Use me!

Introduction

Good morning church! I’m going to ask that right up top you go ahead and grab your communion. What better way to get started this morning than with remembering and reflecting on the sacrifice of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. I ask that you take a moment and reflect on that before we partake together.

Pray

For those of you who do not know me my name is Jake and I am the Student Minister here at FCC. The title of the message today is “Use me!” We have been in a series called Raw Prayers and I love this series because our prayer life is often times one of the first aspects of our faith to feel mundane. When you first learn about prayer its still fresh and new and it feels exciting. But not long after it becomes repetitive, it becomes automatic, and it becomes less meaningful.

The prayer we will be going over today is the prayer “Use me”. And I find this one particularly interesting because I have found that there are usually two types of people. People that want to be used, begging to be included, needing to have a part in something. And then there are others who are the exact opposite, people who by any means necessary do not want to be included, don’t look at me, don’t talk to me, just let me fade into the background.

I have experienced so many versions of this within student ministry. If you have ever worked with kids in any capacity you’ll understand what I’m about to say. Sometimes it gets to a point where you stop calling on someone even when their hand is raised. Why? Because I’ve asked a total of 5 questions in this class and the same student has answered all 5. There are just some people that need to be used and included. I have also encountered the other side of the spectrum. Where there could be a student that knows the answer, knows they know the answer, and will refuse to say it out loud. Some people just insist on sticking to the background and their biggest fear is someone requiring something of them.

Regardless of which side you find yourself on, I hope you find something this morning that will get you closer to asking God to use you for his kingdom. I have three points for us this morning that I am very excited to share with you all and the first one is.

Availability Before Ability

A great example of availability can be found in 1 Samuel 3.

1 Samuel 3:1–10 “Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision. At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. And the Lord called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.””

Theres a few things we can take from this passage and the first one is:

Samuel made himself available.

When we talk about praying the prayer “use me”, has there ever been a time you prayed that prayer just to feel better? Because its 100% possible to pray that prayer and then continue to make yourself unavailable. Continuing to live your life at 100 mph and not taking the time to make yourself available to God. And I know what a lot of you are thinking. “Jake bills still gotta get paid, kids gotta get fed, grass has to be cut, sometimes I don’t even have time to think about what I want for dinner!”

Making yourself available to God doesn’t have to be over complicated. Thats why we’re reading this scripture is because when Eli tells Samuel how to make himself available to God he doesn’t hand him a manual. He doesn’t tell him to go get a pen to he can write down all the steps, he says “go lay down, and say speak Lord, for your servant hears”. Samuel made himself available.

He made himself available in places he wasn’t needed.

I think its very easy to read a story like this and find it somewhat comical. Samuel was getting confused and wasn’t sure who was calling his name. And so multiple times he’s running to the wrong place and insisting that he’s here when he was never called their in the first place. He was making himself available to someone who didn’t need him.

For those of you out there thinking about how busy your life is, thinking about how your constantly living your life at 100mph. This might be a hard question to answer but is there an area of your life where your making yourself available where you’re not needed? Are you turning down a call from God because you just insist that your needed in this other area?

I ask this question because I am just as guilty of it. Feeling as though I’m pulled in all of these different directions and theres no way God I could take on a new thing I just don’t have time. And somehow time and time again God shows me “Your not as busy as you think you are”. Times when God has shown me Jake the show can go on without you. It takes a level of trust, but how can you stop making yourself available in places where you’re not needed to make room for what Gods calling you to?

How many times do you think you’ve missed Gods call?

Samuel missed Gods call multiple times and he was being audibly spoken to. So do you think its safe to say we might have missed a call a few times?

Whats the purpose of pointing this out? To make sure we’re always listening. Its too easy for us to move through life and say “I just don’t think Gods really spoken to me”.

Church it is more likely that you have missed a few of his calls rather than leaning into the idea that he’s never spoken to you. And please don’t think I’m saying the only call you can receive is an audible voice from God. A call can look a lot of different ways.

So whats the common theme here?

The first step to praying the prayer “use me” is to make yourself available.

Dylan Story

Making yourself available takes a certain level of courage. Because when you make yourself available you say “God I don’t know what this will look like, but I’m here for it”.

