Pastor Appreciation

October is pastor appreciation month. I’ll be really honest with you; after years in church I am sometimes worn out on pastor appreciation month/day/Sunday/weekend/banquet.... I know. Cynical and ungracious. No one should be surprised.
I haven’t “celebrated” pastor appreciation month/day/Sunday/weekend/banquet in a few years. We’ve been in our home church for a few years. Haven’t celebrated it because frankly; I forgot about it. It has never been mentioned. This year my blog sister Kaymac mentioned it on her blog though and I started thinking about pastor appreciation for the first time in a few years. Only this time, it was with real appreciation and not that kind that feels forced by some such pronouncements.
I’ve been blessed in 30+ years of church attendance to have been taught, guided and loved by some true men of God. My first pastor, Bill Meszaros was a tough act to follow. The pinnacle of humility and holiness. A man with such a sweet spirit and strong conviction that most who were blessed to be one of his flock are still looking for a pastor to be his equal almost 25 years after his retirement. Few of us have succeeded in finding such a man. Brother Bill married my mom and dad and was my pastor until I was fifteen years old. I still measure my life against what he would have expected of me. It’s as good a measuring stick as I can imagine, that of holiness without compromise.
After Brother Bill retired we had two pastors in short order before the Mr. and I felt that the time had come for us to find a new church and there I met the first pastor that I truly felt was my own instead of my mom and dad’s. Pastor Ron Ramey.. Pastor Ron was different from Brother Bill in many ways. And alike in the important ones. Pastor Ron loves from his gut and leaves himself vulnerable to anyone who might hurt him by exposing his soft heart to everyone he meets. He is a pastor who sits at the bedside of the elderly holding their hands until Jesus takes them home. He cries when preaching funerals for his people. He sings for Christ and compels the rest of us to worship with him. He is not perfect. He is as openly flawed as Brother Bill appeared to be perfect. Where Brother Bill kept his personal life private, Pastor Ron laid his hurts and his heart out for all to see. He loved my children from the time they were babies. He loved my husband and myself through the darkest moments of our marriage when even he couldn’t see how it would be saved. He sat in our living room and didn’t pretend to know the right words but it was ok. He didn’t need words. His love for us filled the house and held us over for enough days until Jesus did the final healing we needed. When we left Woodhaven Worship Center, I think he was sad and sorry to see us go. This was the place where we learned to serve and were given the opportunity to start using our gifts. He let us crawl until we could walk spiritually. He gave me the chance to teach, first in children’s church and before we left, in the pulpit. Had it not been for Pastor Ron’s belief in my gifts, I would never have stood before a crowd and learned what calling heaven had for my life. He let me stumble as I learned and gave me second and third and fourth chances to do better and better. Under the hand of Pastor Ron, I learned to fly in my spirit. And when it was time to take wing; he celebrated even as he cried that day we told him we were leaving. He is still my friend and brother.
Today though I have a different pastor. The fifth pastor of my life. Pastor Jeremy Schossau. Pastor J. Lead Pastor of Metrosouth Church. A “Modern Church That Works”. The rock and roll church that meets in the auditorium of Flat Rock High School. We showed up on a Sunday morning in October of 2003 so I guess this is our anniversary as well as pastor appreciation month. I was in nursing school and we were kind of limping from the effects of leaving the church we had so loved which was no longer a placed that we fit. We didn’t know where we fit. We were tired, worn out from ministry. Hurting for a few different reasons. Had teenagers who needed a place to find their own way with God. Didn’t know anyone in this new place.
And there he was, playing electric guitar in the band, way too loud and not all that well (sorry Pastor J, you know it’s true). He greeted us that Sunday morning before service started, spotting us in the crowd and bounding down from the stage to shake our hands and introduce himself. I loved his teaching. I was vibrating from a combination of true worship and giant speakers blasting me in the face.
Pastor J just plain vibrates all the time. I think he’s wound a little tighter than the average pastor.
Here’s the thing with my pastor. He drives me nuts. He has meetings at 2:00 a.m. at Denny’s. He e mails with so many get-togethers, planning sessions and groups that I want to poke him in the eye.
He has terrible table manners.
He sometimes spits on you when he talks to you as a result of this inner vibrating entirely too excited preacher thing.
He cries when he teaches about grace, mercy and God’s love. He cries when he talks about a life changed or an opportunity lost.
He adores his wife and kids unashamedly.
He won’t let anyone get away with being a pew warmer and he insists Metro can do the impossible. He asks for things no one will possibly ever agree with and then gets them to agree.
He worships so hard you worry he’s gonna hurt himself.
He’s a terrible dancer but he’s dancing before God and it makes him the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen.
He’s not funny but he still inserts these cornball jokes into his sermons that are so bad they’re hilarious.
He hugs you hard and pushes you into using your life for God just so he’ll shut up already.
He does not sleep.
He wears jeans and preaches holiness and runs hard after God and won’t take no for an answer.
He has no boundaries and no idea that things can’t be done and no sense and thereby he allows God to do the impossible through him.
He makes me crazy, this pastor of mine.
He makes me excited to see what God will do when a guy is so ridiculous as to trust him.
And so, I guess it’s a shame that I should need a specific month designated to say out loud what is the truth;
Pastor J, Lynette, Zachary, Madalyn, Lincoln and Baby Boy...
I appreciate you.
I love you.

Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners...