“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.
1 Comment
Darryl Staszewski
3/5/2020 09:52:22 am
Prayers for you.
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Dan GannonDan has ministered at Renton Bible Church, with his wife Debbie, since 2003. Archives
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