Sermon Series: Getting to Know Jesus 

Ministry 101  

Mark 7:31-37 

PSBC 5/5/02

(thanks to David Hoke, pastor of New Horizons Community Church of Voorhees, N.J. for this title and many of the foundational thoughts in this message.)

In a nutshell: True ministry must begin in prayer, be motivated by divine compassion, be directly involved in people's LIVES, and challenges people with the truths of God's love.

I. Introduction

A. Pet Peeves

Do you have pet peeves? Sure you do. People who have 12 items, in the 8 item or less line at the grocery store; People who don't use their turn signals to signal a turn or lane change; People who drive below the speed limit in the passing lane. Those are all pet peeves of mine. But I have at least two others. And both of them have to do unbiblical ideas that many Christian people hold.

1. Church

One such idea has to do with the church. Many Christians refer to the building we're sitting in as the church. There are signs on Ramon Road and Highway 111 that point in the direction of our property and say "Palm Springs Baptist Church". People refer to us as "the church at the end of El Cielo, right across from the stables". In essence they're referring to our church building or our church campus as the church.

But according to Scripture, church buildings are not the Church. The Church is people. The church is the body of believers which meets in this building, and various other buildings all around our town, the Valley, and around the world. When I was with Gospel Light Publishing Company, we produced some children's church material that was designed to teach grade school kids about the church. And one of the songs we commissioned, talked about this very concept. It went "I am the church, you are the church, we are the church together. All of God's people, all around the world. Yes, we're the church together."

1 Corinthians 16:19 19 The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house.

The church may meet in a building, but the church is not a building. The church is people.

2. Ministry

Another equally erroneous concept is that ministry is something that only ordained clergy do. When we use the term minister, most of us still think of those of us who are ordained, professional pastors.

But while it's true that God calls some individuals to devote their full-time efforts to pastoral duties…, "ministry" and the term "minister" don't belong exclusively to them. In fact, the New Testament in the books of Romans, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians and other places teach that every person who follows Jesus Christ as the forgiver of his or her sins and the leader of his or her life…, is a minister.

We've been trying to convey that fact to you in our Weekly Information Guide each week. Because we list our professional pastors and call them pastors; we list the members of our Board, and call them elders; we list the leaders of our major committees, and call them deacons; and then we say "Ministers, everyone else."

You may not know this, but this concept was also one of the foundational pillars of the Reformation. Theologians call it the "Priesthood of all believers". It is one of the main ways we differ from Roman Catholics and those of the Greek Orthodox faith.

You see, you may be a business owner, but God has called you to be a minister-at your business, at home, and at church. You may be a teacher, but God has called you to be a minister in your classroom. You may be a student, but God has called you to be a minister to your fellow students. You may be retired, but there is no retirement from being a minister. Wherever you are, if you're a follower of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ has called you and expects you to be a minister.

You see, the biblical term ministry means that we care for others and share with others and look for ways to touch others with the transforming love and power of Jesus Christ.

I firmly believe that one of the reasons why the church has failed to change society, and in fact in our lifetimes, we've seen society become more and more pagan in nature,… is because we have bought into the idea that ministry is to be done by the professionals, and not by the rest of the people of the church.

But the reality of the situation is that around the world, the churches that are growing, that are impacting their society and culture, and that are seeing significant numbers of new converts to the faith… are those churches where everyone in the church is involved in some kind of ministry that is ultimately connected to the Great Commission.

B. How do we do ministry?

Well, if that's the case, then thee is a key question that needs to be answered: "How do we do ministry?" I mean, if we are all supposed to be ministers, is there a model for ministry somewhere in the Bible for us to follow? Well, the passage in Mark's gospel, chapter 7, verses 31-37, that we're going to look at today, shows us how to do ministry, by providing a model from the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself. In His model, He's going to show us the four basics for doing ministry. I call it Ministry 101.

Mark 7:31-37 31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. 32 There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged him to place his hand on the man. 33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears. Then he spit and touched the man's tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, "Ephphatha!" (which means, "Be opened!"). 35 At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly. 36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. "He has done everything well," they said. "He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."

C. Background

Mark is careful to tell us that this took place in the area called the Decapolis. This was an area where 10 Greek cities were clustered on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee. And he points out that Jesus went into this region in a rather strange way. Instead of coming directly back into Galilee from Tyre, where he was in our story last week, he left Tyre and went by a northern route through what is presently the country of Syria, and then continued down the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee into the southern part of that region called the Decapolis.

