The moments that make ministry...

I want to take just a moment to draw back the curtain and allow those who aren't in professional ministry to see what happens "behind the scenes".  I know that on several occasions I have heard someone remark, "I wonder what the pastor/minister/priest does all week?"  Sometimes the comments are made because the person hasn't experienced first hand how truly time-consuming it is to prepare multiple Bible studies/sermons each week, while other times they are made because the person is rightly or wrongly skeptical whether the church is truly getting their monies worth.  Much of the time I think the person is just genuinely curious as to what the typical work-day looks like for someone in ministry.  After all, by its very nature ministry is different than most of the vocations in the world today.
I won't even attempt to explain the typical "work-day", because in ministry there is no such thing.  What I will do is try to share with you in a very general sense the moments that make ministry truly rewarding.  Many of you can testify to the fact that I love to study the Bible, and that I also love to talk.  Put those two together and preaching becomes a really enjoyable task.  And yet, some of the most rewarding moments come not when I am talking in front of a crowd, but when I am listening to an individual.  Recently I have visited with a few different people, some that were members of my church, and others that were connected to my church in a less formal way.  During these visits, I have been both amazed and humbled at the way people are willing to open up, and share some of the most personal and meaningful times in their lives.  Whether its a person recalling the last moments they shared with their spouse of nearly sixty years, or someone recalling the tragic loss of a friend, my reaction continues to be one of wonder.  Wonder at how we arrived at this moment.  I've never had a person sit down and say to me, "I want to bare my soul to you."  The moments are always as unexpected as they are touching.  At those times, what begin as casual conversations about movies or the weather end with long pauses, as rushes of emotion choke off the words that come with great difficulty.  And while many times I ask myself "how did we get to this place", I more often find myself in wonder at the depths of God's grace; that he would grant me, despite all my imperfections, the privilege of sharing such a sacred moment with a brother or sister in Christ.  The trust and vulnerability of those experiences mandates that they remain hidden from the view of others, and yet its important that we know that they take place.  It's important that we know that the work of the church is not limited to a single day of the week.  Most of all, it's important that we know that the kingdom of God is truly among us when we "bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." (Galatians 6:2)