THE GARDENER

 

Last month I wrote about the rented house that the Lord promised me on Christmas Day 1974 as he spoke through Acts 28:30: “For two whole years Paul stayed in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him.” I did have lots of visitors and even meetings in the little house that the Lord provided for me – and yes, I did stay there for exactly two years!

While I was there Bill, a member of our church who was a great amateur gardener, took it upon himself to keep the small garden neat and tidy. This was not something unique for me, in fact he freely did the same for other people that he knew. Many times I would look out of the window of my little house and there he would be – cutting the grass without any announcement. He would just do it. He also turned up every Sunday morning to help me prepare the hired hall where the church was meeting at the time and again I never asked him to do it, but he happily gave of himself and his time. I like people like that, people who know how to serve humbly with no thought of reward or recognition. Bill was a hard worker and he was a willing servant.

We talk about being in ministry but the word ‘minister’ means servant. To be a good minister of Jesus Christ means to be His slave. To serve Him is perfect freedom but it is hard work and there is absolutely no place for lazy people or pretentious people who want celebrity status as leaders in the Kingdom of God. As always Jesus turned the world upside down – or rather, right side up. He said “Whoever wants to be first will be last and whoever wants to be the leader must be the servant of all” - and as always, Jesus practiced what he preached. He laid down his life in service every minute of his three year ministry - until the bitter end when He died as the totally obedient Suffering Servant of God.

Bill taught me another lesson too, when I did his funeral I told this story about him. In the garden of my little rented house I planted some tomato plants by the window where they caught the sun for a good part of the day. My next door neighbour had some too and he always had better plants than me. I was quite pleased with the way my tomato plants were growing. They were very green with lots of leaves and branches. Then one day Bill turned up unannounced and there he was cutting them all right down. I think pruning is the right word but it seemed to me that he was destroying them! I could not complain and it was already too late. As time went by, Bill kept coming - watering and checking on the plants until they had the biggest red tomatoes I had ever grown. I must confess that this gave me great joy because they were in full view for my expert gardener-neighbour to see and mine were far better than his!

Skilful pruning produces better fruit and painful as it may seem at the time, the things that “go wrong” in ministry, the times we get pruned by difficult circumstances and challenges make us more fruitful and strong - if we submit to it.

“My Father is the gardener... Every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so it will be even more fruitful… I am the vine you are the branches. If a man remains in Me he will bear much fruit, apart from Me you can do nothing.” John15:2 and 5.

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