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

Which of Us Is the Greatest?

Mark 9:30-37.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, January 19, 2020.

An age old problem among groups of people is the question, “Which of us is the greatest?”  It isn’t generally a spoken question.  Rather, it is an unspoken tension that is as clear as an elephant in the room.  It often lies beneath the surface of much that is said and done.  We must understand that we are not immune to this problem because we are Christians.

Today, we will look at a passage in which Jesus gives us wisdom in regards to this.  It is a wisdom that we will be quick to agree with, but very often not actually follow.  May God help us to grasp today just who deserves the primary position within God’s Church, even our specific church, because the truth will always be that Jesus is the only one and nothing else matters.

Jesus continues to reiterate his coming rejection

In Mark 8:31, we were told that Jesus “began” to teach them about his coming sufferings.  Here, Jesus continues to emphasize this prophetic word that suffering and death lay ahead for him.    We are told that Jesus intends to move through the Galilee in a stealthy manner so that he can have some talks with his disciples about this coming rejection.  The crowds did not need to be aware of his words before hand, but it was important for the disciples to be able to remember that Jesus had tried to tell them these things.  It would actually strengthen their faith once they knew that he was resurrected.

It is interesting to note that Jesus uses the present tense when he says that he is already being betrayed into the hands of men.  This is about more than Judas.  It involves all the actors that would be in place to do it.  The heart of Judas was already wandering away from Jesus towards money and doubt.  The hearts of the Pharisees and Caiaphas were already rejecting Jesus and plotting his demise.  Even though Jesus was very popular at this point, things were in motion within the hearts of people that would lead to him being betrayed and executed.

Of the things that Jesus teaches them, the fact that he would be killed would be the hardest to accept.  Sure, the Messiah could be betrayed, but surely he will rise up and throw out the evil betrayers.  For him to be executed clashed with everything they thought they knew about the Messiah. 

On top of this, to speak of rising on the third day would seem to make his statements seem even more cryptic.  It is not like people were rising from the dead every day.  Is this a parable, symbolic, or does it have some spiritual meaning?  What does Jesus actually mean?  These are the kinds of questions that no doubt clouded their understanding.

Thus, Mark emphasizes that the disciples couldn’t grasp or comprehend exactly what Jesus was trying to tell them.  Part of their problem was that they were afraid to ask him further about it.  Maybe they were afraid of it being true, or maybe they were afraid to look stupid within the group by publicly admitting that they didn’t understand.  Luke adds some colorful phrases in his parallel account of Luke 9.  He has Jesus saying, “Let these words sink down into your ears.”  The picture demonstrates their inability to hear by comparing it to the inability of words to get into their ears physically, which is clearly not the problem.  They are figuratively like a person whose ears are full of something the words can’t sink through.

Luke also says that they couldn’t understand, and “it was hidden from them.”  We could assume that God is intended as the one who has hidden it from them.  However, it is more likely a combination of their slowness to understand.  Finding something that you are fully acquainted with is generally easy, but, if someone has hidden it from you, it becomes a difficult matter.  What God was doing here was catching them by surprise and as such it might as well have been hidden from them, even though Jesus is putting it in front of them.  Only by the help of the Holy Spirit can we be enabled to see those things that our flesh keeps us blind to. 

Lest we be too hard on the disciples, we should remind ourselves of the many times that we have walked on in this life without grasping the things that God is trying to tell us in His Word.  We must remain humble as we live because we are continually recognizing areas that we have not understood like we should have.

Jesus confronts his disciples

We are told that Jesus and his disciples have traveled from the northeast region of Caesarea Philippi in a southwestern direction to Capernaum on the western side of the Sea of Galilee.  During their travel, the disciples have been discussing among themselves a particular issue.  They clearly did not think that Jesus had overheard them, or even suspected what their topic of discussion.  So, when Jesus asks them what they were talking about on the road, they are silent and do not answer.  The description in the question that Jesus asks portrays a dialogue between the disciples rather than a full-blown, heated argument.  Their silence is most likely due to the fact that they know the topic of their discussion will bring rebuke from Jesus.

It is sad when we know that something is wrong and hide it from our superiors, and yet seem to have no qualms doing it among our peers.  May God help us to take the hard road of being true to His path of righteousness, even when “everyone else is doing it.”  Mark tells us exactly what they were discussing on the road, and it had to do with which one of them was the greatest disciple of Jesus.

