Ministering

Good morning. Today we continue our series Church Unpacks. There was someone

that was just talking to me and they said, are we still in that series on church? And I said, yep.

We got three more weeks and then we're done with church.

So today we are continuing the series. We are now at part nine.

And this morning I'm going to start off by telling you that one thing that is

a struggle for preachers is we don't always know how often we ought to repeat something.

I remember I had a friend one time who told me about a particular church that,

he had attended, and he said that the pastor preaches the same 12 sermons on rotation all year long.

And I was like, there's no way that's true. And I realized there are people

who don't, like, they don't speak precisely. Sometimes we exaggerate when we talk.

And so I said, whoa, that's crazy. But like, for real, Like,

how often do you really think he repeats a sermon? And he said,

no, I'm telling you, there's 12 sermons.

And then he does them again in the same order and again in the same order.

And I was like, bro, that's not true.

Like, there's no, that church wouldn't exist anymore. There are no people that

will go to a church and hear the same thing five times a year,

every year for their whole lives. Like, that's not a thing. And he's like,

I swear to you, man, that's what it is. So I still don't believe him. That can't be.

But it was a reminder to me, like, that conversation was a reminder to me,

like, oh, I need to make sure that I'm not repetitive. People notice,

and so they don't like it, and so I was like, okay, I want to make sure I'm

not repetitive. However...

But sometimes someone will ask me a question that I just answered in a sermon recently.

And so it's like, well, I mean, at least it seems recent to me.

Like they will ask me a question that earlier this year, I did all a half hour

answering that question. And then they ask it like it's never been answered before.

So when that happens, I realize it is probably not that that person is dumb. Okay.

It is likely that they weren't here that Sunday, right?

I was here because I preached it, but that doesn't mean that they were here.

People get sick. People go out of town. No one goes to church 52 weeks a year, so I realize that.

Also, I have noticed, I think there are times where some people actually were

here, and the reason they don't

remember it is because it wasn't relevant to their life at that time.

They weren't going through the thing, and so they're like, whatever.

And then three months went by, and something happened in their life,

and now they're like, I need to know the answer to this question.

And it's like, but I just said that.

And so I think that happens sometimes. And so I have to repeat myself occasionally

to keep everybody up to speed and on the same page.

So with that said, there is something I want to say this morning that I taught 17 weeks ago.

And that feels very recent to me. That was just at the beginning of the summer.

Now, some of you were not here that day because you were on your summer vacation.

So this may sound very fresh to you.

Some of you were here that day and you just, you don't have a good memory,

so this will sound fresh to you, like all my sermons do.

But there are many of you in this room that I think you're going to go,

oh, Mario, I already know this. You say this all the time. So here's what I'm going to do.

I'm just going to say it, okay? I'm not going to spend a lot of time explaining

it. I'm just going to say it and move on, okay? You ready?

The topic of this morning's sermon is ministering.

This is not a sermon on what I do for a living, okay? Ministering,

this is a sermon about what Christians do.

And unfortunately, the American church has a history of calling people like

me ministers, and what I do, they call ministry.

But Ephesians chapter four, verses 11 and 12, I'm not gonna read it to you.

I read it to you 17 weeks ago, okay? But Ephesians chapter four,

verses 11 and 12 says that pastors and teachers actually exist to train regular

Christians for ministry.

So ministry is when a Christian uses what God has given him or her to serve

others and accomplish God's will in this world.

There, I said it, okay? Now, let me go ahead and read you our two scripture texts for this morning.

This morning, we're gonna learn from Romans chapter 12, verses four through

Romans 12 · chapter mention

eight, I think it is, and then 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verses 12 through 22.

These two passages are sort of parallel passages. Same topic comes up in two

different books of the Bible, but each one says something a little different.

So I'm going to read to you from Romans chapter 12. This is our first text for

Romans 12 · chapter mention

this morning. I'm going to start reading in verse 4.

And both of these passages are sort of familiar, so I'll explain them and then,

later on I might say things you never heard before. But here we go.

Romans 12, starting in verse 4. Now, as we have many parts in one body,

and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way,

we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts.

If prophecy, use it according to the standard of one's faith. If service, in service.

If teaching, in teaching. If exhorting, and exhortation, giving with generosity,

leading with diligence, showing mercy with cheerfulness.

So that's the first passage, and then let me go ahead and read you the parallel

passage now. This is 1 Corinthians chapter 12, starting in verse 12.

1 Corinthians 12 · chapter mention

For as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body,

though many, are one body, so also is Christ.

