Second Presbyterian Church
“Paul’s Letter to the Presbyterians”
Paul Anderson
May 11, 2008

Prayer for Illumination:  Heavenly Father, Let the words spoken this day be your Word, and let that Word fall on attentive ears and touch willing hearts. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Our Old testament reading is from the fourth Chapter of the Book of Exodus , verses 10 through 13.   Moses has just encountered God in the burning bush on Mount Sinai, and has heard God’s plan for him to be the deliverer of Israel from captivity in Egypt.  He is already making excuses.

 Exodus 4:10-13         Moses said to the Lord “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.
The Lord said to him, “Who gave man his mouth?  Who makes him deaf or mute?  Who gives him sight or makes him blind?  Is it not I, the Lord?  Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

But Moses said “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”

In the New Testament gospel of Matthew, Chapter 7, Verses 7 and 8, Jesus is delivering his famous sermon on the Mount to his disciples and the crowd of followers: 
Matthew 7:7-8   Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

This is the word of the Lord.                                    (Thanks be to God)

Moses took off his sandals when he stood on hallowed ground.  I can relate to what he was feeling.  This pulpit has played host to some of the finest preachers in the Presbyterian Church.  Dr. H. Spencer Edmunds, Dr. A. Hayden Hollingsworth, Dr. William R. Klein.  Their portraits hang in our foyer, solemn tributes to theologians of impeccable education, remarkable insight, considerable accomplishment.  The list of guest ministers is equally impressive:  Dr. Dale Bruener,  Dr. Walter Bruggeman,  Dr. Tom Long, Dr. Greg Jones – world renowned authors, pastors of some of the leading churches in the country, deans of prestigious seminaries, and acclaimed experts on the Old Testament, on Matthew, on Forgiveness.

Well, all streaks eventually come to an end.  Today, the pulpit is filled not by the acclaimed Dr. George Anderson, who earned degrees from Presbyterian College and Union Theological Seminary, spent years delving into the Prophets, contemplating Sanctification, and studying Greek.   Today, there is no doctor in the house.  You are stuck with Mister Anderson, who studied linear algebra, reinforced concrete design, and thermodynamics at Virginia Tech.  The closest I got to Greek was joining Sigma Chi.  My alma mater’s alumni are more comfortable arguing who should start at quarterback than gathering for weeklong studies on the doctrines of predestination or the book of Revelations.  So for those of you who came for the outstanding preaching of Dr. Anderson, I apologize in advance.   You can leave quietly now if you wish, but please come back next week.   For those of you who enjoy the prospect of public crash and burn, a la Evil Knievel or Lindsey Lohan - stick around, this could be your lucky day.

So if this pulpit is so special – and it is - and I am clearly not in the same league as its normal occupants – how in the world did I get into it?  And what in the world was Dr. George Anderson thinking?  Not only did he ask me to do this, but he is actually here to witness the ramifications of that decision. 

Why me?  Is it because I was one of the seven on the Committee that 10 years ago called him to preach in this pulpit every Sunday, and he felt turnabout is fair play? 
Is it because my son Drew recently gave an excellent meditation on Youth Sunday so and George figured I could get some help from him?  

No.  The real reason I am in this pulpit today is precisely because I am not a great minister – or even a minister at all.  I am one of you, a regular member, a flawed, fumbling Christian, far more suited to sitting in the pews hearing sermons than in this pulpit giving them.  I don’t wear a robe because I have not earned one.  About the only other thing I have in common with Moses, besides a strange urge to take off my shoes,  is asking God to have someone else do it - and a strong need for God to provide me with the words since he did not.

There is however one thing I do bring to this pulpit that George and those noted ministers cannot – a member’s perspective.  I am someone who knows this Church from viewpoints that he has never had – someone who has known this Church for over four times as long as he has.  I am a child of this church.  The key milestones in my life happened here – baptism, preschool, confirmation, my wedding, ordination as an elder, baptism of my own children, commissioning for mission work.  Almost everything I know about faith, God, and the Church, I learned within these walls or alongside its members.  My mother and father brought me and my brothers here most Sundays without really asking if we wanted to come.  I learned from Dr. Hollie as a young child.  I learned more as a young man from Bill Klein, whose preaching like fine wine just gets better with age, and who did me the honor of marrying me and my wife Judi , the best choice I ever made, right here many years ago.  I have learned from George and his father Eade,  from  Nancy Morris and Gerald Carter.  And I learned even more from so many of you who don’t wear the robes – through Youth Club, Session, softball teams, or Sunday school.   These were lessons of the heart as well as the head.  You taught me in the preschool and on the playground, in classrooms and choir rooms.   You taught me through glorious music and solemn sacraments.  Even the building itself has taught me, as I have spent hours marveling at the massive but elegant wood trusses above us, and studying details of the stained glass depictions of parables and miracles beside us.   

So while I admittedly I don’t have any theological credentials at all, I feel as though I have been privileged to be enrolled in one of the finest theological institutions in the country.  This is my seminary.  So today, rather than a weak minister, I would prefer you to consider me an enthusiastic campus tour guide, letting those who are visiting or about to join know what makes me love this place, and sharing a little of what I have learned here  in over four decades.  For the distinguished upperclassmen who know it even better than I, consider this homecoming or a class reunion, and let’s compare notes later. 

