“WALKING ON WATER AND OTHER
UNLIKELY FEATS”
The story about Jesus and Peter walking on water is known even to persons with little or no Biblical background. For myself, I remember this passage being the first I ever read leading worship at a friend’s ordination the year I started seminary.
I remember feeling a strong sense of resonance with the character of Peter. For I, too, it seemed, was settling out to follow Jesus. At times, I felt strong and centered, resolved in my faith and sure that I could do anything that God wanted me to do.
But like Peter, who suddenly looks away from Jesus and feels the force of the winds and water, encounters deep within himself the chaos of the unknowing, and the deep, dark fear of the unknown, I, too, had times when fear took over and blocked my faith, holding me clasped in the terror of not only failing, but failing in public view.
Dennis Union Church faced a critical turning point as you bid farewell to both your senior and associate pastors. For some of you, these recent years may have felt like launching your craft onto rough and uncertain waters, often with the wind against you. Today I stand with you for our last Sunday together, confident that you are poised and strong for the time ahead.
I well remember interviewing here just three summers ago. It was the Wednesday before the big auction. I had never seen a church so chock full of stuff and buzzing in every corner with people.
Sue Day and Ginnie Haskell gave me a pre-interview tour of the building. As they brought me into Connie’s office, they confessed that they weren’t really sure how they would ever continue on without her. “We’re joined at the hip!” announced Ginnie. I remember thinking, “This isn’t going to be easy.”
All twelve deacons showed up to interview me, but I felt a strong resistance to living away from home or commuting eighty miles each way five times a week. And then there was the question of Otto, my twelve and a half year old Labrador Retriever. How to explain to a search committee that your dog has always served on staff?
Yes, starting at Dennis Union Church did seem like trying to walk on water. Otto and I moved in with Peggy and
But choosing one another in ministry is less about convenience and more like falling in love. Beyond reason, beyond careful analysis, no relationship of trust and conviction has the slightest chance of working unless we also listen with our hearts.
When Peter saw his mentor Jesus set out across the water, he was caught in the wonder and power of the moment. In that one moment, the power of God so clearly manifest in Jesus, dwelt also in him. He knew that he could set out across the waves, that with God all things are possible.
But Peter, like us, could not sustain that resolute moment for long. He lost his nerve and faltered. The critical moment in the story is in Jesus’ response. Some might voice a tone of anger and reprimand. I sense it is more the voice of committed coach or reassuring parent. “That’s all right. You’re starting to get it. Don’t lose faith. I’m still with you. We’ll try it again when you’re ready.”
And so it is with us as well. We sometimes set out as though nothing could possibly go wrong. But we do get tangled up more often in the anticipation of failure rather than failure itself.
For me, a strong measure of what has made this time exceptional is my experience of you, not only individually, but also as a faith community. Again and again, I have seen us encounter major stumbling blocks, only to see us hunker down or rise to the occasion and meet the challenge, overcome the obstacle, resolve the conflict. Truth to tell, this is not always the response I see in churches. Far too often I have seen churches give all the power over to the obstacles or run from challenges.
When I tell friends back home about our building project, they immediately assume that our church is either very large or our people are very wealthy. Neither description is true. We are all just ordinary people fired by an extraordinary God. Ordinary people come to Dennis Union Church. In time we become extraordinary in ways we don’t completely understand.
I confess that when vacationing in late July, I heard that we might be delaying our search for a settled Associate Pastor. I was very concerned. Connie Bickford and I can testify that a
church of our size and demographics needs two full-time pastors. I believe that this associate position will be more effective than ever with the building project complete, all other staff positions up and running. I often see interim ministry as bridge building, and I leave here secure that the bridgework has been laid. The future beckons.
When Jim Scovil preached his farewell sermon nearly three years ago, he tried to say what Dennis Union Church meant to him. As I recall, he emphasized the strong relationship of our church to the Mass Conference and the United Church of Christ. He contrasted us favorably with churches who do not trust their denomination and consequently have no outside support during outside challenges. I agree. We can all rest assured that our denomination believes in us, the covenant is secure.
