People Will Come

When Jesus called his first disciples in Matthew 4, he told them to come and follow him.  He also told them that he would make them fishers of people.  He didn’t tell them that he had called them to do things on their own.  He called them together to work with him because he knew how great the work would be.

I remember watching the movie “Field of Dreams” in which Ray was walking through his cornfields and heard a voice talking to him.  For a while, we all think that what he heard was “If you build it, they will come.”  But the voice was actually saying, “If you build it, he will come.” When Ray builds the baseball field in the middle of his cornfield, an entire team of baseball legends come to play ball on that field. 

A baseball game cannot be played without teamwork.  Even when you think a player is all alone in what he is doing, he’s not.  A batter up at bat is not alone in his task.  It may look like it while he is standing there, but if you look down to first base, you will see the coach standing there talking to him or giving him signs.  Even a batter is not alone when he is at bat.  No player on the baseball team is alone.

In church, we all have different positions that we play.  We should be working together as a team.  It isn’t up to the pastor to do all the work.  In fact, the work of evangelism and inviting people to church is best done by the laity, not the pastors.  If we all work together, we can build a great team. 

In another part of the movie, Terrence Mann, played by James Earl Jones, makes a great speech as they are talking about people coming to the field.  He says:

"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been Baseball.  America has rolled by like an army of steam rollers.  It’s been erased like a black board, rebuilt and erased again.  But Baseball has marked the time.  This field.  This game.  It’s a part of our past, Ray.  It reminds us of all that once was good and it could be again.  Oh, people will come, Ray.  People will most definitely come.”
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I challenge you to think of this in another way:
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The one constant through all the years, church, has been God.  The world has rolled by like an army of steam rollers.  It’s been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again.  But God has marked the time.  This faith.  This Bible.  It’s a part of our past, church. It reminds us of all that once was good and it could be again.  Oh, people will come, church.  People will most definitely come. 

God is older than baseball and has been more constant than anything.  The world tries to destroy us over and over again, but God, our savior Jesus Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit…those are constants that cannot be erased.  If people get joy from coming to a baseball game, imagine the joy that awaits them when they come to be a part of God’s team.

Years ago, people had a dream.  In 1964, they heard the voice of God…If you build it, they will come.  They began Cherokee Village United Methodist Church.  Eventually, they build this building today.  They built it and all of us have come.  Now as a part of God’s team, we prepare to follow the Call of Christ to fish for people.  People will come, church!  People will come!