Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd.
John 21:1-17 Feed my sheep.
Introduction
First a huge thank you for all that you have done for Anne and me to mark our departure from Rock Spring and the close of this phase of ordained ministry. Last Saturday night’s extravaganza, yesterday’s Women’s Fellowship Tea, today’s activities, the countless individual comments and appreciations- all have meant the world to us. I wish we could give everyone a personal hour and a hug.
Memories flood my heart- the time I put my foot through the sanctuary attic ceiling, showering plaster down into the organ pipes; our church tours to the Holy Land and Egypt, Greece and Turkey; our involvement with Colombia and its human rights’ saint, Ricardo Esquivia, after my trip there to visit displaced Afro-Colombians and help the United Church of Christ build a partnership to aid the peace process. So many memories!
I.
What does one say in the final sermon of a pastorate that has spanned nearly two decades with a congregation as special as Rock Spring? What can I say that I have not already said, over and over again, in some 600 sermons (10,800 minutes, 180 hours) from this well-worn pulpit? Aren’t you very tired of me by now?
Like Jesus with the disciples, we find ourselves here on this shore sharing memories and recalling adventures. We have cast the net broadly and some 600 people have been received into membership here in these years, 600 people drawn to this outpost of Progressive Christianity. But casting nets is about more than evangelism and church growth. It also is about intellectual and spiritual rigor in biblical and theological studies, courageous searching and openness to new ideas about Jesus and the early Christian movement, and our ‘Still speaking God. As the flames of this Jesus’ breakfast dance before us and the sweet aroma of the good food of fellowship wafts into our senses, we feel warm and secure in the experience of the Risen Lord in our midst. Indeed, we have a gentle Shepherd Host reminding us what we are to do now.
Soon we will part, you and I, to our various life roles- all ministries. You will continue on here enabled by the excellent ministries of Janet Parker and Hank Fairman, and later, your new interim pastor, the Rev. Dr. Doug Griffin. Anne and I will take to the road for a different life on a sandy sliver of land ocean spray and woodland walks. We will join another congregation and practice being supportive lay people to a new pastor. We already have been practicing keeping mouths closed and attitudes positive when we find church done differently than we have done it here. The learning curve is steep. Pray for us!
In addition, I have another difficult challenge. In the UCC, we have important ethical standards to tend. For the first couple of years, I will be returning for visits to worship or programs. Nor will I to officiate or assist at weddings or memorial services. My role as your pastor officially ends today. This coming Tuesday will be my last day on the staff. After you call and receive a new senior pastor, and he or she has had time to settle-in after your extravagant welcome, I will be free to come back to visit. From then on, upon the invitation of the new senior pastor, it would be possible to accept an occasional request to assist with a memorial service or wedding. In the interim period, and during the first year or so of a new called senior pastor, ethical guidelines require that I fully step aside. Be clear that doing this will not be easy. You will be in my daily thoughts and prayers and I will yearn to see you. If you accept our invitation to drop-in at our new home, we will happily receive you as good friends, but not as your pastor. On those wonderful occasions, of which we hope there will be many, I will do my best to refrain from giving pastoral guidance and professional opinions on whatever might be then happening at Rock Spring. Your task is to turn to your wonderful pastors, Janet and Hank, and to the new senior pastors to come.
The ethics directives may seem harsh. They are not meant to be. They are designed to enable each of us to move on in healthy ways. In this, my best mentor was my predecessor and your last 20-year senior pastor, Rev. George Booth. His ethics were the highest, enabling me to get my wings as his successor. As we sit around this fire on the beach with Jesus today, let us vow to help one another to do this transition with the grace and good sense for which Rock Spring is known. In this way, the church remains strong and prepared to feed God’s sheep.
II.
Indeed, there is much for you to do, much feeding to manage. Biblical and theological study, spirituality support groups and fellowship and vital worship and quality pastoral care, as important as they are, are only part of Rock Spring’s mandate. Rock Spring has a mandate to feed the community beyond our doors. Our entire church covenant leads us to social justice.
We hold it to be the mission of the Church…to proclaim the gospel…
…and labor…for the progress of knowledge, the promotion of justice,
the reign of peace and the realization of our own human family……We work and pray for the transformation of the world into the (realm)
of God…
So is Rock Spring being sent forth to do? Permit me to mention these, among others-
Rock Spring first and foremost is called to be a strong voice of Gospel hope. Hope and meaning are in short supply these days. Folks everywhere yearn for something to hang on to, a meaningful hope upon which to base their lives. Yet hope is gentle and quiet and can be drowned out by course voices and harsh politics. A poem by Emily Dickinson keeps speaking to me-
Hope is the thing with feathers
that perches in the soul,
and sings the tune without the words,
and never stops at all.And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
that could abash the little bird
that kept so many warm.I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
and on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity
it asked a crumb of me.
