The journey begins...

God blessed the 7th day. He made it a holy day because on that day he rested from his work...(Gen 2:3,4)

Well, it has started, long awaited and some years back, an uncertain prospect; my sabbatical from pastoral ministry at Hillview Community Church (www.hillview.cc) has begun. For the next three months the members and fellow leaders at Hillview have given me the great privilege of stepping away from day by day ministry in Hillview Community Church to...well, to what?

I’m not on holiday, although later on there will be three weeks of family holiday that I look forward to and I must admit to having a sense of that ‘end of term’ expectancy as I finished up in the church office at the end of last week! This sabbath keeping means time for intentional renewal and personal revitalisation. Relaxation, recreation and hobbies will be part of the mix but they are certainly not my primary focus. In spending time seeking God and in His presence, I’m looking to recharge hope and vision. This is a time to be nurtured in faith, rekindled in passion, refocussed in priorities and recaptured by the vision and heart of God.

Already I’ve settled into a big read, over the next 90 days or so I’m looking to journey once again through the pages of the scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, taking in the big picture and details that jump out at me anew along the way. To help me take the journey with fresh eyes, and shake me out of the familiar and routine, I’m reading from ‘The Message’. Other books will also accompany me alongside this great read to stir ideas and provoke me to possibilities old and new.

The privilege of serving God’s people in pastoral ministry is in the words of Eugene Peterson, “life at risk before God, dangerously and awesomely at risk, and it needs fully alive pastors to represent it”. I’m so grateful for the journey the church has made, most especially over the past 18 months as we’ve replanted and begun to see encouraging evidence of new growth. But there have been some tough paths to negotiate along the way these past 8 years, both as a pastor and personally, and I find myself recognising in myself ‘a tiredness that vacations weren’t fixing, a tiredness of spirit’. Again, as Peterson observes, I sense ‘a spiritual core to my fatigue that was looking for a spiritual remedy.’ So this Sabbath is time to refill and replenish depleted reserves, and recover spiritual and creative energies. 

Sometimes, that requires time in the wilderness, ‘desert’ time with silence to settle the soul, solitude to quicken the senses and deeper prayerfulness to renew relationship with God. Taking this very literally, next week I’ll be walking the West Highland Way alone, carrying my tent and provisions; stepping out on a week long prayer walk with the Lord as my only companion.

Sabbath then is a time to listen to God, a time for solitude with God. It forces a change of pace, a reordering of priorities, as well as time to rest, ponder and reflect. What’s good? What needs changing? Five years ago I was blessed with the opportunity to be part of the Arrow Leadership Programme, and one of my initial activities in these coming weeks at home will be to review the teaching and materials that helped to change me then, refreshing my commitment to both practical and spiritual disciplines that have slipped and renewing the process of discerning the Lord’s guidance as I seek to update my vision statement and personal development plan.

Relational renewal with God and with others is integral to Sabbath. I’m certainly not going to be cutting myself off from people for the next three months. There will be times I need to be alone with God; but I especially want to be truly present with my family during these months, and I’ll be blessed and helped in meeting with mentors who speak into my life and friends who so enrich it. 

Confident of God’s leading through this time, I’m also confident that God will continue to guide and enable the leaders and the church at Hillview without me. There are so many encouragements as I step away; the church is blessed in Martin’s teaching, in the elder’s leadership, in worship, in the participation and service of members, in growth of the congregation, in future plans and vision and so much more. Hillview Community Church is part of the church of Jesus Christ just as truly without me there and I’m looking forward to the blessing of returning in August to see all the things God has done among His people in my absence. 

Perhaps my main goal for this Sabbath time is best summed up by Dallas Willard; ‘You must arrange to live with deep contentment, joy and confidence in your everyday experience of life with God.’ With the Lord’s enabling over these coming months, I will seek to live in this reality of Christ’s Kingdom; and I hope that those who know me best will see the difference!