Musings from a Pastor, Educator, Wife, and Mother





Thursday, March 10, 2016

Mary's Jar

Mary's Jar
 
 
His shadow fell across the doorway; calmness seemed to settle on the air. As the men took their seats around the table and began to converse, I wiped my sweaty palms on my shroud and retrieved from a dusty corner the jar I had been saving.  I knelt beneath the table without words.  Though his feet were covered with flecks of golden soil, his skin had been smoothed by the coarse sand.  There in the dusk light I opened the jar of nard and its bittersweet scent filled the stifling air.  I poured the contents over my Lord's feet; wiping the grime from between his toes; scouring the sand from his heels; rubbing his toenails to shine.  Bowing before him I let down my auburn hair and wiped clean the dampness on his skin.  Then, never looking into his eyes, ashamed for the tears in my own, I arose. 
 
 
 
 
Loren Tate Mitchell
2/3/08

Thursday, March 3, 2016

From Volunteer to Disciple


Today the staff members of Covenant prepared and hosted a luncheon in honor of our volunteers who aid us in major weekly and seasonal functions of the church.  We had representation from the counters of the offering, the holy-days decorating leadership, folks who maintain the music library, and front desk volunteers who answer phones, greet guests, and get caught doing all sorts of odd jobs for us! Without these individuals many things that seemingly "just happen" would fall into chaos or simply not be done.  We are so very blessed to have them. 

Having an interim minister brings a very different dynamic into the church.  In both staff and congregational responsibilities there is much work to be done. Having an interim pastor means that we have another person who is able to help us step back and reflect on who we are.   That is not to say we are unhealthy or completely dysfunctional as a church, but rather it is to say, we can strive to improve in many ways.  We can breathe new life into this Body of Christ. 


One of the things we have begun to talk about as a staff and also in conversations with elders and deacons is how we empower our congregation to take ownership of the ministries of the church.  Again, we already have a lot of involvement from membership in so many aspects of Covenant's life. But how can we strengthen our efforts?  How can we become a more cohesive, vital, reflection of Christ to one another and to the community?  It may help us if we can shift our thought processes and our language about ministry from volunteer to disciple.  

 

vol·un·teer

ˌvälənˈtir/

noun

noun: volunteer; plural noun: volunteers

1. a person who freely offers to take part in an enterprise or undertake a task.


I do not wish to diminish the spirit of volunteerism.  To freely offer oneself in an effort to aid another individual or group when work is to be done or help is needed is a wonderful thing.  A volunteer donates of their own time, talents, and resources to the benefit of others. With that basic definition, it works.  However, I wonder if our language has not become so saturated with the idea of volunteerism that it somehow falls flat? It is a term used secularly for all manner of organizations. It runs the gamut of volunteering to be the carpool parent for a week to being a volunteer firefighter (two very different tasks might I add).  Our children are encouraged to volunteer as part of their extra-curricular activities, sometimes ad-nauseam because it will look so good on their college applications! Ah, we've stumbled upon something.  How fine is the line between volunteering for the sheer benefit of another person and doing it for your own self-benefit or even self-worth?  Does it matter?   Or, when does volunteerism become  an obligation? Are you pressed into service because you think it is what you ought to do, or because you wonder how others might perceive you if you don't volunteer?  When your time is already so limited, does the church become a burden on you because you are often encouraged (hopefully not badgered) to do something? 

 

I am wondering if, in the church, perhaps the idea of being a volunteer needs to be taken a bit further.  We aren't called upon to be volunteers for Christ.  No, we are followers of Christ, we are disciples.  

 

 dis·ci·ple

dəˈsīpəl/

noun

noun: disciple; plural noun: disciples

1.      a personal follower of Jesus during his life, especially one of the twelve Apostles.


 
 
In the gospel of Luke Chapter 9, we have the well known story of Jesus feeding the 5,000.  It is the end of a long day of teaching and a crowd of people have gathered in the countryside to hear Jesus.  The disciples approach him and say, "Rabbi, let's wrap this day up and send these folks on their way."  Jesus says, "You feed them."  In astonishment they reply, "Lord, we have only five little loaves of bread and two pitiful fish, what shall we do, walk into the nearest village and shop for this mob in the marketplace?" Jesus tells them, "You make the people sit down." And so they gathered the crowd into groups of about 50.  Let us be reminded here that the gospel tells us there were 5,000 men. It does not count the number of women and children also likely in attendance.   Jesus took the bread and the fish, blessed and divided it and said to the disciples, "You, distribute the food." Everyone ate their fill.  In fact, 12 baskets of extra food were collected when all was said and done.  Twelve, the number for fulfillment.  Jesus Christ had completely fulfilled, in the sight of thousands of witnesses, the very message that he was preaching.  And he did so using the hands, the feet, the bodies of his disciples.
 
 

 
Jesus' disciples were honored to follow in his footsteps.  He was their beloved teacher and by being invited to be his students they were truly in training to be teachers just like him.  In all things they were learning to serve with a Christ-like heart.  Today, as Christians, we are also disciples. We are called as well.  Jesus said, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fish for people."  In the story from Luke we see that Jesus empowers his disciples to minister to the people gathered there.  It may have been easier for Jesus to simply do all the work himself, to make food simply appear in the hands of the people gathered, rather than argue with the disciples. (Sometimes Pastors, and DCE's, and Youth Directors, think it is easier to do it all themselves too, but nothing just appears, it takes a lot of work and forethought).   But, Jesus knows that he has to teach his followers by empowering them to serve. He directs them, "You feed them. You settle the people down and give instruction. You deliver the needed goods to them."  Jesus relied on God to provide the necessary provisions. But Jesus relied on the disciples to carry out the mission. 


 When calling the disciples, Jesus didn't say, "This will be so easy, you barely have to do anything, just come and give me two hours of your time."  Jesus didn't say, "Hey, this will look really good the next time you go in for an interview."  In fact he says, "drop everything, take up the cross, and follow me." Discipleship is, to my mind, a response to an invitation of Jesus.  To utilize the gifts given to me in an authentic way to further the gospel message in a broken world.  It is a change of mindset to consider that opportunities --not obligations-- for service arise in the church (and community). There are special tasks to which an individual or group of people will feel led by the Holy Spirit to engage in to keep the congregation active and evolving.  Instead of dreading the phone call from a fellow church member to serve on a committee or tune out an announcement for a mission opportunity to sign up for, prayerfully consider how you can best be of service to the Lord through the ministries of your church. What are you being called to do as a disciple?

 

An honor to be called by Christ. And a joy to follow in The Way.