The High Priest

Good morning and welcome to anther week of church here at the Bridge. I am so glad that we are able to join together and worship this morning.

The Call

Now i am not sure if i have every shared with all of you my story i ministry. I grew up in the church and a Christian home. I am always thankful for the fact that i had parents who worked hard to keep us in the church and influence our faith. Yet, as i grew up i always valued church and kept it part of my life but in many ways i started living a double life. I would be one way at school and another at home and church. I remember freshman year that I acted so different than i did at church that i got challenged to change my attitude and work on it. This was the story of me as a Teenager. I would live a or do certain things and then i would get convicted and start working on it. Some of the most challenging things that i struggled with was language and sexual immorality if i am very honest with you. I like to think though that i lived a life that i like to look back and reminds me of Peter or David that I have would find myself messing up and than coming back over and over again.

I was nearing the end of high school between my Junior and senior year and i wasn’t sure what i wanted to do. I was struggling because school wasn’t my strongest thing. I had to work hard to get decent grades and i also had some other troubles that had my GPA lower than I could have had it. I was debating about either going into the military or possibly culinary school. That summer though i went to teen camp and i had a life changing experience. I went and the first night i remember being so convicted in how i was living my life. There were many ways that i had given things back to God but there was still some things that i needed to work on. I just felt the need to let God have everything though. I needed to give him my life and my future. That night began something much bigger than i realized.

The week at teen camp was great. I had a lot of fun and i enjoyed every moment. I remember the last night of teen camp we were having our evening service and i was up at the altar with a friend praying with them because i knew they were going through some stuff. It was in that moment that something amazing happened.

God showed up. God started speaking. I remember it to this day. This is what i want you to do. What do you mean God. I want you to do this. I am just praying with my friend. This is what i want you to be. I want you to be a pastor.

I remember this mostly because i had a lot of disbelief in it. It was in the moments after when a friend told me that God told him to affirm me in my call and that i was called to be a pastor.

This calling transformed my world. I changed a lot of my focuses. School became a lot more important to me and i focused in and i was able to get into Mount Vernon Nazarene University. After four years of college i realized i wasn’t quite ready maturity wise to be a pastor and i felt i had some more growing to do and i went to Seminary to further my education.

To avoid this story taking the rest of the morning i went through a lot of ups and downs in my early years of ministry. I always say that God’s call is constantly changing and moving us forward. At times he gives us rest when we need it and at times he challenges us to push forward and take some leaps of faith. That is the beauty of the call of a minister is that none of them are exactly the same and we each have our own unique story.

This call connected me to this mornings passage because it talks about the High Priest or in many way as we have come to know it as the Pastor of our church.

Hebrews 5:1–10 NIV

1 Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. 3 This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people. 4 And no one takes this honor on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was. 5 In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.” 6 And he says in another place, “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” 7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10 and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

The Pastor’s Attributes

The Pastor is a Human

This is really important for us to remember that our pastors are chosen from the people. We aren’t supernatural beings that have some special powers because we are pastors. This is an important thing to remember when you are dealing with pastors because we need rest and we need time with our families and we need time with God just like each and every one of you. This is really important reminder that when a pastor places boundaries in their life to keep themselves healthy.

Now this does not excuse a pastor who is not caring for his flock but it instead serves to remind us that pastors need your love and support and grace like all others.

The Pastor is appointed by God

This attribute was interesting to me because in our American culture we have created governmental bodies over the church and in many ways we have instituted a democratically elected process to put our leaders in place. This is a good and bad thing. I believe that God can work through this process but it is always important to remember that at the end of the day no matter what the process is that God is going to put the right minster into place at the right time in the life of a church and we need to help support that by being in constant prayer for that pastor and the individuals who are leading.

The Pastor is a mediator

Now this one is essential for everyone to understand. One of the Roles of the Pastor is to be in prayer for his people and seeking God to work in the lives of his people. To ask for God to forgive and to work in the lives of his people. Not only that but the Pastor serves in a role to bring the word of God to their people. They are to be the representative to God and share with the people how God is speaking.

One interesting aspect of this as well is one of the ways that Pastor needs to deal with his people. Before i share it i think it is important to note that this is not the only way that a pastor needs to deal with his people but it is instead an important way for a pastor to deal with their people.

A pastor needs to work on being gentle. I thought it was interesting to think about this idea because it calls us to a specific method of working and dealing with people. I hope that it is something that i can and do do. In many ways it reminds me of Jesus and the way that he dealt with the disciples even in their ignorance and at times mislead ways that he taught and worked with them to help them grow. As i stated though there are times that a Pastor needs to be blunt. Needs to know when to speak truth no matter how hard the truth might be to hear.

The Pastor is human Part 2

I return to the reminder that a Pastor is human. It is a confession that i must make. That we too experience the struggles of the world. We have to be reminded that we are subject to the same weaknesses and that we can struggle with sin just like anyone else. This is an important reminder not only for the pastor but for the people of the church. This does not mean we don’t expect accountability but instead that we show grace and work together to build the kingdom and grow together in our relationship with God.

Hebrews 5:4 NIV

4 And no one takes this honor on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was.

The Honor of being a Pastor

I want to be honest with you this morning that this was a topic that i didn’t know if i wanted to address. I love being a pastor and i am so blessed to have you all as my congregation. I am thankful for what God is doing and how he is working in my life. I am appreciative of all of you. However, the truth is that if i felt that i could be happy in life doing something else i would do it. This is a life that is very difficult and isn’t for everyone. It is a life that also bears a lot of responsibility and it at times can be very burdensome. I don’t want the honor at times because in many ways i don’t feel i deserve it. Yet, i know that God called me to it and i can’t imagine doing anything else right now in my life.

This is important that we are also reminded that we are called by God and that it is only possible through him and that our ministry must be built upon him if we are to be successful.

One of the reasons that i wasn’t sure about this message is because the truth is this isn’t a message to buid me up or to brag or to be anything less than humble about who i am called to be. It is though a messaage to share with all of you about the role of the pastors in your life. Over the many years that each of you have been connected to some church no matter what church it is you have interacted with a pastor. It is passages like this that remind us why we have pastors, what they are called to do, the fact that they are called, and that we hope that each pastor is able to live a life that is in pursuit of God so that they can properly lead Jesus.

It is the message than for you to help and recognize this role and support the pastor and build them up. I am not saying this for my benefit but for the benefit of any pastor you encounter.

The truth is that the underlying message is that we are all called to be set a part a royal priesthood to serve God and to be humble in our relationship with him. There is a little bit of this responsibility in each of us. Set forth for us by Jesus.