One of the most striking pictures of the church and its role was presented to me as I was walking up King Street in the uptown of Saint John one afternoon. King Street has been cited as the steepest hill in a city of Saint John’s size in all of Canada.
A little boy, just tall enough to reach his father’s knees was struggling to keep up. He managed to scurry in front of his father, and these two little arms stretched up into the air “Carry me!!” The father reached down and picked his little son up and placing him piggy-back style, carried him on his shoulders.
I was probably six or seven years old attending a Cub Scout meeting at Hillcrest. The highlight of this particular evening was a trip with the scout leaders and the entire group of boys to the fire station on Lancaster Avenue. I had my boots on, and like you’re not suppose to do, ran across the gymnasium floor to get something on the other side of the gym before we left. I slipped and fell and in doing so I twisted my ankle. As much as the ankle hurt, in the very depths of my soul the truly tragical implication was that I was going to miss going down to the fire station. I remember and to this day remember one of the elders of the church carrying me on his shoulders down to the fire station.
That’s a picture of what the Church is to do-to carry the hurt, the discouraged, the lost, the frustrated, the weak, the helpless. But sometimes the situation needs something slightly less, and the people who need the most help are those we envision have it all together, who have leadership standing in our midst.
I’m talking about the Chairmen, Vice-Chairmen and Secretaries of your church boards, the teachers and helpers in Sunday School and Pioneer programs, the leaders and helpers in Junior and Senior High youth, the workers in the Nursery, the secretary, the many people on the various committees working within the church, the people that meet and greet at the doors, the ushers, the tellers, the Church Treasurer, and probably a dozen or more groups of people that I’ve left out.
And above all - the pastors.
In Paul’s letter to the Romans, specifically in Romans 1:11-12, Paul indicates one of the reasons for his desire to visit the church in Rome. Not only does he desire to preach the word of God to them and share some spiritual gift or encouragement, but he looks forward to receiving encouragement from them.
Pastors and leaders within a church will have, if truly called by God, a sincere hunger and desire that the Word of God be proclaimed and that the people of the congregation to whom such pastor or leader ministers are encouraged in their Christian walk. But equally important, and vital to the sustaining the energy of leaders and pastor is their receipt of encouragement from the congregation. Paul said in Romans 15:30-31 “Now I urge you brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints.” And in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he outlined various trials and fears for his life he experienced in Asia, but crediting God with his preservation he writes “indeed we had the sentence of death within ourselves in order that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And he will yet deliver us..” and then Paul credits the prayers of the church at Corinth as being instrumental in his uplifted spirits. “you also joining in helping us through your prayers, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favors bestowed on us through the prayers of many.”
Paul experienced exhaustion, tired arms and body, yet he always rejoiced in God because he trusted God, but also because he sensed the prayers of others. His tired arms were uplifted to continue the work.
Do we spend enough time uplifting the tired arms of the people in our church-the pastors, leaders, workers, staff people? When the arms get tired, the work slows down, and maybe disaster will follow.
Moses understood what it was to be tired. He was leading a stubborn, stiff-necked people through the wilderness, obedient to God, but wishing God had picked someone else for the task. Yet God in his patience provided Moses with the signs and wonders he needed to make his point. Every time the people grumbled, God provided a response that met the need. In Exodus, the wanderings are recorded, ....../3
and as a matter of fact from Exodus 14-18 time and time again the people complained and God graciously provided salvation.
(1) People fleeing from Egypt, complained that they were trapped - God parted the Red Sea and restored it to drown Pharaoh’s army/.
(2) People praised God -then got thirsty and started to complain again-God caused the polluted water to be turned pure when a tree was thrown into it, then led the people to twelve springs of water.
(3) People complained again that there was no food - God provided manna.
(4) Arrived in Rephidim, and people complained no water - Moses at command of God struck a rock and water poured out.
This brings us to the Old Testament passage in Exodus 17:8-15. Once again the people face a challenge-a battle with a fierce nomadic tribe, the Amalekites, who were actually descended from Esau. Not only were fierce, they fought dirty, attacking from the rear. Joshua was in command of the army, and Moses goes to a mountaintop where he holds aloft the staff of God in his hand.
An uplifted arm can only be raised so long
The arm grow heavy with the weight, and Moses was no different. He tried to keep his arms up, but he had only so much strength that could last only so long.
If you let your pastor or your group leaders work alone and expect them to sustain the pace indefinitely, eventually some arena of ministry will suffer.
A tired arm can be uplifted by others.
