Pastor Steve's Recent Weekly Letter
Pastor Steve's Weekly Letter for Thursday, May 23, 2019
“Hospitality in the Bible is not entertaining.” Bruce Waltke makes this point in his fine commentary on the Book of Genesis. In his discussion of the story of Joseph, Waltke observes that “Pharaoh and Joseph extend hospitality to Israel’s family and, as a result, rescue the family from famine.” As followers of Jesus, we show hospitality to people—both believers and nonbelievers—by inviting them into our lives or inviting ourselves into their lives. One of the key means of hospitality is inviting people to a meal, especially a meal in your home. If the thought of inviting a guest into your life seems like a stretch, well, it is! Waltke says: “Hospitality without the inner stretching of the heart becomes that inferior product called entertainment.” The point is, we should not shy away from inviting people into our home because it pushes us out of our comfort zone. It may stretch our generosity to make the financial sacrifice needed to feed another family. It may stretch our humility to invite someone to our home when their house is twice as large and three times more expensive. It may stretch our comfort level to think of conversation topics. But as Waltke says, “Christians show hospitality as their reasonable service to their Savior.”
So, I challenge you to practice hospitality this summer. Invite friends or neighbors over for a backyard BBQ or for dessert. Or invite them out to dinner. You can even take a meal to someone you know who could use it because they have a new baby or a busy week or an illness. Make a goal to do this twice this summer. That’s a good start to developing hospitality as a discipline. If we are going to share Christ’s love and gospel with people, we need to develop relationships with them. By the way, you don’t have to do this alone. Invite someone else from our church family (especially from your LIFE group) to join you. Think about the potential if the 200+ family units (individuals and families) in our church show hospitality to a couple families or individuals outside our church this summer. This could begin or continue relationships with over 400 families or individuals who need the gospel of Jesus!
Our church has a policy that allows our ministry staff members to take a sabbatical every five years. A sabbatical is not a vacation. Rather, it is an opportunity to step away from weekly leadership and administrative responsibilities for the purpose of personal renewal, personal enrichment, and extended study and prayer. The purpose is for staff members “to refill their own hearts and resources in order that they might continue in effective service to the Lord in this congregation” (from our Sabbatical Policy). This year, I am eligible for sabbatical, and I have received permission from the Elders to split it between this summer and next summer. First, I believe this will be less disruptive for our church. When any ministry staff member is gone for an extended time, it adds to the work load of other staff members and the church family in general. Second, I think a split sabbatical will help me accomplish my goals. Sometimes, pastors need sabbaticals in order to rest and decompress. That is not my need! Rather, I want to focus on reading, study, and planning. One of my goals is to prepare for our church’s focus next year (2020) on “The Story of the Bible.” Third, I’m in a post-graduate program in Biblical Hebrew through the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa, and I’d like to make progress on the dissertation I’m writing. This is my torturous form of continued learning! Seriously, I’m committed to growing in my understanding of Scripture, and this has been a great journey of learning more about how the Bible communicates. If we’re going to obey the Bible well, we have to read it well.
The plan is for me to take five weeks of sabbatical and then add a week of vacation at the beginning and one at the end. So, I will be gone from Sunday, June 30 through Sunday, August 11—a total of seven Sundays. I will be in the area for much of July, so you might see me occasionally in my office or at a worship service. I’m not trying to get away from you. I love our church family! I’m simply trying to concentrate on some projects that will either directly or indirectly benefit our church. My plan is to serve here for many more years, as the Lord and you allow me to do so. By the way, I’ll continue to write my Thursday letter so I can “keep in touch” with you throughout the sabbatical. Thank you for this privilege.
This Sunday, May 26, I will preach Ezekiel 35:1-36:15. The title of the sermon is: “Hope for People who Need Justice and Security.” On the family front, my granddaughter Gabriella (4) drew a picture last week of herself standing beside her cousin Miles (4). Then she announced to the family that the two of them are getting married. This may be news to Miles who has been seen hugging a little girl in his preschool. Thanks as always for taking the time to read this. I’ll see you on Sunday!