Just to make sure you are awake and listening I want you all to join in an exercise with me. When I say go I want everyone to say their phone number out loud. This is not a shouting contest or a race, just say your phone number. Ready? Go. Very good. Now I want us all to repeat one more thing at the same time. This time when I say go I want us all to say out loud our top three spiritual gifts. Ready? Go. Now what happened that time? Are you telling me that you know your phone number but you don’t know your top three spiritual gifts? Which is more important for you to know? Do you really need to know your phone number? Even Albert Einstein said he did not memorize his own phone number because he knew he could look it up in the phone book! Admittedly, it is a practical thing to know your phone number, but it is more important for you to know your spiritual gifts. Your phone number tells you who you are calling–your spiritual gifts tell you where you are going. Your phone number is a reflection of where you live–your spiritual gifts are a reflection of who you are. Your spiritual gifts help you answer questions such as: how has God uniquely created me? What is my specific purpose in life? By the end of this message you may not know your top three spiritual gifts, but I hope you will at least know why you need to know them–and that one day you’ll know them so completely that you can recite them just as quickly as reciting your phone number.

If you have been with us you know this is the fourth of our eight core values called Gift-based Servant Ministry. Let’s take that phrase and work backward so we can understand what we mean. The first word is ministry. Now this goes without saying that we will have some kind of ministry. If there was no ministry at all, we would come together on a Sunday morning and sit in circles and stare at each other. There would be no worship, no teaching, no helping one another. We need ministry, but what kind of ministry? The first adjective to describe our ministry is Servant. Servant ministry is modeled and explained by Jesus in Matt. 20:25-28. ²⁵Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Jesus explains that the system used by the world to indicate greatness has to do with power and authority. This kind of leadership rules with an iron hand. Success is defined by how many people you can boss around. I am sure you know people like this.

Jesus, the master communicator says, ²⁶Not so with you. Christians don’t live like this. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ²⁷and whoever wants to be first must be your slave-- ²⁸just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Pushing people around and being King of the Hill is not leadership. Just the opposite. If you want to be president of the company, then act like you work in the mailroom. This is what Jesus did. No one on earth was ever greater than Jesus. He could have pushed people around, he could have demanded many servants. He could have appeared as if he was great, but instead he lived in humility and service. How do we do ministry at Grace Church? We seek to do it like Jesus, with humility. But how do we know if we are working with a servant’s heart in ministry? If you answer "yes" or "maybe" to these questions, then you might not be seeking servant ministry. Do you like being noticed in your position of ministry? Do you like having a position of authority where others look to you for your decisions? If someone thanks you for doing a ministry related task, do you ever feel like patting yourself on the back? Not so with you! Jesus served with his very life and he is our pattern for all ministry.

The second adjective describing ministry is gift-based. In other words, what we do in the area of ministry is based upon our spiritual gifts. If we have the gift of teaching, we teach. If we have the gift of encouragement, we encourage. Do cats swim? They CAN swim, but most of them don’t like it and they aren’t very good at it. But cats are great mouse catchers. Animals do what they have been created to do. So too should we do what we have been created to do.

Several questions will help us understand and apply our spiritual gifts. First, how do you know if you have spiritual gifts or not? I can give you two simple tests that will tell you right now if you have spiritual gifts or not. First, hold out your right arm in front of you. Now hold out your left arm and press your fingers onto the wrist of your right arm. Do you feel a pulse? Congratulations! You have passed the first test! The second and final test is whether or not you are a true follower of Christ. At some point in your life have you come to realize that you were a sinner and lost without God? Have you ever consciously turned from your self-directed life and asked Jesus to forgive your sins and make you into a new person? Has there been some evidence of this changed life? Congratulations! You have passed the second test because you are a Christian. The Bible says that every Christian has spiritual gifts, so even if you do not know what they are or if you cannot recite them more quickly than your phone number, they are present and waiting to be discovered.

Before you became a Christian, did you have gifts? Of course you did. You were good at math or soccer or playing the piano or many other things, but these are not spiritual gifts–they are natural gifts. Only a Christian can have spiritual gifts because spiritual gifts are manifestations of the Holy Spirit and non-Christians do not have the Holy Spirit. It is not always easy to distinguish between natural and spiritual gifts, but Biblically speaking they are as different as night and day.

The second question is: what are the spiritual gifts? There are four main Scriptures that list spiritual gifts and are found on the back of your outline. I think it is possible to add to this list gifts such as prayer, music or gift mixes like counseling. The way in which God has created yo to operate will probably fit into one or more of these categories.

The third questions concerns how the gifts are to be used. Look at v. 14. ¹⁴Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. ¹⁵If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. ¹⁶And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. There are different uses for the gifts. Paul says that some gifts are like feet, some are like hands. Some gifts are like ears, some like eyes. The point here is that each gift is to be used in the way in which it was created. If you were created to function in the body like a foot, then by all means act like a foot, don’t be sad because you are not a hand. Remember last week when Jeff said that one of his favorite Olympic sports is speed skating? Do you remember where the gold medalist speed skater Dan Jansen was born and raised? Right here in Wisconsin. But did you know that many of this year’s Olympic speed skaters are from southern states like Florida? How can a world class speed skater live in Florida? The answer is that many of them learned to speed skate on roller blades or in-line skates. They became champions on roller blades and then made the switch to ice skates. They were gifted skaters so making the transition from asphalt to ice was not that difficult. Now what would have happened if these same in-line skaters tried to enter the ski jump for the first time? They would be terrible ski jumpers!

