Getting Things Done for God
Getting Things Done for God
Exodus 18:13-26
2nd Sunday after the Epiphany
It is good to be back. I enjoyed my time in Orlando at Stephen Ministry training but it is good to be back home. Stephen Ministry will be a new venture for Mount Olive Lutheran Church. You will be hearing a lot about it in the weeks and months to come. But to put it simply, it is a ministry of one on one care giving. Caregivers or Stephen Ministers are well-trained individuals who provide care through a formalized relationship with a person in need or a care receiver. It is a great ministry that helps provide extended care for our members.
But why a new ministry? Don’t we have enough ministries at Mount Olive? Isn’t our staff providing enough care? Why something new? All these questions are only natural when change in ministry comes. That is why I chose the text this morning for our consideration. Our text is about Moses and a conversation he has with his father-in-law Jethro. Reading from Exodus 18 beginning at the 13th verse:
13 The next day, Moses sat as usual to hear the people’s complaints against each other. They were lined up in front of him from morning till evening.
14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “Why are you trying to do all this alone? The people have been standing here all day to get your help.”
15 Moses replied, “Well, the people come to me to seek God’s guidance. 16 When an argument arises, I am the one who settles the case. I inform the people of God’s decisions and teach them his laws and instructions.”
17 “This is not good!” his father-in-law exclaimed. 18 “You’re going to wear yourself out—and the people, too. This job is too heavy a burden for you to handle all by yourself. 19 Now let me give you a word of advice, and may God be with you. You should continue to be the people’s representative before God, bringing him their questions to be decided. 20 You should tell them God’s decisions, teach them God’s laws and instructions, and show them how to conduct their lives. 21 But find some capable, honest men who fear God and hate bribes. Appoint them as judges over groups of one thousand, one hundred, fifty, and ten. 22 These men can serve the people, resolving all the ordinary cases. Anything that is too important or too complicated can be brought to you. But they can take care of the smaller matters themselves. They will help you carry the load, making the task easier for you. 23 If you follow this advice, and if God directs you to do so, then you will be able to endure the pressures, and all these people will go home in peace.”
24 Moses listened to his father-in-law’s advice and followed his suggestions. 25 He chose capable men from all over Israel and made them judges over the people. They were put in charge of groups of one thousand, one hundred, fifty, and ten. 26 These men were constantly available to administer justice. They brought the hard cases to Moses, but they judged the smaller matters themselves.[1]
Who provides care? Pastors? Staff? Stephen Ministers? Church leaders? All congregation members? If you said yes to all the above you are right. But while we often, when asked, will say we all provide care, we don’t live that out in practice. Often we say it is the Pastor’s or Staffs job to provide care for our people. But if we take to heart the passage above we can see how this idea will quickly fail. A few staff people cannot provide care to all of our members.
Let me illustrate – Lets say that I work a 60-hour week and all I do is one on one care. We have 1500 members so at 60 hours a week I would be able to devote 2 hours a year to each one of you. Now that would be all I would do, no sermons, Bible classes, meetings, even no vacation. No you may be thinks 2 hours that would be great. But if you are going through a life crisis like a death, divorce or lose of a job 2 hours is not nearly enough. So I can’t do all the care myself. Not even our whole staff, as talented as they are can give the adequate amount of care needed.
Let me illustrate another way. Lets say I was going to say good morning to each of you sitting here right now. I could come out to you and shake your hand and say “good morning.” But with 200 hundred of you sitting here right now it would take the rest of this worship service to greet you. It would be nice if I could do that but it is not practical. But you can do it. Turn to the person next to you and say “good morning.”… See; when you multiply the ministry things get done. I empowered you to show a simple kindness to those around you and you did it. What would have taken me all morning took you a minute to do. That is the idea of multiplying the ministry.
We all are responsible for the care of this congregation. We all are called to show the love of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 1:7 (Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. [2]) Paul uses the term “spiritual gifts” to talk about the church at Corinth. Now when we hear the term spiritual gifts we often associate it with things that don’t relate to “ordinary” Christians. We think of things like missionaries having the gift of evangelism or teachers having the gift of wisdom and teaching. But the Bible, while including these gifts, never speaks of spiritual gifts as exclusive or that only a few people have them. In fact the Bible is clear that everyone has a spiritual gift to contribute to the “building up of the body of Christ.” Yes you have a gift to contribute. Now you may not have the gift of mercy that would lead you to being a Stephen Minister but all gifts do have caring as part of them. Why do we use spiritual gifts? To “build up the Body of Christ,” which means that we have to care for one another. Through Stephen ministry I hope that we can see more clearly how caring is a vital part of the ministry here at Mount Olive, in formal ways and informal ways. As an usher you can care for the people entering worship. As a member of a ChristCare group or LWML circle or other Bible study you can care for those who are with you. As a Sunday school teacher you can care for your children. As you can see caring really is at the heart of everything we do because it is at the heart of being a Christian.
As a Christian we show God’s love and care for us. God loved us so much that He sent His one and only Son to be our Savior. That is ultimate love and care for His people. And now that we are in Christ we are called to “love one another” as Christ loved us. We can show the care for the world that God has given us through faith in His Son. Each one of us has a part in this caring ministry.
This passage from Exodus speaks on so many levels to us. To me it says I need to share the ministry with you. You are the ones in the heart of the ministry of Mount Olive, and I need to entrust you with that ministry. I can be like Moses and think, “I have been called. I have had 8 years of training. I am a Pastor, I should do the caring for this congregation.” But if I am the only one, or if it is only coming from our staff then both you and I will be worn out like Moses and the people. I need to “Equip Christians to Care.” By us realizing that others can do the caring normally associated with the Pastor we can multiply the ministry. It will not take away from my job at all but will help me, and the staff, focus on our called tasks and allow real, meaningful ministry to happen.
You have a responsibility to. You are the caring ministry of Mount Olive. Each one of you with your own unique gifts and abilities need to rise to the challenge of caring for others like Christ has called you to. No matter how you show care, you are an integral part of the ministry of Mount Olive. I hope Stephen Ministry, if it does nothing else, can raise the awareness that we all are part of a caring community. And we all need to seek God’s guidance and direction, together, as we seek ways to further our ministry at Mount Olive. You are Mount Olive Lutheran Church, not just the staff, and you are a part of the body of Christ.
And just imagine what will happen as we, together, embark on a ministry of caring with the love of Christ. Just imagine what will happen when we are empowered to multiply the ministry. Just imagine what will happen when we are all freed to use our spiritual gifts to care and build up the body of Christ. Amazing things will happen. When we embark on a caring ministry people will see it. Not just us but the whole community. “They will know we are Christians by our love,” goes the familiar folk song. Wow. I want us to be known as the caring congregation. I want it to happen that when people drive by Mount Olive, whether they are a member or not, to say, “That is a caring congregation. They really care for people.” What an awesome thing that will be – Mount Olive Lutheran Church, the Caring Congregation. That is what we are called to do, empowered by God in our own unique ways, and equipped by our various ministries, to care for one another just as Christ cared for us.
Mount Olive Lutheran Church – The Caring Congregation!
Amen
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[1]Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 (Ex 18:12-26). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House.
[2]Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997 (1 Co 1:6-7). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House.