W: LP: LG: FD: BK: from life of elder Zosima

In the Brothers Karamazov from the life of Elder Zosima, the elder speaks on what would bless the clergy and bring more of the people to faith. This has application to ministers and elders and all of us of all the branches of Christianity in our day. Here is a short passage to represent the idea of service (my comments in italics):

quote:
For even if he has no time, even if he says rightly that he is oppressed all the time by work* & church services, still it is not quite all the time, still he does have at least one hour out of the whole week when he can remember God. And the work is not year-round. If at first he were to gather just the children in his house, once a week, in the evening, the fathers would hear about it and begin to come. Oh, there’s no need to build a mansion for such a purpose, you can receive them simply in your cottage; do not fear, they will not dirty your cottage; you will have them only for an hour. Were he to open this book and begin reading without pretension, without putting himself above them, but tenderly and meekly, rejoicing that you are reading to them, and that they are listening to you and understand you; loving these words yourself, and only stopping every once in a while to explain some word that a simple person would not understand—do not worry, they will understand everything, the Orthodox heart will understand everything!

*(Historical note: a parish priest would often have to do his own farming as well as serve his parish.—the 19th century bi-vocational minister.)

--and then a little later in the sub-chapter—

Fathers and teachers forgive me and do not be angry that I am talking like a little child of what you have long known, which you could teach me a hundred times more artfully and graciously. I am only speaking from rapture, and forgive my tears, for I love this book! Let him, the priest of God, weep too, and he will see how the ears of his listeners will be shaken in response to him. Only a little, a tiny seed is needed: let him cast it into the soul of a simple man, and it will not die, it will live in his soul all his life, hiding there amidst the darkness, amidst the stench of his sins, as a bright point, as a great reminder.

--this is true of the Spirit’s work through the Scripture, I can testify to this effect myself. When I was converted in c.1978 it was through reading the gospel of Matthew and I had only gotten to the murder of the children by Herod (I think in ch.2), when the Holy Spirit started to break me down.
--and here would be the practical consequence of the loving ministry to the people:

And he will see that our people are merciful and grateful and will repay him a hundredfold; remembering the priest’s zeal and his tender words, they will volunteer to help with his work, and in his house, and will reward him with more respect than before—and thus his pay will be increased. It is such a simple matter that sometimes we are even afraid to say it for fear of being laughed at, and yet how right it is! Whoever does not believe in God will not believe in the people of God. But he who believes in the people of God will also see their holiness, even if he did not believe in it at all before. Only the people and their future spiritual power will convert our atheists, who have severed themselves from their own land. And what is the word of Christ without an example? The people will perish without the word of God, for their souls thirst for his word…

--this is a good lesson for me, I have had a hard time with having compassion for my fellow humans, but the solution is to love Christ and He will give me the power to love my fellow human.