I am the Church – Part 7

Serving – February 24, 2019

Today, we come to the next part of the “I am the Church” series.

          We are convinced that life works best when people live in right relationship with God and with each other. We believe these right relationships are described in the five purposes for both life and the church:

1. Worshiping
2. Belonging
3. Growing
4. Serving
5. Sharing

Today, we are talking about the fourth purpose, serving.

Are you familiar with toys like this? The kinds of toys with shape-specific openings? I think this toy is an excellent illustration for today’s message—both in the ways it’s made and in the way a child plays with it.

The way it’s made

          This toy is made in such a way that each piece fits is intended to fit in a specific place.

• The square shape fits in the square opening.
• The star shape fits in the star-shaped opening.
• The x shape fits in the x-shaped opening.
• The triangle fits in the triangular opening.
• The circle fits in the round opening.
• Aren’t you glad I explained all that to you? How many of you now would feel more confident with this toy?

Each piece of this toy serves a particular purpose. Each has a job to do. That job is to provide playful enjoyment for children and to teach them about shapes and colors. On a higher level, each piece also teaches children that some things work, and others don’t.

What does this have to do with our series and the topic of serving? Thanks for asking. Let me set the stage before we move on. I want to do that by looking at two passages of Scripture.

Ephesians 2:8-10 (NLT) – ⁸ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. ¹⁰ For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

In this passage, Paul is telling us that while we don’t do anything to earn the gift of salvation, we are expected to do something after we are saved.

The second passage of Scripture of the letter written by Jesus’ brother, James.

¹⁴ What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? ¹⁵ Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, ¹⁶ and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?

¹⁷ So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.

¹⁸ Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”

¹⁹ You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. ²⁰ How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? (James 2:14-20, NLT)

According to these two passages, and others, we are not just saved from sin, but we are also called to service. In this week’s reading, Rick Warren points out that we are created, saved, called, and commanded to serve God. Service is not passive observance, it is active participation.

Let me draw attention to two statements from these passages of Scripture before we move one. First, Paul wrote that God created each of us so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Think of this, God had a job description for us each before we were born. And as we’ll find out in a bit, the job descriptions he has fits us to a tee!

Second, James wrote that faith without good deeds in useless. We are not saved so that we can sit, soak, and sour. We are saved to serve. How are you serving God and his family?

          For decades, Rick Warren has taught the principle that we are shaped for ministry. I agree with that principle whole-heartedly. In this principle, SHAPE is an acronym and the letters represent characteristics that qualify us to fulfill the duties in the job descriptions God has written for us.

          Those characteristics are (l) spiritual gifts, (l) heart, (l)abilities, (l) personality, and (l) experiences. We’re going to consider each one of these and how they contribute to our abilities to do the good things God planned for us long ago.

Spiritual Gifts[1]

• Spiritual gifts are God-empowered abilities given to believers to help them serve God.
• They cannot be earned. They are expressions of God’s grace to us.
• We don’t choose our gifts because God has already decided what we should receive based on the job description he has for us.
• Spiritual gifts are not given for our benefit, but to benefit others when we put them to use.
• If you don’t use your gifts, other people get cheated. If others don’t use their gifts, you get cheated.

Heart

          Your heart decides what you’re passionate about in life. Your heart is what gets your blood going. It’s what gets you excited.

          There are some things that get your attention right away and there are some things you couldn’t care less about. That’s a function of your heart.

          God’s designed your heart. He designed you to be passionate about the things he wants you to be passionate about. Have you ever considered that? And your heart (your passions) prepare you for the job description God wrote just for you.

Abilities

          The word “abilities” should be self-explanatory but let me offer some commentary in case it isn’t. There are some things you’re good at. And there are some things you should never try again. Would you agree?

          Some of your abilities (or skills) have been learned and some are innate. No matter how you’ve acquired them, you did not come by them accidentally. God wired you to have them or learn them and they too qualify you to fulfill the job description he tailor-made for you.

Personality

          Are you introverted or extroverted? Do you recharge alone or with people? Are you people-oriented or task oriented? Are you laid back or driven?

          Your personality is hard-wired into your being. Your personality is God-given and God-shaped through the experiences you had and the places you’ve been in life. Wherever you fall on one of the many personality test spectrums, you are who you are because that’s who God created you to be. There’s no need to spend time wishing or pretending to be something or someone other than who you are because God didn’t create you to be anyone else other than yourself.

          At the risk of sounding redundant, your personality perfectly fits the job description God wrote for your service.

Experiences

          We are complicated mixtures and products of many different kinds of experiences: (l)family experiences, (l) educational experiences, (l) work experiences, (l) spiritual experiences, (l) ministry experiences, and (l) painful experiences.[2]

          Have you ever heard someone looking for a job lament that everyone wants experience, but no one wants to give you experience? That does not describe the position God has planned for you. Every experience you’ve had in life—the good ones, the bad ones, the stupid ones, the joyous ones, the painful ones, the proud ones, and the shameful ones—have uniquely prepared and qualified you for the service God has written into your job description.

          You are SHAPEd for service. Look at someone around you and say, “I am SHAPEd for service.” That’s true of everyone here this morning, even those of you who aren’t yet Christians. God created you. He loves you. He sent Christ to pay the penalty for your sins. He has a plan for your life. There is nothing accidental about your existence. You are alive for a reason and you have a reason to live. If you aren’t yet a Christian, I, or Pastor Kristin, or Pastor Hunter, or Pastor Troy,  or one of our leaders, or the people you came to Trinity with this morning would love to talk to you about it. Just ask.

          You are SHAPEd for service.

          At the beginning of this message, I told you that this toy is an excellent illustration—both in the ways it’s made and in the way a child plays with it. It talked about how it’s made, but I haven’t said anything about how a child plays with it.

          Think about it. When a child first picks up this toy, it’s one great big experiment. The child has no idea what the shapes are or where they are supposed to go. Given enough time, and trial and error, the child will learn how to use the toy the way it was intended to be used. And there’s the service lesson for us—don’t wait until you think you perfectly understand everything, just jump in and try something. Trial and error and great tools for discovery and learning, for playing and serving.

We need you at Trinity. We don’t just need you sitting there. We need you to be involved in some way—in a way that fits your SHAPE. Step up to the plate, don’t wait to be asked. Take a step, talk to us, jump in a give it a try.

I love what Rick Warren wrote about this: You weren’t created just to consume resources—to eat, breather, and take up space. God designed you to make a difference with your life.[3] He also says: You are going to give your life for something. What will it be—a career, a sport, a hobby, fame, wealth? None of these will have lasting significance. Service is the pathway to real significance. It is through ministry that we discover the meaning or our lives….God wants to use you to make in his world. He wants to work through you….If you’re not involved in any service or ministry, what excuse have you been using? Abraham was old, Jacob was insecure, Leah was unattractive, Joseph was abused, Moses stuttered, Gideon was poor, Samson was codependent, Rahab was immoral, David had an affair and all kinds of family problems, Elijah was suicidal, Jeremiah was depressed, Jonah was reluctant, Naomi was a widow, John the Baptist was eccentric…, Peter was impulsive, Martha worries a lot, the Samaritan woman had several failed marriages, Zaccheus was unpopular, Thomas had doubts, Paul had poor health, and Timothy was timid. This is quite a variety of misfits, but God used each of them in his service. He will use you, too, if you stop making excuses.[4]

Prayer

[1] Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI, 2012), pp. 234-35.

[2] Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI, 2012), p. 244.

[3] Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI, 2012), pp. 225.

[4] Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life, (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI, 2012), pp. 230-31.