AOCM

Thinking of Giving Up?

Revd Simon Manchester is Rector of St Thomas’s Church, North Sydney, having served one of his curacies in London.

The night I was inducted into my first church as ‘Rector’ the preacher spoke on 2 Timothy 4:5 so my dear wife cross-stitched it to hang on my wall - “As for you be steady, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, finish your ministry” (RSV). It still hangs. This was the hot, hard Western Suburbs of Sydney and the next morning I woke to find the church had been broken into and a clothing bin on the property set on fire. I remember thinking (this was 1985) that the spiritual battle was real and this was a small sign of it. But the next five years really wore me down and nearly out.

There were fine people in the church and it didn’t occur to me that they were as keen to know if I loved them as they were to know if I preached usefully. I was full of ideas and assumed that everyone would appreciate a new broom in the place - much of the friendships’ durability was due to their patience. And how green we are when we begin and the first person calls to say they are stopping their ministry - we feel it personally and it seems like a betrayal. I was not secure enough in the gospel to cope with a lot of the disappointments and setbacks and I’m not even sure I was enjoying the Christian life. In the five years of that first incumbency it was hard work, calling for keen discipleship and I suspect pastor and people were wearing down together.

I don’t remember more than one person becoming a Christian - and she was led to Christ by a fine assistant - and when two families were shattered by adultery between them, the small church was devastated by discouragement. Visiting people with husband out of work, depressed wife and sick or (sometimes) dysfunctional kids was a nightmare - what to say about Christian serving and witnessing in that context? And then there are the deeply painful times with elders, lay people and staff to keep us awake at night - humble and prayerful.

Have you noticed that the people who write the best articles on ‘courageous ministry’ or ‘competent ministry’ are usually well free of that struggling small church ministry? I know of no easy answers to the hard areas of pagan Sydney and I am told that large numbers of ministers are on anti-depressants. But there are blessings from God for ministers that cannot be denied and can outweigh the burdens so let me hasten to describe them!

Set free?

I heard recently that many of the great Puritan pastors - whose books and ministries are now rightly revered - worked with congregations of between sixty and one hundred and twenty people. They loved their Lord and they served their people - without the pressure from somewhere (!) to be successful numerically. I’ve no doubt they witnessed where they could, prayed for their people and trusted God with the rest - but what a liberating piece of information! Is it possible that being faithful and joyful and working with a church of sixty to one hundred and twenty or less is compatible? It is! That kind of detail when absorbed and believed is capable of huge encouragement.

Then in my second incumbency (where I serve at present) I was transformed by grace - to borrow the title of the book by Jerry Bridges - and I can’t properly express the significance of this for ministry. Most of us know how to explain grace to an unbeliever, in fact we can even do it (sadly) quite harshly - explaining that salvation is “not from yourselves it is the gift of God - not by works so that no-one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). [The classic question “why do you think you will go to heaven?” is answered by non-Christians or confused Christians with the sentence “I…” and then a collection of things done or not done. The clear-headed Christian answers with “Jesus …” and hopefully an immediate reference to His death on the cross - taking away our sins so we can stand before God “without fault and with great joy” (Jude 24). This is grace in evangelism and conversion.]

But - here is the crucial thing for ministry - we don’t preach grace so well to believers (even believers like ourselves). We forget that God who loves unbelievers (though He is also angry with them - Ephesians 2:4) greatly loves believers and that His grace towards them enables them to relax and rejoice like children in a happy and loving home. For years I think I treated the people of God as if they were there on probation - included but being watched to see if they came up to scratch. And behind this was my own distortion of God. But the Scriptures set me free to think again and when I realised that God “longs to be gracious and rises to show compassion” (Isaiah 30:18) I began to preach the Scriptures on the backdrop of grace which is exactly where the Christian life is meant to be lived. And if you are one of those who preach grace to unbelievers and law to believers start preaching grace (Ephesians 3:18) till you have new joy in Christ.

Sunday services

This grace spills over into meeting with God’s people. The Sunday liturgy whether formal or informal (and we have both where I serve) becomes a meaningful communication at last. We hear His call to rejoice and we sing. We hear His call to return and we confess. We hear His word of full pardon and we rejoice - and so it goes in meaningful communication with the Lord until His word is preached and we sing and go to worship Him wherever our body goes! (Romans 12:1). The Lord’s Supper can move from a dead formality to a thankful meal if the minister will think hard and freshly about what it means. Last week the assistant minister said to us ‘take the bread and take the wine and ask yourself (in the face of these signs) how real is God’s commitment to me?’ It was a new appreciation of grace.

