1. The Apostles had a Unique Ministry
The criteria for becoming an apostle was simple.
1.1 They had to have been with Jesus, and been recognised
by the other apostles.
1.2 Second, they had supernatural power to perform the
same miracles Jesus performed (2 Corinthians 12:12).
The signs of an apostle were unique and no Christian leader in history since
has been able to replicate these two conditions. The apostles were the foundation
of the church (Matthew 16:16, Ephesians 2:20). There was no apostolic succession.
There are no apostles today. However, God calls us to build on the work of the
apostles, as pastors, evangelists, teachers. He continues to give spiritual
gifts and abilities to enable his church to take the good news of Jesus Christ
to the whole world, to build the church and extend his kingdom rule over peoples
hearts and lives. The apostles had a unique ministry in their day and so do
you today.
2. The Apostles had a Limited Ministry
This passage is not a model for Christians to serve God without
thought to their needs or provision. How do we know that? At the end of the
Last Supper, just before Jesus led the disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane
for the last time, he gave them their final instructions before his crucifixion.
Rashly, Peter insisted,
33"Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and
to death." 34Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster
crows today, you will deny three times that you know me." 35Then Jesus
asked them, "When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack
anything?" "Nothing," they answered. 36He said to them, "But
now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword,
sell your cloak and buy one. 37It is written: `And he was numbered with the
transgressors' ; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what
is written about me is reaching its fulfillment." (Luke 22:33-37)
In the passage before us, therefore we see Jesus training the Apostles in a
limited faith mission venture. He was sending them out for a few days on a test
run to prepare them for the day when he would be taken from them. When humanly
speaking they would be on their own. The memory of how God had provided for
them, how he had nurtured their faith would sustain them in the coming days
when they too would be persecuted and scattered to the four corners of the earth.
The mantle of leadership was about to be passed on to his disciples. They were
to continue the ministry he had begun. The test before Jesus is the one that
separates great leaders from small pretenders:
1. Can the vision of the leader be grasped
by others?
2. Can the authority of the leader be transferred to others?
3. Can the teaching of the leader be taught to others?
4. Can the actions of the leader be duplicated by others?
5. Can the results of the leader be multipled by others?
That is the acid test all leaders face. Is their mission
transferable? With that understanding, let us now return to this passage and
see what abiding lessons it does contain.
1. Called to Follow (Mark 6:7)
Most of what the disciples picked up was caught rather than
taught.
The effectiveness of training will be in proportion to the quality of the relationship
between teacher and pupil, between leader and disciple.
First and foremost Jesus called the disciples to follow him.
We have all been called to full time Christian service. What differs is merely
our location and ministry. We are called to be disciples of Jesus and disciplers
for Jesus. I'm still learning to be a father. I am discovering having a son
is rather different to having daughters. There are new rules, new expectations,
new challenges. We are learning together.
We spend time together to discuss how we are doing. Thursday Mike asked me to
teach him to juggle. I can't teach him something I can't do myself but it was
a good learning experience for us both. Its the same with our faith. We learn
from Jesus in order to pass that on to others who in turn will share it with
others. In that sense our faith must be transferable, infection, contagious.
If you want to have a profound impact in the lives of a other people, spend
quality time with them. There is no substitute. Where many Christian leaders
fail is that they are too busy having a ministry, to take time to train others
to do what they are doing. So when they go to be with the Lord, there is no
one to take on the mantle and the ministry dies. I'll let you into a secret.
One of my primary objectives at Christ Church is to make myself redundant. If
in five years time I am still doing the same things I will have failed. At Stoke,
my previous parish in Guildford, when I first arrived, I inherited four House
Group leaders and one Lay Reader. When I left we had trained ten House Group
leaders, three more Lay Readers and a Curate as well as two other lay preachers.
We also had a team of qualified Pastoral Assistants and youth leaders. All that
took a huge investment of time and energy but it was worth it. Over those ten
years we saw the Lord bless Stoke and the congregation more than doubled. We
are called to follow Jesus and we are to call others to follow Jesus with us
too. Called to Follow.
2. Sent to Witness (Mark 6:7, 12)
Three things we can observe about the way they were sent
to witness.
2.1 In Shared Ministry (Mark 6:7)
By sending them out in six pairs, Jesus multiplied his ministry
but more importantly ensured they learnt from one another. There is no place
for the lone ranger, the lone Christian ministry, the one man band.
Shared ministry is the biblical pattern. David and Jane Gibbs will be joining
us in the Summer to share in our ministry. Our aim will be to help complete
his theological training, to equip him to take responsibility for pastoring
a church in four years time. Why? So that he in turn can disciple others. This
same principle applies to our House Groups, Sunday school groups, Pastoral care.
