Sabbatical: What it IS and what it ISN'T

In just over two weeks time Carolyn and I start a three month sabbatical from our usual responsibilities at Woodgreen Church. 

I am frankly ready for it but I am also keenly aware of what a privilege it is to have one. I am grateful for those in the church who prompted me to consider it and for having fellow elders who acknowledged the need for it and then encouraged me to take it.

However, as friends - both Christian and non-Christian - have engaged with me about my sabbatical, I have also become aware of some misunderstandings surrounding it.

I thought it might be fun to tackle some of them in a blog...


1. A sabbatical is not a break from ministry

We tend to have a profoundly unbiblical idea of 'ministry' as Christians.

According to one dictionary I consulted, 'ministry' is: 'the work or vocation of a Minister of Religion'.

In one sense this is true. 

This is certainly how most of us Christians use the word in everyday speak.

However in the Bible, 'ministry' is synonymous with 'service' and is something every Christian does whatever their vocation. We are doing ministry when we witness to a non-Christian friend. We are doing ministry when we put out chairs for a church meeting. We are doing ministry when we help out in creche. We are doing ministry when we encourage another Christian to keep going and not to give up. We are doing ministry when we pray. We are doing ministry when we show compassion in Christ's name to those in need. We are doing ministry when we do our secular job well and to God's glory.

Ministry is what we do when we live distinctively for Jesus.

That's why I don't really like the title 'Minister' for what I do, because in one sense we're all 'ministers'.

While my sabbatical will therefore be a break from my regular responsibilities as a Minister (capital M), I will not be taking a break from ministry (lower-case m). It is merely a change of ministry.

Instead of preaching every week and being engaged in pastoral visits, counselling and church meetings, I will be investing more of my ministry time in reading, studying and leading my family - all of which are essential to the effectiveness of my 'ministry' as a 'Minister' anyway. (See 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1)

A sabbatical then, is not a break from a pastor's calling. As a pastor I am called to serve the flock at Woodgreen, however unlike almost any other vocation, I do that first and foremost by maintaining my own spiritual vitality and freshness. And so investing in that is essential.

Paul said to Timothy:

'Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.' (1 Tim 4:16)

As one who is constantly giving out spiritually, an extended period of time out from the relentless emotional roller-coaster of pastoral counselling, church leadership, difficult discipleship issues, and a weekly preaching deadline is vital. In addition, like the vast majority of pastors, I work a 6-day week and am also out most evenings in the week. Count up just that extra day per week and you've got 47 days per year (not counting weeks of annual leave) - or around 9 extra working weeks per year.

Please don't misunderstand me: I don't begrudge this time commitment, but the fact is that pastoral work is demanding and draining (most of which is by necessity under the radar and not seen by most) and all-consuming. 

And that's without the added dimension that ministry (take your pick - lower or upper case) is also a spiritual battle.

And so time out to step back, reflect, recharge and be refreshed is really helpful. In order to be a good Minister, I am looking forward to a change of ministry.


2. A sabbatical is not a holiday

Because many people don't really understand what a sabbatical is, many just assume it's basically an extended holiday.

However, while I hope my three months will be refreshing, I don't expect them to be relaxing. The thought of sitting around at home watching daytime TV all day, with no sense of purpose or focus, would frankly drive me crazy! A good sabbatical is not downtime or me-time or sleep-in time - it's precious time to recharge and invest in reading, courses and research I wouldn't have the time or capacity to do otherwise.

To be sure, I hope it will be a time when (to use a metaphor someone suggested to me) the elastic band isn't at full stretch, but I am  looking forward to stretching myself in other ways. 

I have a pile of theological books that I am looking forward to reading. Perhaps I am wildly over-optimistic about how many of them I will get through, but I am excited about the prospect of reading theology that is not sermon series or church issue related.

I also plan to do some thinking around the place of corporate prayer in the life of the church. I've been in full-time pastoral ministry for 13 years now and this is something that I have never felt any of the churches I have been involved in have really nailed in practice. (We all know we SHOULD pray together - but how do we DO that in a way that engages the whole church?) I am looking forward to the chance to give some focused thought time to that.

Carolyn and I are also planning to do 3 DVD-based courses on marriage, parenting and counselling. I'm  excited about this chance to invest in our own family and to do this as a couple together. Who knows, the courses we use may also be helpful to the church. 

For those of you who are feeling concerned that I won't be taking any rest or family time - don't worry! We do have a couple of weeks of holiday planned within my sabbatical. The reclamation of evenings is also a luxury I cannot wait to take advantage of. I'm also looking forward to being available when the kids get home from school.


