Don’t Do It Without Me
16th Anniversary
Scriptures: Isaiah 6:8; Luke 19:1-10
Today we celebrate sixteen years as a Church. When we look around the sanctuary and see the empty seats, it appears that maybe we do not have a lot to celebrate. If you are having these thoughts, let me tell you now that you would be very wrong. We are blessed that we get to worship in a place where people love God. We get to worship in a place that is paid for and cannot be taken away from us. We worship in a place where we understand the hearts of those around us; knowing we are not perfect, yet we stand with one another in good times and bad. We get to worship in a place where the young people have the opportunity to not only participate in the service, but take a lead role in conducting the service. While we may be few in number, we get to worship in a place where the Word of God is taught and shared across the world impacting people we will never meet.
I have shared with you previously how I share my sermons for others ministers and/or lay people to use. Recently I started receiving a weekly report of where those individuals are located who are viewing those sermons. In the last 30 days my sermons have received 11,500 views in 116 countries. The sermons preached in this building have been viewed approximately 1.9 million times in the last 11 years. Last month on the 23rd I received an email through that website from an individual who had read my sermon “Peace Be Still.” The person wrote, “I so needed this. I asked Lord show me something, anything to help me with the fear I am struggling with at the moment, and my Lord and Savior led me here. Thank you Lord! Thank you for this wonderful sermon.” I am sharing this with you not to brag or to shine light on myself, but to make the point that God is using all of us in ways that might not be so obvious when we walk into this building at this specific address. People all around the world are accessing the messages preached in this building which is possible because of each and every one of you. And now that we are live streaming the messages, even more people are able to access the Word of God through this ministry. So while we may not see the building full to capacity, it does not mean this ministry is not having an impact on the lives of many others. Writing a sermon and posting it on the internet for the world to see is the easy part; living the faith before the world is the hard part. I am blessed to be surrounded by people who are trying to live their faith before the world. We may not get it right all the time, but I am blessed that you are at least putting forth the effort to change the world around you. So, today we have something to celebrate. God has been good to us, both individually and as a Church. As we honor our commitment to Him He is not slack in keeping any of His promises. Can you say, “Thank you Lord!!!”
The title of this celebratory message is “Don’t Do It Without Me.” In Isaiah 6:8 the prophet Isaiah wrote, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8) Our Mission Statement says, “We empower our members to have their own personal relationship with Christ, and through that relationship, serve everyone.” When you think about our Mission Statement in relationship to what is recorded in Isaiah 6:8, we are saying; “Based on my personal relationship with Christ, I am ready to be sent.” We are saying, “Lord send me.” Now while we may be saying that with our mouths when we repeat our mission statement do we actually mean it with our hearts? If with our mouth we are confessing that it is our mission to serve everyone and we are not doing that then we are not fulfilling our mission. This is a question that each of us must answer individually.
There is a song by Bishop Paul Morton titled “Don’t Do It Without Me.” In that song it says, “Lord whatever You are doing in this season, please don’t do it without me.” In other words, whatever the Lord is doing right now we have a desire to be in the midst of it. We have a desire to be a part of it. We want to be involved, regardless of what those around us may be doing. It’s not about them; it’s about our own personal desire to be a part of what the Lord is doing in this season. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, there was an increase in people enlisting into the military. People wanted to serve their country and fight against its enemies. There was also an increase in people attending Church. People felt vulnerable and they sought the out the Church for peace. Years after this event, some people reverted back to the pre-9/11 ways as their desire to continue in worship of the Lord was over shadowed by their desire to go back to living the life they had lived previously. I point this out so that you can understand that our decision to serve the Lord is not a one and done decision. We do not make the decision and then stop. Once that decision is made, then the work starts and this is what we must address within our hearts. Do our hearts say “Lord don’t do it without me!” or is our hearts saying, “Lord let me check my schedule and I will get back with You.”
Isaiah wrote, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8) When you read this can you see God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in a deep conversation discussing the mission. They are discussing the work that needs to be done and yet they did not have anyone to send to do it. Those listening to the discussion are all wondering with the Holy Trinity who would volunteer for the task at hand. No one raises their hand. No one steps forward. No one seems ready and able to take on this challenge. As they ponder the task at hand, God asks, “Who shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Can you see the consternation or dismay on the face of the Father as He ponders who would go and complete the work? Can you imagine what it feels like to see work that needs to be done but no one stepping forward to do it? As the Father ponders this, all of a sudden from the back of the room comes a shout. Someone decides that if no one else would come forward he would. Isaiah says, “Here am I. Send me!” Can you see the relief that comes over the Holy Trinity as someone steps forward to take on a monumental work that no one else wanted? Can you see this? Isaiah was saying, “Lord, whatever you are doing in this season, don’t do it without me!” Are you saying this this morning? Are you wanting to raise your hand to be singled out for the task or are you wanting to be amongst the crowd and just mingle in so you can’t be seen or called upon?
Turn with me to Luke chapter nineteen. I want you to see an example of what it looks like to want to be involved; to be in the midst; to see Jesus at work. We will begin reading at verse one. “He entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature.” (Luke 19:1-3) Jesus was passing through Jericho and there was a crowd of people around Him. While there were many in the crowd following Jesus, not everyone could see Him. I want you to see this. If you have ever attended a parade and stood on the sideline you did your best to find a place where you could actually see the parade. The best spot would always be right on the front line. If you had 5-6 people standing in front of you then you would not be on the front line but maybe in the middle. At that point if you were average height (or similar to those standing in front of you) you could see most of the floats in the parade by looking up as they went by. However, you could not see as clearly those walking in the parade because they would be at eye level. In this situation you would have two choices: move to a place where you could see better or just wait for the next float to pass by. Your decision would be based on why you were there. If you were there just to be a part of the celebration, then actually seeing the parade would not necessarily be as important to you as you enjoyed the moment with friends and family. But, if you had a child in the parade and you were there to support them, you would do whatever was necessary to find a place so that you could see your child and they could see you. In the first situation it did not matter if you saw the parade. In the second situation seeing the parade was all that mattered. Thus was the case with Zacchaeus.
Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector, meaning he was in charge of the tax office at Jericho. Tax collectors were not held in high esteem as they were seen as traitors by the Jews for collecting taxes for the Roman government. Also they would often defraud their fellow Jews and collect more taxes than was required by law and pocket the difference. This is the man who wanted to see Jesus. He was a sinner. He was someone who was rich and yet he was poor spiritually and on his way to hell. When he heard that Jesus was passing through Jericho, he like the others in the crowd came out to see Him. But he could not see Jesus because he was small in stature. In other words, Zacchaeus was a short man. Imagine if you will a large crowd of people around Jesus and this short man cannot see Him. He is within the crowd and close to Jesus and yet he still could not see Him. Imagine him jumping up and down trying to see over the heads of the others in the crowd to no avail. No matter what he did, he was not going to see Him. Can you see this? At this point Zacchaeus had a decision to make. He could go home having not seen Jesus; he could just stay with the crowd and just be a part of it; or he could do something, to quote Rev. Anthony, totally undignified for a rich man. He chose the latter because for Him seeing Jesus was all he wanted to do that day. He did not want to be left out. Let’s continue and see what he did.
“So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way.” (Luke 19:4) Zacchaeus did the unthinkable for a rich man of those times. He ran ahead of the crowd so that he could get in front of Jesus. Then he climbed a tree so that his view of Jesus would be unobstructed. You must see this. His motivation to see Jesus was so strong that he refused to give up. He refused to give in. He refused to quit. He refused to allow the crowd to keep him from his goal. So this rich man found a sycamore tree and climbed it. After climbing the tree he waited for Jesus to pass by. But the story does not end with him just seeing Jesus. Let’s finish reading this story.
“When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, 'Zaccheus hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.’ And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.’ Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, ‘Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:5-10) When Jesus arrived at the spot where Zacchaeus was waiting in the tree, He stopped. He looked up, and in front of all the people there, spoke to Zacchaeus. Jesus told him to come down out of the tree because He was planning to stay at his house. Zacchaeus hurriedly came down from the tree to take Jesus to his home. Some of the people within the crowd immediately started complaining about Jesus going into the home of a sinner. Everyone knew who Zacchaeus was and how he had treated them. Everyone knew how he had raised their taxes. Everyone knew how he had stolen from them. And Jesus knew this also.
As soon as Zacchaeus was in the presence of Jesus he immediately confessed. He told Jesus that he would immediately give half of what he owned to the poor and if he had taken anything from anyone by false means he would restore fourfold – he would give back four times what he took. Zacchaeus was saved that day, and not only him, but his entire family. How did this happen? It happened because Zacchaeus did not want to be left out. Whatever Jesus was doing on that day, he wanted to be involved in it. He did not want Jesus to do it without him. To that end when he could not see Jesus, instead of turning around and going home, he climbed a tree. Instead of just following the crowd and being a part of it he ran ahead of the crowd and climbed a tree. Instead of looking at his dignified life as a rich man, he forsook all of it and became undignified and climbed a tree. Zacchaeus climbing a tree saved his life and the life of his whole family. And through his salvation he enriched those from whom he had stolen. The people benefitted from his conversion because he would cease stealing from them from that day forward. His climbing a tree impacted not only his life, but the lives of his family and the lives of his community!
New Light, we celebrate sixteen years. We have seen some victories. We have seen the move of God in these walls. We have come a mighty long way but God is not through with us yet. Yes we have experienced some troubling times. Yes we have lost members through the years for varying reasons. Yes we have experienced dry spells when it seemed like we had to fight just to make it through to feel the Spirit of God moving within us, but move He did. He never stopped empowering us even when we could not feel Him. He never stopped desiring to use us even when we did not want to be used. He never stopped remembering us even when we felt forgotten. The Spirit never left our side so what we needed has always been available to us.
Last week Rev. Anthony said that it is time for us to move from being obligated to being motivated. It’s time to move from the dignified to the undignified. It’s time to climb some trees! Do you want to be a part of what God is doing today? Are you ready to say, “Lord here am I, send me!?” Are you ready to do whatever God is asking of you even though you may think you are not capable just yet?
If you are scared to step out – climb that tree!
If you want to serve but don’t feel qualified – climb that tree!
If you’re been praying and praying – get up off your knees and climb that tree!
If you’re tired, use the last of your strength to climb that tree!
If you’re ready to give up and give in on what God has anointed you to do, climb that tree!
Just as Zacchaeus’s life and the lives of those around him were changed because he climbed a tree to see Jesus, the same can happen for us. Climbing the tree will place us above the situation so we can see clearly. Only when we can see clearly can we fully see Jesus and hear Him telling us to come down so He can spend some time with us. Are you willing to climb a tree or two in your life in order to have that one on one time with your Lord and Savior? I hope so.
Congratulations New Light. We have come this far by faith and by faith we shall continue on. May God bless and keep you!
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
(If you are ever in the Kansas City, KS area, please come and worship with us at New Light Christian Fellowship, 15 N. 14th Street, Kansas City, KS 66102. Our service Sunday worship starts at 9 a.m. and Thursday night Bible study at 7 p.m. We look forward to you worshipping with us. May God bless and keep you.)
