Gifted With Purpose (part 2) - 12:12-20
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Introduction
Introduction
Every Sunday people get up on the stage and share their ability and talent with Grace Church.
We don’t make any claim to be professional musicians, we are not the best band you will ever hear, however, what we do works to facilitate our worship of Christ through music and praise.
The reason what we do works is because all of us up here have embraced our role.
I play guitar and sing.
If I tried to play piano, auto-harp, saxophone, harmonica, or bongos, things would not go well.
We each have a role and function we have embraced and the result is the body of Christ here at Grace Church is able to worship and praise our God!
It would be ridiculous for me to say, well, because I’m not playing bongos, I’m not really part of the team.
It would be silly for Jess to say that since she isn’t playing the harmonica and singing at the same time, she isn’t part of the team.
We recognize these absurdities in music, yet we can miss them in regards to our spiritual gifting.
Our spiritual gifting works when we embrace our God-given role.
He has given the gift He wants us to have and to use in His service.
Purpose:
Our purpose this morning is to recognize that
Our Spiritual gifts are given for God’s glory and the church’s good.
Guidance:
This purpose comes with guidance.
To use our gifts for the glory of God and the good of the body, we need to embrace three realities.
Outcome:
This leads to an outcome.
As we embrace these realities we experience freedom, power, and effectiveness in the exercise of our gifts.
Three realities to embrace.
Reality #1…
1. Embrace Your Position vv. 12-14
1. Embrace Your Position vv. 12-14
VIDEO - 3:21
One of the joys of the Christian life is our new identity.
We are new creatures in Christ!
We have a new nature!
We are accepted and beloved and well pleasing in His sight!
We are holy.
This new identity is powerful.
Yet it must be embraced to be effective.
All of us have that voice inside that tells us we are worthless, that tells us we are rejected, unloved, and unlovable.
That voice is a lie from Satan and we must combat it with the truth of who Christ declares us to be.
We are redeemed, blood bought children of God.
When we embrace our new position, we are able to live boldly for Jesus Christ and be effective in His service.
We are all part of the body of Christ.
That is our position.
No matter what our gifting we belong to Him and He expects us to serve at His direction.
However, our position in the body of Christ, like our identity in Him, comes with some difficulties that seem like contradictions.
Paul mentions those in vv. 12-14.
Embracing our position in Christ means embracing three contradictions.
This is our position. We are a…
a. Solitary multitude v. 12
a. Solitary multitude v. 12
12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.
Illustration - physical body and spiritual body.
Many members, one body.
Our physical bodies are a single unit.
And yet.
That single unit is made up of many parts.
The idea of this word “members” is both our extremities, arms, legs, hands etc, and our internal parts.
All of these are necessary to make up a body, and yet it is still just one body.
Paul is shifting gears here to focus on the unity of the body in the midst of its diversity.
The body is diverse yet interdependent.
All the parts, all the members are necessary to have a fully functioning, healthy body.
No matter how many parts make up the whole, it is one unit.
There is unity in the diversity.
We are solitary, and yet a multitude.
So also is Christ.
Just like our physical bodies are made up of many parts, the body of Christ is as well.
This same point is made in Romans 12:4-5.
Romans 12:4-5
4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,
5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.
We are going to come back to the fact that we don’t all have the same function, that is an important statement.
For now, let’s focus on a couple other points.
We have many members, one body.
We are members of one another.
This means that what happens to one affects all!
Paul will stress this point more strongly later.
The other point we need to focus on is that we are part of the body of Christ.
We are His!
I love how Paul paints this contrast between our former position and what we now enjoy in Ephesians 2:11-13.
Ephesians 2:11-13
11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—
12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
We were without Christ, separated from Him, strangers who were hopeless and helpless!
But the blood of Christ has brought us near!
The mind-boggling reality is that we are brought near as individuals and yet we are made into a whole.
We must embrace our position as a solitary multitude.
Yes, self care is important, but so is body care.
Always bear in mind how your actions impact the rest of the body.
Here’s our lesson.
I am a part of larger whole.
Repeat - read aloud.
Our actions do not only affect us.
We are members of the body of Christ.
Three contradictions we must recognize as we embrace our position.
Contradiction #1: We are a solitary multitude.
Contradiction #2: We are a…
b. Diverse unity v. 13
b. Diverse unity v. 13
13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
The first part of this verse stresses our unity.
The only way to get into the body of Christ is through the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
This is not water baptism.
This is a work of the Holy Spirit by which He places us into the body of Christ.
Water baptism is where we make a public declaration of faith in and identification with Christ.
