Which Utensil Are You?

Thanks, Chris and Catherine. Really appreciated that. Beautiful song. Wonderful words. It's really reassuring to know that we do have a redeemer that lives. Friday nights at our house, we've always tried to do something special as the Sabbath would come. When our kids were a little younger, one of the things that they would have to do to get ready for a nice Sabbath dinner was we always gave them responsibilities, things they had to help with.

So one of their jobs was to set the table. And so my wife would give them the plates and the saucers and the cups and the utensils would go out and the kids would help set the table. It's important to learn where the knife goes and where the fork goes and all those kinds of fun things. But it always seemed that it became more of an event than anything else because you give the kids the things and they can be very creative sometimes. So it wasn't long before you could hear coming from the dining room table, AHA!

I got you! And knives are hitting forks and there's dances going on and we want food and they're hitting, AHA! I got you with that and I'm hitting you with my spoon and they're putting on a whole show for themselves before long. And so you didn't know utensils could dance and sing and fight and carry on conversations, wrestle, and then to our house when we set the table. That was just like last year they were doing this. But as you think about setting the table and all the utensils that are involved that go in that place setting, if you had to describe yourself as one of those utensils, which one would it be?

If you were a piece of flatware, which one would describe you? Which utensil would you be? I think as you think about that, your answer can be pretty revealing because it seems like each one has a different type of characteristic. And I think as you think about that, it gives insight into the way we are and maybe the way that we operate gives us some insight into why we do the things that we do.

Now, are you a fork? Can you think of a fork kind of a person? I think we've all known fork people. What do forks do? They poke things. They stab things. They pick things up.

Kind of grabby, aren't they? They kind of grabby. They're always taking things, sometimes taking things that aren't to be theirs to take. I think of an experience that I had in junior high. Junior high is pretty crazy at lunchtime. Have you ever been in junior high school at lunch? It's crazy. Well, I remember this one day, very specifically. We were having hot lunch, they called it in our school, having a hot lunch.

And this was the day for the best dessert ever. Normally, drinks weren't very good at lunch. But this was apple crisp. And it was the best apple crisp that you could imagine. So I get my tray, I sit down with all my so-called buddies, and one of the guys says, hey, look, there's what's her name. They didn't say what's her name, but they said, well, I'm in junior high. Do I have to look at what's her name? Of course I have to look. I'm in junior high, so I'm looking over here.

And I turn back, and here's this guy sitting across from me who had stabbed my apple crisp and was holding it up and shoving it in his mouth, the whole thing at once. It was like, ahh! And from that day on, he was a fork person. Never liked fork people that much. He had stabbed that thing and was chewing on it, and I couldn't do anything about it.

It didn't belong to him. He grabbed it and just reminded me. Talk about a gimme person, a gimme guy. There was one of them. And I think fork people could be described that way. They want more. They want things that don't belong to them. They want something better, maybe something different, but they're in it for themselves. And I think it frames a whole sense of the way we as Americans tend to be. We tend to be fork people. You don't have to go back very far in time as we talk about corporate raiders. It's been happening in vogue in business in the last few years.

What do people do? They buy a company. They don't care about what it makes. They don't care about this product they produce. They don't care about the service they provide. If they can make money, they'll buy it. They'll gut the company and sell it just so they can make money.

And I think that's a classic gimme more fork kind of person. Now, the problem is it's not just limited to people around us. It is us at times. It's in the church as well because forks stab anything they can sink their tines into like they own the place. Like they're hungry and I'm going to take it and gimme more kind of people don't stop to savor the morsel. They just jam the whole thing in their mouth and they take it because they can.

Because they can. And so they just want to satisfy the stab it so you can have it desire. And that's wrong. That is wrong. And we know people like this. And maybe all too often it's us. It's us. James talked about this. James chapter 4, the beginning of the chapter, James 4.1.

He identified this because maybe when I started talking about a fork person we identified somebody like my junior high so-called buddy. And it's them. You can point your finger out over there rather than, uh-oh, it might be me. Here James is talking to the church. James is addressing us as well as those he wrote it to at the time. And he says something about those grabby-fork-stabbing kinds of people. He says this in James chapter 4. In fact, I'll read this from the new century version. It might be just a little bit different than yours. He says, Do you know where your fights and arguments come from?

