Still Useful

My text today comes from the 92^nd psalm: The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, he will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.”

 

I hope you got that. The righteous man or woman will FLOURISH in their work for God.

 

Now listen to the prophet Isaiah: “You who have been borne by Me from birth and have been carried from the womb; Even to your old age I will be the same, and even to your graying years I will bear you! I have done it, and I will carry you; And I will bear you and I will deliver you.” (Isaiah 46:3b-4)

 

I hope you got that one, too: Even to your old age and you graying years – God will not change in His care for you.

 

It always grieves me to hear men and women who have served the Master for many for decades and who think He has put them out to pasture. They think God is no longer able – nor interested – in using them for His Kingdom because they’re too old, or feeble, or forgetful of Scripture, or inarticulate, poor, or . . . fill in the blank.

 

Well, I stand here today to shout it from the rooftop – that that idea is a satanic lie intended and designed by the devil himself to discourage you from being all you can STILL be for Christ.

 

Still be!

 

This poem I am about to read was supposedly written by an elderly nursing home patient. What this old woman experienced lays the foundation for the theme of my message. She wroteS:

 

“What do you see, nurse, what do you see? What are you thinking when you're looking at me? A crabby old woman, not very wise, uncertain of habit, with faraway eyes? Who dribbles her food and makes no reply when you say in a loud voice, "I do wish you'd try!"  Who seems not to notice the things that you do, and forever is losing a stocking or shoe.....

Who, resisting or not, lets you do as you will, with bathing and feeding, the long day to fill.... Is that what you're thinking? Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse; you're not looking at me.

I'll tell you who I am as I sit here so still, as I do at your bidding, as I eat at your will. I'm a small child of ten ...with a father and mother, brothers and sisters, who love one another. A young girl of sixteen, with wings on her feet, dreaming that soon a lover she'll meet. A bride soon at twenty -- my heart gives a leap, remembering the vows I promised to keep.

At twenty-five now, I have young of my own, who need me to guide a secure happy home. A woman of thirty, my young now grown fast, bound to each other with ties that should last. At forty, my young sons have grown and are gone, but my man's beside me to see I don't mourn.

At fifty, once more babies play round my knee, again we know children, my loved one and me. [But now] Dark days are upon me, my husband is dead;
I look at the future, I shudder with dread. For my young are all rearing young of their own, and I think of the years and the love that I've known.

I'm now an old woman ...and nature is cruel; 'Tis jest to make old age look like a fool. The body, it crumbles, grace and vigor depart, there is now a stone where I once had a heart. But inside this old carcass a young girl still dwells, and now and again my battered heart swells. I remember the joys, I remember the pain, and I'm loving and living life all over again.

I think of the years .... all too few, gone too fast, and accept the stark fact that nothing can last. So, open your eyes, nurse, open and see, not a crabby old woman; look closer ...see ME.

 

That last line always catches my attention as she pleads with her caregivers: “Look closer – see ME.”

 

Christian – I know it can be terribly depressing to think you are nearly invisible to others, ESPECIALLY if it’s your family who cannot see you. It can be incredibly discouraging to think no one thinks of you as valuable any longer.

 

But Christian AND non-Christian, please hear this! WE must receive this into our hearts: Whoever you are, God has not put you out to pasture. You might be lonely. You might be frightened about the future. You might be frail, or ill and unable to do the things you did even last year. But God has not put you out to pasture.

 

If you’re a Christian, God sees you as extraordinarily useful to His kingdom. And if you are not yet a Christian, God sees how extraordinarily useful you CAN be for His kingdom if you will place your faith and obedience in Christ Jesus who died to erase your sins – all of them; Even the ones you don’t remember.  

 

Scripture and church history abound with examples of old and young, of feeble and powerful, of poor and of rich, of the inarticulate and the golden-tongued – Scripture and church history abound with examples of men and women used of God because they WANTED to be used of God.

One of my favorite passages in the gospels is of the poor widow who shuffled up to the Temple treasury to deposit what amounted to a few pennies. You probably remember the story from Mark’s gospel: “And [Jesus] sat down opposite the treasury and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:41-44)

 

That impoverished widow had absolutely no idea that God would use her simple act of sacrificial faith as an example – for as long as this earth continues – He would use her act as an example of usefulness for the kingdom.

 

How was her act fruitful for the Kingdom? We’re still reading about it two thousand years later, aren’t we?  And doesn’t her gift give us a glimpse into the mind of God who is more interested in our heart than in our gifts, or our health, or in mobility, or in ANYTHING we consider important to being able to work for God.

 

If God has our heart, then what won’t He do with the rest of us?

