God Needs More of You
Text: Matthew 9:35-38
35 Jesus traveled through all the cities and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And wherever he went, he healed people of every sort of disease and illness.
36 He felt great pity for the crowds that came, because their problems were so great and they didn’t know where to go for help. They were like sheep without a shepherd.
37 He said to his disciples, "The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few.
38 So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send out more workers for his fields."
Subject: God Needs More of You
There is a story of a drill sergeant who was putting his troops through some rigorous training exercises. "Lie on your backs," he barked. "Raise up your legs. Now move them as if you’re riding a bicycle.” At this last command, there was one soldier who held his legs motionless, "What’s your problem?" asked the drill sergeant. "I’m coasting downhill," answered the man.
The sad reality of the church is that after just a few rigorous exercises it looks to sit back and coast downhill. When we finish one big project, we don’t want to continue and move on to the next project, full steam ahead. Instead, we want to sit back, relax, and coast down hill. When we are successful with one endeavor, we want to bask in the ambiance of that success instead of moving toward the next successful venture that GOD has in place for us. And what happens is we get tangled up in the waves of a sea of complacency.
There was a time in our not too distant past that when you drove up to any service station for gas and you would not have to get out of your car for anything. Someone would come to your car; they would fill you up with gas, check your oil, clean your windshields, and take your money and give you your change. This was called full service. You sat there complacent, doing nothing, while someone else did all the work. But today, when you get to the gas station, you have to pump your own gas. You have to check your own oil. You have to wash your own windshields. And what that has done is caused drives to come up from complacency and into action. Likewise, on this Sunday morning, Father’s Day 2006, I want to call you back into full-service action, because God needs more of you.
The job of the church, my brothers and sisters, is not to impact the church, but to impact the world. Our job is to go outside the church and make a difference in our communities. It’s like a huddle in a football game. 90,000 people at an Auburn Game do not pay in excess of $30 per ticket to watch the Tigers stand around in a huddle. Can you imagine going to Jordan-Hare Stadium for the Auburn-Alabama Football game and for 2 ½ hours you watched 11 Tigers and 11 Tidesmen stand around in a circle and talk? That’s not what you paid for!! 90,000 people pay $30+ per ticket to see what difference the huddle makes. They want to know if the play that was called in private is going to work in public.
The challenge for the church is not what we do when we call our Sunday morning huddle. The challenge for the church is not what we decide to do when we call our huddle in board meeting or church conference. But the challenge for the church is what we do after we break our huddle. So, I want to show you this morning that God needs more of you individually, collectively, and numerically.
First of all, God needs more of you individually. Every one in this church is different. Everyone has different skills, different likes, and different dislikes. Everyone in this church has a purpose that is designed by God just for them. Even our Lord and Savior Jesus had a purpose and a mission. He had an individual mission because God needed Him to work individually. His mission could be fulfilled by nobody but Him. In order for Him to fulfill His mission, He had to take responsibility for His own actions and make Himself accountable to God. That’s why we hear Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, “not my will, but thine will be done.” He was telling God that it’s not about me, but it’s all about you.
Individually, Jesus had to endure suffering and hardship. Individually, Jesus had to place the weight of the world upon His shoulders. Individually, Jesus had to travel from place to place, healing the sick and raising the dead. Individually, Jesus had to cause miracles to happen so that people would believe in Him and believe in God. Individually, Jesus had to challenge the religious scholars who were all about themselves and not about the people or God’s business.
In our text, Jesus was completing a part of His individual assignment as he was traveling to all of the cities of that area, teaching and announcing the good news about the kingdom of God. Wherever He went He would heal the people of all sorts of diseases and infirmities. He was on an individual, divine assignment.
And just like Jesus, when we pick up the blood-stained banner, we’ve got to fulfill our individual assignment. That assignment may require each of us individually to go through some suffering and hardship. That assignment may require each of us to lay hands on the sick and to call those to life that are spiritually dead. That assignment may even require to you as an individual to pray in such a way that God is moved and blesses through a miracle. If we are going to work for God as individuals, then we must heed the words that Jesus said to His disciples: "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me.” Have I got a witness here?
But even Jesus realized that there was more work to do than He could handle all by Himself. He realized that there were too many sheep running around in a state of confusion because they had no shepherd. So He called in His disciples to push a collective initiative.
That brings me to my next point: God needs more of you collectively. What I learned a long time ago is that I can’t lift up a car all by myself. But oh, if I have just a little bit of help, if I have just a few willing and able, strong men on my side, I may be able to lift up a car and then some. In other words, there are going to come times when the project is too big for me to handle all by myself. I must then realize that I’m going to need some help. It then becomes a collective effort and not just an individual one. I know that some of us, especially us men folk, have trouble asking for help. We like to do our own thing and like to get all of the credit and glory when we’re finished. But I just stopped by to let our men know today that it’s okay to ask for help. When you’re lost, it’s okay to stop and ask for directions. When you’ve lost your instructions, it’s okay to ask your buddy who’s already put together the same thing that you’re working on. But more importantly, when you’re having trouble in your home – when you’re having problems with your wife or your children – it’s okay to seek advise from one of the elders. Their help can be the difference between your life coming together or falling to pieces.
Additionally, my brothers and sisters, we must always remember that we are here on earth to advance the kingdom of our Savior by any means necessary. It’s never about us, but it’s about uplifting the name of Jesus. Our individual glory is irrelevant. Personal accolades are insignificant. But it’s all about the team. It’s all about the church achieving its mission collectively. Individually we are just a part of the collective whole. That means that we are dependent upon each other. My accomplishments depend upon you succeeding. Your success depends upon how well I do my part. We are all individuals, but our goal requires a collective effort.