Where do the difficulties, where do the disagreements come from? He says they come from the selfish desires that war within you. New King James, in your members, inside of you. Inside of you. He says you want things but you don't have them. You're ready to kill, you're jealous of other people. But you still can't get what you want. So you argue and you fight and are jealous and you don't get what you want because you don't ask God.

You see, you've kind of taken that responsibility on your own. You've decided and you're going to do it and you're going to have it. And that's the way it is. But James writes, verse 3, Or when you do ask, you don't receive because the reason you ask is wrong. You want the things so you can use them up for your own, for your own. This is an amazing conclusion that he comes to. Look at the conclusion in verse 4. So, King James says, adulterers and adulteruses. He says you are not loyal to God.

That's what the new century says. You're not loyal to God. In other words, you're loyal to the ways of this world. He says you should know that loving the world is the same as hating God. Anyone who wants to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. That's pretty harsh. That's pretty strong. But that's what he says. That's what he points to. Verse 5, do you think the Scripture means nothing? That it says the spirit that God made to live in us wants us for himself alone.

In other words, we should be God's people. We should be showing that we're God's people. Our behavior has to be evidence of the fact that we are living by the Spirit. So he says God gives us even more grace. God's against the proud. He resists the proud, but he gives grace not to the fork kind of people. He says to the humble. To the humble. And so James is describing purposely this stab and grab kind of thought, that philosophy, that perspective, that we cannot be the stab and grabbers. We can't be the gimme kind of people, the corporate raiders, the I want more, and not be worried about others.

And of course, for years and years and years, we describe this a little differently. You know how we would describe this in the past? This is the way of get. Isn't it? This is the way of get. Classic. A classic way of get.

That we are in it for me. And so I'm going to stab everything that I want and take it for myself because I want it. And James lays it on the line, the stab it so you can have it kind of approach is unacceptable before God. In fact, it denies that. We're not loyal to God. We're not keeping our loyalty at all. And so he makes a very, very strong point about it.

In fact, this appears so many times throughout Scripture. This whole concept violates the way of give. There's a song that talks about it. Back in the Psalms, Psalm 50 verse 16 is where it begins. It's an interesting section of Scripture because this particular one is not a song of David. Asaph wrote this particular Psalm.

I often wonder, have you ever wondered what these would have sounded like? What would this song have sounded like when they wrote this? Because we can imagine these wonderful, beautiful sounding songs that go with love and peace and understanding and joy. What would this song have sounded like? Because this isn't talking about good things. It's very serious things that it's talking about here in Psalm 50.

I wonder what this would have sounded like. Let's notice this in Psalm 50 verse 16 because it starts with God speaking. And here's what he says to the forks or the wicked. Here's what he's saying. In fact, this I'll read from the message translation. Psalm 50 verse 16. Next God calls up the wicked.

What are you up to? Or what right have you? What are you up to quoting my laws, talking like we're good friends? You never answer the door when I call. Can you imagine God talking like that? Yeah, you sound good. You look pretty good. You're not listening.

You're not hearing me. In fact, cast my words behind you. That's what King James says. The message says you treat my words like garbage. Your behavior isn't matching with the image that you're projecting. He goes on. Verse 18, if you find a thief, you make him your buddy. Adulters are your friends of choice.

Your mouth drools with filth. Lying is a serious art form to you. That's kind of scary, isn't it? You give your mouth to evil. New King James says. He says you stab your own brother in the back and rip off your little sister. That's verse 20. That's a fork person, isn't it? That's a fork person. Yet God sees it. He knows it. It's not like he ignores it, because verse 21 goes on, I kept quiet patience while you did these things. You thought I went along with your game. I'm calling you on the carpet, now laying your wickedness out in plain sight.

You see, God notices. You can't get away with being a fork kind of person and think we pulled the wool over God's eyes. He says he sees it, and it's unacceptable before him. The way of get should not be a part of our makeup. That's not a Christ-like characteristic. And so he comes very clear in saying, change. Don't be that utensil. Because so many times throughout the Bible, it focuses on fork kind of people. Can you think of some of the people in the Bible that were really forks? One of the ones that comes to my mind is Nabal.

