Gifts For The Community (1 Corinthians 12)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.840 --> 00:00:06.440 Please remain standing for the reading of God's word. Are Scripture reading this evening 2 00:00:06.919 --> 00:00:15.429 comes from Paul's letter to the Corinthians, Second Corinthians, chapter twelve. Second 3 00:00:15.470 --> 00:00:23.579 Corinthians, Chapter Twelve. Second Corinthians twelve, beginning in the first verse. 4 00:00:25.100 --> 00:00:28.859 Now consider it or concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you 5 00:00:28.940 --> 00:00:33.619 to be ignorant. You know that you were gentiles carried away to these dumb 6 00:00:33.700 --> 00:00:37.170 idols. However, you were led. Therefore, I make known to you 7 00:00:37.530 --> 00:00:41.450 that no one, speaking by the spirit of God, calls Jesus a cursed 8 00:00:41.890 --> 00:00:46.009 and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. 9 00:00:46.969 --> 00:00:51.280 There are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit. There are differences of 10 00:00:51.399 --> 00:00:55.679 ministries, but the same Lord, and there are diversities of activities, but 11 00:00:55.759 --> 00:00:59.960 it is the same God who works. All in all, but the manifestation 12 00:01:00.119 --> 00:01:03.719 of the spirit is given to each one, for the Prophet of all, 13 00:01:03.590 --> 00:01:07.030 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the spirit to another, 14 00:01:07.069 --> 00:01:11.069 the word of knowledge to the same spirit to another, faith by the same 15 00:01:11.150 --> 00:01:15.709 spirit to another, gifts of healings by the same spirit to another, the 16 00:01:15.909 --> 00:01:21.500 working of miracles to another. Prophecy to another, discerning of spirits to another, 17 00:01:21.620 --> 00:01:26.219 different kinds of tongues to another than interpretation of tongues. But one and 18 00:01:26.299 --> 00:01:32.540 the same spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as he 19 00:01:32.659 --> 00:01:36.930 wills. For as the body is one and has many members, but all 20 00:01:36.969 --> 00:01:41.170 the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so 21 00:01:41.370 --> 00:01:46.609 also is Christ for by one spirit we were all baptized into one body, 22 00:01:47.159 --> 00:01:51.319 whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves are free, and have all been made 23 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:56.040 to drink into one spirit. For in fact the body is not one member, 24 00:01:56.200 --> 00:01:59.640 but many. If the foot should say, because I am not a 25 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:01.870 hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the 26 00:02:01.950 --> 00:02:06.950 body? And if the ear should say, because I am not an eye, 27 00:02:06.989 --> 00:02:09.110 I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? 28 00:02:09.750 --> 00:02:13.990 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? 29 00:02:14.550 --> 00:02:17.300 If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God 30 00:02:17.460 --> 00:02:21.139 has set the members, each one of them, in the body, just 31 00:02:21.340 --> 00:02:24.139 as he pleased. And if there were all one member, where would the 32 00:02:24.219 --> 00:02:29.460 body be? But now, indeed there are many members, yet one body, 33 00:02:29.900 --> 00:02:31.889 and the eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of 34 00:02:31.969 --> 00:02:35.930 you, nor again the head to the feet. I have no need of 35 00:02:36.009 --> 00:02:39.210 you. No much. Rather, these members of the body which seemed to 36 00:02:39.210 --> 00:02:44.479 be weaker are necessary, and those members of the body which we think to 37 00:02:44.520 --> 00:02:47.879 be less honorable. On these we but so greater honor, and our unpresentable 38 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:53.719 parts have greater modesty, but are presentable parts have no need. But God 39 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:58.240 composed the body, having given the greater honor to that part which lacks it, 40 00:02:58.830 --> 00:03:00.949 that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members 41 00:03:01.030 --> 00:03:06.110 should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, 42 00:03:06.150 --> 00:03:09.189 all the members suffer with it, or if one member is honored, all 43 00:03:09.270 --> 00:03:14.699 the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ and members 44 00:03:14.780 --> 00:03:19.819 individually, and God is appointed these in the church. First Apostles, second, 45 00:03:19.900 --> 00:03:23.620 prophets, third, teachers, after that, miracles and gifts of healings, 46 00:03:23.699 --> 00:03:28.330 helps, administrations, variety of tongues. Are All apostles? Are All 47 00:03:28.449 --> 00:03:32.370 prophets, are all teachers? Are All workers of miracles? Do all have 48 00:03:32.490 --> 00:03:38.050 gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret, but 49 00:03:38.210 --> 00:03:42.960 earnestly desire the best gifts? And yet I show you a more excellent way. 50 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:46.680 Thus farthest reading of God's holy word. The grass withers in the flower 51 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:51.159 fades, but the word of our Lord endears forever. Please be seated, 52 00:03:55.270 --> 00:04:00.270 Lord Holy Spirit. We pray that you would illumine our hearts and our minds 53 00:04:00.310 --> 00:04:06.229 as we give ear to this passage of this letter. Lord, we know 54 00:04:06.430 --> 00:04:12.780 that each of us has a great propensity to think that we are the least 55 00:04:12.860 --> 00:04:17.300 