Help Wanted

Listen Online:

Watch Online:

Transcript:

A while back, I was driving my mother somewhere. We were near Oklahoma City on a road that they had been working on. They had just redone and made it nice and fancy.

And as we’re driving, she just bursts out laughing at some point, some random point. I know I didn’t say anything funny, so I asked her what was so funny. She points out up ahead of me that they have widened the road and they have built one of those left turn lanes and done all the stuff they need to make a dedicated left turn lane, only on the left side of the road over there, there’s nothing but field.

There’s not even a turnoff. It’s just a cornfield. That was a few years ago, and as a matter of fact, I think there’s still just a cornfield there.

But she laughed and she said, I wonder who they think is going to turn left into the cornfield. What do they need that for? Unnecessary.

I kind of chuckled. I didn’t find it as funny as she did, but it made me laugh a little bit. It was unnecessary.

Have you ever felt unnecessary? Just me? A few of you have felt unnecessary.

Okay. I feel unnecessary all the time. Part of the reason for that is I married the most capable, competent person in the world.

All right? And you can tell her I said that. She’s not here this morning, but you can tell her I said that.

I mean, she is on top of everything. There’s nothing she doesn’t notice. And I used to, and that she doesn’t plan for.

As a matter of fact, we’ll talk about upcoming plans. She’s done a lot of planning for this week, but she’ll ask questions like, what time are you going to get up in the morning? What time are you going to leave in the morning?

What time do you think you might go to the restroom in the morning? I don’t know. Just, I’m not wired to plan that way, but she plans and she’s on top of everything and God bless her for it, right?

I used to be on top of things and some of you that have spent time in the office say, well, what happened there? I married her and now I don’t have to be anymore. She does that.

But she is so on top of everything that sometimes I’ll ask her, do you need help with this? No, I’ve got it. Okay, is there anything I can do to help you with it?

No, it’s under control. Okay, do you need anything with the kids? No, can I help with dinner?

No, it’s almost ready. And so I just kind of stand back and watch. And I can kind of convince myself, maybe I’m not needed here.

I’m not going anywhere, but am I even needed for this conversation? But let me tell you what, she lets me know very quickly I am needed. Right, no matter how unneeded I feel at times, You know, I might disappear to go back outside and work, and she’s hollering for me going, it’s bath time and I’m not bathing all these children by myself.

Where are you? Okay, she lets me know real quick that I’m needed. Sometimes we convince ourselves that because somebody else has got, because somebody looks like they’ve got something under control, that we convince ourselves that we’re not needed.

I have felt this way at the work days we’ve had here at church. You know, the men are kind of scattering in every direction. Some of them are working on electricity.

Y’all don’t want me anywhere near the electricity. Okay. Or they’ll go work on painting.

I’m about to have to paint my whole house. I’m sorry. No, thank you.

And so I’ll find myself standing around going, all right, what do I do? So the last time we had a work day, I came prepared with my own plans of what I was going to do. And I came and brought a lot of yard equipment and started working on the outside.

And then somebody said, don’t we pay a company for that? Oh, okay. I guess we do.

And then they showed up and I was out of a job again. Standing there feeling unnecessary, unneeded. We get that way in life where we see somebody else, they at least look like they’ve got it all under control and we think they don’t need me.

We feel that way in ministry sometimes too. Sometimes in ministry we feel that way because we see, okay, they’re teaching their Sunday school classes, they’re working in the music, they’re running the food pantry or the clothes closet. Everybody’s got their ministry.

It’s all under control. Sometimes we look at the needs around us and we think, well, somebody’s going to take care of that. It’s all under control.

What do they need me for? We may feel unnecessary in ministry, but Jesus made it clear that there’s room for all of us. There’s a need for each and every one of us.

As a matter of fact, there’s so much need in ministry, both inside and outside the walls of this church. There is so much need that if everyone was enlisted and doing God’s work, we would still need more people. I want you to turn with me this morning to Matthew chapter 9 where Jesus talks about this Matthew chapter 9 give you just a second to turn there if you don’t have your Bible with you if you have your phone you can access that through our bulletin just tap there and it’ll take you through the magic of the internet we’ll just take you right there to that passage on your phone or it’ll be up here on the screen as well Matthew chapter 9 Jesus makes it clear none of us are unneeded in ministry if you would stand with me as we read together from God’s word if you’re able to without too much difficulty?

We’re going to start in Matthew chapter 9 verse 35 and read through verse 38. It says, Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd.

Then He said to His disciples, The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. And you may be seated. So Jesus had been traveling around doing ministry.

