After getting up at 5:00 AM this morning, my wife and I ventured across town to check in and volunteer at the site of Salem's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition at the School for the Deaf. We had no idea where to go, or what would happen once we arrived. All we knew is that we'd committed ourselves to going and took a step.
Once the formalities of the check in process were behind us, we (along with several other volunteers) walked along a gravel drive to the Volunteer Hold Area. Periodically, a job boss would come along and select one, two or sometimes four volunteers at a time for any given task. As the jobs rolled in via radio, volunteers would jump on the opportunities without hesitation.
My wife and I missed a couple of chances to perform odd jobs, but by the time the opportunity to wash the heavy equipment came around, we stepped up without question. It turned out to be pretty rewarding work. Tractors, forklifts, power distribution boxes and saws all came through our cleaning area; either to be fully washed, or lightly "dusted off". We palatalized lumber, roofing and insulation materials and cleaned up a mess or two.
It was totally non-glamorous, and far removed from the "Hollywood" spectacle which will air on ABC in October (31st). No TV cameras were present in our area, nor high-profile megaphone-toting celebrities. Regardless, we still felt like we were part of something great.
Our pastor spoke of the same subject theme during the Saturday night service in church. He explained (among other things) that no one job is more or less than important than another. Simply because one person is in the spotlight, doesn't make them more important or influential than others. Likewise, serving others in even the smallest of ways allows the kingdom as a whole to advance.
Paul spoke of such things in 1st Corinthians 12. Every portion of the body of Christ is necessary and cannot survive on its own. The various body parts are all interconnected and designed for a specific purpose.
1 Corinthians 12:4-5 (New International Version)
4There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.
1 Corinthians 12:12-27 (New International Version)
12The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13For we were all baptized by[a] one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
14Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" 22On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
27Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Good Night
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