August 22, 1999<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are growing up with a daughter, sometime in her preadolescent and adolescent years, you will end up in Claire\u2019s Boutique, a store found in most shopping malls. Claire\u2019s has no tables or shelves to sell its products. It only has hooks on the walls and on freestanding displays. Hanging on these hooks is all kinds of accessories that dads know little about. There are plastic shapes that look like butterflies. There are fancy scrunches that seem to strangle hair. And the section that I have the greatest fears about is labeled \u201cpierced!\u201d Claire\u2019s Boutique is where a young girl shops to accessorize her outfit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Accessorize. This word\u2014accessorize\u2014is not only an imperative, it\u2019s a temptation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s an imperative because you can\u2019t just not accessorize. You can\u2019t just do the basic thing without adding this or that thingamabob here, or a few doodads there. A beautiful dress still needs an elegant necklace, a dress watch, a small matching change purse, something in the hair, and of course, shoes that match!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Accessorize is also a temptation because it is soooo easy just to keep adding and adding and adding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now it\u2019s our turn, guys! Remember when we were in college, getting a cast-iron hibachi grill for about $10 bucks was pretty cool. We even upgraded by buying one that has two grilling surfaces side by side. A few years ago, Lauren and I were in a chimney\/fireplace supply store when we saw this propane gas grill by Ducane. It has a warming shelf. It has a fast-ignition starting switch. No more charcoal and lighter fluid anymore. It has an 18-inch by 24-inch grilling surface and a side shelf to hold the cooked food. There were all these added features! After assembling it, the directions suggested that I use car wax to keep the metal finishes clean and water repellent. I felt like I just bought a second car!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The real significance of a $1000 grill for most of us, is that its presence makes buying a $500 unit seems almost frugal. As more people buy these up-scaled grills, the frame of reference that defines what the rest of us consider an acceptable price will inevitably continue to shift. In this age of prosperity, I could easily spend $1000 on a new grill tomorrow, and few people would think I had done anything strange. But far more unsettling is the possibility that it wouldn\u2019t occur to me that there was anything strange spending $1000 to replace a $10 hibachi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a grip of a luxury fever, we are tempted to keep adding and adding to what we have, sometimes way beyond our needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To accessorize is to fall victim to the \u201cDiderot Effect,\u201d the perceived need to buy new furniture for the new house, new dishes for a new dining room table, a new top to match the new skirt, a new laser printer for a new computer. The phrase derives from the 18th<\/sup> century French philosopher, Denis Diderot who, once upon a time, received as a gift a beautiful scarlet dressing robe, and thereupon quickly discarded his old one. But he began to sense that his surroundings now appeared shabby and unworthy of the grandeur of his new garment. The splendor of his new dressing gown caused him eventually to replace his comfortable furnishings with new and finer things, even if they lacked the well-worn features of his old stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Diderot grew dissatisfied with his study, with its threadbare tapestry, the desk, his chairs, and even the room\u2019s bookshelves. One by one, the familiar but well-worn furnishings of the study were replaced. In the end, Diderot found himself seated uncomfortably in the stylish formality of his new surroundings. He regretted ever receiving this scarlet dressing robe that forced everything to conform to its own elegant tone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Diderot Effect\u201d is what keeps the spiraling Nordstrom consumer escalator moving ever upward on Market Street. If we want to get off, we need to develop a new consumer consciousness and new behaviors. The end result was one unhappy philosopher who wished he\u2019d never received that new dressing robe in the first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Denis Diderot, the beautiful scarlet robe forced everything to conform to its own elegant tone. In today\u2019s Scripture lesson, Paul addresses the Christians who are tempted to conform to the world\u2019s mania for accessories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDo not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of<\/p>\n\n\n\n your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God\u2014what is good and<\/p>\n\n\n\n acceptable and perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul is saying, \u201cDon\u2019t conform; transform. Don\u2019t accessorize; specialize.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul says there is a variety of spiritual gifts necessary to the harmonious functioning of the Christ Body ministry in the world. So many spiritual gifts and so little time: prophecy, serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leadership, and compassion. These are not the only ones. Paul lists more in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 and in Ephesians 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul says, \u201cOne, just one.