A few summers ago we went on a high school mission trip to Citrus County, Florida. This was a very cool experience for myself and the students but we talked a lot about the idea of making yourself available. And how once you do that, things might get uncomfortable and uncertain, but its worth it.

I’ll set the scene for you: There was a warehouse that we worked in that stored and organized a toy drive for the low income people that lived in the area. The toy drive was so big that they started working on it in June to be ready for Christmas. This warehouse had no air conditioning, if I remember correctly it was about 1000 degrees outside. While we were working in the warehouse it began to rain a little bit.

So we go to this warehouse are we’re clearing out space in the attic so that they can use that space for more toys and there were mice in the attic. Mice leave behind certain things and the attic was very dirty. There was one student in particular whos hands were dirty due to the mice and proceeded to ask the lady in charge if there was a sink he could wash his hands at.

The lady laughs when he asked the question. I thought thats an odd reaction. She the says “ Oh yeah, the facilities are very nice”, then proceeds to take us outside and points to the down spout of a gutter. Where a little water is coming out. It was funny at the time but I say all of this to say making yourself available can be uncertain and uncomfortable at times, but its worth it.

Submission Comes Before Commission.

John 21:15–17 “When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”

What we see here in Peters case is that restoration had to come before responsibility. You see Peter was just coming off of a major failure. This is following the event where Peter denied Jesus 3 times just as Jesus foretold. What do we know about Peter? Remember earlier we said there were 2 kinds of people. We know that Peter is the kind of person that NEEDS to be included. Peter wants to be used desperately, he constantly wants to be given a task and make sure he’s helping the overall mission.

These are just a few examples of times Peter was trying to be helpful, trying to be used but Jesus didn’t see it that way. And Peter was humbled.

John 13:36–38 “Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.”

Matthew 16:21–23 “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.””

Matthew 26:51–54 “And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?””

Whats going on in all these Scriptures? Peter is desperate for a commission. He’s desperate for a task, he wants to be used for the kingdom. But time and time again he is humbled. Why? Did Jesus have a personal dislike for Peter? Did Jesus find Peter annoying? No he was trying to teach Peter something. He was teaching Peter that Submission has to come before Commission.

I encounter this constantly in Student Ministry, Students that want a commission before they’ve even begun to understand submission.

In student ministry we go to a lot of out of town events. We always have a Fall Retreat where we go away for a weekend and spend time being poured into with teaching and worship. We go to CIY MIX, or CIY MOVE, or we go to an entirely different camp for a week. But regardless of where we go every summer and every fall most of our students turn into Peter. While we’re still out of town their talking about how they want to get more involved in youth group and they want to serve and they are on fire for God. I heard a speaker once say that a teenagers spiritual high that they experience at camp is enough to where if the devil walked in the room they’d kill him with their bare hands. Thats real.

The passion is there but the maturity isn’t quite there yet. Because once we return home to real life things quickly change. All of a sudden the passion that was once there and the plans that were made feel not as possible anymore.

Now I don’t want you to think this is a bad thing, its great. Students are young in their faith and they want to be used by the kingdom but they don’t quite understand yet that submission comes before commission.

I say all of this to say that when I read about Peter I often picture him as a teenager. I am well aware that Peter was a grown man, but the way he carries himself, the way he reacts in situations, reminds me of someone who’s experiencing a spiritual high that you might get at summer camp.

Now what do we do with that?

How can we take all of these examples of Peter and turn it into something that applies to me? You see what Peter did multiple times was put himself in the position to be a hero. We can even see when Jesus is telling his disciples that he must suffer and die Peter pulled him aside and thought he was going to be the one that put a stop to it.

So what do we do with that? How do we counter that attitude of trying to be the hero thats not needed? We constantly put ourselves in a position of humility.

If we’re going to pray the prayer “USE ME” we need to be okay with the fact that however God uses us is what we’re supposed to be doing. We can’t ask God to use us and then feel as though a particular task is below us.

To truly submit to God and his plans means we pray “use me God in whatever way you see fit, no matter what it is father I’m here for it”.

