Every Sunday

by Joanne Lowe
Published December 10, 2007

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”

Romans 10: 13 - 15
King James Version

We have a Pastor Appreciation Month for our pastors. I believe with all of my heart that our pastors should be honored and recognized in a special way every Sunday of the year. One of the greatest ways that we can honor our pastors is by encouraging them with an “Amen” while they are preaching. A dear pastor friend of mine once told me “I feel sometimes that nobody is listening to what I am preaching.”

Pastors, don’t get discouraged and please don’t stop preaching. We need you! One of my pastors back in East Texas many years ago preached a sermon on the “Joy of Jesus”. Pastor Byron said in his sermon “If you want to fly higher than a kite, start bragging on Jesus”. When he said that, I honestly thought he was crazy. However, God used that sermon to change my life and to call me to the mission field.

I don’t think we realize how much they sacrifice for us every day. They are on call twenty-four hours a day. Sometimes they receive telephone calls in the middle of the night from people who are hurting and need to talk to their pastors. I know a pastor who got out of bed at two in the morning to go counsel and stay with someone that was suicidal.

They sacrifice a lot of time with their own families to come and visit us when we are sick. Our pastors come to the hospital to be with us when we are taking the final journey home to be with Jesus. They come to our homes when we are grieving and need encouragement and comforting. Yes, our pastors sacrifice many things every day for us and sad to say, we are unaware of it or we just take it for granted, or worse still, expect it of them. They are only human and they have needs also. They need to be loved and appreciated just like we do. May God forgive us for taking our pastors for granted.

Being the spouse or a child of a pastor is like living in a fishbowl. Everybody is watching them to see how they act. A beloved friend of mine who is a well known Christian leader once said “Everyone is watching me”. I was just as guilty of watching the pastor’s children as everyone else when I was a teenager.

One of my pastor’s sons said some very cruel things to me one day at school and it really hurt my feelings. I thought how terrible it was that a pastor’s son would say things like that to me. Yet, some of my other classmates said harsh and critical words to me and I never said anything about their parents. It is not easy being a pastor’s spouse or child. It is time that we stop judging them and waiting for them to say something or do something wrong. Instead of judging our pastors and their families, we should be praying for them every day.

Are you encouraging your pastor and your pastor’s family? Are you praying for them? Do you invite them to your home for dinner? They may not be able to come because they are so busy but just knowing that you care enough to invite them would be a great encouragement to them. You may not feel comfortable in expressing thanks verbally, but you can smile at them and give them a hug. Thank You, Heavenly Father, for our pastors.

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