What Are We Doing Here At Abundant Life? Serve Part II

Romans 12:3-11.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, June 7, 2020.

Today, we continue talking about the purposes of Christians and the Church, specifically serving Jesus by serving one another.  Two weeks ago, we saw how that service can take on very practical forms and be very humbling: the washing of one another’s feet.  Let’s continue in the Romans 12 passage in order to talk further about the giftings that God gives each of us in order to serve one another.

It is true that all giftings in our life are from God and thus could be called spiritual.  However, some gifts are recognized as especially spiritual.  These include prophecy, speaking in tongues, healing, words of knowledge, among others.

A division within the body of Christ has occurred in which some believe that these spiritual gifts were only for the first century believers in order to start the Church, and others believe that they are active still today.  This division has led to two extremes that are both dangerous.  It is commendable to be careful so that you are not deceived by false teachers, but it can lead to a critical and skeptical spirit that refuses to accept any spiritual gifts as legitimate.  On the other hand, it is commendable to step out in faith and trust God, but it can lead to an extreme gullibility and even lust for things such as: wealth, health, and power.

God’s Word is given to us so that we will have a balance that is informed by His Word and the Holy Spirit.  We should neither fail to use the gifts, nor should we abuse them.  Let’s look at our passage.

Do not be proud and arrogant

In the first two verses of Romans 12, Paul emphasized that the servants of God must not be a people who have conformed to the world, but rather, they must be a people who are transformed by the Spirit of God renewing their minds.  Thus, we need to have our worldview and motivations transformed by God if we are going to serve Him.  We should also recognize that conforming to the world can take on many different flavors, among them are false religion, whether Christian or not.

It is no shock that this area of giftings in the Church is a source of much spiritual good, and yet also much fleshly destruction.  Paul puts his finger on the outward red flag that tells us that conformity rather than transformation is present, and that is pride.  The servant of the Lord must not be proud or arrogant towards other believers, or the world.

Paul uses the phrase “thinking too highly of yourself than you ought.”  He sees the problem of pride as one of crossing a boundary.  There is an obligation or “oughtness” that should restrain us from becoming proud and arrogant as the servants of the Lord.  We are sinners, but he has rescued and saved us.  We had nothing to offer, but he put gifts of grace within our life.  Our fellow brothers and sisters are also servants of the Lord with different gifts of grace in their lives.  Those who have high positions in the Church may look like they have a high position (by the world’s estimation).  However, they aren’t higher, but lower.  Just as Christ lowered himself to the lowest place and became the scapegoat for us all, so leaders are actually servants of God’s people so that they can be equipped and helped to serve the Lord.

Don’t be deceived.  Pride and arrogance are never warranted, and are easy to see in others, but the Spirit of God through the Word of God is able to lay His finger upon any pride that we have and lead us out of its bondage.

Paul then adds the metaphor of sobriety versus drunkenness.  We are to think soberly as God enables us.  This is important because of the parable of Christ that warns his servants not to “beat their fellow servants and drink with the drunkards.”  Matthew 24:45-51.  Pride and arrogance are equivalent to being drunk with the drunkards, that is the people of this world who are unaware of God’s salvation and plunging into sin.  The warning is that they think the Lord is never coming back and then take advantage of their position among His things.

Paul also connects this to the “measure of faith” that God has given to each of us.  It is highly unlikely that he is talking about saving faith here, although God does enable us to have faith for salvation.  Rather, he is talking about the particular capacity to recognize the gifts of grace that He gives us for the general good of his Church, and then the capacity to execute that gift properly.  The areas of recognition and execution are both twisted and perverted by the drunkenness of pride and arrogance.  Just because God has put gifts in your life does not authorize you to misuse them for your own purposes.

In verses 4 and 5, Paul reminds them of two important principles.  The first is that we are each a part of the singular body of Christ.  There is only one body of Christ and we are all apart of that unified whole that is directed by him.  He even takes this further in verse 5 by saying that we are members of each other.  This reminder goes back to the oughtness referenced before.  Harming others for your own benefit is illogical in the context of the body of Christ.  To hurt others is to hurt yourself because you are connected to them and need the gifts of grace that God has put in them, just as they are towards you.

Even though we are all part of one body, we are not gifted and placed in the body of Christ to serve the same function.  God’s gifts are varied by function, and they are varied by the scope of that function.  These differences should never threaten the unity of the body and its ability to function as a whole.  Clearly individuals and large groups of believers have failed in this area.  However, never underestimate the power of the Lord to bless and use those who will humble themselves in this area and step out in faith.  If we quit because others have done poorly then our excuse will not stand before Christ.  Jesus told the apostle Peter after his resurrection, “If you love me then feed my sheep.”  This was not only in the context of Peter’s own failures, but also in the context of the failures of the religious leaders of that day.  We must quit looking at what has happened in the Church.  Instead, we must repent of our own pride and embrace the body of Christ and the functions of grace that God leads you to perform.

