Mundane and Menial
Issue 040
NOVEMBER 14, 2018
WRITTEN BY JEREMY PENN
I was talking with a friend this morning about the pressure and temptation to share big stories that will impress the masses.
I often fight the desire to chase the big story.
I assume the people I communicate and share stories with want to hear about miracles and crazy coincidences baptized in providential language. More often than I want to admit, my ego gets to me and I craft a compelling story.
ORGANIZING AROUND SABBATH
As most of you know, I set up my office in a local cafe numerous times throughout the week. I’ve been doing this for about six months. Over the months I have become friends with the owner. The other day we were having a conversation and she informed me that her husband had opened a new pub right around the corner and they were rarely able to be with each other.
I pressed into this tension a little bit to see how she was handling her new stress and distance from her husband.
And then she made a profound statement.
“We protect our Sundays. That’s our new Sabbath.”
A LOT OUT OF A LITTLE
This statement may not seem like much, but for the cafe owner it was a huge statement. A turn of a phrase from “my day off” to “our new Sabbath” reveals the work of God in the world and in this family’s life..
A little word reveals a lot.
A mundane conversation about hectic life revealed the work of God in this person’s life and in this space. Her language has shifted which reveals her heart is changing as well. Her life is beginning to be shaped around the Kingdom and her shift in language reflects this.
“Most often I experience the work of God in the world through the mundane and menial ... In these things, God is at work.”
STORIES WORTH SHARING
These stories of the mundane and menial are the stories worth sharing.
To be honest, I don’t really like the big stories because that isn’t where I normally see or experience God’s work in world.
Most often I experience the work of God in the world through the mundane and menial.
Everyday conversations where, over time, language shifts and begins to reflect the Kingdom. The sharing of a meal between strangers. A newly engaged couple deciding to submit their lives together to the Lordship of Jesus. In these things, God is at work.
ATTENTIVENESS IN THE MUNDANE AND MENIAL
All of us participate in hundreds of mundane and menial tasks throughout the week. We grocery shop, pump gas, talk to servers, drink beers, and share coffee. It is easy to walk through these moments without care or thought.
I suggest that it is in these moments of menial activity that God is moving and working. While we wait in line for overpriced coffee, God is at work. While we walk the aisles of the grocery store, God is at work. While we fold laundry with our kids, God is at work.
Our role in the mundane moments is to be attentive. Notice what words are being used, what passions are being revealed, what hurts people are expressing, and what stories are being told. Then we can enter into these moments and reflect the redemptive nature of Jesus in everyday moments.
May we be a people who chase the mundane. May we look for the work of God in ordinary spaces. And may we bring the Kingdom into these spaces for the transformation of families, communities, and the world.