It is said, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test." (Luke 4:14)
T’was the day before holy week, when all through the laity,
All the members were filled with a spirit of gaiety.
The hymnals were placed in the pew-racks with care,
In hopes that the visitors soon would be there.
The pastors were hunkered, all freaked out, in the study,
While visions of checklists left their thoughts rather muddy.
When what to the pastors’ aid did come swiftly?
But volunteers dressed in a manner quite spiffy.
On, organ! On, choir! On, ushers and deacons!
On, counters! On, sextons! On readers and beacons!
(Beacons of hospitality, that is. Cut me some slack, poetry is hard)
A bundle of palms they had brought in a pack,
And the lilies they’d ordered a couple weeks back.
Their eyes—how they twinkled! Their outfits, how charming!
While the pastors all looked (to be honest) alarming.
With a wink of the eye and a twist of the head,
The pastors could see there was nothing to dread.
They shared many laughs as they went to their work,
And the pastors joined in, to not look like a jerk.
And talking with members, and visiting elders,
Their day was improved, their manners remembered.
They sprang on to Facebook, to the church gave a shout-out,
And the members went home, having worked like all get-out.
And the pastors all called, ere they drove from the lot:
“Thank God for the members, they bailed us all out!”
Prayer: Holy God, as we seek to worship You this week, amid all the flurry and the detail and the checklists, bless us with a spirit of reverence for You, if not beloved children’s poems. Amen.