Use the gifts that God gives for His purposes

In verses 6-8, we have a difficult part of this passage to bring into English, not because it is hard to understand, but because of the structure of the Greek language.  To bring it into English properly, words have to be added due to the context of what he has said and the subject matter, which is God’s gifts of grace.  Ultimately, Paul is emphasizing that if we have a particular gift of grace then it has been given to us by God to use.  We must use these gifts of grace for God’s purposes and for the good of the body of Christ.  In 1 Corinthians 12:7, Paul tells us that, “the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.  This is God’s intention and this is exactly how we should use them.

The first gift described is that of prophecy.  Prophecy is a word from God given to an individual for God’s people.  It can be regarding past, present, or future things, and is to be carefully examined by the elders to determine if it is contrary to Scriptures, or whether it is to be retained as truly from the Lord.  Even then, I we must exercise caution in this area.  We should not treat modern prophecy as if it is an addition to the Bible.  God gave the grace of establishing once and for all the faith that we are to believe to those first century apostles.

Prophecy is a heady gift and can easily lead to pride and arrogance in one who is not strongly connected to the Lord and His people.  God can and does speak to every believer in Christ, both through the written word and by His Spirit.  However, He has gifted some individuals to serve as another source of His influence.  Like the prophets of old, they encourage and exhort people in light of the dangers and needs of the present.

Paul basically tells us t hat if God has given us the gift of prophecy then we should do it with the measure of faith that He has given us.  So, God not only supplies the gift, but also supplies the faith to exercise it.  This opens a whole area that we should recognize.  Among people who have the same gifting, there will still be a difference in their sphere of influence or scope of operation.  These things vary in their measure.  No matter the measure of our sphere of influence, it will require bold faith to be exercised.  Stepping out in faith does not come naturally.  It comes by the help of the Spirit of the Lord, and yet we still have to cooperate and step out.  Thus, our measure of faith may be higher than our level of exercise.  Like an athlete discovering the physical limits of their ability, so in spiritual gifts, we must learn to exercise faith to increase our service for the Lord.

Paul then gives us a list of giftings.  It is implied that they also are given with a varied measure of faith.  However, Paul adds the emphasis that we should exercise the gift for the purpose God gave it.  To the degree that He has gifted you with service, then you should give yourself to serving (also, translated as ministry).  To the degree that He has gifted you with teaching, you should give yourself to teaching.  You won’t find the full degree of what He has given you unless you get out there and start being faithful to the little that you do understand today.  We must never see gifts as ours, but as God’s grace put within our life.  I am a steward and must operate in keeping with the One who gave it to me. 

The list continues with exhortation.  This is the same word that is used of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.  It involves a whole host of things that are a help to us by coming alongside of us: comfort, correction, encouragement, instruction, etc. (basically everything that could conceivably help us).

In verse 8, another structural change happens in which Paul emphasizes not just doing the gift, but also how we do it.  Those who are gifted with giving should give with a single focus, that is, generously.  Those who are gifted with leading should give themselves to leading with an eager diligence.  Those who are gifted with giving mercy should give mercy with cheerfulness.

In all of this, Paul is describing some of the diversity and variety of God’s gifts within His people.  Other lists and teaching are given in 1 Corinthians 12-14.  Ultimately, the Apostle Peter sums it up in 1 Peter 4:10 when he says, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” 

There is much more that can be said on this issue, but I want to end with a final emphasis.  In verse 9, Paul begins a section of biblical instruction that has a rapid-fire, staccato feel, to it.  However, at the root of these instructions is our need to serve one another in love.  The love of God must be the root of our serving.  Anything else is unacceptable to God.  With that said, I find it fitting to end with Paul’s words to the Corinthians.  After explaining the use of spiritual gifts for 30 verses, he then says this.

“But earnestly desire the best gifts.  And yet, I show you a more excellent way.  Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”

This reminds me of the Ken Gulliksen song, Charity.  “If I have not charity, if love does not flow through me, I am nothing.  Jesus reduce me to love.”  Ah, yes, the reduction process.  The difficulties of your life and the struggles that you have with others are all a part of God’s process of trying to reduce you down to His love alone. 

Over the last three months, things have been drastically different, and there appears to be more craziness on the horizon.  Let us remember that the only answer to the chaos of this world is a child of God trusting Him in faith.  We must be a people who are trusting in God and not the voices of this world.  When our hope is only in what God supplies, we will be like a tree planted by the waters, that does not fear when the heat comes, and is not anxious in the year of drought, nor will we cease being fruitful!  (See Jeremiah 17).  God help us to be fruitful trees in these days.

Serve II audio

You Will Receive Power

We regret that the audio for this sermon is not available.  Please enjoy the article.

Acts 1:4-8.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Pentecost Sunday, May 31, 2020.

