The Strength of the Bridge
When we think about a bridge, one thing is clear: the strength of the bridge lies in how well the parts come together to serve a common purpose. Each piece plays a role—the support beams, cables, or roadway—all must work in harmony. Similarly, as stewards of God’s resources, time, and gifts, we are called to work together as the body of Christ, each member adding strength to the bridge that connects people to Jesus.
This morning, I want to take three parts of the Bible—a story from Jesus’s life, Paul’s message to the Corinthians, and Moses’s life—and connect them to the challenge of building bridges to Jesus. Our commitment becomes our testimony that points to God’s faithfulness.
There is a story about Jesus coming to a village. Martha opened her home to Him. She had a sister named Mary. Mary sat at His feet, listening to what He said.
Martha was in the kitchen, working hard. She had bread to bake, dishes to set, and food to prepare. The heat of the fire and the clatter of pots weighed on her, and she glanced out at Mary, who was still sitting. It didn’t seem fair.
Finally, Martha had enough. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work? Tell her to help me.”
Jesus looked at her and smiled, but it wasn’t unkind. “Martha, Martha,” He said, “you are worried and upset about many things. But only one thing matters. Mary has chosen well, and it will not be taken from her (Luke 10:42).”
I have always been bothered by this story. Martha is attempting to provide a hospitable place for Jesus to be present. She truly wants to serve Jesus. On the other hand, Mary forfeits any responsibility and simply sits at Jesus’ feet.
What is the unspoken message Jesus gives in this story? Is Jesus saying a contemplative life is preferred over a life of service? What if the tables were turned? What if Mary had said about her sister Martha, “Lord, why don’t you ask my sister to join us and share in this conversation?” Would Jesus have replied, “Martha has chosen well, and it will not be taken from her?”
You are not Martha, and Martha is not you. One pastor put it this way, “Maybe choosing well isn’t about choosing between serving or sitting since the Christian life has always been about both of those things. Maybe choosing well is not judging the actions of others through the lens of your own life.”
In the story of Mary and Martha, Jesus responds to Martha’s question by affirming Mary’s choice. He wasn’t excluding Martha’s choice. If we are too harsh with Martha, she may walk away from serving altogether, and if we heap too much praise on Mary for sitting at Jesus’ feet, she may never get up and serve. There is a time to go and a time to do. There is a time to listen and reflect, and there is a time to get up and serve. Knowing the difference requires spiritual discernment.
Oddly enough, in this story, I hear Paul’s words: “You are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (I Corinthians 12: 27). And earlier, Paul says, “God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us” (I Corinthians 12: 6).
Paul points out that God gives us different gifts, skills, talents, and passions because our unique selves can work together for the common good. He says, “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other” (I Corinthians 12: 7).
Each of us has unique gifts and opportunities to use those gifts. No one can do everything, but everyone can do something. Your job is to figure out what you do well and step in and contribute to the work that God is doing among us. Everybody in the body is somebody.
Before there was a Coach Prime at the University of Colorado, there was Coach Bill McCartney. He coached Colorado to three Big Eight titles and 10 consecutive winning seasons. He had a reputation for building strong teams. He later went on to found the men’s ministry Promise Keepers. Coach McCartney once said, “We have not come to compete with one another. We have come to complete one another.”
This is Paul’s message to the church in Corinth, which was trying to compete with one another for status and position within the body. God has arranged the church just as God would have it. Therefore, “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it” (I Corinthians 12: 26).
We need one another. I wouldn’t have known that a church could significantly impact people in another part of the world if it were not for you. I wouldn’t have known that a generation of children could come to love school and be successful in the classroom if it were not for you. I wouldn’t have known how much fun it would be when people came together to fellowship and love one another if it were not for you. I would not have known that church could be where children of all abilities could worship and serve together.
I guess what I am saying is that I need you to continue to teach me what it looks like to use your gifts and talents and be generous so that bridges continue to be built. I need you to show me the way.
We can only work together and build bridges to Jesus if we know what is in our hands.
The Lord had told Moses to speak and return to Egypt, but Moses shook his head. He knew the people. He knew what it was like to say things that nobody listened to. “They won’t believe me,” Moses said flatly, voice low. “They’ll say, ‘The Lord didn’t send you.’”
The wind rolled across the desert, stirring sand into the edges of the firelight. The voice came again, steady and sure, without room for question.
“What’s in your hand, Moses?”
He looked down at the staff. It was simple, something he’d carried for years. Nothing special. He’d leaned on it when the days grew too long and used it to move stubborn sheep along the slopes. He held it up, feeling foolish. “A staff,” he muttered. The Lord’s voice didn’t wait. “Throw it on the ground.”
In Moses’s hand, it was a simple stick used to herd sheep. It gave him something to prop himself on when he rested in the desert heat. But when dedicated to the Lord, the staff became a rod that parted the waters of the Red Sea. When the staff struck rocks, water flowed, and when held up, armies were held back.
God can’t use anything you have until you are ready to lay it down. In the hands of David, a slingshot dedicated to God takes down giants. In the hands of Gideon, a trumpet brings down walls. In the hands of a boy on a hillside, a fish and some loaves are a snack, but if handed to Jesus, they can feed five thousand.
So I want to leave you with this question today: What’s in your hand? What gifts, talents, resources, and opportunities has God placed in your care?
Are you holding on to something—time, abilities, financial blessings, or even relationships—that God asks you to release and dedicate to His work? God can multiply the small things—your voice, hands, and presence—and use them to build bridges connecting others to Jesus.
I want to invite you to consider two things this morning:
First, Identify your gift. What is in your hand today? Is it your time, ability to listen, financial resources, creativity, or love for children?
Secondly, Lay it at Jesus’s feet. Just as Moses had to release his staff for it to be used for miracles, we must offer our gifts to God. That may mean volunteering in a new ministry, offering your skills for a church project, mentoring someone, or being present with someone who needs encouragement.
If you are ready, I invite you to open your hands right where you are as a symbolic act of surrender, showing that you are ready to offer what is in your hands to the Lord.
Pastor Jamey
(Click Here to Watch the Worship Service from Gainesville First United Methodist Church, Gainesville, Georgia)
Questions to Consider:
- What does “choosing well” look like in your life?
- What is your spiritual gift, and how have you seen it benefit others?
- Coach McCartney said, “We have not come to compete with one another. We have come to complete one another.” How does this mindset shift the way we serve within the church?
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You for the gifts You have given each of us. Thank You for the opportunities to serve You and build bridges that lead others to Christ. Today, we offer what is in our hands—our time, talents, and resources. We lay them at Your feet, trusting that You will multiply what we give and use it for Your glory. Give us the wisdom to know when to sit at Your feet and when to rise and serve. Help us to work together as the body of Christ, not in competition, but in unity. May everything we do point others to the love and grace of Jesus. In His name, we pray, Amen.
Benediction:
May you go with your hearts open to offer what is in your hand. May you embrace moments of stillness at Jesus’ feet and moments of action in His name. May the gifts God has placed within you be released, multiplied, and used to build bridges that draw others to Christ. Amen.
Jamey Prickett 