How to Change Your World – Part 4
November 4, 2001
INTRODUCTION
Nichelle Nichols was the actress who played Uhura in the TV show Star Trek, and in 6 Star Trek movies. She was one of the first Black women regularly featured on a weekly TV show. As such, she had obstacles to overcome. According to Steve Jones in USA Today, a few studio executives were hostile toward her character, which was often diminished by script rewrites, and the studio even withheld tons of her fan mail.
After one year on the program, she was fed up. Nichols, who was also an extremely talented professional singer and dancer, told Gene Roddenberry she was going to quit and pursue her performing career.
Then she met Dr. Martin Luther King. King encouraged her not to leave the show, to see the bigger picture, and understand she was a role model for many.
Nichols said, “When you have a man like Dr. Martin Luther King say you can’t leave a show, it’s daunting. It humbled my heart and I couldn’t leave. God had charged me with something more important than my own career.”
Not only did she become a fixture on Star Trek, she actually influenced NASA, challenging them to hire Blacks and women for their astronaut corps. She led a 1977 NASA recruitment drive that saw 1600 women and 1000 minorities apply within four months.
By giving up her plans to sing and dance, Nichols found the defining role of her career in one of the most popular TV shows ever. At first what seemed useless and in vain ended up influencing a nation. (Contemporary Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers and Writers, Editor, Craig Brian Larson, p. 45)
Like Nichelle Nichols, as we die to ourselves – we can pursue something far more important – the cause of Christ where we find our God-given destiny – to change the world.
Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Nothing you ever do for the Lord is useless. There is a bigger picture and a bigger purpose. So don’t quit.
Last week we learned the power of the Holy Spirit is given for a purpose – to be witnesses.
If our service for God is done in His power, it will always accomplish what He wants accomplished.
TRANSITION: There are three trademarks of a world-changer who engages in extreme service. First, a world-changer…
I. Serves with Conviction
1 Corinthians 15:58 says…
Stand firm. Let nothing move you.
Grammatically this is a present imperative – meaning, keep on standing firm. Continue to be settled and firmly situated. Stay totally immobile and motionless in your convictions – don’t waver.
What does Paul mean by this? Well, I believe a number of things. For one, he means being…
Convinced that Jesus rose from the dead
That’s what the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians is all about.
v. 3 – For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures….
v. 14 – If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.
So you see…
If our conviction about the resurrection wavers, we are sure to lose our desire to serve God at all.
The words to the popular hymn “He Lives,” echo this truth, “I serve a risen Savior, he’s in the world today. I know that He is living whatever men may say.”
Extreme service flows from a conviction that Jesus Christ is alive and well.
By serving with conviction Paul also means being…
Convinced there is a reason for service
1 Corinthians 15 ends by reminding us that through faith in Jesus, we’ll be raised to eternal life as well.
Read 1 Corinthians 15:50-58
A primary reason for serving God is because He’s promised us a home in heaven. We’re storing up treasures there instead of here on earth.
Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:12…
Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. (1 Timothy 1:12)
Paul was convinced of his eternal reward. And he would work like a man whose days on earth were few.
And serving with conviction means being…
Convinced God’s ways are best
Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or because someone has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like truth. (Ephesians 4:14, NLT)
Illustration – Jan Nelson. She teaches kids because she settled things years ago. God’s Word is true and God’s ways are best. She’s been teaching Sunday School for 28 years, and shows no signs of slowing down. Kim says, I wish I had a dozen more just like her.
Jan says, “That’s why I do what I do. Because I’m convinced this is real.”
How are you doing with conviction?
Are you absolutely convinced of Jesus’ message and of his resurrection from the dead? Does this impact your desire to be a world changer?
This morning I want us to give ourselves a personal rating.
With 10 being the highest and 1 being the lowest, give yourself a score between 1 and 10.
