April 27, 2022

Numbers 11:26-29; NASB
26 But two men had remained in the camp; the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other, Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them (and they were among those who had been registered, but had not gone out to the tent), and they prophesied in the camp. 27 So a young man ran and informed Moses, and said, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 Then Joshua the son of Nun, the personal servant of Moses from his youth, responded and said, “My lord Moses, restrain them!” 29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? If only all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!”

Can I confess something to you? Nothing juicy, don’t worry (and don’t get your hopes up). I am a doer. 

I see a task to be done and I do it. I just jump in. It doesn’t matter how busy I am. It doesn’t matter if other people are around. I just “get ‘er done!”

Getting things done isn’t the problem. I believe God has given all of us work to be done.

The problem is that I am a “lone wolf” doer. I don’t involve other people. I just do it all myself and then sometimes maybe grumble that nobody helps (all the while I never invited anyone to help in the first place so why would they come to help and why am I getting frustrated and grumbling?).

When I come across passages like this I am always reminded of God’s message to us: we are better together.

Moses wasn’t a perfect leader. He didn’t always do everything right. He wasn’t always happy and positive as he lead Israel. But I love the leadership and the vision Moses has in this passage. 

“Moses some people who aren’t part of our leadership our doing your role in the camp. They need to be stopped!” Moses’ response, “Are you crazy! This is awesome! God is working! I wish everyone would be doing this, I don’t want this role just to myself!”
I have a lot of growing to do.

I love the heart of Moses. “If only all the Lord’s people were prophets.”

Not only do I have a lot of growing to do, I think the church at large has a lot of growing to do. 

Sometimes I think people wait for the church to do something, so that maybe they can join in. 

“I want to help the homeless, but our church doesn’t have a ministry for that so I’m not doing anything right now.” 

“I want to help out single moms in our area and create a network of support and Bible study for them, but there’s nothing like that for me to join in on.”

I would rejoice as a pastor to hear about the “problems” of people stepping up and stepping out and doing ministry. How great is that! 

“Uhhh, pastor Brian…..Stephanie started serving at the boys and girls club to help kids there and she invited some of her small group. What should we do?”

Rejoice! Celebrate! People are being moved by the Spirit and doing the work of God!
A couple months ago on Sunday morning, I was getting ready to help serve coffee to people. Someone who shall remain nameless (Sylvia Romero) asked if I wanted some help. In my head I was thinking, “nah…I got this covered…it’s easy and I’ll take care of it.”

Thankfully I was in tune with what God was trying to do that morning and I said, “You know what Sylvia, that would be great. Let me give you a quick run down of how this all works.”

And poof! One of God’s people found a way to serve the rest of God’s people and all I had to do was get out of the way so the work of God could go unhindered.
Don’t get me wrong, as leaders we are here to help everyone find a way they can connect to serving others. We’ve learned a few things that we don’t mind passing on and sharing. 

But don’t wait for the church to start something so you can serve. If God has been pushing you to serve in a certain area, open yourself up to His leading. Go for it! Invite some friends to come along with you. After all, serving together is so much richer than just getting a job done by your lonesome.

So where is God moving you? What’s an area where you wanted to serve but have been hesitant to take that step? What can we do to help encourage and equip you to go and be God’s light to others?

-Pastor Brian