Yes is a word that obligates us.
One of the most hated words in the English language is also one of the shortest words in the English language.No.No. We first learn this word from our parents. Can we get a dog? No. Can we get a cat? No. A snake? We grow to hate the word no from an early age. It restricts, frustrates, denies, and deprives us.
But there is actually a word that is a thousand times more limiting than the word no.It’s yes! Yes is a dangerous word. Yes obligates us. Yes, I will marry you. Yes, let’s have a baby. Yes, put it on my VISA. Yes, I will go to college,accept that position, or start my own business. Yes, you can join the soccer league, and play basketball, and softball, and tennis, and gymnastics, and golf, and football, and be on scholastic team too!Yes, I will be baptized. Yes,I will become a member of my church. Yes, I will volunteer. Yes,I will help that person.
Our greatest stress is because of what we saidyes to. Yes is what limits us, deprives us, endangers us, wears us out, and depletes the last reserves of our sanity. You're tired because of so many times you said, "Yes."
Jesus said yes to the needs of others.
So consider the predicament Jesus placed himself into when he saidyes to the needs of others. Mark 1:32-34 (NIV) says,"That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door,and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was."
Earlier, Jesus cracked open the door by healing Simon’s mother-in-law. But by the end of the night, "the whole town" gathered at the door. If therewas ever a man who could have handled himself in this circumstance, itwas Jesus.
Jesus wasn't afraid to say yes.
Jesuswasn’t afraid to open that door and stand face to face with the needs of others. But what about you? You’ll never be more fully alive than when you learn to sayyes to the needs of others, just like our Lord. He wasn’t afraid of yes!
At St. John’s Hospital, they have this new thing where employees are to make eye contact with you and say hello. I was up there last week and people kept doing this. It wasweird. But there is a reason that we walk with our heads down and don’t acknowledge others. It’s because we are afraid to sayyes to other people. We’re afraid we might obligate ourselves. We're afraid of the time people might require of us.Or they might demand that their needs be met by us. They might inconvenience us or get added to our pile.
This happens at church. We don’t always acknowledge others. We’re afraid of where sayingyes to others might lead, and so we never crack open the door. Instead, it’s just no.No eye contact. No questions. No extroversion. No putting myself out there. No life groups. No Sunday school. No lingering around before or after the service. No curiosity. No sharing stories. No follow up. Let’s get out of here before someone knocks on our door. This wasn’t the way of our Lord, and it shouldn’t be our way either.
Jesus healed many, but not all of the people.
But notice something else. It says that Jesus healed,"many" who had various diseases. There is a different word in the Greek that means "all" and "every." Think about this for a moment. Jesus was all-powerful (omnipotent) and all-knowing (omniscient). If ever there was one with the capacity to heal all and every it was Jesus. But no, Jesus healed many.
The needs of others didn’t dwindle. The crowd didn’t get smaller, nor the line shorter. Instead, people poured forth, full of expectation, need, demands, wants, desires, hopes, and aspirations. This is the danger of love, the danger of yes, and the danger of ministry. It's that people are drawn to love in mass!
Now, these are legitimate needs people are bringing forth. What a great opportunity for Mark to present Jesus Christ as superstar, superhero, or superpastor. But that is not at all what happens. Instead, Jesus healed, "many".Talk about apublic relationsnightmare for this new kingdom! "We came to Jesus andhe healed many, but not all of us."
Your life isn’t that much different from my life. Every week we are presented with far more needs than we could ever hope to respond to. We get disappointed with people when people don’t respond to our needs. In my case people ask, "Where is the pastor? Why didn’t he call or visit? Why isn’t he more like Jesus?"
If the Son of God,the all-powerful, all-knowing Jesus Christ, didn’t respond to all, then who are we to think we could do more? Jesus was all-knowing, but half the time I don’t know about this need or that need. Jesus was all-powerful, but at times we can feel so powerless in the face of such great needs!
Friends, we have limits! Exhausted in prayer, Moses had to have two men hold his arms up. Perplexed by the needs of widows, the disciples in Acts 6 appointed men to serve!
