Dirty Jobs
Pastor Ryan Akers
Me- I Corinthians 12:12-26
Have you ever wondered how things were made? Have you ever walked up and down the aisle while your shopping and thought, “I wonder how many people this item went through before it ended up in my shopping cart?” We don’t think about things like that. You know we are pretty spoiled in that each week we can go grocery shopping and get the items we need and know the next week we go back those items will magically be right back there.
We can work on a car or on our home and when we need something we just head to the closest Auto Zone or Home Depot and pick up what we need. Its an awesome convenience that we have. To get whatever we want whenever we want it. But we don’t think about how it got to us.
Idea, engineers, testers, quality control, packaging, shipping, warehouse operations, marketing, truck drivers, stockers, on and on. The idea passes through hundreds before it reaches us. But without those people behind the scenes we wouldn’t have the items at hand like we do.
Hundreds of people who you and I will never know who work in specialized areas are making a product for you and I, who they have never met, to enjoy. They don’t ask for recognition or celebrity status. They do it because its their job. At the same time we don’t care how its made as long as its there on the shelf when we want it. The only time we get upset is when the item we want is out of stock then we start blaming the behind the scenes people. Store, truckers, manufacturer. “Why are they lazy?” “Why are they shipping them quicker?”
Dirty Jobs- (Video I made working on a pig farm to give a real life example of someone who works hard that we never see so we can have a luxury like bacon- you can view my video at www.youtube.com Just type in the search box "dirty jobs-pigs" its 5:55 long.
What I did was just a small part of what goes into the process of giving us bacon, pork chops, and other good things to eat. We don’t think about the Charlie’s who work full time jobs, have families and yet give extra time so we can enjoy a luxury.
The work placed is filled with millions of people like Charlie. People who are gifted to do what they do so we can enjoy what we have. Everyone of them specialize in an area that they are passionate about. When they take the areas they are passionate and gifted in and combine them with others then you form a team that works together for an amazing product.
God had this same thought in mind for us as the church. We are to function as one body moving in concert. Each person is gifted and talented alone but together they create a body that is an unstoppable force in doing God’s ministry.
God- Church in Corinth is going through major issues. Division, arguments, lawsuits and immorality. There was great confusion about marriage, the Lord’s Supper, giving and spiritual gifts. This letter written by Paul was designed to address all these issues. Paul is making a plea for the church at Corinth and for us today to learn to use our uniqueness to work in harmony for God’s Kingdom not against each other.
I Corinthians 12:12-26
12– one body has members forming different functions the members of the church need to perform different functions. When one part of the body hurts then the whole body will hurt. (If you have a sprained ankle you move slower- it doesn’t matter that the rest of you is okay. If one part hurts the whole body suffers.)
13- Holy Spirit puts us into the body of Christ. Holy Spirit gives us our spiritual gifts (different from natural abilities which we are born with). We are to function in that body and to use that gift. We may be the big toe with unseen but important ministry but we are all to function. And because we have different gifts we will respond differently.
Pot Luck Example- suppose someone dropped a plate full of dessert on the floor in the Family Life Center. This is how people with different gifts would respond.
• Gift of prophecy “That’s what happens when you’re not careful.”
• Gift of service “Oh, let me help you clean it up.”
• Gift of teaching “The reason that it fell was because it was too heavy on one side.”
• Gift of exhortation “Next time, maybe you should let someone else carry it.”
• Gift of giving “Here, you can have my dessert.”
• Gift of mercy “Don’t feel too bad. It could have happened to anyone.”
• Gift of administration “Jim, would you get the mop? Sue, please help pick this up. Mary, could you get him another dessert?”
14-17- People not feeling their gifts are as important as someone else’s. But God’s word says that the gifts we don’t see in public being used are just as important if not more important than those that we do see. Don’t sell yourself short because you can’t sing or because you are shy. What we don’t think about is that while we wish we had the gifts of the person who can sing or preach at the same time they wish they had our gifts.
18-19 God created you and gave you your gifts just as he intended. God didn’t mess up. The gifts you are have are the exact gifts God expected you to have. It’s on purpose.
There are gifts that we don’t think about. Being a people person is a gift. Having the gift to make guest feel welcome. Sewing, scrapbooking, building, cooking these are all gifts. There is also compassion, leadership, mercy, hospitality, service. Gifts of the spirit. Hundreds if not thousands of gifts. And most of them are gifts that we will never see but without them there would be no body. If everyone was an ear where would the body be? If everyone was an ear there wouldn’t be a body. There would just be a bunch of ears flopping around on the floor.
20-26- We need each other. We must work together to see God’s work. Nobody can do it all and nobody can do it alone. God placed checks and balances in the body to protect the church from that attitude of, “I don’t need you.” The temptation is to say yes to everything and take on more than you should, but all of us have to learn to discover what we are passionate about and gifted at then just do that and let others do what their gifted at. If you attempt something that is not your gift, even if you love it, you may hinder that ministry because the person God intends to do it can’t.
You- But God does want all of us to serve.
I Peter 2:9- Eric and I are your pastors but all of us are part of the priesthood.
Eric and Ryan’s job… Eph 4:12- God give you permission to serve. There is no way that Eric and I could do everything and be everywhere and plan everything. Some would say, “What do we pay you for?” Just like God intended you to use your gifts for ministry God intends me and Eric to use our gifts for ministry. And we aren’t gifted at everything. We have limited gifts as well.
God gives you permission to serve and you were saved to serve.
(Ex.)About 20 years ago, when Saddleback Church in Southern California had grown to approximately 500 people, Rick Warren, the Senior Pastor, said, “Folks, I’m out of energy and the church is getting so big that I can’t do much more. As I read the Bible it doesn’t say I’m supposed to do it anyway…I’ll make you a deal. If you’ll do the ministry God’s gifted you to do then I’ll do my part which is to make sure you’re well fed.” Warren said they then “shook hands” and made a pact together. It was after that the church began exploding with growth (From Rick Warren’s sermon, “Unwrapping Your Spiritual Gifts”).
When God’s people run their church using their gifts explosion will happen. When God’s people get excited about what’s going on then others will get excited and they will want to be a part of this church.
We have to say, “God where do I fit? Where can I be most effective and you find it and you put all your passion into it.”
We- Coming up on exciting time for us- next week is the ministry fair (event where every ministry will have a booth set up. You have a chance to see all the ministries and small groups we offer and then sign up to be a part of something.)
Many people serve but we don’t know anything about them. Many things get done in the church but we don’t pay attention to it because it is just there. Without the church being the church it just doesn’t work. We get to work together as the body to do God’s work.
We get to grow together in small groups. This is an exciting time. Come next week and be a part of God’s vision.
