Responding to the call to mending

Whose job is it

I remember seeing a poem quite a while ago about four people called Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.

It went like this...

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it.

Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.

Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job.

Everybody thought Anybody could do it but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it.

It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

It’s a clever use of words. It’s clever, because we all know how true it is.

There are jobs everywhere that need doing, and poor Nobody - well, he seems to get stuck with a lot of jobs.

Today, however, my interest isn’t so much with all the jobs around the church that need doing - they are of course important, but that’s not the focus. The focus instead is on what we’ve been talking about throughout the series - the task of being co-menders with Christ.

You see, I think we can all agree - the world is broken and is in need of mending.

Hopefully we can all agree that God is in the business of mending… that he renews and he restores.

I’m hoping that you’ve even become convinced that God invites His people to become co-menders. That is to say, he works through us to heal the broken hearted, to show forgiven to the sinner, to give hope to the hopeless.

I wonder how you feel about this idea of being an active partner with God?

Perhaps on one level, it might feel exciting - being part of the action… being right there where God is bringing about restoration.

Except that, for many, maybe even most of you, you might have realised that when you join in with God’s work, it’s far from one big glamorous ride.

In fact, quite often its hard. Yes, it’s beautiful when you see all of the special God moments, but there is effort, and not a little heartache along the way.

What I’m talking about is the way in which that desire to share with your next door neighbour the faith, and how quickly your enthusiasm can be quashed by their lack lustre response, or even on occasion, their abrupt rebuff of your efforts.

Or your efforts to help some people in need, but it has little effect and instead of thanks, you just make other people upset.

It can leave us feeling a bit like this poem I read a moment ago. Everybody should do it. Anybody could have done it. But Nobody does do it.

God wants to work through us. But is Anybody standing up to do it?

We want shalom in this world - why is it so long in coming?

This morning I want to simply ask the question: are you willing to make yourself available?

I’m not just asking whether you see the need, but whether you see the need and are prepared to say to God, I’m willing to be a co-mender with you.

You don’t need to have a whole plan worked out. You just need to be available.

Being Available

It’s what we saw in the passage I read earlier, we see how it starts with Andrew and another disciple making themselves available by following Jesus

They see Jesus - they’ve heard what John the Baptist says about him - he calls him the Lamb of God.

In many ways, it’s quite a weird little encounter. They actually just start following Jesus, before Jesus turns around, and you could almost read Jesus’ next line with a bit of a biting tone, although I don’t think that is intended - he says “What do you want?”

They’re following a prompting.

The two men, end up at the place Jesus is staying and they spend a day with him. Andrew then goes and gets his brother Simon, who is about to get the name we’re more familiar for him - Peter.

Now, the interesting thing to note is how at this particular point, Peter had no idea what was coming next.

The reality is, Peter is going to be in for a very crazy journey.

He had no idea that at one point he’d be literally stepping out of a boat to walk on water. He would have had no idea at some point, the one he had put all his hope in would tell him and that he will be betrayed and killed on a cross. And that he would be there when they arrested Jesus.

He had no idea that at one, him, a mere humble fisherman would stand before thousands of people and tell them how Jesus died and then rose again - and that he would be a part of a mass baptism that would see 3000 people baptised.

He had no idea that some letters he wrote would become part of the Holy Scriptures that would become spiritual food for billions of people over the next few thousand years.

He had no idea of any of this when he dropped his nets and followed Jesus, but he said yes to being available to Jesus, his impact was massive.

Our impact might be nothing like Peter’s, yet we too can be available and the impact might be far greater than you realise.

You see, imagine the person that is good at bringing Jesus into the conversations they have. For the sake of the argument, let’s assume throughout any given year, there are 100 people who in the course of the conversation they’ve had a meaningful reference to the love of Jesus.

It’s quite possible, perhaps even likely, that at the end of that year, none of those conversation ended with anyone accepting Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. You could ask - was that person making a difference?

The reality is, you’ll likely never fully know exactly what impact it is. But let’s say, some of those conversation triggered some deeper thinking in a number of this people. They then have a series of other encounters before they feel ready to accept Jesus. There might have been a whole series of people in the process, but yet each one helped. The point I’m trying to make is, we often can’t measure the impact we’re making, yet that doesn’t mean we’re not making an impact.

In fact, I’d suggest it’s not helpful to even try and measure our impact.

The bigger question is: are you willing to make yourself available for God?

Now, I think it’s worth saying at this point, that it’s actually of course very easy to say - well, of course I’m willing to be available for God.

But there is a next step to this - and that is we need to put it in action, and to put it in action, we need to listen to what God wants us to do.

So what is it that God wants us to do?

You might be thinking, well, it’s not going to be cross cultural mission. There’s no way God’s calling me to another country. Maybe that’s true - but I’d always challenge you, don’t dismiss things too quickly. You never know what God wants from you.

Being available actually should start with not ruling anything out. Coming to God and saying - right well, I’m ready for whatever you want from me.

However, while I might suggest you shouldn’t rule out a calling to some far flung place, you should also not neglect what God has placed right in front of you.

You see, you might get the opportunity to serve God in somewhere far away, but right now, God has got you right here. Right now, God has placed people in your sphere of influence, and it would seem to me, this is where you should start.

You know, sometimes it can be easier to think about talking about God with others in some far flung place compared with talking to the people in your own community.

Are you willing to be available to the people close to home?

This actually involves a conscious choice.

