Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Friday, 13 June 2014 "The body grows 'as each one does its part'"

Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Friday, 13 June 2014 "The body grows 'as each one does its part'"
Daily Scripture:  Ephesians 4:11 He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds[a] and teachers; 12 for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error; 15 but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, Christ; 16 from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love.
Footnotes:
a. Ephesians 4:11 or, pastors
Reflection Questions:
Of all the New Testament lists of God-given gifts, this one ("apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers") may be the one that the most Christians would recognize. Problem is, far fewer Christians see themselves in the list. But Ephesians did not say God gives only these gifts. Rather, God meant these gifts to equip all of God's people for the divine work of serving and building up the body of Christ.
Why do you think Resurrection has a certain number of paid staff people? (Hint: the purpose of paid staff is NOT to do all the spiritual (or physical) work for the church members.) As scholar N. T. Wright put it, "The main point of certain people having special roles is so that every single Christian, and the church as a whole, may be equipped for their work of service." In what ways have people with the gifts mentioned in today's reading strengthened and deepened your spiritual walk?
What do you think spiritual maturity looks like? 10 years of regular worship attendance? Participation in 5 in-depth Bible studies? Tithing? Having three mission trips under your belt? Well, maybe. In verse 13, Paul described it this way: "to be fully grown, measured by the standard of the fullness of Christ." Identify two areas of life where you are happy with your growth toward spiritual maturity, and one or two in which you seriously want God to help you grow during the rest of 2014.
Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, you are the head of the church, and you are the Lord of my life. Keep me growing toward your standard of maturity, and guide me as I use my gifts to help others grow, too. Amen.
Insight from Bryan Cisler
Bryan Cisler serves as the Digital Media Specialist at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection.
I think most people have an innate desire to feel like they are helping people for the right reasons. Of course, those feel good “I am making a difference” moments don’t happen every day. As a matter of fact, for most of us our work days are spent doing somewhat routine tasks that in a big picture sense, it can be tough to see how we are moving the needle.
I was reading an article the other day about physicists building a nuclear fusion reactor (ITER) in southern France. When and if it gets completed, it will be the most complicated and technologically advanced machine ever built in human history. The scientists are basically attempting to build a small star, hold it in check with magnets, and then capture the energy. It likely won’t be completed until the 2020′s, but more likely it will probably stretch into the 30’s.  Not only would it go a long ways in solving energy problems for billions of people on this planet, but it would over time give us a cost effective renewable energy source that would help us reduce carbon emissions that otherwise would have crippling effects on our environment. I am not trying to be hyperbolic, but it could be a truly planet saving project. But with a machine that complex, and the timeline so far off into the distance, the tone you get in the article isn’t one of hope or joyful enthusiasm, but how daunting of a mission this is. The complaints from some of the physicists are ones you might hear in any workplace. How much progress are we actually making? Will this ever get done? I think this paragraph sums it up perfectly.
“[Motojima] had his own theory about the sinking morale: it was partly caused by the incessant work, but it also had a psychological component, in that people could not witness the physical manifestations of their work. Most ITER employees cannot see the construction site from their windows, or components built off-site. In time, large pieces would arrive. Progress would be measurable. Attitudes would shift. From [Motojima’s] office, on the fifth floor, construction on the vast tokamak work site was always visible.”
A lot of time we can’t see what we are doing in a big picture sense, and sometimes I wonder if even the most devoted Christians can go their entire life without knowing noticing or truly feeling the impact that they are having. My favorite paragraph of the whole article comes at the very end.
“That evening, at a café near the work site, I had a drink with an ITER physicist, who was despondent, fearing that the machine would never work. Why he was staying with the project he couldn’t say. But a few weeks later, after thinking about it, he told me that his mood had lifted. He had come to see his role in both small and sublime terms—akin to a stonemason toiling for years on the York Minster cathedral (begun 1220, finished 1472) without witnessing the work being completed. “I now expect to devote my full professional career before seeing a decent plasma in ITER,” he said. “This does not bug me. There have been many scientists before me, working for this same goal, who will not see this. Martin Luther King had a dream fifty years ago. He did not live long enough to see that dream realized. But, thanks to him, we have made wonderful strides in helping his dream be fulfilled. The scientists working on ITER have a dream that could be as powerful as Martin Luther King’s—not for human equality but for energy independence. We won’t see this dream realized. But each day I go to work I have a hidden smile knowing that I am helping us get one day closer to our ITER dream.”
Next week at church we have our Bless the School project at Phillis Wheatley in Kansas City, Missouri. Our volunteers will spend the week painting and helping restore the school. You can sign up here. That school district has been struggling now for more than 40 years. It can be easy to give up hope. What this scripture tells us is to never stop trying to build up the body of Christ. No matter what the circumstances are, that’s what we should strive for. And at some point in the future, the literacy rates and the test scores for children who go to the schools in that area will be just as high as anywhere else in the city. I am guessing when that time arrives, they probably won’t remember specifically what all Church of the Resurrection did in the year 2014. I am also sure between now and at that point there are going to be decisions people won’t agree with, and there will be times when we will feel like we are all bouncing between the waves. But even in these relatively small works such as Bless the School, knowing that we are  given the opportunity to demonstrate Christ’s love  – even if we can’t see the finish line – is an amazing gift in itself.
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