Instead of writing a front-page article for this
newsletter, I am going to put my energy elsewhere. I’ve been praying for Steve
and Judy Burton, grieving with them over the loss of their ten-year-old
grandson, Ethan, hit by a car while checking the mail last Friday afternoon. I
just now learned that one of our beloved saints at St. Andrew, Ilah Notestine,
has gone to be with Jesus. I look forward to having the privilege of helping
celebrate the life God has shared with us in Ilah. It’s a very big Sunday this
week with our first ever Homecoming Celebration and I wouldn’t mind being able
to put together something special, preaching-wise, for that event. Sure,
there’s also all the usual suspects as well: a new Bible Study to put together,
important meetings to prepare for, hospital visits to make, recommendation
letters to write, and all the other unplanned things that pastors have to plan
for.
So much for a front-page newsletter article.
Some of you have heard this song and dance from
either Pat or me before. How it is almost impossible at times to keep a balance
between all the important responsibilities that a growing congregation puts on
a pastor. When you’re working on a sermon you feel guilt—that you should be out
visiting or getting through the mountain of pink ‘please call’ notes piling up
on your desk. But when you’re out visiting, you feel like you’re shortchanging
your sermon or Bible study preparation. Too many things can come between me and
one of the true joys of ministry—spending time with my parishioners who need
prayer, counsel, or an encouraging word from their pastor. Deadlines, meetings,
administrative concerns, and minor brush fires of all shapes and sizes can eat
up all of the time you have available.
So much for a front-page newsletter article.
I had a friend in seminary who was one of the few
pastors who was actually honest about his shortcomings in the pulpit
department. He told me once that he wasn’t much of a preacher on Sunday
morning. He wanted to be judged by the “sermon” he preached throughout the week
as he went about the task he loved of tending his flock. He told me that what
gave his Sunday morning sermons any power at all was that they were just
extensions of what he had been “preaching” to his congregation all week. I never heard him preach from the
pulpit, but if he pastored others half as well as he befriended me, then he
must have been a regular Billy Graham or Max Lucado. When the demands are heavy
and the time for sermon preparation is light, I always remember what he said.
Every once in a while it’s okay not to have a
front page newsletter article.
A pastor’s calling can be a demanding one
sometimes. But I’ve long since discovered that most of the women and men I am
privileged to serve also have demanding callings/careers. Even the most
prepared teachers have to wing it sometimes; even the most devoted husbands and
fathers have to sleep through some soccer games and school plays when they work
second or third shift; the most persuasive sales people are sometimes left
without all the information they need to close the deal. The good news for all
of us is that how we go about fulfilling our responsibilities and
performing our job duties day in and day out is the strongest testimony to our
worth and achievement. The most important work we undertake is the daily effort
to maintain our integrity, to honor our word, to treat the people around us
with respect and kindness, and to live out our faith in the best way we can. We
are called to bloom and bear fruit wherever we’ve been planted, each and every
day.
In the end, none of us are judged on a single
day’s production quota, sales pitch, student presentation, class lesson, or
sermon we deliver. It is who we are before, during, and after each and every
one of the critical moments that define who we are in the eyes of God—and for
the most part, in the eyes of others. It is an insight we pastors—and all of
God’s people—would do well to ponder every now and then.
Still though, it is a shame that I didn’t have
time this week to write an article for the newsletter. I have no idea what
Laurie will put on the front page
