August 17, 2008 Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Series: We are the Body
Sermon Title: “Serving From Your Sweet Spot”[i]
Text: Genesis 2:4b-9
Dr.
Delivered on August 10, 2008
“Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a
living being.”
Genesis 2:4b
Serving From Your Sweet Spot
This morning
we’re continuing our series “We are the Body” where we are learning what
the Bible means when it says, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one
of you are a part of it” (1 Cor. 2:27). We’re trying to discover what that
verse means and how we can best live it out. It all got started, you may
recall, because I saw how simple Christianity and the church is in
With this week’s
text we go all the way back to the very beginning – to creation – and what we
find there is not so much an amazing new revelation, but instead a healthy
reminder that is that it was God who formed us to begin with. Genesis 2:4 says
God, “formed man from the dust of the ground.” And clearly he did so
with a purpose. That purpose, we’ve
already decided, is to serve Him. You and I have been shaped to serve God. Ephesians
2:10 says, “For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” Eph. 2:10
This morning’s message is titled “Serving from Your Sweet Spot.” Tennis players, golfers, and baseball players understand the term “sweet spot.” If you’ve ever played one of those sports you know the amazing feeling of hitting a ball with that unique spot on a club, racquet or bat where you effortlessly crush the ball. Your arm doesn’t tingle and the ball looks as though it’s going to go into orbit. Do you know what I’m talking about?
The hard thing about hitting a ball with the sweet spot being able to do so without acting too surprised or getting too excited that it happened. Otherwise those you are playing with might pick up on the fact that it’s a total fluke that you just hit a 400 yard drive, or dug up the court with your blistering backhand down the line. Of course, who are we kidding? If you’re like me, hitting the ball with the sweet spot is pretty rare. Years ago, when I played tennis three or four times a week, I had to get my racquet restrung several times a year because the strings would break. There was a guy in our neighborhood who restrung racquets on the side who I took them to. I’ll never forget one time I went to pick up my racquet and he said to me, “Steve, I think there’s something wrong with your racquet.” I asked what he meant and he said, “Well, most people break their strings in the middle of the racquet head, here” (pointing to the sweet spot). He continued, “But you always break your strings out here (pointing near the edge of the racquet head).” Now that I think about it I think he may have been trying to insult me, but I just replied that I was saving that part of the strings for special occasions. J
Seriously, you don’t have to play tennis or golf to know what I’m talking about when I mention the sweet spot. I’m sure you’ve experienced it in other areas of your life. What I’m trying to say is, just as engineers give sports equipment a sweet spot, God gave you one too. Call it what you will, a zone, a region, or a sweet spot, regardless, it’s the place where God made you to live.
Sadly, few of us do. The most recent statistics I saw say something in the neighborhood of 87% workers in the workplace claim not to have found it. They don’t find meaning in their work. There is a dullness, an emptiness, or frustration there. The numbers aren’t quite as bad when it comes to the percentage who are fulfilled in their marriage, but they’re on up there.
So the question is, where is this sweet spot? Is it really that elusive? Is it random? Is finding your sweet spot just dumb luck or a fluke like it often is in sports?
No…remember, it is God who formed you and me. What we’re learning in this series is that your sweet spot is a blend of five important characteristics that makes you uniquely you. The acronym S.H.A.P.E., which Rick Warren originally came up with, is an easy way to remember the five factors that God uses in his plan for our lives.
The first of these, the “S,” stands for spiritual gifts. We talked about these last week. A spiritual gift is a special ability, given by the Holy Spirit to every believer, to be used to minister to others and thus building up the Body of Christ. Every believer has at least one, they may have more than one, and no one has them all. That’s why God calls us in community so we have all the gifts we need to do what he is calling us to do.
This morning we’re going to talk about two more factors, the “H” and the “A,” which stands for heart and abilities, beginning with the heart.
A. HEART
Your heart is what you LOVE to do. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” The Dictionary defines the “Heart” as: a) “the organ that pumps your blood,” b) “your emotional constitution or disposition,” and c) “the vital force or driving impulse.” Your heart is the real you, it’s what you love to do. Another word for heart is passion. Let’s face it, there are certain things that you feel passionate about and others you could care less about.
Jesus said it's
what's in a person’s heart that determines what comes out of their mouth. He
also said that where your treasure is, your heart will be. The Bible uses the
term “heart” to describe the bundle of desires, hopes, interests, ambitions,
dreams, and affections you have. You heart is right at the center of your
motivation, desires and inclinations. It’s what you care about the most.
It is your heart that determines why you say, feel and act the way you do.
Each of us has a unique physical heartbeat. Just as we each have unique thumbprints, eye prints and voice prints, our hearts beat in slightly different patterns. It’s amazing that out of all the billions of people who have ever lived, not a single one has had a heartbeat exactly like yours. In the same way, God has given each of us a unique emotional “heartbeat” that races when it encounters activities, subjects or circumstances that interest us. We instinctively care about some things and not about others. What I’m saying here is these are clues as to where you should be serving God.
Think with me for a moment, when you were growing up, you may have discovered there were some subjects that you were intensely interested in that no one else in your family cared about. Where did those interests come from? They came from God and they are clues as to where you should be serving him. God had a purpose in giving you these inborn interests. Don’t ignore them! There is a reason you love these things.
How do you know when you are serving from your heart? There are two tell-tale signs.
