Boastings of a Servant

1. Boastings of a Servant Servant’s Retreat September 6, 2009 All quotations by HH Pope Shenouda III

2. The Meek Servant • 2 Corinthians 10:1Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ--who in presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you.

3. The Meek Servant • “A meek or gentle person is calm, good-natured, lenient, and cheerful. He is calm, does not get angry, agitated, or furious, but their voice is gentle and pleasant. He does not get nervous for he is composed. The Lord Christ in His meekness was described as, ‘He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench’

4. The Meek Servant • “A meek person is calm internally and externally. Peace dominates his heart, so he does not feel anxious or disturbed. He is on peaceful terms with all, he attacks no one, hurts no one, is not harsh, and is not revengeful, even when attacked.”

5. The Meek Servant • “The meek person never interferes in the affairs of others, nor sets himself a guard over their works. Thus he condemns no one, and even if he interferes in correcting someone, he does it calmly…He restores such a brother by calm persuasion, in humbleness fearing lest he himself be tempted.”

6. The Meek Servant • “A meek person bears others with long-suffering. He is tolerant; he puts before him the words of the Scriptures, ‘A soft answer turns away wrath’ (Prov. 15:1). He looks towards God's example in forbearance and long-sufferance towards sinners. He never grumbles either in his relation with God or with people, but on the contrary, he is always cheerful and smiling.”

7. The Meek Servant • “A meek person is obliging. He is inclined to comfort people and not resist them. He does not go on arguing, discussing, persisting and inquiring but does what is good and quietly, immediately without delay and without discussion. He does not hold to his views in every thing as some may do, but lets it pass as long as the matter is not against the commandment. Therefore he is not biased, for he loves all people.”

8. The Meek Servant • “A meek person maintains his meekness. He does not lose his meekness when he holds a high position or enjoys some authority. He maintains his meekness whatever high position he attains. His heart is not elevated by the power of authority. The meek does not lose his meekness while correcting others. If he is in a position that gives him an authority to correct others, he does it without being harsh or severe and without coarse behavior or voice. He does not lose his meekness if he defends what is right.”

9. The Meek Servant • “He defends quietly without hurting the feeling of anyone. Even when he speaks frankly, his frankness is not hurting; for he expresses what he wants to say in a gentle way. At this point we remember the way the Lord Christ talked to the Samaritan woman. He revealed to her everything gently without hurting her feelings. A truly meek person never loses his meekness under the pretext of being firm or bold or by misusing power and dignity.”

10. The Meek Servant • Matthew 11:29Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. • St. John the Baptist - “He must increase, but I must decrease”

11. Meekness in the our Service • Preparing lessons • Disciplining those we serve • Dealing with our fellow servants • Taking credit for ideas • Wanting our ideas to be accepted • Obeying when we do not agree

12. The Self-Controlled Servant • 2 Corinthians 10:5casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

13. The Self-Controlled Servant • “Solomon the Wise said: ‘He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city’ (Pr 16:32). So who is the one who rules his spirit? (Meaning who controls himself?) So guard your thoughts, and do not accept any thought that comes to you. Aspire to keep your thoughts pure. And if a sinful thought comes to you beware from dealing with it and going far with it.”

14. The Self-Controlled Servant • “Expel it quickly so that it does not control you and turn into feelings in your heart. Take care from thoughts of anger revenge and lust, from thoughts of condemning others and vain thoughts, also from the thought of envy jealousy and grudge, and from the thoughts of pride and vain glory… And from every thought that does not glorify God. And even if you could not listen to the proverb that says:”

15. The Self-Controlled Servant • “If you cannot prevent the bird from hovering around your head then at least do not let it build a nest in your hair. Do not keep sinful thinking inside your head. And try to keep your mind busy all the time with useful thoughts or spiritual meditations so that if the devil fights your thoughts he never finds them free for him.”

16. Self-Control in our Service • Filled with the Spirit • Being an example • Discipline – Serving diligently, sacrificing our time, visitations, etc.

17. The Authoritative Servant • 2 Corinthians 10:8For even if I should boast somewhat more about our authority, which the Lord gave us for edification and not for your destruction, I shall not be ashamed--

18. The Authoritative Servant • “Some people misunderstand meekness, imagining that the meek is a sluggish person with no influence or effectiveness and that meekness is mere slackening! Those people may ridicule the meek and treat them with disdain. They may mock him because of his tolerance and patience. They think that because the meek do not condemn people, he would do nothing if he saw evil prevailing over good! No. This is not true meekness.”

19. The Authoritative Servant • “The right concept of meekness recognizes being connected with manliness, self-respect, courage and gallantry. We usually remember that the meek person is actually a good, lenient and indulgent person and ignore that he has also courage, self respect and gallantry! The profound words said in the Book of Ecclesiastes, apply to the conduct of the meek in various situations : ‘To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven... a time to keep silence, and a time to speak’ (Eccl.3:1,7).”

20. The Authoritative Servant • “The Lord Christ, the great example of whom it was said, ‘He will not quarrel or cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets,’ we see Him firm and strong in cleansing the Temple and driving out those who bought and sold there, saying to them, ‘It is written “My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves”’ (Matt. 21:12,13). He was also strong and firm in reprimanding the scribes and Pharisees (Matt. 23). He was firm in explaining the Law of the Sabbath and doing good on that day, though He found resistance.”

21. The Authoritative Servant • “Moses the prophet was known for his amazing gentleness and humbleness: ‘Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth’ (Num. 12:3). When Moses came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hand and saw the people singing and dancing in worship of a golden calf, he was not passive under pretext of humbleness and gentleness but became hot with anger, cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them. Then he took the calf which they made, burnt it in the fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water (Ex. 32:19,20). He reprimanded Aaron the high priest who shook before him.”

