Good morning. My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the pastor here at Shine Mountain Presbyterian Church,
and it's my joy to bring God's word to you on this snowy day.
Special welcome if you're new or visiting with us. We're glad that you're here,
and we're glad that you're here not because we're trying to fill seats,
but because we're following Jesus together as one community, and as we follow Jesus,
we become convinced that there's no one so good that they don't need God's grace,
and no one so bad that they can't have it, which is why we turn every week to hear what God has to say to us in his word.
We've been studying the book of 1 Peter, and the book of 1 Peter, as I've been telling you, is a letter.
It's a letter written by a man named Peter to churches in the first century A.D. in Asia Minor,
what's now modern-day Western Turkey, and these churches are struggling.
They're struggling because they feel out of place in the world as Christians,
and they're struggling because they're facing opposition in the world for being Christians.
And so Peter writes to encourage and instruct them.
He writes to encourage them that Jesus is worth it.
He's worth living and loving for, and he's worth serving and dying for.
And he also writes to instruct them.
He writes to instruct them how to live as Christians in the world
and also how to respond when they face opposition for being Christians.
Now, the last several weeks, we've been in a section on suffering,
so we've been on the instruction side.
We've been on the side of how to respond when you face opposition for being a Christian.
We're going to turn this week back to the other portion of the instruction,
how to live as a Christian in this world.
We'll be back to suffering next week.
In this section, we're going to look primarily about how it is that we interact as a church together,
as one community.
We've got a lot to cover today, so I'm just going to jump right in.
And I'll say this as we start.
Many people, in fact, we might even say most people,
long for thick and rich community.
You probably long for thick and rich community.
Few people are willing to do the work that it takes to get there.
Many people long for thick and rich community.
Few people are willing to do the work that it takes to get there.
Peter, in this passage, is going to give us some very practical advice
about how to live together in the church.
How can we actually have the type of community that we long for?
We're in 1 Peter 4, starting at verse 7.
And as we come to this, remember that this is God's word.
And God tells us that his word is more precious than gold, even the finest gold.
And it's sweeter than honey, even honey that comes straight from the honeycomb.
And so that's why we read now, starting at verse 7.
The end of all things is at hand.
Therefore, be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly,
since love covers a multitude of sins.
Verse 9.
Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.
As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another,
as good stewards of God's varied grace.
Verse 11.
Whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles of God.
Whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies.
In order that in everything, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.
To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever.
Amen.
I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.
Father in heaven, we come asking for your help, as we always do.
By ourselves, we will destroy this community.
And so we ask that you would speak to us by your word,
and you'd move in our hearts by your spirit.
That you would change us into the type of people who build up rather than tear down.
Most of all, we ask that you would soften our hearts,
and you'd open our ears and our eyes,
and that you'd clear our minds.
That we would be able to hear and see and understand and believe
everything that it's written about Jesus in your word.
And so we ask these things in his name.
Amen.
The last several weeks, we've had a variety of challenging theological statements to sort out.
We had the section about Jesus proclaiming to the spirits who were in prison.
That was somewhat challenging.
Last week, we had to deal with what in the world does Peter mean
when he says those who are suffered have done with sin.
And we're not over yet.
So we're starting this passage again with another challenging phrase.
In verse 7, we find out the end of all things is at hand.
This has been something that's been erased as an objection to Christian faith for many years.
It's based on not just this passage, but other passages.
You may have noticed in our preparation for worship, Mark chapter 1,
Jesus says the kingdom of God is at hand or is near.
Many people have claimed, well, that's great.
Jesus and Paul and Peter all believed that the kingdom of God was near.
And guess what?
We're here 2,000 years later.
Obviously, they were wrong.
Clearly, they were mistaken.
They thought the end of the world was coming.
It hasn't come.
The fact that we're still here disproves Christianity.
It proves that it's not true.
And so what do we as Christians make of that?
What is Peter saying here?