If you remember the story of Nabal and Abigail. He was a rich man who had all kinds of things, and King David protected him, watched over him. But when David needed help, do you know what Nabal said? Yeah, who's David? Who's he? Why should I bother helping him at all? Or maybe like the rich man in the New Testament Christ talked about.

He wasn't good enough to be rich. I'm going to pull down my barns, I'm going to build bigger ones, and make even more, have it all, stab a few more things for myself. And yet, Christ said, watch out. The day of reckoning might just be here. Or how about the brother that said to Christ, make my brother divide up the inheritance. I want it. I want it. Or there was Ananias and Sapphira. Remember that they were at the beginning of the New Testament church? They're over in Acts 5. Maybe we can take a quick look there.

Ananias and Sapphira are an interesting one because you might think, well, that fork is really handy sometimes. I really get some good use out of that. Well, in our spiritual analogy, I think that does come into play.

It does come into play. In Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphira show up. They sold their property and they give the impression like they're going to give it all. All the proceeds are going to the church, which is a wonderful thing. They didn't have to do that. But it seems like they made it appear that way.

But God noticed it. In fact, Peter noticed it because it says in verse 2, they kept back part of the proceeds and Sapphira, his wife, was also aware of it. They brought just a part of it. They brought a part of it and laid it before the apostles' feet. And evidently, they said, here it all is. Aren't we great? Isn't this wonderful? Look how generous. Well, maybe they didn't say it quite like that. But it gave that appearance that they were true servants, that they really had the people's interests at heart, the church at heart.

But Peter says in verse 3, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? You didn't have to do this. It was yours to do with as you wish. You haven't lied to men, but you've lied to God. This was a fourth kind of person. Looked like they were serving, had the appearance of serving, and yet, what was their motivation? His wife was in on it, too. And we know Ananias dies and his wife does as well. You see, their heart was wrong. Their heart was wrong. And so I think it should cause us to step back and say, well, why do I do the things that I do?

Do I do this for my own good? Am I giver or am I a taker? And I think we can ask that throughout the various aspects of our life. You know, why do we work? Why do we work? Do we work so I can get? Or do I earn an income so I can give? Why am I married? Get? Or do I give?

Or maybe it's even fellowship. You know, why do I fellowship? Is it to encourage, exhort, build people up? Or do I have to throw out all of my problems and pour it out and overload somebody with... Is it to get or to give? Do I pray? Why do I pray? Why do I worship? Why do I serve?

Why do I love? What's my motivation behind those things? If it's a fork kind of a perspective, it's something we've got to look at ourselves and say, wow, this isn't the best. This is something I've got to get a handle on. I've got to monitor this. I'm going to change this. That's a tough, tough thing to do. I was reading an article the other day that talked about changing our eating habits. And that's hard enough. Imagine changing our character, changing who we are. What a challenge that is. Well, this particular article was talking about how you could change your eating habit. And you know how they said you could do it? By buying their special utensil.

You know what it was? It was a digital fork. A digital fork. Now, what in the world is a digital fork? Well, it's a fork that has indicator lights and it vibrates. And it has a USB port, so you can plug it into your computer and it monitors your eating. And it's true. It really does. Now, if you can imagine this, let's say you're eating too fast. This fork can sense that. You can even tie it into your smartphone. It's not only USB, but it's Bluetooth. So for all you techies that want that, you can do that. So it monitors how fast you're eating. And if you're eating too fast, it goes off and buzzes and the lights fly and the whole thing. And it even records if you're eating too much. It's like, well, how would a fork know if you're eating too much? Well, they programmed it so it records how many times it goes down and it comes up. It records the motion of going down to your plate and coming to your mouth. And if it's too many times, I guess it starts buzzing and you drop through a hole in the floor. But you know what they call this for? At least one of the brands that are out there. You know what they call it? The Happy Fork.

Now, I don't think I'd call it the Happy Fork. I'd call it the Annoying Fork, but that's what they call it. And in fact, you can get an app for the Happy Fork, put it on your smartphone, get this application, and it will actually coach you so that you eat better. I thought, wow, maybe that's the kind of fork we need to be. But we've got a coaching program, don't we? I mean, it might not be Bluetooth here, but this coaching program talks about not being a fork, right? Not being that kind of stabbing, grabbing kind of person. And so are we monitoring that so we can change our habits? That's something that's a theme that comes up over and over again throughout Scripture.

