Jokingly I said to a staff member after I received this honor, “Now that I’m a doctor I feel a bit smarter!” The reply put me right back in my place as the staff member said, “You still look the same…” Seriously, I must admit that I felt like the Scarecrow in the Wizard when he received his diploma. That document gave him the inspiration, the permission, the encouragement to use the gifts that were already “stuffed” within him by his Creator. Similarly, the unbelievable affirmation I received during the District Convention from this honorary doctorate reminds me that God has gifted me with what I need to heed His call. As I respond and use those gifts God is glorified and hopefully He uses that to bless His Church and connect people to Jesus.
I have always said that God doesn’t depend on our abilities as much as He does our availability. As we make ourselves available to Him, He will bless that and use it for His glory. It is amazing how far a little encouragement can go to motivate us to push forward. Referring again to the magical movie mentioned above, when we first meet the Scarecrow, while he wants to be helpful, he has been hung on a pole in a field, unable to really do much more than shoo birds away. Dorothy sees much more potential in the Scarecrow than he saw in himself. She frees him to become more than he was simply by giving him permission. Throughout the movie you can tell that the Scarecrow is brighter than he gives himself credit. He was strategic, a leader, and shows great wisdom in the face of challenge. When the “wizard” gives him the diploma, it was an affirmation, and, while nothing really changed, it made a huge difference in how he saw himself.
Have you ever wondered how differently God sees us than how we often see ourselves? He, who created us, who has gifted us, who has claimed us in the waters of baptism, sees us through the lens of Jesus. Sinners though we are, He sees the purified saints, made so by the blood of Jesus. He sees the abundance of gifts He’s poured out on us and poured into us. Each of us are gifted people. In the New Testament Paul illustrates this wonderfully as he tells us,
“For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness”
(Ro 12:4–8). As believers in Jesus, Paul does not give any impression here that some Christians have gifts while other do not. He simply says that each have differing gifts established by God’s grace. But all have gifts. The Holy Spirit bestows them on us as Luther teaches in the third article of the creed,
“but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified (set apart) and kept me in the true faith…”
In the waters of Holy Baptism you were called, and gifted, consecrated to be a servant of Jesus. Do not let anyone tell you differently. God has chosen you and gifted you with great purpose as you abide in Jesus! If you question that, join us at the Lay Leadership Summit, August 23-25 in Orlando!
This is what I love about the Apostle Peter—he simply tells it as it is. Sometimes that got him into trouble, but most often, at least post Pentecost, it pointed people to Jesus. His Epistles challenged the early Church to live out their faith in an active way. It is still challenges us today! Peter reminds us, in 1 Peter 4:10,
“As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”
God has gifted us for service, and what joy we discover when we serve Him.
Paul reminds us, “We are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do the good works which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them.” Let me be the one to encourage you to not only recognize that God has gifted you, but challenge you to discover your gifting so that you might be better equipped, empowered and engaged to connect people to Jesus!
Often, as I travel around the Florida-Georgia District I encounter congregations and individuals within those congregations, both professional church workers and laity alike, who simply need a word of permission or affirmation or encouragement to do the mission that God has, by the Holy Spirit working in them, made clear to them. Often a simple kind word opens eyes to how God is using His gifts among and in His people for the sake of the Gospel giving them the motivation to use them for His service. We have been called to reach people with the hope and joy of our salvation, totally a gift through faith in Jesus. His Spirit has equipped us, and continues to equip us now, to accomplish the will of God, which, in 1 Timothy 2:4 is that,
“all people be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.”
You and I are chosen as His truth bearers in a world of “fake news”.
In it all, we have the privilege of pointing people to Jesus. It doesn’t take a brain. It takes heart and soul. It takes faith and conviction. Imagine what God can do with a motivated and encouraged army of believers, who trust His call and spring into action for Him! I shared with a congregation recently that the most common phrase in a dying church is, “We’ve never done it that way before.” But we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength! Don’t let the devil convince you otherwise. We don’t have to settle for diminishing churches. We have a great gift to share with the world.
Once again, I am challenging us to plant two new ministries in each of the five regions of the Florida-Georgia District for each of the next five years, aiming for a minimum total of new ministry starts by 2023. In our own strength there is no way we can achieve this. But, by God’s grace, just watch what God can do through a willing people.
By the way, in the L. Frank Baum novels, the Scarecrow goes on, for a time, to rule Oz, and is acknowledged, at least by the Tin Man, as “the wisest man in all Oz.” Words of affirmation are important. They build us up and help us soar. Each of us can be the ones who affirm another, in our home, where we work, wherever we see the opportunity. Again, it doesn’t take a brain, just a compassionate, Jesus-filled heart, and eyes that are open to the opportunity. Today, our God is affirming each of us, reminding us of His call, and His claim on our lives. He loves us, He’s gifted us, now He sends us into the world to be those servants who use the gifts He’s placed within us to serve others. May God do mighty things through each of us!
Your fellow, affirmed servant,
Dr. Greg
Rev. Dr. Gregory S. Walton, President
