Sermon - Holy Trinity Sunday

John 3:1-17

The Trinity

            The Synod Assembly was this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  UniLu was well represented.  In addition to your pastors, attending were Rachel Quesada, Rebecca Quesada, Karen & John Dreher, Pat Morgan, John & Sarah Heyer, and my son, Smith Heavner.  I mention him last, because I want to talk about him a bit more.  Smith was recognized by the Assembly, with a round of applause, for his role as President of Lutheran Student Movement- USA.  Smith was also elected, at the Assembly, to be one of the ten persons to represent the Synod at the 2013 ELCA Church-wide Assembly.  This is quite an honor; one of which his father is extremely envious.

            It was a wonderful thing, to see Smith in those roles.  It made me proud, as a father. 

            Smith was also involved in our attempts to bring together as many of the young adults in attendance as we could.  We hosted a “late-night pizza run.”  Getting thirty-five folks to move together from the convention hall to a restaurant was no small feat.  Add to that the process of getting them (most of the strangers to one another) to agree on pizza selections, and you can see that I needed all the help I could get.  It was helpful, to have a co-worker who knew what we were trying to accomplish, and one who could form the other bookend to our process of herding cats. 

            On Friday, Smith shared with me the interest of a neighboring congregation in a program called “3-D Ministry.”  He had been talking to the pastor of that congregation, and began to share with me what he had learned about this approach to deepening discipleship.  I go to Synod Assemblies, eager to learn as much as I can.  There are too many opportunities to keep up with them all.  It was helpful, to have Smith there, to absorb even more of the content, then to step into the role of being my teacher.

            The Assembly was only 48 hours.  But in those two short days, Smith and I switched roles a number of times.  He was my son (of whom I was extremely proud;)  he was my co-worker; and he was my teacher.  Who we were did not change – we remained the same persons.  But the fullness of our relationship meant that we took on vastly differing roles; we interacted in extremely different ways.  Each of those interac­tions was very important to me.  I would be unwilling to discontinue any one of the differing roles that I find myself filling with Smith Foster Heavner.  Each of those interactive patterns is essential for there to be the breadth and depth of relationship which I treasure.

            If this is true for our human relationships, how true it must be for our relationship with God.  No single set of roles could ever completely capture the fullness of God's interactions with us.  We need several, if we are to even come close to appreciating the breadth and depth of our relationship with God.

            The church's Doctrine of the Trinity is not some esoteric mind game, of no real consequence to you or me.  The church's teachings regarding a God who comes to us in three persons is an invitation to be reminded of the tremendous variety present in God's relationship – or relationships – with us.

            The story of Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus is read for a lot of different reasons.  It contains one of the most often quoted verses in all of scripture.  It also illustrates for us the diversity of God's presence in our lives.

            Jesus tells Nicodemus that if he is to enter the kingdom of God, he must be born from above.  Nicodemus is confused and thinks that Jesus is telling him that he must somehow re-emerge from a mother's womb.  Jesus corrects his error, but only in so far as to re-direct his thinking on the womb from which we are to emerge.  Jesus allows Nicodemus (and us) to continue to hold on to the image of God as one who carries us within Godself.  Fully encapsulated, there we are protected, nurtured and nour­ished.

            This is precisely the image intended when we speak of the relationship God as Holy Spirit has with us.  The Spirit is constantly holding us, shielding us, and continually providing for us all that is needed for life.  This is the relationship God has with us.

            But it would be an understatement to speak only of God's relationship of nurture.  We must also remember that God is God – God is the One who lies behind and beyond all things.  In speaking of God, we must also speak of a relationship with the One who rules over the entire cosmos.

            In the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus, this aspect of God comes through in that most famous of all verses.  Jesus says to Nicodemus, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son..."  The actor, the prime mover, is God.  The Son (Christ) does not simply appear out of nowhere.  Everything which comes to us - comes as a result of the One who lies beyond and behind all things.  God is the one who loves us and as an expression of that love God acts.  God's actions are limitless and eternal. 

            God holds us within God’s own self.  Within God we are nurtured and cared for.  This is the nature of our relationship with God.  This God, who carries us in this way, is truly the God who called all things into being.  When we pray, we pray to the one who is ruler over all things – yet is as present with us as the very air that we breathe.  Two aspects of the wonderful and varied ways in which God relates to us.

            But there is more.  As important as it is to know God as the one who loves us; as essential as it remains for us to understand that God is the provider of all things; we cannot afford to forget that God is also the one who shares our hurts and our pains.  Our God does more than look down upon us from on high - our God comes and lives among us.

            Nicodemus' opening statement to Jesus is one in which he acknowledges the otherness with which Jesus carries himself.  He says, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God;  for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God."  The marvel and mystery of Jesus is that he not only communicates to us God's hope and desire - he is God, present in the flesh and blood of a human brother.

            Our relationship with God must take into consideration this aspect of God’s identity.  We worship a God who would so love the world as to enter this world and take upon Himself the world's condemnation.

            The encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus is brief.  Yet, even this limited exchange exposes at least three aspects of our relationship with God.  God interacts with us as a mother:  carrying us in God's womb, protecting us from all harm and when the time is right, birthing us.  Even so, God remains God.  God interacts with us but is not limited by the same limits which we experience.  God enters our world but remains beyond the world.  Coming to us in the flesh and blood of Jesus of Nazareth, God absorbs and takes on the hurts and pains which would crush us frail crea­tures.

            Our relationship with God takes on many differing roles.  It can never be encapsulated in one single style.  As is true with our human relationships, so also in our relationship with God - we take on and live out of a wide variety of differing roles.  It is this breadth and width which gives our relationship with God its tremendous depth.

            We may find ourselves most comfortable in a particular interactive role.  Within Christendom there are those who identify most fully with God the Holy Spirit.  For them, God is a continual companion, guiding their every move and action.  Others within Christendom are most comfortable with God the Son.  The Jesus First movement is an example of this.  Still others find themselves at home with God the Creator.  Their theology is anchored in an argument from design - the world is so marvelous there must be a God who holds it all together.

            I intentionally speak of each of these as groupings within Christendom.  While each may have a preferred pattern of interaction they worship the same God.  We would never want to tell any grouping that they needed to change their focus.  But we would caution each against the tendency to believe that their preferred pattern should be normative for all Chris­tians.  Within God there is a wide variety of relationships.  Each is credible and fully functional.

            The bottom line – and the thing we all need to take home with us – is that the relationship God seeks to have with us is varied and complex.  Our relationship with God changes, over time and even within the course of a single day.  Our relationship with God takes on differing forms, depending upon what is needed in our lives at the particular moment.

            The Church’s Doctrine on the Trinity is one way to acknowledge this great diversity.  It allows all of us – regardless of the way in which we experience God most intimately, to realize we are interacting with the same God.

Amen.

Sermon - May 20, 2012

7th Sunday of Easter - Year B                                                                                       

John 17:6-19           

                                                      A Prayer for the Church

We pray for our loved ones and we pray for world peace.  We pray for favorable weather and we pray for victories in baseball games.  We pray for those who have died and we pray for those who have given birth.  We pray.  We implore God to hear our cries and we ask God to care for and uphold those whom we name in our prayers. 

Jesus also prays.  He prays to The Father, asking the Father to care for and uphold those whom he names.  Toward the end, he will pray for those who persecute him.  He will also pray that the cup which he has been given might be taken from him.  Those prayers come later in the story; when crisis is at hand, and we would expect a person to pray. 

But Jesus’ prayer life was well established long before he arrives at those urgent moments.  And in those “non-crisis” moments, what Jesus prays for is us.  He prays for those who were and who would become a part of the Church.  

John 17 is often referred to as Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer.  It is his plea to The Father that those who follow might not be divided, might not be lost, might be filled with his joy; and might be sanctified in his grace.  Jesus prays for the Church.  And in his prayer he identifies those characteristics which make us more than a voluntary association of individuals.  He speaks to that which makes us The Church - his bride. 

Jesus prays: protect them … that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

Being “one” is very important for the body of Christ.  Being one, means that we do not disregard how our thoughts and actions affect others.  Being one means we share a common destiny and more importantly that we realize this and act accordingly.  Being one means seeing ourselves as part of an organism – which when separated dies; rather than as a part in a machine which can be removed and replaced by another – sometimes increasing the machine’s efficiency.  We are one; not individually one, but one with those who share this common identity. 

Christians are not independent agents, free to have our own personal relationship with God while ignoring those around us.  There may be theological differences; and preferences for one worship style as opposed to another may lead us to gather in differing buildings on Sunday mornings. But Christians, followers of Christ, are to be “one”, united in our common calling and united in our devotion to Christ. 

Jesus finishes his prayer, goes to the Garden of Gethsemane and is crucified.  But he rises from the grave and he ascends on high.  In these acts, he makes us one.  It is no longer a hope, expressed by a departing Rabbi.  It is an acknowledgement of what God has done.  We are one.  And even when we discuss issues which have the potential to divide, we must remain one.

Jesus continues to pray.  He says to the Father, While I was with them, I protected them in your name ... I guarded them, and not one of them was lost.  Jesus prays that the disciples may never become lost; that they will never venture too far outside the protective realm of the Church.  Jesus asks God to protect them and prevent them from being lured into false teaching or improper living. 

I can’t remember anyone, in my 29 years of ministry, who came to me to tell me that they had decided that they are going to fall away from the church.  Folks don’t report, or display an intentional turning away from the Church and the community of faith.  They may leave one congregation to join another (an act which challenges our “oneness,” but they don’t usually report deciding to stop coming.)  Rarely do persons “leave” - instead they simply become "lost."  A new schedule, a different job, additional respon­sibilities, moving into a new house or buying a place on the lake, enroll­ing the kids in soccer/baseball/gymnastics -  these are the reasons why folks find themselves separated from the church.  New habits form; old preferences change – and as a result folks simply come less, then care less and eventually the cease to think of this as a place where they belong.  They become "lost." 

Remember the image Jesus uses, as he looks over Jerusalem and speaks of his desire to gather its inhabitants.  He speaks of a mother hen who gathers her brood under her wings.  Jesus' prayer is that those whom God has called will forever nestle, as baby chicks, under the protective wing of a loving mother hen.  There, God will protect us and prevent us from ever becoming lost. 

A third petition which Jesus offers is for those who rest in God's care to be filled with joy.  Jesus prays:  "I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves."  You will notice that he does not pray for their happiness - he prays that joy may be made complete in them. 

In his last published book, Joseph Sittler writes of the difference between joy and happiness.  Sittler points out that happiness is dependent upon the ups and downs of our life.  Happiness is very fragile and easily taken from us.  We are happy when life treats us fair, when we accomplish that which we set out to do, when our friends do not disappoint us.  Should things not go well, should our plans be thwarted - we are no longer "happy".  A very fragile and delicate thing - this happiness. 

Joy is quite different.  Joy is the confidence that our lives have meaning and purpose, regardless of whether happiness is a part of our day.  Even when we are overcome by adversity, boxed in by demands, frustrat­ed with our own ignorance - even so, we can still be filled with Joy.  Joy has a permanence.  It is long lasting, it is not easily de­stroyed.

Jesus’ final petition is for sanctification.  Jesus prays that those who follow him might be sanctif(ied...) in the truth.  Falsehood abounds in our world.  It is attractive, enticing, and alluring.  More often than not, it is that which is false which catches our eye or causes us to pause.  Remaining sanctified in the truth is a diffi­cult thing.

"Truth," in the manner which Jesus speaks, differs from the way we might use the word.  Truth is not simply that which is true or that which can be proven.  Nor is it some fundamental ideal.  Truth, in the New Testament sense, is that which is in accordance with the hope and promise of God.  The Truth is God's hope for our lives, God's desire for us.  It is God's prayer offered within our own lives.  Jesus prays that the disciples might be sanctified in truth; that in truth they might be dedicated to the service of God and God's people.  To live in the truth is to live in the very heart of God.  

We will continue to pray for the newborns.  We will always offer our prayers for the sick and ill.  At no time will we cease to pray for those who are in distress or those who are in harm’s way.  We will pray for the lost and lonely.  We will pray for the broken hearted.  But as with Christ, so too must we pray for the Church, for the communion of Saints who bear his mission and proclaim God’s Word.  We pray for oneness; we pray that no one might become lost; we pray for joy; and we pray for sanctification in the Truth. 

This Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer.  Thus it also becomes our prayer.

Amen.

Devotion - May 3 - Last offering for the Year

As he was facing his own imminent death, my beloved seminary professor (Joe Sittler) mused that while he didn't know exactly what to expect, God had been so good to him throughout his life that he trusted that whatever came after death would be wonderful also.  I have always drawn great comfort from his insight and the wisdom of his words.

 

We don't know what resurrected life will be like.  There are passing references in the Bible, some conflicting, some ambivalent.  All those comments by well wishers that heaven is more of the best of what we enjoy now arise out of piety, not solid Biblical exegesis.

We don't know.  But God has been so good in giving us all this that we look forward to whatevef it will be, with great anticipation.

