Pastor Dan Mangler's Sunday Sermon

In Whom God is Glorified

Isaiah 49:3

January 20, 2008

In Whom God is Glorified

You are here this morning for a variety of reasons. Some of you are here out of habit. Your entire week would be out of sync if you weren't in church on Sunday. Some of you are here because of sin and the need for forgiveness. Guilt can be a powerful motivator. Some of you are here because you think it’sgood for the family, and God knows that families need all the help that they can get these days. Some of you are here because your parents made you come. One wasted morning is worth keeping peace with your parents, right? Some of you are here because you feel lost and need direction in your life. Some of you are here because you are lonely and the church is the only family you have. Some of you are here because you have a deep hurt that only God can heal. Some of you are here because you need to know that there is more to life than what the rest of your week represents. Some of you are here because you are curious and want to know more about God. Some of you are here because you love God and want to praise him, and because you feel blessed by God and want to thank him.

For the most part, you are here because some life circumstance propels you here...habit, guilt, parental or societal pressure, hurt, loneliness, and so on. But there is another reason for your presence here, for our presence here, a reason not propelled by life circumstance. We are here today, you and I, because we have been called. God's hand has been laid upon us. Through baptism we are, you and I, Jesus' people in the world. We are to witness, in word and deed, to what has happened to the world in Jesus Christ. In this Christian season of Epiphany, we remind ourselves that, even as Jesus is the Light of the World we are called to be his lights in the world.

Of us it can be said, as the prophet Isaiah said of himself," The Lord called me before I was born, while I was in my mother's -womb he named me...he said to me, 'You are my servant, (Israel), in whom I will be glorified."

It is a fact that people who have a purpose in life live happier and longer than those who do not have such a purpose. God calls us together to remind us that we have a divine purpose in life. Like Isaiah, we are God's servants through whom God means to be glorified. In you and me, in what we say and do, God intends to show his glory to the world that all the world might come to him.

One Christmas season, when this little girl was three years old, the number of presents under the tree slowly increased as the great day approached. Caught up in the spirit and excitement of gifts and giving as only three-year-olds can be, one morning she was picking up, examining, shaking, and guessing what was inside of every package. Then, in a burst of inspiration, she picked up a big red bow that had fallen off one present and held it on top of her head. She looked up at her dad with twinkling eyes and beamed a smile as bright as the Star over the Bethlehem manger as she said, "Look at me. Dad, I'm a present!"

Surely the greatest gift ever given at Christmas was the first gift: God's gift, his son Jesus, through whom salvation for humankind would come. But every Christian baptized into the name of Jesus is one more gift that God gives to the world "in whom" says God, "I will be glorified." You are those gifts.

One of the first questions asked by new acquaintances is "What do you do for a living?" The answer to that question can be placed in one of two categories; it will be either a vocation or an occupation. The dictionary defines occupation as one's regular, principal, or immediate business or job. Vocation, too, is defined as a regular occupation, but carrying with it a sense of calling, i.e. an occupation for which one has special gifts or talents.

For our purposes this morning I'd like to broaden the definition of occupation and narrow the definition of vocation. Let me suggest that your occupation is your primary activity. It might be work. It might be school. It might be parenting. It might be retirement. That is your occupation. Let me further suggest that your vocation is what God has called and gifted you to do, specifically your vocation to glorify God in your life. The miracle, then, happens when your vocation, to glorify God in your life, is lived out in your occupation, the primary way you occupy your time as worker, or student, or parent, or retiree. It is to ask what it means to be a Christian store clerk, a Christian contractor, a Christian lawyer, a Christian teacher, a Christian student, a Christian parent. In other words, how can my vocation be lived out in my occupation? How can God be glorified in my Monday through Saturday life?

You are God's very special gifts to the world because in you the world is to see and experience God's glory. That is your vocation. That is your calling. That is your divine purpose. And God does not give life a purpose without, at the same time, equipping that life to live out its purpose. You are gifts who have been given very special spiritual gifts. By these gifts God is glorified.

It's true that everything we are and have is, in some way, gifts of God. But let me suggest that they, too, can be divided into two categories: God-given abilities and spiritual gifts. A given talent, to use a neutral term, may be both a God-given ability as well as a spiritual gift depending on how it's used. It is an ability when we use it for ourselves; it is a spiritual gift when, in its use. God is glorified.

Teaching is an ability, but it is a spiritual gift when that teaching glorifies God. Hospitality is an ability, but it is a spiritual gift when it is in response to another's need to be welcomed by you. Music is an ability, but it is a spiritual gift when it glorifies God. Talking is an ability, but it is a spiritual gift when your words bring glory to God. Sports, or drama, or academic achievement are abilities, but they become spiritual gifts when your behavior in those disciplines, and the way you relate to others in those activities, brings glory to God. It is as if all of your talents, skills, and abilities were enveloped by this huge umbrella with the words "In Deo Gloria", "to the glory of God!"

Abraham Maslow, who died in 1970, was one of the major figures in the field of psychology in the United States. He said that the meaning of our lives is always bigger than our experiences. That was his observation after decades in clinical counseling. He was always intrigued by people who seemed, in his terms, "self-fulfilled." People who lit up when they talked about their jobs. People who showed a glow when they talked about their families. He wondered about that. And so he came to those people and he would ask them why.

Maslow discovered that it wasn't money that brought such a sense of joy; this joy and self-fulfillment didn't rest on material wealth or lack of it. Sure, someone said, money is nice if you're at the store and see something you need, but that isn't what brought joy or fulfillment into life.

People don’t live for money, They live for justice. They live for truth. They live for beauty, and family, and friendship and love. The live, said Maslow, for something that he called "Ultimate Meaning. “What Maslow called "Ultimate Meaning", that brought joy and fulfillment to life, the origins of which this humanist psychologist had not a clue...this "Ultimate Meaning" Christians know as their divine purpose, the old phrase "blessed to be a blessing", to live as a child of God in such a way as to bring glory to God.

To live life at its fullest, to experience a sense of joy and self-fulfillment, is to greet every life experience as an opportunity to bring glory to God. It is to be more than a good parent; it is to be a parent in whom God is glorified. It is to be more than a good student; it is to be a student in whom God is glorified. It is to be more than a good teacher; it is to be a teacher in whom God is glorified. Fill in the blank... doctor, farmer, salesman, factory worker, lawyer. It is to be more than a good one; it is to be one in whom God is glorified. Your occupation is how you spend your time. Your vocation is how you glorify God in how you spend your time.

"And God said, "You are my servant, (Israel), in whom I will be glorified." Amen.

May the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.

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