January 29, 2017 Building Your Ministry

Today we conclude the series of messages based upon the theme of Building.  I hope you have found them helpful.  I kept thinking of other messages that could be added to the series but I had gone on long enough; perhaps sometime in the future I will return to the theme.  

Next week I will begin a short series of messages on prayer, and then we will have a series of messages about people changed by Jesus, focusing, primarily, upon the people he encountered as he was on his way to Jerusalem and his crucifixion and resurrection. 

This morning, as we conclude the series on Building, we come to the message of Building Your Ministry.  Our text is selected verses from Matthew’s gospel, chapter 10.  It would be helpful for you to take some time and read through the entirety of that chapter when you have a few minutes. 

Matthew 10:1, 5, 7, 8-11, 16-20, 22, 29-31, 40, 42

1 Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions:

7 “As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’

8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.  Freely you have received; freely give.

9 “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts—

10 no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep.

11 Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave.

16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

17 Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues.

18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.

19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say,

20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

22 You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.

30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

40 “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.

42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”

1.  You are called to be a minister.

I really enjoyed listening to Chrissy’s this morning, as she shared about her trip to the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area to help in the ministry of the Smoky Mountain Resort Ministries (http://smrmnews.blogspot.com).  I am grateful for the ministry she did on her trip, and when she was in that area earlier in her life.

It is important to understand that all people are called by God to be a minister.  I hope you noticed that I underlined the word your in the title of this message. That is a way of reminding us that ministry is not something that is reserved for only a few, but is a calling given by God to everyone.  It is not just my calling, but your calling.  It is not just my ministry, but your ministry. It is not just the ministry of the church that we talk about, or my ministry that we talk about, or the ministry of someone else that we’re talking about, but your ministry. 

In October we will recognize the 500^th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.  One of the legacies of the Reformation is the priesthood of all believers.  The Reformation brought to us the idea that all people are ministers, not just those who serve in a vocational sense.  It’s not that vocational ministry isn’t important; it certainly is, but lay ministry is of incredible importance and is an idea what we too easily overlook.

My older brother, Ed, is also a minister.  He and his wife, Jodi, are co-pastors at Old Union Christian Church in Jamestown, Indiana.  My younger brother, Matt, has been studying for ministry off and on in recent years.  People often ask me if our father was a minister.  Perhaps I should say, no, he wasn’t, but our mother is.  Although my mother is not a vocational minister, she could be, because we affirm that women can be ministers.  Our father, however, wasn’t a minister.  He was a steel worker, a gunsmith, a sign painter, an engraver, did tractor work for hire, and any number of other jobs to support his family.  But near the end of his life he told me he was thinking of entering the ministry.  My father had a beautiful tenor voice and was sometimes asked to sing at other churches.  He began to offer a few words along with the songs he sang, and I think it stirred in him a sense of calling.  He didn’t live long enough to become a vocational minister in the way he thought he might, but he was a minister nonetheless, and I am in ministry in large part because of his influence.

     People understand the idea of a calling, generally, to be reserved for what we refer to as vocational ministers, such as myself.  Calling, in the minds of many, is a rather narrow term that applies to ministers, pastors, missionaries, chaplains, and, perhaps, a few others, but not to the ordinary person.  Nothing could be further from the truth!  Every person has a calling upon their life from God, and because they have a calling upon their life, they have a ministry as well.

Matthew writes that Jesus called his disciples to him.  That word, called, has a very specific meaning.  It doesn’t mean to just hang out – hey guys, what do you want to do today.  The word call has a very specific meaning.  It means to set aside for a particular purpose.  It carries the idea of commissioning.  Jesus called his disciples.  The disciple were ordinary people.  The disciples were not seminary trained.  They were not ordained.  The disciples were ordinary people.

In the early years of our marriage, I would often accompany Tanya to her office gatherings.  As conversations usually go, they would turn quickly to the question of vocation, and I was often asked what do you do?  I would reply, of course, that I am a minister, to which the surprising reply would often be, and what do you do the rest of the week?  Perhaps some people do not understand the work of a minister, not realizing that we have a great deal of work to do during the week.  And, in the years since, I have wondered if I should have answered their question with a few of my own – what do you do when you aren’t working?  What is your calling?  What do you do with the rest of your life?  In what ways are you ministering to others?

I would be in some kind of ministry whether or not I was a vocational minister, because my primary calling is not to serve in ministry vocationally, but to do ministry in the name of Jesus because I am his follower.  There are days when I think back fondly on the time of my life when I was not a vocational minister, not because I don’t like being a minister, but because I really enjoyed doing ministry as a lay person.  I think it is a wonderful gift that you are able to do ministry as lay people. 

2.  Ministry is not easy.

You know what’s great about people?  People.  You know what’s tough about people?  People.  Ministry is not easy because the lives of people are not always easy, and becoming involved in their lives is not easy.

  Listen again to the words of Jesus as he commissions his disciples to go out and do ministry –

16 I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

17 Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues.

18 On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.

19 But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say,

20 for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

22 You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Does that sound like a good way to motivate volunteers?  Can you imagine a church nominating committee taking that approach?  Here’s the reality, however – life is complicated.  Life can be messy.  Life can be difficult.  We can be complicated.  We can be difficult.  Stepping into the life of another person is not always easy and it is not for the faint of heart, and yet it is something that is not only very badly needed, but expected of us as we are called to do ministry.

I love what I do as a vocational minister, but I don’t always find it easy.  I know you don’t always find it easy to do your ministries, but you continue to do them.  A sense of calling propels us forward in spite of the struggles, in spite of the difficulties, and in spite of the frustrations, because it is such a gift; such a beautiful gift.

3.  Don’t be afraid to be a minister.

So don’t be afraid, Jesus says in verse 31.  Wow.  Imagine what we could do if fear were not such a presence in our lives.

Fear was a great obstacle to me when I was grappling with my sense of call.  I was a very shy kid.  I was very introverted.  I was the kid that was in the back of a classroom just hoping to blend in with the woodwork.  I was the one in the hallway at school simply trying to get through the day without being noticed.  I was the one sometimes sitting by myself in the cafeteria.  As I began to sense a call to ministry, the idea of dealing with so many people and in such public ways was totally unimaginable to me.  And when I did begin ministry, in the early years I even worried that I was in ministry, perhaps, as a way to deal with my being shy and introverted.

And, to be honest, that sense of fear has never totally left me. I don’t get as nervous performing ministerial responsibilities as I did in the past, but I can assure you that I still get nervous.  It makes me nervous to stand before the congregation and preach and lead worship.  There are times I stand here and get really nervous about what I feel led to say.  There are times when I stand up to speak at a funeral and feel terrified about trying to sum up someone’s life in a few minutes. 

Fear is for me, and I suspect for all of us, a constant companion.  Fear never goes away, but calling can supersede fear.  Fear may be ever-present in our lives, but it doesn’t have to control our lives.  Someone once told me that courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to overcome it.  I like that expression, and I think of it often.  Jesus knew his disciples would feel fear.  He knew they were going out on a difficult and challenging mission.  He knows we are as well, and he knows we will be fearful, but tells us, just as he told the disciples, don’t be afraid.

Keep your eyes and ears open and sharp this week.  Look for those opportunities to minister that God places in your path.  You may be the person someone needs.  You are, after all, a minister!