May
16, 2021 NOTES NOT EDITED!
Help Wanted!
Acts 11:27-30
SIS–Every Christian should have an identifiable place of service in the Church.
Years ago I read about a donut shop owner who had an employee named Eddy. Eddy had worked at the shop for several years. One day a regular customer noticed Eddy had not been working for a couple of weeks. The customer asked, “Where’s Eddy? Is he sick?” The owner replied, “No, Eddy doesn’t work here anymore.” Making polite conversation the customer asked, “Do you plan to fill the vacancy Eddy left.” The owner nonchalantly replied, “No. Eddy didn’t leave any vacancy.”
I think about that story in regard to many church members I’ve known over the years. Sadly, when they missed church, they never left any vacancy. Their church membership really had little or no purpose—and little or no positive affect upon the world.
I’m sure you have asked yourself, “Why am I here? Why was I born where I was born?” Why do I have the personality I have.” Why am I good at some things, and not so good at others.” Why do I even ask ‘why’?”
Unless we suppress it, the question “why” in regard to our existence is a fundamental issue in life. We ask “why” because all human beings instinctively know that they are not on earth by accident. We are “created” and our soul thirsts to know “why” we were created. The Bible explains why we were created in many different places in many different ways. One answer to the question of “why” we were created is found in Ephesians 2:10:
10 It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others.
God created us and saves us for a life of service. Let me say that again: “God created us and save us for a life of service.” Until we are saved and serving [emphasis important], we will never be satisfied in life. God’s Word teaches us that God, “made us to serve others.”
Let’s read our text together and examine three important aspects in regard to serving God by serving others: Acts 11:27-30
27 During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) 29 The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea. 30 This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.
We will fill in some of the details as we go along, but it is clear from our text: there was a great need and the church united together in sacrificial service to meet that need. Three aspects inform our understanding Christian service: the NEED for service, the fact God SHAPE’s us for service, and the fact that God EXPECTS us to serve.
1. The World NEEDS You to Serve (Acts 28, 29b)
a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world . . . . The disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the brothers living in Judea.
In our text we discover that there was a “severe famine” spreading over the entire Roman world. Hunger was gripping the people of the land and squeezing hope from their lives. In verse 29 it says that the Christian brothers and sisters in Judea, “needed help.”
The world needs “you.” There is so much suffering in the world that it is impossible NOT to see it. Only . . . many don’t see it because they hide their eyes. One of the big tragedies in our world today is in India. Every day the media recounts the story of the tremendous suffering of the people as this nation struggles with the Covid pandemic. I just saw an article where people are covering themselves in cow dung mixed with urine to stave off the ravages of the Covid virus. Dead bodies are floating in the Ganges River.
We live in a broken, needy world. Every 3 seconds a child starves to death. Every second 2 babies aborted. Every day nearly 10,000 people die because they don’t have clean water to drink.
Our world is a needy world – and
I’ve only mentioned the physical needs.
Emotional needs are just as staggering.
In the US today suicide is the third leading cause of death for
those aged 15 to 24.
There is also the “spiritual need” of our world which is the greatest
need of all because it is the only “eternal need.” Every second about 2 people die and
enter eternity—the vast majority have never had a meaningful encounter with the
soul-saving gospel of Jesus Christ!
I could spend hours outlining the needs of our world. Need is everywhere. The need is great, but the servants are few. The Early Church were servants. They served sacrificially to meet whatever needs arose from hunger to hopelessness. Our text said that the Early Church heard of a need in Judea and they “provided help.” One reason you must find a place of service in our world – in our neighborhood – is because people NEED you to serve.
2. God SHAPED you to Serve (Acts 29a)
“The disciples each according to his ability”
Everybody has different abilities to
use in serving God.. Just like no two
human beings are shaped exactly alike physically, neither are any two persons shaped
exactly alike spiritually. A person’s
ability to serve God is as unique as his or her finger print.
The word translated from the Greek as “ability” is only used one time in the Bible which is this passage. It refers to the “unique capacities” of each person to earn wages and contribute to meeting the needs of their world. While all the disciples participated in serving, not everybody participated or in the same way.
