Sermon Tone Analysis

Please turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Peter 4:10.

As you turn there, I’d like to read you a short story.

You may have heard this before, but I think it fits well with the concept of serving - which is our task for today, that is to work through the Spiritual Discipline of Service.

This the story of four people.

The characters are named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.

The story is not original to me, and is entitled “Whose Job Is It, Anyway?”

There once was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.

Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.

Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job.

Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it.

It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have.

That story may be somewhat confusing to follow, but the message is very clear: no one took responsibility so nothing got accomplished.

How often is that the case in a church, when every person is gifted, yet the need for volunteers continues?

Here at MBC we are blessed to have a great group of folks who, when push comes to shove, show up and get the job done.

That being said, how much better would it be if we were better inclined to serve for the purpose of godliness?

That’s the focus for today, so over the time we have remaining, we want to look at the biblical basis for serving, then we will uncover some practical ways to apply what Scripture commands.

Look with me to 1 Peter.

** CHANGE SLIDE **

Before we unpack that verse; for context, we must remember that Peter was writing to scattered Christians in his first epistle.

These early brothers and sisters in Christ were beginning to face intense persecution and Peter was writing to give them hope, encouragement, and instructions.

In the larger passage that runs from chapter 2 through chapter 4:11, Peter is dealing with the concept of living as aliens in a hostile world, while also teaching them to respond properly to mistreatment.

In the shorter passage of 1 Peter 4:7-11, Peter is using the reality of living in the end times as motivation for the believer to be serving for the purpose of godliness.

Knowing that Christ’s return is imminent, does not mean that we drop everything and look up to the sky waiting for the clouds to part, but rather we get more focused and serve even more devotedly, knowing that the time is short and there is much work to be done before He returns.

Serving for the purpose of Godliness is not a means to grace, but rather serving is a response to the grace we’ve been given.

Because of what Christ has done for us, we serve Him by serving others.

This requires love - Genuine love.

The apostle John tells us that we are able to love because God first loved us, and serving others is a byproduct of that love, not a means to earning it.

Regarding genuine biblical love, Voddie Bauchum, in the book “Family Driven Faith” gives what he calls the biblical definition of Love, saying: “Love is an act of the will accompanied by emotion that leads to action on behalf of its object.”

(Baucham, Family Driven Faith, p. 57)

It is an act of the will.

Meaning it is a choice that we make.

We determine whether or not we are going to love someone.

Taking that a step further, we choose how were are going to love someone.

As stewards of God’s grace, we must be responsible with the love we’ve been given, and we must serve others, through love, for the purpose of godliness.

God has blessed us with the skills, talents, or abilities needed to do just that.

Look with me again at the key passage for today, 1 Peter 4:10 “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:”

The first thing we find in this verse is that:

**CHANGE SLIDE**

1.

Every believer has received a gift.

Peter makes it clear, in the context of the passage, that all believers have received a gift.

When he says gift here, he’s not talking about a present, but rather a supernatural ability that’s been granted to you by the Holy Spirit.

The Apostle Paul shares some of these spiritual gifts in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4. Peter makes it simple and divides the gifts, without naming them, into speaking and serving gifts.

I would submit that both lead to serving, as preaching and teaching gifts provide spiritual nourishment for the believer, while serving gifts can provide more tangible help for the recipient.

That being said, before he divides the gifts in verse 11, Peter simply says, use the gift for serving others.

Application:

Before we get unpack the second part of the verse, I want to ask you, do you know what your gifts are?

Have you taken some time to think through what the Spirit might have enabled you to do in service to His kingdom?

Listen to Paul’s words to the Romans:

** CHANGE SLIDE **

1.

Every believer has received a gift.

That passage in Romans is not his longest list of gifts, but there Paul is saying that every believer needs to know where they fit within the body.

Not every person can be the eyes, or the ears, or the tongue, and I think you get the point.

Just as not every part in a human body can be the hands, neither can every member in the church serve the same function.

God has dispersed the gifts by giving them out differently according to the grace that he’s given us.

If you don’t know, or don’t at least have an idea of what your gift could be, it’s time to find out.

** CHANGE SLIDE **

There are various assessments available to you.

In fact, I’m going to challenge you today that if you don’t know what your gifts are, that you set aside some time this week to call or email me.

I will get an assessment, like this one on the screen, for you and I will walk through it with you.

If we’re going to use our gifts, we must, first, know what they are.

So I strongly urge you, if you don’t know what your spiritual gifts are, take some time to find out.

You’ll be glad you did, trust me.

** CHANGE SLIDE **

2. Believers should use their gifts as servants of one another.

Now we get to that second part of verse 10.

We are to use our gifts as servants of one another.

In one of the songs we sang together today, the lyrics actually make up a prayer where we ask God to give us clean hands and pure hearts.

We ask the Spirit to make us humble.

This is what Peter was getting at.

By saying that we are to serve one another, he was appealing to the great commandment, to love God with all our hearts, souls, and minds and loving our neighbor as ourselves.

If we truly love our neighbor, we will serve them and strive to meet their needs, using the talents and gifts God has given us.

Humility and servant-mindedness are what we see in the greatest example of selfless service that we have: Christ, Himself.

Paul tells us about the mind of Christ in Philippians 2:5-11.

Christ humbled Himself and took on the form of a servant, then was obedient - even to the point of death.

Paul tells us to let that level of humility be our mindset as well.

One commentator shares the following insight into having the attitude of a servant:

An Attitude of a Servant

What [Jesus was instilling] in his disciples was the attitude of a servant: humility and a willingness to put others ahead of oneself.

In that culture, washing the feet of others would symbolize such an attitude.

But in another culture, some other act might more appropriately convey the same truth.

Because we find humility taught elsewhere in Scripture without mention of foot-washing (Matt.20:27,

23:10-12; Phil.2:3), we conclude that the attitude of humility, not [simply] the particular act of footwashing as such, is the permanent component in Christ’s teaching.

Millard Erickson, Christian Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998), p.131.

If we are to truly serve others for the purpose of godliness, then we need to have the mindset exemplified in Christ - Humility and a willingness to put others ahead of ourselves.

Author Chris Stroup tells us:

Illustration:

When Pearl Harbor was bombed, one of the Americans who volunteered to serve his country was Bob Feller.

Bob was a 23-year-old pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, a phenomenon who had already pitched a no-hitter and won 107 games in the Major Leagues.

Bob was reaching his peak years as an athlete, but he gave up those years to shoot down planes in the Pacific.

When he returned to baseball after serving his country, Bob went on to throw three no-hitters, 12 one-hitters, and win 266 games.

But his years of military service—during which he could have won another 80-100 games—cost Bob much of the fame he deserved.

When baseball fans elected the All-Century Team in 1999, Bob and his 266 victories were ignored in favor of two other pitchers.

Some suggest Feller may be the most underrated baseball player of all time.

Feller was once asked if he regretted his wartime service.

“No,” he said, “I’ve made many mistakes in my life.

That wasn’t one of them.”

Submitted by Chris Stroup, Based on “Overrated, Underrated,” American Heritage (September 2001) and the Bob Feller Museum website; submitted by Kevin A. Miller, Vice President, Christianity Today International

Bob Feller understood that the needs of the nation were more important than the desire for personal fame and glory.

What about you?

Are the needs of this body more or less important to you than your own interests or desires?