Skip to main content

What Do Pastors Do All Week?


I would like to give you an insider's look at what pastors do during the week. I really would. It actually pains me not to be able to do so. Alas, I cannot. 

You might wonder why. That I can share. If I were to tell you the secrets of Monday through Saturday as lived by a pastor, then I wouldn't be honored to hear the skepticism is people's voices asking what we do all week, as if the week is just one long hop from communion-filled clouds to soft mounds of Bibles. 

I'm not complaining because I know you can relate. You have each had 40+ hour work weeks. There are many weeks where you wonder if you can continue to drag your body in and out and about. Then you have those weeks. You know the kind; where big deadlines approach or the corporate heads decide to make an appearance. (If anyone shows this to the superintendent, I obviously don't mean him.) 

Easter, which we just celebrated last week, can be that kind of week for pastors. From helping to organize all the special music pieces, to planning extra services (on top of the regular services), to making sure the sound system doesn't pick this week to die (that's another story), the extras can pile up. 

It's a special week. And it deserves the special attention we give it. But have you ever noticed something? Even after we celebrate Easter together, we all come back the next week expecting more. So, eve as we plan Easter, we have to look beyond. We must keep planning ahead. 

Deep breaths.

Rather than eternally filling our cups, Easter should give us a hunger for more. Honestly, every Sunday should accomplish this. I remember, when the kids were younger and more easily fooled, they would wake up and proclaim their hunger for breakfast. I'd protest, 'We just fed you yesterday! Do you mean we have to do it again?!?' Their quizzical looks would turn to smiles as they realized that their parents had, in fact, planned ahead for more than one day's worth of meals. 

What do pastors do during the week? Among other things, we plan ahead. We look forward. We dream of what will be. Easter fills us with visions of what could be, as every Sunday is a celebration of our resurrected Savior. Each week is a continual reminder of the price which was paid on our behalf, a debt cancelled and sealed with a gift. When we view each week this way, what could be viewed as a burden is seen as a blessing. 

Yes, we look forward. We hope you do as well. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Accountable

I recently officiated a wedding. The ceremony was simple, lovely, and ended with another couple professing to keep the covenant of marriage. But it all started with a clarification...from me. At our first premarital counseling session, as I have done with every couple I have agreed to marry, I clarified a couple of matters. First, I officiate Christian weddings, where both spouses-to-be are professing Christians. I firmly believe that marriage is difficult enough, without adding disagreements about God into the mix. Second, as a minister of Jesus Christ, I believe the pastor’s role in a wedding is to represent the blessing of God on that union. So we have several sessions of premarital counseling where we discuss married life. It’s not that I have this imaginary card in my head, with a picture of me on the front and my stats on the back. (You know, like a baseball card.) Ok, I do picture cards. Pastor cards! And being a competitive guy, I want my stats to look good. The number of coupl
Post a Comment
Read more

Patience

I am more than halfway through the last year of dropping one of my children off at school. It's my eighth grade daughter, for anyone keeping track of my family.  See, next year she will be at the high school, and her brother will drive her. He says that it's not cool for seniors to drive their freshman sister to school, but I bet it's cooler than being dropped off by your mom in a minivan.  So rather than groan about this daily responsibility, I've been reminiscing about what the drop-off line used to look like, way back in elementary school. Once our children were about halfway through their elementary years, the drop-off line became a test of patience.  Do you know which group you do not want to get caught behind in the parent drop-off line at an elementary school? The kindergartners. These little ones are barely able to walk, but now we put them in the high-pressure situation of trying to unbuckle their seat-belt, grab their backpack (which might be as tall as they a
Post a Comment
Read more

Jury Duty

I was recently summoned to jury duty. I know, groan. Except I didn't. I had never experienced it before and was curious to see what it was like.   When the day to report arrives, they separate you into groups, asking various questions to decide if you will be selected to serve. Do you know the accused? Do you have conflicts that would keep you from serving? Can you stay focused?  I wanted to answer well, if only because my kids kept wishing me luck the day before, telling me they hoped I made the team. After all, who wants to be rejected? It occurred to me that there are things you probably shouldn’t say right away if you’re wanting to serve on a jury. I know, I know, people don’t typically want to serve on a jury. But that list didn’t seem nearly as humorous to me. Here are the things you probably shouldn’t say if you want to be selected for jury. I hold myself in contempt. You can’t handle the truth. We find the defendant guilty. I believe the judge looks pretty in his robe. I’d
Post a Comment
Read more