Creekside Church Sermon of June 13, 1999 "Unqualified and Proud of It" Matthew 9:35-10:8	Rev. David Bibbee
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We don't turn over to rank amateurs tasks that call for specialized training. Practicing surgery, psychiatry or law, or flying a commercial airliner without the necessary credentials is frowned upon. Most professions require extensive education and credentialing, and that all important word ... experience. Before I let a dentist drill my tooth, I look for a diploma on the wall, and not one from the Acme Institute of Teeth. We put a premium on people who are qualified and credentialed. We want something more than confidence and a good night's sleep from those who serve us ... but not Jesus.

As he traveled through the towns and villages, he was moved by the people's plight. They were harassed. This was long before you could sue for harassment. They were helpless, and Matthew says Jesus had compassion for them. He was moved to minister to them, but he was only one, and the need was so great. He needed help with the harvest, so he called twelve disciples to work the fields of humanity with him.

I want you to notice some things about this call for help. The first is "when". The gospel of Mark introduces the disciples early in chapter three. Matthew, however, wasn't in a hurry. Matthew introduces them in chapter ten. Jesus' ministry is already established. There are passing references to the twelve, but it isn't until chapter ten that he formally sends them out. But more important than "when" they were chosen is "who" was chosen. If your job was to introduce the world to God's kingdom, who would you recruit? I would want some Rhodes and Fulbright scholars. I would look for P.H.D.'s in religion, psychiatry, and human relations. I would want the resources managed by someone with a Harvard M.B.A. I would recruit people who had made it to the top of their professions. I would pick the smart, the strong, and the successful. This is how I would do it ... but not Jesus.

You would also think that more would have been said about the men he chose. But all Matthew gives are names. Jesus authorized them to do what he did. It was a tall order, yet all we have are names. The only added information given was that Matthew was a tax collector and Judas would betray him. Not exactly flattering endorsements.

Sometimes the meaning of a biblical passage is not in what's said, but what is not said. The harvest is plentiful, the laborers are few, then we get names. We don't know much about them and Matthew doesn't say much about them which I take to mean that Jesus sought unqualified help. Nothing is said of their moral character. We don't know their IQ. Previous discipleship experience wasn't necessary. We don't even know if they went to church or not.

My name is on the ballot for the district board. I'm supposed to provide a list of significant leadership positions and write a reflection on the district mission statement. What if I just gave them my name instead? How long would it take for the District Nominating Committee to call and politely say my name isn't good enough? Jesus' methodology is very odd.

As we evaluate our own discipleship, as we recall all we have done and not done, as we see how we are from Christ's example, we think our performance merits disqualification. I'm not and you are not an unblemished model of anything. Neither were the twelve, which is why Jesus chose them. They were unexceptional men who did unexceptional things through Christ. And the message to us is, "Stand tall! Keep your chin up!" Let's hear you say, "I'm unqualified and proud of it!"

Of course there's more to being a disciple of Christ than this, so let me suggest you are unqualified with these qualifications. First, you aren't qualified, but you are chosen. To be chosen by God isn't like being the apple in your mother's eye, only better. We are singled out, but not for special privileges. We are chosen for special responsibilities. Jesus chose ordinary, imperfect men with ordinary abilities because gifted folks are sometimes full of themselves. As someone said, "The problem with Harriet is that she is surrounded on the north, south, east, and west by Harriet."

Jesus opted for the ordinary over the gifted because in them his life and work would be most visible. Most people will most likely meet Jesus through you than some spiritual scholar or superstar. We aren't chosen for our goodness or giftedness, but for our transparency ... for the possibility of Christ's being seen through us. As Peter Gomes put it: "Being a window of opportunity, being a means of grace, being one in whom the Holy Spirit dwells, is the vocation of ordinary people."

You are not qualified, but you are chosen. Second, you aren't qualified, but you are equipped. After Jesus told the disciples where to go and what to do, he told them what to take with them, or more accurately, what not to take. No money, no bag, no staff or sandals, no more than one tunic. Presumably a toothbrush and change of underwear was allowed. A disciple travels light. A disciple isn't burdened with stuff ... or with muchness or manyness. Disciples aren't to be consumed by the extras, but be content with the essentials. But what are the essentials?

This is one of those questions which life often forces upon us. When you lose your job, when you lose your health, when you lose your spouse, when the life you have invested a lifetime fashioning, folds, then comes the question, "What's essential?" What's really necessary? Jesus said it is this-announcing the kingdom, healing the sick, raising the dead, casting out demons, being like Jesus. Remembering what the church had then is all the church needs now. What they had was Christ and each other and what material thing could be better equipment than this?