“Which of us is the greatest?”  In groups, this is a common tension, but it is not always discussed and debated openly.  Yet, it fuels much of the actions and remarks of people within the group.  There is irony in the fact that they are jockeying for the pole position in what they think is going to happen.  They think they will be ruling over Israel with Jesus.  However, Jesus is about to be rejected and killed, which means that they are actually jockeying for the position of being 2^nd on Israel’s top 13 most wanted list. 

Part of their inability to understand what Jesus was telling them is found in this question.  Their pride and desires are so strong that they can’t hear or receive what God is trying to tell them.  We desire so many things for ourselves and we want so much to be something more than we often are.  Such things lead us away from God’s plan and purpose, rather than towards it. Yet, even in this, God corrects us and brings us along.

Jesus knows exactly what they were talking about and proceeds to correct their pride and ignorance without actually stating the topic of their discussion.  He teaches them a principle regarding leadership.  The principle is this.  If anyone wants to be first among his disciples then they should be last of all and servant of all.

The principle is not that we should never want to lead or be the primary leader.  Someone will have to be the first leader, and having a primary leader is a good thing.  To desire a good thing is not a bad thing necessarily.  Paul does the same thing on spiritual gifts.  There is nothing wrong with desiring spiritual gifts, but the reasons and motivations behind that desire can be wrong, or even evil.  The problem isn’t wanting to be the primary leader.  The problem is that we often have no clue about what God expects in His primary leaders. 

We are given two qualifications, of which the first is this.  They should be the last of all the others in the group.  This sets the ways of the world on its head.  Instead of seeking the highest position by promoting oneself in pride and arrogance, we should demote ourselves in humility and weakness.  God resists the proud and casts them down, but he hears the humble and lifts them up.  It is a sad tribute that many, who are self-promoters and full of pride, are given primary positions within the Church that bears Christ’s name.  He was not this way.  He did not come to promote himself as the King of the world.  Instead, he took the lowest place that no one would want, the Scapegoat of the world, the Sin-Bearer of the world, and the Rejected-One of the world.  Imagine coming to church one day and they are drawing straws to see who will be the scapegoat for the church.  Would you volunteer?  Simply put, if you want to be the first then take up the last position, and let God put you in the first place.  This is essentially what both David and Jesus did.

The second qualification is that they should be a servant of all in the group.  This is really just another way of stating the first qualification.  He is not saying that everybody who does this will get to be the primary leader.  Not all who desire to be first get to be so, but they should all be a servant to the whole group.  What a change this would have in any group.  When we try to serve everybody else and trust God for promotion (or not), then pride is given a very serious blow in the group as a whole.

This cannot be about gaming the system in order to get what you want.  Otherwise, your flesh will get tired quickly and eventually quit.  This is the crucified life of taking the lowest place and serving in the lowest place, not to get the highest place, but in order to identify with our Lord.  Ultimately, whether we become the primary leader in this life or not is immaterial.  As long as we have Jesus, our place in eternity will far out weigh what we experience here on earth.

Jesus gives them a picture or a parable to help them get it by setting a child in their midst.  He adds to the image by putting his arms around the little child.  The child is clearly a nobody in comparison to the disciples.  Yet, here he is with the arms of Jesus around him.  This is an important image.  When I deal with other people, I don’t always recognize that God loves them.  He is not there physically with His arms around them, but that is His heart towards them.  This leads to the second principle that Jesus gives, and is intended to counteract our desire to be first.

If you receive the least one in the name of Jesus then you receive him, even the Father.  The disciples were constantly scrambling to be the one who is closest to Jesus or closest to God.  Yet, God loves us all and wraps His arms around us all.  God does not love the primary leader any more than the person in the lowest place.  To receive either one, the highest person or the lowest, is to receive the one who sent them, which is Jesus.  In seeking the highest place, we can become dismissive to those we perceive to be in the lowest place.  Instead of serving them, we step on them and expect them to serve us.

Jesus inverts this worldly attitude by connecting himself to all of the “Positions” that we could seek or have.  To reject and mistreat the lowest is to reject and mistreat Jesus, which is exactly what he has been trying to tell them that the religious leaders would do to him.