presentable parts of the body of Christ. Each of us has a propensity, 56 00:04:17.459 --> 00:04:20.860 Lord, to think that we bring nothing to the table, that there is 57 00:04:21.019 --> 00:04:28.209 no way that you can use us, that we are at best near forgotten 58 00:04:28.290 --> 00:04:33.529 addenda to the body. Some of US think we're the appendix and of no 59 00:04:33.689 --> 00:04:38.959 use. But what we pray as we turn our attention to this passage that 60 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:41.720 you would help us to get a vision. As we've just sung, we 61 00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:46.240 asked that you would be our vision. You, Lord Holy Spirit, dwell 62 00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:49.319 in our midst and you dwell in our hearts. You have made our hearts 63 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:54.750 to be as the mercy seat was, and you have taken up residence. 64 00:04:55.990 --> 00:04:59.509 We pray, Lord, that as you were building us up into one temple 65 00:04:59.670 --> 00:05:02.550 and each of us as stones in that temple, that you would show us 66 00:05:03.470 --> 00:05:08.620 what honored place you have for each of us in this your temple, and 67 00:05:10.420 --> 00:05:15.139 give us the encouragement, give us the strength to do what it is that 68 00:05:15.259 --> 00:05:17.660 you're calling us to do, for we confess that we can do nothing apart 69 00:05:17.660 --> 00:05:21.810 from you. So we asked that you would strengthen us. We asked that 70 00:05:21.889 --> 00:05:26.569 you would give us eyes to see and ears to hear, and we asked 71 00:05:26.610 --> 00:05:30.610 that the words of my mouth and the meditations of our heart would be pleasing 72 00:05:30.730 --> 00:05:33.050 to you, oh Lord God, for we ask it in Jesus name. 73 00:05:33.649 --> 00:05:42.439 Amen. Well, I came across once upon a time a story from the 74 00:05:42.600 --> 00:05:46.759 Holocaust that I thought was fairly interesting. The story was told by a fellow 75 00:05:46.759 --> 00:05:51.910 name Eugene Heinler, who was a Holocaust survivor. The Nazis, he said, 76 00:05:51.949 --> 00:05:57.829 used to try all kinds of weird ex experiments on the concentration camp prisoners. 77 00:05:57.870 --> 00:06:00.149 I'm sure most of us have probably read about that at some point or 78 00:06:00.269 --> 00:06:09.620 watch some informational documentary about it. Mr Heimler tells of one experience in particular 79 00:06:10.259 --> 00:06:15.100 in which the Jews who'd been working in this particular camp were, without explanation, 80 00:06:15.899 --> 00:06:21.089 suddenly ordered to go from and get this huge pile of sand that was 81 00:06:21.129 --> 00:06:27.649 at one end of the concentration camp and move the entire pile of sand to 82 00:06:27.730 --> 00:06:32.959 the opposite end of the concentration camp. And then, after they had done 83 00:06:33.079 --> 00:06:39.600 that, they were ordered to move it all, every last grain, back 84 00:06:39.639 --> 00:06:46.230 to its original location. And this process was repeated day after day, week 85 00:06:46.629 --> 00:06:53.430 after week, moving the sand back and forth. And eventually many of the 86 00:06:53.470 --> 00:06:58.470 prisoners who'd been able to cling to life even while performing more difficult tasks for 87 00:06:58.670 --> 00:07:03.620 the Nazi concentration camp officers, lost their minds. Some of them went berserk 88 00:07:03.740 --> 00:07:08.300 and a bunch of them killed themselves, either by throwing themselves on the fence 89 00:07:08.339 --> 00:07:13.939 or making sure they got shot by the guards, or hanging themselves. It 90 00:07:14.019 --> 00:07:18.209 drove them out of their minds. And the reason for that, the reason 91 00:07:18.329 --> 00:07:24.810 that that drove them nuts, is because God made us to live purposeful lives. 92 00:07:25.730 --> 00:07:29.170 God did not put us here on this earth simply to take up space 93 00:07:29.209 --> 00:07:33.560 or to use up oxygen. He made us with a need for purpose and 94 00:07:33.800 --> 00:07:40.759 meaning hardwired into our psyche. And when we don't live lives of purpose and 95 00:07:40.959 --> 00:07:46.750 meaning, we, like those poor prisoners, end up miserable. And this 96 00:07:46.949 --> 00:07:49.110 is true for our spiritual lives as well as it is for the rest of 97 00:07:49.230 --> 00:07:56.629 our life. When we come to know Christ, we discover this wonderful truth 98 00:07:57.670 --> 00:08:01.819 that the Holy Spirit has a purpose for us. He has a purpose for 99 00:08:01.180 --> 00:08:07.899 each of us, and important, meaningful purpose for every single one of us. 100 00:08:09.579 --> 00:08:13.730 And until we discover what that purpose is and until we begin to live 101 00:08:13.889 --> 00:08:22.089 that purpose out, we will find that we are spiritually depressed. Now, 102 00:08:22.290 --> 00:08:26.649 with that in mind, let me ask you a question I want you to 103 00:08:26.730 --> 00:08:31.399 be thinking about this evening. How do you feel about your spiritual life? 104 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:39.759 Do you feel like your spiritual life is meaningful? Do you feel like you 105 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:45.870 have a purpose in the kingdom, like you are bearing fruit and you're seeing 106 00:08:46.110 --> 00:08:54.789 purposeful forward momentum in your life as a Christian? Oh or does your spiritual 107 00:08:54.830 --> 00:09:01.779 life feel kind of like you're moving sand back and forth and back and forth? 