You are clearly unqualified to be Jesus' disciples. But you are chosen anyway. You are equipped. But you are also disciplined. Growing day by day as a disciple doesn't just happen. It doesn't come naturally. It's not something you fall into. "Disciple", in case you haven't noticed, is derived from the word "discipline". There can be no progress in any aspect or activity of life without concentrated effort. Practice in the Christian life is pivotal. Two of our Sunday school classes are currently studying Richard Foster's classic book, The Celebration of Discipline. In it, Foster touches upon the disciplines which transform us. You are engaged in one of them right now ... worship. Prayer is another, and study and service and witness. And each day we end with an examination, "What did I do?" And it is the practice that defines us.

Bruce Larson tells the story of Gert Behanna, a rough, recovering alcoholic who came to Christ in her late fifties. She became a popular Christian speaker. She traveled extensively, and developed some interesting disciplines which sensitized her to the ordinary aspects of serving others, and in so doing, serving Christ. In a conversation with Larson she spoke of her pet peeves. "I used to get disgusted with dirty gas station restrooms ... the kind you've got to wear galoshes to go in to. Every time I used one I complained to God about how this servant of his was being treated. Then one day Jesus seemed to be saying, 'Gert, in as much as you have done it unto the least, you have done it unto me.' 'You mean these restrooms, too?'" she said. "When I realized he was the one who would be coming into the restroom after me, I knew I had to do something. Now when I go into a messy restroom, I pick up all the towels and stuff them in the wastebasket. I take a towel and wipe the mirror and sink and toilet seat. I leave it clean as possible and say, 'Well, Lord, there it is. Hope you enjoy it.'"

As followers of Jesus we aren't expected to do great things. We are expected to develop disciplines whereby we can do little things greatly for Him.

You are not qualified to do what Jesus did, but he picked you anyway. If you'll stay with me just a bit more, I'd like to say that unqualified and uncredentialed though you are, you can still be faithful. We live in a world that is constantly evaluating things. With projects, programs, performances and people, the bottom line is, "How did it turn out? Did it work? Was it productive or worthwhile?" "Was it successful?" This thinking has also seeped into the spiritual realm. "Did worship do anything for me? What did I get from my prayer time today? Did the congregation accept what I said in the sermon?" In other words, "Are we succeeding?"

Jesus asked the disciples to follow him and remain with him. He asked them to heal, teach and serve. Nowhere did he say, "Everyone will respond positively to your message." He never said that what they did would always work. Success wasn't the goal. It was steadfastness to their task and faithfulness to their Lord.

At an Alabama high school track meet, a promising runner had missed the state record for the mile by one second. At the next meet, all eyes were riveted on him in his attempt to break the record. He was a tall, good-looking and muscular young man ... an obvious athlete. But in the outside lane was a kid who was small, thin and hollow-chested. One look and you knew he would finish last. At the starting gun the favored runner set a torrid pace. With each lap he pulled further away from the pack, and behind the pack was the little guy. The star runner sprinted to the finish line and a new state record.

Only a few finished the race. Most dropped out when they saw they had no chance. The field crew then started setting up hurdles for the next event, but the judge stopped them saying, "The race isn't over!" The little guy was still running, panting for every breath. Everyone in the stands watched in silence as he fell across the finish line. The judge turned him over and wiped the blood from his face. "Son, why didn't you drop out back there?" The boy answered, "Our school has a good miler, but he got sick and couldn't run. The coach promised to have a man in every event, so he asked me to run the mile." "But why didn't you just drop out? You were almost a lap behind." The boy replied, "They didn't send me here to win. They didn't send me here to quit. They sent me to run this mile and I ran it."

When the final audit of our lives is conducted, there can be no better accounting of our lives than this. I didn't win. I didn't quit. I ran the race.

So there you have it. I hope you realize just how unqualified you are to be a disciple. But even more, I hope you will come to know how powerful and resourceful Christ is, and how graceful it is of him to authorize us to be his presence in the world. Remember what St. Paul said ... "Consider your call. Not many were wise by worldly standards. Few of you were powerful or from the upper crust, but God chose what was foolish in the world to shame the wise. God is the source of your life in Christ, so let those who boast, boast not in their qualifications. Instead, boast of the Lord.

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