5/27/07

“…God has dealt to each one a measure of faith… We are many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us USE them…” (Romans 12:3-6)

Last week, I spoke to a group about a subject that involved mentoring, which includes the counseling and guiding of others. I posed the question, “What if you were sent by God to be a mentor to someone special?” – somebody like Albert Einstein? There may be a young Albert Einstein and God has in mind that YOU will mentor them. What will you do for them? How will you feel if you are the one assigned to help them?

God definitely does appoint people to help others. All around us there are the familiar doctors, teachers, nurses and auto mechanics who, whether they know it or not, are assigned by God to minister to human needs. And He gives His people what are called “spiritual gifts” for that very purpose. You’ll recall that the Angel Gabriel was sent to Mary to inform her that she would be the mother, the human mentor of the Son of God. Zacharias was to be the father, the mentor of John the Baptist. What if Gabriel came to YOU right now and he said, “I’m sending you back in time. Gamaliel isn’t available at the moment and YOU'RE to be the mentor of the Apostle Paul.” How would you feel?

Like Zacharias, you would probably have plenty of objections. “Time travel isn’t possible,” you would reasonably say, and “I don’t speak Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek,” is another good response; and “anyway Gamaliel’s name is already in the Bible, so it can’t be MY name that would be put in there!”

In Christian circles we say it a lot, and it’s even more true than we know, that you and I have been CALLED to help others. You are especially GIFTED by God for precisely this moment in time. We ALL are intended in some manner to minister to the lost and injured of this world, and we are called to guide and help one another within the Body of Christ.

Look at Romans 12:3-8. Paul the author said, “…God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. We are many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function. We being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” And it continues: “Having gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us USE them: if prophesy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness…” We are gifted to serve one another.

Think about the people who are in your life; perhaps the person next to you at this moment. Look at them in a different light. If they know the Lord, they have the potential for genius beyond the capacity of Albert Einstein. They have the GIFTS of the Spirit. They are capable of wondrous acts they likely don’t even know about. The Spirit of God is gifting you with the capacity for genius also. It’s hard to say this part of it, but in humanity, we are like idiot-savants – gifted in some areas; utterly blind in others. And we were created in Christ Jesus with precise benefits and limitations for a specific purpose: we are not only to mentor one another, but we also are to NEED others enough to receive their help.

Those who can sculpt, paint, write or perform music, fix a car, compute a tax form for someone, or cut hair so it looks good – these are geniuses, gifted by God with what we call “natural” gifts. And those in Christ have been gifted by the Spirit into a whole new dimension, unknown to this world. If you are in Christ, you have GIFTS. You have more to give others than you would ever dream about or expect. Often we give to others in God’s power without even knowing we did. It’s important to see that the gifts are not of ourselves; they are of God. We respond to His call. He does the work in and through us.

My wife, Genevieve, and I were privileged to be with Pastor Zack Zacharias, who is in hospice care because of cancer in his brain. I anointed him with oil; we prayed and took communion together. He prayed for you, by the way. He prayed for those in ministry. Especially he prayed for the Emmaus Walks where he served for so many years. He prayed for leaders in the body of Christ, including you, for we are all called to be servant-leaders in the power of God. You are potentially a leader in service for the Lord, and it isn’t as complicated as you might think, for it is God who does the work through us.

How long does a smile last? If you smile at me and say a kind word, I am more likely to smile at the next person I meet. They receive that smile and they also pass it on. Like the ripples in a pond, it spreads outward – can a smile last for 1000 years? Perhaps. Occasionally, I receive a note thanking me for a Bible study or sermon. It’s helpful. Encouragement is important – it gives us strength to keep on responding to God’s call.

In communion, I asked Pastor Zack if he had been blessed by the words of the Apostle Paul and he said “yes,” he had been. I observed out loud with him that the Apostle Paul had been gone for 2000 years and yet he continues to speak to us today.

Some of you may know something of my story. I ran away from the Lord’s call at 16, then returned and said “yes” to the Lord in my early 30’s, and was finally ordained very late in life. I am a young pastor as an older man. I had, and have, so much to learn – we all do. I told Pastor Zack the truth – he was and is my mentor. He MODELED being a pastor for me. He is not physically able to be out of bed anymore, but his words speak on, through me and through others. If the Lord tarries in His return to this earth, will Pastor Zack’s words and example last for 1000 years? It’s possible. We are more important in the Lord’s work than we think.

YOU are an important mentor to me and to others in the Body of Christ. When you receive the Lord, you are “…dealt… a measure of faith…” Everyone in Christ becomes your brother, your sister; not only in your denomination and not just those who look at things like you do. The homeless one who has no church – needs you. Paul said, “we are many members in one body,” and “all the members do not have the same function,” but we are “individually members of one another.” And he concludes, yes we do have gifts that are “differing,” from one another, but “let us USE them” (Romans 12:3-6) in the power and love of God.

Father, give me the courage and the love to use my gifts for those in need, in the power and the love of God. In Jesus Name. Amen.