We Are Church Members

Ever had that experience? You wonder that seems odd. Well, hosana is is kind of that was because our song sang hosana over and over and over again. And that happened to me. It’s like that is a weird word.

And so I wonder what in the world that meant. I looked it up this week because I had that same situation this week. And it’s a it’s a word that actually evolved. Hosana started out with a meaning of save us now to the meaning on that Palm Sunday of victory. We’re saved and praise God.

Okay. Victory is here. Salvation is here. Hosanna praise. And for them, it reflects their hope that Jesus was the Messiah and he was coming to usher in his kingdom and the Romans would be kicked out and all this glory would would transpire and so forth.

But also there’s probably a sense of uncertainty in their minds because he’s writing on this donkey and not just a donkey, a little one, a youngster. And that doesn’t fit the image of a king. So, they’re saying one thing and seeing another and there’s this cognitive dissonance probably going on like I feel this, I see this, we’re all doing this, but I’m looking at that and it doesn’t fit. Interesting. But it was certainly was a a day of hope and a day of expectation.

And they were right in everything they were hoping for. It just didn’t transpire the way they expected. But it all came about, okay? Because we’re experiencing that today. The victory and the hope.

So, they had their beliefs, they had their expectations, but they didn’t really know what was coming. And guess what? We’re kind of in that same boat right now. All right. Because next Sunday, we start a new new pastor starts.

Okay. Who is it? So, was that Karen? That’s Bonnie. You did that.

Woohoo. Okay, that’s great. So we too, we have hopes and expectations, but we really don’t know what’s coming. Not today. No palm branches today.

So we’re going to take time this morning and ground ourselves as church members because whatever happens up here, you’re still you out there. And we have obligations. I’m going to use that word comfortably. Use that word. We have obligations as church members.

Okay. Now, this past year has been a time of waiting and holding fast and and hoping and looking and searching and wanting and so forth. But I’m looking at all of you here today and and we came through this last year just fine. We did well. Okay?

And and if you think about the reason for that is likely because, well, you know, we had elders that continued in their role of ministering to the people and keeping us on track and doing the stuff that elders do. We had all of you who continued in your ministry to one another, meeting needs as they came up. And we had John and I that filled this pulpit. But we didn’t really have a single person coordinating and leading and doing all of that. But you see that eldership membership and teaching from a group of elders is more of the model we see in the New Testament than that of a single pastor.

And that’s really interesting if you look at that. You go through the Bible and you look at all the qualifications for a pastor and it’s all in the plural. They shall be. They shall be. They shall be.

The idea was it was a group of elders that was leading, not a single pastor. Only time you really see the singular is when Paul is dealing with the single person, Timothy, giving him instruction. So, we came through this past year just right because we stuck with the biblical model. Now, bringing in a pastor with a congregation full of capable, mature, and ministering believers is an absolute strength for us. Just because it’s not the primary model doesn’t mean it isn’t a successful model and it indeed is and we will be that.

Okay. So this is going to be a great great time for us because a pastor lead pastor that comes in among a congregation such as you guys will provide an identifiable leader and identifiable authority for representing and speaking for this body to other churches and for our community. He’ll serve to rally this local body around a vision and a strategy for ministry in this community and among ourselves. And he will be able to marshall and coordinate us as members all of whom have spiritual gifts and abilities to minister to each other. That leadership is going to be a very valuable strength for us all.

And he’ll be setting the tone in his preaching for how we as a church will be the face of Jesus locally. So our task will be to embrace that. And I’ve observed the woohoo among many of us looking for this new pastor to come in. But I’m going to remind us that that’s not the primary model for leadership in the church. You are the primary model for leadership in the church.

A group of elders, teachers from that group of elders, the body ministering to the body. So I want us to recognize that we have these expectations. We’re waving palm branches and we have these hopes, but we really don’t know how it’s going to work out. So hold this all loosely because the spirit’s at work and you really don’t know which way that wind blows, right? So to that end, we’re going to talk plainly about being a church member today.