Excuse me.
To understand, I want you to imagine this for a second with me.
Let's say, and this is not just hypothetical,
a report has reached my ears that this has actually occurred in the city of Colorado Springs.
You and a group of your friends decide in one day you are going to watch all three of the Lord of the Rings movies.
Wait.
It's not just the regular Lord of the Rings movies.
You're watching the extended version.
So every single movie is over three or four hours long.
Now, the report I heard about this happening in Colorado Springs,
they also made the recipes from the movie that went along with it,
so they had breaks in between where they could eat.
All I can say is amen.
And let's imagine you're at this event,
and you have finished the first two movies.
You finished The Fellowship of the Ring, three plus hours.
You finished The Two Towers, three plus hours.
And you're about to start The Return of the King.
Can you say,
the end of all things is at hand?
Well, in the sense of time,
no, you're wrong.
The end of all things is not at hand.
The last movie is four plus hours long.
That is the length of two or three movies.
Calm down.
The end of all things is not at hand,
as our human perception of movie time goes.
However, in terms of stage,
the end of all things is at hand.
You have made it to the last movie.
Peter here is not speaking in the sense of human time.
He is speaking in the terms of stages
when it comes to the way that God has been working in the world.
Think about this for a second.
There are lots of stages in the Bible.
First of all, we had creation.
Creation was followed by Abraham.
Abraham was followed by the patriarchs.
Patriarchs were followed by the nation of Israel and Egypt.
Then they were leaving Egypt.
They left Egypt.
They came.
They had to conquest the Promised Land.
That was the stage.
Then they had a stage in the Promised Land
where they were ruled by judges.
After they were ruled by judges,
they were ruled by kings.
When they had the kings,
it was a united kingdom,
then a divided kingdom.
After it was a divided kingdom,
there was before the exile,
and after the exile,
and then finally they were looking
during the time when there was no word from God,
and finally Jesus came.
There's a lot of stages.
The last stage is here.
That is the sense in which
the end of all things is at hand.
If you remember from 1 Peter 1,
and I'm going to turn back there,
we had verse 21,
which told us,
maybe it's verse 20,
he was foreknown before the foundation of the world,
but was made manifest in what?
In the last times,
for the sake of you.
Both the recipients and the reader,
and us today,
so the recipients of this letter in the 60s AD,
and us in 2020,
are living in the last times,
in the sense that we are in the last stage
of God's plan of redemption.
Both of us look back,
all those other stages are done.
There's no new stage that's happened.
We're in the age of the church,
as some people might call it.
We're in the age after Jesus has come.
So all of us,
in that sense,
are in the last times.
But we do know,
wherever we are,
in that last movie,
we haven't gotten to the battle of the Black Gates.
But all of us are in the last times.
So in that sense,
Peter is telling them,
the end of all things is at hand.
It's the same sense in which Jesus means it.
The same sense he tells them,
in our preparation for worship,
repent and believe the gospel,
for the kingdom of God is at hand.
With that being said,
everything that follows here
is going to be in light of that.
How do we live,
knowing that we're in the last stage
of God's plan of redemption?
The first thing he tells them
is that they need to be in prayer.
Again, verse seven,
be self-controlled and sober-minded
for the sake of your prayers.
This would be the opposite,
self-controlled of what we've seen before.
And there's a focus
and a certain way of thinking.
They need to remember and know
that they're in the last stage
of God's redemption.
Knowing and remembering that's going to focus them.
It's going to remind them
that they need to pray.
And then it's going to help them
understand how to pray.
Perhaps they're praying
that they would be faithful
to 1 Peter 3.15,
that they'd be able to give an answer
for the hope that's within them.
Maybe they're praying
for their friends who don't know Jesus,
knowing that the end is near,
that they also would repent
of their sins and believe.
Maybe they're in the midst of suffering
for righteousness' sake
and they need to pray
that God would give them
the strength to continue.