108 00:09:03.259 --> 00:09:07.700 Or, to put it a different way, do you feel like you 109 00:09:07.740 --> 00:09:16.210 would be content if the current direction of your spiritual life and its pace perhaps 110 00:09:16.330 --> 00:09:20.730 we're to continue for the rest of your life? What you to think about 111 00:09:20.809 --> 00:09:26.639 that, and I want to think about that this evening in two parts. 112 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:30.799 First, I want us to look at this passage from the Old Testament and 113 00:09:30.919 --> 00:09:35.320 see a parallel to what I'm discussing. And then later on I want us 114 00:09:35.320 --> 00:09:39.950 to see a pattern from this chapter of First Corinthians that Paul gives us that 115 00:09:39.070 --> 00:09:45.870 I hope can point us in some positive directions. So first, the parallel. 116 00:09:45.950 --> 00:09:50.669 When Jesus began his public ministry, he came preaching that the Kingdom of 117 00:09:50.909 --> 00:09:54.500 Heaven had arrived. Remember, when Jesus says that the Kingdom of Heaven is 118 00:09:54.620 --> 00:09:58.659 at hand, he doesn't mean it's right around the corner, just down the 119 00:09:58.740 --> 00:10:03.179 street or just out of sight. That's not what at hand means. This 120 00:10:03.340 --> 00:10:07.570 hymnal is at hand. I can touch it, I can grab it. 121 00:10:09.289 --> 00:10:13.690 This hymnal is present, it is with me. So when Jesus came preaching 122 00:10:13.769 --> 00:10:16.929 that the Kingdom of Heaven was at was at hand, he meant that the 123 00:10:16.970 --> 00:10:22.559 kingdom had arrived. And among an number of other good definitions, we can 124 00:10:22.600 --> 00:10:28.000 rightly say that the Kingdom of Heaven is a new community or a family. 125 00:10:30.279 --> 00:10:37.230 The kingdom Jesus announced is a new community defined by the father's will, where 126 00:10:37.309 --> 00:10:43.470 people experience the presence of God as they live among God's family. Peter and 127 00:10:43.629 --> 00:10:48.710 Paul describe this family in terms of a building. They describe the people of 128 00:10:48.789 --> 00:10:52.820 God as a temple in each one of us as a living stone in that 129 00:10:54.019 --> 00:10:58.220 temple. And what's interesting about our relationship to this temple, if you think 130 00:10:58.259 --> 00:11:03.460 about it, is that we, as God's family, are described as both 131 00:11:03.500 --> 00:11:11.129 the builders as well as the building materials. We are both the stones and 132 00:11:11.450 --> 00:11:20.000 the stone masons of this people of God. And what's I think that's really 133 00:11:20.120 --> 00:11:24.159 interesting, because there's an implication there, then, and that is that God's 134 00:11:24.279 --> 00:11:31.840 purpose for each of us is both to be built up into a dwelling place 135 00:11:31.320 --> 00:11:37.149 for the spirit as well as to be active in the building up of this 136 00:11:37.269 --> 00:11:43.269 dwelling place for the spirit. We need to both be active as stonemasons, 137 00:11:43.990 --> 00:11:50.659 fitting others for the temple, even as we allow them to fit us for 138 00:11:50.740 --> 00:11:54.419 the temple. Therefore, I would submit to you that if there is something 139 00:11:54.500 --> 00:12:01.610 lacking in your spiritual life, if your spiritual life feels like you're just hauling 140 00:12:01.809 --> 00:12:05.210 sand back and forth from aid to be and back again, that therefore you 141 00:12:05.250 --> 00:12:11.289 might need to ask yourself if you are active in the process of building up 142 00:12:11.490 --> 00:12:16.919 God's House. Now, the Old Testament parallel that I have in mind is 143 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:22.639 the passage we read a few minutes ago from Nehemiah. And in Nehemiah we 144 00:12:22.759 --> 00:12:28.120 find that God's people had lost sight of their purpose. As in Jesus is 145 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:33.149 parable of the SOWER. The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches 146 00:12:33.190 --> 00:12:39.149 had crept into their lives like weeds and they'd become unfruitful. God had returned 147 00:12:39.269 --> 00:12:45.419 his people from their exile and Babylon back to Judah, but they'd lost sight 148 00:12:45.740 --> 00:12:50.539 of their purpose. Life had intervened, so to speak, and they'd gotten 149 00:12:50.659 --> 00:12:54.620 distracted from the meaningful work that God had for them to do. And so 150 00:12:54.860 --> 00:13:01.889 God sent Nehemiah with a mission to refocus his people on God's purpose for their 151 00:13:03.049 --> 00:13:07.370 lives. And if you remember, the purpose that God had set for them 152 00:13:07.570 --> 00:13:13.200 was to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Some sixty years earlier, Ezra had 153 00:13:13.240 --> 00:13:18.559 led a bunch of the people back from the exile and when they'd arrived they'd 154 00:13:18.600 --> 00:13:24.399 gotten to work right they built the temple, but then they stopped. They 155 00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:28.830 hadn't finished the job of rebuilding the city as a whole. They had a 156 00:13:28.990 --> 00:13:35.389 place of worship, but they had no community, no city of God's people 157 00:13:35.429 --> 00:13:43.419 around the place of worship. At the center of Jerusalem was the temple but 158 00:13:43.580 --> 00:13:50.940 all around it was ruins and debris. It was a temple without a community. 159 00:13:52.179 --> 00:13:58.610 See, they've gotten distracted from God's purpose for them, and I'm sure 160 00:13:58.730 --> 00:14:01.009 that if you'd asked any of those people they would have said that they were 161 00:14:01.049 --> 00:14:05.169 busy doing important things. They were farming, they were shepherding, they were 162 00:14:05.210 --> 00:14:09.159 growing their orchards, they were running their shops, they were provided for, 163 00:14:09.519 --> 00:14:13.519 providing for their families, they were doing all kinds of really important stuff. 