The Power of Community
Serve Oklahoma
The Power of Community
2 Corinthians 4
 
This week in our Serve Oklahoma emphasis we are focusing on The Power of Community.  Now if you look up the word “community” in the dictionary, the first couple of definitions will deal with a group of people who live in a certain locality under a specific governmental authority with shared traits.
 
But if you move on down a couple of entries you will find something like this:
 
n. - a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists.  Examples are the business community or the community of scholars.
 
And that fits a church pretty well.  We share common characteristics and interests as the people of God and because of that we are certainly to be distinct from the society in which we live.  One of those characteristics of the church is that of service.
 
Now in my estimation, service is a lost art in many cases in America.  Its obvious that many people who hold in employment in the service industry really don't have the spirit of service.
 
IN fact, I would probably be safe in saying that some of you have recently experienced either poor service or maybe even terrible service at some business.
And you know as well as I that one of the things that draws us to a place of business is good service.  We will even be willing to pay a little more or go out of our way to support places where our needs are met people are willing to serve us.
 
But I wonder how many times those around us could say of us as Christians, “I sure got poor service there”.  Or even more importantly I wonder if God could ever say, “The service I received was terrible!”?  Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that our service to others is actually service to God.
 
In fact, Jesus explained one part of the eventual judgment that will come upon nations will be regarding their treatment of His people and he said, “Whatever you’ve done to them, you’ve done to me”.
 
Jesus is all about service.  Church is all about serving; in fact, Christianity is all about serving.  So let me give you a little rundown of some basics regarding service then we’ll do a short Bible study from 2 Corinthians.
 
Everything about the ministry of Jesus was opposite to what people expected.  For instance, notice
 
Matthew 20:25-26
 
Now remember our definition:  A group of people sharing common interests who are different from the larger society around them.
 
Is it not true that the world in general put a great premium on their own importance?  We are told all the time to look out for our own rights.  Don’t let anyone run over you.  Stand up for yourself.
After all, you are the most important thing in the world.   But Jesus says, “That’s not the way things work in my community.”  So how do things work when you’re living like Jesus?
 
verses 27-28
 
The key to success in the community called the church is learning to be a servant.  In fact, Jesus says that’s the way to greatness.  And then He put that on display in His life and death. 
 
And unless and until we learn how to serve others and help to minister to others and meet the needs of others, then we don't know anything about what it means to be like Christ.
 
You can know doctrine, you can know Bible truth, you can have all the fundamentals down, you can sing in the choir and give lots of money, but if you do not know what it is to follow the example of Christ and be a servant, then you don't know anything about the Christian life.
 
Now think about this:  If God puts such a high premium on service, and if Jesus says it’s the way to greatness, then that means
 
  • We Are Saved to Serve
 
Ephesians 2:10  says, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
 
 
 
God created us to serve Him.  That's the very purpose of our existence.  You weren't put on this planet just to breathe God's air and enjoy God's sunshine and receive God's food into your body and to have all the blessings of God and to sit and soak and sour and think about yourself.  You have a purpose and your purpose in life is to serve God.
 
Then beyond that,
 
  • We Are Gifted to Serve
 
I Peter 4:10 says, “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as a good steward of the manifold grace of God.”
 
Romans 12:6 says, "We all have different gifts, according to the grace that is given unto us."
 
God has given to every child of his, not only some natural abilities, but some supernatural gifts that He intends us to use to serve Him.
 
Then think about this:  Not only are we saved to serve and gifted to service,
 
  • We Are Commanded To Serve
 
Joshua 22:5 says, “But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul."
 
To not serve is to live in disobedience.  In fact, a  non-serving Christian is a contradiction in terms.
To serve means that you have the attitude of Christ.  Listen folks, human nature doesn't want to serve.  Human nature wants to be served.  That's our unsaved state.  That's the condition of our flesh that we still have after we're saved.  Human nature says, "Well, who's going to meet my needs?  Who's going to feed me?  Who's going to help me?  Who's going to take care of me?'
 
