Monday, February 12, 2007

We plant seeds that one day will grow



It helps now and then, to step back and take the 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 another 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 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 effects far beyond our capability.

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. Amen.

-Archbishop Oscar Romero

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you for this reminder, Christine. Amen and amen.

Catherine said...

It just makes me think and reminds me how much more I need to pray for those in other countries who strive daily, moment by moment, to do the work for which they have been sent by Christ and how much they must sacrifice and risk to accomplish the will of Him who sent them, and us.

Jan said...

What a beautiful way to put life and ministry into perspective!

Anonymous said...

Thanks all, it is one of my favorite readings of all time. It really helps me to just breathe sometimes and realize I am doing "enough!"

see-through faith said...

Thank you Lord that it's You who make things grow, and we have the priviledge of sowing, watering and nurturing.