Sunday, November 18, 2018

Overcome Evil with Good - Series #2. Be Humble Like a Worm

Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.  Romans 12:21(NLT)



We found last week that God expects us to submit our bodies to Him.  And it’s evident that doesn’t mean we climb up on an altar and wait for the guy with the knife.  It’s a heart-kind of submission; we become ready to live sacrificially, rejecting the way of this world’s system which puts self-first.  Instead, we put the needs of others (which are the needs of the Kingdom) ahead of our own plans.  In serving this way the Kingdom of God is served, and the bonus is we are transformed into God’s children who have renewed/changed minds.  Paul says we are being made into the image of Christ.
Now, that’s wonderful, but it is just the beginning stages of what God has for us.  It’s like graduating from Middle School; at that point you’re just learning how to learn. 
So, Paul takes us a step farther into becoming true, mature disciples with the word because.  He says:  Because your minds have been transformed it now makes sense to do these other things … and then he gives us the HOW of using those transformed minds to be a bigger blessing than we can imagine. 
He teaches us how to be worms.
Worms?  Really?  Yup!
I.       Paul says BE HUMBLE Worms

Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning:  Don’t think you are better than you really are.  Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.  Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body.  We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.   Romans 12:3-5(NLT)

The Apostle wants us to keep our heads from swelling.  Like the worms who eat the dust of the earth, we were taken from that dust; so bragging is not an option. 
Honestly evaluating who we are, means simply keeping in mind that God is God, and we are not.  Paul reminds us that we are all part of each other, so we should respect the worm-ness of our fellow dust dwellers! 
Then Paul gives us a vivid picture of what (Who) all the worms in Christ’s church represent:  we are the Body of Christ.  It takes only a little leap to start figuring-out the deep responsibility that covers us when we take that seriously.  It means we look out for more than #1.  The entire body is important.
I had a dear friend named Jerry many years ago who was fond of saying:  When one part of the body hurts, we all bleed; when one part of the body is tickled, we all laugh.
Of course, that’s my friend’s way of quoting a verse we’ll encounter next month in this series:

Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep.  Romans 12:15(NLT)

But at the base, what the Apostle is getting at here is that we are a worm-gathering.  And that’s not just the church – it’s all of God’s creation. 
Diversity is a buzz-word used a lot these days.  While I know what the culture means when it is used, my definition goes light years beyond the surface of our culture.  True diversity has very little to do with race, gender, color, ancestry, social status, tolerance, or sexuality preferences; we are ALL worms!  And when it comes to what God has given us to do on this planet, our physiological differences should not determine our worth.  God has made red, black, yellow, and white worms; but He has given us all the task of eating the dust. 
Now, in case you missed the metaphor; eating the dust is what worms do.  They do it naturally because they are worms.  That’s their God-given purpose.  In doing what comes naturally (for worms) they create a soil, packed with the kinds of nutrients that will grow wonderful crops. 
Back on the human side of this metaphor, the soil that God has given us to fertilize is our culture.  We worms are to be about the larger business of creating an atmosphere of Godly soil for the world, so that fruit may come from that ground.
Eastern and Mid-Eastern cultures spend a lot of time bowing to one another.  It is a show of respect and personal humility.  Now, when it is not genuine, just a reflex born of habit, or a formality to get past – then it’s not humility; then it borders on contempt. 
For a Christian disciple of Jesus’ family, we can do the same thing – lots of talk about Christian values, beliefs, convictions and deeds … but if there is no contribution to the life of the body, there is no genuine humility.
Only that which is done in true humility builds the body of Christ, or the world that God loves, and wants us to reach.  So, be humble, worms!
II.   Paul says BE USEFUL Worms

In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.  So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you.  If your gift is serving others, serve them well.  If you are a teacher, teach well.  If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging.  If it is giving, give generously.  If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously.  And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.  Romans 12:6-8(NLT)

Paul doesn’t waste a whole lot of time on amenities; he cuts right to the important issues.  He says, if God has gifted you this way … get busy!  Use that gift!  And use it to the very limit.
Notice the adverbs:
·      Prophesy with faith
·      Serve well
·      Teach well
·      Encourage personally (be an encourager)
·      Give generously
·      Lead seriously
·      Show kindness gladly.
Do you get the idea it’s just as important HOW you use your gift, as just the base fact that you do use your gift?
Does it not make sense then, that everything we do to be useful in the Kingdom must be done with excellence and to the utmost of our ability and strength?
This is the working-out of what Jesus called our response to the first commandment to love God with all our strength, all our mind, and all our soul.  Worms know how to do that.  God created them to eat dust and make fertilizer.  They eat, and it passes through their entire body, and they leave behind a wake of fertilized soil.  A Christian disciple should be about the same thing. 
I have many people who encourage me in what I do.  But two, in particular, are masters at it.  One is my brother’s sister-in-law, Anne.  Anne is my Barnabas that lives in Waynesville, near Lake Junaluska.  She reads my devotional every day and the sermons I preach.  With just about every one I send out I can expect an email back from Anne, with encouraging words how it helped in this way or that.  God has used her to lift my spirit and illumine my pathway on so many occasions I can’t begin to list them all.
A second encourager is my bride, Elizabeth.  She sees me at my best, and she knows me at my worst.  And in every moment, whether I’m mowing the yard, digging a hole, making a pastoral visit, preaching, or just paying the bills, she believes in me. 
I can’t tell you all that entails, but I can tell you I’m encouraged when I’m around either of these sisters in Christ.  It’s like they’re eating the dust all around me and leaving a trail of encouragement wherever they go!
If you want to overcome some of the evil of this age, get busy putting the good gift God placed within you to work eating some of the humble dust of those who need your gift of encouragement, or teaching, or serving, or giving … whatever He created you to be, be like a worm – humble and busy; turn the soil around you into a fertile field!
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Let the church say “Amen”!

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com

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