What sign can You show us?

John 2:13-25

I try to picture it, Jesus meek and mild, with a whip in His hand, driving out the men selling sheep and doves. If someone said the words together, Jesus and whip, I would normally envision Jesus being whipped by the Roman guards.  But that is later in the story.  Here it is Jesus with the whip, driving out the merchants selling animals and exchanging money. I imagine for our generation, the version that fits best is The Voice:

Jesus fashioned a whip of cords and used it with skill driving out animals; He scattered the money and overturned the tables, emptying profiteers from the house of God.  There were dove merchants still standing around, and Jesus reprimanded them.

Jesus says, "What are you still doing here? Get all your stuff, and haul it out of here! Stop making My Father’s house a place for your own profit!"

It makes me stop to wonder, what would Jesus say about our churches if He came in? How much of what we do in church is for our comfort, for our profit, done with mixed motives? It happens gradually and we don't notice it happening. Of course Jesus can see what is happening in our churches.  We need to read this with conviction.  Not much angers Jesus, but He is angry here.  When we gather to worship, it is holy to Him, set apart for God alone.  Nothing is wrong with a marketplace, but God's love, and access to a relationship to Him, is not for sale. It is not for profit. Not ever.  

The Jews watching were indignant and resented Jesus' interference with the status quo:  

Some of the Jews cried out to Him in unison, "Who gave You the right to shut us down? If it is God, then show us a sign."

I forget as I read that Jesus looked like any other man.  There was no large sign on His forehead "I AM GOD" for them to see.  They did not know.  John tells us previously in 1:11, He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.

"You want a sign?" Jesus replies, "Here it is. Destroy this temple, and I will rebuild it in three days."

This gospel written by John is all about signs.  These are the signs that told us that Jesus is God.  None was greater than the sign of the rebuilding the temple in three days, because He was talking about His body. He was talking about His resurrection. 

Jesus is God.  He sees into our hearts to our motives of worship and service and all we do "in His name."  We need to do it with pure motives.  Not for ambition or profit or appearances.  Only in faith and for the love of Him, and His children here. 

Beloved, my motives are not always pure.  You know that already, but I need to tell You.  I need to confess it. Thank You for reminding me of how serious it is.  Cleanse me and make my heart more pure for You.Thank You for forgiveness.  Help me show it to others. 

be the Body

Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant...Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

1 Corinthians 12:1,27

What is church? This is a question I have been mulling over as we have studied Spiritual Gifts, and have been meeting to talk about a "next generation" ministry. An important question.

Pastor Mark has been talking about a new "next generation" church service, and what we want it to be...not just great music, but to encounter the presence of God...not just good teaching, to but to hear the voice of God...not just a chance to sit around with friend and eat free bagels and sip coffee, but to experience true fellowship of believers. And that's great. Love that. But is that it? Do we then go home to our own lives and come back next week?

A church is about not only salvation, but the process of sanctification. How do we facilitate that? Yes, there must be more.

It takes more than a teacher and a musician, even more than nursery workers and people with a hospitality gift. It takes a whole body. That is what Paul is talking about here.

People need to be shepherded. They need to be encouraged, they need to be shown mercy. They need hospitality during the week, as well as on Sunday. They need all the spiritual gifts. They need each other, because no one person, even a great pastor, can possibly be all we need. Until we all are called out and encouraged and empowered to become part of the church and its functioning body, we cannot fulfill our mission as Christ has given it to us.

Yes, we are all not yet fit for ministry. But is anyone ever really fit? I mean, really? We need to be educated, but we also need to be anointed. The anointing of the Spirit is not something we can read about and learn. It is a miraculous gift from the Spirit we cannot control.

We make the mistake of separating the ministry into the lay people and the "called."

I am sorry, but if you are saved, this is the deal....that was the call! All saints are called. We are not only called out of our sins, we are called to serve, and until we get that, our church body will be missing limbs, organs, important stuff.

It is not about Sunday, it's about every day. It's not about the leaders, it is about we all get to minister, to be part of a team. We all need to get out of our seats, stop being the audience and start finding our places.

The church is a body.

14Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19If they were all one part, where would the body be?

20As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

21The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" 22On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

Stir up the gift!

Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be ignorant...
1 Cor 12:1

It was an important thing to do, to devote these weeks to the study of spiritual gifts. They are important, not something that we should be ignorant about. Learning about them is not a struggle, especially with Pastor Ed's excellent materials. Being able to point out the manifestations of the Spirit's gifts in each other, that too is not a hard thing to do. But this week, we come to the end of the road, we take the "test" and find out, each of us, what gifts we have. Not that there is magic in this test, it is just a tool to point to a truth, something God has planted in each of us, long ago.

What remains is what Paul urges Timothy to do, in his last letter from prison. His final words, include this exhortation to his spiritual son,

... when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you... Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began...

2 Tim 1:5-9

Because of Timothy's genuine faith, he has received spiritual gifts, that God confirmed to Timothy by his brothers in Christ. They confirmed them and prayed for him, laying on of hands.

But using our gifts in ministry is a scary thing. Mostly because our gifts call us to do what we cannot do in ourselves, in our own capabilities and power. This favorite verse, 2 Tim 1:6, is not about having no fear to do whatever we would like, it is about the having the courage to use the gifts God has given to us, the courage to do His will, to choose His way, when to go our own way seems more sensible, more reasonable, more safe.