3. A sabbatical is not a period of treading water for the church

As I and the elders at Woodgreen have put together plans for my sabbatical, it has been particularly pleasing to see how willing people have been to step up and fill the gaps we will leave. It really hasn't been hard to fill them. I am so encouraged by this, because I see my sabbatical as a chance for others to use and grow in their gifts.

A sabbatical should be good for both pastor and church. It is never a good idea for either a pastor or his flock to become too dependent in each other, we should both be dependent on God alone. It is therefore a great opportunity for both to grow as we learn not to rely on each other. As the pastor takes time out to recharge and refresh, his absence creates gaps which provide opportunities for others to step up and use their gifts.

In Ephesians 4, the Apostle Paul says that it is the job of pastor-teachers:

'to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up...'

Sometimes these works of service can only happen when the pastor is absent!

I am therefore looking forward to returning in September and NOT picking up some of the jobs I have laid down because others have done them better than me!


What IS a sabbatical then?

This is a definition I have come up and which I find helpful:

 Sab-bat-i-cal

‘a period of time away from the pressure of regular responsibilities in order to be recharged and refreshed for future ministry’

A good sabbatical should leave a pastor keen to return and refreshed and recharged for another season of ministry in the church he has been called to serve.

Adrian Reynolds, Director of Ministry (the official kind) at Proclamation Trust, and a prolific blogger, recently posted a 7-part blog on sabbaticals. I thought it was a helpful and thought-provoking blog on a subject not often written about.

You can read it here: Sabbaticals - Seven Good Reasons.

Risk is Right

 

I’ve recently finished reading a short book by John Piper called ‘Risk is Right’. In it he argues that one of the fruits of biblical faith is a willingness to take risks so that Jesus might be made known:

‘...it is right to risk for the cause of Christ. At the end of every other road - secure and risk free - we will put our face in our hands and say, ‘I’ve wasted it!’ But at the end of the road of risk, taken in reliance on the blood-bought promises of God, there will be fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore.’ (p.50-51)

Maybe like me, you feel you have a lot to learn about taking ‘risks of faith’. However as Piper shows, risky faith - whether it results in ‘success’ or not – always glorifies God, because it shows we trust him,  have a big view of him and take his word seriously.

 

For this reason I found it both challenging and liberating. Challenging, because we live in a risk-averse culture and so 'leaps of faith'  don't come naturally to most of us; and liberating, because it reminded me that even when a risk 'fails', it also 'succeeds', because if done with the right motives, it gives glory to God.

If you want to read ‘Risk is Right’, it's available as a free pdf document. See the link at the bottom of this letter for this or the links to kindle or paperback versions that you have to pay for.

 

Link to FREE copy of ‘Risk is Right’ by John Piper:

www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/books/risk-is-right

Hebrews: Author, Audience and Arrrangement

On Sunday morning I start a new 21 sermon series on the book of Hebrews. You can see how the series will pan out by going to this page on the church website.

I love Hebrews.

But it is a bit of a puzzle.

When it comes to issues such as who wrote Hebrews and when it was written and who it was written to and even the original form of the book – there’s no overwhelming consensus among Bible commentators.

The opening line of one commentary I used this week makes the point well:

‘Hebrews is a delight for the person who enjoys puzzles.’

We won’t have time on Sunday morning to go into great depth about some of the question marks surrounding Hebrews, so for those who are interested, I thought I’d tackle some of them in this blog.

The Question of Authorship

Unlike the majority of letters that make up the New Testament there is no greeting by the writer of Hebrews at the beginning of the book to help us out here.

Traditionally, the apostle Paul was assumed to be the writer of Hebrews, and so the King James Authorised Version of the Bible incorporated his name into the title of the book.

However it’s a stark fact that there isn’t a single ancient manuscript of Hebrews that attributes the book to Paul, indeed the weight of evidence would seem to point very clearly away from Paul as being the writer. 

His assumed authorship actually has more to do with church tradition than any strong evidence. It was only from about 180 AD that the eastern wing of the Church began to claim that he had written the book. When the western Church - under the leadership of Augustine - finally agreed with them, Augustine was at pains to say that he only did so for the sake of unity, not because he was thoroughly convinced.

Over the years other suggested authors have included Barnabus, Luke, Luke ghost–writing for Paul, Priscilla and Aquila, Jude and Apollos.

So who’s the most likely author?

There are some clues in the letter, mainly found in the last chapter of the book.

