Take Your Place 1985

I'm going to go back again today to the prodigal son and pick it up from there because the prodigal son is really who we are. From Luke chapter 15 verse 11, And Jesus said, There was a man who had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the share of the property that falls to me. And he divided his living between them.

Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country. And there he squandered his property and loose living. When he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want.

So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country who sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have fed on the pies that the swine ate, but no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough to spare, but I perish here with hunger.

I will arise and go to my father and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.

And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.

And I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, bring quickly the best robe and put it on, put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet, bring the fatted calf and kill it and let us eat and make merry. But this my son was dead and is alive again.

He was lost and is found. And they began to make merry. Let's suppose that a few days later, this younger son gets up in the morning and decides that now it's time for him to start to carry his weight on the farm.

He's going to do do something to help out. But he just can't seem to get into it. He doesn't know where he fits.

His older brother is out there cutting in the wheat. His father is repairing the barn roof. The servants are all busy going back and forth.

They know what they're doing. But he just doesn't know where he fits. I guess they don't really need me around here.

What good am I? Nobody tells me what I'm supposed to do. What am I? Am I an outsider? Am I still an outsider in some way? Now, this is really how we feel much of the time. We've been saved.

We've come into the kingdom. But now what? We're grateful for the fact that the blood of the Lamb has washed away our sins. That the power of the living God has broken the chains of addiction, the chains of fear and all kinds of other chains that have had us bound.

That those are broken. But now what? One morning as they're having breakfast. The father says to his younger son, son, we need a wall, a retaining wall up there by the olive grove.

Could you build it? Of course, answers the son. And so he gets the shovel and the string and all the things. He's in the plumb line.

Everything he needs to build this retaining wall and goes up there and gets to work. And as he's building this wall, the son, this younger son finally begins to feel like he really belongs. He has found his place.

And this is what we need. We need to know exactly what our place is in the body of Christ and in the kingdom of God. We have to know where we fit.

We have to be able to know where to put our eyes. We don't have to be able to take the vision that God has given us and translate it into reality in our daily living. Many of us are still, in fact, rattling around in the kingdom, trying to find out where we really fit.

We try this, we try that, you know, and then when we have decided we're going to do something new, it's fine for a while until we do it for a while. And that doesn't seem to work out. And we're all confused.

We look around and we see other people who seem to know where they fit. They found their niche in the body, they found their place in the kingdom, but we're at loose ends. Well, the good news is that the same God who called us in Christ before the foundation of the world, destined us in love to be his sons and daughters, has a specific place in his kingdom for each one of us, a specific function to perform.

With specific gifts that enable us to fulfill it. We don't just come to this salvation banquet and have a wonderful time and then dangle for five years or 10 years or 50 years trying to figure out what's to be done next. There is a place for us now, reading from Ephesians, chapter one, verse three.

Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, which he freely bestowed upon us in the beloved. In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us.

For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight, the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth, a plan to unite all things in Jesus in heaven and on earth so that everything is drawn together and held together in Jesus. And this drawing together and holding together of all things in him is accomplished through his body, through us. To get clear about this, that Jesus, the crucified and risen Lord.

Is bringing this age to a close. Very, very deliberately, he's not in a rush, but he's not wasting any time and he's moving toward a moment when finally all things, every living soul, every living creature will be under his judgment and his dominion. And he is doing this through his body on earth.

Now, the body of Christ on earth doesn't look like very much compared with the armies of the nation. So the riches of the nation, so the power of the politicians, the body of Christ looks totally inconsequential. And when what seems to be the body of Christ looks like it has power, Norma, most of the time we're not looking at the body of Christ at all, but the crust of the body of the antichrist.

But where the body of Christ is fulfilling its function, it's calling on this earth there, the world around it feels the impact always. And what is our function, what have we been called to do as the body of Christ on earth? It's a threefold calling. Very simple.

First of all, we're called to worship God. Second, we're called to strengthen each other. And thirdly, we are called to manifest the kingdom of God to the world around us by proclaiming Jesus in word and deed.

