It’s His Church
October 13, 2013
For the past number of weeks, we’ve been looking at the church, and today and in two weeks, we’ll take a final look for now at the church. Remember, next week is more of a special week, as we will have a special worship and pot luck honoring our local firefighters and police officers.
Okay — sometimes when we read the stories in the Bible, we may have to admit in a very strange way we can be a little envious of something they had, which we seem to be missing. If you read the story of David, it’s pretty obvious God called him to be king. It would be really hard to miss that. Or when we read about any prophet, they always tell us, God called me.
Isaiah 6 - In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne...
Jeremiah 1 - The words of Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah . . . to whom the word of the LORD came...
Ezekiel 2 - God said to me, O mortal, stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you . . .
Hosea 1 - The word of the LORD that came to Hosea . . .
Joel 1 - The word of the LORD that came to Joel . . .
Amos 7 - I am no prophet ... but I am a herdsman ... and the LORD took me ... and said “Go prophesy to my people Israel.”
I can give more examples, but suffice it to say, we have very real and pretty obvious calls for these prophets. Then we begin to think about ourselves, and while I know these were prophets, and there was a king and we can look back and see priests and even Moses and Noah and more . . . so we begin to wonder, what’s my calling supposed to be.
How and where do I fit in within God’s scheme of church and ministry. We looked at that a little last week, when we spoke about spiritual gifts and today we’re going to continue to look at God’s call in our lives as it pertains to the church.
You see, we often find God’s call in our lives in some astonishing ways. It comes as a complete surprise. We’re floored when we realize what God wants us to do, but I don’t think that’s the way God planned it for us. God doesn’t want us to search and search and search and be so exhausted from this searching that we lose sight of what He really wants us to do. God has a plan for us, I believe that and I trust that. Sometimes we don’t fully understand the nuts and bolts, but there’s a plan we are supposed to follow.
When it comes to the church, there are so many potential ministries we can be involved in, so many opportunities, yet, so many people come to church, leave church, and really don’t get involved, yet God considers each one of us a minister.
Now, that may sound a little strange to you, because many people believe it’s only the pastor of the church who is the minister. The pastor of the church is a minister vocationally. But when we read the Word of God, we must realize each of you are also ministers.
Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:12 ~ that our gifts are to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. When Paul uses the word ‘saints,’ he’s not referring to people will call Saint Michael, Saint Doug and Saint Jeremy; or those Christians who have gone to heaven. He’s really referring to those Christ followers who are alive right now and who are supposed to carry out the will of God. Folks, you and I are the saints being referred to here. We are the saints and ministers. In 1 Peter 2:9, Peter even goes to the extent of calling us a "royal priesthood." All believers, male, female, old, young, mature or immature are members of the Royal Priesthood.
In his book, Doing Church as a Team, Pastor Wayne Cordeiro, wrote the following:
"Every member is a minister. God calls us to be full-time ministers! Full-time? Yes! Not just on Sundays, not just at Bible studies, but full-time.
Do we love God just part-time? Do we serve Him just part-time?
We are all full-time citizens of heaven with a commission and an assignment to accomplish during our stay here on this planet.
Before you are a businessman, you are a minister. Before you are a homemaker, you are a minister.
Some may protest, 'I work for the state, a construction company, a school, a hospital, a store, or say I’m retired, or I farm.
I don't work for the church!
My company pays me, not the church! How can you say I am a full-time minister?' (Doing Church as a Team, 37-38).
Isn’t that great?! You might not like what Cordeiro is saying because it means you need to move out of your comfort zone, but the fact is sometimes we make the mistake of thinking that we can just come and worship for an hour, leave, think good thoughts, but never really fulfill what God has designed us for. We miss the mark, and folks missing the mark is the definition of the word, sin. We end up missing our purpose, our plan for life, and when we miss it, we never attain the true joy and satisfaction God had planned for us all along.
