Serving the Lord Jesus (Part 2)
By Ralph I. Tilley

In part one of this series on the subject of the spiritual discipline of Christian service we addressed four specific areas: the biblical basis for Christian service, consecrated service, the wide range of Christian service, and what constitutes faithful and true service to the Lord Jesus.
Now, to continue . . .

Service: Its History and Practice
in the Church

Since the spiritual discipline of service is clearly and extensively taught in the sacred Scriptures, especially in the New Testament, one should fully expect to find examples of this discipline in the history and practice of the Church. The person making such a search will not be disappointed. Inasmuch as the book of Acts is a history of the Church's first 30 years or more, we will highlight areas of the discipline of service practiced by the first-century Christians, as well as note how this discipline was lived out in the lives of God's people in later Church history.

The Book of Acts. Every page of Acts records the involvement of early believers in exercising the spiritual discipline of service. From praying in the Upper Room (yes, prayer is service) to the record of Paul's "proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance" from prison33—these early Spirit-filled Christians went everywhere in the service of their risen Lord. Let's highlight a few examples.
Theses first-century believers practiced a caring-love for the poor, and especially the poor widows among them. One of the first crises arising in the Church was over the neglect of certain widows. Acts 6 provides us with the account of the Hellenist widows complaining to the apostles because the Hebrew widows were getting favored attention in the distribution of food and funds. It was this complaint which caused the apostles to convene a meeting, from which resulted in the selection of seven deacons to oversee the fair distribution of resources to all believing widows. These deacons were servants of the Church, men who were characterized by their wisdom, faith, and godly lives.34

The apostles Paul and James both made note of how the churches were to care for widows. Paul instructed Timothy to make sure the church would "Honor widows who are truly widows"35—meaning that the local churches should materially provide for those widows who met the early Church's criteria.36 James reminded his readers that of the three marks which characterize authentic believers, one of them is the care of widows: "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their afflictions, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."37

Prayer was a vital and important component in the life of the early Church. In his gospel account Luke identified prayer as service in his account of the aged Anna. Said Luke: "She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers."38 And Luke's history of the Church's first 30 years is replete with accounts of the first believers serving the Lord night and day with their prayers. Here are a few of those accounts of the Church at prayer as recorded in the first nine chapters of Acts.

In Acts 1, 120 believers "were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his disciples."39 Also in Acts 1, the Church is seen praying for the Lord to guide them in selecting Judas Iscariot's successor.40 Acts 3 says the Church was "devoted" to prayer.41 In Acts 5 we discover the believers gathered together in prayer asking God to renew them in boldness that they might teach and preach the gospel of Jesus effectively in the face of severe opposition and persecution.42 Acts 6 finds the Church gathering to select its first deacons, consecrating them to serve the social needs. After their selection, the apostles laid their hands upon them, offering prayer.43

Prayer was a central act of service for the Church; it was the very core of its existence. The Church did nothing without prayer. They were always serving the Lord by their prayers. In Acts 8 the deacon Stephen closed his earthly life by falling to his knees, praying for his persecutors: "Lord, do not hold this sin against them."44 And in Acts 9 we find the convicted Saul of Tarsus falling to his knees in prayer.45

To the first believers prayer was the most important service they could engage in; it took precedence over every other form of service. But what about the Church's subsequent history and the practice of the spiritual discipline of service? The following accounts will serve as windows in shedding some light on what the Church thought about service and how the Christians practiced it throughout the centuries. Although the history of the Church comprises the whole church, not just its leaders, it is the leaders that recorded history has so much to say about. Therefore, the following vignettes will provide an overview of how the discipline of service was practiced by a few of the Church's leaders.

Justin Martyr. Justin Martyr (c. 100 - c. 165) was one of the Church's first apologists. He was born in Neapolis in Samaria of Gentile parents. As with several of the Church's first leaders, he served the Lord and the Church by writing extensively in the defense of the Faith. We have preserved for us two of his apologies, First Apology and a shorter one, Second Apology, in which he protests a particular case of injustice against Christians in Rome, where he taught from 150 AD.

Possibly the foremost service Justin rendered to Christ and His Church was that of offering his body as a martyr. In writing of his death, Edwin Yamauchi says, "According to an accurate account compiled in the third century, Justin was brought to trial with six other believers c. 165 AD. He answered his interrogator simply and went courageously to his death. As he had declared earlier to the emperor, 'And you, you can kill us, but not hurt us.' "46

Jerome. Jerome (331-420) dedicated much of his life to the translation of the Bible into the Latin Vulgate version. He was an ascetic and very rigid in practicing the spiritual disciplines.
Bruce Shelley shares a crisis in Jerome's life that forever changed his course of Christian service. It was "about 374, while still a novice in the life of self-denial, he fell ill during Lent and in a nightmare he dreamed that he was standing before the great Judgment Seat. From somewhere came a voice, strong and terrifying: 'You, Jerome, are a Ciceronian, not a Christian.' "47

Jerome had inordinately loved the pagan works of Cicero, Sallust, Lucretius, Virgil, Horace and Juvenal. He interpreted this dream to mean the Lord wanted him to quit reading these works and give himself solely to the study of the Holy Scriptures, which he did, and the Church is much the better for his having done so.

