Answering the Call
by Missioner Elizabeth Cervasio
I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn’t just a single part blown up into something huge. It’s all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, “I’m not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don’t belong to this body,” would that make it so? If Ear said, “I’m not beautiful like Eye, transparent and expressive; I don’t deserve a place on the head,” would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it. — 1 Corinthians 14–18, The Message
Sometimes, in the Church, we misplace importance. We get caught up thinking, “Oh, if we only had a church full of children, then we would be okay.” Or “We want to do God’s work, but we are just a small group of older people, and we are tired.” But 1 Corinthians 14–18 shows us that it doesn’t matter if we are few or aren’t “this” or “that”; what matters is that we matter to God. God knows who we are and what we are capable of and has put us right where we need to be.
Sometimes, we may lose sight of our own value, thinking it lies elsewhere. Truly believing that we are important members of the body of Christ can be difficult. We have to be open to God’s plan for us, even if we can’t see it ourselves. As Missioner for Children, Youth, and Campus Ministry, I see this often. I hear about people who think they aren’t qualified to walk faithfully beside their youngest members, sharing our stories of faith, so the volunteer pool dries up. I hear about people who believe that their youth are so far behind them that they don’t have anything to offer young adults, and, moreover, that young adults don’t want to be in relationship with them. But I also hear wonderful stories of youth groups who lost their youth leader, and members of the vestry stepped up to fill the void because they couldn’t bear the thought of the youth not knowing how loved and valued they are. I hear about churches that have set up Sunday school rooms and have volunteers ready to lead the two families who have children in joyful anticipation of more to come. The difference between these stories is that the latter believe they are important members of the body of Christ and that God can use them for good.
Lunch and Life, or “Chunch” (church+lunch) as it’s lovingly referred to by the Colorado School of Mines students, is a beautiful example of a group of people believing that God can use them just as they are. I recently visited Calvary Church in Golden and got to visit with the amazing group of adults who prepare delicious, home-cooked meals for hundreds of college students every single Tuesday in the school year.
Along with good food (because with college students in the body of Christ, their appetite probably makes them the stomach!), students are fueled with kindness and generosity. They are greeted with genuine smiles and left with to-go boxes that are filled with just as much love as they are food. Nobody is pushing them to become members of the church; nobody has an ulterior motive. Instead, Calvary saw a need: hungry college students. And a group of loving adults stepped up and filled it. God uses this group to fill more than just bellies. They feed “hunger” with compassion and conversation, respecting the dignity of every single student who walks through their doors. They are important members of the body, diligently doing the work God has set before them.
Answering the call doesn’t mean that you need to feed hundreds of college students every week. Remember, as members of the body, we are all different, and our call will be different as well. It does, however, mean that you answer it.
Maybe you send the members of your church who are away at college a care package. Maybe you agree to volunteer with the Sunday school even though you don’t have any children of your own in the group. Maybe you financially support youth from another region who are going on the mission trip because that kind of work is beyond you now. Whatever it is, believing that you are an important member whom God can use in important ways is the first step. After that, it’s just a matter of saying yes.
ELIZABETH CERVASIO is the Missioner for Children, Youth, & Campus Ministry in the Episcopal Church in Colorado.
