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By Rev. Preston K. Mears Jr.
February 20, 2005
A Reading from
Ecclessiastes:
“There is a season for everything, a time for every purpose
under heaven:
A time for giving birth, a time for dying, a time for planting, a
time for uprooting what has been planted.
A time for killing, a time for healing, a time for knocking down, a
time for building.
A time for tears, a time for laughter; a time for mourning, a time
for dancing.
A time for throwing stones away, a time for gathering them up; a
time for embracing, a time to refrain from embracing.
A time for searching, a time for losing; a time for keeping, a time
for throwing away.
A time for tearing, a time for sewing, a time for keeping silent, a
time for speaking.
A time for loving, a time for hating.
A time for war, a time for peace.
A Sermon on Ministry
Ecclesiastes from the Old Testament is literally, “The Preacher.” It
occurs to me that the familiar words about a time for every purpose
to be a good place to start a sermon on ministry. A Minister, in the
role of preacher, is someone we have educated, trained, selected and
designated by an act of ordination, to be one in our midst to tell
us what is the time. “Excuse me, madam/sir minister. Is it time to
tear down or is it time to build up?” “A time for tears, a time for
laughter? A time for peace? Or a time for War? The minister is
needed to have the right words to celebrate a new life, the passing
of an old life, or words of encouragement for the times of pain and
challenge in between. In times of disorder and in the face of
injustice, the minister is expected to be a prophetic voice saying
that the times cry out for courage and truth and justice.
We, as a congregation, are becoming a new people. This is our time
to “Gather stones together.” Our minister Don Cameron-Kragt began
asking the Preacher’s question over 10 years ago, “What time is it.”
Some said it was time to “uproot” and relocate in more predominantly
white Charles County because our kind of religion won’t work here.
Don said it was time to “plant” the Unitarian vision, here in this
place at this time and for all the people here. The season had come
for our being an integrated religious people in a largely segregated
religious world. As a congregation of people we decided, and not
without uncertainty and groping and confusion, we self-consciously
began that process We made a major effort to establish a strong
Religious Education program for children. We worked on our outreach
to the community, our adult education programs and inclusivity in
our discussions.
Our Preacher called on us to be “planters” here and so all of us in
one way or another, small or large, have been in the ministry of
planting. Not surprisingly, many of us began to sense that in making
this change we are being changed. Of course, we usually are
surprised by the fact that being engaged with life means change. And
part of that change, certainly for us white folk, was the sense that
maybe we needed to be about something more than being integrated,
kind and thoughtful across the racial lines of our society. Our
Preacher said it, but we did not altogether understand it. And into
our journey came John Crestwell wanting to become a African American
Unitarian Universalist evangelist, a seemingly contradictory
expression!
John had discovered for himself a theological home that resonated
for him and, at Davies, at the same time, an opportunity to help us
at the same time developed his ministry. And so he has been a
ministerial intern here and is our Director of Outreach and close to
completing the process of ordination in the Unitarian Universalist
Church. And he, with us, find our selves on a journey of becoming
most fully human by going past integration into an arena of
self-conscious multi-culturalism as a way of truly growing in our
understanding of each other. The season was one that it was a time
to plant and so our Minister told us and we heard and responded. And
the season is changing as we are entering a season when it is to
cultivate. In a very real sense, John has come among us for this new
season. In time, where one has planted and another has cultivated,
others will come to harvest. I would pray that the harvest will be
plentiful.
A minister is important in churches of almost all denominations. Let
me talk about the names for minister. “Minister,” “pastor, “ or
“priest, ” or “rabbi”-- the words mostly mean the same and the
differences only a reflection of the emphasis on sacramental
functions, teaching and counseling functions or the simply universal
service functions of minister, which we sum up with the phrase
“chief bottle washer.” A “Minister” is literally one who provides
service on behalf of another and in the case of a Minister,
depending on your theological emphasis, service on behalf of God
and/or on behalf of the congregation. The really hard part for lay
person and the ordained to really understand about ministers is that
we are sojourners, we are here but for a time and that the time will
come when we need to move on. If we don’t, we condemn our ministry
to futility. Perhaps that sounds harsh, but it is true. My old
ethics professor told seminarians that if some people in the church
try to toss you out in the first 2 years, we would not have done our
job. And, if at the end of 7 years, we had not moved some people to
want to toss us out, we would not have done our job.
