December 15 & 16, 2001 Sermon

December 15 & 16, 2001

"Give It Up"

Mike Slaughter

Luke 1:38
38: "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

I wasn't feeling like Christmas until last night. I was gathered in this room with 250 kids from all of our Clubhouse projects and 100 of their parents. To see the people serve and to see the expression on those kids' faces. It was an incredible night. I'm feeling like Christmas now.
If you could ask God for anything, what would it be? To sum it up in one word, most of what we pray about falls into the category of longevity. In other words, we pray for length of life and satisfying days. Somehow, whether it's health, protection, provision, or whatever, it falls into that category of longevity. At age fifty I have become more aware of my mortality. I understand now that the measure of my life will not be the length of my days. We have had over thirty funerals this year at Ginghamsburg Church and most of those funerals have been for people under 55 years of age. One of the young men, 32 years old, was in the class that is joining this evening. He died unexpectedly this fall. Todd Kress, a 25-year-old who grew up in this church, was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Colorado. Last week we had his memorial service here and people came from all over the country. I realized that Todd didn't have a great span of days, but he had a great span of influence. I'm learning the measure of my life will not be the length of my days. It's not about longevity, it's about legacy. It's about being a part of giving your life to something that's greater than you are.

Luke 1:30-37
30: But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.
31: You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.
32: He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,
33: and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
34: "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
35: The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.
36: Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month.
37: For nothing is impossible with God."

We are in the first chapter of Luke during these weeks of the advent season, anticipating God's miracle through our lives. Luke wants us to see a contrast. We've been talking about the first two characters. Now we are going to be introduced to the third - Mary, the mother of Jesus, who was probably somewhere between 12 and 14 years of age. The contrast is between this young girl that was fertile for God's miracle, fertile for faith, and an aging priest who had become infertile and routine in his expectation. You'd expect it to be the other way around. But somehow the older we grow, the more resistant or inflexible we become to the possibility of the great things God wants to do. I'm going to begin in verse 30. The angel has just appeared. This is the same angel, Gabriel, who appeared to Zechariah and told him that in their old age he and Elizabeth would become pregnant with John the Baptist. Gabriel told Mary that she was going to become pregnant with the Savior of the world. But the angel said to her, "Don't be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus." I want to point out something again. Why Christianity? Of all the religions in the world, this is what God is doing differently. It was the custom of this culture for the man to name the baby. But the angel said Mary was going to name the baby Jesus. That's why I'm a Christian. It's the liberation of all people. Not just male people, not just people who speak a certain language or come from a certain part of the world, but the liberation of all people. "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end. 'How will this be' Mary asked the angel, 'since I am a virgin?'" There are two meanings there. A virgin was someone who was under 14 years of age (all people under that age). A virgin was also someone who had not yet had intimate relationships. The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth, your relative, is going to have a child in her old age and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God." I hope you have verse 37 underlined. Here is the key verse for this weekend: "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left. Of all the people that God could choose to be the mother of our Lord, why Mary? Mary, at this young age, had such a clear sense of her identity. She understood, even before the angel showed up, whose she was. "I am the Lord's servant." Your identity, your understanding of who you are in relationship to God is basically reflected in your prayers. We don't intend this, but many times when we pray our prayers are generally about provision - about protection for me and mine. My family, my children. My son is in the middle of exams. You'd better believe that was one of the things I was praying about this week. And if you really look at our prayers, so many of our prayers have to do with God serving us. It's like we expect God to be a cosmic Santa Claus who spends the entire 24-hour period of every day taking care of all of our needs. Protecting, providing, and making sure that everyone's back is covered all of the time. "What do you want me to do for you? Well, Lord here's what I need . . ."
Many times when something tragic happens, I become God's representative. People say to me, "Pastor, how could God let this happen to my mother?" I've noticed that many times these folks are unchurched people and they have never, ever seriously said to God, "God, how can I serve you?" We don't pay serious attention to God, but the expectation is that God is supposed to be there to meet our needs, to protect us, to not allow anything to happen to us and to keep us from getting sick. This is upside down thinking, that God is serving us rather than us being here to serve God.
So much of what I hear on Christian television is how to get the blessings of God. Jesus didn't teach how to get the blessings of God. Jesus taught about being the blessing for God and to God. Identity: I am the Lord's servant, not the Lord is my servant. We have to understand that there is a difference between a servant and a volunteer. We confuse being a volunteer and being a servant. A volunteer commits to individual acts of service, based on routine and schedule. Many times we'll see something in the bulletin and we'll see a need for servants. We need thousands of cookies for Christmas Eve and you sit there and think, "Do I have time? Will it fit into my schedule with Christmas shopping, kids, etc?" A volunteer picks and chooses based on the convenience of their schedule. Thankfully many of you are signing up for cookies because we need you to do cookies. But the difference between a volunteer and a servant is that a servant is committed to a lifestyle of service. They do not choose to serve randomly, according to the convenience of their schedule. It's what they're doing in the in-between times. A servant is never off-duty. It's like you are in the army now and all leaves have been canceled. It's like we are at war. Jesus put it this way, "Stay dressed and ready for action." It's an identity. Jesus' identity was that of a servant. Jesus said, "I am always doing the Father's business. Wherever I am, I'm on duty." We sometimes forget that Jesus' profession was not minister or priest. He was a carpenter. Even though he was a carpenter, the identity he had of himself was to be about doing the business of the Father. Everywhere they go - home, work, the gym - a servant is consciously aware that they are doing the work of the Father. A volunteer picks and chooses where and when to be involved. A volunteer is still in control. A volunteer acts according to their own discretion, but a servant acts under the direction and discretion of another.

