Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
As American airman Tyler Stark floated towards the ground over Libya last year behind the
spiralling wreckage of his plane, there was an eerie silence.
It was his first combat mission and now he was thinking it was going to be his last.
He'd just turned 27.
Which was one of the three facts about himself he was trained to reveal if he was captured:
is name;
and in spite of what the movies say, not his serial number, but his age, and his rank.
Tyler Stark.
27 years old.
Captain.
Now I want to ask you this morning to think about the question, what is it that defines
you if it was reduced to three key things?
How do you describe yourself, define yourself, when you first meet someone at a party?
What are the first things you'll ask someone else?
For most of us, it's the question what do you do?
Which is very much like your rank, isn't it?
What you are...
is so keenly connected in our culture with what your work is, from 9 to 5.
Or from 8 to 4.
Or for lots of you I know from 7am on the train to 730pm when you get home exhausted.
It's hard not to be defined, isn't it?
by words like consultant, doctor, dentist, clerk, public servant, programmer, engineer,
nurse, soldier, teacher?
Name, age, rank.
That's who you are.
What you are.
They say at Weight Watchers you are what you eat, but the reality is in our culture, in
21st century Australia, you are what you do?
Which is dangerous really, because what are you then the day after you retire?
What are you the day after you're retrenched by Campbell Newman?
What are you when it comes to eternity?
I was talking to a guy the other day, he's been a respected eye surgeon in Sydney for
47 years.
His retirement day turned out to be the day of his father's funeral.
Which is kind of doubly confronting, isn't it?
He said, you know, surgery was okay, but it gets mundane after while.
Anything does.
He said, "You wonder, what's the point?"
Which is where we left things in 1 Corinthians 15 last week, and where we pick up today.
The remarkable contention from Paul that he's absolutely convinced by the example of Jesus
that this life isn't all there is.
That there's a life to come that he's prepared to stake everything on.
That he's every day prepared to put his body on the line because he's convinced of the
resurrection of the dead.
At which point he says this.
Chapter 15 verse 58.
"Therefore my brothers, stand firm.
Let nothing move you.
Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour
in the Lord is not in vain."
See, if you're not a Christian at this point, this won't make any sense to you at all.
But he's saying if you've been persuaded that this life is not all there is...
then don't live like this life is all there is.
And if you've looked at the evidence and you're convinced Jesus has been raised from the dead
and that Jesus is boss...
if you've understood that our sins have been forgiven and that we've got the hope of resurrection
too, then you'll understand that there's work to be done that's not ultimately futile, that's
not ultimately in vain.
And it's the work of the Lord.
And if you're a follower of Jesus, according to Paul, every one of us should be throwing
ourselves into it.
Stand firm.
Let nothing move you.
Always...
give yourselves fully...
to the work of the Lord: labour that's not in vain.
Now as we're going to see in chapter 16, there are all kinds of ways you can do that.
And he's not saying for a minute that you'll stop being a policeman or a dentist or an
IT guy.
But that your purpose in life...
that your passion...
that the thing you give yourself to in the way you do that...
that your life polarity...
changes.
And that's the thread that you'll see ties 1 Corinthians 16 together.
At first glance it's kind of one of those chapters that looks like a random grab bag
of Facebook messages.
All the last minute things Paul hasn't got around to saying in the rest of the letter.
But look closer and you'll see that it's full of people who are showing us what it looks
like - to do the work of the Lord.
You'll see it in verse 8.
A great door for effective work has opened, says Paul.
Verse 10.
Timothy is carrying on the work of the Lord as I am.
Verse 15.
Submit to Stephanus and anyone like him.
Everyone who joins in the work of the Lord and labours at it.
Here's a roster;
here's a list of the kind of ordinary people who are working with the apostle Paul...
in doing the work of the Lord.
Front office or back office, front line or behind the scenes, reaching, teaching and
caring.
Doing the work of the Lord.
Who knows.
Maybe you'll see you there...
Let's take it from the start.
Something everyone's called on to join in.
It's the collection that Paul's organising for God's people, which is literally the same
original word there as in verse 15, the saints.
Which isn't for a moment talking about the stained glass kind of saints or the Roman
Catholic kind of saints or the St Peter and St Paul kind of saints as if Paul's taking
up a collection for himself.
It's his term, most commonly, for the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, the original church
where everything spread from.
Trouble is, when you read about the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem in other parts of
the New Testament, most times, they're not actually all that keen on the fact that Paul's
out there in places like Corinth inviting the non Jews, the Gentiles...
to become Christians.
At the very least, without becoming properly Jewish first.
And now...
these grumpy kind of stuck in the mud Jewish Christians have hit hard times.
There's a famine there.
And they're starving.
At which point Paul's doing an incredibly gracious thing.