They wanted the primary leader spot so badly that they would kill Jesus in order to keep it.  Yet, their rejection of Jesus was also a rejection of God the Father whom they professed to serve.  Do we actually believe that God is just as intimately connected to the least person within his Church as He is with the greatest?  If we actually believe this then we would not be scrambling nearly so hard to have first place.  In fact, if we actually understood our God, we would understand that the primary places are to be for those who will serve in the most humble and lowly of ways.  God never intended leaders to be idolized and served by everyone else.  He intended for them to use the gifts that He gave them in order to serve the people that they lead. 

May God help us to quit worrying about who is the greatest, when the only answer that matters is this.  Jesus is the greatest of us all and without him I would be nothing!

Greatest audio

Serving Selflessly with our Natural Gifts

Several Passages.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on March 12, 2017.

Today we are going to look at the practical side of serving others.  When we have a firm grasp of why we should serve, and we are committed to do so, we still have to face the area of how we do that.  So today we will focus on serving others with our natural gifts, abilities, and the possessions that we have.  When you have a strong belief in the reality of spiritual gifts for today, it is easy to see natural gifts as something that is lesser and undesirable.  But, this cannot be any further from the truth.  Before we are ready to talk about spiritual gifts we need to learn to surrender our natural abilities to the Lord in service to others.  Now, when we talk about these things, there are some who secretly say in their mind, “I have nothing, and I am nothing.”  This simply is not true.  In fact some of the most generous people in the world are those who have very little in the eyes of the world.  So as we look into this area let’s try to avoid the tendency to focus merely on numbers.

Our first passage will focus on a woman from the city of Joppa in Israel.  Her name was Tabitha and her story is told in Acts 9:36-43.

Natural Gifts vs. Spiritual Gifts

The reason I chose this passage is because we can see both natural gifts and spiritual gifts working in the same story.  Before we get into the passage let’s focus on what I mean by natural gifts.  Natural gifts are those predispositions and abilities that we are genetically inclined towards, which then become skills that we naturally pick up and develop.  I would also include those possessions and wealth that we have acquired through our natural birth to a certain family and the use of our skills and abilities.  By calling them natural, I am not implying that God has nothing to do with them.  He is the creator of Nature and the particular nature of humans.  It is He who designed the abilities of mankind and the reality that over long periods of time our selectivity in breeding and environment would affect our DNA and how it is passed down.  Thus Spiritual gifts by contrast do not have such a natural explanation for their existence.  For example, a man studies the profession of medicine over a long period of time and does well as a doctor helping people to heal.  He should definitely give God thanks for the intellect and health to do what he has done.  But we would still consider this to be a natural event which God has made possible.  Spiritual gifts do not have a similar natural component, but more on that later.

Tabitha apparently had time, money, and skill that she used to serve others around her.  Verse 36 starts with a general description of her service.  She was “full of good works and charitable deeds which she did.”    In verse 39 we are shown a specific example of Tabitha’s service.  Many of the widows, who had gathered in mourning her death, held up the tunics and garments that Tabitha had made for them while she was still alive.  No doubt she did other good works and charitable deeds.  But this one is an example of them.  When Tabitha died it brought sorrow and grief to the people who knew her.  She was an outstanding believer and so the Christians there sent for the apostle Peter to come.  It would seem that they are hoping for a miracle.

Now, as Peter enters the story, we have one of the apostles of Jesus whom God used mightily to preach the Gospel, and also confirmed it with miracles of healing and exorcism.  When Peter is made aware of Tabitha’s death, he doesn’t grab his medical bag and medical reference books.  He is not healing Tabitha by any natural means.  In fact we could be technical and say that Peter isn’t healing her, God is.  But, that would be to press more into that phrase than the Bible does.  The spiritual gift of healing is not based upon genetics, IQ, or skills that one has honed over time.  They are purely a working of the Spirit of God through the faith and actions of his believers.  Peter’s first action is to pray.  Though we are not told, I would think that part of his prayer is asking God if He was willing to bring Tabitha back to life.  At some point when Peter believed that the answer to this was affirmative, he turns to her body and says, “Tabitha, arise.”  She then opens her eyes and sits up.  Peter then lifts her up and presents her to the believers.  Now notice that the natural gifts of Tabitha and the spiritual gift of Peter were very different from each other.  And yet, they are the same in this, both the natural gifts and the spiritual gifts are intended to be used for others.   Yes, they are different from each other, but they both come from the same God so that we can bless each other.

