"Sometimes I really don't feel like coming to a weekend such as this. But after being here, I say to myself, 'How could I even think of staying home?'" So said Roy, the organizer of the weekend. Having the top brass admit his human reluctance to engage in his own ministry was like a breath of fresh air to me. I can't even begin to count the times I've shown up for work feeling guilty because I didn't really want to be there. Ministry is often like that, showing up, doing the job because it needs to be done, not because you feel like it, but because people are hurting, lonely, and lost, and need someone who cares more about them than their own comfort.
We talk a lot in church circles about giftedness. It's become somewhat of a catchphrase, and too often, an excuse for our laziness and selfishness. If people served only when they "felt led," or only when they felt "gifted," there would be a whole lot of necessary ministry left undone. The martyrs and confessors of the faith didn't serve only when they felt like serving. I'm sure that my Sunday School teachers, my youth leaders, and yes, even my pastor didn't always feel like showing up. And though I have read the Saturday night posts of pastors who are excited about proclaiming the Gospel the following morning, we never hear from the pastor who dreads standing before God's people because they are drained and needing a word from the Lord for themselves. The pastor whose marriage is in trouble, or whose kid ran away from home, who is brokenhearted at having to tell his little girl that they can't afford the vacation or doll or dress that all the other girls have, or who has an angry board member breathing down his neck doesn't look forward to Sunday morning, but he shows up.
The same can be said of teachers, cops, the waitress at the diner, the greeter at Walmart, the construction worker, the insurance broker, and countless others who no matter how they feel, show up and do their job.
When St. Paul enumerated the spiritual armor and described the spiritual battle in which we are engaged, he said that "having done all, we stand." Sometimes it seems like we're making no progress, but are just standing. Barely. Sometimes, that's all we can do. But we do it. I am so grateful for those who have been faithful to God "in season and out of season," who showed up even when they would rather have stayed home. The Church still stands because of them, not because of their giftedness, but because of their faithfulness. And tonight I give thanks for those weary Christians who did not faint, but kept the faith.
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