Whoever wrote Hebrews was certainly within Paul’s circle. In 13:23 it’s clear that the author of Hebrews was acquainted with Timothy, Paul’s apprentice. He refers to him as ‘our brother Timothy’ and says he hopes to travel with Timothy to see those to whom Hebrews was sent.

However 2:3 suggests that the author was not an eye-witness of Jesus. He writes: ‘This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.’ It seems the author of Hebrews hadn’t directly seen or heard Jesus, as the apostles had and as Paul did later on the road to Damascus.

And so it seems likely that the author of Hebrews was a second generation Christian who - together with his readers - had been converted through the work of the apostles.

We get a further indication that Hebrews wasn’t penned by Paul when we look at the style of writing that’s used in the book.

One Greek expert writes this about Hebrews:

‘There is no doubt that we find here the most fluent and eloquent Greek of the entire NT.’

Hebrews is a masterpiece of the finest Greek in the NT. It is superior in vocabulary, sentence construction and rhetorical style to any of  Paul’s letters. The writer of Hebrews was a well-educated scholar who had a wide and varied vocabulary. Of the 4,942 words in Hebrews the writer uses 1,038 different words, and of that number, 169 words are found only in Hebrews.

The other clear piece of evidence we have as to the identity of the author of Hebrews is that he was well-versed in the Septuagint: the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament.

There are 37 direct quotes and 70 more clear allusions to the Old Testament in Hebrews, all of which are taken - without exception – from the Greek ‘Septuagint’ translation.

So, putting it all together, who wrote Hebrews?

All these factors – the polished Greek, the rhetorical style, and the thorough grasp of Old Testament theology - led Martin Luther to suggest that Apollos was the most likely candidate for the authorship of Hebrews. It’s an opinion other Bible commentators have had sympathy with as well.

What we know of Apollos certainly fits with the profile of the author of Hebrews.

In Acts 18:24 Apollos is described as ‘a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures’ who spoke with ‘great fervour’.

Apollos certainly had the rhetorical skill to marshal ideas in an orderly and compelling way and a thorough knowledge of the Old Testament. After Aquila and Priscilla had ‘explained to him the way of God more adequately’ (Acts 18:26), he went on to ‘vigorously refute the Jews in public debate, proving that Jesus was the Christ.’ (v28)

Apollos was also close to Paul, having taught with him in Corinth, and so it’s likely he would have known Timothy.

And the icing on the cake is that he was also a native of Alexandria: the place where the Septuagint Greek translation of the OT had originated from and where it was widely used.

However, having said all of this, while I personally lean towards Apollos as author of Hebrews, we have to admit that we simply cannot be sure who wrote it.

He was clearly a church leader with a deep pastoral concern for his readers and a desire to show them how Jesus was the fulfilment of all that had gone before.

The Question of Audience

Just as the author of Hebrews is not specified, there is also no direct reference to the group to whom he was writing. However once again, we can look at the evidence in order to make a pretty good judgement.

The book wasn’t known under the title ‘to the Hebrews’ until around 180AD, so unlike many of the shorter New Testament books, it’s title isn’t any particular help.

However once again, chapter 13 gives us some clues.

In v17 and in v24 we have a clear indication that the group of believers Hebrews was written to had a clear leadership structure. Reference is made to their leaders and the writer urges them to obey them and submit to their authority. So the book seems to have been written to a church of some kind.

We know that the early Christians met in each others houses and that these wouldn’t have held very large numbers of people, and so it’s most probable that this fellowship was one of several house-churches scattered across a large city.

There’s a general consensus among commentators that Hebrews was addressed to believers located in an urban setting. 

In v14 the writer contrasts the city the believers see with the one that is to come. And when we look at the combination of pastoral applications offered in chapter 13 they also suggest a city-setting:

• In v2 – the fellowship are encouraged to extend hospitality to strangers passing through – a situation that would only have occured regularly if theirs was a relatively important and natural stop-over point on a trade or travel route.
• In v3 – the church is urged to identify with those in prison and those suffering for their faith, again suggesting that they were in a city where this would have been most immediate.
• In v4 – The writer tells them  they should have a concern for the sanctity of marriage and maintaining sexual purity. We know from the epistles that this was often a sin associated with large urban centres.
• And in v5 – the believers are cautioned against greed and materialism, a problem that would not have been such an issue in New Testament times in rural areas.

When you put it all together, there is strong evidence to suggest an urban setting where these issues would have been most immediate to the recipients of Hebrews.