And as you read back over Matthew chapter 9, over the earlier parts of the chapter, you can see some of the ministries that he’s doing. And it’s the same that are outlined here. He’s preaching, he’s teaching, but he’s also meeting physical needs as kind of a springboard to get people’s attention to get their mind onto the spiritual things.

And he’s gone and he’s taught, but he’s also healed people. He’s also raised people from the dead. I mean, these are things that don’t happen every day.

Jesus has met real needs, but he comes to a point where you’d think, okay, they’ve got Jesus there. Everything’s covered. Jesus looks at the need around him and it’s almost overwhelming.

Now I say almost because Jesus is God in human flesh. There’s nothing that can’t handle. But from our human standpoint, and certainly from the standpoint of the disciples, the need that was coming at them was just overwhelming.

It was like a flood. Yesterday, at some point, I can tell by the debris line on the fence, I had four feet of water, four feet of water, four feet deep, sweeping through my property last night, because I can see where it took out fences and left debris everywhere. Just a torrent of water.

Must have happened while I was asleep, because I didn’t see it. And I thought, what would it have been like to be standing out there in it, you’re going to get swept away. I wonder if that’s how the disciples felt about the torrent of people that were coming at them with need after need that just didn’t seem like they could all be met because there was so much of it.

But Jesus had been traveling around doing ministry and he found and his disciples found that the physical need among the people was tremendous. It says in verse 35, Jesus went about healing every sickness and every disease. There was plenty to do.

There were so many people in need that there wasn’t a lot of downtime. There was plenty to do. And in spite of the work, in spite of the fact that Jesus was there, Jesus who knew what every need really was and knew the best way to meet these needs, Jesus was there and was meeting these needs.

The needs just kept coming. Jesus was always serving in these ways. He was always meeting physical needs, but the needs never ran out.

You go through all four Gospels and you can read from beginning to end and see how Jesus healed people. Jesus raised people from the dead. Jesus straightened out people’s wrong ideas and still the needs never stopped coming.

As a matter of fact, Jesus told his disciples that it would be this way. He said they were never going to run out of needs to do ministry. They were never going to run out of people who had physical needs.

He said in Mark chapter 14, for you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good. There was a day when Jesus was outside of Jerusalem in Bethany, and a woman named Mary came and broke open a very expensive vial of ointment over Jesus’s head and anointed him as an act of hospitality, as an act of kindness. And the disciples criticized her for that.

They said, don’t you know that that ointment could have been sold. And don’t you know how expensive that was? And it could have been put to better use.

That could have been sold. And how much money could have been raised off of that ointment. And we could have given that to the poor.

They criticized what she had done. And while that was true, while they could have done all that, Jesus said, there’s always going to be an opportunity to serve and meet the physical needs of the poor because they’re always going to be among you. By the way, there’s no program on this earth that’s ever going to eliminate that.

Jesus said they would always be here. The needs would always be here. And you could meet those needs anytime you wish.

He said that you can do all you can and the needs are still going to be there. They’re going to keep coming. And it’s true because there are still tremendous physical needs around us today.

We’ve seen some of those tremendous physical needs. People come through the week and ring the bell outside and bring us their physical needs. They’re looking for food.

They’re looking for clothing. They’re looking for places to get shelter. They’re looking for medical care.

They’re looking for counseling. They’re looking for gas money. They’re looking for all sorts of things.

And you don’t have to drive very far to see these needs around us. People hungry. People homeless.

People addicted. People desperate. People in desperate situations.

It’s nothing new. That need has always been there. That need is always going to be there.

Now, that’s not an excuse for us to say, well, it’s always going to be there, so let’s do nothing. It’s kind of the opposite point of what Jesus makes. The need was always going to be there, and so it was the job of the church to get busy and address it where we can.

And as the body of Christ, one of the things that we do on His behalf is meet those needs to the best of our ability. Now, people may come to you all the time asking for help, and it may be more help than you’re able to provide. If I gave gas money to everybody that ever told me they ran out of gas, I’d be begging for gas money myself, right?

It’s more need than I could possibly meet. It’s more need than you could possibly meet, but God doesn’t expect us to meet all the need. He expects us to meet the need where He’s put us and where He’s equipped us.

And so He put us here as the body of Christ to do what Christ would do. I know we can’t heal people. I know we can’t necessarily raise the dead.

He can do those things. But He’s put us here to meet the needs as He enables us to meet those physical needs. Because the physical need, just like it was then, is still tremendous.

And if you ever feel like you’re unnecessary in ministry, if you ever feel like you’re unnecessary in the ministry when it comes to this church and the work we do, or if you ever feel like you’re unnecessary in the ministry of the kingdom outside these four walls, the physical needs are never going away. There’s always going to be something to do. But meeting the physical needs, that’s not all we’ve been called to do.

