Go out into the world...

“What are you doing here, Elijah?” Remember the context of that profound question. Elijah had been working hard combating the prophets of Baal, then went through a period of despair. Perhaps we could call that “burn out.” God led him to Mt. Horeb or Mt. Sinai where Moses had received the Ten Commandments. In symbolic terms, Elijah came back to the source — both to God and the place where the community was first shaped by the commandments. Then Elijah was confronted with the “WHY” question. Once Elijah had resolved that issue, he had energy for the future.

All that is background for suggesting that when you are experiencing your own version of PTSD or burnout, you need to probe the “WHY” question. You can take the first step through writing.

For the next several days, at least 6 days, set aside at least one-half hour and write in response to the question, “Why am I in the ministry?” Don’t try to create a perfect essay. Simply start writing and keep on writing for the entire half-hour. The next day, do it again, coming at it from a different perspective. For now, don’t look back at what you have written previously. What you are doing is pushing past the surface and probing the depth of your vocation or calling. It is alright to acknowledge the obvious. I need to pay the rent. I like helping people. But also come at it from your faith perspective as well. What is your understanding of God’s role in your life?

The second step is to read all that you have written for the past six days in one sitting. Make note of common themes, patterns, surprises, etc.

The third step is to try to articulate for a friend “why you are here?” Encourage the friend to probe you and raise questions as you go along.

Fourth, if God were standing with you at Mt. Horeb, after the earthquake, the wind, and the fire, what would God say to you in the silence about what God wants of you in the future.

To paraphrase Viktor Frankle, once you have a grasp on the why, you can endure almost any how. You will discover renewed energy for the journey.

Pause in the normal work of a presbytery meeting and ask people to spontaneously respond with a word of phrase to the question, “What makes a church different from other organizations in our society?” Collect 10 or 15 responses. Then change the question to “What is a special calling of elders in our churches?” Again, having recorded 10 to 15 responses of words of phrases, change the question again to, “What is unique about the call of clergy, CLPs and educators in our churches?”

The liturgist then takes the three lists and combines them into a litany of thanksgiving for our call as the Body of Christ. The lead in to each list might be something like, “Lord, we offer our praise and thanks that you have offered us the privilege of being a church. We hear our call to be: (list what you have heard about what makes the church different.) Then continue (perhaps with a different speaker) with “By your Spirit you have chosen elders to serve your church. We thank you for elders who are called to (read the list collected.) From out of the mystery of time, Lord, you have called as clergy and educators among us. They are called to (then offer the list.) Conclude with a singing the doxology.

Like Israel before us, it is important to remind ourselves that God has called us out as a light to the nations.

We are exploring how a presbytery might help her churches in remembering who they are as the called people of God. As I talk to different clergy, I’m always amazed at the unique ministries that they often are engaged in. One church I talked to had developed a ministry of collecting old furniture, reconditioning it, and providing it to families caught in disasters. Another very small church, less than 10 at worship, had chosen to respond on a regular basis to a program in their presbytery that fed hungry children in North Korea. A third developed their own version of a hospice ministry in a special building attached to their congregation. The list could go on.

I think there would be an affirming value in a presbytery regularly lifting up the special ministries of the churches in their region and celebrating it as liturgy, the work of the people lifted in praise to God. By asking churches to identify such ministries, it raises to their own consciousness some of the work that they are doing, and by celebrating it together, it binds the churches together as the one Body of Christ.

Another version of that would be to challenge each church to consider one special ministry that they feel called to explore. At different presbytery meetings, several churches could be asked to bring their ideas of a ministry and ask for prayers as they develop it. Having voiced their idea, others might have experiences that could help them. Again you would be building a sense of what makes us a called people of God.

As Israel was constantly learning, being set apart by God was less a reason for pride than of humble awe. It isn’t that God took a special people and rewarded them for their greatness. In fact Scripture is very clear that God took a “no-people” and made them into “God’s people.” (1 Peter 2:10) I note that because it is a humbling, not a prideful thing to recall that we are God’s people.

At a Presbytery meeting, take a few moments and ask elders and clergy to respond with a couple of sentences to the following question. What does it mean to say that elders or clergy are set apart by God for a special purpose? Have the clergy respond to that question about the call of elders and the elders with respect to clergy. Then have people group with people around them and share what they have written.

Then, while still in their small groups, have them prepare a group statement of what it means that their church has been called by God to be a witness in this larger world. After they have had a few moments to prepare, have a liturgist lead the gathered people in a litany in which each small group would share their statement and the whole people would respond with something like, “We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people.”

What you are doing is taking a sabbath moment for people to recall who and whose they are. It is one small step in helping the church to not be absorbed into the culture but to remember who they are.

I believe it was John Bright in his History of Israel who said that a major factor in preventing Israel from being absorbed into the various cultures during their exile was their practice of the Sabbath. Once every seven days they pulled out of their culture and reminded themselves who and whose they were. At one level they simply stopped producing and reminded themselves that they were more than what they produced. At another level, through prayers and worship, they reached out to God and reminded themselves that they were part of something larger than themselves. They also reconnected with the fact that though their circumstances seemed bleak, they were a people set aside by God for a special purpose.

I raise all of that because I think their is a lot of evidence that our faith is in danger of being absorbed into our culture. Both in ethics and in practice, it is increasingly difficult to distinguish a Christian from other members of our society. Even our clergy can be seduced into responding to the success models of our culture more than staying in contact with who called them and for what purpose.

Presbyteries could minister to their churches and clergy by occasionally having some Sabbath time that helped people reconnect with their identity as churches and clergy of those churches. That will be our theme for the rest of the week.