Ministry Stress

“What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19: 9 and 13)

In past issues of Praise & Prayer News I have emphasised the importance of caring for those who carry the burden of pastoral leadership in our churches.  They are usually a church’s greatest asset, but often more care is taken of the building than of the pastor.

All of us experience degrees of stress.  Some stress can be valuable. Other aspects of stress can be debilitating or worse.  Those of us in ministry must be watchful for the signs when stress is building to serious levels.  Ignoring it can be disastrous. Those of us who are part of a church but not carrying the burden of leadership, should ensure that those who do are well supported and given sufficient time for physical, mental and spiritual refreshment.

Some years ago, a Christian friend commented deridingly about the concept of full time ministry.   He pointed out that he had to hold down a full time job, carry domestic responsibilities and also attend church services.  “Surely”, he implied, “that was just as demanding as the pastor’s role!” But while going to church on Sunday is one thing for a member of a congregation, but quite another for the one for whom it is another work day, especially in a week of workdays.

Leadership is often described as a lonely position.  It is just as true in Christian ministry as in other aspects.  In fact it sometimes carries additional stress where the hours of loving service seem to be unappreciated and often criticised.  It would take a fool to go into Christian leadership without a strong conviction that this is a call from God. Those who take on such a responsibility do so often with unhealthy, or potentially unhealthy expectations.  In addition to their own expectations of themselves, there are those of their congregation, in rural contexts there are the expectations of the wider community, the expectations of family and friends, and for those in hierarchical denominations: the expectations of their seniors.  All such expectations generate stress.

Have you ever wondered why Elijah, one moment full of courage, suddenly ran away? Or why Moses lost it at Meribah, striking the rock twice in frustration when what he should have done was to speak to it?  Or what made Peter, who hours before had protested his dying loyalty to Jesus, declare that he never knew him? Each indicates a degree of stress that made a man act uncharacteristically. Such incidents seem to spoil an otherwise exemplary man of God.  While we can explain aberrative behaviour as being because they were only human, to fail to discern the causation is to miss an important lesson. Faced with the sudden threat of a painful death, or weariness with the conduct of others, or shear exhaustion, stress levels can suddenly reach breaking point.

As a carer, I know that when I am worn out and when the person being cared for, because of her medical condition, behaves in a frustrating way, I find it harder to cope and understand why some don’t.  As a pastor I once lost it with an elderly and demanding woman who failed to appreciate the selfless sacrifices her loving husband made day after day. I was bringing her home from the hospital where her GP had sent her to give her worn out husband a short break, when she started telling me how selfish her husband was. I stopped the car and informed her in a loud voice that she was the most selfish person I had ever met and that I was disappointed and disgusted with her.  Immediately, I was filled with guilt at my loss of control. But she was far more considerate after that, and when she reminded me of my extreme behaviour afterwards, it was usually with some humour in her voice.

Months of pent up stress caused by her behaviour and contained by my own expectations of how a loving pastor should behave, had finally given way.  Looking back, I think it was actually one of my better moments as a pastor, for her and her husband’s sake, and probably my own. Afterwards, she and I had a far better relationship, as I refused to back down from what I had said to her.

Realising that stress allowed to build up can have serious consequences should make us careful to manage our stress levels.  If I listen to my kettle when boiling water for tea, I know precisely what stage it is at many seconds before it boils. So watch out for the signals of aberrative behaviour such as a loss of control of your thought life or unusual bad language.If you spot it, and know what is causing the stress, take appropriate action.

Good Christian leaders will always live with a degree of manageable stress, but it needs to be managed.  Those of us who are or who want to be beneficiaries of their leadership should take care not to become a cause of unnecessary stress.  A few kind words or a loving act from you might save someone from following the examples of Moses, Elijah and Peter. After all “We’re only human!”

Barry Osborne 28 July 2019

More than "One Small Step"

Over the past week or so we have heard repeated many times the words of Neil Armstrong, “One small step for man; one giant leap for mankind”.  Apart from being mildly irritated by its being oft repeated, I have found myself pondering on these words.

Perhaps what was in mind was that final step from the ladder.  That was indeed a small step for a man to take, though its global significance should not be underrated.  However, that small step was merely a moment in a journey that was anything but a “small step”. Three astronauts had left earth approximately four days and 12 hours before that “one small step”.  They had travelled more than 240,000 miles from the comfort of their homes. In both the lead up and the journey itself they would have also been on a mental and emotional journey. The phrase, “one small step” is an understatement.

