We serve a God of grace.
Back in May, on the Sunday after Pentecost, I spoke about the Gifts of the Spirit.
In the midst of this Summer of Evangelism it serves us well to revisit that subject again.
In order to reach people for Christ we need to understand what it is we are called to do.
What kind of gifts do we possess? What is it that we feel good about doing and what do we feel we are being challenged to take on? "The Spirit distributes the gifts as he sees fit" - keep that in mind.
Most folks are probably familiar with the passage from 1st Corinthians listing the gifts that the Spirit gives. We'll get there in a moment. What I want to look at is one of the less familiar ones. In Romans 12 there is talk of the gifts in the context of laying down one's life as a living sacrifice.
Romans 12:3-8
New International Version (NIV)
Humble Service in the Body of Christ
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your[a] faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,[b] do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.Right away, one special word jumped off the page at me. Grace.
Really need to look that word up and I have a feeling Webster's might knock our socks off.
Definition of GRACE
noun
1 a : unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification
b : a virtue coming from God
c : a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine grace
2 a : approval, favor <stayed in his good graces>
b archaic : mercy, pardon
c : a special favor : privilege <each in his place, by right, not grace, shall rule his heritage — Rudyard Kipling>
d : disposition to or an act or instance of kindness, courtesy, or clemency
e : a temporary exemption : reprieve
3 a : a charming or attractive trait or characteristic
b : a pleasing appearance or effect : charm <all the grace of youth — John Buchan>
c : ease and suppleness of movement or bearing
Hmmm. Paul says it is by grace that he speaks on this subject.
Maybe we should interpret the subject of gifts given to us by the Spirit in the same light.
Grace. God gives to us freely. Unmerited divine assistance.
In other words, you didn't know you needed a gift. He gave it any way.
You might not have wanted a gift. He gave it any way.
You didn't know you had a gift. He gave it any way.
That's grace. Unmerited. Saw a word that really grabbed me as I looked up the word "merit".
Related Words - qualify
If grace is unmerited, then we don't "qualify" for it. As if we were taking a test and qualifying for college with an entrance exam. God doesn't check out our credit score to see if we are in good shape before he bestows grace upon us.
I said we would get to the 1 Corinthians 12 passage about gifts and here we go.
The key phrase is in verse 11.
"...and he distributes them to each one..." Don't say you don't have anything. You do and God has given it to you. God hands out gifts to us better than Santa hits houses on Christmas Eve. Everyone.
Lets ponder for a minute that if grace is true, then His sovereignty is true also.
God doesn't give gifts to us and then walk away. Do you have any idea how to use the gift?
Like a kid on Christmas day, we open the box, we see what's inside and we need help putting it together. We have to develop it. We need his help to it work properly. Nothing is more aggravating than thinking you that race track put together properly only to watch it fall apart after one lap.
Check out verses 4-6 in 1 Cor 12.
We haven't even begun to look at the actual gifts themselves. What they do. How they are used.
Before even jump into that arena, there needs to be an understand in our hearts about the fact that we all have gifts and their is a God who wants to work through us using these gifts.
God wants to speak to others about his grace and mercy. He does that through you.
God want to heal people. He needs willing "physicians".
God wants to communicate the Gospel message to any who will listen. He needs your voice.
Verse 5 in Romans 12 says much to us.
Why is that? Well, it seems we are supposed to be using these gifts to build up, to support the rest of the Body. There are followers of Christ who need help. There are people all around us who need to be lifted up and given support and nurture.
How can we then use our gifts to support other people?
Elana Meyers knows this answer better than most.
During her high school years she found her way into athletics. For her, everything was about sports and winning. Family, church, God all took a backseat to making sure she excelled. It wasn't until she came to place in life where she had gone to college and was separated from her family that she became depressed and lonely. Then she began to realize that it wasn't all about herself.
Elana says she found that her family loved her unconditionally. She also realized in her sport that she was not the one in control. As the leader of the US Women's bobsledding team, being at the front of the sled going down a 400ft drop, she prays the whole way through it. She truly came to a place where she realized that the whole sled needed to work together, shifting together at the right time to handle a turn. Her favorite scripture verse?