The semester is coming to an end.  Cars are already packed for many and residence halls as well as apartments are emptying out.  For some, it is a summer break.  For others it is graduation.  

What will come next?

In all honesty, we don't know, exactly. 

But the time we have had together is been so good.  The time we have had together has been a gift from God.  It is God's Word and God's presence which has brought us together and held us together.  God has been gracious in providing all this for us.  And, so, we will embrace what comes next knowing that it too is a gift from God and trusting that it will be good.  Very good.

God go with you - for the summer, into your careers.  God be with you, along with the assurance of each other's prayers.  Thank you for sharing yourself this year and may the blessing you have been return as a blessing upon you.  We will regather in August and begin the celebration of the new thing which God will do among us then.

Devotion - Wednesday, May 2

The appointed Epistle for this day is I Thessalonians 2:1-12.  Paul writes to this young church of his love for them.  He refers to the time he spent among them.

He pulled his own weight while there - so as not to be burden upon others.  "For you remember our labor and toil, brethren;  we worked night and day, that we might not burden any of you, while we preached to you the gospel of God."  Paul didn't pop in, and just tell the stories of Jesus; he lived them and he lived life among those with whom he shared this amazing Good News.

He cared for them, "like a nurse taking care of her children."  He goes on to say, "So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us."

Remember our talk last Wednesday - about Christian Community?  This is another marker of what it means to be part of a community of Christ.  We share not only the information, but our very lives.  We integrate our future with the futures of those around us.  We share not only the gospel of God, but our very selves. 

Over lunch yesterday, a first year student expressed anxiety about an upcoming final in one of those 1-0-something overview/intro courses.  A graduating student acknowledged their plans to be in the LCM Lounge, studying after our student exam meal.  "Bring your notes and I will see if I can help."  This is a horribly busy week for all of us - but amid our stress and work, we continue to remember Christ's call to share "our own selves."

There are lots of people in the world trying to tell me what I need to know (according to them.)  Those who impact my life are those who not only speak to me, but labor along side me to build a life and craft a future - a future in which all of us are lifted up.

Having "become very dear to us," we love our brothers and sisters and we look out for them and lighten their load and share with them what we know and our very lives.

Devotion - Tuesday, May 1

I want to apologize again for leaving you all last night.  Exam Week Dinners are often interrupted by another group of which I am a part.  I left you last night in order to participate in an end-of-the-year gathering for our Campus Ministers' Association members.

This was a particularly important gathering.  We gathered to say good-bye to four colleagues.  Changes will happen over the summer in the staffing of the Episcopal Ministry, the Unitarian Fellowship, and both staff persons at the Roman Catholic Parish.  As you say your good-byes to classmates, realize I am saying good-bye to my friends and peers.  It was important for me to be with them last night.  Even if it meant being away from you.

 

There is another reason why it was important to be with them, and it directly involves you.  When you finally complete your exams and load your car and drive away from Clemson, you will find yourself in need of a community of faith.  I will make sure to share with you the ELCA congregations in the places you are moving to, but in some instances there won't be one close by or the one that is there isn't as good a fit for you as would be the Presbyterian congregation or the Baptist Fellowship.  You will need to find a place where you can hear God's Word and where God can speak to you.

I value my involvement with the other Clemson Campus Ministers because it is a constant reminder that God is active among a wide variety of liturgical styles and theological formulations.  And, as your campus pastor, I want to be able to speak of how God is moving among the United Church of Christ or within the Methodist churches.  Doing so prepares the way for you to live your life as a Christian, regardless of whether you remain attached to a Lutheran ministry.

Desiderius Erasmus was a 16th Century philosopher.  In his day, the divisions between denominations were only beginning to emerge.  The issue which challenged the Church were divisions along emerging lines of nationality.  He wrote, "Why should an Englishman as an Englishman bear ill will to a Frenchman and not rather good will as a man to a man and a Christian to a Christian?  How can anything as frivolous as a name outweigh the ties of nature and bonds of Christianity?  The Rhine separates the French from the German but it cannot divide the Christian from the Christian."

The Church of Jesus Christ has become way too fractured.  How can we be the "city set upon the hill" if we are citizens divided among ourselves?

I will be back at dinner tonight.  I hope to see you there.  And I pray that last night's activities will have made me better prepared to assist you in finding a spiritual home in the villages and towns to which you are now moving.  God is active in the world;  God is active in many places;  find the place where that activity pulls you in and equips you to assist in the proclamation of our oneness in Christ Jesus.