In fact, at the end of his life, the Apostle John wrote about it. 1 John 2, verse 15. No, he didn't write about the digital fork, but he wrote about changing to be more spiritual. If we are that fork personality, he talks about it and addresses it. 1 John 2. Notice verse 15. Notice verse 15. 1 John 2, verse 15. I'm reading a couple of these sections from different translations because they bring home just a little bit different flavor than you might read in a more formal King James or New King James. Maybe not good for studying doctrine, but boy, when you're looking at Christian living, there's some amazing ways that some of these modern translations are worded. And in this particular section, I'm going to read from a translation called the Voice.

The Voice. 1 John 2, verse 15. Follow along here. It says in verse 15, Don't fall in love with this corrupt world or worship the things it can offer.

It goes on to say, Those who love its corrupt ways, those who take them to heart, don't have the Father's love living within them. Then it goes on in verse 16. What does the world have to offer? All that's in the world. The allure of pleasure, the passion to have things, the passion to have things. New King James says the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. The Voice says the pompous sense of superiority. I'm better, so I deserve it.

It says that attitude doesn't come from the Father. It says these are the rotten fruits of this world.

That is the way of this world. Verse 17, This corrupt world is already wasting away in its selfish desires, but the person really doing God's will, the anti-fork, if you will, that one has eternal life, abides with God forever.

And so I think it brings to our mind, am I a stabber? Am I a grabber? Am I in it for myself? Have I been a forked person? And what brings out some of those traits within me?

Now, of course, there's other utensils as well, aren't there? How about the knife? Are you a knife?

What do knives do? Well, they're kind of scary to begin with. They can be kind of scary, especially those really sharp ones. They cut things. My mom taught me you're not supposed to eat with them because you can cut yourself. And so knives slice it up. How about knife people?

Is there a description there of what a knife person is like? I think sometimes as a knife person, we try to carve it up. What's not right? What's not right with this? How can I fix this into my image of what I want? This needs to come off. Whack! Slice! Cut! Because I want it to be what I think is right. I'm going to decide what form this is, and I have the ability to do that.

And so oftentimes, knife people seem to be about control. I have to control this. And so we take our serrated edges, and I want to change others, but I forget about changing myself. And I want to construct things to serve what suits me. In fact, sometimes you buy a set of knives, and they call it cutlery, because it slices things up. That was something that the Apostle Paul was pretty familiar with. In fact, it was an issue in the church. We had the stabbers and grabbers. Now we've got the slicers and dicers. And they're in the church. There was a city that was pretty well known for being slicers and dicers. Does it come to mind which group that was? How about Corinth? Remember what the Corinthians were like? In that first letter, Paul dealt with the knife kind of people. First Corinthians chapter 4. Notice verse 3. First Corinthians chapter 4, verse 3.

You see, they figured out what an apostle should look like. They figured out what a teacher should be. The people had decided themselves what a true servant should look like. And it sure wasn't the apostle Paul. And they weren't afraid to say it and to show it and to live it that way. So in first Corinthians chapter 4, Paul begins to deal with the knife kind of people. In verse 3, he says, with me, it's a very small thing that I should be sliced or judged by you or by any human court. I don't even judge myself. In other words, I leave that into God's hands. He says, I'm not aware of anything against myself, but I'm not thereby acquitted. It's the Lord who judges me. So rather than allowing himself to slice and dice, he's going to allow God to take care of that. But boy, those Corinthians, they were used to doing this. This was part of who they were. So he says to them in verse 5, therefore, do not pronounce judgment before the time before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things that are now hidden in the darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. In other words, God's going to get right down to it. You think you have control? Do you think it's your choice to divvy up people, your ideas? Or should it be God's?

God's going to bring it to light. And so he says in verse 6, I've applied all this to Apollos and myself for your benefit, brethren, so that you may learn through us the meaning of the saying, nothing beyond what's written, so that none of you will be puffed up in favor of one against another. And they had done that. They figured out who was better, who was worse, who was the elite, and who were the lowly ones. They decided who could come to dinner, and who couldn't. They decided who could have wine and get drunk before the Passover, and who wasn't in the same class. They decided who was a good teacher and who wasn't.

