Open
Doors Series #9
“THE DOOR TO SERVING!”
TEXT: Leviticus
6:8-13
INTRO:
There
is no doubt about God's call on our lives for service. To be a Christian brings a certain level
of responsibility to serve. What is
this call to service? What is it
that God is asking from us? What
are the expectations of servanthood?
Sometimes
our focus as Christians can become misplaced ... while it is vitally important
that we keep our eyes on Jesus ... there are other issues of servanthood that go
along with that focus on Christ. It
is not enough that we are concerned for our own salvation, God's call is
twofold: that we get saved, and
that we reach the lost!
ILLUS: D.L.
MOODY ONCE TOLD THIS STORY ABOUT A PAINTING HE SAW THAT DEEPLY TOUCHED HIM AND
IMPRESSED HIM GREATLY. IT WAS A
PICTURE OF A WOMAN GRASPING AT A CROSS WITH BOTH HANDS AS SHE WAS BEING RESCUED
FROM THE STORMY SEA. HE HAD HELD
THIS PICTURE UP WITH GREAT ESTEEM AND IT MOVED HIS HEART ... UNTIL ONE DAY WHEN
HE SAW A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT VERSION OF THIS PICTURE ... THIS SECOND PICTURE MADE
THE FIRST ONE PALE IN ITS IMPACT ONCE HE LOOKED AT THE SECOND ONE ... IN FACT HE
COULD NO LONGER HOLD IN SUCH ESTEEM THAT FIRST PICTURE ANYMORE NOW THAT HE HAD
SEEN THIS OTHER ONE! THE SECOND
PICTURE WAS VERY MUCH THE SAME ... IT WAS A WOMAN GRASPING AT THE CROSS AS SHE
WAS BEING RESCUED FROM A STORMY SEA JUST LIKE THE FIRST PICTURE ... BUT IN THIS
ONE SHE WAS GRASPING THE CROSS WITH ONLY ONE HAND WHILE HER OTHER HAD WAS
GRASPING DOWN TO RESCUE SOMEONE ELSE BELOW HER! SHE COULD NOT GRASP HER OWN SALVATION
AND IGNORE THOSE WHO WERE ALSO DROWNING BELOW HER ... THIS IS THE PICTURE OF
CHRIST'S SERVANTS ... WE MUST NOT JUST GRASP ONTO THE CROSS WITH BOTH HANDS AND
IGNORE OTHERS WHO ARE PERISHING ... WE MUST REACH OUT TO OTHERS
TOO!
– SOURCE UNKNOWN
The
altar was the symbol of sacrifice ... it still is! In the Old Testament, the priests were
called upon to minister at the altar ... what did this mean? Was it easy, was it convenient, was it
glorious, etc.?
Leviticus
6:8-13
gives us an interesting picture of what serving was all
about!
PROP.
SENT: The Bible teaches us that a call to
service is sometimes inconvenient and difficult, but the results are the freeing
of a life from guilt and impurities!
I. DEMANDS OF THE NIGHT! Lev. 6:8-10
A. Inconvenient! Lev.
6:8-9
1. "Graveyard
shifts" in ministry sometimes!
a. The night time was supposed to be a
time of rest and sleep!
b. Instructions are given here however
that required ministry during the night ... during times of
darkness!
(1. Have
you ever had to minister during times of darkness?
(2. Responsibilities for serving did
not end at bedtime!
c. Times
of darkness make serving tough!
2. What message was God trying to send
to those servants who ministered at the altar?
a. God's work never ends, and thus we
must be ready to minister at any time!
b. There is never a time when our life
is not covered by the blood!
c. Serving is not just “a part” of our life ... it is a 24 hour
a day call!
3. Nighttime for those who work is
called the "graveyard"
shift!
a. It
is a tough time to work ... your natural desires fight the call to
serve.
b. When have you been called upon to
minister the graveyard shift in your walk with God?
