One More Thing with Pastor Tim Burchill 7.9.2023

Blessed are the Meek,
The Last shall be first,
Walk Humbly with Your God, etc.

     This last Sunday we focused on how we go about discerning God’s purpose and plan for our lives.  The conclusion I drew, in reflection on the scriptures, was that finding our place in this world and fulfilling our potential requires living with one eye on Jesus Christ and the other eye looking forward.  Bring Jesus into line with what lies before us—day by day, prayer by prayer—is what allows us to live into our Creator’s reason for bringing us into this world.

     But the truth is we live in a world in which every parent tells their child that they could be president someday.  If your son loves to sing, he might be the next Ed Sheeran; if your daughter has fallen in love with pickleball, she might be the next Venus Williams; if your dog is good at ‘fetch’, she’s bound to be a future Westminster Grand champion.  Actually, there are wonderful musicians who have a weekly gig in front of hundreds of people by singing in the church choir.  And there are softball, kickball, and open tennis courts for women and men that cover every age range.  We’ve created an environment in which greatness is the standard by which we are expected to judge our life’s trajectory.  It’s sad and it’s ridiculous.

     If the pinnacle of my life’s potential involves working a job I’m good at, marrying a caring partner, raising children of character and faith, and pursuing either a love of gardening, cooking, reading, or woodwork then that’s pretty amazing.  If I am contented and loved and making the difference for God that I can where I’ve been planted, then that in itself is a kind of greatness.

     One of my all-time favorite illustrations (which you will no doubt hear again sometime) is a speech that Winston Church gave to a group of overworked and overlooked persons during the Second World War.  Though they were probably looked down upon by many, Churchill points out that their efforts were every bit as responsible for a future English victory than the most dashing RAF pilots or commanding generals.

     “During the dark days of World War II, England had a great deal of difficulty keeping men in the coal mines. It was a thankless kind of Job, totally lacking in any glory. Most chose to join the various military services. They desired something that could give them more social acceptance and recognition. Something was needed to motivate these men in the work that they were doing so that they would remain in the mines.

     “With this in mind, Winston Churchill delivered a speech one day to thousands of coal miners, stressing to them the importance of their role in the war effort. He did this by painting for them a mental picture. He told them to picture the grand parade that would take place when VE Day came. First, he said, would come the sailors of the British Navy, the ones who had upheld the grand tradition of Trafalgar and the defeat of the Armada. Next in the parade, he said, would come the pilots of the Royal Air Force. They were the ones who, more than any other, had saved England from the dreaded German Luftwaffe. Next in the parade would come the Army, the ones that had stood tall at the crises of Dunkirk.

      Last of all, he said, would come a long line of sweat-stained, 
soot-streaked men in miner's caps. And someone, he said, would cry from the crowd, "And where were you during the critical days of the struggle?" And then from ten thousand throats would come, "We were deep in the earth with our faces to the coal." 

     We are told that there were tears in the eyes of many of those soot laden and weathered-faced coal miners. They had been given a sense of their own self-worth by having their Prime Minister point out how their difficult work had an impact far beyond their knowing.

     I believe God wants to share a similar vision with each and every one of us.  We are loved, valued, and critical to God’s plan of redemption whether we can see it now or not.  Loving God by caring for those She has put in our lives, by sharing Christ’s sacrificial love one person at a time, we will one day hear those words ourselves: Well done, good and faithful servant!