Behind that one moment in history were years of education and training, and the development of personalities marked by the kind of courage that enables you to leave earth on a journey that carried enormous risks.  It is also good to remember that it was not only the journey that was significant. There was a scientific purpose, and projects to undertake once they had arrived. Perhaps we should also take a moment to reflect on the emotional cost to their loved ones who had let them go.

But all this focus celebrating a significant moment fifty years ago, also makes me think about that one giant leap for the Son of God who left heaven for earth around 2,000 years ago.  If not before, the final three years of his earthly life were marked by the awareness of what that mission was for. There was an unspeakable event behind the purpose for that journey: a price to be paid to obtain redemption for all mankind.  While I have been enthralled by the Apollo 11 story once again, the journey to bring me salvation has certainly eclipsed it.

Similar to the reaction of many to the words “The eagle has landed”, all heaven could not contain its wonder as a little baby boy took his first breath.  Some thirty three years later, it was “Mission accomplished”.

So for me lift off, the eagle has landed, one small step are words that have made me pause and wonder afresh at the love that drew up this greater plan, and the love and courage that carried it out despite the risks.

Barry Osborne - 21st July 2019

I Can Only Pray

“I Can Only Pray”

The Bible reveals that God calls and equips all Christians to share in his mission.  Some seem to have very special and noticeable gifts, but we all have a special part in God’s plans.  Occasionally I meet a Christian who, because of age or infirmity tells me that they can only pray. That makes we wonder whether we underrate the importance of intercessory prayer.

As I look back over many years of ministry in both evangelism and Bible teaching, I know that where there has been the greatest blessing is where there has been earnest prayer.  That cannot be coincidence. John Wesley once said, “God does nothing but in answer to prayer”. That echoes the word we find in James, “You do not have because you do not ask God.” James 4:2  Charles Haddon Spurgeon is said to have always had  a small group of men praying in the room below his pulpit.

Recently,in one of the Bible Study sessions in the prison where I work as a part time voluntary chaplain, we studies Colossians chapter 4 which contains some significant verses on prayer.

Firstly, he exhorts them to pray with vigilance and thanksgiving.  There is a need to be spiritually watchful; that is to be ready to be alerted to pray.  But our prayers should also be thankful. Jesus once prayed publicly and thanked his Father that he always heard him. When we are in a difficult situation that drives us to pray, we do not pray as those who are impoverished but as those made rich by the promises of God.  But Paul urges the Christians at Colosse to devote themselves or to persevere in such praying.

Secondly, he asks prayer for himself and those with him that a door might be opened for their message.  It is unclear as to whether behind this prayer is the hope of being released from prison, where he was at that time.  Writing to the Christians in Rome, Paul explains that he was having a fruitful ministry within the place where he was confined.  But Paul’s concern here is not for his own release and welfare but that the word of the gospel would be released from confinement.

Thirdly, he asks for prayer that he might proclaim God’s word clearly, or make it known.  It is not enough to have the opportunity to preach the gospel; we need to make the message clear and plain.

But Paul has not finished with the topic of prayer, and presents us with an extraordinary example of praying.  It was probably Epaphras who, having heard the gospel in Ephesus, took the same message to the Colossians, and possibly other nearby towns.  Paul describes him as wrestling in prayer. The word translated wrestling also implies striving for an outcome or prize. There is nothing casual about this man’s prayer life.  The word translated in the NIV as “wrestling” is elsewhere translated as “labouring”. It comes from a Greek word from which we get the sense of agonizing. His prayer is for the members of the church from which he has come to visit Paul, that they would stand firm in all the will of God, both mature and fully assured.  This may have been because there were some whose ministry undermined the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice for sin and who were adding aspects of law to the gospel of grace. Here then is a model of praying for the fellow members of our own churches.

Paul not only draws his letter towards a close with this emphasis on prayer, he also wrote about this topic as the letter opens.  For he too was a man of prayer. He prayed constantly for this church he had never visited. Incarcerated and unable to get out to preach and teach, he does what he can.  He writes letters for encouragement to churches, and he prays. But I cannot imagine Paul saying that he could only pray.  If your circumstances limit your opportunities, please grasp the amazing potential of prayer.  What might seem to restrict you could be an opening to an important ministry.

Barry Osborne - 11 May 2019.

Aspiration

I wonder what your attitude is to hymns and songs is these days.  Many lament the loss of old hymns that are rich in scripture and doctrine.  Some grumble that there is too much emphasis on subjective personal experience rather than being about God. Some delight in the newer songs and in setting old words to new snappy tunes,  We will certainly not all agree.  As I have written on other occasions I find delight in some newer hymns and songs as well as in some older 'traditional' hymns.  What does annoy me is the slavish sticking with old English when some sensible modest adjustment to the language would make older hymns more accessible for those who have not grown up with that language.

