Improving Your Serve - Romans 12b - 3/22/09
Turn with me this morning to the book of Romans, chapter 12. We want to go on in this book written by the Apostle Paul to Christians living in Rome in the first century to tell them that we have “good news” to share with the world. God takes the righteousness of Christ and applies it to our empty, bankrupt spiritual accounts. And therefore we have hope no matter what problems we may face in this life. Here in Romans chapter 12 Paul moves on from doctrine to duty, from dealing with what we know to how we should then live as a result of that knowledge.
We saw last week that in light of God’s mercy we should live as a sacrifice -- not to give a sacrifice, to put a little extra in the offering plate -- but instead to BE a sacrifice, a living sacrifice. Paul has reminded us that we need to STOP being conformed to the world - being camouflaged to fit right in; instead, there should be something different about us, we are to be internally changed, just like a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. If we are going to seek to honor and obey God, we aren’t going to just make a few external changes to the things we do, but internally, in our hearts, we need to change and recommit to obey God.
And that’s how Paul ends verse 2 -- that when we commit to following God we will renew our thinking through the word of God -- we will start viewing things the way God views them -- and as a result we will pass the test and be able to say that God’s will is best - it is good, and pleasing, and perfect. And when we are changed to follow God’s will, it will forever change the way we view ourselves and others (as we’ll see here in chapter 12), the way we view our government (as we’ll see in chapter 13), and the way we view Christian liberty (as we’ll see in chapter 14).
Here in this 12th chapter, Paul gives us four visual images to help us picture the changed way we are to think. He first tells us we are a
sacrifice on an altar - we already saw that last week in verses 1 & 2. Then, he goes on to tell us we are a
sprig in the body, a sibling in the family, and a soldier in the battle. Today, we want to go on to look at the rest of chapter 12 and see how our thinking should change about ourselves and others. So, as we come to this chapter of God’s word, let’s pause and ask God to bless His word. Let’s PRAY.
Before we get started her today, let me ask you, if you could have three wishes for Bethel, what would they be? Think about that question today. Maybe you’d say, to have plenty of money; to triple in size; to see many people being saved; to be more loving; to have more unity. There are a lot of ideas that might be running through your mind. Whatever it is that we wish for Bethel, we understand that God is going to use US here to accomplish those things, as empowered through the Holy Spirit. Because, remember, this building is not the church, but WE are the church. It is easy to forget that each one of us collectively makes up the church.
And the first point I want us to consider this morning is that when we are changed by our commitment to follow the Lord completely, we will be
1. Serious about Serving - part of being that living sacrifice we are called to be is to minister to others through our spiritual gifts. We know that God’s will for each of us is identical in regards to holiness: we are all to be holy. But God’s will is unique for us in regards to serving. God has a special way that each one of us can uniquely serve Him. And we need to be active in serving God. Paul gives us the key idea here in verse 3:
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
The key idea is that we need to think seriously about our gifts. Each of us as Christians has been given certain gifts by the Holy Spirit to use to bless the whole church, but we don’t want to think too low nor too highly about those gifts. In a similar passage in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul uses this idea of the body again to describe how we are to work together in the church.
If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am only an ear and not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? Suppose the whole body were an eye--then how would you hear? Or if your whole body were just one big ear, how could you smell anything? But God made our bodies with many parts, and he has put each part just where he wants it. . . Now all of you together are Christ’s body, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it.
Paul’s main point to us here today is this: Don’t try to be something that you’re not! There are two key dangers when it comes to considering our giftedness: one is overstating our abilities, thinking we can do anything, and the other is false humility, thinking we can do nothing. And both are wrong.
God’s desire for us as we grow in spiritual maturity is to have a good, healthy, accurate understanding of the gifts He has given to us. Paul uses the phrase, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. The reality is that for us to effectively use the gifts God has given us, we need to step out in faith and trust God. To truly use our gifts to the best of our ability, we need to be willing to step out of our comfort zone, and try new things, things that we might not think we can do, but we are willing to try and trust God for the results. Today, what do you believe that God can do through you? What has God equipped you to do?
Regardless of what some people think, no one is gifted in every area. But every Christian is gifted in some areas. That’s why we desperately need each other in the church. We can’t do it all. I can’t do everything. We need each other. We need to each use our gifts for the common good.
Now, because we are all members of one body -- I used the term a sprig in the body, first for the alliteration, but secondly because a sprig is a stem bearing leaves or flowers - it is fruitful -- because we are all part of the same body, sometimes we end up hurting and harming one another. Often offenses will come when one person tells another person where they do NOT function well, instead of affirming what they do best. We live in a culture that loves to tear others down, to rip and rend and attack others. Instead of criticizing those who are seeking to serve, but who aren’t gifted, instead seek to affirm where they ARE gifted.
