Second part of a short series son serving in church.
Reading: 1 Corinthians 12:12-26, Matthew 4:18-20
Last week we started to think about serving and specifically serving in church. We looked at what church is and the reasons why we should serve or volunteer of our time. As a recap the reasons are:
– Because we’re all part of the same team. The church is all of us together, in all our differences, with all that we have.
– Because we serving each other and our community. Supporting those in need, coming alongside those who need help, or providing services that are needed.
– Because this is what Jesus modelled for us. He was the ultimate servant and he told us to do as he did.
– Because in serving others we also serve God.
– and because so often we are blessed in return.
Now today I want us to focus on our Corinthians passage and on us as individuals, what do we each bring? We’ve focussed on us together, but as we heard in our Corinthians reading, we are one body with many parts, we each play a part.
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.
1 Corinthians 12:12
One and many – we are all the ‘one’s’ aren’t we – we’re all individuals, and on Tuesday I am going to talk about identity – who God has made us to be as individuals, because we serve from that place of being a child of God – will be on our YouTube channel, do have a listen.
So we are one, but we are part of a body – all the members, all the pieces, or in this case people, work together. In that, we should celebrate our uniqueness and our diversity, but also celebrate that those unique gifts make us able to work together as one. All the needs provided for the whole through us as individuals. We all have a part to play but we’re part of something bigger.
We could also take it a step further and say there are many individual churches that build up the one body of Christ too.
So what part are you in this body? what role do you have? what part are you playing?
Now we might have talents, or skills we have learned, but we might also have spiritual gifts that God has given us. I’m not going to focus on that too much today but the Bible says a lot about gifts we are given in a spiritual sense too.
Who has seen the Narnia movies? Or read the books obviously? I hope you all know they are symbolic of the Christian faith and the fight of good against evil. There’s a great bit in The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, where Father Christmas (God) shows up and gives the kids a present each. Each one is different, personal to the child, but each one also has a use as he explains to them, and their part in it.
In the book, he also hands them a tray of hot tea, which I don’t think made it to the movie. But it’s all a great illustration of the gifts God gives to us as individuals, with a purpose for each, but also like the tea some gifts are not just for a specific purpose but to show love and compassion, kindness, and here of a shared need – as they were sitting in the rapidly thawing snow, cold, probably hungry after a long journey and here is something to warm them up.
In the Narnia story these took on the form of actual physical gifts but they could represent spiritual gifts too or talents that they each had. And they each had to use their gifts at different times and places, for the good of them all.
It’s the same for us. In Genesis 1:27 we read that God made humans in God’s own image.
so we must all reflect different elements of who God is, right? One of us couldn’t reflect all that God is, only God can do that, so we must all have some of the characteristics of God, so that together we can reflect the whole of who God is, a sense of unity of the whole.
And Paul reminds the hearers, or us, of this too in a way. He says
For in the one Spirit we were all baptised into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:13
We’re all different, but we’re all part of the same thing, we’re all united in our faith. It’s a theme Paul repeats elsewhere too. It doesn’t matter who we are, where we come from, our background, we are in this together, united in the Spirit of Christ. And in case they haven’t got it yet Paul hammers it home a little more: 15-17
If the foot were to say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body’, that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear were to say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body’, that would not make it any less a part of the body.
1 Corinthians 12:15-17
this is all of them, it’s all of us too.
and then v 18: But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as God chose. 19
It is all as God planned. We are here for a reason and with a purpose. God has placed us, just as God wanted us to be – if you’re in this church, it’s not by chance or accident, it’s because God wants you here. Simple as that! Whether you come every week, once a month, once in a blue moon, come to Rainbow Tots or garden church. You are part of this church family, this team. Whether you have 5 minutes to give or several hours, you are part of this body. Whether you are highly educated or did not enjoy school, whether you are or practical, creative, thoughtful, kind, have full mobility or less, we all have something to bring, something to offer.
Paul goes on, no one part is better than another, in fact the ones you might think are less important are not, they are indispensable. We should honour those that seem ‘inferior’. so that there is no dissention, we have the same care and respect for each other. Often people put the Priest on a pedestal but priests come for a season and move on (though don’t worry I’m not going anywhere!). Many of you are here for the long haul, you’ve been here for many many years. Who is it that held the church together in a vacancy when there was no priest – many of you! Who is that does the stuff behind the scenes? Who is it who puts the heating on so we are warm in the winter (or warm ish?!), who is that cleans the toilets? who is that empties the bins? or mows the grass in the churchyard, or does the washing up? the list could go on. These jobs are just as important as being out front, doing a reading, or being on prayer ministry team for example. We cannot say we have no need of each other Paul says (v21). And we can all do something. Even if you have little time or space, there is a role for you.
And even if you still feel like you don’t have time or talent, you can pray – there are always prayer requests on the bulletin sheet and the WhatsApp group, and prayer is the foundation of who we are, perhaps even the most important thing we can do.
