Spiritual Gifts, Not Possessions

Romans 12: 1 – 8.

Introduction.

Are you familiar with the concept of “re-gifting?” This is what you do with the gifts you receive that you can’t do anything with. For example, has anyone ever given you an article of clothing that you knew immediately that you would never wear? What are you going to do with it? I suppose you could try to return it to the store and get something you would wear. OR…You could wrap it up and re-gift it to someone who will wear it.

A friend of mine got married at a time when all of her friends were also getting married. She needed to give a wedding gift to another friend, but being a newlywed, she and her husband couldn’t afford much. Then, she realized that they had a lot of wedding gifts that were duplicates. She could re-wrap one of their duplicate wedding gifts and “re-gift” it.

She went through the duplicate wedding gifts and found the perfect gift. It was a silver or silver plated vase. It was still in the box, and they had at least one more just like it.

She got out the wrapping paper and started wrapping the box. Then, she realized that it if is silver or silver plated, she might need to polish it before re-gifting. She opened the box to polish the vase and was horrified to discover that it was engraved, “David and Mary” with their wedding date underneath.

If you are a re-gifter, I am not here to judge you. In fact, I think re-gifting is ALMOST a good idea. It’s a good idea for the re-gifter, because it can save time and money. It’s a good idea for the person receiving the gift, because they never have to know. The only person who doesn’t think it is a good idea is the person who gave the original gift. Most of us want to know that other people truly appreciate the gifts we give them.

I believe that God actually wants us to be re-gifters. That doesn’t mean you should open your birthday and Christmas gifts only to begin thinking about when and to whom you will re-gift. But, I do believe God gives each of us gifts with the purpose that we will give to others what God has given us.

Spiritual gifts fall into this category. God gives every Christian gifts. God does not intend for us to hold on to these gifts. They are not our possessions to hold on to. They are gifts, given for the purpose that we would give them away to others.

In fact, I think we can make a good argument that when we stop giving God’s gifts away, God stops giving to us. We are not supposed to be reservoirs of God’s grace. We are to be more like a pipeline or a conduit of grace—from God, through us, to other people.

There are several places where the Bible teaches us about spiritual gifts…

Read Romans 12: 1 – 8.

1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your spiritual act of worship.

2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-- his good, pleasing and perfect will.

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 measure of faith God has given you.

4 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 who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.

7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach;

8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

(NIV)

The Book of Romans is similar to Paul’s other writings because it can be neatly divided into two sections. Paul begins with a theological section and ends with an ethical section. Another way to describe this is to say that Paul begins with theory—this is what we believe about God and why we believe it. Then he moves into a practical section—since we believe thus about God, this is how we ought to live our lives.

Romans 12 is sort of the bridge between these two sections. Romans chapters 1 – 11 contain Paul’s theology and why he believes as he does. Romans 13 – 16 contain Paul’s practical advice on how Christians ought to live in light of what God has done for us in Christ. Romans 12 is the bridge between the two sections…

In my interpretation of this chapter, there are three natural divisions. Verses 1 and 2 make up the first division…Verses 3 – 8 make up the second division…Verses 9 – 21 make up the third division… I came to this interpretation based on the way Paul uses the word Body or Bodies in the chapter.

Read Romans 12: 1...Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your spiritual act of worship.

Offer your Bodies as living sacrifices…Notice how Paul uses the plural form of the word Body. This plural form tells me that Paul is speaking to a group of people but he is giving us individual advice. In other words, Romans 12: 1 – 2 describes something that every man and every woman must do for himself or herself…Give your life to God daily as a sacrifice that God can use for his purposes in the world…

Read Romans 12: 4 – 5… j

ust as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,

so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Just as each of us has one Body with many members…In Christ we who are many form one Body…Notice how Paul uses the singular form of the word Body…

By using the same word in each of these sections, I think Paul was trying to communicate that Christians are supposed to have both an INDIVIDUAL life with Christ as well as a CORPORATE life with Christ’s people.

How can we satisfy the command that Paul gave us earlier—Offer your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice to God? I believe it is very simple. Paul is saying…Take your individual BODY and become a part of the corporate BODY of Christ. In other words, Take your BODY to church.

Individual Christian Life.

The individual Christian life is something I like to call Discipleship. Romans 12 describes discipleship in two ways…Let God transform your Spiritual Body…Then present all that you are to God as a Living and Daily sacrifice…

Discipleship begins when we make a profession of faith in Jesus. As I told you last week, this is not “rocket surgery.” It is a simple expression of faith.

