The Upper Room Daily Devotional from The United Methodist Church of Nashville, Tennessee, United States for Saturday, 11 November 2017 "Everyone Can Serve" by Ken Claar (Idaho) - 1 Corinthians 12:12-26
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DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2017
All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love
and faithfulness, for those who keep
his covenant and his decrees. (Psalm 25:10 (NRSV))
During the Korean War, I was a young sailor assigned to a US naval ship called a destroyer. Our job was to follow aircraft carriers to rescue any pilots whose plane missed the airstrip and fell into the sea.
For part of our service we guarded an American aircraft carrier. When the pilots returned to the carrier they flew from about a mile behind the ship, aimed straight for it, and landed on the deck. Later we followed an Australian carrier. Their pilots landed differently. They approached the ship by making a sharp right turn before dropping down on the carrier’s deck. I really liked the way the Aussies flew! They seemed more daring than the American pilots. But both sets of pilots flew their planes with skill even though their techniques for landing were different.
Since that time, I have thought about how that picture applies to Christians. Some serve in a steady way, quietly and with no dramatics. Others are bursting with energy and share the gospel with fervor. Whichever way God has led us to serve, we should do so without apology, knowing that God has given us all important ways to proclaim the goodness of God.
During the Korean War, I was a young sailor assigned to a US naval ship called a destroyer. Our job was to follow aircraft carriers to rescue any pilots whose plane missed the airstrip and fell into the sea.
For part of our service we guarded an American aircraft carrier. When the pilots returned to the carrier they flew from about a mile behind the ship, aimed straight for it, and landed on the deck. Later we followed an Australian carrier. Their pilots landed differently. They approached the ship by making a sharp right turn before dropping down on the carrier’s deck. I really liked the way the Aussies flew! They seemed more daring than the American pilots. But both sets of pilots flew their planes with skill even though their techniques for landing were different.
Since that time, I have thought about how that picture applies to Christians. Some serve in a steady way, quietly and with no dramatics. Others are bursting with energy and share the gospel with fervor. Whichever way God has led us to serve, we should do so without apology, knowing that God has given us all important ways to proclaim the goodness of God.
Dear God, lead us forward in our witness with the confidence that you have given us exactly the right gifts to use in living out your message of love. Amen.
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1 Corinthians 12:12 For just as the body is one but has many parts; and all the parts of the body, though many, constitute one body; so it is with the Messiah. 13 For it was by one Spirit that we were all immersed into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free; and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.
14 For indeed the body is not one part but many. 15 If the foot says, “I’m not a hand, so I’m not part of the body,” that doesn’t make it stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I’m not an eye, so I’m not part of the body,” that doesn’t make it stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, how could it hear? If it were all hearing, how could it smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged each of the parts in the body exactly as he wanted them. 19 Now if they were all just one part, where would the body be? 20 But as it is, there are indeed many parts, yet just one body. 21 So the eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you”; or the head to the feet, “I don’t need you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be less important turn out to be all the more necessary; 23 and upon body parts which we consider less dignified we bestow greater dignity; and the parts that aren’t attractive are the ones we make as attractive as we can, 24 while our attractive parts have no need for such treatment. Indeed, God has put the body together in such a way that he gives greater dignity to the parts that lack it, 25 So that there will be no disagreements within the body, but rather all the parts will be equally concerned for all the others. 26 Thus if one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; and if one part is honored, all the parts share its happiness.
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How will I serve others with my God-given talents?
Airplane pilots and crews
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More from Ken Claar BY KEN CLAAR (IDAHO)
I was 9 years old when WWII started. As a kid I was fascinated by all things military, especially the navy. I had cardboard models of all of America’s war aircraft hanging by threads from the ceiling of my bedroom. I knew more about the geography of the Western Pacific than most kids my age. My dad had spent 6 years in the navy in the 30’s, and I was proud of him. During the latter part of WWII my brother served on a small aircraft carrier in the Western Pacific, so I knew the fear of having a family member in danger.
Later many of my high school classmates were in the Marine Corps Reserve and were called to fight and die in Korea as soon as the war started. So I was surrounded by military people. I served in the navy for 4 years, one year in electronics school, two years on Guam and a year on a destroyer. I was on Guam during most of the Korean conflict and was in the Pacific on a destroyer when our navy was patrolling from Formosa to China, right after that war.
My youngest son served 6 years in the navy, partly on a nuclear submarine. So you might say I have a soft spot in my heart for servicemen and women and for our veterans. Armistice Day, commemorating one of the bloodiest wars in human history, was rightly combined with Veteran’s Day to honor all those who served in all periods of our country’s history. God bless each man and woman who served or is serving, and God bless those who stayed home and waited for their
return, or served with them on posts around the world.
I began my journey to faith in a Quonset hut chapel on Guam and in the Sunday services on the fantail of a destroyer in the Pacific. Navy chaplains brought us the Word wherever we were. Sometimes they had to come aboard via a highline between ships and they were present in the thick of the battles in Korea. They were God’s true servants.
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Header Photo Credit: "Harvested Land," Beth Shumate. August 15, 2014. (link)
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