Help Wanted
It is the time of year in our congregation where we are seeking nominations for various church boards. Even though our local church is a good size; it seems to be an ongoing struggle to get people to help with the ministries of the Church. It is not just our church that sees this issue. We face this lack of willing workers with various town organizations who are looking for volunteers to run programs.
What’s with the lack of service attitude that seems to be increasingly prevalent today? The standard answer people give is that they “are too busy”.
Having just come off of a few weeks of doing report cards, having multiple extra school meetings, and being sick; I can relate to the mentality of having too much on my plate and not being willing to do anything extra. Even just sitting down to write this blog post is a challenge as the fatigue of the week settles in.
Why do I continue? Because Jesus asks me to.
My Scripture reading this week took me to these words in the Gospel of Matthew:
“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.” (Matthew 9:35-38 NIV)
The following chapter in Matthew details how the 12 disciples were to be part of the answer to that prayer. These were ordinary men who were given a unified purpose – to share the Gospel message and to also have the authority to heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out demons as Jesus did. They had Jesus’ purpose and power.
These 12 men were given a tall order – don’t take extra clothes or food, rely on the people you meet to supply your needs, do not take any money with you, don’t worry about being called up in front of government officials.
That is true, but they are also given something else – Jesus tells them that they will be given all they need, including the words to say (these words not being their own but the Holy Spirit speaking through them).
So, what does all this have to do with us? It means that the need to be God’s instrument to His people is still active and necessary. Does that mean that we just go out without direction or purpose? Certainly not.
When God calls us into His service, He provides us with a particular task or tasks to do. While He does challenge us to grow and develop, He does not want to see us overloaded. When we ask Him, our Lord will give us discernment to know which areas we need to tackle.
The 12 apostles didn’t have a particular measure of faith – they had moments of their faith weaknesses. They weren’t especially talented. What they all did share was their overarching desire to obey Jesus and follow Him.
That is what we need today – obedience to Jesus. He doesn’t want unwilling workers. Jesus wants us to serve Him with our whole hearts. While we might be hampered by what we see as our inadequacies, Jesus sees these as opportunities for growth. His power will be demonstrated in our weakness.
We are challenged today not to answer “I’m too busy” when Jesus calls. Instead, ask Him how He wants you to order your days and help minister in His kingdom.
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