The Installation
Service of the Rev. Amanda Nesvold as Pastor
of Trinity Lutheran
Church in Castleton
and St. Stephen’s
Lutheran Church in East Schodack
Romans 12: 4-8
John 10: 7-18
Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God
our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
How many of you
have been in a corn maze? They are
pretty popular for orchards in the fall. Maybe you’ve been through one at
Goolds Orchards. I know there is one at
Samascott’s in my neck of the woods. They
can be a lot of fun, unless you get to the center and discover that you are
completely lost and can’t find your way out.
Allegories can be
great tools for illustrating a point, but they can also get you in a lot of
trouble when taken to the extreme, beyond their intention, like getting lost in
a corn maze. For this sermon I would
like to invite us all to get lost in the allegories of the lessons Pastor
Amanda has chosen with the hope (I mean, with the promise) that I will lead you
out of their confusion.
Allegory #1: The Suffering Servant
The prophet Isaiah
speaks the Word of the Lord to one who has been called, chosen and anointed by
God to usher in the reign of God upon the earth. It will be effected by dramatic change, by
actual reversals of all that seems commonplace and natural. It will mean miraculously opening the eyes of
the blind and victoriously unlocking the cell bars of prisoners. It will mean changing the world with new
ideas and new ways of doing things.
But you may not win
a popularity contest by doing all that.
That’s OK because, as a servant of God, you are called to suffer.
So Pastor Amanda
has full permission to change everything you are used to and everything that
holds meaning for you because the past is past and the new day with its new ways
are upon us. She can bind the eyes of
those who think they can see and open up the eyes of those who had been blind
before.
And you, people of
Trinity and St. Stephen’s, can place all your personal expectations upon
her. If she just does everything your
way, she will single-handedly turn things around and the pews will be filled
and the bank accounts full. And if she
doesn’t, then make her suffer. Here you go;
insist that she visit every member on the books during her first two weeks using
a car that can only hold 15 miles worth of gas every time she fills it up. Or surprise her with a basement full of water
every time she takes a shower.
Well, I think we’ve
gotten lost enough in that maze of an allegory.
Allegory #2: The Gate, I mean the Good Shepherd.
It seems like Jesus
gets confused in the middle of his own illustration. First he says, “I am the Gate which lets
sheep in for protection and out for green pastures.” But then he changes it to “I am the Good
Shepherd.” Now I was taught to picture
this as a sheepfold out in the wild when a cut out mountain, a wall of rock,
may serve as one side of an enclosure and natural trees, rocks and logs serve
as another and the sides meet at an opening for entering and exiting where at
night the shepherd actually lies down to sleep, exposing himself to the danger
of predatory animals. The Good Shepherd
is physically the gate and he lays down his life for the sheep.
So, Pastor Amanda
is to give her all to the point of sacrificing her own health and well-being –
because that’s what a good shepherd does and what the innocent, but clueless,
sheep need. Oh, but there’s more – she
must know every one of her sheep by name and know them so well that she can
meet all of their needs. And if one of
them strays from the fold, she is going to forget everything else she has to
do, except of course what you still expect her to do, and successfully each
time restore that lost lamb to the fold.
There will be no lost sheep in these congregations! Oh, and not just those who belong to the fold
now, but think of how many others from the hosts of unchurched sheep she will
bring into the flock. She will be all
things to all sheep. WHOA!
Allegory #3: The Body of Christ
This is a favorite
image of St. Paul’s. The church is the
body of Christ and Christ is the head of the body and when all the members of
the body fulfill their function then the body moves as one in unity of purpose
and mission. Beautiful!
Each congregation
is the body of Christ and the pastor is the head, so when a congregation is
without a pastor, it is like a chicken with its head cut off. No, that’s not right! Even if it might have seemed like that at
times, think of what you accomplished in only a year during the time of
transition with the assistance of the Mission in Transition Team: you completed
your Ministry Site Profile & self-evaluation, worship was held every
Sunday, babies were baptized and the dead commended to God.
Then maybe pastor
is the heart and soul of the congregation and without a pastor you’ve had no
guts, no energy. That’s not true. Every month the Transforming Congregation
team at Trinity would ask tough questions.
What more can we be doing? How
can we get more involved in community?
You accepted the risk of the filming of the movie, “Hobo Hesus.” A person wondered how to become a
deacon. Even a handicapped building
project came out from under wraps, not for division, but for action and
decision. And for many who had invested
time, energy and support and for many who feared the consequences and questioned
the process, it was a gut-wrenching experience.
You never lost your heart and soul.
Then maybe the
pastor is the hands and feet and lips of the body. Really?
