"See that you complete
the task that you have received in the Lord." |
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| There is something enormously satisfying
about going to work at Red Bird Mission for a week.
Part of my satisfaction comes from the fellowship we
share as a work team, in our travels together, in our
work together, in our meals together, and even in
sharing close quarters at night with people who snore
more and get up earlier than I do! Part of my
satisfaction comes from doing work that is vastly
different from what I normally do as a pastor. I
learned last week how to hang drywall and vinyl
siding. But the most satisfying part of the work is
the sense of fulfillment in completing the job and
seeing the smiles on the faces of the people we have
served. Our projects were well-defined, we knew we
only had four days to work, and we knew when we were
finished -- or at least when we had done as much as
we would be able to do in the allotted time. Having only four days to complete our task as a work team provides an extra sense of urgency to get the job done. That same sense of urgency is often missing from much of what we do in our own individual God-given tasks and in the tasks God has given us to accomplish together as a congregation. So much of our work in ministry, whether as pastor or as lay person, is not as well-defined or time-limited as our work in Kentucky. This church has been in this community since before we were born; and more than likely, unless Christ returns in the meantime, there will be a congregation worshipping here on Sunday mornings long after we are gone -- just as the Christian church has been doing for almost 2,000 years! It is all too easy to grow complacent, to procrastinate, or to expect someone else to do what God is calling us to do. We take for granted that we will always be here, that tomorrow is another day, that God will accomplish his plan is his time with or without us. It is no secret that this might well be my last year at Clarks Mills -- not that I want to leave! Given the reality that the Lord and the Bishop may be calling me to serve elsewhere come next July 1st, I can't avoid the possibility that I may have only 11 months to complete the task I received and have been receiving from the Lord since I came here eight years ago. In these past eight years, feeling fairly certain that I would be staying here, I didn't have the same sense of urgency. There was time to move more slowly, work in careful stages, and make gradual changes. Now I am looking differently at what more needs to be done to "complete the task." For the first time in my ministry here, I feel like I am working against the clock; and that feeling of urgency has a powerful influence on how I approach each sermon I preach, each Sunday school lesson or Bible study I lead, each meeting I attend. That same clock is ticking for each one of us, for our congregation, for our neighbors, for our community, and for our world. First of all, we do not know when Christ will return. For many of our neighbors and for much of our community and world, Christ's return will mean judgment. And before we celebrate our own salvation there will be a time of accounting for us as well, as Christ checks our ledgers to see how we invested the talents and abilities he entrusted to us and how much fruit we have borne for his kingdom. Second, we all face death at some time -- though we prefer to practice denial most of the time. Christians die. Congregations die. Neighbors die. Communities die. There is a real urgency which applies to accomplishing the tasks the Lord gives to us. No one else can do what God is calling you to do -- at least not as well. No other congregation can accomplish the mission God has given to us. Our neighbors and our community, whether they realize it or not, are waiting to see if we love them enough, if we sense the urgency of our task enough, to get on with completing the work the Lord has given to us. When the time comes for me to stand before Jesus, I long to hear from his lips the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant!" |
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Reprinted from the August 2008 Newsletter |
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