We begin by recognizing that there is a God, and God loves us. No one will ever be good enough to earn or deserve God’s love. In fact, it is just the opposite. God loves us even though we are sinners who rebel against God’s plan for our lives. God’s plan is described in the Laws of the Bible. The more we read the Bible, the more we realize that we will never be able to live up to God’s expectations.

We admit that we are sinners. We will never be good enough to earn or deserve eternal life in the presence of God. Again, the opposite is true. Because we are not good enough to solve our own sin problem, God sent his Son, Jesus, to live as our example, to die as our sacrifice, and to live as our hope of eternal salvation.

Then, we must accept God’s gift of eternal salvation. The only way to do this is through faith. To believe Jesus really is who the Bible says Jesus is—the crucified and resurrected Son of God. To believe that Jesus is the only one who can give you salvation—forgiving your past, present and future sins, and offering you a transformed life on earth as well as an eternal life in the presence of God.

However, discipleship does not end when we express our initial faith in Jesus as the crucified and resurrected Son of God. This is only the beginning. As long as we live, we will face a daily, hourly, minute by minute process of sacrificing our desires to God’s desires for our lives.

Corporate Christian Life.

American Christians do a terrible disservice to the biblical teachings about the Christian life. We are very comfortable talking about the individual side of faith. But, we are uncomfortable talking about the corporate side. We prefer to think and talk about faith as something that is individual, personal and private. That is only half of what the Bible teaches us. Yes, faith is a personal decision. But, faith should not be private. Faith is supposed to affect us in very public ways. Faith in Jesus changes the ways we live our lives. And, faith in Jesus compels us to be involved with other believers.

There is just one GRACE…But there are numerous GIFTS…

Paul lists only seven gifts in this passage…Prophesying…Serving… Teaching…Encouraging…Contributing to the Needs of Others…Leadership… Showing Mercy…

This is not a complete list…He lists other gifts in two other places:

1 Corinthians 12: 7 – 11

7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,

9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,

10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.

11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

(NIV)

Wisdom…Knowledge…Faith…Healing…Miracles…Prophecy…Distinguishing Spirits…Tongues…Interpretation of Tongues…

Ephesians 4: 11 – 13

11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,

12 to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

(NIV)

Apostles…Prophets…Evangelists…Pastor-Teachers…

There is only one gift that appears in all three lists: prophecy. This leads me to believe that there is no such thing as a complete list of spiritual gifts…All three lists contain examples of spiritual gifts. Your gift might not be listed here. But, God has given you a gift.

How can we know what is a spiritual gift and what is not?…Easy… Spiritual gifts have two things in common…

1. Given to all Christians… It is something you are ABLE to do and something you are PASSIONATE about doing. Think about the singers who go on the first few episodes of American Idol. Many of these singers are PASSIONATE about singing, but they are horrible singers. They don’t have the gift of music / singing. The same thing is true about spiritual gifts. If you are PASSIONATE about something, but no one thinks you are very good at it, then that is not your gift

2. To Be Used in the Church (Body of Christ)…

This makes God’s gifts different from the gifts that we give each other. When God gives a gift, he expects you to re-gift it. God wants you to give your gifts back to him by using them in the church—the Body of Christ.

There is a difference between a GIFT and a POSSESSION…The spiritual gifts that God has given us are not ours to possess…They are ours to give back to God and his church…

This corporate side of the Christian life means that God wants us to go to church. But, going to church is not enough. God doesn’t want you to sit here and occupy space on Sundays and Wednesdays. God wants you to use your gifts in the Ministry of the Body of Christ. Let God transform your Spiritual Body, then use your Body to benefit others in the Body of Christ…

There are two sides to the Christian life…Discipleship and Ministry…We are all called to be Disciples of Christ and Ministers in the Church…

Conclusion.

Max DePree is the former CEO of the Herman Miller Company—an innovative furniture company that produces high tech furnishings for home, business and health care providers. DePree’s father (D.J. DePree) was the founder of Herman Miller in the 1920’s.

When the company first began, the factory operated just like all other furniture factories did in the 1920’s. Electricity was not as common as it is today, so the factories relied on a system of wheels and pulleys that were operated by a central drive shaft. This drive shaft was run by a steam engine that got its steam from a boiler in the basement of the factory. They discovered early on that they could operate the boiler by burning the sawdust and waste materials from the factory floor. It was a wonderful cycle of interdependence—each area of the factory made an important contribution and each area depended on the others. It was very close to the image of “The Body” that the Apostle Paul used to describe the church.

In this cycle, there was one man who worked behind the scenes watching over every little detail—the Millwright. The Millwright was a very important person. Even though few people ever saw the Millwright or even knew his name, he was an integral part of the cycle because he was the only one who actually understood how the wheels and pulleys and drive shaft and boiler all worked together.

