I could only smile and chuckle a little bit. In the 5 minutes before church started, the pastor at the congregation where I was guest preaching that particular Sunday was frantic, frenetic and frazzled--in a good way! It was all beautifully typical pastor-stuff. A member was sharing with him that the date for her surgery had now been set. Could he visit her beforehand? Yep. "Let me go write down that date so I don't forget." The confirmation class was doing a recitation as part of the service...they all lined up, 20 of them. Twenty awkward, nervous, goofy Lutheran teenagers. All set...except one kid missing. "Pastor, who's gonna do Evan's part?" Pastor's bulletin was missing, the pre-service music was winding down, the confirmation kids were getting antsy. And then a couple of people walked into the narthex who hadn't been there for a while. A smile and short prayer of thanks to God for his grace.

This particular pastor is an amazing guy. Comfortable with people, driven to reach the lost, humble almost to a fault. His people respect him and like him at the same time. That's a marvelous thing to see.

For 13 years I was the frantic, frenetic and frazzled pastor. Now, most Sundays I relax, smile, and chit-chat before services, watching pastors be pastors. Can I tell you something? I love watching pastors be pastors.

On that Sunday, the service was an uplifting, encouraging, beautiful hour and twenty minutes of worship. The Word was central. The confession of sins was heartfelt. The Absolution was good news! Jesus was there. And looking out from my chair in the chancel at a mix of young and old, grandparents and grandkids, farmers, businessmen, and some dedicated lay leaders that I had spent time with the day before, I couldn't help but smile. The Church is a beautiful thing.

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