Bishop Ken Untener wrote the following prayer for Cardinal John Dearden in 1979:
It helps, now and then, to step back
and take a long view.
and take a long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is even beyond our vision.
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.
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 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 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.
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.
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.
When I am reminded of this prayer I know that I have been guilty of a pride that knows no bounds. In working to accomplish something great for God here on earth, I have minimized the work of those who have come before me, those who will come after me, and most importantly, the work of the Lord himself. If it is true, as Ronald Reagan suggested, that we are only as great as we are able to stand on the shoulders of the generations before us, then surely we owe everything to the great heroes of the faith from the day the foundations of the earth were laid up to the mentors who passed the torches to us. I am not the master builder.
Indeed we have forgotten what it is all about, when we think that the next big initiative of our church's strategic plan will really get the church to where it needs to be, and change the community around it. Surely we have lost the plot when we believe that we, as individuals, churches, organizations, or communities can change the world. Truly, we are off the mark when we put our faith in a program or activity.
May we always remember our roles - as little hands and feet scurrying about trying to obey God. Jesus said, "If you love me, you will obey what I command." God alone is the master builder and messiah, who directs a mighty orchestra. On this side the prophets, on that side the evangelists, now the servants, now the administrators. Bring up the teachers, let the pastors lead the melody. And now hear the shouts of the great cloud of witnesses, that awesome chorus of encouragers from ages past. May we be encouraged today to stand firm in our oh-so-small, but vitally important, individual roles.