“…God has dealt to
each one a measure of faith… We are many members in one body, but all the
members do not have the same function, so we being many, are one body in Christ,
and individually members of one another. Having gifts differing according to the
grace that is given to us, let us USE them…” (Romans 12:3-6)
Last week, I spoke to a group about a
subject that involved mentoring, which includes the counseling and guiding of
others. I posed the question, “What if you were sent by God to be a mentor to
someone special?” – somebody like Albert Einstein? There may be a young Albert
Einstein and God has in mind that YOU will mentor them. What will you do for
them? How will you feel if you are the one assigned to help them?
God definitely does appoint people to help
others. All around us there are the familiar doctors, teachers, nurses and auto
mechanics who, whether they know it or not, are assigned by God to minister to
human needs. And He gives His people what are called “spiritual gifts”
for that very purpose. You’ll recall that the Angel Gabriel was sent to Mary to
inform her that she would be the mother, the human mentor of the Son of God.
Zacharias was to be the father, the mentor of John the Baptist. What if Gabriel
came to YOU right now and he said, “I’m sending you back in time. Gamaliel
isn’t available at the moment and YOU'RE to be the mentor of the Apostle
Paul.” How would you feel?
Like Zacharias, you would probably have
plenty of objections. “Time travel isn’t possible,” you would reasonably say,
and “I don’t speak Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek,” is another good response; and
“anyway Gamaliel’s name is already in the Bible, so it can’t be MY name that
would be put in there!”
In Christian circles we say it a lot, and
it’s even more true than we know, that you and I have been CALLED to help
others.
You are especially GIFTED by God for precisely this moment in time. We ALL are
intended in some manner to minister to the lost and injured of this world, and we
are called to guide and help one another within the Body of Christ.
Look at Romans 12:3-8. Paul the author
said, “…God has dealt to each one a measure of
faith. We are many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same
function. We being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one
another.” And it continues: “Having gifts differing
according to the grace that is given to us, let us USE them: if prophesy, let us
prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our
ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who
gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with
cheerfulness…” We are gifted to serve one another.
Think about the people who are in your
life; perhaps the person next to you at this moment. Look at them in a different
light. If they know the Lord, they have the potential for genius beyond the
capacity of Albert Einstein. They have the GIFTS of the Spirit. They are capable
of wondrous acts they likely don’t even know about. The Spirit of God is
gifting you with the capacity for genius also. It’s hard to say this part of it,
but in humanity, we are like idiot-savants – gifted in some areas; utterly blind
in others. And we were created in Christ Jesus with precise benefits and
limitations for a specific purpose: we are not only to mentor one another, but we
also are to NEED others enough to receive their help.
Those who can sculpt, paint, write or
perform music, fix a car, compute a tax form for someone, or cut hair so it
looks good – these are geniuses, gifted by God with what we call “natural”
gifts. And those in Christ have been gifted by the Spirit into a whole new
dimension, unknown to this world. If you are in Christ, you have GIFTS. You have
more to give others than you would ever dream about or expect. Often we give to
others in God’s power without even knowing we did. It’s important to see that
the gifts are not of ourselves; they are of God. We respond to His call. He does
the work in and through us.
My wife, Genevieve, and I were
privileged to be with Pastor Zack Zacharias, who is in hospice care because of
cancer in his brain. I anointed him with oil; we prayed and took communion
together. He prayed for you, by the way. He prayed for those in ministry.
Especially he prayed for the Emmaus Walks where he served for so many years. He
prayed for leaders in the body of Christ, including you, for we are all called
to be servant-leaders in the power of God. You are potentially a leader in
service for the Lord, and it isn’t as complicated as you might think, for it is
God who does the work through us.
How long does a smile last? If you smile at
me and say a kind word, I am more likely to smile at the next person I meet.
They receive that smile and they also pass it on. Like the ripples in a pond, it
spreads outward – can a smile last for 1000 years? Perhaps. Occasionally, I
receive a note thanking me for a Bible study or sermon. It’s helpful.
Encouragement is important – it gives us strength to keep on responding to God’s
call.
In communion, I asked Pastor Zack if he had
been blessed by the words of the Apostle Paul and he said “yes,” he had been. I
observed out loud with him that the Apostle Paul had been gone for 2000 years
and yet he continues to speak to us today.
Some of you may know something of my story.
I ran away from the Lord’s call at 16, then returned and said “yes” to the Lord in
my early 30’s, and was finally ordained very late in life. I am a young pastor as an
older man. I had, and have, so much to learn – we all do. I told Pastor Zack the
truth – he was and is my mentor. He MODELED being a pastor for me. He is not
physically able to be out of bed anymore, but his words speak on, through me and
through others. If the Lord tarries in His return to this earth, will Pastor Zack’s
words and example last for 1000 years? It’s possible. We are more important in
the Lord’s work than we think.
YOU are an important mentor to me and to
others in the Body of Christ. When you receive the Lord, you are “…dealt…
a measure of faith…” Everyone in Christ becomes
your brother, your sister; not only in your denomination and not just those who
look at things like you do. The homeless one who has no church – needs you.
Paul said, “we are many members in one body,” and “all
the members do not have the same function,” but we are “individually
members of one another.” And he concludes, yes we do have gifts that are
“differing,” from one another, but “let
us USE them” (Romans 12:3-6) in the power and love of God.
Father, give me the courage and the love to use
my gifts for those in need, in the power and the love of God. In Jesus Name. Amen.
