In Praise of the Commons

God Bless Wayne Terwilliger and Michael Martinez
I Corinthians 12:4-13
I am afraid I will expire before I complete an important life task – selling my massive collection of sports cards, particularly baseball cards. It is an emotionally and mentally straining thing to do. These cards represent my childhood, my love of sport, my escape from some of the painful realities of life that clergy are involved in every day. Yet my children, while appreciating sport, have little interest in such collecting and because I have close to 100,000 cards and they live in townhouses with little storage space it is my pre-expiration goal to sort and sell! The sorting is a monumental task because the value of the cards is largely dependent upon the “star” quality of the athletes. Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Henry Aaron, Willie Mays are worth over $500 while the “commons” are worth a few cents to a few dollars.
Most players who end up in the common lot have names that few will remember. Yet while the world cares less about the commons, I have a fond affection for many of them. The names Wayne Terwilliger and Michael Martinez lingered in my mind as I read Paul’s call to the divided church in Corinth – a church that was struggling with pecking order questions. You see Wayne Terwilliger was a journeyman second baseman for several American and National League teams who shouldn’t have been around for almost ten years……he was a weak hitter. But his utility of playing numerous positions and his baseball savvy kept made him a valuable fill-in when needed. Michael Martinez is a rookie with the Philadelphia Phillies and has played six positions this year as a backup when the starters went down with injuries or needed some rest.
“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the Spirit.” For Paul there was not one ungifted person in the church. Paul realized that the utility players are often at the heart of a successful church ministry. A warm welcome; a meal prepared for someone who is sick; a time of volunteer at a shelter or soup kitchen; a firm word said when a prejudicial or unjust word is said; taking time to listen to someone who has a painful story to tell! The utility players are always ready to step in and handle the dirty work or do the simple deeds that mean so much in the building of the realm of God.
With 9/11 approaching we also remember that the real heroes on that day were largely the utility players – the police, the firefighters, EMTs, the individual souls whose names will not be remembered who did the small things that saved lives, that comforted the mourning, that fed those rescue team members, that offered simple prayers as they watched the horrific acts on their televisions. As we remember that steel blue sky dark day, let us give thanks for the “common” souls who did what they could to bring light out of the darkness.
There are often too many people who want to be stars and not enough of the faithful wanting to be utility players. Prayerfully ponder your remembrances of some of the faithful utility players who have ministered to you and have helped to shape your life of faith. Be alert for opportunities as you go about your daily lives for opportunities to be a utility player in building the realm of God.