No matter what it is,
they're praying
with an understanding
of what's going on right now.
We could tie this back
to last week as well
and say,
if they don't believe
the end is at hand,
why would they not engage
in the sorts of things we discussed?
If there's no future,
why would you not seek
as much pleasure as possible?
Well,
because the end of all things
is at hand.
So,
be self-controlled
and sober-minded
for the sake of your prayers.
There's an expectation
that if we understand
the reality of where we're at
in God's plan
for the world,
that we will not
become complacent,
but instead we'll be faithful
in praying to him
for the help that we need
and what we hope to see
happen before his return.
And so,
how do we live
in light of the fact
that the end of all things
is at hand?
First of all,
we are praying
with that in mind.
Having covered prayer,
Peter moves on
for the rest of this passage
to how it is
that we exist together
as a community.
If we're going to be
experiencing the kind of suffering
that's come in the previous passages
and that we'll discuss
in next week's passage,
we're not going to make it alone.
If the end of all things
is at hand,
we're not going to be able
to do it by ourselves.
And so,
this is where Peter begins
to give us incredibly
practical advice
for how we can have
a rich and thick
and strong community.
first,
verse 8.
He says,
above all,
so apparently this is more important
than anything else,
keep loving one another earnestly
since love
covers a multitude of sins.
Now,
in what sense
does love cover
a multitude of sins?
It's probably here
in the sense that Proverbs
chapter 19,
verse 11 talks about.
In the book of Proverbs,
it says in that verse,
it is a man's glory
to overlook
an offense.
It's to a man's glory
to overlook
an offense.
Some translations say honor.
There's a variety
of different strategies
that we have
for dealing with conflict.
One of them is overlooking.
Now,
if you never have conflict,
you're not overlooking.
You're just very
passive aggressive.
But,
in the variety
of conflicts
that happen,
sometimes the option
is to know,
you know what,
I'm just going to take
this one on the chin.
Not every conflict
is worth pursuing.
Not every way
that someone else
hurts you
is worth pursuing.
There's a lot of things
that all of us do
in the church
that hurt each other.
I've done things
that have hurt some of you.
Some of you
have done things
that have hurt me.
Some of you have done things
that hurt each other.
And at some point,
we decide
what is worth fighting over
and what isn't.
We're going to be
sinful people
in this world.
We're going to hurt
each other.
And there's certain things
that are at such a small level,
we've just got to let it go.
That's love.
That's what it looks like
to love one another
earnestly from the heart.
We love someone else
so much
that we're just
sometimes willing
to say,
you know what,
that person,
they really get on my nerves.
I don't like the way
that they articulated that
or said that.
But I also love them.
And I'm not going to
call a foul
every time there's a foul.
I'm not a referee.
A mentor of mine
explains it this way,
living in life
is sort of like
being in an airport.
And there's all kinds
of people with backpacks
that they have on.
And often,
they move around
and they just whack you
right in the face
with their backpack.
They have no idea,
right?
All of us
have baggage.
And all of us
have more baggage
than we realize.
I have another mentor
who says that
many of us think
that we have
carry-on baggage
in our lives
when really we all
have checked baggage.
That causes us
to hurt each other a lot,
sometimes unintentionally.
Living in the church
means as we love each other,
sometimes we make the choice
to overlook that.
And that's the godly thing to do.
Some of us
are real strong personalities.
And the way we say things
just grates on other people.
Sometimes we just overlook that.
We hear the heart
behind what someone's saying.
Some people have been
really hurt in the past
by people that resemble us.
And they're going to
take that out on us
even though it's not our fault.
We'll pay other people's
debts for them.
Sometimes we overlook that.
recognizing that sometimes
we whack people
in the face too.
With our backpack
that's larger
than we realize it is.
If we want to have
rich and thick community,
we keep loving
one another earnestly,
letting love
cover
a multitude of sins.
Next, verse 9.
This is a list, by the way.
It's just a list
of practical instruction
for the church.
