Loading...Growing together in Mutual Ministry
A sermon in celebration of the ministry of the Rev. Debbie Dehler and the people of St.
James' Episcopal Church, Pewee Valley Kentucky in the Episcopal Diocese of
Kentucky..
The Renewal of Ministry with the Welcoming of a New Rector
Job. 12:7-10a
1 Cor. 12:4-11
John 15:9-16
“With the Spirit’s gifts empower us, for the work of ministry.”
Take my lips and speak through them;
Take our minds and think through them
Take our hearts and set them on fire with love for you.
What a privilege to be here with you, Bishop Terry, Canon Amy, Canon Jason, Rev. Debbie, Jeff, Ray and Erin who can’t be here in person but are so here for their mom, Joan Trendell, Senior Warden at St. Alban’s, Indianapolis and the family of St. James' on this joyous occasion. I come to you from your sister diocese just a few miles away- the Diocese of Lexington- and from work with clergy and congregations across the Church where as a transition and leadership consultant, it is always a privilege to be present when the process of search and transition comes to this pivotal moment of culmination and beginning.
I do not believe it is coincidence that we gather on St. Francis Day - more what I call “Godincidence.” We generally remember St. Francis most at our annual Blessing of The Animals. But I want to briefly recall the lesser known story of how young Francis, still in his 20’s, raised in a family of wealth and privilege, had gone into the ruins of the Church of San Dimaino just outside of Assisi, to pray. Amidst the ruins, the famous Cross of St. Francis was still there. As Francis knelt to pray, he heard Jesus speak to him from the Crucifix, saying “Go rebuild my church which is falling into disrepair.” Recognizing the physical condition of the building, Francis first thought he was to make the repairs, and he sold all of his possessions so he could do so. Then he began to realize that he could not transform anything until he transformed himself, which he set out to do, realizing that the commission he had been given was much bigger than bricks and stones. More than eight centuries ago he understood that it meant caring for those who have less, reigniting people’s faith and spreading the Gospel- in addition, of course, to caring for all living creatures.
I believe this story of Francis receiving the commission from Jesus leads us directly to today’s lessons for the celebration of new ministry. One of the jobs of of transition ministers like Canon Amy and me is to speak with congregations about your role as ministers of this church. …someone is sure to say to me when I, as their transition consultant refer to THER ministry, and I imagine to Canon Amy at some time during those days, “I can’t be a minister. I’m not ordained.”
My answers are always the same.
The first from the great hymn by Jeffrey Rathorn which brought us into the service this evening:
“Lord, you call US to thy service…” a call for which our baptismal vows prepared us….a truth reiterated in the Prayer of Thanksgiving at the Eucharist- Send US now into the world to love and serve you….
And the prayer of the Daughters of the King…
I am but one, but I am one
I cannot do everything, but I can do something
What I can do I ought to do
Lord, what would you have me do?”
But I would like to change the final word of that prayer - “do” - to the word ‘be.”
For the word ‘do’ and thoughts of our spiritual gifts, as we heard a few minutes ago in our lesson from 1 Cor. would have us think that exercising mutual ministry, recognizing and applying our spiritual gifts for the common good, means to take on more tasks, to volunteer more- and all of that I want to suggest to you that both the New Testament lesson and the Gospel for this evening are calling us all to expand our concept of ministry, building on its very core, its foundation - that we love one another for the common good, each bringing gifts differing to our community. We’re not talking about natural talents or abilities here….when we are told to ‘feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, care for the sick, visit the prisoner, we don’t hear a commandment to be an actor, or writer, a coach or an entrepreneur or a brick layer.
We’re talking about not what we DO- but who we BE.
What does that mean-in general, and in our context- to “BE”?
Let me share a couple of stories- one about the difference in doing and being, and the other about recognizing spiritual gifts.