 

Charles Stanley, in his booklet, We Shall Be Like Him, writes this: Do you know what God has called you to do? There’s much emphasis today on accomplishing something great for the Lord, and that can lead some of us to think that our ordinary life doesn’t amount to much. However, not everyone is called to preach to thousands or serve in distant lands. Being a mother, a student, or a hard-working employee is a tremendous calling, if that’s the task God has given you.

 

And I will add to what Stanley said by saying that being helpful, generous, encouraging, hospitable, and even exhorting others to do what’s right are also tasks God has given us to do.

Speaking of exhortation, Bill Santee was no one anyone might have called spectacular. He was a blue-collar worker. He had no special skills. But God used that humble servant to get my attention when I was succumbing to the satanic lie that I was not very useful to God’s kingdom.

 

Many years ago, as my friend and I chatted over coffee, our discussion turned as it always did to the Lord. As we finished our drinks and donuts and got up to leave, I mentioned how useless I sometimes felt because I thought what I was doing for Christ was only a small thing, compared to what others were doing.

 

When we stepped outside and headed for our cars, Bill stopped me. I’ll never forget what he said. He pointed his finger at my chest and said: “Don’t ever call what God has given you to do a small thing.”

 

I knew immediately that the Holy Spirit Himself had rebuked me. And I needed that rebuke. And maybe you also need that kind of rebuke.

 

We must ever be reminded: It’s all about Jesus’ supernatural power to take what is natural and of the flesh and use whatever we give Him for His glory. I mean, we’re talking about God here. So, stop thinking such foolishness that God is done with you, that He has put you out to pasture.

 

The 25^th chapter of Matthew’s gospel should help put to rest such foolish ideas about our so-called uselessness to God. “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ (Matthew 25:34-40)

I hope you noticed how those standing before the Lord at the judgment were surprised to learn they’d been fruitful for Christ. All they’d done was fed the hungry, clothed the naked, visited the sick, helped the helpless, spoken kindly to the depressed, cut the food of those who can’t cut it themselves, retrieved the wheelchair or walker for those who needed help getting up from the dining room table, read the scriptures to those who can no longer see well enough to read, prayed with and for those who feel all alone . . . simple things.

 

St. Teresa of Avila (d. 1582) reminds us of a critical and very biblical point: Christ has no body but yours; No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes with which He looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good. Yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are His body. Christ has no body now but yours.

I quoted something from Psalm 92 at the beginning of my message, and I need to do it once again for emphasis: “The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, he will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.”

 

We’ll never flourish as God wants us to flourish unless we accept the biblical truth that the Almighty and Sovereign God places us – all of us – where He wants us. That means, for now anyway, God has planted you here at Ashwood Meadows for His purposes, to use you in this place for His kingdom. Now, bloom where He has planted you.

 

Let me now remind you of the story in the 14^th chapter of Matthew’s gospel: “When it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!” They said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds, and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets. There were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.”

 

Christian, how many fish and loaves do you have? More than you probably think you do. So, for those who have lived your Christian life for years serving Christ to the best of your human abilities – keep at it, even here in Ashwood Meadows.

And to you who might regret the years you’ve wasted by not giving the Lord whatever loaves and fish you had, you can still COUNT for God in whatever time He has yet given you to live – whether ten days or twenty years – you can still count for God if you will only take what you have . . . and offer them to the Master.

No, we cannot get back the time we have lost, but God will still use us for as many tomorrows as He has granted us – God is able and desires to use us to bring forth fruit for His glory and His kingdom.

 

But the crucial question we must answer is this: Are we willing to do what we must do for the rest of our days to accomplish that?

 

In the last stage of our life-journey, we can end up like the old woman whose poem I read at the beginning of my message, longing for others to recognize the young girl within her, crying out for others to see the real “her” . . . 

 

Or we can end our days with a confidence, knowing that God DOES see the real you and me, that He does know our heart’s cry. We can end up without the answer that satisfies our soul when it asks that inevitable question – does anyone see me? Or we can have a great and comforting answer to that question – my God sees me. He has ALWAYS seen me.

At no time in the whole of Scripture did God ever put His child out to pasture because he was too old or feeble or ill to do anything useful for Him. 

 

Yes, you and I are in different pastures than we were when we were younger, but our different pastures simply give us different opportunities to serve as His hands and feet. We may be in different fields, but those fields are still white unto harvest.

 

Christian – be encouraged. God has not shuffled you off to some corner of His Kingdom, and so I close with this final word from Scripture. It’s a word about our labor for Christ, our planting and watering for Christ, our sacrificial giving for Christ, and our moving forward toward ever-increasing fruitfulness in Christ. It’s about being kind and thoughtful and prayerful and humble because you belong to Him. And so ,the apostle Paul reminds us:

 

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)