This week, I’ve been tired. Any of you ever just feel tired? I’ve been all over Cochabamba this week, from government offices, to the dentist several times, to meeting with boys I disciple to the tasks I have at home. And it seems like my weeks keep getting busier and busier. Sometimes, I just need a break. To slow down, to sit down, and rest. You ever have a week like that? We all have our obligations, we have our responsibilities. We also try to squeeze in time for a hobby occasionally. And it can be easy for us to get so wrapped up in what we have to do, that we forget to focus on the one who provides the strength we need in every season.
Today, this message will be a little different. It will be more of a testimony, really, than an instruction or application. However, my prayer is that God would use what I’m about to say to challenge, encourage, and spur you on towards love and good deeds. I hope that you will see the comfort of the Cross and the refuge of God’s grace.
Over the past few months, my obligations that pertain to ministry and discipleship have been on a steady increase. I’ve been more stressed than I’d like and I haven’t invested in my family as I should. I haven’t invested in myself as I should. Now when I say invest in myself, I’m talking about spiritually, not that I've been skipping massages and manicures. I’ve let the burden of ministry and the burden of friendship stretch me in ways I’m really not capable of handling.
Let me ask you all a question, anyone else have trouble saying no? There are a lot of things I can say no to, but a friend in need is generally not one of them. I know with my head that I can’t meet every need, but sometimes, my heart just doesn’t listen. So, what happens is, I overextend myself. With dental visits, government offices, helping with homework, rides to school, market visits, etc etc etc.
Here’s another question, anyone have a burden for people? For people you love and are discipling? In this respect, I so often wrongfully assume the responsibility for their growth in Christ rather than trusting God. In 1 Corinthians 3:6, Paul in his letter makes this statement, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God brought the growth.” When it comes to ministry, and I’m talking about ministry because we are all called to be a part of it, we have the tendency to feel responsible for growth. One aspect of my stress lately, is I haven’t been giving time and room for God to bring growth in the hearts of those we get to minister to. I began to worry that if I missed an opportunity to talk to or spend time with these boys, their families, or others, that their seed would die and that they would return to the world. The Holy Spirit challenged me with this question: "Where is your faith in God’s sovereign work in salvation?"
Anyone struggle with a lack of patience for those closest to you? I'm sure there men here who take for granted that your family attends church and supposedly knows Christ. I know that I’ve struggled with this. Sometimes the question would be presented, “Why aren’t you investing as much time, energy and prayer into your family as you are these other people?” And my response was this religious (albeit a real conviction), “because my family knows Jesus and these people don’t. What about their souls? What about eternity?” Again the Holy Spirit challenged me, "Where is your faith in God's grace?"
My time has literally become enslaved to the needs around me rather than submitted to the word of God. My heart has been overcome by carnal thinking and by my own understanding in my attempts to meet all the needs I see, to the point that I wasn't relying on the Holy Spirit as I should. And, now I’m tired. I’m tired because I can’t pay the cost of everyday ministry. There is no way that I can afford what it cost to walk in obedience to God, to administrate my time in a way that honors him, to meet needs showing Christ’s love, to be a good husband who leads and washes his wife in the word, to be a good dad who disciples his children and brings them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. I can’t pay that price on my own. It's impossible.
My testimony is that this week, and over the past month, God has really begun to reveal to me the cost of ministry; and to show me our need for the Cross and our need for his Grace. Personally, I’m about to make some changes. I’m changing my schedule, I’m taking steps to be more disciplined with my time. But most importantly, I’m making a choice to honor God with my trust in his grace.
Here’s that part that I hope will challenge, encourage and spur you. Remember my confessions about needs around me, spiritual growth and evangelism in ministry, and honoring God with how I interact with my family? Let’s talk about those and look at God’s word.