To illustrate this, think about these two options. Men, your wife has good and bad hair days. Think what will happen if 1 - you tell your wife whenever she has a bad hair day - “your hair looks terrible; what happened, did the hair dryer explode!” or 2 - you tell your wife whenever she has a good hair day - “honey, your hair looks fantastic today, it looks good enough to be in a commercial” -- in one case you will be eating coldcuts for a week, in another she won’t be able to tell you how much she loves you.
The principle is this: instead of criticizing the negative, affirm the positive. In the church in general, and here at Bethel in particular, we need to offer more affirmation and less criticism. We want to affirm people when we see them using their gifts well. We don’t want to lash out and hurt one another.
So, we want to serve in the area of our giftedness -- to be serious about serving. And Paul’s concern here is not that we identify our gifts, but that we use them. We will identify our gifts through trial and error. You might decide to teach Junior church and find you really love it -- or you might find working with kids is not your area of gifting: but you will identify your gifting as you step out of your comfort zone and try new ways of serving. Some people spend years of their life trying to identify exactly what their gift is, but end up never using it. Look here in verses 6-8 - the key for every gift is to USE it! If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
Whatever gifts we have from God, we need to use them, we need to be serious about serving. If you have a gift, don’t sit back waiting for a miraculous sign from God to use your gift; here’s your sign in Romans 12 - get busy and start using your gift.
Remember the parable of the talents in the gospels: one man took his talent and hid it in the ground to save it; the other two used them. The one who saved his talent ended up facing punishment, because he did not use that which the master had given to him.
So, coming back to the question of faith: what do you have the faith to believe that God can do through you? God looks for faithfulness in little things. God wants us to be faithful in little before he blesses us with the chance to be faithful in much. Remember David - he first is faithful tending his father’s flock, then faithful in fighting Goliath, then faithful serving the King, then faithful as the king. God blessed him when David was faithful in small things first.
We need to be a church, a body, that is serious about serving God through the gifts He has given us. And secondly this morning, we need to be
2. Outgoing towards Others. Here in the second half of this chapter, from verses 9-21, Paul gives many random thoughts - shotgun style - he just throws all these all there for us to consider: they are all important, but this morning God might touch each of us with a special reminder through different verses in this passage. Here the word picture Paul gives is that we are all siblings - brothers and sisters - in the same family. We are sacrifices on the altar, we are sprigs of the same body, we are siblings in the same family. And Paul starts with the reminder we are to have sincere love - Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul reminds us that love is the motivator for using whatever gift we have. Love is not a gift; rather it is the fruit of the spirit. It is something that every Christian is to have, and all of our gifts are to be used in love.
The word sincere means without wax - the practice of some sculptors was when they would create something - a bust, a pitcher or bowl - if they chipped it, they would rub wax in the crack so it looked good. A buyer at the marketplace would hold the bowl up to see if the son illuminated the wax, so he would know if he was getting a good bowl or a poor quality “second.” We are to be without wax, to be authentic. The word used here literally says “not a hypocrite.” A hypocrite was an actor in a play who wore a mask to show whatever emotion was called for.
What Paul is saying here is this: take off your masks! Be real - be authentic - be yourselves. So often we come to church on Sunday and somewhere out in the parking lot we put on our “church persona”. We walk in and see someone who says “how are you today” and we reply - “Praise the Lord, brother, I’m just blessed!” Now that is fine if that’s how you truly are feeling, if you’re being authentic. But so often we get the idea that we can’t be ourselves in the church; we need to try and pretend we are something we are not.
Most of us have learned how to pretend to love others -- how to speak kindly, avoid hurting their feelings, and appear to take an interest in them. We may even be skilled in pretending to feel moved with compassion when we hear of others’ needs, or to become indignant when we learn of injustice. But God calls us to real and sincere love that goes far beyond pretense and politeness.
God calls us to love in the face of evil - Paul writes Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. I personally believe what he is talking about is hating the evil we see in one another and in ourselves, but continuing to be devoted to one another. So often we are false and fake with one another and pretend to be something we are not because we are afraid if anyone knew what we are really like, they would never want to be our friend. We need to be those who are real enough to let our faults be seen, but loving enough to love in spite of our faults.
As we think back to the idea of using our gifts, we sometimes use our gifts to grandstand, to show off, to promote ourselves and belittle others. But gifts are not toys to play with, nor are they weapons to fight with, but they are tools to build with. The church at Corinth used their gifts selfishly. We need to not lit the use of our gifts tear us apart, but make us stronger. When we are devoted to one another, we are able to rejoice when others rejoice; their triumph is a reason for us to celebrate, not for us to be jealous. We can then let each person be themselves. We don’t need to pretend to be someone we are not, for when we accept one another and are devoted to one another, we will seek each other’s good and best interests. That’s why Paul says Honor one another above yourselves.