One day, the Millwright died.

D.J. DePree recognized what a tremendous loss this was to the company and knew that he should do something for the Millwright’s family, but wasn’t sure what to do. He decided to visit the Millwright’s family in their home and express his concern for them in their loss. He went to the home and was invited to join the family in the living room.

After several minutes of awkward silence and difficult conversation, the Millwright’s wife asked Mr. DePree if it would be all right for her to read some poetry. He agreed and the woman went into another room and returned with a bound book of poetry. She read several selections of beautiful words. When she finished, Mr. DePree asked who had written the beautiful poetry. She replied that it was her husband…the Millwright.

Mr. DePree was changed that day. He left that house with a nagging question about the Millwright…Was he a poet who did millwright work, or was he a Millwright who wrote poetry? Nobody knew.

Nobody knew, because nobody asked…And the Millwright kept it a secret…

I think we have the same thing happening in our church right now. There are some of you who have gifts that you have managed to keep secret for one, two, five, ten, twenty or more years.

I believe Paul’s words are very simple to us today…If God has given you a gift, you need to use that gift in the church…If God has given you a gift that you refuse to offer to the church, then you cannot hold onto what God has given you…Perhaps we can say the same thing about spiritual gifts that fitness experts say about our muscles…“Use it or Lose it”…

If you keep your spiritual gift hidden from the church, then you are guilty of sin…You have failed to contribute to the overall health and growth of the Body of Christ…

Growing in Christ

Romans 6: 15 – 23.

Introduction.

Tomorrow is the first day of school. I think many of you will have a hard time believing this…JoEllen will start the first grade tomorrow!

Do you remember what JoEllen looked like when we first moved to Lufkin? She was a baby in our arms.

In our first few months in Lufkin, Shauna and I led the chapel service at PineCrest. After chapel, we ate lunch with our church members in the dining room. JoEllen didn’t make it through lunch. She was fussy and wanted to take a nap. It was hard for Shauna to visit with everyone. So, Gaston Meadows took JoEllen back to their apartment. A few minutes later, Shauna had Jackie Meadows take her to the apartment to check on Gaston and JoEllen. They walked in the door and discovered Gaston stretched out in his recliner, with JoEllen asleep on his shoulder. … And now, that baby is going into the first grade!

Sometimes I wish my children would stay small forever. I don’t like letting them go. But, I don’t think it would be right for them to stay small forever. I want them to grow and to become the men and woman God wants them to become. Perhaps you can relate to similar feelings.

The truth is…It would be absurd for children to remain children forever. They are supposed to grow up.

In the same way…It would be absurd for Christians to remain immature forever. Christians are supposed to grow up.

I became a Christian when I was nine years old. I had heard the story of Jesus all my life. But, as a nine year old in Vacation Bible School, I realized I had to accept God’s Grace. I met with the pastor in his office one afternoon and was baptized a short time after that.

I suppose I am a slow learner. Because it took me nine years to start wondering what I am supposed to do next. When I was eighteen years old, I started feeling like there was something else. Sure, I’m a Christian…But what do I do now?

It was when I realized that I was not supposed to remain a baby Christian or an immature Christian forever. God wanted me to grow and to mature into the fullness of what it means to be God’s child.

It is unthinkable for a person to remain a baby or nine year old for the rest of their lives. But I think there are some Christians who do just that. There are 30, 40, 50 and 60 year olds who are still nine years old spiritually. Our problem is the way we think of salvation. We have a very narrow view of salvation as a “one time event” that happens the moment that we express faith in Jesus as Lord. We seem to overlook the fact that the Bible tells us our salvation is more than this. Salvation does happen as a “one time event,” but it also has an ongoing effect as well as a future result.

Consider the following statements: I have been saved. I am being saved. I will be saved. All three of these statements are true statements for anyone who has become a Christian.

I have been saved. For me there was a time, when I first trusted Christ as Lord as a nine year old boy.

I am being saved. God is not through working on me. I am not perfect. I still have things I have to deal with, so God is constantly and continually forming me to become more like Jesus.

I will be saved. There is coming a day, when I will die or Jesus will return. At this point in the future, I will enter into heaven and realize the result, or fulfillment, of what happened to me when I was saved as a nine year old.

Read Romans 6: 15 – 23

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

16 Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey-- whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.

18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

19 I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.

20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.

21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!

22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(NIV)

I Have Been Saved.

If we are going to talk about salvation this morning, then we need to begin by describing why salvation is even necessary. In other words, in order to be saved, we must be saved from something.

