What’s Your Place in the Church?

Pentecost, 5/31/20
Joel 2:28-29


What’s Your Place in the Church?
I. It’s a place received, not achieved.
II. It’s a place to serve, not be served.


Whether it’s a student in a kindergarten class, a child getting involved in his or her first soccer team, a single teen-ager among more than 2,000 others in a high school, or an employee showing up for the first day of work, they all consciously or unconsciously want to know where they fit in. What’s my role? What are the group dynamics? Who is the leader and is there a rival leader? To what extent are the followers expected to follow? And the sooner that person can find his or her place in that group, the better his or her experience will be. If there’s tension, relationships will suffer. If the person fails to find his or her place, apathy and distancing result.

Today we’re gathered to celebrate the beginning of the greatest organization in the history of the world. It’s the only organization that will last forever; it’s the New Testament Church, which the Lord Jesus himself established when he poured out the Holy Spirit as promised on the Day of Pentecost. And the world has never been the same.

Just look what a difference being in that Church made for the apostles. Up until that day, they were a rather rag-tag assembly of Jewish men who were simply content to let Jesus do most of the kingdom work. They listened and watched as Jesus preached his word around the Holy Land and performed miracles. But not once Pentecost occurred. The apostles immediately assumed their part in God’s kingdom work.

And it’s God’s plan to use every member of his Church to engage in some way in that same work—the work of sharing the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. So, are you wondering how you fit in?

Your Lord didn’t leave the details of your involvement for his apostles to develop after the Church had been formed. No, in his grace and wisdom, he already outlined what your place in his kingdom would be perhaps 800 years before Christ was born. He did so through his prophet Joel in these words before us this morning, words which Peter quoted and applied as Pentecost happened.

But you still might be wondering where you fit in. What’s your place in the Church? Keep that question on your mind and heart as we take a deeper look at these words from Joel 2.

Part I.

When you look at the life of another person who is being presented to you as a person who has “made it in life,” there are two common reactions. Either you admire that person for their accomplishments because you’re aware of how they worked and the sacrifices they made, or, you aren’t impressed much of at all, because what they have now was handed to them. You know, they were born with a silver spoon in their mouth.

I imagine things weren’t much different during the time the prophet Joel lived, quite a few centuries before Jesus was born. In general, the Old Testament Jews looked up to three different types of people who served them: prophets, priests, and kings. These important offices among the Jewish people were not awarded to the people who worked the hardest, displayed the most integrity, or realized the most beneficial results. In the case of the priests, it all depended on being a member of the tribe of Levi, and particularly from the line of Aaron in that tribe. As for legitimate kings, the only ones duly recognized as such had to be descendants of King David. To be a legitimate prophet, you needed to be called directly or indirectly by the Lord. Many received visions or dreams which the Lord compelled them to share. Joel was one such prophet. The opening words of his prophecy simply state that the word of the Lord came to him and he was compelled to share it. He was one of the select few over centuries that were chosen by the Lord to do so.

But how vastly things changed once Pentecost occurred. Listen to Joel foretell it, “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.” Did you catch the huge difference in the New Testament Church? Age doesn’t matter. Young and old alike will receive the Holy Spirit for the work of the church. Social status doesn’t matter either. Even servants will receive the Holy Spirit for the work of the Church. Gender won’t matter either. The Holy Spirit will be poured out on males and females so that they can share the word of God with others.

Bottom line, God’s will is to pour out his Holy Spirit on all people. God’s will is that all people will come to know Jesus as their Savior from sin. It doesn’t matter what your family line is or how hard you might work to attain your place in life, how successful or unsuccessful you are. Jesus died for all people and God wants all people to be saved. He wants to pour out the Holy Spirit on all.

And he accomplishes that amazing, saving work through me. Through you. We began by talking about how people initially tried to find their place in a group. And part of that endeavor is embracing the purpose of that group of people. What’s the purpose of this group? Of the group we call the Church on earth? It’s to proclaim the saving news of Jesus Christ. If you’re a part of this group, then, by definition, that’s what you do. And it’s only because the Holy Spirit has been poured out on you. You did nothing to attain it.

What’s your place in the Church? It’s a place received, not achieved.

Here’s one perspective I want you to consider for a moment: This is mine; I earned it. Here’s a second perspective I want you to consider for a moment: This isn’t for me; I don’t care to do it.
One or both of those statements might apply in all sorts of situations in life, but neither of them apply to your place in the Church. You did nothing to become a member of the Church. It’s all God’s doing by his grace. If it weren’t for that grace of God, we’d be facing eternal death apart from God, a judgment we’d share with Satan. And even the things we do as part of our life in the Church are all gifts of God’s grace. Nothing in the Church is our earned right or privilege. If it weren’t for God the Father planning our life in the Church, for God the Son redeeming us with his blood to become members of his Church, and for God the Holy Spirit bringing us into the Church by faith in Jesus, we’d be forever on the outside looking in.
By his grace, today we celebrate the saving work of God the Holy Spirit who has made us members of the Church. But his work in us doesn’t end there. He also equips us for life in the Church and fits us together as the people of God to carry out the work of the Church. But so often we fail that high calling and privilege. So, what can we do? Confess it. And receive the forgiveness Jesus won for you. Then be re-fitted by the Holy Spirit for the high calling of life in his Church. It’s all God’s doing, not your own. What’s your place in the Church? It’s a place received, not achieved.

Part II.

It’s been said that pride goes before the fall. That’s so true about life in the Church. Sinful pride got the best of tremendous heroes of faith such as Moses, David, and Peter. And that pride ruined their life in the Church, at least momentarily.

Pride will do the same thing to me and you. It will make us think that people need to do what we tell them because we’re right, and they’re wrong. Or the euphoria of wearing a leader’s hat will cause us to fail to recall the needs of those we’re leading. Or, we take things much too personally, because it’s really all about us. We’ve forgotten our place in the Church. It’s not about what you and I get out of it.

It’s all about what we put into it…first for our Lord. What we do as a group of believers is first and foremost an offering of thanks to Jesus, the Jesus who sacrificed himself for us, the Jesus who loves us with an eternal love, the Jesus who wants nothing more than to spend eternity with us. Life in the Church is about service to Jesus.

And when that’s your serving position, then you’re ready to serve others. When Joel foretold the outpouring the Holy Spirit, he didn’t mention anything about doing so in order that others look at these vessels of the Holy Spirit with admiration. Instead, he speaks about service to others. Specifically, he speaks about prophesying, which is speaking the word of God to others. That’s the saving purpose of this organization we call Resurrection. We exist to share the good news of Jesus with our members, our community, and our world. It has nothing to do with serving so that we look good to others, or, serving to make a name for ourselves. It’s all about sharing Jesus with as many people as we can.

What’s your place in the Church? It’s a place to serve, not be served.

If you read through the four Gospels, you’ll never find anything about Jesus wondering what he can get out of people. He was here only to serve them.

However, you are in the Church first to get something—the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. You are here today to soak up as much grace in word and sacrament as you can. And one of the outcomes your Savior designed for that consumption is your participation in the kingdom work of the Church. For all the times it’s been less than our best effort or our efforts have only been to serve our image, may we look to Jesus who served us by winning our forgiveness on the cross. And then look to the power of his resurrection which the Holy Spirit has poured into your heart by faith in Jesus. The resurrection is your power for serving others.

What’s your place in the Church? It’s service to others. May God bless you and others through you as you serve! Amen.