Ministry Mule

It was cold when they stepped outside. The kind of cold when you can see your breath in the air. The kind of weather when you dress in layers to keep warm and would probably prefer to be inside a warm building. Ministry assignment for the day called for some men to be outside doing old fashioned hard manual labor. They cut and trimmed trees.

Four men got to be mules. What I mean is they drug, carried and hauled limbs, tree trunks, branches and vines to a burn pile. They started with nothing on the ground. By the end of the day they built a burn pile some fifteen to twenty feet in the air and just as largein diameter.

Even as cold as it was outside  sweat soaked through undershirts and hats. Their muscles burned. Some branches were heavier than others. Their feet ached. Their backs grew sore. Their biceps burned. For hours they cut, hauled, drug and trimmed to spruce up the HBC campus.

I can look back on my ministry training in college and seminary. I did not take one class on serving as a ministry mule. Yet over the years I have found ministry lead to places where service needed to be done. Once while preaching a revival meeting I had to help the pastor haul hay, move to a new residence, followed by another revival meeting the next week where we helped a new pastor move into his home. I did not have blue jeans packed. I had slacks and shorts. I wore shorts. A mistake I learned from. Ministry last summer meant a trip to south Texas to help with relief efforts with Hurricane Harvey victims. Sometimes ministry calls for grunt work. Old fashioned get your hands dirty work.

 It means setting up and tearing down equipment. I remember vividly moving 250 chairs from a building out under a tent in July one west Texas afternoon before a revival meeting. The sweat poured freely. That is what ministry called for that day.

I am thankful for ministry mules. Men like Richard, Eric, Wes and Turner. Men who know how to serve. Men who sacrifice time and effort for Kingdom causes. I am thankful for women who performed ministry mule work of cleaning and painting. I am thankful for the ministry mules who cook and serve the food at fellowship meals. I am thankful for the ministry mules who stay late to clean up after some event or who show up early to get it all set up. I am thankful for those who open their homes to entertain. I am thankful for ministry mules who work diligently to do jobs most never notice.

The kingdom of God is made up of many ministry mules. They look for opportunities to serve. They do not look to be served. They give their lives away. They are willing to do the hard work of a ministry mule. They may not get much attention. Most prefer it that way. Today I salute such people. They are a blessing. The church is better because of them.