Show hospitality
to one another
without grumbling.
Now, it'd be quick
to think
in our Western American context,
it'd be easy for us
to think this is primarily
about having people
over to your house
and maybe you would grumble
because you'd have
to clean up the house
and that would create
some work
and you're the one
hosting the main dish
so you're spending money
you wouldn't otherwise
be spending.
And there's all kinds
of ways in which
you're put out
by showing this hospitality.
And so don't grumble.
Now, it's certainly
not less than that
in this passage
but it's probably
much, much more.
If you think about
this church for a second,
if they're suffering
for the name of Jesus Christ
and they're living
in this culture
that's hostile,
there's probably
all sorts of needs
that they have
that involve hospitality
that are not just
having someone
over to their house
for dinner.
They probably need
a worship space.
Well, who has
the biggest house
in the church?
There might be
needs for gatherings
of groups.
Maybe someone
needs shelter.
Maybe,
and this really
gets to the heart of it,
this is after a section
about suffering
for the name
of Jesus Christ.
Maybe someone
needs hospitality
because they've chosen
to do what's right.
Think about this
for a second.
We have someone,
let's say,
in our congregation
they choose
that they're going
to do what's right
and therefore
they lose their job
and they're no longer
able to pay their rent.
Who are they going
to stay with?
Us.
They're staying with us.
They're staying
with one of you.
Imagine another situation.
Someone is in
a sinful relationship
and they're living
with someone else
in that relationship.
They convert
to Christianity
and they realize
we can't be
under the same roof
anymore.
However,
we signed a lease
together and I'm
legally obligated
to continue paying
this lease
with this other person
for the next three months.
I can't get out of it
but I also have to
leave this house
for the sake of righteousness.
Where are they
going to live?
They're living
with you.
Let's say
someone's a
1 Peter 4,
1 through 6
sort of person.
They're celebrating
the passions
of the Gentiles
and they've
come to realize
that Jesus calls
them to something
different
so they repent
of their sins
except
they no longer
have anywhere
to go on Friday
night because
they used to be
what did it say
verse 3?
They used to be
at orgies
and drinking parties.
Now they're not
there anymore.
Where are they
going on Friday
night?
Your house.
They're coming
to your house
to play
Bananagrams
with you
because otherwise
they don't have
community.
Let's think
about one more.
Someone converts
to Christianity
and they're kicked
out of their house.
I had a friend
this happened to
by the way
here in the United States.
Parents disown them
so you cannot live
here anymore
as a Christian.
Happens at 10 p.m.
by the way.
Whose door
are they knocking on?
Our door.
They're knocking
on our door.
And what would be
tempting in that
situation?
Maybe you're sharing
a bathroom with
someone you don't
want to be sharing
a bathroom with.
Maybe it's just
less space
for a limited
amount of time.
What does Peter
tell us to do?
Show hospitality
to one another
without grumbling.
In fact,
this will probably
be something
that's more and more
relevant for the
American church.
Now I do say
this sometimes.
Don't hear what
I'm not saying.
I'm not saying
you as a Christian
are obligated
to provide housing
for anyone
who needs housing
and hospitality
for anyone
who needs housing.
I'm not saying
there are not
boundaries.
I'm not saying
any Christian
who makes that
demand on you.
What I am saying
is that if we
call people
to suffer
for righteousness
sake,
we need to be
prepared to give
them the resources
necessary for that
obedience
as a community.
If we call
someone to
righteousness sake,
we can't say,
hey,
you've got to
leave that
relationship
and you can't
live there
anymore.
Good luck
finding a place.
No,
we say,
you have to
leave that
relationship
and you can't
live there
anymore
and so-and-so
all have rooms.
And while you
figure things out
or while that
lease ends,
they are going
to back you
up on that
as you follow
Jesus Christ
in faith.
Many people
want thick
and rich
community.
Few people
are willing
to do
what it
takes.