And then Paul says, those are things for God. Notice verse 7. He says, For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you didn't receive?

And if you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a gift? In other words, yeah, you can talk in different languages, but where did that come from? Did you come up with all of that on your own? Or did God bless you with gifts and talents and abilities? Or you think you just created it on your own? Aren't you great? And they used that to charade and cut and slice other people. He says, already you have what you want. You have become rich. Quite apart from us, you've become kings. They had crowned themselves. And he says, just before verse 9, indeed, I wish you had become kings, so we might be kings with you.

Don't think they would have let him be a king with him, but he tells them very clearly then.

Verse 9, For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, as though sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to mortals. And so he's saying, I'm a servant, but I don't count that as anything so great. In fact, I'm servant of all, last of all, he says, because Corinthians had it reversed. They saw themselves up at the top of the ladder and everybody else below them. And so he says in verse 10, describing himself, we're fools for the sake of Christ, but you, you're wise, you think you're wise in Christ. He says, we are weak, but you see yourselves as being strong. You're held in honor, but we disrepute. They were the knife, congregation, weren't they? At least some of them sure were. And so he says, to the present hour, we're hungry and thirsty. We're poorly clothed. We're beaten. We're homeless. We're weary from the work of our own hands. Yet, rather than slicing and dicing, Paul says in the middle of verse 12, he says, when reviled, we bless. When persecuted, we endure. When slandered, we speak kindly. We've become like rubbish of the world, the dregs of all things to this very day. And yet to the people, Paul wasn't quite right, wasn't quite good enough.

And so that sharp knife blade went to work, slicing off all the pieces of Paul they didn't like, cutting it right down to their image.

Now, hopefully we're not like that. We're not like that. We're not like a knife person because they have this tendency. Somebody comes up with an idea, a suggestion, well, let's cut that down because it doesn't match what I like. They can slice and dice an idea, a proposal, dissect the heart right out of things and carve up people never leaving anything whole. And so as you think about these types of things, that's something that we can't be a part of. I mean, I think of Saul before his conversion, before Paul's conversion, was he a knife person?

For he was a zealot. He was, I think, maybe the epitome. He was a zealot for God, but it was misdirected. He thought he was doing right, but he was going to surgically cut off Christianity.

And his pheosiacal attitude, he had already sliced up what's right and what's wrong, what's chosen, what's cursed, and he determined all those neat little pieces for himself.

And yet, when you read about it, it talks about how he breathed threats and murders against the disciples, literally against Christ himself. And he raged against them, and he threatened them, and he bullied them, and he was angry with them. And we can see that and say, I'm glad that's not me.

But sometimes we're still hateful. We're still whining. We're still grumbling and complaining and arguing and jealous. And those are knife characteristics that we're rooting out of our life.

In the book of Jude, he wrote about some of the challenges of the day.

He had knife people in mind, I think, when he wrote this, more specifically those that were false teachers, but they were carving up a following for themselves. And so I think the concept still fits here. So just before the book of Revelation in Jude, verse 16, he talks about those that are in that kind of a knife attitude. Verse 16, New Living says this, These people are grumblers and complainers living only to satisfy their desires. They brag loudly about themselves. They flatter others to get what they want. You see, the day, the motivation is still misplaced. It's what they want. And he says, verse 17, My dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ said. They told you in these last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy themselves.

These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because they're not following God's Spirit. And so he says, Dear friends, verse 20, You must build each other up in your most holy faith and pray. In other words, stay close to God.

And so he reminds us, don't think we're finished growing. Don't be finished changing. Continue to get rid of that knife personality that tends to come out at certain times in all of us. And so I have to ask, do I slice and dice? Do I have those characteristics that knife people have? All right, one other utensil we could take a look at for a moment.

Spoon. Are you a spoon? They're kind of different from the other two, aren't they?

What is a spoon designed for? What is the purpose of a spoon? I know you take a look at it. It doesn't have any of those sharp pointy edges like forks or knives. They're kind of nice. They're kind of round. They're kind of smooth. Could you describe them as friendly? I don't know, maybe. A friendly spoon. What does a spoon do? It dishes up things. It dishes things up. It's not just scooping everything up for itself because sometimes it ladles out servings to others, doesn't it?