Augustine. After being converted from a profligate life of sin, Augustine of Hippo (354-430) became a stellar example of Christian service. His life overflowed with love for God and humanity. This love, Augustine wrote, would evidence itself in practical deeds of righteousness and good works: "Where love burgeons, there burgeons righteousness; where charity blossoms, there blossoms righteousness; abundance of love is abundance of righteousness."48

Augustine , like his Lord, went about doing good. One of the outstanding services he performed for the Church was as its defender of truth. Augustine went head-to-head against the heresy of Pelagianism, which denied original sin and the fall of humanity. He was well aware of the corruption of man's heart, apart from grace—he knew himself too well to think differently. This attitude was often reflected in his prayers of confession. "I beg you, my God, to show me myself, so that I may confess the fault that is in me to my brethren who will pray for me. Let me question myself more carefully." Again, "I am poor and needy, yet I am the better when, groaning secretly in my dissatisfaction with myself, I seek your mercy till the time comes when what is defective in me will be made good and brought to perfection in that peace which is unknown to the eye of the proud."49

Anselm. Going now to the second millennium, Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) gained a reputation as "one of the most prolific and profound writers of the Middle Ages."50 When only fifteen years of age, Anselm decided to devote his life entirely to Christ in the service of a monk.

One of Anselm's most important legacies is his work on the atonement, which is the first of its kind, Cur Deus Homo ("Why God Became Man"). Dermot McDonald says of Anselm that his "earliest writings, the prayers and meditations, are characterized by a deep devotion to Christ . . . . His letters of advice, compliments, consolation, reproof, and on ecclesiastical and theological subjects are all models of pastoral affection and understanding." In writing to a believer to encourage him to persevere in faith, Anselm wrote, "Of evil works we ought to repent, and forsake them before we die: lest the day find us in them. But of good works we ought to persevere till the end, that in them our soul may be taken out of life."51

Julian. Julian of Norwich (1342-1416) would be considered by most Church historians as a Christian mystic. She was considered by many of her peers as a devout woman who was known for her intense love and passion for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Julian wrote extensively about the revelations she received. After receiving, what she called "Revelations of Divine Love," Julian wrote, "These revelations were shewed to a simple unlearned creature living in this mortal flesh, in the year of our Lord one thousand three hundred and seventy-three, on the thirteenth day of May." Following her revelation of love, a biographer says, "After languishing three days and three nights Julian received the last sacraments; for two more days and nights she continued to grow weaker, until everybody around her, and herself too, believed her last moments had come. Then she was suddenly and completely cured. Then the figure of Christ on the cross upon which she had fixed her gaze, became alive before her eyes. Blood trickled down from under the crown of thorns 'hot and fresh and right plenteously.' "52

Whatever one may conclude about Julian's visions, no one could doubt her love for Christ. She gave herself without reservation to her Lord and the Church, by speaking and writing about the love of God revealed in Christ Jesus the Lord.

Luther. Martin Luther (1483-1546) remains the most outstanding figure in the later half of the fifteenth century and the first half of the sixteenth century. Having undergone an evangelical conversion following years of spiritual darkness in the Roman Catholic Church, Luther was used by God to resurrect the biblical teaching with respect to the doctrine of justification by faith.

Having been raised and educated in an ecclesiastical system which was permeated with a works-righteousness theology, God turned this Catholic monk around until he began to proclaim far and wide his new-found experience and beliefs. From the nailing of the Ninety-Five Theses on the church door at Wittenberg, Germany to his death, Luther was God's servant in calling the Church to radical reformation.

Of his tireless work in the service of the Church, Shelley writes that to the very end Luther "was an advisor to princes, theologians and pastors. He wrote on various theological topics. He continued his biblical studies, publishing major commentaries on Galatians and Genesis. He also completed his translation of the Old Testament, so that his complete Bible was published in 1534. He continued to preach regularly and teach at the university."53

— Soli Deo Gloria —

33. Acts 28:31.
34. See Acts 6 for a full account.
35. 1 Timothy 5:3.
36. See 1 Timothy 5:3-16.
37. James 1:27.
38. Luke 2:37, NASB (italics mine).
39. Acts 1:14.
40. Acts 1:24-25.
41. Acts 3:42.
42. Acts 4:23-31.
43. Acts 6:6.
44. Acts 8:60.
45. Acts 9:4-5.
46. Edwin M. Yamauchi. Great Leaders of the Christian Church, p. 42.
47. Bruce L. Shelley. Church History in Plain Language, p. 93.
48. Charles Boyer. Spirituality Through the Centuries, p. 16.
49. Augustine of Hippo. The Confessions of Augustine, pp. 251-252.
50. Yamauchi. p. 127.
51. Yamauchi. p. 128.
52. Anna Maria Reynolds. Pre-Reformation English Spirituality, pp. 198-199.
53. Shelley. p. 196.