MCC St. Louis - Check Us Out!
Get your own, Free HomepageAbsolutely! Now please understand; even though, a few minutes ago, we shared a whole bunch of cool things that this church has done for others, we're not celebrating our "success." We haven't been successful yet - not really. Unless, of course, the people in this room constitute every person in the greater St. Louis area who, up until today, was spiritually searching and hungry for God's love! No...I suspect there're a few more out there! We're not ready to claim success! Heck, we couldn't claim it, anyway! Whatever we accomplish comes by the grace of God...it's not ours to claim! No, we're not celebrating success. But that's O.K.
Someone once asked Mother Teresa of Calcutta, "How do you measure the success of your work?" She looked puzzled for a moment and then replied, "I don't remember that the Lord ever spoke of success. He spoke only of faithfulness in love. That is the only success that really counts."
What we are celebrating this morning is our faithfulness! The faithfulness this church has shown up to now...and the faithfulness in love that this church is going to continue to show...amen?! (I know some of you former Catholics just don't quite know how to deal with any "amen-ing" but this is a pep rally! So that's kind of the churchy version of"Yea, team!" Amen?!)
Specifically, today we are celebrating faithfulness in serving others. And, hopefully, in the course of celebrating what's already been done, we'll be motivated to do some more! Why? Well, because - bottom-line - - serving others is good for us! It's good for us...it's, obviously, good for others...and quite frankly, it's good for God!
Sometimes we may take for granted just how good it is for us when we use our time and energy to serve others. Albert Schweitzer knew the secret, though. He said, "I don't know what your destiny will be but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.
The world tries to teach us to pursue happiness by having and getting and to think that the ultimate in satisfaction is being served. The truth is that happiness consists in giving and serving others.
How many of you here, after getting involved in a ministry ofthis church or serving on a project with us or helping with something out in the community...how many of you then found that you felt much worse about yourself and your life and, man, you were just depressed by the whole experience of helping someone?
How many of you here, doing all or any of those things, found that in spite of being a little busier, being a little more tired, working a little harder...still had a kind of secret smile on your spiritual face when it was all said and done? That's what I thought. Serving others is good for us! It feels good! We learn from it. We grow from it. We contribute to the world through it. We serve God with it. It's good for us! That's something to celebrate!
As I said, also, obviously, serving others is good for others! That seems pretty obvious, but I have found that sometimes a lot of us really underestimate the value of what we do. Many here today believe that, because you don't sing or play or have any, supposedly, "big" talents or because you've never witnessed any big dramatic results in what you do then it must not make much of a difference. But that's just not true. Haven't you ever breathed a sigh of relief when someone helped you move something heavy? Haven't you ever felt a little lighter when someone paid you a compliment? Hasn't your day ever been turned around because someone went out of their way for you? Every act of service makes a difference to someone.
It's a well known story but worth retelling. An old man, walking the beach at dawn, noticed a young man ahead of him picking up starfish and flinging them into the sea. Catching up with the fellow, he asked what he was doing. The answer was that the stranded starfish would die if left until the morning sun.
"But the beach goes on for miles, and there are millions of starfish," countered the old man. "How can your effort make a difference?" The young man looked at the starfish in his hand, threw it to safety in the waves and said, "It makes a difference to this one."
There's a ministry need in our church right now that could make a big difference to a lot of "stranded" individuals. We've wanted for a while now to be able to audio tape the sermon and the special music during worship so that folks who are sick or homebound or who had to miss worship could be blessed by hearing them on tape. The hard part's been done. People gave us money and we got the equipment! We've got a special tape deck and a high-speed duplicating machine. Tapes have been ordered. The part that's missing sounds almost stupid in its simplicity. We need people willing, each week, to stand back there listening to the service through a set of headphones and press, "Record. Stop. Record. Stop. Rewind. Eject." Really high skill, in-depth knowledge, more-than-the-average-person-can-handle' stuff, huh! NOT!
But until we have enough volunteers to handle the taping and duplicating each week, that ministry will not happen. However, we're celebrating today not just the faithfulness we've shown in the past but also the faithfulness we will continue to show. So...Michael? [Our chief sound tech] Brother, before the end of service, you find yourself some paper and a pen because I am claiming right now that at least 6 people here today are going to come to you and commit to be on a rotating schedule of "Worship Service Taping Technicians." And at least half of those folks will be people who haven't gotten involved in a ministry with us yet. This is going to be their "coming out" day! (You know who you are! You feel the Spirit pushing you! Stop resisting! You can do thid!) And I want us to begin taping and duplicating and making tapes available by February 6th when Rev. Elder Jeri Ann is with us! So you six just meet Michael right back there at the end of worship today! (I think Jesus would've handled it like that!)
Serving others is good for us...it's good for others...and it's very, very good for God. Hear again these words from 2 Corinthians, chapter 9: "This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession ofthe gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else."
Did you hear that clearly?! People will begin to be aware of God because of what they see us doing for God! That's happening in this city, whether you realize it or not.
This morning Christine came here to thank us for our donation of toys at Christmas time to CEFA. And as nice as that was, I want to share something with you that felt to me like a much bigger thank you. This is part of an e-mail that I received from Keith D. regarding all the children's lives who were touched by our efforts: "There is a story of one child this year. One of the toys that was donated was a large stuffed lion. This was given to a different kind of child. This was given to an adult woman at Doorways. When she came to Doonvays she had nothing except a stuffed animal collection that meant a great deal to her...but she wasn't able to take them with her because of sanitary restrictions. Now she is in the later stages of AIDS and it has affected her brain; she is like a young child. She is also wasting and very weak. When they brought her the stuffed animal there wasn't much response because ofher weakness. She was sitting in a wheelchair slumped over the bed. When workers came back into the room she had made her way over to the lion to be able to pet its leg. Even though this isn't what we traditionally think of as a child, there is no doubt she is a child of God...."
That seemingly small gift brought glory to God; that glory was not only experienced by that sick woman but by the workers and the other residents at Doorways. Church, our acts of service, the big and the small, are a witness for God in this city! M.C.C. of Greater St. Louis is getting the attention of other organizations and leaders in this city - not because of our preaching or our music or the worship experience or even how friendly we are. People have to come in here to experience those things. We are getting people's attention by the service we give to others. And when those people think ofthis church, on some level, they have to wonder if- despite what they may have heard or seen or experienced in the past - maybe, just maybe, there's something to this "God thing" after all! As the Scripture says,'"Thanks be to God for such an indescribable gift!" Amen.
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