During the 1970s, North Decatur Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, where I spent

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Joleen Davidson
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1 Davidson College Presbyterian Church Davidson, North Carolina Dr. Samuel L. Adams Bold Transitions Luke 10:1-11/Psalm 33 June 1, 2008 Installation Service for the Reverend Elizabeth McGregor Simmons During the 1970s, North Decatur Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, where I spent my earliest years, started a mentoring program in which each child was assigned a special friend. This person was encouraged to take a kid from the church to interesting and fun activities and to teach us about the Christian faith. As a very young fellow, I got the luckiest draw in the church, because Gary Simmons was assigned to be my special friend. He took his role seriously, and we did many wonderful things together. Trips to Six Flags over Georgia, meeting Santa Claus at Christmas, Atlanta Braves games when there was not much to cheer about besides an aging Hank Aaron and a rookie named Dale Murphy. One beautiful June afternoon, we went to watch the Braves star pitcher Phil Niekro go head to head against his brother and fellow knuckleballer Joe, in what was billed as the most exciting game of the season. I remember asking Gary where Lib was and why she had decided not come to the game that day. He replied that she was at Columbia Theological Seminary library learning about God and preparing to become a minister. He told me that she had to learn these ancient languages that the Bible was written in, how to preach, and how to pastor to all different kinds of people. I still remember the conclusion of Gary s explanation: Sam, you have to understand that Lib takes all of this Jesus stuff very seriously, and that is why she works so hard. On another glorious Sunday afternoon more than 30 years later, we gather together to mark an exciting new chapter in the life of Davidson College Presbyterian

2 Church and to ask for God s continued blessing on the work of Elizabeth McGregor Simmons, who has been one of the most devoted pastors in our denomination and a pioneer for women in ordained ministry. As a point of personal privilege, I want to express how very meaningful it is for me, an alumnus of this college where I learned and grew so much, to preach the Word in honor of a minister I have known and respected all of my life. It is such an honor to be present today on behalf of Lib, who has been on quite a journey of her own. Having served congregations in Jacksonville, St. Louis, and most recently as senior pastor at University Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, Lib has spent her entire career struggling with Scripture, honing her skills as a church administrator, taking a special interest in nurturing future leaders through her leadership role on various Committees on Preparation for Ministry, and maintaining a commitment to social justice and outreach in every parish she has served. Those who hear Lib preach with conviction or encounter her gentle demeanor can attest to her unique pastoral style. One church member from the San Antonio congregation admired her (and I quote) quiet passion that is fueled by a deep personal faith. Those on the DCPC search committee noticed a remarkable combination of traits in Lib: her ability to empathize and relate to parishioners, real spiritual depth, and an enduring commitment to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Throughout her career, Lib has demonstrated a willingness to undertake bold transitions, to listen for God s call wherever it might lead her, to uproot and to plant again, following in the true spirit of Christian discipleship. The model for discipleship is vividly illustrated in the Gospel lesson I just read from Luke 10. Earlier in the Gospel, Jesus had charged the original twelve disciples to go into various cities and towns, preaching and healing in his name. In today s New

3 Testament lesson, the mission is significantly expanded throughout the region of Judea. By this point, the number has grown, and there are 70 (or 72) servants of Christ sent out to spread the good news. Jesus sends them out ahead of him in Luke 10:1, meaning that they are to move beyond his immediate presence and minister in his name. As they go forth, and they are supposed to go boldly, these followers are given a specific mandate. Jesus tells them that their mission is dependent on God, who is overseer and owner of a great harvest (v. 3). The task of these laborers is urgent and cannot be delayed even for a moment. As one commentator on Luke explains, There will be no time for ordinary greetings, scruples over what sort of food one eats, or searching for better quarters. i For these followers, idle chit-chat and the quest for personal fulfillment must be set aside. Significantly, these disciples are commanded to lead with both their actions and words, to understand that deed and proclamation go hand in hand. If we could summarize the task set forth in Luke 10, it becomes a model for Christian ministry in any setting: proclaim the Word in the place you inhabit, be present with the sick and the outcast, and above all declare the following: The kingdom of God has come near to you! (v. 9). Notice what Jesus does not say as he commissions these disciples. He does not console them by claiming that their mission will be easy or safe. In fact, he assumes that some of these laborers are going to have difficult experiences. Jesus does not whitewash the challenges of ministry, for he knows that his disciples will have stretches where they have more bad days than good ones. As Lib said in her sermon this morning, not everyone is going to burst into applause when we engage in discipleship. What strikes many readers of this passage is the fortitude required among these followers and the

