THANK GOD FOR VOLUNTEERS – Pt 3

Exodus 17:8-13 “Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.”

When William Booth, the founder of The Salvation Army, felt the call of the Lord to go into the streets of London and begin ministering to street people, he stood in a Methodist Conference meeting and requested permission from the presiding bishop to be released from his church to go into the streets and preach. The bishop heard the request and denied it telling Booth that they would not waste a man of his education and talent on the people of the streets. Upon hearing this, Booth sat down, resigned to defeat. His wife was seated in the balcony, because women were not allowed on the first floor. She stood up and leaned over the rail. She called to her husband and told him to listen to God and not to man. She vowed to stand with her husband against every foe. She came down from the balcony, Booth took her by the arm and they left the building to go into the streets to win people to the Lord Jesus Christ. He was ready to quit, but his wife, a lady who usually stayed in the background, stepped out of the shadow of her husband to hold up his arms at a critical time in his life!

This is a practical example of one like Aaron and Hur. Hur is recognized in the Word of God for what he did here with Moses, but I’m sure there were other times when Hur served the Lord but got no recognition for his efforts.

In our first CHALLENGING CONCEPTS on this passage of Scripture, we notice that THESE SERVANTS ARE ABSOLUTELY INVALUABLE. Last week we noticed that THESE SERVANTS ARE ALWAYS INVOLVED. Now, let’s go further with our thoughts:

III. THESE SERVANTS ARE OFTEN INVISIBLE

Notice verse 13 “And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.” There is no mention whatsoever of Hur, Aaron or even Moses. In fact, the only mention is that of Joshua. Hur is not mentioned before this incident. And even more importantly, he's not mentioned but a couple of times afterwards. He's kind of like living his 15 minutes of fame. But that's alright. That's what he is supposed to do. He lived in the shadows but when he was supposed to act, he did so. He was willing to be invisible as long as the will of God was accomplished.

Hur was invisible to the crowd, and so are so many, many others who are serving behind the scenes in local churches and other para-church organizations. These unsung heroes make the ministry turn as the spokes do the wheel. Nothing would be accomplished, humanly speaking, without them.

Here are some thoughts about the SERVICE OF THE INVISIBLE VOLUNTEER:

1. It’s A Thankless Task

Who got the credit for the victory at Rephidim? It wasn’t Hur. Joshua got the credit but there would have been no victory without Hur being in his place.

I remember when I was in Bible College that the Highland Park Baptist Church was always decorated so beautifully. Dr. J.R. Faulkner was always given credit for the auditorium being so lovely at all seasons and for all major events. Dr. Faulkner was credited with what took place, but he would have been the very first to point out that Tom Kilpatrick was the one behind the scenes that made it come together. To most people, Tom was invisible but he was very important.

When Grace and I were in Germany, I had many military pastors and missionaries comment about how pretty the bulletin boards were in our buildings. I was given the credit for having such lovely and attractive boards, but the real invisible hero behind the scene was a very sweet lady named Vickie Raymer. She labored hour after hour, many times with little recognition, to fulfill the responsibility that had been given to her. Mrs. Raymer never truly knew how much her ministry meant to Grace and me and we’re glad that she and her dear family continues to be a dear friends of ours to this day.

2. It’s A Task That Has To Be Done For The Lord

Godly servants do not operate with sinful motives. They do not serve because they are seeking recognition and appreciation from fellow human beings. They have no desire for power or prestige. Their feathers do not have to be smoothed because they were ruffled by not having their name called at the end of a banquet. They are doing what they do for the Lord and not man.

The volunteers who are serving for the Lord are ones who do their best. They are examples of what Paul wrote in Romans 12:11 “Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;”

Sometimes new believers are quick to volunteer for a position behind the scene but are sometimes too immature to handle being an invisible servant. The bumps in the road cause many immature volunteers to end up in the ditch. The service of volunteers must be done for the glory of God.

God wants the believer to serve Him and further the cause of Christ whether there is human affirmation or not. Godly servants need the toughness that only comes from denying one’s self and picking up his cross to follow Christ. No recognition for a job well done is little suffering compared to what our Savior faced.

The question we must ask ourselves is, “What kind of servant or volunteer are we? Why do we do what we do?”

Hur didn’t have to have human praise. He had a job to do and wasn’t offended because he did not get recognized. His purpose in holding up the hands of Moses was that he was a servant and a servant did what was needed.

There is a reward but that’s the subject of next week’s CHALLENGING CONCEPTS.

That’s my view; how about you?