First Presbyterian Church
Rev. Sam Pendergrast
October 28, 2007
Luke 9:57-62
“In-Between Time”
I remember what it was like when I was a child and had to wait a long time for something. Maybe I knew my parents were planning a birthday party for me, or Christmas was coming, or my family was going on vacation in a few weeks. I had to wait and I didn't want to wait. I could imagine all the good things that were going to happen and I wanted them all to happen now! All I could focus on was the fun I was going to have. As my parents got ready for vacation I sometimes thought they were moving in slow-motion in order to torment me and make me wait longer. I didn't understand getting the car serviced, packing, making travel plans, having someone water the plants and take care of the dog, stopping the newspaper and holding the mail.
Much of life is like that. I know what's coming. I know it will be good. And I want it now. I don't want to wait. I don't want to suffer through the empty places of life where I just might meet God and learn to pay attention and listen in a new way while I'm waiting.
Over and over the scriptures point us in the direction of waiting, even if we have to be dragged kicking and screaming into the “time-out” chair, that seemingly empty space where we think nothing is happening. “Be still, and know that I am God.” “Those who wait for the Lord will renew their strength.” We read of Jesus going apart to an empty place to pray. We hear the stories of spiritual guides and teachers wrestling with God and growing through times of patient, empty waiting when sometimes nothing at all seems to happen. “The Dark Night of the Soul” is a term that arose to describe the experience of people who had walked a long way with God, learned much about prayer and suddenly entered the
I chose to read this morning the story of Jesus' response to would-be disciples who wanted an easy way to follow. Some came to him and expressed their desire to follow. You'd think he'd be tickled to death to have people showing up and volunteering for duty. Lord knows, most churches would snatch volunteers up in a heart-beat. You might not even ask what qualifications they had, if they had the right gifts for the job or what their motivation was. “Wow! You want to teach Sunday School? Sure! Go ahead!” But Jesus responds by pointing out that there's a hard road ahead, and by implication asks them to think clearly about what they're committing themselves to do. “Are you sure you want to follow me? It's going to demand everything you have. Are you willing to give up everything that is dear to you and not look back?” The reply Jesus gives may seem harsh at first. We wonder why he does not simply welcome eager followers. What if we did that with people who want to join the church? What if we told them that it's not a simple matter of paying your dues and joining the club. The wisdom Jesus offers to us is a warning not to settle for quick fixes and easy answers. His reminder is that the journey along the road of discipleship demands everything we've got.
I could have read, as an alternative, Jesus' command to “stay awake” and “keep alert,” as he teaches his disciples about waiting for his return and the call to faithfulness over the long haul. The message of Scripture over and over is that there is always something more to see, to hear, to learn, and that we can't hear or see, touch, taste or smell what's going on around us if we don't stop and pay attention. To be attentive to the promptings of the Spirit requires us to stop and to let go of our fears, our anxieties and our own sense of control over life. The Word invites us to wait through empty spaces we would prefer to avoid and to find God in stillness as well as in action, in failure and suffering as well as in times of strength. We wonder who will catch us when we fall. And sometimes it does take falling a few times and being caught by grace, and learning that even after loss and failure God is faithful and will lead us toward the fullness of life that includes both success and failure, joy and sorrow.
I came in with a walking stick this morning because I wanted a visual reminder of the journey of this interim time (and it's a good prop for the children's message). As your Interim Pastor I will walk with you for a while on part of your journey as a community of faith. I am, in the words of one book on interim ministry, a “temporary shepherd” here. Honestly, all pastors are temporary. Interim pastors are just more temporary than installed pastors. What is different is that the task of the interim is focused on the “in-between time.” Most of what interim pastors do is what any pastor does – preach, teach, care, guide and lead. The interim pastor does more.
The function of an interim pastor is similar to how we see Jesus acting in the conversation we read this morning. Jesus responded to would-be disciples by questioning their motivation and asking them to think carefully about the commitment they were making. Probably that was not what these eager disciples were expecting. They probably thought he be tickled to have some new followers and here he is warning them about the hard way ahead, giving them a chance to back out. They may have been offended. But I would imagine that Jesus did not say it with offense in mind. In the story of the rich, young ruler, Jesus looked at him with love when he challenged him to sell what he had, give to the poor, and “Come, follow me.” What Jesus said, he said with great love, love that challenged the listener to grow and to be transformed. Jesus is alert for openings for change, for growth and for learning. We notice that he teaches more often by asking questions and telling stories than by giving instructions. He leaves the response and the change up to the listener.
The interim period in between installed pastors is a time of at least some turmoil. The familiar routines you had settled into with Mark are gone. You have said goodbye. You've had David McKee moderating Session while you worked to hire an Interim Pastor. Various people have had the challenge of picking up all the tasks that Mark did, or at least trying to learn how to adapt to his absence. Now Sam has come, with his own style and expectations, and it will take you a while to get used to me. All that is to say that many things are up in the air. It's an opportunity for change. It's a time for taking stock, for reflection on where you've been and where you believe God is leading you next. What will you do with your new committee structure? Is it going to work? How do you hear God's call to mission in this new century as the social and religious landscapes change around you? What does that mean for the way you have done things in the past? How do you balance your heritage and the historical character of this church with the call to follow Jesus into a future that none of us can fully imagine? What's your purpose? What strengths will you build on? How can you welcome and involve newcomers and accept their ideas and gifts for leadership? These are exciting questions. You may even answer one or two of them to your satisfaction over the course of this interim.
Any good interim pastor knows that he or she does not come in with answers to your questions. Not only that, but I don't even know most of the right questions to ask. The brief list above comes from my observations over the past week and my limited experience among you. My primary job in my role as interim pastor is to keep you asking questions and to do my best to keep you listening and learning as you wait through this time with openness to the promptings of the Spirit. Just as the job of the moderator of a meeting is not to decide for the group but to make sure everyone is heard and that the questions are thoroughly discussed, so the job of the interim pastor is to do what I can to make sure you spend time listening to one another and to God, praying for the church and for a clear vision as you prepare and search for a new pastor. I am with you only for a while, walking with you through this wilderness adventure as Moses led God's people toward a new land. I will be your pastor and your guide through this in-between time, and at the end you and I will rejoice together as you prepare to walk across the river to a new chapter of your ministry.
Remember, as we travel together, Jesus' words to his disciples that we have come to call “the great commission.” At the end of Matthew's Gospel Jesus tells his followers to go into the world discipling, baptizing and teaching. God's church exists for the purpose of turning outward to the world to offer good news, fellowship, service, and an invitation to spiritual growth, as we offer the healing and reconciling power of the Gospel to our neighbors. Jeffrey Jones, in his book: Traveling Together: A Guide for Disciple-Forming Congregations, says that the only question that matters for a church is: “Do [we] offer to people real opportunities to experience the transforming love of Jesus in ways that touch their greatest needs, heal their deepest hurts and fulfill their highest hopes – to be the people God created them to be?”
That's why I'm here. That why I hope you are here. That is what I'm excited about working on with you. You've been here on the river proclaiming the gospel for a long time. What will it take for you to keep on growing in your ability to help people know that transforming love of Jesus and to learn to follow him as the people God made them to be? I hope you are willing to wait in silent expectation, to wait in shared conversation, and to wait in hopeful work as we travel through this in-between time together.