EVERY MEMBER IN MINISTRY: WHAT DID YOU GET? REV. KIP GILTS Romans 12:3-10

     We have a rule in our home that I have tried to maintain ever since we have had children.  That rule is that we are to sing no Christmas songs until after we have eaten our Thanksgiving turkey.  It is not that I don’t like Christmas music, I love it, I just seek to guard against the avalanche of the “I want” of December.  However, with Tammy putting together our Advent Devotional booklet this week and my last minute shopping for Operation Christmas Child, I’m afraid I’m losing the battle.  Both music and memories of Christmas are already creeping into my mind – and we haven’t even ordered the Thanksgiving bird yet.

This week I began to remember Christmas mornings in Ohio when before the sun even peeked over the horizon five little boys and two teenage girls scrambled to the tree to discover two very important pieces of information:

●       What did I get? and

●       What did you get?

We each knew that the second question was just as important as the first, because in a large family what’s mine is mine and what’s yours is ours.  I benefited a great deal from the gifts to my siblings.  If Debbie got checkers, I got to play against her.  If Kemp got cool clothes I could wear them, since we’ve always been about the same size.  If Kris got a football, game on for all of us.  I would dare say that the most frequently asked question around the tree on Christmas morning was, “What did you get?”  The question was more than idle curiosity or family courtesy. We all benefited from everyone’s gifts.  This same principle is at work in the church.  The talents and gifts that God gives you will benefit me and visa versa.    Listen to how Paul put it in Romans 12:3-10 found on page 134 of the New Testament in your pew Bibles.  Hear now the Word of the Lord:

³For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. ⁴For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, ⁵so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. ⁶We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ⁷ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; ⁸the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness. ⁹Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; ¹⁰love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.

The Word of God for the People of God.  Thanks be to God.  In this passage Paul reminded each Roman that his or her role was integral to the body of Christ. Let us pray.

I love the way that F.F. Bruce summarized this passage of scripture.  Let me share it with you:

“Diversity, not uniformity, is the mark of God’s handiwork.  It is so in nature; it is equally so in grace, and nowhere more so than in the Christian community.  Here are many men and women with the most diverse kinds of parentage, environment, temperament and capacity.  Not only so, but since they became Christians they have been endowed by God with a wide variety of spiritual gifts as well.  Yet because and by means of that diversity, all can co-operate for the good of the whole.  Whatever form of service is to be rendered in the church, let it be rendered heartily and faithfully by those divinely qualified to render it.”

     Today we conclude our four-week emphasis on Every Member in Ministry: an emphasis with a goal for each of us to implement our gifts and talents for the kingdom of God.  This goal can only be met if every member renders heartily and faithfully the service that you are divinely qualified to render.  To put it another way, I encourage you to find your place and function fully in the body of Christ.  In order to do this you will need to use your head, your hands and your heart.

Use your head for persepective of the body of Christ.  The body of Christ was one of Paul’s favorite images of the church.  He wrote about it in his letters to the Romans, Corinthians, Ephesians and Colossians.  He told the Romans in this morning’s passage, that a clear understanding of this concept would cause the Romans to think soberly and not like people who were mad or without understanding.  This sober thinking has to do with how one might view oneself in relationship to God and to fellow members of the church.  Apparently some people were tempted to think that they were a gift to God, that God was lucky to have them working for God.  Eugene Peterson captured Paul’s correction of this corrupted thought in The Message when he paraphrased verse 3 with these words, “It’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what God does for us, not by what we are and what we do for God.”  He went on to paraphrase the next 2 verses, “In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we're talking about is Christ's body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn't amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ's body, let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren't.”  You are then to use your head and get a clear perspective of yourself in relationship to God, who brings it all to you, and in relationship to others where, each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body.  We belong not only to God, but to each other.

     We get this point in nature.  We understand that in order for the apple to appear, the roots have to be healthy, the trunk has be able to transfer nutrients, the leaves have to be able to convert sunlight into energy and I know right now there are some biologists out there getting quite nervous that I will attempt to explain something about which I know very little.  Relax.  I will stop there, for this is not my gift, but I do understand that in order for this apple to have a chance, all of the members of the apple tree have to work together.  Even the most productive branch, becomes mere firewood when detached from the body.

