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9th Sunday after PentecostCol. 2:6-7 & Luke 11: 1-13July 25, 2010 |
9Pentecost2010 (30th Anniv. of Ord) Col. 2:6-7 & Luke 11: 1-13 July 25, 2010
The call to ministry comes through baptism. Every baptism is a call from God. Some are called, as scripture says, to do works of justice, some to be prophets, some to share the good news, some to teach; some to work miracles of all sorts – like miracles of music and dance and art and caring for children and seniors and making the world a more humane place. Ministry comes in all shapes and sizes. We give thanks today for the mutual ministry of God’s people – called, gathered, enlightened, and set apart for God’s purposes. As our vision says: More and more people, encountered by Christ, empowered for God’s purposes.
Among these callings is the Word and Sacrament ministry to which pastors are called. It is not a better ministry than others, and it does not function without the others. Word and Sacrament ministry functions to feed and to send. For pastors to do ministry well, and for each of you to do your ministries well, we need three things according to the service of ordination.
What is needed is #1.) diligence in our own feeding on the means of grace: the Word of God, prayer and renewal of our own spirits; #2.) companions who will receive us as messengers of Christ, pray for and honor us for our work’s sake even as we pray for and feed you with the good news of grace; and #3.) partners who will join with us in striving to live together in the peace of Christ, giving witness to God in the world. These three things are what are in the ordination service.
And Reg and I know we are a bit of a unique arrangement. Another clergy couple was being ordained years ago before many had experienced husbands and wives being clergy together. Joseph Sittler of the University of Chicago was one of the most widely known and respected Lutheran theologians in the US and the world at that time and he was the preacher for the ordination of that clergy couple.
People who had been debating the legitimacy of this shape of ministry were sitting on the edge of their seats waiting for Sittler’s clarifying word. He got up into the pulpit to preach. Opening the Bible, he re-read a verse out of the Gospel that had just been read. Sittler read: “And Jesus sent them out two by two. If Jesus did it, I suppose we can too.” He closed the Bible and sat down. That was his sermon. There was complete silence in the room.
Now lest you think our preaching should adopt Sittler’s brevity, I had the privilege of being with him enough to know he wasn’t always succinct. But that was all they got that day: “Jesus sent them two by two.”
Another uniqueness isn’t so unique anymore. At the time of our ordination I was within the first 100 women ordained in the then LCA. In our first call in 1980 I came as a surprise to a few people in Modesto where we served. One day when I was making hospital calls and was almost 9 months pregnant I was wearing black clerics and was in the elevator. Someone joined me and looked me up one side, down the other. He then asked, “What are you – some kind of a nun?”
I give thanks that over the years, people have come to see that I’m not a woman pastor so much as a pastor who happens to be a woman – just like Reg is a pastor who happens to be a man. And we happen to be married. We haven’t always served together in the same place. I came from having served in my own location as a Senior Pastor with an Associate and an Intern working with me – while Reg did his thing at CLU. Whether separately or together we have had funny and not so funny moments, most of which we will not divulge this morning – except to remind Reg of the time the whole deck of playing cards was built into a grand tower on his sleeping body as he snored away on an Urban Plunge.
Or the time he ran his car into the car of the Provost at Cal Lutheran University. He had no idea it was her car. He put a big apologizing note on it with his phone number and when she finally got to calling him, he about died to find the car belonged to her. And she couldn’t have been more gracious about it. Or about the time when a Church Council had had its most difficult year yet and we asked someone to make homemade pies for us to celebrate their making it through. They were cherry pies and as each Council member took a bite we crunched down on cherry pits. It seemed hilariously appropriate and the laughter was the best gift.
Or I think you heard about the time Reg forgot the Lord’s Prayer during the Eucharist. And I could go on and on about the funny stories about him, since I’ve got the floor here because he was in Minnesota all week at a Continuing Education Conference. Like the year Easter came just days after our son was born and Reg titled his sermon, “Empty tombs and empty wombs.” Talk about a graphic title!
But I’ll constrain myself here in telling stories, lest he get back at me someday. But what we do want to do is to share with you that what was asked of us at our ordination 30 years ago still matters a lot to us. When we realized next Tuesday will be the 30th Anniversary of being asked these questions we wanted to revisit them – and who better to revisit them with than the congregation who calls us.
And what a lovely coincidence – if there are coincidences – that the scriptures for today point us to prayer. Ministry is about relationship with God, with each other and with the world – and prayer, too, is about relationship. We don’t pray outside of relationship. We pray to and with God and for and with each other, ourselves and the world. Prayer is about God infusing all our relationships and about moving from the head to the breath out of which flows the work of the Spirit – which is ministry.
Prayer and ministry both involve breathing in and breathing out – receiving in and giving out the power and love of God. We do not do ministry. The Holy Spirit does ministry through us. Prayer isn’t just reciting words. Prayer is living with heart, soul, mind, strength and body the stuff of ministry. Prayer is the song that invites us; the dance that catches us in its footsteps; the rhythm that guides us; the energy that fills us; the hope that renews us. Prayer is the essence of ministry.
So how good it is that today’s Gospel gives us three teachings on prayer: the Lord’s Prayer; a parable about praying persistently and boldly; and the reminder to “ask and it will be given you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened.” What great scriptures for a day of celebrating ministry. And it is summed up with today’s Epistle: “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” (Col. 2:6-7) That is prayer!
So what we want to do now is to ask each other questions of renewal that call us to boldly pray for and honor each other for our work’s sake. A commitment to pray for someone is not something to take lightly. Walter Wink reminds us that if we do not pray, there are consequences. We cannot expect much where there is no bold prayer. So today is about calling all of us into renewed boldness and persistence in prayer – for the sake of our breathing in and breathing out of ministry together.
And yes, we don’t pray and then just expect God to take care of everything. Bold prayer empowers and guides us towards whatever bold action God is calling us to in the world. And so the more we pray the more we should be prepared to be sent boldly into the world – and not without cost to us. Discipleship is costly, as Bonhoeffer says.
As we prepare now to renew these commitments, we first of all thank you for the prayers you have been offering and for the ways you have been honoring us for our work’s sake. We cannot do what God calls us to without your prayer and support. So please hear our appreciation through all that we do today. May we walk the way that Jesus walks, rooted and built up in him, abounding in thanksgiving!
Amen
+Pastor Peg Schultz-Akerson, to the glory of God
Faith Lutheran Church, Chico, CA