(Note: The title, and some of the ideas for this message came from Rick Warren’s sermon of the same name.)
This morning, we continue our series of messages on "The Purpose Driven Life". We began by establishing that God made us for a reason, every one of us. No one here this morning was a mistake or an accident.
"For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him." – Colossians 1:16, NIV
And because God made us, the meaning of life begins and ends with Him. Because God made us, only He can tell us what we were made for. Our purpose in life revolves around Him. It’s not about us. It’s about God. Therefore, the only way for us to find lasting joy and satisfaction is to devote ourselves to God, and dedicate ourselves to fulfilling His purposes for our lives. As Jesus promised:
"If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life." – Matthew 16:25, NLT
Let’s briefly review. So far in this series, we’ve learned that the first purpose for our lives is to give God pleasure through worship, by continually offering up to Him all that we have and all that we are. We were made to love God, and we do that by giving him our attention, and our affections, and our actions. By taking our lives and presenting them to God, daily, as an offering. That’s what worship is.
We’ve seen that the second purpose for our lives is fellowship, learning to love God’s family. God’s purpose from the very beginning has been to create a family. His reason for bringing you and I to faith was not only to bring us into relationship with Himself; but also to bring us into relationship with one another. That’s what He’s doing now, through the church. He’s building a family, which everyone who trusts in Christ is a part of. And the way for each of us to cooperate in this process is to make a commitment to a local church body, and then begin to share our lives with one another – share our resources, share our homes, share our struggles and our burdens, our joys and our sorrows.
Last week, we studied the third purpose for which God made us, which is to become like Christ.
"From the very beginning God decided that those who came to Him - and He knew who would - should become like His Son . . ." – Romans 8:29, LB
The word for this process is "discipleship." From the very beginning, long before he brought the universe into existence, God had you in mind, and his intention has been to make you like His Son. His goal, right now, is to transform you; to take you from wherever you are, and bring you through a lifelong process of change that will result in you becoming more and more like Jesus Christ.
". . . as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more." – 2 Corinthians 3:18, NLT
How does God do that? How does he reshape our thinking and our attitudes; how does he make us into the kind of people who joyfully and willingly serve him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength? We saw that first, he uses troubles or trials to deepen and mature our faith. Second, he uses temptation to help us develop the habit of making godly choices. And third, he uses trespasses, the ways in which others hurt us and sin against us, to help us learn to forgive one another, just as Jesus forgave us. In fact, God uses all kinds of experiences, all kinds of people, and all kinds of situations to mold our character. His goal is not for us to experience continual comfort and pleasure in this life. That’s what heaven is for. Instead, His goal is to glorify Himself by making us like Christ.
"In all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." – Romans 8:28, NIV
This morning, we’re going to look at the fourth purpose for which God made us, which is to serve Him. But before we do that, I want to pause for a moment and issue a cautionary note.
The truths that we’re in the process of exploring are very powerful. They have the potential, literally, to change the course of your life. In fact, the way in which you respond to them will very likely affect your eternal destiny, either for good or ill. Now, sitting here in a quiet room, listening to a sermon, may seem like a pretty safe way to spend a Sunday morning. Especially here in America, where we don’t have to worry about the police bursting through the doors to arrest us. And the building we’re meeting in seems pretty solid; I don’t think it’s going to fall down on our heads. But in fact, this is quite a risky activity, from a spiritual point of view. It’s full of both opportunity and danger. Because the Bible tells us that we have only two options when hearing the Word of God. We can respond in faith and obedience, allowing it to transform us. Or we can respond in unbelief and disobedience, hardening our hearts against the truth. In other words, at the end of this series, you will either be closer to God or further away. But listening to these sermons and remaining unchanged is not an option, because the powerful Word of God always has an effect. It always moves us in one direction or another. The only question is whether it will move us toward God or away from Him.
