“Care Givers of the Cure Giver”
Luke 9:10-17
October 21st, 2001
Many churches open their worship services with a responsive call to worship that goes like this: The pastor calls to the congregation, “The Lord be with you”, and then the people respond, “and also with you.” Responses such as these become a comforting habit to everyone. So much of a habit that sometimes we respond automatically, even when the response may not be very appropriate.
I know of a preacher who always begins his worship services with “The Lord be with you”, and the people know to respond, “and also with you”. But one Sunday as the preacher stood in the pulpit he realized that the microphone wasn’t on. And so, looking up at the sound man he declared, “There’s something wrong with this microphone”, and the congregation responded “and also with you”.
That wasn’t exactly how he intended to begin worship, but it was certainly the truth. Not only is there something wrong with him, there is something wrong with us too. We all come to this worship service as if we are carrying some kind of heavy baggage.
For some of us the bags we carry are so old that they are worn and frayed, but they are still heavy and still cause us to drag. Maybe that old bag is full of childhood memories of an abusive parent. Maybe the bag we carry is of the loss of a loved one, or the failure of a marriage, or even a business failure, they all weigh heavily on us.
Or the bag you have brought with you today may be something you picked up on the way, a brand spanking new bag. Maybe you read the paper this morning and there saw the latest atrocity. Maybe on the way here you dozed for a moment at the light and the fella behind you proclaimed to the world in horn and sign language your momentary lapse.
For many of you parents there are too many Sundays when the morning begins with a contest of wills between you and your kids. You win when you get them here, even if it is late, but you lose because they are stinkers the whole time. All of us who have had children understand. We all want our children to be in church, but sometimes it’s almost too much.
Baggage, something that’s wrong, a pain that tints the day gray and taints the best smile. We all have our baggage. We do because we all live in a fallen world. And that world starts dumping on us almost before we can walk. That’s why the Lord gave us the church, to help us with the baggage.
Little Linus was watching cartoons when sister Lucy came into the room and demanded he change the channel to her favorite. Linus said to her, “What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?” “These five fingers”, says Lucy. “Individually they are nothing, but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold.” “What channel do you want?” asks Linus. Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, “Why can’t you guys get organized like that?”
The best description I ever heard for the church is that it’s a hospital organized for sinners. We are not perfect. Just like all the rest of the world, we are hurt people, and we hurt people. But thanks be to God, at least we know the grace of Christ, and are doing our best to be graceful to each other and to our neighbors.
Church should be a place where there is hope, where there is relief. Church should be the place where you can come and know that you are loved and important. Church should be a place where one day you will be able to take some of that baggage and, with God’s help, shove it in the dumpster of forgetfulness. St. Timothy is not always that church, but most of the time we are giving it our best shot.
The task of being the church of Jesus Christ is a huge challenge. So many people, so much need, so much hurt. We do our human best. Here at St. Timothy we have so many people dedicated to helping. Twenty-five shepherds, 7 active Stephen Ministers and 10 others in reserve, 11 Elders, 9 Deacons, 25 + Sunday School Teachers, and 12 committee chairs with dozens and dozens of hard working members.
We do our human best to be the church our Lord wants us to be. But if that’s all we do, our human best, then we are doomed to fail because we are just human, and just as needy as the people we seek to serve. What we need is a miracle, and that’s exactly what the Lord wants to do in us, but first we must trust him.
The miracle of the feeding of the 5000 is in all four gospels. Some theologians feel compelled to explain it away, but I think it’s the simple truth. I think Jesus took five little loaves of bread and two fishes, asked God’s blessings on them, and then gave them to the disciples to distribute to the hungry crowd …. everybody ate till they were filled, and twelve baskets were left over.
The odds were 5,000 to 7 that those people were going to eat, but they did, and then some. Why? Because the disciples understood that they were completely unable to satisfy the needs of the 5,000.
Now, I don’t want to give the disciples any more credit than they are due. I don’t think they expected Jesus to feed that crowd either. And I don’t think Jesus felt any particular urgency to provide the crowd a free lunch. But Jesus saw it as a valuable teaching opportunity for his disciples, and that includes us.
Let me share with you what I think Jesus is teaching all of us today. This is for all of us, but Shepherds, Stephen Ministers, all of you who serve the church, pay close attention.
Lesson #1: We will never be adequate to the call of Christ. Jesus said to the disciples, “You give them something to eat”. It was an impossible task! They had neither the food, nor the money to buy the food.
The message is clear, when we minister for Jesus we will have to do -- what we can’t do -- with what we don’t have. We will never be adequate to the task. And that’s exactly the way Jesus wants it to be because he wants us to depend on him. When we depend on him instead of our own selves it doesn’t matter what the odds are.
Lesson #2: The Lord wants great things for us, but we must remember who we are. At our best we are only going to be a little boy’s lunch. Five loaves and two fishes, not enough to feed one hungry man. When we begin to think that we are great, that we can do our work without the Lord’s input, it’s then that we set ourselves up for failure.
Lesson #3: In the hands of Jesus five little loves and two little fish can be a banquet for thousands, but only if we put it in his hands. What we must learn to do is bring what we have to Jesus. Jesus alone is adequate for the task and only when we trust him and his resources will we be able to do what he calls us to do.
No pastor, no shepherd or Stephen Minister ever goes to the aid of a friend feeling completely adequate to meet their needs. If we are adequate to the task then either the task we have taken on is too small, or it’s a task Jesus hasn’t given us. The power to make a difference comes from Jesus, not from us. You can apply that principle to your ministry, but it also applies at home in your family relationships, at work as you give of your best, or at school.
We are never adequate to do the Lord’s will.
We must never forget who we are.
Jesus alone makes our lives adequate.
“There is something wrong with this congregation.” And the people said: “And also with you.” But there is something beautifully right with Jesus. With him we are more than we ever imagined we could be. Amen.
