Revelation or Epiphany, I got it!

As a professional chaplain, in a full-time ministry, when it comes around to the holidays or my birthday I seem to get a wide variety of religious oriented gifts.  These gifts can range from Icons, statues, wall hangings, and crosses to every sort of religious book one could imagine. I sometimes wonder if this is because they think I need to be more religious or if they believe that I might be offended by some secular object that likely has a utile function. Don’t get me wrong, I treasure every single thing that has been picked out just for me. Today I was standing in front of the book shelf in my office scanning the books for one that might hold the inspirational quote or story for my “Quote of the Week” that is distributed weekly by e-mail. Today my eyes were drawn to one of those gift books.  The One Year “On This Day,” 365 Devotions on Intriguing Events that have happened on this day, buy Dianne Neal Matthews.

I opened the book to today’s date:

March 21

Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

I Corinthians 10:31

Johann Sebastian Bach was born on this day in 1685 into a German family that produce at least fifty-three prominent musicians over seven generations. Johann gained public admiration as an organist, but his musical compositions received little notice until the mid-nineteenth century. Though skilled in a wide range of musical forms, many consider him to be the greatest genius of baroque music.

Bach believed that he could serve God through his music, whether he was employed as a church organist or appointed as director of chamber music at the court of Prince Leopold. Bach often wrote N.I.J., for the Latin words meaning “In the Name of Jesus,” on the manuscripts of even his secular compositions.

We often think of our life as being divided into sacred and secular compartments. We may have special clothes and activities reserved for Sundays. We may even have a special “holy” personality that disappears when Monday morning comes. If we’re busy with a full-time job and family, we may feel guilty that we have no time for ministry.

If Christ is living in us, we have no need to separate the sacred and the secular.  Even everyday aspects of our life can reflect his holiness. When we carpool kids on Monday morning, we are serving him as much as when we lead worship music on Sunday.  The lawyer’s or truck driver’s career is no less sacred than the minister’s or missionary’s vocation, if each person has committed his or her work to the Lord.  If our goal is to glorify God, then every activity of every day, whether we’re cleaning a bathroom or writing a cantata, should be signed I.N.J.

Do you think for a minute that I believe that this devotion for this date at this time was an accident? Just to reassure you, no I don’t think it was an accident. As I read this devotion my mind began churning through all of the different hats that I have worn so far today. I have been among other things a doorman, housekeeper, my own secretary, a husband, a dad, a surrogate dad, a counselor, a pastoral care giver, friend, servant, etc. Often the transition from hat to hat was with blinding speed.  I had to stop and think whether or not during all of those different roles I was giving all the glory to God. I would like to think that I probably was. Then I think about other times, like when driving in traffic, waiting on hold, dealing with an automated answering machine, or dealing with an intoxicated person. I couldn’t honestly say that I was spot on at all those times.

I learned a couple things today in search of an inspiration, actually more than a couple. First, that no matter what the gift given to you is, it must have been given for a reason unknown to both of you which ultimately is and can be used to the Glory of God. Another, I (we) get into a routine and forget to think about what we are doing or why.  We can become much like that automated answering machine, completely oblivious to what is going on around us. We need to learn that like Johann S. Bach exemplified we may not be appreciated for what we have done for a long long time. In God’s scheme of things instant gratification is not a priority.

I will leave you with just one more thing I am taking away from this experience. From now on I am going to discretely put an I.N.J. on all that I do sacred or secular. This will be a reminder to me to keep that scripture in mind while I am about my day. When you see it on the bottom of a page, it will be a reminder to you.

I.N.J.