Archive for January, 2007

Diakonia = Ministry = Service

Blake Heffner January 21st, 2007

“Diakonia = Ministry = Service” 1/21/07

Texts: Ephesians 4:11-16 Matthew 20:24-28

Consistory has chosen a threefold theme for this year: “Ministry, Mission and Music.” This message is the first of three in which we will begin to explore the themes that will be our goals all year.

Our two scripture lessons underline the significance of ministry or service. It is in Jesus’ mind the most critical mark of a disciple. “If you want to be great [in the Kingdom of God], you must be the servant of [others]; and whoever wants to be first, must be the slave of all the rest - like the Son of Man, who did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life to redeem many people.” You may never preach like Billy Graham or care for the poor and dying like Mother Teresa of Calcutta; you may never be called upon to lead a reformation like Martin Luther or Martin Luther King, Jr. Yet, if you will be a servant to those around you – after the pattern of your Lord – you will be “outstanding” in the Kingdom of God. Amazing!

Then Paul zooms in on service as the goal of all the Church’s ministry. Think about all the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are poured out upon people for one distinct purpose: “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ.” Paul is serious: all the positions of leadership in the church – like apostleship and evangelism, preaching and teaching – all of these have one purpose: to equip “you” for the work of ministry and service, to build up the body of Christ!

There is a common thread running through both texts of scripture; that is the Greek word, diakonos - which is the root of our word deacon. It means “servant or minister.” The surest way for each of us to make a difference in the kingdom of God lies in simply and genuinely serve others, like Jesus did. Period.

Some churches have a neat way of stating this. In their weekly bulletins they list the staff: “So and so is the Senior Pastor; so and so is Pastor of Visitation; so and so is Youth Pastor. Right on down through the music ministry and administrative staff.” Then, on the bottom line it reads: “Ministers - every member of this congregation.” That’s it! The work of ministry or service is for all the saints – for each and every one of us. And we who are in the “professional” part of the church’s leadership are only here to “equip the saints for the real work of ministry and service.” Until we grasp this wholeheartedly, we will never live up to God’s design for St. John’s Church. Ministry is not mainly about things done in this building on Sunday mornings. It’s about what we do during the rest of the week!

So, let’s explore some basic aspects of diakonia, or biblical servanthood. Basically, if you think about what it takes to be a good waiter in a restaurant, you have an excellent understanding of the term diakonos. It literally means “one who executes the commands of another; especially an attendant, servant, minister.” We’ve all had good and bad service in restaurants.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his superb little book Life Together, says before we can begin to serve others, we have to master two things: The Ministry of Holding One’s Tongue and The Ministry of Meekness. Interesting pair, wouldn’t you agree?

What in the world does holding one’s tongue have to do with service. Well, I had only to think about this for a couple minutes to realize that when I come upon someone at our house in a fix, my first temptation is to criticize them for getting there. “What are you doing? What were you thinking? Didn’t I tell you to do it differently?” Bonhoeffer hit me right between the eyes. If we are to serve others, we must begin quietly – without pre-judging the situation, without putting the other person down or making them feel inadequate. A servant, as we shall soon see, begins by getting down on the level of the person in need and understanding that – but by the grace of God – it could just as well have been me. Paul describes the verbal approach of a servant: “Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed so that what you say will do good to those who hear you.”

Secondly, according to Bonhoeffer, learning to serve requires us to cultivate a humble attitude toward others. Yesterday, Michele Lentz came to the Mens Breakfast and told us all about the trip to an orphanage in the Dominican Republic that she and Alison visited over Christmas vacation. “Orphanage Outreach” has ten principles for its volunteers. I was especially intrigued by the one that states: “Serve, don’t help!” We didn’t get to pursue the meaning of this at length, but I guess this relates to Bonhoeffer’s point. In helping someone, we sort of reach down, from a position of superiority; in serving, we come down and identify with the other person. In helping, we basically call the shots. We determine what we want to do and how. In serving, we submit ourselves to the other person, asking what they would like us to do. I believe this is the attitude of meekness that Bonhoeffer considers so vital. The apostle Paul lays this our plainly: “Do not think of yourself more highly than you should. Instead, be modest in your thinking.” And, “don’t do anything from selfish ambition or from a cheap desire to boast, but be humble toward one another, always considering others better than yourselves.”

If we have those two prerequisites down. We are ready to begin serving. Among the best pictures of servanthood is the one that Jesus gave us in that remarkable story of the Good Samaritan. We can distill at least three main elements: A,B & C.

A. Be Attentive

This story begins with the priest and the Levite arriving on the scene. They clearly notice the man lying by the road, but avoid any contact with him. We can entertain all kinds of reasons why they might’ve kept on going. If the man were actually dead, touching him would have made them unclean and unfit to perform their rituals in the Temple.

