Pioneering meditation for 7/29

Pioneering:   Meditations for Our Transformation

Number 2                                                                 July 29, 2012

Jobs Galore

He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.  Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.  Luke 10:2-3

In this passage, Jesus is sending out 36 teams of witnesses into the countryside.  His comment about the size of the harvest compared to the size of the work teams has a lot of meaning for us, particularly in the recession/depression we are facing here in Carlisle. 

Nothing was mentioned about how these persons were selected or paired; nothing mentioned about the training they took.  But that makes an important point – witnessing requires only God’s being with us.  And with half our population without a church affiliation, the fields are ripe for witness.

Christ offers full employment, and a terrific, unmatched benefits package to every one of us.  There are jobs galore in every aspect of Transformation!  In fact there is work available in all three major areas mentioned in the Introduction meditation for every one of us pioneers along the way.  The Transformation Team is recruiting persons for task teams in many areas.

At the risk of this meditation becoming a classified ad, here’s a breakdown of kinds of jobs available in each area.

The Administrative and Organizational area will need persons to form the committees and prepare the paperwork for entry into the Conference as a new church.  The Transformation Team will lead this effort, but there will be many tasks for which they will need help.

One task we can all do is to support and encourage our Transformation Team members.  The Transformation Prayer Team is one example of how we can do this.

We will need to maintain and even grow our Continuing Ministries and Pastoral Care programs so that the outreach of our church and the uplifting care for our family members can continue to shine brightly.  This is our bridge-building vision.

And in Spiritual Growth, all of our family members can find work both personally and in fellowship to mature as pioneering Christians ready to become settlers in this new church God is building in us.  We must diligently practice esteeming each of our sisters and brothers in the work they are called to do, or in the ‘time out’ they are called to observe.  We need to learn complete dependence on the strength of Christ for the work we’re called to do.  This may call for some great sacrifice on our part.  Maybe a sacrifice of wealth or goods, surely a sacrifice of pride.

Even when we’re called to sit on the bench, we have a sacred opportunity to lift up one another in prayer and to continue to participate and support our ongoing education, mission outreach, Congregational Care, and Cooperative Ministry activities.

Some of us may have larger responsibilities or may be called to labor from dawn to dusk, just as the vineyard laborers in Jesus’ parable recorded in Chapter 20 of Matthew’s Gospel.  Some of us may be on the sidelines for a time; or may need some maturing and training before we’re ready.  Sometimes the tasks we’re asked to do are well within our personal skills and preferences; sometimes they will not be. 

In 1st Corinthians chapter 12, Paul writes about gifts, and service, and works given through the manifestation of the Holy Spirit “for the common good.”  God does not withhold the gifts and talents needed to do God’s work.  And even more blessedly, God doesn’t saddle upon one set of shoulders all the skills.  Each of us is useful.

We will have a great opportunity to practice John Wesley’s Covenant Prayer which speaks to all these conditions:

I am no longer my own, but Thine.  Put me to what Thou wilt, rank me with whom Thou wilt.  Put me to doing, put me to suffering.  Let me be employed for Thee or laid aside for Thee, exalted for Thee or brought low for Thee.  Let me be full, let me be empty.  Let me have all things, let me have nothing.  I freely and heartily yield all things to Thy pleasure and disposal.  And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Thou art mine, and I am Thine.  So be it.  And the covenant which I have made on Earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.

The point is this: if it is our desire to follow Christ in this Transformation, each of us will have work for the common good Paul spoke of, and for our personal spiritual growth.

Common Prayer.  O Great God of Light, You have given us the opportunity to show our devotion to You by the honest labor of witnessing and building your Kingdom, of building and maintaining bridges of love and communion within our fellowship and to all we are called to invite to know Christ:  On this trail to your Promised Land continue to teach us the pioneering skills we need for the common good to prosper our fellowship.  Let us employ them to Your Glory.  And draw us closer to that day when we raise our voices in one loud Alleluia to You.  We pray this in the Holy Spirit, who equips each of us for the many jobs we can do for Your Kingdom.  AMEN.

Transformation Team emphasis for the next two weeks:

Recruiting members for work teams, especially for: administrative structure, funding and staffing; the bi-weekly team meetings; And if you haves a better pioneer symbol, please call me!

Please address your feedback and comments to Charles L. Reynolds at papoo99@comcast.net or to my home phone, 717.258.1949.  Or you can reach me by mail at 5 Bayberry Rd, Carlisle PA 17013.