Thank God For Brothers & Sisters
GNLCC 10/29/06 2 Samuel 23:8-23 Romans 16:1-16
Today we have set aside a Sunday to remember the work of our Lay Pastors. The Bible says give honor to whom honor is due. They are certainly worthy of our honor. They have been true team players.
One of the joys of being on any kind of a team is that you win together and your lose together. Every smart player knows you cannot win without the help of others. Sometimes for the good of the team, you might have to stand in the shadows, sit on the bench or even allow others to get the credit that should have gone to you. This isn’t always easy but it may be what’s necessary to win the game.
When I played high school football, I was a safety. If you look at the defensive team on the football field, the guy that is the farthest back away from the ball is going to be the safety. He is usually the last person to save your team from being scored upon. I didn’t score any touchdowns in high school. I didn’t get my name mentioned that often in the paper. But I never forgot one of the compliments the coach gave me during one of our film watching sections of the previous games. He said, “Rick makes up for a lot of the mistakes we make during the game.” You see when others made mistakes and missed a tackle, I was there to make the tackle. My job was not to take over the team, it was to help others and in so doing I was helping myself because we won or loss as a team.
God has given us lay pastors to first build up the leadership team here at the church and second to help make up for the mistakes that we all make, especially we as pastors. Some of you are in the place you are in, because God wants you to demonstrate your faith in God, by building up those who may be over you. Did you know it’s your job to make your boss look as good as he or she can, because of your efforts? Did you know it’s your Christian responsibility to make your teacher look as good as he or she can? Did you know it’s your job to make your husband, your wife, your children or your parents look as good as they can by your efforts. Did you know it’s your job to make your church look as good as it can. That’s just one of the reasons we thank God for brothers and sisters in Christ.
The flip side of this is that it is the job of your brothers and sisters in Christ to make you look as good as you possibly can look. This means we come to the aid of each other when we’ve got a need. Why because we are all on the same team and a part of the same family. Our goal is to win the game of life for the cause of Jesus Christ. Our motivation is to build and encourage one another in order to get the job done. To make it happen, we have to keep in mind our work is for the cause of Christ. When you do something and don’t get the credit you deserve, remember you did it for the cause of Christ. Christ always sees what you do and always puts the credit where it really counts.
We live in a world, where being number 1 is what it is all about. Who is the best running back? Who is the best player? Who is the best director? Who is the best pastor? Who is the best whatever? Chances are none of these things really matter and it’s hard to say which answer is true. The best running back is never heard of if he has a lousy line blocking. The best player may never be talked about if his team consistently loses. The best director never gets a chance if is choir has lousy voices. The best pastor is only as good as the staff and the congregation he or she serves. We have a system where we like to make superstars, but all of us cannot be that kind of a superstar. But all of us can be super in what we have to offer.
We look at the Apostle Paul in the bible and we see this superstar of a Christian. He had great faith. He started a number of churches. God used him to write books of the bible. He challenged kings. He was a bold, tough believer. If he were alive today, we would want to put him on tv and take him around on the mega conference circuits. But that was not who Paul was. Paul never forgot, he was on a team that was doing a work for Jesus Christ.
In Romans chapter 16, Paul indicated, you know, I could not have done the work God called me to do without my team. There was Priscilla, Aquilla, Epenetus, Mary, Adronicus, Junias, Ampliatus, Urbanas, Stachy’s, Apelles, Aristobulus, Herodian, Narcissus, Tryphena, Tryphosa, Persis, Rufus, Julia, Olympus and others who helped me do the job I was called to do. Thank God for these brothers and sisters.
Most of us have never heard of these people, and yet without them, we probably would not have the New Testament in the form it is in. They were not trying to be the apostle Paul. They were simply giving of their best to make a difference for the Lord. They were ordinary people who risked their lives for Paul, who worked hard, and who remained in the background.
Thank God for brothers and sisters who will make up the difference that we need to get the job done. It is okay for you to be in the background, on your job, on your team, in your church or at home. Just do your best while you’re in the background. We need great encouragers just a much as we need great soloists.
One of the things we appreciate about our lay pastors is their willingness to be in the background helping us out many times without us even knowing it. They serve when no one is looking. They go and visit people in the hospital. They counsel people in the wee hours of the night on the phone. They pray for people after each service. They are our confidants giving us advice on some of the things we propose for the church. They point out things to us that we may have overlooked, and they encourage us when we are discouraged.
Every leader needs a group of mighty people around them who will commit themselves to lifting up that leader. Even Jesus chose twelve disciples to help him do all that He needed to have done. We only know about the work of about five of those 12 disciples during Jesus’ earthly life. So for some reason, Jesus called 7 of the 12 to be in the background, but they were equal in stature and importance because he called 12 disciples, not 5 big disciples and 7 little ones. He called 12.
When we think of King David, as the mighty warrior who won many military victories for the Lord, we forget the only battle David won by himself with the help of the Lord was his victory over Goliath. But even then he had a whole army of Israelites praying for him as he went out to fight that giant warrior. So he did not even enter that battle alone. It is not until the end of David’s life that we find out about some of the mighty men who surrounded him and how they had given David their support and encouragement. David would be one of the first to say, thank God for the brothers and sisters God places in our lives.
Who were the lay pastors or the mighty warriors that surrounded David in his ministry? Well there was Josheb-Basshebeth. Now Josheb-Bassshebeth could have been an outstanding leader all by himself. In one encounter, he fought and killed eight hundred men. Now he didn’t have machine guns like Rambo, he didn’t have super weapons like the terminator, and he didn’t have explosives at his disposal. He had a spear and with that he went into battle.
