PASSING THE MANTLE

Sunday, August 26, 2007

United Lutheran—Red Wing

II Kings 2:8-13

        And he took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen on him, and

        went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.  Then he took

        the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the

        water and it parted to one side and to the other, and Elisha went

        over.

Grace to you and peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen.

            This may seem a rather strange text to choose for this final Sunday of my Interim ministry with you.  I don’t presume to be an Elijah and I suspect that Pastor Steve has no illusions that he is Elisha.  Both were significant and chosen prophetic figures in the history of God’s chosen people who brought the message of God to the people.   The act of passing a mantle(a special robe that marked a prophet) represented a transfer of the prophetic power to one’s successor. The motif of the prophetic commission and spirit appears in the scene where Elijah was transported, via chariot and horses of fire, by a whirlwind into heaven.

            Now, I don’t have a mantle to pass along to Pastor Steve, nor a baton like those used by runners in a relay race.  And I doubt I could catch up to him anyway to pass the baton.  But this morning I want to use that image of a mantle and symbolically pass on or pass back in this case, a mantle that was bestowed on me some 18 months ago.  During this time I have had the privilege of serving as one of your pastors along with Pastor Randy.

            It’s a different kind of mantle(if you will) one of my own imagining.

It’s in the form of a back pack that I’ll use in a few moments.  Different also because this was a different type of Interim ministry than many, since it was a time of stepping into a position that would be filled once again by the pastor on leave.  Now Pastor Steve has returned to live among you as a faithful minister of the Gospel, seeking to do the will of God, seeking to walk with you in your journey of faith.  He is to love you and serve you as he serves our Lord Jesus in your midst.

            That has also been my calling among you as well over the year and a half that I’ve been with you.  I sought bring whatever gifts God had given to me for the purpose of pastoral ministry.  But now, that time is coming to completion. Pastor Steve will resume his ministry later this week and I am preparing to conclude my work, to finish my call here, and to leave.

            Now I’d rather it not be as dramatic as when Elijah exited.  No whirlwind, no chariots of fire nor horses of fire for me---thank you!  I’ll just pack it in and leave in my Chevy Silverado pickup and head home for Northfield and home.  No mistaking that I will no longer be one of your pastors after the end of August.  In Elijah’s case, God took care of the matter of leaving in a rather dramatic fashion.  I don’t need to get swept into heaven(at least not yet), to get the message.  So it’s my full intention to pass along the mantle of pastoral ministry into the hands of Pastor Steve and Pastor Randy as well. Pastors who choose to be Interims and are called to serve as Interims, understand beginnings and endings as well as seek bring- ing closure to their work.

            Over these many months, you have been a welcoming and encouraging congregation.  You have truly been that!  As the Bible verse says, “I was a stranger and you took me in.”  You allowed me to enter into your lives in so many ways, whether it was through teaching, preaching, visiting, or in conversation of various types.  You allowed me to embrace your lives in times of deep sadness—during illness, loss of loved ones/funerals, and during personal struggles.   You welcomed me to participate in moments of great joy as in your baptisms, weddings, confirmations, family gatherings, and graduations. We engaged in a variety of decisions/directions relative to mission and ministry as in outreach and social issues.  We ministered together, by the grace of God.

             Many are the ways that you have accepted the ministry that I have been able to share and those experiences of sharing in your faith journey have shaped and influenced me as I sought to be one of your Pastors. The gifts of God have been shared.  Eugene Peterson in his biblical translation called THE MESSAGE wrote:

            “God brings gifts into our lives much the same way that

            fruit appears in the orchard---things like affection for

            others, exuberance for life, serenity.  We develop a will-

            ingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in

            the heart, and a conviction that holiness permeates things

            and people.  We find ourselves involved in loyal commit-

            ments, not needing to force our way in life, able to direct

            our energies wisely.”

That rich inheritance is meant to be the result of faithful and steadfast mission and ministry in our journey.  Even more so it is what God intends for you and for the congregation.

            Usually, when I begin an Interim, on my first Sunday, I bring my backpack and unpack some of the means of grace that God has provided for us on the journey of faith.  I didn’t do that when I came, I just slipped into the flow of life here.  But I’d like to do so now to remind you what some of those means of God’s grace have been and hopefully will continue to be in the life of United Lutheran.  I’ll take them with me but they will be part of your ongoing life together.  These are parts of the “Mantle”, which I share with Pastor Steve, Pastor Randy, the Staff, and the whole faith community. I take them with me because they have been significant pieces of my life and will continue to be for me.

