Living in Bonus Time

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 05:00:00 +0000

Gordon Govier

Living in Bonus Time

With his immune system collapsing and his white blood cells turning to junk, ��ñ�� President Alec Hill stepped out of office in the spring of 2015. Returning to his native Seattle for treatment of myelodysplasia (MDS), a cancer of the bone marrow, his doctor told him MDS was worse than leukemia.

The news from his doctors kept getting worse until Alec found out his brother Grant was an identical match for a bone marrow transplant. “That was when the elevator started going back up,” he said.

But the elevator ride was still rough for months. It included massive doses of chemotherapy and full-body radiation. While the transplant took hold, 50 pills a day were needed to replace his immune system. Then, finally, more great news: the transplant was working. He had a new immune system and his brother’s DNA. But he still faced 12 months of isolation to protect himself from infection.

Now, two years later, as President Emeritus of ��ñ��, Alec mentors younger staff and considers each day “bonus time,” like the extra minutes that are added at the end of a soccer match. He takes seriously the admonition from Psalm 90:12, “Teach us to number our days.” Achievements have become less important, and relationships much more important as he tries to live each day fully, one day at a time.

Speaking to the staff at ��ñ��’s National Service Center in Madison, Wisconsin, for the first time in 25 months, Alec offered two other lessons that were impressed upon him through his brush with his own mortality.

The first is to embrace the Lord’s presence. Like Moses in Exodus 33:15, who said to God, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here,” Alec’s biggest concern was his relationship with God through the experience. He has learned anew that God draws closer as we reach out to him. “When we are at our worst, when life is at its hardest, his presence is the sweetest,” he said.

His month of greatest trial was also his month of greatest intimacy with God. He looks back on that time with joy and thankfulness for the life-giving presence of God’s Spirit. Through extended quiet times and long walks, he continues to make time for extended fellowship with God.

“What I’ve learned from this is that living in crisis is not the enemy of his presence, but being too busy is,” Alec said. “Ignoring the Sabbath is, doing drive-by devotions is, letting our tech devices crowd out silence is. I encourage all of us to make seeking his presence our highest priority. When you’re in a crisis, this foundation is a rock and not sand.”

The second lesson he has learned is the illusion of control. He admits that he used to think he had control over most of his own life and compared himself to the captain of a large ship on a small lake. But reality has a way of letting us know that God is in control, not us.

“We have to be humble and admit we don’t always understand how God exercises his sovereignty,” he said. He now sees himself more as the captain of a small boat tossing in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. For him, observing the Sabbath is an admission of our limitations and dependence on God.

Small aggravations no longer bother him as they once did. He takes more risks, is less diplomatic, and extends grace more readily. Surviving a crisis is, surprisingly, very liberating.

He takes each day one at a time. At the beginning of each new day he asks, “What manna do you have for me today, Lord?” He rejoices in God’s faithfulness.

“While my medical experience is not your experience, our spiritual journeys are similar,” he concluded.

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IVP to Publish CaringBridge Cancer Journey of Steve & Sharol Hayner

gordon.govier@intervarsity.org — Thu, 26 Mar 2015 20:41:21 +0000

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IVP to Publish CaringBridge Cancer Journey of Steve & Sharol Hayner

WESTMONT, ILLINOIS—Steve Hayner was healthy and fit and serving as president of Columbia Seminary when he found out he had pancreatic cancer. He and his wife, Sharol, embarked on a journey together with their children that soon included tens of thousands of visits from friends and acquaintances via CaringBridge. The overwhelming response to their posts on this website attested to the surprising and engaging way that they chose to live in the face of death. In July 2015 ��ñ�� Press will be releasing a compilation of those posts in the book Joy in the Journey: Finding Abundance in the Shadow of Death by Steve and Sharol Hayner.

Steve was always known for signing letters and emails, “Joyfully, Steve.” These pages, including reflections from some of those closest to Steve and Sharol, will offer a glimpse into what it means to walk in honesty, with joy, even through great pain. “On the journey of life, we need scouts ahead of us who send back guidance and encouragement,” Sharol said. “As scouts in the valley of the shadow of death, I hope that our discovery of God’s faithfulness, presence and gift of joy especially on the darkest days will bring courage and the desire to trust Jesus in life and in death.”

Steve was the president emeritus of Columbia Theological Seminary and an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), as well as a professor, author and the former president of ��ñ�� Christian Fellowship. He held a PhD in Hebrew and Semitic Studies from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. He served on the boards of World Vision and International Justice Mission, among others. Known by many throughout the world, Steve’s passion was to prepare women and men to lead congregations toward the fulfillment of God’s call as churches who are biblically faithful and growing steadily in their love for God, their love for each other and their love for Christ’s work in the world.

“Steve Hayner has been first a hero and then a friend since I met him many years ago,” said John Ortberg, senior pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church. “He was a people magnet and an idea machine and an energy force. To follow the journey that he and Sharol traveled together through the valley of the shadow of death was a privilege and a heartbreak and an education in hope. I’m grateful their searing, aching, honest, inspiring words are now permanently available. I cannot imagine a human being who would not benefit from it.”

Sharol has been serving in ministry for over forty years with her husband, Steve. She served as children’s music director at University Presbyterian Church in Seattle and as children’s music director and worship coordinator at Christ Presbyterian Church in Madison, Wisconsin. At age forty-eight she began seminary, and ultimately graduated from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia. Ordained in the PCUSA, she served as associate pastor for discipleship at Peachtree Presbyterian Church and now serves as parish associate at Kairos Church, both in Atlanta. She has three children and five grandchildren.

“I worked at ��ñ�� Press during Steve Hayner’s tenure and saw the lasting impact he had on our organizational culture,” said Cindy Bunch, editorial director for IVP Books. “It has been a privilege to work on this book project with Sharol, so filled with both beauty and pain. They are both, for me, mentors in the way of life and death.”

Joy in the Journey will include forewords by Steve’s close friends, Mark Labberton, president of Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, California, and Alex Gee, pastor of Fountain of Life Family Worship Center and president and founder of faith-based Nehemiah Community Development Corporation, both in Madison, Wisconsin.

“Seldom have I been as moved as in reading these epistles from Steve and Sharol Hayner ending ‘Joyfully yours,’” said Leighton Ford. “Through his life Steve helped so many to find life in all its fullness in Christ. Now, with his beloved Sharol, he guides us through the ending of life in fullness of hope. Thanks to ��ñ�� Press for what I believe will become a classic.”

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Founded in 1947 as an extension of ��ñ��, ��ñ�� Press serves those in the university, the church and the world by publishing thoughtful Christian books that equip and encourage people to follow Jesus as Savior and Lord in all of life. For more information, visit ivpress.com.

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Steve Hayner

IVP

Cancer