A Thousand Years of Service Starts Now!
by Jon Pinelli
You have waited all year. Your anticipation builds to sheer excitement. You are going to the Feast of Tabernacles!
You arrive at the site for opening night services and walk into the meeting hall and are shocked. The chairs are not set up, and the floor is dirty. There is no audiovisual equipment set up. The stage is bare—no lectern, no choir risers and no decorations. You search for an usher or the information table to figure out what in the world is going on, but you cannot find anyone to help you.
Does this sound implausible? If not for the work of hundreds of volunteers at the Feast of Tabernacles, it very well could happen.
Every year we rely upon the efforts of volunteers to make sure everyone at the Feast of Tabernacles experiences his or her greatest Feast ever. Regardless of the size of the Feast site, there are multiple moving parts. Our Feast coordinators rely upon dedicated members to serve their fellow spiritual family members. From the moment we drive into our Feast site’s parking lot or walk through the facility doors, we rely upon many volunteers in many departments.
Serving one another is not only a means to administratively make the Feast site function. More importantly, it is learning exactly what Jesus Christ meant when He told the disciples that the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45).
Consider for a moment the meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles. We are picturing the thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ and the saints. We will be serving with Him and teaching in the Millennium. What better way to practice for serving in the Millennium than to serve at the Feast of Tabernacles. Think of it as a dress rehearsal for that ultimate moment in time when service will be our way of life!
When we think of it in those terms, we can realize our service is more than just parking cars or setting up the stage. It is more than just helping usher people to their seats or singing in the choir. It is learning to be a king and priest now for the Millennium to come.
Our 1,000 years of service is coming. Are you ready? Why not practice by volunteering at this year’s Feast of Tabernacles?