Spirit baptism is the Spiritual reality of our change in identity. It is the Spiritual identification with Christ.
We are placed into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit.
Thomas Constable writes that
Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible The body and its members 12:12–14
Every believer experiences Spirit baptism regardless of his or her race or social status. We are now on equal footing in the sense that we are all members of the body of Christ.
Many backgrounds, many ethnicities, many jobs, many social tiers, one body.
We are diverse. Jew, Gentiles, slave, free, yet we are unified because the Holy Spirit has placed us into the body of Christ.
Galatians 3:26-28
26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
More than that, the Holy Spirit has taken up residence within us!
That’s what is picture when Paul says that we have been made to drink into one Spirit.
We are in Christ and the Spirit is in us.
It doesn’t matter what your ethnicity is.
It doesn’t matter what your social status is.
You belong to Christ!
You are part of His body!
The Holy Spirit lives inside of you!
Though we are diverse, we are unified in this reality.
Here is our lesson
The Holy Spirit lives in me.
Repeat - read aloud.
This is the source of spiritual gifts.
This is the source of our unity.
Three contradictions we must recognize as we embrace our position.
Contradiction #1: We are a solitary multitude.
Contradiction #2: We are a diverse unity.
Contradiction #3: We are a…
c. Plural singular v. 14
c. Plural singular v. 14
14 For in fact the body is not one member but many.
There are times where Paul uses an interesting method of making a point.
In Latin it was called reductio ad absurdum.
It is a reduction to absurdity.
That’s what Paul is going to do in the next few verses and he sets it up here.
The body is not one member, but many.
Duh.
This is an absurd statement because of its simplicity.
Of course this is true!
Everyone knows that!
However, remember that Paul is using the physical body as an illustration of a spiritual reality.
Body singular, members plural.
We are one body but many members.
This point could actually be made even stronger.
You cannot have a body without many parts!
For the physical body to be alive and active, it must have a plurality of parts.
The body of Christ is no different.
For the body of Christ to be active and effective, it must have a plurality of parts.
It is when those parts work together that we accomplish God’s will and purpose.
Here’s our lesson
Every member of the body is vital.
Repeat - read aloud.
We need one another.
We are all part of the body of Christ.
Three realities to embrace.
Reality #1. Embrace your position.
Reality #2…
2. Embrace Your Purpose vv. 15-17
2. Embrace Your Purpose vv. 15-17
When you have voices or instruments working together to make music, it is imperative that each piece blend with the others.
This requires each instrument of person to embrace what they are.
For example:
I am a first tenor when I sing.
This means that I have a higher voice and can most comfortably sing certain notes.
When I embrace that, I can sing fairly well.
However, if I were to decide that I wanted to sing bass instead, things would not go well.
That is not how I was made!
That is not my purpose in singing!
One of the things we do here with our music is practice.
One of the reasons for that practice is so that Daryl can level out our voices and instruments to blend them better.
There needs to be balance for music to sound good.
When things get out of balance, it is obvious.
The body of Christ is like that.
When we embrace our purpose, when we function in the role God has given, things go well.
To function in balance as the body of Christ, every believer must do two things.
#1: Every believer must…
a. Put jealousy to death vv. 15-16
a. Put jealousy to death vv. 15-16
15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body?
16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body?
This is where Paul reduces his argument to absurdity.
The foot doesn’t get to decide whether or not it is part of the body.
Neither does the ear.
Let me ask a question.
Is your foot part of your body? What about your ear?
Here is the spiritual point Paul is making.
You and I do not determine our place in the body.
Notice what the foot and ear are saying.
I am not a hand. I am not an eye.
This is jealousy.
This is discontentment.
This is sin.
Sometimes we look at the gifts and talents others have and we want them!
A foot just gets stepped on all the time, I want to be a hand.
Spiritually speaking, a foot would be a support role.
We might be tempted to want a spiritual gift that “does something.”
Here’s the thing,
Without a foot to support it, the body is out of balance.
It cannot function effectively.
Every spiritual gift is necessary for the proper function of the Body of Christ!
Just because you or I don’t want the gift we were given doesn’t me we are not part of the body!
By the way, if we have a heart of discontentment, even getting what we want won’t satisfy us.
Here’s what I mean.
As human beings, part of our sin nature is to be discontent.
If you have thick hair, wish it was thin. If you have thin hair, you wish it was thick. If you have curly hair you wish it was strait. But all the straight haired people curl theirs.
We are discontent.
This becomes a matter of faith.
We have to trust that God has given us the perfect gift for who we are and who we will be.
