Are We Equipped To Serve?
Good Morning Friends,
Every week my family and I haul down to the street curb about a quarter ton of yard waste from our property and our neighbors. Doing the physical labor connects me to the experience of those who do not have a choice in laboring in this way and is our way of helping our neighbor. Of course our very existence is tied to the well-being of our neighbor. And as the world gets smaller our neighbors are becoming just about everybody on the planet. It is our human mission as people of faith. But, Are We Equipped To Serve?
Scripture: If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:1-11 (NRSV)
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’
Matthew 16:19 (NRSV)
Message: What is it that makes us human? Is it that we love, that we fight? That we laugh? Cry? Is it our curiosity? The quest for discovery? Filmmaker and artist Yann Arthus-Bertrand spent three years collecting real-life stories from 2,000 women and men in 60 countries to get answers these questions. Yann captures deeply personal and emotional accounts of people’s struggles with poverty, war, sex, and the future of our planet mixed with moments of love and happiness. The documentary is called Humans. If you watch it as I did yesterday, I think you will be both disturbed and comforted. Though its honesty, courage and kindness the people in it engage us and in a way then ask us to walk in their shoes for a while and well…the walk is a bit painful because we want to be who we are not someone else. In a way it is a quite indictment of political systems including the church. Quiet because there is no commentary only people talking about the worst things that have happened in their lives and what they learned from it. You see tears but sometimes a smile and beautiful words. And here friends it is good to remember that God gave all of us a purpose and His church a purpose as well. Unfortunately the world looks at the church as having no direction and sometimes, frankly, if we are trying to control it, their perception is understandable. We come to Church and say hello and goodbye…we say forgive me for I have sinned…get a quick blessing and maybe a message that we can remember for about 20 minutes and then head out the door where the real church exists. I do not know what this building church is but I am pretty sure that this is not all Jesus had in mind. I want to respond to the needs but all I can do is pray. I do not feel equipped to change the world. The problem is that we do not know what our driving force is supposed to be. Our lives are cluttered with the world… excited about football, building things, buying things, cars, money, sex, food, and family. None of these are bad, but they are not the main reason we are here. Do you know what it is? Do you know how they relate…you and the church Jesus had in mind? Friends, God gave us the church with a purpose in mind and although the purpose is still there, I think we have lost our minds…or at least the one Christ intends us to have when it comes to being the called out assembly. The reason that the church seems so out of touch with the rest of our lives is that we have the wrong priorities in our daily lives and therefore miss out on the joy of life. We major in the minors. When Jesus told Peter that, “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven,” that sounds like Jesus was starting something extra special…huge… and he was. The Church is to be the really, really big show with Jesus leading the action. The problem is that we make it transactional instead of relational. We forget that much of what we do does not necessarily build up the body. Friends, it is a natural thing to sin. It is human. However as disciples, the intense focus, the conscious effort is to do what Jesus told us to do and though that initially feels very unnatural, it also can also become very joyous. Friends, the personal drives the professional, we are to put God and people first. It is the way of Jesus…. equipped for unity and with diversity to act on opportunity for God’s glory. Yes this is the Jesus way and it is not done alone.
Pray we actively worship as we learn to love God with all our heart and mind and soul. Pray in ministry we learn to meet the real needs of others…physical, mental, emotional and spiritual as we learn to love our neighbors as ourselves. Pray we understand the interaction between the larger community, the crowds that come to events, and the congregation of those who meet each week providing support for our places of worship. Pray we as disciples…. the core of believers, are committed to the intimate ministry of the church in community. Pray we fit into the purpose of the church through our purpose. Pray we do more than just follow. Pray we learn to apply the teachings of Jesus, the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the love of the Father in our lives so that we might glorify God in changing the world. Pray we immerse ourselves daily to build up and equip the fellowship. Pray we be in awe of Jesus but get to know him in and through the lives of others. Pray we have the courage to meet Jesus, the extraordinary in the ordinary. Pray we realize that we can selfishly reject Jesus or humbly receive him in our daily walk. Pray we realize that what we do in the lives of others is reflected in the life of Jesus in heaven. Pray we realize that what we choose to do today makes a difference. Pray that when the human condition seems hopeless we have mercy. Pray we realize that our scars will heal but that we must carry them with us forever.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 