For we were all baptized by one spirit into one body, whether Jews or Greeks,

whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one spirit.

So the body is not one part, but many.

If the foot should say, because I'm not a hand, I don't belong to the body,

In spite of this, it still belongs to the body.

And if the ear should say, because I am not an eye, I don't belong to the body.

In spite of this, it still belongs to the body.

If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be?

If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?

But now God has placed each one of the parts in one body, just as he wanted.

If they were all the same part, where would the body be? And now there are many

parts, yet one body. So the eye cannot say to the hand, I don't need you.

Or again, the head cannot say to the feet, I don't need you.

But even more, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are necessary.

So that's our scripture reading for this morning. Before I explain those verses,

let me tell you about the time I almost drowned.

My family and I went to the beach. This was, I think, about seven years ago.

So at this point, I had a 10-year-old son and an 8-year-old son.

And we were playing around on the beach, and we were first playing around in

the water where it's like you can touch, and the waves are going by.

And then my boys said, can we go out real far where you can't touch?

And so I was like, sure, let's do it. So we went out real far where none of

us could touch. And so we're all swimming there.

And at this point, I believe my 8-year-old, he has a boogie board with him.

He's up on the boogie board.

And then my 10-year-old is swimming next to me. and we're all swimming there

and it's so exciting. Oh, we're outwards deep and we can't touch.

It's so great. So we've been doing that for a little while.

I'm keeping the sun on the boogie board near me, I think by holding the strap

connected to the boogie board.

We're swimming, we're swimming. And there comes a point at which we start to

get tired. You know, you can only tread water for so long. So we're sort of tired.

And I believe my 10-year-old son got tired before I did.

And so parents, I think you're going to know what happens next.

Whenever you have a kid and you're in a pool or in the ocean,

okay, and they're swimming and they're swimming and then they are so tired they can't swim anymore.

And you are within arm's length, what do they do?

Yeah, they latch onto you, okay? And they don't even realize,

they're slowly drowning you, they don't know.

So, my 10-year-old can't swim anymore, and so he's like, I can't do this anymore.

So, he just puts himself on me. But I've already been treading water for a while

at this point. I was already tired, and now I'm having to put,

like, double effort into keeping myself and him up out of the water.

So, at this point, I realized we need to stop being where we can't touch.

Like, we got to go in, okay? So, no big deal. I'm like, we can do this.

So, I start to swim in, but it's weird because I got the kid with the boogie

board and the strap, and then I have one that's, like, hanging on to me.

And so, as I'm trying to swim in, I'm trying to swim in basically with one arm, right?

Right? The normal way you swim, right? Like horizontally is a much better way

to swim. You can use both arms, both legs. But because I was trying to hold

a kid up out of the water, I can't really use my legs the normal way because they're more.

Vertical than horizontal. And then I have one arm full of kid.

So I'm just trying to swim with one arm. And I'm like, well,

that's fine. We got to go in and I'll just, you know, do what I can do under

the circumstances. So I'm trying to swim in. Well, that particular day,

there was a really strong rip current, okay? The strongest one that I can remember

experiencing anytime recently.

And so we were getting pulled out farther and farther. In fact,

that's why we were out in the deep, like we were so far away from where we could

touch. Like it had been pulling us out.

So I couldn't keep up with the rip current considering the condition I was in.

Like because I couldn't use my legs the normal way and my arm the normal way,

I'm just trying with my arm to sort of drag us into shore. And so I'm swimming.

And I don't know how long it was.

Maybe it was only five minutes or so. But I mean, I was swimming in the position

that I was in as best as I could. I was trying to get us into shore.

And I must have, let's say it was like five minutes of just as energetic and

as hard as I could possibly do trying to get in.

And after trying really, really hard, I looked and I was just as far away from

the shore as when I started, maybe farther away.

And so there comes a point where I like, oh, we're getting pulled out to sea and I can't get us in.

And of course, obviously I could just like ditch both kids and swim normally. Yeah.

But no one's getting a dad of the year award for that. Okay,

they would have drowned.

So I'm like, I cannot abandon my two kids out here.

But as long as I'm hanging on to them, I also can't get into shore.

And I was tired before I put all of my energy into swimming this way for five

minutes. And so now I'm even more tired. And I'm like, I don't think I can keep

it up. Like, I don't think I can keep moving my body and keep my head above

water and keep my kid's head above water.

Like, I think I'm gonna, and that's when it dawned on me. I went,

this is how people drown.

