Trinity Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Sermons 

Title: "God Needs Who?"

Text: Matthew 9:35 – 10:8

how much Jesus gave the disciples to do.

Not in the sense of loading them down with work,

although sometimes he did that, too!

No, I mean,

the many kinds of things that he trusted them with.

The power and authority he gave them,

to do the sorts of things

that we might think were reserved for God alone to do:

Heal the sick, raise the dead,

cleanse lepers, cast out demons,

preach the kingdom of God.

That’s a job description with some heavy responsibilities!

Especially considering that

some of the twelve disciples were still brand-new,

and none of them had any training for the job

except for watching Jesus.

And yet, he sends them out.

He’s depending on them

to help do the work he was sent to do.

Now for most of us,

it’s probably not too difficult

to think of Jesus in that way,

as needing help from others.

He was, after all, a human being …

He could only be in one place at a time.

And so, it makes sense that

if he can get twelve others to help him,

he can get his work done that much more efficiently and effectively.

He can be sure that the word of God

is proclaimed to as many people as possible,

in as little time as possible.

And since he’s pretty sure that his time on earth is limited,

that’s an important consideration.

In these days before television ministry,

airplane travel, and the Internet,

there is no way for Jesus

to get the message out on his own.

So he enlists help,

and the word begins to spread.

So, as I say,

it’s not particularly difficult for us to think about Jesus

requesting and getting help from his friends, or even from strangers,

in order to do his work.

But I want us to think a step beyond that, now.

I would say to you

that not only did Jesus, back then,

need the help of his friends …

But today, and always,

God needs our help.

I realize that that statement

comes dangerously close to heresy.

Particularly in early church history,

but even today as well,

many would say that’s it’s just wrong

to talk about God needing anything.

God is God, after all,

and has the power to do all things.

We can talk for days on end about how humans need God,

but how can God possibly need humans?

That seems almost to de-throne God,

to bring God down to our level,

to make God over in our image,

instead of the other way around.

So let me be crystal-clear about what I mean:

When I say that God needs our help,

what I’m saying is that God has chosen to depend on us

to do some of the work

and bear some of the message

of the reign of God.

God needs us,

not because of some deficiency God has,

but because God has chosen

to be in partnership with us.

God has given to us

some of God’s own power and authority

to be at work in the world

for the salvation of all creation.

On the one hand,

that’s a tremendous privilege!

God has trusted us enough

to give us some of God’s own work to do …

in the same way that Jesus trusted his disciples with his work.

That is astounding.

We are given the right and the privilege

of shaping the world along with God.

It’s no lie to say that

the future is in our hands.

And yet the other side of this, of course,

is that being in partnership with God

brings with it tremendous responsibility.

And often, we’d rather not have that responsibility.

It’s tempting, isn’t it, to say,

"God, I’ve already got enough stuff to worry about.

You take care of your own stuff.

After all, it’s your agenda,

and you are God,

and you’re ever so much more powerful than I am."

But God has chosen to let the work be ours.

Pay close attention when you sing the hymn that comes after the sermon:

In the verses, God speaks:

I, the Lord of sea and sky; the Lord of wind and rain, etc…

God notices that the people are struggling, seeking, and hurting,

and says, "My hand will save,"

but then asks,

"Whom shall I send?"

And when we sing the refrain each time, we get to respond:

"Here I am, Lord."

God’s hand will save, but only if our hands get dirty in the process.

We do God’s work.

It’s not just our good works; they are the work of God.

Now, where that gets kind of scary

is in the implications:

for some things, if we don’t do it, it won’t get done.

In giving us work to do,

God frees us to succeed

and to rejoice in that success …

but it means we’re also free to fail.

We are free to drop the ball …

but if we do,

it’s God’s work that doesn’t get done.

One of my favorite comic strips of all time

has two friends sitting and talking,

and one of them says,

"I just don’t understand.

There are so many people in the world

who go to bed hungry at night.

People killing each other.

People who have no place to call home.

Why doesn’t God do something about it?"

"That’s a good question," says the friend.

"Why don’t you ask God that?"

"Because," says the first,

"I’m afraid God might ask me the same question."

All of us, who claim to be the people of God …

why don’t we do something about that?

Or, what are we doing

about people who go to bed hungry,

or go to sleep without a bed,

or spend their days hiding from bombs and bullets?

But even more specifically …

God needs you … and you … and you …

God needs "us" collectively, to be sure;

but God also needs each one of us, individually.

Sometimes, it’s hard for us to believe that.

Like Moses at the burning bush,

we can always explain why we’re not the best choice for the job!

Even those of us who in the everyday world

feel very competent about what we do,

and sure of our skills and gifts,

seem to lose that when it comes to

doing the work of God.

"Lord, I’m too young and inexperienced."

Lord, I’m too old and tired.

Lord, I’m middle-aged and too busy.

Lord, I don’t have enough money.

Lord, I’m not smart enough.

Lord, I’m not good enough.

We’ve all heard these statements;

at some time or another, we’ve probably made them!

And sometimes they are only excuses,

but often, we really mean it.

We don’t feel capable or worthy

of doing God’s work.

We’re just certain that someone else could do it better …

and so we wait for that someone to come forward …

and whatever it was, it doesn’t get done.

We all have gifts, given by God.

And while many of us will have similar gifts, or gifts that overlap,

no one has the particular combination

of gifts, and skills, and personality

that you have.

God needs you.

The harvest is plentiful,

but the laborers, unfortunately, still are few.

God needs you.

Maybe not to cast out demons,

maybe not to heal lepers,

probably not to raise the dead!

Nevertheless, God needs you.

I’ve forgotten some of the details,

but one of my San Angelo parishioners told me a story once

that has stuck with me, at least the gist of it.

It was about a man she know who had recently retired,

and found himself with lots of time on his hands.

He also found himself wondering about the path his life had followed …

he had always wanted to be a doctor,

wanted to heal people,

but there was never enough money for him to go to medical school,

and then of course the kids came along,

and there was no way he could quit work then

to follow his dream.

And he thought for a while about going to med school now,

in his retirement,

but it just didn’t seem like a useful investment of his time,

to spend all those years in school and residency and all,

and then, how many years would he have left to practice?

He prayed for some direction.

And one day, while he was at his own doctor’s office,

he overheard the staff commenting about a particular patient

who had once again canceled an appointment

because she didn’t have anyone to drive her.

And it was as if God had shined a big ol’ beacon on him

right there in the waiting room.

That, he could do.

He might never get to be the one

who administered the miraculous drugs,

or ran the extensive tests,

or did the life-saving surgery …

but he could help heal people

by making sure that they never missed out on healing

because they couldn’t get to where it was offered.

And so he spent most of his retirement days

driving people to their doctor’s appointments,

and waiting for them,

and talking with them about their lives,

their illnesses, their hopes and their fears.

God needed him.

He just had to figure out where.

God needs you,

to be a healer, in your own way.

God needs you,

to proclaim the reign of God,

in your own words and your own voice.

No one else can do it like you can do it.

Thanks be to God!

Amen.