4 EASTER GLORIA DEI, ANCHORAGE
APRIL 13, 2008 PASTOR SCOTT FULLER
ACTS 2:41-47; PSALM 23; I PET 2:19-25; JOHN 10:1-10
Music to Our Ears
Prepare our hearts, Lord, to receive your Word. Silence in us any voice but your own that in hearing we may believe and in believing we may obey your will revealed to us in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dear friends in Christ: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our Vicar, or Intern Pastor, Julia, and I had a “working lunch” one day last week. Our task was to go over this nine-page assessment that is her end-of-the-year evaluation. She had to fill one out, her Intern Committee had one to do, and, as her supervisor, so did I. If it seems a little early to be doing our final evaluation of her, let me just say that, in more ways than one, Julia has not been a typical intern.
Most internships occur in the third year of a seminarian’s education. They come into a congregation where we do our best to teach them what the ministry is really like. Then we send them back to the seminary for a final year of study – to share horror stories about their peculiar pastors or quirky congregations, or to focus on areas of ministry for more study or experience.
Julia completed all her seminary work before she ever came to us. When her Internship here concludes at the end of June, she’ll be done with everything: her official training will end and she’ll be ready to serve a congregation as its pastor. So we’re doing her end-of-the-year evaluation now both: because we can (she’s ready, don’t you think?); and to help her start jumping through all the hoops…(did I say that out loud?), what I meant to say was, help her complete the process of approval. It’s very rigorous.
Candidates need to get a YES from: their home synod, their seminary, their internship committee, their supervising pastor, and from themselves in order to be approved as someone who seems called by the Spirit to serve God as a pastor in the Body of Christ.
This nine-page evaluation tool leaves little to chance – we were asked to assess everything about Julia’s possible place in this profession. Some of the questions were a slam dunk. Here’s one: Comment on the intern’s ability to speak clearly and with insight about the Christian faith from a Lutheran perspective. We’ll have to ask her husband, Robb, to be sure, but I’m guessing he’d say she does that in her sleep! Other no-brainers had to do with evaluating Julia’s ability to lead worship, teach, preach and be pastoral as she helps people deal with life’s pain. Again, we’ve seen her shine in virtually every area of life at Gloria Dei.
And though all of these questions are important, the really big one goes like this: How would you describe the intern’s sense of “call” to ministry?
Now, the word call comes from the Latin root that forms vocare (to call); vocatio (a summons); or vox (voice) – all of which we see in the familiar English word: vocal. Yet when the voice of God is heard in Scripture, it’s more than a mere vocalization. In the Creation story of Genesis one, God speaks…and summons order from chaos, light from darkness, dry land from oceans and, finally, human beings into existence. Then God calls us - equips us with abilities and establishes us in our vocation: created in God’s image and summoned to care for all-of and all-in God’s creation.
Last Sunday Julia shared part of her story of God’s call – how it came both through an internal, spiritual sort of summons as well an external parade of people who seemed to see in her a pastoral blend of God’s grace and gifts.
Julia has also received from us well-deserved praise for having what we believe should be in a God-led, Spirit-fed, well-read-with-a-level-head servant of Christ… Do you agree with me? Let me hear an A-MEN…!
And I’m happy to report that yesterday, Julia’s home Synod also gave her a big A-MEN by adding their name to our unconditional approvals. So, even though Lutherans tend to seem a little stoic (if not stuffy), let’s break that mould and give Julia a big round of applause.
Now, if she were here, this would be music to her ears…and we’ll be sure that she hears our praises as we celebrate her year with us, as well as her future years in the ordained ministry. Yet, as wonderful as it is to hear nice things said about us, there is good biblical precedence for guarding against the desire to make compliments our goal.
For there are other types of speaking, or vocalizing, that are less than beneficial to our spirits… The author of Ecclesiastes 7:5 writes – It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools. And, says Jesus in Luke 6:26 – Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
The problem for pastors is two-fold. First, we tend to have tender egos, so we thrive when things go well (as if it’s all due to us). And the opposite is also true, we tend to take it personally if things go poorly (again, as if it’s all due to us). The second deadly effect of praise, I think, is that it can make us hesitant to speak God’s Word of Law, the Spirit’s call to conviction.
As you might guess, sharp words of the Law tend to cut down on the praise that we hear. Human nature seems inclined to lash out at prophets or whistle-blowers to help us insulate ourselves from their thorny truths.
So, early on in Julia’s internship, I offered her some advice that I received from my supervisor here at Gloria Dei about a hundred years ago. Pastor Rick Halvorson told me: What you’ll need to do is find a few people who will speak the truth to you. Push them to offer you good criticism - positive and negative. Praise, he said, you can hear from anyone… good, honest feedback is what you’ll need to help you grow.
For the truth is that the vox (the voice) of God, is what vocare (calls) us all to the same vocatio (summons): to serve God and creation with all that we are and have as people of the promise. Martin Luther was adamant that everyone is called by God to serve…farmer and pharmacist, nurse and nanny, teacher and technician, secretary to soldier, laborer to lawyer.
Everyone is called by God to serve with whatever gifts we’ve been given in whatever occupation we find ourselves. Adjusted to update the language, Luther put it this way: Save your good people for the ministry, but save your best people for the world. In his vision, a good, safe, free environment was vital so that people could hear God’s vox (voice), study God’s Word and serve God’s people.
Throughout our lessons for today, we are reminded that we are free to live as the sheep of God’s pasture, as lambs in God’s protective care, because the voice of God has called us by name and summoned us to a life of service… and that is truly music to our ears.
Four times in our Gospel text from John Jesus uses a form of the word vocare (to call). The sheep hear his voice (v. 3); He calls his own sheep by name (v. 3); (they) follow him because they know his voice (4); and (they) do not know the voice of strangers (v. 5).
Now look in your bulletins at the beautiful words of the 23rd Psalm that we read earlier. Note how here we recognize God’s voice and God’s call to all. Let’s read it again responsively:
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside still waters;
He
restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil; for you are with me;
Your rod and your staff—they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life
And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen.