A couple of summers ago, our family and another family rented a cabin on a lake. We were there to relax, enjoy one another's company, and fall asleep wonderfully exhausted from hours in the lake. On the last afternoon, the adults were cajoled to get in the water, and all eight of us were laughing and having a good time. We swam, jumped, explored, and played a made-up game called "hurricane" on the giant foam lily pad.

The sun was getting lower on the horizon, things were calming down, and reaching the natural end of our last time in the water that week, when my nine-year-old suddenly yelled with fervor, "She's under the mat! She's under the mat!" After a moment to register what was happening, I jumped into action, yelling to my friend and swimming to the mat. My friend yanked the big mat hard and fast until her daughter's head popped up over the water line. Thankfully, she had a life jacket on, had held her breath, and – due to a child's watchful eye and forceful call for action – she was back breathing air before any water hit her lungs.  

All the adults were shaken, because we knew how close it could have been to a very different result. Because even though all the kids had life jackets on, even though I had previously been a lifeguard, even though we were all right there, we had forgotten just this one time of our role as caretakers. We let it slip that one adult needed to have the role of being the watchful eye. We implicitly assumed that someone else had it covered, or maybe worse, surmised that between all of us we had it covered. 

They warn you for this very reason to designate someone to watch the water whose sole job it is to keep an eye out: because if it's "everyone's job" then it's in reality no one's job. 

How often does this happen in life, where we just assume that a generic "someone" has it covered? Or that a leader will step up to any level of need that arises (and that this leader is of course someone else and not us)? Why do we think that we are insignificant parts of the system?

Whether we attend a party or sit in the pews at church, why do we think that we don't play a significant role in what is happening? When we are engaged in a conversation, why do we think the listening role isn't of value? When we are out living our so-called ordinary lives, why do we think our role as follower of Jesus is of little significance? Is it because we are always looking for someone else to lead? We believe that someone else must have it covered, or that somehow collectively it will be taken care of.

Your role matters.

In today's gospel reading of Matthew 5, Jesus reminds the disciples that what they do matters, that the life they live in the big and the small is important, that the example they set is crucial:

"Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments 
and teaches others to do so 
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven. 
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments 
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven." 

What is Jesus asking of us here? To understand our role as kingdom-builders in the group of humanity. To understand that following and teaching his ways matters. To step into that role and make a difference.