This leads to an invaluable point.  Natural gifts and spiritual gifts should not be in contention with each other, but instead, work together.  This is not just possible, but necessary.  It is possible because they come from the same God.  It is necessary because God intends to use both to help His people.  Do not neglect using your natural gifts for others because you want to be more spiritual.  However, do not neglect to seek spiritual gifts because you are more comfortable with the natural.  We are not choosing one over the other, or trying to get rid of one for the other.  Instead, God intends for them to work hand in hand within the life of an individual and also within the life of the body of believers.  The gifts of Tabitha and Peter are being used to bless believers and provide a witness to the unbelievers.  In fact, ask yourself.  How did Peter get to Joppa from Lydda?  Though God has given him spiritual gifts, Peter still exercises his natural gift of travel in order to get to Joppa (We are not told his method, walking or donkey).  Also, the passage ends with Simon the Tanner, a business man in Joppa, providing a place for Peter to stay.  Thus it is the natural gifts of Simon that allow for the spiritual gifts of God to work through Peter.  Just as our spirit and body are designed to work in harmony, so our natural gifts and spiritual gifts should work in harmony too.

We can fail to use our natural gifts for others

Let’s go to 1 Timothy 6:17-19 now.  I want to be careful to keep this from being all about money.  The use of our money is one area of resource in our life.  We have many others such as time, skills, experience, and knowledge.  However, wealth is one that can have a very strong leverage on our heart.  Thus the apostle Paul tells Timothy to command the rich to use their wealth for good works.  Now I purposefully picked this passage because it uses the word, “command.”  The Lord Jesus , in Matthew 19:21, teaches us to lay up treasure in heaven by using our earthly wealth to help others.  The point is that some of them were rich in wealth, but neglected to ask the question, “But am I rich in good works.”  Have I banked up treasure in heaven?  I have worked so hard to bank up money on this earth, but what about when I am gone here?  What if I lose it all tomorrow?  Thus the motives of the rich Christian are challenged.  They can neglect to use these natural gifts to serve others because they have become “haughty” ( a word that means high-minded).  An attitude that somehow I am the lucky one and you are not, can lead to stinginess and selfishness.  It is easy to forget that our abilities and placement in life are not all our own.  Much of it we were given.  Regardless, we will be held accountable for what we did with what we had.  The second reason given is that we can put our trust in our riches and abilities.  We can think that they will always hold us up.  Even if our money never fails as we live this life, the time will come for our death.  Our money will not be able to help us in that day.  When we stand before God, our amassing of money on earth will not impress God.  It will do the exact opposite.  Riches are often “here today and gone tomorrow.”  When I go to God will I go as a poor man (that is no heavenly treasure)?  Don’t let pride and false trust cause you to be stingy concerning others.  This is not about money only.  We can use our abilities and experience in life to help others who do not have them.  Even networking is a way of serving one another.  The reason for your gifts is not for you to consume them yourself.  They are not some kind of cosmic reward.  They are intended to enable you to take care of your family, friends and loved ones, and those who God brings to your attention.

God gives the believer freedom

Now let’s look at Galatians 5:13-15.  We finish this sermon with this passage precisely because it helps us understand the earlier word “command.”  The same apostle is writing both passages.  In 1 Timothy he tells Timothy to command the rich to be rich in good works.  But to the Galatians Paul emphasizes that God’s goal for his people is freedom.  Ultimately He wants us to choose to serve each other freely.  Thus we have a choice to make.  The first choice is whether or not we are going to follow Jesus or not.  It is to those who want to be his disciples that Jesus says, “lay up treasures in heaven.”  He is not trying to control us, but rather, he is trying to make it very clear that if we are really following him and growing to become like him, we will use our natural gifts to serve others.  Consequently, if we are not using our natural gifts to serve others, then we are not following Jesus and becoming like him.  This brings us to the second part of freedom.

