The Lord Needs Them

Connection and Tension

The Wonky Donkey is one of the most loved children’s books in our home. It is impossible to read it and not be caught up in its joy. Our grandkids love this book and it always brings a smile to their face and a giggle in their belly. From the last page of the book...

I think sometimes we feel like the wonky donkey. Except, where it was able to find joy in its imperfections, we see only inability and inadequacy. Especially when it comes to finding our purpose in God’s kingdom. After all, does what I have to offer God really matter?

There are people who have more money to give than me

People who are more talented than I am

There are those with more time to commit

All these excuses - and that’s what they are - end up binding us up. Our sense of inadequacy often keeps us from being released into God’s kingdom mission.

For many of us our past hasn’t helped. We had parents we could never please. Teachers who dismissed us as hopeless. Friends, bosses, coworkers that treated us as useless. All reinforce this script that plays in our heads that what we have to give is inconsequential.

This may surprise you, but I was NOT the popular kid in school. Fortunately, I wasn’t a target for bullying. But neither was I invited to hang with the popular kids. I dreaded grade school PE when we drew up teams to play dodge ball, breaking into a cold sweat for fear that I would be picked last. In the grand scheme this is a relatively small thing. But these small things, accumulated over time, can lead to such a loss of confidence that we become afraid to stick our neck out to try anything new. Failure just feels to crushing to face.

Yet I also think that counteracting these tendencies to withdraw is a desire in most people to want their lives to matter. For sure, we want to matter to someone - to know we are loved and accepted unconditionally. But beyond that, I think most of us want to know that our life has purpose. That we could make a difference - even if it was small - in someone else’s life. Did you ever use to daydream as a kid of being the person who saved a plane from going down, or bravely rushed into a burning building to carry someone to safety? I remember as a young believer reading the stories of Paul and being so inspired to want to be a Christian like him. But when I looked in the mirror all I saw was insignificant, inadequate Kevin.

The message this morning is called The Lord Needs Them, and I want to offer hope and encouragement from an unlikely source - a wonky donkey.

Text and Participation

Read Matt 21:1-11

Today is Palm Sunday. This is the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem at the head of a large crowd of rejoicing pilgrims who were coming to the city to celebrate the Passover. The point of the passage is to establish Jesus as the true king coming into his city. Those who lived during this time would see an immediate contrast, for coming into the city from the other direction would have been Pilate the Roman governor. He would not be surrounded with pilgrims but by a legion of soldiers. What would have been heard is not the joyful songs of Zion but the marching of boots and the clanking of swords. This passage is a stark contrast between the way of worldly power and the way of Jesus.

But there was something else that drew my attention as I studied this passage. It happens early, and it involves a humble little donkey. I say humble, because this would be another contrast to Pilate who would have ridden in on a horse bred for war. I want to draw three encouragements for you from this passage.

First, it tells us something about The kind of people God chooses.

What Jesus chooses to ride, however, is a donkey. A humble, unassuming donkey. Donkeys were beasts of burden, not of glory. You wouldn’t ride a donkey into battle. An quarter horse would be faster. An Arabian would have more endurance. A draft horse would be stronger. A stallion would have more prestige. But Jesus chooses none of these and instead picks the little donkey. But as my friend Margaret is faithful to remind me of “little is much when God is in it”.

These kind of details in scripture confront that lie we believe about ourselves. That we can’t make a difference. That we have nothing worthwhile to offer. They remind us that the most unassuming person can play an important part in God’s story. 1 Cor 1:27 “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;”

The story Hattie May Wiatt… In 1912, the Rev. Russell Conwell of Grace Baptist Church is Philadelphia told the true story of a little girl named Hattie May. She had made a comment to him that the Sunday School was so crowded there were people who wanted to come who couldn’t fit. He told her that one day they would have a building big enough for everyone. Sadly, a short time later Hattie May died. Rev. Conwell preached her funeral as was surprised at the end when her mother told him that Hattie had been saving money to help build a bigger church. She handed him Hattie’s little purse containing 57 cents. This was in 1886. Rev. Conwell told his church about Hattie’s offering, and they formed Wiatt Mite Society. They used her 57 cents as seed money buy a larger house near the church that became a new Sunday School. Later, this house began to host classes for what would become Temple University. It was later sold to allow Temple to move to a larger campus, as well as building what is now Temple University Hospital. All from 57 cents. Little IS much when God is in it.

Next, the passage assures us The Lord has loosed you for service.

Notice what had to happen before the donkey could be of service to Jesus. It had to be untied. It had to be given its freedom, loosed from its bonds, so that it could fulfill the destiny God had for it. Likewise, this morning I believe God wants to do some “loosing” around here. He wants to untie and untangle all the ways your past or your present have made you insecure, inferior, fearful, and sidelined. Friends, you have something to offer to God. You have something to offer the church. You have gifts and abilities that could make an eternal impact in someone’s life.

Can you smile and act friendly? We’d love to put you at the doors making sure that people coming in feel welcomed.

Do you enjoy making things run smoothly? You would be a blessing on our hospitality team making sure we are ready each Sunday morning with drinks and a tidy space.

Are you patient? We need more people who are willing to invest in the next generation as a kid’s ministry teacher or helper.

Can you pray? We’ve been pleading now for months to have you join us Sunday mornings to pray for our service and our church. This may be the easiest, yet most important, gift you have to offer.

But to do any of this, we need to let God loosen our bonds. We need to confront them for the lies they are. Luke tells the story of a woman who had a spirit of infirmity and was bent over. But listen what happens when Jesus sees her. “But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, ‘Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity’” (Luke 13:12, NKJV). Jesus wants to loose you for ministry today.

The last thing this passage shows us is The qualities God looks for.

Here’s the truth: there will ALWAYS be someone better than you. But comparison is an evil companion, because God doesn’t look for the better, he looks for the available. It’s been said that God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called. This is true, but I would add this: God doesn’t call the gifted, he calls the willing.

Jesus sends the disciples to fetch this wonky donkey with the instructions that if anyone asks what you’re doing simply say, “The Lord needs them”. Matthew doesn’t record this, but Marks records that they were challenged - presumably by the owner. But when they said “the Lord needs them” they consented right away. They were willing to allow themselves, their resources, to be employed for the Lord’s service.

The question we must begin to ask our self is not “what CAN’T I do” but “what CAN I do”? You have gifts. You have abilities. You have resources. The Lord needs them. Not because he is inadequate for the job, but because he has chosen to do his work with willing human partners. God chooses you.

Gospel and Invitation

Maybe today you feel like the wonky donkey. I want to show you something… Play video of grandma reading The Wonky Donkey

What can’t be missed in this video is the overflowing joy and laughter of this grandma. What if this joy was available to all wonky donkeys who would allow their Lord to loose them for ministry? For all who would say “yes” to employing their gifts and talents in God’s kingdom simply because the Lord needs them.

The good news this morning is that whether you’re a donkey or a thoroughbred (or just think you’re a thoroughbred) - God picks you! Does what I have to offer God really matter? The story of the donkey is a resounding “yes”!

As I said already, I believe the Lord wants to do some loosing this morning. I want to suggest that in a moment as we come forward for communion, that if you feel God stirring in you, wanting to set some things free, that you come to the alter and do business with him.

I also want to invite those who have maybe never accepted God’s invitation to forgiveness and new life to make that decision today. Christ rode a donkey that day on the way to the cross, where all the guilt of our sins and all the shame of our past was dealt with. I want to invite you to turn away from your old life and to the the new life Jesus offers and make him your Lord and Savior. As you come forward for communion I’ll be up front if you’d like me to pray with you about this.

Communion...