January 11, 2009 Psalm 29
Mark 1:4-11
“Signs of Affirmation”
While serving as interim minister of the First Congregational Church of Bellevue, Washington, I received an e-mail out of the blue from the Conference Minister from the Pacific Northwest. I had exchanged e-mails with him from time with the church to assess its current situation and set some goals for the next year.
But this e-mail was different. It was short and to the point, but it may have been the most helpful e-mail he sent me over my 15-month stay in the Seattle area.
“Good morning, Jim. I hope that you and Diane are well. I just want you to know that you are doing a great job at Bellevue. You are right leadership at the right time and you are appreciated.” Signed, Mark Miller.
That was it. But, do you know what? It made my day.
For most of us, a simple “thank you” goes a long way toward keeping us on track, doing the good things we try to do in life. Most of us are motivated from within to make a positive impact on the world around us, but a word of appreciation from time to time sometimes is the very thing to carry us over any humps.
We can all think of times when a word of encouragement has made all the difference. We recall the faces of a teacher who helped us get through the troubled waters of high school: the math teacher who showed us more than one way to solve a geometry problem; the music teacher who coaxed us out of our shyness and into a part in the school musical; or, a Vice-Principal who gave us a break after we had been caught smoking in the Boy’s or Girl’s room. A word of affirmation at very specific moments in life can, in fact, be turning points, a course correction in our lives that point us in a slightly new direction which over the course of time brings us to a place where we might not otherwise have arrived.
I am reminded of the software engineer who addresses a glitch by simply entering a few new commands instead of rewriting the entire program or a therapist who centers on a specific issue instead of asking the client to spend a year talking about the first 15 years of his or her life. The focus makes the difference. The simple thank you or even the appropriated pat on the back, gives most of us a lift.
Speaking of high school, it’s not only the teachers and the administrators who can make a difference in our lives. It could be the custodian, an office worker, or a coach. And speaking of coaches, my coach, Jim Griffith, is here this morning and what a treat it is to have him in worship!
Jim has guided many new church start pastors and I can assure you that he is the best. Shortly, after settling into Starbucks two years ago, Diane and I were invited by Paul Nickerson to go to Jim’s “Boot Camp.” Besides being a blast, we were given valuable tools to bring back to the mission field of Mashpee.
Jim is a great teacher. He speaks from experience. He is practical and he is a realist. He is a huge supporter of this new congregation, even though many of you would not have known that. He has guided us through our two years and has helped me to make the course corrections along the way that have kept us moving in the right direction. He is available 24 X 7 but most importantly, he is affirmative and while there may be stretches from time to time when we don’t do a lot of communicating, I know that I will hear from him if he thinks I am beginning to run amuck. There are plenty of traps and snares out there for new church start pastors and Jim knows how to anticipate them and work around them. Diane and I would like to thank him this morning for his great guidance and would also like to thank Paul for seeing to it that the Massachusetts Conference agreed to bring Jim on board as a team member. He works with “turnaround” churches as well including the church served by Dan Dutson’s sister, Mary Louise Gifford, known as “Wallycong.”
Now, lest you think that Jim is the next candidate in line for sainthood, let’s talk about him outside his role as coach. In case you didn’t notice it, Jim has a certain glow about him this morning; it’s not a smurky-kind of glow-he’s not that kind of guy. It’s a glow of deep satisfaction and pride for Jim is an alum of an obscure school in Florida whose football team known as the “Gators” just defeated Oklahoma in a game for the national title. In the meanwhile, Texas congressman Joe “Sour Grapes” Barton according to the AP “proposed legislation to replace the Bowl Championship Series with a playoff system.
‘There’s no way you can say that whoever wins tonight’s game is demonstrably better that USC, Texas or Utah, Barton said.’” (Cape Cod Times 1-9-09, p. B1)
Jim, do you wish to respond?
