You never seem to have enough. Of what? While the answers may differ, none of us would have too much trouble identifying something in our lives that seems to be lacking; some area where we don’t have enough. We don’t have enough hours in the day to get it all done. We don’t have enough time together. We don’t get enough sleep. We don’t have enough money. We don’t get scheduled for enough hours at work. We don’t have enough gas, enough time off, enough rain, enough… the list goes on. We know the feeling, whether our feeling that we don’t have enough is backed by data or merely based on our perception. As ironic as it is for us who live in the country with the world’s largest economy, we’re not strangers to the feeling of not having enough,
But maybe that shouldn’t surprise us. After all, doesn’t it seem like the Lord delights in dealing with perceived deficiencies, in our not having enough? We have two very clear commands in Scripture: to trust God to provide and to be content. Each of these is put to the test when under perceived deficiencies, when it seems there isn’t enough of something. In other words, it isn’t as difficult to trust that God will provide when I have more money than I know what to do with, right? And doesn’t contentment seem to be much easier to achieve when I have plenty and am more than satisfied in every area of life?
Therefore, when it appears that we don’t have enough of something, does God allow that to happen so frequently in our lives because, well… we’re half right? Maybe there is something we need more of?
Yes… but it isn’t what we think; instead, what we need more of is trust and turning to God. So he allows us to go without so that we look less within and more to him. Then, when we do just that, he shows himself to be the trustworthy God he has always claimed to be, delivering on his promise to provide whatever we need.
Jesus pointed to something that was lacking during his ministry, something there wasn’t enough of. What is that “something,” or better “someone”? Workers. People dedicating their lives to the work of the church, which we refer to today as the public ministry. Jesus was saying that there weren’t enough church workers in his day.
Not much has changed in over 2,000 years, has it? It appears we’re still short of workers for the harvest. We currently have around 120 pastoral vacancies and about the same number of teacher vacancies in our church body (WELS). Now, not all of those represent a single congregation without a pastor or school without a teacher; some have multiple pastors and are functioning with fewer than are ideal, as are schools short on teachers. But regardless, they are not at the full capacity they feel they need to carry out their ministry.
More important than the actual number of how short our churches and schools are is the solution to the shortfall. How would Jesus have us address this shortfall? He gives two pretty clear directives: “Ask” and “Go!”
When you ask someone for something, it demonstrates two things. First, it shows you have been giving thought to whatever the topic of your request is. When we ask the Lord to send out workers, it demonstrates our concern for the important work of his church, the need to flood the earth with the good news of the gospel. To ask for workers shows the Lord that he and his church are on our hearts and minds. Second, it shows that we know he is the One who can do something about it. We don’t have to come up with clever gimmicks or try to make ministry appeal to others with attraction marketing. The Lord sends the workers. He just wants us to ask him.
Then immediately after the invitation to ask for workers, what does Jesus do? He sends out the seventy-two, telling them, “Go!” So when we ask, as the Lord directs us to, we also have to be open to being an answer, as the seventy-two were. If all of God’s people only ask the Lord of the harvest for workers, while at the same time avoiding any consideration of the call into ministry, there would be no workers! There would be no answers to the asking. So be open to both the asking and the answering, the praying for the workers and potentially playing the part of a worker.
Recall in the last post in this series, we had the opportunity to see what it looks like when one answers the call to go. While we focused on how undivided attention means complete commitment, we saw what that looked like in the example of Elisha. I want to return back to that incident to highlight two aspects of Elisha’s behavior that reflected that his heart was in the right place for public ministry.
First, he cared about people. Yes, he went back to say goodbye to his parents. But he didn’t stop there. He threw a big party with a steak dinner for everyone! He cared about others and serving them – sacrificing his own plowing equipment and oxen in the process – which leads to his second ideal attribute for ministry: he trusted the Lord to provide.
I don’t know about you, but if I was asked out of the blue to make a big life change like that, facing all kinds of uncertainties, one thing I would want to make sure of is that I had enough in my piggy bank to ride out the rough times. Couldn’t Elisha have sold the plowing equipment and oxen and at least had a little financial cushion in his pockets as he went on his way into the unknown? Instead, Elisha made a clean break from that chapter of his life and followed God’s call, completely trusting that God would provide for him. He cared for people and he trusted in God’s providence.
It has been my own personal experience that God often uses the one to deliver on the other. It shouldn’t just be on anniversaries or special occasions that a pastor gets to express his gratitude, so I am grateful for the care my congregation provides for my family and me. We have been blessed through our congregation’s generosity our whole time serving at Shepherd of the Hills. A pastor gets to take care of God’s people, and God uses his people to take care of their pastor. It really is a beautiful thing, and it’s right in line with the words Jesus spoke this morning.
That kind of care allows the called worker to keep the main thing the main thing. Jesus made sure the seventy-two didn’t lose sight of that upon their return. “The seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name’” (v.17). They were like the kid in the world of superheroes who just figured out his superpower – only this wasn’t made up; this was real power they had been given to even put demons in their place!
Jesus then validated their abilities, reminding them that demons were real, in service to the very real Satan whom Jesus himself had seen “fall like lightning from heaven” (v.18). Then, Jesus raised the bar and foreshadowed more of the amazing abilities he would give them as they served in his name, along with the promise of safekeeping. “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you” (v.19).
Yet even in light of all this power and authority they would be wielding as they went out with the Word, none of it was to be the ultimate source of their joy. That ALWAYS must find its foundation elsewhere. Jesus made it clear where. “However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (v.20).
I can also relate to Jesus’ final words in these verses. Do you what I love about getting to be a pastor? My name is written in heaven. Is it written in heaven because I’m a pastor? Is God somehow especially pleased that I chose this path over any other? Of course not. He is no more pleased with this path than he is with the faithful gas station clerk. One is not better in his eyes.
But, every single day I get to spend time in the Word, and it reminds me that my name is written in heaven. And no, one doesn’t have to be a pastor to spend time in the Word every day to find that out. But it is just one of the many perks of the job that you take home a paycheck for reading the Bible, teaching the Bible, preaching the Bible, and studying the Bible with others. It’s a sweet gig!
I began this post by pointing out how often we don’t seem to have enough. But I have to conclude with the reminder that God also promises to provide more than we can even ask for. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21). Do you suppose this promise is limited to any one area of life, or could it be applied to workers for the harvest, too? Is God able to fill all of the current vacancies in our church body with pastors and teachers? Could he exceed that by providing even more than necessary?
Yes, in fact that was the case when I graduated from the Seminary. In contrast to not having enough pastors at that time, the concern was about not having enough spots for all the soon-to-be pastors. This need prompted the class ahead of me to come up with a plan for tent ministry, or bi-vocational ministry. While that class didn’t end up needing to utilize that plan, as all of the graduates were assigned to pastor congregations, my class did have an opportunity. And in fact, I was one of the two graduates assigned to a tent ministry mission field in Tucson, AZ. That is where I served for three years prior to arriving at Shepherd of the Hills.
So yes, God can provide more workers that we can imagine. Yet, rather than thinking in terms of shortages or surpluses, let’s simply be confident that the Lord will provide exactly what is needed. “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). Rest assured, this applies to called workers, too.
In fact, that is exactly what Jesus promises regarding the plentiful harvest and few workers, when he invites us to pray, “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (Luke 10:2). From our vantage point, it appears we’re short on workers, we don’t appear to have enough of something. So what do we do? Turn to God in prayer. Ask. And, while asking, consider the ways we can also go and be an answer to that prayer.