Being a Blessing to God's People | Rev. Paul Lawler

What if generosity has less to do with your bank account and more to do with your heart? Paul points to a group of struggling believers whose joy overflowed into radical generosity, revealing a powerful truth: when grace takes hold of a life, everything changes. 

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Transcript

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Welcome to the podcast of Christ Methodist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. Join us as we dive into this week's sermon that challenges our hearts and minds to grow closer to Christ. We pray that your heart is inspired and transformed by God's Word.

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Today's scripture is going to be from 2 Corinthians chapter 8, starting in verse 16 and going through verse 24. 2 Corinthians chapter 8, verse 16 through 24. But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest, he is going to you of his own accord. With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel. And not only that, but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of grace that is being ministered by us, for the glory of the Lord Himself, and to show our good will. We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight, but also in the sight of man, and with them we are sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters. But who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you? As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ, so give proof before the churches of your love, and are boasting about you to these men. This is the word of God for the people of God.

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Amen and amen. And I greet you this morning in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. My name is Paul Lawler. I have the honor of serving as the senior pastor of Christ Methodist. We welcome you this morning, whether you're a regular attender, member, or guest, delighted that you're here. So one of the most great compliments that you can give to a Christian is not merely that they're talented or successful in some way or influential, but one of the greatest compliments that you can give a believer is that they are a blessing to God's people. That's where the text takes us this morning. Because it's true that when our lives are over, over many people will forget our accomplishments, they'll forget our titles, they won't think much about our possessions, but they will remember people who helped others follow Jesus, people who strengthen others when they're in difficult seasons, people who encourage others when they're in difficult seasons, and whether or not we use our lives to be a blessing to God's people. And so in 2 Corinthians 8, in the section that was just read, Paul is discussing not only the offering that's been given from the church at Macedonia, in verse 16, he suddenly shifts. And rather than talking about money and resources and the graciousness of a suffering church, now he begins talking about people and the way that people who are God honoring honor God's people. He introduces Titus and two unnamed other brothers in a different way. They were not only administering the gift that was coming from Macedonia, and at first glance, when you read this text, you might like, is there anything, is there any meat in here? Because it seems like it's just a simple explanation of a travel itinerary and maybe some administrative responsibilities. But what Paul's driving at is that these are ordinary believers that on the surface, if you don't look, if you don't pop the hood and look deeper, we'd we miss that God's pointing something out around these ordinary believers who really are functioning in an extraordinary way because they've devoted themselves to being a blessing to God's people. And the passage teaches that there are three characteristics of people who bless God's people. And this example is being lifted up because it's important. The first is people who are a blessing to God's people serve with a genuine concern. Look at the text with me. I'm gonna give you a couple of different versions because of the explosiveness of the Greek in this passage. In verse 16 and 17, but thanks be to God who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest, some of your Bibles translate that through his own enthusiasm. Pay attention to that. The word enthusiasm comes from two Greek words, enthios, in God. In other words, what Titus is doing is emanating out of the reality of his walk with Jesus Christ, because his life is enthios. His life is in God, which is the root system of genuine enthusiasm. And so he's very earnest, his own in God life, enthusiasm, he is going to you of his own initiative or his own accord. And so it's very clear here that through Titus, walk with God, God's put something in his heart. That's why A.W. Tozer tells us God will tell the person who cares. And Titus is that person, along with these other brothers. He wasn't merely performing a duty.

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He genuinely cares about God's people.

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He cares about the body, the bride of Jesus Christ. And Paul describes Titus as a person, a believer who has an earnest care. The Greek word here for earnest care is deep concern, sincere interest, a heartfelt affection for God's people. Titus was not traveling or carrying out a task because he had to. Ministry that emanates out of obligation is pharisaic. Ministry that flows from love is authentic. And that's what's happening in this passage. Many people can perform religious activities and check a box, but there's a difference when it's emanating out of true care, caring for God's people from the heart. Years ago, there was a study that was conducted among, believe it or not, the janitorial staff of a hospital. And in that study, a question was asked. They ask, what do you do for a living? Just open-ended question. And the majority responded, I clean floors. But there was a minority that said this I help people heal. The tasks were identical identical, but the but the description of the task was completely different. One saw a job, another saw a ministry. And Titus did not merely see a task that needed to be fulfilled. Loved ones, he saw people that God loves. He not only saw people that God loves, but he, in his own heart, sensed the love of God, had the love of God for God's people, for God's bride. And the greatest blessing in the church often comes from people like that, people who genuinely care. The Sunday school teacher who not only spends hours preparing a lesson, but also is praying for each member of the class to have understanding for their walk with Jesus to deepen, for them each to have a revelation of the love of God in Jesus Christ, the prayer warrior who not only is praying for members of the church, but prays for Jesus to work in their circumstances. As I remind you from time to time, there is a team of people praying for you right now in a room off our northx, interceding for you to have, to experience the love of God, the presence of God, the light and life of God in your life, the church member who notices when someone is missing and reaches out to them because they love them and they care. The friend that sends a text at just the right moment. And it's true that people may forget sermons. I'm in touch with reality, but they rarely forget genuine care. So let me ask you a question, or maybe a series of questions this morning.

