The Intersection of Gifts and Spirit -- FPC sermon excerpt

How much should churches pay their pastors?

It’s a critical issue to look at, since many pastors are struggling, financially. The median compensation for full-time Protestant pastors is just $40,000, according to a study from 2001. This sounds inadequate, I know, but it is hard for many congregations to pay much more. The majority of congregations in the United States are quite small — 71 percent have fewer than 100 participating adults, and the median annual budget is $56,000.

But what I find fascinating about this research into clergy compensation is that it reveals something that might surprise you — American clergy have a high level of satisfaction with their positions and their compensation. 97 percent report that they are “very satisfied” with their current position, and 51 percent are “very satisfied” with their compensation.

Why is this? I’m convinced that most of us in pastoral ministry believe that we are engaged in good and important work: Preaching and teaching the Word of God … celebrating the sacraments … praying with and for the people of God. The Lord has given us gifts for the work of ministry, and the church has given us the opportunity to exercise these gifts. What more could we want?

This is the fourth of six sermons in the “Intersections” sermons series -- The Intersection of Gifts and Spirit. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul insists that the Holy Spirit is the driving force behind the life of the church, inspiring us to make the proclamation “Jesus is Lord,” and giving us a variety of spiritual gifts to support the church’s ministry and mission. Paul does not believe that there is a “one-size-fits-all” approach to Christianity — instead there are varieties of talents that express true faith: Wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment of spirits, tongues, and interpretation of tongues. “There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit,” says Paul. “All of these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses” (1 Corinthians 12:4, 11).

Notice that the focus here is on the community, not the individual Christian. It is only in the church as a whole that we see all of these important gifts at work. A Christian in isolation might have one or two gifts, but a couple of specific talents cannot accomplish everything that God desires. Focusing primarily on individuals is like trying to win a baseball game with only a catcher … or a left fielder. It simply cannot be done. Alfonso Soriano alone cannot guarantee the Nationals a victory.

Paul wants us to see that the Holy Spirit intersects with Christians in community, giving us a variety of gifts designed to achieve the common good (v. 7). Most clergy, including myself, are satisfied with our position and compensation because our work allows us to use our Spirit-supplied gifts to serve the church. We consider it a privilege to be able to put full-time effort into building up the church, what Paul calls the “one body” of Christ, and we enjoy serving the members of Christ’s body (v. 12).

We clergy are aware, however, that we cannot do this work alone. Ministry is a community activity, not an individual pursuit. Some of you have gifts for teaching, while others are great at encouragement. Some of you are leaders, others are givers, and still others have gifts of compassion (Romans 12:7-8). All of these gifts are important. All are needed. All are offered by the same Holy Spirit.

The Intersection of One Person to Another -- FPC sermon excerpt

It’s football season, and a good number of us enjoy watching college games — especially contests between teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Virginia Tech, Carolina, UVA, Boston College, Wake Forest, Maryland, NC State — they all have so many fans. Yes, I know that my team, Duke, is usually in last place — but wait till basketball season!

A generation ago, there was a struggle in the ACC that was being played out on the football field, but it had nothing to do with touchdowns. The struggle was all about race relations.

In the early 1960s, a man named Darryl Hill joined the team at the University of Maryland. He was the first African-American to play football for Maryland. As he and his team traveled through the South, he received a great deal of abuse from the fans at the schools they played. Darryl Hill was especially shocked by the shouts and the taunts of the crowd at Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

As you may know, Wake Forest has deep Baptist ties, and its team is the “Deacons.” What a disgraceful way for Christians to behave.

As the pre-game warm-up ended, Darryl Hill noticed the captain of the Wake Forest football team approaching him. He had no idea what that opposing player, a white man, was going to say to him.

“I want to apologize for the behavior of my fans,” the Wake Forest captain said to Darryl Hill. Then, draping his arm over Hill’s shoulder, he began to walk him toward the Wake Forest side of the field, where the jeering was at its worst. By the time the two of them reached the middle of the field, the rude screaming had dropped to near silence.

Who was this courageous captain of the Wake Forest Deacons? According to The Washington Post Magazine (February 1, 2004), the player’s name was Brian Piccolo. Piccolo went on to play professional football, and developed a close relationship with an African-American player named Gale Sayers. Their story later inspired the TV movie Brian’s Song, a movie that can still make grown men cry.

The intersection of one person to another — that’s the focus of today’s message. In my last sermon, we heard about what happened when Jesus appeared as the intersection of God and humanity. Now we take a look at what happens when people intersect, one on one, and then with the world around them. The story of Darryl Hill and Brian Piccolo gives us a hint of the amazing things that can happen when two people come together, and take a stand for God.

The Intersection of God and Humanity -- FPC sermon excerpt

For years, I wondered what it meant to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

I would hear people talking about such a relationship, but it didn’t ring true to me. I couldn’t imagine how you could have a relationship with someone you couldn’t see or touch, meet at Starbucks, or slap on the back. I certainly understood how the people of Nazareth had a personal relationship with Jesus. They knew him as the son of Joseph and Mary. They had watched him grow up. They had seen him in his father’s carpenter shop, met him in the street, listened to him at the synagogue. Their relationship was personal. No doubt about it. But I didn’t understand how I could experience such a relationship.

And so I continued to pray to God, read the stories of Jesus, and open myself to the power of the Holy Spirit — all the time wondering what it might mean to have a personal relationship with Jesus.

