Service but how ?

 SERVICE BUT HOW?

2 Sunday after Epiphany - Service but how?

" There is a gospel according to you. A gospel is the good news of what God has done in and through Jesus Christ. What that means to us and how it is expressed through what we say and do is our gospel. It is being written in our attitudes, values, actions, and relationships. The people around us are reading our gospel every day." Life Without Limits-the Message of Mark's Gospel by Lloyd J. Ogilvie

Today's Epistle reading Romans 12 , second half, is talking about the fact that we have as Christians is gifts of the grace of God. Members of one body we are all gifted by the Spirit of God , and should use our gifts for the body , as we are individually members of one another. A gift is obviously something we have been given. He mentions several: "teaching, service, generosity, showing mercy.." How these are to be exercised in the church is what got my attention......

Leading for example should be in zeal, or haste as the word means. There should be an earnestness in seeking the accomplishing of the mission. I wonder if we do that . LEAD WITH DILIGENCE is a good translation as well. What would have happened if Moses had let the mission just lapse? Deuteronomy 34 says after the death of Moses " And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, in all the signs and wonders , which the LORD had sent him to do....." 34:10

The one who is showing mercy should do that with "cheerfulness" . The word also means " readiness of mind." In other words, doing works of activity.

Giving with generosity means to give without a hidden motive or pretence, so giving from the heart with simplicity would be the motive for giving. This would mean without self-seeking Thayer the Greek scholar notes.

Secondly, people readily see through our actions if they are not motivated by love. Here the word in the original is agape. This is the love of sacrifice, not just giving because we have to or have it. The word here is to " love without dissimulation". What on earth does that word mean? I was stuck until I saw it is really the greek word, anopockritos which if you think about it, is the English word hypocrisy. This means our giving must be sincere sacrificial love, not something we do that we do as an act.

"The word hypocrite is rooted in the Greek word hypokrites, which means “stage actor, pretender, dissembler.” So think of a hypocrite as a person who pretends to be a certain way, but really acts and believes the total opposite. Hypocrites usually talk a big talk but fail to follow their own rules — like an outspoken vegetarian who secretly eats bacon. " from vocabulary.com/dictionary

All of us have encountered those who say one thing and do another. In fact all of us are guilty of it. But if we make this the practice of our lives , people will cease to trust us at some point.

Lastly today from this text on Christian living or as one commentator called it, " the common life of Christians" - Romans by FF Bruce, we should be devoted to one another with a philadelphia ( brotherly love) kind of love. That is the greek word used here. "This is the love that Christians cherish toward one another as brethren. "- Thayer. WE are on the same side. WE have the same Lord , same faith and for those reasons we are to be unified in one purpose of service to one another and others who need Christ's love and gospel in word and deed.

We are giving preference to one another literally in diligence. No one said this is easy or what our flesh tells us to do. Because we have been crucified with Christ, He lives in us and the life that we now live , we live now by the faith of the Son of God who loved us, and gave Himself for us. Galatians 2 :20

As we said as we began and I quote it again to end this message today:"

There is a gospel according to you. A gospel is the good news of what God has done in and through Jesus Christ. What that means to us and how it is expressed through what we say and do is our gospel. It is being written in our attitudes, values, actions, and relationships. The people around us are reading our gospel every day"

To Christ and God be the glory. Amen.