4:1 Therefore, since we have this ministry,
Bernard L. Brown, Jr., president of the Kennestone Regional Health Care System in the state of Georgia once worked in a hospital where a patient knocked over a cup of water, which spilled on the floor beside the patient’s bed. The patient was afraid he might slip on the water if he got out of the bed, so he asked a nurse’s aide to mop it up.
The patient didn’t know it, but the hospital policy said that small spills were the responsibility of the nurse’s aides while large spills were to be mopped up by the hospital’s housekeeping group.
The nurse’s aide decided the spill was a large one and she called the housekeeping department. A housekeeper arrived and declared the spill a small one. An argument followed. "It’s not my responsibility," said the nurse’s aide, "because it’s a large puddle." The housekeeper did not agree. "Well, it’s not mine," she said, "the puddle is too small."
The exasperated patient listened for a time, then took a pitcher of water from his night table and poured the whole thing on the floor. "Is that a big enough puddle now for you two to decide?"
Did you know that you have a ministry calling? Paul is not writing to a group of pastors but to a church. Do you know what your ministry calling is as a member of the Body of Christ? Do you know what to expect as you go out to minister?
We can divide this passage in three ways: Characteristics of our Calling, Challenges to our Calling and Christ Who is our Calling.
CHARACTERISTICS OF OUR CALLING:
as we received mercy, we do not lose heart, 2 but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
There are certain things which should be part of our calling: Paul gives us a list of 5 things that should be indicators of a real relationship with Christ.
1) An Awareness of MERCY: as we received mercy
“Mercy cost nothing to receive, but it cost everything to give.”
People who know Jesus live with a constant awareness of what He has done for them. They know that they did not choose Him but He initially chose and drew them to Himself because of His mercy for them. An awareness of His mercy propels our ministry to others with a sense of understanding, forgiveness and concern.
2) A DILEGENCE in our HEARTS: we do not lose heart
Knowing what Christ has done for us becomes a driving force in our lives. Because of this knowledge we never stop trying in spite of the circumstances we face in life.
The worst defeat in a college football game came on October 7, 1916, when Georgia Tech played Cumberland college of Kentucky and beat them 222 to 0!
It was said that Cumberland never made a first down. The much smaller Cumberland players were mauled. Halfway through the first half one of the Cumberland backs fumbled the ball.
As the ball rolled toward his teammate, he yelled out, "PICK IT UP! PICK IT UP!"
The other player yelled back, "YOU PICK IT UP! YOU DROPPED IT."
Always looking for someone else to pay the price – let someone else do it
A walk with Christ that does not challenge us will have nothing to do with the kingdom of God. Many have a religion of wall plaques and pleasant experiences as they spend their time in God’s army far from the front lines. Those who truly enter the battle will encounter the enemy and the challenges that come with living in the world but not of the world.
It is said that Whistler, the artist, wanted to be a soldier, but he failed at West Point, and had to become an artist.
3) RENOUNCE the shameful things: we have renounced the things hidden because of shame
How many shameful things impact our lives in a given day: What TV show or movie would you not invite Jesus to watch with you?
How would you define something shameful? Offensive to God?
One way to determine what is shameful is to take the Beatitudes or the Fruit of the Spirit and INVERT them: unkind-lack of self control-unloving-impure in heart
4) A Right Usage of GOD’S WORD: not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth
“We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don't maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don't twist God's Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God.”
The Message
We live in a day where the Word of God is under attack. Not only from the world but from many in the church who no longer embrace the Word of God as a primary instrument in our relationship with Him. Today Singing or Praise is the primary instrument of relationship in the church world.
“Like supermarket cereal, when Christianity is brightly packaged & sugarcoated & enticingly offers free prizes on the inside, we fail to see the fine print on the side of the box. And so we never know about all the empty calories we’ve eaten…or realize how malnourished we’ve become.”
Three things it says are done:
a) Walking in CRAFTINESS: deceptively manipulating the Word of God to make achieve your own purposes or ministry.
b) Adulterating the Word of God: Watering it down to adapt to an acceptable relationship with the world. Wedding the Word to the World.
c) Lack of manifesting the truth. Not allowing the primary truths God has communicated thru His Word to impact lives: Sin/repentance/discipline/discipleship
Jesus said to Peter if you love me feed my sheep(JN 21) Jesus didn’t say if you love me COUNT my sheep! IF you love me ENTERTAIN my sheep If you love me DRAMA my sheep
The goal, the message is the same as it was 2,000 yrs ago when Jesus commissioned Peter – if you love me – FEED MY SHEEP
5) A SENSITIVITY to those we are Called to: commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
How can someone be convicted without being confronted with the truth:
E.B. White's commented: 'People have re-cut their clothes to follow the fashion...People have remodeled their ideas, too -- taken in their convictions a little at the waist, shortened the sleeves of their resolve, and fitted themselves out in a new intellectual ensemble copied from a smart design out of the very latest page of history.'"(wrote Charlotte’s Web/Stuart Little)
Too often we try to appease men instead of trying to please God when we share with others. The Word of God is so important because it is what it is and says what it says.
