Sunday Sermon

Editor's note:  This will make much more sense if you read 2 Samuel 6:12-22 (or 23 if you prefer) and Romans 12:6-8 before you read the post

This morning’s message is about sharing our gifts.  Steve broached the subject a little bit in last week’s message, when he spoke about the many things that happen around here and how people are serving the Lord.  I kinda want to build on that this morning, and to start, I’d like to take about three minutes and introduce you to a young lady named Loren.

Isn’t she just the cutest thing?  I wanted to share that video with you this morning for a few reasons.  First off, I love the message in the song.  Second off, out of all the kids standing there, Loren gets it.  I mean, she REALLY gets it.  And lastly, there are a lot of folks involved with making Loren’s little moment a reality.  There are numerous people there at that worship service sharing their gifts.

God gives us gifts.  Some people call them talents, but for this morning, we’re going to use the word gifts.  The word “gifts” implies that there is a Giver; God, through the Holy Spirit, gives us gifts, and they’re meant to be used.  Here’s an example of what I’m talking about:

Somebody wrote the song we just heard. Musicians played the song. Technicians recorded the song. Some other people God has blessed with money paid to have th song recorded and released.   Radio stations played it.  It became famous.  The worship band at this church learned and practiced this song.  Somebody else did up the lyrics on the computer so the guy in the booth could show them on the screen.  The guy singing the verses had to rehearse and learn the song, too.  And then somebody had to teach the chorus to the kids, which led this young lady to get her dance on.

And later on, it would inspire an aging gentleman in Ogden, Utah to write a sermon about sharing our gifts with others

Loren probably wasn’t supposed to be doing what she did.  I’m sure it was spontaneous, and she was just doing what she was singing: she clapped her hands and stomping her feet till she found that gospel beat!  Good for her!  She colored outside the lines.  She was feeling joy and she didn’t let nobody steal hers.

We’re gonna talk briefly about joy stealers in a minute, by the way.

But for now, let’s talk about what we’re doing here today

First and foremost, we’re gathered together to worship God.  We sing as worship.  We give as worship.  We pray for each other and thank God for the answers to those prayers.  The reason we do those things in the first place is because they’re Biblical.  We’re supposed to be doing them, and as a member of the body of believers.

As that body of believers, each of us has different talents we bring to the table. Paul talked about that in our second scripture reading this morning.  I’m going there first, and going to work back to the Old Testament passage in a bit.  Paul wrote to the Romans and pretty much told them to share their gifts.

And that applies today, and it applies to YOU.  And YOU, and you in the back over there.  You get the idea.

If God led you here this morning,  there are two things I know for certain this morning.  We have something you need, and you have something we need.  Each of us is blessed with unique gifts that, in concert with the gifts of everyone else, helps the church to function as a body.  God gives the gifts needed for our little congregation to function, and to grow.  I’ve seen that in action, and here’s an illustration many of you can relate to. 

A few years back, for whatever the reasons, our organist/pianist left, and to fill her place for a while, someone who used to attend the church but hadn’t agreed to fill that role when she left.  When Stephanie was unable to share her gift, we’ve been blessed that Andrew could share his gifts with us.  And, now we’re blessed to have Holly share her gifts.  We have a need, and God provides for that need by sending someone with that gift our way. There’s a second lesson in this story, too, and we’ll talk about that in a bit, but for now, let’s just focus on how each of these folks shared their gifts.

It’s just one example of many that happen on a daily basis around here.  When the need arises, someone steps in. 

I’ve been blessed to be able to share my gifts with you over the last seven, and now almost eight years.  I’ve been honored to share a message with you a few times.  I’ve been blessed to share a meal with some of you that I fixed, and I enjoy baking goodies for special occasions and sharing those with you. The grass gets cut on a somewhat regular basis.    I like to bring joy to others, and those are things I like to do and am good at. 

Hold on to that last part of that last sentence.  I like and am good at.  You’ll see in a minute where I’m headed.

