"A Part of Something Bigger"        2011

Psalm 104:1-5, 31-34                      1 Corinthians 3:1-10

 

Psalm 104:1-5, 31-34

1Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty, 2wrapped in light as with a garment. You stretch out the heavens like a tent, 3you set the beams of your chambers on the waters, you make the clouds your chariot, you ride on the wings of the wind, 4you make the winds your messengers, fire and flame your ministers. 5You set the earth on its foundations, so that it shall never be shaken. 31May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works— 32who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke. 33I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. 34May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.

 

1 Corinthians 3:1-10

3And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, 3for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? 4For when one says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,” are you not merely human? 5What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. 6I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. 9For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building. 10According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it.

 

Just out of seminary, I served at a new church development.

            As you might imagine,

                        there were lots of things that hadn't been done before,

                              and so a lot of effort went into trying to figure out

                                    how to do and accomplish things for the first time.

 

In contrast, when I was called to serve this congregation,

            there had already been 29 installed pastors since 1883;

                        and so there wasn't much that hadn't been tried before,

                                       or very many ways of doing things

                                                that I had to figure out for the first time.

 

My ministry here has mostly been

            trying to build upon the good foundation that was laid down

                  & established by the faithful servants who proceeded me.

 

The contrast  between these two types of pastoral ministries

            provides some helpful insight into

                        Paul's letter to the Christians in Corinth…

… to whom he writes:  vs. 10

            According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it.  Each builder must choose with care how to build on it.

 

The Apostle Paul was the

            evangelist whose ministry began the church in Corinth.

 

Then after Paul moved on to evangelize elsewhere,

            other preachers and teachers had come along …

                        … and rival groups had formed in Corinth as each faction

                                    focused on a particular leader, their favorite.

 

Paul recognized

            that their misplaced loyalties to particular teachers

                 resulted in destructive factions and group rivalries,

                   which Paul identified as a sign of spiritual immaturity.

Paul writes: vs. 3, 1

            For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? … And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.

 

So why did Paul interpret

          these factions and divisions   as a spiritual growth issue?

 

Because these group rivalries and divisions were evidence

            that they were focused on human accomplishments and egos,

                        rather than focusing on God,   God who gives the growth.

vs. 6-7

            I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.  So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

 

Sometimes, like the Corinthians,

     we can fall into that same spiritual trap & misunderstanding.

 

At times, we get so caught up with our own work,

            with our own plans and efforts on a pet project or program,

                        that we ignore or forget,

                                    that success or failure ultimately rests with God,

            --- and that,  our call is to be faithful,

                                    and trust in the Lord  to produce the right results.

 

This church in particular, with its long and faithful history,

            is an excellent example that illustrates this point.

 

When I despair over something that goes wrong,

            or in prideful arrogance suppose that it all depends on me,à

 

I am reminded that:

            many faithful Christians were serving God at this church

                        long before I,          or any of us ever arrived …

 

… and there will probably still be faithful Christians

            loving and serving Christ at this church

                        long after each one of us has died and gone on to glory…

            … building upon

                        whatever foundation and legacy we leave behind,à

            just as we are building upon the legacy and foundation

                 that those before us handed down, entrusted to our care.

 

The truth is, it is for just a short season, a  very brief timeà

            relative to the whole life and history of the Church,

                        that we are permitted to offer our gifts and efforts

                                    toward this on-going   kingdom-project of the Lord;

                                                            that is so much bigger and more glorious

                                                                        than any of us can possibly conceive.

 

For example, imagine a particular faithful Christian witness,

            whose life-as-a-lesson  leads someone else to Christ.

 

Suppose that next person  also leads another person to faith

            and somewhere along this chain of faithful discipleship,

                        someone leads a young Billy Graham to faith,

                                    who then leads millions of others to Christ…

 

  … and of course the first along the chain would never know

            the full and eventual impact of their faithful witness.

 

The point is, that God's purposes and plans are always

            far larger and glorious than anything that can be contained

                        within the finite limits of any single mortal life.

     You and I live in snapshots, while God can see the whole movie.

 

It is in that sense, that the content and impact of our lives

            are like a single piece   that fits perfectly

                        into an infinitely complex jigsaw puzzle.

We are each one,

            a unique part of  God's project of creation and salvation,

                and our actual influence may be far more than we perceive.

 

During this,  our mortal lifetime, we'll never really know

     the full impact we may have, through all the lives we touch,

            when we respond to God's gracious love and call, and say,à

                               "Yes Lord, let your grace transform me and use me!"

                       

Or consider your own walk of faith and spiritual journey ----

            and how long your list would be of all the people and events

                        that have helped influence, guide and grow your faith

                              or ever contributed to your spiritual development.

 

Have you ever consider all the resources and blessing God used,

            all that God provided for your spiritual nurture and growth?

   And yes, God really is that infinite, wise and intentional,

            and yes, God really does care and love us each one that much!

 

As Paul wrote:  5-6

            What then is Apollos?  What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each.  I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 

 

This Corinthians passage is about God's grace,

            and a hopeful sense of God's wonderful purpose.

 

Right here at 1^st Presbyterian Church in Las Cruces,

            God has graciously created an amazing convergence

                        of people, events and circumstances over a long time

                           intentionally bringing us all to this place and time,

                                    uniquely equipping us to serve God's purpose, now.

 

And can you imagine  all that we might accomplish together,

            if we each   committed our particular gifts and blessings

                        combined and mingled with all those who came before us

                              all to fulfill and serve according to God's purpose.

 

Truly we stand upon the shoulders of giants who proceeded us,

                        and we build upon the legacy, hard work and foundation

                                    that the faithful others,  have handed down to us.

 

Of course our own faithfulness and what we accomplish matters,

            but in humility

                        let us acknowledge our debt to those who came before us,

                                                to those who blazed and paved

                                                            the roads upon which we travel.

          May that lead us to a fresh sense of God's wonderful purpose.

 

Let us with gratitude claim God's truth and promise of Romans 8:28

            For we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

 

            Jesus taught the apostles,  who taught the early Christians,

                        and so the gospel has been passed down through the ages;

                and so it goes, so too even now, as it has come down to us.           

 

The great and important things are accomplished

            only by our standing humbly upon the shoulders of giants,

                  as we each add our piece, our contribution to the whole,

                             as others who follow us   will in time build upon

                                        whatever    we have built and left behind.

 

            Each worker contributes and builds like a sub-contractor,

                        offering their specialty, their abilities to enhance

                                    in constructing and adding to the overall project.

                                                            That is how God gives the growth.

 

Thus, the whole becomes much larger than the individual pieces,

            as the work of many is coordinated and combined,

                        and the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts…

 

            … and so therefore,

                   each and all are needed, all are significant & necessary

                        and no one’s work is more important than anyone else’s.

 

This is this lesson,  the perspective and view that Apostle Paul

      wants the Christians living in Corinth to adopt & understand.

           

            Paul was urging these Christians of Corinth to workà

                       àtogether as a team   in building up the Kingdom of God.

 

As servants, Paul and Apollos or whomever God calls and equips,

            are simply to do the bidding and building for the master,

            always as cooperative fellow-workers in the service of God.

 

All are fundamentally

            equally important and necessary as co-workers with God,

                        each under God,

                                    each in obedience to God’s mission and call.

                                   

God has chosen to call, equip and use each one of us

            in various ways, to accomplish

                        various tasks at various times and in various places.

 

            It is God’s prerogative to use us as He determines best,

                        and that too is how God   gives the growth.

                       

And we will

          either be faithful to God's grace and call, or we will not.

                   Ultimately,  that is the only question that counts.

                       

Our call is to build for the season that is entrusted to us,

            and then,  we will leave it for others to continue the work. 

 

And those who follow may have to correct some of our mistakes,

           but hopefully they will also

               build profitably upon the efforts of our faithful labors. 

 

Which means    that though our work of ministry is important,

            ultimately, all does not depend entirely upon us alone,

                        for our role

                                    is merely one among many under the lordship of God… 

 

… which is a wonderfully liberating truth!     

            Meaning that we do not have to be perfect in all we do

                        nor are we expected to accomplish it all by ourselves.

 

Nevertheless,

            we are no more or less important than those who preceded us,

                        nor those whom God will call to serve after we are done. 

 

Each one of us are just one small piece of a much greater whole,

            yet we are each one  a unique, important and necessary piece,

                of God’s great work and purpose in Las Cruces, New Mexico…

                        … of the particular mission of 1^st Presbyterian church.

 

            According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it.  Each builder must choose with care how to build on it.

            I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.  So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.