What's Included? - Love
Notes
Transcript
Intro:
Intro:
Good morning River Church Family and Friends. Welcome!
It’s an exciting morning here at TRC. We just finished our Duplo series, where we spent time learning some basic things about God.
And now, it’s time to level up a little bit. We going to continue GROWING in our faith, moving past our Duplo set and building with real Legos. But as we open the box to the set, first we have to see what’s included. What pieces are available to build with?
This next series is titled, “What’s included?” And it’s going to be on the gifts of the Holy Spirit - gift we receive from God after we become Christians. Gifts that help us grow in Christ. Gifts that help us build the Kingdom of God.
Just to clarify… I believe God gives us two types of gifts:
Natural gifts.
Spiritual gifts.
Sometimes these are related. Sometimes not (like me and preaching). This series will focus on spiritual gifts.
This is exciting stuff. We’re talking about abilities God gives us so we can do the things that can change the world! Abilities that have their source in Holy Spirit power.
The Corinthians were excited about this! But just like today, their culture’s worldview doesn’t exactly fit with God’s perspective. So, they didn’t always get how to use the pieces they were given. They’d need correction because they didn’t know how to do things they way God’s way.
For example, I bet they would say things that sounded a lot things we say today. Sometimes, when we want to inspire people to use their talents (something God gave them), we may tell them, “Pursue your passions!”
I know I’ve said that. It makes sense that if your naturally gifted at something, you’re likely passionate about it. And if you pursue your passion, a satisfied life would surely follow.
However, I’m currently reading a book titled, “The Power of Moments” by Chip and Dan Heath. And they talk about a study from the UC Berkeley that revealed something interesting. :
Wanting to discover the power of passion (something you’re excited about) and purpose (something that’s your calling) on performance, they surveyed 5000 employers on relevant questions. As you could imagine, the best performers were those who were both passionate and felt a sense of purpose (that their work benefited more than themselves - it had meaning).
Also obvious was those with low passion and purpose were poor performers. But, here’s where it gets interesting...
The study showed that workers with high passion but low purpose performed only slightly better than workers that had BOTH low passion and low purpose. Passion by itself barely made an impact. It wasn’t enough to be personally interested in your work.
Just as surprising was the flip-side. Those who had low passion, but felt high purpose - that what they did made a difference to others - we high performers! Just slightly lower than those with both passion and purpose.
Result of the study was this: Dont pursue your passion, pursue your purpose. “Purpose trumps passion.”
This is important to us as we begin to study the gifts of the Spirit. We believe that when you become a Christian, God gives each person a spiritual gift (we’ll see that in a second). Again this is exciting! And we can get really passionate about our gift! The Corinthians did! However, like those in those surveyed by UC Berkeley, these passionate church people performed extremely poorly.
You see, they began focusing too much on their personal passions - their personal spiritual gifts. And it messed the church up big time! And in 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul is writing to them to correct this. He says...
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
Exegesis:
Exegesis:
Basically, Paul’s like, “I dont know how you think this all works - maybe you’re using your past religious experiences to instruct you - but when it comes to spiritual gifts, the Holy Spirit is in charge. And this is what the Spirit says...
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
You see, what was happening was the Corinthians were letting spiritual gifts create chaos. Some looked at their spiritual gift and thought, “Mine is better than yours!”
Others - even with possibly good intentions - thought, “My gift is POWERFUL! I’m gonna use it so powerfully people can’t help but notice me. When that happens, THEN I’ll influence them for God.” Of course, that never happened. Filled with pride, they simply pointed to themselves as they pursued their personal passions...
And so Paul writes to tell them:
This is not about showing off your passion.
This is not about pursuing your personal passion.
You passion (or gift) doesn’t make you better than anyone else!
This is NOT about YOU!
In fact, think about it:
This source of your power is not from YOU, but from the Holy Spirit - so you can’t take credit.
The purpose of your gift is not for YOU, but for the common good!
And, you don’t get to rank the importance of YOUR gift! God determines that! And He says, “Every person, and every gift, is both necessary and important!”
That’s why Paul goes on writing:
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
And then he discusses how a normal, healthy, body acts… which is nothing like the Corinthian church-body acted. Paul says, in a healthy body:
The foot doesn’t think it’s less than the hand!
And the ear isn’t jealous of the eye.
It doesn’t work like that!
Actually...
But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
The body knows it needs every part. That every part is necessary! A body needs both diversity and unity! Diversity in parts. And unity between them...
But, if we begin to think:
Only one part is necessary.
Or, if some parts aren’t necessary.
The body disappears. It no longer exists as a body! Actually, it becomes gross!
In the show TMNT, there is a villain named Krang. He’s basically just one big brain. One big body part. It’s gross. That’s what the Corinthians we essentially asking for when they said, “We only need this gift! Or this part of the body! This is the only part people need to see!”
As we begin to learn about spiritual gifts, we need to be careful not to do the same! We must not think one spiritual gift is better than another. Like, “Only pastors or teachers are important!” That’s gross. That’s asking the church to be like one giant eye-ball. That’s not a what a healthy body or church looks like!
We need every gift! Every person or part is important! And I know that’s difficult to live out right now. When we can’t gather or serve as a church body - at least not like we used to. Quarantine protocol only allows the bare minimal “essential” team to be gathered. Everyone else has to stay home. But let me take this moment to remind you: You are still part of the body/church! The church needs you, and your spiritual gift, to be healthy. It just may require us to be a little more creative. A little more willing to think outside of the box. A little more faith!
