BE ALL THAT YOU CAN BE
1 SAMUEL 16:14-23
INTRODUCTION: (Use Yoda - Great Warrior - video trailer - 27 seconds - optional)
You’d have to be living under a rock not to have heard of Star Wars, but if you are not “into” the Star Wars saga you may not know that the two-foot tall, 800+year old character you just saw is Yoda. Now, it’s true, Yoda can’t speak a straight forward English sentence. “Totally backward his sentences are.” But Yoda is special for he is a Jedi Knight, actually, a Master Jedi. Jedi Knights are the good guys in Star Wars. They possess special gifts: they are especially discerning, they guide, protect, help people and as you just saw, yield a pretty good lightsaber (a sort of laser sword) against the bad guys. They are obedient to and unified by The Force which serves, as creator George Lucas says, “As the spiritual foundation for the movie.” Lucas has actually told Time magazine said that one of his purposes for the Star Wars saga was to awaken and stimulate people’s thinking about God and what God’s really like.
Well, that’s why I wanted to use this clip and this introduction. To get us to think about what the Perfect Force, God, has offered to each of us if we will obey and be unified with Him. In fact, what God offers each of us makes what the force offers in Star Wars, pale in comparison. God, first of all, has provided us two of the most wonderful gifts ever - the forgiveness of sins and the free gift of eternal life. Every person who receives Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord is journeying to Heaven, our ultimate destination. But that’s nots all. While on our journey God has given us special gifts in order to live meaningful lives. Jesus said, "My purpose is to give life in all its fullness."(Jn. 10:10 NLT) And as we continue in our series on David, the powerful message that I see in these verses that we are about to study, is that he recognized his gifts from God and was willing to use them even if it didn’t benefit him directly. By doing so David found God’s blessings and meaning for his life. David didn’t view his life as just "pie in the sky by and by" but he strove, like the Jedi Knights, to maximize his potential, in his case, so he could be used mightily by God.
And so we too are to be like that old familiar army commercial that says, "Be all that you can be," or as the new motto says, be “An Army of One,” that is, we’re to be making a difference as an effective servant for the Lord. Eph.2:10- "God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing." In other words we are saved by God’s unmerited favor, His grace, but in the meantime we are to do good works as a tribute to the force of God living in us. So, this morning using David as our example, let’s learn some gifts that God offers us in this life as well as look at how David used his gifts, his abilities and talents in service to God.
But, before we do that.. A brief side road. Vs:14 is troubling to some. Read it with me.. “Now the spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.” An evil spirit from the Lord? Does God send evil spirits to people? How do we answer that? According to most scholars the answer is in two parts. (1) This was Saul’s doing. Last week we saw that it was King Saul that pulled away from God with his pride and disobedience, God didn’t pull away from Saul. Saul chose to leave God and thus the Bible says that the Spirit of the Lord departed. Listen, God will not stay where He is not wanted. He will not force you to obey. This was Saul’s doing. (2) Most scholars agree that the author is not saying that God created an evil spirit and send it to Saul but rather that God allowed an evil spirit, (some translate “troubling” spirit) to come upon Saul. In the O.T. everything was attributed to God, or was under His providence so it was not uncommon to write that something was “from” God when really they were saying, “God allowed or permitted an evil or troubling spirit to torment him.” Most of the time they refer (write down) to passages like Job 1 where God allows Satan to attack Job. One other point here.. We’ll discover later that Saul was dabbling in the occult, in demon activity.. It may be that he has already started that. Whatever the case, God is not the author of evil nor does He send evil upon us. But he does allow to happen and Saul was “running on empty” not allowing God to be a part of his life so something else took God’s place.. something bad. I hope that helps.. Now, back to David and using our gifts for God.
