Without a doubt, identifying yourself as a person comes relatively easy. If you have a head, torso, limbs, eyes, mouth, etc., you can identify yourself as a human being. If you were born from a woman's womb, you are human. If you have a belly button, you are human. You can self-identify somewhat correctly if you can see other people with similar traits and characteristics. Then there is another category that makes us human is sin.
So now, if I was to ask you, what qualifies you even to be worthy of good things of life, what would your answer be? To put this in perspective, according to the psychology institutions in America, the Identity crisis amongst teenagers is on the rise. In our early years, we seem to pave our way through life with all that's at our disposal, especially if it is easy. So as we grow, we pick up habits, behaviors and we start to learn what the world says we are from our peers, adults, leaders, etc. So if you think about it, if we are fed incorrectly, and we believe it, we then live a life as a result of that! Then you will look back years later asking yourself what went wrong! We start to question ourselves, start to doubt, have unrealistic fears, next thing you know we start to fall away from God faster and faster. If we're honest with ourselves, I think each of us can relate to that scenario.
I remember my grandmother that grew up in the late 30's early 40's and she told me some stories about how they lived. Unknown to her at that time, she grew up poor, but stated they were never poor. In comparison to fellow neighbors, they had what other families had. School books that was on their last leg, clothes that needed to be repaired, food in limited supply, money that was few and far between. Then on top of that, they had to take care of farm animals to both sell and live off of. But since other people had the same circumstance, they was status quo. They had everything that was needed, even when in short supply. She did talk about how hard life was, even later when they learned how bad off they really had it in comparison to society, but I think about that sometimes! How do we measure our worth in the values of life, its materials and our emotions? How do we value ourselves with the eyes God gave us? What makes us Fit for Gods Duty?
In our reading today from the first letter to the Corinthians, Paul is writing to the people of Corinth, a prominent and important city in Greece, and a city very rich, but very immoral that lived without self-control. So lets start at Chapter 15. "I make known to you, brothers and sisters, the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, in which you also stand, by which you also are saved, if you hold firmly to the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. You will reach out with Your hand against the wrath ofmy enemies, And Your right hand will save me. The Lord will accomplish what concerns me; Your faithfulness, Lord, is everlasting; Do not abandon the works of Your hands. For I handed down to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve."
Paul is describing here what Jesus did for them by dying for their sins, was buried, and then was raised on the third day. And in displaying this prominently, we are reminded how the God of the Bible, is the only true God, regardless on what others name theirs. But another significant faction you see here is found early in this chapter. "..the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, in which you also stand, by which you also are saved, if you hold firmly to the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain."
Paul is telling them clearly to hold firmly to the word, take heed what God has said and is doing in your lives. This is the application of how Paul was telling these people to identify themselves as Christians! To hold firmly, in Greek its called katechó, to hold fast, bind, arrest, (b) I take possession of, lay hold of. Paul is clearly making a statement that to live the Christian life, to believe in Christ, to be Fit for Duty, your faith must be put to work. Not the other way around. Works can never lead you to faith; that is the right reflection to God, but faith, when properly functioning, always produces works. As scripture tells us, Faith without works is dead!
In titling today's sermon Fit for Duty, I began to ponder on, what qualifies us to be Fit for Duty as faithful servants and being both sinful humans and the adopted children of God? How can we both live with sin, and serve God in righteousness?
To be honest, the answer is rather simple, but hard to accept! Lets look at what Paul tells us about himself to help with this answer.
In 1 Corinthians “And when I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come as someone superior in speaking ability or wisdom, as I proclaimed to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”
Here he is clearly stating its his abilities as speaking words or your wisdom, as in what the world teaches, but rather what he has learned from Christ. His determination was to learn Christ. Even in his lack of wisdom and speak, God used Paul greatly!
He continues, “For I am the least of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.”
Here it shows paul claiming to be the least of all disciples, not even fit to be called an apostle. Mainly because of his past! Even with Pauls shady past history, God still used Paul to accomplish Gods purpose and will for even us today.
