This is a poem/prayer for missionaries by Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw. As we continue on the missional journey, may it give us helpful perspective:
It helps now and then to step back and take the long view
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s Work
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us
No statement says all that could be said
No prayer fully expresses our faith
No confession brings perfection
No pastoral visit brings wholeness
No program accomplishes the Church’s Mission
No set of goals and objectives includes everything
This is what we’re about–
We plant seeds that one day will grow
We water seeds already planted knowing that they hold future promise
We lay foundations that will need further development
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities
We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. It enables us to do something and to do it very well. It may be incomplete but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the workers. We are the workers. We are prophets of a future not our own.