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First, who has God placed on your heart? Who needs encouragement around you?

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Who needs prayer? Who needs somebody? And let I'll put great emphasis on this. Who needs somebody just to listen? Do you realize the art of listening is a lost art in Western culture? Strike up a conversation with people, particularly anonymously, and see if they're good listeners. You can be a good listener and give a great gift to someone, but being a blessing begins with allowing God, just like Timothy, to fill our hearts with concern for his people, because the body of Christ is designed to build one another up. That's why all over the Bible you see these one-anothers, love one another, forgive one another, spur one another on to good works, pray for one another, encourage one another. I mean, there it's all over the Bible. And that's because when we come together, we are supposed to edify one another so that the body of Christ is loved well and we operate out of love and we build one another up. So, secondly, people who bless God's people, according to this text, also live with integrity. Now, I need to comment on what that means and also what it doesn't mean. Integrity, the root word, is when the per basically to be integrated. The profession of our lips matches our hearts. You ever listen closely to the baptismal vows people take when they're baptized or their child's baptized? You listen to the vows when people join the church, the membership vows of what it means to be a part of Christ's body. We'll do that again at 11 o'clock in this service. We have another individual uniting with our church family. And what it means to be a man or woman of integrity is for our lips to match our heart. Now, to keep this healthy, I'm not saying this side of heaven that a person of integrity becomes perfect. And it's important to validate that. I remember in my 20s when I was a new believer, in my immaturity, the the there was a positive and a negative side. The positive side, when I was around men and women who walked with God for years, I was magnetically drawn toward them because I wanted to learn how to walk with Jesus. I wanted to learn how to commune with him. I wanted to learn how to serve and how to lead. And I would get around a per people, whether they were pastors or not, I would get around those people out of my spiritual hunger. But when I got around them, as they're walking with Christ, I would notice little things. And in my immaturity, I would make too much of those little things. They weren't sinful things, they were things that would run through my mind and I would go, I would have handled that differently. Well, gee, I don't think exactly that way. And I began to magnify those things. And in my immaturity, I didn't understand how the New Testament teaches that we're to forbear with one another's weaknesses. And it was not an indictment upon them at all. But I needed to be reminded as a young believer that no one other than Jesus is perfect. And so Paul continues to write, with him, we are sending the brother, who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel. Then in verse 20, he says, we take this course so that no one should blame us about the generous gift that is being administered by us. We're going to unpack that. Verse 21, for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight, but also in the sight of man. Now, here's what we need to pay attention to. Paul understood something very important here, and that is that good intentions and bringing a gift from one place to another is not enough. God's work must be handled with honor, integrity, and appropriate transparency. Money was being collected from numerous churches, not only the Macedonians, but other churches, and being transported over long distances. And so what the Apostle Paul wisely does here is he doesn't place himself in a situation where anybody could legitimately question the integrity of stewardship by not seeing that there is a group of godly people stewarding these resources and getting them from one place to another. Everything was transparent, everything was accountable, everything was above reproach. And isn't it true that when engineers are building a bridge, they don't merely hope it will stand? Every beam is tested, every support is examined, every calculation is verified and re-verified. Why? Because lives depend upon it. And the Apostle Paul knows that character functions in the same way. And that's what he's guarding in these passages. He knows that when pressure comes, that integrity term determines whether we will stand or collapse. A person's reputation may take years to build and develop, but they can only take one moment to destroy. And Paul knew the credibility of the gospel of Jesus Christ was an important task. And that's why he's over-communicating around the transparency associated with the stewardship of this gift. He also knows integrity builds trust. Families thrive when trust exists. Friendships deepen when trust exists. Trust is built with integrity. Integrity means that our public life and our private life line up. It means that we do the right thing when no one's watching. It means that we handle resources faithfully. It means our yes means yes. And it means that our words and our actions come into alignment. And we all know this. Sometimes I can sit in seminars where seminar leaders will say things like this. We must understand that integrity and authenticity really matters to Gen Z and millennials. And I'm going, man, yes, I believe that. I do believe that. But loved ones, integrity matters to everybody, every generation. Billy Graham, you may remember, some of you who are old enough to remember, many have noted that one of the reasons that God entrusted to him such a vast evangelistic ministry was because of his commitment to integrity. Early in his ministry, he and his team established, shall we say, safeguards regarding how finances would be handled, how accountability would be handled, how personal conduct would be handled. And they understood that giftedness alone was not enough. And so character sustains what talent builds. And the apostle Paul is teaching that very thing through lifting up this example this morning. A blessing to God's people comes through people that can be trusted. And then thirdly, Paul writes, basically, people who bless God's people advance the glory of Jesus Christ. They're Christ-centered, they're God glorifying. Look at verse 23 with me. Paul writes, as for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit. And as for these other brothers that are moving and traveling with Titus, they are messengers of the churches. Now get this phrase, church.