Words of Jesus and yet also behind those words, evidence. So we manifest the mercy of God by beating the hungry and clothing the naked and welcoming the stranger into the kingdom. And if the result of the things we do don't welcome the stranger into the kingdom, we're missing something.

Worship God, strengthen each other, proclaim Jesus, manifest the kingdom of God on this earth by proclaiming Jesus in word and deed. Now, each one of us has a function in the body, with no exception, everybody who's in the kingdom at all has a function in the body that relates to this threefold purpose. You'd say each one of us has a place in the body from which we contribute to this glorious heavenly worship, this this marvelous hymn that never ends.

And that's the number one thing that's top priority. Each of us also has a place in the body from which we strengthen brothers and sisters instead of sitting there criticizing them and figuring out everything that's wrong with them and getting impatient with them and hard in our hearts against them. We instead of that, we pray for them and we build them up and we help them.

Each of us also has a place in the body from which we, without exception, proclaim the kingdom of God. We proclaim Jesus in word and deed. From Romans, chapter 12, verse four and five, for as in one body, we have many members and all the members do not have the same function.

So we, though many are one body in Christ and individually members, one of another. Each of us has a different function, but each of us has a function. Now, if we exercise that function.

Then we build up the worship of the body. We build up brothers and sisters in the body and we cause the word of the kingdom to go forth with power. Reading from first Corinthians 12, verse 14 and following for the body does not consist of one member, but of many.

If the foot should say, because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the ear should say, because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God has arranged the organs in the body, each one of them as he chose.

If all were a single organ, where would the body be? And you say, well, that's just it, I can't figure out whether I'm a foot or a hand or an eye or an ear or a mouth. Don't wait for the father to come down from heaven and stick a label on your forehead and say there you're a foot. Many of us seem to be waiting for somebody to come and give us our ministry on a silver platter.

That's not how it works. The way it works is this. We begin from exactly where we are.

To contribute to this threefold purpose of the kingdom. With whatever power we have, we begin to worship God, to strengthen brothers and sisters and to proclaim the kingdom, proclaim Jesus in word and deed. As we do this, weak as we may feel ourselves to be, as we do this, gifts begin to emerge in our lives.

Supernatural gifts take shape. Notice the gifts don't come first. You don't sit in a chair and wait for the gift to come down and hit you on the head and then go to it.

But you begin to function in these three areas. You worship God, you strengthen brothers and sisters, you proclaim the gospel, and as you do, the gifts begin to emerge. Don't wait for an angel to tell you that you have the gift of healing.

If you have a concern for the sick, visit the sick, pray for the sick, spend time with the sick, love the sick. As you do, some gift of healing will begin to emerge in your life. Don't wait for somebody to tell you that you have the gift of prophecy.

Begin to give utterance to the burning word that's already in your heart. And you don't have to be on TV to do that. You don't have to have a microphone in front of you.

You don't have to have a congregation. Start wherever you are to speak what's there. And if you are faithful in the proclaiming of the word that burns in your heart.

A gift of utterance will emerge in your life. As God chooses, but there will be a gift of utterance. And for some reason, he has something else for you.

He'll direct you in some other direction. Don't wait for a telegram from heaven to inform you that you have the gift of service. Start washing feet.

Provide rides for people. Make some phone calls. Serve, help.

It's there all the time. All we have to do is pick up the books afterwards or pick up the paper off the floor. Anything.

One of the missionary interns was out there shoveling the snow when he came, helping Gary out, get things ready for, you know, that was gorgeous. Just as we do this, as we begin to serve, some gift of service, some supernatural gift will emerge in your life. Barnabas had a supernatural gift of encouragement.

When Barnabas walked into a room, that whole room was filled with the atmosphere of hope. Now, it didn't happen that Barnabas, one night while he was sleeping, had a dream that told him that he was now to become Barnabas, the son of encouragement. The way it worked out, I'm sure, was that Barnabas simply began to encourage people.

