I’m not sure that I can put into words the joy and gratitude that I have for the job that I get to do. I love the church that pastor and I love the people that I get to serve alongside. I have told the Lord many times that I just can’t believe that I get to do what I get to do. Yes, pastoring is hard. But it’s joyful labor. And the church I pastor makes it that way.
Hard Times:
Through the years the Lord has allowed me to be with some of our people through very hard things. Suicide, the sudden loss of a loved one, losing a child or having a miscarriage, a bad health diagnosis, or a job loss is just a small sample of the kinds of things that have come my way. It hurts to hear what people go through in this Genesis 3 world. And it really hurts when you know that people you care about are going through those things. But…for me (and our other pastors would agree with me), I consider it the greatest honor in my life to go through these hard times with our people. I’m honored to stand with them in hard times.
My concern about a message like Sunday’s is that people will “not want to burden the pastor” with their hurts. I never want that to happen. All our pastors see it as an honor more than a burden to walk with you through life’s pains. Now, we would appreciate you not making those pains happen because of your sinful choices, but we’ll work with you through those as well. But when life hits…and it will…we eagerly and willingly want to serve you as a friend. It is a joyful labor!
Satan’s Tools:
In my studies last week, I was struck by how strongly John Calvin wrote about churches not paying their pastors appropriately. I didn’t have time in the sermon to develop this, but I thought I would put a couple of “heavy-hitting” quotes by Dr. Calvin here for you.
- “In this present verse, however, Paul is not thinking of himself. He speaks with the authority of God, so that the church should not be destitute of men who can faithfully teach. For from the very beginning the devil has sought by his wiles to starve good pastors, hoping that they would give up and that there would be very few who would actively proclaim God’s word.”
- “God, for His part, has sought to lessen the malice which Satan shows in wanting to starve ministers of God’s word, to put an end to teaching, to spoil and mar and unleash a flood of evil and so bring all to ruin. Our Lord, I say, took steps to forestall this wickedness. Yet, He also knew how thankless we are. For if the church did its duty willingly, it is certain that God would not press the point so hard.”
- “There have always been idol-worshipping priests who were fed and whose bellies were filled so that they sucked blood and marrow from men’s bones and robbed poor miserable souls. And men put up with it! Well then, they deserve to be eaten by these dogs and wolves when they ignore their debt to those whom God has sent to them and who bear the word of life and salvation.”
Ouch!
This Coming Sunday:
This week, we will overview 1 Timothy 6:1-10 as we look at how the God who cares.
From the Cheap Seats:
- The English Premier League came down to 5 minutes. Think about that…38 games, came down to the 5 minutes…Unreal. Here’s a video of that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl0X3xqOSqU.
- OSAA playoffs continue today (Wednesday):
- RHS won their 1st round game on Monday and heads to Clackamas today.
- South Umpqua hosts Scio today.
- UVC hosts Lakeview.
- Glide travels to Monroe.
- Full day around county baseball.
- UCC Riverhawks lost a 21-inning game on Sunday, 3-1 and then lost the second game (a normal 9-inning game), 7-4 to finish their season. But…21 innings?? 30 total innings. They played from 12:00 – 9:00 pm. That is a long day at the yard.
In Christ,
Dave York
