Deacon Melanie’s sermon invites us to see ministry not simply as something that happens on Sundays or is reserved for clergy, but as something every baptized Christian is called to. Drawing on Paul’s words in Romans, she emphasizes that God has given each of us different gifts, and that we are called to offer ourselves—not just our time or resources—for the good of the whole Body of Christ. Discernment, she says, belongs to everyone: it is the process of paying attention to God, ourselves, and one another so that we can recognize the gifts God has given us and the ways we are being called to use them.

That discernment happens in community, where others can often recognize gifts in us that we may not see ourselves. Melanie connects this to the Church’s participation in the missio Dei, the mission of God already at work in the world. ...