I have been saying, with perhaps vain repetition, that the words of
our text and context do not exhaust the whole truth of man's
relation to God. They do exhaust the truth of the relation of God to
any man that has not faith in his heart, because such a man is a
slave in the worst sense, and any obedience that he renders to God's
will externally is the obedience of a reluctant will, and is hard
and harsh, and there is no end _to_ it, and no good _from_
it. But if we accept the position, and recognise our own impotence,
and non-desert, and humbly say, 'Not by works of righteousness which
we have done, but by His mercy He saves us,' then we come into a
large place. The relation of master and slave does not cover all the
ground _then_. 'Henceforth, I call you not slaves, but friends,' And
when the wearied slave comes into the house, the new task is not
a new burden, for he is a son as well as a slave; but the work is
a delight, and it is a joy to have something more to do for his Father.
If our service is the service of sons, sweetened by love, then there
will be abundant thanks from the Father, who is not only our owner,
but our lover.
For Christian service--that is to say, service based upon faith and
rendered in love--_does_ minister delight to our Father in
heaven, and He Himself has called it an 'odour of a sweet smell,
acceptable unto God.' And if our service on earth has been thus
elevated and transformed from the compulsory obedience of a slave
to the joyful service of a son, then our reception when at sundown
the plough is left in the furrow and we come into the house will be
all changed too. 'Which of you, having a servant, will say to him,
Go and sit down to meat, and will not rather say to him, Make ready
whilst I eat and drink?' That is the law for earth, but for heaven
it is this, 'Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when He
cometh, shall find watching. Verily, I say unto you, that He shall
gird Himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth
and serve them.' The husk is gone now, I think, and the kernel is
left. Loving service is beloved by God, and rewarded by the
ministering, as a servant of servants, to us by Him who is King of
kings and Lord of lords.
'Lord, increase our faith,' that we may so serve Thee on earth, and
so be served by Thee in heaven.