DOING THE WORK

“Great works are often quiet works,” writes James Martin. I would add that most great work is very quiet work and work that no one knows about because those doing the work base it in silent prayer. This is to understand the power and instruction of Jesus when he said, “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Our work is to see the Kingdom come at as many levels as we can. So much of our work to the lost, sick, lonely, the abused and forgotten requires a lot of time and energy. There is often little outreach to others because we specialize our ministries and churches on ourselves and not on the marginalized groups. Mission outreaches are less than 3% of our budget on a national level. The great quiet work needs to increase if we expect the other work to increase or even have any meaning to our basic modern Christianity.

“Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” Jesus