Over the years I have used various hymn books, but count myself extremely fortunate to have been introduced to the 1955 revised edition of Redemption Hymnal.  This collection was originally published in 1951 to serve the growing number of Pentecostal churches at that time.  However, you should not run away with the idea that it would therefore be full of 'happy clappy' hymns.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  There are a reasonable number of joyful songs including Philip Doddridge's "O happy day".  Doddridge was a Congregational contemporary of Charles Wesley and continued the hymn revolution begun by the earlier Congregationalist, Isaac Watts, whose hymns have found their way as favourites across the denominations.

But alongside joyful celebrations of faith in the Redemption Hymnal there are to be found many profound hymns that reflect the deep faith and biblical knowledge of the Pentecostals that preceded the later charismatic movement.  It is extraordinary that it was their very longing for more of God that brought an experience of the baptism of the Holy Spirit that led to many being expelled from historic denominations in the first half of the 20th century.

In the 800 hymns that make up the Redemption Hymnal there are some 18 hymns within a section entitled "Aspiration" which is followed by a similar number under the title of "Communion" (not specifically about breaking of bread or Eucharist for which there is another excellent selection elsewhere in the book),  I deeply lament the gathering of hymns in alphabetical sections in newer books.  When planning a service the thematic collection of hymns made intelligent selection easier for both ministers, and for members of the congregation where open worship was practised,

I was introduced to this hymn book around 1966 and we used it in the church where I served my first pastorate in 1968 to 1989.  For me, this treasury has proved a wonderful aid to personal devotion to Christ.  Each hymn is headed by a simple scripture quotation and reference, so that it is possible to move between Bible reading and hymns in a way that causes my heart to overflow in its extravagance.

On a few previous occasions, I have used Praise and Prayer News to share favourite hymns (old and new) that have special meaning to me.  Today, during some moments of prayerfulness, a verse from a hymn by Ian Macpherson, one time Principal of the Welsh Apostolic College.  Immediately, various biblical concepts began flooding my mind and overflowing into my heart.  Despite its use of 'Thees and Thous' the words of this hymn are treasured by me and I recall singing them in the past during services devoted to worship.

If I but knew Thee as Thou art O loveliness unknown;
With what desire, O Lord, my heart would claim Thee for its own.

Thy glory would my shame conceal, Thy purity my dross;
I should rejoice with Thee to feel the sorrow of the cross.

But I am dull and blind, O Lord, unapt of Thee to learn;
Thee I but dimly in Thy word as in a glass discern.

With faith's warm finger through the veil I seek to touch Thy hand;
I feel the imprint of the nail, and partly understand.

But, ah, my lonely spirit tires of knowing Thee in part.
O Jesus, how my soul desires to see Thee as Thou art.

I especially love that fourth verse.  The hymn evokes reflections on Moses who longed to see the glory of God (Exod. 33:18), of the Greeks who wanted to see Jesus (John 12: 20-22), of the disciples on the mount of transfiguration (Luke 9:28 -36) , of their desire to see the Father (John 14:8), and Paul's longing to know Jesus (Philippians 3:7-11).

The hymn is set to a perfect tune attributed to Anon.  You may have your own favourite aspirational hymn.  Do let me know or, if you are reading this on the blog, add a comment.

Barry Osborne 28th April 2019

Family Squabbles

Bible Reading:  Luke 10: 38 - 42  At the home of Martha and Mary

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’

‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed – or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’

Commentary

Only Luke records this incident, and I wonder what he wanted us to learn from it.  As far as we know, this is the first time that Jesus visited the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus.  Martha and Mary seem to be contrasting personalities, and we sometimes use them today. Some people consider themselves more of a Mary than a Martha.  

Question:  What do they mean by that?

Others, think of themselves as more of a Martha than a Mary.

Question:  What do they mean by that?

Martha seems to be a doer.  She seeks to serve Jesus by what she does.  Her sister shows her devotion by wanting to be still and listen to what Jesus has to say.

Take a moment to discuss who thinks they are more like Martha than Mary?

Question:  In what ways do Christians show their faith actively like Martha and in what ways do Christians show their faith reflectively like Mary?

We notice that it is Martha who has invited Jesus into their home.  We do not know how she has learned about Jesus. She might have heard him on one occasion.  Or she might only have heard about him. But as he passes by their home she grasps the opportunity to get to know him more.

