Gifted Week 3 - Service and Mercy

If you are joining us for the first time either live or online, we are busy with a preaching series called Gifted, on how to discover your supernatural grace/motivational gifts from Romans 12:6-8

Just a reminder that the course is made up of three different parts, the six Sunday messages, six midweek videos, and then we are also doing 36 devotional six per week from our Gifted Workbooks.

So if you have a book, we are on page eight today, and this week in the midweek video, those fill-in words are on page nine.

Today we are tackling two gifts, the gift of service and the gift of mercy.

We're going to read from Romans 12:6-8, the key verses for the series.

Romans 12:6-8 

We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

The alternate words are practical (serving) and responder (mercy). (this is from the 36 day devotional booklet)

So I'd like to ask this question: in your list of the seven grace/motivational gifts, how many of you have service or mercy somewhere in your top three?

And if you don't, where did they feature? Some of you might have mercy down at 7 or 4 or 5, some might have service somewhere down the bottom half.

It's good to know where they are. We are looking to strengthen these gifts and to grow them all.

Let’s talk about these gifts today using three points.

1. What these gifts are, the gift of service and the gift of mercy… 

Here's a definition for the gift of service. If you're taking notes, you might like to write this down.

Firstly, the gift of service

Service basically is getting involved in practical tasks that need doing, not just thinking about it, getting involved and doing it.

When people operate in this gift, the gift of service, they see gaps that need filling, and then step up to the plate and use the resources that are available - very often their own time and their own energy - and they're trying to help fill the gaps to achieve the desired outcome.

What an incredible blessing this gift is. Without it so many things would not get done.

People that are strong in this gift will be able to look back and see that the times where they were probably most fulfilled within themselves were the times when they were getting stuck in to help - very often with other people to achieve a goal.

And sometimes the best part that you'll get out of using this gift is especially when people said that goal was unattainable and you and many others stepped up to the plate filled the gap - and saw something happen because of your involvement. You were putting your hand up to make things happen.

Very often people that are high in the gift of service don't even need to be asked to volunteer to do something.

When they see a need, they find joy in helping meet it.

We can think of so many amazing examples of this gift being out worked.

Those that stand out are the ones that require a lot of behind-the-scenes work to produce an outcome – men’s camp, ladies’ events, church productions, weekend activities at the church buildings etc..

The people behind the scenes who do the unglamorous work that no one sees are the ones who find joy and purpose in just doing, while not being recognised for doing… we can guess that they have the gift of service really high on their list.

In making the whole thing work and at the end seeing lives touched by Jesus produces a satisfaction that comes from having this gift in operation.

The gift of service looks for an opportunity to get involved. Very often the people with a gift of serving find tremendous joy in what they’re doing and often (as we’ve said) don’t even need to be asked to do it – they just jump in.

Secondly, the other gift we're looking at today is the gift of mercy.

And here's a definition for you to write down regarding the gift of mercy. The gift of mercy is showing compassion, empathy and kindness to others, particularly those in need.

Not only those in need, but particularly those in need.

I said a little earlier that the alternate word for this gift as a word responder and people that are wired high with mercy, it's a good way to explain how they interact with other people.

They respond to others. People who function well in the gift of mercy look for different ways to connect with others. That's a big deal to them – connection - and how to make a difference in those people's world.

They are often focused on the individual. This is perhaps the most people-centred of all of these gifts.

But just before you think that this gift - especially if it's down lower on your list - just sounds soft and slushy; it will be worth knowing that people for whom this is one of their strongest gifts, are often gifted by God to defend the cause of the defenceless and to stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. They find tremendous joy and fulfilment and standing up on behalf of others.

They regularly:

1. want to be a voice for the marginalised
2. and they often have a strong sense of justice.

What an incredibly beautiful gift this gift of mercy is.

And if you've got them high in your top three chances are that God's put them there so that He can use them to change the world.

2. The second point about these two gifts, is this: Jesus is the supreme example of service and mercy.

If we want to know how these gifts would look like, we need look no further or higher than Jesus Himself.

Let’s read two verses that relate to each of these gifts.

The first one is Jesus speaking:

Mark 10:45 

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Again: …even the Son of Man, even Jesus, did not come primarily to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many…

Out of all of the people who ever walked on this planet, the One who most deserve to be served is Jesus Himself.

And yet He says, “I came to serve”

Another verse that speaks about His mercy: 

Matthew 20:30 

Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” This happened in the town of Jericho and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us.”

Why do you think they shouted that Jesus have mercy on them? Perhaps it's because they knew that He probably would.

Verse 31 says that the crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet. But this rebuke seemed to encourage them further – I mean, what did they have to lose - and they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us.”

Let’s try get this picture into our hearts if we can, of Jesus walking along through Jericho with this great big crowd. And as He's walking along, there's these two blind beggars on the side of the road, and there's a huge crowd, this huge noise.

And these two blind men decide that today is their day for mercy – here’s a never to be repeated opportunity - and they begin to shout out, “Lord, son of David, have mercy!”

The crowd isn't too interested in them and they tell them, “Hey, keep quiet, there's some good stuff going on here.”

And they shout even louder, “Lord, Son of David have mercy!”

And Jesus stops when He hears the shouting. And He calls them and they are brought to Him and He says to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And they say, “Lord, we want our sight”.

And I’d like you to read, and own, these next words as Matthew records them. It says,

“Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.”

They asked Him for mercy, and He had compassion on them. And He touched their eyes. Immediately, they received their sight and they followed Him.