1. Enthusiasm
The first of these is enthusiasm. When you are doing what you love to do, no one has to motivate you, challenge you, or check up on you. You do it for the sheer enjoyment. You don’t need awards, or payment or applause because you love serving this way.
When I wrote my dissertation I had to do a ton of research on the subject of motivation. That one concept took almost 25 pages to cover. The essence of what I wrote about motivation is that there are a million and one ways to try what is known as external motivation – motivation from the outside such as dangling a carrot before someone, but research has shown that even the best forms of external motivation don’t come near to the effectiveness of internal motivation. When you are doing what you love to do, no one has to motivate you. Of course the opposite is also true. When you don’t have a heart for what you are doing, you are easily discouraged – you are easily disheartened.
2. Effectiveness
The second way to know if you’re serving God from your heart is effectiveness. Whenever you do what God has wired you to love to do, you will find that you do it well. Passion drives perfection. If I don’t care about something, I’m not very likely to excel at it. By contrast, the highest achievers in any field are those who do it because they love it, not for duty or profit.
Brett Favre, the
former
Well, no one here today can play football like Brett Favre, but each one of us can serve God in a way that expresses our heart. Figure out what you love to do – what God gave you a heart to do – and then do it for his glory.
B. ABILITIES
The third letter in S.H.A.P.E. is “A” which stands for abilities. You abilities are what you are GOOD at doing. In last week’s passage from 1 Corinthians Paul spoke of “different abilities to perform service…” (1 Cor. 12:6). Your abilities are natural talents you were born with. Some people have natural ability with words. Others can sing or are good at math. Some have natural athletic abilities, excelling in physical coordination.
I’ve been watching some of the Olympic Games on television and I have been amazed at Michael Phelps, the US swimmer who has already won 8 gold medals and set 8 world records, eclipsing Mark Spitz’ record. NBC has these amazing camera angles in the pool and when you see Phelps from below he looks just like a dolphin when he swims. It’s amazing, and it’s just built in. It’s not a spiritual gift, it’s a natural ability. Sure, he’s honed it, but there was something there to begin with. And I love Phelps’ enthusiasm. It’s plain to me that he loves what he’s doing. Why? Because it feels good to do what God made you to do.
There are four things you need to remember about abilities.
1. All of
our abilities come from God
The first of these is that all our abilities come from God. The Bible says, “God has given each one of us the ability to do certain things well” (Rom. 12:6 NLT). Why is that important? Because since your natural abilities come from God, they are just as important and as “spiritual” as your spiritual gifts. The only difference is that they were given us at birth instead of later at our baptism.
That also means there are far more natural gifts in a church than there are spiritual gifts. You may have only one or two spiritual gifts, but as I just said, you have many more natural abilities. We’ve been working on a list of abilities to give you and we’ve had an very difficult time narrowing the list down because there are so many; in fact one statistic that said that the average person possesses hundreds of different skills and abilities. You and I are a bundle of incredible abilities, an amazing creation of God. And that leads to the next thing to know.
2. All of
our abilities can be used for God’s glory
And that is that
all of our abilities can be used for God’s glory. Peter said, “If
anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in
all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 4:11). The
Bible is filled with examples of different abilities that God used for his
glory. The Bible speaks of numerous craftsmen and artisans who built the
One of the most frustrating things I hear when we’re doing a ministry campaign is people who come to me and say, “I didn’t sign up because I just don’t have any abilities to offer.” That’s crazy. You have dozens of natural abilities that are lying dormant inside you. Can you cook? Can you fix something? Can you work with wood? Can you fold a piece of paper? Can you open a door and say hello with a smile? Can you hand someone a bulletin? Can you teach a child? Can you drive a car? Whatever your abilities are – they all can be used for God’s glory.
3. What
you are Able to do, God Wants you to do
The third thing to know about your abilities is that what you are able to do, God wants you to do. The Bible says God equips you “with all you need for doing his will” (Hebrews 13:21). To discover God’s will for your life, you should begin by looking back at what you have been good at doing and what you have not been good at. If God didn’t give you the natural ability to carry a tune, he isn’t going to expect you to be an opera singer. God will never ask you to dedicate your life to a task that you have no talent for. On the other hand, the abilities you do have are a strong indication of what God wants to do with your life. If you are good at designing, or drawing, or organizing, it’s a safe assumption that God’s plan for your life includes those skills somehow. God doesn’t waste abilities; he matches our calling and our capabilities.
4. Whatever
you are good at doing, you should be doing for your church.
And finally, selfishly, here’s another truth – Whatever you are good at doing, you should be doing for your church. It doesn’t matter what it is – God can use it here, or in our outreach to others around us. But remember, only you can use your abilities. You are the only person on earth that can use your abilities. No one else can play your role. You must be willing to share your abilities. When you do, I believe you’ll find that serving God in a way that is an expression of your heart and abilities will put you in the sweet spot. Figure out what you love to do, what God gave you a heart for, and what you are good at, and then do it all for God’s glory.
What about you? Look back over your life. What have you loved to do? What have you consistently done well? Brick by brick, life by life, God is building his kingdom, a “spiritual house” (1 Pet. 2:5 CEV) and he’s doing part of that work right here at NewSong. Furthermore, he has entrusted you with a key task in the project. This morning let me challenge you to search your heart and examine your tools to discover what your part in that is. Are you willing to do that this morning? Are you willing to examine your heart and your abilities and then dedicate them to God? I pray that you are….Amen.