We were always some of the last to leave.
It frustrated me as a kid that everyone else had already left church that Sunday morning. But not us. I would gripe and complain but never succeed in getting my parents to leave. They were still talking, still finishing up responsibilities for the morning, still serving.
I don’t remember when my dad was not an adult Sunday school teacher. I don’t remember when he wasn’t in the choir. In high school I joined the choir and often sat beside my dad, although he sang base and I sang tenor. I don’t remember when he wasn’t a deacon, our church’s equivalent of an elder.
But, he never saw himself as a volunteer. That sounds optional. What he was doing was essential. He was building the Body of Christ. He was reaching the world with Christ. (I remember once hearing him say that his dream was that any couple his age not engaged with God would somehow be reached by his Sunday school class.)
He was fulfilling a calling.
In Ephesians 4:1-16, Paul urges his readers to live a life worthy of the calling they have received. He goes on to explain that Christ, now exalted with God has given gifts to ordinary people so that they can participate in the greatest endeavor of all – to build up and develop what is called His body, the Church. Experiencing the resurrected Christ in this world now depends on how well the Body works together.
Can you imagine doing something that means somebody else gets to experience “the fullness of Christ?” I can, because I see people doing it all the time, using their passions, gifts and abilities to develop something that will last forever.
I can’t wait to tell you what Christ has given you. I think that you will be surprised. His resurrection really does change everything, including who you are and what you have.