Back in the 1930s, Radio was King, and TV hadn’t caught on yet. Radio was the main way people got news and entertainment. I remember my dad telling me about my grandfather. Granddad loved the Lone Ranger, and he would get off the tractor and run to the house when that show came on so that he could sit in front of the radio in time to hear “Hi Ho Silver. Away!” And my granddad would be glued to that radio for the next 30 minutes.
Most programs back then were live (not pre-recorded). And so, in 1936, (I’ve read) that there was a major incident in a NY radio station. There was an important message being transmitted from England, and just a few minutes before it was air, somebody tripped over the main wire and snapped it in two. The staff was frantic.
That broken wire had been the station’s only connection to receive that major broadcast - and now it was broken - and if something wasn’t done quickly, in moments, the air would go dead and the program would never be heard. It was just then, that an apprentice grabbed the 2 broken ends of the wire and (thru his body) bridged the gap and the broadcast was saved. When I heard that… I thought “Sure. That’s not gonna happen.” But then (online) I found a copy of the NY Times article that told of a similar incident 6 years earlier.(https://www.nytimes.com/1930/01/22/archives/man-grasps-broken-wires-to-complete-circuit-so-radio-audience-may.html)
It was an APPRENTICE who saved the day for the radio station. It was an apprentice that used his body to allow the message to be heard.
An apprentice is a person who learns a trade or craft from a skilled professional, and then they go on to be skilled professionals themselves. Electricians have apprentices. So do Plumbers, Construction companies, Health Care Suppliers and more. Apprentices are often trained ON the job, and in addition, there are also classroom teaching as well. So, when their apprenticeship is completed that person has learned an important skill or trade.
You know, Jesus had an apprenticeship program. He chose 12 UNskilled men … and became their mentor for 3 years. And when Jesus was done with them those 12 apprentices became the bedrock for the church. They became the men who guided and protected God’s people. And they literally turned the world upside down - all because Jesus had worked with them for 3 years.
Now here in II Timothy, we find Paul telling Timothy to get himself some apprentices. “What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:2
Why did Paul tell Timothy to do that? Why tell Timothy to ENTRUST what he’d learned about Christ to faithful men? Well… because that’s the game plan for the Church. That’s how the church is supposed to function.
Before Jesus ascended into heaven (after His resurrection), He told His followers: “Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20) "Make disciples!" That’s 1st century talk for – GET YOURSELF an apprentice! Find somebody that you can train to be part of the bedrock of the congregation. Take what you know, and train someone to serve Jesus.
In Matthew 28 Jesus is telling us that that’s how the church is supposed to work. As far as Jesus is concerned – You’re either on the outside looking in. You’re a non-Christian trying to figure out whether you want was Jesus has offered; OR you’re an apprentice (trainee). You’re being trained to become part of what makes the church a powerhouse for Christ; OR you’re a mentor (coach). You’re supposed to find people to train/ challenge as apprentices you can help to grow in Christ.
ILLUS: Years ago, there was a man at a church I served who came up to me and said: “I don’t know why more Christians aren’t like me.” And he went on to list the various things he did in church. And he DID do a lot in the church. But you could tell he was bragging. He really didn’t care that others weren’t serving like he was. He just wanted me …to know he was BETTER than others in church.
I prayed about that for a bit… and then I remembered a Scripture from 2 Corinthians 3:18 that says: “We all, with open face beholding as in a glass (in a mirror) the glory of the Lord. (We) are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (KJV)” When I read that scripture, an image of a staircase came to mind: From GLORY TO GLORY – step by step - we climb closer to the image of God. And the idea is… that the longer I walk with Jesus, the further up the staircase I’ll go, and the more I take on the image of God.
Now I told my friend that I agreed that he WAS doing a LOT for Church - but he was missing something, because he was like 4 or 5 steps up the staircase, and he was looking around and getting upset because others hadn’t gotten as far up the staircase as he had. I explained that he could sit around and complain (which wouldn’t do a bit of good) or he could do something about it. He could look around and find ways to encourage those others to climb up to where he was. And then he could look further up the staircase and find those who were doing more than he was, and then maybe get their help to climb further up himself.
That’s what Hebrews 10:24 means when it says: “let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” STIR ONE ANOTHER UP; SPUR ONE ANOTHER ON; CHALLENGE EACH OTHER!
ILLUS: At the first church I served I was teaching a young couple’s Sunday School class, and we were talking about ways to help the church grow. There were 2 businessmen in the class that were friends of each other and one said to the other: “I tell you what Fred. I’ll invite at least 5 people to church this week if you will. And next week we can compare notes to see which of us invited more people to come worship with us.”