Spoons are adaptable. You can do a lot of different things with spoons, whether it's hot soup or freezing cold ice cream. A spoon works pretty good in those situations, doesn't it? I think spoon people are those that dish it up. They serve. They stir up love and good works, don't they?

I think a purpose of a spoon is to serve, but there's more to it than just that as well.

Notice Philippians 2. I don't know if the apostle Paul had utensils in mind when he wrote this.

Probably not. But it's interesting as he lays out the attitude and perspective and motivation of spoon people. Spiritual spoons, spiritual Christianity, I would say. Philippians 2.1, he starts out with a rhetorical point. He says, if there's any consolation in Christ, any comfort of love, any fellowship of the Spirit, any affection and mercy, well, of course there is. Is there love in Christ? Absolutely. Is there fellowship in the Spirit? No doubt. Is there consolation and encouragement? Absolutely, there is. And so since that is true, he says in verse 2, fulfill my joy by being like-minded. Have that same love. Be of one accord. Be of one mind. Be a spoon. He says, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself.

Let each of you look out not only for his own interest, but also the interests of others.

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. So now we've got a connection here. This kind of person, this kind of attitude, this kind of approach is Christ's approach. It is the mind of Christ because it goes on to say, though he was in the form of God, he didn't regard equality with God as something to be exploited, as something to hold on to and grab onto this divinity, the supreme authority that I have. He says, instead, verse 7, he emptied himself, taking the form of a spoon, a slave or a bond servant, being born in human likeness, being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. And so this is a powerful model for us today, isn't it? Because it shows us the kind of attitude that Jesus Christ himself had. He put aside his rightful opportunity of equality with God, equality with the Father. And he put that aside to save us, to give us the opportunity for eternal life. And he set that aside for you and I. And so he set the example of a spiritual spoon. And if you apply that to us, how much more should we be willing then to put aside our ego, our own attitudes, our own desires, our own concerns, and set that aside in order to serve God and serve his people in the same way that Christ did, because he set the ultimate example. And so that's the serving that we're supposed to dish up. The same kind of value system, the same kind of priorities, the same kind of attitude, the same kind of perspective and heart and mind that Christ had. And see, that's a little bit of a challenge because when you think about forks and knives and spoons, in a way they all serve. They all serve. But there's a difference between the spoon and the others. Because while a knife might cut that piece of meat and that fork might lift those vegetables to our mouth, there's more to it than just an action. Isn't there? I think that's what Philippians 2 is telling us. It's not just serving. It's not just serving that's important because there's lots of reasons, lots of motivations in serving. They can be good. They can be bad. They can be godly. They can be selfish. They can be God-centered. They can be self-centered.

And the knife kind of people and the fork kind of people point to the actions that are being done, but it's more than an event. It's more than an action. And that's where the spoon comes into play because the spoon doesn't just serve. The spoon was designed to be a servant.

And that's the difference. Serving and doing is an action or an event. A spoon is who we are.

You see, and there's a big difference in that. And we are to be Christ-like. That's who we are. It's not just that we serve or we do because we have wrong motivation and all of that. But who are we? Who are we at our heart and core? And why do we do the things that we do?

And hopefully it's God in us that is coming out because that's the perspective that Christ had as He gave up that divinity and that equality with the Father to die for us.

So can we do the same? With God's help, we certainly can. So it's not just acting it out, this event we do once in a while, but it defines us, defines who we are. In fact, it's interesting. When you think about spoons, there's all kinds of different kinds of spoons.

I don't know if you ever shop for silverware. We were buying a wedding present not all that long. You know, so we're looking at these different sets of silverware that you can buy. Notice an amazing thing. I never noticed this before. But you go buy silverware and let's say you look at a set of four. We were looking at a couple of sets. We're going to buy a couple of these for the new bride and groom. Well, in a service of four, you've got four knives, you've got four forks, you've got four salad forks. But you know how many spoons they gave you? Eight. They give you twice as many spoons!

Why is that?