Personal rating: _______
If low score, you might want to find a group that studies the Word. You might want to check out a book from our library that deals with Christian beliefs or developing a stronger faith. Know Why You Believe by Paul Little is a good resource.
TRANSITION: So, a world-changer serves with conviction. Second, a world-changer…
II. Serves with Enthusiasm
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”
The Apostle Paul would agree. That’s why in 1 Corinthians 15:58 he says…
Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord.
Or as it reads in the NLT – always be enthusiastic about the Lord’s work
The Bible says, “Involve yourself in extreme service…
Pour yourself into serving God. Give yourself fully. Say, ‘God, whatever you want done, I’ll do it – and I’ll do it gladly.”
Psalm 100 says, “Serve the Lord with gladness.” (NASB)
When we surrender daily through intimacy with God we receive power to do this.
ILLUS – Someone at CCCH who serves with enthusiasm is Bill Hale. Bill accepted Christ in 1997 through the witness of his brother Jim. I’ll never forget Bill’s baptism – that was the night I found out our waders had a hole in them. I was still living in Park Forest at the time – and I drove home soaked.
Since that time I’ve seen Bill grow and mature in his faith. He’s like a sponge. More than that, he has looked for places to serve.
One Sunday a couple of years ago when Sharon Koehn from CareNet was here, Bill was challenged to make a difference. He’s now a speaker in their abstinence program. Speaks to Jr. High and High School students in public schools about the dangers of pre-marital sex.
Marilyn approached him about helping to lead DivorceCare. He did.
Bill hasn’t overburdened himself with unrealistic commitments, but he has poured himself into the places God called him to go.
A Sports Illustrated journalist was once interviewing Ken Stabler, the former quarterback of the Oakland Raiders. The writer recited a quote from renowned author, Jack London, that went something like this: “I’d rather be ashes than dust. I’d rather my spark go out in a burning flame than it be stifled with dry rot. I’d rather be a splendid meteor blazing across the sky, every atom in me in magnificent glow, than to be a sleepy and permanent planet. Life is to be lived, not just to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them; I will use my time!”
The interviewer asked Stabler what that quote meant to him personally. Standing with his hands in his pockets, he blinked and responded with a shrug, “Throw deep?” (From The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, Chuck Swindoll, p. 31-32)
Not a bad paraphrase. Throw deep. Give it your all. Serve God with enthusiasm and gusto. Life is too short to settle for just the 5 yard slant pattern. Look for that extra yardage, rear back and go for it.
How enthused are you about pouring yourself into what God has for you to do on a daily basis?
Are you looking for ways to serve Him? Seeking out what He wants from you on a daily basis? Do you wake up wondering what your mission is for that day?
On a scale of 1 to 10, where is your enthusiasm level right now about serving God?
Personal rating: ________
If it’s low, the commitment time today should be a big help to you.
TRANSITION: A world changer serves with conviction and enthusisasm…Third, a world-changer…
III. Serves with Confidence
The last phrase of 1 Corinthians 15:58 says...
Because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Ever attempt to do something only to discover that your efforts were in vain? It turned out all your work was for nothing. It can be a very frustrating feeling.
ILLUS - When Kim was working at IVP, she was in charge of birthday treats. Whenever someone had a birthday in her department, she’d prepare a dessert and they’d have a party. One morning she got up extra early to make this strawberry cobbler. She had a late meeting here at the church the night before, and was a little pressed for time. Prepared it, baked it – got herself ready.
As she was walking out the door with the cobbler and a bag of things for work, the cobbler dish slipped out of her hands and shattered on the floor. Cobbler everywhere. In the house on the walls, on the sidewalk, in the bushes. Miraculously cobbler was everywhere except on Kim. It was like there was some invisible shield around her. There was snow on the ground at the time. In the spring we still found strawberry pie filling on our lawn.
I felt so bad for Kim. Here she had spent her entire morning on this nice dessert – and as she stood amid the wreckage – it became painfully clear that her efforts had been in vain.
