There is a commercial with a guy sitting on a park bench eating lunch. A pigeon lands at his feet and he drops a piece of food for it. Immediately dozens of other pigeons land looking for a similar handout. That is an apt image of how ministry works. You have in your mind to do one good thing and pretty soon you feel overwhelmed at the many other needs which cry out for your attention. It even happened to Jesus when someone out of his circle of care asked for help. He said in reply, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” What Jesus learned, what we all learn in life, is that we can’t draw careful limits around those who we will care for and those we won’t. We are to become like God who loves everyone and make the sun shine on the good and bad alike. We learn that after we do one good thing we don’t stop and congratulate ourselves but move on to doing the next.
