Sermon: "You Do It"

1st in the "Strangers Welcome Here" series.
Delivered August 23, 2009 by Rev. John Schmidt.
Sermon Text: Matthew 14:13-21

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Well we're starting a new sermon series this week... "Strangers Welcome Here." It focuses, just for a few weeks, on the fact that at this time of year a lot of new people come into our midst. It's just that time of year, new students, families that are transferring to Baltimore, people who are just in a transition. And lots of folks come around this time of year. And so for three weeks we are focusing in on... what kind of church do we need to be if we want people to be welcome here?

But before I talk specifically about that, I want to celebrate something that also has to do with making this place hospitable for new people. And that has to do with the fact that we built this building. A little over a year ago, we started in this Worship Center. And we've been, you know, paying our note on this, you know, what's left that we have to pay. And I want to point out that we ended last year, the regular budget that has to do with operating... we ended the fiscal year which ends in mid-summer with a slight surplus. So that's the first item of praise... that in this economic environment, God has provided for us there.

But the other bit of praise is people have been giving separate money apart from the regular budget in order to be paying for the building. We were not only able to pay all the monthly notes that we needed to, but we were able to also take $115,000 and pay it as a lump sum towards the principle. And we just did that a week ago, and that is another item of praise. So praise God for that. Amen.

We still have a lot to pay, and it's our desire as a session and trustees that we retire this debt not across the 25 years that we're legally entitled to, but in five to seven years after we started worshipping in this space. So please be praying that God would do that. And please be thinking about what your part might be in that. But we just have so much to give thanks to God for.

One of the things that happened to me just about 10 days ago, is I was at a prayer meeting. I meet with a group of pastors every month to pray for God to transform Baltimore. It's nothing like picking something small to pray about. And we not only pray about it, but we also strategize together to create prayer opportunities in individual churches as well as for us among churches. And so we do that. And we also try to strategize about opportunities to serve together as churches because we believe prayer and serving the community around us are the ways for God to use us in transforming the city that God has called us to.

And one of the pastors I see every month is a guy named John Krach. John came into our last prayer meeting having... right before the prayer meeting, he checked his phone messages at church, and one of them, one of the phone messages, was from a guy at a local motel asking for help.

Now most churches get messages like that, and often the only thing we can do is refer people to some organization that is designed to help them with that need. John heard this and figured, "Well you know, this motel is on the way to the prayer meeting from my home, so I'll stop and talk to him." Because he kind of felt a nudging from God to do something directly about this need.

So when he got there, he met this guy named Terry. Terry is from California, and he was here in Baltimore visiting his family. Now the reason he is visiting is that Terry is in the final stages of AIDS. He's a 180-pound man who is now only 90 pounds and he expects to die very soon. He caught AIDS in his lifestyle as a gay man, a number of years ago.

Terry came back to Baltimore to say goodbye to his family. He went to his parents' home. They met him at the door. He went to his parents' home unannounced at a time that he knew that they'd be there. They met him at the door and they kept him at the door. And in that very short visit they said to him, "Terry, you died years ago to us." Five minutes... the door was closed, and it was over.

Now Terry was stranded. He had no money to return to California, no money to stay another night in the motel. And so could The Church on The Rock help him with another night? He had friends in California that were sending him help, but he needed money to stay in this motel one more night or he'd be on the street. It's a tough story of real need, but it's not the end of the story.

You see, because as John talked to him, John found out that Terry had become a Christian two years ago... long after he was infected, long after he was showing signs. And because he changed his lifestyle when he became a Christian, he no longer had any support from his former friends in the gay community. He just had a few friends in California who were Christian that even knew him now. And these were the people who were going to help him.

And so John inevitably asked, "Why did you call Church on The Rock? You know, Church on The Rock is in Anne Arundel County. It's not a first choice. And what he answered was, he said, "I called Church on The Rock because I became a Christian in a church called Church on The Rock, and I figured I'd just take the chance."

John knew that this was God's appointment. John knew there was no doubt that God wanted him to help this man.

Now, I just want to take a moment to look at how God helped this guy. Think about God's options. Remember God has infinite options to help this guy. So one of the things that could have happened is the guy could have come back to the motel, noticed that under the bed somebody had dropped $60, and then recover it and take the money and use it. It could have happened.

God could have worked out the whole transfer of money or whatever the friends were doing in California so that miraculously it would happen faster than everybody expected, and he could get his money in time.

Terry could have gone to a motel that had a two-for-one special and he would have paid for a night and gotten another night free.

There are lots of ways God could have helped Terry. But how does God choose to do it? He says to John, a disciple, a follower, "You do it." We shouldn't be surprised. This is what God normally does. This is God's habit. God sees a need. God decides that he wants to meet that need, and then he speaks to his people and says, "You, as one of my people, I want you to meet this need. You do it."

Well you're going to see Jesus doing just that thing in today's passage. So let's open up now to Matthew, chapter 14, verses 13-21. Let's hear now the Word of God. Now what happens immediately before this passage is that John the Baptist is killed, and so then we begin at verse 13.