A common theme throughout this world is that people often feel powerless.  They feel powerless to change their life, their community, their nation, and their world.  People respond to this in different ways.  Some will come to cynically give up on change and drop into a world of placebos and addictions.  Others gravitate to larger movements, political groups, and social groups thinking that this will give them the power that they seek.

You will find that there are many kinds of power in this world.  However, none of them will satisfy and make a difference like the power of God Himself working within you to affect change in you. 

Today, it is important for believers who have heard the call of God’s Spirit to salvation, also to hear His call to empowerment.  It will not be a power that looks like the world, nor will it be a power that you completely control.  Rather, it will be a relationship in which you learn to yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and step out by faith in ways you never would have done without Him.

We wait for the Holy Spirit

In our passage today, we have a scene that happens shortly before Jesus ascends into heaven with his disciples observing it.  Here, they are told to wait for the Holy Spirit to come upon them, whom Jesus also called “another Helper” in John 15.  Just as Jesus had been a constant help to them in various ways, so the Holy Spirit would come and take the place of Jesus in their daily lives.  This would be the same kind of help, but in a different way.  The Holy Spirit would not be a physical presence.

In verse 4, Jesus calls the Holy Spirit, “The Promise of the Father.”  Throughout the Old Testament there are many places where the prophets spoke of a time when the Spirit of God would be poured out upon all of God’s people.  It came to be specifically connected to the New Covenant that God promised to make with the remnant of Israel, and whosoever from the Gentiles that would join them.  Take time to read Joel 2:28-32.  Earlier in the chapter, they had been called to repentance, and promised a restoration that was material and yet also a restoration that was spiritual (verses 28-32).

It must have been discouraging at times waiting for this promise that seemed too good to be true.  Century after century, Israel was under the domination of world powers due to their disobedience.  Then one day, Jesus came on the scene.  A man who operated in the full power of the Spirit of God.  Now, in our passage, he is promising them that it is going to happen to them not too many days from then.

It is here that we need to stop and recognize that it was important for Jesus that the disciples be baptized with the Holy Spirit.  It was not just for his apostles.  It was for all those disciples there that day, and for all who would respond to the Gospel call to believe on Jesus in the future, even Gentiles.

There is a distinction that we should make here.  It is clear that the disciples had been drawn by the Holy Spirit to Jesus.  Also, they had believed in Jesus for salvation.  So, the Holy Spirit was clearly operating on the earth already.  However, at the Day of Pentecost, something new was going to be added to the way that the Holy Spirit operated here.  Those there that day would be the first group who would experience a changing over from the old way of the Spirit’s operation on the earth to the new way. 

Today, a person who believes in Jesus immediately has the Holy Spirit taking up residence within them.  He dwells in them.  Yet, the Holy Spirit wants to do more than just dwell in us.  Two images are used to explain this.  The first is the phrase “filled with the Holy Spirit.”  It pictures a vessel that is filled up with the Spirit.  He floods into our whole life, every nook and cranny of our mind and heart.  The second image is that of baptism.  He wants us to be immersed into the Holy Spirit like water baptism does in water.  This is called being “baptized with or in the Spirit.”

Under the old operation of the Holy Spirit, only certain prophets, kings, and high priests would be filled with the Spirit and then only sporadically as it was needed.  At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit would come upon every one who belonged to God and would be a constant presence in their life.

Ultimately, Jesus is telling us that we cannot do this mission of His, whether personally or as a group, without God’s help.  The good news is that He is more than willing to help us.  It was His plan all along.  Imagine Satan in the Garden.  He is cursed, but so are Adam and Eve.  From that time on, humans were easy targets for his schemes and machinations.  Yet, the killing of the Son of God at the cross opened the door for humans to be indwelled by God’s Spirit.  This changed the game, and has led to a global move of the Gospel to the ends of the earth, which has pulled people out of the grip of Satan, and brought them into the kingdom of Christ.  Satan is being plundered as we are enabled by the Holy Spirit to reach the lost!

In our passage here, the main reason for waiting is clearly connected to the Feast of Pentecost.  The events of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus were accomplished on the very day of each of the spring feasts.  They had been prophetic enactments of what he was going to do.  So, Pentecost was about more than a material harvest of food in Israel, but also prophetically pointing to a time when God would empower His chosen ones to go into the whole world and harvest new believers into Christ’s Kingdom.  The Holy Spirit needed to be poured out on Pentecost so that we would understand its significance.

Yet, there is another benefit to the waiting that we see here.  Throughout the Scriptures, believers are called upon to wait for God’s timing.  In our flesh, we are always ready to jump ahead, but God’s timing is not just better for Him, it is also better for us.  Like Israel in the wilderness who wanted to rush into the promised land, God takes His time so that they can grow in faith before they fight giants.  New believers today immediately have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them.  Yet, they also need to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and not just once, but every day.    There is technically no reason for them to wait in order to be filled with the Spirit.  Yet, sometimes people are timid or apprehensive towards the infilling of the Holy Spirit.  Whether it happens at the same time as salvation or months later, believers should take time to pray, to ask, and to seek God for the experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit, an experience where He floods into your being, where Christ lays you down under the waters of the Spirit.  It may take time, but let God fill your heart with confidence towards this promise until it happens.