Luke 1:38
38: "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

I. Identification
Servanthood is truly counter-cultural because a servant is willing to submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ no matter what the personal implications. Mary was between 12 and 14 years old and she was clear about her identity. "I am a servant of the Lord. Lord, you are not there to make things convenient for me. I am there to serve you." Look at verse 38. As soon as Mary declares her allegiance, the angel leaves. This angel made the declaration that, "all people are going to call you blessed." I am sure that for most of her life, folks called her something other than blessed. What do people call a teenager who's pregnant and not married? Can you imagine the rejection she experienced, what she went through trying to convince her fiancé that the Holy Spirit did it to her? The ridicule that she would experience? All of her life she lived in the shadow of gossip and it would not get better from there. She would see this son, this miracle she would bear, die, executed as a criminal on a cross. For the servant, it's about obedience. For the volunteer, it's perceived value.
When we're dealing with our identity, we have to deal with two realities. You are going to die and bad things are going to happen to good people. It's not about praying, "Lord, preserve me. Give me a long life." Here is our prayer: "Lord, use me. Do not preserve me, use me." That's the measure of life. Not longevity, but legacy.

Luke 1:35
35: The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

I. Individualization
Here's what God's teaching me about faith and legacy. Not only is it about identification - whose you are - it's about individualization. It's about understanding what God has uniquely given you and what God wants to birth through you. Look at verse 35. Mary said, "How will this be?" The angel said, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you." This is individualization. God has a personalized plan for each and every individual. The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Every single follower of Jesus Christ has unique gifts and talents. The Bible says there is a difference between talents and gifts. Everyone here has both talent and gifts. Talents are God-given. They are woven into you at birth and you can use those talents whether you believe in God or not. You can use these God-given talents whether you depend upon God or not. For example, Michael Jordan has incredible talent as a basketball player and he can use that talent whether or not he's dependent upon God. When the Bible talks about a gift, it is talking about a supernatural gift that comes into your life upon your surrender to the Spirit - upon receiving Jesus Christ into your life. The Bible says, "To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good." When you surrender yourself to God and the Spirit comes into your life, you are given a supernatural gift of the Spirit. Not so that you will be blessed, but that others may be blessed through you for the common good. Every one of you has unique gifts and talents of God that were given to you to use in the body so that God's mission can be carried out in the world. The Bible also says, "Serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received." It is critical that I don't randomly use the gift God has given me. I have to pick and choose where I'm going to use that gift. Each one here has a gift that's essential for God's mission in the world. It's critical that I continually use my gift.
Do you know what my gift is? I don't have a lot of the gifts. I don't have the pastoring gift. Pastoring is a care gift where you get involved with people one-on-one and you can help them solve problems. The gift I do have is a teaching gift - the prophetic, teaching gift. When I continually use this prophetic teaching gift through speaking or through writing, sometimes I get tired. I think, "Oh no. I've got to fly to Canada and I've got to speak to 3000 people and then I bust back here and speak to you on Saturday night." If I continually use the gift God's given me, I will be stronger and more effective in carrying out God's mission in the world. That's why I don't want to randomly pick and choose according to the convenience of my schedule. If you continually practice using the gift that God's given you then we will be stronger to carry out God's mission in the world. It is so important in this individualization (your unique gift and talent) to develop self-understanding. You need to understand who you are and how God has uniquely wired you. You have to live out God's great expectation for your life, not your mother's life. Many of us are still trying to live out someone else's expectations for our life and we are never in touch with how God has uniquely wired us. You have to discover God's great expectation, then practice the gifts and talents that God has given you for your life.
There are two ways to become self-aware. One of the ways is committing ourselves to lifelong learning. To become involved in classes and discover our gifts and talents. We learn about ourselves and how the Holy Spirit works in our lives. We study the gifts of the Spirit. Strength Finders is an incredible course. One of the ways we become more self-aware is a commitment to life long learning. When you get out of high school you are not finished learning. A commitment is to grow all of your life.
A second way to really discover how God has made you is to serve. I was 18 years old and a new Christian. I had no idea, no understanding at all, about this thing of talents and gifts. I was a freshman at the University of Cincinnati. Harry Whitehouse called me and said, "Mike, since you are living in the city, will you come and help out with the youth group on Sunday night?" I said, "Well, I don't know anything about working with kids. I'm only 18 - I'm still a kid." He said, "All you have to do is show up and help the lady that's in charge." So I showed up that first Sunday night to help the lady that was in charge. The second Sunday I showed up to help her, but she never came back. All of a sudden, it was me with these kids! For the next six years, while serving these kids in my neighborhood, from my home church, I discovered what my gifts were. As I taught and worked with these kids, I discovered that there was a power that connected them to God when I taught. If I had a pastoring gift, then my counseling would have come out as I helped these kids solve problems in their life. If I had the gift of hospitality, I would have ministered to the kids while hanging out at my apartment. It's not about waiting to discover what your gifts are and then serving. You serve first, then discover your gifts. Remember, God can't steer a parked car. We discover our gifts by serving. Have you been noticing in the bulletin how the children's ministry is taking off? Have you noticed the number of children has increased nearly 300 in the last couple months? There are all kinds of opportunities in children's and youth ministry to serve and as you serve, you will discover your gifts.

