Success? Others

HBI - We are to remain in solidarity with one another through Love, serving and submitting to one another thinking of others as better then ourselves no matter what they do to us.

…to see God’s heavenly will being done through love, service, discipleship,and submission.

Biblical submission fosters right relationship with God and spouse and others.  In the Ephesians passage, Paul uses marriage to illustrate the perfect eternal submission of the Three Persons of the Trinity. “This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church” (Ephesians 5:32).

What would it look like if we where all looking out for the interest of others before ourselves. If every church in the world would look out for the interest of their brother and sister rather then themselves. We have all likely been taught the golden rule from a young age whether we grew up going to church or not. Being told “DO unto others as you would have them do unto you.” But have we done that? what does this look like? The next part of our vision statement talks about love, service, discipleship and submission. Some of these words sound a little better then others.

I remember when I was in High school, after all it was not that long ago. I was almost as tall as I am now and for some reason I was picked on a lot. Maybe it was because I never did anything about it. I even had a classmate who was under 5 feet tall and He would pick on me. There was one guy in particular who was always trying to get me to fight Him, but I never would. I was too nice of a guy I guess. One day I had enough, this guy was bugging me again so I grabbed him by the collar and pinned him up against the lockers and told him to back off. this was not one of my finer moments. Though he stopped bugging me for a while I did not show him the love that I was supposed to. They knew that I was a christian, or at least supposed to be.

But the question remains, how do we serve others? How can we band together in love and consider others better then our selves? what does it mean to submit to one another? This is what we say we would like to become but how do we do it? Our vision statement says that we want to

…to see God’s heavenly will being done through love, service, discipleship,and submission.

but what does it look like? I want to look into 1 Peter to get a glimpse into what this looks like.

vs 7 - Be prepared, why we are to think of others

we start with a few steps of what it takes and why we should serve and submit to our brothers and sisters in Christ, or to think of others as better then ourselves first. We start out with a reminder in 1 Peter 4:7

1 Peter 4:7 (CSB)

The end of all things is near; therefore, be alert and sober-minded for prayer.

what this is telling us seems fairly obvious and people have been saying it for years. “The day of the Lord is at hand” Jesus is coming soon so we need to be prepared. What is going to be said next is of vital importance because we are not going to be around for ever. Beware how you live. You see these are all the same way of saying that the end is near so we need to live accordingly.

the way we are to live accordingly all points to the fact that we are to have a proper view of ourselves and those around us. It goes back to the idea that we are to think of others before ourselves and this starts with having a proper view of God in our lives. “God must increase and I must decrease” is another good way of seeing this.

We start out by reading that we are to be sober minded. I did some searching into the Greek word behind this. essentially it means that we are to keep sane. Seems easy enough right? It brings back to memory the times I have gotten frustrated with my kids and have told them to use the brain the Lord put in their heads. Side note this never works and Malachi even told me once that he couldn't because it runned out. So we need to keep sane, be clear minded, focus our thoughts on the Lord. so we can remember to approach the Lord the way that we should.

we are to do this as we approach the Lord on our knees in Prayer so we can submit to God and be able to see things from a Godly perspective. so in recap, to think of others first, to serve others means that we need to use the brain the good Lord put in our heads, be clear minded and come before the Lord in prayer so you can gain the proper perspective on ourselves.

vs 8-9 - Love Others

turning to the Lord in prayer and having proper fellowship with Him puts us into the right frame of mind to be able to take the next step, 1 Peter 4:8

1 Peter 4:8 (CSB)

Above all, maintain constant love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Love one another another step that seems easy enough until you actually have to love someone that tends to be very annoying, or someone that you do not like very much. I remember being told growing up that I may not like my siblings at times but I need to love them. This is not meant to put loving others above prayer and submitting to the Lord but rather to show the importance of it in thinking of others as better then ourselves.

why are we to love others as we live our lives? the reason given that we are to love others is quoted from Proverbs 10:12

Proverbs 10:12 (CSB)

Hatred stirs up conflicts, but love covers all offenses.

Unity and care for others is not seen as an option here, it is not saying that if we feel like it we are to consider others as better then ourselves but rather that it is a command from God. The problem that we run into is that people make mistakes and wrong us or offend us in some way. It happens all of the time.

