This week, we had the pleasure of hearing from Pastor Matt Guthrie as he brought for us a continuation of the theme of a life lived in joyful service to Christ from 1 Peter 4:7-11. In January 2024, he showed us from Philippians 4 that Jesus gave his life so that we might live. Since we have been bought by the precious blood of Christ, nothing else matters besides serving God with praise and contentment! Pastor Matt also built on the sermon from Dr. Luke in June 2024 on the fact that we are chosen instruments set aside to do the will of God. 

One of the most common ways throughout history that people have been motivated to action and good deeds is through great speeches. For example, President Franklin Roosevelt’s first inaugural address motivated hundreds of thousands of young men to join the army and fight World War 2. FDR’s speech on December 7, 1942 rallied the nation to stand up and defend themselves and join the war. These were general calls directed toward the nation as a whole. Large portions of the country stood up to answer the call, but as soon as the war was over and the fervor died, they went back to their normal, mundane lives. Too often, we view the motivation and call of the Holy spirit to serve as a temporary and general call, not a life calling. Each one of us has been called to action, not in a general way but in an individual and specific way. We are called to action in three specific ways and we must be 1) ready to pray 2) ready to perform 3) ready to praise in our service to God. 

Ready to Pray

Peter reminds his readers who were actively under persecution that they are called to pray. Not in an anxiety- filled, nervous, reactionary way but in a self–controlled, sober-minded way. He also does not call for them to pray for a way out of their persecution but for a way forward through it with joy because when they suffered like Christ they brought Him glory (1 Peter 4: 14). When we are calm and collected in our prayers, not being “tossed about” or worrying, our prayers will be much more effective before the Lord and we can better seek how to serve Him.

Peter wanted his readers to be ready to pray so that when they came under persecution and trials, their minds will be filled with God’s thoughts. God’s thoughts and plans are higher than ours and we can’t always understand the way God is working out His will in our lives. Isaiah reminds us that “my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. Paul also used the same words when he wrote “For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1 Corinthians 1:25). We know, because it has been revealed to us through the Holy Spirit, that God’s wisdom is the best guide we can hope for as we answer the call to action in our lives.  Our focus must not be on things of the earth but on the things that are above (Col 3:2-3)

What happens if we do not set our minds on Christ in readiness to pray? We can never lose our salvation, that is not a possibility. What can happen is what Paul warns of in 1 Timothy 4:1-2: “in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared.” When we try to reason out our salvation within our hearts and minds and try to force the Bible into our own frameworks we do not acknowledge God as perfect and holy and we do not recognize our sin as damning. A life lived in that way cannot even begin to scratch the surface of what it means to live the life we are not only called to live but demanded to live. God will never remove His holy spirit from you if you are saved but you run the risk of searing your conscience.

We are called to pray and to be ready to pray so that we can always be ready to seek the Lord’s will in whatever situation we find ourselves. (Matthew 6:10, 1 John 5:14-15). We are to be both vigilant in our readiness to pray as well as discerning in our prayers. Are our thoughts centered on the light and life that comes from knowing Jesus as our savior or on the old ways of darkness and death from which we have been rescued? 

By being vigilant in prayer we will be able to meet the needs of those around us because God will reveal those needs. It is likely that the people to whom Peter wrote were experiencing hardship in areas of food and basic human needs. We will also be ready to respond to the spiritual attacks that will arise when we are ready to pray. We are in the midst of a battle, internally and externally. We must be ready in prayer, filled with the thoughts and will of God, for that battle. His Word is the sword of the spirit and if it is not in our hearts and mind, he has nothing to wield on our behalf and in our defense. Not that we are rendering God powerless because we haven’t read and hidden his word in our hearts, but if it’s not there, He cannot call it to our mind in those moments.

Ready to Perform

Each and every true Christian is called to be ready to perform service to God. We have been given gifts and empowered to be good stewards of those gifts. We did not give God an amazon wish list of what gift we would like to receive from Him. Rather He chose the gift for us that would bring Him the most glory. The receiving of the gift from God isn’t a passive transaction but instead we ought to take the gift God has given us with the intent to use it. There are a variety of gifts and a variety of uses that are good for the body of Christ. (1 Cor 12:4-11) When God gives you something, you are expected and mandated to use it for His glory! You must be ready to perform an acceptable service with that gift. We were created in Christ Jesus for a life of service, performing good works. (Eph 2:10)

Peter’s second letter begins with the idea that we have been given through God’s power all that we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3)  He is remaking us in the image of his son so that we can live a life of holiness, exemplified in our interactions with one another and in our commitment to God, which are reflected in the acts that we must be ready to perform. 

