Luke and lay ministry

As a result of a few words in Colossians 4 : 14 we know that Paul thought of Luke as the ‘beloved physician’. Indeed Luke was Paul’s loyal and faithful friend, who didn’t give up on him when he was surrounded by trouble.

We read in the 2 Tim this morning....

 “only Luke is with me...”

 Paul, who is certain that the end of his life is drawing near, mentions with regret the name of someone who has deserted him,  also the name of someone who has treated him badly and the names of those who have gone elsewhere. Only Luke has remained faithful.

 Also in our reading from ACTS we see that Luke is there by Paul’s side again, at a pivotal point in the spreading of the gospel, when a decision is made to turn from Asia and take the good news to Europe, and through it all, Luke is there. Even though his name is not directly mentioned  we read.... “When he (Paul) had seen the vision, ‘we’ immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us there to proclaim the good news to them. ‘We’ set sail...”

Luke had no self-determined goals it seems, other than to accompany Paul and give him his full support, and go wherever the apostle was led.

This morning I simply want to ask what kind of companions are we, how do we compare with Luke in terms of loyalty, compassion friendship and stickability? For there is enormous potential for the healing and strengthening of others through being  real companions.

(*Praise at this point expressing our feelings for the positive areas of outreach in this church, where we have suffered with those who have suffered, and shared each other’s pain and have most definitely proven ourselves to be companions to those in need.)

Mother Theresa once said that ‘loneliness’ is the biggest disease in our world today. I’m sure this is true.

There are some of us who may never really know what it feels like in our lives to be despised, abused and rejected by our fellow people or even simply lonely.  But there are countlesss people in our world today who know the reality all too well, and who are looked upon with curiosity, contempt, and with suspicion.

There are those searching for community, companionship, release from their problems and even their guilt.

How many of these, I often wonder come to our churches and go away feeling untouched by the love of Jesus.

How many outsiders have visited our churches and been unable to penetrate the  impregnable cliques that often are formed quite lovingly and quite innocently. I’ve seen it happen in other churches.

How many people meet together in church each Sunday but rarely make any serious attempt to communicate with each other on a meaningful level or even chat to a stranger?

How many of us keep our conversations at surface level, because we feel safer if we do?

One pastor ( Colin Urquhart/St High’s Luton) called this ‘billiard ball Christianity’ He explained that the only contact people have with each other is through well known cliches that have no depth or meaning; they bounce these off each other like billiard balls going click, click, click. Then they settle in their pockets for another week until they are brought out again the next Sunday to begin the game all over again.

It sounds like this:-

“Good morning nice to see you!” or

“How are you today?”

“Fine, and you?” “Yes, I’m fine too......when the truth is that sometimes a person really  wants to screams, “I’m not fine, don’t believe me, what I really need is someone to help me and listen to what I have to say.”

There are those who would argue that it’s not their job to get into in- depth listening or counselling sessions with others…that that kind of work is for specialists, such as the vicar or the psychologist or the social worker.....indeed there will be problems that will need specialist help. But  companionship, coming alongside one another and being there for others IS our responsibility.

What a different view the world would get of the Christian church, if there was more love in action.

Let me tell you about one way in which we could come alongside others. It’s a true story and it happened only recently.

Let’s call this person Bill....who was a man who came to church every week at the same time, quarter of an hour after the service had started. He would put some money in the collection plate, nod to the vicar who was often in the pulpit at that time and go out.

Until one day he telephoned one of the clergy with a problem and during the course of the conversation, his reason for not wanting to sit all the way through the church service came out. It was simply because he was afraid that he wouldn’t know which page number came next. He was afraid to lose his place in the order of service, and he didn’t want to appear a fool. Everyone had assumed he just did not want to attend. The curate found someone to sit beside him, and help him find his place. Now he goes along quite happily. Companionship helped him find meaning in his life.

 I know another true story which involves a person who was stopped by a young man, another member of the congregation, as he left church one day, who said,

“Can I have a word with you for a moment? I couldn’t help noticing that something’s bothering you. I’m not a counsellor, and I’ve no great experience in helping people with their problems. But I can promise you one thing. I’m a good listener and I care!” The other person was taken aback, but, after talking the various problems through with this young man, left church that morning walking on air, just because someone cared!

The church is in great need of ‘lay carers’ today.

 A psychologist once carried out a survey on the effectiveness of ‘lay helpers’ and his conclusions were quite spectacular. When lay helpers (with or without training) were compared with professionally trained counsellors, it was discovered that the patients of lay helpers did as well as , or better than the patients of professional counsellors.

A number of reasons were given:-

Firstly, the lay helper is often closer to the one being helped and knows him as a friend, and is thus better able to understand the problem and to pick up non-verbal clues, or to demonstrate a sincere sympathy.

Secondly the lay helper is often more available and has more time to give than the professional whose time is strictly limited..

 Quite often the lay helper knows more  about the ‘needy person’s’ family, work situation, life-style, beliefs, neighbour hood and can therefore take a more active part in guiding decisions or helping the person change

And finally the lay helper is able to communicate in a language which the person can easily understand and is more inclined to be down to earth, relaxed , informal and have a tension relieving humour.

Here are the real healers, lay people-who are often an untapped source of treasure. They are those who can inspire and offer a sense of companionship and community, those who have time on their hands, and a lot of love and understanding to give. They are ordinary people who become really concerned about another human being ‘hurting’.

Why is it so many church folk with these valuable resources so often stand back and wait for the professionals to play their part, and say their ‘magic words’ and  lay on their ‘special’ hands.

            We are told, as Christians, not to worry about what we will say, but rather  pray, that the Holy Spirit will give us the words. (Matt 10:19 &Mk 13:11) It is time for us to believe that God will do exactly that.

A Christian is someone who cares enough to take that important step forward in faith.

When befriending others, it is important to put to one side our preoccupations, our judgemental attitudes, our concerns, our busy lives in order to become fully present and available to the other person at that precise moment in time. If not they will back off.

We must convey the reality that,

“My time, my mind, my heart is yours and no-one else is more important to me now than you.” These are the real magic words if they are sincerely meant.

 When St Paul said, “Only Luke is with me” was he not showing his appreciation  of Luke’s friendship and loyalty. Luke, who was working alongside him, was even  with himwhen he was in prison for two years in Caeserea.

Luke in his gospel too  not only presents us with a perfect mirror through which to view Jesus’ compassion and perfect humanity, quite unlike any of the other gospel writers, but he also mirrors that same compassion himself.

The culture at that time emphasised as it still does today the importance of self-fulfilment and personal achievement, whereas Luke tells us of Jesus, the perfect man, who served and cared for the very lowest people in society.  Luke gives us many illustrations of Jesus befriending outcasts-like tax-collectors, prostitutes and Samaritans-and those on the fringes of society- the women and children.

If we, who are church, continue to act like ‘billiard balls’ in this present day and age when there is so much need of real personal involvement and commitment with the needy, she will find herself ‘snookered’ and without credibility. She will find she has missed her ‘cue’ and thus will have missed out on the real game she should have been playing all along.

What a tragedy that would be.

‘The harvest is plentiful, and either the labourers are timid and leaving the harvest to the experts, or the experts are doing far too much and they will only succeed in doing great harm to themselves and others if they’re not careful.”