Okay,
verse 8,
we're covering
over sins.
Verse 9,
we're showing
hospitality to
one another
without grumbling.
Verse 10
now,
as each
has received
a gift,
use it to
serve one
another as
good stewards
of God's
buried grace.
There's a couple
things going
on here.
First,
God gives
people gifts.
He gives
them abilities
to serve
one another
and the
church.
Second,
those gifts
are buried.
God's
buried grace.
Not everyone
has the
same gift.
Whatever
your gift
is,
use it
to serve
the body.
Another
angle on
that might
be,
if you're
serving,
the body
in a way
that's
not your
gift,
you've
got to
be open
to someone
saying,
hey,
this is
not your
area of
strength.
Maybe you'd
be better
serving over
in this
area.
If you're
not a
friendly
person,
you probably
shouldn't be
on the
greeter
team.
Use your
varied gifts.
Maybe you're
good at
administration,
you need
to be in
a different
area.
If you're
a really
friendly
person,
but you're
terrible at
administration,
you probably
need to be
on the
greeter
team.
Just not
running it.
Serve God
according to
your
gifts,
your
varied
gifts.
Second,
make it
about
God.
Verse 11,
whoever
speaks as
one who
speaks
oracles
of God,
whoever
serves as
one who
serves by
the strength
that God
supplies.
So we're
serving the
church with
our gifts,
the actual
gifts that
we have.
We're open
to being
redirected to
the place
where we're
actually strong
rather than
serving in
an area
that we're
weak,
and then
we do
it in a
way that's
actually about
God.
So there's
two kinds
of gifts
that are
here.
We're talking
about people
that are
speaking and
people that
are serving.
People that
are speaking
speak as
oracles of
God.
In other
words,
if you're
a preacher
or a
teacher,
you're not
called to be
a life
coach.
You're not
called to
preach your
personal opinions
about things.
You are
called to teach
the word of
God.
That's part
of the reason
that we have
sequential
expositional
preaching at
this church.
We can't
avoid passages
of scripture.
We're sticking
with the text
and the verses
that God
has given
us so that
those who
speak would
speak oracles
of God
rather than
speaking about
themselves.
We could
expand this.
Maybe it's
not just
preachers and
teachers,
but speaking
in general.
Maybe you're
in a small
group.
Maybe you're
in a one-on-one
relationship with
another person,
and they're
discipling you and
helping you.
The person who's
doing the
discipling needs
to be speaking
God's truth,
not their own
opinions.
Speaking about
God rather than
themselves.
Whatever we're
doing, however
we're serving,
we're serving in
a way that
brings honor and
glory to God.
The one who
serves by the
strength that God
supplies, and here
we have the
purpose, in order
that in everything
God may be
glorified through
Jesus Christ.
So no matter
what we're doing,
whether we're
speaking or we're
serving, we're
doing it so that
God would have
honor and
glory, which
means we have
to separate our
ego from our
service.
We have to
separate our
ego from our
service.
We have to
question our
motivations.
Am I doing
this for the
glory and honor
of God?
If we're doing
it for the
glory and honor
of God, we
won't have
self-congratulation.
We won't say
things like,
man, even just
to ourselves,
man, I'm so
glad I'm the
one doing that
and so-and-so's
not doing it
anymore because
they did a
terrible job, but
I'm really good
at this.
That's not
bringing honor
and glory to
God.
That's bringing
honor and glory
to you.
We know we're
not bringing
glory to God
when we say
things like,
man, church is
just so lucky
to have me.
Or we decide
what our gifts
are, right, and
there's no other
place we can serve.
I have to serve
in this way.
Well, it's not
about God
anymore.
I have to do
this.
No one ever
gives me the
credit or the
honor that they
don't understand
how important I
am.
That's not
serving by the
strength that
God supplies.
We know it's
no longer about
God and his
strength when we
can't hear feedback
about what we're
doing.
