By Walt Albritton
OPINION —
Sherrill Morrison never preached a sermon in his church. A humble truck driver, he was not a prominent, influential leader in his church. However, Sunday after Sunday he stood in the sanctuary welcoming people to church. He did so with love and a smile. God used Sherrill’s obedience in this simple task to make each person he greeted feel good about coming to church. I loved Sherrill and he loved me. I felt that his kind greeting of people was Sherrill’s way of saying, “I love Jesus, pastor, and I’m on your team.”
Sherrill helped me to realize that no task is small in the eyes of God. As a pastor I saw this truth lived out many times. I saw it at a funeral. My friend Eddie Davis drove me to do the eulogy at the grave of our brother, Nathan Hamilton. Jessica Owens rode with us. Her role was to play her guitar and sing a song Nathan had requested.
The wind was blowing so fiercely when Jessica stood up to sing that she needed three hands — one to hold the music in place on the podium and two others to play her guitar. Eddie quickly walked over and held the music in place so Jessica could play and sing. God called Eddie for a minor role in that graveside service, a role he humbly seized to serve God in a small but significant task.
No duty God assigns is insignificant. In the grand scheme of things, God takes the faithfulness of ordinary disciples and weaves it into a beautiful tapestry. One’s obedience, in the smallest of assignments, can become one small thread in the magnificent needlepoint being created by the skillful hands of our loving Father.
To study the Bible is to learn that God delights in using ordinary people to accomplish his work in the world. Repeatedly God skips over the brilliant skeptics and chooses common folks with simple faith. Mary and Joseph were humble, ordinary believers who were willing to say YES to God.
A simple carpenter, Joseph had neither wealth nor prestige. But when God’s angel gave him a special assignment, Joseph listened and obeyed. He played his role in God’s plan without questioning God’s unusual request.
Like Joseph, Mary had no credentials. She was a “nobody.” Yet God chose this young woman for a special role in bringing salvation to the world. Mary was frightened by the appearance of the angel Gabriel. Most of us would have been terrified too. That’s why the first words of an angel are always, “Do not be afraid.”
Mary was also puzzled when Gabriel told her she would conceive and bear a son even though she had never slept with a man, not even Joseph. So she asks, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” It was an honest question. She was satisfied with Gabriel’s answer, that the Holy Spirit would cause her to become pregnant with a holy child who would be the Son of God.
Confronted with this startling assignment, Mary did not laugh or doubt; she believed God. Luke shares her remarkable response to Gabriel: “I am the Lord’s servant, and I am willing to accept whatever he wants. May everything you have said come true” (Luke 1:38).
Mary’s example is powerful; she believed God and became available for the task given her. Imbedded in this incarnation story is the good news that God is looking for ordinary people who, with simple faith, will become available to do what He asks.
Like Mary we are rewarded with fulfillment and joy when we do not argue with God but humbly say, “Here I am, Lord, available and ready to serve you. Thank you for showing me what you want me to do.”
Whatever God’s assignments are, they all require humble submission to God and our willingness to take on whatever task He gives. When, like Mary, we have a servant’s attitude, the simplest task becomes a holy ministry — even that of welcoming people to church with a loving smile. This is the meaning of life that scoffers never quite understand.
No task is too small for the servant whose one desire is to please God, not to gain recognition or applause. Mary’s humble example reminds us that the noblest work in the world is to live as a servant of Jesus, ready to do what God says do — any day, any time, anywhere.