Now, a book has been going around and this one did y’all did did some of you get some of these this morning? Say yes. Let me see your book. All right, we’re looking. Okay, now not all of you raised your book up.

We’re playing the game. Okay, that’s fine. Now ladies, her Wednesday morning Bible study, you’re going to get yours and so forth. But if you haven’t gotten one and you want one, talk to Bonnie. Okay.

Okay. So, so people got theirs. You’re going to get theirs. There’s a whole basket back whatever. They’re coming.

But we’re going to look at this a little bit today. Okay. Now, it lays out what it means to be a church member, to be a body of Christ. Okay. And the scriptural teachings of this book, I think, can help us launch this next chapter of our church in a very, very healthy way.

And that’s what we all want, right? That’s what we all want, right? Okay. I love it. Okay.

Now, being a church member, now this is one of the strongest points in this church u this book that I like. It’s it’s it’s different from membership and like a country club. Now, when I use the term membership, I’m not talking about being an official on the list card carrying member of this church. I’m talking about the fact that if you’re a believer and if you were attending, you were a member of this local body. Okay?

It’s not this formal thing. By the way, have you noticed how steady the microphone is today? Isn’t that great? You can thank those guys in the booth back there. Okay?

And you know what the problem was? It was them. Other people using frequencies that interfered with ours. It wasn’t us. Okay.

And so when our guys called up and said, “What’s going on?” They said, “You should be using this frequency because it’s the least interfered with for us.” I love not being interfered with. Okay. So in 1 Corinthians 12, we see verse 27.

Now we are the body of Christ and individual members of it. Okay? We are the body and we are the members. So I want you to brace embrace the whole concept that you are a member. Okay.

Not necessarily like that in a civic organization or a country club. In a country club you become members by paying dues and signing on the dotted line and so forth. And what you’re doing with that paying of dues is you’re buying privileges and you’re buying services. When you attend, you get to use the facilities. You get to get whatever.

Okay. You become a part and that has privileges and perks that you get from paying your membership. And you have a right to expect a certain level of service and the perks that come with that. But not so in the church. Okay?

Just because you attend as a member and just because you give and just because you tithe does not entitle you to any special perks of membership. There ain’t no such thing in the body of Christ. Okay? We may not necessarily play the music you like. We may not preach the sermons that meet your needs.

We may not run programs that you necessarily agree with. Okay? You get that when you pay for a membership at a country club. But you’re not paying for a membership here because our membership is not paid by us. It’s paid by Jesus Christ and his death on the cross and his salvation for us.

He paid the price for our membership and our privilege of being a part of this group. And at our salvation, he placed us into this body, which is interesting. Don’t really know if that’s something that is a reality in a spiritual realm or just figurative in what Paul teaches, but Christ placed us into his body. And in the process of that, he gave us gifts. This is what’s interesting about this kind of membership.

He gives us gifts. And why does he do that? Because he expects us to use them. These aren’t rights or or anything like that. These are responsibilities that we have when we become member of the body of Christ.

We don’t have rights. We have responsibilities which is a bit different than a country club. So our attitude when we come here is not to have an expectation of being served. It’s an expectation of serving as when you come in here. Okay.

Did you come here this morning to be filled, to have your needs met? Was that your expectation? Or did you come here this morning to meet the needs of others? Little different. So, a crit critical fact about being a part of this body is that we’ve been given gifts.

All of you have one or two or three or six or eight abilities, capabilities, and we’re expected to put those to use as that part of the body that we are. In 1 Corinthians 12:4-7, Paul uses the metaphor of the body. Now, there are variety of gifts. Actually, he doesn’t. That’s coming up.