If we constantly look to the green grass on the other side of the fence, we will one day get there and find that it is artificial turf.
Here are three passages that give us the important facts about contentment.
Philippians 4:11
11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:
Fact #1: Contentment must be learned.
We learn contentment when we have reasons to be discontent, but choose to trust God’s provision.
1 Timothy 6:8
8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.
Fact #2: Basic necessities are all we really need.
When we recognize the difference between needs and wants, contentment is easier.
Hebrews 13:5
5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Fact #3: Discontentment is covetousness in disguise.
The reality of discontentment is a desire for what others have been given.
Boiled down, Discontentment is a lack of faith in the sovereignty and provision of God!
It is a denial of His omniscience!
It is a denial of His authority!
It is a denial of His omnipotence!
God has given you and me the exact gift we are supposed to have!
Trust Him and be content with what He has given.
Feet, hands, ears, and eyes are all necessary.
We must not be jealous of the gift someone else has.
Here is our lesson
My gift is God’s best for me.
Repeat - read aloud.
We believe in a good God who gives good gifts to His children!
We believe in a God who works all things together for good!
His gifts are good and He will use them for His glory and our good.
To function in balance as the body of Christ, every believer must do two things.
#1: Every believer must put jealousy to death.
#2: Every believer must…
b. Put skills to use v. 17
b. Put skills to use v. 17
17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling?
While these questions seem silly from a physical standpoint, they raise a very important spiritual point.
If God made you and eye, He wants you to see!
If He made you an ear, He wants you to hear!
If He made you a nose, He wants you to smell!
If our body parts don’t function in the role they have been given, we miss the purpose they were designed for.
Eyes were made to see, ears to hear, noses to smell.
They were made to do these things because a healthy body needs all of these functions!
To have a body you need all of its parts.
To illustrate this, Paul paints a ridiculous picture.
A body that is just an eye.
No arms, no legs, no mouth, just an eyeball.
How useful would that be?
Or what about a big ear? No nose, or eyes, or anything else. Just an ear.
Would that be useful?
No!
We need all the parts.
More than that…
We need to fulfill the purpose for which we have been made.
Embrace your purpose.
Don’t be jealous of what others have.
Don’t spend all your time wishing you had a different gift!
Here’s our lesson
My gift was given to be used.
Repeat - read aloud.
Start serving. Start using the gift you have.
Three realities to embrace.
Reality #1. Embrace your position.
Reality #2. Embrace your purpose.
Reality #3…
3. Embrace Your Placement vv. 18-20
3. Embrace Your Placement vv. 18-20
There were several years in High School where I played soccer.
I normally played in the defense position.
One of the things that is important about soccer is staying in your spot.
Here is a soccer layout.
Defenders - Mid-fielders, Forwards.
When you watch older players and professionals, they stay in their zone.
When you watch kids play, they all run to the ball.
If you don’t stay in your position, it is easier for the other team to score a goal.
When a player refuses to stay in their placement, they jeopardize the whole team!
They leave their teammates vulnerable and can lead to the game being lost.
As members of the body of Christ, we have been placed in specific positions.
When we stay in our zone, we are effective and the body of Christ is able to function well.
When we reject our placement, we make the entire body vulnerable.
Someone has to cover our spot.
More than that, the enemy has a weakness to exploit.
We must embrace our placement to use our gifts effectively.
Embracing our placement requires us to make three choices.
Choice #1…
a. We must submit v. 18
a. We must submit v. 18
18 But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased.
God set you.
Has set – τίθημι (tithēmi) put; place; lay. to appoint (duty) v. — to assign a duty, responsibility or obligation to someone. Finite verb, aorist, middle, indicative, third person, singular.
Has set – τίθημι (tithēmi)
As members of the body, God has set us where we are.
This means He intentionally placed you.
He placed you exactly where He wanted you, placed you where He pleased.
The idea of the phrase “each one of them” is that God took us individually and placed us exactly where He wanted us to be.
He has assigned to us a duty and responsibility in the form of our gift.
Our spiritual gifts are a blessing.
However, they are also something to be stewarded.
What I mean is this.
We have a responsibility to use our gifts in the body of Christ for the glory of God.
God has gifted and placed you and me where He pleased.
This means that God is pleased with the gifts, talents, and abilities He has given.
Your gift was not given to be a burden. It is a gift!
It is a blessing and a joy when we use our gifts for Christ.
God has placed us for His pleasure.
We are to submit to Him and faithfully serve where He has placed us.
Submission is a choice.
We choose to place ourselves under the Lord’s control because He is in charge.
