Sermon for 02/26/06

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Sermon for 02/26/06
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How to Change the World – DISCOVERING AND
USING YOUR SPIRITUAL GIFT

Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, AMEN

Main Theme: Changing the world, transforming hearts, and renewing minds is the will of God! God has made it clear that we are His beloved children and partners in mission. Last week we asked “What resources do I have that can be used to change the world? After taking stock of what God has given us, we discovered that among those awesome gifts was our SPIRITUAL GIFT! Today we discover each of us was given one to specifically help build God’s kingdom! We need to discover it and use it to receive the benefits: we will be energized, fulfilled, and successful. Ministry is a shared responsibility – and each of us is called and gifted in a specific way to help our church serve God!

1) ON PURPOSE! A ship’s captain and engineer used to argue over what was hardest: steering a ship or looking after the engines. Both called the other’s job “child’s play”. So they finally decided to settle the argument by trading places. After ten minutes the captain conceded defeat: “Engineer, I can’t get the engines running properly!” “Don’t bother,” said the frustrated engineer, “we’re aground.” It’s a good thing God made us different. And yet, we don’t always remember that God created diversity – ON PURPOSE! And if our church family is going to offer itself to God to “Change the world, and transform hearts according to His will,” then we especially need to understand that God made us different ON PURPOSE! And so, in discussing, (two week ago), all the resources God has equipped us with to serve Him and build up His kingdom, we were reminded that He has blessed each of us with a different spiritual gift – ON PURPOSE!

2) SPIRITUAL GIFTS! Having said that, how many of you KNOW without a doubt, what your Spiritual Gift is? How many of you at least KNOW ABOUT Spiritual gifts and through experimentation are narrowing it down? How many of you have NO IDEA of what your spiritual gift is? Let’s start with the bare basics – Spiritual gifts are just that: gifts! But like a gift, they cannot fully be comprehended until they are unwrapped! Let’s at least start tearing some wrapping paper off those gifts this morning. You must understand: Spiritual Gifts do not just happen! Spiritual gifts are 1) INTENTIONALLY GIVEN! …and 2) given for a SPECIFIC PURPOSE!

3) SIN AND SINNERS! The “Adam and Eve” story in Genesis, tells us that when sin entered in (and we became self-centered rather than God-centered) three relationships were broken: Our relationship 1) With God, 2) With each other, and 3) With the rest of creation! And since that day, God’s sole purpose has been to reunite Humankind with Himself! Rather than destroy His rebellious Creation He calls us back into a relationship as it was originally intended to be. How ironic, that our Creator would CHOSE to use groups of people to help Him accomplish this! As strange as it sounds, God USES sinners to reach out to save other sinners!

4) LIGHT UNTO THE NATIONS! Starting with the Israelites! The Israelites were chosen to be “a light unto the nations”, but somewhere along the line they forgot about serving others and bringing salvation to the lost sheep, and began to think of themselves as the “privileged ones”. They began to think of themselves as an exclusive club. Jesus came to remind them of that original purpose – and… they crucified Him! So after His own resurrection, Jesus empowers a new set of followers and gives them The Great Commission. Those disciple converts became “congregations” and were divinely ordained to carry on God’s plan of salvation. Today that’s us! You and me! Together, we are to be a light unto the nations!

5) POWER! Now “changing the world” is NOT an easy job! Try it all alone and you will quickly find that out. In fact, the job is impossible – unless God provides us with the POWER to fulfill the job! And if you’ll remember on the day of Pentecost, Jesus did just that! The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and given the power of Spiritual Gifts! (For instance, Peter was given the gift of preaching and thousands were saved that very day!) Of course, WE also get the same power, but in a less dramatic way – through our baptism! In that divine act, God chooses and empowers us to be a part of His saving plan. And every baptized member of this church has been given such a spiritual gift! Our gift may still be “unwrapped”, but it was given! And that spiritual gift is designed to be used in daily life to fulfill the mission of God “whenever” and “wherever” the opportunity is presented. An easy job? …to change the world? No! But it’s “possible” - due to the divine power available in the spiritual gift - given each of us by a loving and caring God!!