What was that man doing? He was challenging his friend to do something for Jesus. And YOU could do that! In fact, this church does do that… a lot. The Elders find apprentices to do communion meditations. They’ll find a man who loves Jesus and can talk about it and they CHALLENGE them up front to try it.
And BJ and others have found “apprentices” to work in the sound booth and she challenges them to learn the sound board/equip.
When Barb Roller started her “SHUT-IN” project she found 2 apprentices she could work with keep in contact with folks who were shut-in or hadn’t been to Church. She CHALLENGED them (and you) to contact people and minister to them.
ILLUS: Years ago my sister Donna Mae was part of a congregation in Northern Indiana, and she was part of a couple’s Sunday School class there. The teacher had just moved away and they were struggling to find a new teacher. All eyes turned to Donna… because she knew so much about the Bible. They insisted that she become their teacher. The problem was she knew of the passage in I Timothy that says a woman should not teach or have authority over a man and so she didn’t feel comfortable being a teacher in that class where it was MEN and women. But the class needed a teacher, and they couldn’t find anybody as good as Donna. So, she prayed about it and came back to the class with a challenge. She said “I’ll be your teacher for 6 months … under 1 condition. I want to work with these 2 men (she pointed to them) to train them to learn what I know. And after 6 months I expect them to take over.” And over the next 2 months, she acquainted these men with resources they could use and periodically had them take over the class. In 6 months, she was able to “retire” and let these men be the teachers.
The key point is this: you either become an apprentice, or become a tutor, because that’s how Jesus views the church: You’re either on the outside looking in. You’re a non-Christian trying to figure out whether you want was Jesus has offered; OR you’re an apprentice/ trainee where you’re being trained to become part those who help make the church a powerhouse for Christ; OR you’re a mentor/ coach who should be finding people to CHALLENGE/ TRAIN as apprentices.
The question for you this morning is – which one are you?
That’s a hard question for a lot of people, because they’ve NOT been taught that they have to do anything more. All they have to do is show up for worship on Sunday morning and they’ve met their responsibility to Jesus. And that’s why a lot of churches become weak… and eventually die - because a lot of folks have believed they don’t have to do anything. After all - that’s someone else’s job.
Someone has once said that the Church is the army of God, and as in any army there’s always a few that don’t contribute. They don’t really want to do anything because they don’t sense the urgency. In the church, there’s often people who don’t think that it’s that important that the church succeeds - so they just don’t do very much.
But it is important to Jesus. Jesus said “Upon this rock (Peter’s confession that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God) I will build my church. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Jesus established His church so that you and I can storm the gates of Hell. We have been saved to be part of a mighty army … in a mighty conflict. And we are here to win!
ILLUS: According to one source: During WWII, each front-line soldier needed 8 support people to meet their needs. Each day, he needed 96 bullets, 6 pounds of food & up to 20 pints of water. Those needs basically amounted to 1 ton of material, food and water each month. For every yard he advanced a soldier needed that team of 18 support troops, clerks and cooks, mechanics and medics to service his needs. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faVjvreNHGQ – begin at timestamp 44:02)
Our nation helped win that conflict… because our people showed up and stepped up. There were folks who may not have been able to be soldiers on the front line, but, for every soldier on the front line there were 18 people who said I will do what I can do to win this fight!
Now, for much of this church I’m preaching to the choir. That phrase means that the preacher is preaching to the choir to sing. But the choir already does that… it sings. That’s why they’re in the choir! And so when I preach to you folks, most of you are already IN THE CHOIR. You’re already training people to do things for Christ - or you’re already trying to mentor someone else to do SING for Jesus.
So let’s go back to my point: Jesus views the church as being made up of Folks on the outside looking in; OR as apprentices/ trainees …training to be servants for Christ; OR as mentors/ coaches who find people to TRAIN as apprentices.
WHICH ONE ARE YOU? If you don’t know you need to figure it out, because Jesus counts on YOU being one of those people who help make the church be the church.
CLOSE: Going back to my opening illustration, there were a couple things I didn’t tell you. The broadcast was a major speech by King Edward VIII of England, and – as I said – it was an apprentice (a man in training) who saved the day. It was an apprentice who used his body to allow the message of the King was heard. It was only because he took his role seriously that he even tried to fix the problem. But he stepped up, and because he stepped up and did what needed done, the message of the King was heard.
Are you one of those who steps up to make sure the message of YOUR king is heard?
INVITATION