I. HUMBLY DETERMINE OUR GIFTS:
The first thing I see here that David did, that we should do, is to humbly determine our gifts. I want you to focus on two verses in this passage. Look at vs:19 where it says that when messengers were sent to David’s father Jesse to bring David to Saul, they found him "with the sheep." We mentioned this last week but I think it’s important to emphasize again. David had just been told that he was going to be the next King of Israel. Would you have gone right back to sheep herding? I think the temptation would of been to say to his father, "What do you mean go back out with those stinking sheep? Is that any way to treat the next King? You better be careful "Pops" or I won’t give you a room at the palace!" But David doesn’t have that attitude. I believe David wasn’t sent directly to the throne because God wanted him to determine his gifts while in the peace and quiet of the pasture.
The 2nd verse I want you to see is the first part of vs: 21 where it simply says that "David entered into Saul’s service." David was going to be the next King and yet he didn’t pull rank on Saul or say,"I shouldn’t be serving you, you should be serving me!" The gifts that had been determined in the pasture David was now willing to use in the palace. What humility. And because David had a right attitude God helped him determine and use his gifts.
Now, let’s make sure we understand some important principles about spiritual gifts. (1) Understand that God promises when you become a Christian that he will give you a some things to help you on life’s journey. The most important is that He promises that the Holy Spirit will come into your life. In Star Wars the Force is an energy field but in the real world the Holy Spirit is a person. To say it in it’s simplest terms, the Holy Spirit is a part of God. Jesus called Him The Comforter who will help convict, comfort and guide you. God also promises that the Holy Spirit gives each of us when we become a Christian, a distinctive gift(s) to serve Him. Spiritual gifts are apart of our SHAPE that God gives us. (Talk about that in a moment) When you give your life to Jesus, God not only wipes away your sin, gives you eternal life, but you also receive God given and Spirit administered ability to serve Him. Now, for those who might be seeking today I hope you will realize that one of the things God is offering you is His special Helper (H.S.) and special gifts that not only help you serve Him but give your life meaning and purpose. These gifts listed in several places in the New Testament are gifts that help you help others as you serve God. You may have the gift of mercy, leadership, giving, teaching, etc. That’s great news but it’s also important for all of us, Christian and Seeker.. to understand some things about gifts.
(2) God distributes His gifts disproportionately. Jesus tells a story about this in Matthew 25? He said a Master gave his servants some talents. One received 5 talents another 2 and a third only 1. Please understand, the Bible teaches us that even though we are equally important to God, when it comes to talents and abilities, we are not created equally. We are not born with the same IQ’s or the same dexterity or the same temperaments or the same physiques. David seems to have been a multi-talented man, but what I want you to understand is that even though God distributes gifts disproportionately He also distributes them universally. Everyone has at least one gift. That means that God has entrusted you with at least one ability to use for Him, there is at least one thing that you do very well.
(3) So it’s also important to understand that God expects us to determine our gift and then use it effectively for Him. We should understand that. Think of the time we spend taking tests and going to school to determine our skills to make money & be successful. How much time do we take to determine what we can do for the Lord?
So, how do you determine your gift? Well, here at M.C.C., we believe the best way to do that is by determining your S.H.A.P.E. Your shape is made up of five things that help you serve. Spiritual gifts, (given by H.S. when you become a Christian), Heart (what you enjoy doing), Abilities (those natural things you can do well), unique Personality and your life Experiences all mold you into a unique person. Let me put in a plug her for New Vistas 300, a class we offer periodically, because that is a great place to get started in determining how God has uniquely shaped you for service. Talk to someone about this important area of determining your gift and take a cue from David. He spent time with the sheep and with a disturbed King humbly determining his gifts and then he used them as best he could to serve God even when it might not of seemed to be to his immediate benefit. So too, are we to humbly determine what God has given to us and then to focus on how it to be used to God’s benefit.
II. DILIGENTLY DEVELOP OUR GIFTS:
Now, the second thing we must do, in order to be all that we can be for God, is after determining our gifts, we need to diligently develop them. That is what I see David doing. He is called by Saul to help the King’s health by playing the harp. He worked at his gift of music and the last of vs:21 and vs:22 shows us that Saul gives David a high position as one of his personal armor bearers and is pleased with his service. You see, God rewarded David because it’s through his talents that David gets into the palace. Without God there was no way this lowly shepherd boy was going to be able to get any exposure to the protocol of the King’s court. But God’s hand was on David and He used David’s music for his apprenticeship on how to be a King.