Let’s give them credit for at least noticing the poor victim. Today, we are so pre-occupied with our busy agendas that we can completely miss the fact that someone who works in the next cubicle is hurting, or someone studying across the table in the library is anxious or afraid, or someone who lives in our neighborhood is having financial trouble.

It’s so easy. Even waiters are sometimes too busy to notice that we need more water, or we are ready for dessert. Remember the old saying about crossing the street: “stop, look and listen.” That’s the way to be attentive to those around us. In order to serve someone effectively, we regualrly need to stop what we’re doing, see the people around us as our brothers or sisters, and then take the time to listen to their story.

B. Bear One Another’s Burdens

The priest and the Levite no doubt regarded their own concerns as more pressing than those of the wounded man on the side of the road. How easy it is for us to rationalize in the same way. We justify ignoring the plight of others by bearing down harder on whatever we happen to be doing. Am I right?

The Samaritan probably had important business to attend to as well. But, he not only noticed the victim, he stopped in his tracks and was ready to reach out to than man. The scandalous part of this story is that he was a Samaritan, someone despised by the Jews. Ordinarily, a Jewish man would not even speak to such a person, much less touch him. An analogy for us might be an illegal alien who doesn’t speak English. If the tables were turned, we might not feel comfortable interacting with him. Yet, this Samaritan is not shackled by social conventions. He kneels down to take this man’s burden into his own hands. Friends, don’t let social distinctions blind you to the desperate needs of people right you. Paul says, that if we bear one another’s burdens, we will fulfill the law of Christ!

C. Be Compassionate

Jesus says, “when [the Samaritan] saw him, his heart was filled with pity – or compassion.” The Greek word means he was moved viscerally – from his bowels – to help that man. The English word “compassion” means literally “suffering with.” He went over to victim and poured oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them, possibly with material from his own clothing. He put that man on his own animal and took him to an inn.

In today’s world, the Samaritan could simply take out his cell phone and dial 911. Just reporting the crime might seem to be enough. But no, the original servant was willing to get his hands dirty, use his own valuable oil and wine and means of transportation.

Friends, Jesus doesn’t sugarcoat this. If we serve others, it will cost us something, maybe even dearly. Can you imagine this gesture? In a time before health insurance, the Samaritan offers money to the innkeeper and then promises to come back and pay whatever else the innkeeper spends on his care. That’s carte blanche!

But, my friends, isn’t that precisely the way Jesus loves us. He paid the whole price for our deliverance and healing. There is nothing left for us to pay. If we want to follow Jesus as servants, we will have to spend something significant of our time, our talents and our treasures. Elsewhere Jesus talks about heavenly rewards for good deeds, but not here. Jesus gives us the impression that the real value of serving is found in the serving itself. It allows us to participate in God’s awesome love in a tangible way. There is no way to reckon the joy and peace that accompanies such service.

Now, when we talk about “Ministry” here at St. John’s, it would be so easy to mention a dozen ways for you to serve the church as an organization. I purposely avoided this today, because I am convinced that our most important ministry is not supposed to happen within these walls. It happens when we reach out to our neighbors, our co-workers, to members of our community and especially strangers. It happens when we stop, look and listen, when we are ready to bear another’s burdens with compassion and love. Jesus said, “If we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all [our basic needs] shall be ours as well.” When we become the servants that God intends us to be, all the jobs around here will be taken care of. Let’s dedicate ourselves in 2007 to excelling in “ the work of ministry”!

Prayer…

Something More

Blake Heffner January 13th, 2007

“Something More” 1/13/07

Texts: Matthew 11:2-6 I Thessalonians 1:2-5

“We brought the Good News to you, not with words only, but also with power and the Holy Spirit, and with complete conviction of its truth.” This is how Paul begins his first letter to the church in Thessalonica. This letter is regarded as the oldest piece of Christian literature we have, written some twenty years or so before the first gospel (Mark). This letter is remarkable for many things. We will focus on just one this morning – the fact that Paul’s message was delivered to them “not with words only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit.” It was not simply on oral message; it was also visual and experiential. It had to be in Macedonia, where people worshiped many gods, and the God of Abraham and Moses was relatively unknown, except among the Jews living there. For Paul to win people to faith they needed to see the power of God demonstrated before their eyes.

Isn’t this basically how Jesus answered the disciples of John? John was in prison, and his followers must have been very distraught. So, John sent them to Jesus (as the youth say today) “to scope him out” - to discover for themselves whether Jesus is the Messiah, the Anointed One, who has come to save the world. So they approach Jesus with the sixty-four thousand dollar question: “Tell us, are you the one John said was going to come, or should we expect someone else?” Were they somewhat skeptical? Were they discouraged? We don’t know, but Jesus realized right away that merely telling them the truth would likely not convince them. They needed to see it for themselves. So, he answers: “Go back and tell John what you are hearing and seeing: the blind can see, the lame can walk, the lepers are being made clean, the deaf hear, [even] the dead have been brought back to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor. How happy are those who have no doubts about me!” Do you think they were convinced? Matthew gives us the impression that they are indeed.

