A Good and Faithful Servant
Elijah • Sermon • Submitted
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The minister advertises for a servant to help around the house.
The next morning, a nicely dressed young man comes to the front door.
The minister opens the door and wastes no time.
Can you start breakfast by 7 o’clock?"
I guess so.
Can you polish all the silver, wash all the dishes, do all the laundry, take care of the lawn, wash all the windows, iron all the clothes and keep the house clean and tidy?
For a moment the young man is speechless.
Finally, he says:
Look, pastor, I came here to see about getting married to my girl.
But if it’s going to be that much work, forget it!
Service is something we expect from other people.
You expect the waitress to keep your tea glass full.
You get annoyed when you’re asked to wait for the next available operator.
You assume the maid will make up your bed at the hotel.
Some people say service is a thing of the past.
But Jesus says you and I are called to be servants.
26 Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.
Jesus’ most faithful follower is not the boss.
It is the servant.
The question is how can you and I live as good and faithful servants of God?
The answer can be found in a story about one of His most faithful servants.
It’s found in 1 Kings 18:1-16.
PRAYER
Do you ever ask yourself what is he doing here?
You’re reading a novel, watching a TV show or a movie.
Suddenly a new character shows up.
They make their entrance and then disappear.
He doesn’t seem to add anything to the story.
He doesn’t seem to be important at all.
But nine times out ten, that unimportant character will end up being crucial.
On first reading, Obadiah seems like an unimportant character.
What is he doing here?
The main players in this story, other than God Himself, are Elijah and Ahab.
Why introduce Obadiah?
One clue is his name.
Obadiah= servant of God.
Through him, God shows us how to be a faithful servant of God.
Consider first:
To be a faithful servant of God,
1. You must be a good servant. (v. 1-3)
1. You must be a good servant. (v. 1-3)
A British lady woman is interviewing a gentleman applying for the position of servant.
She asks "Can you serve company?"
He replies, "Yes, mum, I can serve guests both ways."
The lady looks puzzled and asks,
"What do you mean, both ways?"
"I can serve them so's they'll come again...
Or I can serve them so they’ll stay away."
What is the old saying?
Good help is hard to find.
Ahab has found some good help.
Obadiah is a good servant of a bad king.
3 And Ahab had called Obadiah, who was in charge of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly.
What kind of servant do you put in charge of a palace?
A skillful man.
Not just anybody can keep a palace running smoothly.
It requires skills in administration, in dealing with money and with people.
As evil as Ahab is, he understands he needs someone skillful in charge of his
house.
What kind of servant does the king need?
A diligent man. You don’t want a lazy servant overseeing your palace.
You don’t want a servant who half-does his job.
You want someone who works hard, who does their best in everything they do.
As foolish as Ahab is, surely he understands he needs a servant who is diligent to be in
charge of his house.
Finally, one thing a king needs above all else in a servant:
A trustworthy man.
Ahab is an ungodly man.
Yet vs.3 tells us
3 And Ahab had called Obadiah, who was in charge of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly.
It is beyond belief to think Ahab doesn’t know this.
Why does an idolatrous king put a godly man in charge of his house?
Perhaps because Ahab knows he can trust a godly man.
He knows Obadiah’s loyalty to God will make him loyal to Ahab.
What does all this mean for me and you?
It means this:
Being a servant of God means being a good servant.
It means realizing you serve the Lord by serving others.
The most obvious application is to the workplace.
A good servant of God is a good employee.
22 Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. 23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.
Being a good servant of God means being a skillful, diligent, trustworthy worker.
This same thing is true when it comes to serving in your home.
Whether it’s cooking a meal, vacuuming a rug, balancing a checkbook or mowing the lawn.
You serve your family skillfully, diligently, worthy of the trust of those you love.
It applies to serving in the church.
Using your skills talents and abilities.
Being diligent, not sloppy in your service.
Being trustworthy, dependable, being reliable.
Sometimes it is embarrassing how sloppy our service to God can be.
Of some of us did our job in the workplace the way we work in the church…
How many of us could keep our job?
If you are going to be a servant of God, it begins by simply being a good servant in every area
of your life.
Another characteristic of a faithful servant of God is
2. You must be willing to serve in secret. (v. 4-7)
2. You must be willing to serve in secret. (v. 4-7)
Did you hear about the preacher voted the most humble pastor in America?
The congregation gives him a medal that says, “To the most humble pastor in America.”
Then they take it away because he wears it Sunday morning.i
Everybody like to be recognized for their service.
That’s not always a bad thing.
But a faithful servant of God has to be willing to serve in secret.
To be willing to serve not for man’s praise, but for God’s.
I have a feeling even though Ahab trusts Obadiah, Queen Jezebel has her doubts.
I don’t have any proof, but I think she is suspicious about of this servant who fears the Lord.
If she does, she has good reason.
You may remember Jezebel worships idols.
She wants everybody else to join her.
But there are some who remain faithful to the one true God.
She sets out to get rid of every single one of them.
It’s during this purge Obadiah serves the Lord in secret.
4 For so it was, while Jezebel massacred the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and had fed them with bread and water.)
But his ultimate allegiance is to the Lord.
He can’t stand by and watch God’s servants be slaughtered.
So, he comes up with a risky plan.
He gathers one hundred of these endangered prophets.
He splits them into groups of 50.
Hides them in caves.
Makes sure they have food and water.
He risks everything to serve the Lord in secret.
He has a good job as the manager of the palace.
If he is caught hiding these prophets, all that is history.
He risks his life.
If Jezebel finds out, will she not only kill those prophets.
She’ll have Obadiah murdered as well.
