The Heeling Spirit

The Rev. Dr. Whitworth Ferguson III

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

January 16, 2011

The Heeling Spirit

Galatians 5:22-25

You sit there on the edge of the boat,

hand on the tiller, looking up at the sails

hanging limp in the calm,

not even a whisper of a breeze to move them.

The water is flat,

the boat not moving on the surface.

You’ve been sailing long enough to know

that all you can do is wait;

every sailor knows the importance of patience.

There’s nothing you can do about the wind.

And then, sure enough,

you feel a tickle on the back of your neck

and then the herald of a new wind washes over you.

You know just by its feel that a good breeze is coming.

Moments later the sails snap and crack with life

filling out with the wind coming from the west.

You trim the mainsail and the jib

and the boat begins to move through the water.

Your hand is steady on the tiller as you adjust your course

to capture the wind;

The breeze grows stronger by the minute,

and you think to yourself,

“This will be a good run” as the boat picks up speed,

cutting smoothly and silently through the waters.

What started as a breeze is now a steady wind

and the boat’s windward side,

the side you are sitting on,

rises out of the water as the boat heels on its side.

This is the best part of sailing,

the exhilaration as the boat heels,

the mast pitching away from the wind,

dipping down toward the surface of the water,

the boat racing on its very edge

sails tight to the wind,

the leeward gunwale inches above the water,

the bow knifing through the seas.

You secure your feet under the hiking straps

and lean backward into the wind,

out over the water,

the boat, you, and the wind in perfect balance,

as you skim the water’s surface.

                                   

A motorboat might get you there faster.

A rowboat is never at the mercy of the wind.

But there is nothing to compare with the exuberance,

the sheer joy of sailing.

Getting to the destination is not the point;

living in each moment of the journey –

that’s what sailing is all about.

Last weekend as our officers gathered

for our annual retreat at Meadowkirk,

Lois Stovall, our facilitator,

led us through a wonderful exercise

asking us whether we considered ourselves to be

a “Rowboat Church” or a “Sailboat Church”.

The metaphor came from a book written by Joan Gray,

a Presbyterian pastor

who served as Moderator of the PCUSA’s

General Assembly a few years back.

(Spiritual Leadership for Church Officers)

Gray defines a Rowboat Church

as a place focused on doing:

leaders set agendas,

develop plans

and then everyone gets to work:

“The boat is here, but our destination is there;

everyone into the boat;

everyone pull on the oars.

With strength and determination,

we will reach our destination.”

In a Sailboat Church, leaders discuss goals,

and set agendas as leaders in the Rowboat Church do.

But leaders in a Sailboat Church know

they will not reach their goal, their destination

just by strength and determination,

just by pulling at the oars.

Leaders in a Sailboat Church know

that the wind will determine

when they will arrive at their goal;

the wind will determine even if they will arrive there;

the wind will determine whether they might find themselves

sailing to a different destination.                                    

A Sailboat Church is powered by the Holy Spirit.

In a Rowboat Church questions that shape the agenda include:

What can we do?

What is possible for us to take on?

Do we have the resources to make this happen?

the money, the people, the wherewithal

If we do, then let’s get to work.

if we don’t, then we cannot do it.

In a Sailboat Church, the leaders begin with the conviction

that “God can do more than we can ask or imagine.”

The leaders in a Sailboat Church see themselves

as part of a continuing adventure with God

who leads them,

empowering them to do more than they ever could imagine.

Leaders of a Sailboat Church understand

that the strength of arms, backs, and lungs has limits,

but the power of God through the Holy Spirit

knows no limits, knows no bounds.

Gray writes,

“Leaders of a Sailboat Church begin their work with the question,

‘What is God leading us to be:

What is God leading us to do now?’

They operate firm in their faith

that that the God who calls

is also the God who provides.”

(Spiritual Leadership, 19)

It is not a perfect metaphor, Rowboat or Sailboat,

but it does capture well

the struggle the leaders of every church face.

It is so easy to go about the business of the church

in the same way we go about our business

in every other setting,

confident that hard work and determination,

pulling hard on the oars,

will make us successful.

We don’t overlook God in our work, of course,

but we make God “a tame confederate,”

as the poet Robert Browning put it:

We ask for a blessing

before we shove the rowboat in the water,

and offer a prayer of thanksgiving

when we reach our destination,

but otherwise don't think of God as a partner in our journey.

It is much easier to be a Rowboat Church;

It is more comfortable to be a Rowboat Church:

In a rowboat we’re in control;

we provide the power,

we set the bow toward the destination

and head straight for it.

In a Sailboat Church we may find the breeze is stilled

and our boat calm in the water.

We may find the wind gusting,

pushing us at breakneck speed,

the boat heeling at a frightening angle.

We may find that we have to tack back and forth,

back and forth,

sailing twice as many miles to reach our destination.

We may find ourselves pushed to a completely different place

than where we thought we were headed.

But we are called to be a Sailboat Church,

opening ourselves to the the Spirit to guide us

and provide us with direction and the power.

A Sailboat Church is place filled with people

attuned to the Holy Spirit,

people working at discernment,

where God is calling us,

leading us,

guiding us.

The very essence of what our officers do,

especially our Elders, is discernment.

It is easy to overlook that responsibility, though.

Read through our Book of Order

and it sounds like Elders are charged

with a long list of managerial and supervisory tasks:

prepare the budget, manage the property,

oversee the Christian Education program,

and so on.

Elders do have those responsibilities, and more.

But even before we get to those responsibilities,

Elders are called,

“to seek together to find and represent the will of Christ...”

(G-4.0301-d)

In other words, the first and most important responsibility

is discernment.

The Book of Order tells us that Elders are

“to lead the congregation continually

 to discover what God is doing in the world

and plan for change,

renewal,

and reformation under the Word of God.”

Each of our Elders is called to be like the sailor

who watches the sky constantly,

checking the telltales up in the stays,

vigilant to the ever-changing nature of the wind.

Our Elders need to be pentecostal,

men and women filled with the power of the same Holy Spirit

who came upon the apostles so long ago

in that famous story we find in Acts.

Each time we ordain Elders and Deacons

with the “laying on of hands,”

as we just did a few moment ago,

we witness a ritual that goes all the way back

to the original apostles.

It is a thread that ties our newest officers

with those we read about in the New Testament

who found themselves strengthened and energized

by God’s Holy Spirit,

followers of Jesus Christ “ablaze with the glory of God.”

(Charles Raven)

Our officers, Elders and Deacons alike

should be pentecostal just like the first apostles,

“ablaze with the glory of God.”

In fact we are all called to be pentecostal.

We should all be living by the Spirit,

guided by the Spirit,

as Paul reminds us.

Even Peter understood telling followers

“let yourselves be built into a spiritual house”

(1 Peter 2:4-5)

Each of us a spiritual house,

and together we are called to build this church

as a spiritual house,

a Sailboat Church,

with Jesus at the helm,

the Spirit gracing us with power,

every one of us on deck,

each of us doing whatever task

the Spirit equips us and calls us to do

to keep the boat trim and sailing smoothly

in fair weather or foul.

The Heeling Spirit –

that’s “heeling” with two “es” -

has called men and women from among us

to serve as our officers, our leaders:

our Elders and Deacons.

Now the Heeling Spirit is calling all of us

to work together to build this church

as a spiritual house,

as a “Sailboat Church.”

Can you feel the wind as it fills our sails?

Can you hear the Spirit calling each of us:

“All hands on deck.”

AMEN