While the Greek word for “saved” does not appear in our Scripture reading this morning, the concept is there. Instead, Paul uses a term that we translate “set free.” In this passage, Paul draws a mental image of a slave who has been purchased out of slavery to live as a free person. The technical term for this type of slave transaction is “Redemption.”

The New Testament uses a wide range of words and images to describe what we commonly call “salvation.” “Redemption” is only one image. At one time, we were slaves to sin. Then, God redeemed us through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

The image for salvation that I grew up hearing more about is the term “born again” from the Gospel of John. The technical term is “Regeneration.” The image of being “born again” or regenerated is that when we are saved we begin living a new life.

Other places in the New Testament describe salvation as “Reconciliation.” The image is of two people in a broken relationship who have been restored and are back together again.

Another common image is of “Justification.” Justification is something that happens in a court room when the judge declares the accused person “not guilty.”

Then there is also the image of “Victory.” All human beings have a common enemy known as death. But through the death and resurrection of Jesus, we have victory over death.

There are some people who choose one description of salvation and ignore all the others. However, all of these show up in the Bible and provide a limited view of what it means to be saved. The reason why these descriptions are limited is that each one focuses on one aspect of our human predicament. For example, if we describe our predicament as guilt, then we need God to declare us “not guilty,” to Justify. If we describe our problem as slavery, then we need to be “purchased,” or Redeemed. If the problem is a broken relationship with God, then we need to be Reconciled. And if the problem is death, then we need Victory over death.

Each of these images contains a portion of what it means to be saved. They do not happen in stages. No. Each of these will be accomplished once and for all at the moment we place our faith in Jesus.

I want to emphasize two things at this point. First, we cannot save ourselves. We must place our faith in Jesus to save us. There is no New Testament teaching that salvation is something we can achieve or earn based on our own worthiness. It only happens through faith in Jesus.

Second, I want to emphasize that we must be saved from “something.” This is where I always begin when I am talking with someone about becoming a Christian. I started this over ten years ago after reading an article in the Baptist Standard. The article was a discussion about when a child is ready to become a Christian and to be baptized. One expert quoted in the article was a child psychologist. She said that there is no age restriction for salvation and baptism. Instead, we must determine if a child understands the concept of sin. If you do not know what sin is, you cannot be saved. If you know what sin is, but think that you are not guilty of sin, then you cannot be saved.

In order to be saved, we must understand the predicament we are in. We must acknowledge that we cannot solve our sin problem on our own abilities. We must place our faith in Jesus.

I Am Being Saved.

The second aspect of salvation can be described in the present tense: “I am being saved.” At this point, we are not speaking of salvation as a one time event in the past. We now speak of salvation as a present reality, or a process, which takes place in the present time. It is ongoing, and it is never finished. The theological term for salvation in the present tense is “Sanctification.”

Paul uses the term “Sanctification” in verse 22, but it is translated differently in the NIV. The NIV uses the English word “holiness.” This is a fine interpretation of Paul’s words here, because Sanctification and holiness mean the same thing. The English word Sanctification comes to us from the Latin word for Holiness. A literal understanding of Sanctification would be “the process of becoming holy.”

Once again, let me stress that salvation is not something you can do for yourselves. As human beings, you and I are wholly incapable of saving ourselves, and this includes the process of Sanctification. We cannot make ourselves holy, as Jesus is holy. But God can. And God will. This is what God wants to do in each of our lives.

If your testimony is like mine—I became a Christian when I was nine years old—then God does not want you to remain a nine year old for the rest of your life. God wants you to grow…Grow in your understanding of God…Grow in holiness…And grow in the amount of control you hand over to God on a daily basis.

When Paul used the term Sanctification, or holiness, in verse 22, he described it as the result, or fruit, of something else: “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit (result, fruit) you reap leads to holiness…”

I cannot tell you what specific plans God might have for the rest of your life. But I can tell you one thing…It is God’s will to Sanctify you and make you Holy as Jesus is Holy. You cannot make yourselves holy, but you can prevent God from doing the work he plans for you.

The process of Sanctification begins in us at the moment we place our faith in Jesus. At the moment of faith, God places his Holy Spirit in us. God is one. God is inseparable. We do not receive God in stages. At the moment of faith, we receive Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And at that moment, the Holy Spirit begins his work in us gradually, continually making us Holy as Jesus is Holy.

This process of Sanctification is a daily struggle. Since we are human beings, who are prone to sin, we often find ourselves at odds with what the Holy Spirit is trying to accomplish. Since we live in a fallen world, which is filled with temptation and sin, we often find ourselves struggling with the day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute decisions. Will I choose to follow my selfish and sinful desires? Or will I surrender myself to the work of the Holy Spirit within me?