4 uncertainty of their destination. They must be willing to move around if necessary, spreading the good news. As he outlines his understanding of their ministry, Jesus makes an important point about money and status. He tells his disciples that they need to make a living and can certainly accept pay for their services: he says in v. 7 that the laborer deserves to be paid. Yet he is not hung up about the number of zeroes next to their contract. When we talk about employment or vocation in contemporary American parlance, we generally mean what a person does to earn a paycheck. When we ask someone, What do you do? what we are really asking is this: What do you do for money? This is not the central interest of the Gospels; money and status are certainly not Jesus preoccupation in Luke 10. As social activist and preacher Will Campbell explains, Jesus never asked people what they did for money. His concern was How do you justify yourself? The ultimate inference was, At the end of the day, or at the end of your life, what have you done to leave the world a little better than you found it? ii Today Davidson College Presbyterian Church begins an exciting new chapter in its common journey, and we celebrate the hope that springs from a new senior pastor who has taken seriously the original charge of Jesus, who has gone many places and at every stop has attempted to make the world and her surroundings a little better than she found them. A minister who has worried far more about community than accolades. Unassuming and kind, nobody would call Lib a fire and brimstone preacher. Yet she has accepted Jesus call for her life, been willing to take risks, and taken a vocational journey that has brought her to this place. And at every stop, she has sought to proclaim the kingdom of God.

5 As we celebrate and reflect on the possibilities that this day brings, we must consider what Jesus means when he commands his disciples and by extension us to proclaim the kingdom of God. This is certainly a major question, one of the central issues of the Christian faith. DCPC s own David Kaylor has written on the complexity of the kingdom of God in the New Testament. Sometimes the kingdom of God is eschatological, so that it refers to the inauguration of God s reign at some great final judgment. Many of the earliest followers believed in the imminent return of the Christ figure, when the kingdom would be established once and for all. Yet in the Gospels and particularly in Luke, the kingdom of God is also to be sought on earth, among those who are willing to accept Jesus vision of equality and justice in the here and now. In one passage, Jesus tells them, The kingdom of God is among you (Luke 17:21). This is a God who expects believers to join in the proclamation of an earthly kingdom, a kingdom that strives to bring all people together in mutual solidarity, and to break down barriers. As Kaylor explains, the earliest disciples are to exemplify through their radical commitment the urgent demands of the kingdom. iii Lib Simmons has understood these urgent demands for justice and fellowship; she has grasped our collective need to undertake bold transitions in the pursuit of the mission set forth by Jesus. As she stated so eloquently in her sermon this morning, we all have a responsibility to work towards the kingdom in the here and now, so the world will sit up and listen. In one of the more colorful descriptions about the power of the Christian message and our tendency to be far too casual in discussing such matters, the novelist Annie Dillard writes the following: Does anyone have the foggiest of what sort of power we so blithely invoke?... It is madness to wear ladies straw hats and velvet hats to church; we

6 should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. iv Like most good ministers, Lib perceives our need to wear crash helmets when confronted with Jesus startling message about discipleship and the kingdom of God. She would not want us to backpedal from the urgent demands of what is asked of us in Luke 10. Yet what is so refreshing about Lib is that she combines this awareness of the Gospel message with a pastoral demeanor that is not based on coercion or judgment, but on the conviction that steady, persistent discipleship is the best way to live out the Christian faith. So Lib takes the Gospel seriously, but it should also be added that in her vocational pursuits she does not take herself too seriously. She understands the importance of fellowship and exhaling from the busyness of our lives it is often during moments of relaxation that we grow together in Christian fellowship, in koinonia. For an illustration, we return to the wonderful world of sports. During her stint at University Church, Lib and Gary became enthusiastic fans of the San Antonio Spurs. She has already seen that Wildcat fans are a special breed, and how we collectively lost our senses during March and April of this year. I have no doubt that Lib and Gary will be leading the cheers of Sweet Caroline at athletic events once the new school year rolls around. By all accounts, Lib adapts quickly to her surroundings, and her transition to Davidson has been no exception. She brings a breadth of experience in ministering to those in an educational context, and she understands the global diversity of a community like Davidson. She will challenge DCPC to further its social witness, in this town, in Mecklenburg County, and throughout the world. She will prod Davidson students,