It would be like us planning a trip to San Francisco, but going by way of Reno and Las Vegas, instead of going directly out on the I-5 and through the San Fernando valley. Many of the scholars I read this week, said that this journey probably took about eight months to complete. But that was all part of the design. This long trip would have given Jesus a chance to have many encounters with the Gentiles of that area, and minister to their needs. And as we follow His travels, we can see that He was very much involved in teaching His disciples about what true ministry was all about, regardless of to whom that ministry was directed. And, that's what's going on in the passage I just read. Jesus gives a four part model for the way to carry out ministry. Let's look at each one:

II. The Four Parts of Basic Ministry

A. Look to Heaven

The first thing I want you to see is found in verse 34. It says that Jesus looked up to heaven. This was a symbolic gesture that said to everyone around, including the man who was going to be healed…, that the source of the power that was going to be displayed came from God.

Friends, what we're talking about is praying. The fact that the Lord Jesus Christ, looked toward Heaven before He ministered to this man, speaks volumes concerning the importance of prayer in doing ministry. It is so important, that I dare say it is the foundation for any true Christian ministry to take place.

Jesus Himself modeled the importance of prayer throughout His earthly ministry. He was always going off to some place or another to pray. Before every major decision He made, He would spend hours, sometimes all night, in prayer. And even though He was in constant touch with God (because He never stopped being part of the Triune God) He still found it necessary to engage in regular, daily seasons of prayer, as well.

Friends, if Jesus thought it necessary to pray for His ministry, how much more is it necessary for us to be praying?

Prayer puts us in contact with God. Through prayer, we're able to draw close to God and discern His will, and receive instructions from Him, and receive the gentle nudge from Him to go this way or that. I've found in my life that I can do much after I pray, but I can do very little before I pray.

John Wesley said, "Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin, and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; such alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. God does nothing but in answer to prayer."

If we learn anything from Jesus' example it is this simple truth…we must pray if we're going to be used of God in ministry. Prayer lets us know our own need for God and equips us to be used by Him to minister to the lives of others.

Leonard Ravenhill, a man who studied revivals around the world and became the leading expert on revivals and prayer in the 20th century, wrote the words on the fronts of your WIG's this morning… "The church has many organizers, but few agonizers; many who pay, but few who pray; many resters, but few wrestlers; many who are enterprising, but few who are interceding. The secret of praying is praying in secret. A worldly Christian will stop praying and a praying Christian will stop worldliness. Tithes may build a church, but tears will give it life. That is the difference between the modern church and the early church. In the matter of effective praying, never have so many left so much to so few. Brethren, let us pray."

Let me ask you, how much are you praying? Do you pray daily? Do you pray consistently? Do you pray not only for yourself, but for others? Do you spend enough time in prayer to let God speak to you as well? Martin Luther, the father of the Protestant Reformation said that he had so much to do each day that he found it necessary to spend the first three hours of his day in prayer if he was going to accomplish all the work. Friends, if we want to see the power of God unleashed in our lives, and through our church…, we must pray. That's the first principle of ministry.

B. Compassion

The second thing I want you to see in Jesus' model for basic ministry is also found in verse 34. It says that after He looked to heaven, HE SIGHED DEEPLY. What does the deep sigh indicate? It indicated a deep caring at His very core, for this needy man. It indicated that Jesus was filled with compassion for this deaf man. Jesus cared. That's what the sigh meant.

Over and over in the New Testament, we read how Jesus was moved with compassion as He looked at the lost and hurting crowds of people. Jesus' heart was broken as He encountered hurting people. He ministered to people because He cared about their needs. And so should we, for that very reason. If the sigh could preach to us, it would say that we must care.

Now, this may sound strange, but listen to this…Christians need to care enough to care.

Illustration: Last week I was in a hurry to go to Long's Drug Store and get a pair of more powerful reading glasses than what I had at the office. I parked my motorcycle outside the Long's over here at Smoke Tree. As I was getting off my bike, I saw a guy near the entrance to the store, who was obviously looking for a handout. He held a sign that said, "Please help, I'm down on my luck. I'm one of God's children." Well, I didn't want to be bothered, because I was in a hurry. So I walked the long way around the parking lot, and went into the far entrance on the opposite side of the store from this man. But all the while I was shopping, I was feeling guilty. I kept seeing that phrase, "I'm one of God's children." And I kept thinking, am I being a hypocrite like Jesus spoke against so many times? I was feeling so guilty that I just had to do something. So, after I paid for my glasses, I went out the closer door to where the man was sitting, and I talked to him briefly and heard his sad story. Then gave him everything I had in my wallet (it wasn't much, but it was something.), and I prayed for him.

Folks that phrase, "I'm one of God's children" was used by God to get my attention. I needed to care more. We need to care for many reasons. Obviously we need to care because others need our care. But we also need to care because caring is a repudiation of our own selfish nature. Caring reaches out to others. Caring gives us motivation to minister. Jesus cared and so must we. We must care enough to care.