I love baseball.  I actually enjoy a lot of different sports.  I cannot participate in any meaningful way in sports because I have ZERO talent for it.  I can’t play golf well.  I shoot pool with the wrong hand because I can’t hold a pool cue properly in my right hand.  I’m a mediocre bowler.  I can’t hit a curve ball or a 20 foot jumper.  I can’t throw a tight spiral.

I can’t play a musical instrument, other than a stereo, and I tend to play that too loudly for some.  I can’t carry a tune.  I make a joyful noise. I love music, but it’s not my gift and never will be.

Those are things that I like and I’m not good at.  And I’m honest with myself about it.  I enjoy them, and understand them.  I know chords on a guitar but when I push down on the strings and strum them, it doesn’t now, and never has, sounded good.  I just don’t have that gift.  Even if I work at it, I don’t have the talent.

And that’s OK, because I’m good at lots of other things, and those aren’t diminished because I can’t do everything.  I have a certain set of gifts, and often times, they’re used to keep the church going, to help spread the good news to Ogden, and bring glory to the God who gave me the gifts in the first place.

So why the distinction between what I like and am good at, and what I like and am not good at?  Because not everything I want to do for God I’m going to be able to do for God.  Or for the church.  There are some roles in this body of believers I would not be good at, even if I thought I would be, because I don’t have the talents for it.

I think that’s tough sometimes; trying to figure out what we’re good at opposed to what we’re not.  Sometimes what we want to do isn’t what we ought to do.  But then too, I think that’s why God tells us in His word that when we need wisdom, if we ask, we’ll get that.

Sometimes, too, the only way to know if we’re suited for a task is to step out in faith. I know what I’m not good at because I tried those things.  It’s OK to try, and it’s OK to fail.  Just because you’re interested in something doesn’t mean it’s going to be a good fit.  But hey, you gotta try it on to find out.

Sometimes though, we’re reluctant to volunteer for stuff.  I understand that too. I learned quickly in Basic Training, way back in 1983, that the surest way to get into a mess was to volunteer to do something.  I think a lot of us are shy about volunteering to do something, for a lot of reasons.  And that’s a shame because we’re not sharing our gifts with others when we do that. 

Sometimes, too, God prevents us from sharing our gifts in ways we’d like.  I have a lot of experience that I think could be beneficial to our church, but because of a sinful past, I can’t share those gifts in any formal leadership position.  It doesn’t mean I can’t serve in different ways, though.  I can help with projects.  I can teach a class, or I can give the message.  So I should, and try to, share the gifts I can in the ways that I’m able.  And time has a way of changing the way we share our gifts.  As we get older, we simply can’t do what we used to, but it doesn’t mean we still don’t have gifts to share.  Maybe someday, I’ll be a mighty prayer warrior and intercessor when I can’t mow the lawn anymore. 

The other thing too, is that sometimes God opens the doors for sharing our gifts that He wants.  My Bible study partner at the Rescue Mission and I were wanting to start ministering to young men whose young women were being helped by the Pregnancy Care Center.  That door didn’t open.  God opened the door to leading a Bible study on Wednesday mornings at the Rescue Mission.    Not what we wanted.  But what God wanted, and we welcomed the re-direction.

Notice I didn’t use the prohibitions for church leaders nor getting older as an excuse for not sharing our gifts.  I also didn’t quit because what I wanted to do wasn’t what God wanted me to do.  As Paul reminded the Romans and us this morning, sharing our gifts isn’t an option.

But why is that?  One reason is obvious:  To bring glory to God!  When we come here, from the moment the lights are on, people are busy sharing gifts.  Somebody makes the coffee.  The bulletins get folded.  Someone else prepares communion for all of us. The guys in the booth get the screens and slides up and running and make sure microphones work.   That’s just some of what happens on Sunday, and that continues on, mostly unseen, during the week as well.  Sharing our gifts pulls together the service of worship that brought all of us here this morning. 

We don’t do it for us; or at least we shouldn’t.  If you’re sharing your gifts for recognition or a pat on the back, you’re not doing it for the right reasons, and I think that’s a good segue to the first part of our Scripture reading this morning.

By now, you probably figured out Loren and dancing have something to do with that first Scripture passage.

