On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy, in an address to Congress, said the United States should commit itself to landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth. This should be done before the end of the decade. On July 20, 1969, NASA accomplished that goal.  

 A couple of years after making that speech to Congress, and shortly before his death, Kennedy was visiting NASA to see how much progress was being made toward the goal. While touring the facilities, he walked up to a man who worked there. Unbeknownst to the president, the man was a janitor. Kennedy asked him what he did. I suppose he thought the man would say he was some kind of rocket scientist. The man replied, “I am helping send a man to the moon and back.” 

You have to love that response. That man rubbed elbows with great scientists and other great minds of his day. It would have been very easy for him to see what he did as unimportant. But he knew he was contributing to this incredible endeavor. He helped clean up all the clutter in that large building so that others could do what only they could do. He made their jobs easier. What he did had to be done. No single person sent Neil Armstrong to the moon. A team did it. 

The church is a team. The Bible calls it a body, but it is the same concept. Each member plays a role (1 Cor 12:12). Our work is even greater than sending a man to the moon. We are the body of the King of Kings. We will be for all eternity. We are doing His work on earth. We are His hands and feet (1 Cor 12:27).  

Think of that work. We are building up the body of people who will rule with the King over an eternal kingdom. We are proclaiming the message of eternal life to all who believe in Christ for it. Those who believe will be citizens of that kingdom (John 3:16). The work we do will have consequences that last forever. The Lord compared that work to a great harvest (Mark 4:20). 

I don’t want to minimize what NASA did in the 1960s. That was quite an accomplishment. But it is nothing compared to what the Church, the Body of Christ, is doing. What Armstrong and NASA did will one day be forgotten. The work of the Church will never be forgotten. 

The janitor at NASA was rightly proud of what he did. Every believer who serves the Lord should feel the same way. All such servants are doing a great work. They should feel that way, no matter how insignificant others may think they are. Each believer plays a role.  

If asked, “What do you do?” he can say that he is helping to build up the body of the King. That body is the dwelling place of the Spirit of God (Eph 2:19-22). It is the house that offers sacrifices pleasing to God (1 Pet 2:4-5). One day, some in that house will rule over a glorious kingdom.  

That janitor took to heart Kennedy’s challenge to Congress. He wanted to be a part of it, and he was. May we accept the challenge of our King. We have a great work to do. What a privilege to be a part of it, no matter what that part may be.