Expectations

The Rev. Dr. Skip Ferguson

Manassas Presbyterian Church

Manassas, Virginia

January 15, 2012

Expectations

Matthew 9:9

Understanding what Deacons do is much easier

than trying to understand what Elders do.

Read through the minutes

of a meeting of our Board of Deacons

and you’ll read how they deliver flowers or grace meals,

send care packages to college students,

organize blood drives,

help with funerals.

As our Book of Order tells us,

their’s is a ministry of compassion, witness, and service.

(G-2.0201)

It is a ministry they do very well.

Read through the minutes of a typical Session meeting

and everything seems routine, ordinary,

perhaps even a little dull:

The meeting was called to order with prayer;

the clerk reported that this member died,

that member moved,

these people joined the church.

The pastor shared a few thoughts about worship,

the Early Learning Center,

and how well a recent activity went.

Two or three elders shared news of the work

of their ministry teams.

And then the meeting closed with prayer.

The minutes reflect such a small part

of what our Session does, though,

what our elected elders and I are called to do.

Read the minutes as we post them

on the bulletin board and

it looks like we are called to work as a board of managers,

administering the affairs of the church.

We do these things, there’s no question about it:

we prepare budgets,

we look after the buildings and grounds,

we hire and nurture staff;

they are among the many essential tasks required

to run an organization like ours.

But there is more we do,

much more we are called to do,

for we are called to take responsibility

for strengthening and nurturing

the faith and life of the people of our church.

Our Elders individually and collectively

have the responsibility

for the life of this congregation.

(G-2.0301)

All of our activities spring from this responsibility.

Elders are called to manage, to govern, and to administer.

But more than that,

our Elders are called to lead,

to be spiritual leaders of this Body of Christ;

spiritual leaders, not just organizational leaders.

That’s what they are called to do,

and that’s what we should expect them to do.

The six elders whom we just ordained and installed

join the ten continuing elders and me

to form the Session,

the governing council of our church.

The word Elder, you may recall,

comes from the Greek word, presbuteros.

We call ourselves Presbyterians to reflect

how we govern ourselves by elders

as we follow the head of our church Jesus Christ.

The origin of the word Session is far more prosaic;

it simply means a group of people who sit around a table

deliberating, discerning,

governing…. leading.

Our Session has 17 voting members:

the 15 Ruling Elders, one Youth Elder, and me;

I am referred to as the Teaching Elder.

I also serve as the Moderator,

the one who convenes and facilitates our meetings.

Our collective responsibility is great, for our Book of Order,

part of our Church Constitution,

tells us that we are “to guide this congregation

to witness to the sovereign activity of God,

so that [we] become a community of

faith, hope, love and witness.”

(G-3.0201)

Our Book of Order provides detailed information

on the responsibilities of Elders both as individuals

and collectively working as the Session.

But far and away the most compelling is this one:

“Elders are not simply to reflect the will of the people,

but rather to seek together to find and represent

the will of Christ.”

(F-3.0204)

“Find and represent the will of Christ.”

Find and seek it together,

working cooperatively,

in harmony,

discerning together, all of us,

remembering that each of us comes to the Session

with different gifts given us by the Spirit,

and even when we don’t find ourselves in agreement,

we need all those gifts working together

in order to discern faithfully God’s will.

                                   

Only when we work together, in harmony,

can we say with any confidence, “follow us”,

as together we the Body of Christ

pursue the grace-filled,

joyous, transformational,

yet always challenging will of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The will of Christ, the will of God,

where the Spirit is calling us,

isn’t going to be found in Robert’s Rules of Order.

We’ll discern it through the written word

that is the Bible,

through the living word

that is our Lord Jesus Christ,

and of course, through prayer.

We should expect our Elders to be men and women

who study Scripture,

who seek to grow in knowledge of Scripture,

and who readily pray for themselves,

this Body of Christ that is our church,

and for the world all around us.

Our Book of Order teaches us that

we are “the church reformed,

[yet] always to be reformed

according to the Word of God”

in the power of the Spirit.”

(F-2.02)

This means we cannot stand still,

for the Spirit is pulling us into tomorrow,

whether we are willing to go or not,

Christ always out front saying to us,

“Follow,

follow,

follow”.

We should expect our Elders

to be men and women of the Spirit,

open to the Spirit as spiritual leaders,

open to new ways of thinking and doing things,

open to having their minds changed,

changed even by those with whom they previously disagreed.

Two thousand years ago tax collectors worked for the Romans

and each was told to collect so much in taxes.

Anything over and above the minimum

they were assigned to collect,

they got to keep for themselves.

Not surprisingly tax collectors were greedy, corrupt,

always ready for the hustle,

men not known for their compassion, kindness,

their patience or their concern for others;

they were ruthless,

always ready to squeeze a few more coins

from even the poorest

just to line their own pockets.

This describes Matthew,

called by our Lord to be among the first apostles,

among the twelve who gathered around the Lord’s Table,

among those called to sit at our Lord’s feet and learn.

Obviously, he had much to learn:

he had to learn to pray,

learn to listen,

learn to accept the gifts,

the strengths and the weaknesses of others.

A man who had always worked on his own

who had thought only of himself,

had to learn to work with the others,

learn to get along with the others,

A man whose training to that point

had been to hone his skills as a financial hustler

had to learn to think of others.

Matthew had to learn to think and act with his heart.

In time, he was transformed,

transformed by the power of the Spirit,

transformed by the grace and love of God given him in Christ.

This is the same path our Elders are called to walk:

to learn, to be transformed by the power of the Spirit.

Of course, we assume that none of our Elders have

quite as steep a learning curve as Matthew’s!

It takes time to learn to be a good Elder.

It takes hard work, too.

Elders have to learn patience,

grace,

kindness,

gentleness,

even as they are also learning courage,

boldness.

Serving as a faithful elder can be frustrating.

Over the more than twenty years

that I have been part of Sessions,

including service as a Ruling Elder,

I’ve seen tempers flare and heard angry words blurted out.

What I’ve found over the years,

is that most of the time

angry words, impatient words, reflect ignorance,

reflect a lack of understanding on the speaker’s part,

more often than they reflect righteous outrage.

So we should expect our Elders to do their homework,

to be prepared.

And we should also expect them

to remember the words of our Lord’s brother

who said the tongue is a fire,

that it can stain the whole body

for it can be full of deadly poison.

Thinking before speaking assures

that we will work with gentleness born of wisdom.

(James 3:6ff)

In the congregational response to

the ordination and installation service,

you were asked two questions,

asked to make two promises to our elders and deacons:

First you were asked,

“Do we, the members of the church

accept these our brothers and sisters

as ruling elders or deacons,

chosen by God through the voice of the congregation

to lead us in the way of Jesus Christ?”

We should expect our Elders to lead us in the way of Christ,

to lead us by their example,

inspiring us by their efforts

to grow in wisdom, faith, and holiness.

The second question you were asked,

the second promise you made was this:

“Do we agree to pray for them, to encourage them,

to respect their decisions,

and to follow them as they guide us,

serving Jesus Christ,

who alone is Head of the Church.”

(W-4.4004)

We should encourage our Deacons and our Elders.

They will work hard for us,
and this church, 
and for God.

Respect their decisions,

even when you don’t agree with them,

always remembering that they will have tried their best

to discern the will of God.

And you should follow as they lead us and guide us.

But most important, you should pray for them.

Pray for them as they pray for you.

Pray for them to lead us wisely, gently,

patiently, gracefully,

boldly,

joyfully,

lovingly

as they lead us into the future,

God’s future,

the future that is unfolding before us even now,

all of us walking forward together

every one of us responding to the same words,

that same invitation 
from our Lord Jesus Christ:

Follow me.

AMEN