While can’t be certain as to the exact city that the church was located, it was in Rome that Hebrews was first widely known and used, especially by prominent church leaders such as Clement of Rome, who drew heavily on it in his pastoral letters.

Suggestions have ranged from Jerusalem in the east to somewhere in Spain in the West, but the most popular of locations among Bible commentators seems to be Rome, because it’s history dovetails neatly with what the Christians in Hebrews had gone through in recent years and were currently facing.

For instance - in 12:4 the writer says that these believers had not yet reached the point where they had ‘resisted to the point of shedding your blood.’

This clearly rules out Jerusalem as an option for their location because the members of the church there had suffered death, particularly in the persecution that had followed the stoning of Stephen in 33AD.

However when we look at chapter 10:32 - we see that these believers had endured some kind of fierce persecution in earlier days.

‘Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathised with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.’ (10:32-34)

This persecution, particularly the confiscation of their property and exposure to insult and ridicule, all dovetails with the history of Rome.

In 49AD the Roman Emperor Claudius issued an edict that expelled Jews from Rome. We read about it in Acts 18:2, because Aquila and Priscilla were among those who were thrown out of the city.

The Roman historian Suetonius, writing only a few decades later, records:

‘There were riots in the Jewish quarter at the instigation of Chrestus.’

Historians believe that ‘Chrestus’ is a reference to Christ and that the riots and subsequent expulsion occurred when Jewish Christians were banished from the synagogue by the Jewish establishment.

As a result of being expelled, many of the Jewish Christians in Rome would have lost their homes and possessions and been subjected to public humiliation. They would had been forced to leave the city until the death of Claudius and this would seem to fit with what the believers in Hebrews had gone through.

This period of persecution had occurred in the ‘earlier days’ of the believers' Christian lives, some time had clearly passed since then. However, the believers seem to be growing fearful and shrinking back in the face of a greater persecution they saw looming on the horizon. A fear that was to be fully realised in Rome under the bloody and vicious reign of Claudius’s successor – Nero.

This reading dates Hebrews sometime between the great fire of Rome in 64AD and Nero’s suicide in 68AD.

The pressure they had started to feel under Nero’s reign had led the believers to question whether their Christian discipleship was worth it all. They were in danger of sliding back into Judaism.

And so scattered throughout the book the writer warns and encourages them time and time again not to go back on their Christian commitment because what they have in Christ is far better.

The Question of Arrangement

The NIV’s unhelpful  translation of 13:22 would suggest that Hebrews was a letter.

‘Brothers, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written you only a short letter.’

However the word ‘letter’ is not in the original Greek. The ESV translation is much more helpful here:

'I appeal to you, brothers, bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written to you briefly.'

The phrase ‘word of exhortation’ is used in only one other place in the New Testament: in Acts 13:25 when the synagogue rulers in Antioch invite Paul and Barnabus to give a public address. And there are a other clues in Hebrews that point in the direction that it was originally delivered as a sermon.

• There’s the fact that the writer fails to start in the customary way that a letter would have started. He doesn’t begin by identifying himself or the group to which he’s writing and there is an absence of the usual ‘grace and peace’ greeting that characterises most of the letters in the New Testament.  
• The author also often refers to himself as ‘speaking’ about things. (For example in 2:5, 6:9, 11:32.)
• And the length and complexity of Hebrews doesn’t necessarily mean that it couldn’t have been a sermon. It wasn’t unusual in New Testament times for people to listen to long or difficult public addresses.

One commentator sums it up like this:

‘It is highly likely that Hebrews began as a synagogue-type sermon given by a learned and experienced leader to a group of Jewish believers.’ 

And it makes sense doesn’t it?

The opening of Hebrews has a dramatic, stately quality about it. It immediately engages the readers attention. 

It begins in fact, like a sermon!

Summary

Putting all the evidence together then, it is likely that Hebrews is:

• A 1^st century sermon, which was transcribed, with 13:22-25 added as a personal postscript by the author;
• Which was delivered to Greek-speaking Jewish converts in a house-church in or near Rome;
• Who had faced persecution for their faith in the past and were struggling under renewed pressure to renounce Jesus and were in danger of falling away and returning to Judaism.

And what is the author of Hebrews antidote to this?

For them to fix their thoughts and eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 3:1, 12:2).

Time and time again, he reminds them that Jesus was better than anything they’d had before and that he was sufficient for all their future needs. 

And as we see study Hebrews together over the next few months, my prayer is that we will see that this message is just as true, just as relevant and just as comforting for us today as it was when Hebrews was originally preached.

