The Solemnity of the Holy Blessed Trinity
and the 35th Anniversary of Ordination

Have you ever allowed yourself to become immersed in what we have commonly come to call, The Vision of Isaiah? “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs were in attendance above him, and one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.’”

“The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house was filled with smoke.” (If ever there were a biblical argument for incense, this is it!) “Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said, ‘Your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.’ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’”

Naturally, my heart on this day goes back to the time I was made a minister in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church: My Ordination, 35 years ago on June 13. The memory of that day in some ways is as if it were yesterday; in others the morning was like a blur. I can recall our being paraded around, all very formally, compared to the way things seem to be done these days. I recall greeting my family and thinking that my wife was the prettiest potential pastor’s wife there. Imagine having thoughts like that right before being ordained! Oh, well, our church has a married clergy, and I preferred young and pretty!

I’ll never forget two specific things that happened that Sunday morning, I will share them with you now. The crucifer, a pastor in Christ’s church, who had been in the seminary with me, whom I respected more than I can tell you, and who was afflicted with much more than God should ever ask a servant to bear, whispered in my ear, “Chip, be a good priest.” God called him home far too soon, but I have always imagine his intercession for me at the heavenly altar where I am sure he frequently presides!

The other is the feeling of the hands of the bishop on my head, and hearing his blessing, but especially the words, “In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” I made the sign of the Cross and managed a weak “Amen.”

The other pole of this homily is from the Book of First Kings in the First Testament. When Sam, my brother-in-law, who married the other beautiful Moore sister, offered to sing for us this morning, I asked him to sing It is enough from Mendelssohn’s Elijah. I took the privilege of replacing the Psalm with this offering because it kind of seems a logical answer to the First Reading: grounding, a call to reality for the Holy Ministry. Elijah went a day’s journey into the wilderness and lay down under a solitary broom tree. He prays the words you heard in the powerful solo, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life.” It is here where the pastor sees all the lost causes of parish ministry, all the misunderstandings, all the times when the pastor thought he was being that good priest he prayed to be, and it all blew up in his face. It is here we remember the foibles of those we love, those we have loved and lost; times when we did ten things right and one thing wrong and in comes the letter saying: “So and so have been attending our church and have expressed an interest in joining.” Now, don’t misunderstand, I’ve written those letters too, and assuredly made some other colleague’s day!

Do you recall God’s response to Elijah’s moaning and feeling sorry for himself? God said, “What are you doing here Elijah?” Of course Elijah gives all the usual excuses, but God is listening to none of it.

God told Elijah to go out and stand on a mountain and check out just what kind of God it was that he served. But, God did not come in the earthquake that took place, and neither did he come in the fire, but rather in the silence that Luther taught us is the place we find our God to be the closest. It is the “Hidden God” that Luther warns will cause despair and, in that despair, turning to God with nothing in our hands but trust in his grace.

And now, finally, after 35 years of what has been a joyful privilege, most of which has been among and with you of the parish where we have found a home, not a place of employment, I am in some ways the same person who knelt before the bishop that day but very different too. I can never recall being without back pain. I was still holding my mother’s hand at the market when I first identified it. After 14 surgeries and 61 years, the congenital deformity that people didn’t fully understand in those days, has certainly taken its toll.

I don’t run steps like I used to; the trip from my office to my beloved chapel is something I have to think about these days. Railings that were thoughtfully installed in the chancel during the last renovation have become lifesavers. Hospital trips and home visits are planned and energy is often carefully budgeted. But, just as you have always been more than understanding and caring in the midst of my affliction, God has kindled a fire in my belly that burns even stronger and brighter than it did that day 35 years ago when I could never have known what I was getting into. My understanding of what is essential to ministry, my focus on study and the Means of Grace, Word and Sacrament, preaching and teaching feed my life and my spirit as I hope they feed yours. I have a new sense of grace that I think God has entrusted many of you with teaching me. You have come to a new understanding of the place of the Holy Eucharist in our lives together, and how as it is center, all that we are and do proceeds from it.

I thank you for continuing to show me where ministry is needed and trusting me then to be your pastor. I cherish and treat with great respect that trust. I thank you for this day and its festivities on a festival so dear to Lutherans to mark my 35 years of holy ministry, and I would ask you to pray with me that we would be given the grace to continue together as long as our dear Lord sees fit, and that this community would always be bound together and guided by the Holy Spirit to answer the call of almighty God to be faithful shepherds and feed His sheep. Amen
 

--KTS
June 11, 2006

First Reading: Isaiah 6:1-8
Second Reading: Romans 8:12-17
Gospel: John 3:1-17

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