Now there are variety of gifts but the same spirit and there are variety of ministries and the same Lord and there are varieties of effects but the same God who works all things and all persons but to each one is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good. As such this book talks about commitments talks about pledges that we make as as members of the body. And the first pledge, the first commitment we’re to make is that as a church member, I am going to be a functioning church member, one who puts my abilities, my gifts to work. And Paul does use the human body as an analogy in in verse 14 to 26 or metaphor for our roles in the church. In this passage, he teaches that we each have a part.

Each have a part and all parts are necessary for the proper functioning. These parts are different and those differences are needed. Some parts are more visible than other parts. That that doesn’t make them more honorable or more necessary. And then the other part, so the book that we have does have those six pleasures.

And the first one, if you haven’t filled in the blank yet, is that I will be a functioning church member. Will serve rather than expect to be served. I will do my part as a necessary body part realizing that I am necessary. So our goal as believers in this body is to know what our gifts, our capabilities are what are the special things that I can do. Now by that I don’t mean you choose one, okay?

Or that you find one, but I mean you gravitate to the one that you’re drawn to or that people perhaps pull you into. We need to be in those positions that we’re capable of fulfilling. And to be honest, you may not be the best one to see that others might be. I wouldn’t have volunteered to preach this past year. They pulled me up to do so.

It wasn’t something I was seeking. The gift that you have, the role that you fill may not even be one that you like. I don’t see anything in the scriptures that says you have to like it. Now, you will likely grow to love it. But in at the beginning, you may think, “What?

This isn’t me. This isn’t what I wanted.” Oh, well, here I go. And you learn, you grow. That’s kind of what maturing is.

Most of us as we grew up probably grew up kicking and screaming, different roles we were placed into as we went, but we grew into them and we matured thereby. And that’s what we as a Christian in this body is all about. We’re doing that. And in the body analogy, you know, the idea about not liking them and and so forth, there are parts of my body, this thing that if they could feel and speak, might rather be doing something else. Okay, we all have body parts that might rather be doing something else.

I’m not going to go into details on those. But you can just imagine. Okay. So, let’s let’s play with that a bit. A lot of us here are old and we’re all getting older.

I heard the other day that someone said, “Here’s a photograph of me when I was younger.” Well, isn’t every when you were younger? Every single photograph. Anyway, we’re old and we’re getting older and a lot of us have failing body parts. They’re wearing out.

They’re aging. You see me rubbing my hands? This is one of them for me. Okay. And I got two of them down here.

They’re called feet. And they’re beginning to fall out from under me. And it frustrates me that these parts are no longer pulling their weight. They lack full function. They’re a hindrance.

They slow me down. They hinder achievement of my goals and my purposes, my desires. They’re frustrating, especially because other parts of my body have to modify what they would normally do simply to make up for the lack of what this thing is is doing. Okay. Now, some in the body of Christ think perhaps that they’ve aged out or they’ve chosen that reasoning to decline service.

I’ve done my part. Let someone younger take over. I’m tired. I’m ill. I’m weak.

I’m old. Whatever. But there is no aging out in the body of Christ. If you drop out because you’re tired or feel less capable or have lost your motivation, you become just like that failing hand or that failing foot, failing eyesight or hearing. You’re no longer a functioning member, but a condition that the rest of the body has to serve or work around.

More of a burden than a blessing perhaps. Now, I still value my hands and my feet, but I resent the direction that they took and the cost and limitations that they put on me. So, play this analogy out in the body of Christ. Now, with age, our capabilities certainly do change and we indeed can no longer do the things that we once did. But that’s no reason to quit, but rather a reason to graduate to some other form of service.

Have any of you, how many of you have seen Monty Python’s Holy Grail? Remember the Black Knight? None shall pass. Okay. Now, this guy had a mission.

His mission was to prevent people from crossing this bridge. And in this movie, which by the way is a British humor spoof on just about everything. Anyway, and it’s it’s wonderfully funny and irre reverent and all kinds of fun things. Anyway, but he’s standing here. None shall pass.

And King Arthur comes up and he has to pass. And now this black knight is wearing this essentially looks like a paint can for a helmet with just a slit for eyes. And you can never see his eyes and never see his face, never see expression. He’s just holding his sword about as long as he is. None shall pass.

