While my vocation does not rest in the pastorate just now, I have many dear friends who are in the trenches. They serve churches all over the country, large and small, in various denominations. Many are bi-vocational - some even appointed to part-time dual charges all the while working full-time secular jobs. "Part-time" being a delusion, for no matter the size of the congregation, there is no such thing as a part-time pastor. They celebrate births, weddings, baptisms, graduations and so much more. They provide comfort beside hospital beds and caskets. They laugh and cry with their flocks and lead them to Jesus week after week after week. They pray for you and they pray for themselves. Somehow, they still manage to greet you with a smile even on the worst of days. And we have had a string of those lately. Tales of impending doom have tossed this world in to deep waters - we are in uncharted territory. In times like these, we look to our pastors more than ever. What do we do with this? How will we get through this? Where is God in this? If they're honest, the very same questions are running through their heads, too. While they don't have all the answers, I've been watching their responses. Here's what I'm seeing:
Almost all have heeded the advice of medical experts and cancelled activities. But they have not barred the doors and headed for the hills. Oh, no. They have put on their Sunday best and preached powerful sermons - the sanctuaries virtually empty, their congregants scattered throughout living rooms all across town. They have recorded daily devotions and prayer times from their dens and porches. They are teaching children's Sunday school lessons from their church offices. They have offered comfort and encouragement by playing the piano and singing to us from abandoned choir lofts. They are reading aloud online from classic books - C.S. Lewis, J.R.R Tolkien - children's favorites and, of course, the sacred words of Scripture. They are coordinating the delivery of meals from shuttered restaurants to at-risk children who are out of school and missing the sustenance they depend on. They are checking on the elderly and homeless population - delivering groceries, delivering hope. In an act of profound faith and love, a pastor nearby traveled the roads of his small rural town today, anointing mailboxes and door posts with oil - symbolic of the Holy Spirit - praying for healing and protection in his community, as his own daughter tries desperately to get home from a student exchange program abroad. They are not immune to the gravity of the situation. They shop at empty-shelved-stores, too, and their loved ones are facing the loss of wages or labor in harm's way as medical professionals. They have school children who are displaced from their classrooms and elderly parents who are vulnerable and afraid. They are not perfect, but they are not backing down from their call to preach the Word. The consistent message for us - and for themselves - this resounding declaration: Do not fear! God is with us! And it is exactly what we need to hear.
So, from this grateful former-pastor-still-a-pastor-at-heart, thank you. When this trial passes and we look back, we will remember the light you shined into the darkness - even when your own hands were shaking. While you are praying for us, know that we are praying for you. That's the way it works. And all the people said... Selah. Or amen, if you prefer.
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