164 00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:20.559 But in a sense they were allowing the good to be the enemy of the 165 00:14:20.679 --> 00:14:26.070 best. And as the book of Nehemiah Opens, were told the result, 166 00:14:26.190 --> 00:14:33.950 as I read and then reread, they were miserable. Nehemiah describes them as 167 00:14:33.149 --> 00:14:41.340 in great distress and reproach. Now to make the parallel, let's return to 168 00:14:41.379 --> 00:14:46.940 the image of the family of God as a divine building project. They had 169 00:14:48.019 --> 00:14:52.330 a temple right, they had the centerpiece where God dwelt. But then, 170 00:14:52.450 --> 00:14:58.289 having established the center, they stopped, they didn't build the walls, they 171 00:14:58.370 --> 00:15:03.730 didn't finish the job, and the resulting of Maya tells us is that they 172 00:15:03.769 --> 00:15:09.919 were spiritually depressed. In the same way, a great many of us Christians 173 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:16.519 establish the center, we establish a relationship with Christ. We make time to 174 00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:20.750 go up to the temple, in our case the worship service, but then 175 00:15:20.870 --> 00:15:26.789 far too often we stop, we don't finish the job and, as a 176 00:15:26.870 --> 00:15:31.269 result, we find that we have this lack in our spiritual lives. We 177 00:15:31.389 --> 00:15:37.059 have this sense of meaninglessness, this sense of going through the motions, of 178 00:15:37.220 --> 00:15:43.059 hauling the sand back and forth and back and forth. You know what I 179 00:15:43.139 --> 00:15:50.809 mean when I'm describing this. Can you relate to what I'm saying? I 180 00:15:50.929 --> 00:15:58.169 mean, don't you ever have this sense that sometimes you think to yourself, 181 00:15:58.529 --> 00:16:03.320 what Jesus died to give me has got to be more than what I'm experiencing? 182 00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:10.240 You look around for that abundant life that were promised and you say it 183 00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:15.399 doesn't seem very abundant. Or you catch yourself thinking that all the promises are 184 00:16:15.559 --> 00:16:18.950 for the Pie in the sky and the by and by, that I've got 185 00:16:18.029 --> 00:16:22.149 my ticket to heaven and I just have to sit here and wait in this 186 00:16:22.350 --> 00:16:26.950 lousy airport until Jesus comes back, when you want to be out there doing 187 00:16:26.389 --> 00:16:30.470 the things that you've been called to do, you want to go with Jesus, 188 00:16:33.100 --> 00:16:37.980 but you feel like you're just sitting here, suffering and hauling the sand. 189 00:16:38.379 --> 00:16:41.860 I know that you can relate. This is a universal experience of the 190 00:16:41.899 --> 00:16:49.570 Christian life. You See, God's purpose for you and me isn't simply to 191 00:16:49.649 --> 00:16:55.929 get saved and then go about our business. It's not simply to get saved, 192 00:16:56.049 --> 00:17:00.210 get your ticket and then get your rearin kicked until Jesus comes back. 193 00:17:00.529 --> 00:17:03.639 It's not that. It's not the pie in the sky and the by and 194 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:11.519 by. It's just not. And it's not that, just as his purpose 195 00:17:11.640 --> 00:17:15.789 for the Jews wasn't simply to rebuild the temple, he wanted them to build 196 00:17:15.829 --> 00:17:22.390 a city, a community, he wants his people to live as a city 197 00:17:22.630 --> 00:17:27.430 on a hill, shining forth as the light of the world. He wanted 198 00:17:27.509 --> 00:17:33.259 them to build a city, and he wants us to build his church. 199 00:17:33.339 --> 00:17:38.900 And the way that we do that, the way that we build the church, 200 00:17:41.099 --> 00:17:48.009 is twofold, two signs of one going. First, we do it 201 00:17:48.130 --> 00:17:56.049 by building relationships, by investing in other people, and second, and perhaps 202 00:17:56.170 --> 00:18:04.839 more importantly, we do it by letting other people invest in us. We 203 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:11.240 invest in others and we let other people invest in us. Remember, we 204 00:18:11.400 --> 00:18:17.430 are both the builders and the building materials. We are both the stones and 205 00:18:17.950 --> 00:18:21.990 the stone masons. And so if we're going to be built up into this 206 00:18:22.150 --> 00:18:26.579 city of God, this community of Christ, we need to allow others to 207 00:18:26.819 --> 00:18:32.660 fit us for the building, even as we are fitting them for the building. 208 00:18:33.299 --> 00:18:40.099 But, as was the case in Nehemiah's Day, there is so much 209 00:18:40.900 --> 00:18:48.849 to distract us. There is so much busyness in our business, and so 210 00:18:48.009 --> 00:18:52.890 the good crowds out the best. And if you ever wonder why so many 211 00:18:52.930 --> 00:18:57.799 of us have this lack of meaning in our spiritual lives, the reason very 212 00:18:57.960 --> 00:19:04.119 often is that we aren't taking time to invest in other people, we aren't 213 00:19:04.119 --> 00:19:10.869 taking the time to let other people invest in us, and as a result, 214 00:19:10.950 --> 00:19:15.349 the walls never get built. We were Maine, a people with a 215 00:19:15.470 --> 00:19:21.190 temple right here, even though we don't own this temple, HMM, but 216 00:19:21.750 --> 00:19:29.259 we have no community around it. You look around and you wonder where's the 217 00:19:29.339 --> 00:19:36.380 city? Well, that's