Council Grove Christian Church

6/4/26
Servants of God,
 
“And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”
-Matthew 10:42
“Everyone wants a revolution. No one wants to do the dishes.”
-Sign in a monastic community
 
It is easy to want to be part of something exciting and cutting-edge, but it is a great deal more difficult to want to do the ordinary and mundane things that must be done. Most of life is pretty ordinary and routine. Of course, life does get punctuated with times of dramatic change or challenge, but those usually are few. An occasional person gets rich by winning the lottery; the more reliable path is through hard work and responsible stewardship that includes saving our pennies. It is easy to lose our zeal for the ordinary opportunity to serve or do good to another person if we are always dreaming of making a big splash.
In the thrill-seeking world around us, the ordinary life is often portrayed as boring and uninspired living. It does not have to be. The world around us is glorious even though it is a fallen one. Human beings, even in our diminished condition are glorious beings. Family relationships are wonderful, even if they can be problematic. Watching the sunrise or set is both a beautiful, once in a lifetime event and something that happens every day. The real question for me is whether I will properly acknowledge the privilege of being on planet earth at this time and in this place.
Yesterday I was trying to assist another person. It required going to a local business and asking for some information. What I got was a lot more than information—although that did (thankfully) occur. I got to see a woman do an ordinary task in an extraordinary way. When I presented to her what I was hoping to do, she sprang into action. She researched the issue, gave me perspective on possible answers and then suggested a step-by-step process to get to a proper solution. In just minutes I was on my way to help bring about a resolution to the issue. The person I was trying to help was able to resolve a problem and I was able to help because an employee did an extraordinary job of dealing with an ordinary issue.
Our world has industrial grade problems. Wars rage. Social problems abound. Families disintegrate. Innocent people suffer terrible injustice. The tendency is to think that the way to make things better is to do something big and bold and dramatic. Hasn’t God already done that big thing through Christ our Lord? Maybe the best thing I can do today is something simple that needs to be done. Perhaps being faithful in the smallest of ways really does count in God’s system. Maybe instead of trying to set the world on fire with a big performance, I can do more good by washing the dishes or giving out a cup of water to someone who is truly thirsty. Maybe the old song was right: “Little is much when God is in it.”
Blessings,
Pastor John
Coram Deo