Christ Church Uniting
Disciples and Presbyterians
1300 Kailua Rd.
Kailua, HI 96734
262-6911
Fabian M. “Buddy” Summers, Pastor,
Christ Church Uniting Disciples and Presbyterians, Kailua, HI
Not long ago I spoke with you of the Third Sacrament, the
Sacrament of Servant Leadership, symbolized by the Towel which Jesus wrapped
around his waist when he washed his disciples feet.
Today, some of your members wrap about themselves the Towel of Jesus, as they accept the high calling to Servant Leadership in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and as Session members for Korean Presbyterian Church of Honolulu.
The words for my encouragement come from The Letter
to the Hebrews. “We have become
partners of Christ…brothers and sisters, holy partners in a heavenly
calling.”
Although I address the Elders specifically, let everyone please understand that all Christians are included in the “holy partnership” about which I now will say a bit more.
The word “partnership” includes the word
“partner” which build upon the word “part.”
Partners are part of something larger: a collection of
persons, each of whom are part of the whole.
The first thing I want to urge upon you elders then is to remember that
you are part of something larger.
A synonym for “partnership” is “collaboration.”
A partnership is a collection of partners who labor together, who work
together. Just as the building of a
house takes the coordination of many different skills, so too, the work of a
faith community requires the collaborative effort of many persons performing
different roles.
Your role as Elder is both vital and limited. The community of faith will be blessed as you seek to do your part. It will be hurt if you choose not to do your part. The community of faith will be hurt if you try to do someone else’s part. Each partner has a part to play. The Apostle Paul illustrated this when he spoke of the faith community as a body saying that things will go awry if the hands decide to be eyes, or if the head decides to go on without the feet. Each partner needs to work in cooperation with the other partners.
A “holy partnership” is not only called into being by God, but God is a partner. As the text indicates, “We have become partners with Christ.” All who have been called by Jesus into community constitute the “holy partnership”: people with different gifts, roles, and jobs working together with God in the Body of Christ.
Christian community is a “partnership with a purpose.”
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To glorify God in our way of being together (remember what was said of the early church: “see how they love one another”) |
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To glorify God in our compassion and caring response to all who have need. |
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To collaborate in the ministry of Jesus bringing good news to the poor, sight to the blind, release to the captives, and proclaiming in word and deed, God’s inclusive love for all people. |
If the partnership forgets its purpose, or wanders about, it will experience disease, needless controversy. Divisive conflict arises.
A healthy community of faith experiences continual differences of opinion, dialogue and the need to collaboratively discern “what is the Spirit saying to us.” When the community is united in its purpose, it can patiently work through its differences finding a way to continue in Jesus’ ministry.
When the purpose is lost, difference degenerates into disrespect, power struggles, and a disintegration of the partnership.
Elders have a role with the Pastor to help the congregation stay focused on its purpose, its ministry.
Christian community is also a “partnership with a promise.”
To the holy partnership God promises God’s presence and love in Christ every step of the way. The promise is “eternal life” experienced in the here and now; in faithful living, in powerful loving, in deep healing, reconciliation and rebuilding; here, now, today!
The role of you Elders, together with Pastor Cho, is to help the congregation remember that it is a partnership with God in Jesus Christ, that everyone has a part to play, and that it is a partnership with a promise: God’s loving presence and eternal life, here and now.
When the promise is forgotten, hope is lost. When hope is lost, faith falters, and love withers. Your role, furthermore, is to help the congregation recognize and celebrate every moment in which God’s promise is experienced as being kept, every moment in which God’s present love in experienced in the congregation, every moment, sublime and mundane, in which we experience our lives as deep, rich, and filled with God’s blessings.
Remember—
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You are part of a holy partnership, with one another, and with God in Jesus Christ. |
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You are called to a partnership with a purpose: to share daily in Jesus’ ministry. |
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You are called to a partnership with a promise (the eternal presence of God’s love and blessing in Jesus.) |
Remember and know God’s blessings.
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Preached by Rev. Buddy Summers 1/13/2002
Christ Church Uniting Disciples and Presbyterians
1300 Kailua Road, Kailua, HI 96734
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