The reason for our struggle is our divided allegiance. Once again, Paul uses the imagery of slavery…verse 22… “Slaves to God.” When we were slaves to sin, sin controlled everything we did. Now that we are slaves to God, God should control all we do.

I cannot save myself or make myself holy, but I can prevent the Holy Spirit from growing me into a mature adult Christian, rather than a nine year old Christian in an adult body.

I Will Be Saved.

The third aspect of salvation can be described by using the future tense: “I will be saved.” This is the part of salvation which will not be fully realized until we are with God in Heaven. The technical term for this is “Glorification.”

Again, verse 22 describes all three aspects of salvation: “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness and the result is eternal life.”

There is coming a day when life as we now know it will end. Every human being will die, or will be living when Jesus returns to bring this world to an end. When the world comes to an end, there are two options for us. One, there is eternal death in Hell—forever separated from God. Two, there is eternal life in Heaven—forever living in the presence of God.

When I say that this world is coming to an end, please don’t think I have given up hope. NO! The Christian life is a life based on hope. When Jesus rose from the grave, he gave us the hope that we too can live forever. One day all Christians will be with Jesus in Heaven. Until that day, we are not to neglect or ignore the world we live in.

Conclusion.

A couple of years ago, I met with a family from our church to talk with the son about baptism. The parents had shared with him how he could be saved, and he had placed his faith in Jesus. At the end of our conversation, the parents asked me if he was ready to be baptized. Now, this is a very serious question. Like I said earlier, I always make sure children understand sin and why it is necessary to be saved. I do not want to pressure a child into baptism before he or she truly understands what they are doing.

I looked at the boy and asked him a question: “How old are you?” He said, “Ten.” I asked, “How much are you supposed to understand as a ten year old?” He said, “A little bit.” I asked, “How much are you supposed to understand when you are 15?” He said, “A little bit more.” I asked, “How much are you supposed to understand when you are 40?” He said, “A little bit more.”

That is exactly right. It would be absurd for a Christian to stop growing and remain a ten year old for the rest of their life. God wants you to grow...grow in your understanding of God...grow in the way you depend on God day by day...and grow in the way you trust God to lead you in every decision you make.

Great Expectation

Matthew 22: 34 – 40 and Matthew 28: 16 – 20.

Introduction.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been re-reading a couple of books—Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t (Jim Collins, New York: Harper Collins, 2001) and Breakout Churches: Discover How to Make the Leap (Thom S. Rainer, Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005).

Good to Great is a business book about eleven companies that made a transition from being good companies to becoming great companies. Breakout Churches is based on the research of Good to Great but tells the stories of thirteen churches that made the same transition from Good to Great.

Both books make similar points about the differences between Good and Great. As long as we are satisfied with being good enough, we will never make the changes necessary to become great. If we are happy with good governments, we will never have great government. If we are happy with good schools, we will never have great schools. If we are happy with good marriages, we will never have great marriages. As long as we are happy with good churches, we will never have great churches.

While re-reading these two books, I also discovered a good quote. (I used this quote last Sunday night in our Town Hall Meeting, so some of you have already heard me say this.) “If you want to be happy, lower your expectations. If you want to be great, raise your expectations.”

In many ways, I think this quote describes an important choice we need to make as a church. On one hand, we could make it our priority as a church to be a happy church. If so, we should take a good look around at the way we are doing church—attendance, budget, preaching, worship, work performed by our staff, etc… The simplest way to become a happy church is to adjust our expectations to what we experience week in and week out. Then, a year from now, we can lower our expectations when our experiences begin to change. On the other hand, if we want to become a great church, we need to set our expectations a little higher than what we are experiencing right now. We need to expect our members to attend more regularly, expect our members to give more money to the church budget, expect our preaching and worship to be the very best in Angelina County, expect our staff to be the highest functioning church staff in Angelina County, etc…

Since the church does not make up its mind based on what the pastor tells you to do, that means you have to make a decision. Are you willing and ready to raise your expectations for our church to become great? Or, do you want to adjust your expectations and be satisfied with a good church?

Before you answer that question…Let’s take a look at two places in the Gospel of Matthew, where Jesus describes his expectations for us. Interestingly, Jesus’ expectations for us are Great Expectations. We even use the word “Great” to describe these two passages: the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.

The Great Commandment—Matthew 22: 34 – 40.

34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.

35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:

36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'

38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'

40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

(NIV)

Something about this story is difficult for us to understand. We would never try to rank the commandments in the Bible. So, we assume that other people would not rank the commandments either. However, that has not always been the case. In the ancient world, Jewish scholars often did rank the commandments. One teacher emphasized the moral aspect of the Old Testament Law. Another teacher emphasized the parts of the Law related to the physical Temple. There was great disagreement among the Jewish scholars.