\u201d Whatever our gifts, we\u2019re to use it, and not worry about using another, or someone else\u2019s. This idea is on the startling notion that all the gifts and the ministers who minister them are of equal and profound importance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What happens is that we try to appropriate to ourselves the spiritual gifts, or the jobs that aren\u2019t designed to be ours. It\u2019s not that we should try to avoid discovering and using our spiritual gifts\u2014doing this is a biblical imperative. But once we decide that what we\u2019ve received from God isn\u2019t enough, that we need to spiff things up just a bit more\u2014that is<\/p>\n\n\n\n when the problems begin, that is when pride begins to poison the Body and the Spiritual Body begins to break down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul argues that the Body of Christ functions because it is the Spirit that equipped it. With those spiritual gifts, the Body of Christ moves about and does its work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For as in one body we have many members, and not all members have the<\/p>\n\n\n\n same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually<\/p>\n\n\n\n we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In Romans 12, Paul says there is the gift of<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. A prophetic ministry\u2014the daring courage to speak out and challenge the powers and principalities around us. As a faith community, what else must we say about Christian stewardship besides recycling paper? What is our voice on affordable housing? As a member of the Chinatown community, what is our Baptist witness?<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. A serving ministry\u2014the enduring patience and attention to meet the human needs of people. Can we give and help out without first judging someone? Is the love that we say we have unconditional as Jesus Christ\u2019s forgiveness is for us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. A teaching ministry\u2014the life-long nurture and training that builds strong Christian disciples with Bible study and sharing. How can we commit ourselves to regular and disciplined study of Scripture? With this knowledge in us, how can we acquire skills to teach our own children about the faith?<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. An encouraging ministry\u2014the constant need to provide hope and prayer to those who are facing life\u2019s struggles. What is our next step in our Care Partners program that may strengthen the bond of Christian fellowship?<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. A giving ministry\u2014the sacrificial pledging of our time and resources to actively engage in doing ministry and mission. In a few weeks, you will be challenged once again to consider in prayer your tithe and offerings to the overall mission of this church. How can we learn that when we give in generosity, we receive in return so much more?<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. A leading ministry\u2014the gift to lead others and carry out programs to benefit the whole Body of Christ. How can we involve many others who can lead in diligence that all track of time is lost because we are having so much fun?<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7. A compassionate ministry\u2014the mercy and acceptance that we show to everyone because that is how Jesus first showed and taught us. How can we learn to become even more inviting and hospitable to people that come and the many that we want to come and worship God with us? <\/p>\n\n\n\n God has given each of us one gift of the Spirit to use complementarily with each other to make up the Body of Christ. We can be happy with the gift the Spirit has laid on us and not try to accessorize out ministry with something else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the difference between the conformed and the transformed. The conformed are always trying to add on, do something else. Our culture says that you can never have enough. You always need more. More. More.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The transformed are focused on the ministry the Spirit gave them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *The conformed seek a promotion; the transformed seek a ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *The conformed seek more stuff; the transformed seek the right stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *The conformed seek glorification to oneself; the transformed seek the welfare of the Body of Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *The conformed seek the comfort of the flesh; the transformed seek the renewal of the mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *The conformed invests in the temporal; the transformed invest in the eternal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It seems a basic part of human nature, or perhaps postmodern American nature, that we want the whole pie or enchilada; we want it all, and we want it now. We want the first, the best and the finest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That emphasis in our consumer culture can sometimes translate into misadventures in the church. It started in the days of Jesus when James and John, those sons of Zebedee, sought the prime spots next to Christ, on earth and in the kingdom of heaven.