| Pick Me! Pick Me! 19"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." 20At once they left their nets and followed him. Matthew 4:19-20 (NIV) |
| It was just a few minutes before the longed-for lunch break in Mrs. C.’s room and more than one of her restive second grade students was gazing longingly out the window. The Kindergarten and first grade children had already finished eating and they were happily running around the playground in the warm, late spring sunshine. Too young to have developed the skill of clock-watching, Mrs. C.'s students watched for other sure signs that it was time for lunch: the closing of the book in the teacher’s hands, the shrill whistle heard from the playground, calling the younger children back to their teachers or the parade of preschool parents walking past the windows on their way to collect their little ones. Just as all those sure signs of the arrival of lunchtime were proceding predictably, Mrs. C. tossed out the comment, “I need some help in our classroom during lunch today. Would any of you be willing to stay in with me?â€� Children whose minds were already racing ahead to the lunch tables snapped back to attention in a flash and hands jutted into the air with lightning speed and young voices cried out, "Pick me! Pick me!" They did not hesitate; there were no queries about job specifications or what the rewards might be; the children acted purely out of the desire to please a beloved teacher. Mrs. C. chose a handful of children to be her helpers that day and then the lunchtime ritual resumed as usual. The prospect of dropping everything and without question following someone into an unknown and potentially hazardous future seems incredible in the face of our worldly concerns over pay scales, contracts and position descriptions. Yet Jesus asked his followers to do just that and with the same decisiveness shown by the youngsters in Mrs. C.’s class, they went. The argument might be made that those were less demanding times, that life wasn’t as complicated then or that these were simple people with little to lose, but the fact remains that they followed immediately and without question. Many churches today work to accomplish their goals, evangelistic to janitorial, through the efforts of numerous boards, committees and volunteer groups. And all too commonly, these groups are populated with the same familiar faces month after month, year after year. Some brave and idealistic soul will put out a call for new board members or Sunday School teachers or helpers for the next potluck dinner, just to have the same people step forward once again, resigned to their role as a member of the customary work force of the congregation. Last time you were asked to take on a new role as a member of your church, did you respond with questions about how often you would have to serve, how many hours were involved or who else was on the committee? Did you duck out the side door when you saw “that personâ€� headed for you or did you start compiling a list of reasons why you would be unable to help out when you saw that there was no escape? I admit I have done just that more than once. What has happened to our joy in simple service to our beloved teacher, Jesus Christ? Why does it matter how or when or what the task is? Has it become impossible for us to drop everything and follow Jesus by serving others to His glory? I have challenged myself and I challenge you to approach serving in our Lord and Saviorâ €™s name with the same unquestioning enthusiasm shown by Mrs. C.’s second grade class. Does it matter what we are called to do when we listen to our hearts and serve for the joy of serving? Not one iota. Trimming a tree, joining a church board, running errands, subbing for a vacationing Sunday school teacher, organizing an event, visiting a shut-in – the list goes on and on. Romans 12:3-8 tells us “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.â€� (NIV) Next time a call for service goes out, let your heart answer with â €œPick me! Pick me!â€� © 2008 Elizabeth Williams |