Ephesians 4

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A Worker Sent By God

I had the privilege of preaching tonight in our church’s study, “A View From The Top: What Does God Say?”.  This week’s topic is focused on the subject, “God Says I Am A Worker”. 

As I thought about this idea in preparation for tonight’s sermon, I kept thinking about the words of Jesus that “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.  Pray, therefore, to the Lord of the harvest that He would send forth workers into His harvest field.”  It is interesting to see the response to this request of Jesus.  When Jesus makes this statement at the end of Matthew 9, He is addressing His disciples.  I have to assume that since Jesus was asking, that they did as instructed and prayed that the “Lord of the harvest would send forth workers into His harvest field.” 

So, what happens?  To those that were asked to pray, Jesus says, “You’re it!”  The next chapter begins with Jesus sending out the twelve into the countryside and villages proclaiming the Kingdom of God, healing the sick, and casting out demons.  The scene is repeated in Luke 10 with a larger group.  Luke 9 records the sending out of the twelve that Matthew wrote about and then Luke 10 begins with Jesus appointing seventy-two others and telling them to ask the Lord of the harvest to send forth workers.  The exact same response . . . Jesus says, “You’re it!”  The seventy-two are then sent out in pairs to be the workers in the harvest field that they had just been instructed to ask for.

When God says that I am a worker, He says that I am a sent worker.  I looked at this tonight, using SENT as an acronym for the kind of worker God has called His followers to be.

First, a worker sent by God is surrendered.  John 9 opens with the disciples of Jesus asking Him a question about who was at fault for a man’s blindness.  The response of Jesus is that no one is to blame, this man was blind for the purpose of bringing glory to God.  He then makes this statement in John 9:4:  “As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me.  Night is coming, when no one can work.”  Did you catch that?  It wasn’t just Jesus who needed to be about the work of His Father.  Jesus addressed His followers and said, “We must do the work of him who sent me.”  To do the work of our Father means that our will must be surrendered to Him.  As a worker sent by God my plans, my desires, my logic, my comfort, my will must be surrendered so that my work is done in a way that brings glory to God.

Secondly, a worker sent by God is equipped.  Ephesians 4 tells us that God called some to the work of apostles, some to the work of prophets, some to the work of evangelists, and some to the work of pastors and teachers for a purpose.  That purpose is to equip the body for works of service.  God does not expect us to do the work He calls us to unprepared.  In fact, He set up a system of leadership designed to equip every follower of Jesus for works of service.  How often do Christians find themselves unprepared as a worker sent by God because they have failed to submit to the work of the leaders that God placed in their life to equip them?  God doesn’t expect His followers to naturally accomplish all the work He calls us to.  He expects us to be equipped so that He can accomplish through us all the work He has called us to.  To effectively accomplish the works of service God has called us to, we must be equipped according to His plan.

Thirdly, a worker sent by God is needed.  Continuing in the passage from Ephesians 4, we see that “from Him [Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”  The accomplishment of the task of building the entire body of Christ as He desires requires each part to do its work.  It doesn’t matter how well we understand the function or purpose of the other parts around us, they are necessary.  Each person is needed.  Often time within church congregations, there appears to be a lack of workers when more often than not, it is simply a lack of people feeling needed.  Their part seems unimportant, so they don’t do it.  If we treated our vehicle like we often do people in a church, discarding parts that we deem unimportant, we would not have a functioning vehicle very long.  Is it any wonder why many congregations do not seem to function in a way that bears much fruit?  For the body to be what God desires for it to be each person is a worker, and each worker is needed.

Finally, a worker sent by God is transformed.  The purpose behind the equipping and each part doing its work is so that we would “all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”  I don’t know about you, but that is mind-boggling to me.  It is incredible to try to wrap my mind around God pouring the complete measure of the fullness of Christ into you or me.  It won’t happen in the flesh and dirt we live in — it simply can’t.  A transformation is required.  A worker sent by God is transformed from being flesh-led to Spirit-led.  Our entire life is changed.  Paul describes it as a transformation from being an infant to a mature adult.  We’re the same person, but we’re not.  We’ve matured and developed.  Our life no longer centers around our needs, but on trusting the one we serve.  Our work isn’t about us, but about the One we work for.  Our life is lived with a completely different motivation.  We’ve been transformed from the inside out and have become true workers sent by God.

God says that you are a worker.  Are you living as “A Worker SENT By God”?  I pray that you live life Surrendered, Equipped, Needed, and Transformed as “whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”(Colossians 3:23)

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The Power of Habits

Today is February 1 and for many their New Year’s resolutions have already come and gone.  Why do we have such a hard time keeping a resolution — a resolution that we willingly made and eagerly want to keep? 

I think many times, it is due to what I call “The Power of Habits“.  Keeping our resolutions, and our promises to God, generally requires us to change.  Change means that we are going to do things differently.  We must step out of our pattern of life — out of our habitual way of living — and chart a new course.  Unfortunately, that sounds a lot easier than what it is.

For many of us, even in the simple things of life, the power of habits keeps us from doing what we want to do.  I had a good friend who opened a restaurant in town a year ago, or so.  It recently closed after a year in business.  I’m sure there were a lot of factors involved, but I suspect that one of them was this “power of habits”.  They had good pizza and it was a comfortable place to stop in and enjoy a good meal.  Yet as much as I liked my friend and wanted to support his business and as much as I enjoyed their pizza, my established habits of eating out always seemed to take me to other places.  I would be out somewhere eating and all of a sudden it would cross my mind, “I should have gone to Jim’s place!”  Well by then, it was too late.  I would tell myself that I would remember it and go there next time, but unfortunately rarely did.  I suspect that is part of why so many restaurants — especially independent restaurants — do not experience the success that appears should be theirs.  The power of habits keep people doing what they’ve always done, even if they desire to do something else.

Another example of this power is seen in this very blog.  I love to write and was shocked to see it has been the middle of December since I have written with any consistency.  It was partly the power of habits that kept me writing on a consistent basis.  Then when my schedule kept me from writing for a few days, it became easier not to write and before I knew it, the few days has turned into 6 -8 weeks.  Even during that time span, I would realize I needed to write but realizing it and doing it were obviously two different things.

I think Paul understood that the power of habits was at least partially a spiritual battle taking place in our minds.  When he would write of his anguish in doing the things he did not want to do and not doing the things he wanted to do, I believe that he was addressing the battle that takes place as the power of habits seeks to control us and keep us from being completely transformed into the likeness of Jesus.  We may call it our “flesh”, our “human nature”, our “draw toward sin” — whatever we call it, it is us living life controlled by the natural rather than the supernatural.  It is replacing the natural habit with a supernatural spirit that allows us to overcome the power of habits.

Paul writes in Ephesians 4:25-32:

“Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.  ‘In your anger do not sin’:  Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.  He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Paul instructs us that to overcome the power of habits in the areas of falsehood, anger, stealing, unwholesome talk, etc., we must replace those sinful habits with the supernatural habits of speaking truth, resolving conflict, generosity, encouragement, kindness, compassion, and forgivness.  The “power of habits” does not have to be a bad thing.  If we allow our habits to be transformed by the “Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption”, they will become a transforming power in our lives and in those around us. 

I pray that “the power of habits” no longer keeps you and I from allowing God to accomplish His will and purpose through us.  Rather that we would be transformed by “the power of Godly habits” into servants who live supernaturally because we live and walk according to the Spirit, not the flesh.