If you're still in the "me" stage, then you're not a mature believer.  I don't care if you've been saved for one hundred years.  That's the baby stage.  Babies have to be helped.  Babies have to be fed.  Babies have to be nurtured.  Babies have to be babied.
 
Maturity in the Christian life is not defined by attendance in church or giving money or even teaching and preaching.  It is defined by serving God.
 
One other thing I want us to have in mind:
 
God saved us to serve, God gifted us to serve, God commands us to serve and
 
  • God Placed You in the Church to Serve
 
The Bible teaches us that we placed in the body of Christ that we might be useful in the service of God.
 
I want you to know something:  When somebody comes and joins the church, I’m looking you over.  I want to know how you can be used.
 
 
As far as I’m concerned you are another heart that loves the Lord, another set of hands to do the work, another pair of feet to carry you to ministry; another mouth to share the good news.
 
And to be honest we don’t need any more parts of the body that are non-functional.  In fact, did you ever think what would happen if a part of your body contributed to you like you contribute to the church as a part of that body?
 
What if your feet called up and said, “I’m tired of doing all the walking.  You can find somebody else.  I’m taking the year off.  I don’t want to serve. I just want to be fed this year.”
 
What if your liver called you up and said, "I just want to be fed this year I'm tired of serving?  Being a liver is not an easy job.  And I don’t know what the stomach and gall bladder are doing but they never clean up after themselves and I’m sick and tired of it.  I just want to be fed for a while."
 
I know what you’d do.  You’d say, “Liver, feet, obvioiusly there is something wrong with you because you’re not operating as you are designed to operate.  We need to get you to the doctor as quickly as we can and figure out what’s wrong because the body is depending on you to do your part!”
 
I want to tell you something.  You are essential.  You are necessary.  And God placed you in the church to serve. And when you are missing or delinquent or aggravated or mad and unavailable and non-functioning, a vital part of the body is missing and the entire body suffers because of it.
 
We are saved, gifted, commanded and placed in the church to serve, and the only way you’ll ever really enjoy your salvation is to get busy in service.
 
Not quickly, that’s the introduction.  Now let me share with you the message from 2 Corinthians 4.
 
In verse 1, Paul talks about how we have “this ministry”.  He’s talking about the gospel.  That is our ministry.  Anything else we do is just fluff.  The real stuff will always have the gospel in focus.
 
And he is writing to encourage these believers to be faithful and not get tired and discouraged.  After all, God has been gracious and good and given to us salvation, and we are to be faithful in sharing that with others.
 
Then watch verse 5
 
If you will effectively serve God, you must
 
1. Consecrate Yourself to the Servant Life
 
That is quite a feat because we have this stumbling block in the first phrase.  We do not preach “ourselves”.
 
In other words, if I’m going to be a servant, I can’t be concerned about self and being popular and personal gain.  All of that works against being a servant.  Instead we just preach the Lord and ourselves your servants.
 
I find it interesting that he first tells us what he doesn’t preach then he tells us what he does preach.  And I think that is intentional.
It seems to me that it would be logical to say, “We preach Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves His servants for your sakes.”
 
That just makes all kinds of sense.  But instead he says, “Christ is Lord and therefore we are your servants.”  In other words, if Christ Jesus is Lord, there will inevitably be a service to God’s people.
 
Think about it like this:  When I commit myself to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, I am committing myself to His people as well and I become just as much the servant of God’s people as I am a servant of Jesus Christ.
 
That’ pretty tough, huh?
 
See, we like to lift ourselves above that and say, “Jesus is Lord and I’m His servant not yours!”
 
But if I am to effectively serve God, I must be a servant to others and I’m just as well to get that settled and consecrate myself to the servant life.
 
And let me add this one thought:  it is for Jesus’ sake”.  Why did Paul add that?
 
To keep down abuse.  We are servants of each other, but it is for Jesus’ sake.  Let’s illustrate that.
 
