Dear Fellow Children of God,
Last week I was sitting at the desk in my office at St.
John and one of our faithful church members stopped by. (I must confess, I spend less time at my desk
these days and more time in meetings, classes, and in making calls.) Linda Griese gently said to me, “Jonathan,
you pray for all of us. I want you to
know that I’m praying for you.” I don’t
think I showed the tears in my eyes, but her simple words of Christian love
touched me. I do have a couple of personal
issues of concern on my heart these days that Linda knows about, and she wanted
me to know that I’m not dealing with these issues alone. She is behind and beside me. Better yet, the Almighty, loving God, is also
behind us and with us. This is true, at
least in part, because of Linda’s prayers.
God calls His people to pray for all leaders. (1 Timothy 2:1-2) Think about how wise this
is. There are no perfect kings, or
presidents. No senator, or congressman,
or judge, no governor or mayor always has total wisdom. We naturally want God to help our leaders to
make wise decisions and to lead in just and righteous directions. Our leaders need God’s help for their
difficult jobs. So we pray for them. That makes sense.
How much more do pastors need prayers?! Pastors are charged with shepherding (that is
what the word pastor means in Greek) or leading the people of God. The goal of a pastor is not just the temporal
and worldly welfare of their people.
Pastors are primarily concerned with the spiritual and eternal welfare
of the children of God. However, there is no perfect pastor. Pastors need the Savior from sin just like
the other members of a church. Pastors
need God’s wisdom and God’s guidance and God’s help. We pastors need people to pray for us so we
might be godly and effective job in our calling. We need prayer.
St. Paul often asks for prayers. In Ephesians 6 he writes, “18 And
pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.
With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I open
my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the
mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly,
as I should.”
In 1 Thessalonians
5:23-25, Paul again brings God’s blessings and asks for prayers. “23 May God himself, the God of peace,
sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept
blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful and he
will do it. 25 Brothers, pray for us.” Paul knows his limitations. He knows the limitless grace and love and
power of God. So Paul asks for prayers.
Those who seek to follow God by serving His people (like
pastors) need God’s help to do God’s work.
Linda is not the first person who has prayed for me as pastor. One day I was visiting with Arlene Fox and
prayed for her after our time together.
Then to my surprise, Arlene asked God’s blessings and help for me. Once when I visited Cathy Smith she did the
same thing. I have received e-mails from
Karen Wood and Ardith Richards, and others, indicating they are praying for me
as pastor. Others in church have said, “Pastor,
I’m praying for you.” And, every Sunday
and Wednesday before worship our Elders gather with me and others leading
worship and say a pray for God’s blessing on the worship service and for the
worship leaders.
Maybe the bottom line is this. The older I get the more I realize my
weaknesses, my shortcomings, and my failings.
Therefore, the older I get the more I realize how much I need the love
and the forgiveness and the help of my Lord.
I not only need His love eternally.
I need the love and help of Jesus today.
So, Linda quietly let me know, “I’m praying for you.” Thank you Linda! I pray that all Christians will pray for
their pastors so that God will help and guide in the important work of His
Church.
A Child of God, Thankful for the Prayers of Others,
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. The Alaska
Mission for Christ held a continuing education event at St. John on April
29-30. The topic of this class was “Metaphors
of the Gospel.” Here are two pictures of
those attending. https://picasaweb.google.com/114993745799525883148/6281717569342075969
P.P.S. As we
prepare to celebrate the 25th anniversary of pastor and people
serving our Lord together, I took out some old pictures. Here are pictures of my first seminary
graduation, of my ordination, and my installation as Pastor at St. Paul Lutheran
Church in St. Louis. These pictures were
taken in May and June 1979.
****
ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE
PASTOR’ - I am sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to
all St. John members and friends whose e-mails I have. (I am regularly
adding new names of friends and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail
for the first time.) However, if you don’t want to receive this e-mail,
please let me know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this
message.
****
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