“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
Today has been one of those days…when I am trying to get a start on writing my sermon but it just isn’t happening. Instead, my day is filled with many conversations. Some are people reaching out to me, but most are me reaching out to people. I’m primarily reaching out to people who are facing hard times, seeking to encourage them with truth from God’s Word, to let them know they are loved and they are heard, and to lift them up in prayer before the God who invites us to cast our cares on Him because He cares for us!!! All throughout my years of Bible education and seminary training, I never grasped just how much of my time and energy in pastoral ministry would be engaged in this kind of work. In fact, it was years into full time pastoral ministry before I realized how significant this aspect of “the job” truly is. Life’s hard. It’s easy to feel like I’m the only one going through severe trials. But trials are part and parcel of life on a fallen planet. For this reason, we need others who will come alongside us in the more difficult times to help carry the load. It helps drive home just how significant are Christ’s words above…our incessant need to come to him, rest in him, abide in Him. I’ll be honest, the nature of ministry sometimes militates against such abiding for me as a pastor. Pastoral ministry, by definition, involves a lot of burden bearing. But sometimes burden bearing can leave us feeling, well, burdened. I think this is exactly what Paul was thinking of in his second letter to the church in Corinth when he wrote, “I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?” (11:28–29). Pastoral ministry, like many caring professions, has a built-in burden sharing element to it. Whether it’s burdens in the form of grief, or trials, or conflict, or illness, or sin, or simply the weight of ministry, there is a burdensome aspect to shepherding. Mind you, I’m not complaining. It is a privilege to help carry each other’s burdens. And I’m also grateful that, in our fellowship, I’m not alone in this calling. I love the way my fellow elders, and our deacons and deaconesses, and so many others in our fellowship help carry burdens in our body in fulfillment of Galatians 6:2, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” You don’t need an office or a title or a seminary degree to carry your brother’s burdens! Yet I also know that it is a unique aspect of the role of pastor, especially in a small church, to minister to many people going through many different struggles simultaneously. I would imagine that this reality has something to do with why someone came up with the (dare I say) brilliant idea that those in full time ministry require set apart times for reflection, renewal, rest. Of course, we all need to daily heed Jesus’ words, “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest.” But I believe there is also something to be said, especially after an unusually wearying season, for a more extended time to set aside some of the persistent weight of ministry for a deeper time of refreshing with the Lord. Somewhere along the line this concept was combined with the Biblical concept of sabbath (6 days/years of labor followed by a 7th of rest). The result, in some churches, is the practice of setting aside time for sabbatical in the 7th year of ministry. I was blessed at the end of my first 7 years at Renton Bible Church to experience such a sabbatical…eight weeks to read, pray, reflect. I don’t know where I’d be right now if I hadn’t been given this opportunity. But I am sure it is part of the reason I have the privilege of celebrating 17 years with Renton Bible this Easter. It’s been nearly 10 years, then, since that sabbatical. I confess, I feel an even greater need for sabbatical now than I did back then. My last few years in ministry have been some of the most intense. In fact, just in the last few months I’ve mentioned a handful of times that this current season has been the busiest time of my life in ministry. Of course, it isn’t just caring professions in which the intensity of work can have a wearying effect. As I was beginning to think about sabbatical late last year, I heard the news that after 6 years of coaching football, the Huskies coach, Chris Peterson, was resigning. The word Sports Illustrated used to describe his decision was “bombshell.” Now, I’m not privy to more specific details as to how he arrived at this conclusion, but I do know that on the eve of his 7th year, Peterson indicated that he needed to take a break in order to “recharge.” When I heard this news, besides wondering what positive implications this might have for my Oregon Ducks (sorry UW fans), I was immediately struck by a sense of, “I get it.” I know I’m not the only one who feels the need to recharge in our church. After two years of volunteering for a massive building expansion, there are many in our church who feel the need for a sabbatical from construction. Some of our recently retired guys are still looking forward to finding out what retirement means! I’m a long way off from retirement, but I can relate to coach Peterson’s sentiment about his need to recharge. With this in mind, I am very blessed that the elders have agreed to allow me to take a sabbatical this summer. When I mentioned this to a receptionist (not in our church) recently, she responded, “I sure would like a long vacation.” Certainly, there will be some vacation included in this time. In fact, I am specifically attaching two weeks of vacation to the ten weeks of sabbatical. However, this sabbatical time is not about sipping fruity beverages pool-side. At present, I am planning for a hundred hours of reading, a hundred hours of writing, and hundreds of hours of prayer, study, fellowship and getting input from others, including a couple pastors’ conferences. Basically, for 10 weeks my full-time job will be sabbatical. For a good portion of this summer I will be joined by my faithful, loving, generous, caring, beautiful partner in life and ministry, Debbie! And for a good portion of this time we will be out of the area, something that is very helpful when it comes to unplugging from the usual responsibilities of pastoral ministry. Yet, rest assured, that though we may not be worshiping with our local church family, we will be regularly worshiping with extended members of our church family wherever we are. When we are in Renton, I will take advantage of the opportunity to worship with some of the other Renton Gospel Network churches in town. Yet, Renton Bible will not be left high and dry!!! The Lord’s timing is always perfect. And though we’ve been looking for an associate pastor intern for more than a few years now, God saw fit to provide Keith Adams at just the right time so that he could take a significant share of the preaching load—a load that will also be carried by our elders and a few other great ministry leaders. Keith, and our faithful church secretary, Julie, will also be a presence in the office this summer, while our elders will continue in their roles as shepherds and overseers. Thankfully, our church excels at every member ministry, so I have no doubt that our members will continue to faithfully carry out the ministries of this church. Of course, there is still some time before my sabbatical will begin (June!). But I am sharing this with our body early on to allow for any questions that might arise. I’ve also posted, on our News BB in the foyer, an information sheet with more details about this Sabbatical (which I’d be happy to email to anyone interested). My prayer is that, as was the case a decade ago, I will return from this time refreshed, rested and ready to begin a new season in ministry in our church. I invite you to pray with me toward that end.