Like, I've heard stories before of people who know how to swim drowning,

and I'm always like, how does that even happen?

How could someone who knows how to swim drown? And so that, like,

I was under, I was in that moment, I was like, oh, this is how it happens.

You hear a story on the news, there's a dad and his two sons,

and they drown, oh, it's tragic, and it's like, well, how does that even happen?

And I realized, oh, this is how it happens.

Like, I'm not going to abandon them, but I can't get in like this.

I'm, you know, with my one arm immobilized and not being able to use my legs

normally, like I just can't get in.

So I start to panic a little bit and I do not tell my boys. Did I ever tell

you? Are you learning this for the first time right now?

Okay. So I didn't, so I acted like, I was like, yeah, yeah, this is cool. This is what we do.

Okay. But in my mind, I'm thinking we're going to die. We're all going to die.

And so I'm trying, And so I said to my 10-year-old, I said, get off me.

That wasn't the whole strategy. That was just step one.

I said, get off me and get up onto the boogie board.

And then I'm going to swim in a horizontal position like normal.

I'm going to hold this. I'm going to strap the boogie board to me.

I'm going to swim in like a normal person. I'm going to drag you two behind

me on the boogie board. And that is how we got in. Okay. And that's why you're alive today.

Thanks.

Now, I tell you that story because we understand that when a body can't use

all of its parts, it could fail to accomplish what it is attempting to do. Amen?

Just immobilizing one or two body parts can have a terrible effect on the rest

of the body. Does that make sense?

Okay, if that makes sense to you, then you are prepared to easily understand

today's scripture passages.

So let's go back to Romans 12.

Starting in verse 4, the Apostle Paul, talking to the Romans, says this.

He says, Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have

the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and

individually members of one another.

He is teaching us here that our connection to Christ connects us to each other.

Your connection to Christ, my connection to Christ, like that connects us to

each other. Every single person who turns from their sin and trusts in Jesus

as their Lord and as their Savior. Okay, they understood Jesus died on the cross

for my sins. He rose again. I'm going to obey him.

And it is his death that is in my place so that I can be forgiven.

Those people are united to Christ.

And that's why they're accepted by the God, the Father. Like if you've ever

wondered, like, well, how is it that a holy God could accept sinners?

Well, he doesn't accept sinners as sinners. Like, he accepts us in Christ.

So those of us who are in Christ, those of us who are on Christ's team,

right, who are united to him, we are treated the way he deserves to be treated.

And so we're part of the body of Christ, right? We're God's people,

and we are all parts of the same body, okay? It's kind of like,

I mean, let's see if you remember this from algebra.

If A equals C and B equals C, then A equals?

Very good. I was hoping I had a smart congregation. I knew it.

We'll see how second service does.

Okay. If A, B equals C and B equals C, then A equals B.

Okay. So same principle here. I think if I'm united to Christ and you're united

to Christ, then I'm united to you and you're united to me.

Okay. So we are all parts of the same body. And then after this passage,

the next couple of verses, which I just read to you a little bit ago, I won't reread them.

The next verses list different spiritual gifts like prophecy,

service, teaching, and exhorting, because those are different functions of different

body parts within Christ's body.

All right, so now let's move on to the parallel passage, 1 Corinthians 12.

1 Corinthians 12, I think, is the same kind of passage. It does the same metaphor

with the body. It's found in the context of spiritual gifts, just like Romans 12.

But 1 Corinthians is, well, you might notice it was longer. Like this body metaphor,

Paul goes way more in depth when he talks to the Corinthians.

So let's go ahead and look at it, starting in verse 12.

For as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body,

though many are one body, so also is Christ.

For we were all baptized by one spirit into one body, whether Jews or Greeks,

whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one spirit.

Just like Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12 shows that we are connected to one another

because of our relationship with Christ.

1 Corinthians also says that we are connected because of our relationship with

the Holy Spirit, which I don't think Romans specifically said that, but it is here, right?

It says, and we were all made to drink of one spirit.

So that's one reason we're all together. We're all connected because of Christ.

We're all connected because we have the Holy Spirit.

So every Christian, regardless of race, regardless of ethnicity,

regardless of socioeconomic status, that's what he's getting here when he says,

whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, okay?

Regardless of what we look like, regardless of our skin color,

regardless of how much money we have, regardless of any of that,

we are all connected members of one body.

And then he says this, verse 15, if the foot should say, because I'm not a hand,

I don't belong to the body.

In spite of this, it still belongs to the body. And it seems to me what Paul

is doing here is he is addressing, I think, like insecurity.

