I just finished reading Brian McLaren’s The Secret Message of Jesus – highly recommended – and he quotes a poem by Archbishop Oscar Romero which I found very helpful, a healthy dose of perspective!!!
It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Archbishop Oscar Romero
Just read the above poem and it certainly spoke volumes to me. It prompted me to forward the poem to someone dear to me who is feeling the pressure of trying to be the hands, feet, voice, etc. of Christ to her family all by herself. I know that the lines saying we only plant the seed, water the seed and may never realize ourselves the results of our efforts, but God is in control and is the Master Builder….WOW! that gives me such assurance and I trust it will also help this person as well.
This is so timely….these days I am feeling that I have to do it all!! This is an excellant reminder that God is in control and He will accomplish His will in His time.