WHY ARE WE HERE?                                                                   9-28-03

To Become Workers

1 Corin. 3:1-15 (Eph. 4:16)

How many ministers do we have here at Valley Assembly?  I guess that all depends on how you define “minister”.  But if you use the Biblical definition, then we have several hundred ministers in our church.  If we use the Biblical definition, you, my Christian friend, are a minister.

Look at these words from Romans 12 in the New Living Bible:

Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are all parts of his one body, and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others.  God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out when you have faith that God is speaking through you. If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching. If your gift is to encourage others, do it! If you have money, share it generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. (v.4-8)

I have the function of being a pastor.  That is what I am called to do.  That is what I am uniquely equipped by God to do.  But pastoring is only one kind of ministry.  If you are a Christian, this passage says that God has given you the ability to do certain things well.  He has gifted you and He has called you to minister.  Read Eph. 4:11.

That term may be too religious for you, so God has given us some other terms for this same concept: laborers, workers, harvesters. Our mission statement says that this church exists to produce growing followers of Jesus, who are worshippers, witnesses, workers, and warriors.  We are currently going through that mission statement and looking at each of these components.

A follower of Jesus is one who is learning from Jesus and patterning his life after Jesus.

A growing follower of Jesus is becoming more like Jesus.

A worshipper is one who reverences God from a clean heart.

A witness is one who openly talks with others about their relationship

     with Jesus.

And today we look at workers.  A worker is one who uses their God-given abilities to serve others.  I want us to see what God says about this important part of our Christian life.

I want us to use 1 Corinthians 3 as our major Bible text this morning, so let’s turn there (page 807).  As you are turning there, I want to read to you the Apostle Paul’s introductory remarks to the people to whom he is writing.  He writes to a primary audience, but his words are for us as well.  That is why they have been preserved as part of the Bible.  But listen to what he says about these people: (1:2-7).

These were people who had a lot going for them.  Yet this was a church with a lot of problems.  When people say “We need to be more like the New Testament Church,” I usually say to them: “We are a lot like the N.T. church.  We have problems, but so did they.”

This letter that God inspired Paul to write to these Corinthian Christians was to correct them and instruct them how they were to live their Christian lives.  And it gives us some great teaching for our day as well.

As we begin reading in chapter 3, remember what we just read: the grace of Jesus had been poured out on them, enriching them in every way.  They were sanctified, made holy in Christ Jesus.  They did not lack any spiritual gift and were eagerly waiting for Jesus to return.

Read 1 Corin. 3:1-15.

I want us to look at 4 main things in this chapter, and then at some concluding observations.

GOD HAS ASSIGNED OUR TASKS.

Remember the verses we read earlier from Romans 12?  V.6 says God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well.  God has given to us that ability.  And your ability is different from my ability.  You can do some things better than I can.  That is not to be a point of pride in us but rather a recognition of the facts.  Each of us can do some things better than others can – and that is a gift from God.

In Acts 13:2 says While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

At that point, the whole prayer meeting did not jump up and say “Let’s go.”  What they did was to lay hands on Barnabas and Saul and prayed for them and sent them on their way.  They had work to do that the others did not have to do.  God had assigned them a task.

Now don’t get too spiritual and think that if God does not specifically tell you to do something, you can just sit home and watch soap operas.  I loved what Sybil Brennecke said last Wednesday morning in our Bible study time as we were talking about this.  She said “I just see what needs to be done and I try to do it.”  She does not wait for a word from God or for the Spirit to move her.  She just tries to do whatever God places in front of her.

That’s what Romans 12 said as well.  Whatever your gifts enable you to do, just do it.

In 1 Corin. 12 the emphasis as well is that God assigns us our abilities, and we are to use them like parts of a body.  When it comes to pushing in thumb tacks, my ear is really glad that my body had a thumb.  And when it comes to hearing, my thumb is really glad my body has an ear.  I have never been able to hold a spatula with my nose and successfully flip pancakes.  Or think about skiing down those moguls, your legs pumping up and down.  Now think about trying that with your eyes closed.  Your eyes can watch skiing, but they cannot ski without your legs.  And your legs need your eyes when you ski unless you are one of those weird people who enjoy a lot of pain.

God has created the parts of our body to work interdependently with other parts of our body.  And He says: it is the same way with us as Christians. He has created us to work interdependently with other Christians.  That’s one of the many reasons you need to be part of a church, so you can function together with others.

WE ARE GOD’S FELLOW WORKERS.

Look at v.9 of 1 Co. 3 (read).  Have you ever thought of what a privilege that is, what an honor?  Laborers together with God it says in the KJV.  Does God really need us?  Did He create us to compensate for some of His weaknesses?  Read the first two chapters of the book of Genesis, and then read the book of Revelation.  He does not need us.

And yet He allows us to be His fellow laborers, to work together with Him. Ephesians 4:16 says From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.  Could Jesus grow and mature and complete His body without us?  He certainly could.  But He says that His body grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work.

If you are a Christian, you are part of that body.  For better or for worse, we are the Body of Christ.  Not just those of us in this room, you understand, but we who are Christians.  We are His body.  Does He love us just as we are?  Yes, He does.  Is He content with us just as we are?  No, He is not.  He wants His body to grow and build itself up in love.

But that takes each of us doing our work – each part, it says.  So what if you do not do your work?  Then the body is weaker and less complete.  That is an awesome truth that many Christians have not yet grasped.  God has given you some work to do, and unless you do it, the body of Christ in general, and this church in particular will be weaker and less complete.  I want to let that sink in for a moment.

What kind of a church would this church be if everyone in it were functioning as God intends them to function, laboring as God intended them to labor, working as God intended them to work?  What would that mean to the kingdom of God if not only God was doing His part, but each of us were doing our part?  What would it mean to this community if not only God was doing His part, but each of us were doing our part?

