PENTECOST
7
July
11-13, 2026
Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude
Text:
1 Corinthians 3:5-9
“IT’S GREAT TO BE ON GOD’S
TEAM!”
1.
You
get a meaningful part to play.
2.
The
pressure is off.
John Donne, an English clergyman is
credited with the saying, “No man is an island.” Actually, his whole quote went
like this. "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece
of the continent, a part of the main." He was poetically
expressing the truth about people as God made them. No one is truly
independent. Everyone, whether they realize it or not, is dependent on God. And
people also need other people. Some need more some less, but no one is an
island. That is one of the reasons that the concept of teams is woven into the
fabric of society. A family functions as a team, you have work teams and then
the myriad of sports teams. And if you are not playing anymore you still find
yourself rooting for your team at schools and at the professional level.
God’s Words in 1 Corinthians 3 gives us
some great news. It lets us know that we are all on a team, God’s team. The
goal of the game is salvation, heaven, for us and for others. And it is
important that we keep this in perspective. I have played all kinds of sports
and still play all kinds of games but if you ask me what is the most important
game I have ever won I will tell it’s the next one. Because all the other wins
are one and done and you move on. Doesn’t matter. Results don’t last. Eternity
does. It’s heaven or hell. All of the things we do in service to God and other
people matter. It pleases God and benefits other people when we fix their
broken bodies and help with broken cars and all the other things we do in
service to others. But the body fixed will still die at some point. That
repaired car scrapped. But the results of this salvation game we are playing on
God’s team last forever. So today let’s
rejoice together in how great it is to be on God’s Team!
“Same Team!” “Same Team!” I remember one
soccer dad telling me about watching his son play beginning soccer. The kids
were just learning the game and one aggressive boy kept stealing the ball from players
on his own team. “Same team,” the coach kept yelling. Immature players need to
hear that. “Same team” is what the Apostle Paul wrote to the members of the
church in Corinth. They were acting immaturely in many ways. The way he was
addressing here was factions and cliques that had developed in the church. They
were rallying around their favorite pastor instead of their only Savior. Listen
again to what he wrote.
“What
then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are ministers through whom you
believed, and each served as the Lord gave him his role. 6I
planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. 7So then,
neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but it is God
who causes the growth. 8The one who plants and the one who
waters are united, and each will receive his own reward according to his own
labor. 9For God is the one whom we serve as coworkers, and you are
God's field, God's building.”
Same team. God’s team. Paul was helping
the Corinthians to grow up in their faith. In doing that he helps us value
ours. Paul pictured the salvation game like farming. There is work that farmers
can do like planting and watering. He could have added plowing and fertilizing
and weeding and scaring crows. So it was true for the team at Corinth. Paul
played his part. Apollos played his part. The members played theirs. Each had a
meaningful role. Same team. God’s team.
Brothers and sisters, you are on God’s
team. The “game” we play is the salvation of souls. Each of you has a
meaningful part to play. You’ve seen or heard the phrase, “You may be the only
Bible some people read.” What that means is as Jesus said, you are the salt of
the earth and lights for this world. How you conduct yourself at work, with
family and extended family, with neighbors matters. Someone has to plow the
ground. You might be that plow who listens when someone’s life is in turmoil
and tells them how it is faith in the Lord that gets you through tough times or
asks, “How’s that working for you?” when it’s obvious their lifestyle is
leading to all kinds of grief. Or your deliberate refusal to live like the rest
of society that makes your friends uncomfortable because they think you are
judging their decisions. You prepare. Some of you God uses to plant the seed.
When the plow has made soil ready, some of you God has made good at turning
those conversations to Jesus. Others water. You maintain a faithful to God
presence in the lives of those who are not faithful to God. Or think of how God
has us working together on this team we call St. Jacobi. Everyone has a
meaningful part to play as God has determined and gifted you. You invite
without being pushy. You bring people with you to make that handshake with
God’s word. Some of you are prayers. Some of you are payers. Some of you plan
and organize. Some of you fix and maintain, clean, serve, make music, sing, be
present in worship.
You are on God’s team, with an important
part to play. So why do you look at what others are doing and think it is more
important than what you do? Why do judge your worth by the world’s standards,
the money you make, how many likes or friends you have? Why do you waste time
wishing you could do what God has someone else doing instead of what He made
you to do? If the Lord is allowing you to draw breath you still have a part to
play and it matters. You are on God’s team!
And here is some more good news. The
pressure is off. Would you like to be the kicker in the Super Bowl lining up
for the 50 yard field goal to win the
game, or not, as time expires? Up to bat with the bases loaded, 2 outs, bottom
of the 9th 7th World Series Game? Penalty kicker in sudden
death in FIFA, last second shot NBA? Some people, a select few, want that
pressure, or at least say they do. But remember, they are playing games that do
not matter and whose results don’t last. Quick, who won the Super Bowl six
years ago? World Series 4 years ago? Our game matters. Life or death. Salvation
of souls.
Oh how great it is to be on God’s team.
The pressure is off. When it comes to our own salvation Jesus did it all. Jesus
lived perfectly so we are freed from the pressure of a performance based
relationship with God. Jesus paid it all so when death comes knocking at our
door our entrance to heaven is assured. But what about for other people—our
family members, our friends, our co workers. The ones we have kept praying for
and given the opportunity, witnessed to? What did God have Paul tell us? 6I
planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. 7So then,
neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but it is God
who causes the growth.” Farmers have things they can do but what they can’t
do is make something grow. God has reserved that for Himself. So it is with us.
We each have a meaningful part to play but God causes the growth. I know that
many of you carry burdens on your heart. They are family members and relatives
or close friends. Perhaps you yourself planted and watered them, bringing them
to church, teaching them about Jesus, modeling with your own example how
important faith in Christ is. But now they have strayed. You wonder what you
did wrong. You wonder what else you can do. Every church that, like ours, has a
school attached, may at times wonder if all the work is worth it when all the
kids who graduate and are confirmed do not show up regularly in worship. What
more can we do?
Stay in your lane! You are on God’s team!
The pressure is off. You played your very important part. God has on His team
others who will play their parts. But it is God who causes the growth. Last
week in the Gospel lesson you heard your Lord Jesus say, “Come to me all you
who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” Rest your anxious heart
in Jesus. He has plans for the salvation of your loved ones that you know
nothing about. He has other team members He will use to cultivate or fertilize.
He will cause growth. Judge not by what your eyes see but instead in what your
God promises. For better of for worse I have been here long enough to see the
straying come back or hear through phone call or email at which other church
they have landed. The pressure is off. Your God brings results. You are on
God’s team.
More good news. It’s a winning team. Some
people sadly, by where they grew up, are stuck cheering for consistently losing
teams. So sad. In the only “game” that really matters, the one where the
outcome is eternal life or eternal death, you are on the winning team, God’s
team. So play your part. Relax. God’s got this. God’s got you. God’s got your
loved ones. Amen.