Paul’s introductory prayer for the Colossian church in 1:9-11 is that they would be “filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him.” How will they be pleasing to him? By “bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God”. Paul knows the source of power by which they have to complete this work, so he adds to his prayer that they would be “strengthened with all power.” God has provided us with the ischus, which is the strength and ability to perform the acts we are called to do. If we do not perform our tasks, it is because OUR will got in the way, not because God did not provide enough power for the job at hand. 

Some of us are quick to make excuses for why we aren’t serving as fully as we ought to and others among us are quick to jump to do every task before us in our own power. For all of us, whether we are excuse makers or quickly obedient, we must remember the first point of action to which we are called — Be watchful in prayer. If you are filled with his thoughts and aligned with his will, you WILL complete the act and you will complete it in HIS POWER.

Since God has chosen to give us specific gifts and expects us to use them, we must therefore be good stewards of those gifts. Stewards or stewardship is often thought of in two ways. Either in terms of someone who takes care of our physical needs (as in a flight stewardess) or in financial terms. In biblical terms, a steward should be thought of as a slave who was a  trusted administrator of household or business, as in the case of Joseph and Potiphar. A steward is a representative of the owner. When the steward speaks, the listener receives those words as if the owner is speaking. When the steward serves, he serves as someone empowered to act under the authority of the owner, therefore he has access to all the resources and abilities he needs to get the job done. When we hear those in our congregation who have been given speaking gifts, do we view their words as coming directly from God? 

The other example of biblical stewardship comes from the parable of the talents in Matthew 25: 14-30. Two of the three servants were praised because they used their master's assets and brought him more wealth. They were called “good and faithful servants. The third, who likely was meant to represent someone who is not a Christian, was cast out of the kingdom because he was a “wicked and lazy servant”. We, as believers, are called to action. We are called to be like the two servants who glorified their master by taking every opportunity presented to them to bring honor to him. 

Ready to Praise

Why should we be ready to pray and perform? So that we can praise, with our lives, the one who deserves all our praise! We must not only use our gifts to bring God honor but we must thank Him for giving us gifts that are also for our own good. In the context of Peter’s letter, the actions they were called to do were acts of love and service that held the body of that church together. It is so easy for  members of a church, even Southside, to quickly turn on each other. Whether in the midst of difficult circumstances or in times of ease, we are called to serve and build up one another. (Eph 4, 1 Cor 12:7)  God has given each of us a gift individually and when we use those gifts to accomplish our tasks according to His will and power, we grow spiritually and we enter into the joy of our Master. But the exercise of those gifts and the fulfillment of those tasks are for the benefit of everyone else. Each of our lives are laying the foundation for the generations of believers who will come after us. The charge here, therefore, is that you live your life in a way that you create a strong foundation for the next generation. Do not be the reason another brother or sister in Christ falters. Our actions should serve to motivate others, not to tear them down or cause them to stumble.

We are called to be ready to praise the glory of God in all things “that in everything God may be glorified through Christ Jesus”. We should be excited, zealous even, to good works that bring as much glory and praise to God as possible! Titus 2:14  tells us that Jesus Christ, “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are ZEALOUS FOR GOOD WORKS.” It should be an incredible source of joy in our life when we GET to praise God by fulfilling the tasks that we have been called and equipped to do!

This section of Scripture is wonderful because each of the verbs are active except one - doxazetai. This Greek word means to honor or glorify or to cause someone to have glorious greatness. We are called  to doxazetai God through our actions. We are given gifts, empowered to use them, and called to bring God all the possible glory through our actions. The three main ways are called to action is through a readiness to pray, a readiness to perform, and a readiness to praise God. Examine your life this week and make sure that you are fully ready to pray, perform, and praise the One who gave His life for you!
 

Selah:

1. What is the focus of your prayers in your current prayer life? What changes do you need to make in those regards?

2. What are the good works that God has planned for you that you are currently avoiding? What gift has he given you to use in the completion of those good works?

3. How are your actions and walk glorifying God?