So what do you bring? what can you bring? I’d love you to read our list of roles or have a chat to people in the cafe after the service, find out all about what needs to be done to keep this church going.
Just to give you a few examples >
There are roles in the service – reading, administering communion, leading us in prayer, preaching – August have a go!
We are very short of people to be welcomers – greeting people on arrival and welcoming – going to do some training on this shortly.
Kids team – come and help Paula out – they have a lot of fun, you’d be part of a team, material given
or more practical:
Making tea and coffee, cleaning the church,
if you’re technical – help with sound and screen
we need more musicians and singers
garden team/churchyard maintenance – get outside, planting, weeding, mowing! we’d love to start a mid week team we can invite the wider community to, perhaps a Thurs morning.
or prayer and pastoral support, praying for people, being on our prayer team or visiting people at home
cafe – always needs volunteers on Thurs/Fridays
So have a think and a pray what can you do? What has God given you that you could offer here? How are you part of this team?
In Matt 4 we see Jesus calling some of the disciples and he calls them firstly to follow him, to be people of Christ, and then to do the work.
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.
Matthew 4:18-20
Jesus calls Peter to follow him first and then gives him the purpose – to fish for people – to share the good news of Jesus. And that’s the thing, we are first called, whoever we are, our primary calling is to be followers of Jesus Christ and to live out what that means in our daily lives, that is the same for each of us. We can see this throughout scripture.
God calls all believers to love the Lord our God with all our heart (Deuteronomy 6.5);
to be holy as God is holy (Leviticus 11.44);
to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God (Micah 6.8).
and Jesus echoes this general call to all who would follow, follow him first, then serve.
And we know from scripture the disciples didn’t always get it right, in fact they often got things wrong, but Jesus nurtured them and used who they were for the kingdom of God.
Who you are is God’s gift to you, what you do with yourself is your gift to God.
Danish proverb
I love this proverb, because it reminds us that first and foremost we are children of God. We are who God has made us to be. And in that we serve from a place of our identity in Christ, having been called to follow Jesus.
Vocation/callling
And I just want to say something about vocation or calling too. A vocation or a sense of calling, is more than serving in church with the gifts we have, it is a sense of knowing deep down in your being that God has given you a specific purpose. We often talk about vocation in relation to ministry but it can be anything. Teaching and nursing for example are often described as vocations.
It’s a sense of God leading you into something, not just for a season but for longer, perhaps even life. It’s a sense of something within us that is more than a simple gift or skill, it is about who we are. The essence of who you are.
I know people who have felt called to be Spiritual Directors for example, guiding others on their spiritual journey; to be intercessors – prayerfully interceding for specific people or situations – having a deep sense of call to a life of prayer; missionaries who God has called to other countries or situations to serve; those who are called to serve the elderly; to start a charity. A calling can be many things.
When I felt called to ordained ministry it was a thought that came into my head and just wouldn’t go away. I thought I was going a little mad. Then other people started to ask me if I was going to be a vicar (and I’d said nothing to anyone at this point not even my husband!) It was all a bit much. Sometimes others recognise a calling in us before we do! But I just knew this was what God was calling me to. I just knew in the depths of my soul. But I also felt totally unworthy – still do actually – like why would God call someone like me?
But the Bible tells us God knows our hearts, that’s how God chose King David in the OT, God saw his heart. God knows us inside and out and still calls us. God needs people like us, like all of us, in our uniqueness and with our own life experiences and poor choices and mistakes and all, to serve God wherever we are. Look at Peter, he denied Jesus 3 times but it was him that was chosen to build the church.
So if you feel like there might be a call on your life and you don’t know what to do about it do come and talk to me in confidence. You know when I first shared that I felt called to ministry I fully expected to be told: don’t be ridiculous, you’re hearing wrong, you’re not the right person, but that person I spoke to, who was not someone who supports the ordination of women BTW, said to me, God is calling you, you need to explore that.
Whoever you are, whether you have a calling on your life or not, God has made you with something to offer. You are here for a purpose, so I want to encourage you to take some time to think and pray about that. What could you offer? what does God want you to do here? how can you serve, how can you be part of the one and many – the body of Christ here at St Edward’s? And perhaps you might also call that out in others. Not because you need someone to help you do your role, but because you can see a gift in them, you can see they are good with people and might be good on welcome team; or they are practical or like being outdoors and could help with the garden; or because they are compassionate and always looking out for others, perhaps they might like to be on the pastoral care team?
In all of this, when we step fully into who God has made us to be, or we answer a call, or we serve with the gifts we have, we also become more a part of the body of Christ. We grow friendships with others, opportunities open up for us to help those in need, we see where the needs are, and we are blessed ourselves.
So let’s take some time for a moment, I want us to pray for ourselves, for God to show us who we are and what we could do here. But also pray for a word for those around us, that we could share from the front, a word of encouragement for someone here that might help them step into what God is asking if them. And I don’t mean single someone out, just ask God for a word of encouragement that we can share and see who responds.
Let’s pray…
No Comments