The Holy Spirit empowers us to be witnesses to the lost

With the many movies of super heroes and the powers they have, it is easy to see that the world fantasizes about these matters.  Yet, the power of the Holy Spirit is not as the world fantasizes.  When we talk about the Holy Spirit flooding our whole being and empowering us, we should not imagine it as a kind of “good possession.”  Demons can take possession of people who have surrendered their personal sovereignty through various occult means.  When that happens, there can be a complete subduction of the person beneath the personality of the evil spirit.  The Holy Spirit is not like that.  He is not seeking to overpower you and seize control of you like some kind of marionette.  Rather, He is a helper who comes alongside of us in order to empower us as we yield to His help, but also as we step out in faith upon His leading.  You do not have to fear the Holy Spirit.  He is the pure and clean Spirit of God that has the same love for you that compelled Jesus to go to the cross for you.

In verse 8, Jesus tells them that they would be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth.  Becoming a believer in Jesus was not just to be for Israel, i.e. for the Jews.  It was for the whole world.  That was a daunting mission for those early believers.

Today, Christianity is so big that we might be tempted to think that we can do it now without the Spirit of God.  It is common among certain denominations to teach that the empowering of the Spirit is not as dynamic as it was in those days, and we should not expect any such things today.  However, we cannot look at the outward structures of the Church and its institutions.  The Church is not the institutions and the numbers that each claim.  The Church is all of those who have had a true spiritual work in their hearts and are following the Spirit of God.  We still need the Holy Spirit today if we are to save people who may be in our cities right now burning cars and looting stores.  Such people will not be reached unless the Spirit of God enables us to reach them.  Even then, we must recognize that individuals who do receive a Holy Spirit-empowered witness can still reject it.  That is the sad reality.

Another part of the empowering that the Spirit gives is spiritual gifts that He gives to each believer.  These are intended to help us in the mission.  These giftings are not just natural gifts.  They are means by which the Spirit of God diversely works through each of us.  This is intended so that no one person has all of the Spirits gifts, and then has no need of other believers.  It helps us to recognize the truth that His Word tells us, we need each other, and we need the Holy Spirit working through one another. 

These giftings are things that we will have to discover, and cooperate with, by acting in faith.  I will talk about these more in next week’s sermon.

The world needs believers who are filled with the Holy Spirit and empowered to give them a witness that is spiritual and not fleshly.  Take time to daily seek the Lord that He would fill you with His Spirit and enable you to be a greater witness of who Jesus is!

What Are We Doing At Abundant Life? Serve Part 1

Romans 12:1-2; John 13:6-7, 12-17.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty on Sunday, May 24, 2020.

We have talked about connecting to Jesus and his people through whole-life worship, and also, growing spiritually to be like Jesus.  These are the first two purposes Christians should be fulfilling. 

Today, we are going to talk about serving.  Those who believe in Jesus are called to serve him. He is the Lord, the master, and we are his servants.  Let’s go to Romans 12 to explore this further.

We selflessly serve Jesus by presenting our lives as a living sacrifice

In verse 1, Paul is clearly using imagery from the temple sacrifices that would have been familiar to his Jewish audience.  Even the Gentile believers would have understood this imagery since their lands were filled with temples to false gods where people brought offerings and sacrifices to them.

Paul calls this a “living sacrifice.”  This is clearly an oxymoron and yet, it makes complete sense once it is explained.  Jesus is the only one who literally sacrificed his life so that our sins could be removed from us.  It has been said that, since he died for us, the least we can do is live for him.  This is simplistic and yet true.  Paul even refers to this as our “reasonable service,” which we will look at in a bit. 

So, what does it mean to be a living sacrifice?  It means that we are living for God’s purposes, and not our own.  It means that we sacrifice the desires of our flesh, and all the ways that we lived before we met Jesus, and pick up the desires and ways of Christ.  Of course, a person may lay down their life in martyrdom, but this is never seen as a means of removing sin.  Thus, even the martyr, who physically dies, goes to be with the Lord and is not really dead.  They are still living.

The word that is translated as “service,” at the end of verse 1, has a religious connection to the ceremonial duties Israel had in the temple.  For Christians, living for Jesus is presented as parallel to the work that priests did in the temple.  This connects to the New Testament concept that all believers are priests before God in the New Covenant.  What we do in this life and the purposes for which we do it requires sacrifice and serving the Lord Jesus.  I have added the adjective “selflessly” just in case a person doesn’t get what sacrificial living really means.

