Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'” Matthew 4:4
“One of the things I fear most as your pastor is that out of fatigue or sloth I end up going through the motions, substituting professional smoothness for personal grappling with the life of the Spirit in our life together. The demands of pastoral life are strenuous, and there is no respite from them. There are not many hours in any day when I am not faced with the struggle of faith in someone or another, the deep, central, eternal energies that make the difference between a life lived to the glory of God and a life wasted in self-indulgence or trivilization in diversions. I want to be ready for those encounters. For me, that is what it means…to be in touch with the Lord’s Word and presence, and to be ready to speak and act out of that Word and presence in whatever I am doing…to maintain the central springs of compassion and creativity lest all be flattened out into routines.”
Eugene Peterson in The Contemplative Pastor: Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989) 145-46.
At the Bridge Church at Bear Creek, our pastor, James Hoxworth, announced the theme of Advent at our church is “A Weary World Rejoices.” Perfect theme for Christmas diring COVID-19! Everyone is exhausted.
The challenge is that we can’t minister with compassion and creativity if we are empty. Life at a hurried pace has little time for God. We must be still. It’s the secret to ministering generously with compassion and creativity.
I am off to Egypt tomorrow. My goal is to carve out time daily for stillness this Advent. I am learning that it is the best way to prepare my mind and heart. I plan to feed on the Word so I am filled to minister richly.
Care to join me in getting refilled to dispense generously this Advent?