Ministry a Mercy

Several weeks ago I listened to a Piper sermon on prayer, which of course was very good and challenging, and among other things was struck by the call to pray through scripture.  Piper highlighted the value of choosing a chapter of the Bible and praying everything that can be prayed with regard to it from the first verse to the last.  I have, in the past, prayed particular passages which seem to lend themselves to prayer--passages that were in fact written as a prayer.  But the idea of praying through any passage that I happen to be reading was new and inspirational to me, so I decided that I would do it. 

This morning, weeks later, I finally gave it a shot.  But I only made it through one verse.  I have been reading through 2 Corinthians, and this morning I dutifully read chapters 4-5, stopping to think about a verse here or there as I went, but when I got to the end there didn't seem to be any lightning bolts hitting me as I'd read these chapters many times before (as evidenced by the highlighting in my Bible).  I sat and thought about what more I needed to do in order to come away from my time in the scripture with something poignant--something that would have consequence on my life this day--when the idea of praying through a passage resurfaced in my memory.  So I turned back to the beginning of chapter 4 and gave it a whirl.

2 Corinthians 4:1 says, "Therefore since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart."  I began to pray, thanking God for bestowing His mercy on me in granting that I have a ministry.  Then I stopped and re-read the verse.  Was Paul actually saying that his ministry was an act of God's mercy toward him??  I had never noticed the word "mercy" used that way before.  In meditating on this first verse, I came to see ministry--working toward kingdom purposes--not just as a duty or even a mere privilege, but as a MERCY of God.  It is God's mercy--His compassion--toward me--that causes Him to call me into ministry.  Not being allowed to minister in God's kingdom would constitute my deserving punishment - but He shows me mercy.  This has so many implications...

1. Choosing to live for my own purposes is choosing punishment over God's mercy.
2. When I choose to veer away from a ministry opportunity that God has for me, I am neglecting God's mercy and choosing punishment.  
3. When I make my "good deeds" a mere duty by doing them just because I'm supposed to rather than as a joyful response to His love, I neglect God's mercy and choose punishment.  
4.  When I boldly invite fellow believers to join me in ministry, I invite them to experience God's mercy with me.
5.  The fact that I have been granted a ministry says nothing of my own ability or merit, but speaks only of God's mercy and ability to use vessels deserving of punishment for kingdom purposes.
6. As Paul concluded in the second half of verse one, since it is God who has mercifully granted me this ministry, any opposition or barriers that I face should not cause me to lose heart.  To receive opposition as defeat would be to make the ministry a mere means to an end rather than an acceptance of God's mercy--a joyous response to His love.*

*I realize of course that God sometimes uses barriers to our ministry to show us that it is no longer His plan for us to pursue that particular ministry.  In my conclusions here, I assume the continued spurring on of the Holy Spirit toward the ministry at hand.