He is addressing Christians who are insecure about their role in the body of Christ.

That they would say, I'm guessing in this one, the hand is probably considered

the more prominent body part than the foot.

So it's like, oh, well, I'm just a foot. So well, because I'm not a hand,

I do not belong to the body. I think what he's getting at is that some,

it's like, well, if I'm not a hand, then I'm nothing.

And I think there are times when there are people within the body of Christ

that are like, yeah, look at what she does and look at what he does.

And I don't do what they do. So I'm like, I'm not, that's why I don't do anything

around here. Cause what would I do? Like, am I even really a part of this? What am I?

And so you can see he's saying, like, that's not how it works. Look at verse 17.

If the whole body were an eye, this is why he's going to say,

well, imagine if you weren't there. Imagine if there was just that one person

that you think is so important, okay?

If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be?

If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?

He's saying if every single person in the body of Christ had the same function,

that would be awful, right? What if the whole body were an eye?

Which, when you read that, is there anybody that like imagines Billy Crystal's

character from Monsters, Inc. where he's just an eye?

Anyway, now you will, okay? Whenever you read this, you'll read Corinthians

and think of Billy Crystal. It'll be wonderful.

So he's saying, like, obviously you don't have a body if you just have a giant

eye, right? Same thing if the whole body were in here. Where would the sense of smell be?

Okay, and then look at verse 18. This verse is so great for those of us who

are insecure with our role in the body of Christ.

He says, but now God has placed each one of the parts in one body just as he wanted.

God made you just the way he wanted to make you for you to accomplish what he

wants you to accomplish.

Isn't that great? Like, I don't know if you ever thought about this. Only you can be you.

No one else can accomplish what God has created for you to accomplish.

And he made no mistakes when he made you. That is comforting.

But insecurity is not the only thing that's addressed in this passage.

It seems to me that Paul also addresses arrogance. Okay, you've got the people

that are like, well, what am I? I'm just a foot.

And then you've got the people that are like, I'm pretty sure I'm everything.

Okay, and so he addresses them in verse 21.

So the eye cannot say to the hand, I don't need you, right?

So there was one that was like, well, because I'm not an eye,

I'm nothing. And this one is like, no, this is the person that says, hey,

I don't need you I got this right so the eye cannot say to the hand I don't

need you or again the head cannot say to the feet I don't need you but even

more those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are necessary.

So none of us can look at the way that God has wired us and say,

I got this. I got this on my own.

I don't need the rest of the body.

I mean, people do that. People try to live their life that way.

I got this. I don't need the rest of it. I don't need everybody else.

I don't need the rest of the body.

I can drag the whole body to shore by myself.

No, you can't.

We need each other i need you you need me each part is necessary,

why well i think the metaphor makes it clear because a body is dependent on

all of its parts for health and a body is dependent on all of its parts in order

for it to do whatever it is you're trying to do,

we need each other for spiritual health what if your colon stopped working I

mean I don't imagine it too long.

But what if your colon stopped working? It would affect more than just your

colon, wouldn't it? It would affect your whole body.

Like the colon, just check out, well, if I want to check out and not do it on

my job, I'll just not do it. It's just, that's my business. It would affect the whole body.

Same goes for your liver, right? If your liver stopped doing its job,

it would affect more than your liver. It would affect the whole body.

Same goes for your foot. If your foot stopped working or if a foot was amputated,

it doesn't just, it's like, well, it just affects foot stuff.

It doesn't. it affects your whole body.

Many of you understand this very well because you had a body part at some point

that didn't cooperate, right? And you now take a pill every single day,

or you had a surgery last year because one of your body parts was not cooperating with the rest, right?

A body part not fulfilling its function affects the rest of the body.

And so this is why I started the sermon the way I did. When you have a culture

that teaches you to be a consumer or sort of a customer when it comes to the

Christian church and not a minister.

And they kind of act like it's no big deal. It's no big deal if you are disconnected.

It is no big deal if you are not contributing.

Like you need to realize, no, that is a big deal. And actually it's bad,

but it's not just bad for you. It's bad for all of us.

As long as we live our lives like we are merely church attenders,

while there is a special one or special two or three people that are the ministers,

who do ministry, we will never be able to stand up against the rip currents of this world.

If you've ever wondered why the American church seems so ineffective at times,

it might be because in a lot of cases, 90% of the team is sitting on the bench.

And so today in part nine of Church Unpacked, the point of the sermon is to

say every Christian is a minister because every Christian is a part of the body

and every body part has a different function.