King Arthur orders him to let him pass. He goes, “None shall pass.” And so they start this sword fight and they have these swords that are like as long as they are. And it’s this big comedic waving of swords and banging around forth. And in the battle, King Arthur cuts off an arm of this black knight.

And the black knight looks at it and King Arthur says, “Give up, man. And you’ve cut your arm off. And he goes, I’ve seen worse. So he continues to fight with this big old sword and and so forth and and then King Arthur cuts off the other arm. He says, “Give up, man.”

And he says, “It’s just a flesh wound is what he says.” And so he continues to battle. He battles King Arthur. Come on then. He says to fight him.

King Arthur’s, you know, has to fight this guy with no arms. But the black knight continues to attack him. So he cuts off one of his legs. And he hops around and he beats him with his tin can helmet. So on, you know, on with you.

Let’s go fight me. King Arthur just doesn’t want to fight him. But nonetheless, he has to stop this guy. He has to cross the bridge. So he cuts off the other leg.

And so the last scene shows this black the black knight sitting no legs in the middle of his his bridge. And King Arthur is crossing and the Black Knight says, “Let’s call it a draw then.” That’s you with your mission in the body of Christ. Nothing will make you stop. You will continue to pursue your mission.

So you have to say, “Let’s call it a draw then.” Okay? And then move on. Now, some of us have indeed aged out of the capabilities that we were used to being able to doing or our physical bodies have fallen out from under us and can no longer do and we can no longer even attend. And we have wonderful people who minister to those folks who can’t do that.

But those folks who can’t do that, many of them minister continually by being encouragements by phone or by letter or by whatever to other members of the body of Christ. And certainly by being a blessing to those who come to serve them. There is always a degree of service we are to provide in the body of Christ. We are members of the body of Christ. As such, we’re called to be a function functioning members.

We will serve. We will minister to others. So, next commitment, next pledge. I’m a church member. I will be a source of unity, never a divisive force in the church.

1 Corinthians 12 and 13. For just as the body is one and yet has many parts and all are parts of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, we were all made to drink of one spirit. And this metaphor, the body is a unified whole. Unity is a theme throughout the New Testament.

We see it in John 13 where Jesus says, “By this they’ll know you are my disciples if you have love for one another.” We see it in Ephesians 4 1-6. Therefore, I, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you’ve been called with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being diligent to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. I’m going to read that phrase again. Being diligent to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

How do we do that? With all humility and gentleness, patience, bearing with one another in love. That’s how we do that. There is one body and one spirit just as also you were called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

So we will be a source of unity, not a divisive force. So what is a divisive force? A divisive force is one who serves conditionally. I’ll do this if you’ll give me that. I will participate if you do it the way I like or the way I think is right or whatever.

One who desires their preferences and lets everyone else know it. Those who demand, gossip, complain, and those who criticize unconstructively without humility or love. Anybody can be a critic. It takes no gifting to be a critic. It takes no skill to be a crit critic.

It takes no ability to be a critic. Anybody can be a critic. Takes no spiritual guidance at all. But a unifying force, that’s a special gift. Unifying force is someone who demonstrates unconditional love, who overlooks imperfection, looks past differing perspectives and beliefs on negotiable things.

Forgiving unconditionally, affirming others, speaking truth, and taking action in love, especially when it’s hard. Dealing firmly and effectively with those who divide the gossips, the complainers, the critics, those who undermine others. Someone who facilitates understanding, someone who facilitates peace. Any of you been in the military? Okay, there’s a rule in the military.

Where which direction do you complain? Which direction? Up. You complain up. You never complain down.

All right? And that’s the same in this church. If you have something that’s bothering you, you don’t tell your neighbor. You don’t tell the one in the church pew next to you. You go to an elder or a pastor and you say, “I have a concern here.”

You complain up, never across. Because that’s gossip. Or complain down. That’s gossip. Okay.

