'Somebody Has to Pick It Up'

Every workplace has one. A job somebody did for years without anyone noticing. The person who ordered the supplies, remembered the birthdays, and knew which drawer held the spare keys. Then that person leaves, and for a few weeks things quietly stop happening. Nobody decided to drop the job. It just hit the floor, and everyone assumed somebody else would grab it. It happens in churches, too, and on All Saints Sunday it gets personal, because the people we remember were often the ones doing those jobs. They taught the class. They counted the offering. They cooked for the funeral. Somebody's hands were on the same chairs, the same keys, and the same ladle you could pick up.

The book of Revelation gives us a glimpse of those saints. A man named John, exiled on an island called Patmos, sees a crowd too big to count, from every nation and language, standing before God's throne with palm branches in their hands (Revelation 7:9). They are shouting that salvation belongs to God and to the Lamb [Jesus]. They have experienced the full victory of God. Long ago God told Abraham his family would be as many as the sand on the seashore (Genesis 22:17), and John is watching that promise come true. Those saints gave themselves to something God was building, and they found joy and purpose in it. Celebrate that. Then notice what comes next. Their work here is finished, and it is handed on to us who are still in the fray.

That is where the rest of us come in. The same Spirit who carried them is given to you. If you have been sitting in a pew for a while without taking up anything, some of those spots are open. The people we remember aren't asking for a statue. They are asking someone to take up the banner. It is not a burden. It is an invitation to the same joy they found. So this week, say yes to one thing. It does not have to be big. A dish, a class, a committee. And at work, find the job nobody picked up, and pick it up.

What is one job around you that nobody has picked up, and will you be the one to pick it up this week?

Blessings,

Jonathan