"When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, 'This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.'"

"Jesus replied, 'They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.' 'We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish," they answered. 'Bring them here to me,' he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children."

Let's pray: Lord, as we look into your Word, open our eyes, open our hearts so that we might hear what you want to say. For we ask it in Jesus' name, Amen.

Verses 13 and 14 in this passage... there is an unexpected event. Jesus hears about the death of John the Baptist, and what Jesus wants is a solitary place to process this. He wants to grieve. He wants to think through what's going on. He wants to pray. He wants time alone with God. And so that's what he leaves and plans to do. But then when he gets to this solitary place, it's not very solitary anymore. Thousands of people have gathered there with all kinds of need, seeking Jesus' help. And so Jesus serves. Depleted, grieving, he serves all day.

Now in verse 15, the disciples start seeing ahead. They see a problem coming. This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. So let's send the crowds away so that they can get what they need for dinner. Jesus' response, verse 16... absolutely unexpected, "They don't need to go away. You give them something to eat."

Now this is a ludicrous statement. "You do it." There are 5,000 men there plus women plus children gathered in this place... lots more than could fit into Ripken Stadium, and fill in the infield as well. A crowd like that, and he is saying, "You do it."

Now think about what Jesus' options are. Remember, he had choices. He could have done it differently. He could have taken the disciples' angle on this, "Not my problem. Go home. Get yourself something to eat. It's time to go. If you don't leave soon you're going to get weak on the way. Go home." That's what the disciples advised him to do.

He could have prayed that the people wouldn't get hungry. Now I like that prayer... the diet prayer, you know? Wouldn't we love to have a prayer like that where you could pray and you wouldn't even be hungry? Jesus could have done that. He could have prayed for angels to bring the food in baskets. Why not? He commands God's legions. Or he could have done what happens in the Old Testament with Elijah. He could have sent ravens to bring the food... the Baltimore miracle, you know. Bring the ravens into serve.

But he doesn't do that. He looks at the people who have decided to follow him and he says, "You do it." In verses 17 and 18 they take inventory... five loaves and two fish... way too little to matter. Jesus says, "Bring them here to me." He prays over it.

And what happens next is a huge miracle. It's why it's in the New Testament. There is a multiplication of the loaves and the fish and everyone receives all that they need and there is even some left over.

This is a miracle that specifically happened to show Jesus' identity to us, to show his power to us, to show us that he cared about the needs of his people and that he had power to deal with that need. It's not every day ministry, but embedded in this miraculous event is a little bit of the everyday. And that little bit of the everyday is God choosing to do this by using his followers and by asking them to serve.

You give them something to eat. You distribute my provision. You clean up afterwards. The disciples cleaned up. God chose to use his people. That's the little bit of the everyday. You serve. You do it. Serving is one of the major things that needs to be in our pattern of life as a Christ follower, as a disciple.

During the summer our elders took a look at some of the core things that define our understanding of what a growing Christ follower is like. We looked into Scripture. We looked at the lives of mature people. We looked at what other churches say about it, and we came up with four key categories... four kind of marks of a disciple.

1. The first one is that a disciple is someone who is interested in knowing God. People who desire to worship and experience the living God... that's one of the marks of a disciple.

2. The second mark that we surfaced was that disciples are committed to growing in faith together. They're people who accept the responsibility to grow in their faith in a relationship with other people where other people assist them and hold them accountable. This is a pattern all through history in the lives of Christ followers.

3. The third thing we noticed is that disciples are interested in serving the body of Christ. They're people who worship God by serving the body that God has called them to.

4. And the fourth mark was that disciples are interested in sharing Christ with the world. They're people who join God in his purposes where we live, work, and play... people who invest their lives in the people around them. People who invite others into opportunities to know more about God. People who impact the world around them through their service, through their commitment to compassion, and their commitment to justice.

But these are things we see in disciples at all times. It's not particularly American. It's not just the twenty-first century. It's all the time. This is simply what a growing Christfollower is like. And right there, in the middle of it all, right there in the essential things, is serving.

Serving is essential to your growth in God. Hear me carefully. I'm not making this up. Serving is essential to your growth with God. You can't grow, as you should, unless you learn to serve. You cannot know God in the depth and intimacy that God wants to reveal himself to you, unless you serve. You will not have much of the joy that God wants to pour into your life if you don't serve his people.

I want to talk about my friend John Krach a little bit. He is a pastor of a church that's a lot different than ours. Church on The Rock is an independent church, and John usually yells at you when he preaches. Okay? And I just love to hear him preach.

Now when John came in with this huge thing that he had just faced, do you think he came in all kind of beaten down? No, John came in and he was... the volume knob was on 11, okay. He was praising God for having been used by God in that, that he got a chance to see the tender mercy of God to this person in need. That of all the churches this guy calls, he calls the one whose pastor finds out just in time to go on the way to a meeting. He saw God at work and was overjoyed at it.

Now believe me, John has a lot of bad days, you know, that it's just sloughing through the hard times. But on that day he was on cloud nine because he had an opportunity to serve.

