The Perfect Pastor

February 7, 2011

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Over the weekend I had a parishioner ask if I had ever seen the job description of “the perfect pastor” before.  I told him that I hadn’t…or at least didn’t ever remember seeing it.  So I asked him to send it my way.  His concern about just sending it right away is that I might actually take it seriously.  I assured him I wouldn’t.  Yet while I’m thankful for his concern, I can’t help but wonder if maybe…just maybe some other parishioners might be serious about this.  I’m pretty sure I’ve got a handful at Almond Valley.  The job description?  Here it is:

The Perfect Pastor

 ….The Perfect Pastor preaches exactly 10 minutes.  He condemns sin roundly, but never hurts anyone’s feelings.  He works from 8 a.m. until midnight.

….The Perfect Pastor makes $40 a week, wears good clothes, drives a good car, buys good books, and donates $30 a week back to the church.  He is 29 years old and has 40 years’ worth of experience.  Above all, he is handsome.

….The Perfect Pastor has a burning desire to work with teen-agers, and he spends most of his time with the senior citizens.  He smiles all the time with a straight face because he has a sense of humor that keeps him seriously dedicated to his church. He makes 15 home visits a day and is always in his office to be handy when needed.

….The Perfect Pastor always has time for the church council and all of it’s committees.  He never misses the meeting of any church organization, and is always busy evangelizing the unchurched.

….The Perfect Pastor is always in the church next door!

If your pastor does not measure up, simply send this notice to six other churches that are tired of their pastor too.  Then bundle up your pastor and send him to the church at the top of your list.  If everyone cooperates, in one week you will receive 1, 643 pastors.  One of them should be perfect.

 Whatever you do, don’t break the chain!  One church broke the chain and got its’ old pastor back in less than three weeks.

Epiphany begins today, January 6

January 6, 2011

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Today marks the beginning of a new season on the church calendar:  Epiphany.  It is the season Christians celebrate the revelation of the Savior, the light of the world.  I find it sometimes disheartening that for many in the Christian Reformed tradition we have to ask our children about which church season we are currently in.  Many CRC’s have a Children in Worship ministry where the young children leave during part of the worship service for a time of age-approriate worship.  They celebrate the church calendar more than the rest of the church. 

As part of my own devotional life, I’ve been practicing a discipline known as the Daily Office which happens to follow quite closely to the chruch calendar.  So this year I’m more attentive to these seasons which is why I am choosing to write a blog entry on this season–Epiphany–knowing that some of my friends and fellow church members might be as unaware as I have been of the church calendar.

Ephinay begins on January 6 and it is marked by several events and themes in the life of Jesus including the visit of the Magi, the baptism of Jesus, and the wedding feast at Cana (the beginning fo Jesus’ ministry through signs and wonders).  Each event helps us see just a little fuller picture of who Jesus was…and is.  This season (which some only celebrate for one week and call the rest of the season ordinary time) focuses on the minstiry of Jesus: the calling of the disciples, the teachings of Christ, his miracles, and finally his transfiguration.

Along the journey of this season we catch glimpses of the uniqueness of Christ.  We see that Jesus was more than simply a prophet or mere teacher–he is the Son of God…the Messiah!

With my mind wrapped around the missio dei (or, the mission of God) and related themes in my doctoral studies, I can’t help but catch the unmistakable missional bent to this season.  Jesus, the light of the world, calls us to let our light shine before others (Matthew 5:14-16).  The Magi followed a star to find him some 2000 years ago signaling the broad scope of Jesus’ mission where nations of the world would come to worship the King of kings and Lord of lords.  Epiphany calls us to live this missio dei…to proclaim the Good News of Christ’s arrival to every culture and to those living in the neighborhood as well.  We are to be those who reflect the light of Jesus to our family, or neighbors, our community, and around the globe.  That’s part of what it means to be the church–to be sent out as the manifestation of Jesus to a watching world. 

People are watching.  What message is your life communicating?

Upcoming Sermon Series

September 17, 2010

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I’ve continued working on a morning series on Heaven.  I’m very grateful for the many questions the members of Almond Valley have submitted via this blog, e-mail, and facebook.  Thank you!!!  I’ll be integrating many of those into the series.  It’s looking like about 5-6 messages starting on October 17.  This is a Sunday AM series that will take us through the first Sunday of Advent.

Beginning the second Sunday of Advent, I’ll be starting a series on the Gospel of Matthew which will take us through the Advent season, Christmas, and beyond.  I’ve heard a lot of interest in simply going through a book of the Bible from beginning to end and Matthew is a fantastic gospel to spend some good time in.  I also believe there are many missional connections in Matthew’s gospel which will allow me to share more with the congregation about what the journey toward missional life together might look like.

We’ve started a Sunday PM series on the Heidelberg Catechism that we will continue at least through October (this will take us at least through Part I of the HC).  We will break away from it for November & December and return to in in the new year.  There is another series I’ve got in the works for November/December that will help us look at the BIG PICTURE of the story of the Bible.  It’s well worth the attention (and attendance) of a morning series but is more of a teaching type of series so it fits better in the evening.   I hope it will draw out a few extra folks at least for that series of evening messages.

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