As a living sacrifice, it is important to present ourselves as a holy sacrifice.  This adjective ultimately means that we are declared as belonging to God, or set apart for Him and His purposes alone.  As believers in Jesus, we are to be following Jesus, not the culture of the world around us.  They continue to plunge into ever diverse ways of rebellion against God, but we are to restrain ourselves and live for Jesus.  Of course, this is easier said than done.

Thus, our holiness has two aspects to it.  Our identity as being holy is immediate upon our belief in Jesus and it is inseparable.  It is he who declares us to be one of his holy ones.  We live for him and not the world or ourselves.  In this sense, a person never becomes more holy.  You can’t be declared as holy to any higher degree.  It simply is what you are. 

However, the other aspect of holiness has to do with our practical holiness.  No one perfectly lives their life (both internally and externally) for Jesus and his purposes.  We call this discipleship and “sanctification,” (the process by which one better lives their lives for Christ alone).  In this sense, we can become more holy.  Yet, this should never be confused with salvation.  Our salvation gives us the identity of being holy and cannot be separated by the messy process of discipleship.  In fact, discipleship is a battle that we wage against our own flesh, and should be done in the power and with the help of the Holy Spirit.

May God help us to be secure in the knowledge that we are the saints (holy ones) of God, but may He also help us to be courageous in our battle against our sin and the pull of this world upon our hearts and minds.  Yes, we must keep our faith in Jesus for salvation, but we must also learn to trust in his commands and his example of how to live this life in order to please the Father.

Another concept that is added is that of being an acceptable sacrifice.  We should seek to live our lives as an acceptable sacrifice to Him.  This again relies upon the Old Testament sacrifice imagery.  A sacrificial animal had to fit all the requirements that God had placed upon it.  They were to be without blemish and in the way He commanded.  Without Jesus, none of us can be an acceptable sacrifice.  It can be easy to look at our discipleship performance and think that maybe we are not acceptable.  However, our acceptability comes directly from trusting Jesus for our salvation.  We are acceptable to God because we approach Him with a relationship of faith in His Son. 

This sets up a tension between knowing that we are acceptable because of our faith in Jesus, and the fact that true faith in Jesus will seek to be like him by cooperating with the discipleship process.  We should never deceive ourselves that we can be acceptable without both, and yet the foundation of our acceptance is Jesus, and not our ability to perform.

In verse 2, Paul moves away from the sacrifice imagery and speaks to our lives.  The life of a Christian is not to be conformity, but rather a transformational relationship.  Paul is talking about conforming to this world, but part of that world is the religious pretenders who only conform to an outward veneer of righteousness, and are inwardly one with the world system.  Church cannot become a machine that forces everyone to look, speak, and act like the pastor or the elders.  Jesus is our template, but also the inner source of our transformation.  The world teaches people to conform to the system in order to get ahead.  Many who are nonconformists may make a different way for themselves, but even this is part of the world system.  They have conformed to the world in a nonconformist way.  When we come to Christ, the Father will not accept an outward conformance to Jesus.  If the Church merely duplicates the conforming method of the world and simply uses it for its own purposes then it is not what Christ desires.  We would be relying upon the flesh rather than the Spirit of God.  People do not necessarily need to look a certain way.  There is no power in that.  What we really need is the Holy Spirit within us fueling and directing a change that is more than surface.  It is a complete transformation that is related to the word that we use today, “metamorphosis.”

Don’t settle for a life that isn’t changing to become more like Jesus, but neither settle for a life that only looks enough like Jesus on the surface to get you by.  Paul states that this transformation takes place as our minds are renewed.  The world has taught us all manner of things that are completely hostile towards the things of God.  We don’t often know all the ways that our mindset is actually antichrist, like Judas was.  God’s Word, His Holy Spirit, and the community of mature believers, surround us with the power to change our minds and thus to transform our lives.  This is not merely a power of the mind, but is a mind renewed by the working of God’s Spirit.

Ultimately, Paul says that we will end up proving that God’s will is perfect.  This is one of the ways that we serve Him.  We serve as His proof to the world and to the devil and his angels.  Satan has rebelled against God because he thinks his way is better.  May we live in such a way- you know, like Jesus- so as to prove the Father’s way right.  In fact, our transformation doesn’t stop in this life.  On the day of Resurrection, our transformation will be completed and we will stand beside our Lord Jesus as completed, adult Sons of God.  We will be a myriad of proofs against the will of Satan and those who follow him.

Now, let’s look at one more passage to talk about another side of our service to Jesus.

We selflessly serve Jesus by serving one another

In John 13, Jesus is interacting with his disciples in the last hours before he is arrested and crucified.  There is a duality throughout the first three purposes in which Jesus and his people are inseparable.  I can’t only connect to Jesus.  I also need to connect to his people.  I can’t only grow spiritually as an individual.  I also need to grow as a part of a group of people that are becoming more like Jesus corporately.  So, it is here.  We must serve Jesus, but part of that service is to serve one another with a selfless attitude. 

Jesus employs the washing of feet as a powerful picture to prove to us that he means business in this area of service. He took up a basin of water and a towel, and washed each one of their feet.  Think of it.  They had gone through dinner lying next to each other’s dirty feet.  Not one of them was willing to take the lowest place and wash each other’s feet.  In fact, they hadn’t even taken the time to wash their own feet.  This is important because Jesus did not rebuke them and tell them to wash their own feet.  Instead, he gets up and focuses their attention on serving one another.

Peter is surprised at what Jesus is doing.  Of all of the people there, he was the last one that should do such a menial task.  Peter protests, and, in so doing, becomes a picture of how our flesh protests learning to selfless serve others.  What Jesus was doing was so across the grain of Peter’s own mentality (if we are honest, ours too) that he doesn’t want to accept it.  Humility is not something that our flesh immediately embraces.  Humility simply means that there is nothing that is “beneath me,” when it comes to serving Jesus and serving each other.  When love sees that something lowly must be done, it rises up and goes to work without pride or arrogance.  Our flesh doesn’t like this.  We can only do it if a true transformation is happening in our hearts, minds, and lives.  You could say that it is a test to see if we will follow over the top of the protests of our flesh.

The noble motivation for serving one another is to have our hearts so transformed by the love of God that we now serve each other out of that same love.  However, love is not just a feeling.  It is a decision for a beneficial course of action that is mixed with the understanding that we are obligated by Jesus to serve each other.  Once Jesus took the lowest place, none of his disciples could ever again pretend that service of others was beneath them.  To refuse to serve each other is to demonstrate that we think we are above Christ.  In question form, it is this way.  If taking the lowest place to serve us was not beneath Jesus then how could it be beneath me?  It isn’t.  We either cling to our pride, and then perish, or we surrender it and follow Jesus.  Just like the cross is a hideous image to our flesh, so the basin and the towel are another image that causes our flesh to shrink back. 

Jesus drives the point home in verse 16.  The servant is not greater than the master.  None of us are greater than him, and he took the lowest place.  We can’t out do Jesus, but we can surrender and seek to become like him.

Jesus also calls this an example.  His intention is not to set up a ritual of foot-washing services, although they can serve the purpose of shocking us out of lethargy.  This was just one small area that was relevant to those 12 men in that moment.  Elsewhere in the New Testament, we see Tabitha making clothes for the poor, and others selling some of their possessions in order that widows could receive the care that they needed.  The key is not conforming to a particular act, but rather being transformed into a servant that sees the needs of people and serve them.

In the moment, Jesus washed their feet because his love for them compelled him to do it.  He knew that they would need this lesson in the trying times ahead.  May God help us to see each other enough to know how to use the gifts that He has given us in order to serve one another with humility.

Jesus ends the portion by telling us that we will be blessed by God if we do this.  This blessing is both as an individual and as a group.  Our families will be blessed when we serve one another, and our church will be blessed when we serve one another.

The blessing of God should not be seen as some kind of lucky rabbit’s foot that makes everything go well.  Instead, the blessing is the pleasure of God who walks before you, behind you and at your side.  Lord, we bless you today because you are the source of all blessings.  Help us to learn how to serve like you did.

Serve I audio

What Are We Doing At Abundant Life? Grow Part 2

Ephesians 4:8-16.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on May 17, 2020.

There is a lot of water under the bridge when it comes to churches.  Many wonderful things have happened through them, but so have many bad things that were not of Christ.  Christian leaders and individual Christians both need to recognize and appreciate the difficulty that we have today.  It is easy to allow the obvious failures of others to blind us to our own failures.   As we talk about this purpose of spiritual growth, it is clear that Christ intends for each of us to grow individually, but not to grow alone.  He intends for us to be within a community, that is, even more a family.  Thus, leaders who are convinced on this point must be sensitive to the prior point that many people are “shell-shocked” on this issue.  A church does not belong to its leaders, and the role of leaders is not for their own benefit either.  Leaders have to learn to navigate the tension of the importance of a growing connection to Christ and his Church, and the fear people have in being a part of “institutionalized religion.”

On the flip side, if you are one of those shell-shocked people who are afraid of institutionalized religion then please recognize that being a leader is not easy either.  None of us are perfect and we do not lead perfect people.  Church is messy because people are messy, but families stick together.  In a culture that has embraced no-fault divorce and holds marriage in no high regard, it is easy to see how people are afraid to join another family.  Christ is asking you to trust his way.  Find a group of Christians who are serious about following and becoming like Jesus.  It won’t be easy, and it will require repentance, forgiveness, and courage on your part, but God will use it to cause you to grow spiritually.  Don’t settle for anything less because it is what God is going to use to make you, and the local church you attend, to become more like Him.  You won’t grow up to be like the Father if you don’t spend time as a part of His family.

