"Reverend for a Day"
I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ. Philemon 1:6 (NIV)
We were running late, but I wanted my granddaughter to attend a Sunday service at the Episcopal church I had attended as a boy. As we approached the entrance to the Church of the Epiphany, a woman dressed in a choir robe raced up to us, extended her hand, and said, “I am so glad you are here. Follow me.”
The attention was appreciated, but we had been traveling for a while. I would have appreciated it even more if she would have just let me find my way to the men’s room. Once my problem was explained to her, she graciously led me around the side of the church and through a door that led to the restroom near the rector’s office.
Returning from the restroom, I heard the woman explaining to Bonnie that the rector was ill and that she was happy the diocese had sent a substitute “reverend” to conduct the morning service.
“What size robe does your husband wear?” She asked.
Having served as an acolyte, I was familiar with the order of service and thought for a moment, I might be able to help somehow. But Bonnie let the cat out of the bag when she broke out laughing. “I can tell you his robe size,” she said, “but he’s not the reverend you were looking for.”
The awkwardness of the moment was dispelled when the somewhat-tardy replacement walked in. My chance to be “Reverend for a Day” was quashed.
For me to qualify as “Reverend Don,” I would have had to have been ordained to perform ministerial or priestly functions within my denomination. I’m not a “reverend,” but like anyone who claims the title “Christian,” I am a representative of Christ. And, as Pastor Doug Fields from Mariner’s Church, Irvine, California pointed out in a recent sermon, “When we represent Christ, we re-present him to the world.”
Think of it this way: Before Covid-19, you could go to Costco and wander through the aisles picking up samples of various items that manufacturers wanted you to try. If you liked the sample, you would toss the item in your basket. In a like manner, as people walk through life, they may encounter people who say they are Christian. Those people they meet are “samples,” one might say, of what having a relationship with Christ is all about.
Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
Psalm 34:8
When you consider that you may be the “sample” that will either strengthen or diminish another’s faith in God and his Son Jesus, you want to be sure that you present our Lord in the best possible light.
Jesus explained it this way: “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16
There is a prayer in The Book of Common Prayer that is appropriate for anyone who wants to renew his or her commitment to faithfully represent the Lord.
A Form of Commitment to Christian Service
This form may be used when a person wishes to make or renew a commitment to the service of Christ in the world, either in general terms, or upon undertaking some special responsibility.
May the Holy Spirit guide and strengthen you, that in this, and in all things, you may do God’s will in the service of the kingdom of Christ. Amen
You may never have an opportunity to be “Reverend for a Day,” but daily, each of us has the opportunity to re-present God’s love.
Blessings,
Don & Bonnie Sennott
Authors of the Book Your Heart is an Open Book: Finding Answers in God's Word
Photo courtesy of en.wikipedia.org
The Book of Common Prayer is published by The Church Hymnal Corporation, New York
