The Parable of the Graffiti Removalist – Jackson King
Some of you may have noticed over the last week that we have had our church building and signage vandalised with graffiti. Although signage around the pathways is easily accessible, and thanks to a graffiti removal kit from local council, easy to remove, this instance proved an interesting challenge. This graffiti had ended up on the roof.
So, like any normal day in the office at church I spent my Thursday morning climbing up onto the roof to clean the graffiti off our building. Of course, all required safety measures were taken, but it’s fair to say Thursday was certainly different.
Whilst I tried to spend as little time as possible up on the roof, there was a few conversations and questions as to why I had ended up on the roof. Whether it be people from community connect or others on their way to the town centre. At the same time there were many others who continued their way, wherever they go, with no notice of me or even the graffiti at all.
In 2022, I did a one-year course called Arrow. It was a great course centred around leadership development for young adults in ministry. One part of this course involved reading a book called The Anonymous Leader by Ralph Mayhew, who happens to be the Lead Pastor at the Uniting Church in Burleigh Heads.
The book spends a few chapters talking about what Ralph calls “The Platform”, more specifically, the term platform is a metaphor for the stage, a stage on which you are elevated above the crowd. He continues talking about how the platform is what enables us as both individuals and organisations to make an impact on the lives and the communities that surround us. But the platform is also a place that both individuals and organisations can be pulled down from, whether that’s due to our own decisions or someone else’s.
Often there are times where things won’t be exactly the way we had planned, or even hoped. Sometimes our youth group numbers will be lower than we thought, or there’ll be a mix-up with our music on a Sunday morning or our computers crash, and we aren’t able to bring church to our online community one Sunday. These are times where I feel as if I have been on a platform, and I have fallen short of fulfilling what’s required. However, what makes this process sacred and holy is the ability to get back on, using our platform, for the benefit of others.
There have been many times where I have believed and understood that the church is a platform of its own, a place where people can encounter God and can meet and enjoy life with like-minded people and where they can feel safe and loved in a community. However, clearly that can even be impacted by the likes of vandalism. Yet whether people will notice it or not, we all can continue the work and mission of the church. We don’t need to hide from the times where things may not have gone our way. We don’t need to pretend they didn’t happen. I certainly won’t forget my day on the roof. It comes with being on a platform.
God creates a platform for all of us. A place where we are called to where we can impact the lives of others. I wonder where yours may be.
I hope you have a great week.
Jackson