Because we also see in this passage that their physical needs reflected an even greater spiritual need. It says in verse 36 that Jesus was moved with compassion for them. Not because they were sick, not because they were poor.

That was part of it. But it says He was moved with compassion for them because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd. Now this alludes to some things that He said about Himself.

This alludes back to some things in the Old Testament where it talks about Israel being scattered away from their shepherd who is the Lord. Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd. Their physical needs reflected an even deeper spiritual need.

They were separated from God. Spiritually, they were just as needy and just as hungry and just as destitute as they were physically. It says they were weary and scattered.

Now, this word weary, there’s some debate over what the Greek word actually is there. Some people have said, well, it’s a misspelling. It’s one letter off.

Really doesn’t change the meaning much. Because some people will say it’s supposed to be weary. some people say it’s supposed to be harassed.

Well, if you’ve ever been harassed, you probably got weary of it real quick, didn’t you? Last night as I was trying to go to sleep during the storms, I was watching a documentary. And I have to put on a documentary that’s boring enough that I’ll fall asleep, but not so boring that I lay there complaining in my mind about how boring it is.

But I watched a documentary about the great leap forward in China back in the Cultural Revolution under Chairman Mao. And one of his brilliant, brilliant ideas, because he had so many of them. That’s sarcasm, by the way.

One of his brilliant ideas was something called the Four Pests Campaign. And in order to increase grain production, he instituted this campaign and ended up lowering grain production and starving millions of people. But the idea was the sparrows were eating too much grain.

He didn’t realize they were eating the bugs that ate the grain. But the sparrows are eating too much grain. So all over China, they were encouraged to go out and kill the sparrows.

And when they didn’t have shotguns or slingshots to kill the sparrows, people from every village would go out and bang spoons on cooking pots and do everything they could to make noise so that the sparrows would be scared out of the trees so that the sparrows would have no place to land. They were harassing the sparrows. You know what happened?

Eventually, the sparrows were harassed from place to place until they were so weary they dropped dead out of the sky. I think sometimes spiritually we can get to the point where we feel like those sparrows. That you’re just harassed by one thing after another.

By one thing after another that this world can throw at you. That Satan can throw at you by temptation after temptation. And he looked at the people of Israel and saw their spiritual need.

And saw that they were harassed to the point of exhaustion. And this word scattered means that they, not that they were separated from each other. But it describes being thrown down.

They were in a serious spiritual predicament, and it was their spiritual condition that truly moved Jesus. Now, that doesn’t mean that Jesus didn’t care about the fact that they were hungry. It doesn’t mean that Jesus didn’t care about the fact that they were sick.

But the fact remains that if Jesus filled their stomachs and healed their illnesses and did nothing about their spiritual condition, that it would lead to nothing greater, nothing better than them feeling good and feeling well-fed and healthy on their way to eternal separation from God in hell.

And so while Jesus cared deeply about the physical needs, it was the spiritual need, it was the spiritual poverty and the spiritual destitution, the separation from God in Israel that really stirred up His compassion because He knew that while the physical needs seem so urgent right now, it was the spiritual need that was going to have the greatest implications on them for the longest amount of time and these physical needs were a picture of their spiritual need they were lost and they were vulnerable they were separated from their shepherd and they were unable to find their way back to him I’ve never raised sheep I hope to soon although we’re going to have to figure out a plan b because of the flooding because where I was going to put them is apparently you can get four feet of water there if you’re not careful.

But others that I’ve talked to who have raised sheep and everything that I’ve read about sheep says that they are one of the dumbest animals. And I know we can look at that and say, well, how dare the Bible call us sheep? No, it’s true because I do some pretty stupid things spiritually when I’m not following the shepherd.

I get myself into lots of trouble just like sheep do. And he describes them as being lost and being vulnerable. Sheep can’t defend themselves.

A dog, it can bite. Birds can fly away. We’ve got a stupid snake who lives out in front of our house somewhere.

He and I keep surprising each other. He’s got jaws and he can fight back. He can defend himself.

Sheep are just at the mercy of everything else unless they have a shepherd. The sheep aren’t like the birds where they can find their way home. Sheep just get lost. Jesus looked at this condition and he had compassion on them.

And I think sometimes we look at the tremendous need around us and we see it as an annoyance. We see it as an interruption from what we’re trying to do. We need to take a page out of Jesus’ book and see people the way Jesus saw them and recognize them not as annoyances, not as people who are trying to scam us, although we do need to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves, but we need to recognize people for what they really are, sheep without a shepherd.

