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.
~ Bishop Kenner Untener, October 25, 1979
Wow! I should read these words every morning before going out the door I do believe!
It struck me in the exact same way, Joyfull! 😄
Scott, I especially love the part that talks about planting and watering seeds that will one day grow and are full of promise. We are to be faithful in our witness, we are to be faithful with our time, talents, and treasures. Only in eternity will we know the impact that was made for the kingdom.
Yeah, that part encourages the socks off me. This entire homily speaks to me in a life-giving way. Thanks my brother.
Scott you wrote this at a perfect time for me. “We cannot do everything and there us a sense if liberation in realizing that !!” I am having struggles with my new medical issues and i do not want to reach out on facebook for Prayers because i had a siater that stopped talking to me because i did that. I know evetyone personally on my page not just random people. Anyways my struggles are real and this really hit me ehen i read that. God Bless you and Sandy
I’m so delighted to know this struck a chord with you also, Linda. God bless you my friend, May His peace always find its way to your heart.