Devotional from Pastor Dave August 30, 2023

With Labor Day weekend approaching and the church entering in our annual nominations season for the next year, I thought it might be a good time to revisit a question I asked last year: What is the labor to which you feel God has called you?

One of my favorite writers was Frederick Buechner, who passed away last year at the age of 96. I’ve used his collection of daily meditations, Listening to your Life, as my personal devotional many times in past years. In that book, he describes one’s vocation as “the place where your deep gladness meets the world’s deepest need.”

• What would you say brings you deep gladness?
• What do you see as the world’s (or perhaps closer to home, our church’s) deep need?
• Where do those two intersect?

Buechner suggested that intersection is where God is calling you to serve. That’s the location of your vocation.

There are lots of “ships” here at the church – worship, fellowship, discipleship, etc. – so there’s a “boatload” of opportunities for you to live out your calling, your vocation, in service to Christ.

Maybe it’s in the area of worship, singing in the choir, playing an instrument in the praise band, serving as an usher or acolyte, helping to operate our sounds system and livestream, or preparing our worship spaces for baptisms or communion.

Maybe it’s in the area of fellowship, providing generous hospitality and warmly greeting members and guests to worship and other events at the church.

Maybe it’s in the area of discipleship, leading a Sunday school class or book discussion, serving as a small group leader in a Bible study or our youth group, or helping to lead Children’s Church, or providing a kind and loving presence to our youngest disciples in the nursery.

Maybe it’s in the area of our various partnerships with multiple ministries in our community, such as cutting wood for our firewood ministry or serving meals for the staff and students at Howard High School or at the Mustard Tree or at Celebrate Recovery.

Maybe it’s in the area of leadership, coming alongside the pastors and others to steer the ministries of the church in the direction we discern together God is leading us.

Maybe it’s in the area of stewardship, overseeing the physical and financial resources entrusted to the church to ensure faithful and fruitful ministry takes place here.

So I come back to Buechner’s question: what is the work you feel God may be calling you to do? Where does your deep gladness meet a deep need in the church or in the world?

If you know where that place is, or if you want help finding it, I hope you will let me know. I would love to explore that with you. Because there’s nothing I love more as a pastor than seeing you live your life out of the very core of God’s calling for you.