Together, Lacking Nothing

A number of times I’ve used the phrase “better together”. God’s people are better together.  Fitting in with that, together, God’s people lack nothing. Together, lacking nothing.

says, The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall lack nothing.

The NIV translation helps us to understand the true meaning of that verse: With the Lord, we are lacking nothing.

Together, with God and each other, we have all we need to live in love and serve the Lord in joy.

Our epistle today says that we’re not lacking any spiritual gift as we wait for the revealing of Christ, His second coming. As we wait for Him, we do His work. As we do His work, he supplies all we need to do it. It’s a wonderful arrangement.

Let’s illustrate this with a winter analogy.

If you have a mountain of snow to move (hopefully I’m not being prophetic about the rest of the winter), but you don’t have a blower, (and by the way that snowblower I bought last January and never got to use, I’ve used 3 times this year) or you have no tractor with a bucket to move that snow, or no snow plow, nor even a shovel, then it would be a near impossible task to move that mountain of snow.

But if your neighbor would come over with a shovel, or a tractor or blower, with that help and some effort, you’d get the job.

Sometimes serving the Lord can seem like moving a mountain, like an awesome task.

It may seem that Jesus is asking too much of us when he tells us to make disciples of all nations, or when he tells us to bear each other’s burdens, or when he tells us to follow his example.

But he doesn’t ask us to do anything that he does not first equip us to do, and secondly, help us to do.

Serving God, like all things, begins with His grace. Paul says in our epistle, ³ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴ I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus.

Paul liked to start his letters by thanking God for the people he was writing to.

In Romans he says, ⁸ First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.

In Colossians he says, ³ We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,⁴ since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints,⁵ because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.

In Philippians he says, ³ I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,⁴ always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

In 1 Thessalonians he says, We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantlymentioning you in our prayers,³ remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

In 1 Thessalonians he says, ³ We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers,as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.

These are just a few examples. And they provide a good perspective to begin with as we serve God together – being thankful for each other.

 By thanking God for each other we give the glory and credit to God, and we affirm each other. To say thank you is a good thing to do. But to say to someone, “I thank God for you.” Is much more powerful.

It’s one thing to say to say to your spouse or family member, “I’m happy you’re my wife or husband, or father or mother or son or daughter or brother or sister; or thank you for being here for me, for what you do for me.”

But when you say “I thank God that you’re my husband or wife or family member or friend, that adds much more meaning to it.”

We need each other, and God gives us all we need in each other. Together in Christ, we’re lacking nothing.

My encouragement for you this week is to, not only to say “thank you” to God for someone in your life, but to say to that person, “I thank God for you…

It takes a little resolve or courage to do that, but it’s a meaningful gift you can give to the person. And it blesses your relationship with that person.

I also encourage you this week to say ”thank you” to God for someone you serve and worship the Lord with here at St. John. And say to that person, “I thank God for you and all you do.”.

As we share this grace or blessing with each other, we’re lifted up to serve together. We’re encouraged when we may feel discouraged in moving that mountain, so to speak, in meeting the challenges of ministry.

Although God gives us to each other, so that we may lack nothing as we serve Him, there may be times when it’s hard to be thankful. At those times we need to be very disciplined and intentional in giving thanks for each other.

We there are challenges in serving, and differences of opinion in what to do or how to do it, it can cause some tension.

Paul tells us Romans 5 that we ought to submit together in love.

In Philippians 2 Paul says,  So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,² complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.³ Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.⁴ Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.

In Christ, the things that would bind us together, are greater than the things that would tear us asunder.

So that we can stay together, be better together, and lack nothing together, God gives us the power to forgive.

First, we stand together in the forgiveness we all have through repentance and faith in Christ. Our epistle says that God will sustain us to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Declared not guilty as we stand before the judgment throne, but righteous in Christ.

Standing together forgiveness before God empowers us to forgive each other as we live and work together.

As we live and work together we also sometimes sin against one another; none of us is perfect, not at home, at work, or at church. But we are not lacking in the power to forgive one another as Christ forgives us. That doesn’t mean it’s always easy to do; but it’s always sometime that God will help us to do.

 So serving together, we give thanks to God for each, we strive to be understanding and forgiving toward one another, and thirdly, we cover for each other.

None of us has all that we need to serve alone.  Alone we would be lacking. But together all we need is covered.

First are spiritual gifts we need to do the Lord’s work. We need a fellowship of people to have all the necessary gifts. It doesn’t have to be a large fellowship. Jesus promises that where two or three are gathered in my name there am I in the midst of them. But it takes more than one, and here’s why.

What makes a person gifted at one thing, makes him or her, lacking in another, especially if those things are opposites.

So if you have gifts in visionary leadership, for example, you likely lack the gifts in taking care of the necessary details; you see the big picture, but may overlook the details that make up the big picture, or may lack the organizational skills in taking care of and carrying out the details.

Or another example, if you have the management gifts of taking charge and holding everyone accountable in doing their jobs, cracking the whip, so to speak, you may lack gifts of compassion and understanding and encouragement, which are also necessary for the fellowship of serving God together. Both sets of gifts are needed to do the Lord’s work, and to do it in a way that pleases Him.

Together we have all we need to do God’s work and do it well, but alone we’re lacking some of the gifts and abilities and qualities that we need to serve Him as well as we can.

None of us is perfect and none of us has all spiritual gifts. So God gives us each other, so that together, we may have all we need to carry out the mission he gives us. That doesn’t just mean the quality or excellence of the work we do in serving God, but also the condition of the heart toward God and each other, because we serve God with our hands, and also with our hearts.

For this reason God gives us the fruit of the Spirit, too: peace, love, joy, goodness, kindness, and so much more.

These are the gifts that keep us loving one another as we serve together. We’re not better together without love, no matter how excellent our work might be.

If together we have every spiritual gift, as Paul says in 1 Cor. 13, but have not love, then all those gifts and abilities are futile. But with love, and with the fruit of the Spirit, then we truly lacking nothing; then we have all we need to serve the Lord and carry out our mission of knowing him and making him known.

Together in Christ, we lack nothing. So let us serve with joy and confidence.

To apply this to our relationships outside of the church building, or outside of us functioning as a congregation, we need each other to serve God in our daily lives.

No one can do his or her job entirely alone. Even if you’re the only one driving the tractor in the field, there’s all the people needed to make that tractor you drive, and to supply all the materials and resources to grow those crops, plus all the people needed to buy them and consume the food.

At school, we need all the teachers, with their complementing gifts, and areas of expertise; and the students with their differing abilities and personalities. Everyone adds something needed and something special. This is all by God’s design; it’s the way he created it to be. The unique thing that we, as God’s people, can bring to the equation or situation is the love of Christ.

To apply this to our homes and families, God makes us for each other there, too. Together we make a house a home, and a cluster of people a family of love.

If you’re single, that puts you in a situation where you can be a blessing to other family members or friends, or perhaps you’re able or free to serve in ways that others might not be able to. Married and single, young and old, male and female, together we make this place better.

All our individual and unique situations, and our differences, all come together to give us a better perspective of life. We all have something important and necessary to add to the fellowship of God’s people.

Put us all together, with the gifts and fruit of the Holy Spirit, and we lack nothing; we have all we need to serve the Lord and live in the love of Christ.

And so we say “thank you, God,” for each other, and for all the gifts we share.

Together in Christ we lack nothing, and together, we’re much better. 

And finally, together, we have God’s peace to share, the peace that passes understanding, and guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.