I was ordained first Deacon and then Priest in the Episcopal Church
back in 1966. My goal here today, is to reflect on aspects of my 38
years of ordained ministry that may help in this time of transition
with ordained ministry here at Davies.
Early and late in ministry, we ordained folks have to deal with our
own egos. When we don’t, we fail. Of course, when we do succeed
people flatter us, bloat our egos and set us up to fail the next
time. As a young priest, the first time I walked into the large
Church to celebrate the Eucharist, 500 people stood up; it took my
breath away. I had done or said anything yet. I was the kid that had
just grown up from a nearby town. I had to learn that respect for my
office was its own reality and not something I had earned. I also
had to learn that total and certain knowledge didn’t come with
ordination and I best not think too much of my opinions. And, yes,
despite an anti-clerical, or anti-authoritarian streak, UU’s do the
same thing to ministers. We ministers can do great harm if our egos
become bloated, or we set ourselves apart as answering to our rules,
or if the church sets us apart too far. In no small measure, it is
this ego dynamic of the ordained and the church, that allowed
pedofilia to go unchecked in the Roman Catholic Church. Big egos and
bloated self-satisfaction with presumed intellectual superiority has
lead some UU Churches to stagnate.
There is a flip side to the ego problem and that is coping with the
perspectives of others about who you ought to be and what you should
do and say. After a sermon on taxes and economic justice, I was
told, since I was in a Rectory, Church provided housing, I didn’t
know what I was talking about and how hard it is to be a middle
class home owner. The attempt was to put me in “my place.” Thank
goodness I do know the joy of being a middle class home owner and
that Laurie and I have some $300,000 in home equity. I knew what I
was talking about and have taken advantage of that knowledge!
As a minister I spoke to issues of welfare and the need for good,
decent, and respectful services, I was told to stick religion and
the Bible, since that was what I knew. Actually, I had some
knowledge from reading and assisting poor parishoners. Later, I left
full time parish work and became an expert in the social welfare
field. I have hands on knowledge regarding so-called “welfare
people.” What I said as a “religious person” was right on the mark.
Should any need it, I can document in detail that welfare systems
work best helping those in need by respecting, “The inherent worth
and dignity of every person.” People will paint ministers into
corners if they can. So, there are things we aren’t supposed to know
and then there is what we expected to know and be able to do.
In Christian Ministerial circles, we ministers look at a host of
people’s expectations, and say, “Jesus Christ.” Comfort the
afflicted, afflict the comfortable, bring pastoral healing to the
broken, preach inspirational sermons that are intellectually
demanding, coordinate community organizations to feed the hungry,
and house the homeless, assist in denominational affairs, be
politically astute without being political, set up the tables. and
turn the lights off on the way out. Work 75 hours a week and take
Mondays off if no one decides you are needed. We ministers need to
keep our egos trimmed to size, and, at the same time, be at risk of
getting lost in all of those expectations.
Day to day, we can get caught up in our commitment to have our
community be the “Beloved Community” that church is called to be. It
has happened to me: We can lose ourselves believing that if meet all
the expectations, the church will come together and be the “Beloved
Community.” The goal is wonderfully seductive. No matter how
talented or how hard we work, though, we can’t make it happen. The
only way we can be poised between our egos and other people’s
expectations, is if we understand ministers are sojourners. We are
people who serve for a season and then move on that others may come
along and meet the new season.
This is really a hard thing to truly understand. It took me a while
and just listening to others say the words was not enough. I will
share what helped me to understand. Early on, I really did
appreciate what an important thing it was that people trusted me to
help them with those totally important points in their lives, the
births , the weddings, the funerals and their broken places and
their fears. I found that I particularly cherished visiting with old
and shut-in folks and to hear the stories of what was important to
them in their lives. I began to understand, as a young man at a
visceral level, how short life is. I also discovered that my time
with them in those waning days of their live was enough. In time, I
would be the minister at their funeral. It was enough that I could
be with them then and there in that season of their lives. It didn’t
matter that I hadn’t been there all along. They taught me that,
ultimately, we are all sojourners--just here for a time.
