1 Peter 4:7-11
Sermon preached at Barclay Church, Edinburgh by Rev D. Graham Leitch
8 June 2003

I’ve been asked more than once recently, by folk who know me and folk who’re members of the congregation, “What’re you going to say to the congregation before you leave?” The question’s a natural one of course, but the more important question’s not what I’d like to say to you but what does God want to say to you!! “Is there a word from the Lord?” What I’d like to say to you may be interesting and perhaps at the Social Evening planned for next Saturday I’ll briefly take the opportunity to say it. What I’d like to say to you may be interesting but it’s what GOD wants to say to you that’s VITAL!!

JESUS STILL SPEAKS TO HIS PEOPLE!
In the Morning Service a fortnight ago, when I was talking about Jesus’ last word from the cross before He breathed His last, I made the the point that though it was the last word of His earthly life it was very far from His last Word!!

We saw how, in Chs.2-3 of the Book of Revelation, Jesus is to be found speaking his authoritative word - a word of encouragement, assurance or correction according to the differing circumstances - into the life of seven local Christian congregations in Asia.

For each He had a specific word, related to their situations and needs - a word just for them! And while preachers may sometimes fail to scratch where their listeners are itching, Jesus never misses the mark!!

Far more important than anything I have to share with you at such a time as this is what GOD has to say to you!! What Jesus himself wants to tell you!!

THE DAY OF PENTECOST
Today is the Day of Pentecost and the theme of Christian worship the world over is God’s gift of His Spirit to His Church:
“Rejoice! the year upon its way
Has brought again this blessed day,
When on the chosen of the Lord
The Holy Spirit was outpoured.”

The particular aspect of the Spirit’s work I want to focus on this morning is one that I believe has enormous relevance to this congregation, to all of you and each of you at the present time. The Bible tells us that, in His Church, God’s work is done not in human strength or with human abilities but in God’s own strength. And it’s not done (or meant to be done) by the one, the two, the few or even the many but by EVERYONE - each person using whatever gift they have in the service of others, to the glory of God.

God’s no miser - He’s not mean!! And the Bible tells us that God has given each child of his at least one special gift (call it an ability or a talent if you want), “There are varieties of gifts” Paul says, “but to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

When it comes to an exceptionally clever child the label “gifted” is attached to them. But God gifts not only highest and most intelligent but the lowest and most humanly insignificant Christian - nobody’s a “nobody” in God’s Church!!

Once I was sure that this was what God wanted to say to you and wanted me to share with you this morning, I had to consider what passage He wanted me to preach from. There are numerous passages in the New Testament that deal with the subject of the Spirit’s gifts, so I began to read them through - all the while directing my heart Godward and asking “Is this the portion of Scripture you want me to share?”

God said “No!” several times, but when I reached the passage in Peter dealing with the Gifts of the Spirit in the second half of 1 Peter 4, and when I read “the end of all things is near” (!) I guessed I was getting warm!!
Since then the conviction has grown upon me that vv.7-11 of 1 Peter 4 contain the very things that God Himself wants to speak into the present situation of this church with its imminent vacancy.

1 PETER 4:7-11
If you turn with me to the passage (which is on Page 1220) you will see that its three themes are prayer, love and service.

7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

* Prayer is the theme in the opening verse (4:7): “be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray...”

* Love is the theme in the next verse - in verse 8: “Above all love each other deeply from the heart....”

* And then the rest of the chapter is about everyone using the gifts God’s Spirit gives them - at 10c Paul calls theses gifts “God’s grace in its various forms” - “everyone one should uses whatever gifts they have received, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”

GOD’S ROADMAP FOR BARCLAY
Here, then, if you like, is “God’s roadmap” for Barclay! it marks out the path to its healthy future.

Packing up a manse after 23 years in one parish is quite a job! There’s been so much to do; so many people to see; so much to think about; so many decisions to be made. A minister’s life’s always quite busy - but the past couple of months have been busier than ever!!

And one of the things I’ve learned during the past couple of months is the importance of prioritising - I couldn’t do everything so I’ve had to be more organised, to channel my efforts and give attention to the most important things.

At a time of vacancy in any church, its leaders and its members need to do the same. There’s so much to be done and there will sometimes be a temptation to panic! That's why it’ll be important for the church - and especially its Elders, the church leaders, to prioritise, to channel its efforts, to give attention to the most important things!!

WHAT ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS?
But what ARE the most important things? Resist the temptation to define the most important things as “what I want” or “what I do.” It’s too easy to let selfish concerns control our thinking and determine our behaviour! Instead, begin with GOD and let Him set the agenda.

What are HIS priorities? Is there a divine“roadmap”? What’s HIS agenda for Barclay Church now? I want to focus your thinking on the importance of this idea, that the Bible tells us about, of every Christian being “gifted” - God giving ALL OF US a role in his Church.

