Abide in Me — A Sermon on Ordained Ministry
For the Celebration of New Ministry of the Rev. Carla McCook by The Rev. David Simmons, ObJN at St Margaret of Scotland Episcopal Church, Sarasota, FL 2/19/17
God’s beloved people, Tonight we get a portion of Jesus’ “Farewell Discourse” in our Gospel reading. The writer of John is laying out the final teachings of Jesus before the passion narrative begins. We hear:
As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.
This command, translated “Abide” in the NRSV, means variously “to stay in a place” or “to stand against opposition” or “to hold out,” “to stand fast,” “to stay still,” “to remain,” “to endure,” “to stay in force.” I kind of like the way Eugene Peterson translates this in The Message.
I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love.
Jesus could have said a lot of things in this farewell discourse. He could have told us, “Create a Confirmation Curriculum for the high schoolers that somehow allows for irregular attendance and post-modernism” or “Get your bulletins for Lent printed three weeks early” or “Find some way to get Mrs. Ethelmyer back on board with the ECW agenda for next year.”
Surprisingly, he doesn’t do that. He tells us to abide, to be at home in his love. In choosing this passage as one of the Gospel options for the liturgy of Celebration of New Ministry, the authors of the 1979 BCP were making a statement about the ministry of the ordained. The basis of our ministry is not a particular set of skills, but the root of who we are supposed to be — people who are to model in particular the state of being at home in the Love of God.
Yes, there is much work that can be done. In fact, as ministers of the Gospel, there is an infinite amount of work that can be done. There’s always another article or sermon to write, another diocesan committee to serve on, another person to visit, another bulletin to typeset, another program to start, another theological volume to read. But if we are so busy with functional churchy things that we neglect the call to abide in God, all of these things are for nothing. Other civic organizations can educate people, build membership, communicate with their members, and serve others. What sets us apart as a church is that we do these things as we intentionally stand fast in God’s love. When we as a church hide ourselves in busy-ness, we are attempting to hide from God.
Our ordained leadership has to be one that is steeped in prayer and reflection as the base of what we do. Because as much as we all believe in the Priesthood of the Believer and the balanced role of laity in our church, the tone of every organization is set by the tone of its leader. If the CEO of a company is anxious and reactive, the company will be anxious and reactive. If Scoutmaster is too intent on getting from point A to point B on a hike, then his or her scouts will not be able to appreciate the beauty of nature as they travel. If a Minister of the Gospel is too focussed on membership and program, then that church will risk turning its operations into a golden calf that pulls attention from the Trinitarian life of God we are called to remain still in.
The Biblical Scholar NT Wright talks about how our passage today has been misused.
’No one’, said Jesus, ‘has a love greater than this, to lay down your life for your friends’ . That is true, gloriously true. Indeed, Jesus was on his way to his own execution as the most dramatic example of the point. The cross is clearly in view here, when Jesus says that laying down your life for your friends is the highest form of love, and then says ‘and you, of course, are my friends’. But during the First World War, this text was used again and again, in sermons and lectures, set to music and sung by great choirs, with one single meaning: therefore you, young man — they were mostly young men — must go off to the front line, do what you’re told and if necessary die for your country.
Of course, the irony of this was that German preachers were using the same text the same way. If both were right, it would seem that Jesus was just encouraging sacrifice on both sides for it’s own sake — that sacrifice itself was the object.
But this is a misuse of this text. Jesus is telling his disciples that HE, JESUS HIMSELF, lays down his life for his friends. While it is true that his disciples endure hardship and some of them become martyrs, they are not DEMANDED by God as a sacrifice. Jesus had already done that. Jesus was crucified on a cross for our sins. WE should be satisfied with that. No one need ever be crucified again for our sakes. The fact that we continue to demand sacrifice from one another to meet our personal or institutional needs is in SPITE of God’s gift, not because of it. Martyrs and confessors continue to suffer and die in our world today not because God wills it, but because humanity still clings to its cherished cycle of violence. It is a demand we as sinful humans make, not God.
Sometimes, especially in an American context, we conflate the so-called “Puritan Work Ethic” with this human demand for sacrifice. We try to figure out how “successful” a congregation is by how hard they work. We think that the measure of a congregation or a minister is how much they do. How much of their time and money do their members give? What’s your ASA? How many Pledge Units? How many kids in Sunday School? These are the questions on the parochial report the national church uses to measure congregational vitality. All of these questions are useful on one level, but they can’t drill down to the real question at the base of ministry: “Does this congregation abide in God’s love?” A large church may have thousands of members, millions of dollars, and multiple popular programs, but so does AARP. The true measure of a church is not membership and money, but “how does it allow its members to feel at home in God’s love?” All of the other stuff — the growth, the stewardship, the outreach, the work for justice, all flow naturally from this base state of a healthy church that is at home in the love of God.
People of St. Margaret of Scotland, you have called Mo. Carla McCook to be your rector. Those of us in Wisconsin are not happy with this decision, but it’s a sound one. Carla is a priest of great depth and intelligence, but she is also a person with a great sense of humor and knows how to play. I’d tell you all about our family’s vacation together this summer, but you know what they say, “What happens in Colonial Williamsburg stays in Colonial Williamsburg.” She has the ability to lead you into the state of abiding in the love of Jesus. No doubt, she will also be great with program and administration, but that’s not what you are really calling her to.
(Call Carla and the Sr. Warden Forward)
I have here the Letter of Transfer for Shane, Shawn, Morgan and Maddi. To be honest, I’ve had this for several weeks, but just have not had the heart to sign it. I am willing to give this letter to you, but on these conditions from both of you.
(Fran) I want you to promise me on behalf of the congregation that you all will allow and encourage her to abide in God’s love. That you will consider prayer and renewal as an integral part of her work week, because if you don’t, she won’t be able to lead you to Jesus. That you will remember that while she sometimes stands in the person of Christ, she is human, and is going to fail you again and again just like any other human being. That you remember that the rest of the McCook family each has their own identity, and that they each have their own distinct ministry by virtue of their baptisms. If so, answer “I will.”
And now you, Carla Hermione Grainger McCook. I charge you here in the presence of God and your bishop, in that order, to take the time to be at home in God’s love. That no matter how much work has piled up or how anxious you are about what’s going on at the church you will first of all be a person of prayer and reflection. That you will exercise self care. That you, when appropriate, will continue to wear a corset and pirate costume. And that you will remember that your family and friends are part of your vocation as baptized Christian, wife, friend, mother, priest and rector. If so, answer, “I Will.”
With these positive affirmations, I am hereby willing to hand this letter over to you, making your family members of St. Margarets with all canonical processes duly observed. (Fa La)
May God bless you all here in your ministries, and may you all abide in God’s love forever.
