Daily Devotional for October 23

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October 23                                               Matthew 11:16-24

Four late-comers to Julie's pool party gathered in a corner of
the patio, sipping beer and whispering to one another as they
looked over the crowd. Party guests included a mixture of
Julie's friends from the local church and her friends from
elsewhere in the community.

"Which one is the minister?" one of the newcomers asked.
The others, also not church members, weren't sure.

Was it the silver-haired woman who splashed a polo ball in
the pool? Or how about the bearded man who flung horseshoes
or the clean-cut fellow who threw darts? Was the pastor the
tanned guy sunbathing in the blue bikini? Or the young mother
who munched chips while her son played in the water?

The four late-comers couldn't decide. No one seemed to fit
their expectations of what a minister should look like.

If Julie had overheard their question she might have responded,
"All of them." Or she might have said, "None of them." Either
answer would have been correct.

Christians, blessed with a variety of gifts, are all called to be
ministers of the Word of God. They do that in a variety of
ways.

The woman with the polo ball, a gifted artist, designs illustra-
tions for the church publications. Gifted in music, the bearded
man plays the church piano. The guy with the darts oversees
church evangelism. The sunbather leads Sunday night prayer
time. The watchful mother takes photos for the church
scrapbook.

All are ministers, yet none of them has that title. It's not sur-
prising that modern-day Christians sometimes fail to meet
public expectations. Both John the Baptist and Jesus fell short
of that mark.

By the way, the church's official minister wasn't at Julie's party.
She was out of town on a well-deserved vacation.

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From The Road to Emmaus - An inclusive devotional Edited by Joseph W. Houle

Emmaus House of Prayer - Washington D.C.1989  23