What I Do

Derek Jeter’s parents gave him some advice that sounds right to me: “There’s always gonna be someone out there better than you but there should be no reason someone should outwork you.”

Derek Jeter putting his work ethic in motion with one of his signature leaps
Photo: Chris Faytok/Star-Ledger

Sometimes I wonder if I work hard enough. Susan thinks I work all the time and need to take some time off. I guess the reason I wonder if I work hard enough is because of the kind of work that I do. One of the boys from church asked me the other day what I do for a living…”Pastor Mark, what do you do? How do you get a check?” he asked. His Momma scolded him for being rude but I laughed and told him that I study and write and pray a lot so that I can teach Sunday School and Bible studies and preach and do counseling. I explained to him that it takes a lot of daily practice to be prepared for the things that pop up in a pastor’s life, let alone the things that are planned, like the Sunday morning sermon. Jeter has to go through lots of daily practice drills in order to be ready for that surprise situation that sometimes presents itself. It is no different for a preacher than it is for a shortstop. Funny thing is though: kids don’t seem to ask questions like what do baseball players do for a living. Some people think all they do is play a game that they love. There is a lot more to it than that. Hours of exercise that would daunt the average guy, meetings, watching video of other teams and players, drills, practices and practice games, reading and memorizing playbooks, and getting yelled at by the coaches, manager, and owner. They are all parts of the business of professional sports. It’s a job.

Those things are parts of my vocation too. Nevertheless some people think all a preacher does is “sit around all day.” I do have to read book after book and I suppose that involves a good deal of sitting. I have to type and write a lot. Yep; sitting. Still, the day starts at 5am and, besides studying, involves traveling to members’ homes, the police department (where I am a chaplain), hospitals and nursing facilities in many cities. Once in these locations, the hardest part of my job begins: speaking words of comfort and peace to people. They’re not really interested in having the strength to get through the trial; they just want to feel better. And there I am, just sitting or standing with them. It must work but it doesn’t feel to me most days like my work is working. Of course, I’m on-call for this type of thing so it must be something people really desire. Sometimes I get called at 3am to wake up and get dressed and head out to the Emergency Room or a home where someone is dying or has already passed.

Then there are funerals. That is a component of my job that is hard, hard work. It involves a lot of a very difficult activity: sitting. There is nothing more difficult however, than sitting with someone who has lost a loved one. Try it sometime. Sit there for hours, day after day, usually saying nothing at all—just sharing their pain. Give it a shot and see if sitting around isn’t very difficult work.

Then there is the dreaming aspect of my vocation. Most people dream lying down. I do it while sitting, walking, or jogging. In fact it’s during that latter activity that my dream gears really get turning. I get ideas about how to do the job better or make things better for other people. So even while I’m on a treadmill or the streets of Graham, I’m working. So, I guess not all of my job is spent sitting afterall. In fact, more and more of my job is spent running: softball, bowling (well, not exactly running but you get my drift), and playing football or basketball or broom hockey or tag with the growing number of kids in the church. That’s just playing around, you say. You try to keep up with them!

The hardest part of my job though, is waiting. Being patient and waiting for God to bless in the ways people want a church blessed is very difficult. I see how people are being strengthened, and honored, and educated, and loved, and well…cared for, but I also see how some of them want “results.” They want to see the pews filled and money in the collection plates so they don’t have to worry about keeping the doors open. So I must have faith for them. I must patiently expect God to do all the real work around here. After all, he doesn’t need me to accomplish his purposes. Maybe that’s why I spend so much of my time sitting in this job.