Do you really expect Pastor Amanda to do all the work of the church now
that she is here? 35 years ago when I
began my first call, I was greeted by the resignation of the Sunday School
superintendant and the youth group leader because they said they now they had a
pastor. Don’t do that to her! Pastor Amanda’s arrival does not give you
permission to quit, to stop functioning, as a member of the body.
I think you have
all followed me into the center of these allegorical mazes. Now how do we get out? Let’s cut a straight path out through the
corn; and by “corn” I mean all my examples.
Each one of these
allegories is not about the relationship of pastor and congregation. Each one is about Jesus.
Jesus is the
fulfillment of the image of Isaiah’s suffering servant. Jesus is the one who turns the world upside
down. Jesus is the one who makes all
things new. He has turned death upside
down in his resurrection, bringing life out of death. Isaiah said, “… by his stripes we are
healed.” By Jesus’ suffering unto death
on a cross we have forgiveness of our sins and freedom to live in faith and
joy. That forgiveness and freedom become
the foundations upon which is forged a relationship of pastor of the flock and
people of the fold.
Jesus spoke the
truth (Amen, Amen) when he declared, “I am the gate.” He is the one who sends us out with blessings
and gifts to live our lives. He is the
one through whom we return for comfort, rest, and protection. He is the one who holds the key to unlock the
gates of heaven to let us pass to our eternal resurrection. And Jesus is the Good Shepherd who knows each
one of us by name and knows our every need, who seeks out the lost and finds
them and brings them back on his strong shoulders. And he is the one who by the work of the Holy
Spirit, touches the hearts of those rejecting or confused and adds them to the
fold.
And he does that by
working through you and me; through pastor and people. We are not just dumb sheep; we are important
members of the body of Christ, each with our own skill and talent, job and
function; each with our responsibility to perform the task assigned; each
different, but one in mission. So many
of our congregations are handicapped by the members who don’t serve, who don’t
fulfill their calling, who don’t use their gifts, like a body without legs, like
a mouth without lips. But when all work
together for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the church becomes a well-functioning
and finely conditioned body, the very body of Christ to the world today.
In the Bible study
I lead every Thursday morning, we are working our way through St. Paul’s Letter
to Romans. In the passage Pastor Amanda
chose for today, Paul links action of service by the members of the body of
Christ with the spiritual gifts that empower them. In class, first I share my fairly literal
translation of the Greek text and then we explore, in our sharing and
discussion, the meaning of it for each of us.
Romans 12:4-8
For just as in one body we have many members, but all
members don’t have the same practice, just so the many are one in the body of
Christ, but each a member into the other.
But having charismata according to the grace given to us differing; if prophecy
according to the analogue of faith, if service in serving, if a teacher in
teaching, if a proclaimer in proclamation, a contributor in liberality, and
aid-giver in zeal, a mercy-giver in cheerfulness.
Having concluded
his brilliant presentation of the theology of justification by God’s grace
alone, Paul now details what it means to live faithfully in the grace. Two expectations are clear from this passage.
1.
God does not call us to perform service without first granting us the
spiritual gift to fulfill such a task.
Likewise when God gifts us, we squander that gift if we fail to use it.
2.
When we use our God-given gifts we are fulfilling our particular
function as a member of the body and working for the good of the unity of the
body of Christ.
So, listen to my
loose and free translation:
You
know how each person has many different parts of the body, each with it’s own
function and purpose, so each of us are different parts of the one body of
Christ, each contributing what we are meant to be for the good of the
whole. We each have unique and important
gifts to share, so let’s use them. If
your faith directs you to discernment, then speak out as a prophet. Perhaps serving others is your gift, then be
a deacon. Perhaps teaching others is
your gift, then be a Sunday School teacher.
Perhaps your gift is preaching (Amanda), then be a pastor. Perhaps your gift is generosity, then be a tither.
Perhaps you are passionate about justice, then be an advocate. Perhaps you are a person of compassion, then
be a mercy-giver.
This is kind of like
a healing service today. A part of your
body has been missing for a year: the part that we call Pastor. Now that member is restored and called to use
the unique gifts and talents with which she has been blessed. But as true as that is for the function of
pastor, so it is true for each member to remain connected to the body of Christ
and to use the gifts you have been given.
It’s an allegorical
corn maze out there, folks, confusing and scary. As you work together as the body of Christ,
pastor and people acknowledging Christ as your head and source of unity, you
will find your way out and arrive at your promised destination.
May the peace of God which passes all
understanding keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life
everlasting. AMEN.
Rev. James H.
Slater
October 20, 2013
