Turning Out (& Turning On) the Light Switches

In a week and a half I head off on a 12-week Clergy Leave/Sabbatical. Which the Lilly Endowment Inc. is helping to pay for. So over the last few weeks I have been doing my ministry stuff at TUMC while at the same time taking care of planning details for sabbatical.

Part of what is going on, you know, is sorting out what I should be doing...and what my essential role is here at Trinity. Over the last week or so I have felt like a hiker who is unloading his pack. Sorting through it. Deciding what needs to be carried along in the trail and what needs to be left behind -or handed to others.

The sabbatical is nudging me to ask some tough questions about what it is I do at Trinity. Am I doing the right things? Am I doing too much? Am I getting in the way of others when they could do a much better job than me at some ministry task?

So I have been sorting through my pack. More and more I have been saying "No."

A friend in the community asked if I could help raise $50,000 between now and next Friday for something in the community. I said I couldn't do that.

Another person asked me to make contacts regarding a multi-million dollar campaign to rebuild our Christian camping facilities at Epworth Forest. Between today and next Friday. I said I couldn't do that.

A third person, a pastor in Southern Indiana, asked if I could pull together some ideas about recruiting young Christians into the ministry. I said, "No, I can't do that between now and next Friday."

So I am saying "No" a lot. Sorting things out. Putting things down. Handing things off. Or simply realizing that something isn't mine to deal with...worry about.

I told someone what I am doing is going around turning off switches. He responded, "When you get back think twice before you turn the switches back on. Ask yourself if you want to start doing what you were doing before you went away." It was good advice: I want to do ministry differently when I return in three months. Because sometimes I think I am working hard at good stuff while neglecting even more essential kingdom work.

Jesus talks about seeking first the kingdom. Which involves sorting. Making some decisions about life and priorities and time and energy.

I am turning out the light switches. And I will pray before starting to turn them on when I return.

Forgetting the Basics.

One of my favorite parts of summer is water skiing. I learned how to do that late one summer afternoon about eight years ago, and I have a blast getting out on the water about an hour before sunset...when the lake is still and most sensible people have gone in for the day.

This past Sunday afternoon we zipped down to Koontz Lake (after a quick stop to pick up a plastic, push, toy lawnmower for Beautiful Ella). Nervous about the cold water, I set the skis in the boat, climbed into my suit and a wet suit, got in the boat...and we headed out into the middle of the lake.

When Sharon stopped the boat, I took a deep breath...grabbed a ski in one arm...and jumped in. As I struggled to put on the skis I realized I had forgotten to put on a ski/life jacket. So we had to go back to shore to pick up that particular little item.

Sometimes we get so focused on something that we forget the basics. We do that in life, don't we? Jesus said, "Seek first the kingdom of God." It's easy, as we are trying to balance our budgets or look for a job or muddle through a tough situation at work, to forget that basic kingdom stuff. I was so worried about the cold water that I forget the life jacket...had never done that before. What has you so worried that you are tempted to forget the basics of life with God?