Our age of technology is wonderful, isn't it?  We do more things faster, have access to more knowledge and can communicate farther and faster than ever before.  But there are times when it gets in the way.

          Here are some signs you've been overtaken by technology:
(1)  Instead of pictures, your grandmother asks you to send her "JPEG" files of your newborn so she can look at them, and maybe create a screen saver.
(2)  You have a list of 12 phone numbers to reach your family of three.
(3)  You haven't played solitaire with a real deck of cards in years.
(4)  You pull into your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home.
(5)  You "chat" several times a week with strangers from South Africa, but haven't spoken to your next door neighbor this year.

          What's wrong with that picture?  It seems the things that were supposed to help us have changed us and altered things, making life easier, but often emptier.  The idea of talking to live people is fading into the sunset, replaced by impersonal tools.  Conversation is part of what makes us human.  And if the day should come upon us that technology replaces human relationships, technology must go.  We're human beings, not microchips.

          Our theme for today's worship is that Christians are "Sent Out By Christ."  Open your Bibles to Matthew 9:35-38.  Jesus likens the people to sheep without a shepherd.  They were harassed sheep, helpless and needing guidance.  If something wasn't done, they'd be picked off by wild animals, so He teaches His disciples by another word picture, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

          His words ring true today.  The harvest is abundant, but the pool of workers is shrinking.  In the past five years, the US population has grown by 20 million.  But the Lutheran Church has lost members.  Today there are 500 vacant congregations in the LC-MS calling a pastor, and another 400 calling a second pastor.  During the past five years our seminaries have graduated less than 200 new pastors each year, but 300 pastors a year have retired or resigned.  The harvest is increasing, but the pool of workers is shrinking.

          What does this mean for you and me (a good Lutheran question)?  That we should throw in the towel and quit?  That we should close some churches?  That we should recruit more pastors?  "No" to the first, "maybe" to the second and "yes" to the third.  Mostly, we must realize that outreach is not just for the professional few.  Sharing the gospel is a task we're all called to do.  There is no reason, biblical or logical, that church members today should not be sharing their faith.  If we leave it to pastors or teachers or other church workers, the harvest will pass us by.  We won't get a bushel into the bin.

          God is sending us out as witnesses.  A few weeks ago, many of you saw me installed as Mission Planter here.  I was issued a "Call" to do this by St. John's Lutheran of Denver.  But what is a "Call" and who's been called to do the work here?  Let me summarize it this way:  As a pastor I've been called to train you to be ministers, servant ministers of Christ.  Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:11-12:  "It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up..."

          This passage means God calls us all to be workers in the Kingdom, but some of us are fulltime workers so we can train others.  I'm probably going to get into hot water for what I'm going to say next:  God's Word clearly specifies pastors are to be men.  For whatever reasons He chose, His Word says this plainly.  Some may question why, and I have, too.  But we must live by God's Word.  It's the essential ingredient of faith to study God's Word and see what He says.  And when we're not sure why He says it, we abide by it.  The male pastoral ministry is one of those matters of faith.

          Now if you've survived that one, let's go on.  Some men choose to be pastors because they can't be anything else.  Not that they couldn't do other work, but they hear the call from God so strongly they can't avoid answering it.  I've had chances to leave the pastoral ministry, but each time I found myself walking towards the door, God has called me back.  A pastor is first called by God.  Once a man has accepted God's call, he receives needed training.  Then the church issues him a call to a congregation.  A "call" is an invitation from God to serve.

          Not everyone who "feels" he has a call to pastoral ministry is fit for the task.  More and more men are preparing for fulltime ministry, spending huge sums for training, and finding it is not what they thought.  Sometimes problems arise because churches have such unrealistic expectations.  And sometimes it's because the pastor doesn't know his servant calling and acts like a tyrant.  Satan loves to play with the minds and hearts of both pastor and churches.

          On Sunday July 11, Carol and I will be in Chambers, NE, for the ordination of a young man I confirmed in my first church 27 years ago.  Nearly 20 years ago Al wrote me a letter asking what it took to become a pastor.  I wrote him back a couple of pages, but heard no more.  Then three years ago I heard Al was in the seminary and already showing himself a fine preacher.  He and I have been in contact recently and he's honored me by asking if I'd preach at his ordination.

          I don't think there's a greater honor for a pastor than to have a former member become a pastor.  And praise God - I've seen pastors come from all five churches I've served before coming here.  And now I'm anxious to see who will be the first pastor to come from Epiphany.