Here is my point. You are not Jesus, and neither am I. We cannot allow ourselves to be crushed by the crowd gathering at our door. We simply cannot spread ourselvesthatwidely. We don’t have an infinite supply ofyes's to give everyone. We have to be okay sayingno to people, disappointing them, risking their disfavor, and not personallyresponding to their very legitimate needs. We cannot be everything to everyone. Sometimes they will get angry, question your commitment, your judgment, your compassion, and your calling. Sometimes they leave. But that is what people do!
I am not advocating indifference or apathy. I am advocating humility. We are not called to save the whole world and meet all the needs around us. We are called, however, to be faithful with the many whoGod puts before us.
Jesus sometimes walked away from peoplein need in order to spend time with God.
There is more. Mark 1:35-37 (NIV) says, "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him,and when they found him, they exclaimed: 'Everyone is looking for you!' "
Here is proof positive that Jesus walked away from people in need— that he didn’t heal all and everyone. Jesus evades the crowd under the cover of night. What kind of Savior does that? Jesus gets up early and walks off to a solitary place! What kind of example was Jesus setting here? Imagine how angry the crowds must have been that Jesus would just disappear. Imagine the contempt they felt toward those who Jesus did heal!
But these verses aren’t about Jesus sayingno to the needs of others. They are about Jesus sayingyes to the Father. Jesus found a solitary place in order to pray, and to find rest and renewal in God’s presence. Jesus knew full well that everyone was looking for him. But what good would he be to others without that time with God? Jesus risked the disfavor of men in order to make time for God, and so should we.
The hardest thing in ministry for me is remind myself that it doesn’t matter what you think when I am finding rest and renewal in the Lord. Like Jesus, sometimes I have to hide, be unavailable, and cross the lake in my bass boat. I am worthless to you without time with God. Likewise, you are worthless to others if you are not making time to be alone with God. It’s in prayer, in God’s presence, that we find strength to love others. If we don’t learn to withdraw and say no to the expectations of others, our love shrivels up and dies.
You know what happens when we don’t spend time with God! Our attitude sours, our words get sharper, our patience runs out, our fuse gets shorter, we get bitter and angry, and negativity spews out. We get disillusioned and depressed. We show contempt toward the needs of others. We start looking for shortcuts, we become vulnerable to temptation, and we return to the destructive patterns of sin for comfort. Saying no to God destroys us and it destroys others. Like Jesus, we must sayyes to timewith God.
Jesus didn't allow people to make him a servant of their selfish desires.
Notice how Jesus responds to the disciples' complaint, "Everyone is looking for you!" In Mark 1:38-39 (NIV) Jesus said," 'Let us go somewhere else— to the nearby villages— so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.' So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons."
If you allow it, people will make you a servant of their selfish desires. In Mark 8:36 (NIV) Jesus asked his disciples, "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?"
This is an important question. With all the demands placed on us byothers, are we helping people in the way they most need to be helped?
Over the past few years, God has increased our ministry greatly. It’s exciting to see so many gathering at our doorstep. Here is an honest confession— I cannot respond to all the needs in this church. I can respond to many, but I cannot respond to all. I know this bothers many of you. You want that personal touch.But friends, this wasn’t the Lord’s way! The Lord doesn’t want to build his church around a single pastor.
God has ordained that we all be the body of Christ. Together we can respond to every need. There are times when people say to me, "Jon, you weren’t there." But it is extremely rare that a person would say, "Lakeside wasn’t there." My prayer is that you will value the ministry of one another as much, or more, than the ministry of Jon Morrissette. This is God’s way, not my way. We need to remember this.
But there is more. We cannot allow the ministry of word and prayer at Lakeside to get sidetracked. The greatest gift I can give this church is spirit-filled preaching and teaching. We need to equip new leaders, raise up evangelistsand teachers, life group leaders, and elders. This work cannot happen unless I say no to things I’ve never had to say no to before.
We are here because Jesus put hisyes where it would matter most— preaching and prayer. For this to happen, all of us must sayyes to serving one another and to advancing this ministry.
In a few weeks we are going to have a special service we're calling "Momentum." That Sunday, our leadership team will present the vision of Lakeside for 2010. Be in prayer asking how God can use you to advance the priorities of his kingdom. What is he calling you to sayyes to? What is he calling you to sayno to?