Ephesians 4:11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ.
I found myself in the kitchen on Sunday evening helping with the washing up after our 7pm café service (This being the North it’s more greasy spoon than Costa!)
Ok, I confess that I was there more because of my blocked ears than my servant heart. There are only so many conversations you can have where all you can do is smile and agree with everything that you haven’t heard. I retreated to avoid repeating my biggest blocked ear gaff, when I warmly said “How interesting!” to a woman who had just told me that her son had tragically died in the last year.
In the kitchen chatting was easier. The noise of the industrial dishwasher seemed to level the hearing playing field. I was also helped by the fact that among my fellow scullery maids where a professional interpreter in British Sign Language and a doctor who must have had experience in Care for the Elderly.
What struck me was how much fun I had. I think we might even have mentioned Jesus! We certainly laughed our way through half an hour without a problem. It might have been my most joyous time of the day.
This shouldn’t surprise me because it as we serve Christ together that we are built up in him. We are drawn together. We mature in our faith. We know more of the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. It is through our works of service that we taste heaven most fully.
I want to encourage you to find a sink and some brothers and sisters and get stuck in. I would love to join you but they pay me as the pastor to preach. And as Ephesians 4:11-13 makes clear, if I don’t do my job no one else with get to enjoy the blessing of washing up!