College Union

By D. Merricks

D. Merricks with his third installment of My Journey, reflecting on his first year as the Wesley Foundation Director at Ole Miss.

It’s hard to believe my first year at the Ole Miss Wesley Foundation is now over. As I think about all the different hats I’ve had to wear over the past year, it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed. I am a pastor, director, grounds keeper, Bible study leader, landlord, mediator, and fundraiser just to name a few. Balancing each of these identities is a daily challenge as I attempt to fulfill each one to the best of my ability. This tension has often led me to ask, “Who am I supposed to be? What is my job, really?”

The bulk of my Bible reading this year has been in the gospels. As I seek to discover what ministry is supposed to look like in my context, I continue to turn to the example of Jesus and his disciples for guidance. What I found is that Jesus used one term repeatedly to describe the people that do the Father’s work: worker. In Matthew 9:35, we are told that Jesus goes through all the towns and villages teaching, preaching, and healing and when he saw the crowds he had compassion on them. Then he says, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (9:37). In the next chapter, Matthew records the sending out of the twelve and all the instructions Jesus gives as they go. Jesus instructs them, “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts – no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for workers are worth their keep” (10:9-10). The term “workers” used in both instances is the Greek word used to describe those who work in fields, and yet Jesus uses it to describe those who go out to do the work of the Father. Why does this seem to be an important way to think of ourselves as ministers, those who do God’s work?

There are two basic ideas in the contexts of these verses that I find helpful as I try to understand my role as a campus minister. The first is that God is the one in possession of the field – the landowner. Jesus states in Matthew 9:37 that we should “ask the Lord of the harvest…to send out workers into his harvest field.” The imagery is that God owns the land that needs harvesting, and those who do the harvesting are working on his behalf. In a time and place where agriculture is the primary way of life, the people listening to Jesus would understand that a worker is not one who owns the land he is working, but working it on behalf of someone else. I am reminded of my great-grandparents who were sharecroppers in southern Virginia. They never owned their own land or their own house, but worked the land for someone else who shared it with them. To live such a meager life requires humility of spirit and submission of will to someone greater than you.

I have come to realize in the past year that I am a very selfish person. In January, we welcomed our son Isaiah home from the hospital. He has become the joy of our lives as he grows and changes on a daily basis, but he is also very needy. Isaiah is totally dependent on us for his every need, which means we must constantly put our own needs aside and focus on him. Caring for Isaiah has taught me more about humility and submission than I ever knew before. Similarly, any ministry that we engage in or work for does not belong to us. People ask me what my vision is for Wesley, what my goals are, how is my ministry, etc., making it easy to lose sight of the fact that it is not my ministry at all – it’s God’s. I am simply a worker, someone assigned to carry out what the Father instructs. It is a discipline to give Wesley to God on a daily basis, and submit myself and the ministry to his will. It is a discipline that requires humility.

The second idea about being a worker is that the landowner/worker relationship is one of mutual trust. Jesus instructs the disciples not to take anything with them, not even an extra shirt because “workers are worth their keep.” This phrase could mean that if the disciples do good enough work, then they will surely be provided for in their time of need, but I believe Jesus is requiring the disciples to have faith that God will meet their needs. Though it is difficult to trust God, I do not believe Jesus intends the disciples to make a completely blind leap of faith. The disciples can trust God to provide for them because God trusts them. God entrusts them with the mission to save “the lost sheep of Israel,” through proclaiming the kingdom of heaven, healing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing the lepers, and driving out the demons—all things Jesus had been doing (10:6-8; cf 9:35).

A reminder to me that this truly is God’s ministry is God’s 50 plus years of provision for this ministry. God has entrusted the students of Ole Miss to the Wesley Foundation for a very long time, and because God is faithful, we can trust that he will meet our every need. My prayer for Wesley is never for more money, more students, or more significance, but that we remain faithful as he is faithful. One of my favorite worship songs is “Faithful” by Enter the Worship Circle. I believe the chorus captures the essence of the relationship between God and his workers.

Faithful, you are faithful
I have found nothing but good in your heart
Loving, you are loving
I am in love with the way that you are
Thankful, I am thankful
I had been running away on my own
And then you found me, oh how you love me
I know you’ll never leave, leave me alone

We are not meant to “do ministry” on our own; ministry is a relationship that begins with a mutual trust between God and ourselves. Ministry is an outward manifestation of the inward grace established when God and humans join their hearts. When my duties and responsibilities seem overwhelming, I take comfort in the thought that I am just a worker who will never be left alone.

Categories: Nurturing the Soul of the Campus Minister
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