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A mere three weeks apart in September, I have celebrated both the very highs of ministry, and also the very heartbreaking depths of where it will take you.
On our opening Sunday of our fall church campaign, known more commonly as "Rally Sunday" to many, I had the distinct privilege of performing a baptism, thus celebrating our newest member of our church, both locally and in the bigger corporate Body of Christ.
I tell ya, there is no bigger adrenaline rush as a pastor than performing a baptism!
I often share with my wife that it feels like being plugged directly into an electrical socket. Heavens, how else do you even begin to describe the feeling of coming that close to the Holy Spirit!
The following Saturday, I had the honor of officiating a wedding of two young people in our church. Well, young by my standards! Ha! ... When they are essentially the age of your own children, they are always young, right?
This feeling also never gets old!
When two people who are about to join their lives together forever ask you to be the one to bless their union, well you don't ever take that for granted. Trust me! I will never tire of standing on that holy ground!
Finally, the very next Saturday after that -- just a mere 13 days after the baptism to open our church year, I presided over the funeral service of one of the original council members who called me to service at my church a decade ago. And let's just say that the intervening 10 years has been unkind to him and his family. His passing is both a blessing and a crushing end for his loved ones who were robbed of a graceful goodbye with someone they loved so dearly.
What a span in less than a fortnight! The highs and lows of a full life cycle of a believer. The highs and lows of a life spent in ministry. It's a lot to process, and yet reminds me of how sacred this calling is.
The strange thing about being a pastor, for me at least (I'm sure there are many who wear this identity like a glove!) is that
it's hard to fathom why so many are willing to place their trust in you to help accompany them during the greatest and most heartbreaking of times in their lives. I can't even begin to find the words to explain what a privilege it is.
Simultaneously, I also humbly know that without the Holy Spirit's active presence none of this service would be possible. Because without that divine presence, I'm quite certain that I could never walk this walk.
This calling is special, and without a greater power, I would be so woefully ill equipped to serve God's beloved people. I pray that I never forget this. And I beg you to remind me if I do. Amen.
Devlyn Brooks is the CEO of Churches United in Moorhead, Minn., and an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America serving Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. He blogs about faith at findingfaithin.com, and can be reached at devlynbrooks@gmail.com.