Recently the words of an old hymn flooded my mind. The song was written by Oswald J. Smith, pastor of the Toronto (Canada) Bible Church for many years and one of the great missionary-evangelists of the last century. The words of the first verse go: "There is joy in serving Jesus, As I journey on my way. Joy that fills the heart with praises, Every hour and every day." Then the chorus: "There is joy, joy, joy in serving Jesus, Joy that throbs within my heart; Every moment, every hour, As I draw upon His power, There is joy, joy, joy that never shall depart." Now I have not heard this song, well in years. It certainly is not part of the repertoire of modern church music. I wonder why?
Perhaps it is because we have lost that joy that comes in serving Jesus. We have forgotten how wonderfully blessed we are to share His love with others. We have become too consumed with the cares of this world. We are too absorbed with the burden of living that we have forgotten the reason for life itself.
Throughout the Scripture we are commanded to be joyful. Be joyful in our praise to God - "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth." Well, we make noise, but I wonder how much joy there is in our praise? We are to be joyful at all times and in all things - "Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice." If that is the case, then why is there so much grumbling being done. At times we sound like the children of Israel as they came out of Egypt...never satisfied with what God supplies for us. And we are to serve the Lord with joy - "serve the Lord with gladness; come into His presence with singing." Yet I see little joy today in ministry. Pastors are burdened with the cares of a troubled financial world and of having to balance truth with tolerance. Worship leaders are burdened with the contest between traditional versus contemporary. Leaders of non-profit groups battle the increased needs with the increased lack of funds. Joy...don't bother me with joy! It is a fight for survival!
I am reminded of those final words of Jesus to His disciples. Included is this admonition: "In the world you will have tribulations; be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world." Joy is not a product of looking at my circumstances. Joy is the product of my relationship with Jesus Christ. And therein lies the reason for our lack of joy today. We focus more time and energy upon our circumstances than upon our relationship.
"Lord, restore to me the joy of ministry; the joy of serving You. Restore to me the joy of sharing Your love and Your Word with others!"
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1 comment:
Your blog caught my eye because today, as I write, is the 137th anniversary of the birth of Bentley Ackley, who wrote the music for Smith's song (and collaborated with him on others).
Unless they have changed their name in recent years, Oswald Smith pastored the People's Church in Toronto. I've been there a number of times, sung there, and met Dr. Smith there, years ago.
But to your point, yes, the element of joy is sometimes missing from our service. It would be interesting to explore the reasons. Christians loaded down with too many duties? People pressed into service in tasks for which the Lord has not gifted them? A carnal attitude that focuses on my benefit in whatever I do? We could make quite a list!
Thanks for stimulating my thinking. God bless.
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