Spur One Another On Towards Love and Good Deeds - Hebrews 10:24
Offer Hospitality to One Another – 1 Peter 4:9
Mid Week #6: March 28, 2012
Welcome again to this our last of the Mid-Week Lenten services. Our theme has been on the “one anothers of the New Testament.” We haven’t been able to cover them all.
Here’s a few of those that we haven’t covered yet:
Let us not judge one another. Romans 14:13
Accept one another. Romans 15:7
Do not lie to each other. Colossians 3:9
Increase and abound in love for one another. 1 Thessalonians 3:12
Comfort one another. 1 Thessalonians 4:18
Do not speak against one another. James 4:11
Do not complain against one another. James 5:9
Greet one another with a kiss of love (holy kiss). 1 Peter 5:14
I guess we need another four weeks. Actually, I think we have covered enough of these passages to get the drift, and I hope to increase your awareness of the importance of these passages, so that in the future, whenever you read them in your devotional time or hear them read you will pay attention better than you have in the past.
To repeat what I’ve been saying every week, these passages show us how far we have to go yet in our relationships within the church, the body of Christ, and are a great way during these Lenten season of self-examination to reflect on our shortcomings and repent of them, and make an effort to change for the better to the glory of God and the improving harmony we will reap within the church.
Tonight we are going to look at two more:
Spur One Another On Towards Love and Good Deeds - Hebrews 10:24
Offer Hospitality to One Another – 1 Peter 4:9
I want to quote the Hebrews passage in context and deal with explaining it in the wider context of chapter 10:
10:24-25 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Believers ought to consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. This word "spur" means to "stimulate strongly," "arouse," or "incite to riot." That’s a very strong word. For us today when we think of incite to riot, for example, we get mind pictures of the riots we’ve seen on the news channels. We see people who are overcome by emotions so strong that they are willing to confront danger. That describes us as believers. We do indeed face danger every day, because we have an enemy that the Bible describes as a roaring lion lurking around trying to find believers to destroy. (1 Peter 5:8)
I feel that we do not do a good job at this in the church anymore. There is not emphasis on this at all. I could imagine a situation where a portion of the worship time each week is devoted to testimonies from believers to able to share how they have put their faith into action during the past week. I could imagine this kind of approach in worship to stretch out long beyond one hour. We are such slaves to the clock and start getting jittery when it passes one hour that we need an attitude adjustment about worship and tithing of our time before we can ever try something like this. But nevertheless, I think that is what is meant in the snapshots of the early church worship that we have in Acts and the Epistles. I can imagine it being a powerful way for the more mature believers who are putting their faith into action to spur the less mature ones into action as well.
This verse goes on to say that Christians need to spur or stimulate each other in two areas:
1)Love.It is not just an emotion but a choice to act regardless of our feelings. We are to act lovingly toward other believers. We have seen over and over again that love is the context for all that is done within the church. Even when our feelings toward another might not be that loving, we are called to express our feelings to others in actions that are kind and gentle, that express love.
2) Good deeds.These are things done for the good of others, and which attract others to Christ. Only your imagination can be the limit here.
We are trying to incorporate this servanthood mentality into our youth ministry here by doing good deeds, like the drive by leaf raking, and helping clean up yards.
Steve Tomac’s recent Guatamala mission is another example of good deeds which express the love of Jesus by doing tangible things which improve the lives of the folks in the poor areas of Guatamala. Now Pastor Tony and the church there have a new bridge on which to build a relationship with these folks and welcome them into the body of Christ.
There is a whole book written on this topic:
Conspiracy of Kindness: Revised and Updated A Unique Approach to Sharing the Love of Jesusby Steve Sjogren
I know of many churches that have teams that practice these random acts of kindness in their community, or even have competition between their small groups. Our son’s church in LenexaKansas takes a Sunday off from regular worship every year for everyone to head out and do some random acts of kindness.