King David was King of Israel, and here he was, dancing with all he had in front of the whole country, because he couldn’t contain his joy!  His dancing was to glorify God!   David didn’t care what anybody thought!  He cared what God thought!  And in the middle of this joyous triumph, as he was dancing his heart out, sure enough….

Somebody tried to steal his joy.

I told you we were going to talk about joy stealers.

Michal, his wife, saw him dancing and thought he looked like a fool.  What’s more, she told him so.  In her eyes, David’s dancing wasn’t, well, “royal”.

Joy stealers exist.  They exist when people murmur about someone and the way they’re sharing their gifts.  Not everybody is suited for every task, but sometimes the only way to find out what we’re good at is to try.  If we fail, we should be willing to hear the truth in love, and consider doing something else. We should also be willing to suffer one’s failure.  Maybe we ask someone to share a gift, and it turns out they don’t have a gift for it after all.  There’s a loving way to tell someone they’re not the right fit for this or that.  But if someone’s doing well, but not maybe as well as you’d like, or something’s done but not the way you’d do it, let it go.  Don’t be a joy stealer.  And if you find yourself being or starting to be a joy stealer, IMPLORE  you, please stop it.  Stop it now.  Try being an encourager instead.  David basically told Michal that those people she was worried about would revere him, and pretty much when it came to worshipping God, that nobody was going to stop him. 

Just like nobody stopped Loren.  You can learn a lot from little kids. She probably didn’t care what people thought of her dance moves.  She was feeling it!   Nobody was stealing Loren’s joy.  Don’t let anybody steal yours either.  The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy.  Don’t let him steal your joy!

Remember a few minutes ago I said there was another lesson to learn from the story I told about our accompanists?  This is it:

I’ve learned that as good as we think we are at what we do, nobody’s irreplaceable.  When our organist left, God gave us Stephanie for a season.  And when she left, God blessed us with Andrew, and now Holly.  The music ministry in this church continued.  Maybe we don’t have the organ anymore, but we have people that God blessed us with to continue that ministry for us. 

The point I’m trying to make is this….sometimes we’re called to share our gifts for a season, and then assume other roles in the church.  We should have grace and wisdom to let go when it’s our time to let go.  God has His plans for our church.  It will go much better for all of us if we’re in agreement with His plans and on His side instead of doing what we want and hoping He’s going to bless it. 

Michal tried to steal David’s joy. She had ideas of how the king should act because her father was the king before David.  She thought things should go one way and felt pretty strongly about it.  David had other ideas, as we found out in the scripture reading this morning.  I ended it at verse 22.  In verse 23, you find out what happened to Michal. 

Another practical reason we should share our gifts is that we don’t know when someone’s season with us will end.  Karl left, in part, because he felt the Sprit tell him it was time for him to go.   But instead of a vacuum, God has raised up people to step into the many roles Karl filled for us while work continues to find his replacement.  We’re blessed with talented and educated people to fill those roles, and I’m blessed that those talented and educated people are willing to invest in my growth by giving me opportunities to develop some talents I have. Because Karl took the time to mentor me and help me grow, God can use me on a day like today to share a message.  It’s not what it was, but God’s ministry for Ogden First Baptist/New Beginnings Christian Church continues, despite the absence of any one particular person. 

I think this transition time will be good for us.  We’re forced to get out of our comfort zone and practice some scripture that we otherwise wouldn’t.  And if you’re a newbie here, don’t let that hold you back.  If you’d like to usher, let Roland or I or Jon know.  If you’d like to read the scripture, let Steve know.  Want to do joys and concerns?  Volunteer.  Or say yes if someone asks you.  Don’t worry about the right words.  God gives them to you via the Holy Spirit. 

Or make a batch of cookies and bring them in for fellowship.  You have gifts.  We need to help you utilize them, and doing so brings glory to the Giver of gifts.  And it helps you grow spiritually. 

And you never know how God can use your gifts outside the walls of the church, when we leave the building and get about the business of BEING the church.

It’s my prayer today that we’d be a congregation, a body of believers who build one another up, help each person grow and develop their talents, and be willing to share our gifts not just with each other, but with our neighbors and fellow man here in our mission field in Ogden.