The Apostle Paul told Timothy, “Do not neglect the gift that is in you.”
Did you know that we all have gifts? In the last two weeks, I have touched upon the parable of the wealthy landowner who gave his three servants talents before he left for a long trip. When he came back, he found that two of the servants had put those talents to use and had doubled them for the landowner. But the third servant did not use his talents and the landowner threw him out into the darkness.
God has given each of us gifts and talents, and he fully expects us to use them to build His kingdom. That is our charge. If we refuse to use what God has given us, we will also be thrown out into the darkness, which is hell. So today, I would like for all of us to remember that we do have talents and that we must use them.
We live in a world that is controlled by terror, and it is only getting worse. But as I look at the chaos around me, I remember an old man by the name of Hensel Carter. He came from Cincinnati, Ohio, back in the 1940’s to Arizona. He and a partner set up a camp in the San Tan Mountains, just south of Higley, Arizona. Their intent was to pan for gold and get rich.
As the years went by, Mr. Carter got married; then his partner died; and then his wife died. They were both buried at that lonely mountain campsite. Mr. Carter continued to stay on that mountain, where he stayed until he died in the 1990’s.
He became a sort of tourist attraction in his final years and that is how he made enough money to live on. People would come by to talk to him, donate money to him, and sign a guest register. I was one of those people. And the one thing that was impressed upon my heart more than anything was this man knew genuine peace. Not the momentary peace we know, but true peace. There was no chaos in this man’s life.
As he sat there, on a chair under a crudely made veranda, he reached down into a sack and brought up a few seeds, which he kept in his hand as he laid his arm across the table, palm up. He cautioned us to be very quite and not to move. Then he gently made a soft sound and a bird flew down and began eating out of his hand. This was not a tame bird but a wild bird. The bird trusted Mr. Carter’s tenderness. The bird knew it could eat in peace out of Mr. Carter’s hand.
In a world that is full of anger and hate, fear and violence, people need to know there is one who walks among them that gives true and reassuring peace by his presence. When we walk with the Lord, and when we give our lives to Him, we can walk among others and we can reassure others.
We have talked about the church and how we are to make the church a peaceful place to find and learn more about Jesus. It is not coincidence that the same things that are found in Jesus must be found in His church.
LUKE 24:36
‘While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
We are to be peaceful, and we can only be truly at peace when we have chosen to follow Jesus. Olen is a perfect example of that. Olen has had a rough background, but I see him now as more of a ‘gentle giant’ of a man. He seeks peace through Jesus as much as any man I have ever known.
I have seen many elders talk a good deal about the love and peace of Christ, but few of them have shown it in their everyday lives like Olen has. He seeks Jesus in his life and he fully relies on Jesus to get him from sunrise to sunset each day.
We are going to ordain Olen into the position of elder this morning, but before we do, I would like to talk to you about the position of elder first. Who created it and what is it supposed to accomplish?
God anointed the Apostle Paul to proclaim His word, but He also anointed Paul to plant churches along his way. Every time he planted a church, he knew that he would not be there very long, so he appointed elders, or overseers, to care for the church and make sure the church was being run efficiently for God’s purposes.
Now, we all know that it is virtually impossible to have any kind of organization and have that organization run smoothly unless it has a leader. Paul knew that, too.
In TITUS 1:5, Paul told Titus,
‘The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town as I directed you.’
Paul had started churches in several of the towns there, and as he was leaving, he wanted each church to have an overseer to guide the congregation and make sure they were being taken care of. What were the qualifications of the elders and what kind of duties were they supposed to do?
In Verses 6-9, we are given a list of qualifications.
‘An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless, not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.’
There have been so many different interpretations of these verses, I would like to take a few minutes and actually do a teaching on them.
AN ELDER MUST BE BLAMELESS.
This means that they must be men of integrity; men who are known for their honesty and fairness. Certainly, men of scrupulous business tactics or loose morals would never qualify as an elder.
AN ELDER MUST BE THE HUSBAND OF BUT ONE WIFE.
There have been many interpretations of this verse, including:
… since he is a husband, he must be married
… he must never have been divorced
… he must not be a polygamist
Let’s take these one by one. It does not make sense that the church would never allow an elder to have been divorced since Jesus clearly allowed divorce in a particular instance.
MATTHEW 5:32
‘But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife EXCEPT FOR MARITAL UNFAITHFULNESS causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.’
Some say that once divorced, an elder can never remarry, but this does not hold water in all cases, either. What if a wife was unfaithful and left her husband? What if this woman was not a believer at the time? Do you still say he can never remarry?
In 1 CORINTHIANS 7:15, it tells us
’But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace.’
So, if a man has been divorced - that, in itself, is no reason to disqualify him from being appointed as an elder. We must investigate to find out "why". I had a science teacher as a young boy who used to say that we did not deserve to have the answer unless we were willing to first go looking for it.
And as far as having more than one wife at the same time: Paul was planting churches in the Gentile areas of the world. And these men often had more than one wife. Many of them had harems.
So, the admonition that a man has but one wife could also apply to this situation. The point I am making is that before we hear what tradition says, we had better read what the Bible says. Before we make rules based on what someone says, we had better find out what the Lord has said.
And while I am talking about elders, let me also say that the position of elder is a very important position, established to care for the flock of a church. Mankind has turned that into something other than what it was intended to be, just like we have done to everything else we can lay our hands on.
The position of elder was not meant to micro-manage the pastors. God has anointed the pastor with a vision. Man has appointed the elder with a position. There are too many elders who think that they are the boss of the church, and that includes the boss of the pastor. That is wrong and should never be.
When anyone, elder or pastor, believes that they are in control of the church, they take Jesus out fo the picture. It is like a tight-end and a quarterback. They have two distinct jobs to do, and neither one is going to rule over the other, but if they do their jobs correctly, the team wins.
Likewise, the elder and the pastor have two distinct jobs, but if they do them correctly, with Jesus being the focus of each, the church wins.
An elder’s children must be believers in Christ and act like Christians. That shows that he has raised his children in the ways of the Lord. And the elder must not be quick tempered because he will be doing the work of God and spiritually touching other people. Therefore, he cannot be a drunkard and he must be hospitable.
I have seen each of these Godly qualities in Olen on several occasions. So this morning, Olen Self stands before God and this church as having been elected to the position of elder. Olen, God has chosen you as a spiritual leader and example to other believers.
The office of elder is not about power but about responsibility. It is not about you, it is about others who are in this church. This church belongs to Jesus, and you are to carry out your duties as overseer with your focus on being a servant-leader for Him. Even though the office of elder carries great responsibilities, the privileges and rewards far outweigh the burdens.
Olen, as an elder, will you faithfully promise to ….
· Uphold the truth of God’s Word
· Be a reflection of Christ in the community
· Be faithful in attendance and support of this church
· Assist the pastors in the carrying out of the vision God has given us
· And to seek God’s will in all you do for this church?
If so, please answer “I will.”
I started this message by reminding you that Paul told Timothy to not neglect his calling. Paul ended that message by telling Timothy, “Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching.”
Olen, you are now entering a period of service that will be difficult and new. Your ministry will be challenged by many expectations. As you use your gifts in your ministry, you will find that God will carry you through those difficult times. Pay close attention to your calling, and ensure that the true message of the Gospel is not lost.
And to our congregation: Olen Self has been set apart by God Almighty to fulfill a ministry within His church. But he cannot fulfill that charge without your help. Do you, as the congregation of CrossRoads Church promise before God that you will faithfully pray for Olen and do everything you can to encourage him as he does the same for you?
If so, please answer “I will.”
Let us pray.
In closing, let me add that as Olen Self has stepped forward to serve the Lord today, you also can follow in his footsteps and step forward to serve the Lord too. You might not be serving in the capacity of elder, but you can serve in the capacity of yourself; in your life.
Would you consider doing just that this morning? As we stand for our invitation song, would you consider just walking up here in support of Olen and as a statement that you wish to rededicate yourself to walking with Christ?
INVITATION
