Claiming Our Calling
A sermon delivered during worship at the Stated Meeting of East Iowa Presbytery on June 9th, 2015
Scripture Text: Numbers 11
In case you haven't picked up on this
yet, let me let you in on a little secret:
It's a different world out there.
That's right. The world's a whole lot
different than it was twenty or thirty years ago. Or even than it was
five or ten years ago.
Things are rapidly changing. For
example:
Whenever I travel down to Iowa City or
to Lone Tree, I drive by my friend's CSA called Morning Glory just
outside of Mount Vernon.
The farm is owned and operated by Donna
Warhover.
Donna is the wife of Bill, one of our
minister members in our Presbytery and who is now known, simply, as
Donna's farm hand.
CSAs are a relatively new idea. The
initials stand for Community Supported Agriculture.
The idea is that you purchase a share
to support the work of the farm and each week during the summer you
receive a share of that week's harvest.
You pitch in your funds to share in the
cost of operating the farm. At the same time you also share in both
the risk and reward that is part of growing crops.
So if the strawberries are eaten by
bugs or the pepper plants are beaten down by the wind, well then I'm
sorry but no strawberry shortcake or stuffed peppers for you!!
Or if there is bumper crop of potatoes,
well then, you'd better get busy making a batch of those tasty party
potatoes for the church potluck.
Or if you get diakon radishes which
you've never even heard of or seen before - then you better get on
the internet and google it so you can find a recipe to use them up.
A CSA is also hands-on.
Nearly every time I drive by the farm,
someone is out there volunteering to do some work.
Our son Teddy loves to spend a Saturday
morning or afternoon helping Donna on the farm in any way he can. He
comes away feeling good and proud of himself for helping out.
I help out too but don't expect to see
me weeding. Instead I'm probably out there grilling some mean pork
chops to feed the tired and hungry farmers.
Sometimes a bigger group from say, Camp
Wyoming, Good Will, or the local Presbyterian Church comes to help
plant crops, or pull weeds, or any other sort of odd jobs that need
to be done that week.
This kind of ownership and buy-in on a
highly personal level - for something as basic as growing food - is
one trend we're seeing in society.
We want to know were our eggs come
from. We want our money and resources to go back into our communities
and local economies. And sometimes we're even willing to put in a
little sweat equity and become active participants in the process.
Oh and by the way, if you want to
purchase a share to Morning Glory, it's not too late! Just give Bill
or Donna a call. You've only missed one week and I think they have 5
or 6 shares left for this year.
And no, I did not getting paid for
this advertisement.
This kind of hands-on, highly
participatory venture is as it should be in the church as well.
Things are rapidly changing in our
culture. Many are worried that the church is not, and an awful lot of
handwringing goes along with this. Maybe you see the same articles I
see weekly on social media:
- 4 reasons the church is dying, or
- The Duggars, the Jenners, and the growing exodus from Christianity
- The rise of the “Dones” - who are leaving the church to save their faith, or
- Why the millennials really could care less about your church.
I could go on. But, instead, I'll just
let Facebook continue to do its job. I guarantee you: tomorrow or the
next day you'll see yet another article diagnosing some ill of our
churches or our faith.
Now of course, to some extent it's
quite okay to come face to face these dis-concerting realities.
Especially since we know from our own
experience that:
Church budgets are shrinking.
As recent as ten years ago, we had ten
or so associate pastor positions in our presbytery. Now we're down to
two.
Many of our smaller churches are
shifting from full time pastorates to part time, or to CREs or,
simply to regular pulpit supply in order to keep the Sunday Worship
service going.
Likewise our Presbytery is undergoing
changes.
Changes in our governance structure.
Changes in the amount of money available to complete our mission.
Changes in staff. And changes in how we seek to go about our purpose.
Even so - in the midst of all these
challenges - I don't believe it's time for handwringing. Or maybe I
should say handwringing isn't what you and I are called to in this
time and place.
Instead, I believe it's time to step up
and claim our calling. It's time to re-committ ourselves to the
God-ordained roles God has called each one of us to.
I love the story of Moses from Numbers
11, but I'd like to switch it up a bit and recast it, so hopefully we
can hear its principles in a fresh new way.
So, hear now this modern day
retelling...
When the people
complained in the hearing of the Lord about the difficulties their
churches were facing. About the trouble they were having with their
Teaching Elders. About the way the church used to be but is no
longer. About how they wished they got more help from the Presbytery,
the Lord was disappointed.
The Teaching
Elders went also and complained to the Lord. About how the people in
the pew just don't get it and how they better get on board soon
before its too late. And about how they wished the Presbytery was
more attentive to the difficulty of their situation.
The Teaching
Elders said to the Lord, “Why have you treated us so badly, why
have you saddled us with these people and with these dwindling
churches which are such a burden to us?
How are we
supposed to deal with all of this?”
Then the Lord said
to the Teaching Elders, “Gather me your leaders, those elders whom
I've already given to you in order to journey with you. Stop thinking
the burden of carrying the church is yours alone and it's all up to
you. Pray for the Sprit's work in your midst, so that the burden of
the people will be shared among all of you.”
And when all the
Elders, both Teaching and Ruling, were gathered together, the Lord
said to them, “The Spirit is upon each of you. Teaching Elders
don't have all the answers, nor are they perfect. They are not your
savior. The Presbytery also doesn't have all the answers.
Instead, each of
you commit to the work to which you are called, both in your churches
and in the Presbytery. If each of you seek to carry a share of the
burden, to put aside your own agendas, and grievances, then together
you can begin to discern the work of my Spirit in your midst.
You, your
churches, your Presbytery, will find new life and will find new and
bold ways to fulfill my mission and ministry in your midst, in your
communities, in East Iowa, and around the world.
My friends, the truth is, we already
have a highly participatory structure; teaching and ruling elders
together make up the leadership of the church. Teaching and ruling
elders together make up the leadership of the Presbytery.
And we already have a calling.
We are already commissioned to lead and
to guide, to work together with one another to discern God's Spirit,
and to do the work of God's great mission and a ministry both within
our churches and through our presbytery.
So, please, in the church...
Teaching Elders stop carrying the
burden alone. Find ways to get your ruling elders engaged in
discipleship, spiritual formation, and more involved in leadership.
And ruling elders pray for, encourage, and support your Teaching
Elders.
And each of you together, dream big
dreams. Take time to discern the work of the Spirit in your midst.
Don't be afraid to make little changes that will lead to little
successes – or, yes, even to failures - so that bigger changes
become less scary and daunting.
And, in the presbytery?
We are not perfect at all.
But if each of us seeks to play a part,
then friends, we can move this presbytery in the right direction, we
can restore a more participatory structure, we can do the hard work
of reconciling differences and learning to trust each other once
again. We can better involve people in decision making at all levels.
The truth of the matter is that the
presbytery is made up of each one of us, so each one of us has a
responsibility – a calling - to step up and help make it work. To
become the support structure and an aide in helping churches fulfill
Christ's call to ministry.
And to what end?
So that together, as teaching and
ruling elders we might lead the church to faithfully fulfill the
calling of its great ends:
- The proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind
- The shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God
- The maintenance of divine worship
- The preservation of the truth
- The promotion of social righteousness
- The exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world
To the praise and glory of God,
creator, redeemer, sustainer, now and forever, Amen.
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