Many years ago, I had the enormous privilege of spending the weekend with Dr. Gardner Taylor, the great preacher of Concord Baptist Church in Brooklyn, New York.

Here was a man who had committed his life to serving. He served the people of his congregation. He served the poor that surrounded his church. He served the citizens of his district as he tirelessly worked for the rights of the poor and those on society’s margins.

My hunch is that you probably have never heard of this great man. He never had a nationwide TV show. He never became rich and famous. But he has through his faithful service, invited God’s kingdom to come into his life and the lives of those around him.

In a sermon he preached many years ago, Pastor Gardner explained his motivation and his method.

"We turn to Jesus for guidance as to who we are, for is he not our way and our truth and our life? Ah, Christian, here is a precious truth which you must never let slip from your grip and grasp. We are not stumbling in the dark as to how we shall act, what we should believe, upon what we should base the conduct of our lives. He is our standard. Christ is our guide."

It is with just such conviction that the Christian discovers that in following the path of Jesus, the path of service, sacrifice, even death, that the Kingdom of God comes and life takes on meaning and purpose, indeed life becomes not selfishly pacific but deeply joyful.

Someone once said God goes before us but not in place of us. It is with this sense of mission we are called to follow. Not as idle observers or vicarious church-goers, but as disciples willing to pick up a cross and join in the heavenly adventure.