MNO Synod Bishop's Message Archives

Sermon for Sunday, March 4, 2007
Synod Staff Installation

On Friday evening my spouse and I went to see the movie “Wild Hogs”. It’s the story of four middle aged men (played by John Travolta, Tim Allen, William H. Macy and Martin Lawrence) and these guys are stuck in a rut, wondering what their life has become. Each, in their own way, struggles with who they are and who they have become as they have aged. Each asks the questions- What am I doing here and what is my purpose?

So, in an effort to find understanding, they get on their “hogs” (motorcycles), and for one week they travel the open road to “find themselves”. The movie outlines all the stupid situations they get themselves into along the way. In one of those situations they meet up with a hardcore motorcycle gang and their leader who warn them to go home, stop being posers, people who are wanna- a- be motorcycle gangs. Things go from bad to worse and when they escape the clutches of the gang, one of Wild Hogs destroys the gangs headquarters.

Later while hiding out in a small community and avoiding the gang’s revenge, each of the guys realize they can’t avoid the situation and must face up to the gang. They can’t even just sneak out of town.

So, four middle aged men face off against 40 gang members who want to tear them apart limb by limb. Unknown courage and bravery is evident in the four. Each confronts within themselves what strengths and purpose in life they have, and the motorcycle gang is defeated. Each of the members of Wild Hogs insists on facing the gang, whether there is threat of death or not. They realize that someone has to stand against the motorcycle gang or else the lives and livelihood of the townspeople is at risk. So, they all stand together, knowing it may be their last stand.

The movie reminded me of the gospel reading for this morning- where a few Pharisees are giving Jesus a warning- get out of town before you get killed. And Jesus says “no way- not until I fulfill my purpose here. And anyway, no prophet dies outside of Jerusalem.”

Jesus is insistent on taking a stand, fulfilling his purpose, even when it may mean death. Jesus is determined to get to Jerusalem because that his is calling, his mission, and he will go there, even if is costs him his life. It’s his purpose to go to Jerusalem and he means to get there. And he knows he is going there, not for his own sake, but for the sake of the world.

Kelly Fryer, in her book, Reclaiming the C Word- Daring to be Church Again, talks a lot about the early church and what it was. She says it was a community that experienced Jesus Christ, that heard the gospel story and went out into the streets and told that story so that others would be blessed. They were so excited about the story that they just couldn’t keep it for themselves but had to tell the story over and over and over again. And as people heard the message of Jesus Christ, they started sharing it in word and deed.

And then they would come back together to praise and worship God and tell each other what they had seen and heard on the streets. They were eager to come back together and tell about the amazing things God was doing in and through them, out on the streets (away from the temple, the church building). They were eager to be the church, not as an institution, but as the people of God, being the church wherever they lived, or worked or wherever they went.

The question is- What happened to that church, that early church, because that sure isn’t the church today? How many of us can hardly keep the story of Jesus Christ to ourselves? How many of us are willing to take a risk and publicly tell the story of Jesus Christ out on the streets, in our everyday jobs or at school, or in our neighborhood?

This evening we are celebrating and affirming the call of Pastor Larry to be Assistant to the Bishop here in the MNO Synod. Larry’s call is traditional- that of a person ordained by the church to preach and teach the good news, to administer the sacraments, to be a paid employee of the church. There is an expectation that because this is Larry’s job, he’ll be telling the story of Jesus Christ to others. That Larry will be the one going out into the streets telling the transforming story of Jesus Christ. And don’t get me wrong, that’s what Larry will be doing. But he won’t just be doing it because he is a paid employee, because the Church set him apart as a pastor to be one who would lead and equip others to proclaim the message of Jesus Christ. Pastor Larry has a public role in the proclamation of the gospel. But he also has a private role in the proclamation of the gospel- it is his call as a baptized Christian to be sent out into the world, to be God’s agent of love and grace so that ALL the world will be blessed.

The church today has done a disservice to all Christians by often making the proclamation of the gospel a public role for rostered ministers only. We often have pushed the role of all Christians, especially those not set apart as rostered ministers such as clergy and diaconal ministers, to the fringe of the church. It is time to issue a challenge to the laity to step forward in your baptismal call and be public proclaimers of the gospel. To recognize the role of laypeople that in daily living, we are all called to witness and serve the world, whether we are at work, school, play or in our homes.

Yes, some are set apart for their gifts of WORD and SACRAMENT and WORD and SERVICE and we rejoice that we have leaders who accept these calls to ministry, who feel the call to equip others for ministry. And we rejoice that they are partners with us in the ministry to the whole world for we cannot do it alone or in isolation of each other. We all need to accept responsibility for the call to witness and serve God in the world together. That God needs all of our hands and feet and voices in order to bless the world.

Not one of us is exempt. We have all been given gifts by God to be proclaimers of God’s grace in the world, each in a different way. That is what ministry is all about. That is our Christian vocation. That in our daily role, we are all called to witness to the transforming power of Jesus Christ.

Each of us has a different function in God’s mission in the world. Tonight we want to affirm those different functions in a unique and traditional way of the Lutheran Church- through an installation service. During this service we will affirm the work of our synod staff, that each of these people have a different function in ministry that makes up the total ministry of the synod office.

I believe that this service is a model for all areas of the church. That we should encourage each other, in a public way, to affirm and ask for a public commitment to fulfill God’s mission and our purpose in life, through our varied vocations. That we should acknowledge each other’s function and gifts for ministry so that God’s mission for the world will be accomplished.

Debbie and Rick are sharing some very unique gifts for ministry in this church, that gifts for administration and communications are essential to our proclamation of the gospel, that they enhance our work as a church. The MNO Synod Convention last April acknowledged this and the Synod Council saw to it that the synod office followed through with it. They also acknowledged that a staff person with gifts for mission, youth and stewardship was essential to the ministry of this synod and for the public proclamation of the gospel. Pastor Larry was willing to accept this ministry.

Tonight we call on each of them to publicly commit their gifts to the ministry of the synod, and we call upon you as members of the synod, to affirm their function and gifts for ministry FOR THE GOOD OF THE WHOLE CHURCH.

We all have the tools for ministry- a covenant with God that promises us strength for the journey, a guiding hand when we need it, gifts to function and serve, a community to support us, and the Holy Spirit to sustain us. Are we up to the challenge of being servants of God and workers called to be in mission for others? Do we know what Jesus is asking us to do?

The early church knew. They knew it was their job to tell the story of Jesus Christ, everyone of them. They knew it was up to them to make sure the message got shared. They knew there was a connection between their worship on Sundays and their daily life from Monday to Saturday. For better or for worse, they were the church everyday, in every place, in everything they did.

That’s the expectation that Jesus has for us too- to be faithful to our call every day, in every way, in all we do and are, to be persistent and determined to fulfill the purpose God has for us and our world so that all the world will be blessed.

Amen.