4. No doubt part of the reason for
this 24 hour vigilance to serve had to do with burning into their minds the
constant need they had of God's covering for their sins ... to never take God's
grace for granted!
ILLUS: FINDING
A NEWLY APPOINTED PASTOR STANDING AT
HIS STUDY WINDOW IN THE CHURCH WEEPING AS HE LOOKED OUT OVER THE
INNER CITY'S TRAGIC CONDITIONS WHERE
THE CHURCH RESIDED, A LAYMAN SOUGHT TO CONSOLE THE NEW
PASTOR, AND SO
HE SAID TO HIM, "PASTOR, DON'T WORRY ...
AFTER YOU HAVE BEEN HERE A WHILE, YOU'LL GET USED TO IT!"
THE PASTOR WHILE STILL WEEPING SAID, “YES, I KNOW ... THAT IS WHY I AM
CRYING!”
– SOURCE UNKNOWN
5. Can we lose the sense of God’s call
to service? Is it possible to get
to a place where our passion is missing and we are comfortable and no longer
investing our time and talents and tithes to the work of God like we once
did?
B. Investment!
Lev.
6:10
1. It would have been easy for the priest
to have said, “nobody is up at night anyway, why does it matter if we
keep this sacrifice going all night?”
2. Notice that in this verse, they
were to get up, dress a certain way and at regular intervals they were to scrape
off the ashes that were building up around the sacrifice to keep the fire
burning hot and so the sacrifice was fully consumed!
a. Laziness to remove the slow build
up of ashes would have cooled the fire down during the night, and the sacrifice
would not have been fully consumed!
b. While repetitious and dirty, this
was a necessary job!
3. It might not have seemed that
important to the priest who had to get up at certain intervals to take care of
the building ashes, but in the long run it had a great impact of the overall
quality of the sacrifice being burned!
a. He might have argued, "So some ashes
build up ... what's the big deal ... at least there is a
sacrifice!"
b. However, neglecting even this
menial job could endanger the sacrifice from being consumed properly!
4. Are there "ashes" building up in our sacrifices for God
... are you ignoring the "dirt" that is building up from
neglect?
5. Are you too busy or too tired to
attend to your service for God? ... Are you letting things go with the
sacrifices you promised God?
a. What seems so important to us today
will one day be so unimportant...
b. We must keep our focus keen in
these days with great demands on our lives and times!
ILLUS: A
CERTAIN JOHN BACON, ONCE A FAMOUS SCULPTOR, LEFT AN INSCRIPTION TO BE PLACED ON
HIS TOMB IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY: "WHAT I WAS AS AN ARTIST SEEMED OF SOME
IMPORTANCE TO ME WHILE I LIVED; BUT WHAT I WAS AS A BELIEVER IN JESUS CHRIST IS
THE ONLY THING OF IMPORTANCE TO ME NOW."
– SOURCE UNKNOWN
6. What must have seemed like
unimportant items of service at the time had long term impact
however!
a. It was a dirty job scraping off the
ashes during the night and laying them in a pile beside the
altar.
b. Proper clothing had to be worn to
do this ... it was not to be approached casually ... no ministry we
are called to should be approached
casually!
c. We
are to wear the “garments of
praise,” and the “robes of
righteousness” when we serve ... no other clothes are fitting
for service ... even if it is just scraping off the residue left behind from the
fires of God in our lives!
7. All of this service required a huge
investment of time on the priest’s part!
a. The call to ministry REQUIRES sacrifices!
b. The call to ministry DEMANDS our time and talents ... and
tithes!
c. The call to ministry WILL be inconvenient and even routine at
times!
II. DEBRIS OF THE ASHES! Lev. 6:11
A. Impurities! Lev. 6:11a
1. The
dirty clothes are to be removed now ... new ones put on ... and the ashes that
had been piled during the night next to the altar are now to be removed
completely ...
a. When the fire of God burns in our lives ...
it leaves behind debris!
b. This debris must be removed
permanently ... or it will contaminate the sacrifice and our clean clothing!
