Sermon 7/1/12
John 10:1-10
This is Different!
Perhaps all of you feel a little bit like I do today.
When I first found out I was being appointed to Liverpool First, it was early
February. July 1st seemed like something off in the distance, a long
way away. But of course, these last months have been busy and full, and time
has flown by, and here we are, at the beginning of this new stage in our faith
journey – new for you, new for me and Aaron, new for Nancy and Chris, new
things for Penny, new things for Russ and Irene. This is an extremely
significant time of transition for all of us, and we are all wondering what the future will hold. It’s a lot to take in!
Aaron and I are so excited to be here with you today, to
be joining you, as we seek, together, to hear God’s call and respond in
faithful action. We have been planning and preparing and dreaming, and we are
ready to get started! There is a lot that is new and different for Aaron and me
in this appointment. We are both co-pastoring
for the first time. We don’t know what that will look like yet. We plan to
watch and listen and get to know you as we figure out how best to use our time
and gifts and talents here. Fortunately, Aaron and I have the benefit of
knowing each other for many years, and although we’ve never worked together in
this way before, we have spent years talking to each other about ministry and
discipleship, and I feel we have a strong foundation for beginning our work
together.
Today we want to introduce ourselves to you, tell you a
bit about what has brought us to this place and this time. I grew up in
Westernville and then Rome, NY. I have a large extended family, almost all of
whom live in Central New York, which is such a blessing to me. My Mom and one
brother live in Rome still. My oldest brother and his wife and five year old
son Sam, who you will hear a lot about, live in Minoa. My youngest brother Todd
is a professional actor who lives with me between acting jobs that take him
here and there. I hope you will get to see a bit of him here (although, ok,
probably never at the 8am service!)
I think God was always luring me towards being a pastor.
I come from a family of pastors – two uncles, and two great uncles were United
Methodist pastors. And I grew up in a small country church that had a lot of
female pastors – I never knew some people found female pastors unusual – it was
just how it was in my young experience! My mother instilled in my brothers and
me a deep sense that we are all called by God for some purpose – and it is our
life’s work to figure out what that call is and how we can respond to it. So I
was in the practice of listening for God’s voice, God’s direction, at a young
age. I grew up attending one of our church camps, Camp Aldersgate, every
summer, and for a while, I believed I was called into camping ministry, because
that was where I felt closest to God. But I have always needed to feel “settled”
with decisions, at peace with them, to know that I heard God as accurately as I
can. And I knew I hadn’t found the right spot yet. I started to become involved
with youth ministry. Of course, I was a youth myself at the time, but I loved
planning and preparing youth events, and I felt like maybe I had found my
calling this time. But still, God was nudging me. Somewhere between applying
for and beginning college, I realized God was calling me to pastoral ministry,
thanks in large part to my childhood pastor, Rev. Bruce Webster, now a
colleague and friend, and mentor to me still. I can’t pinpoint a specific date
or time when I knew for sure, just God’s persistent tugging at me until I got
the picture.
I attended Ohio Wesleyan for my undergraduate work in
pre-theology, and then went to seminary at Drew Theological School in New
Jersey, where I was apartment-mates with Aaron’s mom, Beth. I was commissioned
in 2003 and ordained in 2006, in the same class as both Aaron, and our friend,
Heather Williams. Small world! I’ve remained passionate about my early loves –
I still stay involved with camping ministries, and have spent nine years now
working with our Conference Council on Youth Ministries, CCYM. I have a love
for social justice ministry – mission and outreach and service to those in the
greatest need, those on the fringes, those who Jesus was always bringing to the
center. I love theatre and music, and have been grateful for how God has
allowed me to use these gifts in my ministry. Right now, I’m working on a
Doctor of Ministry degree at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio in the
area of Leadership for Transformation Change. Each July and January, I spend
one week in Ohio completing coursework, and I hope to complete my degree a year
from May. God is still calling, always calling, and I continue to listen for
God’s voice. I’ve served congregations in Oneida, in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey,
and in East Syracuse, and now, God has called us together in this place. That’s
a bit about my path.
In the weeks and months ahead, we will want to hear about
your path – your personal journey,
your family, the path this congregation has taken. You should be proud of the
reputation that Liverpool First has in the community and in our Annual
Conference. You have been engaged in ministries and missions that have been
well-spoken of by those who have only heard about what you’ve been up to. For
example, you have a reputation in the conference of being a place of
hospitality, that opens its doors to people, since you have been so gracious in
inviting conference teams and meetings to take place here so often. Your LIFE
youth program is well-known by other youth programs in the conference – you
have a commitment to young people and young people who are committed to serving
God that has caught the attention of other faith communities who want what you
have! I’ve been excited to just begin to hear about Beautiful Mess Productions,
to see this new vision from some of your own, and imagine how we can support and
nurture and send out this new thing. You have a music program that has been
exceptional – I have heard so much about Joyful Noise, about Amahl and the
Night Visitors, and so on, and I am excited to work with Nancy and Chris. These
are just a few things, and for every ministry that is known beyond the
community, I know there are five more that might be quieter, but are just as
committed to serving God and changing the world by transforming lives in
Christ.
Today, I chose John 10:1-10, one of my favorite passages
of scripture, to share with you. I love this whole chapter of scripture, but my
favorite verse is John 10:10: Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and
kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” This
verse caught my eye when I was in tenth grade, and reading the scriptures, and
it just stuck with me. In a world that often paints Christianity as a list of
thou-shalt-nots, when we Christians often let
ourselves be boiled down to things you shouldn’t be doing, I was just
fascinated that what Jesus said he wanted for us was abundant life. Abundance!
Life that is full and rich and meaningful and complete, not a life where we
feel restricted and limited and deprived. What God has in mind for us is that
we find that our lives are overflowing with goodness and promise, that we have
so much that we can’t begin to run out of ways to use and serve and love with
the gifts we’ve been given. God wants us to have it all! Abundant life.
In
challenging times, it is so easy for us to focus on what we don’t have, what we
think we don’t have enough of. And it
is so easy to try to fill up our lives with our own efforts, trying to fill an
emptiness with a lot of stuff that has nothing much to do with God. We don’t
need to. Jesus promises us all the abundance we could desire. God wants us to
have it all. The catch? Of course, God wants us to give it all too. We get abundant life. God always gives us more.
And as much as we have been following God, on the various paths we have taken
to arrive here today, God is always going
to call us further down the path. God is always read to give more and ask more.
Friends,
my hope is that we will learn to look in our hands, look in our lives, look in
this congregation and community and recognize all the abundant life God has
poured out on us. And then, I hope we will listen. God is calling us still,
farther on. Let’s go together, and find out what God has in store.
Amen.
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