Having Gifts That Differ

Scripture Texts: Romans 12:3-6a; John 1:19-27; 35-37; 3:26-30

Introduction: Story of the rabbi walking home late.

Rabbi Jozef was walking home from a long day at the synagogue.  It was evening.  In typical rabbinic fashion his head was down deep in meditation on that day’s reading from the Torah.  Oblivious to his surroundings he suddenly ran into a wall and from behind the wall the voice of a Roman centurion called out:

Centurion: “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

Narrator:    In typical rabbinic fashion the Rabbi answered the question with a question:

Rabbi:                  “How much do they pay you?”

Centurion: “One denarius a day.”

Rabbi:        “If I pay you two denarii a day will you follow me and ask me those two questions every day?”

“Who are you and what are you doing here?”

Why do you get up every morning?  What are you living for?  Who are you living for?

Is it possible there is more to you and your life than you think or imagine?

Do you know “Who you are and what on earth are you doing here?”

Our text says we are one body in Christ and individually members one of another.  Does that have implications for why we get up and what we do all day?  What does that mean?

Romans 1-11 makes it clear, we are not our own, we did not choose God, He chose us.  Every time I say that out loud, you should have a moment’s reaction of being stunned.  It is staggering that we have received such undeserved mercy.  You should shake your head in disbelief that God did that.  As we sang earlier, “I know not why God’s wondrous grace to me was made known.”  So unworthy.  We are not our own.  If you are a Christian, you are called by God out of the world, and adopted into the family of God.

By His Holy Spirit you have the Spirit of adoption, making you are a son or a daughter in the family of God, and brothers and sisters to each other.  By being born again by the Spirit by faith in Jesus Christ you are a part of His body, the body of Christ.

You are a member of His body and you are members of each other.  You have a God-ordained place and a part to play.  We are not as independent and autonomous as we like to think.  We need others and others need us.  God wants us to humble ourselves to serve others and be served by others.

Never trivialize the church.  It cost God the life of His Son to create this.   You share something with those sitting around you so profound it surpasses the value of all our other human relationships (John Piper).