Here is the application to each of us. If we have been created and gifted by God to be a leader but instead we spend all of our time in administrative areas, we will be like the speed skater trying to learn to ski jump. We will be going against the natural order of creation and our divine design. Think about another Olympic sport–couple’s figure skating. Figure skating is a wonderful mixture of strength and grace. The male skater powerfully hoists the woman into the air and she uses her strength and training to make it appear as if she were almost flying. Each move is a work of art. Now imagine if the female skater suddenly decided that she wanted to try a routine were she would lift her male partner. Could it be done? I suppose a larger, stronger woman could lift a man into the air, but it wouldn’t be the same, would it? The strength and beauty of the body of Christ is most apparent when each part of that body functions according to his or her God-given strengths.

Another question that is helpful for this topic is: How did we get spiritual gifts in the first place? Do I get to take this list and pick and choose? Do I have any say at all in the matter? Verse 18 answers that question for us. But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. How do we get spiritual gifts? God gives them to us. But he doesn’t just throw them like confetti into the wind without any regard to where they land. It says God arranged them, every one of them. Just as he wanted them to be. Do you think God knew that you would be a part of Grace Church, assuming you have decided to make this your church home? God knows you, he knows what you need. Doesn’t it make sense that God would be the one to decide that you have certain spiritual gifts because he knew you needed them to help yourself? Do you believe that? I hope you don’t believe that because I have just told you a lie. God doesn’t give us spiritual gifts so that we can help ourselves, God gives us spiritual gifts so that we can help others. As a matter of fact, if your gift is not used to help others, then it is not a gift at all. Take another look at that list. Every one of these is to be used to help someone else other than you. God gave them to you because he knew you would need them for the benefit of those around you. Now, take a look around you. Each person in this room has gifts that can help you. Therefore, you get far more in return than you could ever offer. Now aren’t you glad God is the one who has determined how this would work?

One last question. What is the proper attitude with which to use our spiritual gifts? Look back at v 14. ¹⁴Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. ¹⁵If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. ¹⁶And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.

What is going on with the foot? And the ear? What are they feeling? They are feeling like second class citizens. They are feeling inferior. They feel like they don’t belong. They feel like they just don’t measure up to those around them. These are all too common feelings, aren’t they. Don’t raise your hands, but how many of you have felt like this? How many of you live most of your life feeling like this? For many of us, these feelings of inferiority come out in the form of shyness. I’m not saying that just because you are a quiet person that you feel inferior, but they are closely linked. When you are feeling shy and having feelings of inferiority, who are you thinking about? You are thinking about yourself. You look around and say, "nobody likes me", "I don’t know what to say". But when you are using your spiritual gift, who are you thinking about? You’re thinking about others. "How can I be of benefit to them"? "What has God given me that I can share with them"? Spiritual gifts are inherently other-centered.

Something else Paul says here is very important. He tells us that just because the ear is not an eye it does not cease to be a part of the body. In the human body we need ears just as much as we need eyes. We need feet just as much as we need hands. Each one is important because each one has a vital role to play. So if you feel inferior, it may be because you have never discovered your spiritual gifts or have not put them into action. But let me caution you at this point. We don’t want to fall into a type of Christian perfectionism. What I mean is that we don’t want to attach our personal significance to what we do for God. I sing for God, therefore I have worth. I preach for God, therefore I am significant. Isn’t that how the rest of the world determines significance? We measure our significance by what we have accomplished. I made so much money. I got this job promotion, therefore I feel worthy and significant. But we know the opposite can also be true. I didn’t make much money, I lost my job, my children are struggling in school, therefore I have failed and am not worthy.

On the surface Paul is saying if you serve according to your spiritual gift you will experience a wonderful sense of belonging. You come to realize that the body of Christ needs you and that is vital to your future service and sense of significance. But there is another, deeper level to what Paul is saying. He said that no matter what your gift, you do not cease to be a part of the body. If you are a Christian, your sense of significance must not be based upon what you do, even if it is what you do for God. Your significance and worth come only from what Christ has done for you. Do you see the difference: one is measured by what we do, and we can never do enough, and the other is measured by what Christ has done. You don’t have to win God’s favor. Before you became a Christian, could you earn God’s favor? Of course not, that is what the gospel is all about. We were completely helpless and stuck in the mud of our sinful lives. We could not lift ourselves out, but God reached down through the blood of Christ and lifted us up out of the pit. Now if you couldn’t earn God’s favor before you became a Christian, what makes you think you can earn His favor now that you are a Christian? Our significance and worth come from not what we have done or will do in the future, but from resting in the amazing and unending love of Christ.

Paul warned about feeling inferior in the body of Christ, but he also warned feeling superior to others, in v. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" This is pride and when you are prideful who are you thinking about? Yourself again! You are nothing special! Your supposed to come to church so you can feel a little better about yourself, but I am here to tell you all, especially you proud ones, you’re nothing special! You’re nothing special by yourself. You’re nothing special as long as you take credit for your gifts and talents. But Jesus in you makes you special. The Holy Spirit manifesting himself through your spiritual gifts, now that is special!

Take test (not enough by itself), join membership class. Learn and PRACTICE until it’s like your phone number!

Rich Maurer

February 3, 2002