I go out here after church, and come to a red light beside one of Ardmore Police Department’s finest.  And I happen to look out the window and see on the side of the car these words:  “To Protect and to Serve”.
 
And I think to myself, “I’ve never noticed that before.  I think I’ll take advantage of it. “
 
So we roll the windows down and I say, “Hey boy, run over to Cotton Patch and get me a bowl of chicken and dumplings and bring them over to 906 McLish.  I don’t want to go out to eat today.  I’m just going to stay in and rest.”
 
If he questions me, “I’ll just say, I’m paying taxes to provide your salary.  If there is something I want you to do, shouldn’t you do it? After all, don’t you know it says on your car, ‘To Protect and to Serve’”?
 
But he can say to me, “But I am a servant of the people for the Law’s sake.  And I am your servant insofar as it furthers the purpose of the law.
 
In like manner, we are servant’s for Jesus sake.
 
That very naturally leads us to the second thing:
 
If I am to serve, I must be consecrated to the servant life and
 
2. Communicating the Savior’s Life
 
That’s why as you plan your mission projects, never lose sight of the fact that ultimately we are to be doing what we do in Jesus’ place.  It is to further His mission and do His will.  After all, we are saved, gifted, called and placed in the church to do His work.
 
 
 
And if we aren’t careful, it becomes about us instead of Him.  But we are not to communicate our life.  Sometimes I’m afraid we are more interested in people being like us than we are them being like Him.  And if we’d be honest we want them conformed to our image, our views and our convictions.
 
But that is not the objective of a servant. 
 
Notice verses 7, 10-11
 
When we got saved, Jesus took up residence in us.  And He’s not in there just to make us feel good.  He’s in there to have a vehicle for ministry. And when we are selfish with the vehicle and use it for ourselves rather than Him, we preach death instead of life.
 
It is only when the life of Jesus is released through us that we can offer people what they really need.
 
Now, to pull that off, we have to have this third thing and that is
 
3.  Crucifixion of the Self-Life
 
Verse 12
 
The purpose for God saving us is so that life might be extended to other people.  Think about it in very natural terms.  Why did God put limbs on fruit trees?  To make the fruit available.
 
Did you know that is your purpose as a Christian?  We exist to make life available to others.
 
Now most people don’t go around eating tree limbs.  After all branches don’t taste good, they really aren’t that nutritious and are extremely hard to digest.
 
But fruit is an entirely different proposition.  It’s good and good for you!
 
Why do we serve?  Why do we teach and minister?  Why do we share the gospel?  So that people might live.
 
Now there is a key thought in verse 12 that we can’t afford to miss.  If life works in someone else, death has to be at work in us.
 
What does that mean?
 
In a sense, we died when Christ died.  Everything necessary for our sins to die took place there.
 
But that’s not what this verse is all about.  This verse is about a daily dying to self and what it means is to effectively serve God, I must be willing to put off everything necessary for people to see Jesus Christ alive in me, no matter what the cost.
 
Now there is one more thing and it is the clincher.  You can go through all the others and still not be successful in serving Jesus unless the is a
 
4.  Concentration on the Secret Life
 
Verses 16-18
 
 
 
In the long run, the only realy reason to serve God and others is because this world is not all there is to it.  And what Paul is saying is, “What you look at will determine what you do and how you do it.”
 
We don’t concentrate our attention on things that are seen.  If we do, we’ll see people who are unappreciative and ungrateful.  We’ll see the messes and mistakes and grow cynical.  We’ll look at the cost and time investment.
 
But instead we are to keep our eyes on the eternal, and the eternal reminds us that one of these days, as faithful servants of God, we go home to our reward, and by the grace of God, we take some folks with us.
 
In 1904 William Borden graduated from a Chicago high school. As heir to the Borden family fortune, he was already a millionaire. For his high school graduation present, his parents gave 16-year-old Borden a trip around the world. As the young man traveled through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, he felt a growing burden for the world's hurting people. Finally, Bill Borden wrote home about his "desire to be a missionary."
   