Now, I want you to note 3 things here: (1) Never discount any talent that you have. God can sometimes use things that you don’t think are important in incredible ways. Bob Russell who preaches in Louisville was raised on a farm in Pennsylvania and he tells the story of his first youth minister who was a city-boy. Now his youth group was made up mostly of kids from the farm so they didn’t think they would have much in common with this city slicker and so weren’t much ready to listen to him. The entire youth group was at Bob’s one Saturday and it came time to milk the cows. This youth minister said, "Can I go down to the barn with you and see what is all about?" Bob said, "Sure," and Harry Orn, the new minister, headed with the others to the barn. What the youth group didn’t know was that Harry had worked each summer on his grandfather’s dairy farm. Well, Harry watched the milking for a little bit and then sheepishly said, "Could I try that?" Bob said, they welcomed the idea because they knew that it would be good for a laugh. So he sat down tentatively on the stool and he grabbed the cow in the appropriate place and 2 or 3 of the boys leaned way over to get a good laugh when this city slicker couldn’t get any milk out of the cow. And Bob says, "he suddenly turned that cow’s spicket right up at us and squirted us right across the face." Everybody thought it was hilarious. And you know what? He was an instant hit. Well, Bob says, maybe not instant, it took a couple of minutes, but Harry Orn was able to fit right in with the kids and had a great ministry. Listen, God can use any talent that you have, even milking cows. You think some ancient skill you learned is worthless, maybe athletics or music or sewing or typing. It may surprise you some day how God can use the thing you thought long dead at the appropriate time. And David’s musical ability brought him into daily contact with the King.
(2) Developing your gift(s) takes diligence. Even after coming to a point where you know your gift you’ve got to find a place to use it, you’ve got to hone it and persevere. I believe David worked hard at his shepherding and so he had opportunity to fight a bear and a lion. That was going to come in handy when in two weeks we talk about David’s encounter with Goliath. I believe David worked hard at his music. The Psalms that we read of David’s are beautiful, I think he spent hours composing them. I don’t care how gifted you are, it takes work to sharpen your skills. Michelangelo’s teacher told him, "Talent is cheap, but dedication is costly."
Part of our problem is that we are always inclined to see others in their glamour moment. We see the surgeon when he takes off the gloves after an operation that has saved somebody. Everybody is appreciative, he gets into his Mercedes and drives out to his million dollar home and we say, "Boy, sure would be great to be a surgeon." But we forget about the years of study and medical school while others were not having to be near as intense. We forget about the patients who sue or those that don’t make it.
We see somebody like Donna or Steve or who plays the piano so wonderfully and we say, "Oh, that would be wonderful to play the piano like that." But we forget about the hours of practice when the other kids were out playing. We forget about the cost of lessons or the days when their fingers just don’t want to work right. David has made it to the palace. But before he got there he was diligently working in the pasture, tending sheep and composing songs.
Now, the third thing I think we see here is David’s determination. Do you remember last week when Samuel was asked to go anoint David? He almost couldn’t do it because he feared Saul so much. And he had good reason. At this time in Saul’s life he was beset by fits of temper. In the 14th chapter we see that Saul is going to kill his own son, Jonothan, until his soldiers stop him. Our text tells us that there is an evil spirit in the King. So why does David go into Saul’s service so willingly? A lowly shepherd boy singing to the King! I think it was because he willing to stretch, willing to make himself available, knowing he had the Lord’s help. So he was determined to not allow this opportunity of serving God in the palace to be missed.
If you haven’t learned it yet hopefully you will. So often the difference in being effective for the Lord is not ability but availability. Our church is a growing church praise God and we need you to unselfishly be available. Don’t allow your fear to keep you from serving where you should. Take a chance, be available and trust the staff or other leaders to allow you to serve in areas where you creative in your service for the Lord. It’s amazing what can happen when you just open yourself up to possibilities. Begin to be creative, ask God what He would have you do. A service station operator called his full service credit card customers by name on their second visit and his personal cordiality made his business boom. Everyone thought he had an amazing photographic memory until they discovered that he was writing their name down on a piece of masking tape and attaching it to the inside of their gas caps. Just taking what’s available and using it creatively! Beloved, the Lord’s work demands our best. Please, don’t let anything keep you from serving! Never discount any talent that you have, be continually diligent and be available.. Ask the simple question: What can I do? So let’s diligently develop our gifts.