Hebrews 4:12-13 “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul {the conscience} and spirit, and of joints and marrow, {The physical} and it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
CHALLENGES TO OUR CALLING
A Knoxville, TN, newspaper once carried two articles about similar situations with opposite reactions.
The first was about a young man who was jilted by his sweetheart, so he jumped off the Henley Bridge. He left a note saying: "To whom it may concern: I’m going to jump off this bridge because my people are all against me, and the only one I ever loved is mad at me, and I think this is the only way out."
The other article was a brief comment about a young Air Force corporal who, when his girlfriend jilted him, wrote about his heartache in a country song. The tune became something of a hit and he made Make your disappointments pay! When life hands you a lemon, make lemonade out of it. MAKE THE BEST OF A BAD SITUATION.
In 1852 many California vineyard owners were going bankrupt because of a drought. All the grapes had just shriveled up on the vines. One vineyard owner picked them anyway, took them to the market, and advertised them as Peruvian delicacies and we’ve been eating raisins ever since!
Sharing the gospel will not be an easy task for a couple of reasons
If our gospel is veiled let it not be us who veil it from those we preach to:
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Paul makes us aware that we will have challenges to face: We battle against the wicked hearts of men and the evil works of Satan.
1) PEOPLE: Lost people will not always see the truth in what we share: And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
a) Remember to pray for eyes to be opened: The problem the lost man has is that they have no sight. You can show a person without sight all the light in the world but it won’t be visible unless they have sight.
Jn.3:19-21 “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. "For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. "But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."
2) PLACE: Satan will always be working against us to blind those we share with: in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel(BLIND MIND)
Hugh Ross: 2008 Skeptics Conference at California Institute of Technology: 700 atheists and agnostics. Spoke on evidence for God from the realm of Science. Ross said he had new evidence just from being here today. The fact that they gave ‘free passes’ to all the gods but the God of the Bible. If He were just like the tooth fairy or Easter Bunny like they say then why all the hostility? Why do they despise Him so unless there is more to it all.
Eph 2:2 In time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience:
….to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.' Acts 26:18
Eph. 6:12 "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark work and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
Don’t be like that boxer who went to his corner after being knocked down in the first round. His trainer patted him on the back and said, "Go back out there and get him. He hasn’t laid a glove on you."
In the second round he was knocked down twice and saved by the bell on the count of nine. He barely made it back to his corner. His trainer patted him on the back again and said to him, "Go back out there and get him. He hasn’t laid a glove on you."
Then the boxer said to his trainer, "I’m going back out there and get him this next round. But you keep your eyes on that referee because somebody out there is beating the tar out of me!"
Peter said, "Resist him, standing firm in the faith."
James 4:7 "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you."
Winston Churchill inspired England against Hitler in WWII. “Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization…The whole fury & might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war...Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, & so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire & its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will say: “This was their finest hour.”
What Churchill and the British did not seem to see was that Hilter was not their biggest enemy. Satan would actually take their victory in the war and set them up for decades of drifting from dependence upon God. That is where we find England today and America quickly following.
3) PURPOSE: We will constantly have to keep the focus on Christ: not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
CHRIST WHO IS OUR CALLING:
The Antidote for blindness is to lift up the person of Jesus Christ. Proclaiming Him will bring the biggest negative response but doing so is also the only hope of the world.
5 For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
Not Jesus as Teacher or Who loves me but LORD: Demands the surrender of our lives.
Paul stresses the truths that the world needs to hear from us about Jesus.
Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.”
1) They need to hear that He is our Lord and we His servants. For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus' sake
a) People may be surprised to discover that it is not all about them but about Jesus.
b) We actually don’t make a decision for Him but are to surrender to Him. Lay down our weapons of self-determination and personal agendas.
Is it easier for you to preach yourself instead of Jesus: Tell how much better I am and not really focus on the facts of who Jesus is?
2) They need to hear that He is the fulfillment of God’s plan for salvation: For God, who said, "Light shall shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in our hearts
3) They need to hear that He is the One Who lives in us and from Whom we have the wisdom to share with them: the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
“We may carry the lamp that shows Christ to others, but the flame is from the Lord!”
A CHRISTMAS STORY: One of my favorite parts was when the father got a crate with a new lamp inside. The problem was the lampstand was a woman’s leg.
Although the father saw no problem with it the mother was completely embarrassed when the lamp was place in the center of the front window of their home.
If your life were a window with the world on one side and Jesus on the other then how clearly would those who know you be able to know Him?
Is the window too dirty to see thru? Are the shades down most of the time? Do you only open them when you go to church?
God calls upon us to open the shades as wide as we can and to be constantly cleaning our windows of every speck of dirt. In addition to those things we should put a spotlight upon what really matters as the world takes a peek through our lives and sees what really matters to us.