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The glory of Christ. Can I submit to you? That's a heavy thing to say about somebody. How long has it been since you've heard someone say John or Jane Doe is coming for a bus visit? They are the glory of Christ. This is a heavy term.

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But what Paul is saying is that they reflect Jesus. The service that they're providing is pointing people to Jesus. I'm gonna go back to my inmaturity in my twenties. Do you know where my my faults were? I was putting other people under a microscope and myself under a telescope. And I recognized that these brothers and sisters that I was getting near that were very godly, that their service pointed people to Jesus. Their generosity displayed Jesus, their character honored Jesus, their lives magnified Jesus. And that's what Paul is saying about Titus and these brothers. And that is the ultimate purpose of the Christian life. Not self-promotion, not personal recognition, not building our own kingdom, but demonstrating the glory of Jesus Christ. You know, I many of you know I love to stare into the heavens, but I it occurs to me at times that the moon has no light of its own, that every bit of the light emanating from the moon is not coming from the moon. In its origin, it's coming from the sun. The moon simply reflects what shuns upon it. And that is a picture of the Christian life. We possess no glory of our own. Whatever goodness people see in us comes from Christ. Whatever love they see in us comes from Christ. Whatever grace they see in us or mercy they see in us or fruit of the Spirit, it comes from Jesus Christ. And our calling is to reflect his light. You know, church, you ever heard somebody heard somebody say, I don't like organized religion. You ever heard that? Always process, well, what does that infer? That you want disorganized religion? I mean, I'm not trying to be cute here. I'm just mindful that the Bible describes the gift of administration and it also describes structure and order. God is a God of order. But I'm also mindful that as we structure the church in good order, that the church that's not enough. That the church needs more reflectors of light, people whose lives make Jesus look beautiful, people whose generosity points to Jesus, people whose compassion points to Jesus. And yet we recognize that in these reality, people whose faithfulness points to Jesus, people whose humility points to Jesus. And that's important because the world is searching for authenticity, and nothing is more compelling than a life that actually radiates Jesus Christ. You know, one of the things about this sanctuary that I love are the stained glass windows. They're beautiful. There are times when we come to worship, and many of you know or may not know that I'm standing back here behind the pulpit worshiping, because I guess that's where the pastor is supposed to sit, so I'm where I'm supposed to be. But I will often stare at the stained glass windows, and the the light comes through at a certain angle right here where it just radiates on sunny days. Well, if any of you have ever traveled to Europe, you're aware that there are lots of cathedrals with stained glass, and the sunlight shines through the stained glass beautifully, and the colors fill sanctuaries. There's a story of a visitor who asked a child inside one of these cathedrals one day the following question What is a saint? And the child respond responded as he pointed to one of the stained glass windows a saint is someone who That the light shines through. And that's what Titus was. And that's what we're to be. It's what God calls us to be. And the passage introduces us to men who never became kings, they never commanded armies, but yet they never wrote books of the Bible. And yet, even though their names are unknown, they revealed the glory of God. The Holy Spirit preserved them as an example. Why? Because God would have us take note. These are people who cared deeply, lived honorably, advanced the glory of Christ. And that is a life that matters. And the question for us is when our own story will be told, may that be said of us as well.

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I've shared with you before that when I was in seminary, I served on staff of a downtown church and for a time had a senior pastor that may have been mentally ill.

