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Sermons

"GET INVOLVED!"
GOSPEL SCRIPTURE TEXT:
LUKE 10:1-11, 16-21

DAVE RING, PASTOR
LOS ALAMOS 1ST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
SUNDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 9, 2007

SCRIPTURE TEXT: 1After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. 5"When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' 6If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. 7Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house. 8"When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. 9Heal the sick who are there and tell them, 'The kingdom of God is near you.' 10But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11'Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.' 16"He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me." 17The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." 18He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." 21At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure."

MESSAGE: The first man who walked into my office at the first church to which I was assigned as pastor, Harwood United Methodist Church in Albuquerque, was a big, imposing fellow named Sy. He sat down and spent the better part of an hour telling me all the things that church, in his opinion, needed to do for others. When he finally wound down, I responded, "Sy, a lot of those are wonderful ideas. Are you going to help me get some of them started?" With that, he informed me that he was a medium-haul truck driver, that he was out-of-town more than he was in town, and when he was in town he was too tired to do anything for anybody. He couldn't possibly get involved personally.

I've been pastor of eight churches now and I've learned, for the most part, to beware the first or second person who shows up in my office right after my arrival in a new situation. It's usually someone who, like Sy, has axes to grind and wants to be sure they get "first licks" in on the new preacher. And, like Sy, it's almost invariably somebody who isn't willing to get personally involved - they just want to tell me, and others, what we ought to do.

Now, I suspect that at least some of you may be curious if this pattern of behavior held true upon my arrival here at First United Methodist Church in Los Alamos. Actually, I'd have to say that the situation here was "pre-empted." Just as soon as my appointment to Los Alamos was announced publicly, almost three months before I moved from Big Spring, Texas, I began to receive cards and letters from folks here. Apparently Barry Dickens, my predecessor, invited you to welcome me via such. That was wonderful - I received several dozen such friendly greetings. But there were three of those "greetings" which were thinly disguised attempts to employ "welcoming the new preacher" as a pretext for giving me instructions. One letter in particular went seven handwritten pages in length. The writer detailed for me all that, in his opinion, was wrong with this church - and all that needed to be done to correct those wrongs. His recommendations included firing all the staff and eliminating every one of the existing lay leadership. And, as expected, he's someone who, in fifteen months of serving as pastor here, I've seen on these premises maybe three times total.

I've been led -- I believe led of God -- to talk with you today about involvement - involvement in the ministry and work of Jesus Christ through the Church. Jesus quite deliberately founded the Church. He started the Church to carry on His earthly work, the work of proclaiming and realizing the Kingdom of God among men and women. In so doing, I feel further led to make three points - all of them based upon portions of the Biblical text, Luke 10, which we just read together a few moments ago.

Luke 10:2 quotes our Lord Jesus as saying to His followers, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." Frankly, this is one of our Lord's statements which doesn't require complex theological interpretation. I don't have to take you back to the original Greek and try to deal with the nuances of each word's hidden meaning. There's nothing ambiguous, nothing which begs for clarification here. In Jesus' day - in every day since - and continuing today - this was a simple statement of fact. There are millions, yes, even billions of persons who, given exposure to an authentic Christian witness in both word and deed, will commit themselves to faith in Jesus Christ. Truly, the harvest is plentiful.

The Christian Gospel, in and of itself, is positively infectious. The only limits on the reach of the Gospel are placed by those who profess it. When the followers of Christ don't make sharing Him their number one priority, precious souls are needlessly lost - for eternity. Yes, we most certainly can win the world for Jesus - He wouldn't have asked us to do it if it weren't possible. But one preacher can only accomplish so much. Fifty willing servants out of a congregation whose membership on roll tops 500 can only make a dent in a county of 19,000. So the Church inches forward by the grace of God and the efforts of a few. Too many of the rest are interested, at best, only in offering advice. Yes, "the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few."

Luke 10:9 states the simple, powerful focus of the followers of Christ - 72 back then, and a Church of millions today: "The Kingdom of God is near you." Our work, our ministry, our task is singular: to proclaim that, in Jesus Christ, the Kingdom of God is accessible to men and women. It's so near that it can become part of a human life; indeed, the main concern of life itself.

Today, however, the Church has become a mile wide and an inch deep. We've added so much to that simple, direct message of Jesus, "the kingdom of God is near you," that this message has gotten "lost in the shuffle." And the real problem is: what we've added is all good. Should Christians take part in the work of the American Cancer Society? Of course - that's good. Should Christians get involved in lobbying for clean air and water to improve the quality of life on earth? Certainly. Should the Church offer a skating program for children, youth and young adults? Most assuredly. Should we collect up clothing for the Crisis Center? Absolutely. All these, and many more besides, are good and right pursuits. I have no argument against any of them.

But -- when they're all added together, they dilute and diffuse the energy of the people of God. There's no time, no opportunity remaining to focus on sharing the basic Gospel message: In Jesus Christ, the Kingdom of God is near -- is available to you. The devil's strategy is, as usual, very subtle. If he can keep Christians incredibly busy with good things, then they won't notice that they're not involved in doing the one thing that is best: forthrightly sharing the Gospel.

When the seventy-two whom Jesus had sent out to proclaim the Kingdom returned and reported what they had done on His behalf, Luke 10:21 records that Jesus was "full of joy through the Holy Spirit." This is the only occasion in all the Gospels when it is clearly stated that Jesus was joyful. We all know the short Scripture verse, "Jesus wept," and we've all heard Him repeatedly characterized as a "man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." But on the occasion when his followers went out and did exactly what He told them to do - proclaim that, in Jesus, the "Kingdom of God is near" to men and women, boys and girls - Jesus was overjoyed. On that day, even the weight of His upcoming personal sacrifice for human sin couldn't keep Him down. His followers had involved themselves - had focused themselves upon doing exactly what He wanted them to do: proclaim the basic, simple Gospel. "The Kingdom of God is near you." That singular pursuit by a Christian brings joy - to the heart of our Savior.

Would you like to really bring joy to Jesus Christ? Do you have a desire to please Him - in the one and only way that you can be absolutely certain, based upon the Word of God, will please Him? Then get involved - in sharing the Gospel message. Proclaim to your world: "In Jesus Christ, the Kingdom of God is near to you. If you'd like to be part of the Kingdom, invite Jesus into your life." It's that basic, that simple. Get involved in sharing the Gospel - and bring joy to the Lord Jesus Christ! Amen.

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