the parallel to what I'm talking about. So what, 218 00:19:36.579 --> 00:19:41.289 then, would be the pattern that Paul gives us to address that? 219 00:19:41.849 --> 00:19:45.130 What does it mean for us to invest in others? What does it mean 220 00:19:45.490 --> 00:19:51.730 for us to allow others to invest in us? What does it mean? 221 00:19:51.970 --> 00:19:55.119 Well, it's been said, and I think it's been rightly said, that 222 00:19:55.480 --> 00:20:02.920 every Christian needs a pall, a Barnabas and a timothy. Each of US 223 00:20:03.079 --> 00:20:07.390 needs a Paul, an older brother or sister in the Lord who invests in 224 00:20:07.549 --> 00:20:12.829 us, who mentors us in the faith, who imparts to us the lessons 225 00:20:14.670 --> 00:20:18.509 that he's learned from the Lord. And each of US needs a Barnabas, 226 00:20:18.630 --> 00:20:23.339 a brother or sister in the Lord who walks with us as a peer and 227 00:20:23.420 --> 00:20:30.339 a friend, sharing our burdens as we share his. And third, each 228 00:20:30.339 --> 00:20:37.009 of us needs a timothy, someone whom we mentor and Teach Christ to whom 229 00:20:37.089 --> 00:20:41.049 we are able to impart the lessons that God has learned, or as get 230 00:20:41.130 --> 00:20:45.450 has taught us, and his poll makes clear here in First Corinthians, chapter 231 00:20:45.609 --> 00:20:52.960 twelve, every member of the body has been given something that other people need. 232 00:20:56.640 --> 00:20:57.920 Now, if I when I say that, does that strike you as 233 00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:03.390 odd? Perhaps? Did you know? Let me put it this way, 234 00:21:03.470 --> 00:21:10.349 did you know that there is something about you? As I said this morning, 235 00:21:10.390 --> 00:21:11.829 I'm not talking to the person next you, I'm talking to you. 236 00:21:12.349 --> 00:21:22.420 There is something about you that other people in God's family need. I'm not 237 00:21:22.579 --> 00:21:26.460 talking about a little extra on the side, I'm talking about something they need. 238 00:21:27.660 --> 00:21:32.339 Were you aware of that. And if you were, do you believe 239 00:21:32.420 --> 00:21:37.769 it, even if you know it? See, there is someone there, 240 00:21:37.289 --> 00:21:45.410 maybe many someones, out there, Timothy's, who need you if they're going 241 00:21:45.490 --> 00:21:48.839 to be mentored in the faith. There's nobody else to do it. That 242 00:21:48.119 --> 00:21:55.079 person needs you. And there is someone, some Barnabus out there, who 243 00:21:55.160 --> 00:21:59.920 isn't going to make it without you to walk with him as his friend and 244 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:06.390 whom you may not make it without yourself. And there is someone, there's 245 00:22:06.430 --> 00:22:11.309 some Paul out there, some mentor for you, who you need to open 246 00:22:11.349 --> 00:22:15.059 your self up to, to learn from if you're going to become what Jesus 247 00:22:15.259 --> 00:22:22.380 wants you to be. And that person, that Paul, needs you so 248 00:22:22.539 --> 00:22:26.900 he or she will have someone to invest in. Now what I think is 249 00:22:26.099 --> 00:22:33.049 so great about how Paul addresses this as he takes our naturally low self image 250 00:22:33.210 --> 00:22:37.650 head on. Beginning in Verse Fifteen of First Corinthians. Twelve, he takes 251 00:22:37.690 --> 00:22:41.930 our naturally low self image head on. He says, if the foot should 252 00:22:41.930 --> 00:22:45.960 say, because I am not a hand, I am not of the body, 253 00:22:45.799 --> 00:22:49.000 is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, 254 00:22:49.119 --> 00:22:52.240 because I'm not an eye, I'm not of the body, is it 255 00:22:52.359 --> 00:22:56.119 therefore not of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where 256 00:22:56.160 --> 00:23:00.190 would be the hearing? Can you imagine that? Just some eye floating along 257 00:23:02.829 --> 00:23:07.670 that? That wouldn't work. If the whole we're hearing, where would be 258 00:23:07.789 --> 00:23:11.509 the smelling? Now God has set the members, each one of them, 259 00:23:11.630 --> 00:23:15.819 in the body just as he pleased. And if they were all one member, 260 00:23:17.019 --> 00:23:21.339 where would the body be? But now, indeed there are many members, 261 00:23:21.700 --> 00:23:26.529 yet one body. What Paul saying here is that we ought not compare 262 00:23:26.569 --> 00:23:33.250 ourselves to others. He says the foot shouldn't say because I'm not the hand, 263 00:23:33.529 --> 00:23:37.450 I'm not of the body, I'm not important because I'm like I'm like 264 00:23:37.890 --> 00:23:41.289 this hanging nail on my pinky finger. That's my part of the body of 265 00:23:41.329 --> 00:23:44.839 Christ. I'm useless or, as I said in my prayer, I'm the 266 00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:49.079 appendix. Doctors have hunted and hunted and they've never yet found a purpose for 267 00:23:49.160 --> 00:23:55.359 me. Right, he's saying, you can't do that, and he says 268 00:23:55.710 --> 00:24:00.470 that because he says this because most of us tend to compare ourselves to others. 