Because even the manufacturers know spoons get used for more things. They get used for more things. They get more use out of them and can use them in more ways than you use those knives and those forks. The shape of a spoon, the design of a spoon, it was designed to be a servant. So it doesn't matter if you're eating spaghetti. You can do it with a spoon. You can do it with soup. Spoons are adaptable, especially when I'm too lazy to get up and get a fork. You can use those things. You can even get that hard rock cantaloupe out if you need to with that spoon. And so spoons can be amazing utensils. And when you need to, a spoon can dish it up, even if it's pretty tough stuff, because the motivation behind it is right. Think about Paul once again. Once Paul was converted, what happened to him? I mean, if he was that knife kind of person or that sometimes fork personality came out on him, God could take that and begin to mold that knife or that fork, begin to smooth out its edges. And after a while, I think Paul was a spork.

Maybe we're in the process of becoming more of a spoon. Where are we? Are we more like a fork or a spoon? Are we in the spork category moving that direction? You know, God took Paul and he shaped him and he took out that narrowness of the knife and he widened it out, made a nice little bowl where he was ready to serve. And he changed that straight forward pharisaical approach and curved it and bent him in the right direction that Paul could be transformed. And so in that new shape, that new godly shape that God gave him, he was able to serve and the pointed attacks and the sharpness of Paul became more nurturing, became more loving, became more nourishing so he could scoop up service, scoop it out to others. And Paul exhibited that, didn't he?

And so he could not only scoop it out, but he could take it. And he did take the views. He took the insults, he took the imprisonments, he took the cold and the shipwrecks and the cruelty, because God had reformed him as a servant of Christ. And he's doing that with us. He's doing that with us. And you know, we have lots of different spoons among us, don't we? You ever notice how many different kinds of spoons there are? Yeah, you've got regular forks and salad forks, but spoons? They've got so many kinds of, you know, there's a berry spoon. You'll never guess what you use, a berry spoon. Okay, you know. All right, you use it for berries, right?

But there's bonbon spoons. There's another tough one to figure out. How about a caddy spoon? You ever heard of a caddy spoon? It's when you're out golfing. No, it's not golfing. They use it to dish up tea. Tea. So the Brits are more commonly using those caddy spoons. But there's chutney spoons and coffee spoons and egg spoons and grapefruit spoons and mustard spoons and olive spoons and salt spoons.

It seems endless, an endless list of the kinds of servants that God can use to bring Him honor and glory and preach His Word. And so what kind of changes do we have to make to be transformed from the knife-stabbing, fork-grabbing kind of people that we naturally are?

You see, with God's Spirit, we can do that. We can do that. In fact, there's lots of spoon words that are throughout the New Testament that are amazing. When you look at Philippians, it talks about the spoon servant, the servant there, the doulos, the slave, the bond slave. That was a description of Jesus Christ. That's a type of spoon that we can serve and be holy at God's will and be dedicated to serve God because it takes into account who our Master really is. And we said that at our baptism, didn't we, that Jesus Christ not only was our Savior, but our Lord and our high priest, our soon-coming King and our Master. And that doulos, that spoon word, reminds us who our Master really is so that we can dish it up in the way that God wants us to. Another spoon word is diaconos, a diaconos in the New Testament, literally a deacon or a decaness, a server. It means a table waiter. Talk about utensils and serving things up. What do waiters and waitresses do?

Well, they're at the customers beck and call. They are servants. They are attending their every need.

And so Christ talked about that kind of a spoon that we need to be when He called the disciples over and He said, whoever wants to be first must be servant of all, a diaconos of all.

That's our calling. But it goes on from there. Another spoon servant is a hupertes. A hupertes is a servant. It can be translated a minister. It's a good example where we left off in Corinthians. If you want to flip back to 1 Corinthians 4, it describes this hupertes, this servant, this sometimes minister, this one who serves. Christ used that same word when He said, my kingdom's not of this world or else my servants would fight. That's the hupertes.

But here in 1 Corinthians 4, Paul uses that word and he uses it in connection to who we are, not just what we do, but our identity. Our identity is one of a servant, godly servant. And so he says here, this is how one should regard us. How should people view us? How should the world see us as servants of Christ and as stewards of the mystery of God?

That's how we should be viewed, not according to our position.

