Celebration of New Ministry

Sermon preached at St. Mark’s, Honey Brook, PA

by The Rev. Thomas C. Pumphrey, Deacon-in-Residence (Pastor), July 18, 2004

Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16 (variety of gifts/roles, unity in Christ); (Joshua 1:7-9, Luke 22:24-27)

Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16 (NRSV): I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift. The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body's growth in building itself up in love.

Today is the Celebration of New Ministry. Today marks the end of a long process of discernment and prayer and waiting. My wife and kids and I spent many months searching for that place to which God has called us. St. Mark’s has been through months of uncertainty, creating a parish profile, deliberating and discussing and interviewing. Now that process has come to fruition, and this is my first day as your new full-time pastor.

But this Celebration is not about the new ministry of one man in a round collar. This celebration is not about ministry that God gives simply to ordained ministers, and not just about new ministry given on this particular day. No, God has given us all new ministry—the Warden, the vestry, all of you in the pews, and even to those not yet in the pews, but in the neighborhoods around us. God gives ALL of us gifts of new ministry today and every day.

I’m sure that you’ve seen the changes to the parish house—how the parish house was built up by painters and carpenters and roofers. I’ve heard stories of the lengthy and complex work done to renovate the new rectory across the street—plumbers, electricians, stonemasons and gardeners. You have watched and supported and participated physically and financially in the building up of these buildings for the use of the church. You have seen how each trade has contributed their talents in the process, working together to achieve their mission. Building up the church is like that—each person acting in Stewardship of God’s gifts to work together to build up the church.

Passing by so many Amish buggies and farms, I recall the legend of Amish barn raisings. You all undoubtedly know more about Amish barn raisings than I do, but if the legend is correct, the whole community gathers around the family and contributes their time, their talents, their lumber and nails and food. They work together—each in his or her own role, until a beautiful new barn is built-up. That too is another image of the church’s ministry.

But I wonder—what if we took these metaphors of communities creating and restoring buildings, and applied these metaphors to people and relationships. What if we were to join together as a community, each acting in Stewardship of the gifts God has given us, to nurture and deepen our relationship with God? What if we were to use our gifts and talents to nurture our relationship with each other in Christ? We might, by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, nurture a living, breathing, growing and active Christian Community to fill and overflow these beautiful buildings.

THIS is what it means to be church. This is what Paul writes about as the body of Christ—living and active relationships with God and with each other. Nurturing these relationships and drawing others into them is the work and gifts of ministry that God gives us today—ALL of us—not just the new Deacon.

Listen to the letter to the Ephesians: “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.” We are united by the waters of our baptism into the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus, and we are ALL called to the ministry of building up the body of Christ. Each of us has different gifts, and each of us fulfills the role given to us. Paul writes that “each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ's gift. The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”

Many scholars feel that the church in Ephesus was struggling with how to order its common life many years after its beginnings. There was uncertainty about the present and the future. There were struggles and perhaps loss of membership—Roman persecution was tough to face after all. Then, perhaps as time went on, they were confused about who was in charge or who would make decisions. They knew apostles, such as Paul, but they also knew prophets, both from the Old Testament and prophets within their midst who revealed the voice of God. Some were evangelists, still others pastors and teachers. In the midst of their confusion, this letter encourages them to maintain the unity of the Spirit, to work together to build up the body of Christ, to reach the unity of the faith and knowledge of the Son of God.

Notice, too, that these various roles all involve speaking. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers all exercise their roles through speaking. The Ephesians also knew conflict—this is clear from the rest of the letter. Paul urges them not to treat one role as dictator, but to call each role to speak—to speak the truth in love, engaging one another in love, even in the midst of conflict, with humility and gentleness and patience, bearing with one another in love.

We have the same calling. God calls us as he called the Ephesians, to join together in ministry to build up the body of Christ. We, too, have apostles—such as our bishop who sits in the symbolic lineage of the apostles. We have other apostles—those who have been sent to us, and those we send out, for the word “apostle” means one who is sent or commissioned. We have prophets from our history and prophets in our midst who are gifted with hearing and sharing God’s voice. We have Evangelists gifted with hospitality and Christian witness. We have pastors such as Sam Barclay who care for those who celebrate and those who grieve. We have teachers such as Ivanna Freeman and Donna Kertis and the Hartmans and others gifted in Christian formation. ALL of us have gifts for ministry. This is the ministry we celebrate today—the gift of new ministries that God gives all of us today and every day.

Like the Ephesians, we too will struggle and we also will disagree and fail each other and ourselves from time to time. The work that we are given is impossible for us to accomplish on our own. On our own, our project of building up the church would become another tower of Babel, where the workers can’t or don’t communicate, and the result is confusion, separation and despair. But, my new friends, my brothers and sisters in Christ, we are NOT on our own. We have the greatest gift of all-the gift of the Son of God who came not to be served, but to serve. We have the gift of the one who lived and died and rose again that we might know what renewal GOD can accomplish in us. We have the gift of Jesus Christ who washes us clean from sin and separation in the waters of baptism and gives us his body and blood that we might be united and restored to God and one another.

By the grace of Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit, we will bear with one another in love and humility, forgiving each other and serving others as Jesus taught us. We will join together again to strive after the calling to which we have been called. We will nurture our relationships with God and with each other in Christ, and by God’s grace, build up the body of Christ as workers built up the parish house and the new rectory, and as Amish farmers raise new barns. God has given all of us new ministry today and every day in the building up of the church.

This is the true gift we celebrate today—not that we have a new full-time Deacon or that our property has been expanded and improved. We celebrate our new ministry that is founded on the grace of Jesus Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit. God gives all of us new ministries today and every day. Let us celebrate the power of God who, working in us, can accomplish infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.

Thanks be to God.