When you think about it, the unchurched people at your workplace or school are more likely to listen to you than they would a pastor. Teachers are reached best through other teachers, nurses through other nurses, students through other students, and so forth. Of course, this does not mean the pastors sit back, drink coffee all day and tell jokes. It means our main job is to pray and equip the saints for ministry.
The first step in being equipped for ministry is to have a relationship with God in which you know when God is calling you to fulfill your purpose. It might simply mean you are going to fulfill your purpose for the next 6 months, then God will give you another assignment.
You see, Ephesians 2:10 tells us, 10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Paul has just told us in the preceding verses that it is our faith in Christ which brings salvation. There is nothing we can do to earn God’s grace other than to believe in Him. Then Paul tells us we are God’s workmanship. In other words, God has created us. He has uniquely knit us in the womb of our mothers, He has designed us with a plan; and that plan was conceived long before we were conceived. In fact, God had us in mind before the world was created. He already knew you and I would be here today. Your being in church and those who are not in church worshiping does not surprise God. Nothing surprises Him or catches Him off guard.
But note in this passage that we were created by God to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Again, I want to say it again . . . God has a plan, and I say that in the present tense, because God has a plan, it’s not a plan that is gone, maybe you missed some opportunities in the past, but there are new opportunities today and tomorrow that you and I need to grab hold of, not for our benefit, yet we do benefit, because when we serve God, we are always winners.
So, God’s calling us is part of His plan in our lives which brings us that great joy and fulfillment. When we sit back in our lazy boys/girls we will never discover our purpose in life, which always comes through God, not through our own designs.
What is so great is what we read in a short little verse in Romans 11, when Paul tells us,
29for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable.
This is such a great passage. Think about it, God’s gifts, our spiritual gifts, given by God to you and I are irrevocable. That means they cannot be revoked or taken back. In simple terms, God is not an Indian giver. There are no take backs. God gives us our gifts, and our job is to use the gifts God gives to us. But notice what else Paul says, God’s call is also irrevocable. This means His unique call to you and me also has no take backs.
There is an interesting dynamic in the word irrevocable, because the KJV translates the word irrevocable as repentance; and reads this way, “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” It simply means God is not going to repent for giving you the call and gifts He gave to you. Isn’t that a great thought. What God wants you to be, He is proud of, He is thrilled and delighted at what you are to become in His sight . . . a minister of Jesus Christ, called, chosen, elected, a royal and holy priest in the kingdom of God.
How great is that!!
God loves to take ordinary people like you and me and through us do extraordinary things! He doesn't need superheroes. He’s looking for everyday believers, willing vessels whom He calls, equips and gifts. When we function in the way God has gifted us to function, we can accomplish great things. And at the same time, we will find great joy in doing His will and His work!" It’s like I said at the very end of worship last week, when God calls you, He will lead the way, He is not going to call you, then go run and hide and make you figure it out all be yourself. He wants you to walk with Him, not for you to lead, but for you to walk along God, step by step with Him.
Wayne Cordeiro wrote: "When you are operating in your gift and passion, you will experience MAXIMUM EFFECTIVENESS with a MINIMUM OF WEARINESS.
On the other hand, when you are not operating in your gift and passion, you will experience MAXIMUM WEARINESS with a MINIMUM OF EFFECTIVENESS" (P. 50).
There are people here who can say they have experienced that! Trying to do something that is not your gift and your passion will eventually lead to burnout. The reason . . . you are not following God’s call. In order to begin to learn what God wants us to be doing, . . .
We need to ask God ~
“Lord what do You want me to do for You?”
“Lord how can You use me today to build Your kingdom?
“Lord who can I serve today for You?”
Those are pretty simple questions, but if we are willing to stop and listen to what God is trying to tell us, then we will come to understand His call in our lives, and then we can act upon it and find fulfillment as we serve Him.
I want us to follow God’s call, and when we do that, our passions and commitment to what we have been assigned will always come along with the Call. It may not be easy, but we will find ourselves working at maximum effectiveness as we serve God and one another . . . and demonstrate to the world what the church is supposed to look like.
Because, remember, it’s not your church, it’s His church!
