Gladys Dunn recently moved into a retirement community in a small town. One beautiful Sunday morning she walked down the street to a church not far from her apartment. Gladys was in awe of the big beautiful church building as she stepped inside to attend the worship service.
Gladys however, wasn’t too impressed with the sermon. She thought it was kind of boring and, as she looked around the church, she noticed that many of the members were nodding off.
When the preacher finished his sermon he encouraged the congregation to greet those
sitting close by.
Gladys turned toward the man sitting on her left. He, too, had fallen asleep and was yawning and stretching trying to wake up. He smiled at her, and Gladys returned the smile.
She politely offered her hand and said, I’m Gladys Dunn." "You and me both!" the man replied.
This morning, if you have been with us the last few weeks you might be saying how glad you are to know that this is the last of this series of Having a Servant’s heart. But my prayer is that over the last three weeks you and I have discovered that as believers you and I have been given spiritual gifts by God. And these gifts have been divinely given to us based not on anything we have done but on God’s mercy and grace because he loves us. And each of us can do different things for the glory of God and to build up the body of believers. And so today, as we finish this series of messages I want us to all feel comfortable in knowing that you and I are good to go for ministry.
In our passage this morning, we have looked at verses 10-12 but I want to back up a moment and share with you why it is so important for us to be good to go with our ministry. In verse 7 Paul is pretty blunt about what is about to happen. He says that “the end of all things is near.” So be clear minded and self controlled so that you can pray.”
Let’s be honest. There is going to come a day in which this world will be no more. Paul tells us that the end is near and we need to pray. The shortness of time remaining should motivate believers to be earnest and disciplined in their prayers. The meaning for today calls for self-discipline when we pray. Rather than merely a quick blessing on our food or a three-minute devotional, we should reserve extended times for sober, direct communication with God. Lack of prayer will render us unprepared for the end times:
I am sure that I don’t have to ask anyone what is so significant about this Tuesday. It’s not just September 11th but its 9/11 a day in which we remember the tragedy that took place in this country. Anyone that is old enough to remember will never forget the numbers 9/11 nor will we forget where we were or what we were doing that day. Many believed that the end of the world had come. And though the world did not end on September 11 it is a reminder to us that there will come a day in which the world will cease and the shortness of the time remaining is motivation to live for and serve Jesus Christ
And so this coming Tuesday will be another time for us to pause and to remember the events of that day. Yet, it is not just a day remember because of the sadness that it brings us but it is a day in which we remember how, even in the midst of the worst of all evil, we could become the best of who we could possibly be.
So what can we do to be good to go for Ministry?
1) Realize that above all Love should show in everything we do
In verse 8 Peter tells us that above all, love each other deeply.’
The power of love is an amazing thing. If we are good to go for ministry then are love should know no boundaries. It should be focused on what Christ has commanded us to do with the 2 greatest commandments: 1: To love the Lord your God with All Your Heart with all your strength, with all your soul and with your entire mind. And the second one is like it love your neighbor as yourself. I love the way the Message translation puts the first part of verse 8 it says “Most of all love each other as if your life depended on it.”
That’s what the Bible teachers us. It wants us to love God above all, to love neighbors as ourselves with the intention of trying to model the generous love that God has for us. As we ponder September 11th we are taken back to that day and to the generous acts of love that emergency personnel gave as they went up the stairs to help those coming down the stairs. What a perfect example of a sacrificial Godly love that you and I have the opportunity to watch everyday.
When I was a little kid, I always wanted to be a fireman. I am so blessed to be able to do two things that I love and that is being a pastor and being a firefighter. Someone asked not too long ago if it was hard being both and I said no. I feel my job is the same in both fields. Whether it’s being a preacher or fighting a fire, my job is the same. To protect people from burning in a fire. In the last several years of being a firefighter I have seen once again up-close the power of love through firefighters. Every time that our pagers go off, whether it’s 2 in the afternoon or 2 in the morning, we are dressed and out the door and into a fire truck and never once do I hear anyone say well let’s think about where we are going. Whose house is it? What do they look like, do they have any money? No instead these volunteers understand what love is all about. They are willing to risk everything to help someone in a burning building or protecting one’s assets.
Not only do we see this absolute love through firefighters but also through police officers as well.
But all it takes is seeing these men and women willing to face the dangers and fears that you and I want to run from. Now some of you might not think that police officers have much love especially when they are arriving to your window and the first words they utter are License and Registration, please.
We might not think of this absolute love with Em’s but think of a time in which you encountered one of the men and women coming into your home to save the life of someone you love.
You might not think of the power of that real love with a nurse, until one holds your hand and watches over you as if you are one of his or her very own.
Now take each of those positions and place it in the context of the church. The church should be a place where the body of believers are willing to use their gifts to help individuals learn how not to get burned, to provide a safety barrier providing hope and protection through the strength and power of the Lord. The church should be a place that provides medical attention by giving CPR allowing there to be a new life and new beginning as found in Christ Jesus. And the church is to be a place in which all the body should be willing to bandage the wounded and provide opportunities of healing.