This isn’t a matter of options and choices - it’s a given - God’s plan and way! In His will, as well as His wisdom, God has work for each of us to do!! “Each one” Peter says, “should use whatever gift he has received’ Peter says, “....so that GOD may be praised!”

But notice, first, the two other things that Peter mentions. Because both of them are just as important.
THE IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER
Look first at 7b:

“be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.”

This church isn’t Graham Leitch’s church - it never has been! Although I know that’s the way folk speak sometimes - “That’s Graham Leitch’s Church..that’s Tom Cuthell’s Church..or.... that’s Victor Laidlaw’s Church...” We know what they mean, of course, but it’s a dangerous thing to say and they’re wrong!! Barclay Church doesn’t belong to the minister or the Elders - it isn’t the members’ or the Presbytery’s church. It doesn’t even belong to the Church of Scotland - it’s GOD’S church!! So:

“be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.”

Peter’s words “be clear minded and self-controlled” speak to me of FOCUS. The opposite of “clear minded” is “muddle headed” It’s the difference between a ball of wool or string, fishing line or electrical cable that flows loose and free, and one that’s tangled knotted or“all in a fankle.’

“Self controlled” means orderly, not confused; organised, not chaotic; planned, not haphazard.

What Peter says speaks to me of order and organisation. It’s important in the vacancy that the Church’s leaders have focus and perspective. This means recognising that this church isn’t mine now and won’t be yours when I believe. It belongs to GOD! It means managing its affairs efficiently because, when you’re dealing with the Church, you’re handling God’s own property.

But this order and organisation has a purpose, it isn’t to tie ever more people into an ecclesiastical bureaucracy. If that’s what it does it simply isn’t the right kind of order and organisation!! The purpose of the clear mindedness and self-control (or good personal and ecclesiastical management practice if that’s what you want to call it) is explicitly stated:

“so that you can pray.”
“be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.”

Because this is GOD’S Church, PRAYER is important in the vacancy. Prayer is more important not less important when there is much to do. It is the secret of strength and the key to perseverance. And PRAYER is all-important in discerning God’s will and purpose for its future. I am confident that God has an exciting future for this congregation - I’m certain of it! I’m not just saying that to make you feel better - I’m certain that it’s so. God HAS an exciting future for this congregation - it is your DUTY to discover it.

And the best way to discover it is NOT to try to work it out for yourself, but to ask HIM!!

Make PRAYER a priority!

THE SUPREMACY OF LOVE
Before we turn to the question of everyone using their gifts, there is something else Peter mentions too - and actually it’s the thing he puts right at the very top of the list and singles out as the most important thing of all - look at v.8:

“above all, love eachother deeply for love covers a multitude of sins.”

He appeals to Christians to“love each other deeply”It’s much easier to cultivate the sense of belonging and being valued that love confers in a congregation which isn’t “gathered.” Where parents take their along to the same school gates each morning; where numbers work in the same place and folk meet and talk not just once a week (on Sundays) but throughout the week, there is already a shared sense of community. In towns and villages there is greater natural proximity and often more stability.

In a gathered and changing congregation like our own, it’s more difficult to cultivate a sense of belonging and being valued - of true and deep fellowship.

I was speaking to someone about leaving the other week. Most people just ask things like “How’s the packing going?” but this person, a Christian, asked “Have you any regrets?” - and they meant “are there mistakes you’ve made” - and yes, there’ve been plenty and I’m sorry for them. And they meant “is there anything you’d have like to see more of.” And yes, I’d have like to see a higher proportion of people actively involved in the congregation’s shared prayer life. Because prayer is the heart of a congregation’s life and if the heart isn’t healthy the whole body ails. And I long for LOVE to become the hallmark of its life:

All of have a natural tendency to put our own preferences and wishes fist - to think of ourselves before others - but the Gospel pattern shown in Jesus’ example is the reverse of this. The Gospel pattern and the Christian way puts others before ourselves. I remember - many years ago now - it must be almost 30 years ago - Jeanne Hinton, in an article about LOVE and the CHURCH, talking about how every Christian church should be “a laboratory of love” - a place where the personal chemistry speaks not just of respect but of sensitivity, compassion and selfless action - a community of spiritually healthy “other centred” people!

Next to loving God the most important instruction Jesus gave us is to LOVE each other!
“Love God and love one another”

The vacancy will test your character as a congregation - it will reveal the best and the worst about you!! You will make mistakes. Sometimes things will go wrong. But attend, first, to Jesus’ command “love one another!” You’ll still make mistakes. Things will still go wrong - but it won’t matter the same.

I think that’s part of what Peter means by saying that “love covers a multitude of sins.”

God’s “roadmap” to a healthy future for Barclay Church involves THREE THINGS;
PRAYER is essential because it is the conscious act of opening up to God - of listening to Him - of seeking His face to seek His will.

And LOVE is hugely important. A church may have activities in abundance, organisations galore, a raft of services and a huge membership yet be nothing WITHOUT LOVE!