            So, here are those means of grace.  This will be the shortest 12 point sermon you’ve ever heard, I hope!

1./ THE CROSS—This particular cross I’ve had for many years.  It is a modern interpretation of the crucifix.  We sang together this morning, “Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim.”  The cross is the most central symbol of our faith for it reminds us of the crucified and risen Lord Jesus. It was there that he offered his life for us.  (Read John 3:16)

2./ THE BIBLE---“Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”  The Word of God teaches, speaks, directs, and guides us.  It is our source of inspiration, our map and compass.  This particular Bible was given me as I began to work with the Confirmands a year ago and I’ll treasure it and the memories of working with them and the guides.

3./ THE SMALL CATECHISM---Luther wrote it for parents so that they could teach their children the basic tenets of our faith.  We use it most often with youth but it is a summary of our faith and is good reading for adults as well.

4./ A SHELL MEDALLION---It is one of the symbols of our faith given to parents/children at the time of their baptism.  An ancient symbol for baptism.  “Baptized into the death of Christ”, “In Christ a New Creation”.  We have been graced by the undeserved love of Christ and welcomed into God’s family.  Forgiven and enlivened to be God’s people.

5./ A BAPTISM CANDLE---A second symbol of our baptism given as a reminder that Jesus Christ is the Light of the world but also with the words,

“Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works, and glorify our Father in heaven”.  The children sing so beautifully, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.”

6./ THE CHALICE(WINE) AND BREAD—The Body and Blood of Christ are food for the journey.  In which we receive again and again the forgiveness, life, and promise of new life yet to come. Here is the nourishing and the sustaining loving promise of God offered so that it is inside of us and daily a part of us.

7./ A HYMNAL—I could have packed in three—With One Voice, Lutheran Book of Worship, and Evanglical Lutheran Worship but there was room for just one. It is a symbol of the gathered community of faith for our worship and our praise of our Lord.  Here we gather to be nourished and to strengthened. We gather also for the sake of one another, then to be sent out to be the people of God in the world.  “He who sings, prays twice!”  Thanks to the congregation for this new copy given to me with my name inscribed on the cover, I will use and cherish it. Worship here has truly been a means of grace for me.

8./ A TOWEL—We read in the Gospel of John, Chap. 13, of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples.  It is symbolic of Jesus, the Son of Man, who came to serve, and it is truly a symbol of our servanthood as well.  We are Disciples of Christ for the sake of the world.

9./ NEWSPAPER AND GLOBE---The globe was too large for the backpack but you get the idea.  A great theologian once said, we preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the others. The world is the arena of our ministry.  Disciples of Christ for the sake of the world.(again)

10./ A HUNGER BANK and FLAG OF ARGENTINA---In Micah 6:8 we read one of my very favorite Bible passages: “What does the Lord require of you?  But to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God!”  The hunger bank is a symbol of compassion, care, justice and more. We face and challenge the travesties of hunger and poverty in this land and in the world.  The flag symbolizes our connection with our Sister Conger-gation in Bariloche, Argentina as well as our Companion Synods in Columbia and Tanzania. Here is opportunity to speak the prophetic word every day.

11./ UNITED’S PICTORAL DIRECTORY—The family of God, my primary faith congregation, has been here these past 18 months.  I get kidded about having a Bible in one hand and the directory in the other.  I will take mine with me and remember you in prayer.  Names and faces are important because these are also means of grace to each other.

12./ Finally, #12?  A COUPLE OF CARTOONS---(Read the recent one from Peanuts) I don’t know where or when I first read it but these words are important to me…”Laughter is the hand of God on the shoulder of a troubled world!”   Or as one our daughter’s wrote in a Christmas card a few years ago, “A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs.  It’s jolted by every pebble on the road.”(Henry Ward Beecher) Humor and laughter are truly gifts of grace from God.

            These are some of the gifts of god’s grace included in the mantle which I pass to Pastor Steve and to you as a congregation.  I do so, with a deep sense of gratitude for our work and our play, and knowing we have been on a good journey of faith together in the name of Jesus.  Soli deo Gloria.   To God be the glory! 

Let us pray: Lord God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.   (The Holden Prayer)

                                                                      Pastor Clark Cary