Is My LIfe Significant? Part One
Read 1Peter 2…we don’t have to rig our life or the things IN OUR LIFE. God has given us a status that makes our role in this world ultimately important. Last week, we talked about what it means to be a Holy Nation, a priesthood of all believers. I said that we have been given direct access to God, and we can help others to have direct access to God. We are connectors. We need no permission from special religious people. We don’t need to say confession to a priest or receive absolution. “It is Christ who justifies, who is to condemn?”
This takes the futility out of being a Christian. As Christ followers, we know exactly who we are and we live into it. First we know this….
a)Lowly Sinners, Everyone
I like the story historians tell about the funeral of Charlemagne. Charlemagne was the greatest Christian ruler of the early Middle Ages. After his death a mighty funeral procession left his castle for the cathedral at Aix. When the royal casket arrived, with a lot of pomp and circumstance, it was met by the local bishop, who barred the cathedral door.
"Who comes?" the Bishop asked, as was the custom.
"Charlemagne, Lord and King of the Holy Roman Empire," proclaimed the Emperor's proud herald.
"Him I know not," the Bishop replied. "Who comes?"
The herald, a bit shaken, replied, "Charles the Great, a good and honest man of the earth."
"Him I know not," the Bishop said again. "Who comes?"
The herald, now completely crushed, responded, "Charles, a lowly sinner, who begs the gift of Christ."
To which the Bishop, Christ's representative, responded, "Enter! Receive Christ's gift of life!"
The point, of course, is that in God's eyes, we're all equally needy. Charlemagne, Mother Teresa, you and me. None of us will ever be "good enough" to force entrance into the presence of God.
b). We know that to those who are being saved, the cross is not foolishness, but the power of God. This means as sinners, we are endowed by God with the task of the most important work there is, bringing people to a saving knowledge of God in Jesus Christ. Of course, we think that is the job for professionals, for ministers and people employed by the church.
The Pastor's Parking Space
Maybe you've heard the humorous story about the pastor who was having difficulty with his assigned parking space on the church parking lot. People parked in his spot whenever they pleased, even though there was a sign that clearly said, "This space reserved." He thought the sign needed to be clearer, so he had a different sign made, which read, "Reserved for Pastor Only." Still people ignored it and parked in his space whenever they felt like it. "Maybe the sign should be more forceful," he thought. So he devised a more intimidating one, which announced, "Thou shalt not park here." That sign didn't make any difference either. Finally, he hit upon the words that worked; in fact, nobody ever took his parking place again. The sign read, "The one who parks here preaches the sermon on Sunday morning!"
I tell you this story because most of you would probably hedge at the prospect of such a ministry: preaching the sermon on a Sunday morning. You would probably feel uncomfortable about doing that because of a lack of experience and training. The truth is, God want’s us all to be preachers, proclaimers, examples. If you are out of your comfort zone, Good!
If you are an apple, don’t try to be an orange. If you are great at making casseroles and sending cards, do that! If you can make friends easily and put people at ease, do that! If you are wonderful at writing, do that! If you are a great administrator, help the preacher because he or she is probably terrible at it!
In any case, the gospel of Christ shines through all priests, no matter their size or their uniqueness. You don’t have to preach a sermon, although feel free if you like!!!!!
Really, your job is as a Christian requires you to respond to random circumstance, and to be mindful of opportunities. You don’t have “set hours and responsibilities.” You are on all the time, and you respond to needs as the come to you. I’m sorry to say this, because we like to be Christians like stores like to keep hours. Sometimes we are “open for business,” and lots of times we are “out to lunch,” “closed for the day,” or “observing a holiday.” At Premier Fitness where I exercise (notice I don’t use the term “work out” because that implies a certain finesse which I don’t possess.!)…It says, “We will be closed for labor day. Take the day off!” That’s all very nice. But Christians are never closed.
I was waiting my turn to see the emergency room doctor when a young mother came through the doors with her child, maybe three or four years old. The little girl was crying and the woman who, I took to be the child's mother, was holding a bloody handkerchief over the little girl's mouth. She looked around frantically for someone to help and rushed to the desk and said, "My daughter's been hurt and I need to see..." She was cut off in mid-sentence, "You need to take a seat and wait for one of the clerks to sign you in." "But my little girl was hit in the mouth by a..." She was interrupted again. "Please take a seat ma'am, someone will be with you shortly." Just then, the ER doctor walked in and said to the woman at the desk, "Shame on you... this little girl needs help right now!" He motioned to the woman and the little girl and led them to an examining room. Briefly, (and guiltily) I wondered when my turn to see the doctor might come, but -- if I live to be a hundred years old, I wonder if I will ever see another time when a person's pain so clearly wins out over the system's protocol. "Shame on you!" I love it! The physician was looking at a child's pain. The clerk was looking at the hospital's procedure.
This tells us where our significance lies. It lies in the need of another person, not in the parameters of the world or a set job laid out before us.
What is your ministry?
Most often, we think that God’s will for us is a great mystery, waiting to be uncovered. And we aren’t going to really work for him unless we understand the job description. We look for a burning bush proclamation from God before we get up and take our place among the priesthood of all believers. How do you compare a Chihuahua with a Newfoundland. Or a Pekinese with a Pit Bull? Yet in dog shows, after a champion has been crowned in each breed, the next competition is to find the best dog in each “Group” — herding, working, sporting, toy, and the group that we’d all like to be in, the “non working.” After a winner has been picked from each of these groups, they compete in the coveted “Best of Show.”
It is in the “Best of Show” show-down that the judges really seem to be judging apples against oranges. And yet they are not. In each stage of a dog-show competition, each pooch a judge examines is held up to the standards established for its own breed. So even though in the “Best of Show” assembly a Scottie might be competing against a Samoyed, the Scottie is being judged only according to Scottish Terrier standards. The “Best in Show” winner is the dog that best embodies the ideal of its own breed, the dog that is truest to type, the dog that best embodies the essence of itself.
This is so different from the winner of a horse race, or a dog race. The standards of “best” are completely different. The best horse in a horse race is easy to tell: it’s the first horse across the finish line. The best greyhound in a greyhound race is easy to tell: it’s the first dog to cross the finish line. It’s not so easy to figure out what dog will be the “Best in Show.”