Devotion - Monday, April 30

In the Gospel of John, chapter after chapter is given over to Jesus' good-bye comments.  The process of saying good-bye involves remembering what has been said before, calling attention to what must be remembered, and expressing a hope for what the future will bring.  It is a process, not a moment in time.

Yesterday, we began the process of saying good-bye to departing students.  Over lunch, stories were shared.  Among these departing students are the last who remember our meals in the LCM Lounge.  They shared how much things have changed in the span of five years.

But regardless of where we take our meals, and no matter who was there to share them, the same Christ has been our host and the same Spirit has been among us.  This message was well received by the incoming Leadership Team who met last night to shore up plans for the fall semester.

There were tears shared yesterday.  But also a great deal of pride.  Those departing are heading off to teach high school math, to guide youth at camp (Church camp and Scout camp,) to design new products, and to build great buildings.  The planet we all share will be a better place as a result of the departing class of 2012.

I offer this morning's reflection in order to give us all permission to continue the process of saying good-bye.  We need to learn to mimic Jesus' style, from the Gospel of John.  Saying good-bye involves remembering, highlighting, and expressing a hope for the future.  That future will be directed by God, as was our past.  That future will bring other opportunities to experience community founded in God's goodness.

Say good-bye well.  Do not shy away from the sadness associated with it, but neither should you allow your sadness to overshadow the hope which permeates the relationships which are now coming to an end.  That hope remains our hope for what God will do in our lives, next.

Sermon - April 29, 2012

Easter 4 - Year B                                                                                                     

John 10:11-18

Shepherding – Good Shepherding 

With all that is going on in today’s worship service, it might be easy to forget that today is the Fourth Sunday of Easter.  There are only a precious few of these Sundays during which we make front and center THE event which defines us as followers of the Risen Christ. 

Christ is Risen!  Christ is Risen, Indeed! Alleluia! 

On this the Fourth Sunday of Easter, we diverge for the first time from the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus.  Easter 2 was the story of “Doubting Thomas,” the Easter 3 gospel involved Jesus proving he wasn’t a ghost.  Even with last week’s reading, it was a bit tough to remember that we were still reading of events which happen on the same day as the empty tomb is discovered.   

Then we come to Easter 4 – and on Easter 4 we don’t read about the post-resurrected Jesus; we read about the teacher Jesus.  We begin to look back and to examine what it was that Jesus said to us while he was still with us.  We turn back there in order to understand what it is that the Resurrected Jesus wants us to do.  And where we turn to – first – is to his comments about good shepherds.

“I am the Good Shepherd.”  Jesus says.  And he proves this.  He cares for the sheep – the remainder of the Gospel story is all about his care.  The end of the Gospels is his final act – his laying down his life for us – the sheep who are gathered into his pasture.

The Resurrected Jesus – the Good Shepherd – calls upon his followers to be good shepherds, too.

In all honesty, Jesus does not speak of “good shepherds” and “bad shepherds.”  It is almost as if he refuses to even think of those who fail the sheep as “shepherds.”  Instead he refers to them as “hired hands.”  Jesus notes that the difference between a good shepherd and the hireling is that the latter don’t “love” the sheep – they love what they are going to get as a result of caring for the sheep.  They love their pay.  Or maybe they love some perceived “heavenly reward.”  Whatever it is that drives them, it is not love for the sheep.  When given the choice between finding another job and risking their own safety, they abandon the sheep and move on.   

Jesus is the Good Shepherd.  Jesus sets us an example of what it means to be shepherds.  And the post-resurrection Jesus sends us forth to tend the lambs and to feed the sheep.  We are to become the “Good Shepherds” who look out after the flock. 

Today’s busy worship service(s) provides us an opportunity to critique ourselves – as shepherds or hirelings.  We have the chance to evaluate our adherence to Jesus’ hope for us.   

Let’s start with Ethan, and the Rite of Confirmation.  Ethan was baptized in this congregation.  That service, that liturgy, is important for all of us, not just for Ethan.  The promises made that day began with God’s promise to Ethan; next were promises on the part of his sponsors and parents; and finally there were promises made by us, the gathered people of God.  We took on a shared responsibility that day to care for him, to teach him, and to guide him.   

This ought to make Ethan feel special, but no more special than all the others to whom we have made this promise.  Occasionally baptisms happen with only a few family members present, but we try really hard to avoid those.  Baptism is not a private affair – it is a promise of the whole people of God to pass on what it is that we have first received. 