This is why the Pharisees wanted Jesus to answer this question. It was their way of leading Jesus into a trap, or at least an impossible situation. No matter how Jesus answered this question, he faced the risk of making someone mad.

However, Jesus didn’t fall into their trap. He answered their question by summarizing the entire Old Testament Law into two commandments—Love God and love your neighbor as yourself.

We need to interpret Jesus’ commandments in light of the biblical understanding of Love. In a biblical sense, Love is not a feeling. Love is an action.

Jesus helps us to understand this by his words to his disciples in John 15: 13, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

In other words, Jesus gave us a radical re-interpretation of Love in the way he demonstrated his love for us. Jesus did not feel warm affection toward you and me. Jesus sacrificed his own desires and lay down his life for us. Jesus lay down his life in order to meet our needs—the needs we could not meet on our own.

In a biblical understanding, this is what it means to Love. Love is meeting needs. Therefore, Jesus summarized the entire Law by telling us to Love God and to meet the needs of the world around us.

If we think of Jesus as our example, it is not very difficult to figure out how we can Love others and meet their needs. Jesus fed the hungry. Jesus healed the sick. Jesus cast out demons. Jesus gave life and dignity to all people—men, women and children—and all races—Jew and Gentile.

The Great Commission—Matthew 28: 16 – 20.

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.

17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.""

(NIV)

This passage took place after the resurrection. After dying on the cross and rising again on the third day, Jesus spent forty days with his disciples. He reminded them of everything he had taught them and everything he had done to meet the needs of other people. Then, Jesus gathered the remaining eleven disciples on top of a mountain to give them his final instructions. According to the Gospel of Matthew, these were Jesus’ last words to his disciples before he ascended into Heaven.

The Great Commission contains only one commandment from Jesus: Make Disciples. But, Jesus did give his disciples three illustrations of how they are expected to Make Disciples—Going, Baptizing and Teaching.

The Greek word for “disciple” is a word that can also be translated “student,” “learner,” or “apprentice.” The Greek verb “make disciples” means to change people from non-students into students, from non-learners into learners, from non-apprentices into apprentices. This is what Jesus expects us to do as well.

One aspect of making disciples involves evangelism. We need to witness to people who don’t know who Jesus is. We need to share the Good News about salvation. Sometimes we share the Good News with people, and they immediately make a decision to become a disciple of Jesus. Most of the time, we share the Good News so that people can take the next step in their journey of faith—move from atheist to agnostic, from agnostic to seeker, from seeker to disciple.

Another aspect of making disciples involves teaching. I have been a Christian for 30 years. (Wow. That makes me feel old.) Some of you have been Christians longer than that or shorter than that. But, there is one thing we ought to have in common. We are not supposed to remain the same. We are growing in our faith and in our understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. This growth takes place by learning and applying the teachings and example of Jesus. The goal of making disciples is to help people to continue to take the next step in their journey of faith. Just as atheists become agnostics, agnostics become seekers, and seekers become new disciples, new disciples must take the next steps to become growing and maturing disciples.

The third aspect of making disciples involves going. We cannot make disciples by staying inside the church. We have to make an intentional effort to meet and develop relationships with people who are atheists, agnostics and seekers. If we do not reach out to people who are far from God, there will not be a next generation of Christians. There will not be a next generation for our church.

The Great Expectations

When we read the Great Commandment and the Great Commission together, it seems obvious that Jesus has set Great Expectations for us. In fact, Jesus does not give us one Great Expectation. He has given us two Great Expectations. Jesus expects us to Love Others and to Make Disciples. We don’t get to choose one or the other.

There are some Christians who choose to follow only one of Jesus’ expectations. They may not admit it with their words or their theology. But, they don’t have to admit it. Their actions speak louder than words.

I know some Christians (and even some churches) who do an excellent job of feeding the hungry and ministering to the needs of the poor. But, they never speak the Good News of salvation.

I know other Christians (and other churches) who spend all of their financial resources and human resources on evangelism. But, the hungry go unfed and the poor go overlooked.

Both of these groups think they are meeting Jesus’ expectations. The problem is that both groups are only half-right. They met one of Jesus’ expectations and neglected the other.

If we want to become Great Christians individually and a Great Church collectively, we need to meet Jesus’ expectations. We don’t get to choose our own expectations for ourselves or even for our church. We don’t even get to edit Jesus’ expectations and choose which one we will meet and which one we will neglect.

High Expectations

“If you want to be happy, lower your expectations. If you want to be great, raise your expectations.”

