FREELY YOU HAVE RECEIVED, FREELY GIVE

FREELY YOU HAVE RECEIVED, FREELY GIVE Matthew 10:8, 1 Peter 4:10, Romans 12:3 With grateful acknowledgement of these sources of direction and inspiration: the Holy Spirit; the Word of God; Warren Wiersbe, The Twenty Essential Qualities of an Authentic Christian; John Stott, The Cross of Christ; Charles Stanley, Our Unmet needs; Charles Colson, The Body Sept 29, 2002 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introductory "What do you do?" Sooner or later it always seems to come around to that question when you've met someone new, doesn't it? Why is that? Why is our sense of worth, and our sense of others' worth so intricately tied up with they do for a living or a career? Is it just a matter of mixed up values in our society (you are what you do)? Or is there something more to it?     Each of us has a deep need to feel that we are capable of doing something that matters, something that contributes to the greater of those around us. We also have a need to feel competent, needed. God says that every person He has created is unique and is called to do something that is meaningful and important in His plans. In fact, He has a plan for each of our lives, and He has arranged that each of us is perfectly designed to get that plan accomplished. In Ephesians 2:10, Paul wrote these words, "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." It is a glorious privilege to us that we may come to faith and salvation through Jesus Christ, and then discover that He has not only sought us and saved us, but He has also given each of us "grace gifts" and called us to a new career in the kingdom. Romans 12:6 says, "We have different gifts, according to the grace given us…" 1 Corinthians 12:7 identifies these grace gifts as the Holy Spirit at work through us - "Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good." The Texts 1 Peter 4:10-11 - "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen." Each person has at least one "spiritual gift". A spiritual gift is an ability or set of abilities to do something that others simply cannot do in the same way or with the same effectiveness. But there are two primary points in this passage regarding those gifts. One is that we are to use our gifts, talents, uniqueness' for the purpose of "serving others". What that means in the Body of Christ is that we are to "edify" or "build up" the others in the body through the contribution of our unique service to them. The other point is that, as we use our talents and abilities we should recognize that they are gifts from God, and, in that light, function in those gifts the very best we can, as a service to Him. Colossians 3:17 puts it this way - "Whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through him." In a nutshell, whatever God gave you, from your unique personality to your unique talents to your unique grace for ministry, use it to serve Him and His people. Matthew 10:8b - "…Freely you have received, freely give." Once, when Jesus was sending the twelve apostles out on a ministry sortie, He sat them down to give them instructions about what to do and what not to do. That list is found in Matthew 10. There you'll find His operations manual on what they were to do if they ran into persecution, how they were to recognize those who were ready to follow Him, what they were to take with them and what not to take with them and what they were to do-preach the message, "The Kingdom of God is near," heal the sick, cleanse the lepers and drive out demons. In verse 8 of that text Jesus says, "Freely you have received, freely give." Jesus wanted those disciples to know and remember well that all that they had was a gift from God, and was to be used in service to Him. Let me remind us today of that very important truth-YOU HAVE NOTHING EXCEPT WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN YOU AS A GIFT. NOW GIVE IT TO OTHERS. Jesus' warning is against selfishness-that sinful tendency we have to keep anything good we have for ourselves-to hoard so we benefit and no one else does. Once when I served in another congregation, a sister church in the same town had a Minister of Evangelism, who had come up with a very effective program of outreach. We called him and invited him to come to our church and share the program with us. He said he would "get back to us on that." He did get back to us, and told us that he couldn't share the program with us, because he couldn't give away trade secrets to a church that was in competition with his church. Jesus told the story of a man who owed a debt of $10,000 to a creditor. This creditor called him in and demanded that he pay it all or go to jail. He pleaded for mercy, and the creditor had a change of heart, and actually forgave the man the entire debt. The now freed debtor left the creditor's place of business and, on the way home, ran into a man who owed him $20. He grabbed him by the lapel and threatened him with a lawsuit and jail time if he didn't pay. The man begged for mercy, but he was given a beating. When the original creditor heard what happened, he angrily called the man back in and threw the book at him. Freely he had received, but he did not freely give.  [webmasters note: Matthew 18:23-34] Romans 12:3 - "For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you." How does one "think with sober judgment" concerning himself? I am convinced that in the context of this passage on gifts in the body of Christ, Paul is saying we should understand correctly just who we are and how we fit into the body of Christ. Do you remember the famous painting by Grant Wood entitled American Gothic? It featured that 60-something couple standing in front of the barn and farmhouse-a sober farm wife on the left, and the serious looking farmer on the right? Grant Wood completed that painting in 1930 and it was immediately hung in the Art Institute of Chicago (where it is still displayed). It was given instant critical acclaim and became famous overnight. But in one way the painting is a sham. The man who posed as the farmer wasn't a farmer at all. He was actually Dr. Byron McKeeby, the artist's 62-year old dentist. And the farmwoman? Woods' younger sister, Nan Wood Graham, a city dweller who reluctantly agreed to model for the painting. In fact, she asked that her brother paint her in such a way that she would not be recognized. But she was recognized and she remained angry about the whole things until the day she died.     I want to remind you this morning of who you are. You are a carefully-planned, living human being, made in the image of God, and deliberately and personally designed by God the Father. He made you, body, soul and spirit, just like He wanted yo to be, unique in every aspect. Generally, you are similar like every other human being, and spiritually you are like your Creator. But you are an unprecedented being. No other person has ever looked exactly like you, had the genetic make-up you have, nor the same fingerprints. Never has there been anyone in the world or all of history like you. You are a one-of-a-kind original, an original, a masterpiece. You are not the result of a chance mutation, a monkey's grandchild or a fully evolved descendant of an ameba. You are not a random occurrence, a mistake; nor are you a meaningless number or dust in the wind. Your existence, your design and your life's calling have been personally crafted by the living God. Psalm 139 puts it this way: "You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Part of God's marvelous design of you is building into you not just physical features that are unique, but a uniqueness of soul and abilities. The New Testament speaks of "spiritual gifts"-divine abilities, given to us by the Lord, as the Spirit wills, to enable us to fulfill our unique ministry in and through the body of Christ, the church. Often these gifts are new to us when we come to personal faith in Christ. They are clearly a miraculous new ability. Just as often we discover that our spiritual giftedness is blended with the abilities we were born with or that we developed throughout our lives. Neither is more or less miraculous and neither is more of a gift than the other. They are all from God, who didn't have to give them to you, but graciously chose to. Exhortation We are encouraged in the pages of the scripture to put our gifts to work in service to the rest of the church and her mission to the world around us. Peter says, "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." 1 Corinthians 12:7 reminds us that each of our gifts is given to us by the Spirit "…for the common good…"     We have an obligation to do two things: 1) DISCOVER our unique gifts, and 2) EMPLOY our unique gifts. How do you discover your spiritual gifting(s)? 1. Predilection - What do you really enjoy doing for God? 2. Affirmation - What do your trusted Christian friends tell you, you do well? 3. Anointing - What do you do that seems to be blessed and "easy" in God? 4. Fruit - What brings positive results? 5. Personal Study - Using whatever resources available to you to help you discover your gifts, abilities and strengths. Spiritual Gifts Analysis, and the Personality Inventory Test (this week in cell groups). Of course, once you discover your gifts and abilities, you are to employ them in whatever way the Holy Spirit directs you to bring glory to God. Serving in your area of strength brings: 1. A sense of personal fulfillment - fills the void in our souls - we need a sense of personal destiny, purpose . It would be wrong for us to assume that we are of less use to God than others who are "more talented" or "in better position" to serve Him. Many of you have heard of David Ring, and several of you have probably heard him speak. He was born with cerebral palsy and several other birth defects that render him disabled. At least some think so-but not David Ring. He is barely understandable when he speaks-he drools, his tongue hangs out, and his diction is very poor. Yet he always commands a hearing. I mean no disrespect when I speak to you like he speaks, but I think it is important to the illustration that you hear what he sounds like when he talks. "My name is David Ring. I have cerebral palsy. This year I spoke in front of 30,000 people about Jesus Christ. What's your excuse?!" 2. A sense of joy - serving the Lord in a way that is free from carnal "obligation" or "duty-only" or (worse yet) guilt assuagement is so freeing. Just think, the God who made you, the God who loves you and saved you, the God who graciously has given you the hope of eternal life-this god has called you into His family and His church and has invited you to be part of His program of winning the world to Himself. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in his great book, The Cost of Discipleship, "The fact is, we were made to serve Him. If we answer the call to discipleship, where will it lead us? What decisions and partings will it demand? To answer this question we shall have to go to Him, for only He knows the answer. Only Jesus Christ who bids us follow Him, knows the journey's end. But we do know that it will be a road of boundless mercy. Discipleship means joy." And the great preacher of another generation, Alexander MacLaren, adds these words: "To pursue joy is to lose it. The only way to get it is to follow steadily the path of duty, without thinking of joy, and then, like sheep, it comes most surely, unsought, and we "being in the way" the angel of God, fair-haired joy, is sure to meet us."     [Back to Top]