Question:  What do you think she was thinking as she invited an important person into her home?  How do you feel when you have a surprise guest turn up at your home?

Luke uses the phrase “Opened her home to him”.  We might have visitors to whom we might say, “Make yourself at home”.  But do we really mean that?  Do we mean that they can go where they like and sit wherever they might want to, or possibly rearrange things in our home, as if it was their own?  

Question: Do you have rooms or cupboards you would hope visitors would not see?  If we have invited Jesus into our lives, does that mean he has access to every part of our lives, and can make changes?

It seems that Martha sets about preparing a meal for Jesus and possibly everyone else.  Eastern hospitality is different to our. There would be no progression through courses.  Nor would they offer just a few biscuits or a cake with a drink. It is normal to be generous and a range of different food, some sweet and some savoury will be presented at the same time.

Can you imagine Martha hunting through cupboards for special treats she had set by, or looking for the ingredients to make something tasty?  Is there something special in or from your kitchen that you like to give to guests?

Question:  What have we got that we can offer to Jesus?

While Martha is frantically trying to get everything just right, finding lots of tasty food and perhaps in a bit of a panic, her sister is simply sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to what he has to say.  

Question: Was this only for her own benefit, or is listening to what Jesus has to say also for his benefit?  How can we benefit from the words of Jesus today? In what ways might this also benefit Jesus?

It is probable that as Martha is flustered by all she is trying to do, she begins to resent her sister’s apparent idleness.  She breaks into what Jesus is doing and demands that he tells Mary to come and help her. To me, her attitude seems rather rude and demanding.

Question:  Could there be times when we have an agenda and want God to fit in with our plans, without considering what he would rather be doing in our lives and in our church?

Jesus responds by gently and kindly admonishing Martha.  He points out that what she is trying to do for him is making her worried and upset.  Sometimes, our desires to do things for God also become burdensome, worrying and distressing.

Question:  In such situations what might we hear Jesus say to us?

Finally, Jesus states that only one this is really necessary.  Mary has chosen what is better.

Question:  In what way do you think this was better?

AFTERTHOUGHT:  We are all different kinds of people but God loves us all.  In John 12 we read of a later incident. Read John 12:1-3. We find Mary offering costly devotion, Martha busy serving, and Lazarus, now raised from the dead sitting there.  Each could be said to be doing their thing for Jesus?  Whatever our personality, we can use who we are in his service.

In John 11:5 we read: “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.”  It is good to know that Jesus loves us, but he also loves others just as much!

Effervescent Faith

Thirty years ago, together with my wife and my colleague, Monica Cook, I started Sunrise Ministries (Rural Sunrise), now known as Rural Mission Solutions.  Over the years since then we have tried to help rural churches to be more missional. This was a logical objective since, with 12.5 million people in the rural areas, there are insufficient mission agencies but plenty of rural churches that could re-evangelise the rural communities of the UK.  But in 30 years we have barely scratched the surface.

The problem is that in the vast majority of village churches in the UK no one is excitedly sharing their faith with others. No matter what good ideas and programmes we promote through RMS, the bottom line is that people must be sufficiently thrilled with their faith in Jesus to not only want to tell others, but almost find they cannot help from doing so.

From my earliest days as a committed Christian, Acts 11: 19-21 has been a favourite passage. Luke, in writing his account of the early Christians introduces us the the church at Antioch (Syria) and the amazing missionary work that went on from that church, by explaining how the gospel reached Antioch.

The persecution of Christians in Jerusalem after the stoning of Stephen, caused them to be scattered over a large area. But wherever they went they told the story of Jesus. While this was usually focused on speaking to Jews, some from northern Africa and Cyprus also told the story to gentiles. As a result, a great number of people in this, the third most significant city in the Roman Empire, turned to Jesus Christ. An exciting cosmopolitan church was established and the second half of the Acts of the Apostles largely records what happened in and from there. The Christians from Cyrene and Cyprus had an effervescent faith.

Effervescence is what happens when trapped gas in liquids can no longer be contained and bubbles over. You may have experienced it when opening a bottle of lemonade or champagne. The energy is such that it carries with it some of the content in which it was contained. Success in sport is often celebrated by deliberately shaking bottles and releasing a soaking stream of champagne.

So, the burning question this week is, “Have we lost our fizz?”. Have we become “still water” Christians? Writing to the Christians at Philippi, Paul states that one of the characteristics defining Christians is that we boast (or glory, joy, rejoice) in Christ Jesus. To me that describes effervescent faith. If we have realised that the Almighty God loves us, and that because of that love Jesus died for us taking our guilt upon himself, we should be thrilled. It should be impossible to keep it bottled up.

