I was privileged to attend my brother's deacon ordination last week. The picture of service and dedication was painted beautifully as the godly men, determined qualified by their church, sat in humble acceptance of the task before them. The most impactful part of the service was when all previously ordained men in the fellowship lay hands on these men in prayer to bless and charge them with the responsibility of the torch they now carry. My dad was one of these men. He struggled to his feet with cane in hand and tottered over to the line to stand, longer than he is comfortably able, to pray for his son. It was one of those moments that shifts a paradigm on its axis, realizing on a new level how short life is. And wondering in a new and deeper way, 'What are we doing here, really?' As we live this life, purpose and priorities ebb and flow in and out of focus. And it is flashes like these that snap what is truly important back into focus. We are only here for a short time and the lives we touch are forever changed in some way, whether good or bad. I pray for my own kids, that God take my and Kevin's meager attempts to train them and shape it into something beautiful, of which only He is capable. Life is hard, and we all know it. Yet, for some strange reason we hesitate to let others help us. And are often too busy to help others. I guess, even though we know life is hard for everyone, we would like to convince others that we are the exception. God does not expect us to walk through this life alone. He doesn't even expect us to walk this road with only Him. He gives us each other, His bride. Make no mistake. It does NOT take a village, but it does take the body of Christ.
By definition, a healthy and functioning body takes care of itself. When we are hungry we eat; tired, we rest; broken or hurting, time to heal. This is true of a healthy and functioning body of Christ as well. We all have our individual purpose, and gifting to which we are to serve each other. The mouth is fed by the hand and all parts must be still to achieve rest. The feet transport the ears to the place where listening is needed for compassion to be shown. We are not as individuals capable of accomplishing all things. With changing jobs and changing circumstances we often we feel we cannot follow the calling of Christ on our lives because our family, finances, job, etc. will suffer. But Christ will NEVER let following Him prevent His perfect will in all these areas from happening. Christ always fills in the gaps. "The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands." Psalm 138:8 And He allows us the privilege of participating in His plan. My family has been blessed by one willing to pour himself out to fill a gap, to allow himself to be used, so that God's will be accomplished in the life of our son. "For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another." Romans 12:4-5. We all have this call, we are to use our gifts to fill in the gaps in the lives of others. Not because we are better, but because we are different. We fit together like a beautiful tapestry woven by the Master. My iridescent thread is woven throughout to enhance the lives of others as theirs, of complimentary color, is woven through mine.
This is accomplished in a couple of ways. First, we must draw closer to Christ in order to hear his voice when He calls us to minister to others. We live in a society full of noise and chaos. This is by the enemy's design. Among the roar of life it is challenging to hear the soft call of the Holy Spirit on your heart. He seldom yells over the bedlam to demand your attention. We must spend time talking with Him and learning the sound of His voice. Turn off the television, the radio, and put the devices, that connect us to everything except God, down. At least for a time. We need to teach our children to honor times of quiet and peacefulness. "Be still, and know that I am God;" Psalm 46:10a. Second, to pour life into someone, we must have the time to invest. We must guard our hours and minutes. I struggle greatly in this area. I go from one task to another with little thought of over extending myself. This often leads to days of frustration because I have left important tasks undone. It even leads, at times, to substituting time with Christ, for doing things for Him. Do not misunderstand, we should be actively working to accomplish God's will for our lives and the lives of others. But there must be time spent with Christ alone and time available to devote to the lives of others. I pray that one thing our son learns from this man is to be available and willing to be inconvenienced for the sake of someone else.
The body of Christ in all of its beauty, is to be awed. When functioning properly the give is balanced by the take and every member benefits. This should be normal and commonplace within the church, but sadly it is not. Be encouraged to offer to lend a hand, be a guide, or stand in the literal gap. And when the offer is made, do not be too proud or ashamed to accept it. This is how the love of God works. "Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load." Galatians 6:2-5. The closer we draw to Christ the closer we will be to those who He calls His children. While looking outwardly to share His love with those who do not know Him, we also must be tending to the needs of our brothers and sisters. We are so much more than the sum of our parts. "For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." Galatians 5:13.
