Power and Purpose

Yogi Berra once said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re not going to get there.” Which means that if you’re going to get from where you are to where you need to be, you need directions; you need a map; you need a plan; you need a goal.

“If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re not going to get there.” This is true if you’re driving from here to Halifax; and it’s true about your life.

Where is your life headed? What have you been put here on earth to do? What is the purpose of your life? If you’re asking yourself this question, I have good news for you.

The purpose of life can be found in this book. The purpose of life can be found in the Bible. Here we find the wisdom of the ages. Wrapped in myth and legend, in story and symbol, here is the wisdom that will help you to see what you’re called to do with your life.

But it’s not enough to just say that there’s wisdom here. You have to actually open this book and study it. If you want to know the purpose of life – both the purpose of life in general and the purpose of your life – you need to study this book.

Now in this congregation, we offer several opportunities to study the Bible, or at least to be introduced to it. One of these is the Alpha course, which begins on January 20, and runs on Tuesday nights into the spring. Two other opportunities are the Bible study groups that my colleague, Paul Neary, leads on Monday evenings and Tuesday mornings. And there’s talk of creating another opportunity for Bible study, one that might look at the Bible from a more liberal perspective; in contrast to the more moderate and conservative approaches of these other opportunities. Different opportunities, because in this congregation we have different learning styles and different theological perspectives. But regardless of your style or your perspective, it’s important to study this book if you want to discover what it is that you’ve been put here on earth to do.

What is the purpose of life? The old Presbyterian catechism says: “The purpose of life is to serve God and enjoy him.” Now to serve God is to do what it says in the Bible, in Micah 6:8: “What does the Lord require of me but to seek justice, and love kindness, and walk humbly with God?” That’s what it means to serve God: seek justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.

But each of us is called to do these things in a particular way. Serving God through acts of justice and kindness and humility is the purpose of life in general, but there is a particular way in which you are called to seek justice and love kindness and walk humbly; there is a particular way in which you are called to serve God. What is the purpose of your life?

To answer that question, you have to identify your spiritual gifts. The Bible says that we’ve all been given spiritual gifts. And what we’ve been gifted to do is what God has called us to do. The purpose of your life is to seek God’s justice and kindness according to the particular gifts which you’ve been given.

Now the Bible has a number of lists of spiritual gifts; perhaps the best known is the list found in 1 Corinthians 12. Some people have the gift of administration. Others have the gift of teaching. Some have the gift of helping hands; they like to help people. Others have the gift of healing. According to one count, there are 22 gifts in total. And you have at least one of those gifts. And so do you. And so do you. Identify the gift, and you’re well on you’re way to discerning what you’re supposed to do with your life. Identify the gift, and you may have found the key to enjoying life. Identify the gift, and you’ll find that there’s power in your life.

For example: This may come as a shock to some of you, but I’m not a great administrator; I don’t have the gift of administration. Now don’t get me wrong; I can do administrative tasks, and if I really focus on them, I can do them well. But in order to consistently do them well, I’d have to be so focused on administration that I wouldn’t have the time or energy to do anything else.

I’m not an administrator. I’m a preacher, a pastor and an activist. These are my gifts. This is my purpose in life. It’s when I’m preaching, or listening to someone who’s going through a rough time, or getting people organized around an issue like affordable housing; that’s when I feel the power of the Spirit; that’s when I feel like I’m serving God, and offering myself as a channel through which the Spirit can flow.

And it was such a relief years ago when I looked at that list in 1 Corinthians 12 and I said, “Oh my goodness; I don’t have to do everything; I just have to do my things.” It was quite a revelation to me. That’s why I’m doing the preaching, and Vic Thompson is counting the money, and Bob Lundy is keeping us organized. You don’t have to do it all. Heaven help us if you try. I could tell you about the time when I tried to be the treasurer of an organization. You don’t have to do it all. You only have to do what God has called and gifted you to do.

Perhaps a few stories will give you an idea of what I’m talking about.