The true heart of Jesus!

These two amazing verses! We could park the whole message about Jesus coming to serve, and Jesus coming to show mercy.

I'd like to suggest to every one of us today that if you've put your faith in Jesus it makes you and me a Jesus follower.

The aim of our journey of faith should be to become more like Him, more like Jesus. And He says, “Hey, I came to serve.”

What does that look like for me? I should be looking to serve. He shows mercy to others. He has compassion on others.

What does it mean for me? I should have compassion on other people as well.

Regardless if these gifts are number 1 or number 7 on your list, every single one of us need to grow in our heart to serve others and to have compassion on others.

I'd like to suggest this morning that compassion in particular starts more with listening than dispensing advice.

One of the greatest gifts you and I can give other people is to listen to their stories, to hear them.

Even when we greet somebody who says they’re doing all right. That means something. Sometimes let's pause and say, “How are you really doing? What's going on? Anything I can pray for?”

When we extend a listening ear, we actually extending mercy and compassion to others.

3. The third and final thing we can say about these gifts is this:

• These gifts are dynamite (Handle with care).
• There's actually two parts to that point.
• The first part is these gifts are dynamite.

There's an interesting story in the Gospels of Jesus sending two of His followers ahead of Him, and He says to them to go to the next town where they’ll find a donkey tied up, and they were to bring the donkey to Him.

Let your imagination play a bit. Imagine these two guys walking along into the next town to get a donkey. I wonder what the question was like, “Why on earth should we get a donkey? We have walked all the years with Jesus. We've walked everywhere now all of a sudden it's, ‘Get a donkey.’ ‘Why, Jesus, couldn't it be a horse? Donkeys are stubborn’’

And, horse or donkey, they require food, and they require water - and donkeys and horses both make quite a mess. ‘Why Jesus, do you want us to go and get a donkey when Your main aim is to preach to people?’

They obey Him, they go and get the donkey and bring it to Jesus. And unbeknown to them, it turns out it's the very last little bit of Jesus's life. And Jesus climbs on this donkey and enters Jerusalem. We know it is the triumphal entry, and Jesus is sitting on this donkey, entering in Jerusalem, and He is soon going to be crucified.

And as He's riding on the donkey, He is in fact making a couple of statements.

• He is fulfilling a prophecy spoken hundreds of years before by Zachariah that the King would come on a donkey,
• but He's also making a kind of a political statement that the king that the Jews were looking for was not going to be a king on a big horse ready to take out the Romans.
• He was the humble King on the donkey, willing to die and lay down His life for others.

Every act of service that we do for Jesus, or every act of mercy that we show because of His mercy to us, is like those disciples getting that donkey. We don't always see the impact that our service and mercy will have. Sometimes it looks pretty average and pretty normal, the stuff that we do.

But, just like that donkey becomes a way for the King to be magnified, for Him to be made great…

…So our acts of service and our acts of mercy are a way for people to interact with Jesus even if they don't know they're interacting with Him - because of our love and our kindness and our service extended to them.

In this way, every act of mercy and service is dynamite as we unleash these gifts into the church and into the world. What an incredible way for King Jesus to come riding on the acts of mercy and service that we do!

The second part of that statement was that we should handle them with care.

These are such strong and powerful gifts, but they can also have a shadow side.

Have you heard the illustration about the kind of strength that God gives us in our lives being like these great big mountains.

And those mountains have got a sunny side but they've also got a shadow side.

And when the sunny side of our gifts and service and mercy come towards the world - that's us at our best.

But sometimes the shadow side comes into play, and on the shadow side of these gifts, is that both of them can end up being huge drivers towards frantic activity.

And if we're not careful, the gift of mercy and the gift of service can end up being like a hamster wheel with us as the hamster running on it.

And so we need to take our lead from Jesus the King, the One who serves, the One who shows mercy and ask Him to help us with When, Where, How, Who, Why and What…we serve and show mercy towards.

Peter, who was there when the donkey was ridden into Jerusalem, writes like this:

1 Peter 4:11 

if anyone serves they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God might be praised through Jesus Christ.

We can read that verse to say this, that there's a right way to serve, and there's a wrong way to serve.

And there's a right way to show mercy and there's a wrong way to show mercy.

And Peter says the difference is that when we serve, we should do it with the strength God provides. And when I'm doing it with His strength, with His guidance that becomes bucket-filling for us.

But when I move to the shadow side of that mountain, and I'm doing it just in my own strength, I can become frantic like the hamster on the wheel. And if I’m not doing it with the strength that He provides, and I can end up getting a little bit burnt, a little bit exhausted and a little bit fatigued.

It's possible that in this place when I'm doing it without the strength God provides, I can end up making a decision like this: ‘Well, that went so badly. I am so hurt by those things, that I will never extend myself in mercy; I will never serve again, particularly in the life of a local church.’

And in closing, let’s just speak for a moment to anyone who, for whatever reason, has felt a little bit burnt.

And maybe the shadow side of these gifts has come into play and you've run just for too long like the hamster on the wheel. And when you climbed off the wheel you made a decision never again and no more.

We’d like to suggest to you that if you make those decisions for the long term, you miss Jesus, because Jesus is the one who serves; He's the one who shows mercy.

I'd like to suggest to us that He says to us, “Come and walk with me. Come and take My yoke on you. My yoke is easy, My burden is light. You don't need to serve until there's nothing left. You don't need to show mercy until you're absolutely burnt out. ‘Do it with the strength that I provide’.”