WORKS FOR GOD

This summer my wife and I were delighted to have our then-almost-five-year-old grandson Carter stay with us for over a week. It was twice-a-day at the pool and once-a-day in the evening at the park and movies and games in between. He wore us out, but we wore him out as well. When his Mom asked him what the highlight of his time with us, he told her that it was going to church and seeing Pap (me) up on stage.

Wonder of wonders! But what was more wondering was when he told his pre-school teacher about his trip was when he told her that his Pap “works for God.” I can live with that compliment. It certainly makes life easier than when a young parishioner years ago thought I was God!

Yes, I do work for God. But don’t we all? Or rather aren’t we as Christians all supposed to work for God? Isn’t our life in this life to be about doing God’s work here on earth? That is the only way God gets anything done on this earth. We have to do it for God or else it will not get done. God works in and though us, whether we realize it or not, whether we like it or not.

My guess is that we have it both ways. Sometimes we are aware that we are doing God’s work and take honest pride in doing so. And sometimes we know we are deliberately not doing what God would have us do and are ashamed of ourselves for our actions. But if you are like me, sometimes it takes the voice of a child to remind us what our life is supposed to be all about.

I have no idea how Carter came to the understanding that I work for God. My wife and I never said anything to that effect and neither did his parents. But, as we know, out of the mouths of children often comes very serious and profound words of wisdom and truth, words that make us pause and reflect, words that sometimes can scare the hell out of us and the heaven back into us.

My wife and I are still reliving Carter’s time with us because he brought us so much joy. My guess is that when those memories fade over time, I will never forget the truth I had not forgotten but truly had taken for granted about what my life – all our lives – is supposed to be about. It was an innocent statement from an innocent little boy who thinks his Pap hung the moon but a statement that was as profound as could be.

We all work for God and no one’s work is more or less important than anyone else’s. We God-professionals may sometimes think our work is more Godly than that of a lay person, but we deceive ourselves if we ever think that way. Each of us has a specific task in this life in this world that God has assigned to us, a task that no one else can do except us. We do God’s work every day, every moment of every day. That can be a scary thought, but it is also rewarding and humbling as well.