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"THOSE
WHO DO THEIR JOBS WELL BLESS ALL OF US"
I told Margaret, "There's
a rip in these pajamas and I'm going to have to throw them away.
I wish we could find some more just like them." Without a
word my wife walked over to a dresser and pulled out two pairs
identical to the old ones, same color and everything. "I
knew this day would come," she said, "so I bought extra."
I was impressed.
Like the morning the coffee pot
quit without warning. What to do? I need my morning coffee. Margaret
reached into the back of the pantry and pulled out another one,
a Mr. Coffee still in the box which she had bought on sale because
she knew eventually we would be needing it.
On my off day, I called my secretary
Janie from home. "A few days ago, someone faxed a three page
letter to me. I need you to find it and fax it to the editor of
our state paper." Just as I was about to tell her which stack
of paper on which desk might contain the letter, she said, "I
have it. I made a copy when it came in." Now, that is a great
assistant.
They say you can't teach this
stuff, that you either have it or you don't. I hope that's not
right.
On a Friday night in the late
1970's when our oldest son Neil was a teen, he complained that
he had no money. I said, "I'll tell you how to make fifty
dollars tomorrow." That got his attention. "First thing
tomorrow morning, go around to the neighbors and offer to rake
the pine straw off their rooftops for ten dollars. When you've
lined up five houses, come home and get the ladder and the rake.
I have an appointment at church, but when I get home, I'll come
find you and give you a hand."
The next morning it must have
been ten o'clock when I went driving through the neighborhood
looking for my son on somebody's rooftop. He was easy to spot---he's
six feet, five inches tall. I noticed he had already raked the
straw off the house and now was sweeping the roof with a broom
to get every pine needle. "Son," I called, "it's
really not necessary to get every single one. You really don't
have to sweep it." "I know," he said, "but
I like for it to look nice." I said, "You're right and
I'm wrong."
This is all about excellence,
the inner need to do a job to the best of our ability, to give
our all. At our church, this is about the volunteers who keep
the yards and flower beds looking great. No one looks over their
shoulders demanding it be done a certain way. They report in to
no one and rarely get a note of thanks in the bulletin. But they
do their job well. Same with the Sunday School teachers and the
janitors and the secretaries.
The Scripture has three words
for us on this subject. Whatever we are doing, whatever the task,
we should... 1) do it to the glory of God. (I Corinthians 10:31)
This involves our motives. 2) do it in the name of Jesus. (Colossians
3:17) This has to do with methodology. 3) do it heartily as to
the Lord. (Colossians 3:23 and Ecclesiastes 9:10) This would be
about our manner.
"I don't work this hard for
money." The church I served in Mississippi had sent over
70 men and women and older youth to a New York City suburb for
two solid weeks of church-building and ministry activities. They
worked from dark in the morning until dark at night, then slept
on cots in an auditorium. After day upon day of backbreaking labor
in the heat, as the worship center and educational building took
shape, the workers stood back and enjoyed the sight. That's when
one of the men voiced those memorable words expressing his philosophy
of serving the Lord Jesus.
It's not about money. It's about
serving Jesus.
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