You see, as tremendous as the physical need is all around us, that just points to an even deeper spiritual need. And there is spiritual need all around us. I looked at some statistics this week that suggested that in the Lawton metro area, less than 40% of the people have any connection to an evangelical church.

Now just to simplify things, what an evangelical church is by that definition, basically is a church where they would walk in and hear the gospel proclaimed. Because there are churches out there, their message to you is be good, try harder, be a good person. Our message is we can’t be good enough people, and that’s why Jesus Christ suffered, bled, and died on the cross to pay for our sins and rose again the third day.

That’s not even saying that all of those people are believers in Jesus Christ. That’s saying 37% claim an affiliation with one of those churches where they’d walk in and hear the gospel. If that’s accurate, that means there are tens of thousands of people. I know we’re in Oklahoma.

We’re the Bible Belt. Everything’s wonderful here, right? No problems. Everything’s perfect.

It’s Mayberry. Now, we know that’s not true. There are tens of thousands of people in our own community who do not know Jesus Christ, who do not have the hope that He provides for tomorrow.

There’s tremendous spiritual need around us. There are thousands who don’t know Jesus. And because of the massive physical need, and because of the even greater spiritual need, folks there’s always a need for more people to join in the lord’s work don’t ever feel like you’re unnecessary don’t ever feel like there’s not a place for you to to play a part that there’s not something for you to do there is always a need for more people to join in the lord’s work that’s why jesus said in verse 37 the harvest truly is plentiful but the laborers are few the harvest is plentiful that means there is a ton of work to do the the crops are out there just ready to be harvested we just need workers to bring it in.

Sort of like where our whole country’s been the last few weeks. There’s tons of jobs to do. We just need people to come and do them.

Jesus said it was the same way in the kingdom. The harvest are those souls out there that will respond to the gospel. Those souls that are looking for hope in Jesus Christ. He said those people are plentiful.

There are plenty of people out there who will respond. There just aren’t enough workers. Now, does that mean every person who doesn’t know Jesus Christ is just waiting on pins and needles to hear the gospel, and they’ll respond in faith the very first time.

No, that’s not what it means. It just means they’re out there, and we need more people to go find them. There aren’t enough workers, so what’s the solution He offers?

He says in verse 38, Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Pray that God would raise up more workers. The solution to not having enough workers is to raise up more. And Jesus told us to pray that God would do just that.

But He says pray that the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Now we think of this word send out as kind of a nice, okay, you go do that. You go do that. Hey, would you mind going over there?

This word in the Greek is a little more forceful than that. When he says send out. As a matter of fact, it gives me the picture of the mama bird kicking the baby birds out of the nest. And sometimes they’re squawking.

They don’t think they’re ready. And the mama bird just flings them out anyway. This is a forceful word that God would expel workers out into the harvest. Now, if you’re working in the harvest already, if you’re serving in ministry, pray that God lights a fire under some others, that He’ll send them to join you in the field.

That’s what He tells us to do. We need to pray that He will send more workers. But there are three lies that have become too widely believed in today’s churches, and I think it’s part of the reason why so many are hesitant to step into ministry and do the Lord’s work.

And remember what I told you a few weeks ago. If you’re hearing me talk about ministry and you’re thinking, well, that’s for pastors or music ministers or deacons or Sunday school teachers. Ministry is any effort you make with the intent of pointing somebody to Jesus.

Whether you’re preaching a sermon or whether you’re serving food at the community free lunch or you’re taking care packages to the homeless or whatever you’re doing, you’re out knocking doors, whatever you’re doing to try to point people to Jesus Christ, that’s ministry whether you have a title or not. But three lies that have become too widely believed and I think hold us back from stepping into ministry. First, they don’t need me because somebody else will do it.

We’ve all thought that at some point or another, I’m sure. Folks, the reality is the need is too great to be met by part of the church. Somebody else will do it.

Having the work done by 20% of the people is a good recipe for those people to get worn out and drop out themselves. The second lie is they don’t need me because there’s not enough to do. Well, I can assure you, there’s plenty to do.

Some of the people that we have around here just make it look easy because they’re good at what they do, but it doesn’t mean that there’s not a need. And by the way, if there’s not an existing ministry here that needs more workers, by the way, is there anybody here leading in a ministry who would say, oh, I don’t need any more workers, we’re all full up? Anybody?

All right, see, no hands went up. Is there anybody else who could use some help? I expected some hands to go up on that one.

Y’all just, you’re just afraid nobody will talk to you in the welcome center because you’re afraid they’ll think you’re trying to recruit them. If there’s not an existing ministry that needs more workers, then start one. Start something.

