ALL THAT JAZZ

   To be very, very, very redundant, perhaps even ad nauseum (live with it!), if I read Matthew 25 correctly, Jesus is reminding us in the three parables found there that we are, 1) to always be prepared, 2) to use whatever gifts and talents with which God has blessed us, 3) to love and serve everyone we meet, especially the last, the least, the lost and the lonely of this world. If as individuals we do that, we will live a faithful and fruitful life, but we will not be saints.

   Saints are not people who go it alone against all odds, who are exemplary models of faith and persistence in the face of persecution, ridicule and even punishment. That is the definition, of sorts, of a hero, and heroes we are not called to be. We are called to be saints. A saint is one who lives his or her faith, lives Matthew 25, within a community context, within, if you will, the church. A hero is a lone ranger who tends to go it alone, and go it alone is not what we are called to do.

   A saint depends upon his or her brothers and sisters to fulfill Matthew 25. Without all those people, without all that jazz, it would be impossible for any one of us to be fully faithful. Besides, God does not expect us to be. Really! That is why God gave us one another and why God has divvied up the various gifts and talents needed to make this world what God created it to be. No one has all the gifts but each of us some of them. And when we use them together to the best of our ability, we make wonderful music.

   The point is (need we be reminded?) that it takes a community to be a saint and it takes a community of saints to fulfill our mission and ministry as Christians. Within any community are all the gifts and talents (and dare I say even the treasure?) to do what God is calling that community of the faithful to fulfill. Thus, when one or more opt out, some of the work of ministry simply will not get done and some of those whom ministry is to support will continue to be left out in the cold.

   This is not a guilt trip. It is simply a reminder about something that we tend to forget, or at least I often do, and that is that no one of us can either do it alone or go it alone. There is simply too much work, too much ministry to be done for any one person or even any community of faith to do it all. Is not that why Jesus called a community of faithful followers together? Is not that why he reminded them in parables about what they were called to be and do? Is not that why all Christians must work together? Is not that why God gives us the grave and strength of the Holy Spirit?

   That’s the grand picture but that picture is put together pixel by pixel, each one of being one of those pixels. I know I’m mixing metaphors here. But you get the picture, I hope.  Just as each of the members of a jazz ensemble must do his or her best to make great music, just as each piece of the picture must be fully focused to give a clear image, so must we do our best individually and collectively to fulfill the demands of Matthew 25…and all that jazz. 

   If we do, we will not be heroes; we will be someone better. We will be a community of saints.                        WJP