"People Are Joining the Mission"

David Ruehr

Biblical Church • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

Ephesians 2:1–10

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People Are Joining the Mission

Scripture Lesson:

The New Revised Standard Version From Death to Life

You were dead through the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. 3 All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

Question to think about-test later: “What would it take for me to be more active in this church?”

Every once in a while, someone will hold up a mirror to help me see the truth about myself. One such time was when I took Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. We were talking about how the way we handle our money is a spiritual discipline. The facilitator said: “You want to know what your real priorities are? Look at your checkbook.” Have you ever done that before? Make sure you’re sitting down when you do. When’s the last time you took stock of your priorities? They say there are two types of priorities in life: (1) the ones we think or say are important to us; and (2) the priorities based on what we actually do. These are our real priorities. As you guessed, the second type is the only one that really matters. But I have to be honest with you and admit: sometimes I’ve felt like I didn’t really have either type. All I felt was overwhelmed. Like when I used to work as a server in a Mexican restaurant. Every once in a while, the front of house manager wouldn’t schedule enough labor to cover the customers we had coming in. When that happened, I could easily be responsible for up to 35 customers all at once. It was hard to keep up with 6 to 8 appetizer orders, 30 drinks, and 30 entrees, all at once. When it really started to hit the fan, I would go into the kitchen, throw down my tray on the expediter’s counter, sweat dripping down into my eyes, and the kitchen manager would just look at me, smirk, and say: “You’re in the weeds, aren’t you?” There have been times I’ve been up to my eye balls in the weeds. I’ve asked God: what do I do now? I’ve looked in the mirror and I don’t like what I see; heck I can barely see that there is a mirror there. I don’t seem to be getting any traction with what I’ve been doing. I have these grand ideas of what I want to accomplish, but my actions don’t seem to line up with my priorities; or if they are in line, I don’t have the gumption to get it together and carry on. How, God, am I supposed to know if I am doing your will?

When we’re in the weeds, it can be hard to know if we really are carrying out God’s plan for our lives. How do we know if we are or not? Is it based on what we accomplish? Does God only help those who push through it? Does God help those who help themselves? I want to know how this salvation business works; don’t you? Does God save only those who do enough for Him and His church? What are God’s expectations of us as Disciples?

Prayer

This morning we continue our series “Biblical Church” in which we are considering the marks, or characteristics, of Biblical churches. It’s no secret what I think a biblical church is: it’s a church where the people make God’s Word the center of their lives. In , Jesus said to his disciples: “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” When I say we make God’s Word the center of our lives, I mean we read the bible for ourselves and do what it says. It would be even better to read the bible together with others in the church. But this pastor would be happy just to know that you are reading it. Last week, we read , remembering that we were all separated from God at some point in our lives. Then, someone who loved God and loved us, shared the truth of God’s love with us, and we became disciples of Jesus Christ. Thus we learned that the first mark, or characteristic, of a church where God’s word is THE priority: people are becoming Disciples.

Today, we are backing up to , to consider Paul’s teaching on the most important doctrine of our faith: that we are saved by faith alone through the immeasurable riches of God’s grace. Paul also teaches that this faith, this glorious gift of God, is confirmed when we do the good works God created us to do. We are, Paul writes, “What God made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” Paul is clear that there is no amount of good behavior that can guarantee our salvation- that is not the purpose of doing good. We aren’t going to ever earn enough gold stars or awards and trophies, to get a seat on the train to heaven. Jesus has already punched your ticket. You’re in the club. Your salvation is a free gift from God. You can’t earn it. You can’t buy it. You can’t go out in a field and dig it up. God loves you so much more than that. God loves you so much, as my old professor from Asbury Bob Mulholland used to say: He’s got your picture on His refrigerator. God isn’t in the business of using people. He is in the business of loving people. Even when you’re in the weeds, God loves you. Even when you stray away from God and let the influences of the world get the better of you, God loves you. Even when your priorities get out of whack, and you lose your focus, God loves you. God loves you. Period. That’s how powerful God’s love is. And there’s more, Paul teaches: God’s love has the power to restore us, to get us out of the weeds of busyness and misplaced priorities, of sinful desires, so that we can do the things God created us to do. In fact, Paul teaches that our faith is confirmed when we do the things God created us to do. Do you know what God created you to do? I’m happy to say it isn’t rocket science. But it is powerful stuff. I like the way God spoke His purpose for the creation of humankind through the prophet Micah:

The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. When I say we make God’s Word the center of our lives, I mean we read the bible for ourselves and do what it says. It would be even better to read the bible together with others in the church. But this pastor would be happy just to know that you are reading it. Last week, we read , remembering that we were all separated from God at some point in our lives. Then, someone who loved God and loved us, shared the truth of God’s love from God’s Word, and we became disciples of Jesus Christ. Thus we learned that the first mark, or characteristic, of a church where God’s word is THE priority, is that people are becoming Disciples. Today, we backed up to , to consider Paul’s teaching on the most important doctrine of our faith: we are saved by faith alone through the immeasurable riches of God’s grace. Paul also teaches that this faith, this glorious gift of God, is confirmed when we do the good works God created us to do. We are, Paul writes, “What God made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”

I also want to kno

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;

and what does the LORD require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?