Last years’ Alpha course began on a snowy Tuesday night in February. In fact, it seems like it snowed every Tuesday night last winter; every Alpha night. So a few of us are in the Heritage Room that first night, and the time has come for dinner – each Alpha session begins with dinner – and no one has shown up. And the host pastor – he who has been known to suggests that real Christians drive through whiteouts in order to get to meetings – the pastor says, “Maybe we should’ve cancelled.” But those with the gift of faith said, “No, they’ll come. Let’s just wait a few minutes.” And within 10 minutes later, they did come. 25 people showed up that first night. Some nights there were as many as 40 people who braved the snow to come to Alpha and explore their faith. If you’re going to do something which flies in the face of conventional wisdom – like hold a weekly class at church during one of the snowiest winters on record – you have to have people on the planning team who have the gift of faith. Identify your gift, and you’ll find power and purpose in life.

Second story, also from Alpha. One evening last winter was designated as a healing evening. Those who wished to take part in a time of healing prayer came early that night, and folks gathered here in the Sanctuary. A woman named Judy had volunteered to come forward and have people pray over her because she was in considerable pain, but she was too sick to come that night. But other folk came forward, and prayers were offered. There were prayers for the healing of physical ailments. There were prayers for the healing of relationships. Prayers were offered and people kept coming forward. Prayers were offered even for people who weren’t physically there, and there were still people waiting for prayers when the time came to bring the service to a close and move downstairs for dinner.

There was power in those prayers. One person felt warmth in the diseased area of her body. Another person who’d felt burdened was now feeling light. A third person felt his ears pop. And Judy sent an email the next day and said that her pain was gone! Needless to say, there were people in this Sanctuary that evening who have the gift of healing. They were doing what God had placed them on earth to do. Identify your gift, and you’ll find power and purpose in life.

Third story: Charles Peter Conrad was born into an affluent family in Philadelphia. His direction in life was clear. He would go to exclusive private schools, he would get a degree in economics or business, and he’d go on to a prosperous and successful career in banking or industry or some other form of commerce.

Conrad’s direction in life was clear to everyone; except himself. By high school he was failing his classes, breaking the school rules, and feeling miserable. He was lost.

Except when he had a tool in his hand. He could fix anything. And when he was in the cockpit of an airplane, with the control stick in his hand. The man had gifts for fixing things and flying things. And once he had discerned those gifts, once he was focused on those gifts, his life quite literally took off. For Pete Conrad, the purpose of life was to fly; all the way to the moon. Identify your gift, and you’ll find power and purpose in life.

And what about you? What did God put you on this earth to do? You see, when you were baptized, you were called to serve God in a particular way. When you were baptized, it was like the Spirit of God moved over the face of those baptismal waters and created some order and some direction in your life. God equipped you with particular gifts when you were in your mother’s womb, and then God called you out of the amniotic water of the womb, and through the waters of baptism, and God said, “Figure out what that gift is, and then go and make a difference in the world.” That’s what Jesus did. Through the power of the Spirit which came upon him at baptism, and the wisdom of the Spirit which gave him his direction in life in the wilderness, he changed the world.

When you read the Bible – through Alpha or through other study opportunities – when you read the Bible, you find out what some of those gifts are, and what the power of the Holy Spirit can do with those who’ve identified their gift. When you read your own life (when you get a sense of what you’re good at and what you enjoy doing), then you’re well on the way toward identifying your gift. When you fill out a spiritual gift inventory – as we’ll all have a chance to do over the next month; look for it in the mail this week – then you’re more likely to say, “Yes; now I know what God has placed me on this earth to do.”

The purpose of life is to serve God and enjoy him. You can serve God by working hard at something that you’re not particularly gifted to do, but you’re not likely to enjoy it. You can accomplish so much more for God and the Kingdom, and have some fun along the way, when you know and when you do what God has gifted you to do. Identify your gift, and you’ll find power and purpose in life. Amen.

Text: Mark 1:9-11
Preached by Bruce D. Ervin
11 January 2009