There’s plenty of need. There’s plenty of need all around us. And if you’re looking around saying there’s a need for this, why doesn’t somebody start something here?

Sounds to me like God may be calling you to start that here. I’ve told you the whole time I’ve been here, we have this backwards view of ministry that says the pastor, and I don’t mean just our church, Christianity in America has this backwards idea that it’s all about the pastor’s vision and whatever programs and things he wants to start, we’re going to do that and we’re going to get in line behind that. No, no, no. According to Ephesians chapter 4, my job here is to equip the saints for ministry, to help you discover what God is calling you to do and to give you the tools and the training you need to go do it and turn you loose.

And if we’re all doing that, guess how much ministry gets done. So if you see a need, but you think there’s not a ministry that needs my help, but I see this need over here, start something. Come talk to me.

If it’s something we can help you get started, we’ll do it. That’s what we’re here to do. And the other lie is they don’t need me because there’s nothing I can contribute.

I talked about this last week. If you’re a believer, you have the Holy Spirit. That’s not what I said.

That’s what Jesus said. That’s what the Apostle Paul said. If you’re a believer in Jesus Christ, if you have received Him as your Savior, you have the Holy Spirit of God living within you.

And if the Holy Spirit of God lives within you, you have been gifted and you have been called because He comes with those gifts and that calling. He doesn’t take up residence inside you and leave those gifts and calling at home. He brought them with Him.

If you think there’s nothing you can contribute, that’s fine, but the Holy Spirit within you can. So don’t convince yourself that you’re unnecessary because the Holy Spirit will equip you to do the things He’s called you to do. Don’t ever lie to yourself and tell yourself that you’re not needed.

Jesus told His disciples right here in Matthew chapter 9 that there’s plenty to do and it’s all hands on deck. We all have to be involved. So what should we do as a result of what Jesus told them here?

First of all, we’ve been commanded in verse 38 to pray for more workers. So if you’re serving in ministry and you’re thinking the need is so great, I can’t possibly do all this. Don’t forget to pray about it.

It’s God’s ministry anyway. Why would we not turn to Him when we’re short-staffed? Pray that God will send workers into the harvest. Of course, this assumes that we’re already involved in the work.

He’s not talking to the people who are standing out on the sidelines and saying, pray that God sends more people. He’s talking to the people who are already engaged in the work. That assumes that you’re already involved.

If you’re not, find a place to get involved somewhere in ministry. And please don’t take this as me coming in this morning to browbeat you and say, shame on you for not doing more. Some of you may be doing ministries I don’t even know about.

But as we’ve been talking for the last few weeks about ministry, I’m certain that there are some of you who feel this way because I have felt this way, that you’re unnecessary. There’s nothing for you to do. And I want you to realize that’s not true.

And if you have been sitting on the sidelines, I want you also to experience the joy that comes with fulfilling the calling that God has placed on your life. So please don’t take this as a verbal assault, but an encouragement to join in with us in what God’s doing. If you’re not serving somewhere, find some place to get involved.

Try something out. If you’re not sure what it is, try something. If you don’t like it, try something else.

I went and worked with two and three-year-olds this morning for the first time. Did not sound fun to me, but it was one of those situations where I told y’all I wasn’t going to, we’ve been asking for children’s ministry volunteers and I wasn’t going to ask y’all to do something that I wasn’t willing to do myself. I went today and I thought, Lord, what did I sign up for?

But I enjoyed it. Sat down and played with kids during Sunday school, talked with them. It was great.

Try something. If it doesn’t fit, if it doesn’t work, try something else. Eventually you’ll find what God’s calling you to do.

Recognize the importance of what you’re called to do. We’ve been called to meet physical needs, which is an opportunity to show the love of Jesus Christ to others. But more importantly, we’ve been called to meet the spiritual needs and introduce them to Jesus Christ who loves them more than we ever could.

To introduce people to Jesus Christ who loved them so much, who loved us so much, that when we were sinners, when we in our wickedness were separated from God and we were not deserving of His love or His mercy because of the way we had turned our backs on Him. He loved us anyway. Not because we’re lovable, but just that’s who He is.

He is love. He loved us anyway and loved us enough that Jesus Christ came to earth, lived a perfect sinless life so that He could take responsibility for my sins and for yours and be punished in our place for those sins. And He was nailed to the cross and He shed His blood there and He died.

enduring all of God’s judgment on our sins and paying the penalty for those sins in full so that you and I could be forgiven, so that we could be set free, so that we could be saved and be changed and be given eternal life with Him. Everything we do is designed to point people to that Jesus who loved them enough to die in their place and rose again to prove it.