For me, this church has always been a place where I have learned far more than I have taught. The collective wisdom of our people is truly beyond anything I have every known in a church. And the collective generosity has been even greater. While I still anticipate serving several more years in ministry, I have learned many lessons in the fine art of retired living. Here on the
that sits down to fellowship with the persons we feed and shelter. In this way, we walk the walk that Jesus walked. Jesus never saw himself as set apart or set above those whom he served.
Another highlight for me has been the genuine and sustained interest we have in our children and youth. So many churches arrange all kinds of programming for children, but few churches take a greater interest in them. I also love the way our Christmas Pageant and Children’s Day programs have incorporated the ability of young people to challenge the received traditions of the Christian faith. In our Confirmation classes, the mentors felt they were learning at least as much as the young people.
Dale and I have been inspired by the depth and breadth of interest in all the classes we have offered. Some thought that we should not offer two courses in the same week. In fact, some weeks there were three classes when the evening book group met as well as daytime courses. I suspect that we haven’t even scratched the surface on this church’s interest in study and Christian practice groups.
As many of you know, I was a pretty seasoned pastor with quite a lot of education when I came. The irony of all this advanced training is that I still find myself bringing to the church the same precepts I learned as a child from my mother and father. I began babysitting in my neighborhood when I was still quite young. My mother, perhaps a bit concerned that I was starting out so young, gave me certain guidelines to follow. She said, “Kathy, when you go into other persons’ homes, they may do things differently than we do in our home. You must respect their ways of doing things. Beyond that, it is your job to always keep the children safe.”
Then she told me that I was to stay involved with the children, play with them, keep them occupied and happy. I must have taken that advice to heart. I can remember giving children piggy-back rides and playing hide and seek by the hour. If I stayed through the supper hour until bedtime, she always wanted me to read them stories. And finally, she said that after everyone was tucked in, I should go around the house and try to leave it a little nicer than I found it. At this point she would add that mothers and fathers have very long days, and they should be able to come home from a night out to a very neat and clean house.
Well, with all my educational and theological studies, nothing has served me better in the church than these precepts. My mother was also a remedial reading tutor in our home town, and I was helping her out with lessons in our kitchen by the time I was eight. She taught me to always praise every success, to begin each lesson with homemade cookies and a glass of milk, and to try and understand the child’s great fear of failure.
These are the lessons that most guide my approach to life and ministry. I believe that everyone wants to do good, even persons who have gone madly astray. And I know that in coming to Dennis Union Church, I have tried to respect the unique qualities of this church and its people. I have held your safety and well-being in the highest regard. I have tried to get involved and make a difference along with all of you, and I sincerely hope that I leave this place a little better off as well.
As I move on to serving the Mattapoisett Congregational Church, I’ll carry our shared experiences in my heart. Many thought Connie couldn’t be replaced when she retired three years ago. She can’t be replaced, but she did have to retire, so that she
could prepare to be grandmother to the twins. You won’t be able to replace me either, but you will welcome and receive my successor with open arms. I know that for sure, because these are the habits of the heart you know so well as Christ’s servants and friends.
Next Sunday I’ll be leading worship outdoors at Ned’s Point for their annual Homecoming Sunday in Mattapoisett. You will be gathering around this table for a sacramental meal. As I leave, I suggest that you bring everything to the table; your hopes and fears of all the years, the regrets that cannot be displaced, the unhealed places of your heart. Bring these broken places to Christ who promises that he can heal every hurt, mend every fault.
Trust in Christ who can do all things. And trust also in yourselves as his beloved community. As you meet in your boards, committees and organizations, bring the deepest yearnings of your heart to that table. If you feel we need a course correction, use the wise structure of the church to address your concerns. Take it to a Deacon, take it to the Council or any board or committee. Take your heartfelt concerns to the Pastor/Parish Relations Committee, so that you don’t become a two-level church. A two-level church is a church that makes nice around the official tables of the church governance, but tells a different story in the parking lot and grocery store.
In this way, you will be worthy of the image of Christ. You will be truly the body of Christ, offering a table of welcome and salvation to all who enter here. Thank you all for welcoming me and embracing me in so many ways. Shalom and Amen.
“WALKING ON WATER
AND OTHER UNLIKELY FEATS”
Text: Matthew 14:22-33
Rev. Kathleen S. Henry
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
August 31, 2008