If no one's
able to give
you criticism
in your
service, to
provide constructive
feedback to
encourage and
also help you
understand ways
it could get
better, it's
not about God
anymore.
In fact, the
gospel is what
allows us to
not get
everything right.
Part of the
gospel is this
profound humility
to realize,
okay, I'm so
bad that Jesus
had to die.
So there's
probably a few
things that I'm
still getting
wrong.
And there's
ability to
laugh at
yourself, right,
and say, man,
that's right, I
didn't even see
that, I
really messed
that up,
didn't I?
Glad God's
gracious enough.
When we
really understand
God's love for
us in the
gospel, when we
understand how
serious sin is,
and when our
goal is to
bring honor and
glory to God,
we are going to
be humble people
in our service.
we'll be able to
receive feedback and
criticism.
We'll be able to
hear, hey, actually
this isn't maybe the
right fit for you in
this particular
service.
Oh, it's not the
right fit?
Well, I'm just
interested in serving
God, so where's the
area I can best serve
God?
And I know I'm
imperfect, right?
That's what the
gospel tells me, so
of course there are
things I'm not good
at.
And God's going to
give me the strength
no matter what
comes.
There is a rich
humility that comes
with understanding
the gospel.
Humble enough to
admit there's things
you're not good at.
Humble enough to
risk doing the
things you're good
at.
And sometimes
fail.
One way to fall off
the path, by the
way, is to be really
good at something and
withhold that from
everyone.
I've talked about
people serving in
areas where they
shouldn't be serving
or people serving
but not serving for
the glory of God but
serving for their own
glory.
There's also having a
tremendous ability and
a gift but thinking,
but what if it's not
good enough or it's not
perfect?
God's given you a
gift.
Use it to serve the
body.
If you're afraid it's
not going to be good
enough or it's not
going to be perfect or
maybe it might lead to
some conflict, it's not
about God's glory
anymore.
If it's about God's
glory, then you use
your gift knowing at
times you're going to
mess up.
And the gospel's big
enough to cover that
up.
By the way, hopefully
you're in a community
where love covers a
multitude of sins.
And you're able to
trip and make some
mistakes and God is
still glorified.
Harry Truman says
this,
it's amazing what you
can accomplish if you
do not care who gets
the credit.
It's amazing what we
as a church can
accomplish if we don't
care who gets the
credit.
If we are,
verse 10,
as each has received a
gift, use it to serve
one another as good
stewards of God's very
grace.
You want to be a good
steward.
Another way of thinking
about it would be this,
and we're in the context
of suffering, right?
That's what's coming next
week, that's what came
the last several weeks.
When you're up against
the weight of suffering,
it is too large of a
weight for one person to
lift.
We need the entire
community working
together.
It's the difference
between what someone
who's doing, who's
working out, would tell
you the difference
between an isolated
exercise and a compound
exercise.
If I'm doing a bicep
curl, that's an
isolated exercise.
I can't lift a lot of
weight.
If you're doing a
bench press, that's a
compound exercise.
You can lift a ton of
weight, but you need all
the parts of the body.
The challenges that we
face as a church
suffering in this world
is too heavy for anyone
to lift on their own.
If you're bicep curling
60 pounds, man, you're
really strong, that's
impressive.
If you're bench
pressing 60 pounds, you're
not really strong, that's
not very impressive.
God has called us to
compound exercises as a
community.
He's not called us to
isolated exercises.
And so we serve one
another as each has
received a gift.
in order that in
everything God may be
glorified through Jesus
Christ.
To him belong glory and
dominion forever and
ever.
Amen.
And so there's two
things here.
Talk about this first,
that God's glorified.
We've talked about how
that works practically.
Of course, it's always
tempting, right?
When we see success in
ministry, we're serving in
any area of the church,
whether it's speaking
oracles, whether we're
serving with our hands
and our abilities.
As humans, we're always
tempted to bring glory to
ourselves and not to God.