I told you I have a hard time saying no. But the problem is that sometimes many of us also have a hard time saying yes. We have got to learn which needs deserve a yes and which needs can handle a no. For me, the difficulty is that the needs on the street are much easier for me to meet than the needs in my home. I could attempt to excuse this with my childhood without a father and the lack of an example, but that would be an offense to God's grace. For others of you that may be backwards. Maybe you are a great dad or mom or son or daughter, but you don’t serve anyone outside of your home. How can we determine when we should say yes and when we should say no to needs?
Obviously, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the word of God, and not through the guidance of our hearts (or minds). This comes down to scripture and what it instructs about our priorities. My first priority is my soul and it’s condition. Am I connected to the vine? In John 15:5, Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
I want to focus on the last clause of that verse. “Apart from me you can do nothing.” If we are not connected to Christ through his word and through confirmation of his word by his Holy Spirit, we can do nothing. There are a lot of people in this world who do not know Christ and yet think they are doing something; but in reality they are doing nothing. Nothing of impact, nothing of value. But, what is even sadder, is that there are a lot of us, because of our carnal thinking and our pride, think we are doing something for God, and yet we are not operating from a point of connection to Christ. We can do nothing apart from Christ. So, the first thing we must do is make sure we are investing in our relationship with Jesus. We have to spend personal, independent time studying God’s word, praying and seeking Jesus, and “working out our salvation with fear and trembling.” Here’s something to think about, do you walk with a steady gaze on your need for the Cross and for Christ? Guys, this may seem elementary and basic, but it is so incredibly important.
The other ways we can evaluate the needs we should meet is a bit more practical. What does God’s word say are my responsibilities? Well, first is your spouse, then comes your children (Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands love your wives as Christ loves the church, in that he gave himself up for her that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her but he washing of water with the word.”). I don’t think you can get a much bigger priority than that. I mean, this commandment is compared to Christ's work on the cross! Wives, love your husbands, respect them, honor them. I say this to challenge myself too. How am I loving my wife with God’s word, washing her with the water of the word?
Your family. Ephesians 6:4, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” Not going to lie, I struggle with this. It is honestly easier sometimes to exasperate (provoke to wrath) my kids than it is to take the time, energy and patience to teach them. When all they receive from me is provision and discipline, but not love, I steal their hope, that leave them scrounging and searching for a sense of love and instruction. That is what it means when it says exasperate. Parents, love and teach your children. And pray for me to do a better job myself.
The thing is, we cannot do this (honor spouse, teach kids) if we aren’t doing the first. “Apart from me you can do nothing.” You know why I’ve felt so tired and stressed lately? Because I was working apart from Christ. I was looking really good, really devoted, seeing changes that made me really happy, but I was not walking in step with his Spirit. I was not leaning on my connection to the vine to bear fruit; I was trying to make the fruit happen myself. In our own strength, we will indeed get exhausted.
But, when we hope in the Lord, we have this amazing promise from Isaiah 40:31, “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” This is a great promise, but it can also be a great gage. In the moments when I feel weary, like I’m going to faint, that is a sign that my hope is not in the Lord, but in my own strength. I’m tired because I’ve trusted too much in myself and not enough in the Lord.
If you are like me, sometimes you have a hard time hoping in the Lord because you have an easy time forgetting the power of his grace. When it comes to ministry that we do, I often times, wrongly attempt to carry the burden of making disciples grow. But like I quoted earlier from Paul, I can plant and I can water, but I have to trust God for the growth. Our growth is a product of his grace. My hope rest in Christ, because I know that at the cross, grace was administered and his grace is always sufficient. If I can’t spend hours in discipleship with a new convert, God’s grace is sufficient. If I can’t provide for every need I encounter, his grace is sufficient. If those around me stumble or fall, his grace is sufficient. If I stumble and fall, his grace is sufficient.
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| "Christ the Vine" |
Do you lack strength? Do you lack joy in your service? Put your trust in him. Place your hope in him. Evaluate your life and your spiritual state. Where do you need to say no? But, don’t forget to look to where you need to say yes. Seek his word.
Sermon Outline, "The Cost of Everyday Ministry"
Cochabamba International Church, April 26, 2015
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