When I was a very young adult and beginning to volunteer in a new church, I remember feeling slightly intimidated when I was introduced to a ‘Minister.’ There were several – Music Minister, Outreach Minister, Youth Minister, etc. New at volunteering in an environment outside of school, I wondered what I had to offer in the company of such accomplished and knowledgeable people. At the time, I incorrectly concluded that if you wanted to be a ‘real minister,’ you needed the appropriate education and ample experience in a specific area. Though that is true for some ministries and areas of church service, I quickly learned that ministry is an invitation – a call – for all of us, and though where and how we minister might be influenced by our specific skills, interests, and characteristics and will likely change over time, why we minister will always be the same.
I was blessed to have trained youth to become special servers in two faith communities. Some were quite young, but I think they knew serving at church was good and ‘the right thing to do.’ To try to help them understand how important their commitment and tasks were, I explained that what they were doing was ministry, and ministry is bringing Jesus to other people. And that’s what we do. It looks different for all of us, but together as beloved parts of the Body of Christ, we minister because the Lord dwells in us, because His love is for everyone, because we are given unique gifts to share, and because we believe. We are ‘real ministers’ and bring Jesus to others when we live our faith, serve one another in love, and share Christ in our lives.
Sometimes our opportunity for ministry, our bringing Jesus to others, might be easy and obvious, and sometimes it might be uncomfortable and inconvenient. But strengthened in faith and guided by the Holy Spirit, we offer our ministry to share God’s love and grace through our gifts of prayer, companionship, thoughtfulness, service, or time. As we prepare for the coming of Pentecost soon, let us pray that the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit continue to be revealed to us and that the Holy Spirit leads us to the where and how to best bring Jesus to others and share what we have to offer.
Journeying to Grace 