6) WILLINGNESS TO SERVE! Somehow, in recent decades, the concept of Spiritual Gifts received little exposure. As a result, potential members in the church were not “invited to serve” according to their spiritual gifts, but by their “willingness to serve.” Warm bodies willing to serve became highly prized! If you were new in a church, the “wolves”, (I mean the various chairpersons of the ministry groups), began to circle the “fresh meat!” Their desire not to “push” too hard, was unbalanced by the fact that other chairpersons were also eyeing the new worshipper too. The “first to pounce”, quickly explained the opening in their committee and asked if they were WILLING to help out. Since the church had been “friendly”, (and after all – the Bible does say it’s “better to give than receive”), the “newbie” caves in and joins… let’s say - the evangelism committee. Now they don’t know anything about evangelism, but they were willing! …willing to try it.

7) SQUARE AND ROUND PEGS AND HOLES! And then a strange thing happens: unaware of their spiritual gift, they “serve” – but there’s no joy in it! This leads to guilt – because serving is “supposed” to be fun. “Must be something wrong me!” they speculate. Several weeks later, someone inquires about that “new family”, and someone else says they thought they saw them visiting another church – and inevitably someone declares “That’s the problem with new people – no commitment!” It never occurs to the leaders that shoving a square peg in a round hole is not going to work! “Willingness to serve” is NOT the same as using your Spiritual Gift according to God’s plan! All the latest research proves that successful churches believe in: 1) the “Ministry of the laity”, (remember – Luther believed in the “priesthood of all believers”), and 2) a “spiritual gift” model of ministry. Let’s put round pegs into round holes, and square pegs into square holes! When spiritual gifts are given first priority – joyful ministry happens!!

8) NEAL BOESE! Neal Boese, was a pastor in the ELCA for 15 years before he rediscovered the subject of spiritual gifts. Years later he wrote a book on spiritual gifts in which he regrets not having discovered this in the very beginning. He said, “How tragic this oversight has been for the church! I believe this lack of understanding concerning spiritual gifts has been a major reason for the apathy affecting many congregations today and the burnout occurring among our church leadership. During the last 30 years mainline denominations have seen hundreds of parishes close and millions of members leave, either to join other denominations or to quit the church altogether. I believe the lack of focus on spiritual gifts has been a significant contributing factor.” He goes on to say, “Without question, spiritual gifts are the powers that move the congregation to fulfill its mission. The understanding and usage of these spiritual gifts are as necessary for congregational life as oxygen is necessary for human life. When a congregation is empowered with the use of these gifts, it is incredible what happens.”

9) IMPLICATIONS! Do you know what the implications are for the church? 1) The role of the pastor must change! Pastors CANNOT be seen as the “only minister” in the church. AND after realizing that the Pastor has only one Spiritual Gift, they will stop expecting them to be a “Jesus Jr.” They will stop comparing one pastor to another, recognizing they have different gifts! 2) The lay people will see themselves as having to share in ministry areas usually reserved for pastors. 3) It also means that people are often in the wrong place in the church!

10) THE WRONG PLACE! An example of someone in the wrong place: once a pastor driving a member home when a phone call diverted them to an emergency situation. It was a suicide, and while the pastor was involved with the police, etc.. the member realized that no one was helping the children in that house. Unaware of it at the time – he began to use the gift of MERCY – sensing the needs of others and being able to do something about it. Later that night, he apologized to the pastor for not being of any help – and the pastor quickly made it clear to him that what he had done with the children was nothing less than a miracle. Once he began to recognize his gift, he began working with the dying at the local hospital. Any of you who have ever had hospice come and help a dying member of your family die with dignity, and minister to your family, knows what a gift that is! But until that fateful night, the member, who was a mechanic by trade was being used where in the church? Yep, on the property committee. People are often in the wrong place in the church.

11) ENERGY, FULFILLMENT, SUCCESS! So how do you know? There are three things that happen when you are using your Spiritual gift: you are 1) energized, 2) fulfilled, and 3) successful. One or two of these are not enough – using your spiritual gift brings all three. For example, I’ll never forget a young woman at my last church who loved to sing! She was energized and fulfilled by it, but… ouch! Her solo’s were like fingernails on a chalkboard. A fun hobby perhaps – but NOT her spiritual gift! Or take a friend who worked as a bookkeeper …and was naturally assigned to take care of the church’s money. They were successful at what they did, but sadly they were not fulfilled or energized by it. Now I am not saying that when you use your spiritual gift you will never run into challenges, conflicts, or hurdles to get over – but at the end of the day, having shared your true spiritual gift – there is energy, fulfillment, and eventually success.

