January 31, 1999 - LESSON: Ephesians 4:7-13, NRSV

1. Andy Fisher of Denville, NJ tells the following story:

 
1. Flying in a hot-air balloon on a cloudy day, a man has trouble seeing and navigating.

 
2. So he drops down beneath the clouds, and looks for signs of life to get directions.

 
3. He sees a man on the ground.

 
4. "Hello there!" he yells. 'Sir, can you tell me where I am?"

 
5. "You're about 60 feet off the ground in a hot-air balloon," the man on the ground yells back.

 
6. "You must be a theologian," the man in the balloon shouts.

 
7. 'Yes indeed, I am a theologian," the man on the ground yells. "How did you know?"

 
8. "Your information is correct, but it's of absolutely no use to me," the man in the balloon yells.

 
9. "You must be a bishop," the man on the ground shouts.

 
10. "I am a bishop," the balloonist yells. "How did you know?"

 
11. The man on the ground yells back:

 
1. "You don't know where you are.

 
2. You don't know how you got here.

 
3. You don't know where you're going

.
4. And you think it's all my fault!"

 
2. Is there any way which this illustrations describes the church?

 
1. Do we know where we are?

 
2. Do we know how we got here?

 
3. Do we know where we are going?

 
4. And you think its whose fault?

1. If we are going to answer the questions

 
1. Its not about personality but purpose

 
2. Its not about individuality, but community

 
3. Its not about belonging but involvement.

 
2. Its about spiritual gifts.

 
1. The gifts are identified.

 
2. Ephesians 4:7-13, NRSV

 
1. 7 But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift.

 
2. 8 Therefore it is said, "When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people."

 
3. 11 The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,

 
4. 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

 
5. 13 until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.

 
1. A prophet is one who speaks for God

 
2. A evangelist is one who proclaims the "Good News," evangel.

 
3. A Pastor is one who shepherds.

 
4. A teacher is one who teaches.

 
5. We are all one or the other or a combination of several.

 
3. You may be tempted to say, but that's not me.

 
3. We all have gifts.

 
1. How do we diagnose our personal gifts.

 
1. Opportunity is the source of our diagnosis.

 

 
 
 
 
 

2. Exploration is the procedure.

 
3. A sufficient and comprehensive trial provides the affirmation.

 
4. Success is the confirmation.

 
2. We become involved

 
1. We share our gifts for a purpose.

 
1. Jim Wallis, The Call to Conversion⁽¹⁾ reports, "When I was a university student, I was unsuccessfully evangelized by almost every Christian group on campus.

 
1. My basic response to their preaching was, 'How can I believe when I look at the way the church lives?'

 
2. They answered, 'Don't look at the church; look at Jesus.'

 
3. "I now believe that statement is one of the saddest in the history of the church. It puts Jesus on a pedestal apart from the people who name his name. Belief in him becomes an abstraction removed from any demonstration of its meaning in the world. Such thinking is a denial of what is most basic to the gospel: incarnation. People should be able to look at the way we live and begin to understand what the gospel is about.

 
4. Our lives must tell them who Jesus is and what he cares about."

 
2. The purpose is to reveal who Jesus and what he cares about.

 
3. The result is to demonstrate the power of grace to change life in community.

 
1. James A. Harnish, "You'd Better Watch Out,"⁽²⁾ writes:

 
1. "There is a new German movie about the role of St. Nicholas Church in Leipzig (where people prayed for freedom for 40 years) in the collapse of the Berlin Wall.

 
2. The prayer meeting at St. Nicholas Church crescendoed over the years until the night of October 8, 1989, when 70,000 people filled the streets with candles and prayers.

 
3. In the movie, the security chief testifies about his desire to use force.

 
1. He was unable to do anything other than stare out at the crowd in front of his headquarters in frozen amazement:

 
2. 'We were prepared for everything--everything except for candles and prayers.'"

1. We can be part of the process or stand outside of it and criticize

 
1. A lot of people have a lot to say about of a lot of things which proves to be negative and counter-productive.

 
1. Mark Steele has said, "Jesus can turn water into wine, but he can't change your whining into anything."

 
2. That is most often the result of criticism

 
2. There is another positive and constructive means that can be employed.

 
1. College professor who supervised student teachers.

 
1. She discovered that her student teachers were very sensitive to direct criticism.

 
2. She developed three questions.

 
1. What do you like about what you are doing?

 
2. What could you do to improve what you are doing?

 
3. What could you add to improve what you are doing?

 
3. These questions allowed the student teacher to engage in the evaluation process without threat to ego needs or self-image.

 
2. We can be part of the problem or part of the solution.

 
3. Its up to each of us to evaluate our gifts and how they may be used for building up the body of Christ and achieving the unity which the Apostle envisions for God's people.

2. James A. Harnish, "You'd Better Watch Out," Tampa, Fla., December 1, 1996.