There is something slightly amusing about Pastor's Appreciation Day which technically is tomorrow, the 11th. For one day a year, the church officially remembers that pastors are human beings. We eat. We get tired. We occasionally forget where we put our keys. We have families who have learned that "I'll be home shortly" is a theological statement rather than a time estimate. And we appreciate being appreciated. But the truth is, ministry is not a one-man job. Behind every pastor who stands in the pulpit is a family that has learned to share him with hospital rooms, board meetings, phone calls, emergencies, funerals, weddings, Sabbath afternoons, and the occasional "Pastor, do you have a minute?" that somehow lasts 45 minutes. There are also colleagues - pastors, elders, teachers, deacons, ministry leaders, and friends - who carry burdens, solve problems, encourage when the batteries are low, and sometimes simply say, "keep going." A pastor may be the one holding the microphone, but many people are holding the other end of the rope. And then there is Jesus, thank you Lord! If ministry depended entirely on appreciation, many pastors would have resigned somewhere around Tuesday. Pastors discover something rather quickly: you can preach a sermon for which someone thanks you for months, and another sermon for which someone remembers only that you mispronounced a Bible name. You can spend hours helping someone through a crisis and then receive a phone call because the church thermostat is two degrees too warm. That is ministry. Jesus never promised His servants constant applause. In fact, He warned us that following Him could sometimes mean being misunderstood, overlooked, criticized, or simply unappreciated. But He did promise something better: "Well done, good and faithful servant." That is why today is not really about putting pastors on a pedestal. It is about remembering that ministry is a calling, and that the One who calls also sees what nobody else sees. Some pastors may feel appreciated today or this month in general. Some may not. Some may receive cards; others may receive another complaint about the roof leaking or a door squeaking. But heaven keeps better records than we do. And that is the most encouraging thought for any pastor as well as for any of you: Down here, appreciation may be occasional; Up there, it will be eternal.

— Pastor Ovid Radulescu