Jim saved his sermon notes and closed his laptop. He’d better hurry if he wanted to get to practice on time. Someday, his little church would have enough of a membership to sustain him as a full-time pastor, but for now, he needed the income from his coaching job.

            Three hours later, he wrapped up practice and headed home for dinner. As he opened the front door, the savory aroma of roasted chicken greeted him. He hung his keys on the hook and wrapped his arms around Laura, who was stirring gravy on the stove. She leaned back into his embrace.

            “How was practice?”

            “Grueling. I’ve been working my tail off with these boys. Sometimes I think I work harder than they do.”

            “If you win Friday night, you’ll be in the playoffs, right?”

            Jim grinned. “That’s right. I think we have a good shot. Tyler has come a long way.”

            Laura pointed her spoon at Jim. “That’s because he has such an amazing coach. Can you go call the kids for dinner? It will be ready in about 5 minutes. It’s David’s turn to set the table.”

            “Happy to. It smells amazing, by the way. I’m so blessed to have such a good cook for a wife.”

            Friday night, everything went right. Tyler, the quarterback, was on fire. He perfectly executed all the plays Jim had him practice over and again throughout the week. When the clock ticked down to zero, the stadium erupted with cheers. The boys surrounded Tyler, patting him on the back, giving him fist bumps and high-fives. Jim basked in the win. All that coaching paid off. As the boys made their way off the field, emptiness filled him. Why would he feel this way?

            Back at home, he sorted through his feelings as he sat in his favorite recliner. Laura approached and took a seat on the sofa opposite him.

            “Why do you look like you lost the game tonight?”

            “I’ve been trying to figure that out myself. I guess I felt a little left out as the congratulations were passed around. Yes, Tyler played well tonight, but it was only because he executed what I coached him to do. I gave him all the plays beforehand. I made sure the wide receivers knew where to run. They won that game tonight because they listened to my coaching. I guess I kind of wanted to be recognized for it.”

            “Well, you are only human, after all.” Laura rose from the sofa and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Don’t stay up too late worrying about it. I know the truth. Those boys would still be on the junior varsity level if it wasn’t for you.”

            Sunday morning, Jim preached to his small but faithful group of church attenders. As the service ended, each of the members of the congregation greeted him and shook his hand.

            “Great message, Pastor.”

            “You really knocked it out of the park today.”

            “You gave me a lot to think about.”

            “Your sermon touched my heart.”

            With each comment, Jim’s ego swelled a bit. Maybe he didn’t get all the praise after winning the game, but he was certainly getting a lot today. As the church emptied out, Ed Corrigan made his way to Jim, methodically plodding along with his walker. At almost 98, Ed was by far the oldest and wisest member of Jim’s little church. Jim stood a little straighter, eager to hear what Ed would say about his sermon.

             Ed reached Jim. “Good day, Pastor. You did a good job letting the Lord speak through you this morning.”

            Jim blinked. “Thank you, Ed. I trust you’re doing well?”

            “Right as rain, son, right as rain. I’ll see you next Sunday.” Ed shuffled past, leaving Jim staring after him.

            Ed’s words swirled through Jim’s head. How could he have been so blind? Ed was right. If Jim was an effective pastor, his only role was to pass God’s word on to the people. To truly minister to them, he needed to get out of the way and let God do His job. How could he take credit for using God’s gifts and God’s wisdom to speak God’s word to God’s people? Just like he didn’t get credit for coaching the boys to victory Friday night, he was just as guilty of not giving credit to God for his sermon this morning.

            Laura returned to the sanctuary from where she was watching the babies in the nursery. “The kids are outside playing with the Martins. Are you ready to go?”

            Jim turned to Laura. “I just learned an important lesson.”

            “I thought you were the one teaching this morning.”

            “Apparently not. I was hoping to get all the credit for coaching the boys Friday night, but I didn’t give my Coach any credit for the sermon this morning. It seems I need to learn a bit more humility.”

            Laura reached a hand up and touched Jim’s face. “Taking credit for being the instrument God uses is like a patient thanking the scalpel for performing life-saving surgery. You’re blessed to be used as God’s scalpel.”

            Jim pulled Laura in for a hug. “More than anything, I’m blessed to have such a wise wife.”

Philippians 2: 3-4

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

God, all our gifts, all our talents, everything we have comes from You. Please help us to remember to be thankful, and to give you the glory and honor You deserve. Help us have the attitude of John the Baptist who said “I must decrease and he (Jesus) must increase. May our words and our actions point to Him. In Jesus’ name, Amen.