Something for us to think about here at Faith Lutheran. What can we do that will show our community that we care? I know, our yard sale every September is a hit, but what else can we do?
Spur one another on towards love and good deeds. The sky’s the limit. Go for it!
Our second passage this evening is in the context of a short spiritual gift listing in 1st Peter chapter 4.
Offer Hospitality To One Another. 1 Peter 4:9
Since we didn’t read this passage in our lessons earlier I want to put it up on the screen now and read it in the immediate context:
“The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. 8Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9Offer 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. 11If 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.” 1 Peter 4:7-11
The immediate context of this passage is the end time, the end of all things, when Jesus comes again. The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. 1 Peter 4:7
This verse gives us the vertical component (how we relate to God) to help us overcome the pressure to sin. Verses 8 and 9 give the horizontal component (how we relate to other people). The fact that God is "ready to judge" (4:5) means that the end of all things is near. These early Christians who faced persecution took great comfort in the fact that their suffering would one day end and that the evil ways of the wicked would be judged. The Lord is ready and waiting, desiring that the gospel should be preached to all the nations before he returns.(Matt. 24:14)
Peter, like the other apostles, was always aware that Christ could return at any moment. Likewise, believers today must always remember that "the end of all things is near," for Christ can come at any time.
Peter explained that the shortness of time remaining should motivate believers to be clear minded and self-controlled. "Clear minded" is the opposite of insanity and of drunkenness. "Self-controlled" refers to sobriety and restraint. We are to have a clear head; we are to take Christ's return seriously.
Certainly Peter remembered the Lord Jesus' words to him in the Garden of Gethsemane: "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak" (Matthew 26:41). Peter also knew from experience how weak a believer could become when faced with severe temptation without being grounded in prayer. Peter had proclaimed loyalty to Christ, but instead of praying in the Garden with Jesus, he had slept. When the time of trial had come, Peter had betrayed his Lord. Peter did not want his followers to face the same weakness, but to be ready and strengthened through prayer.The meaning for today calls for self-discipline when we pray.
Verse 8 states, Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
The words above all indicate that love would help these Christians face suffering. The mutual love, support, and encouragement would be a great defense. Deeply means sustained, eager, earnest; in other words, keep your love at full strength. No Christian is an island; no one is alone. When believers experience deep love from the fellowship, they have the human network of support that can help them through any crisis. Paul had explained that believers should have faith, hope, and love, "but the greatest of these is love" (1Cor.13:13). John also wrote, "This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another" (1 John 3:11).
This does not mean that love ignores, overlooks, or tries to hide sin. Instead, as believers, they were "finished with sin." The "covering of sins," then, is the ability that believers have to forgive one another because Christ has forgiven them. Love works as a shock absorber, cushioning and smoothing out the bumps and irritations caused by fellow believers.
Think of love as an antidote to hurts and hates. Think of love as a strong soap to wash away the buildup of hurt and grief. As Christians, we should forgive the faults in others' lives because we have experienced God's gracious forgiveness in our own
Now we come to our passage in verse 9:“Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.”
Being hospitable is different from social entertaining. Entertaining focuses on the host—the home must be spotless; the food must be well prepared and abundant; the host must appear relaxed and good-natured.
Hospitality, in contrast, focuses on the guests. Their needs—whether for a place to stay, nourishing food, a listening ear, or acceptance—are the primary concern.
Hospitality can happen in a messy home. It can happen around a dinner table where the main dish is canned soup. It can even happen while the host and the guest are doing chores together. Believers should not hesitate to offer hospitality just because they are too tired, too busy, or not wealthy enough to entertain. Hospitality is a strong expression of love, which Peter already commanded the believers to show.
The early Christian church depended on hospitality. There was not a network of motels and wayside restaurants for travelers as we would picture today. Traveling preachers and teachers depended on Christians to give them a place to stay, and churches needed homes in which to meet. Also, hospitality draws people together and allows them to get to know one another. The young church needed this interdependence. Jesus had counted on this for his disciples, both during their three years of on-the-job training and after He returned to heaven and left them on their own.