SO what qualified Paul Fit for Gods duty? Remember earlier I stated it was a simple answer, but hard for some to accept? Its called Grace!
Paul tells us again, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me. He continues To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ” In 1 Timothy he writes, “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost or chief.”
For Paul, his own previous enmity to Gods church makes Christs grace in appear to him shine all the brighter and seem all the more impressive as he stated “I am that I am by Gods grace, and Gods grace has not been for nothing.”
So lets step back in time a little bit. Even when cain killed able, he used him to build a nation. Even when Moses killed the Egyptian, he used him to save a people, to bring us the Laws of God and help pave the way for the messiah to come, and remember Moses claimed he couldn’t talk good and had lacking faith as well. When the prophet Elijah had a showdown with the Baal worshipers proving the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was the true God, he then went into despair claiming he was alone on the earth. No other believers of God existed he thought, so his despair, depression and anxiety didn’t prevent him from doing Gods work. When David was king and killed bathshebas husband Uriah, God still used him to serve a great nation and to even write the Psalms, some of the most poetic prayers to date. When Peter’s faith failed him while walking on the water to Jesus, when he denied Christ three times, when satan tried to claim Peters life, God continued to use Peter. Remember what Christ called Peter, the Rock on which I will build my church!
These are just a handful of examples of what you will find in the Holy Scriptures, how God uses ordinary, for his extroidary purpose. So what qualifies all these I mentioned and us today to be Fit for Gods Duty?
Grace!
There's a story about a man who died and went to heaven. When he got to the pearly gates St. Peter told him his life would be reviewed and his good deeds would be added up; he had to earn one thousand points to get into heaven. The man said, "That should be easy. I taught Sunday school every Sunday for forty years." Peter said, "OK, that's worth one point." The man was a little surprised, then said, "I was a faithful and loving husband as well as a dedicated and nurturing father." Peter said, "OK. That's worth one point." The man was becoming concerned. He said, "I tithed my income." Now Peter said, "That's one more point." Now the man was worried. He said, "I was a deacon in my church and served on the church board." Peter said, "That's only worth half a point." After the man had gone through the entire list of every good thing he had done, he had only twelve points. Finally, in exasperation, he exclaimed, "I give up! The only way a guy could get in here is by the grace of God!" Peter said, "That's worth one thousand points!"
Inclosing, I wanted to give you this food for thought. When we start to think and question God’s abilities, if we truly believe God will do what he says, if he Loves us unconditionally, and all the other statements from the scriptures, then we start to imply being a Christian is something we each produce. What works we do, what faith we supply that gets things done. To be more bluntly, if we think of the Christian faith as arising out of our own hearts, or is produced by our fertile imginations, our best intentions, implies simply the Christian faith is fiction, or false. When we start to believe other religions as potential candidates in being true riding against the God of the Bible, this implies Christs mission has no existence outside of us, apart from our own concoction. When we give into the ideas and focus of who God really is verses what we choose to believe, then we become trapped. We lose focus, yet it is with Gods Grace, that when we come to him by child like faith, we find him.
To be Fit for Duty is when we hear Gods words as stated in the Gospel of Matthew, “Then Jesus told his disciples, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” We have to surrender ourselves to God, in order for him to do his work in us. No other religion of the world can promise or come through. If you was to read the books of other religions, you will find in comparison to the God of the Bible, Hebrews tells us “without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” To be Fit for Duty, is simply knowing God uses us as we currently are, and as we grow in Faith, we will continue to learn of God and God lives in us. Its not being good hearted that will save us, its not being a dedicated church attendee what will gain Gods favor, its not how many prayers or devotions you do that makes you more favorable. Ephesians tells us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
None of us has the right to boast about works for God, its all in what God gives us who freely and willingly accept him as Lord and Master of their Life. Make it a priority to Accept him as your personal Savior, and you will always be Fit for Gods Duty. Amen.