Happy EOSTRE?

One of the things I love  most about the Christian festival of Easter is that it is itself an illustration of what we celebrate on Good Friday and Easter Sunday:  REDEMPTION

In a recent guest article in the Washington Post, American Pastor Mark Driscoll wrote this about the origins of Easter:

It’s most likely that the origins of Easter stem from early Anglo-Saxon inhabitants of the British Isles during the first millennium who celebrated a spring festival in the month of April in honor of their goddess Eostre, who represented fertility and the arrival of spring, light, and the rising dawn.

When Christian missionaries first arrived in Britain from the Roman Empire during this time, they incorporated some of the pre-existing traditional festivities into the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which took place in the same season. Basically, since everyone had the day off and it was a fun time to celebrate, the Christians then were unsure exactly when Jesus rose from death and so they chose to add their celebrations to the day. Over the centuries, the celebration of Jesus’ Resurrection overtook Eostre in popularity, although the name stuck as “Easter.”

So, it seems that Easter became an illustration of the theme it was established to celebrate!

According to the online Oxford Dictionary, one of the meanings of the word 'redeem' is to 'save someone from sin, error or evil.' This is exactly what happened to the pagan festival of Eostre when Christian missionaries arrived in Britain. A festival in honour of a false god was redeemed for truth and turned into something worth celebrating.


Driscoll says there is a principle illustrated by the redemption of Easter that's worth remembering:

When it comes to cultural issues like this, we as Christians should view them through a simple rubric: reject, receive, or redeem? In this case, the early missionaries to the British Isles sought to redeem Easter rather than reject it or simply receive it. As a result, it became one of the centers of Christianity for many centuries and Eostre the goddess was all but forgotten.

Happy Eostre? Nope! Happy EASTER! 

Don't be afraid of saying it!

Personally, I can't think of a better way of honouring what Jesus achieved through his death and resurrection than celebrating it with a redeemed festival. As we rejoice in Jesus' triumph over sin, Satan and death this weekend, we do so as part of a festival that is the perfect illustration of what he came to do: redeem men and women for God.

More to Life?

Last week we had the first of two special 'More to Life?' Sundays with guest testimonies.

Clover Todman shared very movingly about the death of his wife Sarah three years ago and how God sustained him through this. He gave me permission (actually he encouraged me!) to ask him some very direct questions about how he reconciled his faith in a loving God with what happened. He then spoke from Mark 10 about how we can be sure that there is 'More to Life than Death'. 

The interview I did with him and his follow-up talk should be on the sermon player on Woodgreen's website in the next day or so. If you weren't at Woodgreen on Sunday why not listen to it. And why not consider passing it on to someone else who might find it helpful? 

This Sunday I'm going to be interviewing Paul Andrew, who is Programme Controller for Heart FM. Is there 'More to life than Fame'? Lots of wannabes want to be famous these days. Shows like X-Factor and Britain's Got Talent have brought fame (and infamy) within reach of the average person. 

But is fame all it's cracked up to be? Paul has met his fair share of famous people, so I'm looking forward to hearing his reflections. Paul is also a committed Christian, so I'll also be asking him whether Jesus is still relevant in a celebrity age.

After the interview I'm going to give a short talk from the last part of Mark 10. As an introduction to that I've put together a compilation of quotes about fame. What do the people who know best - famous people - say about fame?

Watch it and judge for yourself, and then why not pass it on to a friend...

Direct Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-52uGIGMg2Q&feature=youtu.be

Brazil Trip Video

If you weren't at Woodgreen last Sunday morning you won't have seen the movie report I produced on my recent Mission Trip to Brazil. 

Here it is...

Direct Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK6ia248xF8&feature=youtu.be

Brazil: Interview with Pastor João

As promised in last weeks blog, this week I am including an interview I was able to conduct with Pastor João, the Senior Pastor of Dom Pedro Baptist Church in Manaus.

 

Dom Pedro is a church about the size of Woodgreen, with 3 Pastors and a strong commitment to world mission. It is also  committed to training up the next generation of Pastors and Christian Workers. As you will hear on the video, they have 18 young men  in their fellowship who are actively considering vocational ministry. They also run a seminary onsite which runs during weekday evenings.

 

As part of the Sunday morning service at Woodgreen this week, Peter and I are going to be reporting back on our trip to Brazil and showing a video of what we got up to.

 

This interview was too long to be included in it's entirety, so I guess it falls into the category of a 'bonus feature'.

 

Hope you enjoy it...

Direct Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=li5-pTm4paw&feature=youtu.be