OPEN: Several years ago, in London, England the city was besieged with complaints about London’s mass transit system. It seems that the city’s buses tended to drive right past bus stops even though there were customers standing in line waiting to be picked up.
Called upon to explain their actions, the London Transit Authorities released the following statement which has become infamous with public relations departments everywhere. It read:
“It is impossible for us to maintain our schedules if we are always having to stop and pick up passengers.”
APPLY: (pause)… What was wrong with that statement?
Answer: They got their priorities confused. They thought their job was to keep a schedule, when in reality, their job was to pick up passengers and deliver them to their destinations. Because they got their priorities confused, they failed to do that/ for which they were created.
I. What were you created to do?
What did God have in mind when He saved you? (pause…) Ephesians 2:10 tells us that when we were saved we were “created in Christ Jesus to do good works that He prepared in advance for us to do.” In other words… God has something in mind for you to do when He saved you. He saved you to do “good works” He’d prepared ahead of time. But what did He save you to do?
Some people mistakenly believe that God’s purpose in their lives is for them to come & fill a pew every Sunday morning - and that is what they are satisfied doing. They have no intention of doing anything more. That reminded me of a poem I once read:
ILLUS: Once upon a pew I sat and heard the preacher ask,
"We need someone to teach a class, now who will take this task?"
Then God sat down beside me there and said, "Son, that’s for you."
"But, Lord, (said I) to stand before a class is one thing I can’t do.
Now Bill would be the man to call, there’s nothing he won’t do.
I’d rather hear the lesson taught from here upon my pew."
Once upon a pew I sat and heard the preacher ask,
"We need someone to lead the songs, Now who will take this task?"
Then God sat down beside me there and said, "Son, that’s for you."
"But Lord, (said I) to sing before a crowd is one thing I can’t do.
Now Brother King will do the job, there’s nothing he won’t do.
I’d rather hear the music played from here upon my pew."
Once upon a pew I sat and heard the preacher ask,
"I need someone to keep the door, now who will take this task?"
Then God sat down beside me there and said, "Son, that’s for you."
But I replied: “saying things to strangers, Lord, is one thing I can’t do.
Now Tom can talk to people, Lord, there’s nothing he won’t do.
I’d rather someone come to me and greet me on the pew."
As years just seemed to pass me by, I heard that voice no more.
Until one night I closed my eyes and woke on heaven’s shore.
’Twas four of us together there to face eternity.
And God said, "I need just three of you to do a job for me."
"O Lord,” I cried, "I’ll do the job, there’s nothing I won’t do."
But Jesus said, "I’m sorry, Friend, in Heaven there’s no pew."
You see, it’s possible for us to confuse our priorities. There are tasks to be done – and if you and I don’t do them they may not get done.
Now just like the schedule WAS IMPORTANT to the Transit authority in London, so also, going to church IS important for us. But that’s NOT our main priority. Our main priority should be serving Jesus.
II. Some might say – but I’m too busy to serve God right now
Now… I can appreciate that concern.
ILLUS: When we handed out our “ministry sheets” last Sunday, one man handed his in and his wife said “Now before you go signing him up for anything – you be sure to talk to me 1st.”
Why would she say this? Because this is a busy man. And he loves to serve God.
She wasn’t objecting to his being involved in the church… she wanted to make sure he didn’t burn himself out.
We don’t want to burn anybody out. We don’t want to have a FEW people “doing everything in the church. BUT, we do want everybody who can to be doing “something” in the church.
And being too busy with other things in life isn’t really a good excuse…
ILLUS: Back in 1985 Pulpit Helps had the following article written by a preacher:
Recently I approached a member of our church for help in one of our programs. Her reply was: "I do not have the time to give." When I heard her say this I tho’t of the following lines I’d read somewhere:
"God never goes to the lazy or to the idle when He needs men for His service. When He has work to be done He goes to those who are already at work.When God wants a great servant, He calls a busy man
* Moses was busy with his flock at Horeb.
* Gideon was busy threshing wheat by the winepress
* Saul was busy searching for his father’s lost donkeys
* David was busy caring for his father’s sheep.
* Elisha was busy plowing with twelve yoke of oxen
* Nehemiah was busy bearing the King’s wine cup
* Amos was busy following the flock
* Matthew was collecting customs
* AND James and John and Peter and Andrew were out fishing & mending their nets
Now, why would God do that? Why would God pick on “busy” people? Because – when you need work done, you need to find someone who knows how to work. You need to find someone who has shown they can be responsible.
ILLUS: My dad used to say – that when they needed extra workers to help out on the farm – he hated to go down to where the boys were hanging out in the town square.
He used to say: “There was a reason those boys were hanging out down there
– they were lazy and nobody really wanted to hire them.
– They didn’t know how to work.”
The best workers (he said) were the sons and daughters of other farmers in the area. Those kids had grown up working. They knew how to be responsible.
God is looking for “responsible” workers. That’s why Jesus said: "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” Luke 16:10
III. You see, that’s the pattern of how God chooses AND how He trains His people…
Giving a little responsibility and then seeing how we handle it. Then giving more and more tasks in accordance with our faithfulness and abilities.
Let’s reread our passage for this morning – Matthew 4:18-22
“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.
"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him.
Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.”
Now, if you were to read only the Gospel of Matthew on this encounter, you’d think that this was the 1st time, Jesus had ever met Peter, Andrew, James and John. But that’s not true.