Here is our lesson
I cannot serve if I do not submit.
Repeat - read aloud.
If I rebel against my placement, I will not be a useful tool.
Instead I make my brothers and sister vulnerable and give the enemy an opening through which to attack.
Embracing our placement requires us to make three choices.
Choice #1: We must submit.
Choice #2…
b. We must trust v. 19
b. We must trust v. 19
19 And if they were all one member, where would the body be?
God placed us where He wanted and gave us the gifts He wanted us to have.
Everything about our Spiritual gifts is for God’s glory and our good.
The bottom line is that we must trust Him.
We trust His sovereignty and His goodness.
God knows what He is doing!
God made you perfectly suited to the position you have been given in the body of Christ.
If He didn’t, there would be no body of Christ.
If a body has all identical parts, it will not be able to function.
In fact, there would be no body.
Do we trust our God?
That is the question.
Do we believe that He is sovereign?
That He is powerful enough to gift us according to His plan and purpose?
Embracing our placement within the body of Christ means trusting the one who placed us.
Here is our lesson
My gift is useless if I do not trust the giver.
Repeat - read aloud.
God has given our gifts.
Who is God?
He is the all-powerful, all-knowing, never-changing Lord of the universe!
His plans for us are good.
His desires for us are good.
He wants to use us for His glory.
He wants to use our gifts in His unfolding plan.
All of that requires that we trust Him!
Embracing our placement requires us to make three choices.
Choice #1: We must submit.
Choice #2: We must trust.
Choice #3…
c. We must function v. 20
c. We must function v. 20
20 But now indeed there are many members, yet one body.
There is only one body.
That body needs various parts in order to function well.
God placed you exactly where you were needed to effect the most good for His glory and purpose.
Don’t lust after a different gift!
Submit to Christ and serve where He has placed you.
Whether you are an eye, a hand, a foot, or an ear, function as God has designed.
This is where freedom is found, embracing your God-given role.
This is where power is found. Using your gift to the best of your ability.
This is where we are most effective, when we serve with the gift God has given as He has designed.
There are many members, there is one body, we must function in the role we have been given within that body.
Here’s our lesson
My gift is only effective when it is used.
Repeat - read aloud.
We cannot be effective for Christ if we are not using our gifts.
We will not make an impact for our Savior, we will not make a difference in this world, unless we are serving where we have been placed.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Looking back over our passage this morning we find an important truth.
This is the only way we are going to be able to use our spiritual gifts.
Our spiritual gifts have been given to us for the good of the body and the glory of God.
Only as we embrace the role God has given us will we have freedom, power, and effectiveness.
What is it that we need to embrace?
We must embrace our position.
Though many, we are one.
No matter our social status or ethnicity, we are one in Christ.
We are His body.
We must embrace our purpose.
God made us an eye, hand, or ear.
He gave us the gift He wanted us to have and He expects us to use our gifts in His service.
We must embrace our placement.
God placed us where He wanted us with the gifts He wanted us to have.
We are to submit to His placement, trust His sovereignty, and do what He has gifted us to do.
Let’s talk application for a minute.
Personal:
All of us desire significance and purpose. A proper understanding of Spiritual gifts meets those desires. We find significance when we realize we are a vital part of the body of Christ! We find purpose when we realize that we have been intentionally gifted by a Sovereign creator for His glory and purpose! Embrace God’s design and we will be effective servants of Christ. I will embrace my God-given role and function within the body of Christ.
Relationships:
Just as we are vital in parts of the body of Christ, so are our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are to do our part so that they can do there’s. We fill our role so that they don’t have to. We don’t want others to be forced to cover the position God called us to. I will help others serve where God has placed them.
Parenting:
What will encourage children to serve the Lord is having parents who are serving. This means we need to know what our gifts are and use them for Christ. This also means we help our children identify how God has placed them in the body of Christ. I will use my gift and help my children learn theirs.
Marriage:
Your marriage is part of your placement by God. No matter how you got where you are, it is now God’s will for you to be married to your spouse. God has you where you are to serve Him. As we serve our spouses, we serve Christ. Show your spouse what it means to be a follower of Jesus using Spiritual gifts for the glory of God. I will serve Christ in and through my marriage.
COMMITMENT:
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The unity of the body of Christ demands submission to the gifting of the Holy Spirit.
Will we submit?
Effectiveness is only experienced when we embrace our placement and serve.
Have we embraced where God has placed us?
Are we serving?
God has a reason plan and purpose for the gifts He has given.
Do we believe that?
Do we trust His sovereignty?
May we all use our gifts for the glory of God and the good of the body.