Look at these words from Matthew 9.

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." (v.35-38)

We pray and He sends.  But something happens in the process of our praying.  As we pray about the harvest, if we are not involved in the harvest, something happens to our hearts.  And often the pray-ers become the very ones the Lord of the harvest sends out as workers in His harvest field.  We are His fellow workers.

OUR WORK WILL BE TESTED.

Back to our text in 1 Corin. 3: (read v.12-15).

This judging of our work has nothing to do with our salvation.  V.15 makes that clear.  These verses are not talking about our salvation being gained or lost by the things we do for God.  What is at issue here is a testing of our work to see it for what it really is.

Did you know that your motives in what you do are important to God?  The reason you work for God is even more important than your work for God.  It is not that some have work to be tested and others have no work to be tested.  All who stand before God in this time of testing have done things for Him.

Look at these frightening words from Jesus in Matthew 7 (22-23).  Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

Prophesying and driving out demons and performing miracles in Jesus’ name – are those not good things for us to do?  Certainly they are.  But Jesus is saying that our heart is more important than our actions.  And if you have all of the right actions, yet your heart is not right, if your motives are not right, if you are doing things to bring glory to yourself rather than to bring glory to God, then all of those works will be burned up in this testing of our works.

But let’s look now at the other side of the coin.  There is also the possibility that…

OUR WORK WILL BE REWARDED.

Read v.14. 

The Bible talks a lot about rewards, and Jesus often spoke of reward as a means of motivating us to do what is right.

Matt. 5:11-12 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matt. 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Matt. 10:42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."

Matt. 16:27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.

Eph. 6:7-8 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men,  because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.

Col. 3:23-24 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheri-tance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Heb. 11:26 (Moses) regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

Perhaps if we thought more about the reward God has in store for us, we would be more willing to work for Him.  Let me say it again: these verses are not talking about being rewarded with salvation for the good things we have done for God.  The Bible makes it clear that our salvation is not by our works but rather because of our faith in Jesus.  But right after those verses in Ephesians 2 that say that, there follows these words: For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works…

Those good works we do as we serve God and serve others will bring us reward.  We will all be in heaven as Christians, but some will be rewarded there far more than others.  And maybe the difference will be like being at the Outrigger Hotel on Waikiki beach, but one person having a room on the 2^nd floor that looks out on the MacDonald’s restaurant and another having an ocean front on the 15^th floor that gives you a 180 panoramic view of the ocean from east to west.  You may both be in the same hotel, but one room is much preferred over the other.   Sitting on your balcony looking at the ocean and the sunrise and the sunset is much preferred to watching people go in and out of MacDonald’s all day.

Let me give you three final thoughts that all of these passages combine to say to me.

1. You are valuable and needed.

Often Christians think that what they do counts little in the Church, or in the Kingdom of God.  That’s not true.  If the body needs each and every part to function most effectively, as the Bible says it does, then you are valuable and needed. 

Maybe the place you fit is in the nursery, but then again maybe you fit better out in the foyer greeting people.  Maybe you fit in the classroom teaching, but maybe you fit better taking attendance and following up new people and absentees.  Maybe you fit on the platform singing, but maybe you fit better out visiting people who can’t get out to church anymore.  Maybe you fit mowing the lawns and weeding the planting areas, but maybe you fit organizing mission trips, or helping with computers, or preparing mailers.  Maybe you fit helping new Christians learn the basics, or maybe you fit training leaders who will train other leaders.  Maybe your place is in the presence of God, interceding for those who are doing all these other things.

I have thought this week: what would this church be like if everyone in it were putting their God-given abilities to use for His glory?  How much more effective would we be at reaching the unchurched and helping them become healthy, growing followers of Jesus?  What kind of impact would we have on this valley?

2. God is keeping score even when others are not.

There is so much ministry that goes on through people in this church that I know nothing about.  If we were looking for a “Worker of the Year” some of you would never be considered.  But if God were looking for a “Worker of the Year” you would be considered.  He knows what you are doing for Him even when we do not.

Is it important that we know?  That’s a good question.  I am greatly encouraged when I hear of ways in which some of you are serving God.  It can help us to see how healthy or unhealthy we are as a church.  But in the final analysis, you are not working for me; you are working for your Heavenly Father.

And when we do not recognize you for what you are doing, please understand that it is not our recognition that counts anyway.  God sees, and your eternal reward comes from Him.  And He keeps good records.

3. What you do for God today will have long-term effects.

What about when I pray and I do not see any results?  When I fast and I do not see any results?  …love and do not see any results?  Learn to use the word “yet”.  My husband is not a Christian…yet.  My children are not serving the Lord…yet.  My prayers have not been answered…yet.  All that I have done for God seems to be of no avail…yet.  We are often looking for short term results; God is interested in the long term.

What you do for God may produce no visible results at the moment.  I was in the chapel praying Tuesday or Wednesday morning and I had to confess my sin of self-sufficiency to the Lord in that I had been neglecting my prayer times the past few days because my schedule had been hectic.  And I started to think about that.

Nothing seemed to be all that different because I had not prayed very much.  So, did my praying do any good?  If I could pray or not pray and everything went along as it always did, what’s the big deal about praying regularly?  Any of you ever been there?

Sometimes what we do does not produce results today, but it will a week from today, or a month from today, or a year from today.  And we need to ask God to help us focus on long term results, not just short term ones.

Recently I read a book on Mentoring, and I wrote down the definition of a worker that this author had:

A worker is

  An intimate disciple of Jesus

  Who uses their gifts to advance God’s kingdom

  Who is committed to reproducing other workers.

Our desire, our mission as a church is to produce that kind of worker.  Will you be one of them?

PRAY