Chuck Swindoll said a phrase that I've got stapled to a bulletin board outside my office, "No one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care." We must be moved with compassion if we're going to touch other people with the love and power of God.

C. Touch

The third thing regarding basic ministry that I want you to see is found in verse 33. Jesus put His fingers in his ears, and He touched His tongue. Bottom line is that Jesus physically touched this man. And friends, every true ministry of God's church family will have some kind of outward touch connected to it.

I first heard the term "A FORCE, not a fortress", when I was on the pastoral staff at Scottsdale Bible Church. It has really stuck with me. So much so that I use it as the vision statement for our church. You see, for too long churches across this valley have adopted a fortress mentality, and we can't do that. Too many Christians think that putting a sign out in the front lawn is all that is needed to minister to people.

Friends, can I tell you?…the devil loves that kind of church. As long as we stay in our stained glass boxes, Satan is content to let us do whatever we like. After all, what real difference does it make as long as we stay within the walls of our church buildings?

But when a church starts being the church, that's when Satan gets upset. And we can only really be the church when we reach out to others with the touch of Jesus.

I guess what I'm saying is that if we're going to minister to people, we have to get involved in people's lives. We have to physically rub shoulders with them. There must be contact. There must be touch. For ministry to be real ministry it must be hands-on ministry.

That's what's so beautiful about our Takin' It to the Streets ministry that's going on during the month of May. The canvassing that many are doing is touching people; the picking up trash in the parks is touching people; the crafts the kids will work on are touching people; the workers who are sitting with the kids while the Bible story is being presented are touching people; the security crew who are walking around the park while the program is going on are touching people. It's a God inspired program! Are you involved in it?

If not, what are you involved in? Not every program of ministry is for everyone. But there should be something you're doing in your life that is physically touching people. What is it? If you don't have an answer, then come and talk to me. We have ways to identify where you can best minister. But for goodness sake, touch someone with the love of God!

D. Communication

Finally, we see Jesus speaking a word to this man. It was the last thing He did, as it's recorded in verse 34. Jesus looked him right in the eye and said, "Ephphatha! Which means "be opened"! That was the first word this man heard. And it was a liberating word. It was a word of grace.

Friends, just like Jesus spoke the word to this man, we must also speak the word to others, as well.

Illustration: Andrew Meekens, was a lay leader in the International Evangelical Church of Addis Ababa. Six years ago, he was one of those who died, when a hijacked Ethiopian Airlines jet ran out of fuel and crashed near the Comoros Islands on November 23, 1996.

By the grace of God, some people survived that crash. And according to those survivors, after the pilot announced he would attempt an emergency landing, Meekens stood up and spoke to the passengers. He tried to calm them down. But when it became apparent that the plane was going to crash land, Meekens presented the gospel of Jesus Christ, and invited people to respond.

A surviving flight attendant said that about twenty people accepted salvation, including a flight attendant who did not survive the crash.

Friends, we speak as dying people to dying people. And unless you are able to speak about your personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and share the plan of salvation, all the compassion in the world won't help people with regards to eternity.

We must pray. We must care. And we must reach out and touch. But then we must speak. We have to share the life-changing word of God if people are truly going to be touched by Him.

III. Conclusion

The goal of Christian ministry is to bring people face to face with the power of God and His love for them. And Jesus models the four basic components of any true ministry in this encounter with the deaf and mute man. So, don't try to cut corners. You see, all too often we cut corners, or forget, or ignore the fact that all four of the basics have to be present for real ministry to take place.

Sometimes we only speak to people. Sometimes we don't pray. Sometimes we're not really concerned. Sometimes we speak at a distance and there is no touch. (And when there's no human touch, there is no divine touch).

Sometimes we simply try to meet physical needs. We reach out and touch, but there is no life changing word. There is no challenge to the soul. And so, while they may leave with a full stomach, they go away empty because God has not filled them up with Himself. The bottom line is that we can't ignore any of the four essentials for ministry.

-If we only emphasize prayer, we become guilty of super-spiritualization. -If we only emphasize caring and compassion, we become guilty of sentimentalism. -If we only emphasize the touch, then we become guilty of offering a social gospel as the answer for man's spiritual condition. -And if we only emphasize sharing the good news, we become guilty of spiritualizing God's message.

True ministry must… …begin in prayer, …be motivated by divine compassion, …be directly involved in people's lives, …and challenge people with the truths of God's love.

Only that kind of ministry can be successful ministry. Only that kind of ministry can change the eternal destiny of a person. Only that kind of ministry works because it is patterned after the model of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen.