Proper 24B
Listen to the Sermon for October 21, 2012
Read the Sermon for October 21, 2012
Tag: Change
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May God continue the good work begun in you!
My service as Rector in the Interim at the Church of the Good Shepherd is drawing to a close. I will begin a new interim assignment at Calvary Church in Ashland, Kentucky on Shrove Tuesday. You are preparing to welcome your new spiritual leader, The Rev. Brian Cole. The community to which I am going has just said farewell to The Rev. Jeffrey Queen, who served as their interim for two years. In the midst of all this change, I am reflecting on the wisdom St. Paul shared with the Corinthian Church regarding transitions in leadership.
The Corinthian Christians were having difficulty adjusting to new leadership. In his first letter to them, St. Paul describes how transitions are a normal aspect of the life of Christians in community. His focus is upon the common purpose of building up the Church in its mission.
For when one says, ‘I belong to Paul’, and another, ‘I belong to Apollos’, are you not merely human? What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labour of each. For we are God’s servants, working together; you are God’s field, God’s building. – I Cor. 3:4-9
I might have written it this way:
It is human nature for one to say, ‘I liked Fr. So and So’, and another, ‘I didn’t like Fr. Such and Such’. Both are Pastors who tried to help you in your journey of faith using the gifts the Lord gave to each of them. One planted seeds, another watered them, but the resulting growth came from God. So, it’s really not about the Pastor, it’s about God! Each of us Pastors has a common purpose and that is to help you have enough faith to do the work God has prepared for you to walk in. – I Ron 3:4-9
I am not the Pastors who came before me. Nor am I the Pastors who come after me. God has gifted each of us in different ways according to the leadership God desires the Church to have in a particular place and time. Each of us brings something different to the communities we serve. Each one builds upon the work of those who came before, so the changes each one brings are not intended to dismantle things. Instead, the changes are related to the common purpose we share and are to be understood as additions or enhancements to what has been. Our common purpose is to help you be the Church in mission. It’s not about Fr. So and So or Fr. Such and Such. It’s not about me. It’s about God and God’s mission of reconciliation in the mission field at your doorstep.
You have been very open to changes during the last eighteen months. However, change is difficult for many people. We don't like it when something upsets the equilibrium and pushes us out of our comfort zone. So we resist and complain. Resistance to change, while human, can undermine the true spiritual discernment that has led to this union of Pastor and People, thwarting God's purpose. Most complaining about change when a new Pastor arrives constitutes avoidance of the real work to which God is calling the faithful. Valuable spiritual energy is wasted in an activity that is useless to the cause of Christ! So, I urge you to embrace the changes that are coming your way as new ways for God to work through you and your community of faith.
This time of transition is a unique opportunity for God to work wonders through divine interaction with the new relationships that are being formed. That is why departing clergy must step away. God is creating a new context in which to bring about growth. Trust God enough to invite your new Pastor and encourage one another to fully express the gifts God has given to help you be the Church. You will grow, the Church will grow, and the Kingdom of God will grow.
So let no one boast about human leaders. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. – I Cor. 3:21-22
Gay and I will continue to hold you and your new Rector and his family in our prayers. We will miss you, but we will rejoice as we watch from a distance as a new era of fruitful ministry unfolds. May God continue the good work God has begun in you!
Faithfully yours,
P.S. – Here is the diocesan leave taking policy, which the Senior Warden and I have signed.
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The human capacity for purposeful change is a divine gift
Earlier this week, I was involved in a conversation in which the topic of resistance to change came up. We acknowledged that everyone has some degree of difficulty with change, regardless of how beneficial or unavoidable it may be. At the same time, we agreed that human beings are endowed by our Creator with a remarkable capacity for change. In fact, the pages of sacred scripture are filled with examples of how the exercise of that capacity has impacted the story of God’s people. Also, in the New Testament, change is a central to the message of Jesus Christ. “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel’” (Mark 1:14, 15). The Greek imperative metanoiete, which we translate “repent”, is a call to change one’s life.
Some biblical stories are about those who were able to make the changes necessary to be faithful to God, such as Abraham, Moses, David, and the Holy Apostles. Other stories tell us about those who were unable to make such changes, such as the people who were destroyed by the Great Flood, the generation of Hebrews who had been slaves in Egypt, several generations of Israelites whose apostasy resulted in defeat and captivity, the rich young man who came to Jesus, and, of course, Judas Iscariot.
There’s good change and there’s bad change and, quite often, there’s just change. Not all change is equal. But life, as God gives it, is one change after another. The struggle with change is bound up with the struggle with faith in God. Those who thrive are those who adopt a hopeful attitude toward our God-given potential, draw upon the uniquely human capacity for adaptation, and bring about purposeful refreshment, recreation, and renewal among the communities where they live and worship.
Simply put, our faith provides us with insight into how to draw upon that capacity for creative living and the advancement of God's redemptive purposes.
One of my favorite prayers from the Book of Common Prayer came to mind as I was thinking about the relationship between change and faith. When I turned to it, I realized that it is a prayer that is primarily used in liturgies for times of significant transition in the Church’s life and liturgical cycle – such as Ordinations, the Celebration of a New Ministry, Good Friday, and the Great Vigil of Easter. It is a wonderful prayer for any time in the life of the Church, but especially when we are asked to make some sort of change as we progress in the journey of faith. I commend it to you today:
O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look
favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred
mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry
out in tranquillity the plan of salvation; let the whole world
see and know that things which were cast down are being
raised up, and things which had grown old are being made
new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection
by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus
Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity
of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. -
An Epiphany From a Ginko Tree
The leaves on the Ginko Tree outside my study window are turning yellow. This is not a rare or disturbing phenomenon. The tree is not dying. What is happening is the predictable effect of photosynthesis, the process by which plants convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and sugar. The word means “put together with light.” Chlorophyll gives plants their green color and helps make photosynthesis happen. As summer ends and autumn arrives, days become shorter and there is not enough light for photosynthesis. So, during autumn and winter, the trees stop producing food. They rest and live off the food they stored during the summer. The green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves and other colors are visible.
Soon, the leaves will fall to the ground and add nutrients to the soil that will benefit the tree when spring and a new era of growth arrives. This annual process of change is necessary in order for the tree to thrive.
Human life also involves change. But we do not have to regard ourselves as “victims” of change. Unlike trees, which do not have the privilege of deciding how to manage change, humans have choices. We have options! The greatest options involve intangibles such as attitude, inspiration, perspective, and spirit. After all, the inner life of a child of God is different from that of a tree. The kind of light we “put together” with the elements of our lives is a different kind of light, one we can seek in any season. Enlightenment is the human equivalent of photosynthesis.
We regard our Creator as changeless. Creation, on the other hand, is made alive by change. Of all God’s creatures, humans have the most options for managing change in purposeful ways that impact the unfolding story of creation. When we are able to work with changes that impact our lives, they are more likely to become springboards that propel us into the next stage of growth. Learning to live creatively with change allows us not just to survive but to thrive.
So, in the light God gives, let us relish opportunities to explore changes that are thrust upon us and to purposefully initiate changes that will promote life and growth. In learning from change we expand our lives and become more fully human. By exercising our faith in God to guide and protect us through transitions, “we who are wearied by the changes and chances of this life” will find rest and refreshment in God’s eternal changelessness.