Today some of you are being commissioned to serve your church as elders, active upon session. Some of you already serve in that capacity. All of you are called to be disciples of Jesus Christ. What does it take to be faithful servants?

I want to look with you at some words spoken by a Shunammite woman about one of the great prophets of the Old Testament, Elisha. This lady has witnessed Elisha's comings and goings and wants to do something to help him in his ministry. She says to her husband, in 2 Kings 4:10; "Please, let us make a little walled upper chamber and let us set a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand."

She's an astute lady this Shunammite. She recognizes some important things about serving God that might not at first be obvious. And as we'll see at the end of the story, by acting on those things, good things happened in her life. In this passage are some subtle hints as to what it takes to be a faithful servant.

1. The support of those who recognize your calling.

The first thing I want you to notice is that Elisha receives affirmation in His calling, by those that he ministers to. Those of you who have been elected elders have received your call through people who have recognized gifts and qualities about your service of Jesus Christ that make them feel that you are somebody who can make a valuable contribution to leadership in this church.

You may not be conscious of those things yourself, you may wonder why God has called you, you may not feel up to the task, but through your election to office, an affirmation of your faith has taken place. People here believe God is at work in your lives.

That's how it was with the Shunammite woman towards Elisha. She recognized God's call was upon him. But she did something more. She affirmed him in that call in practical ways, by feeding him and providing a place for him. "Please" she says to her husband, "Let us do something for him"

Those of you who are the body of the church, you have a responsibility. You have called these folk to serve you. They are not convinced they are up to the task. You must support them. Today you will affirm them through this service of commissioning. Please, continue to do so. Please, pray for them. Please, respect their decisions, even if you don't always agree with them. Recognize that leadership within God's church in these days is no little thing.

Faithful elders are the product of prayerful congregations. I like the way in some churches in their bulletins and church reports, under the words "Ministers", they write, "The Congregation". We are called to support one another in the task of being the Church.

The practical things that the Shunammite woman wishes to provide Elisha give us a clue as to what the business of being faithful servants involves. The first thing she asks for him is "A walled upper chamber". The first thing needed to be a faithful servant is the support of other faithful servants.

2. Space to fulfill your Calling

Spiritual life has both its public side and it's private side. To be a faithful servant, yes, we need to do all the public things, go to committee meetings, care for each other, worship together, serve together, but there also needs to be a personal devotion life that keeps us personally in tune with God. Figuratively speaking we need our own "Walled upper chamber". We need to make space in our lives for individual time out with God.

Remember what Jesus taught us about prayer? When you pray, go somewhere private, shut the door behind you, and get intimate with your Father God. This is a discipline that in our busy lives we can so easily neglect. We have to, build room into our lives for our personal devotions.

If we don't schedule time, the building never really gets started. God is seeking to do a construction work in our hearts. God's building the Kingdom. God tells us we are temples, not of bricks and stone but flesh and soul. So make room. And guard that time as sacred. Put walls around it. Make it a priority. We need our personal "walled upper chamber".

The next thing she asks is "let us set a bed for him there". Now if you were making a list of things required to be a faithful servant of God, would you put... number 2 - a bed? The fact is that there are far to many servants of God who are ineffective because they are stressed out, worn out and on the way to being burnt out. To be a faithful servant you need

3. Adequate Rest

Rest, Recreation, and a good nights sleep are some of the most effective tools in the service of God. Our calling is not to single handedly save the world. Leave that to Superman. You don't look that good in tights and a cape.

Jesus said, "Live one day at a time, tomorrow has enough worries of it's own". It's O.K. to take time out and have some fun. We are saved by grace, not by works. "God rested on the seventh day." God took time out to look at Creation and say, "This is good". During his ministry Jesus many times, just walked away from the problems and refreshed himself.

We were not created to be computers that are always on. We need down time. Otherwise we malfunction and become messed up. You have a bed. Use it.

You also have the third and fourth things suggested by the Shunammite woman, "a table and a chair". The Shunammites woman's room reminds me of the rooms the students were provided with at the Seminary I attended in Wales when I was training for ministry.

Pretty basic. A bed, a table, a chair and some bookshelves. They were called study rooms. You ate downstairs in the dining room. You could watch T.V. in the common room. If you wanted to work out you could go out to the gym. The room was for study. To be a faithful servant requires;

4. Adequate Study

If you've ever served as an elder you will know about the two books our denomination asks you to take a look at, "The Book of Order" and "The Book of Confessions". Not easy reading those two, but full of practical instruction and guidelines that help us function effectively.

More important than either of those are our bibles. The most purchased, least read book in America. Bibles that are left unopened are about as much use as a refrigerator with a padlock on the door and all the food inside. There's a contemporary Christian song that says;