A Moment of Trust
by Rev. Dr. John Hinkle, Jr., RDM Past President
We ministers tend to think about the most unusual things right before stepping into the pulpit to proclaim God’s Word to those who have gathered in the sanctuary on any particular Sunday. Admittedly - perhaps I am the only minister who finds his head cluttered with random thoughts at the very moment I should be focused on the sermon and praying that somehow it will be a blessing to all those who have ears to hear. Now the good news for me is that I am a cradle Presbyterian and enough of a Calvinist to believe that there is no such thing as a bad sermon. I trust that, through the Holy Spirit, God takes my mere mortal words and places his message in the heart of the believer. All that being said, after 28 years of ordained ministry, I am still surprised where my thoughts sometimes take me right before I am to preach.
For some context, I will let you know my personal and professional life right now seems chaotic at best. During the Christmas holidays, my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was also diagnosed with cancer three years ago (the good news is that I am now cancer-free). On top of our own health issues, both of us are dealing with aging parents who live hours away from us. Increasingly frequent messages about classmates who have passed away leave me clearly thinking about my own mortality.
Professionally, my ministry has been challenging at best. Like most ministers, I am exhausted with all the hoops I have had to jump through since covid became a reality. No one in seminary taught me how to minister to a people when you have to be eight feet apart from them, wear a mask, and unable to read facial expressions. Often it seemed that everybody was angry at everybody else. One Ruling Elder called me up sometime between the surges of Delta and Omicron, frustrated with what he perceived as the church moving too slowly towards normalization. After he said his piece, the only thing I could come up with was, “what you need to remember is that I am the best minister you have ever had during a global pandemic.” His silence was finally broken when he started laughing and said, “You are right about that.” The only problem was… I was not trying to be funny.
Clearly, these days of challenge and chaos have not made an easy season in the life of the church and that was what was going around my brain right before I stepped into the pulpit on a recent Sunday morning when the sheep of my charge were longing for some good news. I can only guess God knew I needed words for His people because when the anthem ended, I stood up, walked into the pulpit and shared the words of Jesus, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust God. Trust Me.”
At its most simple explanation, The Sabbath is really a moment of trust. As believers we take that one day break from the busy activity of our lives because we believe and trust God’s word for our lives enough to pause, rest and worship. I am not sure what will be running through my brain next Sunday right before I preach, but I know I will be grateful that God has given us this day to rest in Him.
