AND, FOXES HAVE HOLES
Our neighborhood was flooding during hurricane Irma. Water was rising and approached our front door. Our house would be flooded in a matter of minutes. (This is an actual photo of that day)
Several neighbors were searching for the street drains to see if they were clogged and were causing the flooding.
One man seemed to take charge and yelled over the deafening winds, “Stop messing around! Go along the edge of the street until you find and clear those drains.” Those instructions and that command moved everyone to move to action, reaching down into the flooded street, feeling around for the drain grates, one person yelled, “Here they are. Help me clear them!”
Everyone converged on that area and removed the debris and thankfully the waters immediately began to recede. Our house and others houses were saved from flooding that day!
Later, one man told me that his feeling were hurt by the coarse yelling of the man who took charge. “I was doing the best I could. He didn’t have to yell at us that way.”
I tried to explain to him that the man who took charge knew the immediacy of the problem and was not shouting at anyone in particular nor was he yelling in anger. He was focused on the crisis and perhaps it was how he was perceived. This reminds me of another time and occasion.
“And Jesus, having seen a great crowd around Him, gave orders to depart to the other side. And one scribe, having approached Him, said “Teacher, I will follow You wherever that You should go.”
And Jesus says to him, “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere He might lay the head.”
And another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, allow me first to go and to bury my father.”
But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.” Matthew 8:18
What is Jesus saying? Are these harsh and insensitive remarks? Or was Jesus focusing this scribe and this disciple on the urgency of His Mission?
A close study of the language Jesus used reveals that He was saying that others, even the creatures, live to survive, so they spend time worrying about the necessities of life. But He has no time for such matters. He is saying that to follow Him you must let go of the perceived necessities of life and make God’s calling and mission your priority. Organization planning, new ministries strategies, worries of finances or support, will only delay the mission at hand: Preaching and teaching the Gospel of Jesus, healing the sick, making and baptizing disciples.
Jesus’ life, leadership, and model for our ministry
He SAID the WORDS
Mattew4:17 From that time Jesus began to proclaim and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near!”
18 Now walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And He says to them, “Come follow after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 And immediately having left the nets, they followed Him.
21 And having gone on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. And He called them, 22 and immediately having left the boat and their father they followed Him.
He SHOWED the WONDERS
23 And He was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people. 24 And the news of Him went out into all Syria. And they brought to Him all the sick having various diseases and oppressing pains, and being possessed by demons, and having seizures, and paralytics—and He healed them.
He SENT the WORKERS
Matthew 28:18 “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Now, please, try to describe it from your understanding: #1. Jesus’ seminary education and requirements for the disciples (answer)
#2. Jesus’ financial backing, fund raising efforts, special offering requests (answer)
#3. Jesus’ political stance (answer)
#4. Jesus’ board of directors (answer)
#5. Jesus method of advertising (answer)
Our calling.
Matthew 4:17-20 “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.
“And He *said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.”
Our authority.
Matthew10:1 And having summoned … He gave to them authority over unclean spirits, so as to cast them out and to heal every disease and every sickness.
Our mission.
Matthew 29:18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Jesus creates a new spirit within us. Jesus call us. Jesus commissions us not with the ‘spiritual gift of door greeter’ or the ‘spiritual gift of coffee maker’ or the ‘spiritual gift of church CEO’, although these may be helpful things, they are not the CALLING nor the GIFTING.
I’ll even go out on a limb here. If you are doing anything other than what He said to do, you need to hear His Words again:
And Jesus says to him, “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere He might lay the head.”
And another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, allow me first to go and to bury my father.”
But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”
Your Brother and Friend in His Name Mike Young
PS: To pastors and ‘church leaders’ – Jesus led by example. He DOES what He teaches. We should do no less. Let’s get to it and stop playing the post-modern church game.
YOU go witnessing. YOU share the gospel one-on-one. YOU heal the sick, the lame and the infirm. You cast out demons. You comfort the afflicted. Leave the rest of the scribes.