          But the ministry is more than ordained pastors.  God calls each one of us and sends us out, ordained or not, to spread the Word.  Whether young or old, man or woman, adult or child, God calls us to ministry in the church and to share the Good News.  Whether in our homes or schools, at work or at play, to each of us God says, "Get out there.  The harvest is huge and the workers are so few.  Tell people what Jesus means to you.  Don't worry about what to say, because I'll give you the words - just get out there and do the talking."

          God calls us to do this through His Word, and He calls us through pastors and teachers, leaders and relatives.  He even calls us into service through the Sunday bulletin.  If a pastor is doing his job, he's training others to teach or lead or witness or encourage.  This means we must discover our strengths and talents.  Then we can use them in the Kingdom.

          In the next chapter of Matthew (ch. 10) you'll see Jesus sent out His disciples into the harvest.  He sent them out in pairs.  This means Christians need the support of others as they witness.  I also think it also means every pastor needs a wife.  Jesus sent them out without much support - no money or tracts or scrolls or gimmicks.  He wanted them to trust in God for all their needs.  This doesn't mean churches should keep their pastor poor so he'll trust in God more.  Pastors today graduate with an average debt of $20,000, and then go to churches with an average salary of $24,000. Perhaps that's why so many bail out so soon.  Without a second job, they can't make it.

          When Jesus told His men to disciple all nations, who could envision that there would be 1.5 billion Christians in 1999 who would build a half trillion dollars worth of churches?  Who could have guessed there would be five million fulltime church workers sharing the gospel in virtually every country on earth?  And all this so people would hear the Gospel!

          Yet we must all do the work of sharing Jesus with our neighbors.  Christ came to die for the sins of all, your sins and mine, and your neighbors' sins, too.  He rose again that you and I might share hope with a hopeless world, and life in a dying world.  1.5 billion Christians is a lot of people, but there are still 4 billion lost souls out there.  Jesus died for them too, and how will they know?  Romans 10:14-15 tells us, "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?  And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?  And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And how can they preach unless they are sent?"  Good questions!  How would you answer them?

          You and I are called by God to be His people, people who love because we have been loved, and forgive because we have been forgiven.  We are called by God and we are sent out.  Whether we use computerized voice mail or our human voices, we're sent out by Christ to share Good News.

          Yes, technology can be very useful.  And you can't escape it.  Several years ago when the church I was serving changed to an automated phone system, I received a message from a member telling me she hated those new phones.  She said when she retired she planned to come to the church to answer phones so people wouldn't have to deal with those nasty impersonal recordings.  The funny thing is she told me this on my voice mail.  So I called her back and told her I was sorry about the new phones, but that I was ready to put her to work as soon as she came in.  I told her quite a few things, and she heard it all on her own phone answering machine.

          Technology can be wonderful, but only if it is helpful to the Gospel.  I'd like to end with a poem I read about a year ago.  It's called,

"Did Jesus Use a Modem at the Sermon on the Mount?" by Ellis Bush
 
Did Jesus use a modem, at the Sermon on the Mount?
Did He ever try a broadcast fax, to send His message out?
Did His disciples carry pagers, as they went about their route?
Did Jesus use a modem, at the Sermon on the Mount?
Did St. Paul use a Laptop, with lots of RAM and ROM?
Were his letters posted on the Worldwide Web, at Paul.Rome.Com?
Did the man from Macedonia, send an E-Mail saying "Come?"
Did St. Paul use a Laptop, with lots of RAM and ROM?
Did Moses use a joystick, at the parting of the Sea?
And a Satellite Global Positioning System, to show him where to be?
Did he write the Law on tablets, or are they really on CD?
Did Moses use a joystick, at the parting of the Sea?
Did Jesus really die for us, one day upon a tree?
Or was it just a Hologram, or technical wizardry?
Can you download His Live Action Clip, to play on your PC?
Did Jesus really die for us, one day upon a tree?
Have the wonders of this modern age, made you question what is true?
How a single man, in a simple time, could offer life anew?
How a sinless life, a cruel death, then a glorious life again,
Could offer more to a desperate world, than all the inventions of man?
If in your life, the voice of God, is sometimes hard to hear,
With other voices calling us, His doesn't touch your ear,
Then set aside your laptop, modem, and all your fancy gear;
And open your Bible, open your heart, and let your Lord draw near.

To that I'lI just say, AMEN!

Copyright © 1999 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.