Epiphany 6/February 16, 2014
Installation of Pastor Benjamin Durbin
Deut. 30:15-20; I Cor. 3:1-9; Matt. 5:21-37
In the name
of Jesus. Amen.
This morning,
Pastor Ben, you become a permanent fixture in the history of Augustana Lutheran
Church.
For as long
as anyone pays attention to Augustana, there’ll always be at least one line in
this congregation’s narrative about you. Your mug will be there, in ever collection
of former pastors’ pictures!
Now that’s
sort of a heady thing to think about…for one so fresh to the role of
pastor. It might even give you pause,
to see your photo with a little brass plate that reads: Pastor
Benjamin Durbin, 2014-“whenever”!
If all of
this is true, though, why does it matter?
What’s the point? What are you
here for? Why does anything you might
think or say or do make a difference?
You are here at Augustana, Ben, to
stand on the side of life—God’s life, for the life of the world, and the vitality of this
congregation...including everyone who’s impacted by Augustana.
It’s about life, Ben—the life God lavishes upon us in
Christ Jesus, God’s beloved Son.
You are here
to tend this full, free life in Christ…which is why I love the imagery of our
Second Lesson for today.
I bet you
appreciate this imagery too, because inside you lurks a farmer (I’ve seen your
Facebook page!)
The
Corinthian congregation was in a snit over which of their former pastors had
been their shiniest penny! Some liked
their first pastor Paul, others were still gaga over that flashy preacher
Apollos, others preferred some other former pastor….
Here in our
Second Lesson the apostle cuts right to the chase and proclaims that all these
pastors, with their gifts and personalities, collectively tended the
life of God in the Corinthian church: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave
the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything,
but only God who gives the growth. …”
Pastor Ben,
a whole succession of “farmers” have cultivated this garden called Augustana since 1877. Today you fall in line with them…nurturing
the life of this Christ-community for a few planting seasons. The Holy Spirit got here ahead of you,
Ben--and long after you’ve departed the same Spirit keep fussing with the folks
here at Augustana.
You are here
to stand on the side of life, Ben, inviting God’s people (in the words of our First
Lesson from Deuteronomy) to “choose life,” to embrace even as they are embraced
by the life of God in the world.
Moses still
speaks to us from our First Lesson, as he pleads with the people of Israel who’re
on the cusp of crossing over the Jordan River into their Promised Land.
Moses cajoles
them to dive into the deep, rich life God is dying to give them: “I call
heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life
and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants
may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him…” (Deuteronomy
30:19-20)
“Choose
life!” Moses pleads….and how hard can that be?
Not much of a choice, really—life or death? “I think I’ll take life if that’s OK,” we say
to ourselves.
But therein lies the rub!
“Choosing
life” is never as easy or natural or automatic as we imagine it to be.
For we are a
self-focused people who consistently swerve toward death—whether or not we
always realize it. Even when we think
we’re choosing life, in fact, it’s usually not the life that God wants to give
us that we’re choosing.
When we
choose life, we usually choose life on our terms, not God’s
terms. We suppose that life is within
our grasp, something we can create for ourselves, fashion in our own likeness.
Which is to
say that we’re almost always ready to settle for something far less than what
God wants to give us.
So (shifting
gears now to our Gospel lesson) we imagine that on our own we aren’t doing all
that badly. We choose life (we think)
by keeping our noses clean, staying out of trouble, obeying the rules.
We may even
be rather proud of ourselves: “I haven’t
committed first degree murder. I’m still
married to my first spouse. Folks take
me at my word” we tell ourselves.
But here in
Matthew 5 Jesus barges in and pours cold water on all such
self-satisfaction.
In a
relentless string of “you have heard…but I say to you” declarations,
Jesus demolishes all our self-satisfaction, leaving no one standing when he’s
finished with us.
We may not
have committed homicide…but have we displayed anger, hurled insults, resorted
to name-calling?
We may not
have committed adultery with our hands…but have our eyes wandered? Has our lust overtaken our imagination?
We may have
not sworn falsely…but have we ever “shaved the truth” or propped up our words with
pious palaver?
When Jesus
takes the Law into his own hands….no one is left standing!…
….which is
the point, after all. None
of us ever “stands” on our own two feet, when all is said and done.
If we stand,
we stand in the strength and the confidence that always comes to us as sheer
gift from God’s open hand.
If we stand,
if we choose life, it is only because God has first chosen us for such
life. In the life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ God has gratuitously
decided to bestow on us a Life we could never fashion on our own.
Pastor Ben,
this is the life-giving, death-defying Word you are called to tend here, for
the life of this congregation and all who are touched by its ministries.
You are
called here to stand on the side of life, not a life of our own choosing, but God’s
overflowing life.
That is why
you’re taking your place here at Augustana this morning.
It is to
hold forth the life that God desires for all people—a life that trusts God
completely, loves our neighbors unreservedly, and cares for this good earth unstintingly.
And thank
God, Pastor Ben, you’ve been given all the tools you need to do the job.
You’ve been
given the gift of Baptism—your
baptism and the baptism you’ll administer here, immersing God’s children in the
new life only God can give.
You’ve been
given the gift of the Word—that you
might be able to speak here, not out of your own intelligence or cleverness,
but as a messenger of Christ Jesus, delivering “the goods” that mean life for
us sinners.
You’ve been
given the gift of the Supper—because
God never just plants seeds and forgets about them. The Supper nourishes what God has begun in us,
feeds us with Christ’s very presence, so that we might journey together toward
that Final Day when God will make all things new.
You’ve been
given the gift of this community—because
there are no Robinson Crusoe Christians, because we can’t make it on our own. So God comes to us in the guise of our
neighbors, especially those closest to us, who share with us the rich, rich life
of Christ.
You’ve been
given the gift of God’s mission of
redeeming and blessing the whole world in Jesus Christ. That should keep you out of mischief, Ben,
for as long as you serve here! You and
all these folks serve a missionary God who is forever sending us to bear his
Light and woo others to choose the life of the God who has already graciously chosen
them.
This is
indeed heavy, heady stuff, Pastor Ben.
It is more than you or any mere mortal can handle—which is why God
promises to supply you with all that you’ll need.
And these
people of God—trust me on this!—they will both love you AND keep you humble.
Years ago I
returned to the first congregation I pastored.
Celebrating a congregational anniversary, they’d invited back all the “old
pastors” to join them.
Before worship
service I encountered in the narthex my old friend Clarion who’d been my congregational
president and fishing buddy. We
reconnected, laughed and shared a few stories.
Then I
joined my wife in one of the pews.
Shortly thereafter Clarion and his wife sat down right behind us. I knew that because I overheard him whispering
to his wife: “I just saw old what’s-his-name down in the narthex…..”
“Old what’s-his-name?” Here, I’d been his beloved pastor, dear
friend, faithful fishing buddy—and he couldn’t even recall my name!
It was then,
thank God, that Paul’s word came back to me:
“I planted, Apollos watered, but
God gave the growth. So neither the one
who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. …”
In the name
of Jesus. Amen.
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