Ministry done Jesus’ way

He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.”  And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief.

And he went about among the villages teaching.

And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

Mark 6:1–13 (ESV)

Good Lutherans, I want to ask you a question this morning that will reveal how Lutheran you are. What is more important: what we do for Christ, or what Christ has done for us?

Our particular part of the universal Christian (catholic) Church holds very highly the teaching that we are saved because of what Christ has done for us and nothing at all on our part.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

 Ephesians 2:8–9 (ESV)

Martin Luther famously said that this teaching, which we call “justification”, is the teaching on which the Church stands or falls. It is crucial that we are forgiven solely because of what Christ has done for us—it is a gift freely given and not earned.

So, where to from here? If forgiveness is a done deal and our fate is sealed in the blood of Christ, what now?

The very next verse in Ephesians 2 reads:

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)

God has given us this gracious gift so that we get to work. What is that work exactly? What would God have us do, now that we are His forgiven and saved people? He gives us the same commission that He gave His disciples: “Go and make more disciples.” (Matthew 28:19) Share the good news. Proclaim the gospel. Bring people to faith. We call usually call this work “ministry”.

As a baptised child of God, you are called to participate in the ministry of God. We are all called to make disciples by baptising and teaching people. “But Pastor,” you say, “I’m just an average church member. I can’t baptise people or preach the gospel—that’s what we have pastors for.” That’s what I grew up thinking, anyway. Now that I am one, I’m not so convinced that this ministry is reserved just for pastors. The more I read Scripture and the more I spend my days doing ministry, the more I am realising how wrong I have been about that.

Jesus’ disciples weren’t all that different from us. Jesus had called them into His small group of close followers just as you were called into a local church community. Jesus had taught them about God’s kingdom just as you have been taught by your pastors.

I wonder whether the disciples had been lulled into thinking that their role was to listen and observe while Jesus did the ministry. I realise that, growing up in the church, I had been lulled into thinking that my job as a member was to listen and receive while the pastor did the ministry. At times, now that I am a pastor, I still sometimes think that it is my job to do the ministry—baptising, teaching, and preaching—while you listen to me and learn from me.

What does Scripture say Jesus did today? “He called the twelve and began to teach them”? No.

And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.

Mark 6:7 (ESV)

Suddenly, the disciples become the apostles. In the Greek, the students become the “sent ones”. They’ve watched and observed Jesus doing ministry—now Jesus calls them off the bench and into the game. Jesus calls the apostles to do ministry. Jesus calls each of us to do ministry.

We have a common understanding that pastors are the ones called into ministry. To become pastors, they have to tick certain boxes:

• They need to be highly qualified—we have trained our pastors in the LCA with double degrees for decades.

• They need to have enough creativity and knowledge to preach and teach in new ways that keep us engaged and interested.

• They need to have enough strength to do ministry alone, particularly now that they are becoming few and far between.

Today, Jesus says that to do ministry, none of these things are required. Let’s take them one by one.  

We don’t need to be highly qualified—
Jesus qualifies those He calls

It’s well known that the Twelve were an interesting bunch. They weren’t highly trained religious leaders and they weren’t experienced teachers. They were average blokes with normal day jobs—not exactly the people you’d pick out to help you start a movement that would change the world.

Nevertheless, Jesus called them and sent them out. Sure, they’d observed Jesus for a while and they would’ve known their way around Scripture reasonably well, but they weren’t exactly qualified for ministry. A few of them would’ve had a boat license. Matthew and Judas were trained in accounting, not theology and ministry. They didn’t exactly bring a lot to the table. Yet, sends them out to do ministry.

Any old local church community is the same. Sure, we have a few people that know their Bible pretty well and some are pretty good at public speaking, but none of us claim to be experts in theology or masters of pastoral care and counselling. Yet, Jesus sends us out to do ministry.

So, if the disciples didn’t offer much, why were they able to cast out many demons and heal the sick? Because He gave them His authority. Jesus doesn’t call people who are qualified for the job—He qualifies those He calls.

