October 5th, 2022

by | Oct 5, 2022 | PS from PS | 0 comments

ps from ps:
Nice brand new floor in the kitchen eh?

That’s the kitchen floor at St. Paul’s!  Many of you Daily Bread or St. Paul’s vets might be saying: “wow, beauty, really nice new floor!”

But it’s not a new floor.  It just had a deep cleaning.  And it’s seemingly now a NEW FLOOR!!

If you had been in there recently, there were approximately 3.2 inches of church meals, meal shares, burrito remnants and other stuff ground into those nice tiles to make them dull, slippery and a tad ugh.  It doesn’t mean they weren’t cleaned each time we used the kitchen.  It just means that the quick sweeps and mops that get rushed at the end of the night or a shift, sometimes leave some things behind.  

See, ministry is messy.  Ministry gets us dirty.  Ministry (especially the food prep kind…but the other types too) leaves things behind, gets greasy and dirties us up. 

Monday – Saturday can get us worn down, less shiny, a little grimy and a tad dirty.  But that means the space is being used.  That means WE are being used.  If a church kitchen was too clean, I’d ask some questions.  If a church building was empty during the week, I’d ask some questions.  If a church sanctuary has too many empty seats and yet super pretty gold and silver things up front, I’d ask some questions.

This floor is super clean now.  But in a few short weeks, we’ll get ‘er nice a dirty again.  Feeding people.  Loving people.  Nourishing lives.  Connecting one another.

So I ask you this today:
1.  Have you taken the time for some deep cleaning?  Is your Saturday night at Amherst or your Sunday morning at St. Paul’s (or wherever you worship on the weekend) a time to wash fully clean with peace, grace, song, Word, meal, forgiveness and fellowship?
2.  And once that shine is buffed up, are you ready to get dirty again?  Are you ready to be in the “floor messing up” kinda ministry that God needs from each of us?

Shine ’em up.  Get them ready to get dirty again.  That’s the life of a church kitchen floor….and discipleship.

Lord, help me to take time for deep cleaning to get me ready for deeper ministry.  Amen

Be well, safe and blessed,
ps