I told you several weeks
ago, a couple weeks in a
row, the story of
Corrie Ten Boom, and
she's going to continue
to teach us a little bit.
After all her suffering in
the Nazi concentration camp,
she went on to have an
amazing speaking career.
And at some point,
someone asked her, how do
you handle all the praise
that you receive?
How do you stay humble
and centered on God?
And she said this,
when people come up and
give me a compliment,
Corrie, that was a good
talk, or Corrie, you were
so brave, I take each
remark as if it were a
flower.
At the end of each day, I
lift up the bouquet of
flowers I have gathered
throughout the day and say,
here you are, Lord.
Lord, it is all yours.
When we serve in a way
that brings glory to God,
we recognize that he's the
one who's given us the
strength.
And so we take the praise
that other people give us,
we bring it to God, and we
say, here you are, Lord.
It is all yours.
And finally, we do it by the
strength that God supplies,
that God may be glorified
through Jesus Christ.
I mentioned earlier that we
have more baggage than we're
often willing to recognize
or admit.
We're also more flawed and
less gifted than often we
think.
Most of us are good at one
or two things.
I read someone say this
once, and after that, it
just kind of all falls apart.
If you see someone who's
amazing at one thing, you
think, man, that's an
incredible person.
They're probably terrible at
15 things.
And so as we serve, we're
not resting in our own
strength, but on the
strength of God, knowing
that when we accomplish
something of spiritual
significance, it's only
because of God's power
working through us.
And so that allows us and
other people to give honor
and glory to God.
The story that best
illustrates this that I know
of comes at the very end of a
book named Cinder Church, and
it's a book, a story about a
donkey.
This donkey is the donkey that
Jesus rode in on Palm Sunday,
and this is a story about the
next day for that donkey.
He'd come in.
Jesus was riding on him.
Things were great.
It goes like this.
The little donkey awoke with a
smile on his face.
He had been dreaming of the
previous day.
He stretched and then happily
walked out into the street,
but the many passersby
simply ignored him.
Confused, he went over to the
crowded market area.
With his ears held high with
pride, he strutted right down
the middle of it.
Here I am, people, he said
to himself.
But they stared in confusion,
and some angrily struck him
to drive him away.
What do you think you are
doing, you donkey, walking
into the marketplace like this?
Throw your garments down, he
said crossly.
Don't you know who I am?
They just looked at him in
amazement.
Hurt and confused, the donkey
returned home to his mother.
I don't understand, he said
to her.
Yesterday they waved palm
branches at me.
They shouted Hosanna and
hallelujah.
Today they treat me like I'm a
nobody.
Foolish child, she said gently.
Don't you realize that without
him, you can do nothing?
You can do this ministry with
God's help, so give it all
you've got.
You can't do this ministry
without God's help, so be at
peace.
It's in one verse recorded in
John's gospel.
I am the vine, you are the
branches.
If a man remains in me and I in
him, he will bear much fruit.
But apart from me, you can do
nothing.
And earlier in his gospel,
remember John told us he must
decrease.
He must increase, but I must
decrease.
God gives us gifts, but he's
the one who gives us the
strength.
And he gives it to us so that
we would bring service to each
other and honor and glory not to
ourselves, but to him.
And so how do we have rich and
thick community?
We understand that we're in the
last days, and so we pray to God
with that in mind.
We're quick to forgive and cover
over the sins of others.
We serve showing hospitality
without grumbling because we want
the community's good more than our
own.
And finally, we use our gifts
humbly to serve others and to
serve God.
Praying to God and serving one
another.
Please pray with me.
Our Father in heaven, we thank you
for your word, and we thank you for
this community that you've given us at
Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian
Church.
We ask that you would work the
gospel deep into our hearts so that
we'd be more and more humble and
more and more eager to serve, not
for our glory, but for yours, and
that you would use that to draw us
close to you and to draw others to
yourself.
We ask these things in the mighty
name of Jesus.
Amen.