III. PROPERLY DEMONSTRATE OUR GIFTS:
Finally, if we are going to be all that we can be we need to properly demonstrate our gifts, that is, have the right motivation for serving. Remember what we said last week: It is not as important to do the right things as it is to do the right things for the right reasons. I think when we look at David’s life we see two constant motivators that made him serve and these same motivators ought to be the top reasons for our desire to serve God.
The first is: obedience to the Lord. David served King Saul because he knew to do so was to serve God. He did not forget the fact that he was accountable to God for what he had been given. Psalm 62:11-12- "God has said this, and I have heard it over and over: God is strong. The Lord is loving. You reward people for what they have done." We should also constantly be aware that one day we are going to stand before God and answer for how we have used the talents and gifts that He has given us. 2 Cor.5:10 says, "We must all stand before Christ to be judged.. Each of us will receive what we should get - for the things we did in this earthly body."(NCV) Now, this is tough to remember because we live in a “it’s all about me” world and in a place where our desires are conveniently placed over and above service for God. But let me ask you. If Jesus walked into the building right now in physical form and asked each of us individually to come to one of the side rooms to ask us how we were using our abilities for Him- how many of us would make a mad dash for the door? Would you really look Him in the eyes, this One who gave everything for you and say, “Well, Lord I know you expected me to serve you but it was so nice out, or we company, or I didn’t have the time.” I had a young man who is a fairly new member ask me this week a haunting question. He said, "Tim how come it seems that the same people are always doing most of the work in the Church?" And I had to say, “Well, it’s because we’ve got a lot more members, people on the roll, than we do committed workers." Let me be candid with those of you who claim to be Christians for a moment: Some of you are members and your not pulling your weight. Your not going to have to answer to that young man or to me for that but you are going to have to answer to Jesus Christ. Some of you are not members but you should be. Plugged in and serving in an effective way, building up the Body. You are going to answer to Him for that. Shouldn’t we be so motivated by such a love for Jesus that we are obedient to Him, that He and His causes comes first? Jesus said in Mt. 6:33- "First, be concerned about God’s kingdom and what pleases Him." (GW)
(2) Motivator is compassion - love for God and others. One of the keys to using your gift to the fullest is to serve others above yourself. I heard a story about 2 boys that were members of the same diving team at school, Bill Duncan and Joey Miller. They practiced diving together and Bill knew that he was just a mediocre diver but he was so proud of his friend Joey who was an excellent diver. The problem was that in practice Joey was wonderful but in a meet Joey got so uptight that he just did average. A big school meet came and Bill was determined he was going to get Joey’s mind off all the people and the judges and he was just going to conduct himself like they were in practice. And so Bill began to jabber with his friend. "Joey," Bill said, "watch me I’m an eagle” and he soared on his dive and Joey followed and seemed to be a little looser. On the next dive Bill said, "Watch me I’m jumping over the moon," and Joey followed and made an excellent dive. All through that meet Joey was doing better than Bill had ever seen him do and he was so excited about his friends accomplishment. Finally, the meet was over and the results were announced and Joey didn’t win but he came in 2nd place, better than he had ever done. And then the name of the first place winner was announced: Bill Duncan. It was when he had completely forgotten himself in his concern for his friend he rose to heights greater than he ever thought possible.
Let’s take our cue from Bill, better yet from David, best yet, let’s take our cue from Jesus. Someone has said, "What you are is God’s gift to you. What you become, is your gift to God." Jesus gave Himself to God and became our greatest gift. I want to close our time together today just by reading this scripture that so clearly and so beautifully speaks to Jesus’ giving. Paul writes this in Philippians 2:3-11.
“Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what.. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of being God and took on the status of a slave, becoming human!
It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death.. Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all..” (Message)
