Too bad
Updated: Apr 18, 2022
Photo by Scott Umstattd on Unsplash
Inspiration can be found in some very unusual places. Take the kitchen, for example. Yesterday, before starting our celebration, Our Saviour's held it's annual Easter morning brunch. Kevin, Wayne, Ben, and K.O. were all hard at work in the kitchen.
These days, given the age and size of the congregation, volunteers are harder and harder to come by. These men inspired me with their simple acts of service.
The same could be said for Alaine, Jenny, Steve, Heather, Bob, and Marcy who served on the banner committee the day before. Or Yvonne, who arranged the lilies in the sanctuary. And Rhoda who so faithfully sets up for communion.
I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture.
These dedicated, humble servants remind me of one of my all-time favorite saints of old. He's known to history as Brother Lawrence.
Brother Lawrence would be my patron saint, if Lutherans had such a thing. Why is this? It's because he discovered some of the most difficult secrets to be learned about life in the kingdom of God.
Life with God goes on amidst the turmoil, chaos, and violence all around us. Life with God goes in during the busy-ness of our day.
Brother Lawrence's life story also reminds me that God frequently uses ordinary means to change the entire direction of our lives. It's not always a miracle, or a disaster, that gets our attention and causes us to focus on things eternal. It could be something as simple as a lonely tree.
This morning I re-read Brother Lawrence's life story. I hadn't realized that he hated his job in the kitchen. Still, he did it anyway.
I needed this reminder right now. I'm tired out from all my Holy Week preparations. I'm grateful to have today off, especially knowing that tomorrow I need to work on my fourth sermon in less than six days.
One of the chores that I do on Mondays is to empty the trash can on the church parking lot. Normally, this takes no more than 5 minutes. Not today. There was a mess out back, including several smashed bottles. Fragments of glass were scattered near and far.
At first, I wasn't going to clean it up. It could wait. I was tired. Afterall, it was my day off. I didn't want to go into church. Then I thought of God. I'm glad that he never tires of cleaning up my messes. And so up the back steps and inside I went to get a broom and dustpan.
Duty called.
Jesus said to his disciples: “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”
I hope that I've whetted your appetite to know more about my patron saint. Here is a link to the best introduction to Brother Lawrence that I've found: