One of the great responsibilities of the Church is the effective preparation of their NeXt Generation leaders. And the passing of the baton of responsibility, privilege and authority is often a turbulent and trying season of life.
“I heard your first sermon…and I just heard your last one. I have to say, you have come a long way!”
Was in G-burg last week to minister the gospel at the memorial service for a dear, dear friend of mine who was suddenly called home to be with the Lord. It was a journey back into my past as I stood before hundreds of friends from the early season of my pastoral ministry. As I told them last Thursday, it was 6:00 Christmas morning in 1977 when I preached my first sermon from the pulpit at which I was standing. The previous year, First Baptist Church had extended an invitation to me to become their pastor. I was the ripe, old, know-it-all age of 26 years.
So the brother who made the comment on my preaching certainly did have a good, historical perspective on my progress. I arrived as a rookie preacher with an attitude. Driving around those streets last Thursday morning was a reminder of how gracious God has been to me and also a bit “humbling” as I was brought to recall how little I really knew and how far from mature I really was. Embarrassing might be the proper word. I could only hope that the memory of those friends we would soon see again was less clear than my own recollections of all the foolish and stupid things I had done and said in that first decade of my being a “paid professional holy man”. They had kindly and MOSTLY patiently allowed a neXt generation preacher to find his fit!
One of my most vivid memories of those years is the number of cups of coffee I consumed at the Daylight Donut Shop and at the Swede Café as I listened and gave advice (Can you believe that?!? 26-35 years old telling retiring gentlemen?!?) on how to effectively hand their life’s work to their sons, daughters and grandchildren. And then to return to that place 25 years after leaving and be able to see how those transitions had or had not effectively worked out.
One of the great responsibilities of life is the effective preparation of the NeXt Generation of leaders. And the passing of the baton of responsibility, privilege and authority is often a turbulent and trying season of life.
The First Baptist Church extended the “call” to this 26-year-old ‘know-it-all’ and God showed up in unbelievable ways! It was the power and presence of HIS grace that allowed a most unusual decade of service to bear some delightful, abiding fruit for eternity. Last week, I was embraced by many individuals and couples who continue to walk faithfully with the Lord and who had been a part of my life in those transitional seasons. And one of the most delightful of all was a 92-year-old friend, who had someone come pick her up at the retirement center and drive her to the church so that she could see Tom and Linda once again. This dear lady had joined with two other friends every Tuesday morning beginning in 1968 simply to pray that God would take hold of our lives and lead us to Bible college so that He could prepare us for ministry. It was a long time after that before we became aware of their selfless and faithful investment in our lives. She came to tell us how much she loved us.
And the dear friend who gave me a job when I had walked away from “ministry” in 1976 smiled and said, “I heard your first sermon…and I just heard your last one. I have to say, you have come a long way!” Because he too, as a leader in that church, had endured that uncomfortable transition to the NeXt Generation leader, I laughed and thanked him. Then he added, “But you still have a long way to go!”
One of the great responsibilities of the Church is the effective preparation of their NeXt Generation leaders. And the passing of the baton of responsibility, privilege and authority is often a turbulent and trying season of life.
See you Sunday, Church!
Pastor Tom (The guy who STILL has a long way to go!)
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