“Ah,” I smiled. “I’m not really here to keep you from freaking out. I’m here to be with you while you freak out, or grieve or laugh or suffer or sing. It is a ministry of presence. It is showing up with a loving heart.”
— Kate Braestrup from Here If You Need Me: A True Story
Dear church family,
Over the past several weeks, I have been reflecting on our ministry together, which is now well into its third year. I’ve been thinking about what we’ve accomplished together: the new or revitalized ministries that have begun or are in the process of getting started, our beautiful and faithful worship, and the slow but steady gift of new faces in our church family. I’ve also been thinking about all that still needs to be done: growing our ministry with youth, reaching out more intentionally to our neighborhood, spreading out the responsibilities of the church more evenly so people don’t get burned out, and taking care of some building issues which have been deferred for way too long. Put together, it can produce a lot of anxiety!
And yet, in the midst of mulling over all these tasks and programs and “action items,” I’ve also been listening again and again to the Christmas story—the story of “God with us”—of Jesus who came to earth not with a “to-do” list, but with a “to-love” list. Jesus’ ministry, while it did have a clear mission statement and concrete objectives (read Luke 3:16-21), was first and foremost rooted in human relationships. People came to trust Jesus and the God who sent him because Jesus was a part of their lives. He didn’t have an office or a church building. He did preach, forgive sins, worship, and heal, but he went to where the people were. He ate with them, talked with them, and shared in their joys and sorrows. Jesus had a ministry of presence.
Kate Braestrup understood this concept. After losing her husband in a car accident, she pursued his dream of becoming a minister, and ended up serving as a prison chaplain. She encountered some of the most difficult and desperate situations you can imagine. But rather than get anxious or obsess over how to “fix” everyone’s problems, she understood her pastoral calling as “showing up with a loving heart.”
One of my goals this year is just that. Office hours at church are great, and I will still have them. But this year, I also want to begin having OFFICE HOURS ON-THE-ROAD. The reality is that many of you work during the day, or don’t live close to the church, and can’t simply “drop in” over your lunch hour the way you might have been able to a generation ago. So, rather than expect you to come to church, I want to bring church to you. I would love to come see where you work. I would love to meet you at your favorite place for lunch. I would love to meet you for coffee (or if its your preference, a beer) when you get out for the day. If I haven’t already been to your house, I’d love to come over for dinner.
I don’t just want to see you here on Sunday morning; I want to see what’s important to you in the rest of your world. I want to hear what your joys and concerns are and find out where you see God at work in your life. I can’t promise to fix all your problems; but I can promise to show up with a loving heart. And, in the process of listening to each other and growing in relationship, I have a feeling that the direction forward for us as a congregation will become clearer, and our anxieties will begin to melt away.
So check your calendar, pick a day, and let’s get together at your place. I think it’s what Jesus would have wanted.
Yours on the journey,
Jon Niketh +
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