Jesus provides for our spiritual growth

In this passage, the Apostle Paul has described the death and resurrection of Jesus.  In verse 8, he says that, when Christ ascended on high (that is, into heaven), he gave gifts to men.  This sets up a whole teaching on why we have leaders and the purpose that Jesus has in giving leaders to his Church.

Yet, we must not read this passage and only focus on what the gifts are.  We must also emphasize the purpose for these gifts, and that purpose is the spiritual growth of all who believe in Jesus.  Jesus has made provision and is still making provision today for our spiritual growth.

There are many things that we can say Jesus has given to the Church, but here Paul is emphasizing different leadership roles in the early Church.  It is interesting that he does not mention Bishops and Elders here.  I don’t think that we should read too much into that because elsewhere Paul makes it clear that they are valid and helpful leadership roles.  Perhaps, he sees them as redundant in regards to the ones listed here in Ephesians 4.

We are told that Jesus gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers to the fledgling Church he had begun.  These roles should not be separated from the individuals who perform them.  If a person who has not been sent by Christ is given one of these roles then it can be damaging to the Church.  Also, a person who Jesus does call to fill one of these roles must continually remind themselves of the purpose that he intends them to fulfill.

Let’s take a quick look at each of these leadership roles and how they benefit believers.

An apostle is a reference to those first century individuals who witnessed the ministry of Jesus and his resurrection.  They were to be the foundational witnesses of what he did and taught to the world.  They often functioned in every level of leadership since they took the Gospel into new areas, preached to the lost, raised up churches from those saved, and nurtured them through teaching and oversight.  They are also described as prophets of God.  They laid down the faith that believers are called to believe and live out.  The New Testament is the record of what they taught.  In this sense, we don’t have apostles like this today, though we may recognize that some today have an apostolic-like ministry because they have influence and authority over multiple groups of believers, and are used of God to take the Gospel into new areas.  Yet, they are not authorized to establish new doctrine that the church is to believe and follow.  This was laid down once and for all by the apostles of Christ (Jude 1:3).

So, how were the apostles a gift to the Church?  They gave a sure and proven foundation of the content of our faith and the purpose of God in Christ.  The fact that this was written down was most often due to people who had different ideas.  Anyone, who has gone online to search for the “truth” on a biblical concept, knows how hard it can be to know who to trust, not to mention that there are umpteen million ideas.  Who can we trust?  Jesus took care of that concern right off the bat by spending 3 years of his life with the original apostles.  Even Paul recognized that he was an oddity as an apostle.  Yet, his writings and ministry were approved by the original apostles, excluding Judas.  We have something solid that we can use through the centuries to measure what all leaders teach and do.  No leader in God’s Church is ever intended to be outside of this.  Even if you are in a group that has let leaders add doctrine to the original, you have the ability to compare what they teach to the Scriptures themselves.  Thus, the written record of the apostles serves as a corrective device for those who seek God.  In fact, Paul stated in Galatians 1:8, “Even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.”  In an age of confusion and spiritual pretenders, it is refreshing to know that a new believer can pick up a Bible and be in direct contact with the pure teaching of the apostles of Jesus.

Let’s move to prophets.  Prophets are those who God uses to speak to the Church regarding specific issues.  They can be past, present, or future things, and their prophecies must always be judged by the leaders and elders of the assembly through a prayerful comparison to God’s Word.  This gifting of some to hear from the Lord is a help to the group as a whole, even though it can be abused by individuals who are not sent by God.  The answer here should not be of fear, but mature respect for the gifts of Christ.

Evangelists are those who were not apostles, and yet had a calling to spread the Good News of Jesus.  They would travel from city to city, encouraging the believers, and calling the lost to salvation.  This is a benefit to believers because even leaders can have tunnel vision.  From time to time, God will send a person from outside the local church to speak a word that shakes us out of lethargy and complacency.

Lastly, pastors and teachers are actually two sides of the same coin.  The language in the Greek gives good reason to think that Paul is presenting these as speaking about one position.  They are the hands-on leadership within every local assembly, watching over the souls of each member and exhorting believers to follow Christ.  As long as pastors remember that they too are sheep who belong to Jesus, they can be a great benefit to those who are helped by their instructions and prayers.

In verse 12, Paul moves from the gift itself to the purpose for the gift.  Leaders must never forget what their job is.  The Church does not belong to them, but to Jesus.  All leadership is supposed to be equipping the Church for the work of ministry, or service.  Part of my growth is to rightly listen to leaders and to learn from them so that I can better serve Christ.  Yet, I must be equipped to serve.  We are equipped with the truth of the Word of God because it helps us to know what serving God looks like.  We are equipped with a presentation of the wisdom and help of the Holy Spirit, which teaches us how to rely upon that same Holy Spirit.  We are given guidance and corrections in love.  Thus, in Christ, we have everything we need to serve him today, and yet we all need to grow in faith and skill so that we can serve him better.  A prayer we should always be praying is this.  Lord, help me to know what ways you want me to serve your purposes.