But through the power of the Spirit, we have the courage to choose His ways, the power to accomplish His will and the sound mind to know His righteousness is best.

Before the world began, He had planned to save us, and not ONLY save us, but to use us in His plan to save the world and to call the world to Himself. He has called us to be His witnesses, His hands to serve, His feet to go, His arms to hold, His voice to comfort, His ears to hear, His heart to love.

We are called to be Jesus with skin on. He has no plan B. Even though He knows better than we do ourselves, how broken and weak we are, He delights to use us. Us!

So stir up, girls, the gift of God which is in you! Identify it! Practice it! Train it! Use it! Delight Him! Delight your friends, family and neighbors with service that is divine! Delight yourselves as you see Christ in you, the hope of glory!

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good...
1 Cor 12:4

You are the equipment

Don't think you have to put on a fund-raising campaign before you start. You don't need a lot of equipment. You are the equipment, and all you need to keep that going is three meals a day. Travel light.

Matthew 10:9-10

Last night I stuffed letters for Donna. She is going to Cambodia for a missions trip. Funny to come up on this passage this morning after helping her with her fund raising campaign last night.

But Donna needs a fund-raising campaign. She is at the end of a seminary MDiv program and, as part of that, is traveling to Cambodia for a missions trip. She iis required by her school to raise a specific amount of funds. She is also going to training classes for the trip, and will be doing the medical stuff to prepare herself. She has asked us to pray for her. It's a big deal, we are all expecting great things and I am excited for her.

So what's the point?

Last night I got to minister to Donna, to help her minister to others. I sat in my room with my folding tray and folded and stuffed and labeled. I did not have to go anywhere. I did not need special equipment. I did not need to raise funds to do this.

Our ministry can begin where we are with what we have, all it needs is a willing heart and a vision to see God's hand in what you are doing. Jesus is well pleased with Donna's diligent, passionate pursuit of her studies to prepare her for His plans in her life. Jesus wants to encourage her and bless her. Last night, it was an honor to for Christ, the Lord of Glory, to use my hands towards this end.

By all means, raise funds and go oceans away if He is leading you. But if He is not, He still needs you. In your own room. With your own hands, you can be used to be His instrument of blessing if you let Him.

Let Him.

Called and Empowered

from Matthew 10 (MSG)

Jesus called twelve of his followers and sent them into the ripe fields. He gave them power to kick out the evil spirits and to tenderly care for the bruised and hurt lives.

In a few weeks, our Called Aside Bible Study will tackle the issue of spiritual gifts. As I consider this, Father, You have led me to where your Son initiated this phenomenon.

Here’s how it worked.

First, He selected His disciples. There were many who followed Jesus, but not all were called. And even among the called, it wasn’t that they were perfect, or even going to be true to Him. We know how the story ends. One betrays Him in the end. But even Judas was called. The point: these were not perfect men. They were called men.

Second, He empowers them. He gives them the power of the Spirit of God, mighty power and authority over the forces of evil, power to heal the physical, emotional and spiritual wounds. This is a power only God has and only God can give. But give it He does to these mere men. God continues to give this power today. We call this power, spiritual gifts.

Third, Jesus gave them this power immediately after He called them. There was no trial or waiting period, to see if this was going to work out. There was no study time for these men. They already had everything they needed. Later, we see that when Saul was called, he went into seclusion for a time to allow the Lord to minister to him and teach him. But that was not what happened here. These men had seen the Lord, and that was enough. However, as we shall see, detailed instructions follow.

Fourth, the power is for others, not for them. It is not for their fame, fortune and glory. It is to minister to others, to comfort, heal, encourage and empower others. The power is not to be used to master others, but to be their servant. It is for God’s glory and for the expansion of His kingdom.

I will build My church

Matthew 16

15 He [Jesus] said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."

For those in church ministry, what a wonderfully freeing word, “I will build My church.” It is so sweet, let’s savor it and take it apart word by word.

“I will build My church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”

I: Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the living God, it is He who will build the church. Not me, not the pastor or the worship leader or the Leadership Team, but our beloved Jesus, our Savior, and Creator of the universe.

will: Not possibly, or maybe, or He is planning to, but He will. It is sure as the dawn.

build: It will grow, take shape, get larger, be constructed according to plan. It will not stay stagnant, it will not be downsized, it will not die. It is living and it will continue to develop, and be built up.
My: Not your church, or their church. Jesus is only interested in building His own church. If we want to get in on what He is doing, He is already building it. He gives no promises on building what is not His.

church: This was no building that He was talking about. This is the first time the word Church is used in the NIV. He was talking about the Body of believers.

and: Plus, in addition to, please note this extra part of the promise…

the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it: Absolutely no power, on earth or in the underworld, no person, no matter how powerful in a worldly way, not matter how evil or slick or stupid, will win in the battle to destroy Christ’s church. No power, no where.


This is so sweet because I cannot mess it up, because it is not me who is building the church. It is Jesus. Neither can anyone else, who I am afraid is doing it wrong, they cannot cause the church to fail. No matter what, Jesus will prevail!

So I can just go on vacation now, right. Right.

But see how Jesus starts this by pointing out how Peter is different from other people who have heard His message. To Peter it has been revealed, from His Father in heaven, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. It is on this Rock of faith that Jesus builds His church. Using us, who know Him, love Him and are devoted to Him, as the foundation to continue His building of the church. He is the cornerstone (Esphesians 2:20), but He builds His church on us.