Our goal is to keep the church unified for the sake of the gospel. We have a a book at home called the thesaurus of jokes or comedy thesaurus. I forget what it is, but it has a whole bunch of things. And I ran across this yesterday and I thought, well, that’s interesting. Our goal is to keep the church unified for the sake of the gospel.

So this guy was coming to a bridge and he saw a person on the edge of the bridge and he was about to throw himself off and and this gentleman said, “Don’t do that. There’s so much to live for.” Like what? The jumper said, “Well, are you religious or atheist?” “Religious,” he said.

Me too. “Are you Christian or Buddhist?” “Christian,” he said. “Well, me too.” “Are you a Catholic or Protestant?”

“Protestant,” he said. Me too. Are you Episcopalian or Baptist? Baptist, he said. Wow.

Me too. Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord? Baptist Church of God. He said, “Me too. Are you of the original Baptist Church of God or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?”

A reformed Baptist I me too. Are you reformed Baptist Church of God Reformation of 1879 or Reformed Baptist Church of God Reformation of 1915? He said Reformed Baptist Church of God Reformation 1915. Die heretic scum. And he pushed him off.

Okay. We maintain unity for the gospel because without that we become a joke. Okay. Anyway, so our goal is to keep the church unified. So here’s how I encourage you to think about that.

If my thoughts are negative, I keep them to myself. If anything negative comes to me from others, I will counter them in kindness and patience and seek to stop it in its tracks. If it’s too big for me, I’ll take it to someone for whom it is not too big. Complain up and share it with no one else. The negative train stops with me.

I will be disciplined in this. Intentional commitment number three, church membership is not about my preferences or desires. We all have preferences. All eight billion of us on this planet. All of us.

So why should mine or why should yours have be of any priority to anybody else? Who am I? My preferences, your preferences, frankly, are irrelevant in the body of Christ. We all have them, and we all have disappointments when they aren’t met. Join that club.

Okay? Using the body metaphor again, I wish my waist was narrower. I wish my feet didn’t always hurt. I wish my hair fell a different way. I wish the old manh hairs coming up in inconvenient places would just go away.

I wish different parts of my body were different. And don’t we all join the club? Okay. In the body of Christ, we will wish things were different. Join the club.

Get over it. In the body of Christ, we don’t get served. We serve. We don’t pursue our preferences. We serve.

And our level of maturity and our level of honor are revealed in how we handle our preferences and our disappointments concerning the body of Christ. If you come here to be served, then your needs will never be met. If you come here to serve, your needs will always be met. We’re here to meet the needs of others, to give, to serve, and to sacrifice as Jesus did. Being in the body of Christ means giving up our preferences.

In Mark 9:35, Jesus said, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” Now, this wasn’t a threat as in if you strive to be first, you’re going to end up being last. No. It’s a statement of fact. He who is servant of all is truly the greatest among you.

So you and I are to be last, not first. And the servant, not the served. So my advice here, strive to be last. Strive to be in the background, to be unnoticed as you serve others. And be intentional about that.

There’s real peace and joy there. If you are needed upfront, you’ll be called upfront. That’s God’s business. That’s the spirit’s business. If you try to put yourself up front, you’re going to be in the way.

And when you encounter people who want their preferences, remind them in kindness and patience that their preference is simply one of many here in the church. Number four, this is a big one. I’m a church member. I will support our pastor. We have a new one coming.

His name is Jason and he’s starting next week and it’s going to be great. But let’s talk about Jason. He’s not here. Let’s talk about Jason. Jason’s 36 years old.

He’s about the same age that Steve was when Steve McCracken first started here. Now, the difference is most of you were around 36 years old back then when Steve started also. Okay? And we’ve all aged. So now most of us have 25 to 40 more years in adulthood than Jason will have had when he starts.