Mining the text

With grace in mind the Christian pastor is set free from many unnecessary burdens. The Lord whom he might otherwise struggle to approach in prayer can be approached with the knowledge that He is greater ‘treasure’ than any thing this world has to offer - and we can enjoy the intimacy He promises and provides. The more we realise His greatness, His affection, His value and His beauty the more we want His company and the less we want sins to interfere. And we are set free to dig into the Scriptures with a new prayer that the Lord would teach or remind us of exactly the thing we need. It is the goldmine of the Scriptures that has enabled me to feed and be strengthened and be heartened and be quickened more than I could illustrate - suffice it to say that in the labour of preaching week by week I have been built up and sustained myself and so, in great measure, has the church. Let me pass on three brief examples of preaching blessings - and on the theme of ‘persevering’ in ministry.

(a) Elijah and his collapse - 1 Kings 19

I teach our student ministers and youth leaders to work on the “C.O.G.S.” of Old Testament preaching - put the passage in Context, explain who the Original readers were and how they received this, show the Gospel effect on the passage and Spotlight Jesus Christ before you finish.

The Elijah collapse is where this Northern prophet finds himself face to face with an ungodly church/Israel. He is so shattered after his success and then a death threat (19:2) that he makes his way back to Sinai for some special encouragement from God. It seems that he thinks the cave where God ‘passed by’ Moses may be the place of power (Exodus 34:6-7).

And Elijah gets his fireworks (1 Kings 19:11-12) but here is the astonishing thing - it had no effect on Elijah’s despondency. See how 19:14 is exactly the same complaint as 19:10 after the excitement!! In fact God’s “new” message to Elijah is silence (19:12) the still small voice is actually silence. Is this encouraging? Yes it is for this reason - after resting Elijah (19:5-6) the Lord wants him to go back and on with the same ministry. His message to Elijah is “no new message”. And you and I who want some power to change everything must stay with the ministry that God gave us which seems weak but is powerful (see 1 Corinthians 1:22-23). Preaching about Jesus is the weapon He uses.

(b) The sower and the seed - Mark 4

This is so well known but how ‘thrown’ we get by the ‘hard path’ person and the ‘shallow soil’ person to say nothing of the ‘thorny soil’ person! I am still bewildered by some people to work out if they are dead or alive - and to see no fruit after years completely shocks me! But these familiar enemies (the world - 4:18, the flesh - 4:17 and the devil - 4:15) are part and parcel of the context in which we work. And the promise of God is that the seed we sow (the careful explanation of the ‘Word’ - 4:14) will be used by Him in His own purposes for fruit that will outweigh all that seems to be lost! (4:20). There will be exponential harvesting.

Some weeks ago I spoke at a conference in Ireland and the talk was so ordinary and the response so forgettable it was a low time. Last week an American pastor - searching the internet for help on ministry and in the process of planning to leave ministry - heard this feeble talk and was restored to hope and joy. He wrote to me “I stand amazed that your Australian words to an Irish audience would help steer an American pastor back to the love of Christ and away from thoughts of giving up”. Let us not doubt that God can organise fruit.

(c) Finally remember the glory of ministry in 2 Corinthians 3:7-11.

The Sinai ministry was packed with sights and sounds (Exodus 20:18) and yet Paul says the Christian ministry is “more glorious”. Again and again he says this - but how can it be true? More glorious than Sinai? Yes. Because the gospel message of Jesus Christ is the only message that sees a person transformed by the Spirit (3:8), made righteous to stand before God (3:9) and with increasing/eternal hope (3:10). We really do need to go by faith not sight on this and remind ourselves that the pagan world may register and applaud the “impressive” things but we deal in the “unimpressive” but transforming, cleansing, eternal gospel. Do you have the maturity and courage to go on with this? He will help you.

I am in my seventeenth year in my present position. Many times I have considered giving up but as I look back on a ministry done in much weakness I see God’s strong hand making some people clear and then their families clear and their children following on. Some kids have become leaders now and I am beginning to see the fruit of a longer ministry. If I had given up in the bad times I would not have any of this.

So get good rest. Smell the flowers. Play your piano or ride your bike. Read biographies. Know what refreshes you. Laugh with friends. Know He is at work. Know Him.

At any time I need those phrases in 2 Timothy 4:5 because we get wobbly, resent suffering, forget evangelism and look for another place to work. But the Lord is gracious and if you will enjoy Him and love the people with the grace He gives and teach His people with the words of life - you will be the “good minister” (1 Timothy 4:6) who honours Him and blesses many - for eternity. Do not think of giving up!