If we acknowledge that Jesus has set the expectations for us as Christians and for us as a church, then it seems to me that “lowering our expectations” is not an option. Since Jesus set the expectations for our church, he expects us to be a Great Church. He doesn’t expect us to be a happy church!

Higher expectations bring an increase in pressure and stress. The school district of Atlanta, Georgia discovered this the hard way. The school district placed expectations on their teachers to raise the test scores for every grade and every classroom. When the teachers were not able to meet the expectations, they began to cheat. They lied about the progress their students were making. They changed the grades in the grade books. Some teachers even changed the answers on standardized tests before those tests were graded.

Let’s not be so quick to judge the teachers in Atlanta. Churches cheat, too.

Jesus expects us to Love Others and to Make Disciples. Some churches cheat by saying these are really one and the same.

Some churches believe the best way to Love Others is to preach the Gospel. So, they convince themselves that they are faithful by preaching and not serving others. This is cheating.

Some churches believe the best way to Make Disciples is by feeding the hungry and doing mission projects. They never preach the Gospel, but they don’t think they have to. People will see the joy in their hearts as they minister to others, and these people will begin to follow Jesus. This is cheating.

Some churches believe the best way to Love Others and to Make Disciples is to hire a staff of professionals. After all, the pastor and the other ministers are employed by the church to do the work of the church. As long as the staff is meeting Jesus’ expectations, the rest of the church is off the hook. This is cheating.

Conclusion.

I read something in Breakout Churches that really bothers me. According to Thom Rainer and his research team, the churches that made the transition from good to great had a “conversion ratio” of 20:1. That ratio means that it takes 20 church members one year to make one conversion. Stated a little differently, these churches baptized one person for every 20 people on the church membership roll.

How do you think we are doing as a church? Does our church measure up to this 20:1 ratio? Does your Sunday School class or department measure up?

How long has it been since your Sunday School class or department welcomed a new Christian? Did it happen in 2011 or 2010? Has it happened in the last 20 years?

How’s Your Breath?

Genesis 2: 4 – 7; John 20: 19 – 23; Psalm 150: 6

Introduction

When we were living in Waco, our church hosted an old-fashioned, area-wide evangelistic crusade. I was the College Minister, but the Pastor assigned me to be in charge of organizing and hosting the revival. He contacted the evangelist Jay Strack, set the date, and handed everything off to me.

That was my first time to be involved in a Revival with such a big name evangelist. Of course, I had virtually no contact with Jay Strack. I worked with his representatives. But throughout the process of planning that Revival, I was impressed by the way they did things. They did everything right.

They had everything you would ever have to worry about listed in one handy-dandy checklist. All I had to do is follow the list and get each item accomplished by the suggested date.

There were two things in particular that impressed me. First, I was impressed by the way they handled their money. Since evangelists have such a bad reputation for the ways they handle money, they took extra precautions to guarantee that nothing unethical would happen.

Second, I was impressed by their attention to details. A perfect example was the material they sent me about what to do when somebody made a decision in the Revival. They sent me a training manual and asked me to lead sessions with every person who wanted to be a counselor, so they would know what they were doing.

That counseling manual taught us that every counselor should follow the three B’s of counseling. First, everyone needs to wear a Badge—that makes you look official and shows the person making a decision that we have put a lot of thought and preparation into this counseling. Second, everyone needs to bring his or her own Bible—that makes you look prepared and shows that everything we say in counseling will come from God’s Word. Third, everyone needs a Breath Mint!

When you are sitting knee to knee with a person who is ready to make a Profession of Faith, the last thing you want is for your halitosis to stand in the way of God’s Holy Spirit.

Did you know that breath is an important concept in Scripture? I am not talking about Bad Breath. I am talking about normal, everyday, ordinary breath. We read about breath throughout the Bible, in the Old Testament, New Testament and even in the Psalms.

I am not going to attempt to read every Bible verse about Breath, because it would take too long. But I do want you to read three Scriptures with me… Genesis 2: 4 – 7…John 20: 19 – 23…Psalm 150: 6…

Genesis 2: 4 – 7

4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens--

5 and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground,

6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground--

7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

(NIV)

Breath as Life.

In the beginning, God created everything in the heavens above, the earth below and the things beneath the earth. Genesis is very clear to us that it was not difficult for God to create. All God had to do was to Speak…And at the sound of God’s voice, everything that was made came into existence. God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light. God said, “Let there be waters to separate the dry land.” And there was water.

But then we come to the Sixth day of creation. And things were different on the Sixth day. This was the final day of creation. This was the day that every other day was building toward. This was the day when God’s final creation and ultimate purpose was revealed. This was the day when God created the very first man and woman.

