The Pursuit of God

Chapter 8: Meekness and Rest in the Sacrament of Living

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Again, it does not mean that every person is as useful as every other person. Gifts differ in the body of Christ. A Billy Bray 2 is not to be compared with a Luther* or aWesley* for sheer usefulness to the church and to the world; but the service of the less-gifted brother is as pure as that of the more gifted, and God accepts both with equal pleasure.

Let everyone abide in the calling wherein they are called and their work will be as sacred as the work of the ministry.

Laypersons need never think of their humbler task as being inferior to that of their minister. Let everyone abide in the calling wherein they are called and their work will be as sacred as the work of the ministry. It is not what a person does that determines whether their work is sacred or secular, it is why they do it. The motive is everything. Let a person sanctify the Lord God in their heart and they can thereafter do no common act. All they do is good and acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For such a person, living itself will be sacramental and the whole world a sanctuary. Their entire life will be a priestly ministration. As they perform their never so simple task, they will hear the voice of the seraphim saying, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory” (Isa 6:3). Prayer Lord, I want to trust you completely; I want to be altogether yours; I want to exalt you above all. I desire that I may feel no sense of possessing anything outside of you. I want

2 Billy Bray (1794–1868) – Uneducated and unconventional, but also effective, English lay evangelist.