forum on Facebook (search for
Pastor John Online). These messages can also be found online at http://www.scribd.com/Pastor John Partridge and audio
podcasts at http://www.sermoncloud.com/ (type the church name in the search box). All Scripture references are from the
New International Version unless otherwise noted.