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He would do things like, Paul, I want you to attend the young adult retreat this coming weekend. And I would go and attend the retreat, and then I would come back on Monday and he would say, Why did you go to the retreat? And I said, Because you asked me to. To which he would look back at me and say, No, I did not. That's an example of something being off. Well, there was a lady in the church named Jezebel Lemons who wrote beautiful Christian poetry, who walked deeply with God. And for whatever reason, the senior pastor chose to persecute her. He would mock her.

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He would make fun of her poetry. But Jezebel had such a beautiful walk with God, she didn't allow it to offend her. She kept loving him.

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She kept praying for him. People in the church had a deep, endearing respect for her, not because she held positional authority in the church, but because of her walk with Jesus, there was a spiritual authority that just emanated out of her heart, that people would go to her for counsel. And Jezebel would set a tone in that church to pray for the pastor, to bless the pastor during this unique season, to love the pastor, to forgive this particular pastor. And this went on and on for several years before there was a course correction in the church. But it set a tone. Why did she behave in this way? Because she was in God. And in God, she loved God's people. And she labored prayerfully and with godly counsel to help hold the church together through a tumultuous time. There was another man, his name was John Hann. And in our previous wineskin or denominational affiliation, many of you know everything was not optimally healthy. And in this particular church, which was the church that I attended with my family as a teenager, the pastor, according to my father-in-law, who was the following pastor at that church, the pastor had not said the name Jesus from the pulpit in six years. Now, because in my teen years and college years, I didn't notice, I wasn't keeping count. I gravitated between agnosticism and vague deism, and so I was not aware. But my father-in-law shared that this was the case in that church. There was a man named John Han in that church, an elderly man who was preparing to leave the church. And the Lord spoke to him and said, John, I want you to stay. And I want you to pray that every time the name of Jesus is lifted up in a hymn, in a creed, or anytime in the worship service, that the name of Jesus would be magnified and you are to stay and love God's people and intercede for them throughout the season. And John Hann was faithful in praying and interceding and laboring for the name of Jesus to be lifted up and to encourage the body of Christ in this difficult season. So years pass. I'm now in college or grad school, and my mom calls with her weekly phone call. Now, the night before this phone call, I had a dream. And a dream was of John Hann. John Hann was swinging a bat in a batter's circle in a large baseball stadium, and the crowd was cheering. They were just roaring for John Hann. He's on deck, he's not in the batter's box. He's warming up on deck. And all I can see is John Hann in a uniform, he was a very tall man, about 6'4, in a uniform, swinging a bat, warming up, getting ready to go into the batter's box, and this stadium is cheering for him. And so the next morning, as I've already cited, my mom calls and we visit. And then she says, Oh, by the way, I think you would want to know, John Hann went to be with the Lord last night. Now, when I get to heaven, one of the questions I'll ask is, God, was that a coincidence? Or was there something you were trying to tell me? Because the words that dropped into my heart and spirit went like this Paul, as I thought about the dream and reflected on it prayerfully, it was as if the Lord was saying, You must understand the heroes of earth are not the heroes of heaven. But oftentimes, those that are un my unseen servants in the body of Christ are the heroes of heaven. I'm mindful of a Jezebel Lemons, of a John Hann who strengthened the church, who encouraged believers, who handled God's work faithfully, who reflected Christ beautifully, and were a blessing to God's people, just as Titus and these brothers were. And ultimately, the greatest blessing ever given to God's people is Jesus Himself, who cared enough to leave heaven, who lived with perfect integrity, who revealed the glory of the Father. He died for our sins. He rose again to victory, and now he calls all of us to follow him. And so may Jesus Christ fill our hearts wherever we go. And as God's people are strengthened, as the church is encouraged, and as Jesus Christ receives all the glory. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Love ones, let's pray for just a moment. Father, we thank you how your word always has life in it, and it always speaks.

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And so we do pray that we would be a people who love your bride well, love one another well, forgive one another well, forbear with one another well, spur one another on to good works well, encourage one another well, pray for one another well, build one another up well, so that your body is strong for your glory. Let us honor first you. But Lord, out of honoring you, may we honor and care for one another deeply for your glory. We pray this in the name and power of Jesus. Amen.

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Thanks for tuning in to another episode of the podcast for Christ Methodist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. We pray that today's message has inspired and encouraged you in your walk with Christ. To stay connected with our church community, visit us online at ChristchurchMemphis.org. We hope to see you this upcoming Sunday for worship as we seek to glorify God and make disciples of Jesus Christ among all peoples.