My brothers and sisters in Christ,
Our reading from Hebrews this morning says that it was “By
faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to
receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.”
This verse characterizes so much of Abraham’s story. The story of Abraham is
the story of a journey with God; a story of following God’s leading; trusting
that God knows the way even when Abraham does not.
Abraham’s story resonates with me tremendously because my
own spiritual life has become such a journey. I have come to believe very
strongly in the very simple idea that the Spirit is leading so long as I am
willing to follow. That leading of the Spirit has taken me on a journey around
the eastern half of our country; first from Virginia
to Boston and then to Kansas City Clinton
I was recently informed that I was accepted into Boston University Boston area and we
will be leaving Clinton
First, I want you to
know how thankful I am to have been your pastor over these last six years. I
feel like calling it a blessing isn’t really adequate to describe just how
grateful I am to have been your pastor and how appreciative I am of the way you
have cared for my family in the time that we have been here. Being your pastor
has changed me. It has made me a more complete person and a more faithful
follower of Jesus and for that I am eternally grateful. I will never forget
that you took a chance on a 25 year old fresh out of seminary with no pastoral
experience and that you were patient with me as I learned my way and discovered
my own pastoral identity. You have had a tremendously significant role in the
formation of that identity. Your influence on me in my time here is something
that will remain with me for the rest of my life.
Second, it is important
to me that you know how deeply I have been committed to you. I want you to know
in all the time that I have been here that I’ve never considered leaving for
another church, never sent out a resume, never looked to see what else was
available. I have been dedicated to being your pastor. Jess and I have
always felt that it was the Spirit of God who led us here, not mere chance. We
believe that same Spirit is now leading us once again.
Along those same lines,
it is extremely important to me that you know that my time as your pastor was
not a means to some other end. I know that pastors, myself included, are not
immune to ambition and that sometimes pastors can use churches as a stepping
stone to something else; a bigger church, a higher position of leadership, or
whatever the case may be. Some of you have even indicated to me personally over
the last several years, in the most gracious and complementary of ways, that
you expected great things for me and that those things would one day lead me
away from here. I imagine even now, as I am announcing to you that I will be
pursuing a doctoral degree, that it may have the appearance of going on to
“bigger and better things.” I want you to know that is not how I see it. I
won’t deny that this is something I’ve desired for a long time and I also won’t
claim that God told me this is what I had to do. I believe very strongly that
God has opened this door for me but I also believe it is my decision to walk
through that door. However, I will say with great confidence that my criteria
for making this decision has always been about whether or not this was the best
way for me to serve Christ and His kingdom. A number of things have happened
over the last year which have convinced me that it is. But I want you to know
that it is not as if I knew this is where I was headed all along. My time as
your pastor has not been a stop on the way to something else. I have thrown
myself as fully as I know how into being your pastor, given it everything I
have known to give it, given you all of myself I knew how to give in the time
I’ve been here. Far from being a mere stepping stone, I have regarded you as
partners and co-travelers on this journey together for the last 6 years as we
have sought to follow Jesus together.
With that in mind, let
me share with you my own testimony this morning of how the Spirit of God has
been leading me lately. As I said before, whether or not to pursue a doctorate
in New Testament studies is something with which I’ve wrestled for a number of
years. Ever since college, I’ve had a number of professors tell me they thought
I was capable of such work and I always thought it was something I would enjoy.
However, given the immense amount of time, energy, and resources it takes to
complete such study, I wanted to be as certain as possible that this was my
place in God’s kingdom. So even as I continued to pray and think about it, I
committed myself to the task to which I knew God had called me; being your
pastor.
Some of you may remember
that in the fall of 2011 I went back to Kansas
City Kansas City
In the midst of those
autumn months, in this time when I had basically given up the idea of doctoral
work, I received a phone call. It was on Halloween night of all nights
and it was our District Superintendent, James Spruce. Dr. Spruce had
mentioned to me before that he thought I should keep further study open as an
option and he began to reiterate that sentiment as a part of this conversation.
At first, I thought this was simply a passing comment as he was making
his way onto his "real reason" for calling but I eventually realized
this was the reason. Right in this time when I thought this door was
finally closed, here was my District Superintendent, who knew nothing of what I
have mentioned above, calling me on a random week night to say nothing other
than that it was not time for that door to close.
This caught my
attention. It was very much like my call to ministry. This was
someone speaking directly to what I was wrestling with even though they didn't
know that I was wrestling with it much as others had said to me "Have you
ever thought about being a pastor?" when they had no idea that was exactly
what I had been thinking about for months.
I started praying about
it... a lot. I couldn't stop thinking and praying about it...again, much
like my call to ministry had completely consumed my thoughts and prayers.
And the more I prayed and thought about it the more I felt like this was
the direction the Spirit was leading. I started to see my conversation with my
former professor differently. Whereas I had seen it as a "No"
now I saw it as a "Hurry up and get on with it." Since that time,
there have been so many little confirmations along the way. The most significant
of those confirmations came just last week when I not only found that I had
been accepted into Boston University’s School of Theology but that the
scholarships they would be providing were far more than I had anticipated or
even imagined was possible.
Last Sunday, so many of
you shared how God has been faithful to you. This is my testimony to you this
morning concerning God’s faithfulness. I’ve said often that when I look back
over the course of my life I am nothing short of astounded at where God has brought
me. I marvel at how God has taken an often shy and timid kid and made him the
husband of an exceptional woman, the father of three amazing children, and the
pastor of a congregation of such wonderful and faithful people.. It is far more
than I could ever deserve or even have imagined. And now God is providing and
promising anew. Overwhelmed is one of the few words that even approaches
adequately describing how I feel.
It is for that reason
that I have complete confidence that God will also remain faithful to this
church; to all of you. God’s love and faithfulness is already being
demonstrated in and through so many of you and I know that it will continue to
be. Sunday after Sunday for nearly 6 years now, we have proclaimed together
that “We are called to be a community that is a faithful image of God’s love”
and I say “Thanks be to God” because there are so many ways that calling is
becoming a reality among us. I believe the future of this church will be
brighter than its past so long as you continue to dedicate yourselves to that
calling.
In fact, I believe that
the words of the prophet Haggai that we heard in our time of worship together
just a few months ago are appropriate for a time such as this. “Be strong, all
you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares
the Lord of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came
out of Egypt
Finally, I want to say
this morning that although the day will soon be here when I will no longer be
your pastor, I hope that doesn’t mean we can no longer be friends. I hope that
you will give Jess or I a call from time to time or send an e-mail to let us
know how God is continuing to build his kingdom among you here in Clinton
It
has been such a gift from God to me to be your pastor and I know that it will
be just as much a gift to continue to be your friend. May the Lord bless you
and keep you and cause His face to shine upon as you serve him faithfully for
many years to come.
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