God uses Obadiah to hide his servants right under Jezebel’s nose.
Sometimes you must be willing to serve the Lord in secret.
Now I know the Bible calls us to let our light shine before men.
But I also know some of God’s servants get caught between a rock and a hard place.
I think about those believers who work where they are not allowed to speak about their faith.
Teachers who are not permitted to say the name of Jesus in class.
Missionaries in Muslim and communist lands have to be very careful who they speak to about the Gospel.
Employees are warned not to talk about their faith because it offends others.
Now you might say well, those folks need to leave.
Those teachers need to quit.
Those missionaries need to come home.
Those workers need to find another job.
But is that really the solution?
What would happen if every Christian schoolteacher resigned?
Who would influence those kids for good?
What hope would closed countries have of hearing the Gospel if those missionaries gave up?
You see Jesus does not just call us to be light.
He calls us to be salt.
13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
Light is eye-catching, obvious.
Salt is subversive.
It brings out the taste of food without bringing attention to itself.
God may call you to serve Him behind the scenes, to serve Him in secret.
That doesn’t mean you never share your faith.
But it means God has you where you are to season the world for His glory.
Elmer Bendiner tells the remarkable story of a B-17 bomber flying a bombing mission over Germany duringWorld War II.
The plane is hit several times by German missiles directly in the fuel tank.
Miraculously, the bomber does not explode.
When it lands, eleven unexploded twenty-millimeter shells are taken out of the fuel tank!
Inside of one shell was a note written which read, “This is all we can do for you now.”
A member of the underground, working in a German factory, dismantles the explosives in eleven of the twenty-millimeter shells on his assembly line.
That worker must have wondered often if the work he was doing to subvert the Nazi war effort was going to make any difference.
But these pilots knew it did.ii
Never underestimate the power of serving the Lord behind the scenes.
One final lesson here:
A faithful servant of God
3. You must fearlessly deliver the message. (v. 8-16)
3. You must fearlessly deliver the message. (v. 8-16)
Herb comes home from work after a very long and terrible day.
His secretary doesn’t show up.
He can’t figure out how to use the fax machine.
The district manager scolds him for not meeting his monthly quota.
He plops down in his favorite easy chair and says to his wife,
“I’ve had nothing but bad news at the office today. If there is one thing I don’t want, it is more bad news.”
His wife gently replies, “In that case, you’ll be glad to know that three out of four of your children did not break their arms today.”iii
It’s not always easy to be the bearer of unwelcome news.
But sometimes you have to just do it.
Elijah gives Obadiah a message to bring to Ahab.
At first, he’s hesitant.
9 So he said, “How have I sinned, that you are delivering your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? 10 As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to hunt for you; and when they said, ‘He is not here,’ he took an oath from the kingdom or nation that they could not find you. 11 And now you say, ‘Go, tell your master, “Elijah is here” ’! 12 And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit of the Lord will carry you to a place I do not know; so when I go and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me. But I your servant have feared the Lord from my youth.
In a respectful way, Obadiah asks Elijah are you trying to get me killed?
Elijah’s been missing for three years.
Nobody’s been able to find him.
Obadiah is afraid God may send Elijah into hiding again.
He knows Ahab is so crazy with anger…
If he tells Ahab where Elijah is and he’s not there…
He would execute him on the spot.
It’s easy to see why he needs some assurances.
15 Then Elijah said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely present myself to him today.”
I guarantee I will be here to meet Ahab.
Is it possible Obadiah is still a little nervous?
What if Elijah changes his mind?
What if the Lord does something unexpected?
Obadiah puts aside any fears he may have.
He meets Ahab and delivers Elijah’s message.
Elijah keeps his word.
And this faithful servant of God walks out of the story in one piece.
Now let’s ask another question here:
Why doesn’t Elijah bypass Obadiah and just meet Ahab?
Why does he send Obadiah to deliver this message?
Obadiah’s not a prophet.
Maybe he is trying to teach this servant of God a lesson.
Never be afraid to deliver God’s message.
This is the other side of the coin to serving in secret.
When the opportunity comes, a faithful servant of God fearlessly delivers God’s message.
You will face those times.
When you know you need to speak up.
Even if you’re afraid.
What if I make them mad?
What if they say something ugly to me?
What if I lose my job?
All those outcomes are real possibilities.
But even if you serve God in secret…
The time comes when you must fearlessly deliver His message.
It will no doubt cost you.
But it will please the Lord.
And it just might speak the words that somebody needs to hear…
Words that would bring them to repent and believe.
This is the goal of every faithful servant of God.
To deliver the message of God’s salvation to the world.
You see, being a good servant is important.
But it’s important because it provides you with a chance to fearlessly share the message.
Serving in secret is important.
But only because it eventually provides you with a chance to fearlessly share the message.
You cannot be a faithful servant of God without sharing His message.
In 1949 John Currier is found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
He is transferred to work on a farm near Nashville, Tennessee.
In 1968, Currier’s sentence was commuted.
Legally, he was a free man.
The problem was he didn’t get the message.
It was 10 more years before a parole officer finally relayed the news and John Currier finally walks free. iv
You and I are servants with a message.
A message to those who are imprisoned by sin.
Our Master has died to set them free.
And He expects us to be faithful servants who fearlessly deliver His message.
Jesus calls you and me to be a faithful servant.
A servant who serves out of love and gratitude to your master.
A good servant who works behind the scenes when necessary…
But also fearlessly delivers the message when given an opportunity.
There will come a day when you and I will give an account to Him for our service.
And the most important thing then will be to hear His Words.
Well done, good and faithful servant.