269 00:24:00.430 --> 00:24:04.509 But you know how we compare ourselves to others? We look at other 270 00:24:04.670 --> 00:24:12.940 people and we hone in on their greatest strengths and then compare that to our 271 00:24:14.019 --> 00:24:19.220 own greatest weaknesses. You know, I mean that's what we do. And 272 00:24:19.380 --> 00:24:25.170 you know who loves it when we do that? The Devil. The devil 273 00:24:25.569 --> 00:24:30.049 loves it when we do that because it gives him opportunity to tell us that 274 00:24:30.170 --> 00:24:34.250 we haven't got anything that other people need. Or we can look at our 275 00:24:34.369 --> 00:24:37.690 at other people, and we can say, oh my gosh, you know, 276 00:24:37.089 --> 00:24:41.839 that person's got it all together, and we think if I tried to 277 00:24:41.960 --> 00:24:45.359 reach out to that person, if I tried to invest in that person, 278 00:24:47.480 --> 00:24:49.720 they wouldn't appreciate it, they wouldn't want it. They be like, who 279 00:24:49.759 --> 00:24:53.309 are you? What you know? Kind of like how I felt before I 280 00:24:53.349 --> 00:24:56.109 asked Jamie out the first time. I was like, man, this girl's 281 00:24:56.109 --> 00:24:59.269 got it all together. What does she want with a loser like me? 282 00:25:00.549 --> 00:25:03.829 But you know, I discovered she thinks she's a loser too and she thinks 283 00:25:03.869 --> 00:25:07.259 I've got it all together. And that's the way it works with people. 284 00:25:07.299 --> 00:25:14.140 Right. We compare ourselves that way. But scripture says that there's something about 285 00:25:14.299 --> 00:25:21.569 you that others in the church need. You have some ability, some interest, 286 00:25:21.809 --> 00:25:27.089 some knowledge, some insights, some experience, some gift that other people 287 00:25:27.650 --> 00:25:33.569 need. Now want you to listen to a little story that I came across 288 00:25:33.769 --> 00:25:38.200 in a book. It's the comments of an unchurched woman in San Diego, 289 00:25:40.039 --> 00:25:42.960 and she was asked how open she would be to someone sharing their faith with 290 00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:48.519 her. So she says that she has these two friends that she worked with 291 00:25:48.680 --> 00:25:53.069 at a brokerage firm. She says Mike and Jenny. That's her coworkers and 292 00:25:53.190 --> 00:25:57.910 I make more money than any of us ever dreamed, but we've all talked 293 00:25:57.950 --> 00:26:03.069 about how the money hasn't really made us happier. I know that they go 294 00:26:03.190 --> 00:26:07.180 to church regularly, so I sometimes hint to see if they'll say something about 295 00:26:07.220 --> 00:26:11.900 it. One time we got into this real serious discussion about the important things 296 00:26:11.940 --> 00:26:15.299 of life, she said, I decided just to ask them out right if 297 00:26:15.420 --> 00:26:19.890 church was important to them. You should have seen how red their faces turned. 298 00:26:21.450 --> 00:26:23.369 They said a few things like well, of course it is, but 299 00:26:23.529 --> 00:26:29.049 you could tell they weren't comfortable at all talking about religious issues. I just 300 00:26:29.250 --> 00:26:33.359 can't understand it. I think I'm really searching for something, but no one 301 00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:40.079 seems to want to talk to me. Now bear in mind that this woman 302 00:26:41.000 --> 00:26:45.759 was not a Christian at the time she was interviewed, and yet she was 303 00:26:45.119 --> 00:26:52.430 desperate for somebody to talk to her about Jesus. And I bet if you 304 00:26:52.549 --> 00:26:56.630 saw this woman, you would have seen a woman who is this hard, 305 00:26:56.869 --> 00:27:03.619 charging, competent, twenty one century woman who seemed like she had it all 306 00:27:03.859 --> 00:27:08.539 together. And yet she tells us that she longs for someone to invest in 307 00:27:08.660 --> 00:27:15.730 her spiritually. Listen, this woman, who was at that time unconverted, 308 00:27:17.650 --> 00:27:23.170 knew at some level, she knew that these Christians had what she needed. 309 00:27:25.930 --> 00:27:30.920 She didn't know what it was exactly, but she longed for someone like you 310 00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:36.160 or me to invest in her, to share with her what we have learned 311 00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:41.799 from the Lord. And I can guarantee you that she is not alone. 312 00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:48.630 And it's not just unchurched people. A lot of us in the church, 313 00:27:48.670 --> 00:27:52.710 I hate to tell you, have a lot of issues still and we really 314 00:27:52.750 --> 00:28:00.460 wish somebody would invest in us. It's true, people need to benefit from 315 00:28:00.500 --> 00:28:07.619 what God has given you. So what are we waiting for? What are 316 00:28:07.660 --> 00:28:12.089 we waiting for? When Paul wrote to the Corinthians urging them to invest their 317 00:28:12.170 --> 00:28:17.329 spiritual gifts in one another, he was not writing to people who had it 318 00:28:17.410 --> 00:28:21.730 all together right. He was not writing to people who had the key to 319 00:28:21.930 --> 00:28:26.319 holiness or who are smart or wise or accomplished. Paul was writing to a 320 00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:32.599 bunch of people who are up to their eyeballs in issues. Right, the 321 00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:37.960 church at Corinth had all sorts of problems. They had interpersonal sins, sexual 322 00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:44.349 immorality, selfishness, drunkenness, it goes on and on and on. And 323 00:28:44.470 --> 00:28:49.869 at the beginning of the letter he wrote this, he says God has chosen 324 00:28:49.990 --> 00:28:53.990 the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. He's talking to them 325 00:28:56.220 --> 00:28:59.339 and he has chosen the weak things of the world, but to shame the 326 00:28:59.460 --> 00:29:03.140 things which are mighty and the base things of the world and the things which 327 00:29:03.140 --> 00:29:07.180 are despised. God has chosen and the things which are nothing, to bring 328 00:29:07.299 --> 00:29:11.569 to nothing the things that are something that no flesh should glory in his presence. 