Leaders should also equip believers so that they can build up the body of Christ.  The body of Christ is an image that sees believers as an extension of Jesus.  He is the head who resides in heaven.  All instructions and directions are ultimately from him.  However, each individual cell is connected to the life of the body so that we can work together for the functions that Christ wants.  The body of Christ can be anemic, diseased, and even dead, if we are not careful in these areas.  Leaders who have lost their way can be detrimental to a particular body of believers.  The key is to recognize that Jesus intends for you to grow in relation to other believers so that his body may be strengthened in order to do his purposes.  You need other believers, companions, brothers and sisters, who are also trusting Jesus, and they need you.  This is a strength that both keeps us going, and makes our work more effective.

The goal of all of this equipping is a unity of the faith, and a unity of the knowledge of Jesus.  Goal may not be the proper word.  However, we must recognize that even the things we do for Jesus are not the end goal in and of themselves.  When we are equipped for serving Christ and strengthening the body of believers, then we can achieve a unity of the faith, which refers to the things that we believe and trust about God.  The Church is not intended to be divided on the foundational teachings of the apostles.  However, through the years, individuals who were proud and full of themselves have pressed their views to the point of fracturing the Church.  The point is not that we all should believe all the same things, but that we all hold to the faith that was once and for all delivered to the saints.  It is no difficult thing to determine what the apostles of Christ taught.  It is this we are to unify around, not the additions of others who came later.  Large parts of the Church have cast off the restraints (or better, the protection) of Scripture and have co-opted the Church for the purposes that are not of Christ.  We can never be unified with that, but within our group, we can work for a unity of the essentials of the Gospel.

The unity of the knowledge of Jesus is just as important.  Most cults that have come into existence have done so because they refused to accept the revelation of Scripture regarding just who Jesus was.  Some make him out to be an angel, or a created being.  Others make him out to be a spiritual master who is just one among many.  In 2 Corinthians 11:4, Paul called this “another Jesus.”

“For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!” (NKJV)

We are jumping in mid-stream, but Paul is concerned that the Corinthians might listen to ideas about Jesus that are not what they were taught by the apostles who were confirmed by Jesus.  False apostles promote false ideas about Jesus and lead many astray from the true Gospel.

Another way of talking about unity is spiritual maturity.  Verses 14 to 16 bring Paul’s point home.  The whole goal of these gifts is the spiritual maturity of God’s children.  He is bringing us as spiritual infants into His family and then helping us to grow until we become adult Sons of God who can step into the New Heavens and the New Earth by His side.

A person who is spiritually mature is not easily moved by every doctrine that comes along (vs. 14).  Little kids are easily deceived and manipulated.  Imagine a person who comes to faith in Jesus, but never connects to a good group of believers.  They might use the internet to search for the answers to every question that they have.  What will they find?  They will find a sea of confusion blown about by every idea and teaching under the sun.  As much as we may want to believe that God’s Spirit can help us to navigate these waters on our own, that is precisely the point that I am making.  The Spirit is the One who has made it clear to us that our safety partly comes from being in a good, Bible-teaching group.  We cannot ignore that and remain safe by some mystical connection to the Spirit of God.  At that point, we are fooling ourselves. 

Just as God uses individuals to help you embrace the Word of God, so the devil uses individuals to try and separate you from the healthy truth.  There are many who have a flicker of spiritual life.  They want to follow Christ, but are not sure how to proceed.  They exist like a homeless child living outside and exposed to the elements.  Christ desires something much better for you, a spiritual home where you can be cared for, encouraged, and where you can spiritually thrive.

Verse 15 mentions growing up into Christ, which is a great analogy.  Don’t get stuck on how far short of being like Jesus you are.  The real point is this.  Am I growing to look more like him each day?  That might be hard to analyze on a daily basis, but it must be our continual prayer.  Growth is not separate from connection to Christ, but rather an extension of it.  True connection to Jesus allows living truth to flow into my life, and that growth makes me more like Jesus.  It also strengthens my connection to Christ.  May our connection to Christ ever grow stronger.

Jesus is working through all people in his Church to build it up in love.  Verse 16 ends with the analogy of the body of Christ.  Paul sees each part “joined and knit together,” like a family.  We are joined and knit together when we respond to the Spirit of God and learn to love and forgive one another.  We are joined and knit together as we do life together.  Covid-19 is just one example of the kind of things that crop up in the life of a church and require us to grow and bond with one another.  Bonding comes from shared crises and learning to work through them together (not perfection). 

Paul also sees each part “doing its share.”  That share involves spiritual things, but also very practical things.  Instead of seeking for the applause of one another and getting to be something big, we simply need to let Jesus teach us how to do our part.  Lord, help me to do my part in your Church today, so that it may be built up in your love and strengthened for the days that we live in.  In short, help us to grow to be like you!

Grow part 2 audio