Serving is so important that Rick Warren, the pastor at Saddleback Church in California, puts it this way, "A non-serving Christian is a contradiction in terms." "A non-serving Christian is a contradiction in terms." It's essential to our growth. It's not only essential because it's important in our growth, serving is also indispensable because God will not meet the needs of the people around us in our neighborhoods, in our families, in our community - God will not meet the needs of the people who come into this sphere unless we serve.

There are things that God has chosen to do through us. He calls us to do it, and if we don't do it, it won't be done. Remember, God is in the habit of delegation. "You do it."

Central is a church that God is using to reach people for Christ, to help them grow to be faithful, mature followers of Christ. This is our joy. This is our reason for existing: to proclaim this to people who don't know him and to stir up those who do. And it can't happen if you don't serve.

Think about just this Sunday service. If we did not have volunteers giving of their time, using their talents, we wouldn't have much of a worship team today. In fact, it would be Andy coming up here playing... week after week after week. We wouldn't have artwork on the screen. In fact, we wouldn't have any media at all. There would be no media because that's all done by volunteers.

We wouldn't have lights on in here because that's all done by volunteers. We wouldn't have sound on either because that also is handled by volunteers here. We just can't pay for people to do all these things.

A few weeks ago we got this prayer of thanksgiving in the connection card. "I just want to share a prayer of thanksgiving for all the loving people who help young parents to worship by taking care of our children on Sunday morning." This person gets it. They understand what a gift that is because it's not just what goes on in here where we have volunteers; it's what's going on out there as well.

If we didn't have people volunteering, serving the body on Sunday, you'd right now have your one-year-old in your arms. There would be no care, no clean diapers. There would be no Sunday school for the children who are older... no worship for them. There would be no youth group today or any day if we didn't have people serving. You're on your own. There wouldn't be even any coffee in the concourse. There would be no one to greet you or to give you answers to your questions. It's all volunteers.

God's ministry here at Central is succeeding because you are serving, but not all of you are serving. And I just want to ask the question, "Why not?" Why not? Your call to salvation included a call to service. It's part of Christ-likeness.

How does Christ describe himself to his disciples? "I am the one who has come to serve and not to be served." Serving is part of being like Jesus. That is our calling. We can't escape service because it's in the identity of God. And we're called to be like him...freely, joyfully. Serving is part of maturity. In fact, it's not too much to say that maturity...God gives us maturity in part so that our service will have more impact.

So maybe we might be at a point in life where we don't need to know something else in order to grow, read another book, go to another group, maybe we need to take what we know and exercise some spiritual muscles by serving the body. Remember what Jesus said, "You do it."

Outside today there is going to be all kinds of opportunities being presented to you in children's ministry, student ministry, Alpha, worship, outreach and other areas. I'm just asking you not to just walk by. Slow down a bit. Take a look at what's there. Maybe God wants you to do it. And if you do, you're joining a great crowd of people who have already made the same commitment because Central is absolutely filled with people who have made this choice.

I told a story just a minute ago about a friend from another church who has made himself available to God. But we could tell those stories about us too. And so I will. At VBS, already an event where there are all kinds of people serving the body here, serving others in the community who come. While we were at VBS, Patti Dixon, one of our deacons, had someone come up to her and said that she had a friend who had an immediate serious need. She had to move out of her house that very afternoon. She had some friends and family to help but not nearly enough.

So Patti went around that day and talked to all the people who were volunteering and asked them whether they might be available to help. That afternoon several Central members showed up to help, some of them still wearing their Rome VBS shirts. They got everything packed up. The truck went off.

At the other end, another deacon showed up, this time with a group of high school students who did just a great job helping the adults finish. And from what I hear, someone else brought food. And on and off during that afternoon the woman and others were asking, "Why are you helping a stranger?" Some of the people who were asked that simply said, "It's simply what we're called to do. It's who we are."

We're called to be like Jesus. We're called to be his eyes, his hands, his feet. That's our privilege. In fact, in China, some churches welcome new believers by saying to them, right after they come to faith, "Jesus now has a new pair of eyes to see with, a new pair of ears to listen with, new hands to help with, and a new heart to love others." Serving... it's just who we are. It's not a sideline. It's not an extra. It's of the essence.

In the next few weeks all kinds of people are going to be coming here, new people... strangers to us. And who is going to be there to greet and serve those friends, those family members, those neighbors, those people we don't know? I can almost guarantee you that it won't be angels. I'm pretty sure of that. And I'm even more convinced it won't be ravens. Today, in the world now, Jesus is still saying to his followers, "You do it." And if not you, then who?

Let's pray: God, we thank you. Thank you for the privilege of being like Jesus. Thank you for the privilege of serving others, and so now work in our hearts that wherever we are with whatever gifts or time we have, we might know what it means to walk in Christ-likeness and serve others. For we ask this in Jesus' name, Amen.

© 2009, Rev. John Schmidt
Central Presbyterian Church, Baltimore, MD 21204 410/823-6145
www.centralpc.org