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If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. James 1:5
Every year, for fourteen years now, the elders of Renton Bible Church have gone to Camp Gilead in Carnation to seek God’s direction for our congregation. And every year, for fourteen years, God has shown up. It always amazes me…especially when I have little idea in advance how He might direct our time…the fact that He always does direct our time. It is a testament to the verse above, along with Jesus’ promise, “I will build my church.” It’s good to be reminded that it is HIS church…and He is the one who builds it. So, the question we are really asking each year is, “How is Jesus building in Renton Bible Church?” Behind this question is the acknowledgement that we don’t ask Jesus to merely bless what we are doing; we ask Jesus to help us see the part we should play in what He is doing! As we began to seek an answer to that question during our 24 hours away at the beginning of 2020, we were drawn to the great work God has been doing in and through the expansion of our building. Certainly, evidence of this great work is revealed in the visual of a newly completed sanctuary. Just before I sat down to write these words this Monday morning, I was blessed by the visual of the rising sun streaming across the face of our new entrance and upon the cross raised high for all to see. God even threw in a rainbow in the western sky for good measure! (God really does know how to chase away a case of the Mondays.) Yet, as beautiful as our new sanctuary is, more profound in our conversations this weekend was the spiritual impact this building has already had, before we’ve even begun to worship in the new space. Certainly, the steady flow of visitors, especially strong in recent months, has been an answer to our prayer to extend our kingdom outreach. Even more than the number of guests visiting has been the spiritual responses of newcomers resulting in baptisms, new believer discipleship and opportunities to proclaim, one-to-one, gospel truth. Of course, it isn’t just the building expansion, but certainly the expansion has increased our visibility enabling us to expand our impact for the Gospel of Christ. However, our conversation about what God is doing in our midst went beyond the Gospel impact on newcomers to the Gospel impact on those within our body. Something we have seen throughout the almost two years we’ve worked on this project has been the “side effect” of the increased sense of community this project has created. It’s really hard to “carry one another’s burdens” if we aren’t rubbing shoulders with each other. Daily working together for Kingdom purposes has had an inestimable impact on growth in spiritual fellowship (koinonia). Another tremendous “side effect” has simply been the way this project has called us to selfless and sacrificial service for a bigger story. Talk about a practical way to put into practice finding our part in the Story of God! I’ve shared a number of times how difficult it was for the city of Renton building department to conceive of a volunteer-led project of this size. Who could imagine men working for two years, five days a week, for free? Who could imagine men showing up every weekday, after a full day’s work, to put in extra hours of labor on a church? Who could imagine men and women giving up Saturday after Saturday…after Saturday, setting aside their own home projects and recreational pursuits, to advance the Kingdom of Christ?!? Yet is this not the model we see in Christ and the disciples? For three years, didn’t the disciples follow Jesus day by day for the sake of Kingdom work? Didn’t Jesus give up His throne to devote Himself day and night to preaching the Good News of the Kingdom? Many have raised the question, “what is going to happen when we are done with the expansion?” A corresponding question has been, “now that we’ve built it, how will we fill it?” And questions like these have driven us to yet another question, “what would happen if we turned this daily or weekly devotion to Kingdom work from a focus on physical building to spiritual building?” It seems radical, doesn’t it? The idea of a lifestyle of daily serving Jesus. The idea of daily pursuing opportunities to bless others in Christ’s name. The idea of daily asking God how He would use us that day. In a culture that says “seize the weekend,” encouraging an isolationist, self-absorbed pursuit of pleasure, the notion of asking anyone to daily take up our crosses and follow Jesus simply seems, well, unthinkable. But I wonder if this concept is really that radical in God’s eyes? Would you ask that question, with us? Would you join us in seeking to understand how we might maintain this momentum of self-sacrificially seeking kingdom interests after the building is done? I know…it’s big…it’s huge! But this is where your shepherds sense God leading us in 2020. We invite you to prayerfully join us in this quest! |
Dan GannonDan has ministered at Renton Bible Church, with his wife Debbie, since 2003. Archives
June 2022
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