Do justice: In all situations, we ought to deal fairly with people.

At St. Paul UMC, we are accountable to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God through our membership vows. It is the love of God, we believe, that empowers us to really fulfill these vows, to make these good works a priority. As members, we were asked:

As members of Christ's universal Church, will you be loyal to Christ through The United Methodist Church, and do all in your power to strengthen its ministries?

The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. (1989). (). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

As members of Christ's universal Church, will you be loyal to Christ through The United Methodist Church, and do all in your power to strengthen its ministries?

and we said:

I will.

We were also asked:

As members of this congregation, will you faithfully participate in its ministries by your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service and your witness?

And we said:

I will.

All of this, in a nutshell, reveals the central belief of our faith: that we are saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus. God’s salvation is not God saving us from ourselves, though that is one result. God’s salvation is salvation for a purpose: to restore in use the ability to do the good works God created us to do. God created us to do good works.

God saved us from our sin.

We needed restoration because sin prevented us from doing good works. We need restoration because we all have lived under the influence of evil in this world. This is why, in our membership vows, we are called to “renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness and accept the freedom God offers us in Christ Jesus.” This world is full of bad stuff. The events of recent days, over 30 people killed in mass shootings, so painfully reminds us of this truth.

Because of sin, we were under the influence of evil powers. But, because of God, we are saved by the richness of grace. And, because we are saved by grace, we are able to do what God created us to do: good works. So when I look out at you, I see a congregation of people created by God to do amazing things in this church and this community. And yet, so many of us resist doing the things God has asked of us. We haven’t given up the old life completely. We hang on to our time, our money, and our talents. We hold back from giving our whole selves to the church.

One thing I’ve heard people say is: “I can be a Christian without participating in organized religion.”

You know what freaks me out more than the chicanery that comes from “organized religion”? Disorganized religion. Religion that is driven by shifting beliefs and priorities. Organized religion, at its best, calls people back to God. The word religio means: “To bind oneself.” I like to think of religion as one of those ancient rowing ships. dozens, sometimes even hundreds of men, each holding the shaft of an oar, rowing together to a cadence, driving the ship forward through stormy waters. Jesus said to all who would listen: “Come to me all you who are weary and under a heavy burden, and I will give you rest. For my yolk is easy and my burden is light.” A yolk, for you non-agricultural types, is a piece of carved wood that sits across the necks of two oxen. The wood binds the two oxen together, so that they can carry out the work of tilling soil with ease. Some people say religion is about control. I say, religion is about living life together: supporting one another; Making the burden light through yoking ourselves together with Christ.

Another thing I’ve heard is, when it comes to our financial giving: “What I give to the church is between me and God.”

Is that really true? Conversation with Lutheran about this- “We don’t let the pastor see the giving records.” Ok, but someone does see it, right? Yes, in fact, the secretary as well as the entire finance committee was looking at it. I think the truth is: a desire to be secret in one’s giving is probably born from a sense of guilt that he or she is not giving to the Lord all that He or She could give.

But if you truly believe it is between you and God and none of the rest of us have any business knowing- then go ahead- give it straight to God. There’s just one thing. The way God chooses to receive your offering is through the church.

Now here’s the thing: I do believe that our giving is based on our relationship with God. The amount we give is the direct result of our level of trust in God to provide for us and our belief in the mission of the church which God created to be His presence in the world. It’s like one pastor said one Sunday morning as he held the offering plates up in the air above the altar: “No matter what we say, this is what we really think of you.”

I’ve also heard: “I’m too busy/too young/too old/too ignorant/too fill-in-the-blank to do that kind of ministry.”

This one is easy to: Take a minute and figure out whether you are still breathing or not. Ok? You ARE breathing? Then guess what: God isn’t done with you yet.

Also, remember the parable of the talents. Each one is given something. Some of us have more talent, ability, then the others. Ok, but that doesn’t mean we all haven’t been given something. Are you going to use what you have? Or, are you going to be the one who takes his talent and buries it in the sand. You know what Jesus said of the person who buries his talent in the sand? “Even what he has will be taken away.”

Or, my personal favorite: “I don’t pray in public.”

Have you ever tried it? I promise you- there is no one who is going to say: “Gee golly, she is no good at prayer, I wish she would just go pray in the parlor closet and leave us expert prayers to do the real work.” No, we love you too much to do that. Plus, you might just be robbing yourself of one of life’s greatest blessings- to take another person by the hand and pray for them.

Finally, and this one hits close to home: “I’m not extroverted enough to be an evangelist.”

You know what: I’m no extrovert either. Talk about the use of and management of energy. You must make a decision: are you going to settle for the relationships you currently have?

Explore this with the congregation. What would it take for me to be more active in the church?

Sometimes, our vision of what we think we ought to be (Spiritual Giants, crusading for Christ in the world) is too grandiose, too unrealistic. “We can’t be everything to everyone. But we can be something to someone.” Say that with me.

And you knew this last point was coming: It all comes down to priorities. You can say that your faith is a priority to you- if it is, how do you know?