Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
August 3, 2003 - W0331

Nearly all of us at some time or another have enjoyed the classic fairytale movie, The Wizard of Oz. However, have you ever thought about the valuable life lesson it teaches that we can apply to our Christian lives? In the movie, the main character Dorothy meets up with three unlikely characters who join her on a journey to attain something they each desperately want:  the Scarecrow -- a brain, the Tin Man -- a heart, and the Lion -- courage. They discover though on their journey to see the Wizard the gifts were within themselves. 

However, these gifts were only revealed through their willingness to get involved and help Dorothy find her way back home. It was through their involvement and willingness to help one another that they were able to find what they were desperately seeking for themselves, and this is the lesson the Bible shares. ìTherefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ëBehold, My servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry.  My servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty. My servants shall rejoiceÖMy servants shall shout joyfully with a glad heartÖíî (Isa. 65:13-14)

Much of my growth will only be developed and released as weÖ

GET INVOLVED AND SERVE

ìFor everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their sense trained to discern good and evilî (Hebrew 5:13-14).

Together, these passages tell us two very important things about who we are and who should be. First, God tells us we are servants with whom He is pleased and will bless with joy.  Second, He tells us our maturity and growth as Christians will come not by simply understanding and conceptualizing our faith, but by practicing it. Thatís why He calls upon us to get involved and serve. Then we will begin to developÖ

THREE CHARACTER QUALITIES BUILT THROUGH SERVING:

Through serving as individuals and collectively as a church, we will further the kingdom of God. Like leaven in bread or drops of water in the sea, any addition will raise the level of the whole. Such is also true for the church. The individual deeds of the church members, when noticed by the community, will contribute to the churchís image amongst the community and further the kingdom of God.

In addition to the impact we will have on the churches image in the community, getting involved and serving will build valuable character qualities in us individually. Let us look more closely at three such qualities God wants to build in us. The first isÖ

1.  WISDOM

God granted King Solomon wisdom beyond any other. King Solomonís request was,  ìSo give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil.  For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?î (1 King 3:9).

In calling us to serve, Jesus is not asking us to demean ourselves in any way. Instead, He is asking us to join Him, for Jesus was the ultimate servant leader. ìFor God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through himî (John 3:17). By serving Godís purposes, we draw near to Him and are able see from His perspective and think the way He would think. We need to face our challenges as a sport. Our goal should be to figure out the wisest way to resolve challenges in order to win. Then, when God sees your heart and knows that youíve tried to resolve things in the wisest way. ìÖin all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purposeî.  (Romans 8:28)

There are two teachers: wisdom and consequences. Wisdom will teach you to correct your mistake before you make it. On the other hand, consequences will have you pay the price as the means to teaching you a lesson. With consequences, the price we pay is often very high. You could pay with your marriage, a relationship, or even your life.

Wisdom means taking things weíve learned and putting them into practice. So by getting involved, we are able to develop wisdom and see things from Godís perspective. The second character quality thatís important in our growth and maturity isÖ

2.  COURAGE

The Lord calls us to serve because He wants us to be where He is. When we are with Him, not only are we able to see things from his perspective, but also we are also able to draw upon his strength for courage. Oftentimes, weíre not courageous because of who we are but rather whom weíre with. 

All of us can think back to a time where weíve faced a frightening situation as a child whether it was a bully at school, thunder and lightening on a dark night, or a scary-looking stranger. Now if we think back, we would have been much more courageous in facing those situations if our parents were with us. The same is true when we are with our Heavenly Father. ìHave I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you goî (Joshua 1:9).

I remember a time when I was a pastor in Hilo. I got a call from a mom who asked me to come right away. Her son was destroying their house with a baseball bat. When I got to the house, I could hear someone yelling and screaming. When I knocked on the door, her son came out with eyes reddened with rage. He had a Sony Walkman on and was yelling and swearing at me. So I asked him to come out so we could talk. He then drew an imaginary line and said, ìYou come over this line and Iíll hit you with this batî. Needless to say, my knees were knocking and I was scared. He then started calling me names so I told him to put his bat down and to leave his mother alone. Then he said, ìWhat are you going to do about it?î I told him Iím not doing anything, but Jesus will. And as soon as I said the name of Jesus, he screamed, put his hand over his ears, and turned up his Walkman. He told me not to say it again. I realized that every time I said the name of Jesus, heíd go nuts. So I kept saying Jesus and eventually he just sat down and cried.

The Bible says at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, on the earth, above the earth, and under the earth, that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the Father.  However, as I look back on it now, I would never have come to grips with the power of the name of Jesus Christ if I hadnít gotten involved. I would never have known the power of the presence of Jesus Christ in a personís life. I thank the Lord for giving me just enough courage to get involved. And when I left that day, my courage was more than ten-fold increased.

So the first step is to get involved and serve. Remember that wisdom will be developed through serving.  Then when we serve with Jesus by our side, knowing He is with us gives us the courage to face situations we would not otherwise be willing to face alone. Finally, our growth and maturity will be dependent on this quality as wellÖ

3.  COMPASSION

ìAnd moved with compassion, He stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, ëI am willing; be cleansedíî (Mark 1:41).

In this verse, the Bible shows us it is through compassion that Jesus performed this miracle of healing.  And it is through involvement that we build compassion.

Think about your own life and the things and people for which or whom you have great compassion.  You will notice they are things with which you are personally involved.  When we get involved, we learn more and we become engaged; and as a result, we develop greater appreciation and compassion for those things. And when we are involved and have compassion, God can work miracles.

Jesus lived His life to serve and He calls upon us to do the same.  ìFor who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves?  Is it not the one who is at the table?  But I am among you as one who servesî  (Luke 22:27).  ìWhoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant will also be.  My Father will honor the one who serves meî (John 12:26).

By following in Jesusí footsteps, we will begin to see and think like Jesus and we will develop His wisdom for our lives.  By following Jesus, we will stay near to Him and can draw upon His strength to give us the courage to face the challenges of this world. Lastly, if we will align ourselves with Him, our hearts will grow close to His and we will have the compassion through which God can work his miracles.

Group Discussion Questions:

1. What comes to mind when you think of the word, servant? Why?

2. Are you currently serving in church?  Share how it has and is changing your life.

3. If you are not yet serving, which areas do you feel interested to begin serving?

4. Share an experience where youíve learned from wisdom. Share also a lesson learned from consequence. How has each experience affected you and has what you learned today been helpful in what youíll choose to do in the future?

5. Can you remember a time when you were afraid to get involved in a situation? How did you handle it? After todayís lesson, would your choice to get involved or not been different?

6. Share with your group how your own personal experience helped and/or helps you to show compassion for others facing similar situations.

7. What most impacted you about todayís lesson and what will you commit to do this week to apply what you learned?

 A big mahalo to first-time volunteer writer, Jaylene Tsukayama, a woman involved and serving. Great job!