1. Pastor Kiran and the Situation in India

Last spring, Pastor Kiran Pagarey of India came to St. John’s and told us about missionary efforts in his native land. It is virtually the same there today, as it was for Paul in Macedonia. The Hindus have 330,000 gods. They are a very religious people. So, if one is to make any impression upon them regarding Jesus Christ, one has to do more than talk about the good news. People need to see the truth of the gospel demonstrated in the power of Holy Spirit.

Kiran tell the story of preaching in a hostile village. He was only 20 years old. The folks from the neighborhood brought a woman to him who had a flow of blood for days on end. Kiran was afraid. He knew the story of the woman who was healed of that kind of malady by reaching out and touching the hem of Jesus’ garment. But, just telling the story to these people would not suffice. They wanted to see what his God could do for this woman. Kiran prayed earnestly – with great fear and trembling. He didn’t even wait around for the results. After the prayer, he got on his bike and headed for home. Along the road, that same woman met him with some vegetables just picked in the fields – to say thank you. Kiran was so beside himself he didn’t even recognize her. Only later, was he told that she was healed completely that day. And because there were so many eye witnesses, folks in that village began to believe in Jesus Christ.

2. Our Situation

We live a totally different cultural context. Just about everyone in this country has heard about Jesus from early childhood. Almost everyone knows the basic elements of his story – that he was born in Bethlehem, died on Good Friday, and was resurrected on Easter. The story is so familiar there’s nothing “new” for most folks. What seems to be lacking is what Paul brought to Thessalonica: a powerful demonstration of the good news through the Holy Spirit. Do you agree? It’s one thing to have heard that Jesus healed a blind man named Bartimaeus; it’s another to have seen that healing with your own eyes. It’s one thing to have heard that Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter from her deathbed; it’s quite another to have witnessed a resurrection firsthand.

But that, my friends, is precisely what people in our culture need – they need to see the gospel demonstrated before their eyes, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Maybe you do too!

3. Something More!

More than thirty years ago, Catherine Marshall wrote a book about this very thing, called Something More. In this book, she describes how the Holy Spirit is very much still at work in our world doing the same things that we read about on the pages of the New Testament. In story after story, Mrs. Marshall demonstrates how the Holy Spirit is doing miraculous things in our day – before our very eyes. The Spirit is still restoring sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, cleansing lepers and raising the dead. This book made a huge impression on me, at a very impressionable time in my spiritual journey.

The challenge that lies before us this year is to become a people that are not just talk. Talk is cheap, as they say. We need to bring “something more” to the table: the conviction of those who have witnessed the power of the gospel in the Holy Spirit. Otherwise, how will our relatives and neighbors ever take Christ seriously - unless they see his Spirit at work in our lives?

* How will they take seriously Jesus’ words about loving one’s enemies, unless they see that awesome love in our words and deeds? After all, Jesus said, even the pagans love those who love them. Our love must have that “something more” to be taken seriously.

* How can we suggest that someone trust Jesus to guide them through a difficult time, unless (like the psalmist) we can recount how we sought the Lord and he answered our prayer and delivered us from confusion?

* How can we encourage folks to trust God with their finances, and give generously, unless we have seen firsthand how you can’t out-give God? Can you and I testify that “giving by faith is an essential part of living by faith”?

* How can we begin to talk about the Holy Spirit’s power, until we have seen it at work healing our diseases?

This year we will hear a lot about three words: Ministry, Mission and Music. But before we can get excited about such words, we had better get excited about Jesus Christ and serious about the power of his Holy Spirit in our lives. That wasn’t reserved for a few disciples of John the Baptist – it’s essential for every disciple in every generation. Healing was not just for a blind man named Bartimaeus, but for everyone who cannot see the Kingdom of God in our midst. Resurrection was not reserved for Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus; new life, new perspective is meant for every child of God – from the youngest, like little Madilynn Mae Andrew, to the oldest among us. I invite you to join me in praying that 2007 will be a dynamic year of seeing the Word of God become flesh in our very lives, bringing us new love and joy, new peace and reconciliation, new insight and understanding, new vitality and zeal, and a new sense of purpose and mission. Jesus Christ is worthy of nothing less!

Prayer:

O Lord, open our eyes to your presence and power in this world. Open our hearts to believe the promise that we will find you – if we seek you with all our hearts. Open our minds to your truth and goodness.

Help us to seek you in the regular reading and studying of your Word this year. Help us to find you when we gather regularly for worship together. Help us to find nourishment and encouragement in the fellowship of other Christians this year.

O Lord, above all, have your own way with us. Lead us and guide us. Move mightily among us with your Holy Spirit. And send us forth to serve you in love, joy and peace – in the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.