Here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:
3For I am saying, by the grace given to me, to all the ones being among you, not to think too highly of yourself, from what it is necessary to think, but to think into being sensibly minded, as God has given to each a measure of faith..
I’m still nursing on this simple but amazing verse. I think it is one of those verses which are easy to read glibly by and never really let its bombshells of truth explode in our hearts. My mind is still reeling realizing that the very first issue the Lord addresses in Romans 12 is our pride. That should come as no surprise as our pride is the most fundamental expression of our Adamic nature. It lurks in the shadows behind our every lust and sin. If we truly desire to be like Jesus, we must realize it is our worst enemy and sincerely pray and watch against its deceptive allurement.
This morning I want to especially focus on the last phrase “…as God has given to each a measure of faith.” Obviously, one of the most typical expressions of our pride, of our “thinking too highly of ourselves,” is found in not realizing or truly appreciating that God has given to each person “a measure of faith.” No matter how gifted or talented anyone is, no one “has it all.” The truth is we all need each other.
To this point, I am struck by the quote, “Ask not for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” This famous line traces back to the 17th-century English poet John Donne. In his 1624 Meditation XVII, Donne wrote, "never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee". He was using the tolling of a funeral bell (which was a common practice in days gone by) as reminding us of our human interconnectedness. He was asserting that any loss or death diminishes us all because we are all fundamentally connected. (Most of us recognize the quote from Ernest Hemingway’s novel “For Whom the Bell Tolls”).
Donne was so right. Every death is actually a terrible loss for the rest of us. Since Paul uses the word “faith” and immediately launches into a discussion of spiritual gifts, he likely has those specifically in mind here. I will come back to that, but I’d like to step back and see how this truth embraces all people and should impact our thinking not only at church but also at work, in our families, and everywhere.
“God has given to each a measure…” In Genesis 4:19-22, we read, “Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments and pipes. Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron.” Barely out of the Garden and we see God granting to men different talents. Jabal was apparently good at farming, while his brother Jubal was a musician. Their brother Tubal-Cain was a blacksmith of sorts.
Can we all see how each needed the other? When any one of them died, it was an enormous loss to the others. In fact, it was an enormous loss to you and me as well. What did those guys know that we don’t? What were they able to do that you and I cannot? We’ll never know – because they’re dead. In fact, every human being possesses a unique combination of talents and skills – all of which God gives so that person can in many ways do good to everyone else. Whenever anyone dies, the rest of us are the losers. “…it tolls for thee.”
When I was much younger, I worked on a jobsite where there was an older man who was a plumber. It didn’t take long before I realized how valuable he was. The guy was an amazing plumber, a very hard worker, and just a very pleasant man to know. Then one day he announced he was retiring. I shook his hand and told him I was very happy he could retire and spend more time with his grandkids, but, I had to add, “…but this is a HUGE loss for our industry. You will be very much missed.” And he was, and, in a sense, still is. So is God’s design for every human being. To lose one makes all the rest of us losers.
Someone can ask, “But aren’t there people who die, and we thank God they’re gone?” Because of sin, there will always be people who take the gifts God gave them and use them for evil, not good. Adolf Hitler had some kind of amazing talent for leadership. Because he was so evil, all of humanity can be glad he died. Yet, what if he could have been saved? What if instead, those leadership gifts could have been used for good? In fact, at that very time, there were other men like Winston Churchill in England and Dwight Eisenhower in America who also possessed amazing leadership skills. Where would we be today without them? The truth is we were all the losers first of all that Hitler used his talents for evil, then that he died and took those very valuable talents with him.
“Think of yourselves with sensible judgment, as God has given to everyone a measure of faith.” God gives His gifts and talents to everyone. Every person has a unique ability to do good to everyone else around them. Some may be called to greatness like the Winston Churchills of this world…and then there’s the rest of us. I may feel I have only “five loaves and three fishes” to offer, but what does Jesus say? “Bring them to Me.” Our job is to give those gifts and talents…what Jesus does with them is up to Him!
Think of it – if you and I would be like Jesus, what are we told of Him? “Jesus was a man ordained of God, who went about doing good…” (Acts 10:38). What good did He do? Healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out demons, with His death purchased salvation for the entire world. I can’t do any of those things…but what can I do? I can still be just like Him – I can be determined every day to do whatever I do deliberately, prayerfully seeking to do good for other people.
I am a man. I can go to work every day and realize my goal is to do good. I’m an engineer. I can sincerely try to help small cities and villages to make the best decisions about their infrastructure. I can help them solve problems when they often have no idea what to do. I can deal with the EPA on their behalf. And best of all, I can care about the individual people, try to be supportive, encouraging, respectful. That is precisely why the Lord places MOST of us Christians in this world as simple workers – to infiltrate this brutal, hateful world with little Jesus-people.
The same applies to me as a husband and father and simply as a friend. I’m here to take even the little I possess and to do good for the most people I can all day every day until the Lord takes me home. Few of us needs to be “great.” We may feel we have only one or two simple talents. We just need to hear Jesus say, “Bring them to Me.” He is the one who can bless them and break them and use them to feed thousands. Our job is simply to bring them.
I like what Joseph Parker said: “He made one a painter, another a poet, another a preacher, another a merchantman; he made one woman bright as Elizabeth Barrett Browning, subtle as George Eliot; he made another woman the mother of the house, taking care of everything, cumbered about many things, loving all that belongs to home, and making home the sweetest little church under the sun -- all these are equally the gift of God.”
And why is all that true? Because “God has given to everyone a measure…” Contained in that simple little statement is one of the first and most important ways you and I need to conquer our pride. I am only one of many. I need every single person in this world…and they need me. Every death, every person who uses their gifts for evil, every person who buries their talents in selfishness is a terrible loss for all the rest of us. God, help me not to be one of them.
I need to hear Jesus say, “Do not think too highly of yourself, from what it is necessary to think, but think into being sensibly minded, as God has given to each a measure of faith.”
What if everybody did?
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