12) STOREHOUSES OF POWER! Imagine two churches: clones of one another in terms of people. One uses the “willingness to serve” model, and the other uses the “spiritual gifts” model from the bible. One has most of their square pegs forced into round holes, and apathy and conflict abound. The other has every member energized, fulfilled, and successful. What most churches don’t understand today is that congregations are storehouses of power waiting to be mobilized and unleashed. But instead of saying to new people, “Hey would you like to be on this committee or that committee?”, we need to ask them first – “What do you love to do? What energizes you and gets you excited? What have you ever done that brought you the most fulfillment in your life?” Which church do you want to be in? Only the spiritual gift church sees itself as a storehouse of power!

13) DISCOVER, EMPOWER, UNLEASH! We need to help the person in the pew besides us DISCOVER their spiritual gift – and then EMPOWER them to go use it! That’s how miracles happen! That’s how the “impossible” becomes a reality – when the resources God gives us are being used according to His plan, not dictated by an “empty position” on a board or committee. Too many spiritual gifts lay dormant in the church. Friends, there is power in the church – we need to UNLEASH it!

14) SINGLE, MIXTURE, CLUSTER! Take a look at these Spiritual Gifts mentioned in the bible: (see insert) Administration, apostle, craftsmanship/artistry, discernment, evangelism, exhortation, faith, giving, hospitality, intercession, knowledge, leadership, mercy, musical/vocal, musical/instrumentation, pastor, service, teaching, wisdom, writing. As Paul tells us, no one of these is more important than the other, and no one person has them all. In fact, most people are given a single spiritual gift, or perhaps a mixture of two or more, or a cluster. So Mr. Smith’s gift may be 100% “a writer” – translating biblical truth through words in a way that builds up the church. Mrs. Jones may be a mixture of leadership and administrator – not only leading with a vision but knowing how to formulate, direct, and carry out plans. Ms. Anderson may be mostly blessed with wisdom – but is clustered with some teaching ability and a touch of intercession abilities. But everyone has either a single spiritual gift, a mixture, or a cluster!

15) COMMON GOOD! As Paul says, (1^st Corinthians 12:4-7) “There are different kind of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” The words “common good” are important – because God did not give you a spiritual gift for self-entertainment or self-edification! It is for the building up of the church. It’s for the common good!

16) NATURAL VS SPIRITUAL! Let’s take music for instance; you may not know this but Cheri C. plays a mean piano! …until another person walks into the room! Cheri has a natural talent that blesses her in the privacy of her own home. Playing relaxes her, brings calm to her troubled soul, and makes everything alright with the world. But a natural gift that brings self-edification is not to be mistaken for a spiritual gift. Cheri’s spiritual gift is service! Of sure, some day we may stiff arm Cheri to play in “an emergency”, and she may do so successfully – but I’ll bet she would go home exhausted – wiped out – relieved it was over! For Leslie L. on the other hand, (M&W Dir.), playing the piano is a part of her Spiritual gift – given for the building up of the church. Leslie may go home tired after Sunday morning, but internally what she did energized her, gave her fulfillment, and there is no doubt about it – she is successful at it. If a talent is given as a spiritual gift, it was given for more than self edification – it is for the building up of the church.

17) INSERT - INVENTORY! Every new member at ASLC takes a spiritual gifts inventory when they join. Some of you took an inventory home two weeks ago and filled it out. Just so you know – the numbers on today’s insert, match up with the inventory. So if your highest inventory score was on number 8, look down on today’s insert and you will see it refers to the gift of intercession, that is, prayer! If you had several medium or higher numbers – then go experiment in those areas until you discover which one is your dominate spiritual gift. This insert has just the short descriptions – if you want the full page or two page description of your possible gift, I have copies and will be pleased to share them with you.

18) FREEDOM! You know what is so freeing about spiritual gifts? You now have permission to say to all those “committee wolves” who are looking for “fresh meat” – “Sorry, what you seek is not my spiritual gift. God is calling me towards… (whatever).” No guilt! No shame! Freedom to go do what you were designed to do! Or, if you still are in the “discovery stage” - freedom to go explore! There should be no “have to’s” in serving Jesus – only “want to’s”. And discovering and using your spiritual gift brings only “want to’s”! Why? Because it brings energy, fulfillment and success! …and the freedom to help to build the kingdom of God!

19) THE PURPOSE! Paul tells us their purpose in Ephesians 4:7,11-13 “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it… It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” The apostle Peter restates that purpose, (1^st Peter 4:10) “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administrating God’s grace in its various forms.”

20) BELONGS? Do you understand? You have something that belongs to me! …and belongs to others in the church! And we have something that belongs to you! Our spiritual gifts! …given solely for the building up of God’s family! If we are to “change the world”, “transform hearts”, “be a place of healing for our community” according to God’s will – we must discover our gifts, roll up our sleeves, and dig in! …going where Jesus goes, doing what Jesus is doing, pouring out our gifts to bring life to others! Our gifts belong to each other!

21) GOD AND YOU! Friends, that ship’s engineer and captain discovered that we were made different - ON PURPOSE. If the church is to keep it’s “engines running” and “steer a good and faithful course” – we too must rejoice in our differences and celebrate our diversity! So hear the good news! You have been given a unique spiritual gift by a loving God! It was given intentionally, and for a specific reason. God’s plan of salvation exists to reunite His children with Himself, and He has chosen you to help Him in this mission! What a blessing! What a privilege! In your blessed baptism God’s Spirit entered in, a call to serve was issued, and a spiritual gift given! He comes today to inspire you to discover it, and use it! It will energize you, bring you fulfillment, and you will be amazed at how wonderfully successful Christ can make you when helping your Lord and Savior to “change the world!”

Praise God!

AMEN

Sermon/Confessional Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, we confess we have focused on countless other things than on our spiritual gift. Some of us have not discovered or unwrapped the gift, while others of us have not used it for the building up of the church. Sometimes we envy the gifts of others, or feel ours in inferior. Forgive us. And help us to discover the energy, fulfillment, and success that comes from being and serving as you intended.

Lord, sometimes we think we can love, grow, and serve you without belonging to the church. We forget that our spiritual gift belongs not to us, but to you and your people. Forgive us for using our spiritual gift for profit, fame, or for selfish reasons, and empower us instead to use them to build up your Kingdom. Lord, help us to discover the freedom to be what you designed us to be, and the joy of working together as one, as we attempt to change the world according to your will.

And now Lord, although you know us better than we know ourselves, listen as we share in a moment of silence, those other parts of our lives that need to be forgiven, washed clean, healed, and recommitted to you! (made anew.)

(Silence)

Lord, you have reminded us that in our baptism, your spirit came to live within us and brought us a calling to serve and a spiritual gift with which to do it! Empower us to discover, nurture, and utilize those spiritual gifts we have received that hearts and lives may be transformed, as we work together to change the world according to your will! In Jesus Name We Pray. AMEN

Assurance of Forgiveness:

Friends, listen to the good news: The Lord, who provided your divine calling and your spiritual gift, …that Lord has mercifully heard your confession and eagerly forgives you all your sins. Go now, knowing you were designed, empowered, and gifted to change the world! Praise God! AMEN

Opening prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, many of us spent a lot of our time this week trying to be what someone else wants us to be. We have listened to a thousand voices telling us how to act, what to do, how to spend our time. We get so busy that we forget why we are here. We forget our purpose, and who we really are. So in the quiet of this time and place of worship – help us to block out the noise of the world, and enable us to focus on your word alone. Embrace us in your arms, and draw us close enough to hear your heart beat. Let the rhythm of our life fall in line with yours. Teach us again who we are, and who we belong to, and what our purpose is on this earth. Wash away our sins and impurities, forgive our selfish ways, and empower us to change. Come live within us and transform the way we think and act. Help us to recognize the abundant blessings and endless resources that you have give us – that we may love and serve you, by loving and serving one another! Touch us deeply; our hearts, minds, and souls, and shine through us that your glory would be seen by those we touch each and every day! Help us Lord to build your church! In Jesus Name We Pray! AMEN!

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