“’When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men’…It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ…” Ephesians 4:7-16

It is a beautiful truth that Jesus, upon His ascension into heaven, gave gifts to men. These gifts are about service, and they function to build up the Body of Christ. All of us are gifted by Jesus through the Holy Spirit to serve. In God’s kingdom nobody ‘rides the bench.’ This is what theologians refer to as ‘The priesthood of the believer.’ We all are called to serve God, to be ‘ministers.’

I have personally learned the joy of serving. I love to teach – always have and by God’s grace will always do so. I greatly enjoy seeing a truth dawn on someone and to see their understanding grow.

I have also learned the joy of seeing others serve and experience the satisfaction of using their gifts for God. My role as Pastor is to be involved in ‘preparing God’s people for works of service.’ It gives me more satisfaction to see others doing something than doing it myself. (Ephesians 4:12)

The result of serving is that the ‘Body of Christ is built up.’ This is a general description of the church growing - not in quantity but in quality. The Apostle Paul describes what this looks like with three terms/phrases:

*Unity – It is so important to stay together. (Ephesians 4:3) This is not the same as uniformity – true unity exists in the face of great diversity. It is love that keeps our diversity from spoiling our unity.

*Maturity – The apostle Paul expects believers to grow in their faith and not be ‘children.’ (1 Corinthians 3:1-4)

*Attaining to the fullness of Christ – This is the ultimate goal, which cannot be reduced to formulas or gimmicks. This is the mystery of ‘Christ in us, the hope of glory.’ (Colossians 1:27)

There are barriers to Serving. The first is sin in our lives. Sin distracts us and grieves the Holy Spirit. We lose perspective and find ourselves not using our gifts as God has called us to.

There is also discouragement in our lives; pain, loss and hardship. Have you ever wanted to quit, or to run away? Galatians 6:9 exhorts us to “not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Lastly there is the joy of serving. One of the ironies of life is that we structure our lives toward ease and comfort. But it is always the challenges and the hard things that we remember. My dad tells of walking miles to school in three feet of snow, uphill both ways… Nothing worthwhile is without effort and cost; but there is joy in living a meaningful life connected to God and His kingdom.

So believe the truth that Christ has given gifts to you and to me. And let us use them for His Glory. As someone once said, don’t just try - train to use your gifts.

-Pastor Tim, May 6, 2007