3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Matthew 24:3

At this point, as they overlooked Jerusalem from about 3 miles away, the disciples seem to be getting curious. They’re away from the crowds and the Jewish leaders. They seems to be relaxing, just “chewing the fat,” as it were. But He is about to teach them essential truths about what will occur in the future. How soon? Nobody knows.

The disciples don’t know it right now but they were absorbing much of His teaching. They would need it to carry on the ministry when Jesus departed.

I recall many years ago attending a Promise Keepers event in Chicago. Lunch break was over and 50,000+ men were working their way back into the stadium. I stayed in the parking lot laying under a tree with my pastor. For whatever reason we were just talking. I’m not even sure about the topics. We could hear the meeting starting again yet we continued to talk. Ministry was happening, perhaps even more so than what was going on in the crowded arena a hundred yards away.

I can envision Jesus doing the same with his disciples, just talking. Big things. Small things. Answering question. Asking question. We only get a snippet of their conversation, something that we would need in our ministries, but I’m fairly certain they talked more than these few words that were recorded.

Ministry is about breathing a little bit of light and hope into someone else’s soul.

• Coffee with a friend.
• Laying under a tree at a conference, shooting the breeze.
• Working alongside and joking with fellow laborers on a missions trip.
• Talking a coworker “off the ledge” after the boss just read him the Riot Act.

Sure, it’s the big things like teaching and preaching and going into all the world, but it doesn’t have to be that elaborate or grandiose.