Upgraded to Serve

As I listened to Pastor Ken talking about The Twilight Zone last Sunday, 2020 came to mind.  That was the year that many of us spent most of our days (at least in Houston, where we lived at the time) at home, unable to go anywhere because of the restrictions imposed due to COVID.  For some people, this was incredibly hard!  I remember the pastors at my church then being very alarmed because of the reports of depression, alcoholism, drug abuse and even domestic violence among the people who attended our church because they couldn’t cope with the isolation.

I am glad we did not suffer the isolation at all in our family.  Among many things, we developed little home rituals to deal with our inability to go out.  One of those rituals for me was, every day around one in the afternoon, to turn on the TV and watch an episode of the original Twilight Zone. I can say I have watched every single episode from the original seasons from 1959 to 1964. The great thing about this show, which has become a classic, was, that throughout the show there would be a subtle element of mystery, which would make you uneasy until the shocking end.

Interestingly enough, Paul speaks about a mystery in Ephesians 3.  Previously, I had mentioned that in this letter Paul talks about this mysterious plan that God has revealed to Paul.  What is this mystery?  He says in verses six and seven that “Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus. By God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News.”

This is the mystery revealed.  First, all of us, regardless of who we are, as believers, we share the riches of God.  Secondly, we are part of the same body. But the third thing is crucial to understand, and that is, that as a result of this, we get to serve God. Actually, he says this is a privilege! Shouldn’t this move us to serve?  Every week, we announce in the bulletin that there are opportunities to serve at The Rock. Would you take advantage of this privilege?

I do travel a lot by plane.  Nothing makes a person smile more than when a flight attendant comes into an uncomfortable, stuffy and crowded economy class ahead (or cattle class as I call it) and calls out a person because he or she has been upgraded and, so, given the privilege to go first class. When this happens, people jump out of their seats with great energy and enthusiasm, gather their stuff and off they go. Nobody complains, nobody ignores this and nobody, absolutely nobody, says no.

Shouldn’t we smile and jump at the opportunity, and enjoy the privilege of serving the Almighty God?