The New Testament is just riddled with instances of the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem wanting
to make it harder for Paul and the non-Jewiish Christians.
So what's Paul want to do?
Around all his churches...
around all the Gentile churches...
he's organising a collection.
They're sending money by the truckload to help out.
There's a need and they're going to fill it, with love.
They're going to show they care.
Verse 1: "Now about the collection for the saints, verse 1, do what I told the Galatians
churches to do.
On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping
with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
Then, when I arrive, we'll organise how we send it."
Now mpc, I don't want to go overboard with the backslapping here, but I reckon as a church
we get this, don't we?
And there's been an incredible willingness that goes back years and years...
to be incredibly sacrificial...
incredibly generous whenever there's been a need.
I mean, I reckon it's incredible when we set out to put aside money together like he's
talking about there in verse 2, and we say, okay, let's see if we can educate 100 kids
in the Congo with David and Heather at $100 a year each.
And before we know it there's money for 167 kids.
Do you see, that in itself...
it's doing the work of the Lord.
The only bit of heavy lifting might be lifting the pen to sign the cheque;
although for some people that's the heaviest lifting of all...
but it's doing the work of the Lord.
Paul says no fuss.
No need for fundraisers.
Just put a bit aside in proportion with what you can afford.
And get on with it.
And in Paul's case with the gift they're sending to Jerusalem, building a bond of love between
the very different Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians that nobody would ever have expected.
Because they're loving one another across huge cultural boundaries.
Which is exactly what Jesus is on about.
Now verse 5 to 9, there's another one.
Another way everyone can get involved in the work of the Lord.
And that's by helping Paul on the next leg of his journey which he hasn't quite got mapped
out yet.
If you know anything about Paul, he's the first great missionary.
He's determined to spread the message of Jesus all over his part of the world.
And so through the chapter you keep getting place names.
Macedonia.
Northern Greece.
In verse 5, Ephesus, where he's writing from, in verse 8.
The whole province of asia, verse 19: churches sprouting everywhere.
And even though he hasn't figured out where he's going to plant churches next, he wants
the Corinthians to know they can help him.
They'll do that by providing a bed for him when he stops over.
They'll do that by helping with provisions.
They'll do that in all kinds of ways that you'd call I guess hospitality.
Take a look at verse 6.
"Perhaps I will stay with you a while, or even spend the winter, so that you can help
me on my journey, where-ever I go."
Which is exactly the way it still works.
Whether we're helping John and Rose Evans on their journey to Japan.
Or Matt and Kerry Viney on their journey to Wavell Heights.
Practical, caring, loving support that says we're with you in this.
Allan Shanks was telling me just a week or so back that they'd been over to the Wavell
Heights Anniversary afternoon, and it was especially to encourage Matt and Kerry.
Our financial support, as a church: ten thousand dollars this year towards getting the Evans
family into Chiba City.
Doing the work of the Lord in reaching new places, in new ways.
Or on the front line like Paul himself.
Did you notice his words in verse 8?
On the front line, facing up to opposition as he reaches people with the message of Jesus.
That's the work he's talking about.
He says, "But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective
work has opened to me and there are many who oppose me."
See, that's the work of the Lord.
And instead of stopping because there's opposition, instead of stopping because it's tough, he
says that's a door opening for effective work.
Now I don't know if opposition makes you nervous.
It certainly did with Timothy, Paul's young apprentice.
It's interesting when he writes to Timothy a little later, he's got to remind him that
God didn't give us a spirit of timidity.
He's got to remind him, be bold.
And here when he's talking about Timothy coming to visit, he says to the Corinthians help
him with that.
It's in verse 10.
And it's worth looking at this from two angles.
Verse 10.
Take a look.
"If Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he's with you, for he is carrying
on the work of the Lord, just as I am."
Angle number 1.
Maybe you can help someone else doing the Lord's work to have nothing to fear.
Stand with them.
Give a word of encouragement.
Spur them on.
Timothy...
fearful or not...
is carrying on the work of the Lord, just like Paul is.
Teaching from town to town.
And Paul says to the Corinthians, you can help him.
Send him on his way in peace.
Help him along so he can return to me.
Angle number 2.
Maybe you're fearful when it comes to doing the work of the Lord.
Did you notice what Pam said on that video about teaching RI in schools?
If you've ever done it yourself, you'll know there's nothing more scary than a classroom
full of kids when you're there to teach RI.
Especially year 7 boys I reckon.
But Pam went along with Enid.
At first just to hold the books.
Eased in.
Fear...
doesn't have to stop you.
It doesn't with Pam.
It didn't with Timothy.
And look, it may be you're here today and you're actually someone who needs to think
about stepping beyond the fear and getting serious.
