"Serve Each Other" Sermon: I Peter 4:10-11 (manuscript)

 

“Serve Each Other”

[I Peter 4:10-11]

November 8, 2020 YouTube

            On the second Sunday of November, it has been our tradition to talk about stewardship, and many of you are now tuning out because you don’t want to hear another sermon about giving money to the Church.  And while stewardship does include our finances, that is not the main focus of our text.

            Peter is writing to Christians who are being severely persecuted under the rule of Emperor Nero – perhaps the most vicious of the Roman emperors.  And, in this morning’s text, Peter focuses in on the idea that we are to serve each other.

            And we see:

            We are good stewards when we serve each other.

“As each has received a gift,”

Everyone has received a gift – more than one gift – but one is likely the primary gift.

What are we talking about?

Paul writes:

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills” (I Corinthians 12:4-11, ESV).

All Christians are given gifts – and one dominant gift – by God, the Holy Spirit – wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, distinguishing, tongues, interpretation, etc.  There is more than one list, and the lists are not comprehensive.  They only note a selection of the gifts that God the Holy Spirit gives to Christians. 

And we are told that each gift is given by the same One God and Spirit.  There aren’t a variety of spirits giving out the gifts, they do not come through birth, and the Trinity does not divide up to gifts to give.  God the Holy Spirit gives the gifts. 

And God the Holy Spirit enables and empowers each Christian to use their gift or gifts to the fullest.  If God the Holy Spirit gives you the gift of healing, He will also give you the power and the ability to heal people, and you – in obedience to God – will heal people.

If you have been given the gift of prophecy – that is, preaching – God the Holy Spirit will enable you and empower you to preach, and you will preach in obedience to God.

And we are, specifically, to use the gifts that God the Holy Spirit has given us and empowered us with to serve each other – especially those in the Church – for that makes us good stewards of the gifts that God has given us:

“use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:”

And, as we just saw in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, one of the reasons for the gifts that God the Holy Spirit gives to us is – “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”  And he is referring to the Church.  The gifts we have been given are not primarily for us – they are for the good of the Church.

If you have been given the gift of healing, you are to use that for the Church.  If you have been given the gift of preaching or teaching, you are to use that for the Church.  If you have been given the gift of hospitality, you are to use that for the Church.  If you have been given the gift of wealth, you are to use that for the Church.  Whatever gift you have been given, you are to use it first for the Church, then for others, then for yourself.

Our tendency is to think of ourselves first, then our family and friends, and then, maybe, other people – including those in the Church.  But that is the complete opposite of what the Scripture tells us.  So it takes seeing that it is the opposite of the way God wants us to be and then praying that God will empower us to steward the gifts He has given us well – rightly and wisely for Him and His Church.

So, how have you been gifted?  Are you using those gifts for your brothers and sisters in the Church?

Something else we need to understand – the job we have may not be the gift that we best use in the Church.  For example, you may be a well-respected architect, but you also love to maintain your property.  It may be that the giftedness you use for the Church and share with others is your ability to care for the property.  We need to pray and think through what we are gifted in and how best to share our gifts with the Church.

This is not socialism.  We are not commanded to give our gifts out equally among all people.  No, we are to wisely use what God has gifted us with and determine how God has gifted us for the good of the Church – and others.  The amount and frequency will depend on a number of factors which we must pray for wisdom about.

Our example is Christ – Who is a healer and teacher and preacher, and so on.  But the gift that He was given that He served the Church with is His body – in obedience and sacrifice.

Paul writes, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20, ESV).

We are good stewards when we serve each other.

Second, we are to serve each other so God will be glorified.

“whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—”

As we have noted, we are to serve each other in the Church – especially – in the ways that God has gifted and empowered us to serve each other.  And we do not do this out of our own strength, but by the power that God gives us so we will be able to serve each other well with the gifts we have been given.

Just as we see that the use of our gifts is for the Church before they are for ourselves, the use of our gifts is first and foremost for the glory of God.

“in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

To glorify God is to show Him to be Who He is and to show what He has done.

We have talked about the difference between microscopes and telescopes before:  microscopes take something that is exceedingly small and blows it up so it can be seen and understood.  A telescope takes something that is huge and brings it down to a level that we can begin to comprehend and understand.

Our glorifying God is done as we act as a telescope for others.  God is far greater than anyone can fully understand or comprehend.  Yet, we are called to glorify God – to make Him known to the world through ourselves and our witness to the world.

One way in which the Church better understands Who God is and what He has done through Jesus – and the world begins to understand Who God is and what He had to do to save a people for Himself – is through our serving each other with the gifts that God the Holy Spirit has given us.

As we serve each other with our gifts, God is glorified – we in the Church better understand Who God is and what He has done through Jesus through our actions towards each other.

As we share our wealth in the Church through our gifts and offerings and through helping individuals in the Church financially, we can see how God has given to us out of the great wealth He has.  As we preach the Word of God, we see that the Gospel is all of God.  When we counsel each other, we see that wisdom comes from God.  When we have excess food and share it, we see that God is the provider of all good things.  Our attitude is to be that God gave us “this and that” and the ability to share it, so we share it.  Not, I’m sharing with you, so you owe me one.

Sometimes it can be difficult for us to be thankful – for a number of reasons.  Maybe we think we are better than that – that we don’t need anyone to share with us.  Sometimes we are prideful and unwilling to accept what others give – when we are cold and are given the ugly sweater that fits us, or hungry and are unhappy that we didn’t receive the exact type of food we prefer, or we hear the pastor preach, and he says something biblical that we don’t want to have be true.

We need to pray that we will humbly and thankfully receive others serving us to the glory of God.  If we do not, we offend God first, and then the person trying to serve us.

So we see that through our serving each other by sharing the gifts that God has given us we glorify God – we show Him to be Who He is and reveal what He has done – as a witness to the Church and to the world.

We are to serve each other so God will be glorified.

So, our duty is to recognize the gifts that God the Holy Spirit has gifted us and be prepared – willingly and joyfully – to share the gifts with the Church – because that is one reason we were given the gifts we have.

Also, we are to serve each other with our gifts because in so doing we reveal Who God is and what He has done in sending Jesus to be our Savior.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, every good gift is from You, our Father.  Help us to understand and be thankful for the gifts You have given us and help us to desire to serve each other with the gifts and to make You known as we serve each other.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.