Sermon Tone Analysis

Will a Man Serve God for Nothing?

Ron Dunn

Job

 

(Facing the Giants—This sermon would probably lend itself well to the clip where Coach Taylor is talking to the team and says, "It means we've got to give Him our best in every area.

And if we win, we praise Him; and if we lose, we praise Him.

Either way, we honor Him with our actions and our attitudes."

Ron Dunn deals with this issue on a much deeper level looking at the life of Job.

But FTG could open up the question of, "Will a man serve God regardless of the outcome?")

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.

And the Lord said to Satan, "From where do you come?"

Then Satan answered the Lord and said, "From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it."

And the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job?

For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil."  (Job 1:6-8, NASB)

 

Now those were the words of God, not Job's publicist or his mother.

And God repeated them later in the book.

Satan replied by asking, "Does Job fear God for nothing?"

The word nothing in the Hebrew means "out of favor."

It speaks of an ulterior motive.

In other words, the devil can't understand why anyone would serve God in the first place.

So when he sees someone serving God, he's always suspicious of that person's motives.

So he said, "Yeah, I know about Job.

I know that You've blessed him.

I know that You've increased his substance in the land.

You've made him the richest man in the East.

Not only that, but You've also built a hedge around him so that nothing can touch him or all that he has."

The devil insinuated that Job wasn't serving God for nothing—there had to be a payoff.

He thought God had given Job "the Midas touch" and protected all that He gave Job.

Satan thought he knew the truth about Job.

Basically he told God: "If You were to stretch forth Your hand and touch all that he has and reduce him to nothing, You would find out the truth about Job, and he would curse You to Your face.

Nobody will serve God if there's no payoff."

I believe the theme of this book is not "Why do the righteous suffer?" but "Why do people serve God?" Will a person serve God for nothing—if there are no blessings attached or no payoff?

I have to confess to you that the devil has asked a very legitimate question.

It's a question that all of us must face and somehow try to answer.

Why do you serve God?

Why do you go to church on Sunday?

Why do you tithe?

I remember when I was in seminary, a fellow pastor nearby was having a thirteen-week stewardship campaign.

They would mail letters every week to every member of the church to encourage them to give.

In every Sunday School class each week, someone would testify to the blessing of tithing.

The pastor preached on tithing.

The whole thing was capped off with a stewardship banquet, and everyone on the church roll was invited.

A dynamic preacher came in and encouraged the people to tithe, and then they all signed the pledge cards.

I picked up this friend on the day after the banquet, and I could tell he wasn't very happy.

He was frustrated with the pastor who spoke—his first words to the congregation were, "The only thing I can promise you if you tithe is that you'll have ten percent less than you did before."

The speaker proceeded by telling them they should tithe because God commands it, not because we want His blessings.

Of course, I believe God will bless us for giving.

And I've always said that if God doesn't get it through the tithe, He'll collect it some way.

Sometimes I tithe out of an unworthy motive that I'm going to get something back.

Most of us believe that if we give to God and serve Him, that He's going to bless us.

But my question to you is: What if He didn't?

What if you said, "I'm going to start tithing."

And you tithe with the expectation that God is going to bless you, and the minute you start tithing, you go bankrupt and lose everything.

What about that?

Will a person serve God for nothing?

Is there such a thing as "disinterested piety?"

In other words, is there such a thing as a person worshiping God without any interest in the blessings that might come?

Or, is it true that we serve God knowing that if we do, He's going to bless us?

It's easy to be good when the good have the goods.

It's easy to serve God when everything is going your way.

But here's the question: Is God alone worthy of our service without any of His blessings?

The Book of Job is a book of questions.

In many ways, it's a frustrating book because it's built of questions on top of questions.

One question is answered by asking another one.

I'm going to attempt to answer the question: Will a person serve God for nothing?

And the way to answer that question is to ask three other questions.

 

1.

Will a person serve God when his life turns tragic?

I'm using the word tragedy in the classical literary sense—tragedy, as opposed to regular suffering.

Tragedy is when a good man or woman suffers undeservedly for no reason.

Their suffering cannot be traced back to any cause, and it seems to serve no other purpose than to destroy the human spirit.

Theologians call it radical suffering, as opposed to regular suffering.

There is suffering that you and I deserve.

But Job's suffering was undeserved.

Now it happened on the day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, that a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans attacked and took them.

They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you."

While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died; and I alone have escaped to tell you."

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped.

And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there.

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord."

Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.  (1:13-22, NASB)

 

What we have here is a wager going on between the devil and God.

The devil said, "God, I'll make You a bet.

I'll bet that if You were to put forth Your hand and touch Job and take away everything he has, that he would curse You to Your face."

And God said, "I'll take that bet."

Here is an interesting thing: we always talk about our faith in God, but sometimes God has faith in us.

God had faith in Job.

God said to Satan, "You may take and do whatever you want with him, but I have faith in My servant that he will serve Me for nothing."

So the Lord won the first round.

Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord.

and the Lord said to Satan, "Where have you come from?"

Then Satan answered the Lord and said, "From roaming about on the earth, and walking around on it."

And the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job?

For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil.

And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to ruin him without cause."

And Satan answered the Lord and said, "Skin for skin!

Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.

However, put forth Thy hand, now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse Thee to Thy face."

So the Lord said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life."

Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.