It intrigued me that one of the places that Christians had travelled from to talk about what Jesus meant to them in Antioch, was Cyrene. I wonder whether Simon, who was obliged to carry the cross for Jesus, had been involved in living out the faith in his home city. We sometimes speak of being touched by the cross, but here was a man for whom it was an actual experience. Have you been touched by the cross? Has it left a mark in your life? Once faith has been combined with the power of the Holy Spirit it always puts a fizz into our witnessing for Jesus.

The good news for still water Christians is that God is able make us effervescent. Clearly, what made the early Christians effervescent was the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. According to Peter on the Day of Pentecost, what had turned him into a bold witness for Jesus, is promised for all whom the Lord will call - even to our generation.

The task of reaching the world for Jesus will not be done by merely praying and asking God to do for us what he has asked us to do for him. It will not be achieved by faithful attendance at church, or even giving out the hymn books on Sunday mornings. It will only happen when ordinary Christians like you and me get excited about the gospel and filled with the Holy Spirit. If that happens there will be a serious risk of bubbling over with joy and irrepressibly sharing our faith with others.

Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me.
Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me.
Fill me anew. Fill me anew.
Spirit of the Lord, fall afresh on me.

Amen.  Barry Osborne 15th March 2019

Refusing the easy way

No doubt, entering the season of Lent will have provided you with the opportunity to reflect on the significance of the temptations of Jesus as he fasted in the wilderness.  Luke tells us that Jesus was tempted over the 40 days, while Matthew presents the temptations as coming at the end of his period of fasting. Both record the same temptations, and the responses that Jesus gave to them.  Both of the gospels record that it was the Holy Spirit that led Jesus into the wilderness, with Matthew telling us that the purpose he was so led was so that he could be tempted or tested by the devil.

I have found myself pondering on the significance that this experience had followed the moment where Jesus had been baptised and when God the Father had declared Jesus to be his Son.  We know almost nothing of the life of Jesus during childhood and early adulthood. Drawing on Scripture, early Christians defined Jesus as being both fully human and fully God. Luke’s account of the 12 year old Jesus suggests some awareness of his nature, but we also get a clear suggestion of the development of the human aspect of his unique nature.  We know that he had to learn obedience, and would have shared in the religious life of his family, and probably the family business. Prior to his baptism, could any self-awareness have not been fully formed?

We are also left to wonder exactly what was the significance of the Holy Spirit coming upon him at his baptism.  How much, I wonder, did those weeks in the wilderness have to do with deepening his understanding of who he was and what was his mission.  Jesus had to be fully human in order to die on the cross and to become the atoning sacrifice that John the Baptist suggested when he described Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”.  

As fully divine he was able to rise from the dead as victor over sin and death. As fully human, he was vulnerable to temptations to use his power to satisfy his hunger, to act in a superior way,, or to take an easy route to reigning over human affairs.  His faithful resistance in the wilderness finds an echo in the Garden of Gethsemane, and the endurance of the cross.

It seems to me probable that there were costs that Jesus willingly paid throughout his earthly ministry, and the trials in the wilderness as that ministry began were just part of price of being our Saviour.  What a contrast to our own commitment and all too prevalent easy believism that characterises far too much of western Christian life today.

Doreen and I have been reading through 1 and 2 Samuel recently and I was struck by the account of David refusing a generous gift of land and materials for a sacrifice (see 2 Samuel 24: 18-25).  Gad, a prophet, had shown Davis he was to build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.  But when Araunah discovers why David had come to him, he offered to supply oxem and timber for the offering.  David responds, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”  He declined the east way.

It is not a sacrifice if it has cost us nothing.  Far from an irrelevant thought as we enter Lent which might bring a challenge of self-denial.  Paul reminds us that in the light of all that Jesus endured for us, we should surrender our bodies to be a living sacrifice to God as an act of worship.  Two hundred and fifty years ago, Frances Ridley Havergal sets out the price of true surrender of our lives to God in following Jesus:

Take my life, and let it be

Consecrated Lord, to Thee.

Take my moments and my days.

Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my love. My Lord, I pour

At They feet its treasure store.

Take myself, and I will be

Ever, only, all for Thee.

That’s deliberately refusing the easy way.

Dear God, help me to show that I am serious in worshipping you and to resist the temptation to take the easy path, rather than the path you have set for my feet.  Amen.

Barry Osborne 10th March 2019.