Sep 30 2008
Philippians 1:1-14
Rev. Laraine Waughtal
Philippians 1:1-14
One of the things that amazes me, keeps me humble, and lets me rejoice in the awesomeness of God is that the church never relies or depends on any one person or any certain group of people. The Christian church has existed for 2000 years because of the faithfulness of all God’s people in each generation. This church, God’s church, existed before any of us were here, it is here today because of you and it will be here tomorrow because of your faithfulness and because of the people in the future.
And, the only leader in any church that is ever consistent is that of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow in leading us in our faith. Jesus will always be here to lead us for all eternity to come. However, what does change in the life of the church is your pastor. God, and the cabinet, has called upon me to move and I will be leaving Moody at the first of the year.
This move came very unexpectedly for both you and me. But, the minister in Olney is retiring at the first of the year, which necessitated some moves in the conference. Olney is located about 90 miles northwest of Fort Worth and 45 miles south of Wichita Falls.
Whenever someone retires, or some other event necessitates a move to occur the Bishop, District Superintendents and certain lay members of the church gather together and pray and ask God to lead them in making the new appointments. With this is the understanding that the time has come that God has called me to another place to help that church grow in the faith and that someone else is being called to walk the faith journey with you now at this time and in this place.
When I look back on these three years I see so much to celebrate. There have been baptisms, confirmations, weddings, and so much more. People have grown spiritually and we have grown as the Lord’s Church.
And, now, whoever comes – and that has not been announced yet – is called to come and journey with you in the future to do so much more. Just as God is calling me to the next place God is calling someone new to be with you.
The Methodist Church believes strongly in the earliest history of the Christian church where from the time of the earliest Apostle’s we, as pastors, are called to go and be in different places and to utilize our gifts and graces in the times and places we are suppose to be there. My three and a half years in Moody have been amazing. I knew that my time to move would eventually come but it is always a shock for everyone to go through the transition.
Know that my heart grieves. I love you and I love this place. The irony in my calling is that I hate to move. However, like Peter, James and John when Jesus called them to be the leaders in the church and preach the Gospel and when Jesus said, “Come, and follow me,” I too, like them said yes, Lord and I follow Him wherever he leads me. Like Paul, in today’s passage in some ways I feel like I am a prisoner of Christ but I wouldn’t want it any other way because being an ordained minister is who God calls me to be and I am at peace with that. To go and preach the Gospel, to give the sacraments and to be in service and in the order of the church is who we as ministers are called to be. When Jesus calls upon me to go I go and when I am called to stay I am happy to stay. Like Peter, I am called to go and feed Jesus sheep and only through his leading and timing.
I will be honest in that God began a stirring in my heart this month that I recognized to be the same from when God called me to be with you. I thought, however, that if it were true it would be for June. As God often times does God has a plan in mind that we don’t always see or understand.
Likewise, I also believe what Paul wrote to us today when he said, “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.” God is now calling someone else to be in ministry with you as you continue this good work that you so faithfully do in your church, in this community and to the world. Your ministry will continue on because you are a faithful people to God and not to a certain minister.
I remember when I was in High School my Methodist Church had a pastor that we dearly loved. And, that included me. That minister could grab this teenager’s attention and make me feel like he was bringing a message from God right to me. So, when I heard he was leaving I was devastated along with a lot of people in the church. We knew the move was a great opportunity for him and that he was called to go but it didn’t lesson our grief.
The new pastor came in time. I never did believe he preached as good as the other one but he touched our lives in many other ways. Also, God sent a youth minister into my life that taught me so much about being a Christian and being a leader in the church. Through him and his leadership I grew and matured in my faith by leaps and bounds through the lessons he taught us. If the first minister had not left we would not have had the opportunity to be affected by the other two ministers as we were. So, I learned the value of how different people bring different gifts into our lives.
We will have a time for grieving and we will have a time for celebrating ministry together and God will bring new and exciting opportunities, teachings, and ministry into our lives.
And, like Paul, the time will come when I am gone and every time I think of you, constantly praying for you, I will remember you with joy because of our time spent in sharing the Gospel together and doing God’s holy work.
However, our time together is not done yet. And, we have much to do over these next three months. So, I invite us to keep our sights on the Head of the Church Jesus Christ and let us continue to move forward in the ministry that He has called us to.
I celebrate you. I celebrate our ministry and I celebrate God who has brought us together for these three and a half wonderful years. Thanks be to God. Amen.