"Not in Vain" sermon by Pastor David Layman

Feb. 8, 2004

I Corinthians 15:1-11

Do you ever wonder if all your efforts have been in vain? IU's basketball team might be thinking that. They played 50 minutes of basketball, including tying Iowa twice to send the game into two overtimes, but lost with less than 2 seconds to go. All of that effort, only to lose! Several years back, I had tickets right behind the IU bench, when Bob Knight was coach. Knight would get very frustrated with his team not following his instructions. At times he would pace up and down the sideline, asking "Why do I even try teaching you anything? I might as well quit!" He also said a number of other things, whicch are better forgotten!

My father once told me the true story of two Presbyterian missionaries in Egypt who saw an Egyptian girl drowning in the Mediterranean. They swam out and saved the girl's life, but one of the missionaries lost his own life in the rescue. Years later, his partner visited the girl, now a mature woman, wondering what she had made out of her redeemed life. He sadly observed that she seemed to have little faith, and apparently had not done much with her life. The visit left the missionary wondering if another missionary had given his life in vain.

The tide of human history began to turn 2,000 years ago. Jesus knew why God sent him into this world, and everything he did and said was part of accomplishing that purpose. Jesus never stopped fulfilling His earthly purpose until he spoke from the cross "It is finished!" Not "I am finished," but "It", my purposed in life, is accomplished. Then God raised Jesus, and the power of the Spirit of God began to touch and call other lives. One of those lives was that of a devout Pharisee named Saul, whose purpose in life was dramatically changed from persecuting the church, to becoming one who went everywhere he could to proclaim Jesus as Lord of all! Paul never forgot that he had once persecuted the church. When he wrote the Corinthians, he said "I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God." Then Paul continued "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them--though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me." The undeserved forgiveness and grace of God gave Paul a new purpose in life, and he spent the rest of his life giving his all for the Christ who died and rose for all.

Ben Carson is an African American who grew up poor in the big cities of Detroit and Boston. At the age of 14, he tried to stab another youngster, but his knife blade struck the youth's belt buckle and broke. Ben locked himself in the bathroom, and began to read the Bible and pray. The Lord took Ben's anger away, and began to reveal that He could do something great with Ben's life. Ben studied at Yale, and became director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins. Ben was part of the team that attempted to separate the Iranian twins. Ben Carson is a committed Christian, dedicated to giving his very best in life, because of what God has done for him in Christ. He recently discovered he has cancer, but shares that "God is too wise to make a mistake. If it's time for me to go, that's fine...I just try to keep God on my mind in everything I do." (January 2004 Decision magazine, Charlotte, North Carolina, "The Power of a Changed Life", Jim Dailey, pp. 16-19). God's grace to Ben Carson has not been in vain, for Ben is living for God's purposes.

John Wesley was a great servant of God... .so great, that I think at heart, he must have really been a Presbyterian! John Wesley's motto was "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can." (THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE, Rick Warren, Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002, p. 259.) That's the way the Apostle Paul was. Paul's life was driven by the deep memory that he at one time had persecuted the Church. Then the risen Christ, through grace, had appeared to him, forgiven him, and sent him out to proclaim this Good News. In Paul's words, "But by the grace of God I am what I am." Paul was deeply aware of the sinfulness of his persecution of the church, and passionately grateful for Christ's forgiveness. Paul's life was driven by a great passion: gratitude to the Christ that called him while yet a sinner and sent him out for the great purpose of spreading the good news.

Some aren't as passionate to serve Christ, because they haven't comprehended how they have sinned and fallen short of God's intentions The lack of passion and deep commitment is a problem within many congregations. One gets the idea some think they're doing God a favor by showing up in worship! God not only desires worship from us, but also service, a service not driven by "obligation", but by a passion to respond in gratitude.

We bring glory to God by serving others with our gifts. Rick Warren has written "We are saved to serve, not to sit around and wait for heaven."

(THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE,p. 229) I've heard it said "In some churches, there's too much sitting on the premises, and not enough standing on the promises." I see our congregation growing in personal involvement in reaching out to serve God and others. In the last few years, more of our members have gotten involved in being volunteers at the Interfaith Mission Center's Food Pantry, serving meals at the Community Soup kitchen, becoming a Stephen Minister, helping with Young Life, Bible Study Fellowship, an Emmaus Walk, Boy Scouts, Hope House, and so forth. On March 28, following worship, we're going to have a "Mission and Ministry Fair" in Fellowship Hall, where we celebrate different ways we can love and serve God and our fellow human beings. It's the cleansing mercy and forgiveness of God that gave Paul, and may give us, the energy and passion to lead purpose driven lives. My parents told me that when I was a little boy, it wasn't easy to get me to stop playing and take my Saturday night bath. It was a struggle to get me in the tub. But when I came out of the tub, I was in a different spirit. I wanted to go around and hug everyone. There was something about the washing, the cleansing, that put a different spirit within me, at the same time it left a ring around the tub! While I wasn't the dirtiest kid in the world, my parents could tell I needed a bath more than I could perceive it. And the cleansing put me in a better spirit, and I wanted to go out and do something loving in response. The effort my parents went through to get me into the tub and cleaned up was not in vain... .at least for a while! Then I needed the cleansing and forgiveness again. There's a reason we worship once a week and not once a year, and there's a reason we are asked to pray without ceasing! Those who are striving to serve God and their fellow human beings know they have been blessed and forgiven by a loving God. . .and try to do their best in response. Our Stephen Ministers were blessed to hear a Family and Children's Services employee last Tuesday night. This woman has been a social worker and labored in the midst of heart-breaking situations, experiencing the frustration of not being able to help nearly as many people as she'd like to, with a success only every now and then. She probably feels successful about as often as I make a three point shot, and that's pretty rare! But she keeps at it, and has been for 28 years. She's a dedicated Christian, and as she shared about her work, and her passion to reach out and help, I couldn't help but think "God's grace to this woman has not been in vain. She's labored long and hard in the Lord's vineyard, and she's still at it!" The Apostle Paul appears comes to live again in the lives of such servants

An Egyptian girl was rescued from drowning, as a missionary gave his life for her. Was his life given in vain? Jesus gave his life on the cross for us, for all the world. Many a parent, teacher, neighbor, has reached out to bless and encourage us. Have their efforts been in vain? Do we neglect our blessings, and presume we're entitled to them? Do we focus on what we can get in life, or what we can give? Paul acknowledged that God was behind 011 the blessings in his life, as he wrote "BUT BY THE GRACE OF GOD I AM WHAT I AM, AND HIS GRACE TOWARD ME HAS NOT BEEN IN VAIN."

Respond to God's grace in such a way that you may say the same!