The Lord’s Day
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| Ricardo Esquivia is a leader in the Mennonite Church of Colombia and a man deeply committed to the work of building peace and justice in his war-ravaged country. I once heard Ricardo tell a wisdom story about a group of animals whose jungle was on fire. An elephant went to the river and filled her massive trunk with water to help put out the fire. As she did so, she noticed a tiny hummingbird that also was filling its beak with water in an effort to help. “You foolish bird,” snorted the elephant. “What difference can you possibly make?” The hummingbird replied, “You tend to your work, elephant, and I will tend to mine.”
Ricardo was clear that even in a place like Colombia where it is life-threatening to live the Christian gospel, all are called to respond. Our God has need of all of our passions and all of the creative energy we can offer in the service of God’s realm. Put another way, ministry must never be reduced to a profession that we leave to others. We are called to be ministers in all that we do. Is your life dedicated to building the reign of God? Are we prepared in all that we do to live as Jesus lived, to risk as Jesus risked, and to care as deeply as Jesus cared? That’s what Christian vocation is all about. Hummingbirds and elephants—it takes all of us to build the community of Christ. —Rick Ufford-Chase, moderator, 216th General Assembly (2004) |
 Song of Sol. 2:8–13 All Things Bright and Beautiful PH 267, HB 456 Ps. 45:1–2, 6–9 PPCS 39 James 1:17–27 God, Whose Giving Knows No Ending PH 422 A Charge to Keep I Have HB 301 Mark 7:1–8, 14–15, 21–23 As a Chalice Cast of Gold PH 336 Take Time to Be Holy HB 300 |
 Eternal God, for generations, faithful disciples have responded to your call and have fruitfully served you and humanity in this beautiful and bountiful land. Grant us wisdom and courage so that as followers of Christ we may, in our time, glorify your holy name through the work we do each day. In gratitude for meaningful work in vineyards of all kinds, we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen. |