After all verse 8 says that this deep love will cover a multitude of sins. When believers experience deep love from the fellowship, they have the human network of support that can help them through any crisis. This kind of strenuously maintained love is not blind but sees and accepts the faults of others. Peter might have been quoting from the verse Proverbs 10:12 which says “Hatred stirs up quarrels, but love covers all offenses.” To make his point. But notice that Peter does not say that love ignores overlooks or hides sin. He believes as he states at the beginning of this chapter that all individuals should live for the will of God the “covering of sins,” then, is the ability that believers have to forgive one another because Christ has forgiven them. Love works as a shock absorber, cushioning and smoothing out the bumps and irritations caused by fellow believers No Christian is an island; no one is alone. When believers experience deep love from the fellowship, they have the human network of support that can help them through any crisis.
When we are willing to do that then we are good to go for ministry because we are focused on living for God and not for ourselves.
2) We realize we are Gifted We are Good to go:
In verse 10 Peter once again wants to remind us that we have been given gifts by God to be used in His service. I know that you might say now wait that’s the fourth week in a row that you have told me that as a believer I have a gift. Why are you repeating yourself? Because I want to make sure that all of us realize that Yes, there is no believer that does not have a gift from God. Period Exclamation Mark.
Spiritual gifts serve three purposes: 1) to serve one another 2) to follow verse 8 and love one another and 3) to continue the work of sharing the Gospel with others.
When you and I are willing to use our gifts in service to others, notice what happens according to verse 10. God’s grace is able to work through others. God’s generosity is able to flow through them. The other day I was working on our garage door opener and I was trying to re wire some things. Well, I’ve been with many of you on work projects and as Kim Griffin says I’ve got potential. Now I don’t know if he is talking about my preaching or my ability to be a gopher but I’ve learned a think or two about fixing things.
So I was just going to use some of that knowledge to do a little wiring. I mean how hard is it right. I saw Jack Cone one day in this sanctuary change a switch without turning off the power and also telling me he wanted to show me how to do it while standing in a bucket of water. Thankfully, we have not had the opportunity to finish that lesson (and I’m not interested in finishing it). But anyway so there I am on my ladder thinking I don’t need to unplug this unit. If those men can do it, why can’t Chris. So everything is going well until that moment when yep you guessed it my hand slipped while trying to tighten the screw and I don’t know what happened but all of a sudden boy something started going down the whole right side of my body. Boy I came off that ladder pretty fast and just had this weird sensation that something was flowing through me. I guess you could say at that moment I was electric.
Well listen when we use our gifts we have the potential to cause something electric to happen to an individual. By using our gifts to serve one another the power of the Holy Spirit can flow through us into the lives of others and enrich them and bless them and cause a powerful change in their life. It could be through your gift that causes the electricity to connect and the light bulb comes on for individuals.
You and I are the body of Christ and it is so important to use that which God has given us to serve, love and share the Gospel to others. Think about it when you get a gift at Christmas or for your birthday do you just leave it sitting around unopened. No, boy we want to tear through that thing finding out what special gift was given to us from someone who loves us.
Shouldn’t it be the same way with God’s gifts to us? Whereas we think of what to give people maybe a month or day or hour before but God developed these gifts for us before we were even born. You have seen people react with excitement to watching you open your gifts imagine the delight on God’s holy face as we put our gifts to work to help others.
3) You are Good to Go When You Are Willing to Let Go
Listen, you and I have the gifts, we have already received all the tools that we need, the only thing that remains is the decision for us to be willing to put those tools to work. The marching orders have already been given. In Matthew 28: Jesus says “As you go, make disciples of all people.” And Peter follows that up here in verse 10 by encouraging us to serve faithfully.
What it does not say is that you must be willing to serve perfectly. It simply says that you and I are to serve faithfully.
Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: 11 if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he’ll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything
When we are willing to serve, the focus is not on us, but it’s on the Lord. It shows that hey I am not perfect and I am not great, but look at what the one who is perfect and great can do through me. See when we are willing to use our gifts in service for we are pointing people to God. So today are we willing to say Okay I am ready, I am willing and I am committed to serving my God.
Today if you are here and are nervous about serving in ministry, I want to tell you that you are good to go. You have been released for ministry, every single one of us. God is releasing us for ministry. We have been given an extraordinary opportunity. The question is will we step up to the plate today.
Are you nervous? It’s okay because God is not going to give you anything you can’t handle. J. Hudson Taylor was one of the greatest missionaries Baptists have ever known. He ministered to the land of China and I found his words on his calling very meaningful to us today. Taylor said “God said to me, “I am going to evangelize China, and if you will walk with me, I will do it through you.” Taylor took God up on that invitation and he went to China and through the gifts that God gave him he was good to go in ministry. And through God working through Taylor, thousands of people came to know Christ. So how about us. God is saying to us today, “I am going to evangelize Castalia, your school, your job, your family and if you let me Chris, Louise, Jack, Glenda if you will walk with me I’ll do it through you. How cool is that? Will you let him work through you? Your Good to Go If you will just let go and serve.
Let’s Pray.