Sometimes we may wonder if that’s how it is when we serve God. We might get discouraged because we don’t see any results. We think, “Does this make any difference? I don’t see world-changing results – has my labor all been in vain?”
I’ve told my husband about Jesus several times – but He still won’t become a Christian
I try to maintain godly practices in the office, and yet I’m consistently overlooked for a promotion
I’ve invited all my friends to church, and they don’t want to come.
I pray for things to improve in my family, and nothing seems to change
That’s our perspective. That’s what Nichelle Nichols was thinking when she considered leaving Star Trek. But God knows otherwise. If we maintain a heavenly perspective we’ll understand that sometimes we don’t see all of the good that results from our efforts.
1 Corinthians 15:58 reminds us that serving God is not an empty and useless activity. Nothing we do for God is ever useless.
Because Jesus rose from the dead, nothing we do is in vain. All of our service has world-changing power behind it.
In the book of Philippians we can listen to Paul talk from a prison cell about how he’s ready to go home and be with God. He says…
“For to me, living is for Christ, and dying is even better. 22Yet if I live, that means fruitful service for Christ. I really don’t know which is better. 23I’m torn between two desires: Sometimes I want to live, and sometimes I long to go and be with Christ. That would be far better for me, 24but it is better for you that I live.” (Philippians 1)
He realized that nothing he did for God was useless. Even writing letters from a prison cell. Because God could use that too. If he had given up, we might never have had books in our Bible like Phillipians and Colossians.
Pamela Reeve says, “Faith is resting in the fact that God has an objective in leaving me on the scene when I feel useless to Him and like a burden to others. (In Swindoll’s Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, p. 195)
The Bible tells us that even though we feel useless, our service for Christ never is. God takes our service and through the power of the Holy Spirit accomplishes with it exactly what He wants accomplished.
Ray Boltz’s classic song, “Thank You” portrays this so vividly. The words say, “I dreamed I went to heaven
And you were there with me.” He and his friend cross paths with different people his friend knew on earth….
One by one they came
Far as the eye could see
Each life somehow
Touched by your generosity
Little things that you had done
Sacrifices made
Unnoticed on the earth
In heaven now proclaimed
And I know up in heaven
You’re not supposed to cry
But I am almost sure
There were tears in your eyes
As Jesus took your hand
And you stood before the Lord, he said
"My child, look around you
For great is your reward"
(“Thank You,” by Ray Boltz)
How are you doing in this area of confidence? Do you believe when you do what God asks that you’re making a difference? Do you believe you’re laying up treasures in heaven.
Do you have confidence that none of your labors for the Lord are useless or in vain? Or do you sometimes feel discouraged because you don’t see any results?
On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate yourself in this area of serving with confidence?
Personal rating: ________
If low, ask God to help you in this area.
TRANSITION: We’ve looked at extreme service today – and the characteristics of a world-changer’s service. But the bottom line is, to be a world-changer, you and I have to serve. We have to be willing to do what God asks.
WRAP-UP
PERSONAL ILLUSTRATION – At our small group Bible study this past week, I was sharing with someone again why I went into church work. Told you before, but I was wanting to go to the U of I. I was interested in what it would take to go to law school. But during the summer before I entered my senior year of High School, I couldn’t shake the feeling that God was after me for something different.
It was an overwhelming call.
I’m certain that God has a calling for each of us. A few of us receive that call to make ministry our vocation, but for the vast majority of us, that’s not the case. And yet the call is just as significant, just as life changing and just as strong.
And it is moment by moment.
When you get that nudge – you know it’s something that God would approve of – just do it! It may just change the world!
Big Idea: To be a world changer, I need to…
L – Lay down my life…daily…through…
I – Intimacy with God…to receive…
N – New Power…from the Holy Spirit…for
K – Kingdom Service
We’re going to conclude with a special commitment time today.
Each person here is going to receive one of these links.
As we sing, “Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord,” we’ll be passing these out.