Yes, we are free to choose, but we cannot choose the effects of that choice also.  Being free does not remove consequences.  Thus when you hear the idea that we should be free to “sin,” and that God is being judgmental to say that certain things are wrong, remember that God does not control choices.  We actually live in a world where people are free to sin.  When someone wants to steal, cheat, or murder, there is no angel of death that shows up and strikes them dead.  Yes, God could do this, but He doesn’t.  We are free to sin and free to do righteousness.  But they both have consequences in the natural and in the spiritual that you can’t control.  Let me give you a hypothetical situation.  Suppose tomorrow our society completely rejects the idea of marriage and an exclusive, sexual relationship.  It is done so strongly that those who promote exclusivity and marriage are seen as something worse than a pedophile is to us today.  Now fast forward in time 200, even 400 years later.  No one is alive who even remotely understands the concept of sexual exclusivity.  Picture a young man or woman who falls in love with someone for the first time.  It is reciprocated by the other and they are sexually intimate.  But, a month later, one or the other, decides they have had enough with you and leave you to be intimate with someone else.  Here’s the point.  You cannot tell me that the individual who is left behind won’t be hurt, and emotionally injured.  Of course they know that it is supposed to be okay.  But, that won’t make their heart hurt any less.  Thus they will eventually move on and a certain softness will die in their heart as they embrace the way of the world.  My point is that sin still hurts even when we try to define it out of existence.  Yes, you are free to sin.  But God knows that sin destroys us in every way.  It destroys relationships, and societies.  In fact sin touts itself as freedom, but in truth it is always chains.

Thus in verse 13, Paul gives the overarching principle that those who are following Jesus will, “serve one another in love.”  Now God is not going to tell you how much, how long, to whom, etc…  You are free to choose.  However, you are also free to pray about how much, how long, to whom you will serve.  The practicality is that you cannot be “God” to everyone.  He does not intend you to be the sole source for others.  You can only give so much, help so many people, and give so much of your time.  The point is serving, not the amount itself.  So a very biblical case can be made for a spherical understanding of our love.  Those in our immediate family are our primary point of service.  They are those whom God has given to us in order to serve.  The next circle is made of our friends, co-workers, and neighbors.  They are a secondary point of service.  The last circle takes in the whole world, but is best described as those whom God, in His mysterious ways, connects us to in one way or another. 

As I said earlier, we can pray and ask God for help and direction in how to use our natural gifts.  We must do this precisely because they are limited.  Thus even our natural gifts can be directed and led by the Holy Spirit to help us grow in serving others.  It is God who knows what they need and He can give us wisdom and skill in serving one another.

Let me close with sharing a verse from 1 Corinthians 10:13, “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”  When we only live for ourselves or our family, we fall short of the glory of God.  So take some inventory today of your natural gifts.  Quit saying that you don’t have anything.  In fact you might do better to work at it from the other side of the problem.  Instead of looking at your resources first, lift up your eyes and start seeing the need.  Then, out of love for God and them, ask yourself, “What can I do to help them?”  That is the best place to start because love always finds a way to serve others.

Serving with our natural gifts audio

Serving Selflessly

John 13:1-17.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on March 5, 2017. 

As we continue talking about the purpose that Jesus has for His people and His Church, we have adopted the phrase, “Connecting people to the Abundant Life found in Jesus.”  So our purpose begins with connecting to Jesus and His people, and then moves to growing spiritually to be like Jesus.  Part of spiritual growth is being used by God to serve other believers and in a manner that is not for selfish reasons.  One thing you may notice is that each of these is simply an extension of the initial connection to Jesus.  So it may be better to think of them as facets of the main purpose of coming into relationship with God. 

In our passage today, we will look at a very critical act that Jesus did on the night that he was going to be betrayed.  In this act of service, Jesus removes all doubt as to what God is saying to those who want to be his disciples.  In essence God is asking us to prove our love for Him by serving His people, our brothers and sisters.  Because of our Christian background, Americans often speak of politicians and social leaders as public servants.  However, it is clear that most are not serving for the sake of the public.  They are more concerned with their own station in life and honor among men, than they are about what will really serve the people.  Today’s passage will show the heart of service.  Next week we will look at the practical side of what it means to serve.

