First Presbyterian Church
Message for Elder Sunday
Sermon for Septermber 23, 2007
by Guest Speaker Mike Ferguson
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Listen for the word of God from First Timothy Chapter 2 verses 1-7.
This ends our epistle reading. Our Old Testament lesson is a lament from the prophet Jeremiah, who is sad that people aren't listening to him and to God and are as a result in exile. Today's reading is sad even for a sad guy like Jeremiah. Listen for what the prophet is trying to tell us in Jeremiah Chapter 8 verse 18 through Chapter 19 verse 1:
The grass withers, and the flower fades, but the word of our Lord endures forever. Let's listen to the choir's response to Jeremiah's lament. Elder Sunday Like many of the youth in this church, I was ordained an elder when I was younger. I was 17 years old and I was thinking about a career in ministry when the church that Susan and I attended, Community Presbyterian Church in Vacaville, California, called me to be an elder. People there thought that if I was serious about becoming a pastor, I ought to ride on some training wheels first. An elder at age 17. I thought that was pretty funny. But what wasn't so funny was something I soon discovered: that churches expect their elders to lead, to do hard work and get things done. Soon after I was ordained, I was selected – like Jed Rembold was at this church – to represent youth on the Pastor Nominating Committee. That led to 18 months of hard but rewarding work. In fact, that work gave me so much satisfaction that I didn't feel like any other volunteer work that I did came close to matching it until I served on a school board in Oklahoma eight years ago. At this church I have been an elder for four years. It's my second go-round at a job with a skill set that our Book of Order describes this way: “Elders should be persons of faith, dedication and good judgment. Their manner of life should be a demonstration of the Christian gospel, both within the church and in the world.” That describes me some days, but not every day. When I think about people I've known in the Christian faith who come much closer to that ideal, it makes me feel a little inadequate. But fortunately for Presbyterian elders, we are a denomination that believes not only in God's irresistible grace, but in continuing education. That's why I went to Nashville last month as part of the first-ever National Elders Conference. Today I want to share with you some of the highlights: One big highlight was being around Melva Costen. Melva was chair of the group that compiled our Presbyterian Hymnal in 1990. She offered me a limo ride from the Nashville airport to our hotel, and we checked in with each other often during the conference. Melva is one of our Presbyterian treasures. During the conference the news came out that she and her late husband Jim had just announced plans to open a college and seminary in Kenya. Clearly Melva had a lot on her plate, but she found time to be with us and teach us. One afternoon when she was practicing the conference choir she urged the singers to “give me a little Presbyterian pulse with that.” “If you don't feel it,” she said later, “it won't sing.” But the next night, when the choir performed for us, it did sing. It sang because Melva was clear with her instructions, because the choir really wanted to do something to honor God, and because people listened to each other just as they had listened to Melva. Melva taught us how elders are supposed to take an active role in leading worship. She and her teaching partner Rhashell Hunter talked about celebrating and appreciating our churches' stalwart members: those who do “things that the church needs, with or without being asked” or choir members who sing “because they know if they don't they will be missed.” 1 The poet Ann Weems taught us that the spiritual gifts an elder brings are as important as anything else we bring. Ann is a poet, and poets can say a lot with just a few words. She asked us to “voice astonishment at the wonder of God's grace” and told us that prayer is “a yearning after the heart of God. We just open up our hearts and the Holy One waits.” 2 I think that's what Paul had in mind in his letter to Timothy, which Dallas just read for us. Paul assures us that if we pray for people in authority – even for those with whom we disagree - we “may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.” That's a far cry from what the prophet Jeremiah felt. He had prayed – prayed hard – for his people, but their bad behavior and their failure to heed the prophet's warnings led to exile, punishment and alienation from God. Jeremiah asks God honest and painful questions: Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why, yes, Jeremiah. That place is known for its healing properties. “Why then,” the prophet asks God, “has the health of my poor people not been restored?” Ann, the poet, felt Jeremiah's loneliness and pain when she was a young girl, in the story Susan told last week. A church member wanted her father, a pastor in Nashville, to stop preaching about improving race relations and boosting pay for poor workers, but Ann's dad wouldn't stop, and eventually he left that church. That kind of faithful preaching is a valuable tool, because it can change hearts. “No matter how we dilute the word of God, it's about Jesus,” Weems told our conference. “No matter how we cover up the dangerous truth of the gospel, it's about Jesus.” 3 William Winter, the former governor of Mississippi, told us elders not to get too caught up in whatever authority we have. “We're not called to play God,” he said. “We are called to follow God.” Winter has been an elder for more than 50 years. He said that we Presbyterians “have inherited a record of incredible courage and faithfulness” and we have a “sacred duty” to uphold it. 4 I haven't been an elder nearly as long as Gov. Winter has, and the more I read about him, I know I'm not as brave and faithful as he is. But I believe him. All of us stand on the shoulders of the people who came before us, who sat in these same pews, taught Sunday school and sang in the choir in their day, and were a friend to the sick and the hurting and the lonely. There is a balm to heal our sin-sick souls, but it's not an effective balm if we don't unscrew the lid, pour it in our hand and spread the salve on each other's sores. And allow others to spread it on us. That and more is what we elders are called to do, and it's the work of the rest of the saints, too. We honor God and each other by doing our work cheerfully – and, sometimes, without being asked or thanked. Thank God for such a long and faithful line of workers. I'm counting on God that new workers are coming forward from the ranks of our young people, catching the vision that we caught at our conference in Nashville. “Well done, good and faithful servant” is a Bible verse I learned as a boy. It's what the faithful hope to hear from God at the end of their lives, signaling something much better to come. That's a vision we can catch together. Amen.
1 Mike Ferguson, “Dangerous Elders,” Presbyterian News Service, www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2007/07536 2 Mike Ferguson, “Dangerous Truth,” Presbyterian News Service, www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2007/07543 3 Ibid. 4 Mike Ferguson, “Sacred Duty,” Presbyterian News Service, www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2007/07545 |
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