     That’s why it is important for each of us to use our head to get a clear perspective.  You are a child of God, make no mistake about that and God loves you very much, but you are not an only child.  We belong to each other.  Find your place and function fully in the body of Christ.  Begin by using your head.

 

Use your hands for practice of your divinely appointed service.  God has called and equipped you to do certain things, but those things are not all that beneficial to you or others if you do not practice them.  You have the potential to significantly improve the ministry of this church in this community, but if you don’t use those gifts and talents the church will never benefit as intended.  I like the way this is brought out in the Contemporary English Version:

“God has also given each of us different gifts to use. If we can prophesy, we should do it according to the amount of faith we have. If we can serve others, we should serve. If we can teach, we should teach. If we can encourage others, we should encourage them. If we can give, we should be generous. If we are leaders, we should do our best. If we are good to others, we should do it cheerfully.”

     Since each of us has been given a different set of gifts and talents, we each ought to use them accordingly.  I have truly enjoyed working on Implementing Spiritual Gifts: Every Member in Ministry, because it has given me the chance to see people who are very gifted in areas that I am not, do wonders.  Barbara Seals, Linda Marr, Debbie Keim, Sandie Bennett, the Core Leadership Team and the staff of this church each have been doing things every day for months to facilitate the discovery and deployment of every member in ministry.  That alone has been inspiring to see and that is only the beginning.  I invite you, no I implore you, to go over to the Ministry Fair in the new Christian Life Center and notice not only the ministries that are being highlighted, but also the flare that has been put into each exhibit.  This is an amazing church that is on the threshold of doing some amazing things in ministry.  I strongly encourage you to find your place and function fully in the body of Christ.  It will require that you use your head to get a perspective, that you use your hands to practice your unique gifts and that you…

 

Use your heart to promote love always.  Let love be genuine was Paul’s instruction.  How often we make life so busy and complicated because we miss this one overarching principle.  Let love be genuine.  This is the key.  When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment he was pretty clear, “Love God and love neighbor, if you do these everything else will come together.” 

     I have seen this lived out time and time again in churches that I have had the privilege of serving.  It was nine years ago when I got the call that a little boy whom I had baptized only weeks before had been diagnosed with leukemia.  Chandler’s older sister, Chelsea, had just about adjusted to sharing her home with a little brother and now her home was deeply disrupted.  For most of the next two years one of her parents was in the hospital with Chandler.  The church moved into action.  Meals were provided by those who could cook.  Babysitting was offered by those who had children that could play with Chelsea.  Gift certificates were given by those who had extra resources to spend on this young family.  When they wanted someone to accompany Chandler and Chelsea to Sunshine Kids night at an Astros game I went, serving within my area of gifts and talents.  We were taken to the clubhouse before the game where all the players came by and greeted the kids and their star struck guests.  They even signed baseballs. Chandler gave his to me.  That was so long ago that all the signatures on this ball have faded except two – a mark made by a little boy and a ‘C’ drawn by his big sister.  This ball reminds me of so much.  It reminds me of a night with celebrities.  It reminds me of a little boy, his big sister and their loving parents.  It reminds me of a church who was never better in its 168-year history, than when its love was genuine and every member was in ministry.

     You have seen that happen before.  You have witnessed the body of Christ behaving like the body of Christ in a cooperative and coordinated way, with every member in ministry.  It happens when we use our heart to promote love. Find your place and function fully in the body of Christ.  Use your head, your hands and your heart.

     I am excited about the Ministry Menu, the Ministry Fair and the prospect of every member in ministry.  I am confident that it will make a positive difference in the life of every individual who makes the commitment to serve within his or her gifts.  I am certain that it will make a profound difference in the life and ministry of a church with a desire to reflect its role as the body of Christ.  I know we have almost two weeks before Thanksgiving, but this morning I feel like a little boy scrambling around the Christmas tree and wanting to know, “What did you get?” Find your place and function fully in the body of Christ.  Amen.