Stewards - August 13, 2017 sermon

By Pastor Greg ...

The Tissue wedding bell.  Who hasn’t seen one of these at a wedding reception?  It seems like a simple thing, really; a couple sheets of tissue paper glued together to form a bell.  However, there is much more to this process than you may realize.

In department 5 at the Beistle Company, a large rotating drum pulls several layers of tissue paper across brass disks that transfer the glue to the paper.  Once this process is completed, an 8-foot-long tissue “blanket” is sent through a UV dryer.  From there the shape of the bell is cut from that blanket.  Elsewhere within the plant, a UPC code and other information are printed on a sheet of card stock.  This is also sent to Die Cutting where the shape of the bell is cut from the product.  Both these pieces are sent to final assembly.

In department 2, small tabs are added to the backing, and then it is attached to the tissue cutout.  The completed bell is sent to department 3, waiting to be placed in plastic bags, which earlier had been manufactured in department 4. And even earlier still, a header for the plastic bag was printed in department 1.

Once the entire product is completed and bagged, it is sent to shipping, waiting to be sold.  When the Sales Department processes an order, it is passed along to Shipping, who packs it, loads it on a truck, where it is shipped to the store.  There, a clerk places the item on a rack so I could walk in, find what I wanted, and purchase the item for a sermon illustration.

And you thought it was just a simple wedding bell.  I didn’t even mention the maintenance department, management, or inventory processing.  There is the electric company and the water company, the trucking company; there are the other businesses which supply the paper, the glue, and the metal tabs.  Each department and each individual have certain skills and abilities, and when they work together, I, the consumer, could purchase a wedding bell.

It’s the same in the Church.

I know.  We shouldn’t compare the Church to a business.  The Church isn’t selling a product; it is introducing people to Jesus.  But when it comes to people with different skills and abilities all working together, the similarities are easy to see.

The Bible stresses that not every believer has the same gifts, passions, or calling.  Some are very passionate about caring for others, while some are very passionate about teaching others.  Some feel called to care for the property and grounds.  Some desire to serve one another.  Now, although the passion and calling are different, together these various people with different gifts help the Church continue the work of Jesus.

The Church exists to help people find eternal life in Jesus.  The Church exists to teach others about Jesus and guide them in their Christian living.  The Church exists to extend the mercy, grace, and love of Jesus.  This is what Jesus has called us to do – according to Matthew 28:19-20 (¹⁹ Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. ²⁰ Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age).  This is our mission, AND, to accomplish this, God has equipped each of us differently.

Peter mentions a few different examples in his first letter (1 Peter 4), and Paul mentions several different examples in his first letter to the Corinthian Christians.  Believers are equipped differently, but the goal is the same; to continue the work Jesus first began while He walked this earth.

⁴ There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. ⁶ God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

⁷ A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. ⁸ To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. ⁹ The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. ¹⁰ He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. ¹¹ It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have (1 Corinthians 12:4-11).

Paul needed to teach this lesson because the Christians in Corinth felt some gifts were superior to others.  But Paul’s lesson is that each gift of the Lord plays a significant role in the Church.  In fact, the gift a believer receives comes from God, not through merit or effort.  You cannot manufacture a Spiritual Gift; it doesn’t belong to you.  The Holy Spirit gifts a believer based upon God’s wisdom; The gift is given for the good of the church, not to bring honor to the individual.  Jesus teaches us that this Spiritual Gift belongs to God (Matthew 25, for example), and each person must recognize this fact.  “To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away” (Matthew 25:29).

When a Christian receives a Spiritual Gift, they become a steward; a person who has been asked to care for the belongings of someone else.

God has not only created you as a unique individual, but He has given you a passion.  Some people are passionate about teaching, others are driven to care for the sick.  Some gain satisfaction in maintaining a building.  Some of us love to talk about God (I know, maybe a little too much).  But we all love God.  We all want to serve.  We all are anxious to do the will of God.  And because of our willingness to follow Jesus, God calls us to serve.  Yet we do not all serve in the same capacity; we are equipped differently.  The goal is the same – to continue the work of Jesus here on earth – but each of us plays a different role in the process.

Please remember this; even though we have different passions and abilities, each of us plays a significant role in the life of the Church.  No one person is greater or more important than the rest.  No one.  If it were not for you and your gifts, we would not function as a healthy and effective church.  So please, if God is calling you to serve Him, and if He has equipped you to serve, please, we need your help.  We can accomplish so much more when you work with us.  Together, we can reach this community for Christ.