Introduction
If you were here last week, you know that the role of a priest is to be a channel of blessings to others. But there are somethings that can prevent us from being that Channel of Blessing. We saw those unconfessed sins, not asking to be a blessing, and not having the faith to believe that you can be a blessing are three obstacles that hinder our role as priests from blessing others.
Today, we will tackle the second area of our life where we are to be a blessing. And that is at the church house. Go back to ancient times and the Jewish priest of that day. They saw their work as offering sacrifices and issuing blessing as their most crucial functions. It was their continued service in those two areas that ensured God’s presence in the temple and God’s blessing on His people.
Now today in our role as priest as defined in Peter's First Epistle our function has changed but it is equally important to the blessing of the church and the people. The role of sacrificing is no longer needed because Jesus was the perfect sacrifice, but our role of issuing blessings is still needed in the church. Think if no one would instruct your children. Think if you have a biblical question, and no one could give you an answer. Think if no one stood up and preached the Gospel, how many do you think would come to know Christ as their Savior? A church that is properly functioning, it is because the people of that church are serving their role as priest and blessing one another.
But unfortunately, just like there are hindrances that prevent you from being a blessing to others; there are hinderances that prevent you from being a blessing to your church. We want to explore those hinderances today. And I would like to mention three of them.
My First Point
Some people are content just dating the church rather than being committed to the church like Jesus is committed to the church. And the church misses the blessing.
Ephesians 5:25
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.
Christ has such a tremendous investment in His church that He was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice of His life for His church. And I want to make the argument that if the church means this much to Jesus, it ought to mean that much to you and me as Christians. After all, we love Jesus, and He loves His church.
As Paul comes to Ephesians, he is talking about relationships between husband and wives. And in the middle of that conversation, Paul brings up the relationship between Jesus and His church. And he says that Jesus is really married to His church, He is totally committed to His church, and that is how you husbands need to be toward your wife.
So here is the reality, although you have a certificate saying you are married many people in marriage live like they are dating their spouse instead of totally committed to him or her. Now the difference between dating and marriage is obvious to me. Dating is a kind of trial period in a relationship where your commitments are minimal, relationships are tentative, and you keep your options open. In dating, you always know where the door is. Marriage is a relationship where you close the door and you bolt it shut, and you only have eyes for the one you are married to and there is no exit plan that you got worked out. In marriage, you've burned the bridges, sink the ship because there's no turning back, and you are in for the long haul.
Well, some Christians spend a lot of their Christian lifetime dating the church they attend rather than being committed to getting in there and working in it so that the church can be a blessing to those who need to be blessed. You are not willing to move your church relationship from a dating relationship to a committed relationship and that goes contrary to Jesus' relationship to His church.
Let me tell you, if you are dating the church, you are not performing your role as a priest and the church is missing the blessing. Dating the church is a lose, lose- you lose, and the church loses; and being committed to the church you attend is a win, win- you win and the church wins.
So, let me ask you and I hope you will allow the Holy Spirit to talk to your heart. Are you just dating the church: nominally involved, partially invested, maintaining enough detachment so that if it doesn't work out the way you want, you can escape with no lingering obligations?
My Second Point
Some people keep their eyes on what others are doing or not doing rather than keeping their eyes on Jesus. And the church misses the blessing.Hebrews 12:2
2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
The word “fix” comes from a Greek word that has the idea of concentrating your gaze. It means to look away from other things so that you can focus all your attention on one thing, in this case, the person Jesus Christ.
I know that if you have been coming to Bala Chitto any length of time, you know that God has been doing a great work in this church. My concern as pastor is that it doesn't take much to take our eyes off Jesus and put them on one another, and everything collapses.
And if you start to hear grumbling then it is a sure sign that we are moving away from Jesus. Why does he or she get to do all that stuff at the church? Why don't they let someone else do something? Or so and so has been coming to the church for a while now and I don't see them doing anything at the church house. Why cannot they do anything?
Nothing good ever happens when you or a church takes your eyes off Jesus. Adam and Eve took their eyes off God and placed them on the Tree of Good and Evil and mankind fell. The Israelites took their eyes off the cloud by day and the fire by night that led them and put them on the giants in the land and they wandered in the wilderness 40 years. Peter was walking on the surface of the water toward Jesus when he took his eyes off Jesus, and he began to sink.
If I am in the operating room on the table, I sure want the doctor to be focused entirely on me, no distractions. I don't know if you saw on the national news story a couple of weeks ago where a doctor was in an operating room attempting to give a deposition by Zoom at the same time doing surgery. I can tell you; he will never be my doctor. If I am in an airplane, I want to think that the pilot has his focus on those instruments and the sky in front of him and nothing else.
So, is it too much to ask that when we gather together as an assembly of priest because that is what you are according to 1 Peter 2:9 that we keep our focus on Jesus? And if we can keep that focus on Jesus you will be blessed and so will this church.
The doctor who takes his eyes off the patient spells disaster; the pilot who takes his eyes off his instruments and the sky in front of him spells disaster, and a priest coming to church and who takes his or eyes off Jesus spells disaster. Th church is losing blessings.
My Third Point
Some people keep their prayer life me and my family focused and neglect praying for fellow church members and their needs. And the church misses the blessing.
Romans 15:30
30 I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.Praying for your fellow church members increases your love for the one you are praying you and your local Church body. If you are just praying for you and your family, I would say that you are very committed to your wellbeing and that of your family. But I would also say that your lack of prayers for your fellow church members reveals your lack of commitment to the local church. And as we talked about earlier a lack of commitment to the church is a lose, lose for you. You lose out on a blessing and the church loses out on a blessing.
I believe that the Apostle Paul had an excellent prayer life and could really talk to God. I based that on the fact that he wrote most of the New Testament. To do that, you must have excellent communication with the Father. But here we are in Romans 15:30 asking the church to pray for him. It is because Paul wanted the praying church folks to be blessed at the same time he was being blessed. Paul wanted a win, win for him and the church.
Ask yourself this question: do you pray for others in your congregation with the same level of intensity that you would pray for yourself and your family. If you can ask yes, you are indeed a blessing to this church.
Conclusion
We are to remember that we are part of the Royal Priesthood. And our job is to bless. To bless those that we come in contact with and to bless the Church which we are part of. But we must always be on the lookout for those things that would hinder us from being that blessing.
Let us pray.