Then Paul says in verse 11, Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. We are to serve fervently - The idea of fervent is “boiling” - we are to boil in our spirits; we are to be “Red Hot” as we seek to serve the Lord. We don’t want to be apathetic - Well, I guess I ought to go to church today. Instead we should have a passion in our hearts to do right and honor God and serve Him.
When my brother Dale was young, he came running into the house and tripped on a bucket of boiling water my mom had placed on the kitchen floor. As a result, he got a scar on his thigh that he loved to show people growing up as a little boy. He still has that scar today.
When we are fervent in serving God, people we meet are forever changed , forever marked by us. This morning, is there anyone in your life who has been changed because of their time with you? We need to passionately serve God and be red hot for God and others will be changed by our lives.
It says we are to hope joyfully - endure patiently - pray faithfully - share generously - refresh regularly. I won’t comment on every one of these. But in regards to hospitality, I would encourage you, don’t avoid hospitality because of finances. You might say, I don’t have a lot of money, so I can’t have people over to my house. But that is far from the truth. Entertaining is all about the show you put on -- hospitality is all about the heart you extend. In Hebrews 13 it speaks of pursuing the love of strangers: don’t just show hospitality to your friends -- use hospitality as a way to reach out to others you don’t really know well.
Notice Paul says to practice hospitality - hospitality is something that improves the more we do it. The first time you invite someone over, you might not know what to say; the more you do it, the more comfortable you will feel, and the more you will be able to offer encouragement and a blessing to that person.
In 1 Peter 4:9 we are told, Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. If you are going to seek to refresh and encourage someone, don’t complain about it. If your heart isn’t in it, you won’t be a blessing. Proverbs 23 tells us, Don’t eat with people who are stingy; don’t desire their delicacies. “Eat and drink,” they say, but they don’t mean it. They are always thinking about how much it costs. You will vomit up the delicious food they serve, and you will have to take back your words of appreciation for their “kindness.”
If you are going to practice hospitality, and we see here that we are all commanded to, then do it with all your heart.
Then Paul goes on to tell us to bless intentionally - Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
And this is where we get the visual picture of a soldier on the battlefield. As a Christian, you will face many enemies; and sadly, many times those who attack you and wound you are members of the same body. But when we are attacked, even by other Christians, we see in verse 19 this warning: Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
If revenge belongs to God, and we seek revenge ourselves, what we are really doing is trying to be God. We are kicking God off his throne and saying, God, I’ll take care of this. I know it’s your job, but I’m going to do it. It seems ridiculous that anyone would ever presume to say that, but that is literally what we are in effect saying when we seek to take revenge.
Here in this passage Paul also says we are to emote sympathetically - to rejoice and weep with others -- to relate broadly - whether high or low, rich or poor, CEO or out of work, we relate broadly to all people. We are not to be respecters of persons.
Paul ends the passage in 21 telling us, Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. In this passage where Paul is reminding us to be serious about serving and to be outgoing towards others, we are reminded that we overcome the evil and attacks of others by choosing to do good. We have a choice to make. Because of the grace and mercy of God we are to be transformed into a different kind of person that the world. We are to follow the will of God in every area. And this morning, I remind you in closing, that if this church is going to be different, it will only be changed if each one of us is personally changed. Think about what your three wishes for Bethel would be. They will only come true is YOU will change. So what will you do to make those wishes come true? When we are truly transformed, all these little areas of our life will be different as well.
In closing, let me read once again the quote by Fred Craddock I used last week:
To give my life for Christ appears glorious. To pour myself out for others. . . to pay the ultimate price of martyrdom -- I will do it, I’m ready Lord, to go out in a blaze of glory. We think giving our all to the Lord is like taking a $1,000 bill and laying it on the table -- “Here’s my life Lord, I’m giving it all.” But the reality for most of us is that he sends us to the bank and has us cash in the $1,000 for quarters. We go through life putting out 25 cents here and 50 cents there. Listen to the neighbor kid’s troubles instead of saying, “get lost” Go to a committee meeting. Give a cup of water to a shaky old man in a nursing home. Usually giving our life to Christ is not glorious. It is done in all those little acts of love, 25 cents at a time. It would be easy to go out in a flash of glory; it is harder to live the Christian life little by little over the long haul.”
But that’s what Christ calls us to today, to live a godly, Christ-following, authentic life in every detail of our life, big and small, 24 hours a day. Let’s pause for a moment and reflect on how our lives can be more honoring to God. Let’s pray.
As we pray this morning, thing about your own life. Not about the person beside you, but yourself. Look in the spiritual mirror and ask, what does God want me to change to be more faithful to Him?