I learned the same thing in another way from my ministry with young
people. Youth work requires lot’s of blood, sweat and tears coping
with confused kids, parents, drugs, rebellion, burgeoning sexuality,
energy, and ever more questions. I worked hard at it, Laurie often
would work with me as well--with kids, there was never too much
help. I would wonder within myself if it really added up, did any of
it make a difference. I kept going and doing what I could as best as
I could. Years later, I would happen to cross paths with one or
another of those youths . We would talk and I would suddenly
discover that they were telling me, back when, what it was or when
it was something clicked in and made an important difference to
them. A combination of words, experiences, relationships--who would
know at the time--where, what and when insight and affirmation would
connect within them--and so I came to understand, ministry as a
seasonal thing. I understood better, now, that I am a sojourner and
minister but for a season.
Perhaps the hardest part of being a minister and a sojourner is that
it is a lonely job. We belong everywhere but no where and we have
many important and close associations, but few if any close friends.
Mostly, whether in congregational ministry or chaplaincies, we are
the only one with that particular role in that setting. A close
associate who understood this better than most was a school
principal. This loneliness wears hard since many of us who are drawn
to ministry like people and we want to be liked in turn. How can I
tell you what you don’t want to hear but you need to hear, if I am
your close friend? Or, if you speak up on church on a matter
important to you, how will you be seen as having your own voice and
not just speaking for me, your close friend? How can I just be one
of the guys having a beer with you when your kid landed in jail, you
had come unglued and you needed me to be strong and wise for you?
Mark Twin quipped that someone who has held a cat by the tail has 10
times more education than someone who hasn’t. I was ordained 38
years ago and to really know me is to know that of me just as it is
true of many of you that to know you is to know the work you
dedicated yourself to. Part of my value to Davies and to you is that
I am a minister and am trained to ask the hard questions and offer
insights that favors no one but everyone. People here mean a great
deal to me and to Laurie. We value the help and support we have
received. I value being a part of you as a vibrantly alive
congregation of people exploring new possibilities in our life
together. At the same time, part of who I am is that I am an
ordained minister. Don knows this and John, extrovert that he is, is
discovering the meaning of it.
There is loneliness in the role of minister at the same time there
is satisfaction. In my own life I continue to be fortunate to have
work worth doing, to have a part in the life of this congregation,
and, yes, I do have a best friend. We married even before I was
ordained and decided we would share all our seasons together. I am
not lonely.
As a congregation, as I indicated, we are at point of turning
seasons. Ministry in this church is turning with it. The wisdom
expressed in the “Preacher Book,” the Book of Ecclessiastes is
literally as old as Solomon; it comes from Solomon’s time. It is
important that we do the changing of the season and the transition
of ministry in this church with appreciation, and with care. Where
one has planted, another will cultivate and yet others will harvest.
Next Sunday we are having a congregational meeting after Church. We
have some routine Ho Hum business having to do with budget and some
By Law changes. That is okay but we are not a Ho Hum Church.
Everyone here please make every effort to be here. We will be
dealing with how we position ourselves to make our transition from
one season to the next. The process includes people we call
“Minister.” I hope this morning has given you a window on ministry
and the role of ordained ministry.
There is an essential thought that our Religious Education Director,
Dawn Star -Borchelt captured well in her last newsletter article:
“We should tell our children that they are not alone, and that there
is a possibility of good in the universe. And that we should show
that we mean it by participating in our community and noticing with
gratitude the good things that happen in our world each day.”
Gratitude sometimes is hard work and sitting through necessary
meetings. Everyone can participate with ears who has them to hear
with and with voice should they have something to say. Voting
membership definitions just apply to formal votes. Thank you for
your patience with me and I do hope to see you here next week!
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