2/5/23     1 Corinthians 9:16-23        “Rewards in Jesus!”

03 Feb 2/5/23     1 Corinthians 9:16-23        “Rewards in Jesus!”

2/5/23     1 Corinthians 9:16-23        “Rewards in Jesus!”

There were many reasons why I enjoyed working with youth groups and confirmation classes.  They are always active and you never know what will be next.  They had great ideas for doing things.  But what I liked most was their ability to dream.  If you ask them what they would like to do with their lives, they will tell you.  They are still at an age where the world hasn’t shut down their ability to dream.  We had young people who wanted to be veterinarians.  We had some who want to be farmers.  I’m sure we might have had an actor or actress in the mix also.  This isn’t the most exciting part but more like normal.  The exciting part is when you ask them next year and they might give a totally different answer.  This is great!  These young people were thinking.  The only part I tried to take in this was that I tell them that they should make a plan to achieve these goals.  There is one occupation, however, that I haven’t heard anyone say yet and that is being a pastor.  I think it is one of the greatest occupations ever but it can also be the worst.  It is ok that we don’t have people clamoring to be a pastor.  You see, being a pastor isn’t something you just set you sights on and go.  In order to be a pastor, you have to be called by God.  Today, we have a very interesting passage in which Paul describes what it is to be a Christian.  It may seem like he is talking quite a bit about being a pastor but I think he is really showing us what it takes to be a Christian in general.  Let’s take a look at this and see if we are reaching out to others and achieving this.

I would like to begin by commending many of the people in the area for doing a fine job of raising children into the faith.  If we look about the country, this isn’t the norm.  There are so many people who say they are religious but they really don’t like the church.  One of the reasons for this is may be the preachers we see on television who have gone so far astray.  There are many television pastors who have done far more harm than good as far as the church goes.  Every time one of these guys go rogue, it really hurts all churches.  But we also have to look at what the churches are teaching.  I think many, many churches concentrate on what you want to hear and that is what you get.  This seems to bring people in for a bit but they don’t stay for the long term.  People don’t really like these churches because they often lack substance.  Many of our churches now worship our society and not God.

I think that there is a new kind of church emerging in this country.  It may be a contemporary church and it may be traditional.  Whatever kind of church it is, it is a church where you hear about the Bible.  I hear about this from other pastors from around the country.  It seems that there is a real hunger for something and I think that something is the truth and the only truth that there is comes from Jesus Christ, comes from the Bible.  People are hungry for Jesus and often times they don’t even know it.

Things weren’t any different in the times of Paul.  As a matter of fact, they might have been much worse.  Paul lived in a time when no one had ever heard of Jesus and the things He did.  Paul lived and preached in a world of pagans.  There were bad things going on all around Paul.  He saw vice and corruption every day.  And in the midst of all of this moral decay, he is called to preach about Jesus.  He really doesn’t have a choice in the matter.  Jesus chose him and he speaks.

I don’t think that it takes any stretch of imagination to compare today’s culture with the one where Paul lived.  I think they might have been able to show us some new ways to sin if they would have had internet or a movie and television industry that was unregulated.  But generally speaking, I don’t think we are much different than the ancients.  We may have a few more toys than they did but we definitely don’t have any better morals.

Paul sees all of these things and he attacks in the name of Jesus Christ.  He is called to do this and this is why he does it so well.  I have known several ordained pastors from several denomination who were not called to preach.  I don’t doubt that they were Christians, although that could be debated in a couple of cases, but they were not preachers.  I’m sure you have known a few of these also.  This seems to be one of the down sides to being in the ministry.  We are only gifted in certain areas.  However, we are expected to do everything perfectly even if we are not called in all areas.  But I guess the system seems to work.

Paul talks about his reward for preaching.  He is basically trying to tell us that the reward is in just doing it.  I don’t think the reward is anything that is tangible.  I cannot tell you what it is.  We also need to remember that we are all preachers.  I would guess that you cannot really describe how you feel after you have done what God wants you to do.  We all have at least one gift that God has given us to use for His glory.  You all have at least one.  When you use this gift, you really can’t describe how good you feel.  When I finally sit down on Sunday afternoon or evening, I have a feeling of something like peace if all has gone well.  It really can’t be described and many of you know what I mean.

This is what Paul is talking about.  Paul is talking specifically about preaching here but the principles are for all Christians.  If you never use your gift, you will not know how great God is when He gives this reward of a job well done.  This message is for all of us.  When you are working for God, you are working for the King of the World who knows your name and the number of hairs on your head.  He knows everything about you.  He will reward each of you accordingly, not because you have necessarily done a great job but because you have done the job.

One of the hardest things to do when we are working for God is that we let ourselves stay behind and we let God do the work through us.  You see, we can’t do much on our own.  We are not very good by ourselves.  So, our main job is to have faith, go forth and let God work through us.  For the non-Christian this is very hard to do because they don’t really have a clue as to what is happening.

Now we come to a very interesting part of this passage.  Paul states that he is free to do what he pleases.  He is a slave to no man.  At the same time, he tells us that he is a slave to every person he meets.  He does this so that he can win people over to Jesus.  So, for the Jewish people he becomes like a Jew.  Now Paul knows Jews pretty well so this shouldn’t be much of a problem at this time.

