Donning the Apron of Service

With Memorial Day behind us, the official start of summer is here.  The grills have come out of storage and, in many families, the men have donned aprons while they watch over the sizzling dinners.  The apron is a symbol of the one who cooks, or who hosts the gathering of people.  The one who wears the apron is usually the one who waits upon others whether at home or in a restaurant.

One year my (then) young sons made their dad an apron for Father’s Day.  Using a fabric pen, I outlined their hand prints onto the pocket of the apron and they each filled in their print.  Andrew insisted that we were making a bib for Daddy.  He was remembering his bibs that fit like backward, sleeveless shirts.  The apron we were decorating did look like that wrap-around bib!

The bib and the apron both protect the clothing by adding a layer of protection.  But there is a significant difference in the cultural connotations of bibs and aprons.   A bib is worn by someone who is being fed, being served; an apron is worn by one who is the servant.  A bib is donned by the consumer; an apron, by one who produces and provides. Wearing a bib is a necessary precursor to fitting into an apron.

The juxtaposition of the apron and bib is apt for the Church in this ever-changing time.  As we mature in faith, we move from wearing a bib to donning an apron.  As children, we are fed and nourished in the faith, guided and mentored on the journey by those who have walked their own spiritual path.  We grow out of our constant need for the bib as we learn to feed ourselves and share in the work of feeding others.  We don the apron of service and hospitality as the result of having been fed, nurtured, and growing by the faith community.

Hospitality is an important part of the culture of the scripture:

• Remember the three men who came to Abraham under the oaks of Mamre – Sarah had to cook for them a meal from scratch while the men waited.
• Remember the men of Sodom who were destroyed for their lack of hospitality?
• Remember Jesus’ words “I came not to be served but to serve.”

This is the way of the Middle East then and still today.  A stranger is always to be welcomed, always to be treated as the guest.  “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

As we grow in faith and character, we become the hosts who wear the apron and allow the guest to determine how they are to be treated.  Being a Christian requires us to give up the bib and don the apron.

Barbara Brown Taylor wrote,  “To be where God is -- to follow Jesus -- means going beyond the limits of our own comfort and safety. It means receiving our lives as gifts instead of guarding them as our own possessions. It means sharing the life we have been given instead of bottling it for our own consumption.”  (Barbara Brown Taylor, Seeds of Heaven: Sermons on the Gospel of Matthew. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press. 2004. p. 81)

Buy This!

Our society would have us think that life is all about us - our desires, our needs, our achievements. And, so in our pride, we ignore the gospel proclaimed to us by God's love and hope for us. In our greed, we ignore the needs of those God has called us to serve.  We are so afraid of losing what we have, that we hold tightly to it and fail to share God’s love with others in ways that are meaningful and nurturing to them.

I wonder if in the Church, we continue to wear the bib as consumers of church programs and
services, expectant that we will be waited upon by others.  I wonder if there were more apron-wearing servants, would we be able to nurture and grow more seekers toward full belonging?  I wonder if the shortage of leadership in churches is a reflection of continuing need to be spoon fed. 

Friends, it is time for the Church of Jesus Christ to take off our bibs and put on our aprons.

• It is time for us to live trusting the God who keeps promises, and to do the work of hospitality for people who need the Good News and who need God’s assurance that they need not be afraid.
• It is time we lived the Gospel of God’s abundance and shared in that grace.
• It is time we stopped expecting everything to be our way and seek the comfort of those who need God’s abundance and hospitality to be shown to them
• It is time we stop catering to the needs of those who are here and start serving those who most need to hear and experience God’s promises for the first time.

 Let’s make some new aprons and let us wear them boldly into service in God’s name.

See You in Church?

Since my husband is completing his interim position some 3.5 hours away, I often eat dinner out in one of the local pubs or restaurants. Since I dine alone, if the establishment is particularly empty, I will sit at the bar and chat with the wait staff.

Having missed lunch yesterday, I went to the pub nearest my office for an early dinner -- around 4:30. The place is diagonally across the street from the church, and from its door one can see the church's sign and front door.

As the place was quite empty, I sat at the bar. I ordered the special and a glass of wine. There were numerous empty stools on either side of me.

After I ordered, a guy comes into the establishment and asked if he could sit in stool next to mine. What can I say? Not wanting to be rude, I say sure. He was cleanly and neatly dressed; probably one of the local professionals, I thought.

He proceeds to strike up a conversation. I'm polite in a "pastorally" way. We chat about being new in town, and the like. Several times in the conversation I mention my husband. I'm clearly wearing a wedding band.

I finished my meal and asked for my check. When I'd signed the credit card slip, I stood up to leave and bid him farewell. He reached for my hand (still on the bill voucher), tapped it, and said, "I hope to run into you again."

Without missing a beat, I pulled my other hand out of my pocket, handed him my business card, and said, "Maybe I'll see you on Sunday."

I turned and left.

As I reached the door, I heard him say, "You've got to be kidding! I just hit on a minister!"

"Yes, sir. You did. See you Sunday?"

Community presence at it's best!


Postscript:  A colleague has pointed out the irony that the name of the pub is the Wild Monk.... :D

UCC and Proud of it.

I am proud to be a pastor in the United Church Of Christ. Here is yet another reason why.