Minister: Kirsten Barlow
August 9 & 10, 2008
Missions - Who Me?
Acts 6:1-7 (Today's New International Version)
1 In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews [a] among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word."
5 This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 6 They presented them to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.
7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
We are half way through our 40 Days of Mission here at Sunrise Church. We have been encouraging you to be a part of this 40 Days of Mission in one way or another. Some of you came to the Marian House Soup Kitchen on Saturday, July 19 to help serve food to over 700 people. Some of you were involved as you prayed for the event. Some set-up, some cleaned up, some visited with those who came to eat.
Since that time, we've collected shoes to those in need; helped school children get ready for school; performed manual labor; and so many more things.
Collectively and individually we have been involved in mission work. But just what is mission work?
Well, not surprisingly dictionaries have several definitions of mission or missions:
One common definition of a mission is sending or being sent on some special work; errand. If it is Christmas Eve and I haven't yet bought a Christmas present for my husband you can bet that I will be "on a mission" to buy him a present when I get to the store.
Many of you have been on a mission for the military where you have been sent to a particular place at a particular time to do a particular thing.
But there is another sense of the word mission that I would like to talk about today. The dictionary also says that missions are a planned effort to spread the Christian religion or activities of a religious community dedicated to the propagation of its faith in other communities.
When we think of missions from a church standpoint this last definition is the one that we most often think of, isn't it? We think of activities in which we share our Christian faith with others.
Now already, I have caused panic in the hearts of some of you. You might be saying, "What? I am supposed to go and share my Christian faith with others? But, I can't do that! I can't force my faith on someone else."
Who said anything about forcing your faith on others? God doesn't force it on us, so why should we force it on others? You don't have to force, but you can share.
Just this week, I received an e-mail from Jim Frederick, a missionary from Sunrise that is teaching at a school in the Philippines. Every day as a teacher in the Philippines, he shares his faith with his students and helps them to learn more about Christianity through Bible study, prayer, and fellowship. But the stories that he shared with me this week were not of his "mission" work with his students but of his "mission" work with people he encountered in airports and on planes as he flew back to the Philippines from the U.S. When he was "off-duty".
Jim is a self-described extrovert. He loves to talk to people...all kinds of people...in all kinds of places...one of those guys that has never met a stranger. You can picture the scene as he engages in casual conversation with those around him. "Hi, my name is Jim. What's yours? Where are you headed? China? Oh really! I am going to the Philippines. So, what do you do in China? Wow! How interesting! Oh, me? Well, I am a Christian missionary teaching at a school in Davao, Philippines. Sure, I understand, being from China you probably don't know too much about Christianity. Could I share with you a little about my faith and why it is so important to me...and Jim is off and running in a three hour conversation.
Now for some of you, this makes perfect sense. For some of you, this sounds impossible. If you are an introvert like my husband, you can't imagine meeting someone in an airport and talking with them for three hours. He won't even talk to me for three hours! Much less a total stranger!
But, Jim is an extrovert and to him this kind of conversation comes naturally. If it doesn't for you, that's ok.
We are all gifted differently. Did you know that?
In today's passage in the Book of Acts, I think that is abundantly clear.
When the twelve disciples gathered the other disciple leaders together to discuss how to best deal with the problem of some widows not getting enough food, it wasn't because they didn't like the Hellenistic widows and didn't want to feed them or that they thought that this job was unimportant.
The disciples realized that their calling was to spread the word about Jesus and to pray, not to the logistics of food distribution. But, they knew that there were others who were called to this ministry of service. So, they looked among the ranks of all of the disciples to find seven who were filled with the Spirit of God and who were wise who could serve in this ministry, they asked them to serve, they laid hands on them, they prayed for them, and then they turned them loose to do their work.
The disciples found those that had the gifts of faith and wisdom and service and asked them to use their gifts to benefit the kingdom of God.
The Twelve, the original disciples less Judas, plus Matthias, were gifted and called to be the evangelists: preaching and teaching about Jesus. They didn't want to neglect that. But, these women needed help. They could see that. These Hellenistic women were from a Greek background. As widows in Jerusalem, they likely had no other family there to support them: to feed them, to house them, to clothe them...they were all back in Greece and so they really needed someone to look after them.
