Tell him "thank you." Pray for him. And listen when he talks.
A living wage is nice. Sharing produce from your garden or meat from your butchering is helpful. Cards on the anniversary of his ordination (or his arrival at your congregation) and Christmas gifts are nice too. But ultimately those things are not the "one thing needful."
What your pastor needs even more than your material support is your EARS. He can live with a miniscule salary if necessary. He can live just fine without the cards of thanks or the anniversary gifts (although those things may very well be an outward indication of a person who was receptive ears). Be there when he preaches -- Sunday and midweek. Come willingly to Bible class. Ask your pastor to give you Jesus, Jesus, and more Jesus. Do not complain when he smites you with the Law, but say "amen" and thank him for that too. And then be there to receive more Jesus, more absolution, more forgiveness.
Your pastor can live without a lot of things. But he cannot remain a pastor without hearers. Maybe he should. Jeremiah did. Elijah did. But your pastor is weak too; he's human; he can only sacrifice so much.
And if you haven't lived in a parsonage, you cannot know how very much your desire to receive your pastor's word enables him to continue to sacrifice so that you might have it. Don't take his ministry for granted; if it is spurned, it may not always be there. The more you receive it now with joy and a thankful heart, the more likely that ministry of God's grace will continue to be there for you.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
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Thank you, Susan. This is well said and exactly right.
ReplyDeleteAnd in view of the fact that the ears which ought to hear do not always listen, Christ be praised that His preachers are not only given to preach, but are also spoken to. For the Father keeps speaking to us by His Son, even when we have failed to listen. And then there is the hearing that comes by the Word of Christ alone.
God bless you -- and Gary -- and your family -- in and with and by that Word of the Gospel which He continues to speak in mercy to you. Blessed are the ears that hear what you thereby hear. And blessed be the pastor whom God has sent to preach that Word to you.
It's a nebulous comfort- but remember Christ's words in John 3 "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
ReplyDeletePreaching does not return empty- it affects people in ways we can never understand or grasp. We may not see them. We may seemingly see exactly the opposite happening in fact. But Christ is present in that word. His will is being done.
That preached word has gone out- and it will change people. It will have effects weeks from now. Perhaps months- or even years from now. But it will accomplish God's purpose. In Heaven, you will see exactly how. It was for the good. Hard and thankless though it can be- Christ's Word works. It has worked- and it will continue to do things in people's lives well after you've forgotten what was said.
Jeff, I think the scary thing, though, is that sometimes God's word hardens hearts. I don't do well thinking about that.
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