Monday, September 10, 2012

Hold That Tray!


            John Brodie was pro football’s first player to sign a million dollar contract. His career spanned from the late fifties to the early seventies. During his prime, he was without doubt one of the great quarterbacks in the game.
            In the mid-sixties, Brodie and the old American Football League’s franchise, the Houston Oilers, arranged a deal which called for him to switch leagues and join the Oilers. It was this transaction that helped to cause the merger between the National Football League and the AFL.
            Because of his success, a reporter decided to goad Brodie a little during a particular press conference. The reporter asked Brodie why it was that a million dollar quarterback had to hold the football on field goals and extra-points. "Well," Brodie replied, "If I didn't, it would fall over."
            I always like that story, and it gave me encouragement yesterday morning when I was asked to serve the trays for our communion service. As silly as it sounds, serving “on the table” made me feel apprehensive. It had been almost thirty years since I had done that. I knew there were always risks involved in serving communion.
            When I was a kid, one of our members accidentally dropped the trays of grape juice he was holding, shattering the glass cups. The preacher tried to pass off the situation lightly with some humor, but the guy was so embarrassed, he never came back.
            I did not want to make a mistake in front of a lot of people, but risks notwithstanding, I decided to accept the challenge. After all, if nobody were to "hold the ball", “it would fall over.” 
            I knew the guys who were given the responsibility to locate people to help during the assembly. They always had a hard time finding folks to serve.
            Moreover, and I hope this does not sound presumptuous, but I thought it would be good for my kids to see me serve the church in another way besides being the preacher. So far my transition out of the pulpit has gone well, and I have been very pleased that my kids are identifying me in a role unique to them—“regular” member. You see, for as long as my kids have known me, I have been the preacher of their church.
            Our fellowship, comparatively speaking, is pretty good about not holding preachers on too high a pedestal, but even in our fellowship, there is something distinctive about the position of pulpit minister. I DO want my kids to nail down the fact that I'm a disciple first—not a preacher.
            That can be hard, particularly when their friends do not view things that way. At Shiloh, we are blessed with a large campus and many wonderful facilities, which people of the community use literally everyday. Last July, during our Vacation Bible School, one my son's elementary school friends (who does not attend a church) visited.
            One night, he emphatically stated to the children of his VBS class, “Timothy's dad owns all of this!” Of course, we know Jesus owns it; we're just marking time attempting to become more like him.
            Having stated that my kids (and their friends!) need to see me as a disciple first, I know I do as well. As I wrote a few weeks ago in this blog, I have loved preaching so much. Earlier this year I became concerned preaching may have become an idol for me. I know how crucial it is that I view myself as a disciple first, and not a preacher.
            As silly as it sounds, serving the communion trays-with all of its risks-was another opportunity to allow myself to be tested. I knew it was a good probe into my heart.
            Subsequently, I passed out the trays. Thankfully, I do not think I disrupted the service. I did not pass the trays to the wrong person. I did not drop grape juice.
            I think I passed the physical test of serving during communion.
            I hope I also passed the spiritual test of my heart.

            

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