There’s another thing about my coach which must be told. Jim is in an 18-step recovery program. He realized a long time ago he needed help. The pressures of working with thousands of churches started to build up. How does he deal with it? You know the UCC has the line: “No matter who you are or where you are in life’s journey, you are welcome here.” Jim’s line is: “No matter where I am or where I am going, I will be welcome at the local golf courses.” Jim is a passionate golfer and while I like to take in the scenery of golf courses and keep score only if my partner insists on doing so, Jim is a serious player, the kind that talks about a low handicap.
I really enjoyed discovering the texts for today suggested by the lectionary, because the baptism of Jesus is a profound moment of affirmation. Think about it: Jesus humbly and graciously turns to John the Baptist for baptism in the Jordan. As Jesus comes out from the river, the heavens open up and the Holy Spirit descends upon him. In the midst of all that, the very voice of God comes down from heaven: “Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased.”
How could it get better than that? Jesus is affirmed as no one has even been affirmed and for the next three years he will pursue a ministry that would change the world.
Of course, for the rest of we common people of the masses, expecting God to open the heavens and yell down accolades in crucial moments in life may be just a bit much. The conversation between God and Moses gets pretty close since Moses never really feels he’s qualified to lead the Jews out of Egypt and the drama of Saul’s conversion with the light of heaven flashing around him is pretty impressive. But accounts such as these are way out of the norm. God does not routinely answer prayer from people desperately seeking affirmation by opening up the heavens and calling down likely in some deep male voice.
The affirmation we know usually comes much more softly and quietly: a traditional “hand shake and a thank you;” a compliment about our appearance when we happen to feel like we are coming undone; a smile, a simply smile even from a stranger whom we will never see again; a grocery clerk who says ‘have a nice day’ while it’s clear that he or she is about frazzled; or, a friend who surprises you with a call and says, “I was just thinking about you. How are you doing?”
You know those moments. Some of you have been brought to tears with some embarrassment, while understanding that down deep an unsolicited word of encouragement was just exactly what you needed. God can bring us those moments exactly when we need them and sometimes they happen in the most unexpected ways.
High school in my home town included grades 10-12. Not having a freshmen year was both good and bad. A junior high school that took us through grade nine allowed us that extra year in our neighborhood school where we felt relatively secure and knew both students and teachers well. But by the same token, the delay into the big world of the high school, a merging of students from four junior high schools totaling about 2,000 meant that the sophomore year would be a big awakening for most of us.
Somehow, early on in this first year, I ended up with an tutor for English. I guess I was having trouble with my composition assignments. It seems strange to talk about this now with close to forty years of sermon-writing behind me. Nevertheless, I was informed that should I so desire, there was a tutor available at certain times during the week, if I wanted to use her.
I did. She helped me with prolonged sentences using colons and semi-colons. She taught me about topical sentences in a paragraph. She had a passion for avoiding spit infinitives. I had never heard of a spilt infinitive. She was convinced every student needed to really do that or should I say in her honor: really needed to do that?
It wasn’t until the third time that I met with her, that she broke away from the business at hand and talk with me a little about other things. She said to me, “You don’t realize this, but I go to your church.”
“You do?”
“Yes and I love watching you come into church every Sunday with your Mom and your Dad and you two sisters. You usually sit behind Wally and Bobby Jones and there family. I want to tell you something, Jim. You are making great progress with your writing and I think my tutoring with you will end soon. But I want you to know that I think you are a fine young man and that you are going to do something very special with your life.”
To this day, when Mildred Putnam said these words to me, I can still feel something happening inside. Mildred was officially there to help me with my English skills, but she did so much more. She affirmed who I was and what great things were ahead for me.
Eight years later, Mildred and her husband surprised me by attending my graduation from Bangor Seminary. When I spotted her at the ceremony, the heavens didn’t open and God didn’t make some huge announcement, but there was a message loud and clear: “I believed in you and you have believed in yourself. Well done!”
God has limitless ways of speaking to us which means God’s word can come at any time and from any direction. Be aware of that. Listen. Be affirmed and know that God loves you in more ways than we can begin to imagine. Amen.
