Kingdom Work

 Good morning!

 I’ve heard several comments the past week or two about the month of May being a really busy month.  I agree.  Especially for those who have kids in school, May can be a really hectic month with graduations, concerts, field trips and other assorted school-related activities.  May can also bring things non-school related like spring house-cleaning, working outside in the yard, in the garden, and flower beds, Memorial Day plans, and other such activities.  Then there’s the daily press of whatever work we have to do, whether being the keeper of a home or working at an outside vocation.  May can be a busy, busy month.

Thankfully, at our stage of life, this Grandpa and Grandma have the luxury of sitting back just a little during the month of May.  Yes, we still have graduations concerts and the like.  We still are making Memorial Day plans.  And we have our routine, daily work to do.  But the whole tenor of life at this stage is more relaxed.  We can help in getting grand kids here or there for some activity.  We can certainly attend their various school events.  But we don’t have the worry of what they will be wearing, whether or not they brought everything they need to the event, whether we’re going to be late, or whatever other concern there might be.  We can, and do enjoy being helpers when needed, but we equally enjoy our quiet evenings at home and our not having to get up to an alarm in the morning.

Sometimes, though, even our lives have some measure of “hecticness” in them.  Earlier this week at work, I was sort-of slammed with several administrative issues at once…most all of them building maintenance related.  We had the plumber here for a day repairing a variety of plumbing issues that had cropped up recently.  Also, one of the new entrance doors that was recently installed wouldn’t unlock, so we put in a call to the installation people to come for that.  And, we had a lock on a custodial closet that wouldn’t open.  When we called our normal locksmith service, they said it would be over a week until they could come out.  We needed access to the closet sooner than that, so we scrambled to find a locksmith who could some sooner.  Then the plumber accidently overflowed a toilet he was working on so we had a water mess to clean up.  And we had a call in to the electrician we use to repair some outside security lighting.  They acknowledged our call, but haven’t responded to that yet to make repairs.

The new automatic door opener that we had recently installed on an entrance didn’t stay open long enough for someone to come in or go out, so we put a call in to the company to come and adjust the opener.  They will be here this afternoon for that.  And there were the usual assortment of phone calls, meetings, and visitors to the office that come along with the normal routine of work here at the church.

So, even for me this week has been rather hectic at work with several committee and board meetings, preparing a class for Wednesday evening, and dealing with all of the other work-related as well as school and family events.  And to top all of it off, I have had three medical appointments this week as well as picking up a food order from a local grocer to deliver to our  church food pantry.

I’m not complaining.  I enjoy being busy at work.  I am grateful that I have access to medical professionals.  I really enjoy going to concerts and other events that my grand kids are part of.  But I sometimes wonder if helping the plumber clean up a water mess in a restroom is really God’s work.  I wonder if calling the door company to fix the entrance door is kingdom business.  Sometimes what I do during working hours doesn’t at all seem like anything remotely spiritual in nature.  But just when I begin to feel like I’m in a very secular rut, I get something that brings me back to the reality of just what Kingdom work is.

During this hectic period earlier this week when we had several things going at once, I emailed our staff and Elders, letting them know what was happening regarding the plumbing, the door opener, and all the rest.  I received this comment back from our Curtis, our lead minister:  “Thank God you are here, or I would never get anything done!  Sheesh.”

Curtis knew that if there wasn’t someone such as myself to handle these things, he would have to do that himself.  Curtis has his own work to do.  He prepares a sermon and a Bible class each week.  He studies…reads…does visitation…counsels…and has his time fully occupied just doing what he’s doing now.  To put this kind of additional burden on him would be not only unproductive, but would possibly result in a kind of burnout that we see all too often among those who have chosen ministerial work.

So, yes, I am doing kingdom work when I summon the electrician to repair the security lighting.  I’m enabling Curtis and others on staff to do the work they are uniquely qualified to do, have been prepared by God to do, and are charged by the Elders to do.  The work I do is no less important than preparing and delivering a Sunday morning sermon, although it is less visible and is often not even noticed.  And that’s OK.

Blessings.