I want you to notice that when God created Adam and Eve, God did not simply speak and human beings were created. No! God was much more personally involved in creating Adam and Eve.

When God created things and stuff, God spoke… “Let there be light.” But when God created people, God touched and fashioned and sculpted and built. In fact, the Sixth Day was the first day of creation, the first day of all history when God got his hands dirty.

This leads me to ask a question…What will you get your hands dirty for? There are a lot of people who get their hands dirty as part of their daily work. But for most of them, their work is something they love. This is one of the interesting things about becoming a parent. Girls who would never get dirty suddenly become mothers who have to touch some of the most disgusting things they ever imagined. Why? It is because they love that little baby.

And God loved us so much that he could not remain distant and far away. He could not simply summon human life into being. No! God stooped to the earth and got his hands dirty to make a man and a woman.

Yet even after God had invested himself so heavily to lovingly fashion Adam from the dust of the ground, Adam was not a living being until God did one more thing. We read in Genesis 2: 7 that Adam was not alive until God breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life. This is the very breath of God.

Again, this is different from what happened on the Fifth Day. On the Fifth Day, God said, “Let there be dog.” And there was dog. “Let there be hippopotamus.” And there was hippopotamus. “Let there be porcupine.” And there was porcupine.

In the animal kingdom, life comes as a direct result of the spoken word and spoken will of God. God willed it, and animals had life. In the human world, life comes as a direct result of the breath of God.

Human life comes from the breath of God. Human life is different. Human life is sacred and should be treated differently than animal life. God breathed life into all human beings, and it is never our place to take away that God-given life.

Breath is an important concept in the Old Testament, because the Hebrew mind associated Breath with Life. Life is found in the Breath…And both Breath and Life come from God.

We also read about Breath in the New Testament. In fact, there is a strange story about Breath found in the story of the Resurrection of Jesus. When Jesus appeared to the disciples for the very first time, guess what he did…Jesus Breathed on them.

John 20: 19 – 23

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"

20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

21 Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."

22 And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.

23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

(NIV)

Breath as Spirit

At first glance, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense that Jesus would breathe on his disciples. But it all makes sense if we would just understand the significance of the words that Jesus spoke after he breathed on them. We read in verse 22 that after Jesus breathed on the disciples he said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

There is an interesting thing that happens in both Greek and Hebrew. Greek is the language of the New Testament, and Hebrew is the language of the Old Testament. In both of these biblical languages, the word for Breath is the same as the word for Spirit.

In Hebrew, it is the word ruach. In Genesis 1: 2, we read that the ruach of God (Spirit of God) was hovering over the face of the waters. Then, in Genesis 2: 7, we read that God breathed the ruach of life (Breath of Life) into Adam’s nostrils.

In Greek, it is the word pneuma. We can see some parallels in English. For example the English word “pneumatic,” which is an adjective describing tools or tires that are operated by air, and the English word “pneumonia,” which is an infection in the lungs. We read the words of Jesus in John 3, the pneuma (wind / breath) blows wherever it wills and so it is with the pneuma (Spirit) of God.

I believe there is a connection between the two biblical stories we have just read this morning. First, we read the story of the Sixth Day of creation, when God breathed life into Adam’s nostrils for the very first time. Then, we read the story of Jesus who rose from the dead on the third day and when he saw his disciples for the very first time, he immediately breathed the Holy Spirit into their lives.

I believe the connection is very simple. When Jesus rose from the grave on the very first Easter, God gave us a brand new life! Through faith in the Risen Lord Jesus, we can be re-created into a new creation with a new life.

Just as human life began when God breathed into Adam, Christian life begins for you and me when the Risen Lord Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit into us.

Christian life is not like ordinary human life. Christian life is the only life worth living. It is Abundant Life, that through the presence of Jesus in our lives we can handle the stress, the pain, the struggles and the hard times of life. It is Eternal Life, that through faith in Jesus Christ as Lord we have the promise of life that goes beyond the grave—Eternal Life with Christ in heaven.

When you and I accept Jesus as our Savior and place our faith in Jesus to be the Lord of our lives, we are supposed to live a different kind of life. What is this life supposed to look like?

Psalm 150: 6…Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.

Conclusion: Breath as Praise

Remember, Breath is a very important concept in the Bible.

To have Breath is to have Life. This means very simply…If you have Breath, then you are alive. And if you are alive, then it is your purpose in life to Praise the LORD. Human beings were created to Praise the LORD.

To have the Holy Spirit is to have the Breath of God. And if God gave us Breath, then we should give our Breath to God in Praise.