My father was a football coach - He was Head Coach of the Cleveland Browns -World Champions pre-SuperBowl. There were some very talented men on that team - people like the late great Jim Brown, and a Defensive End named Bill Glass, who was an ordained Southern Baptist pastor who God had led to a prison ministry. Bill told me this story himself. He had decided that the upcoming season would be his last in pro football, after which he would be totally dedicating his life to his work in prisons. He also knew that his presence as an all-pro football player made a huge impact on his audiences. He said, “I knew that if I waited until the end of the season to tell coach, he would not have adequate time to scout for other defensive ends, so I wanted to let him know, for his planning purposes. But, I knew that the when I stopped playing pro football, I would not be looked at in the same way, and was afraid my effectiveness would be diminished.” When I finished telling Blanton my plan, he was silent for a very long moment- just looking straight into my eyes. When he spoke, he said, ‘Bill, what concerns me is that you are putting the importance of DOING a good prison ministry over who you BE as a human being- your honesty with yourself and others. Who you BE is bigger than what you DO as a football player or a pastor….the consistency of who you BE, always in the image of who God created you to be, is what matters.” Bill went on to say…” I had never seriously considered the difference in DOING and BEING before, and it has become one of the most important criteria in my life. In whatever I DO, is who I BE continually discovering and moving toward being the person God imagined me to be when He created me?”
To BE is to live a congruent life, where my insides match my outside, and whatever I am doing grows out of who I BE every day, in every behavior- not just doing a specific task for the church for a specific period of time and then go back to whatever behavior I DO when not engaged in the church, or those tasks.
Now what does that story have to do with our lessons tonight, with how we recognize Our spiritual gifts - and this celebration of mutual ministry at St. James'? I believe that when we discover our spiritual gifts, we discover who we BE. it is as if we have recognized a part of our body, that belongs, as every part belongs, that has a reason for being, as every part of our body needs every other part, and contributes to our Body. Once having discovered our God-given gift, we can no more disassociate ourselves from it than we can disassociate from our hand, or arm or leg.
In my work with congregations, I frequently have people say to me, “I don’t have a spiritual gift,” or “I’m just a lay person…I’m not the spiritual professional.” This is always my clue to get a discussion going about where that idea of spiritual professional came from - and how it led to expectations that once we have a full time rector, we, the people, can just sit back and let the professional tend to everything. To discussion with vestries that we don’t have ‘employee evaluations” because our clergy are not our employees- we have mutual ministry reviews where we honestly discuss how both clergy and laity are doing in our roles in the community. And, the many ways that we might pay attention to recognizing our individual spiritual gifts. There are always clues along the way to recognizing our spiritual gifts. ….I can only tell you mine…..And hope that my story stands as a reminder to you that sometimes recognizing our spiritual gifts can take a long time, and that we may have been contributing to the common good all along- before that ‘click’ of recognition that it is who we BE
One of my longtime favorite books is entitled I Stand By the Door. It is written by the Rev. Sam Shoemaker, founder of Faith at Work.. His poem, I Stand By the Door is the Foreword to the book. I have read this book and its Forward many times, always finding myself mysteriously moved to tears as he describes how he would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than anything else. They poem goes on to describe those who grow so deeply in their faith that they seem to forget where they were before. To forget those they’ve left behind; forget the fragility of new believers and those on journey, and those who haven’t even put their hand to the latch on the door. For a number of years, I believed my response to the poem was an some indication of being called to ordination. Three times I entered the discernment process and each time the entire diocesan discernment process was put on hold- the Bishop resigned and became assisting bishop in another diocese; the dean , my rector accepted a call to another diocese; the head of the Commission on Ministry and Discernment Process retired. I began to wonder if there was a personal message to me in this issue with diocesan personnel!.
But the words from the poem remained figural in my life: I will share only a few of them, here, but urge you to google “I stand by the door” and read the complete poem.
I stand by the door
I neither go too far in nor stay too far out
The door is the most important door in the world
It is the door through which men walk when they find God.
The most tremendous thing in the world is for one to find that door- the door to God.