When Ethan was baptized, we stepped into the role of shepherd.  We agreed that we would love him, care for him, and watch over him.  Today, at his confirmation, he steps more fully into his baptismal promise, and promises that he too will assist in caring for others.  But every baptism, every confirmation, is an opportunity to evaluate whether we have proven to be shepherds or hirelings.  And every interaction with a fellow member of the congregation is a chance to hone our skills. 

Jesus calls us to be shepherds; not hirelings. 

Today is also LCM Farewell and Godspeed.  No, these “children” were not baptized here.  They chose to come here, as adults.  They presented themselves, seeking a home (a spiritual home) in this new place where they live and study and continue their maturation into adult life.   

I am not only employed by Lutheran Campus Ministry, I am a product of Lutheran Campus Ministry.  When I went to college, I thought I knew what I wanted to do and how I would get there.  But it was a patient and loving campus pastor and a host congregation who allowed me to struggle with my questions and made it safe for me to experiment with new thoughts.  I feared that if my parents knew I was questioning the things I thought I had been taught in Sunday School they would disown me.  But the congregation of Holy Trinity held me all the more tightly and encouraged me to come to a faith of my own. 

“Shepherding” these students is not accomplished when their only contact is with a campus pastor.  (Remember – I am a hireling.)  “Shepherding” is accomplished when they hear Herm & Carol Spitzer speak to them about marriage and intimacy.  “Shepherding” occurs when George and Martha Harris sit with them at a Wednesday dinner and speak of how they see in each student attending UniLu a glimmer of the son they lost way too early in life.  “Shepherding” occurs when they see their math teacher, Chris Cox, stand before the congregation and speak of a mission greater than academia. 

Students – do not allow yourselves to hear this message as one going above you or beyond you.  It is aimed directly at you.  Good Shepherds are trained, not in some classroom but in the working fields.  If you have any appreciation for the years you have been in Clemson and at UniLu, this appreciation ought to be seen in the way you live your life after you have left this place.  You have had a unique experience which uniquely qualifies you to assist in shepherding those little lambs who are maturing into adults. 

We are called to be shepherds – not hirelings. 

We have one more opportunity to understand ourselves as shepherds, and move away from acting like hirelings.  It involves the “Growing in God’s Mission” campaign.  I was interviewed by the consulting firm who aided the SC Synod in putting together the campaign.  I encouraged them to proceed and here is why:  without a wider understanding of the Church, University Lutheran and Lutheran Campus Ministry – Clemson would quickly whither on the vine. 

Smith and Chris are the only two names on the list of graduating students who have been with us longer than the years they were in college.  And even both of them were baptized in a differing congregation.  Tommy Bridges’ death was a terrible loss to us all.  But as the family thought of funeral plans they thought first of all about a service at the church where he spent most of his life; then they decided to have a service here, too.  This is to be expected, of most of us.  Most of us have “homes” somewhere other than here.  When I die, I won’t be buried here – I will go back to Cedar Grove Lutheran, in Vale, NC. 

“God’s Mission” is a terribly limited thing if it only applies to what we do here, in this one building, in this single congregation, in this little-bitty town.  Of course we are a part of a large mission.  We benefit from that mission every day.  And so it is very important that we support that mission.   

This summer, Maglin Halsey has plans to travel to Tanzania.  She would be placed in the Lutheran Hospital in Mybea.  This is the city where our group traveled during our first mission trip to the SW Dioceses of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania.  Daniel Locke is heading to Lincolnton, NC, where he will participate in an immersion experience funded by Project Connect – an effort on the part of our ELCA Seminaries to expose young adults to a call to public ministry.  Josh Kestner will move to Jerusalem this August.  As a staff member with Global Mission, he will be about the work of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Jordan.  I think there are seven or so LCM students who will spend the summer working as counselors at Lutheridge Church Camp?  And, absolutely most important of all, are the dozens of young adults who will show up in congregations across the southeast, enthused and eager to say, “The church does have something to say to twenty-year olds.” 

We are shepherds.  Not hirelings.  We carefully tend each of the baptized, assisting them in their faith journey.  As they grow into adulthood, we provide models of what it means to love and serve Jesus in the business world, in the academic world, in the various worlds in which God’s people live.  And, in celebration of the wider expression of the Church of Jesus Christ, we join with others in order to provide the resources needed to proclaim the word and equip the saints.

Jesus is the first of the Good Shepherds.  Jesus calls upon you and I to share in the duty and the opportunity to shepherd others.

Amen.