He cared about them. He went out of his way for them. And even when he had to rebuke, he was very careful not to demoralize them.

He wasn't all the time griping about how this isn't doing his job and that one isn't doing her job. He was encouraging and building up. And pretty soon, the wind of the spirit comes behind him at his back, driving him, anointing him, blessing him, gifting him.

We function, and as we function, we receive gifts. Nobody's accepted. Everybody gets something.

And as we exercise the gift, the gift increases. As we see in Romans 12, starting at verse 6, having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them. If prophecy in proportion to our faith, if service in our serving, he who teaches in his teaching, he who exhorts in his exhortation, he who contributes in liberality, he who gives aid with zeal, he who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness.

The more we exercise the gift that emerges, the greater the gift becomes. Flipping over to first Corinthians 12, kind of a parallel chapter. Verse four.

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same spirit and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord. And there are varieties of working, but it is the same God who inspires them all in every one. To each is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good to one is given through the spirit, the utterance of wisdom to another, the utterance of knowledge according to the same spirit, to another faith by the same spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one spirit, to another, the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another, the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another, the interpretation of tongues.

All these are inspired by one and the same spirit who apportions to each one individually as he will. For just as the body is one and has many members and all the members of the body, though many are one body, so it is with Christ for by one spirit, we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and all were made to drink of one spirit. And as we drink of one spirit, as we move in the spirit, we begin to worship God in spirit and in truth, that is, our lives begin to line up with our words of praise.

We begin by the spirit to encourage and strengthen brothers and sisters with the spirit power and by the spirit, we begin to speak a word that carries weight out there in the world and that brings people under conviction and also gives them hope and draws them to the door of the kingdom. And as we do this, gifts emerge and increase in our lives. This is the year among us, I'm sure, for the emerging of gifts.

There are gifts operative here. Thank God for that. But much more is available and much more should be happening.

I'm sure I don't think it's exaggerating to say that in every one of our lives, there are gifts from God that lie dormant. We've been walking around for years. This thing is dead, hasn't come to life yet.

Or to put it another way, it's lying up on a shelf in heaven, gathering dust. It has your name on it. Nobody else's name has got your name.

It's waiting for the moment for it to be brought down and incorporated in your living. Now, to bring that gift to life is a very simple matter. All we have to do is move from passive to active in these three areas, you know, move from passive to active in the area of worship.

You know, don't don't sit there and think about how it should be or how it ought to be or what you'd like to do. Begin to worship God corporately and individually. Worship, thank him, praise him, worship.

Move from passive to active in the area of strengthening brothers and sisters. You know, lots of things we see. Now let's do something.

Pop him over for dinner, write him a note, pick up the phone, give a phone call, a word of encouragement, an active encouragement and move from passive to active in the proclaiming of the gospel. You know, you don't have to wait till you get someplace else to do it. You start where you are.

If you don't do it in Jerusalem, you'll never do it anywhere else. And as we do this, as we do this, the gifts will emerge and fly, arise, shine, for your life has come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you, spoken to us as individuals. This means get up and take your place in the body so that the body can arise and shine.

The same God who chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, called us in, destined us in love to be his sons and daughters, has a place for each one of us. A function, a specific function for each one of us and gifts to match that function for each of us. All we have to do is start taking our place and it's not hard for us to find that place.

We can find it and begin to move in it more clearly than we ever have in the past. All we have to do today, this hour, beginning now, put our hearts first into worship, put our hearts into it. You know, let's not fool around anymore.

I mean, we may have different styles of worship. We're not talking about a certain pattern of worship. We're not saying everybody has to stand on their head and holler, but worship.

Let's put our hearts into it. Let's put our hearts into strengthening our brothers and sisters, love one another. Did you love one another as I have loved you? Did you love one another? Pray for one another, encourage one another, care about each other.

And let's put our hearts into proclaiming the gospel, proclaiming Jesus in word and deed in the world beyond these walls. And as we do. Gifts will come to each of us and each will find her his special place in the purpose of the kingdom.