2. Some people will have the fire of
God burn in their lives and yet never deal with the dirt that is exposed, that
dirt that is left behind in their lives after God's fire burns in their heart
... it needs to be
removed.
a. This was the job of the priest
himself ... he was to carry it away.
b. It was to be removed outside the camp ... away from
God's people!
c. We need to get rid of the debris in
our lives that is left over after God's fire is ignited in our
lives!
3. If we don't
dispose of this "dirt," it will soil everything around
us!
ILLUS: THERE
WAS A VERY CAPABLE EVANGELIST WHOM GOD USED
IN SIGNIFICANT WAYS IN THE BRITISH ISLES THAT LOST HIS WAY AND DRIFTED INTO A
LIFE OF SIN FOR SOME TIME. SOME OF
THIS SIN WAS SECRET, BUT IT FINALLY WAS MADE PUBLIC. WHEN CONFRONTED WITH HIS SIN, HE
GENUINELY REPENTED AND SOUGHT HELP ... EVENTUALLY, HE WAS RESTORED TO MINISTRY
AGAIN JUST LIKE THE PRODIGAL SON WHO RETURNED TO HIS FATHER. LIKE THE PRODIGAL, HE FOUND THE FATHER
WELCOMED HIM HOME, BUT THERE WAS ALWAYS SOME BIG BROTHER IN THE FAMILY THAT
WOULD STILL BE UPSET. YEARS WENT
BY, AND HIS PAST WAS LONG FORGOTTEN AS HE CONTINUED TO SERVE GOD FAITHFULLY
UNTIL ONE NIGHT IN ABERDEEN ... AS HE APPROACHED THE SERVICE THAT NIGHT HE WAS
GIVEN A SEALED LETTER. IT WAS AN
UNSIGNED LETTER THAT DESCRIBED IN DETAIL HIS PAST SINS ... THINGS LONG GONE THAT
THESE PEOPLE IN THIS AREA KNEW NOTHING ABOUT. HIS STOMACH CHURNED AS HE READ THE LAST
LINE IN THE LETTER, "IF YOU HAVE THE
GALL
TO PREACH TONIGHT, I'LL STAND AND EXPOSE YOU."
HE FELL TO HIS KNEES IN PRAYER ...
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THIS OLD DIRT ... THESE ASHES! AS HE TOOK THE PULPIT THAT NIGHT HE
OPENED THE SERMON BY READING THE LETTER COMPLETELY TO THE CONGREGATION AND THEN
HE ADDED, "I WANT TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT
THIS LETTER IS PERFECTLY TRUE. I'M
ASHAMED OF WHAT I'VE READ, AND WHAT I'VE DONE. I COME TONIGHT NOT AS ONE WHO IS
PERFECT, BUT AS ONE WHO
IS FORGIVEN!"
GOD USED THAT LETTER AND THE REST
OF HIS MINISTRY AS A MAGNET TO DRAW PEOPLE TO JESUS CHRIST ... HE REMOVED THE
ASHES FOR GOOD!
– SOURCE UNKNOWN
4. After the fire reveals the "dirt" ... we need to scoop it up and
carry it outside the camp!
B. Intervention Lev.
6:11b
1. Where were the ashes to be
taken?
a. Outside the camp!
b. To a place
that was ceremonially
clean!
2. Calvary was "outside" Jerusalem ... and Jesus' death made
the place "clean!"
a. We are to take the ashes of our
lives after God's fire has burned and leave the ashes at
Calvary!
b. The priest could leave the ashes
and return without them ... the ashes were left behind
forever!