329 00:29:12.369 --> 00:29:18.250 But if him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us 330 00:29:18.849 --> 00:29:26.359 the wisdom of God. A couple of chapters later he says this in chapter 331 00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:32.359 six. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of 332 00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:37.240 God? Do not be deceived, neither for indicators, nor idolaters, nor 333 00:29:37.279 --> 00:29:41.230 adulterers or homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous nor drunkards, 334 00:29:41.309 --> 00:29:45.390 nor vilers, nor extortioners who, that's a long list, will inherit the 335 00:29:45.430 --> 00:29:51.470 Kingdom of God and such were some of you. But you were washed, 336 00:29:52.109 --> 00:29:56.380 you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and 337 00:29:56.500 --> 00:30:00.059 by the spirit of our God. He tells them, he reminds them, 338 00:30:00.380 --> 00:30:07.690 that they don't have it all together. These were people who were not particularly 339 00:30:07.730 --> 00:30:12.410 wise or strong. These were people who had backgrounds as thieves, homosexuals, 340 00:30:12.730 --> 00:30:18.490 prostitute drunks, you name it, that was their background. They were the 341 00:30:18.569 --> 00:30:23.759 great unwashed before they were washed by Christ and in the eyes of the world 342 00:30:23.799 --> 00:30:30.400 they didn't have much. In their own eyes, they thought, I'm sure 343 00:30:30.559 --> 00:30:33.559 that they didn't have much. If I were one of them and I looked 344 00:30:33.599 --> 00:30:37.990 at myself, I would say, you know, what do I have to 345 00:30:38.269 --> 00:30:48.390 offer other people? Those people don't have much, but you know what they 346 00:30:48.390 --> 00:30:57.619 do have? They have a relationship with Jesus. They have a relationship with 347 00:30:57.980 --> 00:31:03.660 Jesus. And when you come into a relationship with Jesus, whatever it is, 348 00:31:03.809 --> 00:31:10.809 whatever it is that makes you less than, whatever it is you're ashamed 349 00:31:10.890 --> 00:31:14.410 of, whatever it is that you have tried to hide. Whatever it is, 350 00:31:14.569 --> 00:31:18.450 you can't even look at your own self in the quietness of your heart. 351 00:31:18.799 --> 00:31:26.720 Whatever it is, Jesus uses it all in Christ. Everything that made 352 00:31:26.799 --> 00:31:36.029 you a loser is what now makes you a winner. Everything that made you 353 00:31:36.190 --> 00:31:41.910 a loser is turned into something that you can use to build up the faith 354 00:31:41.990 --> 00:31:47.220 of other people. There is nothing for us to hide, because Christ has 355 00:31:47.339 --> 00:31:51.940 washed it away and he has turned every bit of it into tools for the 356 00:31:52.180 --> 00:31:59.740 building up of his people. And if all of that stuff is used by 357 00:31:59.859 --> 00:32:07.730 God to qualify you to be someone's pall or Barnabas or Timothy, how much 358 00:32:07.769 --> 00:32:14.849 more the stuff that you're actually good at? Through all of your failures, 359 00:32:15.799 --> 00:32:20.759 you have learned about the forgiving grace of God, and through all of your 360 00:32:20.839 --> 00:32:28.720 successes you have learned skills and abilities and talents that other people need. But 361 00:32:28.960 --> 00:32:36.670 be forewarned, the devil does not want you to engage your spiritual guests. 362 00:32:37.190 --> 00:32:43.230 Do not be deceived. We are invested, we are involved in a great 363 00:32:43.269 --> 00:32:50.099 spiritual conflict. The devil is not a figment of your imagination. Demons are 364 00:32:50.299 --> 00:32:55.019 not interesting foils of in a literary fashion in scripture. This is a real 365 00:32:55.180 --> 00:33:00.609 thing. We are at war with powers and principalities in the heavenly places, 366 00:33:00.089 --> 00:33:06.769 and the devil and his minions will do whatever they can to tell you that 367 00:33:07.009 --> 00:33:12.690 people don't want what you have to offer. They will tell you that other 368 00:33:12.880 --> 00:33:19.160 people have it all together and that you, you are the only screwball in 369 00:33:19.319 --> 00:33:23.599 the house, so you better keep your mouth shut. The Devil doesn't want 370 00:33:23.640 --> 00:33:29.789 you to step out and invest in others or bless others with the gifts that 371 00:33:29.910 --> 00:33:32.710 God has given you. He doesn't want us to build up the walls, 372 00:33:32.750 --> 00:33:37.670 as it were, and when you believe the lie, you are resisting the 373 00:33:37.750 --> 00:33:46.500 work of the Holy Spirit. Because the Lord does want you to step out 374 00:33:46.500 --> 00:33:51.819 of your comfort zone. He wants you to join the work of building up 375 00:33:51.940 --> 00:33:58.690 his new community, his new family. And though you probably don't believe me, 376 00:33:58.849 --> 00:34:01.490 you may want to, but you really don't believe me, let me 377 00:34:01.690 --> 00:34:07.210 assure you that you have something other people need. You have some gift, 378 00:34:07.610 --> 00:34:15.119 some strength, some wisdom, some ability, some insight, some something that 379 00:34:15.320 --> 00:34:20.639 other people really do need, and you may not know what it is yet, 380 00:34:20.719 --> 00:34:27.429 but you've got it. And you may not believe me, but let 381 00:34:27.510 --> 00:34:31.750 me assure you, contrary to what you may think. Other people really do 382 00:34:32.070 --> 00:34:37.510 want you to invest in them. They want you to invest in them, 383 00:34:37.630 --> 00:34:43.860 to share with