The Bungee Cord. 7-24-23

Hello,

I am now the Monday substitute driver for the Donegal Route for Meals on Wheels, and today was my maiden voyage. My wife has been driving for a number of years on Wednesdays, and on the occasion when her traveling partner was not able to go with her, I traveled along. But now I am on my own with my traveling partner, who took his maiden voyage along with me, today, too.

There are 14 houses on our Route, the Donegal route, and they vary from easy to find to hidden away. It is a completely rural route. Most of the folks are widows or widowers, and their health varies from not too bad to nearly bedridden. At a couple of the homes, the folks are not able to answer the door, so we are supposed to just walk in after we knock (it feels a bit funny to me, almost like breaking into a stranger’s house).

For some, the Meals on Wheels visit is foremost a dietary need, but for others the primary need is different, but just as important, a daily visit. Every weekday these 14 households get a caring visit, a reminder that they have not been forgotten. The visit also provides a daily check in to see how they are doing. It has happened that they have fallen and have been laying on the floor for hours, or have even died.

There are two daily routes that operate out of our little church in the country. So, every weekday, 3 people arrive early in the morning to prepare a hot meal for the 28 household that they serve. The meals are good! Today was Swedish meatballs on noodles, with vegetables, salad and bread. It’s a loyal group of workers, who they, themselves, vary in age and health.

Notice, that I have not used the word “volunteer”, because when it comes to doing God’s work, I don’t think the word volunteer applies. In the English translation of the Bible, “volunteer” only occurs twice, both in the Old Testament books of Chronicles, and it never occurs in the New Testament. Its rare occurrence is evidence that “volunteering” is not how God envisions our participation in his life saving and life giving work.

When the Bible talks about what it means to be a Christian, the image of a body (1 Corinthians 12) is used, saying that each part (member) of the body has a particular place and role, and each part (member) is of treasured value. “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’, nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ “(1 Cor 12:24) Members (parts) of a body, Christ’s body. That is what every Christian is.

And when you realize that that is who you and I are, it makes the word “volunteer” inapplicable. Think about it, when you wake up in the morning, you don’t ask your eyes to volunteer to open up and do their thing. Nor do you open your mouth and take in air and hope that your lungs “volunteer”. And you know that when your stomach, a member (part) of your body, isn’t working quite right, every part of your body feels it and your body doesn’t work as well as you need it to.

In every church that I have been the pastor, I have tried to get the people to stop using the word “volunteer”, because as you can see “volunteering” does not fit in the Christian way of thinking. Instead, I have tried to have the people see what place they have in the body of Christ so that they would naturally and spontaneously do what they do…eyes see, ears hear, livers filter, inner ears balance.

When I see the Meals on Wheels folks doing what they do, I see members (parts) of the body of Christ doing what they have been made to do. When I see a neighbor making sure that the child next door makes it to soccer practice, because they know that child’s parents can’t, I see a member (part) of the body of Christ doing what it has been made to do. When I see a group of people going to help repair a storm destroyed house, I see members (parts) of the body of Christ doing what they were made to do. When I see a person in the nursing home playing the piano for her fellow residents, I see a member (part) of the body of Christ doing what it was made to do. Such folks don’t “volunteer”, as if it would be ok if they were to choose not to do what they have done. Such folks have come to see who they are in the body of Christ, and naturally and spontaneously do what they have done.

Most important of all, as members (parts) of the body of Christ, is to remember that when Jesus came to this earth, Jesus didn’t volunteer to do so. When Jesus hung on the cross, Jesus didn’t raise his hand and volunteer to do so. When Jesus was carried into that stone sealed grave, he was not a volunteer, and when Jesus rose from the dead he didn’t do so because he had volunteered. All these things, Jesus did for you and for me, because they were the things that Jesus was made to do…shaped, motivated, and empowered by the love of God for you and me.

Jesus was not a volunteer, and he continues not to be one. That means that we, the members (parts) of the body of Christ are not volunteers, either.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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