"For whatever God says to us is full of living power: it is sharper that the sharpest dagger, cutting swift and deep into our innermost thoughts and desires, . . . exposing us for what we really are." – Hebrews 4:12, LB
"That is why the Holy Spirit says, ’Today you must listen to his voice. Don’t harden your hearts against him as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested God’s patience in the wilderness.’" – Hebrews 3:7-8, NLT
Now, I’m not saying this because I detect an unwillingness to follow God. In fact, just the opposite. I’ve been very encouraged by your response. But it’s good to be reminded occasionally that obedience is not optional. And so I appeal to you. Especially now, when we are studying God’s fundamental purposes for our lives: Don’t treat God’s Word as a collection of interesting propositions to consider, something to perhaps accept if it makes sense to you. And don’t fool yourself into thinking it’s good enough merely to accept it as true in an intellectual sense, but without taking any action in response. No, we must receive these things for what they are, the very words of God, and we must respond in wholehearted obedience. As James warns us:
". . . remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. If you don’t obey, you are only fooling yourself. For if you just listen and don’t obey, it is like looking at your face in a mirror but doing nothing to improve your appearance. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like." – James 1:22-24, NLT
So as we’re talking today about the fourth purpose for which God made us, ask yourself not only, "do I believe this?" but also, "how would God have me to respond to this? What step of obedience am I going to take based on what I hear?" If you do that, then you will experience what James promises:
". . . if you keep looking steadily into God’s perfect law–the law that sets you free–and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it."
– James 1:25, NLT
All right, let’s go on. Our fourth purpose in life is to serve God and serve others. As Paul tells us:
"We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." – Ephesians 2:10, NIV
You and I were made by God; we are His "workmanship". And by the way, anytime you’re tempted to become discouraged about who you are, remember that God is a master craftsman. He never makes a mistake. God designed you for a specific purpose, and constructed you for that purpose. You are ideally suited for the role in which He has cast you. Do you wish you were prettier, or smarter, or funnier, or more athletic? Don’t. God intends for your life to make a difference. He intends for you to make a contribution to His kingdom. And He has given you what you need to fulfill that purpose.
"Your hands shaped me and made me." – Job 10:8, NIV
You may remember that when God first called Moses to lead his people out of slavery in Egypt, Moses balked. Why? Because he wasn’t much of a speaker. Obviously, a man who was going to rally several million people to leave their Egyptian masters would need to be quite an orator. A man who was going to stand before the Pharaoh and convince him to voluntarily release his slaves would need to have quite a way with words. Surely God had made a mistake! But listen to this:
". . . Moses pleaded with the LORD, ’O Lord, I’m just not a good speaker. I never have been, and I’m not now, even after you have spoken to me. I’m clumsy with words.’ ’Who makes mouths?’ the LORD asked him. ’Who makes people so they can speak or not speak, hear or not hear, see or not see? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go, and do as I have told you. I will help you speak well, and I will tell you what to say.’" – Exodus 4:10-12, NLT
In other words, "Moses, trust me. I know what I’m doing. I have a plan for how you are going to serve me; I have a plan for what you are going to accomplish for my kingdom. And I have formed you for that plan. Your birth into a specific Hebrew family, your natural abilities or lack of them, your training and upbringing as a member of Pharaoh’s court – even the sin of murder that forced you into exile for forty years – all of those were part of the process by which I was shaping you, preparing you to fulfill your role in my plan for Israel. Yes, my purpose for your life will require everything you have, but it will require nothing that you lack." And the same is true of us. God’s purpose for your life will require everything you have --– all of your gifts and abilities, all of your skills and experience, all of your wisdom and intelligence, all of your strength and energy. But it will require of you nothing that you lack. He has made you, and He will make you, into what he needs you to be. He has given you, and He will give you, whatever is necessary for you to possess.
Now, the flip side of this is that not only does God not withhold from us anything we need, He also does not give us anything unnecessary. In other words, everything you are and everything you have is intended to be used for serving God and serving people. There’s nothing of which you can say, "This is just for me. Everything else belongs to God, but my musical ability is for me to do with whatever I want." Or, "God, you can have my intelligence and engineering skill. But my woodworking abilities are entirely mine, to use for my enjoyment alone. You have no claim on those." No, it doesn’t work that way. God made us what we are, wholly and completely. He formed everything about us. And he wants us to offer ourselves to Him entirely, withholding nothing.
