May 2003 chaplain's corner

The Chaplain's Corner is a monthly message for chaplains.

Chaplain's Corner - May, 2003

Rev. Rich Hines

This message is primarily for those who call on the name of Jesus Christ as their own Lord and Savior, and are serving as correctional or rescue mission chaplains within the United States.

Recently, at a jail association convention, I spoke with a chaplain from Pennsylvania who used to supervise many jail and prison chaplains in different locations around the country. While we were visiting over a meal, I asked him what he saw as a significant problem correctional chaplains seem to be struggling with these days.

I expected him to say something about some current trends in corrections policy or about the mentality of corrections. Rather, he said the 'busy-ness' and overload of reports and paperwork and the ministry itself, becomes for many chaplains, the excuse for not spending daily time in prayer and the word of God - working on their own relationship with Christ.

He said he knew of some that had fallen into deep, repeated sinful practices that even eventually forced them out of the ministry. In every case, those that had fallen, were those who began to spend less and less time with the Lord for themselves.

The problem of being too busy, or of 'busy-ness,' robs many chaplains of their spiritual vitality. I once heard a pastor say on the radio that his 'Job Description' was not - to have a model family and to preach Bible messages, to visit church members, run church board meetings, counsel troubled members, and visit people in their homes and when they were in the hospital. Rather, he said his 'job' was to be as close to the Lord as he could be, and then, out of the overflow of that relationship, minister to people.

That last part has always stuck with me. A man of God is to be close to God, and then, to minister out of the overflow of his relationship with the Lord. That's right on target! If your relationship with the Lord suffers, you really have nothing to give the people to whom you minister.

We can find Biblical precedent for this point, in the ministry of Moses, 'the man of God,' in Exodus 34:34,

'Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him,... and he would come out and speak to the children of Israel whatever he had been commanded.' Notice the order there. He first spent time with the LORD, BEFORE he ever spoke to the people.

Similarly, in the New Testament - the early church leaders (the Apostles) said in Acts 6:4,

'...we will give ourselves CONTINUALLY to prayer and to the ministry of the word.' (CAPITALS added for emphasis). Spending quality and quantity time with the Lord, talking to Him in prayer and hearing from Him through His word was the priority of the ministry of the early church leaders who 'turned the world upside down' with their ministry.

Those that represent the true God in this world, are first and foremost to be familiar with Him. Jesus Christ is God and at the same time the only way to know the true God. Do you remember the gospel record of Mary and Martha?

Look at Luke 10:38-42, with me.

38 Now it happened as they went that He (Jesus) entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.

39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet* and heard His word.

40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, 'Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.'

The Lord Jesus responded:

41 And Jesus answered and said to her, 'Martha, Martha you are worried and troubled about many things.

42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.'

Looking a little closer at this text of the Scripture, we see Jesus was invited into this family's home. It was very close to Jerusalem, in the village of Bethany. It was also close to the time of His death. Wanting to be a good hostess, Martha the elder sister, felt responsibility for serving dinner. She wanted everything to be just right. Picture it. There she was in her kitchen, running around taking care of many things.

Her sister Mary, in verse 39, was literally in the older manuscripts, '*sitting at the feet of the Lord.' Instead of being involved in meal preparation she was just sitting there, listening to Him. It says in verse 39, she 'heard His word.' The verb tense of 'heard' means continual action in the past. Therefore, we could translate this way, 'She had a sister called Mary, who also was sitting at the feet of the Lord and WAS ALWAYS HEARING His word.'

But for Martha, this was not the first priority. Verse 40 says Martha was 'distracted with much serving.' That word 'distracted' literally means 'to be drawn away, to be over-occupied about a thing.' By personal application then, it is to get your priorities turned around. When anything replaces time with the Lord, hearing His word, our priorities, like Martha's are turned around.

It's so interesting to me in verse 40 when Martha finally approached Jesus. Obviously perturbed, she said to Him 'Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.' Here, she was impugning the Lord's concern for her. Her focus was on what SHE was doing, how busy she was.

The next sentence of verse 40, is shocking. Martha, the believer - said to her Lord, 'Therefore TELL HER to help me.' As I dug a bit deeper, I found out the verb form of 'tell her,' is an imperative command! It also suggests the action was to take place on the spot, 'right now!' Wow! Here she was; upset and perturbed, because serving the Lord wasn't going as she had planned. So she ordered the Lord to stop teaching her sister, and to get her sister on the ball, helping with the preparations for supper.

