The following sermon was preached at my installation service at Our Redeemer Lutheran, McMurray Pennsylvania this past Sunday afternoon by the Rev. Melissa Stoller, Director for Evangelical Mission and Assistant to the Bishop in the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod of the ELCA.
Texts for the day: Isaiah 52:7-10, Psalm 121, Colossians 3:12-17, Luke 9:28-36
I chose the texts for the day, and Melissa wove them together beautifully! It was a joyful service, and so wonderful to gather in worship with parishioners and colleagues and friends.
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| Photo by Bruno Nascimento on Unsplash |
Grace and Peace to you, my siblings in Christ, in the name of the one who brings us life - Grace to you and Peace, Amen.
In 2020 we celebrated 50 years of women’s ordination in the Lutheran church.
Of course, we ended up not celebrating it in quite the way we had hoped, as has been the refrain for many of our celebrations over the past 2 years.
I was disappointed for a number of reasons. I had wanted to publicly celebrate my sisters in pastoral ministry, witness an synod assembly chancel filled with female mentors and role models, acknowledge the sometimes uphill climbs to settled calls, and the way history had been made in our synod and across the church.
And I was really, really looking forward to wearing my fancy red shoes.
Shoes, you see, for many of us pastors (female and male) are a way that we can express our individuality as we lead worship.
We are fully aware that when we put on the Alb and stole we are representing the community we serve and the yoke of Christ we bear. We carefully observe the colors of liturgical seasons and rubrics for festival days.
But shoes? Shoes WE get to choose.
We wear good, strong arched shoes on Sunday mornings when we walk around the church building multiple times as we prepare and lead worship, Christian education and offer pastoral care
We wear festive, liturgically correct - or at least, liturgically coordinating shoes when we celebrate feast days and celebratory events of the church like ordinations and installations.
We make sure our shoes are sturdy on the days we celebrate baptisms, and prepare to walk the newly baptized up and down the aisle of the sanctuary.
And most of us can name the locations of the soils that still line the rims of the shoes we wore to cemeteries and memorial gardens as we commended beloved parishioners to their final resting places.
So indeed, my sisters and brothers,
How beautiful, upon the mountains, are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
People of Our Redeemer, your pastors have beautiful feet.
They have beautiful faces, minds, and spirits as well - as you all already know.
And in the days ahead, as this pastoral ministry partnership grows, I am excited to see where the feet of these amazing messengers and shepherds of God lead our church.
Today is a celebratory day.
Today as you formally welcome Pastor Clark to your congregation, you know and trust that she has her shoes ready to accompany you in your faith journey.
She will preach and teach the good news of Jesus Christ, she will lead and nurture you into discipleship, all the while modeling this faithful walk with grace, humility and care.
And you will receive and welcome her as your pastor. Praying for her and her family, as they answer God’s call to be in ministry here and in the South Hills.
And you will all seek, as St. Paul urges us, to clothe yourselves with love – love that holds compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience and forgiveness. This is integral at the beginning of a relationship between pastor and people, when you are learning to trust each other and match strides as you accompany one another in this faith walk.
For this walk will not always be easy, nor the path certain. And in these days, now more than ever I think, we need this wardrobe that Paul commends to us.
Our World is changing – sometimes faster that we can even conceptualize.
Our Church is changing – which, it always has, if we are to truly hold our Protestant reformation slogan: Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda — "The church reformed, always being reformed"
But in the face of all this uncertainty and instability, our biblical witness is still the same: To love God, love our neighbor and love with compassion, kindness and forgiveness.
As we wait and wonder about war half a world away, and see deep political divisions right here in our own families….
As we live into this pandemic age, constantly changing and adapting social, educational and religious gatherings and worrying about the health of loved ones….
As we seek God at work in new ways, all the while exhausted and anxious about the current pressures and an uncertain future….
We believe that in the midst of fear, there is hope
In sorrow we can find joy
And we trust that in death there will new life.
And so you have been outfitted for the journey, my friends.
All of you, as the body of Christ have what you need:
You have clothing to care for your community
And footwear to send you out to share the good news of peace and salvation.
And most importantly, you do not go alone.
God is with you every step of the way, never slumbering nor sleeping.
And sending messengers, with beautiful feet, (let’s see them pastors!)
Messengers to remind you of the promises that will never fail.
Amen
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