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus didn\u2019t belittle their request\u2014he merely told them that what they asked would require a sacrifice similar to that Jesus would make, and even then, it wasn’t up to Jesus to give them their reward. To “sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it had been prepared\u201d by God, Jesus says in Mark 10:40.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Notice what happens next: \u201cWhen the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John\u201d (Mark 10:41).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Seeking a gift that isn\u2019t ours is a good way to get other people\u2019s noses out of joint. It can cause dissension and dilemmas within the group, ruin friendships, and even cause schisms. But it also does something else: It gets us out of sync with what God wants for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So what is our responsibility in all this? It\u2019s to be sensitive to the voice of God and to the needs of the entire church community. We\u2019re a family, a fellowship here\u2014this isn\u2019t another version of the \u201crat race\u201d where I win if you lose, or the other way around. That kind of thinking, frankly, doesn\u2019t belong in the business world either. It doesn\u2019t belong in the church community. It\u2019s what Paul decries when he says, \u201cDo not be conformed to this world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It requires a different way of thinking and looking at things; it requires a spiritual vision nurtured by prayer and study and gratitude.\u00a0 These are gifts that God wants all of us to<\/p>\n\n\n\n have and enjoy. He wants us to worship him in this spiritual way, and then bring that worship to bear on whatever tasks we may face as a church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yesterday at the church picnic, we held our very first \u201cBake-Off\u201d contest. The church, and your role in it, is not like there is only one cake or pie that\u2019s the best. All the entries contributed to a successful picnic. Everyone receives a ribbon! Instead of you winning and me losing, it\u2019s more a matter of each of us discovering the best that God has for us. Everyone wins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When I was preparing myself for Christian ministry, I imagined that I had to be skilled and gifted in everything. I thought I needed to be good teacher, an effective administrator, a relevant preacher, a friendly pastor, a patient listener, an in-tune song leader, a compassionate counselor, even a good basketball player, a good this, an effective that and on and on. I thought I needed to accessorize what I had already. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I can\u2019t be good in everything I want to be good in. Actually I don\u2019t need to be good in everything. It\u2019s like not giving much thought to your spleen on a daily basis. Any doctor will tell you how important it is. In the same way, in the things that I am not gifted in, I have all the necessary skills and abilities to proclaim the Lordship of Christ at FCBC from you. I think the most important gift I bring to you is my love for Christ and this church. You bring all the rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The person who encourages those who are sad or the one who softly says, \u201cI\u2019m praying for you\u201d and then does it. The person who makes phone calls to say that we missed them last Sunday to the one who sings faithfully in the choir. The person who greets visitors to the one who picks up after Sunday worship. The people who have worked almost daily in getting our building prepared for retrofit to those who stand up on Sunday morning to thank God for dedicated volunteers. These people are just as important as the evangelist who fills a baseball stadium, if not more so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul begs us as brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is our spiritual worship. Our lives are on the altar as a proper offering to God. There is no room for self-important ego in such an act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are called upon by God to find or discover our dressing robe, a robe that fits us and suits us perfectly. We won’t need to accessorize it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We are called to wear it and be happy with it, and to not even begin to think about getting a house full of new furniture to match its splendor. The new furniture can be found in the gifts we see in each other. There\u2019s no need to accessorize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The robe we\u2019ve been given is enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The gift is Spirit-given.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wear it. Use it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wear it out\u2014to the glory of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let us pray.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dear God, we offer ourselves as living sacrifices gifted by you for Christian service. Help us to give thanks for that one special gift that you gave to each of us. Let us join together as sisters and brothers to serve you in glory and for reconciliation in the world. In the name of Jesus who gave his life so that we may have life everlasting, we pray. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" August 22, 1999 Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco. Claire\u2019s Boutique If you are growing up with a daughter, sometime inGifts that Differ<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
Conformed and Transformed<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
Living Sacrifice<\/h6>\n\n\n\n