Wow! Identifying with Martha, who are we (believers) to ever order our Lord around? But so often in prayer we tend to be like Martha, here in Luke 10. We tend to order the Lord around. Martha was out of bounds, but Jesus was really gentle to her in giving her His rebuke. Note it again in verses 41 and 42:

41 And Jesus answered and said to her, 'Martha, Martha you are worried and troubled about many things.

42 But one thing is needed, (in other words - one thing is of utmost importance and priority) and Mary has chosen that GOOD PART, (some versions, like the NIV, read 'the better part') which will not be taken away from her.'

Three words are used for the adjective 'GOOD' in the NT. The first means goodness in the sense of kindly. The second means intrinsically good. The third, which is used here in verse 42, of Mary's choice to spend time with Jesus, hearing His words; means 'that which being good in character is therefore beneficial in its effects.'

This is important. There's a message here in verse 42, in what Jesus said to Martha, for pastors and ministers and chaplains. By spending this time with her Lord, Mary was receiving ultimate truths that would fit her in the future for ministry that would be beneficial to others. The same is true for you and me. We need to spend time with the Lord listening to His word.

Lastly, on this issue, I want to take you back to John 15, to the Vine and the branches passage. Jesus was speaking to His disciples. Earlier I wrote, 'If your relationship with the Lord suffers, you really have nothing to give the people (inmates and staff) to whom you minister.'

Consider this statement in the light of John 15:4,5 -

4 'Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

5 I am the vine, you (plural) are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you (plural) can do nothing.'

Four times here in these two verses, the word 'ABIDE' is used by Jesus. The original word in the common language of the first century meant 'to remain or to continue with.' But here, as with other NT words, Jesus gave the word a new depth of meaning.

Think of the setting. Jesus and the disciples were on their way from the upper room to the Garden of Gethsemane. It may very well have been that along the way, they passed some vineyards with ripe clusters of grapes on the vines. Jesus well might have had His illustration at hand. Of course a grape branch that is cut off from it's vine is not remaining in the vine. But think a bit deeper, what's missing? The life and fruit producing enzymes that flow through the vine into the branches are not there any more.

Believers are not simply attached to Christ for a new identity, and at the same time to remain an independent entity. Rather, we are to be in a union with Him, so that like the vine - with the grape clusters bursting forth from the branches, His life and His power may flow into and through us to others.

There were people around Jesus who were not saved at all. Of course with this group of disciples, I'm thinking of Judas. At best, all Judas could ever produce would have been artificial fruit. Judas never had Jesus' life flowing into and through him.

Likewise today there are many artificial Christians producing artificial fruit. I believe this is the result of the seeker sensitive, give people want they want, easy believe-ism kind of Christianity that is so popular in America today.

When I was a young child back in the early 1950's, I went with my mother to visit some relatives. They had on their living room table, a bowl of artificial fruit. I'd never seen anything like that before. Nor had anybody explained it to me. Being hungry, when everybody else was out of the room, I grabbed what I thought was an apple. What a shock I received when I bit into it, and instead of sweet juicy apple, I got a mouth full of wax! Of course, I was also caught because my teeth marks were imprinted in the artificial fruit - for all to see.

The remembrance of my childhood error has served to remind me that nobody really wants artificial fruit. Least of all, the Lord Himself. How disappointing it must be to the Lord to see any of us producing only artificial fruit.

It only looks like the real thing outwardly, but Jesus knows it's true source.

The chaplain or pastor that doesn't spend time with their Lord, and then minister out of the overflow of that intimacy with Him, therefore does not minister in the power of the Christ's Spirit flowing through them towards people. They may see a response and measurable results - outwardly. In reality it's only 'artificial fruit' produced not by God, but rather by the will and wisdom of man, which always comes to nothing in the end. You know it and I know it.

If we love Christ and want to serve others for Him, we absolutely MUST spend time with Him in His word and in prayer, daily. In closing I challenge you to do that, this month.

So that you may know His blessings,

Rev. Rich Hines

Minister To Chaplains - Aurora Ministries