(Preached at AFEC Conference, June 1999, Louisville, KY)

Matthew 10.29 - "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?"

Luke 12:6 - "Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings?"

One bright Spring morning, Ben approached his friend Elimelech, who had a stall at which he sold various small animals and birds, and said, "I say, old boy, do you have any good sparrows today?"

Elimelech replied, "You know we only sell the best, Ben."

"How much do they cost?"

"Two for a farthing"

"Here are two farthings; let me have four sparrows."

Elimelech gets a wrapper and starts counting: 1,2,3,4. Then he said, "Since you are spending two farthings, I'll throw in an extra sparrow. There's 5 for two farthings."

The fifth sparrow, just an afterthought. One skinny little sparrow - what was it worth? Its monetary value was not great, but the Bible says, of the fifth sparrow, "not one of them is forgotten with God" (Luke 12:6).

Do we sometimes feel like that 5th sparrow in our ministry - just an afterthought, worth nothing. Yet the Father sees that one too!

There are lots of great ministries out there. They have multiplied thousands in the bank, and seem always to be able to report glorious results. Look at the AFEC ministries - the annual budget of most of these would keep these mega ministries in business for less than a week.

The Bible admonishes us in 1 Corinthians 15:58 - not to be weary in well doing. I believe God wrote that specifically for people like us. It is possible to be discouraged especially when you are the 5th sparrow in a Christian generation that always seems to be doing great things for God. We attend some of the great fundamentalist meetings, and the great men go to the podium, having been introduced by noting how many buses or baptisms or converts they have had, while the dozens of fifth sparrows in the congregation are discouraged.

If you just led a soul to Christ, got $1,000 in the mail, and heard that Karl Keating had just gotten saved, you would be encouraged.

David had a lot to encourage him - he killed Goliath, the women sang of the 10,000s he had slain, and he married the king's daughter. Then we read that he was hunted by Saul and fled to the dens and caves of the earth. After the disastrous events at Ziglag (I Samuel 30:1-60), his own people spoke of stoning him. David did not have much human encouragement, so he encouraged himself in the Lord.

I can recall several years ago when my son and I were on a missionary trip, and a number of unfortunate events crowded out the joy from my mind. I lay that night in bed in a little trailer in Cincinnati, and I extended my hand from under the covers and sang, "Precious Lord, take my hand . . ." God greatly encouraged me the next day.

There will be encouragements, and there will be discouragements. If you sometimes feel alone and deserted by God and man alike, remember that the admonition of Philippians 3:13,14 (I press toward the mark) was written from a damp prison in Rome.

We are Christian soldiers marching on toward a New Millennium - and there are important lessons to remember.

As we are marching, we must be on the right road. Is your goal for your ministry some kind of success - or earthly fame - or financial well being? Jesus said, " I do always those things that please Him." Make sure you are heading in the right direction (see Philippians 2:5-9).

To press on requires some effort. Don't complain if your path is difficult - it is not supposed to be easy.

There is a goal. - to be what He wants you to be.

John Greenleaf Whittier wrote a poem about a young farm girl and a rich young lawyer. They chanced to meet one day, and for a moment forgot the social gulf that separated them and spent some time in conversation. As the lawyer rode off, Maud Muller thought for a minute about being that lawyer's wife, then she shrugged off the thought of grandeur, married a poor man, raised a bunch of kids - but thought sometimes how different her life might have been.

The lawyer married a society girl, and ran the rat race that befitted his station in life. Yet, once in a while his mind would go back to the day he had met that fresh sweet country girl, and wondered what his life might have been had he married her instead.

Whittier's sage conclusion: "For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, It might have been."

When I stand at the judgment seat of Christ and He shows me His plan for me

The plan of my life as it might have been had He had His way, and I see

How I blocked Him here and I checked Him there and I would not yield my will

Will there be grief in my Savior's eyes; grief, tho' He loves me still?

He would have me rich, and I stand there poor; stripped of all but His grace

While memory runs like a haunted thing down paths I cannot retrace

And my desolate heart will well nigh break with tears that I cannot shed.

I will cover my face in my empty hands; I will bow my uncrowned head.

As we march toward a new millennium, even though we are a motley crew of 5th sparrows - a gang of has-beens - or a group that never will be much - let us take our eyes off our mission societies, off our accomplishments, off our plans - and look unto Jesus, who loved us when we were unsaved 5th sparrows, and still loves us even in our present weakness.

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