"’Each one should use whatever gift he’s received to serve others." – 1 Peter 4:10, NIV
"Whatever gift he’s received." We don’t get to pick and choose which of our gifts and abilities we offer to God; or what parts of ourselves we use to serve Him and serve others. It all belongs to Him.
All right. How then, do we serve God and serve others in the way we were meant to do? First, by being faithful. Serving Christ means being faithful. In fact, this is the distinguishing characteristic of a praiseworthy servant. As Paul tells us,
"The one thing required of servants is that they be faithful..." – 1 Corinthians 4:2, TEV
What does it mean to be faithful? It means serving God to the best of your ability, wherever you may find yourself, using whatever skills and abilities you possess, to minister to whomever God gives you, for as long as He gives you the opportunity. It means you don’t give up. You don’t quit. You don’t sit and do nothing, or serve halfheartedly, wishing that you were somewhere else, doing something else, with someone else. Instead, you trust that God knew what he was doing when he gave you this assignment, and so you persevere. You give it your best, and you keep at it. No matter what the future may hold, you can be confident that where you are now is where God is calling you to serve him now. It is not second best. So believe that, and serve God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, right where you are. If you do that, you will please Him.
"He will not forget how hard you have worked for Him and how you have shown your love to Him by caring for other Christians." – Hebrews 6:10, NLT
When Jesus was at the end of his life, he prayed to the Father, "I have brought You glory on earth by completing the work You gave me to do." (John 17:4, NIV) Will you be able to say that? Some people spend their whole lives waiting for things to change. "When this happens, I’ll really be able to serve God." When I’m married (or divorced), or when the children are in school, or when the children are grown, or when I’ve established myself in my career, or when . . . etc., etc., etc. They spend their whole lives dreaming of what they’ll do for God someday, and never get around to serving Him now. They waste so much time thinking about what the could do for God if only their circumstances were different, that they neglect the opportunities God has given them right where they are. Waiting for an ideal that never comes, they don’t make use of the very real gifts and abilities God has given them, and they refuse to minister to the very real needs around them.
"If you wait for perfect conditions, you’ll never get anything done." – Ecclesiastes 11:4, NLT
One reason that people sometimes fail to serve is that their service seems unimportant. Insignificant. They don’t believe that their work will truly make a difference. But that’s simply wrong. Everything we do in the name of Christ has worth and value. Listen to what Paul says,
"Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for Him is a waste of time or effort." – 1 Corinthians 15:58, Msg
"Nothing" you do for Christ is a waste of time or effort. In God’s eyes, there is no such thing as an insignificant act of service. It all has value and importance to Him. Remember, Jesus said that if you give even a cup of cold water to someone in his name, He will remember it and reward you for it.
And we are not good judges of what is truly valuable, anyway. Only God see the whole picture; only he understand how every part fits into the whole. Something which appears to be quite unimportant to us now could prove absolutely critical in the grand scheme of things. An act of service which receives no notice or acknowledgement by anyone, something which is seen only by God, could prove to be key to the work of God’s kingdom. What did Jesus say? That on the day of judgement, many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. The prominence of our service, and the praise and respect we receive from men as a result, has nothing to do with its real value. As the Bible says, "The Lord will determine whether His servant has been successful." (Romans 14:4, GW)
Let me give you a personal example: Rick Warren pastors a church of several thousand. I pastor a much smaller church. Which of us is the more prominent? He is, of course. Which of our ministries is the more significant? Well, that depends on your perspective. He’s influenced many thousands of people. But this church has had a greater impact in most of your lives than Saddleback Church has, or ever will. And so the influence of the two ministries depends on whose life you’re talking about. Well, then, with which of us is God more pleased, Rick Warren or Alan Perkins? I can’t answer that question. Because only God knows whether Rick Warren has been faithful to what God has called him to do. And only God knows whether I’ve been faithful to what God has called me to do. Counting attendance, or baptisms, or collections, or book sales tells us nothing about that. Why? Because it’s possible to be faithful and hardworking, but still enjoy very limited success in numeric terms. It’s also possible to teach outright heresy, and mistreat people, and yet have a huge building and sell millions of books. I’m not referring to Rev. Warren here, but I’m sure you can supply your own examples. My point is that the value of our service depends on our faithfulness, and not on the observable results. Which doesn’t mean, by the way, that we shouldn’t work and pray for greater results. We do both of those things because we care about lost people. But God judges success by faithfulness, not numbers.
