THE LEFT HAND OF GOD

Dr. Richard J. Henderson July 16, 2006

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Psalm 24 (responsive reading)
Mark 6: 1-13

Introduction

At their meeting the board of directors discussed firing the grounds-keeper. He had made a big mistake and the board was ready to let him go. Everyone seemed to be in agreement. "He messed up, let's just get rid of him."

Then one of the members who was usually very quiet leaned forward and spoke. "He has been with us for a long time - I believe twenty years - and he has been a loyal employee. He has helped at least a few of us that I know of. I think it's unfair and a mistake to fire him. I believe he deserves another chance. Can we forget all the good years of service because of one mistake? I hope we will reconsider and give him a second chance."

The tenor of the meeting changed when he finished speaking. People began to talk about the good that the worker had done. In the end the board voted to reprimand the employee but keep him on.

The board member who spoke up, a member of this church, saw what he felt was unfair and spoke against it. He made a difference.

I

In our scripture this morning Jesus calls the disciples and sends them out to do his ministry. The fascinating thing about this is that the Son of God shares his calling with ordinary people.

Jesus is very hands on and he could do all the work himself, but he doesn't. He commissions twelve apostles and lots of others to join in his work. What trust he has in people! What confidence.

From everything Mark tells us about the disciples, they aren't the cream of the crop. Some fishermen, a tax collector - peasant people - they had no religious training. If you're going to delegate the work, at least find some qualified people. But Jesus calls them, and trusts them, to do his work.

II

Jesus does the same thing today. He taps you and me to be his disciples, his ministers. He calls us, marks us with baptism, and shares his ministry with us. We are each given work to do, and the skills and talents we need to get it done.

Wherever we live or work we are asked to fulfill Christ's mission. Sometimes the best ministry is outside the church. So you can minister whether you repair vehicles, change diapers, balance bank accounts, or listen intently to someone's concerns.

At baptism we are given our call to ministry. It is the mark that we have been called by God. The wonderful preacher, Barbara Brown Taylor, suggests at baptism rather than making the mark of the cross with water, we should do it with indelible ink - maybe a "nice deep purple." Make that sign on the forehead, one that will last a lifetime, so wherever we go we show whose representative we are.

How would that change where we went, the things we did, and how we spoke? Taylor suggests if we did that we'd probably have a much smaller church. It's not a good church growth technique.

III

The definition of a minister is a person who acts for another as agent and carries out orders they have given. A minister is a person who represents a higher authority or his country in a foreign land. As Christ's ministers, we represent and serve him.

Some churches list in their bulletin: "The ministers of the church - all the members of the church." Then they list the "minister to the ministers," and give the pastor's name. The point, of course, is that everyone called and baptized is to be a minister in Christ's name.

In fact, in the early church they often drew straws to decide who would lead worship that week. It wasn't that someone was better; they all were able to lead worship.

Just last weekend someone commented to me, "People always ask the pastor to pray at meals, don't they know that any Christian can pray?"

IV

We may not feel qualified for what God calls us to do, but God gives us the tools we need to be effective. God usually calls us to do what God has given us the ability to do: to work well with people, a mechanical ability to fix things, a love of garden plants, more money than you need, love for children. Sometime we don't realize the tools God gave us. Sometimes they don't come in the form we expect. Anne Lamott in her wonderful book, Traveling Mercies, talks about her surprise:

"It's funny. I always imagined when I was a kid that adults had some kind of inner toolbox, full of shiny tools: the saw of discernment, the hammer of wisdom, the sandpaper of patience. But then when I grew up, I found that life handed you these rusty bent old tools - friendship, prayer, conscience, honesty - and said, Do the best you can with these, they will have to do. And mostly, against all odds, they're enough." (1) God gives us the tools, although not always in the form we think.

V

Ministry in Jesus' name isn't a theoretical thing, it happens every day in this church. Most of you don't think of what you do as ministry, but it is. A woman in this church goes to visit a shut-in every week; she calls her almost every day. When the woman needs to go grocery shopping or to see the Doctor, she takes her. The woman who helps isn't a relative; she isn't family, except in this church family. She is Christ's representative.

A man in this church heard of a death in the family of another member and raced to be with them to support them and stand by them in that horrible loss.

A man in this church goes to visit an older man who in his more active days wasn't very active in our church. Now that man feels a close tie with us through one who comes to talk, listen, and help.

We have a whole group of Stephen Ministers who have spent weeks training to be effective in supporting people in need. They minister for Christ in this church. You can add dozens of more experiences that you know of.

We don't always know we're doing it when we minister in Christ's name. Mother Teresa was once asked by a young reporter, "Aren't you frustrated that you can't do more for more people?" She answered with typical wisdom, "I do what I can with what I have, where I am." That's all we're asked to do.

Conclusion

Several months ago I asked an elder from our church to represent the congregation in taking communion to a member who was dying in the hospital. We gathered at her bedside; the woman was in a coma. As we prepared the elements, her sons and daughters arrived. We only had five small cups and a few scraps of bread. The elder took some plastic cups from the room and we poured a little juice in each of them. We broke the bread into even smaller pieces.

Then we served the elements to everyone. At the close, we all held hands and prayed together. We all knew she would die within in a matter of hours - and she did.

When we left that room we went a few flights down to visit with new parents and welcome a tiny newborn.

As we walked to our car the elder commented about how this ministry is from the intensive care unit to maternity ward - from birth to death. And it is, for you and me.

Amen

©Richard J. Henderson 2006