Churches With Heart

Moody First United Methodist Church

Moody-Leon United Methodist Church

Eddie Smart

1 Peter 4:1-11

Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same intention (for whoever has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin), so as to live for the rest of your earthly life no longer by human desires but by the will of God. You have already spent enough time in doing what the Gentiles like to do, living in licentiousness, passions, drunkenness, revels, carousing, and lawless idolatry. They are surprised that you no longer join them in the same excesses of dissipation, and so they blaspheme. But they will have to give an accounting to him who stands ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is the reason the gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that, though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is judged, they might live in the spirit as God does. The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

Zig Ziglar was a pots and pans salesman who went on to be a motivational speaker. Zig use to say, “When you find that you are talking to yourself, it’s o.k. to answer. It’s when you say huh? that you are in trouble. Like all motivational speakers he can not only entertain, he all has important things to say. In reference to the Bible I once heard him say that people are always complaining about studying the Bible because it is difficult to understand. He points out that often it is not those things that we don’t understand that are the problems. Often it is those things that we do understand that are the real problem. (From a memory that grows more strained with each day.)

Today’s scripture lesson is an interesting mixture of those things that are easy to understand and those things that commentators cannot agree upon. This morning I choose to look at those parts of this text that are easier to understand than to live.

The first verse says, “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same intention.” We may not like what it says, but it is rather clear. Which part of “be prepared to suffer as Christ suffered” did you not understand? Some would object to the militaristic sound of “arm yourselves,” but that is what it says. And with what do we arm ourselves? The intention to suffer as Christ suffered!

The fifth and sixth verses refer to judging the living and the dead. There is no doubt about judgement, but judging the living and the dead is not as obvious. Verse seven tells us that the end is near. That verse would make a whole lot more sense if it had not been written 19 centuries ago. Verse eight talks about constantly loving one another. That is plain enough, but what does “love covers a multitude of sins” really mean? That is not so obvious. Whose sins? Whose love? While it might be often quoted, it is not all that straight forward.

But like I said, I am not so much interested in the less obvious this morning as I am in the very obvious. For example: “Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.” It is clear that we are called to be good stewards. There are two aspects of being a steward that I want to consider. (1) For stewards, what we have is actually not ours. Stewards simply care for someone else’s property. All we call “ours” belongs to God. We are only caretakers. (2) We are called to make good, effective use of what has been entrusted to us. The text says, “like GOOD stewards.”

As United Methodists we are asked over and over to support the ministries of this church with our prayers, our presence, our gifts, and our service. Sometimes we thing this is like a multiple choice exam. Pick the one that best fits. The operative word is “and.” We are called to be good stewards in the areas of prayer, attendance, giving, and serving. God calls us to give out of that which has been given to us and everything we have is a gift from God. God has given to us out of His unmerited love great gifts. Use them to serve one another!

And how do we serve one another? Verse 11 says, “with the strength that God supplies.” Seems pretty clear to me that we are called to use that which God has provided in the way of material blessings to serve others. When we do that, God will even provide the strength.

We are sometimes asked how I could leave a great paying job in engineering and marketing to go to seminary and serve church. The short answer is God, but I’m not known for short answers. We made the move because God called us to that change. The choice was not all that difficult. We could say “no” to God or we could say “yes” to God. We could choose to follow God’s will or our own desires. The good news from I Peter is that we do so with the strength that God supplies.

The scripture tells us to live the rest of our earthly lives no longer by human desires but by the will of God. So what is our motivation for such living? Peter says it’s because Christ suffered. Because Christ suffered for us we are called to a willingness to suffer for Christ if that is God’s will. Live no longer by human desires, but by the will of God.

It’s like the story of the pig and the chicken. You’ve probably heard the story. The pig and the chicken are standing next to each other looking at the new billboard on their farm. It shows a delicious looking breakfast of eggs and ham. The chicken says, “Boy, that sure looks good!” The pig replies to the chicken, “Sure for you it is only a contribution, but for me it is a commitment.”

Peter writes about commitment. To live by the will of God is commitment. To reject our human desires is commitment. To serve others with whatever gifts God has given us is commitment.

But how do we live by God’s will? How do we serve others? How do we live not according to human desires? How? By seeking God’s will and acting on it!

Let’s get specific. This is the third week you have received a bulletin insert on the “Offer Them Christ” campaign. You should know by now that our conference is looking to raise five to six million dollars for building new churches and our campus ministry. In the church’s last newsletter, I asked you to begin praying for that campaign. I asked you to pray for our congregation and its response to this opportunity. I asked you to pray for the overall ministry and mission of the church. I asked you to pray for the children, teenagers, men, women, and families whose lives will be influenced for eternity by the ministries of Offer Them Christ. I asked you to pray that we might submit ourselves to God. How is your moment of prayer going? Have you set aside that time to pray for these things?

Six million dollars that’s a lot of money! We will all be asked how God is calling us to participate. Diana & I have already been asked how we will participate. We will be giving in the neighborhood of $500 per year for the next three years.

Six million dollars is a lot of money. How can it happen? What is a fair way to share in this ministry? I started almost instantly thinking about the fairness question.

Each church would be responsible for the same amount. That would be $6080 per church per year for the next three years.

We could give according to our membership. That would be $2631 per year for Moody First and $2696 per year for Moody-Leon for three years.

We could give according to our attendance. That would be $2453 for Moody First and $2751 for Moody-Leon for the next three years.

We could give according to our apportionments. That would be $2160 for Moody First and $1597 for Moody-Leon for the next three years.

Once we have a number for the church, we can decide how to divide that among the members. It could be by membership, attendance, giving, or any of a dozen other schemes. We could take the money from the budget. We can decide what’s fair.

What’s fair? That’s the question. What’s fair? How can we know what’s fair? Well, I guess the only way to know “What’s fair?” is to ask the Christ who died on a cross about what’s fair. I guess we can ask the only perfect human to walk the face of this earth, the one who died on a cross for our sins. I guess we can ask Jesus about fair.

This week you will be getting a brochure and a letter from me. It is about the Church Growth and Development Share plan. As hopefully you have read by now, the share program does not end with “Offer Them Christ.” As a matter of fact it becomes more important. The goal is 20 new churches. That means 20 pastor’s salaries. That means 20 more sets of operating costs.

We have been given a “fair share” number of 15 shares in Church Growth and Development. Moody First currently has 3 and Moody-Leon 2-1/2. Of those shares, 2 belong to Diana and I. One share represents $60 per year to Church growth and development so that new churches can be started. I am asking each of you today to pray about being a part of this ministry. What is God calling you to do in this share program? I don’t care about what has happened in the past. I don’t care if the share program has not been supported by this church. I don’t care what you choose to do. BUT I do care about you listening to what God would have you do. I don’t care if we reach what has been determined as “fair”. I do care if we reach the level of support that God calls us to give.

Those of us my age and older remember the words of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.” We Christians are tempted to say, “Ask not what God can do for you. Ask what you can do for God.

BUT the scripture says,

“Serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.”

“Be good stewards of the manifold grace of God”

“live for the rest of your earthly life no longer by human desires but by the will of God.”

Why? “So that God may be gloried through Jesus Christ.”

Tough words that are not hard to understand.

It’s not a question of this church’s needs vs. starting new churches. It’s not a question of our individual needs vs the needs of college students. It is not our call! It is God’s call! What is God calling us to do?

I am not asking you to give sacrificially, but what is God telling you? Listen carefully.