But notice here that Paul doesn’t go back to being a Jew.  Paul considered himself to be a man of Christ and not a Jew.  He will act like a Jew and do Jewish things so that he can win the Jews to Christ.  The one thing he doesn’t do is stay immersed with the Jews.  What I mean by this is that Paul goes to the synagogues and teaches.  He talks with the Jews.  But it seems that he always tried to stay with fellow Christians.  He seemed to always have a safe place where he could go and he wouldn’t be surrounded by non-believers.

There is a principle going on here that we need to remember, especially young people.  In a nutshell it is called unequal yoking.  I’m not referring to marriage here but our good friendships.  The Bible tells us in several places that it is ok to have friends and such who are not believers.  However, it also tells us that we should only visit these people and not immerse our lives in theirs.  We are to surround ourselves as much as possible with Christians so that we don’t get pulled into the world of non-Christians.

This is something that is really hard for Christians to understand because we live in a world where there are so many non-Christians.  If you make it a habit of hanging around with non-Christians, with the intent of helping them see Jesus, then you run a very real risk of becoming more like them instead of them becoming more like us.  If you get in too deep with them, they will bring you down.  Chances are that you will not bring them to Christ and they will bring you out of Christ.  The Bible tells us this as we can see in Paul’s writings and I have experienced and witnessed this several times in my life.  So always be aware of your surroundings and who you are hanging out with the most.

Paul is also telling us to do whatever it takes to make new Christians.  He went to the Jews and he acted like a Jew.  His only thought in doing this was to make the Jews into believers.  This is what we have to do today also.  It doesn’t hurt us any to study a bit about the Jewish religion.  After all there are millions of them in the world.  We need to come along side of them and help them to see what they have missed.

Paul is telling us that we have to become like those under the law in order to help them see Jesus.  This is another reference to the Jews but this time Paul is telling us that he may act like he is under the law but he is actually under grace which only comes from Jesus Christ.  This kind is sort of what we just talked about when we go to these people but we do not become like these people.

We live in a world today just like the days of old in that there is grace everywhere.  There is not a person in the world that cannot have grace if they want it.  You also need to remember that all other religions are false.  You alone have the message of grace and it is for everyone.  But just because you have and know the one true God, doesn’t mean that you put down other beliefs.  If I told the Hindu that he was just ignorant and wrong in his beliefs, he would go away and never come to know Jesus.  But if I gradually come along side of him and show him the wonders of the world of Jesus, then we have a much better chance of winning him to Christ.  A little sugar goes a lot farther than vinegar.

Then Paul goes on to talk about all people, not just Jews, when he says he will be like a person not under the law for those who are not under the law.  Once again he is saying that we have to come along side of these people if we are going to win them to Christ.  If you look around I’m sure you will see that we have a world of people not under the law of grace.  Many people, maybe 80% of this country, say they know God.  I think they only know of God; they don’t know Him.  I think that it is something around 10% of the people actually have a relationship with Jesus.  We have a big mission field and we don’t have to go very far from our own doors.

Paul has also become weak so that he can minister to the weak.  Now I don’t think that this means we have to get a disease in order to minister to the sick.  But we do have to wear their feelings.  We have to try to put ourselves in the place of the person who is sick or is weak.  Once again, we mainly find that the people will not hear us unless we are beside them.  This is what ministry is all about and this is what caring for others is all about.

We do all these things because we are Christians.  It is a mistaken belief that our good works will get us to heaven.  This is wrong, wrong, wrong.  Our works will get us nowhere fast.  You need to confess your sins to Jesus and ask Him to live in your heart.  Then, because we are Christians, good works should just naturally come from us.  These are just some of the ways that you can do good for others and at the same time doing good for yourselves.

All of these things together show just how flexible you need to be.  The Gospel is spread by you being flexible and not rigid.  The same thing doesn’t work in every situation.  Jesus was very flexible as He ate with tax collectors and sinners.  He would walk right into a group of lepers to help them.  He didn’t stay within the 4 walls of the church.  He went out to the people but He always came back and lived with the disciples.

This is kind of a neat passage because it ends by saying that if you do these things, then you can take part in the blessings of the kingdom.  This doesn’t mean that if you do such and such you will be rewarded by this and this.  This isn’t right at all.  When you do the work of the kingdom that Paul is talking about here, then you will be rewarded.  You will not know what the reward is.  However, if you work trying to earn a reward, you won’t be rewarded.  You just have to work because it is the right thing to do.  Rewards will come and they will be the blessings of the kingdom.  This is a hard concept for us because we live in a world where we do things and we get and see the rewards now.  With Jesus we just have to trust that they will be there in ways that are pleasing to God.

Have you ever wondered why Jesus tells us these things through Paul that you pretty much already know?  It is because you need to be reminded constantly that the evil one is out there and he is as slippery and evil as it gets.  (We talked about getting rid of him last week and I hope that was a help to you.)  We need to be reminded that Jesus is the solution to anything and everything.  Jesus wants us to help everyone you know come to Him.  He wants you to know that He is there to help you every step of the way.  Basically, He keeps reminding you of these things because He loves us so much.  God loves you and cares for you so much that He sacrificed His Son, Jesus, for your life.  Helping others is a way for you to return this love and help the Kingdom.  I praise the Lord every day for the love that He has for us.  And thank you Jesus, for first loving us.  Let’s pray.