The Gospel of John tells us that they had met some time before this, Jesus had met (at least) Andrew and Peter in a different way…
“The next day (after Jesus had been baptized) John (the Baptist) was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God!’
When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, ‘What do you want?’
They said, ‘Rabbi’ (which means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’
‘Come,’ he replied, ‘and you will see.’ So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas’ (which, when translated, is Peter). John 1:35-42
You see – Jesus didn’t just pick 12 men and suddenly employ them as His disciples. IN FACT, the pattern (at least with Peter and Andrew) was gradual.
1. He met with them.
2. He called them
3. He prayed over His choice of them as his followers
4. He worked with them for 3 years
5. And over those 3 years He gave them increasingly difficult assignments
6. Until, at last, at Pentecost, Jesus allowed them to lead and take care of His most precious possession – the Church
You see – that’s how God works.
As one person once said – God doesn’t look at your “ability” God looks for your “availability”
And if you’re “available” God can AND God will do great things through you.
The purpose of this series of sermons is to get your to realize that your purpose (as a Christian) is not fulfilled by going to church and filling a pew… You can ONLY fulfill God’s goal for your life, when you begin to Serve Jesus.
That’s the purpose of these sermons…
NOW, The purpose of these “talent sheets” you have in your bulletin is to find out
1. If you’ve come to the conclusion that you are ready to serve Him now
2. Are you available?
3. And, what are you available to do?
CLOSE: You never know what you can do for God, until you are willing to wait upon Him and be used by Him. Give yourself to God in the small things of this life and wait and watch as He does great things in your life.
Ed Ellington shares this story: Every Sunday for nearly 3 years Walter had a routine. Just before 10:00 AM he would open the doors to the Epworth church building and prepare it for worship. If the weather was cold, he would build a fire in the old wood stove. If it was hot he would open all the windows and distribute the hand fans with a picture of Jesus on one side and an ad for a local funeral home on the other.
Next, Walter would open the Bible located on top of the wooden pulpit and read the selected scripture for that week. Then it would be time for prayer. Often there were folks in the community included on Walter’s list. The latest national and world news would be mentioned. But always, Walter…
… ended every prayer with a plea for God to remember and bless his beloved church.
Every Sunday, Walter had a routine… but what makes this story so unique is that with very few exceptions, Walter began and ended the Sunday morning worship service... all alone.
Alone? Why? Many years ago, Epworth church was built on land donated by a neighboring farmer but if for any reason they stopped meeting regularly - if Walter stopped opening the church building doors every Sunday - the property would revert to the original owners... the Epworth church would cease to exist.
So what was the big deal? If Walter was the only one bothering to attend, let him go somewhere else OR stay at home. Why not face the inevitable & allow Epworth to quietly disappear? What harm would it do? But, for Walter, it was a big deal. He believed God had a divine purpose for his life & for the church he loved. But for now, Walter felt he had to be patient, to be faithful... and to wait. But, wait for what?
"To wait" is not one of my favorite verbs (the writer of the story shared). I define wait as "waste"...as in waste of time. I become frustrated just waiting in line at a grocery store. I bought a new computer because it claimed to be faster, with less waiting time. So, according to my definition of wait, Walter was wasting his time at Epworth, refusing to face reality by waiting for something to happen that would never happen.
Walter waited. Not me! I would move on. So would most of you. Yet, you and I, in our impatience and lack of faith would have missed the miracle of Epworth church!
Every Sunday for three years Walter opened the doors to Epworth church and worshipped... alone. Why? Because, as far as Walter was concerned, God had a divine purpose for him and the church he loved. So for now, Walter must be patient, be faithful, and wait.
Maybe it would help us to understand what is meant by the word, "wait"? My tendency is to think of waiting as idle time doing nothing such as waiting for a movie to start. Actually, waiting is more like receiving word that an honored guest will soon be visiting. You busily clean and decorate your house, prepare special foods, take a shower and search through the closet for just the right outfit. In other words... waiting on God is essentially an eventful time of preparation and anticipation.
Psalm 40:1 declares: "I waited patiently for the Lord to help me and he turned to me and heard my cry." Waiting is learning to trust in God’s leadership and competence.
"But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary." (Isaiah 40:31) Waiting renews your strength.
"This time he (Christ) will bring salvation to all those who are eagerly waiting for him." (Hebrews 9:28) Waiting is a sign of faith and faith in Christ is the source of our salvation.
One Sunday morning a young family, new to the area visited Epworth and after meeting Walter joined him in worship. They found something unique about this little church nestled among the trees and the old man who faithfully opened her doors. On the following Sunday they came back, and within a few weeks the children were bringing friends. At year’s end a minister was hired.
Today, Epworth is a small family church situated between several farms and hidden among the trees. Every summer they offer Vacation Bible School for the neighborhood and each Christmas is celebrated with a pageant performed by the children. Many of the original family have died and some of the children have moved away, but the miracle of Epworth has never been forgotten.
On the first Sunday of August, people come from across the U.S. to visit the church of their youth and relive the miracle of the old man who refused to let his beloved church die. The worship service is followed by a picnic on the church grounds. While the children are playing and the adults are eating, you may notice a family wandering over to the nearby cemetery. If you listen carefully you’ll hear a parent telling her child, "Let me tell you a story about Walter..."