Luke 1:39
39: At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea,

I. Socialization
We said that the key to legacy is identification (understanding whose you are). God's not there to serve me. I'm there to serve God. It's about individualization, discovering what God has uniquely given me to use for his miracle in the world. And it's about socialization, where I connect. Look at verse 39. God tells Mary that she's going to birth a legacy through her life and immediately Mary connects with community. "At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and in a loud voice she exclaimed, 'Blessed are you among women and blessed is the child you will bear.'" When God tells you he is going to do something in your life and it's going to be blessed, you're going to hear everything but blessed for a long time before you see the fulfillment of that. Miracles are encouraged in community. Mary immediately sought out other people who were experiencing the work of God's Spirit in their lives. That's who you want to hang out with, not people who experienced the Holy Spirit in their lives twenty years ago. You'd better, for the miracle of God to be fulfilled in your life, find some folks who are excited about what God's doing right now. She immediately connected. It is critical at any age to be with people with whom God is doing a new thing. Because the older you get, you will have a tendency to settle into routines and begin to expect the expected. Legacy is dependent upon mentoring relationships. The greatest sin in the life of believers is epidemic: under-utilization. Here we sit, filled with the Spirit of God, given supernatural gifts and talents, and many times we're randomly selecting where we are using these gifts and talents. You need to hang out with people who are going to stretch you. Who are the people you are hanging out with who are raising the bar in life in what God wants to do?
Our daughter is to be married in less that two weeks. She came home in September. She hasn't been home for this length of time in about five years. Here's the rhythm of what scripture tells us to do in the Bible. We need to be involved in worship and celebration. She immediately came to worship. We need to be involved in a small group of people who are going to mentor the miracle in us, who encourage us and hold us accountable. She is in a small group. She is serving in Clubhouse ministry. She burst into the church the other day after substitute teaching and was over in the Avenue working with the inner city kids in Clubhouse. What's the model in the Bible for us to grow? It is to be involved in celebration, to be involved in cell, and to be involved in service.
Dr. Martin Luther King, one of my favorite 20th century people, died at age 39. It's not about longevity, it's about legacy. It's about being part of something that's bigger than you are. He had just been stabbed by a fanatic with a letter opener as he was coming out of a bookstore. The letter opener came within inches of his heart. He was interviewed while in the hospital and a reporter said, "Doctor, if you stay on this path, you are going to be killed. Don't you want to live a long life?" Dr. King said in one of my favorite quotes, "I'd like to live a long life. Longevity is much to be desired. But I must do the will of God for my life." It's not, "God protect me." It's, "God use me." It's not about length of days; it's about length of influence.
I want us to pray the Mary prayer together again. Will you pray with me please? "Yes, I see it all now. I'm the Lord's servant, ready to serve. Let it be with me just as you say." Amen.