One of my favorite scriptures is the one we just read John 13:36-38.

It feels like a weird scripture to be on a list of favorites but I love it because its so simple. Jesus says I’m going away for a little bit and Peter says okay cool I’ll come with and Jesus says no you can’t come with me right now, and Peter is immediately angry. All because Jesus just said “wait here”.

If we’re talking about submitting to God that means doing the things he ask us to do even when we can’t see why we’re doing it.

Imagine how you’d live your life different if you lived it with the obedience to say “Jesus said wait here, so here I’ll wait until he tells me otherwise.”

Faithfulness Is Greater Than Visibility

I’ll be honest with you church this one was a difficult one for me. For those of you who don’t know me personally, I like knowing whats going on. If I wake up on a particular day unclear of what the plan is I’ll make my own plan and then follow that just to have a plan to follow. But thats why I struggle with this point. If we’re going to pray the prayer “use me God” we have to be okay with the fact that faithfulness is greater than visibility.

Matthew 25:22–23 “And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’”

I love just these two verses because it explains this point perfectly. A servant was given two talents and he was faithful with the little he had. Theres so many other things he could have done.

He could have complained about the little that he was given.

He could have been angry with the master for not trusting him with more.

He could have done what the other servants did and just saved them. and not bothered with growing them.

But the important part is where it says “You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much”. The servant was not concerned with the future reward, he wasn’t concerned with what he felt he should have been given. He was faithful with what he had in that moment, and because of that, he was given more.

How many times do we find ourselves frustrated with what we have, feeling like we should have more. Feeling like we should be trusted with more. Feeling like we should have reached a new stage of life by now.

I fear that we become so concerned with the future that we forget to be faithful with what Gods already given us. How contradictory is that to our prayer? “Dear God I pray that you use me for the kingdom, but only in the ways that I want to be used!” Thats not how it works! When the servant is given a task its not up for debate. So guess what if God gives you a task and you start to debate it, you’re no longer a servant. You’ve taken off that title, why? Because you thought you could pick and choose the way God uses you.

If we’re going to pray the prayer God use me we need to be okay with the fact that we can’t see the end result, we don’t know how everything will play out. and thats okay because we serve a savior that works that out for us.

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I have a personal example of this, and unfortunately it reflects the fact that I have this need to constantly know whats next for me.

Story

There was a time in my life a little over a year ago where I was having a deep internal struggle. I was second guessing many of the decisions I had made in my life and Maddie had just had another miscarriage and I was worried and anxious about my future. I was obviously here doing youth ministry and I kept having this question linger over me. And that question was “What will you do when you’re older?”. I kept thinking about Student Ministry and I was thinking about how Maddie and I were unable to have kids and that question bothered me for weeks. “What will you do when your older?”. Who will take care of you, if you die who will take care of your wife? After all we didn’t have any kids. These questions riddled me with fear and anxiety.

Around this same time I had surgery for something small, and I was sitting in the living room recovering unable to lift anything for the next several days. And due to my recovery some people came to visit me, there was a student from the youth group, and then two former students. All three of these guys are sitting around me and we’re just talking and laughing. And all of a sudden the front door opens, and Maddie walks in the door with groceries. and without being asked, without even being encouraged to, these three boys stand up, and they go get the rest of the groceries from the car. They bring them in and help put them away, then they proceed to take the trash out, they take my dogs outside and then bring them back in. They did all the things I usually do for me, because I was unable to it at that moment.

These three boys had no idea what I had been struggling with, they had no idea the anxiety that filled my mind when I thought about what my future looks like. And it was in that moment when I realized. This is God. He sent these people to do these things. Not because otherwise it wouldn’t have happened, not because if they wouldn’t have my life would fall apart, he sent them to do these things to show me that faithfulness is greater than visibility. He was trying to tell me “Jake keep shepherding my flock, keep doing what you’re doing, everything will work out.” You don’t have to know whats next, you don’t have to know whats around the corner, you don’t have to know whats coming up over the hill, you just need to know that you are seen, you are loved, and when you walk according to Gods plan, he takes care of the rest.

There will be people up here to pray with you if you feel led to come forward.

Lets pray