I’m the Dishwasher

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. 1 Corinthians 12:21-22

Several years ago I was employed at Sunday River Ski Resort as a dishwasher. I was assigned to the Grand Avenue Restaurant kitchen at the Jordan Hotel. It was hard work, and sometimes I felt that dishwashing was a dirty, sweaty, insignificant, and thankless job. Most of the time, I was the last one to leave the kitchen at the end of a shift. However, the job did have a few perks. The best one was that the chefs would cook a meal for me on my break. My favorite was lobster mac and cheese!
Every ski season, the Jordan would host its annual “Chefs Summit,” featuring chefs from Maine and New Hampshire. Each chef would prepare a special dish for a food and wine tasting buffet. The event was quite expensive and always sold out. It also meant a lot of extra work for me as the dishwasher!
I remember one older chef, an instructor at a culinary school in the Portland area, introduced himself to me. He asked what my kitchen position was. I told him, “I’m the dishwasher.” He looked me square in the eye and pointed his finger at me, “You’re the most important person in the kitchen. Don’t forget that!” I sincerely thanked him and went back to the dish pit with a much better sense of the importance of my job and my place in the kitchen.
Paul states in 1 Corinthians 12 that everyone is important in the church body. Each person’s job, position, or contribution to our church matters. Paul says an eyeball is useless without the whole body and in turn the body needs that eyeball to see where it is going. In the same manner, my dishwashing position was important for the kitchen to function. The chefs needed their pots and pans washed! But I would not have had a job if the chefs didn’t make dirty pots and pans. I needed them to do their job too (and they were great at making dirty pots and pans!) My only regret is that I do not recall ever thanking them!
We all need each other to function as Christ’s church. Let’s continue to build each other up, to be encouraging and supportive, and to be thankful for one another. And yes, that includes all the dishwashers in the world!

-Dean Walker