Moses was either told or instinctively knew that he needed a couple of men with him. He took Aaron and a man named Hur with him to the mountaintop. Aaron was Moses’ brother-he was the one that helped Moses communicate with the people-it was natural that he would join Moses. But we know very little about the other man. He was of the tribe of Judah, related to Caleb, one of the two faithful spies that encouraged the people to cross over into Canaan, but were voted down. He was the grandfather of a man named Bezalel whom God would later use for various craftsmenship when the tabernacle was being constructed. And both Aaron and Hur were chosen by Moses when he went up to receive the law from God to take care of disputes among the people while he was gone.
These then were two men whom Moses trusted, whom he relied on, and who were
proven to be godly men. They were not asked to support the arms of Moses they did so automatically.
Whether you are a pastor, a Sunday School teacher, a staff person, whatever your role, it is imperatively that in your lives there be people who are prepared to uplift tired arms. Terry Fulham, an Episcopal priest in the States who is a marvelous speaker and whom I had the pleasure to hear at an conference some years back at St. George’s Church, was given a very important piece of advise from the Bishop shortly before Terry started work at his first pastorate. The Bishop told him to love and minister to all of the people in the congregation, but to seek out and draw to himself those in his midst who he discerned had a great hunger and desire for the word of God and to grow and mature in the Christian walk. “Love them all, and minister to them all, but pour yourself fully into those few.” Terry Fulham discovered that when he did that, he had a small army of dedicated lay people helping in the ministry to the multitude in his congregation. And although it wasn’t said, I am certain that they were men and women who uplifted the tired arms of that episcopal priest when the ministry became weary.
The enemy is at the door of the church, people. Satan can do more harm with weary leaders than he can with all the temptations at his fingertips. We may not fight the actual spiritual battle, but we have a part to play. Our pastors, our leaders, our workers have a vital role to play, but like Moses they can’t do it alone. It takes others to come alongside of them. We may not be on the front lines, like Joshua leading the battle, we may not even be on the mountaintop like Moses. The role may be seemingly insignificant like holding up one arm of a key person.
Last story.
About twelve years ago a young man was visiting the home of a minister and his family. They had a good time of fellowship together over a meal, and the intent was following supper for the young man and the minister to examine a program that would be proposed as a small group bible study. Following the meal however the telephone rang. The young man was not aware of all the particulars of the conversation, but it became clear from the minister’s half of the conversation that the caller was a deeply troubled individual, possibly under the influence of narcotics or alcohol and that he had in his possession a gun. The minister eventually hung up the phone, placed a call to another individual who would meet him at the residence of the caller, and said he had to go to deal with this situation. The young man was greatly upset, and in a matter of moments, he, the minister and his wife were in a circle of prayer. As the minister left the house he turned to the young man and with a smile said “Welcome to the ministry”. The minister left for what seemed like an eternity, but later returned safe, the situation having been dealt with for the time being. The name of the minister is not really important, but I will tell you that the young man was me.
Now, here’s the point. Years ago when that minister said to me “welcome to the ministry” it was a statement that I took to mean that the work of the ministry is not all in a church in an atmosphere of relative harmony. The Ministry of Jesus Christ is not confined to two or three hours on Sunday morning with a “jump-start” service in the form of prayer meeting in the middle of the week. The ministry of Jesus Christ occurs in everyday life, in the homes, and the schools, and the workplaces, and in a lot of place none of us would dare to enter. But as I began to consider this idea of people uplifting the tired arms of our church leaders and pastor, I suddenly realized that in a tiny circle of prayer where this young men haltingly prayed for the protection of God on this minister and to safely return him to his four children and wife, that that act was an uplifting of tired and perhaps frightened arms of others.
Do you pray for your pastor? Welcome to the ministry.
Do you pray for the sick and bereaved? Welcome to the ministry.
Do you encourage and visit members of the family of God? Welcome to the ministry.
And when the membership of a congregation in a church can realize that each one is required to pray, to encourage, to uplift the tired arms of those in the forefront of the battle, when we can say to every member on Sunday morning who has accepted Jesus Christ as Saviour and is desirous of serving Him, WELCOME TO THE MINISTRY then we will have a church that is a place in which God’s people will be part of an army that truly be on the side of victory.
If we are prepared to uplift the tired arms of others, we need to be ready to assist. But before we find the means and arenas in which we can assist, we need to provide a committed and consistent prayer wall around the people in leadership. Paul said this in Ephesians 6:18-19
With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with
this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all
the saints, and pray on my behalf...to make known with boldness the
mystery of the gospel.
Are you prepared to uplift the tired arms? Welcome to the ministry.