7 alumni, and faculty to take seriously our college s commitment to being an unapologetic model of Christian discipleship. Lib s leadership and the ongoing leadership from Kathy, Julie, Shelli, and the rest of the church staff will surely be a model for students that they can have successful and fulfilling career in the ministry, and selfishly I hope they keep sending a few students my way, to Union-PSCE in Richmond. When I was preparing for this sermon, I asked some prominent ministers in the denomination about Lib, about her strengths and character. One of her mentors, a fellow minister in North Carolina, put it this way: At the end of the day, Lib realizes it is all in God s hands. That is what makes her such an effective minister. Now as many of you know, I specialize in the Old Testament, and so I cannot talk for very long without invoking some of the rich language about God that one finds in the earlier part of the canon. Our Old Testament lesson from Psalm 33 contains beautiful and timely language about the outcome of our efforts resting in God s hands. Psalm 33 is a hymn of praise, which celebrates the power of God in the universe: For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord (Ps 33:5). The Hebrew word translated as steadfast love in v. 5 is chesed, and it is one of those terms that cannot be conveyed adequately in another language. Chesed means loving-kindness, devotion, faithfulness, and steadfast love all wrapped into one. This is the most pivotal verse in the entire psalm, that the earth is full of the steadfast love, the chesed of the Lord. The message of the psalmist is this: the kingdom of God is among us only because God s chesed fills the earth. We cannot bring about the change we seek in the world without God s abiding help; Psalm 33 offers a clear message about human limitations.

8 We inhabit a world torn apart by warring factions, hunger, and disease. We live in a nation experiencing increasingly unsettling times; we are involved in a war that individuals of all political stripes agree has exacted a heavy cost with no end in sight. People everywhere are enduring the repercussions of soaring oil prices. As we seek solutions, human efforts alone are never going to save us from the pitfalls and uncertainties of our age. The psalmist warns against the dangerous assumption that ultimate success is possible through savvy decision-making alone: A king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength (v. 16). Only through God s steadfast love can healing take place. Our denomination has seen a rapid decline in membership in recent years, losing 13.6 percent of our number just in the last decade. The director of admissions at Union- PSCE in Richmond recently told me that there has been a precipitous national drop this year in the number of inquirers seeking to begin the ordination process, especially among younger Presbyterians. We are a denomination struggling to preserve our unity, dealing with complex issues that put good people at odds with one another. Now the Davidson family in this church, college, and town has always been a group of workers and, if I might add, a very opinionated bunch that is never going to change. Today we celebrate the addition of another tireless voice to the fold. Yet we are not going to think or talk our way out of our many predicaments. None of these problems can be fully solved with better marketing, more lucid argumentation, or even with technological innovation. We are instead required to depend on the chesed, the steadfast love of our Creator. The psalm concludes with these words: Let your steadfast love, O God, be upon us, even as we hope in you.

9 Jesus sent his first disciples into towns ahead of him, asking them to contribute an early verse in declaring the good news. Today the song continues in this town, and we stand poised with Lib to add yet another verse. In the words of Psalm 33, today we sing to the Lord a new song, as Davidson College Presbyterian Church pauses to celebrate an exciting new chapter in its important mission. We ask that the Holy Spirit might work through Lib, the rest of the staff, all of the members of this church, and everyone gathered here today to sing this new song boldly, to declare that the kingdom of God has come near, to spread the news that we have accepted Jesus startling call to discipleship with the trust that God is overseer of the harvest. We also acknowledge that this new song, with all of its exciting possibilities, must begin with a sure and certain opening stanza: O God our help in ages past, Our hope for years to come, Our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home. Amen. i Joseph Fitzmyer, S.J., The Gospel According to Luke (X-XXIV) (AB; Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1985), 844. ii Will D. Campbell, Soul Among Lions: Musings of a Bootleg Preacher (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1999), iii R. David Kaylor, Jesus the Prophet: His Vision of the Kingdom on Earth (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1994), 190. iv Annie Dillard, Teaching a Stone to Talk (Harper & Row, 1982), 40.

Sunday, May 25, 2014 Easter 6A John 14:15-21 In Spirit and In Truth Elizabeth Mangham Lott St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church

Sunday, May 25, 2014 Easter 6A John 14:15-21 In Spirit and In Truth Elizabeth Mangham Lott St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church ENCOUNTERING THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH We re entering the part of the church year