We are in the last week of our series “Created to be God’s Masterpiece.” Our key passage has been Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
We have been exploring over the last four weeks how God has beautifully and wonderfully created each us to be a Masterpiece, his work of art. You are not just some random genetic hodgepodge of your parents, but rather as the Scripture reminds us, God has intentionally planned for you to be who you are. God has been molding and shaping you from conception until our born again experience of faith in Christ until today. One of his purposes in doing this is so that we might be shaped to do good things, by serving the Lord and one another.
With each week we have been exploring the unique S.H.A.P.E. in which God has created us. The “S” stands for Spiritual gifts. God has given each Christian believer special abilities called spiritual gifts. Some of the gifts are listed in 1 Corinthian 12 and Romans 12. The “H” stands for Heart or passion. God has ignited a flame within each of us, something we feel strongly about. It may lie dormant, but the closer you get to God the closer our heart becomes passionate about something God is passionate about. It usually includes a desire to help someone or some cause within the church, community, or the world. When we serve in the area where we are passionate, we are more effective in ministry and it becomes enjoyable. The “A” for Abilities or natural skills. God has equipped each of us with natural abilities from birth. There are some things we are better at than others. Some are better at music, others at math and science, others at construction, cooking. However we must continue to grow and learn if we are maximize our natural abilities. The raw potential is there but we must grow and learn to put it to use. The “P” stands for Personality. God has given us different personalities or temperaments to serve him in different ways. Some people are more outgoing and do the up front ministry, others are more shy and do behind the scenes ministry, some are more people oriented others tend to be task oriented, some love variety others love routine. It is not about right or wrong, just different. Today we are looking at the last letter in SHAPE, “E,” which stands for Experiences.
We all have different experiences as we go through life, both good and bad. Even if you grew up in the same family you had different experiences because you had different relationships with your family members, you had different friends growing up, you went and did different things. No two people have gone through the exact same experiences in exactly the same way. Take a car accident for instance with many observers around, perhaps in a large city. Each person shared in the same experience. Yet, when interviewed by the cops each observer gives different response based on where they were and what they saw. In other words they shared the experience but in a different way. You may go through the same experiences with others but it effects you in different ways. Your experiences are unique to you. Some experiences are positive, others are neutral, and still others can be very painful. Why have you had the experiences? Is it just coincidence? I believe Scripture reveals to us that one of the reasons God allows us to have these experiences, whether positive or painful, is to shape us into the persons he wants us to be to serve in the way he has called. Sometimes we need to go through the fire to be refined.
God Works Our Experiences Out for Good
One of the great passages of Scripture which reminds us that God uses our experiences in a positive way is Romans 8:28
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
In other words God takes all things, including all of our experiences, whether they are positive or painful, whether they occurred through our intentional effort or by accident, whether it was a byproduct of our actions or someone else’s, and God somehow, mysteriously works all of these experiences out for the good for those who love him and are called according to His purpose, or who follow his plan for their lives.
A Biblical example of this would be the OT character Joseph. Joseph was his father’s favorite son, and out of jealousy his brothers sold him into slavery. Joseph became the slave of an Egyptian captain of the guard named Potiphar. Joseph served him faithfully and rose to be his favorite servant, and he placed Joseph in charge of his entire household. However Potiphar’s wife desired Joseph and made a pass at him, but because he refused her, she falsely accused Joseph of rape, and he found himself in prison for many years. Joseph again served faithfully in prison until he was put in charge of the entire jail, as a prisoner. One day Pharaoh had a dream which no one could interpret for him. His cupbearer finally remembered how Joseph had interpreted his dream during his brief stint in jail. So they brought Joseph before Pharaoh, and Joseph correctly interpreted Pharaoh’s dream, there would be seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Pharaoh placed Joseph second in command of all Egypt, his job was to store up grain for the years of famine. Years later Joseph reconciled with his brothers, yet after their father Jacob died they were still worried that Joseph was going to try to get even with them for all the harm they had caused him, but this was Joseph’s response:
NIV Genesis 50:20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
Joseph realized God has taken the vengeful actions of his brothers and Potiphar’s wife, some of the worst experiences of his life, and God weaved it together as part of his plan to cause something good to come as a result, the saving of many lives including Joseph’s family and all the people of Egypt, who would have died of starvation. God can and does take our experiences and work them for good, but notice there is also a condition to the promise of our memory verse.
This promise of bringing good is not given to everyone, it is only given to those who “love God and are called according to his purpose.” “Called according to his purpose means those who follow God’s plan, or do what he says. Does this mean God turns his back on those who don’t love him or follow his plan for their life? No, absolutely not. God loves every person. Yet, those who love God and follow him will open themselves to God’s grace and power which will turn their experiences around and use them for God’s glory. People who don’t love God will take their experiences as coincidences, and not learn from them. Positive experiences will be considered their good fortune or because of their hard work, while painful experiences will be bad luck or God’s punishment, and they will get bitter and resentful, rather than see how God might have allowed this to bring good later on and so they miss the blessing.
Past Experiences
I want you to close your eyes and imagine you are standing at the end of a long hallway. This hallway represents your life so far on earth. On the end where you are standing is the present time, February 18, 2007, and way at the other end is your birth. As you begin walking down the hallway heading back in your life you notice there are a lot of pictures on the wall. These pictures are of events from your life, experiences you have had, it is like a photo album of your entire life. As you continue to walk along you notice every so often among the pictures are large framed pictures. As you look at these pictures you notice they represent the most significant experiences or events in your life, both good and bad. As you walk along I want you to take a good look at these large pictures. What significant events from your life do you see on them? Are the pictures related to family events? A wedding or birth of a child? Family vacations? Sporting event(s)? Is it an achievement like a degree or high school diploma, certification, or award? Is it a spiritual event such as when you received Jesus Christ or were baptized, perhaps a spiritual retreat or conference where God touched your heart? Perhaps some of these significant experiences were painful times or failures. A divorce, the death of someone close to you, an illness or disease, abuse, alcoholism, job loss, eating disorder, miscarriage, abortion. I want to give you a moment to look at these pictures of significant times in your life and make a mental note of them [Pause to give a moment to think of past experiences]. You can open your eyes.
Realize that these experiences shape who you are today, and whether you like it or not. God allowed these experiences to happen to you, and he wants to use them all for good if you are willing to let him.
How God Uses our Experiences to SHAPE our Ministry
As Rick Warren says in his book, the Purpose Drive Life, “God never wastes a hurt.” God can take our experiences, particularly our painful ones, and use them in a positive way. One of the ways God uses our experiences and works them for good, is by helping other people who are going through a similar experience. Who better to help someone than another person who has gone through the same experience. Because of our painful experiences we tend to be more sensitive to the needs of others going through the same or similar experiences. In fact there is a passage in the NT which says just that:
NLT 2 Corinthians 1:4 He [God] comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.
Did you hear that? God comforts us in our troubles so that we can offer that same comfort to others. Our trouble can become the very ministry by which we help other people.
Story of the Spencley’s who lost their son and received comfort through the ministry, Compassionate Friends. Now they in turn try to help others who have lost a child. They can offer comfort and hope because they went through the same experience themselves. They can identify with them.
Story of Kathleen Jontz, a cancer survivor, who helped Debi McCain as she went through her cancer.
Amy and others at Epsilon beginning a ministry for infertile couples because they have gone through infertility.
One of the places for our service in the body of Christ may be in helping others who are going through a difficult time which we ourselves have already dealt with.
Transparency.
In order for us to be used by God to bring comfort to others, we must first be willing to admit our times of pain, our failures, and our mistakes. I call this transparency. A transparency is something you can see through, nothing is hidden. Too often we keep our hurts hidden, we want to cover up our pain. We hope that by burying it, avoiding it, or pretending it hasn’t happened it will go away, (the time heals all wounds approach). But I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t work that way, instead if festers like an infection under the skin until it makes its way to the surface again only when it resurfaces it usually comes out in unproductive ways like anger, or withdrawal from others.
If we refuse to be transparent with God and others we unknowingly block God’s ability to bring good out of the situation because we have not opened ourselves to receiving God’s comfort or healing and we have nothing to offer others because we have not found God’s healing ourselves. If you don’t find healing yourself you will not be able to help others in their need.
I remember when I was in seminary and went to interview with Hospice for their Clinical Pastoral Education program. The CPE program was a three month intense student chaplain program to help minister to the spiritual needs of terminal patients. A man and woman were interviewing me, and in the process of the interview they asked me why I chose the Hospice program. I began to share with them my desire to be a part of the program because I felt I could identify with patients due to the loss of my grandparents who had both died of cancer. As I was sharing my explanation I began to weep uncontrollably. It startled me because I am not one to wear my emotions on my sleeve. I realized at that moment I had not dealt with the loss of my grandparents three years earlier. It was still fresh. I had buried the emotions and pain, and as I was seeking to help others in their grief, I realized I needed help first. I couldn’t help others until I found God’s healing. So I went to a Hospice grief counseling meeting, and processed through my own grief, three years after the fact. Later, I did end up doing my CPE although not at Hospice.
The point I am trying to make is this, if we are willing to be transparent, God can bring healing to our painful experience, and use it in turn to help others through similar painful circumstances. However, you cannot take people where you have not gone yourself.
If you have been wondering, where does God want me to serve? Perhaps part of the service God has uniquely SHAPEd you for is reflected in the experiences God has allowed you to have. Are there any experiences in your life which has affected you greatly which you can draw upon to help others?
Taking the Final Step
We have spent four weeks looking at how God has made you a masterpiece in order to do the good things he has prepared for you long ago. Let me ask you, how are you using your unique S.H.A.P.E. to serve God and others? How are you using your spiritual gifts, heart or passion, abilities, personality, and/or experiences to do the good things which God has prepared for you long ago?
I encourage you to pray and ask God where he wants you to be serving in the body of Christ, what part you are to play. It may be where you are already serving, and God is reaffirming your place of ministry. But it may be something new for you. If you have questions please feel free to come in or call me, or talk to someone who is already in ministry in that area. Whether we serve is not a question, God has created us to serve, the question is where.