Grasp that he’s been an adult for a little over 15 years while most of us have been living as adults for 40 or 50 more years than that. So he has not been through all the child rearing chapters yet. He has not been through all the body declining experiences yet. He has not been through the periods of personal loss that come with the passing of decades and the surprises and challenges that those decades bring. He’s had some, of course, but not like you.

So we’ll support Jason by appreciating, understanding, and allowing for this difference. Okay? In his youth, he brings the energy and vigor that a young heart and a young brain provides. And we need that. He’ll provide the fresh idealism and hope that youth and a new start stimulates.

He’ll provide the differing perspective of a generation younger than many of us. And for those of you who are younger, yes, someone like me. Okay. Finally. So, we will support him by embracing and encouraging his enthusiasm and his idealism that he brings.

G Jason is a man. He’s a mortal man. As such, he’s imperfect just like you and me. He’ll have his own opinions as do you and me. And those opinions will likely differ from yours and mine.

As a mortal man, he’ll need rest and time alone and time with his family, just like you and me. As a mortal man, he is not all knowing. He’s likely not a genius, and he cannot read minds just like you and me. He will feel the responsibility and burden for pastoring all us different weirdos in here like you and me. Okay.

So, we’re going to support him in being a normal human being just like you and me. But Jason’s going to be the pastor. And as a pastor in this role, he’ll get more texts, more emails, and phone calls in a day, every day, than he can possibly respond to. He’ll be praised. He’ll be criticized every week, regardless of what he preaches.

He’ll get both for the same thing. He’ll be expected by many to meet more demands than can possibly be met concerning his performance and his availability. And he’ll receive far more criticism in a week than most of us will face in a year. So we will support him by keeping silent in our criticisms and public in our praise. Okay.

Jason’s a family man who should and will be putting his family’s needs above any inappropriate demands of church members. That’s what we want. He is not at our beck and call. I expect he will be disciplined in managing his time concerning texts and emails so as not to be pulled out at all hours of the day and night. He is not the answer to your every spiritual or emotional need.

He is not. The Holy Spirit is. So we will support him by respecting his limited time and availability and the unspoken needs his family will have for his time and attention. And we will not burden him with unrealistic expectations. Jason has a passion for serving God.

He has a passion for ministry and he has a passion for this body. As such, God will develop in him a spiritual vision for us. As a starting point, he’s indicated that a big part of that is that this body functions as a biblical church like we did all of last year, ministering to one another, servant members. That’s what we are. As a shepherd pastor, he will lead and guide to the best of his ability.

As a shepherd, he will nurture and protect to the best of his ability. But it’s sheep who reproduce. Shepherds don’t make sheep. Sheep make sheep. Okay?

And it’s sheep who huddle together, who flock together for emotional comfort and support. Shepherds don’t snuggle sheep. Sheep snuggle each other. Okay? So, just keep that picture in mind.

Shepherds don’t snuggle their sheep. They don’t run around in the flock. Okay? So, we will support him by meeting each others’ needs for comfort and care in times of difficulty rather than always expecting him to be the primary responder for all of those needs. Amen.

Okay. So, in this book, there are two other commitments and pledges, and I’m going to leave you to find those out, okay? Because we’re done here today. We are the body of Christ, and we’ll be functioning members within it. We are the body of Christ, and we’ll be a source of unity within it.

We are the body of Christ and we’ll put our preferences aside for the benefit of the whole. We are the body of Christ and we’ll support our pastor with love, grace, and prayer. Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, we fully embrace our role as members of your body. We love being here.

We love these people. And we thank you that you’ve given us a pastor to help us fulfill your objectives here in Tiger. Thank you for your love. Thank you for all that you do for us in Jesus name. Amen.

One of the things I love about our body, our family here is how at the very heart of all of us, we love to lift up the name of the Lord. And this coming Friday at Good Friday service, we’re going to really focus on all the names of Jesus. And there’s a lot of things the Bible talks about that are done in the name of Jesu

Transcript machine-generated from the sermon audio, so it may contain errors. 5,654 words.