Think with me for a moment about all the ways you have been lovingly served by your brothers and sisters in Christ. I am sure that I can only think of some of the many ways I have been blessed by the service of other believers in my life. I have enjoyed encouragement, admonition, comfort and so much more. On some occasions I have received what I most needed through words. On other occasions I have been blessed by the physical and material support that matched my need at the time. To truly describe the way I have been served in my local church would require a long list I could add to every week.
There is a special love that can be identified in God's family and the author of Hebrews says that it's a love that flows from God's saving work in our lives. When we see people serving each other in the church, we see them reflecting their Savior and showing their love for Christ.
For many, Hebrews 6 is a difficult passage of Scripture to understand. The early verses of Hebrews 6 contain a very strong warning. The author makes the point that saving faith in Jesus is a persevering faith that grows into the likeness of our Savior. Those who walk away from this cannot be restored. They would inevitably show that they were not saved to begin with. The warning is for all Christians, and it is a sincere warning that is made to help keep us on track. We stay on track in the Christian life by heeding the warnings and holding the promises. After the strong warning in the beginning of Hebrews 6, we then read this...
Hebrews 6:9-11 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things--things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end
On the other side of the warning about apostasy is the promise of assurance. As saints persevere in faith in Christ, one of the ways we can see our love for Christ working out in our lives is through the way we serve each other. Our love for Christ is epitomized in our love for his church. The author of Hebrews says..."the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints." He then connects this to assurance of hope until the end.
It's easy to under-rate the importance of serving each other in the church. Often when churches speak of serving, our minds can jump to the list of duties we all need to help with on Sunday mornings or the maintenance jobs around the building. As we gather as the church each week there is a reality to the duties we need to fulfill. If this is all serving is, it can too easily be reduced to a list of activities for Sunday. Serving each other happens both in the way we volunteer for the tangible needs of our gatherings and in the everyday way we come along side each other with the words and love of Christ. If you want to know what that is, just read all the one-another statements of the New Testament. They're not hard to find.
When we care about the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ, we are giving of ourselves for the sake of those for whom Christ died. When we love the church, we are saying we love Jesus.
Serving is so much more than a Sunday morning duty. It is the everyday assurance that Christ has given you a heart for his people because that heart reflects our love for Jesus. When Christ loves the church, so do we. There is an assurance in that.
The author of Hebrews warns us about leaving the church, but he promises us assurance in loving each other as we show our love for Jesus. That's beautiful! That makes me want to serve my church family all the more.