3. Part of sacrifices is the leftover
ashes ... and removal was a responsibility of the priest! But, the ashes were discarded
permanently at a "clean"
place!
a. This spot was the place of
intervention ... a place "clean" that
took "dirt!"
b. Christ's death on Calvary
intervened in our need to discard the ashes of our
lives!
c. There is a place to leave the "dirt" of our lives ... and it is a "clean" place!
III. DUTIES OF THE FIRE! Lev. 6:12-13
A. Important
Lev. 6:12
1. The command here
is just that ... a command!
It is in the imperative
mood, "the fire on the
altar must be kept burning, it must not go out!"
a. The instruction here in the verse
is very clear!
b. We must keep
the fire going!
c. Failure to do any of the above
things would lead to the fire dying...
(1. To not periodically scrape off the
ashes as the sacrifice burned would diminish the fire!
(2. To not pile up the ashes and then
remove this pile permanently would dim the fire!
(3. To fail to add wood would certainly
cause the fire to go out!
2. The responsibilities for keeping
the fire going resided with the priest!
a. We can diminish God's fire in our lives or
increase it!
b. If our service is sloppy ... if we
ignore the building ashes ... if we fail to add fresh fuel ... the fire goes
out!
3. This was
no ordinary fire ... it was the fire that had fallen from heaven ... it was to
be continually burning ... but this required attention and
service!
4. Much of what was required to keep
the fire burning was menial
and mundane, could have
bordered on being boring even! -- but this is what kept the fire burning hot ...
not the one-time events, the continual attention to details of service is
what mattered!
a. And this is still true
today!
b. This
is often missed by Christians who always want something “big” or “exciting” to
stir the fires!
ILLUS: ROLF
ZETTERSTEN WHO WROTE "TRAIN UP A
CHILD" MENTIONED ABOUT A TRIP HE TOOK TO WASHINGTON D.C. HE WAS IN A HOTEL ROOM THAT HAD NEXT TO
HIS ROOM A FAMOUS CELLIST ... THERE WAS A CLASSICAL CONCERT THAT NEXT
EVENING. HE COULD HEAR THE CELLIST
NEXT DOOR PRACTICE HOUR AFTER HOUR ... BUT HE DID NOT PLAY GREAT PIECES OR GREAT
WORKS ... ALL HE PLAYED WAS REPEATED SCALES AND RUNS ... AND ROUTINE EXERCISES
... OVER AND OVER AGAIN! THIS PRACTICE BEGAN EARLY IN THE MORNING, AND
CONTINUED UNTIL THE TIME CAME FOR THE CONCERT TO BEGIN! AS THE CELLIST STROLLED ONTO THE STAGE
THAT EVENING ROLF THOUGHT TO HIMSELF, "I'LL BET PEOPLE IN THIS AUDIENCE THINK THIS CELLIST LEADS A
GLAMOROUS LIFE, BUT I KNOW THAT HE SPENT HIS WHOLE DAY COOPED UP IN HIS ROOM
ALONE; REPEATING SCALE AFTER SCALE FOR HOURS, SO MUCH FOR GLAMOUR!" YET IT WAS JUST THIS CONSTANT
ATTENTION TO THE MENIAL AND MUNDANE THAT MADE HIS MUSIC AND SERVICE SO
GREAT!
– SOURCE UNKNOWN
5. It wasn't as glorious to “tend” the fire as it was “to sit by
it” ... but without someone tending it and feeding it ... it will
go out!
a. We cannot sit by and hope that the
Pastor and a couple of others will keep the fires going for all our
altars.
b. We must all keep the fire
going!
6. What are you doing to demonstrate
that you are tending to God's fire in your life and at your
altar!?
a. The repeated, "you must not let the fire go
out" in this verse
gives evidence as to how seriously God took this
command!
b. We must not,
cannot, ignore God's fire!
7. "Proper
fuel"....
a. This fire would have to be fed with
the right stuff!
b. We cannot keep God's fire alive in
our life by our own design ... we must feed it proper
fuel!
c. Repentance, sacrifice, prayer ... these
things are the proper fuel for a fire!