USING GOD’S GIFTS
But in the last couple of verse of today’s reading Peter points us to the other thing that matters - and its the thing I want to say a little more about - the matter of everyone using their gifts.

The apostle Paul likens the church to our physical bodies where each member, limb and organ has a unique function yet all the parts work together:

“The body is not one member but many. If the foot should say ‘Because I am not a hand I am not a part of the body, it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body... but God has placed the members of the body just as He desired...there are many part but ONE body... the eye cannot say to the hand ‘I have no need of you’ or the head to the feet ‘I have no need of you....”

In fact Paul emphasises that even the parts of the body that seem the most feeble or least necessary are parts of the perfect body - and every part is essential for the body’s proper functioning.

The Children’s address a fortnight ago when I dressed the children up - one as “the minister” with a black gown and big Bible, another with a basin and towel, another with furniture polish and a feather duster and yet another with a a teapot, cup and saucer was making a point for everyone. When the Minister leaves - hundred of ministers are left behind. In the church every Christians is “gifted” and every member a minister.

God’s “roadmap” to a healthy future for Barclay Church involves stepping out of the shadow of “the Minister” and being ministers yourselves!

“Each one” Peter says “should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms....”

WHAT IS A SPIRITUAL GIFT?
A spiritual gift (a gift of God for use in serving others in His honour) may sometimes be obviously supernatural and dramatic - such gifts were certainly celebrated in the New Testament. But often the gifts we exercise are no more than natural abilities and talents or learned skills which are surrendered to God and then the Holy Spirit uses them for Christ’s service, the blessing of the congregation and the good of others.

Sometimes a person’s gift will be “obvious” to everyone - learned skills are often of this kind. Usually a person’s gift will be in line with the kind of person they are and it'll be something they “like” doing anyway. When a person’s sphere of service in the church runs across or against the grain of their gifting, its leads to stress and unhappiness. Many bad experiences in churches are due to this! But when a person serves in line with their “gifting” it yields pleasure and fulfilment.

Sometimes a person’s “gift” may NOT be obvious to them, but others may see it. For example, we may not be aware that we have the ability to be a good listener and counsellor of others. But as time goes along we may discover more people coming and sharing their personal problems with us - or others may see in us capacities, skills or potential that we haven’t recognised in ourselves.

In this congregation God’s “roadmap” to a healthy future lies in everyone who names Jesus Christ in this place - every member - realising that God HAS gifted them and that there is a role not just for everyone, generally, but for EACH AND EVERY ONE individually.

Your gifts aren’t the same - and they’re not meant to be!! Spurgeon emphasises this colourfully in one of his sermons when he says “A snail will never run a race nor a mouse drive a wagon!” But a snail can climb a thirty foot wall and a mouse can squeeze through a vary small hole. Everyone has their gift and can do things that other people can’t!!

God has work for YOU to do - a role, a task, a responsibility, yes, but don’t think of it that way - think of is as an OPPORTUNITY with your name on it!! Don’t miss the opportunity.

GIFTS - FOR THE COMMON GOOD
Now, of course, when it comes to some of the rather more spectacular gifts mentioned in the New Testament, such as “speaking in tongues” - folk sometimes covet such gifts or seek them for their own enjoyment or blessing. But Peter emphasises that the purpose of whatever gift a person possesses is the good, the help, the blessing of OTHERS:

Each one” Peter says “should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms....”

That this is so is plain to anyone who cares to read the Bible’s teaching. The spiritual gifts are emphatically not toys but tools “for the common good” as Paul puts it, and “for the service of others” as Peter says. As Billy Graham (who wrote a book about the Holy Spirit) points out:

“A gift might be called a ‘tool’ or an instrument that is to be used rather than a piece of jewellery for decoration or a box of sweets for personal enjoyment. We could think of the different kinds of tools a carpenter uses, or the different kinds of instrument a surgeon needs. These tools have been given to people for use in the functioning of the body of Christ...”

Billy Graham :The Holy Spirit” p.134

The secret of the health of this church in the future - in its vacancy and beyond - lies in a recognition that even more important than “finding a new minister” is discovering the multiplicity, variety and giftedeness of the hundreds of “ministers” listening to this sermon and presently in its pews!

TWO FINAL LESSONS
But notice two more things. Both are important though time forbids a detailed or lengthy exposition of them.

The first is that saying that the health of this church in the future lies in its discovering the multiplicity variety and “giftedness” of the hundreds of ministers in its pews is NOT to throw the church back upon its own strength but to emphasise its dependence upon God.

The fact that Peter describes the faithful use of gifts as the faithful “administration of God’s grace in its various forms” and his reference in v.11m to “the strength which GOD provides” both underline this.

And the final thing is this - that the purpose of recognising and USING God’s gifts is not the continuance of the church! There is a higher and more noble purpose in using our gifts than mere survival!:

It is revealed in the last verse (4:11):

“so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.”

“To him the the glory and power for ever and ever. Amen”

AMEN INDEED!