|
February 22, 2012
From Pastor Alem
GENESIS 2:2-3. (SABBATH) 2 “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”
The Scripture points to the renewing power of “sabbath time.” We usually think of Sabbath as the seventh day of creation when God finished creating and rested. More than an afterthought of creation, the Sabbath is a gift from God of rest, renewal and hope. In today’s busy life, God comes again and again offering rest and refreshment for the soul. The first books of Scripture speak of “sabbath” days and years. Even the land was given a sabbath when it was left to lie fallow and replenish itself.
Sabbaticals allow for possible new directions. Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness marked a turning point in his ministry. Moses’ time spent tending sheep helped change his perspective on life. David tended sheep, too, and learned valuable lessons about God’s care and provision. Paul was struck down on the road to Damascus.
Since I joined Trinity as your Pastor for over seven years, I think it’s time to take a Sabbath. Although the shift from one year to another may be an arbitrary date on a calendar, the start of a new year is a powerful symbol to us of some of the most important things in our lives. Change, loss and the passing of time are among those elements. But so are hope and the emergence of new possibilities. Part of the offering of the spiritual life is to be proactive in learning how to frame change and impermanence through an attitudinal lens of seeing both as holding the potential for growth and opportunity.
As I think ahead about 2012 one of the major changes and opportunities for me — and I hope for the church as well – will be the
sabbatical I am planning on taking for FOUR months beginning from this coming summer, from July 1st until November 1st 2012. Sabbatical is an extended period of leave from pastoral work, especially for rest, to acquire new skills or training, to vision and plan. Congregations are encouraged to offer pastors a sabbatical every seven years. I am so glad that Trinity is supporting me on this. During my sabbatical I typically include time for travel, rest, prayer, and the broadening of my sense of God’s work in the world — a time to pause, step back, and behold God and creation from a new perspective and also nourishing my soul.
My sabbatical will focus in two sections. My family and I will visit religious sites in Israel and in Ethiopia, from July 17 to August 17. Then I will take the remaining weeks for the second part of my Sabbatical by taking some Kairos courses and traveling to Europe from (August 17 through November 1 ). Most of you as you know it well, for a couple years I tried to approach the “LILLY ENDOWMENT National Clergy Renewal Program” with the financial request for my sabbatical. I am particularly grateful to the Pleasants Fund I got toward my sabbatical, for this time away.
For myself, I am seeing this sabbatical as a chance, first, for my family to have some quality time together. And secondly a planned time away from the parish for study, rest, and spiritual renewal can be beneficial-and often necessary-for any pastor, as well as for the congregation. I need a time of rest and spiritual refreshment — a space of recreating and restoring—called a sabbatical. I will be filling you in on more details as we get closer to the time. And may we all look forward to a rich and fulfilling year for ourselves and for the whole church in 2012.
FYI Every Sunday sermon we have started recording for you to listen. So go to Trinity our main website page and then search for “Ethiopian radio” in the link, there you’ll be able to hear the Sunday sermons. This time, we start recording only the English program. In the future by the help of God we may add another language to serve others in their native languages. — Pastor Alem
|
