Harundale Presbyterian
Church
Peter K. Nord, Preaching
The tolling of the clock at midnight December
31, 2004 not only marked the end of the year, but the end of an era, the era of Jim Kirk’s ministry. I was
present for your retirement dinner in December and I want to compliment you on
a wonderful evening, a genuine gift of love to Jim and Elizabeth given out of
gratitude for your time together. It offered a time to reflect and give thanks
for his leadership, love, and creativity, for his gift of preaching and leading
worship, hospital visitation, engaging the community, and, of course, for his
playing of the bag pipes. He shared this love as he prayed with you when you
were ill, when you brought your children to be baptized, when you stood before
him and exchanged vows of marriage, or when you brought your beloved to be
buried. It is good at these times of transition to pause and give thanks for
the past.
For a second Sunday you have come not
expecting to hear or see Jim. For some you this is painful. But you are
beginning a new era in the life of Harundale Presbyterian Church. Today I ask you
to turn 180 degrees: to turn away from the past and to look towards the future.
I have come here this morning to be with you
as you make this move. I want to let you know that God cares about you. I want
to remind you that you are part of a larger church which has covenanted to be
together. I serve as a physical reminder that the Presbytery stands with you -
all the days of your lives, especially in times of change.
Entering a New Land
Today I invite you to turn towards the
future, to prepare yourselves to leave what you know and to move towards a
future yet to be defined. You will not be the first to make such a journey.
Now the Lord said to Abram and Sarai, "Go from your country and your kindred and your
parent’s house to the land that I will show you."
Abram and Sarai
were in their tent minding their own business when they were visited by the
Lord, a God they didn’t know who told them to go to a place they’d never heard
of. They neither knew where it was nor how to get there.
Are we not amazed that they should say
"yes"? Who here would have done so? Their "yes"
demonstrated a sense of deep trust in the Lord and each other.
The truth is that you are in pretty much the
same place as Abram and Sarai. You are not sure of
what lies ahead. Who will lead you, how will you pay all of your expenses, will
you be able to re-engage the community? You have had plenty of time to get used
to the idea that Jim would be gone, but now it is really here. And so it is
that you find yourselves on a journey, looking for a Promised Land, not knowing
what it really looks like nor how to get there.
What will you need to make it through, to get
to the Promised Land, to the place promised to Harundale Presbyterian Church?
You will need to trust in the leadership of
the Lord, trust in one another, and trust the Presbytery in its efforts to
help.
Trusting in One Another
Trusting in one another is essential.
The Psalmist writes
How very good and pleasant it is
when kindred can live together in unity
Unity - what a wonderful thing it is and how
elusive it seems. The truth is that most churches do not enjoy the deep unity
that Harundale Presbyterian Church seems to enjoy.
This church is blessed with strong and able
leadership. Jim was a strong leader and he worked hard to harness this leadership.
When the driver puts down the rein’s sometimes the horses are unsure of where
to go or even bolt for freedom. The challenge you have is to remain a unified
team, to share your visions for the future, and stay together so that members
will pull in the same direction.
Another challenge that you face is to
recognize that this part of God’s earth has changed and that the church has to
find new ways to reach out to the community. There are some who wish to hang on
to what they have known and what has worked in the past, but there are others
who want to try new and bold approaches.
You will be tempted to look at both your
interim and you next installed pastor in relationship to Jim – to use Jim as
the measuring rod. While understandable and human, this would be a mistake. You
have a marvelous opportunity. You are a still a strong church and I encourage
you to use that strength to launch out in new and bold directions.
Finally I would encourage you to trust each
other and the gifts that God has given to you. I think it no secret that the
church is a bit unsure of itself – you have seen membership and attendance fall
and a reduction in staff and budget. All of these things can undermine your
confidence but, instead I hope it will encourage you to place your trust in the
providence of God. And I am convinced that if you join hands and trust in God’s
care for you as individuals and a congregation, that there is nothing that you
can not accomplish.
I encourage you to be like Abram and Sarai who, having heard the call of the Lord, said
"yes" and to take up the journey that lies before you. In so doing
you may not know where God is leading you, but you will have the confidence
that it will be the Promised Land and it will be flowing with milk and honey.
How very good and pleasant it is when people
move out of the past and join hands as they move into the future.
Getting to Work
And so I have invited you to turn and look
towards the future to trust in the Lord and one another. What’s next?
When Jesus was about to leave and the people
gathered around him. They wanted to know when would they
enter the Promised Land, the
The Presbytery stands with you, especially in
periods of transition, when you are caught between what was and what will be. Those of you who have been around the
Presbytery for some time know what to expect. Your session is about to hire an
interim and I expect you will be excited by the choice they will make. You will
take a new look at the future of Harundale Presbyterian Church and set new
goals for yourselves and then create an information form to be sent to
candidates. A Pastor Nominating Committee will be formed and the search will
begin. All of this will probably take more than a year.
While we are always eager to get on with the
future, I hope you will use this interim time to examine yourselves and how you
can build on Jim’s ministry. I encourage you to take a new look at the
community around you and how you can connect with your neighbors. I hope you
will use this time to use your gifts for ministry. And I ask you to stay
flexible, hopeful, and positive.
You are a Blessing
The Lord said to Abram and Sarai I will make you a great
nation, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing
The Lord promised Abram and Sarai that if they
accepted the call, left the past behind, and journeyed into the dimly described
future that they would be blessed and would be a blessing to others.
This same promise is extended to you who are
children of Abram and Sarai. If you will boldly
accept the call, leave the past behind, and journey into a yet to be defined
future you will be a blessing to one another, to the community around you, and,
yes, even the world. You have so much to offer and such an amazing foundation
on which to build. Together let us look with anticipation for what God has in
store for you.