Now you might say, well, okay, yeah, Mario, but what if I don't know my function?

Like, what if I don't know what my gift is? What am I supposed to do?

Okay. Well, I think you need to figure it out. Like, I don't think you can go,

I don't know what I'm supposed to do. So I've got an idea. I'll do nothing.

No, that's not a good plan.

I think there are ways for you to figure it out. First of all,

there are spiritual gifts tests online. I don't know if there's this thing called

the internet. It's incredible.

You can literally go online and I bet you they're all over the place.

I didn't look, but I bet you there are tons of them.

You can take a spiritual gifts test online. And for some of you,

you just answer the questions and I bet you it will point some of you in a direction

where you'll be able to go, oh, maybe that's a way that I would be more helpful than average.

It seems to me about once every couple of years, there's a couple at this church

who's a part of this church. Their names are Jeremy and Amanda Richards.

They sit right there at the second service.

They do a class, I think it's called like discovering your gifts,

something like that. If that ever becomes available here and you don't,

and you're one of those people going, I don't know what I'm good at.

You should take that class.

But between now and then, here's an idea. Okay. I don't have a Bible verse for

this. This is just an idea. Okay. You're going, how do I figure out my part?

This is what I, if you don't know, this is my suggestion to you.

Just start helping people randomly. Okay. If you don't, if there's no,

if there's no strategy, I don't know what I ought to do, then just start helping

people randomly. Not a no, just, there's a need, I noticed, I'll see if I can

meet it. There's a problem over there, let me see if I can go fix it, okay?

Help people randomly. Just start volunteering for stuff. They say,

well, they need more help in the kids' zone or the hospitality or whatever.

There's this nonprofit in town. We don't know what we're going to do.

How do we handle the homeless people because we need more people?

Like, just start volunteering for stuff and start helping people randomly.

And then that's not the whole strategy.

And then once you're... Because sometimes people get stuck in a rut and they

go, well, I'm not good. I don't know what I'm good at. So until I figure it

out, I'll do nothing. And it might be that you do nothing for quite a while.

So it'd be better to do something. Goodness gracious, doing something.

Is better than doing nothing.

So then you do the something. And then here's step two.

Pay attention to what works well. Pay attention to where you're helpful.

Pay attention to what people say back.

Because if you keep hearing people say back something like this, thank you for caring.

Thank you for listening to what I had to say.

Or if you hear someone say, hey, thank you for taking charge of that.

Thank you so much for taking responsibility for that and taking it off my plate.

Or if you hear someone say, oh, thank you for explaining that to me.

I never understood that.

Or if you hear someone say, hey, thank you so much for being bold and saying

stuff that my friends were never willing to say.

Or if you hear someone say, hey, thanks, no one's ever given me anything like this.

Those statements are big hints as to your function in the body.

Does that make sense? All right. So every Christian is a minister because every

Christian is a part of the body. Every body part has a different function.

All the functions are important.

We need each other in order to accomplish God's mission.

Let's pray.

Lord, I thank you for saving us. I thank you for the gospel.

Okay, thank you that I will be saved. Like I am saved right now,

but there's a sense in which I will be saved one day from the presence of sin

and it will not be because I'm good.

You will save me because you have placed me like in Christ, united to Christ. And I thank you for that.

And on behalf of everybody in this room that that's true of,

like we say thank you and we praise you.

Not for being unjust and just saving us as sinners, but uniting us to Christ,

and saving us with the righteousness you give us.

I pray for us as a church. I thank you for the series. I do think it has been

good for us to think about like our role,

in your thing on this earth.

And so I pray that you would help us to do our part. I pray for those of us

who maybe have grown tired that we would say, oh, this is what God has wired me to do.

My actions affect the rest of the body.

I pray for those of us who are new and go, I don't know what my role is.

I pray that you would make it obvious to them and then when they find it,

it would be not only that they are useful, but that there's joy in doing what you were created to do.

I pray for those of us who are insecure, that we would be comforted by the fact

that you created us exactly the way you wanted us to do exactly what you have

for us to do. And I pray for those of us who are arrogant.

And we go, I got this, I got this. I don't need everybody else.

I pray that you would show us that we do need other people and I pray that you

would show it to us gently and not in a way that hurts.

Although I do know that sometimes you allow hurt into our life for your reasons.

And so even in the midst of that, we trust you.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let me end with these good words from God's word.

For we were all baptized by one spirit into one body, whether Jews or Greeks,

whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one spirit. That is good news.