God uniquely designed us to serve. We are His snowflakes – no two of us are exactly alike. In our church we refer to this a person’s “SHAPE.” Each letter in the word, “SHAPE,” refers to a unique facet of how God has “designed” (made, shaped, formed, or created) us.
Let’s look at how God “shapes” each person uniquely for service. Consider this: human DNA molecules can unite to form 1 x 10 to the 2 billion, 400 millionth power. That is a 1 with 2,400,000,000 zeroes. If you right that number on a piece of paper, the paper would have to be at least 37,000 miles long! You are uniquely “shaped” by God. Let’s look at what it means to be “SHAPE’d by God for service.
“S” in the word SHAPE refers to our “spiritual giftedness.” The Bible says: Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. (1 Cor 12:7).NIV
When God saves you His Spirit becomes one with your spirit. Don’t ask me to explain, “how,” this can happen because it can’t be explained. But, when God’s Spirit becomes a part of our lives in the event of our salvation He begins a spiritual process, or transformation. We become “super-charged” after the fashion of a race car. We get “superpowers,” sort of like the Fantastic Four, or Spiderman. These superpowers are called, “spiritual gifts” and every believer has one, and most have a mix of spiritual gifts. This special power from God is “for the common good” or to help us in our service to others. Spiritual gifts are “instrumental” not “ornamental.” Some people go through all kinds of surveys and tests to discover their spiritual gifts. I’m not a big fan of that idea. My theory is this: “start serving and your spiritual gifts will find you.” Your gift may be teaching. It may be hospitality. It may be the gift of giving. It may be the gift of knowledge or wisdom. It may be a combination of more than one gift – but everybody has at least one gift. or power, to help them serve.
The “H” SHAPE stands for “heart.” How do you know where and how you should be serving? The key is, what is your “hearts” desire? What do you really enjoy doing. The Bible says, “As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man.” (Prov 27:19). A man or woman is defined by those things they are most passionate about. Another word for “heart” could be “passion.” Mike Lindell, the “My Pillow Guy,” is passionate about pillows. Mother Teresa was passionate about comforting the poorest of the poor and it defined her life and service. God put the “desires in our heart” and they are unique to each of us. Part of how we find what place of service is best for us is to ask, “what does my heart say?” What am I passionate about.” Our “heart” (or desires) are part of how God has SHAPE’d us to serve Him
The “A” in SHAPE stands for “abilities.” Notice again v29, especially the phrase, “according to his ability.” In addition to “spiritual gifts,” every person has a measure of “natural ability.” Sadly, most people never live up to their abilities. For example, you possess the ability to detect something with your finger that is only 1/25,000th of an inch thick. Your brain–even if it is only average–can process 15,000 decisions a second! You are a bundle of incredible abilities. Everyone is good at something, though everyone isn’t good at the same thing. Any ability you have can be used to serve others from fixing a car to teaching mathematics. Your unique abilities are part of your SHAPE for service.
The “P” in SHAPE stands for your “personality.” Just look at how different the original Twelve Disciples were. Peter was outspoken and often acted before he really thought about what he was doing. Andrew, Peter’s brother, was more a people person. Every time he is mentioned in the Bible, he is introducing someone to Jesus. Think of the Hebrew twins, Jacob and Esau. The Bible says,
Gen 25:27 (CSB) When the boys grew up, Esau became an expert hunter, an outdoorsman, but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home. One a hunter, the other a home boy!
We are all different. We are all like a piece of wood. We all have a certain “grain” to our lives. Woodworkers know that it is easier to work with the grain of the wood than against it. In the same way, we would do well to find places of service that fit our personality. Personality is a part of how God SHAPE’s us for service.
The “E” in SHAPE stands for our “experiences” in
life. Soren Kierkegaard, the
Danish philosopher wisely noted, “Life can only be understood backwards, but
must be lived forwards.” Every
experience with have is a springboard for service in God’s Kingdom. God
never wastes a moment of our time.
Nothing that happens to us is “meaningless” or without some educational
value in our lives. It has been 44 years
since I served on a nuclear submarine, but God still uses that experience many
times to help me speak with other people about their souls – the greatest
service any of us can perform. Every
submariner had to learn about every system on the submarine. I know a little
about a lot of different trades. I know
a little about being a machinist. I know
a little about heating and air conditioning.
I know a little about hydraulics.
I know a little about nuclear power.
It is amazing how “little” I know about so many things! Hey! I may only know a “little,” but as the song
says
Little
is much when God is in it. // Labor not for wealth or fame.
There's
a crown and you can win it, // If you go in Jesus' name.
The Bible says, “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Ps 139:15-16). As I said before, God never wastes our time-every experience has value.
God knows your next step, and the one after that. He knows every experience you will have and when you will have it. He will use those experiences to help you become the “super servant” He wants you to be. Your “experiences”–both good and bad–are all a part of how God SHAPE’s you for service.
God SHAPES you for the service He expects you to perform. He gives you spiritual gifts, your heart’s desire, unique abilities, a distinct personality, and a never-ending supply of experiences so that you can be the best servant you can possibly be in a world that desperately needs your service.
Let me remind you of something very fundamental to being a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. If you do not engage yourself in service to others in and through the church, there are needs that are going to go unmet. Church ministry suffers. There are unique services that ONLY YOU CAN PROVIDE. When you don’t serve, something important is missing. Nobody but you can be you but you!
That brings me to my third reason for why you need to find your special place of service. Not only does the world’s need demand it. Not only has God uniquely SHAPE’d you to provide the service the world needs, but,
3. God EXPECTS you to serve (Acts 11:30)
Look closely at verse 30 and you will see something really profound in its simplicity: “This they did, sending their gift.”
This is a mundanely simple
statement with profound consequences. Remember the situation we are
dealing with – a famine that was going to be particularly hard on the believers
about 100 miles away in Jerusalem. There
was a need to take up a sacrificial offering and the Bible says, “This they did.” Christianity is as much what
we “do” as what we “believe.”
When it needed done—“they just did it!”
Oh, how I wish we all could be so simple and immediate in our obedience. So often the normal response in a Baptist church to feeding the hungry or clothing the naked is to set up a “committee” to discuss ministry. We often play out the moral to an Aesop’s Fable, “When all is said and done in a committee, more is said than done.”
God SHAPE’d us for ministry because He EXPECTS us to minister. Obedience is not optional. God put the matter before the disciples and “they DID something about it.”
One day the disciples were arguing about who was, and would be, greatest in the Kingdom of God. Jesus rebuked them for their misguided ambition and said this: “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave- 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, (Matt 20:26-28).
If we are going to call ourselves, “Christians,” [meaning, those doing the business of Jesus Christ] don’t you think our lives ought to resemble, “Christ?” Should we not love like Jesus loved? Should we not sacrifice like Jesus sacrificed? Should be not serve like Jesus served? Should we not be willing to die like Jesus died?
Jesus, speaking as God the Son, said, “I expect my followers to follow My example. I expect each of you to become a servant of all.”
It is clear from our text in Acts that the Early Church followed the example of the Servant-Savior. They heard of a need that called upon them to deliver aid and our text says, “this they did!”
The world’s needs cry out even louder today than in the day of the Early Church–at least as much so for sure. If we are going to use the name, Christian, we need to find a place of service and begin serving sacrificially and passionately just like Christ, Our Lord, did.
Only about 2 out of every 10 church members in a typical church are actively involved in meaningful ministry to their communities either individually or through the church. If we are going to make a difference in our world, this statistic most change. EVERY believer needs to find a meaningful place of service. We need “doers” not “spectators.”
Our church will be “ramping” up our discipleship training efforts and will be expecting every member to commit to training to become a better servant of Christ.
Many church members have had a
genuine and radical, life-altering encounter with the Living God, but let their
spiritual life slide into a ditch or get stalled by the side of the road. There’s hope for you. Use this time of invitation to rededicate
your life to God and commit yourself to renewed service to Christ in and
through the church.
Don’t be like Eddy . . . leave a vacancy when you are absent.
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