The love of Jesus caused him to serve

This story of how Jesus washed the feet of his disciples is a powerful one that is intended to challenge those who would want to follow him.  But, before we look at the act itself, let’s look at the context in which this service takes place.  Verse 1 emphasizes that Jesus knew it was his time.  He was about to leave the disciples, and they would have to go on without his physical presence.  This makes his action here critical because it represents what is most important to him.  Verse 2 also tells us that Jesus knew that the betrayal was already in motion.  His arrest was only hours away and by noon the next day he would be executed.  These were his last moments of physical freedom.  Lastly, verse 3 points out that Jesus knew that everything was in his hands.  Now in Matthew 28:18 Jesus says, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.”  This means that Jesus was not a victim as he went to the cross, but a victor.  Not only did he have authority over those who thought they had authority over him, but it was in his hands what to do.  Yes, Jesus came for the purpose of dying on the cross, being resurrected and leading many sons to righteousness.  However, his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, just moments after this event, makes it clear that he had a choice.  Jesus asks for the cup to be taken from him and yet, surrenders to the will of the Father.  What we see here is that though the Spirit of Christ was unified with the will of the Father, the flesh body was shrinking back from the cross.  The Father would not force His Son to do this.  It had to be the choice of Jesus and not just in his invulnerable, past existence.  In the moment of weak flesh he had to choose freely to save mankind.  Imagine if all authority and choice was given to you today.  What would your choice be?  In this situation Jesus chose to wash his disciple’s feet and to go to the cross for mankind.  This is a powerful statement.

When we look at the descriptions regarding this service, two poignant phrases stick out.  The first is at the end of verse 1, “He loved them to the end.”  This was an act of teaching, but it was also an act of love.  It was a divine, supreme act of love that would help them to better understand the cross and God’s will for them in the months and years ahead.  Service cannot be just an act.  It truly must be fueled by and informed by the love of God.  Too often we allow our service to become an identifying thing that we do, and lose sight of love for the people we are serving.  Another aspect to recognize is how John builds up to this act.  He stipulates all the things Jesus knew and how it was all in his hands, which lead up to the climax of “then he arose from supper, laid aside his garments, took a towel and girded himself.”  The statement itself would be anticlimactic to anyone who was looking to Jesus as Messiah.  I believe John intends this statement and the actions of Jesus to be shocking.  It is easy for us to miss this because we have grown up in a society that takes this for granted.    We must understand that the love of God is far more radical and shocking than we can ever completely understand.  Jesus hanging on the cross was the exact opposite picture anyone expected to see of the savior of the world.  Let’s face it; even now we do not completely understand the love of God and the depths to which it leads him to go in order to serve mankind.  So, when I try to follow Jesus and serve others, I will find myself needing to grow in the ability to love at such a shocking level.

We are challenged by the service of Jesus

Peter often becomes the vehicle through which we get to see ourselves.  So in verses 6-8, the shocking actions of Jesus bother Peter.  He balks at what Jesus is doing and had earlier rebuked Jesus for saying that he would be executed.  This is the very nature of even the most loyal disciple.  Our hearts are challenged and even made afraid by what Jesus does and calls us to do.

So what is at the heart of this issue?  Perhaps it is our pride.  Peter’s pride in his station as a close disciple to the Messiah of Israel (maybe even #1 disciple), shrinks back from this menial service that Jesus does.  Jesus is supposed to be the greatest and highest person in all of Israel.  But here he takes on a task that only the lowest servant would perform.  This is unthinkable to him because of his pride.  Leaders, beware of followers who tell you that certain things are beneath you.  They are not being led by the wisdom of God, but the fear of prideful flesh.  Peter was so proud of being there that he forgot to wash his own feet.  His joy of being in the presence of Jesus had overwhelmed his self-awareness that his feet were filthy.  This is such a powerful picture of our desire to follow Jesus.  We get so caught up in the wonder of it all that we can miss areas of our life that need cleaned up.  Even so, if Jesus wanted their feet cleaned, he should command one of them to do it, right?  In Peter’s mind the lowest of them all should be the one washing feet, not Jesus (and most likely not him).  This is precisely why Jesus had to wash their feet.  He had to break their pride.  But he doesn’t do it like the leaders of this world do it.  The leaders of this world command you to do the most menial tasks until your pride is wore down.  But Jesus does the menial task himself and then asks them to love one another as he has loved them.  He leads the way, and not as one who does so once and never humbles himself again.  The cross shows us that all of the life of Jesus was one long humbling of the highest being in the universe.  Can we not see that God has no pride?  We must see our own shrinkage from service and its foreign mindset in Peter’s actions.  We must also ask the Lord to transform our mind and heart in this area.