If you are going visiting, take someone with you. If you are leading a house
group, share the role with others. If you are leading a service, get others
involved. Always ask yourself constantly, 'Am I passing on what I am learning
about the Christian faith to others younger in the faith?' Here's another question
to ask yourself 'Am I doing something for someone that they could or should
learn to do themselves?' If so, I am encouraging dependency on me rather than
independency and maturity. That's the reason we ask retiring members of the
PCC and Deanery Synod not to accept nomination again straight away. its good
to let people have a year off. Its also good to encourage others to gain experience
in a leadership role. That way we will have many more people with experience
of taking responsibility, handling decisions, facing challenges, working as
a team. I want us to have a contagious faith. Jesus sent them to witness in
shared ministry. Secondly, he sent them,
2.2 With Delegated Authority (Mark 6:11;
Matthew 10:14-15)
We are sent in the name and delegated authority of Jesus.
We have the awesome privilege and authority to promise and assure people that
if they repent of their sins and believe in Jesus Christ, their sins are forgiven
and that they have eternal life. When we share the promises of Jesus with others
we speak with the authority of Jesus.
If they reject you, don't take it personally, it is Jesus they are rejecting.
Sent to witness, in shared ministry, with delegated authority,
2.3 As Ambassadors of Peace (Matthew
10:13)
'If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it;
if it is not, let your peace return to you.'
Paul takes this idea further in his second letter to the
Corinthians.
18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through
Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling
the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he
has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ's
ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you
on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. (2 Cor.
5:18-20)
The primary ministry God has given us is to bring peace and reconciliation through
telling others about what Jesus Christ has done for us and them. We are to be
peacemakers in family crisis, in divorce settlements, in industrial disputes,
in working relationships. Where ever Christ is ignored or unknown we are called
to bring peace. Called to Follow, Sent to Witness and
3. Empowered to Serve (Mark
6:8-13)
To serve with functional simplicity and progressive mobility.
3.1 Serve with Functional Simplicity
Although this was a short term mission project and Jesus
instructed the disciples to take nothing with them but trust God for their needs,
there is nevertheless an important principle here. Functional simplicity.
This week I was sent details of an ambitious plan to build a £50 million
World Prayer Centre in Birmingham for the year 2002. The massive glass-domed
structure is even larger than its US Prayer Centre counterpart, opened recently
in Colorado Springs. According to its literature, the UK WPC is the vision (literally
the prophetic vision) of a Northern Irish minister's son. A venture such as
this, with its enormous price tag, you might think first required serious debate
in the UK Christian community. It does not seem so, but the Christian public
will no doubt be invited to fund the project - very likely, as with many other
similar initiatives, with little or no recognition that the New Testament instructs
us to give our tithes and offerings for God's work to and through the local
church. You may already give to Christian or secular charities but I have to
say your first priority should be the place where you are fed and nurtured,
the place where you live and serve God. Warnings of the trappings of affluence
need to be heard again and again. Jesus teaching here about functional simplicity
is still valid. The question to ask is this: "What are the essentials I
need to function effectively as a witness for Christ without losing my primary
dependence upon God?" If we face that question honestly, many apparent
needs will disappear from our want list. We serve with functional simplicity
and, we
3.2 Serve by Progressive Mobility
Somewhere along the way the church lost its identity as a
people in mission, a people on a journey and became equated with a static, permanent
building. One writer asks, 'Has the church become a company of squatters rather
than a caravan of pilgrims.' Do we expect people to come to the church to hear
about Jesus or are we taking the church to the people? What spiritual values
have we lost when we quit moving? Certainly the spiritual needs in our community
has not diminished. In eighteenth century England, masses of people migrated
from farms to industrial cities seeking employment. The church failed to follow
them, but John Wesley, thrown out of the Anglican church did. Through his preaching
and that of his disciples, in the market places and open fields, God moved among
the people and changed the face of England. Unlike France, some say that revival
saved Britain from bloody revolution. Revivals are born when the church moves
on. Empowered to serve with functional simplicity and progressive mobility.
In one sentence, what do we learn from this passage about Christian ministry?
We have all been called to follow, sent to witness and equipped to serve. All
that distinguishes me from you is our place of service.
In April we are hosting a major conference for churches across Surrey Berkshire
and Hampshire called Network. Graeme Paris is from NZ. He has spoken here before
and we are looking forward to his return. The purpose
of the seminar is to help us all discover our unique role within the Body of
Christ here in Virginia Water. I hope you will join us and make this passage
a living reality today. Make it a priority. Lets pray.