In the Rev. Dr. Jean Stairs’s book, Listening for the Soul: Pastoral Care and Spiritual Direction, the author argues for a collective movement by clergy and congregation members towards what she terms “complementarity,” a healthy balance of modern forms of pastoral care (rooted heavily in the science of psychology) alongside spiritual direction. While there is a lot I could lift up about the whole of her book, and its relevance to me in my current season of life and ministry, I might first note the book was published over two decades ago: how slow the church is to change.
I paused on a phrase she used to describe pastoral caregivers, “stewards of the Mystery.”[1] Notice that she capitalized the “m.” More on that below. Although Stairs includes more people than the pastor of a congregation in her definition of pastoral caregivers, I will focus my attention here toward pastors, and apply her salient description, “stewards of the Mystery,” to pastors specifically. There have been many metaphors for pastors. How might we enrich our understanding of the pastoral role by considering pastors as “stewards of the Mystery?”
Mystery
I should note that the understanding of God as “mystery,” and even the central events of the Christian faith, i.e. the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus as being the mystery, dates back to the early church. I wrote these thoughts last spring, during the Easter season, when I was the gracious recipient of the hospitality of the monks of Holy Cross Monastery, an Anglican Benedictine community located along the banks of the Hudson River in West Park, New York. The monks here warmly offer hospitality to all seeking rest and renewal.
As I joined them for prayer each day, they used the term “Paschal Mystery.” “Paschal” comes from a Latin word referring to Easter or Passover. Christians understand Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose sacrifice reconciles us to God and to one another. In essence, the term “Paschal Mystery,” points us directly to the central events of Christianity. The ultimate mystery is Jesus’ resurrection. When Christians say that “Jesus has risen indeed,” they are affirming the central mystery that grounds the Christian faith.
No matter our Christian tradition, mystery lies as the heart of our lives. Every time I administer the sacrament of communion, I pray The Great Prayer of Thanksgiving, which is shared across Christian traditions. Together with not only the people of God who have gathered but Christian believers around the world we proclaim the Mystery of the faith: “Christ has died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again.”
Patience for Mystery
We don’t have a lot of patience for mystery in the modern era. I am as guilty as anyone else: I enjoy a good “thriller-genre” movie, but want the mystery solved inside two hours. People prefer the “concrete” (or what they perceive as “concrete”). Perhaps our rationalist proclivities are by-products of the Enlightenment (believing as modern people we can “fully rationalize” anything), perhaps our impatience with mystery is part of the shifting values of a modern North American society too intensely-focused on the individual, or perhaps it stems from the shifting allure of idols too numerous to list. The fact is, we just don’t have patience for mystery in our lives.
As a pastor, I have heard more than one well-intentioned person say, we need to “run the (local) church like a business.” I cringe every time I hear this. What does this actually mean? Does it mean simply balancing the budget? Should we tend to the various ongoing work of a church like it is any other organization? Alas, this is yet another example of the rationalist, post-Enlightenment mindset creeping in. What about God? What about the awareness of the wider work that the people of God are doing in the larger realm of eternity in furthering the reign of God i.e. “thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven?” “Running the church like a business” leaves no room for mystery. It desires not mystery, but certainty. But the church does not need to be more secular. We need more of the sacred, with mystery at the center: “Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his presence continually” (Ps. 105:4).
Pastor as a Steward
The pastor is a “steward of the Mystery.” (I don’t think anyone says this about business leaders.) This truth accompanies the pastoral identity; it is woven into it. There is much freedom in such an understanding. The pastor does not need to understand the mystery fully (we aren’t meant to nor able to), but the pastor is to be the proclaimer of the Mystery. In that proclamation there is a freedom to be lost in the beautiful contours of the Holy Mystery of God, who out of God’s great love, sent God’s Son into the world, “not to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him” (Jn. 3:17).
