February 19, 2007
Rev. Terry D. Campbell
Love In the Name of Christ Sunday

Full Employment!
Luke 9:51-10:2

“’As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. ⁵²And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; ⁵³but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. ⁵⁴When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" ⁵⁵But Jesus turned and rebuked them, ⁵⁶and they went to another village.
⁵⁷As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’
⁵⁸Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.’
⁵⁹He said to another man, ‘Follow me.’ But the man replied, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’
⁶⁰Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’
⁶¹Still another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.’
⁶²Jesus replied, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.’
^10:1After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. ²He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’”

Did you ever have more to do than you knew you could get done in the time you had? It is an overwhelming, frustrating, maddening feeling. That was Jesus’ situation here. “’As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” Jesus’ disciples still didn’t understand the Kingdom’s work; other people wanted to just play at the work when they wanted to. But the bottom line is that the work needed to be done and there was only a limited amount of time in which to do it.

The struggle still goes on for Jesus to get help for spreading the reality and message of God’s Kingdom on the earth. There should be full employment in this grand task—but that is still a glorious goal.

I. Excuses seduce me away from Christ and His purpose.
⁵⁷As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’
⁵⁸Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.’ In other words, “Give me a break! You don’t mean that.”

What excuses? Career advancement—I’m just getting started; I’m at a crucial point; No time right now. I’m young and I want to have fun first. My children are only young once and they take so much time. I’m retired—someone younger should do that.

We need to get wise to the seduction of excuses. Jesus was proclaiming that true discipleship requires instant action. Jesus did not teach people to forsake responsibilities to family, but he often gave commands to people in light of their real motives. Perhaps this man wanted to delay following Christ and used his father as an excuse. There is a cost to following Jesus, and each of us must be ready to serve, even when it requires sacrifice.

Children are famous for saying (at least around my family), when the parent asks them to do something, “Just a minute.” In other words, “I want to do this first. What you want me to do has a secondary priority.”

II. Tragic things happen when I don’t work with Christ.
When did this Scripture event take place? (9:51)“’As the time approached for Jesus to be taken up to heaven” Jesus would only be with them on earth for a little longer and then He would be gone. With their excuses they were blowing the opportunity to walk with and listen directly to the voice of Jesus. Talk about a time to ask your questions. A time to soak up the presence of the Messiah. A time to learn by divine example! But because of excuses, many missed it.

We need to consider the tragedy of our making excuses. It is tragic to live in a world without love—and many people think they do!

What do we miss when we give excuses for not working with Jesus in the kingdom’s ministry? People think:
    God doesn’t exist.
    God doesn’t care about me.
    Or worse—You act as if God doesn’t care about them.
    And you won’t know how much your life matters.

Romans 10:14-15 (NCV)-“But before people can ask the Lord for help, they must believe in him; and before they can believe in him, they must hear about him; and for them to hear about the Lord, someone must tell them; ¹⁵and before someone can go and tell them, that person must be sent. It is written, ‘How beautiful is the person who comes to bring good news.’”

Love INC helps sort out the needs from the wants.

Love INC of Greater Hancock County is a phone clearinghouse whose purpose is to help people in need by working with area helping agencies and churches.

Participating churches have volunteers who have offered to donate their time and talents to help people who are struggling to meet the stresses of everyday life.

Love INC gathers information from the person in need, and from area helping agencies to determine the best possible source of help. We will not duplicate a service that is already offered.

Love INC is here to help you to help yourself. Church volunteers are ready to help you develop a plan, to make those tough choices, and to be there for you when you run into another ‘roadblock’.

III. I choose to serve Jesus instead of my excuses.
“^10:1After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go”. They were preparing the way for the Lord to come!

In addition to the original 12, Jesus sends out 72 more people to share spread the work of the Kingdom of God. Jesus says that even these aren’t enough to complete the work that is ready to be done. “’The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’”

This is the day of salvation. This is the day to do the work of God. Love must live TODAY! We’re not guaranteed the opportunity of a tomorrow.

• Pray, “Help me see the potential harvest that You do, Lord.” People finding God’s love and through that finding God.
• Pray, “Let the things that pull at Your heart, also pull at mine, Lord.”

^10:2He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’”

I don’t know that the Seventy-two saw the same thing that Jesus did when they went. But we need to so that we will have the same passion for the lost and hurting that Jesus has! The spiritually lost, people confused and despondent, people hurting from life’s harshness. Whoever is willing to be open to God. Make a difference!

• Pray, “Show me how to use who you have blessed me to be to help others.”

You can be out front or working behind the scenes, face-to-face or anonymous, working with people or with things that people need. But we must we must win the victory over excuses and move toward full employment in the work of the Lord. Love INC helps us run away from “do nothing Christianity.” NO EXCUSES!

Here are some Love INC testimonies:
A woman needed a rollator (heavy duty walker with a seat and wheels) but was too meek to ask.
“I praise the Lord for the way He opens up hearts with all your hard work at Love INC. Today, when Cardinal Pharmacy and I knocked on Suzanne’s door and announced “Merry Christmas, Love INC has coordinated the funds for you to have a rollator,” Suzanne covered her face and cried. I got a great picture of her at the door with her rollator. She said, “Now I can get around!” I was the recipient of the hugs not once by three times for all the hard work Love INC did. Bradley UMC.

After a suicide attempt, a man was referred to us for help. Three churches showed genuine love to this man. We had a month to influence and encourage him before he had to leave for Wheeler Mission, two weeks before Christmas. We will continue to pray he will let God grab hold of his heart and give him the power to overcome strongholds in his life. St. James Lutheran, Bradley United Methodist, and Park Chapel Christian

Brenda, you could add the young man whose rental apartment did not include a refrigerator. One person donated a working refrigerator and a Bradley volunteer and a neighbor of his wrangled it into the apartment. (It was larger than the front door.) He got his refrigerator in time to have milk for his cereal by Christmas. Jan.

What will you do now?
Allow time for people to sign up afresh for what they can do.
Our Lord needs full employment of Believers in doing His work, advancing His love and fleshing out His kingdom in this day. Amen.

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