"Each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift. The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ." ... Ephesians 4:7, 11-13

The twentieth century theologian J. H. Yoder, commenting on this thought of St. Paul, says, "Paul proclaims that in the midst of a fallen world the grace of God has apportioned to everyone, without merit, a renewed potential for dignity in complementarity. God has done this not by making everyone the same, but by empowering each member differently although equally.

Unfortunately, churches have not always embraced this attitude, and obviously some still don't. Top-down hierarchical structures more akin to the military than an egalitarian fellowship of believers was the norm for centuries. The Reformation has changed that in varying degrees among the branches of Christianity. But even in churches where the diversity of gifts is welcome and practiced in principle, it rarely is played out to its' fullest potential. Many feel they either don't have enough knowledge, ability, or authority to participate in the various ministries. The excuses are many: the pastor went to seminary, the teachers know the bible more than I do, the choir members are just naturally talented, others are more "charismatic" than I am, and so on. However, if we think of it in the terms St. Paul and Yoder use, that all are freely bestowed gifts equally, though differently, we would have to imagine that we should all be participating in some ministries, the only question is: which ones?

Sometimes it can be difficult to overcome the fear of stepping into an area where we don't consider ourselves "experts", deeming it safer to leave those tasks to the "professionals". Failure in our culture is often greeted in the harshest possible terms, socially, economically, or personally.

But instead, what if we view our role in a supportive Christian congregation as just one sailor in the same boat building up the body of Christ, just one of the "laborers in the vineyard", one among the "priesthood of all believers" that Luther spoke about? Then we all will have our moments of success and of failure, yet we can proceed in our chosen vocations in the church confident that the Spirit will guide us, and our fellow members will assist us when necessary. No contribution is too late or too small! Even the workers who were hired in the eleventh hour in the parable of Matthew 20:1-16 were rewarded equally to those who were hired early in the morning and had labored all day. Take the challenge and decide to work with your brothers and sisters, using your gifts in doing the work Christ has left for us to do.

Father in Heaven, help us to discern what it is that we can do to carry on the work of your Son Jesus, forgetting the standards of the world, risking failure and discomfort, to achieve the goals that you have set for us to be People of God. We ask this through the same Jesus, who is our Lord and Savior, Amen.

Contributed by David M.
Published Sunday July 4, 2004
Week 32 of Liturgical Year C