Yes, the pastor is an important part of the church. Yes, the worship team is too. So, is are the communications and tech team. And those seem to be the only ones “allowed” to serve right now (at least in close proximity). But all of you watching are still part of the body. Still just as important as I am. Still necessary! Your spiritual gift is important. Because God has a purpose for you! And God’s designed the church to use our spiritual gifts for His purpose, and not for our passions!
Therefore, we need to ask, “What is God’s purpose for this passion (or gift I’ve been given)?” And, “How do I make sure I’m using my gifts for the purpose?”
Look at how Paul answers that question...
So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts.
But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.
He’s like, “Let me show you how this is supposed to work.”
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Do you want to know how to make sure you use your spiritual gifts correctly? Make sure they are used with LOVE.
Do you want to know the purpose of your spiritual gifts? It’s for LOVE!
If you can supernaturally speak the language of angels (that’s pretty cool), but it’s not done with love. If it doesn’t result in love. It’s a useless noise.
One day we will have drums on the worship team. I used to be a worship leader. I loved playing with drums. It changes everything. But with drums comes a cymbal called a China crash. It’s loud. And when you stand right next to it when the drum hits it - you literally lose hearing. It drowns out everything. You could be playing the best worship set of your life. it’s beautiful! But when that China crashes in your ear - all beautiful sound disappears. That’s what happens when your super cool spiritual gift is used without loved. All the good disappears, in the ears of God and of men.
You could have supernatural knowledge. You be the smartest theologian. Know everything about the Bible! Have all the answers! You could do miracles by faith! You could do a million good works - even sacrificing your life. But, if it’s done without love… it’s meaningless!
That’s because the purpose of spiritual gifts is for love to be poured out! Without it, you can’t perform! God’s designed it that way.
And let me clarify something about the term love. Because the world can throw a lot of definitions and descriptions about what that means. This is the kind of love Paul is talking about. This is what it looks like.
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
You may have heard this read at a wedding. That’s appropriate. But, its true purpose is so we understand how to use our spiritual gifts. That without this kind of love being present, the spiritual gifts don’t work correctly!
And let me challenge you to spend some time reading this passage on your own. Again, this isn’t normal love. This is supernatural love! In the church world, we may say this is “agape” - the greek word for this kind of love. This is God’s love. Which also means, we need God’s help to use it! We need God’s help for agape-love, the same way we need God’s power for spiritual gifts.
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God has purposed spiritual gifts to be used with love. They aren’t given for you to simply pursue your personal passions. It’s not so people can point at you and think, “Wow! They are so awesome!” That only results in low Kingdom performance.
We need to pursue purpose not passion. And the purpose of our spiritual gifts is for people to “Experience supernatural love and look to Jesus - the only Person who ever lived out this definition of love.”
Only Jesus is perfectly patient and kind. Jesus never boasted and wasn’t envious. He wasn’t arrogant or rude. He never insisted on His own way, wasn’t irritable, didn’t rejoice in wrong doing. He perfectly loved truth. He was completely given to perfect love. Because He is God. And God is love.
When we use our spiritual gifts for love, our lives and community are eternally changed.
Response:
Response:
Spiritual gifts are cool! They are important! They help us grow in our faith! And in many ways, it’s okay to be passionate about them because they’re part of who God is calling us to be! But in order for them to accomplish the good things God has planned, they have to be used with God’s purpose. They must be used in love.
As we close, I’d like for you to begin thinking and praying about 3 things:
What’s my spiritual gift?
And if you don’t know, that’s okay. As a church, we’re going to spend the next couple of months going through some of the spiritual gifts.
Does my spiritual gift result in God’s love growing and spreading?
And if you need a reminder of what that kind of love looks like, just reread 1 Cor. 13.
And I think this passage is important for all of us right now. Maybe we’d all benefit from picking one part of this definition and focusing on it.
We live in a world that has many definitions of love.
On social media, there are many voices telling us what “love” looks like right now.
And honestly, a lot of love doesn’t look like what Paul described. We see love that isn’t kind. Love that’s selfish. That doesn’t rejoice in God’s truth. Love that somehow rejoices in wrong doing (hate). Love that lacks perseverance, faith, and hope. And love that doesn’t point to Jesus.
Speaking of which, I can’t properly use my gift right now if I don’t love. And the greatest way I can love you is to point you to the greatest love: Jesus.
Jesus loves you so much.
He died on a cross so that you could enter into everlasting love.
And all He asks is for you to receive His love. To turn away from your sin (the thing that destroys love) and run into His perfect love.
If you need to do that today, His door is open and He is waiting.
Also, for all of us who are looking to use our spiritual gifts but the quarantine seems to be limiting that… again, be creative. Think outside the box. How can you love your neighbor? How can you bless them? How can they experience love from you in a way that points them to Jesus?
Maybe it’s praying for them.
Maybe it’s giving them a bottle of hand sanitizer.
Maybe they truly need help with groceries and supplies.
Ask God to reveal to you how you can best love them. And if you need help doing that, but don’t have the resources yourself, reach out to use. We’re not a big church with a ton of resources, but we can do something - especially if it allows people to experience the love of Jesus through our gifts. Let us know by filling out a Connect Card or a prayer request.
As we grow in Christ. As we spend time learning about these gifts, growing in them, getting passionate about them. Let’s not forget the purpose. The purpose of these gifts is love. Building each other up though them, like a healthy body, impacting our community - not through spectacular gifts where people point to us, but thru supernatural love that cause people to look to Jesus!
Let’s pray.