Then, one day, I got it. I realized that this personal relationship wasn’t something that was supposed to start with me. It was supposed to start with God. God desperately wanted me to understand his will and his way. He wanted me to feel his love and forgiveness. He wanted me to see his grace and his truth.

And so he sent Jesus into my life. God came to earth in the form of a person — his only son Jesus — so that I could see exactly what God was like. That’s the personal side of the personal relationship. It has to do with God coming to me as a person.

Jesus is — for me, for you, and for everyone in the world — the intersection of God and humanity.

So now I have a personal relationship with Jesus because it is a relationship with a person. Not a concept, not an idea, not a theory — a person. I can hear the words of Jesus, see his actions, and feel his power — and through him I can get a much better grasp of what God desires for me and for all the people of this world.

Jesus is, for me, the face of God. He helps me to recognize God, and to see exactly what kind of Lord our God is.

Intersections: Prepare the Way -- FPC sermon excerpt

We’re Number Two!

Ahead of us is only New York City. But don’t feel badly: In this particular competition, we don’t want to be Number One.

I’m talking about traffic congestion. Our average one-way commute is now 33 minutes, and we residents of the DC area spend an average of 69 hours a year in traffic jams. “This is like the Olympics of gridlock,” said Lon Anderson of AAA to The Washington Post (May 10, 2005). Sometimes it seems as though we are going for the gold — although this is not an honor that should make any of us proud.

Unfortunately, our population is growing and not enough roads and rail lines are being built to meet the need. For the near future, it looks as though we are going to have to expect more time on choked highways, and less time with our families.

That’s the bad news. But don’t despair — I have some good news for you as well.

In the Gospel of Luke, John the Baptist sounds like a traffic engineer when he cries out, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low … the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth” (Luke 3:4-5).

John is firing up his earthmovers — filling valleys, knocking down mountains, leveling hills. He is cranking up his cement-mixers — pouring concrete to make the rough ways smooth and the crooked lanes straight. John is building a highway for the Lord, one that will help all of us to “see the salvation of God” (v. 6).

John knows that you cannot keep doing things the same way and expect a different result. That, in a nutshell, is the definition of insanity. Fully aware of this, John appears on the scene with a radically new message — a message of good news that gives people a fresh way to make a connection with God. You see, there was every bit as much congestion in his world as there is in ours today — Luke goes to great pains to describe how John appeared “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis” … yada, yada, yada (v. 1). Through all this congestion and gridlock John breaks through with a message that fills valleys, knocks down mountains, smoothes rough roads, and creates straight paths.

John’s message is this: turn away from sin, receive forgiveness, and prepare to meet the Messiah.

Talk Like a Pirate -- FPC sermon excerpt

Avast, me hearties! Shiver me timbers! Arrrrrrr!

It’s coming this month. September 19th, to be exact. “Talk Like a Pirate Day.”

If you’re not familiar with this holiday, you’ve obviously been spending too much time doing useful and important things. But if you are in the habit of surfing the internet, then maybe you have stumbled across this ridiculous excuse for a holiday. It’s a day devoted to talking like a pirate. Just for kicks. Because it is funny. Because you can.

Just be careful not to go too far, and call a close friend a “scurvy bilge rat.” She might not be amused.

Talk Like a Pirate Day was invented by a couple of guys — no surprise there. They picked September 19 because it was not cluttered up with Christmas or the Super Bowl or any other important events. For years, the two of them celebrated the day in private, just talking like pirates to each other, but then humorist Dave Barry caught word of the holiday and wrote a column about it. He thought the idea was so original that surely the creators of the day needed to be on medication.

Dave Barry ended up inviting all of his readers to join the movement and celebrate the holiday. On September 19, do not answer the phone with “hello,” he recommends. Instead, answer the phone with “Ahoy, me hearty!” If the caller protests, saying that he is not a hearty, call him a scurvy dog who will soon be walking the plank and ending up in Davy Jones’ locker.

You’ll have fun … guaranteed!

Given that Talk Like a Pirate Day is just around the corner, it is fitting that we take a look at the advice of James about taming the tongue. “Look at ships,” says James, sounding like a salty sea dog: “though they are so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits” (James 3:4-5).

Makes you want to say “Aye!”

The tongue is a small but powerful instrument, able to have an effect that is every bit as influential as the rudder on a pirate ship. Think of the power of words you have heard, or that you have spoken, over the course of your life. “You are too small to be a good basketball player,” says a youth league coach. “Girls should steer clear of science and engineering,” advises a parent. “You can’t be a Christian and believe that!” scolds a member of a Bible study. “You are such a loser,” says a cool kid in the high school cafeteria. “Don’t tell your parents,” warns an abusive uncle, “no one will believe you.”

You know the devastating power of words. You’ve heard them. You’ve felt them. As a preacher, I have to take words very seriously — I know that what is spoken from the pulpit can either build up a congregation, or break it down. James knows the power of words as well, which is why he says in today’s passage, “How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! And the tongue is a fire” (vv. 5-6). He knows that the tongue can be used to discourage, dismay, deceive and destroy the precious children of God, and he describes it as “a restless evil, full of deadly poison” (v. 8).

Is there any way for us to tame the tongue?

The challenge for us is to Talk Like a Christian, not Talk Like a Pirate. Talk like Jesus, not like Johnny Depp in “Pirates of the Caribbean.” This means that we do not use our tongues to “bless the Lord and Father” one minute, and then “curse those who are made in the likeness of God” the next (v. 9). It is not appropriate to offer up enthusiastic praise to God on Sunday, and then call your coworker a stinking bilge rat on Monday.