Rather than dissecting Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, I offer Paul’s lessons from the Second Presbyterians: 

I have learned God is beyond our comprehension.  I cannot begin to grasp his greatness or his goodness.  I hope to keep learning more, but I don’t have and will never have all the answers.  But that is not a problem.  My cat Cleo reminds me of this almost every day.  Each morning she greets me meowing and nearly tripping me as I shuffle toward the sink. She leaps to the counter and turns her head expectantly beneath the faucet of our spare sink.  She knows I can bring the fresh running water she loves.  She does not know a thing about Carvin’s Cove, the water treatment plants, huge pumps and valves, and miles of water lines.  All she knows it that if she shows up and meows, I will make the water flow.  My understanding of God is about as deep as Cleo’s understanding of water supply systems.  But like her, if we come to God and trust Him every day, we will never go thirsty.

I have learned God’s Love is unconditional and unwavering.  As Phillip Yancey points out in his excellent book “What’s so Amazing About Grace”, there is nothing we can do to make him love us more, and nothing we can do to make Him love us less.  We can break his rules, break his heart, but we can’t break free from his love.  It is the kind of love Jesus describes in his parable of the prodigal son.   On this Mother’s Day, we celebrate and give thanks to God for His beautiful plan that creates us helpless but protected and nurtured by a mother – by far the best model of His unshakeable and unconditional love on this earth.

I have learned God loves to work through unlikely servants and in unpredictable ways.    Abraham and his wife Sarah, both childless in their nineties, were chosen to give birth to the Nation of Israel.  Moses, raised as an adopted son in the house of Pharoah, was sent to free those chosen people from slavery.   David, youngest and least impressive boy in his family, the lowly musical shepherd boy, was chosen to slay the giant warrior Goliath and become Israel’s greatest King.  Simon Peter, the temperamental and uneducated fisherman, was chosen to be the first disciple and rock on which the Church is built.  And Saul, zealous Jewish persecutor of the young church, was chosen to become its greatest Apostle Paul.  Is it really that surprising then that a minister chooses to put an engineer in the pulpit?

I have learned that God does not ask me to judge others.  Indeed he warns us against it.  Judging the value of a soul is a job that requires living a sinless life, suffering torture and ridicule, dying a painful death, forgiving those responsible, and rising from death.   Needless to say, we are unqualified.  Christianity is at its worst when it forgets this.

I have learned that God demands that we forgive.   If Christ can use his last breath from the cross to forgive, what injustice can I ever suffer that is unforgiveable?  We must forgive fully and promptly.  Christianity is at its best when it remembers this.

I have learned that what God asks of us is really simple –Do justice love mercy, walk humbly with him. Love Him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love our neighbor as ourselves.

 I have learned that what God asks of us is very hard.  We are -(not were) - sinners, and the more we learn about God through Jesus and his example, the more glaring our unworthiness becomes.   I am terrified of disgracing God by thoughtless and selfish actions that bear no resemblance to those of Christ. 

But the miracle that God knows our true natures and all of our shortcomings and failures, and still thinks we are worth dying for.  To me, that makes Him worth living for.  There truly is nothing more amazing than God’s grace.

Later today, we have the joy of welcoming new members – the incoming freshman class if you will.  While the rest of my words are directed mainly to them, they may also be helpful to members who have yet to become as fully connected as they hoped to be.   What advice do I have to offer?

This church can be far more to you than you may realize.  God has a plan for you and has brought you here for a reason.  You have unique and often untapped gifts.   Those gifts are needed here, and we can’t wait to help you discover and share them.  It does take a little effort, a little patience, and a little faith.  To get the most out of this church, we should simply heed the words of Jesus from our scripture lesson earlier.

ASK:   What is it that you need?  What is it that you can give?   As a former Stewarship Chair, I have had plenty experience asking for financial commitment, and your money is always needed.  But that is the least of what you have to offer.  We need you to be yourself.  Find your niche, starting with your passion. Do you love to sing, act, cook, paint, work with kids, read?  There are dozens of opportunities and little ways to do those things little things that make the Church work  and that will connect you with other members.  Can you grill burgers, drive a van, speak Spanish, or rock a crying baby?  There is a job here with your name on it.  Ask a how you can help.

SEEK:  Come to worship regularly, especially when you don’t feel like it.  Make it a habit.  It is easy to think of lots of other things to do, especially on a beautiful Sunday morning – but I am willing to bet you will almost never leave here thinking that the time spent was a waste.
Participate in Christian Education – Sunday school, Edmunds lectures, and especially classes like Disciple.  Not only can you get a neat mug upon completion, you will really make some great friends while deepening your faith.  I also recommend helping teach, it really helps you learn.  Our confirmation class that will become presented as new members next week taught me something new each week.

KNOCK: Don’t wait for opportunity to come to you.    Come to a Men’s Breakfast, join a supper club, or help lead youth club.  Serve on a committee that interests you.  Better yet, go on a mission trip –   Down the street at the Presbyterian Community Center or Highland Park School, across the country at the Sioux Indian Reservation, or overseas to El Rosario in the Dominican Republic for medical or construction work at the Jim Smith School.   You will bond with people you might otherwise never meet, and you will have more fun than Church people are supposed to have.   And along the way you will have some of the most memorable and meaningful moments of your life. 

Ask, seek, knock … you will find what you are looking for.  Believe me, you are an answer to our prayers.  And while this building won’t look much different next week, with you as an active member, this church will never be the same.  Welcome to Second Presbyterian – I hope it can quickly become for you what it has long been to me – a second home.  Amen.

Benediction:

As a member of Second Presbyterian, you will probably never be asked to give a sermon.  As a follower of Jesus Christ, you are definitely challenged to live one – each and every day.  But remember you never walk alone – the members of this congregation are behind you and beside you - and the grace of the Father, the compassion of the Son, and the power of the Holy Spirit go with you - now and always    Amen.