them what God has taught you. Let me read you another 384 00:34:43.940 --> 00:34:47.179 little story out of this same book. It's a great book. I'll recommend 385 00:34:47.219 --> 00:34:52.300 it to you after the service if you're interested. But this guy tells this 386 00:34:52.500 --> 00:34:55.409 other story and the woman in this story is telling us a telling, a 387 00:34:55.570 --> 00:35:00.730 tale about sharing your faith with with other people. But what she's talking about 388 00:35:00.730 --> 00:35:05.289 can apply just as easily to anything God has given you that he wants you 389 00:35:05.329 --> 00:35:08.360 to share. This is this is what. This is. The little anecdote 390 00:35:08.360 --> 00:35:13.719 here. He says Marian is a one year Christian from Indianapolis. We ask 391 00:35:13.800 --> 00:35:17.519 her to share with us what Church members and Christians should hear from someone who 392 00:35:17.639 --> 00:35:22.150 was lost without Christ for the first forty one years of her life. Tell 393 00:35:22.269 --> 00:35:28.269 them, Marian begins, that the world and Satan will give them many reasons 394 00:35:28.590 --> 00:35:32.070 not to be bold and telling others about Jesus. They will even have many 395 00:35:32.230 --> 00:35:38.019 reasons not to invite somebody to church. She pauses with obvious intensity in her 396 00:35:38.099 --> 00:35:44.980 face. But tell them never to accept those excuses. The unchurch do want 397 00:35:45.019 --> 00:35:47.820 to be invited to church. The lost do want to be told how to 398 00:35:47.900 --> 00:35:53.730 be saved. Marian's now holding back tears. She continues slowly. But what 399 00:35:53.849 --> 00:35:58.690 if Paula, that's her friend, had not cared enough to invite me to 400 00:35:58.769 --> 00:36:02.010 church? What if no one had been there for me during my divorce? 401 00:36:02.690 --> 00:36:07.079 What if no Christian had the guts and the conviction to tell me about Jesus? 402 00:36:07.440 --> 00:36:12.840 Tell them, Tom to stop listening to the lies of Satan and the 403 00:36:12.960 --> 00:36:16.639 world and to be obedient. There are many millions of people who were like 404 00:36:16.920 --> 00:36:23.710 me, waiting on someone like them to be unashamed of what they believe. 405 00:36:28.670 --> 00:36:32.659 What is it that God has given you that others need? And who? 406 00:36:32.699 --> 00:36:38.500 Which Paul, which Barnabus, which Timothy? Does he want you to share 407 00:36:38.539 --> 00:36:45.900 it with, to invest in? You know, there's a reason that every 408 00:36:46.059 --> 00:36:52.130 church has fellowship activities. There's a reason we have Sunday school. There's a 409 00:36:52.210 --> 00:36:57.130 reason we have Bible Studies and pot lucks and prayer meetings and picnics and whatever 410 00:36:57.210 --> 00:37:00.409 else that we do. These things aren't just so that we can have a 411 00:37:00.519 --> 00:37:07.000 good time or hone the Orthodoxy of our presbyterianism. It's not so we can 412 00:37:07.079 --> 00:37:14.480 get full bellies, although all that stuff is great. We have these sorts 413 00:37:14.519 --> 00:37:20.550 of things so that we can schedule into our lives as a congregation opportunities for 414 00:37:20.630 --> 00:37:24.469 us to use our spiritual gifts and to build one another up, because, 415 00:37:24.510 --> 00:37:30.739 unless we are intentional about finding opportunities to employ our gifts, I can assure 416 00:37:30.780 --> 00:37:36.579 you that life will intervene and that, like the people that Neemiah led, 417 00:37:36.940 --> 00:37:40.380 we will get distracted and not finish the job of building up the city. 418 00:37:44.489 --> 00:37:47.329 And whether you make the most of all of the opportunities God gives you or 419 00:37:47.409 --> 00:37:55.329 not, I would encourage you to discover what your gifts and abilities are and 420 00:37:55.530 --> 00:38:04.400 to employ them. Listen, we live in the fourth most unchurched metropolitan area 421 00:38:04.599 --> 00:38:10.000 in the United States. Ninety five percent of Twussonan's do not attend church more 422 00:38:10.079 --> 00:38:21.230 than once a week. Ninety five percent. That's a lot. We are 423 00:38:21.550 --> 00:38:27.500 surrounded in this congregation. We're surrounded, and not a lot, but we 424 00:38:27.659 --> 00:38:31.500 have people all around us. This congregation is surrounded by a neighborhood. We 425 00:38:31.659 --> 00:38:37.019 have our own neighborhoods, we have our workplaces, we have our friends, 426 00:38:37.059 --> 00:38:40.019 we have our families, we've got people on the bus, we've got people 427 00:38:40.019 --> 00:38:50.809 all around us who need what you have. God created us to live lives 428 00:38:51.010 --> 00:38:55.000 of purpose. He didn't create us to take up space or to spin our 429 00:38:55.039 --> 00:39:00.280 spiritual wheels or to go through the motions feeling meaningless. He meant each of 430 00:39:00.480 --> 00:39:06.840 us to be used powerfully in his hands to build up his family, his 431 00:39:07.079 --> 00:39:13.550 new community, his kingdom. If, at times, you feel like your 432 00:39:13.630 --> 00:39:19.389 spiritual life is just hauling sand back and forth from one end of the concentration 433 00:39:19.630 --> 00:39:23.900 camp to the other, then I would encourage you, I would plead with 434 00:39:24.099 --> 00:39:30.940 you, to ask the Lord to use you, to lead you to someone 435 00:39:30.940 --> 00:39:37.820 to whom you can be a pall or a Barnabas or Timothy, because, 436 00:39:37.900 --> 00:39:45.130 believe it or not, there is something about you that God will use powerfully 437 00:39:46.170 --> 00:39:53.679 if you will step out in faith and just let him and that it's good 438 00:39:53.760 --> 00:39:55.480 news, and then