Romans 12:7a - God’s Gracious Gift of Service

Imagine your normal arrival to worship on the Lord’s Day. But as you approach the front doors, many people are standing around. Apparently, the church doors are locked. Eventually someone finds the key, and they let everyone in.

No one is sure how to turn on the light, but someone figures it out. You make your way to a seat, but you notice bugs on the floor, which hasn’t been swept.

You smell a foul odor, and it turns out that no one has emptied the trash in weeks.
It’s also very hot in the sanctuary. The AC hasn’t been set, and now it’ll take a while for the room to cool off.

Then you visit the restroom, but it’s unclean and smells bad in there as well. Now, if you have small children, perhaps you go down to check them into the nursery. You like having them with you in worship, but it’s a nursery kind-of-day! However, there’s no one to receive the child, no one in the nursery, and the nursery is a mess and not ready for children.

So you make your way back to your seat, and from your seat by a window, you notice that the church grounds are in disarray. The grass is in great need of cutting, limbs and leaves are scattered around the parking lot. It’s very unwelcoming – and it dawns on you that there’s no one at the door to welcome worshippers, especially visitors.

All around the church, various tasks have been left undone – tasks that might otherwise go unnoticed, but when neglected, are sorely missed.

We easily overlook or undervalue acts of service. And yet Christ described His own redemptive work as serving. Christ humbled Himself and served us to establish His covenant community, and He continues to serve us – in part through gifts He gives.

Among those gifts is the spiritual gift of service. Like the other gifts, the gift of service demonstrates the generosity, wisdom, and personal nature of God’s grace. So we should pay close attention to the needs of the church met through service, and to those who serve, so that we may appreciate and enjoy God’s grace more.

But how does the gift of service demonstrate God’s grace? The generosity of God’s grace is on display as He supplies the ability to serve the needs of His church. The wisdom of God’s grace is on display as He knows the full scope of what His church needs. And the personal nature of God’s grace is on display as He enables particular members to meet those needs.

This word translated “service” is related to our word “deacon.” It can also be translated as “ministry.” The ordained office of deacon is one of service and sympathy. Elder is the office of Word ministry, deacon the office of Deed ministry.

The ministries of Word and Deed go hand in hand, encompassing the ministry of the church. This may be why Paul lists “service” right after proclamation of God’s revealed truth; though importantly, “service” here doesn’t seem to indicate ecclesiastical office only. The spiritual gift of serving is given to many in the congregation. And if serving is a spiritual gift graciously given to you, Paul urges you to use it.

You may wonder, “Do I have that gift?” Well, certainly every believer can and should serve others. But some are especially gifted by Christ to serve. Some possess an unusual ability to recognize and respond to needs of service. Some believers walk into the room and simply see a room. Others immediately see things that need attention. Before anyone asks, they're thinking about what needs to be done, who to call, and how to involve others. That's the gift of service on display.

Our deacons are especially gifted for service and sympathy. But they aren’t called to do all the work themselves. They lead others in serving. There are also those we might call “deacons' assistants.” These are both male and female believers especially gifted to serve alongside the deacons – people like Phoebe, whom Paul honors by name in Romans 16.

For the church to be nourished by Word, sacrament, prayer, and fellowship, many tasks must be completed. Our gracious God generously supplies the ability to serve the church’s needs. Every task done – not only in preparation for worship, but in all that we do as a church – both on these grounds and away from them – in all that we do for one another, we do so because God supplies the ability. What’s more, He supplies the desire. And He does so that we as the body of Christ may be built up together in love.

God’s gift of service is also very wise.

Imagine that someone offers to help you with some project at your home. They arrive with all sorts of expensive tools and equipment, but there's one problem: none of the tools are useful for what needs to be done! You appreciate their generosity, but they haven’t really helped you.

For the task ahead, you need someone who not only cares deeply and gives generously but also understands the nature of your need. You need someone who can foresee the workload and determine exactly what's required to accomplish it. You need someone with not only willingness, but wisdom.

God doesn't merely give generously to His church. He gives wisely. He knows the full scope of what His church needs to function and flourish. His gifted servants are the wisdom of His grace on display.

At the end of Romans 11, Paul writes, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!” The one true God is omniscient, in other words, all knowing. So of course He knows what the church needs to operate according to His good plans. And He has wisely gifted many to serve and lead the way in service.

Do you sense the call to bless the body of Christ with acts of service? Then you should serve! We continue to watch with wonder here as He brings servants who do His will. We see it in every facet of service here among the body of Christ.

So God’s gracious gift of service is also very wise. But additionally, it’s very personal. We might mistakenly assume that God is far off, We might assume that since God is transcendent, He is therefore distant. We might believe that He generously and wisely gave the gift of service to many, but then He removed Himself from the situation. But that is not the God of the Scriptures. For God, it’s not just business. It’s personal.

In Mark 10, Jesus said that even He came “not to be served, but to serve.” And His service to His people didn't end with His earthly ministry. In Matthew 28, Christ says, “Behold, I am with you always, to the end.” The Lord simply is not distant from His church. He is personally present in and with His people, and by His grace, He enables particular members to meet the needs of service for His church.

Think about that. God doesn't merely supply what is needed. He supplies people who meet those needs. And through their service, we experience the personal care of our gracious God. Serving, like all of the spiritual gifts Christ has given, is done by people for people. It's very personal, even if the person serving doesn't say, “Hey, I did this for you,” and the person being served doesn't say, “Hey, thank you for doing that.”

And we should never lose sight of why we serve one another. In Colossians 3, Paul writes, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”

We serve Him, though He doesn't need our service. In Acts 17, Luke writes, “The God who made the world and everything in it…does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything. Isn't that remarkable? The God who needs nothing from us graciously provides everything we need to serve Him and one another. And He does so personally, working by His Spirit in and through particular members of His church.

When you see someone serving, don't merely see the work being done. Recognize the generosity, wisdom, and personal care of God on display. And if God has graciously gifted you to serve, then serve! The apostle Peter wrote that whoever serves should serve “by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” In serving one another, we serve the Lord Jesus Christ, who first served us.

The table here before us is another example of His service on display. We have a meal instituted by our Living Lord – by Him who was and is fully God and fully man.

Think for a moment about when you go out to eat at a restaurant. For you to enjoy the wonderful, nourishing meal, many servants are required. There’s your waiter or waitress, of course. But also there are those who cook and clean. Perhaps someone showed you to your seat. Someone built and maintains the establishment. Additionally, someone maintains the city where the establishment was built.

On and on, many servants are necessary – all so that you may enjoy the meal. That’s the point, right? The meal! So that you can be nourished, and strengthened. So that you might relax and reflect. So that you may be refreshed. So many serve for the sake of the meal.

Christ is that meal. Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Let’s bow together in prayer.