The monks of Holy Cross Monastery know the mystery well. They come to the sanctuary to pray five times a day and on most days they pray alongside their guests, fellow children of God on the journey. Some of the monks have been a part of the monastery for a long time, some have been there a short time. They pray, study, and work. Their way of life yields the “visions” and “dreams” of the Holy Spirit foretold in Peter’s quotation of the prophet Joel in Acts 2. They are “stewards of the Mystery,” just as pastors are. Indeed, we all are part of the Mystery.
Recognizing we are all sewn-into this Holy Mystery, we are able to have the freedom to spend more time dwelling in what it means “to behold,” “to be,” and “to wonder.” It is in those spaces that the Holy Spirit does its creative work. (Yet we also affirm the Holy Spirit is still working when we neglect to take the time “to behold,” “to be,” and “to wonder.”)
Realities and Reframing
I’ve previously written about the realities for many in pastoral ministry today in North America. I recognize and see the pressures of congregational membership ebbing and flowing, the problem of maintaining costly, aging facilities, and many other challenges. The reality for many pastors is they feel they have little time “to behold,” or “to be,” or “to wonder.” They may wish to dwell more fully in the Mystery, but there’s yet another email, another committee meeting, and of course the Sunday sermon to write. Oh, and the pastor may not feel permission from their faith community to take the time simply to dwell in the Mystery.
Yet in those spaces where the Holy Spirit does its creative work, we find the words and the reminders to reframe the current realities in our ministry contexts. This reframing is a constant need, especially to remember that which is, that Jesus Christ’s atoning work on the Cross has grafted us into this Holy Mystery sola gratia, by “grace alone,” and sola fide “by faith alone.”
Concluding Thoughts
I offer not a conclusion as much as a parting reflection since, after all, the journey of stewarding the Mystery continues. As we journey, I offer a simple phrase my spiritual director has said to me sometimes, “God’s got this.” This affirmation is important to remember amid all our formal theological education. May these three words bring encouragement to my fellow pastors, especially those experiencing the various pressures upon the local church in North America today. Don’t stop reveling in the Mystery. Renew yourself in the Mystery. Proclaim that Mystery to the faithful and to the world. For you are a “steward of the Mystery.”
May our prayer in song be that we are drawn closer and closer to the depths of this Holy Mystery as we steward it, with the words of one of Fanny Crosby’s poetic masterpieces that speaks so well to it:
There are depths of love that I cannot know
Till I cross the narrow sea
There are heights of joy that I may not reach
Till I rest in peace with Thee
Draw me near, nearer, blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died;
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,
To Thy precious, bleeding side.
Let us pray: O Lord, draw us nearer into the depths of the Mystery of thy deep love for us in name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
[1] Jean Stairs. Listening for The Soul: Pastoral Care and Spiritual Direction (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 2000), 195.
Right on. What a healing perspective and corrective. And since so many of us are regularly inspired at Holy Cross, let’s have our new Middle Assembly have its first meeting a three day retreat being led by Brothers Carl, David, and Ephrem.
My appropriate response: silence. Except to add one word: “Amen.”
This reflection could not be more timely in my life. Thank you.
“But the church does not need to be more secular. We need more of the sacred, with mystery at the center:”
Well said. Thank you.
A meaningful reflection for today, Zach. It seems that Mystery elicits awe and humility and invites discovery. Thank you!
Thank you, Rev. Zachary.
I found an old paperback* on the shelf in my church office, left there, no doubt, by a previous priest. I have been pondering one of the questions: “Who have your most important theological mentors/guides been?”
Your article helped me see that the people I would name have all been “stewards of the mystery.” The one trait they all shared was a profound sense that the call they felt was to be awe-filled servants whose lives balanced practical spirituality and abiding in this Holy Mystery every day.
As a part-time parish priest, I am mainly called to the mystery side of the fence. Our board(vestry) takes care of the “business” of the place, and their expectation of me is to tend to the pastoral and sacramental and to preach. I am aided in that ministry by tending to the mystery in my daily contemplation, time as an associate of Holy Cross Monastery, and regular reading of devotional literature, including the prayers of the daily office. Ministry in Mystery is a balancing act!
*”Bearing Fruit:A resource for clergy self assessment”(Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire/ Vermont, publishers)