6 The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?
Hmmm. Paul says it is by grace that he speaks on this subject.
Maybe we should interpret the subject of gifts given to us by the Spirit in the same light.
Grace. God gives to us freely. Unmerited divine assistance.
In other words, you didn't know you needed a gift. He gave it any way.
You might not have wanted a gift. He gave it any way.
You didn't know you had a gift. He gave it any way.
That's grace. Unmerited. Saw a word that really grabbed me as I looked up the word "merit".
Related Words - qualify
If grace is unmerited, then we don't "qualify" for it. As if we were taking a test and qualifying for college with an entrance exam. God doesn't check out our credit score to see if we are in good shape before he bestows grace upon us.
I said we would get to the 1 Corinthians 12 passage about gifts and here we go.
The key phrase is in verse 11.
11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.There's grace too. God sets the package outside the door of our hearts and waits to see if we will open the door and bring the package inside. He has given to everybody what he wants them to have.
"...and he distributes them to each one..." Don't say you don't have anything. You do and God has given it to you. God hands out gifts to us better than Santa hits houses on Christmas Eve. Everyone.
Lets ponder for a minute that if grace is true, then His sovereignty is true also.
God doesn't give gifts to us and then walk away. Do you have any idea how to use the gift?
Like a kid on Christmas day, we open the box, we see what's inside and we need help putting it together. We have to develop it. We need his help to it work properly. Nothing is more aggravating than thinking you that race track put together properly only to watch it fall apart after one lap.
Check out verses 4-6 in 1 Cor 12.
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.God is at work. In everyone. He gives us the gift. Then he helps us work it out. He doesn't leave us so we have to go rogue. If you truly believe that you have a gift, you might want to check with the One who gave that gift to you, once in a while. Let Him know how things are going. Talk with Him about how things are developing. You didn't sign up to be a free lance artist. You belong to Him.
We haven't even begun to look at the actual gifts themselves. What they do. How they are used.
Before even jump into that arena, there needs to be an understand in our hearts about the fact that we all have gifts and their is a God who wants to work through us using these gifts.
God wants to speak to others about his grace and mercy. He does that through you.
God want to heal people. He needs willing "physicians".
God wants to communicate the Gospel message to any who will listen. He needs your voice.
Verse 5 in Romans 12 says much to us.
5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.We don't belong to ourselves. We don't sail our own ship. We belong to God and to others.
Why is that? Well, it seems we are supposed to be using these gifts to build up, to support the rest of the Body. There are followers of Christ who need help. There are people all around us who need to be lifted up and given support and nurture.
How can we then use our gifts to support other people?
Elana Meyers knows this answer better than most.
During her high school years she found her way into athletics. For her, everything was about sports and winning. Family, church, God all took a backseat to making sure she excelled. It wasn't until she came to place in life where she had gone to college and was separated from her family that she became depressed and lonely. Then she began to realize that it wasn't all about herself.
Elana says she found that her family loved her unconditionally. She also realized in her sport that she was not the one in control. As the leader of the US Women's bobsledding team, being at the front of the sled going down a 400ft drop, she prays the whole way through it. She truly came to a place where she realized that the whole sled needed to work together, shifting together at the right time to handle a turn. Her favorite scripture verse?
Psalm 118:6
New International Version (NIV)
What can mere mortals do to me?
She learned through this time to do as Paul suggests in this section of scripture from Romans.
Look at verse 3 again.
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.It takes sober judgment to handle a bobsled team. It takes the same grace to handle life on a daily basis in this world. To not focus on ourselves, but to realize that God is in control. He gives us what we have and wants us to use these gifts to serve others, not ourselves.
In January 2013, Elana led her team to a silver medal in bobsledding at the world championship in Switzerland. The same day, at the medal ceremony, her teammate and long time boyfriend proposed to her. She got a medal and ring in the same day. God is good.
It's because he is good to us that we feel some desire to be good to others.
To share what we have. To give out of what he has given us. To be a blessing to others.
We serve a God of grace. He freely gives. How can can we freely give what we have, as he has?
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