22. The Authoritative Servant • “Elihu, the son of Barachel, The fourth friend of Job. Because of his meekness he kept silent while Job's three other friends were talking (their speeches taking 28 Chapters of the Book of Job). Elihu did not open his mouth due to his exceeding meekness, seeing that the other three were older than him. However, he could not keep silent more than this when he found that all the others spoke wrongly. The Scripture says, "Then the wrath of Elihu, the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was aroused against Job... his wrath was aroused because he justified himself rather than God.”

23. The Authoritative Servant • “Also against his three friends his wrath was aroused because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job ... and said, ‘I am young in years, and your are very old; therefore I was afraid, and dared not declare my opinion to you ...’ (Job 32:2-7). Then he proceeded to rebuke them. Indeed, there is a time for every purpose under heaven. There is time for the silence of the meek and a time for talk, a time for his gentleness and a time for his firmness.”

24. Authority in our Service • Power vs. Authority • Authority over those we serve • For the purpose of edification unto holiness • Should not be abused • Does not make us better than them

25. The Wise Servant • 2 Corinthians 10:12-15For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. We, however, will not boast beyond measure, but within the limits of the sphere which God appointed us--a sphere which especially includes you. For we are not overextending ourselves (as though our authority did not extend to you), for it was to you that we came with the gospel of Christ; not boasting of things beyond measure, that is, in other men's labors, but having hope, that as your faith is increased, we shall be greatly enlarged by you in our sphere,

26. The Wise Servant • “Believe me, one of the major problems in our Church today is the lack of humility in teaching. If a servant has got a new thought from his readings, he tries to force it on others and make it a doctrine. The problem here is that you present a personal belief and not the Church's doctrines. The first Church was characterized by One thought because it was a humble Church submitting to its leaders. As the Protestants called for liberty in explaining and teaching, they were split into hundreds of beliefs.”

27. The Wise Servant • “The traditional Church, however, keeps its true faith, and does not allow individual beliefs to pollute the original doctrines handed down by the apostles. Humble servants do not show off their knowledge. They present the lesson in a simple and spiritual manner rather than in a philosophical manner. They should speak at the same level of their students or listeners. Humble servants should care about preparing their lessons, not depending on their existing knowledge as some servants do.”

28. The Wise Servant • “The measurements of God are different from those of people. He is looking at the hearts and He knows everything. When he evaluates the service, for sure, we will discover very strange facts on judgment day. Maybe we will see servants of whom we never heard about before!! Maybe we won't see the servants that we served with!!”

29. The Wise Servant: Responsibilities • “People evaluate the service according to the responsibilities of that servant. God, however, has different measurements. Let us turn to St. Stephen the first deacon, as an example. He was just a deacon, without any high rank. If the Church measured the strength of his ministry according to his rank in the Church, he would not be considered very highly, but, as it stands, he is mentioned even before all the Patriarchs.”

30. The Wise Servant: Location • “Some people relate the importance of the servant to the place where they serve, but this is wrong. An example is St. Gregory of Niazinza. He was a Bishop of…a small, unknown city. Yet, because of his deep, precious sermons and theological understanding he was called St. Gregory the Theologian. He made this city famous, it wasn't the city who made him famous.”

31. The Wise Servant: Length of Time • “Many servants measure their greatness according to the long time they have been in the ministry. There are however, servants with shorter periods of service who are more effective and productive. John the Baptist served only one or two years, and during this short period, he prepared the way for the Lord” • “Another priest who served for a short time was Father Antonious Baqui of Queens. He was the first priest sent to America in 1972. He served for only 5 months. However, his ministry was crowned with the sentence spoken by his congregation ‘We knew the Lord the day we knew you’.”

32. The Wise Servant: Number of People • “This criteria cannot be used as a tool for measuring the effectiveness of one's ministry. What counts is the number of those who are influenced by your service and those who reached God as a result of it. Our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself preached to thousands, He also ministered to the twelve disciples. These were more important than the thousands since they attracted cities and countries to the faith after Christ's ascension. The number of listeners is not important, but the number of those accepting the word with joy, in whom the word bears fruit and leads them to the life of repentance, holiness and perfection.”

33. The Wise Servant: Amount of Service • “This is in regards to doing so many services at one time. Maybe you will be so busy doing all these things, you will lose control of everything, as a result the ministry loses its spirituality.”

34. Wisdom in our Service • Should not compare with others • Should not compare with our own standard • The goal is to draw people to Christ & the Church and to lead them to a life of repentance • Only God who knows the condition of our hearts can truly measure our success

35. The Praiseworthy Servant • 2 Corinthians 10:18For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends.

36. The Praiseworthy Servant • “They read many books to gain knowledge and just transfer this knowledge to their students. But this is not service - it is education. Ministry or service is the transfer of the spirit to the children, and filling their hearts with the love of God. In other words, a servant transfers the spirit and love - not just information. The servant is a person who loves people, and gives them the love of God.”

37. The Praiseworthy Servant • “They abide in God, and consequently, abide in love, because God is love (1 John 4:16). God trains His servants to love, because love is an important element in the ministry. Without love, the ministry will be just a fruitless activity. If you haven't reached that level of love, you are not yet prepared for the ministry: What is this love we need for the service? It is to love all people, as God loves them.”

38. The Praiseworthy Servant • “To love them as your brethren, because they are the children of God and you must desire the salvation of their souls. Love the Church which contains Christ's body, love the Kingdom of Heaven where people will enjoy being with God. From all your heart you should try to lead them to the love of God, because He loved them first (1 John 4:19).”

39. Praise in our Service • John 12:43for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. • Should not: • Expect praise or appreciation • Expect to be well-treated or obeyed • Try to draw attention to our service • Serve, not simply educate

40. GLORY BE TO GOD FOREVER