Purpose…
Have you ever wondered if what you do matters?
Several years ago, I remembering visiting a church in a different city.
I got out of the car & as we walked up toward the building I noticed a team of people all wearing yellow vests. I realized pretty quickly that this was the team of parking lot volunteers. They hadn’t started their job directing cars. It was still early.
What I noticed was that they were huddled up, arms around each other, praying together before they started helping people in the parking lot.
Here’s the 1 thought that went through my mind in that moment: WOW!
To anyone else, this might seem like a small, insignificant job. To anyone else, this might even seem like a chore.
But this group of volunteers at this church, they realized they weren’t volunteers. They were something different. And the role they played mattered. They would be the very first people to welcome people to worship that day. And before they welcomed anyone to worship, they worshiped. They went to God in prayer.
That moment had a profound impact on me.
Why do we determine our worth by the work we do?
Too often, what we do is assign value to the things we’re asked to do.
If it’s important enough in our eyes, we’re honored. If it’s not, we’re not to excited about helping out.
We want to make a difference, we want to know that our life matters, that what we do matters. But when what we’re asked to do in the moment seems small to us, seems insignificant to us, we’re quick to find something else, something more important to do.
We have found ways to draw our worth, how much we think of ourselves, from our work.
But what if we found our worth from a different source? What if our worth came from a different place & that our work, no matter what it is, had a different value.
We live in a world where what you do determines who you are & how much you’re worth.
But, in God’s economy, it’s really the other way around.
In God’s economy who you are determines the value of the work you do.
[Tweet “In God’s economy who you are determines the value of the work you do.”]Never understimate what you do in God’s Kingdom.
I often wonder if this is how Stephen felt when he was first asked to help take care of widows in the early church. Here’s what happened…
But as the believers rapidly multiplied, there were rumblings of discontent. The Greek-speaking believers complained about the Hebrew-speaking believers, saying that their widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, “We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program. And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility. Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word.”
Now I want to be careful here that we’re clear. The Twelve were NOT saying that what they were doing was more important. That being in charge of the food bank was beneath them. As far as we know, they had been helping with this ministry up to this point.
What they were saying, in fact, was something completely different.
What they were saying was that church growth matters.
Widows matter.
Preaching & teaching the Word matters.
Prayer matters.
The apostles knew right away they couldn’t do it all. Whenever all the responsibility falls on one person or one group to meet the needs of everyone in a church, the church will be limited in it’s reach! In it’s ability to grow. What they realized early on was that systems matter. They needed help!
Stephen said Yes
Everyone liked this idea, and they chose the following: Stephen (a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit), Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas of Antioch (an earlier convert to the Jewish faith). These seven were presented to the apostles, who prayed for them as they laid their hands on them.
These men are chosen & then they go about the responsibility of making sure ALL the widows have the food they need.
Because of that…
…God’s message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too.
After this, we immediately here about Stephen’s ministry. But we don’t hear about him taking food to widows. Luke says he’s actually out preaching the gospel & pointing others to Jesus!
Whenever you are faithful to God in one area of ministry, or service, it seems like he always uses that to position you for even greater impact in his Kingdom!
Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed amazing miracles and signs among the people.
So Stephen has moved from caring for widows to being a person filled with God’s grace & power.
But remember, he started by saying YES to God when he was first asked to take food to hungry widows! He was called to serve for one purpose but is now positioned for another purpose.
WHAT YOU DO MATTERS.
You might think your life can’t make a difference. That what you do doesn’t really matter. You might think serving in the parking lot on a Sunday in unimprtant. Or making the coffee doesn’t really matter. Or helping in the kid’s class is something anyone could do.
But just ask Stephen. Caring for widows might have seemed like a thankless & even unimportant job.
But you never know what hangs in the balance of your obedience, courage & willingness to do whatever it is God is calling you to do.
What if Stephen had said, I’m too busy. Or caring for widows is really beneath me. I’m over qualified for that. I need a more important job. I need to be in charge of something more impressive.
If Stephen had never said YES to taking care of widows he may have never had the opportunity to point the world to Jesus!
Stephen said yes to caring for widows. Because he said yes to widows, widows that didn’t feel cared for by the church felt cared for by the church. They were reminded that they mattered & that God loved them because seven men said, “We’ll step into the gap & share the love of Jesus with you. We’ll make sure you get the food you need. We’ll make sure the church takes care of you.”
God saw Stephen’s faithfulness in that task.
And it wasn’t long before God had another opportunity for Stephen to say yes to. This time, it would cost him more. But the impact would be more than he could have ever imagined. We’re still talking about his faith, his service, his obedience & his courage some 2000 years later!
This is what God does. God always calls us for a purpose & positions us for impact.
[Tweet “God always calls us for a purpose & positions us for impact.”]Don’t ever underestimate what you do or the value of your work for God. Don’t ever think that how you serve is unimportant.
Every person has a purpose & every purpose is to serve.
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