A Sermon for a Celebration of New Ministries on Trinity Sunday
Doug Clark
Genesis 1:1--2:3
Psalm 150
2 Corinthians 13:5-14
Matthew 28:16-20
I bring you greetings from St. John's in St. Cloud, and am glad to be back at Good Samaritan. Last year, my wife and I came here each Sunday for many months to participate in our Education for Ministry (EFM) class. It is good to get to see the building again, and to be here with you on this beautiful and important Sunday.
After Pat asked me to preach today's sermon, I spent many days searching for the proper image to communicate my thoughts and feelings about the Spirit of the Heartland. As often happens, the Spirit presented this image to me while I was thinking about something else.
Last week, I was able to attend the regional confirmation at St. Mark's Cathedral in Minneapolis. To my surprise, the sermon was given by Lisa Kimball. As many of you know, Lisa is a Canon Missioner and the Diocesan Youth Director. She is also someone I feel honored to call a friend.
If you are familiar with Lisa, and the pulpit at St. Mark's, you can appreciate the image of Lisa preaching that day. The pulpit at St. Mark's is
huge, made out of beautifully carved wood. Lisa, on the other hand, is not terribly tall and was dressed in a simple pink dress without
vestments. The contrast struck me as an image for today's sermon, and for the Spirit of the Heartland.
I don't know much about church architecture, or the theological reasons for designing a pulpit. I can tell you one purpose for the type of commanding pulpit found in churches. They were intended, at least in part, to add credibility to the priest. We are all familiar with the image of a "fire and brimstone" sermon, with the priest urging the congregation "TO AVOID CONDEMNATION TO ETERNAL DAMNATION", or some such scary thought, descending from the pulpit. The pulpit is designed to encourage us to listen to the priest and take her/him seriously.
This has also symbolized the authority of the clergy in directing the mission and ministry of the congregation. The congregation, while having an important role in the implementation, was not supposed to take the lead in designing the mission and ministry. Simply put, the priest set things up, and the congregation assisted the priest in carrying it out.
The image of Lisa (who is not a priest), preaching a wonderful sermon on the importance of God in our confused society, served as a contrast to this model and a symbol of the Spirit of the Heartland. Here was a LAY minister, standing in that huge pulpit and urging Episcopalians from across the diocese to increase God's role in their lives! That is what the Spirit of the Heartland is about--lay members of our congregations, being led by the Holy Spirit, into new and exciting methods of bringing God's love into a needy world. Rather than depending on 1 or 2 clergy to direct ministry, we now depend on everyone--clergy and lay members alike, to use our varied gifts to reach the immense numbers of people searching for a loving and compassionate Savior.
So what does Scripture tell us about this type of ministry, of the endeavor called the Spirit of the Heartland? Today's Gospel reading (Matthew 28:16-20) contains an obvious, along with a rather subtle, message about this ministry. The scene is familiar--Jesus has risen and is addressing the disciples for the last time before ascending to the Father. His instructions are both direct and comforting, ending with the famous "And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age".
The obvious message comes from the simplicity of his directions--"Go therefore and make disciples". He doesn't direct the disciples to appoint Peter, or anyone, as the new leader. He doesn't tell them that one person must be in charge, or that they should create a hierarchy, or form committees. His direction is simple and applicable equally to all that hear it. The disciples are to go out and use their energy to spread the word of God's love in a needy world.
In contrast, the subtle message comes from three words somewhat buried in passage "but some doubted". Think for a minute about the message which is sent by including those words in this passage. Here are the 11 disciples (remember, the "bad" one has already been cast out) going to meet Jesus. They have been with Him through the 3 years of his ministry. They've heard his loving words, felt his presence, seen the miracles. They have even seen him crucified and resurrected--"but some doubted".
So what does Jesus do? If He were like me, He'd probably get mad, screaming "How can you doubt? You have witnessed the WHOLE thing!! Haven't you been listening? Haven't you been paying attention? If you aren't going to put any effort into it, JUST FORGET IT!!!" Fortunately for all of Creation, Jesus has more patience than me.
Jesus could have also calmly sent the doubters away. Certainly 10 disciples, or 8 disciples, or 6 disciples could have been used to begin the new ministry. God didn't have to use the disciples harboring doubts in this ministry. Yet these "doubting disciples" were not sent away. They were brought into the ministry, doubts and all.
You see, God understands our doubts and our fears are a part of the human condition. God does not demand we be perfect in order to have a loving relationship. God loves us, through our doubts, through our faults, through all the things which separate us from God. We do not need to become perfect in order to develop and maintain a relationship with God.
In the same way, we don't need to be perfect in order to participate in God's ministry. Even with our faults, we can show God's love to others. We live in a world in which millions of people live spiritually alone, unaware of the existence of a loving God anxious to end their loneliness. In part, this loneliness exists because we deem ourselves unworthy to carry the message of God's love to others. We ask how God can show love to others through my flawed character, using this as an excuse for inaction.
I wrote most of this sermon within a few hours, but struggled with a way to end it for several days. This morning, about an hour before I had to give the sermon, I sat down to make a final attempt to write the end. Needless to say, I was somewhat worried that nothing would come to me. About that time, my two sons (ages 13 and 11) began to fight over the bathroom. This VERY COMMON and petty conflict immediately annoyed me, and soon got me quite angry. Didn't they know I had a sermon to finish? Didn't they know I was running out of time? Soon I found myself yelling at them, and quite distracted from the sermon.
Regrettably, I do have a temper. I get mad far too easily, and my anger too often exceeds the provocation. Even though I have worked on this for many years, this flaw continues to haunt me. For purposes of this sermon, it had the potential to become a complete barrier to a coherent ending. Instead, it became an example of moving into total ministry and the Spirit of the Heartland. My flaws exist, and have continued to exist throughout the years I have done lay preaching. At times, like today, these flaws have surfaced in the ministry itself. However, God has kept me in this ministry, flaws and all. His grace allows us, with all our gifts and all our faults, to be active participants in sharing His love.
We all have faults, and these faults cause fear to well up inside of us. Many of us fear that our faults will doom efforts like the Spirit of the Heartland. At times like this, it is important to remember the subtle message of today's Gospel--the love of Christ is meant to be spread to imperfect people BY imperfect people, like ourselves, through efforts like total ministry and the Spirit of the Heartland. My prayer for us is that we may serve Christ in one another, with all the gifts and all the faults, and to spread His love to a needy world. AMEN