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Message from Pastor Heather Geest

The sacred in the ordinary

By Pastor Heather Geest

It’s hard to hear the cleansing melody. Busy hands silently washing dishes, the din and dull of running water. The hum of routine is too plain to see. Ordinary work is hidden, unless it’s missing.

I first noticed it on a recent Sunday. Shortly after one o’clock. The last worshiping folks were exiting our church doors. I was making my way back to the sacristy. That’s fancy church talk for the room behind the altar. It functions like a “green room” for worship. Robes hang in the closet. A kitchen cupboard is neatly lined with chalices, plates, and food for the Lord’s Supper.

She was missing. I usually see her by the kitchen sink. Sunday after Sunday, for more than 20 years, she’s devoted her time to communion preparation. The routine includes more than setting the table and washing the dishes. However, that’s when I’m most likely to catch a glimpse of her.

Most of the time, the work is hidden. It’s a quiet type of servanthood; a way of working behind the scenes to enrich our community of faith. Her humble contributions make this place run a little more smoothly.

Filling in on a rare day when Corrine Betcher was out of town made me appreciate her gift of service even more. That Sunday after worship, I washed the communion dishes as Pastor Ann dried them. As we worked together, she shared words of wisdom:

“Heather, you do know that cleaning up after communion is just as holy as presiding at the table? The act of washing dishes may seem mundane, even undignified. But it’s not. When we wash these dishes, we are doing the same kind of thing that we do in front of our congregation, setting and clearing the table. The point is, what we do in the sacristy is an extension of the work we do at the communion table. And the work that we do in our homes, as we set our dinner tables, is no less important than what the pastor does on Sunday mornings.”

I liked what Ann was saying. There is sacred in the ordinary. There is ordinary in the sacred. This is what allows all of us to keep going when nobody else seems to notice. That is, no one notices until the work is not done.

As Christians, we are called to work and serve God in everything that we do. More often than not, we serve in ways that people cannot see. It’s not our role to draw attention to ourselves. “Take a look at what I just did for God!” It’s about living in humility as we share ourselves with others. God is experienced as we pour out ourselves to one another. Holiness is not an upward ascension into the heavenly realms. It’s a deeper engagement with the mundane. To see the sacred in the ordinary is holy. You can’t get more humble than Christ being born in a manger.

The goodness of life dwells in our down-to-earth human realities. If you’d like to experience the sacred in ordinary tasks, ask God’s quiet servants. Listen for the cleansing melody of the ones whose lives speak volumes about the heart of Christ. You might find them washing dishes, shoveling snow, or folding the Journey. Who knows how the Spirit will work? Maybe you’ll even be inspired to join God’s holy work.

Pastor Heather Geest,

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