The most important thing any of us can do is to take hold one of those blind, groping hands
And put it on the latch- the latch that only clicks
And opens to one’s own touch.
Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it
And open it, and walk in, and find God.
So I stand by the door.
Go in, great saints, go all the way in: Some must inhabit those inner rooms
And know the depths and heights of God
And call outside to the rest of us how wonderful it is.
Sometimes I take a deeper look in
Sometimes I venture in a little further
But my place seems closer to the opening - my old accustomed place
Near enough to God to hear him, and know he is there
But not so far from men as not to hear them
“I had rather be a gatekeeper”
So I stand by the door.
What one hears in any poem, or sermon or piece of music is personal; subjective.
God does not always speak directly in simple sentences as Jesus did to Francis on that long ago day in the Church of San Dimiano. But this poem and my own spiritual journey went with me when as a new transition minister, I attended the week long rigorous in-person training on the theology and practice of transition ministry. Somewhere as technology replaced relational training the opportunity to gather with others called to this ministry, to worship together, and hear stories from these already in the field was lost. I was so blessed to be in the last group of diocesan transition ministers to experience training for the position. It was during that training, sitting in the chapel of the Church Center, as the busy life of New York City went on just outside the door that light dawned—that when I said “Yes’ to my Bishop’s call to Leadership Development and Transition Ministry, I had claimed the spiritual gift which I had been praying to know AND WHICH HAD ALREADY CLAIMED ME! I was a gatekeeper, for the clergy and congregation in discernment! When I looked at my paths of ministry through the years, I now recognized gateways. It was who I already BE. My tears had recognized the gift long before the rest of me caught up!
What might you recognize as your spiritual gift? Who God created you to BE?
“You did not choose me, but I chose you, and appoint you so you might go and bear fruit…” say the words of…..John 15:16.
So God chose me, and God has chosen you.
Will choose you.
Is choosing you.
Be aware …for his call is often a whisper.
Or a moment of blinding light, or a quiet “Oh…I understand.”
It may move you to tears in recognition.
It may surprise you; shock you, challenge you; bring you discomfort.
And always, the peace of knowing that you are living out your baptismal vows, as you spoke them or your sponsors spoke for you.
Mutual ministry in a parish is marked by the continuation of mutual discernment that God has called an ordained leader and a community of lay men and women to come together in a living relationship marked by deep love, honesty, directness, civility and respect for the worth and dignity of every human being, regardless of differences.
You will, with Rev. Debbie, listen together for God’s call to St. James' at this time in the history of this community, this world. I was privileged to walk with Rev. Debbie through discernment, to pray with and for her as she experienced sacred engagement with those of you in your own discernment here in Pewee Valley, as well as those in other potential calls to ministry. To rejoice as mutual discernment led to mutual holy ‘yes.’ And tonight, I am privileged to meet and share with those of you who make up the whole of the circle called by God to be in mutual ministry here.
As Francis worked on his own personal transformation, he wrote a prayer for the work of rebuilding the Church. In this time of renewal of your ministry together , and the time of challenge of who our larger church will be in this very chaotic and divided time,may we hold it in our hearts:
Most glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my heart. Give me right faith, firm hope, profound humility and perfect charity with wisdom and perception. O Lord, so that I may do what what is truly your holy will.” Amen.
In a few minutes, we will sing together the last verse of a hymn most familiar to us all at Advent…a time when thoughts of love and family and the gift of God’s son are figural in our lives … May these words join Francis’ prayer as your calling, leading each of you to a larger picture of ministry, and who you BE in this community of love and faith. We celebrate you, Rev. Debbie and you, the people of St. James' on this evening of renewal of ministry - holding you in prayer as you go into the main arena for each of our ministries …your daily lives, where each of you continue as a baptized Person, an active participant according to your differing gifts. Together , you can and will be a model of transformative love in your community and a hurting world. As you seek to answer God’s call to you, these words;
What can I give him, poor as I am
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb.
If I were a wise man, I would do my part
But what I can I give him- give my heart.
Give my heart.