He was not over afraid of being out numbered. He was a man of courage, and willing to look at the enemy head on. Our lay pastors today know that we are outnumbered by the demons of this world, but they are willing to take the fight to the enemy to help us win souls for the cause of Christ. They know that ministry is an uphill battle and you’ve got to stand your ground when it gets tough and when it seems hopeless. Their strength comes from the Lord. They are wonderful leaders who have chosen to help us as pastors and congregation to make a difference for the cause of Christ through Glenville New Life Community Church.
Who was another lay pastor or mighty one at David’s disposal. There was another guy by the name of Eleazer the Ahohite. One day David and his men were talking stuff to the Philistines army and the Philistines got tired of it. They launched an attack, and David’s men began running away for their lives. All except Eleazer. He stood his ground and took on enemy soldier after enemy solider until his hand became frozen to his sword so that the two became one.
Some of the soldiers decided to go back and to help Eleazar, and when they got there all they saw was him surrounded by dead men. The Lord had brought about a great victory. Now Eleazer’s victory was every bit as spectacular as David’s defeat over Goliath. But Eleazar did not expect to become king and Eleazar did not challenge David’s position as king. He was willing to serve David, because his goal was to help all of his brothers and sisters in the kingdom.
It was Eleazar’s holding on to the sword that gave him strength. All of us including our lay pastors are told to take up the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. As brothers and sisters, we are to be armed for battle with the Word so that we can protect, encourage, defend and fight for each other. Our lay pastors help us to sharpen your swords by teaching the word of God in Life-Sharing and bible study classes. As Eleazar’s sword became an extension of his hand, the word of God should become an extension of our hands.
Another lay pastor that David had at his disposal was Shammah. Shammah started out on a winning team, but things went downhill fast. There was a battle going on and David’s troops, the Israelites, were hot on the tail of the Philistines. The Philistines finally stopped running and gathered together in a field full of peas. They made up their minds they would launch a counterattack. They went on the offensive and started to win the battle. It was a great comeback from behind victory, and David’s soldiers began running back from the battle lines. Victory was turning into defeat.
But Shammah stood his ground when others were running. If he had of thought about the fact that others were not doing their job he might have quit. If he had started thinking, I’m the only one that’s doing what we all were suppose to do, he might have given up. It didn’t matter that he was the only one that seemed to care that day, he did what he knew was right. It was his refusal to back down that turned the tide in the battle, and in the field of peas, the Lord granted a great victory.
Thank God for brothers and sisters who hang in there and keep on working, keep on fighting, and keep on doing what is right, even though nobody else showed up to do their part. Jesus chose 3 of his disciples to go and pray with him. All of them fell asleep during the time they were to be praying. That didn’t cause Jesus to quit and give up. One of the things we admire about our lay pastors is that they have never quit on us and never given up. Now David ended up getting credit for another great victory over the Philistine army, but it’s David that is letting us know that, the honor really belonged to Shammah that day.
These three, Josheb-Basshebeth, Eleazar, and Shamma could have all been kings themselves but they chose to be under the king and to serve the kingdom. Sometimes you may have the ability to be the top person in a given department, but that does not always mean that God wants you to go for it or at least not right now. The world and the body of Christ needs people who can be second and satisfied. It takes a person with special gifts to be in a number 2 slot and not become envious or jealous of the leader. As a matter of fact, they get pride and satisfaction in seeing the leader succeed.
These three guys had that gift. They were known as the mighty three. They were all willing to help David secure his protection for the kingdom. But just as Jesus had three disciples that were very well known, and David had the mighty three, there were others who were not as well known, but they made a huge impact for their leader.
Actually there were 33 other guys who were David’s lay pastors in a sense in that they were there to support him in his ministry. You do not know them very well, but they were there all the same. The last time David went into battle he became exhausted as he fought. He was getting up in years. It was at this point that one of Goliath’s relatives, Ishbi-Benob, a huge man, made up his mind that he would get even with David and he swore he would kill him that day in battle.
He went after David with a vengeance and he would have killed him, but Abishai came to David’s rescue and struck down Ishbi-Benob. Abishai did not have to risk his life to come to the king’s aid, but he did it out of a commitment to the king. Thank God for brothers and sisters who will come alongside of you in your moments of exhaustion.
Our lay pastors program began with the realization that we as pastors needed help. The church was growing and we could not be everywhere at all times. The enemy was looking to hit us during our times of exhaustion. Our lay pastors were like Abishai’s coming to our rescue. We expanded the size of our lay pastors just before we launched New Life Fellowship. God was preparing us with additional workers we would need. We thank God for brothers and sisters in Christ. One of the things that Josheb-Basshebebeth, Eleazar, Shammah, Abishai, and the other thirty four had in common was their common love for their king. They loved him more than their own lives and they were willing to risk and to sacrifice.
It has been our honor to have the love and the trust of our lay pastors. Their loyalty to us is why the program works. We have to give them our trust and believe in them as servants of Jesus Christ. Their loyalty to us is essential, but we remind them that their loyalty to Christ is to always be primary as we work and seek to discover the will of God together.
You may not recognize it, but each of you is actually in training as a lay pastor. You should be growing and learning so that you can teach the word of God. You should be praying so that you can pray for others. You should be increasing your loyalty and your dependence on Christ that others might recognize this trait in you. You should be willing to sacrifice in your time and in your giving in order to minister to others. You must have a loyalty to your pastors that is superceded only by your loyalty to the Lord in defending him or her against attacks wherever they may come from.
We honor our lay pastors today, because they have chosen to give of themselves to the church and to us, so that the body of Christ here at Glenville will indeed be built up, and those outside our doors will be saved. God has called them in this stage of their ministry to be in a support position. It does not mean they will always be there. Some will be called to other positions, and some will be called to serve in other congregations. What is required is that like each of us they are to serve with their best until the Lord places them in some other ministry capacity. Thank God for our brothers and sisters.