Another point I would like to make about Peter’s refusal is that it is God who defines how we need to be served.  Peter does not want to let Jesus feet.  When others serve us we are often uncomfortable.  We tend to want to control how it is done.  We can be guilty of trying to tell God exactly how He should do things.  But the reality is that we don’t have a clue what we need and what He should be doing.  The Church has struggled over this question, “What do people really need.”  Especially in America, we have developed two different approaches over the years.  The first is called the “Pie in the Sky” Gospel.  This approach says that people really only need their spirit’s saved and the flesh is immaterial.  Thus, people who preached to the homeless would promise that in heaven you will have all the things you didn’t on earth.  Instead of helping materially they only helped spiritually.  The cynicism of the people being served led to some Christians then going to the other extreme.  This led to what is called the “Social Gospel.”  They tended to focus so much on the physical needs of the poor at the expense of the spiritual message of Jesus.  It almost becomes a badge of nobility to feed a poor man and not tell him the gospel, so that you are not manipulating them.  Yet, Jesus does both within hours.  He washes their feet, a very physical service, and then dies on the cross for their sins, a very spiritual service.  In truth we need both.  Yes, we could accuse Jesus of trying to manipulate us by dying on a cross.  But in the end it is a reality that we have to deal with.  Was Jesus manipulating or loving?  When we serve, we must be aware of the physical nature of those we serve and yet the spiritual side.  Not all will receive what you do and may even cast aspersions on your motives.  Nevertheless, it is not wise to let those being served to dictate how we serve them.  We serve people because God loves them and it is He who directs us on how they need served.

In verse 9 and following the scene comes to a conclusion with Jesus explaining why he did what he did.  In verse 14 the word “ought” should slam into the pit of our stomach like a ton of bricks.  It comes from a word that has the idea of owing a debt that you are obligated to pay back.  Thus, it came to be used for social and moral obligations.  If the master did this lowly service, then by definition his disciples are obligated to keep themselves beneath him in station.  To not lower myself is more than an act of rebellion, but even an act of rejection.   In this act of service and the cross that follows, Jesus forever undercuts the protest, “You couldn’t expect me to do that!”  No, such a statement is hollow when you recognize the wisdom of Jesus.  We are precisely obligated to serve one another because our Lord and master served us.  But our obligation is not just on a moral level.  We say that we love God, but in this moment God shows the very depths of his heart.  He is not trying to be on top, and is not filled with pride.  He is willing to lower himself to the lowest place and serve.  So, the question then is, “Having received such a glimpse into the depths of His heart, do you still love Him?”  Christians are those who have discovered the shocking truth about the God who created all things and have chosen to follow him.  How can we not but serve?

Then in verse 17 Jesus slams the point home.  Blessed are you if you know these things and do them.  Today you have been made aware of these things.  Now, what are you going to do with them?  This is not just about washing feet.  It was a need within their immediate context.  What are the needs in our context?  What ways can I serve others for God?  In fact, it would be good for me to spend some time in prayer asking the Lord to give me His thinking on this subject.  Service is the key to blessing.

One of our problems in the Western world is that we make service sound noble.  I am not saying that it isn’t noble in some ways.  However, it is also humiliating and hard on our flesh in other ways.  Service by its very nature is not a noble thing, but it is a God thing.  Jesus washing the dirty, stinky feet of his disciples was not fun.  But it was necessary for them.  Similarly, trying to love another person and serve them can be some of the most difficult times of your life, and yet God asks us to do it.  Yes, it is noble, but the nobility is not what we feel when we truly start serving others.  We can tell young men of the noble act of dying so that other may be free.  But, when they are in the trenches and their friends are dying around them, it will feel like anything but nobility.  No, service that is not self-serving (a.k.a. I am getting noticed and good press) will try your soul like a furnace.  But in the end you will come forth like pure gold refined in the fire seven times.

Serving Selflessly audio