It’s a terrible thing to believe that nobody needs you. . The temptation is to believe that we have been put on the shelf and all that is left now is for us to just sit there – to be present, but not to mean anything?
It’s also a terrible thing to believe that you’ve lost your influence; nobody pays any attention to you anymore. Men seem to have this feeling more intensely than women. Unlike E. F. Hutton – when we speak, nobody seems to listen.
These feelings are pervasive among retired people, but are present in most of us. I remind you, you are important and needed. God takes for granted that each of us has something that is useful for Him, and in ministry on His behalf.
One of the hardest lessons we can learn is to believe that while there may not be equality among our gifts and talent, every person is of intrinsic worth in the economy of God and the human family. Our usefulness to God is not measured by the character or the capacity of our gifts, but by our willingness to use those gifts. As Charlie Brown would say, “Even the two of clubs wins a trick now and then.”
My friend, Wesley Baucom, speaks to us here. Unlike too many, his parents did not have an abortion when they learned he was going to be born down syndrome. What a gift he has been to our congregation!
Before Covid19, our Sunday 11 o’clock worship service was rather formal, with choir and acolytes processing with the Cross and light. The Cross came first and was positioned beside the altar within the chancel. The light- bearer followed the Cross and lighted the candles on the altar. Wesley was the one who led the procession, proudly carrying the Cross, upright and aloft.
For months we did not have “in person” worship, and when we resumed it, we have not had the procession and choir. I missed it, intensely missed it because I was not seeing Wesley.
A few weeks ago, my wife and I were seated in our usual place, on the second pew, when there Wesley was….standing within the chancel. He had learned sign language in order to serve, and was signing the hymn. Wesley is not naturally endowed like most of us yet there he was…a powerful witness to the fact that our usefulness to God is not measured by the character or the capacity of our gifts, but by our willingness to use those gifts.