Well, in a way, I think he does identify a position here. This word in the Greek was often used literally to mean an under rower, somebody that was at the bottom of the ship that had to move the oars.

When the captain, right, when somebody up there on the deck, you were underneath doing the work.

You see, and you think of it in those terms, it's the captains. It's the officers that were up commanding everyone and ordering them around. But God wasn't pointing to them. They weren't pointing to the people that sat at the captain's tables. He pointed to the servants. And it's interesting, it wasn't just the fact that they're rowing underneath, but that they were underneath. And that makes a difference when you think about it that way. Servants sit where they can row.

You see, spoons are spoons because they're servants, because they serve. And so it becomes our identity. And that is such a different perspective that God really wants us to grab onto and hold onto and to realize what Christ did for us and the example that He set. Now, it doesn't mean we're not doing these things, because I believe we are.

I believe we are. We want to serve and we want to give, and we do. But I think as we read through these passages, we realize the level that God wants us to become, not just to be satisfied with where we are, but to step it up and even be more adamant about changing and growing and becoming like Christ. And so as a spiritual spoon, we're called to step it up. We're called to raise the bar. We're called to dish out even a bigger helping of spirituality. And so God calls us to be in the service of each other. He calls us to give up trying to have it all and commit to sharing it all, to quit carving up each other and not worried about what's on our plate. But He calls us to start meeting not only the nutritional but the spiritual needs of those that sit around us at the table every single day. And so we're called to dish it up as a spoon. And that means dishing things up for one another, not dissing one another, but dishing one another. How do we dish it up? It would be great to do a study on the one and others because it points to being a spoon servant. The one and others throughout the Bible. Here's just a couple of them. Dish up one another, love one another, Paul said to the Romans, outdo one another in outgoing concern and love, showing honor. It says, live in harmony with one another. That's also in Romans. Agree with one another, Paul told the Corinthians. Have the same care for one another. Encourage one another, he said to the Thessalonicaans. Encourage one another. Be at peace with one another. Seek the advantage of the other, Paul told the Corinthians. Bear one another's burdens. Be kind to one another. Tender-hearted, he told the Ephesians. Teach and admonish one another. Don't be conceited. Don't compete against one another. But be subject to one another.

Love one another. Pray for one another. You see, that's what spiritual spoons do.

And so I hope we'll make it our goal that we can serve it up just a little more.

We're not there yet. We can continue to grow in encouraging others. Can we encourage someone one more time this week? Can we make it our goal to complement, to show love, to show honor, to show respect, to worship God a little bit more this week? Can we commit ourselves maybe to make sure we're here on the Sabbath, to worship God, to encourage one another, to fellowship with maybe it means staying just a little bit longer, maybe it means driving just a little bit farther. Can we do that? Can we step it up to the next level, that godly spiritual level of dishing up a bigger helping of spirituality? I think we can. I think we've been called to do that very thing. In fact, it's amazing to look at how even the Father identified with His Son, not just saw Him as this particular individual, but recognized His identity.

And it's over in Acts 3, verse 13. It's not the only place that it occurs, but it's amazing to see that not only did Christ see Himself as this and set that perfect example so that we should see ourselves in the same manner, but even the Father had the same perspective. Acts 3, verse 13. Here we're shown very clearly here in Acts 3, verse 13. Here Peter is identifying this and makes this known to us. He kind of paints the big picture, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers. We're talking about God the Father. What did He do? He glorified... He doesn't say just Jesus. He doesn't say His Son, but here it points to who He is. He glorified His servant, Jesus. And that's where the Father identified His Son. His identity, His very being, is in a servant. Jesus identified Himself as a servant. He summed up His whole ministry and defined His leadership by being a servant. And Jesus defined that servanthood by not just what we do, not just what we say, but who we are. And so that's our goal. He said He didn't come to serve or to be served, but to serve. And so that's our calling. Can we more fully put on that attitude to be and become that kind of service, putting on the mind of Christ? We can. We can do this with God's help. And that's our calling, to take it to the bigger serving level. So God called us to do that. So it's not about success, our personal success, our personal influence, but being that servant that defines our calling. So let's do that. Let's be dedicated followers of Christ and dish up a big helping of true servanthood. Let's be a spoon.