Maybe even someone who is thinking through the option of full time ministry.
In a few weeks time, October 8th, we're running a night called Ministry Pathways where we'll
talk about that.
The ways forward to preparing for that Timothy kind of ministry.
Whether you're fearful or not I reckon we can help you with that.
And we can certainly talk about the kind of training and preparation, the pathway involved.
What about Stephanus and his household?
Verse 15.
The first Christian converts in Achaia;
founders of the church in Corinth.
Here's an example.
A whole household, a whole family unit...
committed to serving God's saints.
Very much doing the work of the Lord.
Which makes them leaders worth following.
Submit, says Paul, to the kind of leaders who pour themselves out in service.
Labouring in the work of the Lord.
"So I urge you brothers, submit to such as these, and to everyone who joins in the work
and labours at it."
They might look on the surface of things like servants.
Always thinking about what's best for somebody else.
They might look a bit tired and ragged.
Paul says, they're the great ones.
Stephanus and Fortunatus, Achaicus, they've just arrived with supplies sent from Corinth.
Refreshment for Paul's spirit.
Maybe that's a way you could get involved in the work of the Lord.
Work out ways to refresh our front liners.
Cook a meal sometime for our RI teachers;
surprise them with it.
Or a Kidzbiz leader.
Or one of our ministry team.
You've been hard at it in the work of the Lord.
Let me send you to the movies.
Let me take you out to dinner.
Amazing how little it takes...
to refresh a spirit.
One more practical tip from Aquilla and Priscilla.
They send their warm greetings says Paul in verse 19.
And so does the church that meets in their house.
How would you like it every week if you had a church meeting in your house?
I mean, I guess it means they don't have to worry about parking.
But think about it.
The cleaning before everyone comes.
"Hurry up Aquilla and make the bed.
Kids, get those vegemite crusts off the table."
Moving all the chairs.
Cleaning up afterwards.
Now let me tell you, that...
is doing the work of the Lord.
In a thousand practical ways.
And the twenty something couples here in our church family who open up their homes every
week for growth groups know exactly what it feels like.
If you're keen to get involved that way, if you want a slice of church meeting in your
house in 2013, speak to Stu Hoadley after the service.
And he'll make a note.
We'll provide the leaders.
You provide the house and coffee.
Or in a similar way, what about the people who work so hard to make you feel at home
here in our church building every week?
It feels like home, doesn't it, when there's someone dishing up a cup of tea?
Someone putting out a cake.
Someone washing up your cups.
It's hard work.
And if you're doing it to encourage your Christian brothers and sisters, if you're doing it to
serve like Jesus, if you're doing it because you're living a cross-shaped life...
you're not just taking your turn on a roster.
You're doing the work of the Lord.
And if you're not helping that way and you'd like to, make sure you contact Geoff Cowles.
His email address is in the bulletin.
How different from the model in Corinth that we've seen these past ten weeks or so.
In a church where it seems everyone wanted to be most impressive.
Where everyone wanted to be the most spiritual.
Where everyone wanted to be first.
Where Paul has to say to them, follow my example as I follow Christ.
Others first.
Self last.
Following the way of the cross.
Living cross shaped lives of service.
Doing the work of the Lord.
Friend, if you go home today exhausted because you've worked so hard to serve morning tea,
remember your labour in the Lord is not in vain.
If you're tired today because you spent the whole day at the men's Forge conference yesterday,
not because you needed it, but because your mate needed it.
Remember, your labour in the Lord is not in vain.
If you're not looking forward to Monday, because your RI class has been tough lately;
remember, your labour in the Lord is not in vain.
If you're thinking through how you can maybe be like David and Heather Kelly and use up
your retirement savings to serve Jesus overseas, and you're counting the cost...
remember, your labour in the Lord...
it's not going to be in vain.
If you're ready to step aside from your career that's so defined you, to go into some kind
of full time ministry at half the pay, remember: not in vain.
You're doing stuff...
that will potentially last for ever.
Touching lives - for eternity.
Putting your energy into doing the work of the Lord.
As we reach.
And teach.
And care.
So let me finish by asking you, who are you and what do you do?
What are you doing with your life...
that's going to count like that?
That's really going to last.
And make a difference?
Are you consumed by consuming?
Just working to get more stuff for you?
Defining yourself just by your day job?
Friend, if that's you...
and you're just bringing that consumer mindset into the kingdom of God...
be reminded.
Your mission is, should you choose to accept it, not to just turn up and consume.
But to give yourself fully to the Lord Jesus.
Who gave himself up fully for you.
"Therefore my dear brothers, stand firm.
Let nothing move you.
Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour
in the Lord is not in vain.
Be on your guard;
stand firm in the faith;
be men of courage;
be strong.
Do everything...
in love."