Sometimes it can be a prompting from the Spirit to talk to someone, but we have to say, yes, I’ll do it.

We all think, it’s everybody’s responsibility, but so often, it’s nobody who does it.

Are you willing?

A week or two ago, I read through Aunty Lorraine Lilley’s book, Mop Dolly. If you get the opportunity, I’d encourage you to read it.

But one thing that I was encouraged in that book, was the way Neville and Lorraine made themselves available to go to Melbourne to serve the Lord. I won’t tell the story in full, you’ll have to read the book or talk with them, but an opportunity was presented before them, and even though there was a lot of details missing, they chose to say to God, yes, we’re available. They went on to have a great ministry down there.

Are you willing to make yourself available?

Responding With Others

Now, I want to look back at the fact that Andrew gets his brother Peter.

If we were to look at the next section, we see Philip joining the group of new disciples, but he doesn’t do it alone either - he gets Nathanael.

The point is, we see the way they respond, and they are doing it in community. They are doing it with other people.

One of the issues that we find in our current culture is that we have become so individualized.

We’re often so concerned about what our own personal call is, that we fail to think about how we do it together.

Now, it might be that there are some aspects which you do need to do on your own. There might be a specific person you need to reach out to. Or work on a task that you are uniquely qualified for. If that’s the case, then do what you need to do.

However, we also need to recognise that God has placed us in community for a reason. Most of the time, he doesn’t want us to be a lone ranger. He wants us to partner with others in our community.

Sometimes this can be hard. It can be hard because other people are going to think and operate in ways which are different to the way you think and operate. It can cause distress, and sometimes we think it would be just so much easier if we just did things ourselves.

Sometimes, however, it’s that other perspective that we need to hear.

But more than that, working together is the way that God has designed us, Working together provides mutual encouragement.

You might have heard the saying - a team is worth more than the sum of its parts.

Who can you partner with, as you become co-menders with Christ.

For those who are married, your spouse might be an obvious choice, and certainly within a marriage, there is a lot that can be achieved, however, think broader then just that.

Ask God to help make clear who might be a good person to partner with, or for that matter, group of people to form a team with.

It doesn’t have to be a formal team. It can just be a team of people working towards a common goal.

Think about people you are currently ministering with. Now think - in what ways are you being an encouragement to that person. In what ways are you helping to strengthen the work that they are doing.

Remember, this is not a competition. Fellow gospel workers are not competitors, they are partners, and we need to treat them as such.

Responding with the Spirit

Okay, well, so far we’ve talked about the need to just make ourselves available, and secondly to work as community.

The last main point I want to make is to recognise that our response is done through the Spirit.

Sometimes it is explicitly stated for us what the Spirit’s role in an interaction is. In the passage we read before, however, you might say that the role of the Spirit is actually more implied. However, I’d suggest that it’s clearly there. The reasons those two men just wanted to follow Jesus, wasn’t just a bit of curiousity. It was the Spirit making it clear to them what they should do.

For Peter, he is going to be front and centre of the action when a number of years later, the Spirit is poured out in the most spectacular fashion.

Last Sunday, in fact, was Pentecost Sunday. It’s the Sunday that comes 50 days after the Passover, or for us, Easter.

It was one of the main feasts in the Jewish calendar, however, on that first Pentecost after the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, Pentecost took on new significance.

You see, the story goes, that the disciples were sitting in the upper room, when the sound of rushing winds start, and then what looks like tongues of fire start descending on the disciples.

They then each start speaking other languages. And just to be clear, the Bible tells us on this occasion at least, we’re not talking some sort of heavenly language or the like, but rather real earthly languages that other people could clearly understand.

What was happening was that the Spirit was moving in these people in a really special way.

But it’s not the speaking in other languages which is the most special part of this story. You see, after all of this took place, a massive crowd started to form and Peter stood up to address the crowd. By the end of it, 3000 people were baptised.

I’m sure Peter was a powerful speaker, and we do have his speech recorded for us, but this was not just about a good speech. This was about the Spirit going before Peter and the other disciples and changing lives in the process.

And we need to remember this. As much as God wants us to work hard and to think about ways in which we can be co-menders, it is so important that we do all of this in the power of the Holy Spirit who goes before us.

This should be a great encouragement for us.

The reality is, we are all inadequate for the task set before us.

We make mistakes. Say things we shouldn’t. React to things in inappropriate ways.

But yet in the midst of our inadequacies, the Holy Spirit moves in the most powerful way.

Allow the Holy Spirit to intervene in your life so that whatever challenge is before you, you can see that it can be overcome.

This is not about your own strength. This is about the strength of the one that goes before us.

Conclusion

This series has been about the Mending work that God does. Bringing Shalom into a world that so desperately needs it. And he wants us to partner with Him as co-menders - not because he can’t do it without us, but because he chooses to do it with us.

Throughout the series we’ve seen that it starts with a renewal. It’s then done in relationship. At it’s heart is restoration. And finally, we need to respond to it.

Why? Because because this is at the heart of what God is about.

God made this world. Sin entered into it, and the consequences have been devastating. But God is restoring this world. His restoring the lives of individuals, and he’s restoring communities.

Are you going to be available to work with God in bringing about restoration?

Will you share the good news about what God has done?

Will you give the practical support to help those who are suffering?

If the answer is yes, and I hope it is, then can I encourage you to be co-menders in community, and to do everything in the power of the Holy Spirit who goes before us.

Let me pray...