Sermon for July 25, 2004, Farewell

Pastor Gunnar L. Anderson

"TIME IS A MOVING THING!"

When the TV series, "Ally McBeal," aired its final episode, after many years of broadcast, Ally, in a memorable speech, says good-bye to her friends, the characters in her law office, to the real-life actors who comprised the company of players around her, and, really, to all of us viewers at home. Said Ally:

Looking backwards, many of the saddest
times in my life turn out to be the
happiest. So, I must be happy now ...
Why else would I be crying?

It was Ally's way of expressing what have become the immortal words of Shakespeare: "Parting is such sweet sorrow!"

And, after more than thirty years together, you and I, this parish and this pastor, have come to this time. And the way I want to say it is this: "TIME, IS A MOVING THING!"

For time, indeed, moves. It ticks on exorably from one second to the next. The pages of the calendar fall away, year after year. And, though I can remember my first Sunday at St. Peter's on March 10, 1974, like it was yesterday; somehow it is more than thirty years later, and I have come to my last - this July 25, 2004!

Isn't it appropriate, then, that this special Sunday, our chancel bedecked in red, honors St. James, the Elder. This very commemoration denotes the passage of time; of one, once young, now no longer so!

To quote another of my favorite, more contemporary TV shows, "Everwood:"

There are certain milestones in
our lives that give us the opportunity
to reflect on where we've been and
to look ahead to where we're going.
If you're lucky, the looking ahead,
is as much fun as the looking back;
but not everyone is lucky ...

But, you see, we are; "lucky," that is. For God is with us! Has been! Will be! So, on this "milestone" day, I am eager, poised as we are in perfect position, to look back at where we've been at what we've done, and at how we got this far!

I think first, as it always should be, of our worship life ... how, upon my arrival here those thirty plus years ago, we moved this altar out away from the wall, so that the Lord's people could gather 'round the Lord's Table to be nourished by the Lord's Supper ... that through the years we continually increased the frequency of celebrating Holy Communion, from only on the first Sunday of the month to weekly, now, at the "NEW SONGS" Service; our alternative worship experience that we added almost ten years ago and which now accounts for a significant portion of each Sunday's attendance! And I think of our great choir, which so honors me by their presence on this summer Sunday; and of the marvelous quality of what it is like to share God's Word and the Holy Sacraments in this place!

And I recall such ministry! On-going Christian Education for all ages ... Vacation Church School, my favorite, the best Chris Ed. we do, for 31 years; and of how we've made our weekly Sunday Church School just as varied and exciting! I recall, with some pride, our intentional Stewardship Emphasis throughout the years, unashamed to call for honest, proportionate sharing on the part of all church members and on the part of our congregation in Benevolence contributions as well! I recall our intensive "Welcome Place" Evangelism Effort: banners on our building, signs on our front lawn and around the community, tee shirts for new members, brochures mailed, handed out, and delivered door to door, greeters each Sunday, flowers brought to the homes of visitors; emphasizing always our theme, "IGNITE TO INVITE," knowing that 90 per cent of all church people got there because someone else invited them! I recall more than thirty years of outreach to seniors; nursing home programs, thirty Spring Flings! And I recall fondly our Sports Ministry; thirty seasons, imagine that, of playing inter-church softball; twenty-three, I believe it was, of volleyball!

I am gladdened by the sense of Mission that envelops St. Peter's: how we have continued to break down the walls of this building in order to love our God by loving our neighbor, re-settling, not one, but three refugee families from SE Asia, supporting the ELCA World Hunger Appeal, engaging for twenty years or more in Missionary Sponsorship, of embarking in 1990, into Ministry To Persons Without Homes; and our guests have just left us and are soon to come again; and, more recently, to be, I think, the very first church, following the 2002 action of the Synod Assembly, to become a Reconciling in Christ Congregation, openly welcoming to gay and lesbian persons!

And I think even of the building in which we gather today; of the new roof that will soon be going up over our very heads, of the beautiful Narthex which we built in 1984, and dedicated in 1985, this entrance way, gathering area, and connection between the two sides of our facility, of Bishop Riley, here with us today, who, then an assistant to the Bishop, was here on that Narthex dedication day! I think of the Choir and Craft Rooms built downstairs, and of the Parlor over here that we never quite got around to, of the Youth Room upstairs that the kids and I painted - with their colors of choice, chocolate and egg nog - and of all our names inscribed still behind the blackboard up there. I think of the day the Gonzalez House out back, named for a beloved former pastor, used once for additional classroom space, came down. I remember a poem I wrote on that occasion, seeming somewhat sexist now, but, nevertheless, fitting for this day:

It is forever true in the history of man,
that some things must end to begin again!

O, I have heard it said:

What do we leave behind
that cannot be worn away
by wind, or time, or fire?
It is the trace we leave on memory!

"TIME IS A MOVING THING!" ... making our memory but also pacing our present, and founding our future! For biblical time is time when something happens, no matter how long it takes!

