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5 Pentecost
June 19, 2005 Sermon
by Rev. Peggy Tuttle, Interim Rector
Readings
My husband just returned from a fishing trip at Rainy Lake which reminded me of this story.
A game
warden noticed how this one particular fellow named Sam consistently
caught more fish than anyone else. The other guys would only catch
three or four a day;,
Sam would come in off the lake with a boat full. Stringer after
stringer was always packed with freshly caught trout.
Curious, the warden asked Sam his secret. The successful fisherman invited the game warden to accompany him on the next outing. So the next morning the two met at the dock and took off in Sam’s boat. When they got to the middle of the lake, they stopped the boat and the warden sat back to see how it was done.
Sam’s approach was simple. He took out a stick of dynamite, lit it, and threw it in the air. The explosion rocked the lake with such a force that dead fish immediately began to surface. Sam took out a net and started scooping them up.
Well, you can imagine the reaction of the game warden. When he recovered from the shock of it all, he began yelling at Sam. “You can’t do this! I’ll put you in jail, buddy! You will be paying every fine there is in the book!” Sam, meanwhile, set his net down and took out another stick of dynamite. He lit it and kicked it up into the lap of the game warden with these words, “Are you going to sit there all day complaining or are you going to fish?”
The game warden was left with a fast decision to make. He was yanked, in one second, from an observer to a participant. A dynamite of a choice had to be made and be made quickly.
Being called by God into ministry, both lay and ordained, can feel as if that stick of dynamite has landed in our laps. We have to fish or cut bait and cutting a stick of dynamite may also be dangerous to our health.
Last Wednesday night many of us participated in the ordination service
of five people into the transitional diaconate.
Our own Marta Maddy and Marlene Jacobs stood up in front of a church filled with people, stood before the bishop, and declared the belief that they are called by God and the church to ordained ministry.
Among the many questions they were asked, one in particular fits with today’s Gospel lesson. The question was, “Will you in all things seek not your glory but the glory of the Lord Christ?”
Well, it isn’t always as easy as it sounds. All of us, from time to time, forget who it is we are called to serve. We are called to be servants.
Jesus seems to understand that his mission is something like a boat’s bow. As it pushes forward, it forces the water in front of it to one side or the other. Confronted with the question of Jesus and his kingdom, we have to take sides. With the stakes and issues involved, we end up in disagreement, controversy and conflict.
All of us are called to service by virtue of our baptism. We are all called to bring light into this dark world. We are empowered by God to shine light in dark places to expose evil for what it is and to take our place with the Prince of Peace.
Jesus says the kingdom of God comes to bring the blessings of God, but it always comes first with division, conflict and controversy.
“A
servant is not given higher status than the master.” These are Jesus’
words to his disciples as he is talking to them about their mission into
the world. They are to go into the world, two by two, to share the good
news that God’s love is for the gentiles and the Jews that God’s love is
for those who need it rather than those who earn it; that God’s love is
seen in the person of Jesus Christ not in the keeping of some set of
rules. They are to go and they need to remember that they will not be
any better received, any better treated, any better welcomed,
than Jesus was welcomed. Jesus has come to bring a light that disturbs
the darkness. The darkness has flexed its muscle and abused the light.
Those who are children of the light will get the same response.
Conflict and controversy comes from all around. It will not be easy to know who the children of darkness are. Jesus knows that those who go forth in His name will meet with the same kind of resistance Jesus himself experienced. They will experience attacks and opposition just as He did. In other words, the students will not be treated any better than the teacher. Those who go out in Christ’s service simply go, knowing that there will be flack.
And it comes from the most unexpected places! Whether to kneel or stand, read a prayer from the book or use one only because “we always have.” There will always be flack.
But there are three promises given by Jesus to his disciples. Three times Jesus says to his disciples, “So have no fear, do not be afraid, go forth in confidence. Do not be afraid.”
Go out in confidence, “Do not be afraid because nothing is covered that will not be revealed. Nothing is hidden that will not be made known.
Do not
fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Go forth and
share the light and the love of the new Kingdom and do not fear those
who physically attack and batter you. Do not fear because God’s eye is
on you. The hairs on your head are counted. God is watching and God,
who has provided all that is needed for the sparrow, cares even more for
his children and has provided for their eternal blessing. Do not be
afraid for your reputation because there will be a full disclosure that
will show you to have been in God’s service and that those who opposed
you worked against the Kingdom.
Do not be afraid of those who can hurt your body or even take your life,
because God loves you so much more than the sparrow and he has provided
so much more for you in his kingdom.
Do not be afraid for every one who acknowledges Jesus before others on earth, “I will acknowledge before my father who is in heaven. Jesus says, “I will know you. I will call you by name. I will give you identity. You are one of mine.”
At baptism we are marked as one of Christ’s own forever and He will not forsake us. We are His, yesterday, today and tomorrow.
To paraphrase part of the Prayer of Consecration from the Ordination service:
Make us, O Lord, modest and humble, strong and constant, to observe the discipline of Christ. Let our lives and teaching so reflect your commandments that through them many may come to know you and love you. As your Son came not to be served but to serve, may all of us share in Christ’s service, and come to the unending glory of him who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God for ever and ever. Amen.