Valerie Rae Hanneman
James 2:17 (NIV) “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead”
Matthew 9:37 (NIV)”Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.”“
When Father called me to Care Fresno Kids Klub I was not a happy camper. I didn’t like kids and I could not think of a more inappropriate ministry for me. But it was exceedingly clear that God called me to it and I didn’t want to risk getting swallowed by some big fish. The truth is that my body was in the ministry but my heart was not. Every week I went because God told me to, but I didn’t want to. I didn’t like the kids, they were dirty little cretins, always fighting, foul-mouthed, rude, my list of complaints could go on forever. One day, after talking to a couple of kids who had never been camping, I got this great idea. We would set up a bunch of tents in the back lawn of the church and camp out over night. I got a couple of people who suggested that I might want to move the tents between the buildings and asked about what was I doing about security. I pooh-poohed all that. It would be more fun on the back lawn and I don’t need any security to protect me from those kids! Finally the Friday night arrived. We set up the tents, played games, BBQ’ed, made S’mores - we were having a grand old time. Then night came. And as night descended - so did hell. This was eight years ago and the neighborhood was so different from what it is today. Back then people had told me that the apartments across the street (the ones that were torn down) was a haven for troubled lives, gangs and troublemakers. That night I got a clear understanding of what that meant. All night long there were screams, yelling, glass breaking, cursing, what sounded like gunshots, police sirens. It was soul-shocking to a woman who had lived her whole life in neighborhoods where the usual police call was when somebody’s dog was too loud. And the kids knew what was going on. “Oh, that is just so and so and his wife fighting again.” “ That is so-and-so breaking out windows cause he is drunk again.” “The cops are here because........” I got a taste of hell that night as I watched and listened to what was happening in the neighborhood. I was afraid to go to sleep. All I wanted was for it to be morning and for me to get out of there. My life changed that night when in fear I cried out to Father, “keep us safe, Father!” He answered, “You will leave in the morning. These children - My children that you won’t let near your heart - live in this every day. There is no escape for them - except through Me.” To say that my hard, unbending heart was broken that night is an understatement. I was shattered when I realized what I had been doing. In my stubborn pride - my determination to prove God wrong - I held myself aloof from the ministry I was called to. I harmed God’s purpose, I harmed those children, I harmed myself.
Rich Mullins, my favorite Christian artist, sings a song about faith without works being like a screen door on a submarine. When I first heard it I was a little confused about what that means exactly. After awhile, I figured it out. The purpose of the submarine is to travel underwater. If one of it’s hatches is a screen door then the submarine can never leave the dock. If it does it will sink. The purpose of the Church is to go into all the world and make disciples of all people. (Acts 1:8) If we are depending on our faith to bring the people to us - then the Church is going to sink. Faith without works is dead.
Jesus was talking to His disciples one day and said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” He was talking about the soul-harvest of the world, and He was talking about His followers who are out in the world making disciples of all people. Notice that He didn’t say that the believers are few and He didn’t say that those who had faith are few. He said the workers are few. You can be a believer and not be a worker in the fields of harvest. All you have to do is to be a Sonday-go-to-meeting Christian. You can be a person who has faith but not a worker in the fields of harvest. All you have to do is to have faith that somebody else is going to do it. We have plenty of believers, plenty of people of faith. We don’t have enough workers. And as long as our faith is lived out by sitting once a week in a pew - the harvest will go to waste. Actually, let’s not sugar coat it. The harvest - the people without Jesus - will go to hell.
Jesus is a God of action. Although I am sure that He had some down time, the Gospels show Jesus busy doing His Father’s work. He worked so hard that one time, during a storm that threatened the boat He was in, Jesus was asleep from exhaustion. Does Jesus expect us to work in the fields of harvest until we are exhausted? Sometimes He does, if that is what it takes to reach the lost. What He absolutely does not expect us to do is to sit around faithfully believing that somebody else will do it.. When He called us to salvation, He called us to a life of service. His final words to the Church were not “Sit down and have faith,” they were “Go into all the world”
Care Fresno is a hard ministry. The kids are loud, rude, foul mouthed. They fight, they argue, they give me trouble. They are my greatest joy in ministry. I am involved in a lot of different ministries and I love doing them, but there is no doubt in my mind that Jesus’ main purpose for me is to serve Him in Care Fresno. Every Friday my body is in this ministry. But this ministry holds my heart every minute of every day. In serving Him I have found the purpose of my life.
Serving is the purest form of worship from a heart that is true to the calling God has on it.
There is a day coming - I can’t hardly wait for it - when I am going to stand in front of Jesus and He is going to show me what my work in the fields of the Care Fresno harvest has done for His kingdom. My hope is that He will say to me, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” If He does, I am going to be able to say, “My serving You was the best way I had to show You how very much I love You.”
"I would never want to reach out someday with a soft, uncallused hand -- a hand never dirtied by serving and shake the nail-pierced hand of Jesus." - Bill Hybels
LORD Jesus, I serve You because I love You. Take joy in my act of worship.
Contact Valerie or sign up for the Fresno First Baptist e-Ministry at valerie@fresnofirst.org
Posted by Valerie at April 28, 2006 07:13 PM