Consider James the Elder. And though there are five New Testament characters named James, the James we honor is James, the son of Zebedee and brother of John, among the first disciples called by Jesus, a member of the "inner circle," who, along with his brother and Peter, accompanied Jesus when he raises Jairus' daughter, and when he ascends the Mount of Transfiguration. James has been with Jesus from the beginning. Three times he has heard Jesus explain that his mission, his purpose is to be "rejected, and killed, before rising again." But James doesn't get it. The pages of the calendar drop, the clock ticks, but James doesn't get it. Astonishingly, he can ask with his brother, this day, Jesus:

'Grant us to sit, one at your right
hand and one at your left, in your glory.'

"Do for me, Lord. Make me great!" Prompting ;Jesus to teach him again, and you and me always:

'... whoever wishes to become great
among you must be your servant,
and whoever wishes to be first among
you must be slave of all.
For the Son of Man came not to be served
but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'

"TIME IS A MOVING THING!" Time when something happens, no matter how long it takes! From the moment we are baptized, most of us as unknowing infants, from that moment when we are "marked with the cross of Christ forever," from that moment when all that the cross means becomes part of who we are, from that moment when God welcomes us as His own loved and forgiven children, from that moment when we become "inheritors of eternal life;" from that moment on to the time yet to come when we shall "let our lights so shine so that others might see our good works, and glorify our Father in heaven." Time.when something happens, no matter how long it takes!

And that's WORSHIP TIME; and that's MISSION TIME; and that's MINISTRY TIME! God loves us and we respond! God acts and we react! And that is for today, and for always. 'That is for the entire length of our Christian lives!

So, on this "milestone" day, it is not for us only to look back and remember, but to look ahead and re-commit ourselves ...' to kneel before the cross, then rise to carry it! Sure, even Christ stumbled under its weight, but don't let it ever fall from your shoulders. Never let St. Peter's become anyone's private club! Seek cameraderie and common, cross-committed, other-centered, self-giving, mission oriented purpose in your leadership! Re-dedicate yourselves to proportionate sharing, to tithing, to beyond tithing, to the support of this congregation, to having this church, to being the church in this place! "IGNITE YOUR SPIRIT DRIVEN PASSION FOR A GROWING CHURCH!" Practice the "MARKS OF DISCIPLESHIP!" "Be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God."

"TIME IS A MOVING THING!" Time when something happens, no matter how long it takes! Just look at James, the Elder. He didn't get it. No matter how long he'd been with Jesus; no matter how long he'd been in church, it's all about him. "ME" first! What could Jesus do for him? But, lo and behold, something was yet happening. Years later, we hear of James again in the Book of Acts:

About that time
King Herod laid violent hands upon
some who belonged to the church.
He had James, the brother of John,
killed with a sword ...

St. James, the Elder, whom we honor today, became the first of the twelve disciples of Jesus to be martyred. Tragically, it seems, he finally got it! Following his Lord, for the sake of his faith, he is willing to give up his very life; "not to be served, but to serve."

And consider, too, Elijah! He seems my role model. His circumstance is ours! Looking back, Elija has had many sucesses as a prophet of God. But when Queen Jezebel vows to have him killed, when he experiences animosity from those with whom he ministers when times get tough, Elijah decides to retire.

Elijah came to a cave, and spent the night there ...

But the Lord calls to Elijah; and Elijah comes out of his hiding place. "'Go, return on your way..." God says. The Lord is not finished with Elijah yet!

And the Lord says:

'... you shall anoint Elisha ... as prophet in your place ...

The Lord will raise up new leaders, re-dedicate followers, excited disciples! The Lord is not finished with you yet; nor me; nor this church! Believe it! I do!

"TIME IS A MOVING THING!" And like Shakespeare's "sweet sorrow," and Ally McBeal's happy tears, I am moved to emotion! I have spent well more than half my life among you. You have welcomed me into the tenderest moments of you lives. I have looked after you. You have cared for me. We have loved and forgiven each other countless times. "Thank you" for the thirty year privilege of serving as your pastor. Thank you for your "partnership in the Gospel." But, alas, the time that seemed so distant, now has come: time to say, "GOOD-BYE!"

Vacation, then retirement beckons me. A new and different life of pastoral vacancy, congregational self-study, and individual re-commitment, enfolds you. Change and uncertainty awaits us all; yet also adventure, possibility, and faith! For, as I have so often said to you: "Always and no matter what, we are in God's good hands; meaning, it's gonna be okay!"

So. "On Our Way Rejoicing" - I've always thought just had to be the final hymn on the last Sunday! "Lead on, O King Eternal" - that'd be a good one, too!

Still, as I stand in this pulpit this last day, I must quote from yet another epilogue to "Everwood:"

Sometimes in these moments of great
promise and potential, we often wish
we could simply strip time, to relish
in these final moments of glory; and
to put off the future for just one more day.

God Bless and Keep you All!

AMEN.

AMEN

Copyright © 2004 Gunnar L. Anderson. All Rights Reserved.

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