Synod Emphasis
“Jesus Bestows Gifts—Let Us Use Them” Meditating on how we can use our gifts to show appreciation to our pastor
By Sam James I
call” comes in. There has been a death at The Oaks, the nursing home up the street. It is time to wake up the best you can, get dressed in your Sunday best and head to the funeral home to pick up a vehicle and there he is outside the door of that room. He is that kind of minister. He has been with the family since they called him at 7 and said she was transitioning. “Steve, it does not matter what time of day or night it is… you are always here.” Steve replies, “I just love this family.” This family loves him too. As a funeral director, I work with every pastor in town. There are those, like Steve, who truly have the heart of a pastor. They are good visi- tors. They are listeners. They give wise counsel. They are never in a hurry. They are excellent preachers and teachers. They deeply care about those God has called them to serve. Then there are others—I am sure not in the A.R.P. Church—but some that you just look at and think “Some God called and some just went.” Perhaps they just have a different view of ministry than the “Steve” types. When they get the call at 7 PM, they are bothered that they have been called. They certainly will not be there at 2
8
AM. When it comes time to do the funeral, they are more concerned with their scheduled pedicure and how large the honorarium will be. True stories.
So let’s take out the latter. Let’s assume and trust that we are in a great church with a great pas- tor – who has been called and has the heart of a pastor. How do we appreciate those that are pour- ing their lives into what God has told in Romans 12 that as a mem- ber of the church we each have gifts and are to use them “according to the grace given us.” We see Paul give a list of gifts—encouraging,
The Associate Reformed Presbyterian
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