The addition of the words without complaining gives a tinge of realism to the well-known command to be hospitable. Hospitality can be hard work: Some guests will be more difficult than others, and there may be times when it is more of a duty than a joy. In any case, Peter recommended that the believers not complain but serve their guests as though serving the Lord himself, "As you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me" (Matthew 25:40.
Why would anyone complain about being hospitable? Well ….
- Guests eat up the cupboard. Hospitality is expensive. Food isn't cheap.
- Guests eat up emotional energy. They talk about themselves, their aches and pains, their relatives' aches and pains. It gets tedious.
- Guests eat up time. You've got a fix-it list a mile long, a phone-back list that stretches the length of the refrigerator, and there's that new computer program you wanted to learn.
But the Bible advises us to invest in people and to let the rest take its course. Budgets are flexible, emotions replenishable, and there will never be an end to fix-it or learn-it chores. When guests arrive, focus on them generously. Your time and cupboard are God's anyhow. Build bonds of friendship by treating guests like royalty.
Hospitality is to be practiced to a degree by all Christians. But you probably have experienced somewhere along in your life of someone who though is a church member is just not very hospitable. Chances are that person does not have the gift of hospitality. All Bible commentators agree that this passage in First Peter is one of the passages on Spiritual gifts and therefore, hospitality is usually included as a Spiritual gift.
In the next two verses Peter connects it to Spiritual gifts and categorizes all Spiritual gifts into two categories, 1) Speaking gifts; and 2) Serving gifts.
In closing I want to make a few comments on verse 10: Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.
If we are cover everything we do in love, and if we are to really spur one another on towards good deeds, then it seems the best way to do that is by learning what our Spiritual gifts are and finding our place for ministry within the church where our Spiritual gift is a benefit to the whole body.
You see, each believer has received one or more spiritual gifts from God. A spiritual gift is a talent or ability empowered by the Holy Spirit and able to be used in the ministry of the church. Spiritual "gifts" help God's people to serve and love one another and continue the work of spreading the gospel. Paul wrote, "Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us" (Romans 12:4-6).
Different types of gifts given to God's people are listed in Romans 12:6-8; 1Corinthians 12:4-11, 27-31; and Ephesians 4:11-12—these lists are different and are by no means exhaustive. Most gift list inventories these days have added craftsmanship and music to these lists.
When believers humbly recognize their partnership in the body of Christ, their gifts can be used effectively. Only then can they also appreciate one another's gifts. God gives his people various spiritual gifts so they can build up his church. The gifts were not meant for self-aggrandizement; instead, each believer has received at least one gift from God in order to serve others.
When believers use their gifts in humble service to others, they are actually faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. The gifts God gives believers are as varied and many-faceted as are the believers themselves. As God's grace varies in its dealings with people, so God's gifts (given because of his grace) are varied in their administration of his grace as Christ's body on earth. To be "faithful" means not to hide the gifts, but to use them as they were meant to be used—serving and building up the body of Christ.
Conclusion:
So in closing this message, and in ending this series on the one anothers of the New Testament I think it is very fitting that we would each consider our Spiritual gifts and how to use them in the church
To help you do that, I have prepared some copies that you can take home of a test, we call it a Spiritual gift inventory, of 125 questions that you answer and then on the last page score it to get an idea of what may be your Spiritual gift.
I know some of you have done this already. We had a class last spring on Spiritual gifts, I think this is the same one we used then. If you’ve never done it before I encourage you to give it a try.
Let’s Pray:
Father in heaven, fill us with Your Holy Spirit that our lives would bear the fruits of the Spirit and encompass all we do in the church in love for You and for one another. Guide us and reveal to us our Spiritual gifts and help us see our fit in the body of Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.
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