It’s the opposite of how things usually work. If you want to volunteer to help with Sunday School, for example, we’ll ask you to complete some training and get a Working with Children Check first. Once those come through, then you can do it. Jesus says, “I want you to do the job. Don’t worry—I’ll give you what you need along the way.” Even with a double degree, this has absolutely been true for me at many points in my experience so far.

We don’t need to reinvent the wheel—
Jesus calls us to travel light

Those of you who have been around a while have seen countless trends and fads come and go—this place has seen it all. A dozen different names for Sunday School. One, two, or three worship services a week at all kinds of different times and in different places. Alpha courses. Confirmation curriculums. Vision Workshops. Smarty’s lunches. Christmas up at the school. Christmas down at the church.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. We’ve tried all these different programs and events to try to invigorate people and attract new people to church, but they’re all the same—just programs and events to convince people to come to church. And we get disappointed when the result is the same—still the same people at church, the same membership numbers, the same feeling that it’s too hard to try to find new people. By the earlier definition, we are insane.

The apostles’ ministry seemed to have results—they healed people and got rid of demons—so what did they do?

So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.

Mark 6:12–13 (ESV)

All they did was preach what Jesus had been preaching and do what He had given them authority to do. They went into towns and stayed with people. They ate with people. They got to know people. And they shared the gospel with people. After all, that’s what Jesus was going. That’s ministry.

All good preaching should be blatant plagiarism—simply relaying the Word of God. The apostles didn’t have to reinvent the wheel. They didn’t try something new. They just copied Jesus—and it worked.

Jesus kind of forced them to rely on those simple things by how He sent them out.

He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.

Mark 6:8–9 (ESV)

The best ministry takes place when all we have to fall back on is our own knowledge of the faith and the Holy Spirit. You can do all the prior preparation you like, but if you suddenly find yourself in a situation where a person just needs to hear the gospel, all the preparation goes out the window and all you have is whatever comes to mind in that moment. That’s when the Holy Spirit does His thing.

So, we can try all the programs we like, but if everything we do has the same expectation that if we put it on, people will come, we are insane. Jesus sends His apostles out to meet people in their towns and homes. Maybe we shouldn’t run another new program for a little while—maybe we should try going out with the gospel and see what happens, knowing that Jesus will equip us with what we need along the way.

We don’t need to go it alone—
Jesus sends us out in teams

I’d like to share with you the most significant learning I’ve had about the pastoral ministry since I was ordained. The only time the word “pastor” is used in the New Testament is in Ephesians 4, where Paul says that God gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, not to do ministry, but to “equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”

The saints do the ministry: caring, praying, healing, preaching, teaching. The pastor equips the saints to do the ministry. That’s not a cop-out—that’s an even greater responsibility. At the same time, it means you can’t get away with coming to church, sitting on a pew and listening for an hour, having a coffee that was made for you, and going home. We all have a part to play in the work of God. We all participate in ministry. And when we do it together, rather than each of us alone, it can even be fun. Yes, I said it: church can be fun.

Even when Jesus sent the apostles, He sent them out in teams of two. No one can do ministry on their own—not even the most experienced and capable pastor. Jesus intends for ministry to take place in teams.

When any of the apostles tried to do anything on their own, it ended badly. Peter nearly drowned in the lake when he tried to walk on the water. Peter denied Jesus and regretted it. Judas betrayed Jesus and couldn’t bear the guilt.

So, if you do go and see someone in hospital, bring someone with you. If you want to study the Word more, start a small group. If you want to pray for someone, ask someone to join you. Where possible, do with another person or within a team.

So, like the apostles, Jesus lets us sit and observe for a while, but He does eventually call us off the bench and into the game. You might think you’re not qualified. You might think you don’t have the skills. But Jesus has qualified you by forgiving your sin. He has called you to participate in His ministry with the rest of the body so that His Church is built up and His kingdom comes.

May He grant us the faith to respond to His call, knowing that He has prepared the work for us in advance and gives us everything we need to do it. Above all, we thank our Father for calling us into His kingdom and giving us the privilege of going out in His name.