The Apostle Paul related this concept to the workings of our own bodies. In verses 4 and 5 of the 12th Chapter of the book of Romans, Paul writes:
4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are all parts of his one body, and each of us has different work to do. And since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others.
We need each other. We are dependent upon one another. I can’t make it unless you make it. You can’t make it unless I make it. That is the concept that we have to get into our heads. We’ve got to reject the crab mentality. A crab will pull another crab back into the barrel. But my brothers and sisters, we’re not crabs, so, we shouldn’t go around acting like we are. We should be lifting up one another and not pulling one another down. We should love one another as Christ so loves us. Your life is depending on it!
You don’t believe that? Not your life? You think you can love who you want to love and leave out those you don’t want to love? Well I’ve got news for you from 1 John, Chapter 4, versus 7 and 8. The Bible says:
7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God – for God is love.
Let me see if I can make this even plainer. John is saying that if you don’t extend love to others, then you don’t know God. If you don’t know God, then when it comes time to enter Heaven, God tell you what the bridegroom told the foolish virgins: I don’t know you, you can’t come in. Have I got a witness?
So God needs more of you individually, and then God needs more of you collectively.
Finally, my brothers and sisters, God needs more of you numerically. In other words, he needs more people to provide service in the church. He needs more people that are willing to go out and visit the sick and the shut in. He needs more people who are willing to go out and evangelize to all who don’t know the Lord. He needs more people who are willing to serve on the Usher Board. He needs more people who are willing to sing in the choir. He needs more people who are willing to work in the kitchen. He needs more people that don’t mind staying for afternoon programs and supporting the church. He even needs more people who are willing to be of service to the pastor.
It seems like most churches operate at the expense of the remnant. There could be two or three hundred members on the roll, but only 50 members support the church and its mission. Most churches operate with just a handful of people who are doing all of the work, although everybody is trying to get some of the credit. Most churches operate with just a handful of people who are willing to make a sacrifice, not only financially, but also of their time and their talent.
But on this father’s day, God is calling his men and his fathers on active duty. He’s drafting you to go to service. And he’s drafting the men folk first because you are the head. He gave man dominion over everything which means that God placed man to be in charge. Now it’s time for you to step up to the plate. It’s your turn at bat. Your daddy and granddaddy had their turn, but now it’s your turn. You’ve watched others work, but now it’s your turn. You watched others participate, but now it’s your turn. Is there anybody here that’s ready to step up and be all that the Lord wants you to be, you ought to say “yes!”
But not only is he calling the men folk – God is calling women folk too! He needs more willing women workers. When I was growing up, there was a group at the church called Willing Workers. They got in where they could fit in. Whatever needed to be done, if it wasn’t assigned to any body else, the Willing Workers would pick up the task and make sure that what needed to be done got done. And that’s what God needs in the church of today. He needs some willing workers. Have I got a witness here?
We’ve got a few people who have already made up their minds that they’re going to serve the Lord until the day they die. But I’m here to tell you this morning, that God needs a few more good men and a few more good women who are willing to join the fight. He needs people that are willing to give more of themselves.
Yes he knows and understands that you’re working all week long. God knows and he understands that you’ve got personal financial responsibilities. God knows and he understands that you need rest from time to time and its hard sometimes for you to get out and wholeheartedly support things at the church. But I stopped by with a message from the Lord. God told me to ask you, who is it that gave you your job? Who is it that provides for all of your needs? Who is it that gives you time to do some of the finer things in life? Who is it that gives so much to you and asks so little in return?
My brothers and sisters, as I get ready to leave you today, you’ve got to know that God needs more of you. He needs more of you individually. He needs more of you collectively. And He needs more of you numerically.
I don’t want this to be your motivating factor, but there is a reward in working for the Lord. Luke 23:41 says that there is a “due reward of our deeds.” Paul expresses in his first letter to the church at Corinth, chapter 3 and verse 8 that “every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.” That’s why it’s essential that we run this race with endurance. We’ve got to run on when we’re tired. We’ve got to run on when we’re hurting and in pain. We’ve got to run on when we feel like it. And when we don’t feel like it, that’s when we’ve got to press our way through. Have I got a witness?
In the words of the old Negro spiritual and the fight song of the civil rights movement, “we can’t let nobody turn us around.” The harvest is great, but the laborers are few. Are you willing to step up for God, like Jesus stepped up for you? For when you were without hope, Jesus stepped up for you.
He stepped up by taking a beating all the way up Golgotha’s hill. The Bible says that He was bruised for our iniquity but by His stripes we are healed.
He stepped up by receiving nails in his hands and feet. These same nail prints proved to be the deciding factor in Thomas believing that Jesus had truly risen from the dead.
He stepped up by not coming down off the cross when a thief challenged him – telling Him that if He were the Messiah He should save Himself and them too. But can’t you see Him telling the other thief, the wretch undone like you and I, today, you will be with me in Paradise.
He stepped up by pleading to His Father in His dying hour, Lord, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
He stepped up when they put Him in Joseph’s brand new tomb. Because instead of resting, He went down into the pits of hell and released the captives so that death would have no more hold on mankind. Instead we can have life and have it more abundantly.
But then my Brothers and Sister, let me tell you what happened: The Bible says that early in morning on the first day of the week, in other words it was early one Sunday morning, just before the break of day, the earth began to tremble around Jesus’ graveside, and as the bright light shone from heaven, Jesus stepped up and stepped out of that old borrowed tomb with all power in His hands.
Do you know He’s got power that’s waiting just for you? If you give more of yourself individually, He’s got power to bless your giving. If you give more of yourself collectively, He’s got power to bless you collective efforts. And if you give more of yourself numerically, He’s got limitless power to bless as many as comes to Him.
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