Ministry in the name of Christ is an exhausting business. It seems to demand a constancy that is not in us. In the movie Groundhog Day the character played by Bill Murray lives a single day over and over again. During one incarnation of that day he happens to catch a young boy falling out of a tree. From then on, when that moment in the day comes around again, he feels compelled to leave whatever he is doing to catch the boy once more. With each succeeding day he becomes more and more annoyed at the boys continual need for his help, and eventually the relentlessness of the need wears his compassion thin.

When a friend of mine resigned from his pastorate he told his parish, "I can no longer meet all the needs of this parish, any more than I can chase down all the crickets on an August night." Which made me wonder: Who had told him that he could meet all the needs of his parish? John Westerhoff has remarked that atheism in the modern world is characterized by this affirmation: "If I don't do it, it won't happen." The apostles, even after their newfound success, as teachers, preachers and healers knew better. They waited in the boat.