“The slow boring of hard board” Max Weber

This is a partial quote which in its original form was aimed at politics. I do not often use secular quotes to make spiritual points. That was a pun for those who might not have caught it. Drill bits have points.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Ezekiel 21:9 Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished:

Do not misunderstand, the Word is not the sword here, it is sharper than a sword. I include the second quote for the issue of refurbishing. There is in this spiritual truths that apply to this slow boring of hard boards.

We all understand that refurbishing is a restoration process, to make a thing as good as new. But how does this apply to the boring process?

Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

In the prepositional use of countenance it means “in the presence of”. The implication being in the presence of our Lord, the Word.

Pulling this all together, into one contingent thought, slow progress is made in making changes in us and we must sharpen our countenance in the presence of the Word. Too much pressure and too much speed will cause burn marks in the hard board and dull the edge of the drill.

To those looking on at the process, it seems that little progress is being made. Our impatience must never replace the hand of God in operating the drill.

John 5:2-4 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.

Have you ever been on a long trip and had to rush to a gas station suddenly only to find a sign that says “Out of Service”? Need I say more?

Here in John 5 we are looking at this pool in which a “great multitude” of the sick, dying and infirmed, if not infected, come to get into that pool for healing. We pay attention to the afflicted, we pay attention to the angel who troubled the waters, we pay attention to Jesus and the miracle He did there.

Did you ever give thought to the fact that the pool was “in service”?

Who cleaned the pool? Who disinfected the pool? Who replaced the tainted water with clean water? I can find nothing within the scriptures which indicate who kept the pool “in service”.

Even the secular writings and implicated uses and naming of this pool when the city was under Roman rule do not indicate any maintenance of the pool itself.

Such is the condition of many aspects of modern day church facilities. They just mysteriously if not miraculously remain in service until something happens and they go “Out of Service”. Then it becomes all to plain who is responsible for servicing the “pool”.

The fact that nothing is known about those who serviced the pool is often reflected in modern church service. The humble servant sits back, out of the way, out of the spotlight. But let one speaker start screaming feedback during the sermon and then everyone knows where to turn.

Thank the Lord for a servant’s heart, in service.