The Needs of Ministry

Gospel: Luke 14: 25-33

The modern Christian cannot abide by today's Gospel portion.  Give up our possessions?!  Is Jesus for real?  After all, how can we undertake ministry without money and possessions?  We need our vast campuses, ornate churches, elaborate residences, and so much more in order to do the work of the kingdom, we think aloud to ourselves.  But is the kingdom we are working for that of God, or is it our own little kingdom?

Jesus had none of these things when he undertook the work of God on earth.  He had no vast estates, nor houses of worship or even a simple house to call his own home.  Jesus went from place to place encountering people, talking with them, and finding out their needs.  He discovered that people needed healing from their infirmities, liberation from their demons, the presence of another at table.  It cost Jesus very little to provide these things for others.  

Very little of what Jesus did on earth corresponds to what we regard as ministry today.  The modern Church finds visiting the sick and imprisoned and providing table fellowship and hospitality to others as secondary work.  That all takes a backseat to the annual appeal to maintain our properties and salaries as we seek to build empires of influence and power in the world.   To be the presence of God in the world requires few possessions.  It requires only that we be present to others in their need as Jesus was.