B. Inspection Lev.
5:13
1. Have you looked at your altar
lately?
a. Is there even an altar to look
at!
b. Is there a sacrifice on that
altar?
c. Is there a fire from God on
it?
d. Are the ashes building up and
choking out the fire?
e. Do you have fuel to feed the
fire?
2. Sometimes we want to find the "instant" excitement from God ... or the “big
rewards” ... but what we really need to do is tend the altar and the
fire under our sacrifices for God!
a. Often this is where the real
strength of our relationship to God comes from!
b. The greatest rewards are sometimes
hidden is the very ordinary things of our lives!
ILLUS: AN
OLD FARMER WHO WAS ABOUT TO DIE CALLED HIS 2 SONS TO HIS BEDSIDE AND SAID, "MY BOYS. MY FARM AND THE FIELDS ARE YOURS
IN EQUAL SHARES. I LEAVE YOU A
LITTLE READY MONEY BUT THE BULK OF MY WEALTH IS HIDDEN SOMEWHERE IN THE GROUND,
NOT MORE THAN 18 INCHES FROM THE SURFACE.
I REGRET THAT I'VE FORGOTTEN
WHERE IT LIES, YOU'LL HAVE TO FIND IT." WHEN THE OLD MAN WAS DEAD AND BURIED THE
2 SONS SET TO WORK TO DIG UP EVERY INCH
OF GROUND THEY COULD AROUND THE FARM, BEING ONLY 18 INCHES DEEP THEY DECIDED TO
USE A
PLOW
... AND THEY FIGURED THAT SINCE THEY PLOWED UP THE GROUND ANYWAY, THEY MAY AS
WELL PLANT CROPS. THE
FIRST
YEAR THEY FAILED TO FIND THE TREASURE, BUT THEY GOT A WONDERFUL CROP IN THE
FALL. THE NEXT YEAR
THEY
AGAIN PLOWED AS MUCH LAND AS THEY POSSIBLY COULD ... AGAIN THEY FOUND NOTHING,
BUT THEY PLANTED THE
NEW
FIELDS AS BEFORE ... AND THEY REAPED A HUGE CROP IN THE FALL. THE MORE THEY TURNED OVER THE
GROUND,
FIRST
IN SPRING, AND THEN IN THE FALL, AGAIN AFTER THEY HARVESTED THE CROPS THE BETTER
THEIR CROPS GREW ... BUT
THEY
NEVER DID FIND ANY TREASURE! THEY
KEPT TURNING OVER THE SOIL ... MORE THAN ANY OTHER FARMER IN THE
AREA
... AND THEY FOUND THEY HAD THE RICHEST CROPS AROUND ... ONLY YEARS LATER DID
THEY FINALLY REALIZE, THIS WAS THE
TREASURE IN THE GROUND ... THEIR CONSTANT ATTENTION TO TURN OVER THE SOIL
HAD MADE THEIR SOIL RICH, AND THEIR CROPS THE BEST ... THIS WAS THE "HIDDEN" TREASURE! THEIR CONSTANT SERVICE, MUNDANE AS IT
WAS,
LED
TO A GREAT TREASURE ... IT WAS FOUND IN THEIR FAITHFUL WORK, THOUGH THE SAME
JOB, YEAR AFTER YEAR!
– SOURCE UNKNOWN
3. How about you ... have you opened
the "door" to serving? Are the fires burning and the ashes
cleaned up?
4. The door to service may be found in
the constant attention to mundane tasks that keep the fire burning hot ... not
just in some quick flash!
CONCLUSION: Serving Christ
is much more than birth, baptism, and burial! God's call to serving is often
inconvenient, dirty, and repetitious!
Sacrifices require responsibilities. Much of our walk with God is full of
routine responsibilities, but it is these that make us strong when the unusual
strikes! Serving is not always glamorous, but it is glorious!
Keep the fires burning!