One friend expressed surprise that he was "throwing himself away as a missionary."  In response, Bill wrote two words in the back of his Bible: "No reserves."
   
Even though young Borden was wealthy, he arrived on the campus of Yale University in 1905 trying to look like just one more freshman. Very quickly, however, Borden's classmates noticed something unusual about him and it wasn't his money.
One of them wrote: "He came to college far ahead, spiritually, of any of us.  He had already given his heart in full surrender to Christ and had really done it. We who were his classmates learned to lean on him and find in him a strength that was solid as a rock, just because of this settled purpose and consecration."
   
During his college years, Bill Borden made one entry in his personal journal that defined what his classmates were seeing in him. That entry said simply: "Say 'no' to self and 'yes' to Jesus every time."  During his first semester at Yale, Borden started something that would transform campus life. One of his friends described how it happened: "
 
It was well on in the first term when Bill and I began to pray together in the morning before breakfast. I cannot say positively whose suggestion it was, but I feel sure it must have originated with Bill. We had been meeting only a short time when a third student joined us and soon after a fourth. The time was spent in prayer after a brief reading of Scripture. Bill's handling of Scripture was helpful. . . .
He would read to us from the Bible, show us something that God had promised and then proceed to claim the promise with assurance."
   
Borden's small morning prayer group gave birth to a movement that spread across the campus. By the end of his first year, 150 freshman were meeting for weekly Bible study and prayer. By the time Bill Borden was a senior, one thousand of Yale's 1,300 students were meeting in such groups.
 
 
Borden made it his habit to seek out the most "incorrigible" students and try to bring them to salvation. "In his sophomore year we organized Bible study groups and divided up the class of 300 or more, each man interested taking a certain number, so that all might, if possible, be reached. The names were gone over one by one, and the question asked, 'Who will take this person?' When it came to someone thought to be a hard proposition, there would be an ominous pause. Nobody wanted the responsibility. Then Bill's voice would be heard, 'Put him down to me.'"
   
Borden's outreach ministry was not confined to the Yale campus. He cared about widows and orphans and cripples. He rescued drunks from the streets of New Haven. To rehabilitate them, he founded the Yale Hope Mission.
 
One of his friends wrote that he "might often be found in the lower parts of the city at night, on the street, in a cheap lodging house or some restaurant to which he had taken a poor hungry fellow to feed him, seeking to lead men to Christ."
   
Borden's missionary call narrowed to the Muslim Kansu people in China. Once that goal was in sight, Borden never wavered. He also inspired his classmates to consider missionary service. One of them said: "He certainly was one of the strongest characters I have ever known, and he put backbone into the rest of us at college. There was real iron in him, and I always felt he was of the stuff martyrs were made of, and heroic missionaries of more modern times."
  
Although he was a millionaire, Bill seemed to "realize always that he must be about his Father's business, and not wasting time in the pursuit of amusement."
 
Upon graduation from Yale, Borden turned down some high paying job offers. In his Bible, he wrote two more words: "No retreats."
   
William Borden went on to graduate work at Princeton Seminary in New Jersey. When he finished his studies at Princeton, he sailed for China. Because he was hoping to work with Muslims, he stopped first in Egypt to study Arabic. While there, he contracted spinal meningitis. Within a month, 25-year-old William Borden was dead.  When news William Whiting Borden's death was cabled back to the U.S., the story was carried by nearly every American newspaper. "
 
A wave of sorrow went round the world . . . Borden not only gave (away) his wealth, but himself, in a way so joyous and natural that it (seemed) a privilege rather than a sacrifice" wrote Mary Taylor in her introduction to his biography.
   
Was Borden's untimely death a waste? Not in God's plan. Prior to his death, Borden had written two more words in his Bible. Underneath the words "No reserves" and "No retreats," he had written: "No regrets."
 
What made the difference in William Borden’s life?  He was looking at the eternal.  Are you?  If so, you will be a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
Let’s pray