People in the church sometimes make mistakes or get caught up in the wrong thing. Christians fight together over some wrong paid to them and the church splits as people leave in anger. Sometimes church discipline is warranted, don't get me wrong, sometimes we need to let others go the bible is clear on that. but what this is saying is that by loving others, as we learned a few weeks ago, we can forgive others what they have done to us.

you can cross reference this to 1 Cor 13:7 “It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” Love can endure a lot. I look at the tragic Humboldt Broncos crash. there where Christian families involved that lost loved ones. The parents of some of those kids who believed in God came out and said they loved and forgave the driver of that Semi. imagine that, I do not think they would have been able to do this through their own strength or even any love that they might have on their own but rather through the love of Jesus in them they where able to forgive the wrongs done to them and love the one wronged them.

Love covers a multitude of sins we are told. To serve others and think of others first they will wrong us and offend us at some point in our lives and unless we live in the love of God and learn to love and forgive others no matter what they do then we will live our lives angry and bitter and that is not what God meant for us.

Vs 10-11 - serve others.

Use the brain the good Lord gave us and live as if Jesus is coming back we are told. Approach Him in pray with a clear mind so then we can learn to love others in spite of what they do to us. Then we can see what it means to serve others as we have been told to by God. Now after we have been told how to start serving others we are given practical steps as to what serving others looks like. 1 Peter 4:10

1 Peter 4:10 (CSB)

Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve others, as good stewards of the varied grace of God.

You see, our lives are not our own, they where bought with a price and we need to use our lives for others. The example we learned that we where given was Jesus who died on the cross for our sins. Jesus who did not consider equality with God as something to be used for his own advantage but rather emptied Himself by taking on the form of a servant to die for sin so we may be set free. The son of God, God in the flesh showed us truly what it means to serve others. He did this so that we could be presented spotless and without blemish at the end of days. More on this a bit later.

But bearing this in mind we need to remember that we each have been given gifts by the Holy Spirit, whatever these gifts may be whether it service or hospitality, or tongues or healing. the gifts of the spirit are another thing we will get into another day, but whatever it is the Lord has gifted us with they are not our own gifts.

The gifts we have been given have been entrusted to us to be used for the glory of God for the furthering of His kingdom. and according to this if our gifts are kept to ourselves and never let out to see the light of day then what good are they? we are not here to sit and do nothing. I encourage you to keep using the gifts we have been given to serve God and serve those around us to help them do the same. Serve your brothers and sisters in Christ by using the gifts that we have been given to build them up, encourage them and love them. Use the gifts we have been given to grow the K of G

The word stewards is used here. That is the gifts of the spirit that we have been given are all given to us by God. That is what this means. We have been entrusted with them and expected to use them not hide them for ourselves.

you see the grace of God manifests itself in different ways in our lives. God’s glory is to be the number 1 reason why we do what we do. And in order for God to be glorified in our lives we need to use what we have been given for God. 1 Peter 4:11

1 Peter 4:11 (CSB)

If anyone speaks, let it be as one who speaks God’s words; if anyone serves, let it be from the strength God provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

if anyone speaks and if anyone serves. This is referencing back to the gifts of the spirit. If anyone speaks references the whole range of speaking gifts that are given b the spirit. It is the same way with the phrase if anyone serves. Referencing back to all the gifts of the spirit that we have been given, if anyone has a speaking gift or a serving gift, so that is basically all of them then this is how they are to be used.

all the gifts that we use to serve others need to come from the strength that God provides. when God is glorified in such a way when we serve God in such a way as this, imagine what that would look like. Imagine the change it can make in people lives.

SO What?

imagine what it would look like if we all served each other, used the gifts God has given us for his glory, submitted to each other for the glory of God. What a wonderful place it would be if we all pulled together in this direction. Some things we need to remember as we do this though.

first we need to put our lives in perspective and live our lives as if Jesus where coming back today.

keep clear minded, which if you did not know means the opposite of being drunk. Keep sane and use the brain that the good lord put in your head. Keep a Godly perspective as we go through life for none of this is going to be possible unless we live with eternity in mind keeping focused on the Lord.

Second the only way to serve Christians that have wronged us is by loving them with the love that was shown us through Jesus.

you cant learn to think of others before yourself, you cant learn to serve and to submit to others as Jesus did when He gave up His divinity for our sin unless you love others like that. Or at least strive to. People will fail you, they will hurt you and offend you but the love that lives through us in Jesus does not care for the sins committed against us but strives to love and forgive.

lastly, any gifts that have been given to you come from the strength of God and need to be used for the Glory of God.

If God has given you the ability to do something, we need to use that gift to glorify God through helping and serving others. they are not to be kept hidden as we sit here in our chairs but used for the furthering of the kingdom f the Lord.

and imagine what it would look like if we where successful in the mission God has called us to? if we all seeked to fulfill the will of God in this place through serving and submitting to others in love so that God may be glorified and the K of G would grow?