The disciples would have remembered that Jesus told them that they were to love their neighbors as they loved themselves and if you truly loved your neighbor, how could you let them starve? So, they knew that something had to be done, but without neglecting their own work.
It makes sense doesn't it to focus on using ones gifts for a task. If everyone uses their own gifts more gets done.
Think of it this way. If you are going to have surgery, do you want to have the surgeon be the one who gives you the drugs to put you to sleep, arranges all of the needed instruments, performs the surgery while checking to make sure you are still asleep and that he or she still has enough clean utensils, etc. Or, would you rather have the anesthesiologist who knows the specifics of how to put you to sleep, keep you asleep, and wake you up....the nurse who keeps track of all of the instruments...and the surgeon just has to worry about getting the surgery done correctly.
With every person using their own gifts and doing their own part, more gets done and it gets done better, right?
That's what this story in Acts gets at. Just like it says in Ephesians 4: 7-13 (Message) Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift....He handed out gifts above and below, filled heaven with his gifts, filled earth with his gifts. He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ's followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ's body, the church, until we're all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God's Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.
Just like all of the people in the operating room who work together rhythmically and easily to get the surgery done, so each of us in the body of Christ works together to build God's kingdom when we are using our God given gifts.
All of our gifts are important. We all have a part to play. That's what the apostle Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians 12: 27-31You are Christ's body-that's who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your "part" mean anything. You're familiar with some of the parts that God has formed in his church, which is his "body":
apostles
prophets
teachers
miracle workers
healers
helpers
organizers
those who pray in tongues.
But it's obvious by now, isn't it, that Christ's church is a complete Body and not a gigantic, unidimensional part? It's not all Apostle, not all Prophet, not all Miracle Worker, not all Healer, not all Prayer in Tongues, not all Interpreter of Tongues. And yet some of you keep competing for so-called "important" parts.
If the disciples had thought that their preaching and teaching of the gospel was more important than the feeding of the hungry widows, then they would have been missing the whole point of the gospel message, wouldn't they?
God's love isn't just for those we find it easy to share our love with. It is for everyone. We all have our niche. We all have our place to serve.
Some of you aren't called to share your faith in airports talking with your neighbor. Some of you are called to share your faith as you live it out by doing paperwork at the Medical Mission Clinic to get needed medications for those who can't afford it. Just like the seven provided for those in need behind the scenes.
For some of you, your mission field in which you share the love of Jesus with others may be your place of work. My friend Chad in seminary found his place of mission to be the Italian restaurant where he worked to pay the bills. He became a pastor to those he worked with, listening to them, praying for them, showing them Christ's love in a very demanding work environment.
We aren't all called to the same type of ministry/mission work - some are called to preach the gospel...some to feed the hungry...some to do paperwork at Mission Medical Clinic. But, all of them are an important part of the whole.
The surgeon can't perform surgery without the anesthesiologist or the nurse. The hand can't function without arm. The body of Christ can't function to its fullest without each one of us using our God given gifts.
Did you catch what happened in today's scripture when the Twelve continued using their gifts to preach and teach and when they found others to use their gifts to serve the needy? When each person was using their gifts to the fullest?
7 So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
When everyone in the community of faith was using their gifts, the word of God spread! The number of disciples increased and some of those who doubted before, became followers.
When the teachers teach, the helpers help, the healers heal, the organizers organize, the extroverts make those around them feel welcome...when everyone uses their gifts...the kingdom of God expands.
Do you know what your gifts are? If you don't we'll help you to find them. We'll give you a spiritual gifts inventory to help you discern them.
Do you know what your mission field is? Let's talk about it.
Do you know where and how God is calling you to share his love? Let us join you in prayer to help you discern it.
I guarantee that God has a place for you to serve in his kingdom. You too are a missionary.
God calls us all to different things...we just have to find out what it is. Don't wait for it to fall into your lap. Try things out. When you find it...you'll know you are just where God wants you to be.
Let's pray together - God, we thank you for giving each one of us gifts. Help us to realize the gifts that we have and to use them to share our faith with a world that so desperately needs your love and your grace. Help each one of us to be missionaries for you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.