May Rock Spring be a beacon of Holy Hope each and every day! And, may your continue to encourage those among you who know God’s nudge to ordained ministry. Who will answer the call?
The ministry of justice-based ecology. Climate change is real. How can we slow or reverse global warming? Rock Spring’s new Eco-justice Committee is a good beginning. Our own Janet Parker, with a PhD thesis in eco-feminism, is a world-class expert in our midst. She is well equipped to make the synthesis between Christian ethics and ecology, in ways that can lead to activism. This is holy work. And it’s not just for seminar discussion. Now is the time to work for change in political, technological and psychological realms. Colombian barrio people taught me that even the water wasted while we brush our teeth can save the world! Sheep feeding begins at home. Keep answering this call!
Racial justice. We are never fished doing Martin’s work. Each generation must relearn the hard and vital lessons of prejudice and racism. Rock Spring has been a leader is this effort. This is no time to stop. Fight for racial equality in housing, jobs, government. Holy work upon which our world depends.
Food and housing. Arlington Food Assistance Center and several of the Arlington affordable housing groups have origins in Rock Spring. Build on these. The Alliance for Housing Solutions and other efforts are crucial for economic justice to develop. The need for food assistance keeps growing. AFAC must expand again. An affordable housing crisis is so far developed in Northern Virginia, and in Arlington in particular, that middle income families are being forced out. The list of so-called modest-priced housing in Arlington ($525,000 and under) reveals dwellings that are dilapidated, located near commercial parking lots and neon lights or have other significant deficiencies. Rentals are costly as well and the list of applicants, long.
Rock Spring must encourage new affordable housing initiatives for the health of the entire community and justice for all people.
Community activism. Feeding sheep means engagement in the real world of government, politics and community organizations. Rock Spring has a tradition of encouraging and training its members to run for the County Board, serve in the state legislature, become candidates for federal office. This is the first time in years that we have no one on the County Board. Faithfulness in the Progressive Christian tradition mandates engagement with the principalities and powers. Politics and political activism are honorable and essential endeavors for people of faith. Who among us will answer the call?
III.
These are a few of the ways in which Rock Spring can serve its world. And we are partners in the United Church of Christ, a national church family founded on principles of addressing the significant and complex issues of the society. We are about finding the ways in which the Gospel works on the streets, in the alleys and boardrooms and legislative halls of the society. Those challenged to feed sheep are called to places of pain and promise. Who will serve?
Meanwhile, am I going fishing when I leave you? Well, in spite of my love for water and boats, I’m not much of a fisherman. You’ll not find me leaning on a pier somewhere with a line in the water. But, I will be fishing as long as I can, searching for those who need a word of hope, a hand up, a discussion about life commitments. I’ll continue to try my best to serve the Lord, perhaps helping small, struggling churches in emergencies, preaching a sermon and leading a service after a Saturday night call from an ill pastor of a solo church. Maybe, I’ll find other ministries, too- in affordable housing, or capital development, or leadership cultivation. I have strong interest in politics and government and business- no surprise to those who know me well. I hope to write and perhaps publish. Ministries of hospitality intrigue Anne and me. I have faith that the One who walks beside us and hosts us at Table will show the way.
My heartfelt gratitude for allowing me the privilege of serving as your pastor for these nearly 20 years. We together have had a unique and precious experience in being Church. In my first sermon here, January of 1989, I told a true story about Herman’s Barn. It seems that Herman had a large, handsome old barn that had served his farm well for many years. Calves were born there, large herds of cattle were milked there. Hay was stored in the spacious loft and the barn even sheltered the family when their house needed repairs. As time went on, Herman decided that the barn was in the wrong location for modern farming. He still needed it but he wanted it moved to another site on his property. The site was a couple of hundred feet away. So Herman called all of his neighbors and friends to help. On a Saturday morning, a hundred folks surrounded the jacked-up barn. Herman instructed them that, on the count of three, everyone was to lift from their position along the foundation beams. One…two…three, lift! The multi-ton old barn began to move. One…two…three, lift! The huge barn moved a little more. After a time, the enormous barn was positioned on its new foundation 200 feet away from where it had been.
We, you and I, have seen and experienced and accomplished much, in God’s name. Like Herman, we have learned that huge challenges can be met when we all do the lifting together. In all of our endeavors, the Holy One has given us life, walked with us to the beach. And now Jesus’ fire warms our hearts as we prepare for new ministries and service.
The future is before us. God is in it. It is good! The voice of God is calling you and me. We have much to live for and much to do.
Thanks be to God for all that has been and for all that will yet be, for you and for me.
Now let’s go fishing!
Amen, and Amen.