Serving At Sunnyside

 We are not all the same. The Bible says,

1 Corinthians 12:4–6 (NLT)
4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.

I don't believe that anyone arrives at Sunnyside by chance. God was at work in helping you determine what community you would be a part of. We pray for people before they get here. We pray that "God will draw here the people He wants us to minister to and that God would send us to the people he wants us to minister to." You are not part of this community by chance. You are here because it is part of God's plan for you to be here. You are part of a team that is working on fulfilling God's mission.

The other reality is that you bring something to Sunnyside that no one else does. There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, and there are different kinds of service, and God works in different ways through each of us. We serve the same Lord, but we serve him in different ways. What that means is that God will work through you, in a way he will not work through anyone else at Sunnyside. You are important to the ministry of Sunnyside.

I don't believe that anyone arrives at Sunnyside by chance. You are here because it is part of God's plan for you to be here. You are part of a team that is working on fulfilling God's mission. So thank you for doing what you do. You are important and your service is important.

Mixed Motivations (And how they Don’t matter)

                I have been reflecting on Romans 8:5 “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” This passage of scripture is all about desires inside us. Some of those desires come from the flesh or the sinful nature. We can live out of a desire to foster our sinful pride, or hatred or envy. The desires of the sinful nature revolve around me and what is mine. Life is all about me - is what our sinful nature will tell us.

               There is another set of desires within those of us who are followers of Jesus. These desires come from the Holy Spirit. We can live out of (or set our minds) on what the Spirit desires. Love, joy, peace, etc. This scripture passage is about having real life. It is the Spirit’s desire that you live your life in a way that you really flourish. The Spirit gives you desires that reflect what God wants for you. 

                But sometimes it is hard to know where the desires we have are coming from. Is doing an act of love coming out of love, or am I doing this so that the person I am showing love to will think I am a nice guy? Am I being called to rest because I need it or because I am lazy? When it comes to mix motives we can get ourselves all twisted up in a knot.

I have come to the conclusion that it doesn’t really matter if we have mixed motivations. There is something deeper going on here. The key verse when it comes to those desires is verse 14.

Romans 8:14

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God

                When we think about being led by the Spirit we tend to think about the big decisions in life like our career, or relationships, etc. But that is not what this verse is primarily talking about. It is talking about the little decisions on how we should live. It is talking about the learning to be led by the Spirit so we are living out what the Spirit desires. (Should we serve, or should we say no to a ministry that we are asked to do? Should we push ourselves or should we rest?) The question is not, “are my motivations mixed? The question is, “What is God leading me to do?” If you are doing what God is leading you to do, God will take care of your heart and your motivations. Learning to be led by the Spirit is one of the great lessons to be learned in the Christian life.

Jonah's Fear

I love the story of Jonah. He hears the voice of God calling him to preach in the city of Ninevah. His message is simple, repent and turn to God. Jonah runs from God, and finds that it almost kills him. He repents and turns to God, and does what God wants and then finds himself wishing to die.

His problem was that the goodness of God was directed towards people he saw as his enemies. Jonah prays,  says,  “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity" (Jonah 4:2).

It seems to me that we live in an age where Christians hate the goodness of God, unless it is directed towards them. We certainly don't want to see it directed towards our perceived enemies. People with different values, or a different morality, or a different skin color, or now it seems even a difference of opinion, don't deserve to be shown the goodness of God. (and it seems we whisper in our hearts, I am not going to show them goodness either.)

The problems with this is threefold:
1) We don't deserve the goodness of God either. The bible says, "While we were yet sinners Christ died for us."
2) We don't get a say in whom God directs his goodness toward. God is God, and we are not.
3) If you read the book of Jonah, Jonah ends up in a bad place because of his attitude. Jonah's combination of pride and hatred landed him in a s spiritual and emotional prison.

It seems to me that so many Christians are ending up in that same self-made prison. It is sad to see. It can't be fun being them, and it isn't fun being around them.

The book of James says that "Every good and perfect gift gift comes from above" (James 1:17). If you see good thing happen to a person who is not good, even that comes from God. So don't be like Jonah - celebrate the goodness of God - even when it shown to people who are different, even opposed to you.