Let me give you an example from Scripture. Do you remember the miracle of the loaves and fishes? Jesus took a small boy’s lunch, and multiplied it miraculously, so that it fed several thousand people. That small, seemingly insignificant act created an opportunity for the power of Christ to be displayed. The boy remained anonymous. No one thought to ask his name, or record it. But how many hundreds of millions of people all over the world, for the last twenty centuries, have read of what that boy did, and have come to faith in Christ, because of his small act of service. Do you think that what he did mattered to God? You bet it did. And God will certainly reward him.
Or what about the various households who showed hospitality to the disciples when Jesus sent them out to preach? Do you know any of their names? No. And yet, their acts of service are recorded in the Scriptures as well. Every act of service has value to God; it all matters to Him. It all has significance in God’s eyes. And it often has far greater significance than we realize. When you serve someone, even a child, you have no idea what the result will be. You have no idea how God will use that act of faith and obedience in their life. I’m confident that when we get to heaven, we will be amazed to learn how many seemingly unimportant words or deeds set off a chain of events which resulted in something very great.
Rick Warren tells a story along these lines, and I’m going to quote it here: "Several years ago two teenage boys tried to come into a church service at night, much like this, only it was packed out and they couldn’t find any seats. So they turned around and decided to leave because they couldn’t find a seat. But one usher said "Come on, guys. I’ll find you a seat". And that usher personally escorted them down to the center and set them in the middle and found them two seats. That night both of those boys accepted Christ and became Christians. One of them was Billy Graham who has now led millions and tens of millions of people to Christ." And the question Rev. Warren asks is, "Do you think that usher is going to get any credit in heaven?" I think probably so. His seemingly unimportant act of faithful service was used by God in the conversion of one of the greatest evangelists of all time.
In this church, we’ve seen several people come to faith in Christ. Their eternal destiny has been changed because of what God has done for them through this body. Instead of suffering the wrath and judgement of God in hell, they will enjoy his love and his blessings for ever. And each of you had a part in that. Your role was just as necessary as mine. Do you think anyone would have come, and stayed long enough to respond to the gospel, if there had been no one leading worship? Or setting up chairs? Or loading and unloading the trailer? Or preparing food for potluck dinners? Or just being here and participating in our fellowship? Yes, my role in this church is fairly prominent. My name is the one listed in the bulletin. But that doesn’t mean it’s the most significant in the sight of God. Because in God’s eyes, what gives your service worth and value is your faithfulness, your obedience to what he has called you to do. And I’m confident that many of you have been just as faithful to God in your service as I have in mine. Perhaps more so.
So what should you do in response to this message? First of all, realize that God has made you the way you are, and placed you where you are, for a reason. Instead of thinking what you would do if only your circumstances were different, ask God how you can serve him, right now, using the resources and the abilities you have.
Second, don’t get discouraged. Remember that the way the world judges importance and significance and results is very far from how God judges them. Even Jesus’ life and ministry appeared to be a complete failure – at then end, his disciples all deserted him, the Pharisees were still in power, and he was tortured and killed by the Roman authorities. It wasn’t until later that the true value of his work became known. It may be that in this life, no one but God will ever recognize the value of your service to him. But keep at it anyway. Persevere in faith. Don’t give up. And in due time, you will receive your reward. Again, let’s listen to this promise:
"Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for Him is a waste of time or effort." – 1 Corinthians 15:58, Msg
God made you to serve Him and to serve His people. He’s calling you to do that right now. And if you do, even if you never receive the praise and recognition of men, God will see and He will be pleased.
(For an .rtf file of this and other sermons, see www.journeychurchonline.org/messages.htm)
