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| ps from ps Sometimes doing ministry is messy work. Just ask Nicodemus. Or our St. Paul’s staff. This week we had to change some lightbulbs in the sanctuary that are only accessible through the attic of the church above the ceiling and 35′ above the pews. A daunting, dirty, nasty task. However, the choir and the pastor with aging eyes were having a harder and harder time reading the bulletin and music, as slowly more and more spot lights “crossed the rainbow bridge.” So it seemed a task worth doing. But when Dave Wolf told me that you had to go into the ceiling, I was less than thrilled. Dark. Dusty. Dirty. Dangerous. Not my favorite worksite. But I asked….and Dave answered….and it was time to embrace it. Nicodemus went to go see Jesus to find out how to get more “light” in his life. However he didn’t love the answer either. You must be born again. “Ugh” said Nicky. Wasn’t quite ready for that. Maybe it sounded dark, dusty, dirty and dangerous to him too? But he was thinking of the wrong kind of rebirth. Jesus was inviting him into an adventure. To do things differently. See things differently. Get dirty in a way that can only come through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Because that’s the thing, the Holy Spirit doesn’t ask us to do it alone. The Savior that invited Nicodemus was on his way to the cross. The Holy Spirit that was promised would be there through the whole process. Pretty nice invitation actually. Not scary at all. When I got up into the attic, unsure how this was all going to go, I found a gift….from Dave Wolf. See, Dave had been up there before and wouldn’t have told me it could be done if it wasn’t safe. He’d also hung lights through the whole attic and placed wooden planks the length of the sanctuary so I could safely traverse from the Main Street entrance hatch to the lights over the choir pews. A gift for tough journeys in the search for light. I’m not sure what you’ll be called into today. I don’t know how dirty you’ll get doing the ministry that God is calling you to do. But I do know the planks have been laid to traverse upon. And I do know that the Holy Spirit will be with you. May you go into that ministry today, maybe even getting a little messy, and bring transformation and light to the people that need it. Lord, bless us in our messy ministry today. Amen Still in One Peace, ps |
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