Can everyone hear me at the back? A preacher asked that once and someone called out: “Yes, but I wouldn't mind changing seats with someone who can't”.
Another pastor was greeting folks at the door after the service. A woman came up and said, "Pastor, that was a very good sermon." The pastor says, "Oh, I have to give the credit to the Holy Spirit." The woman responded: "O, it wasn't THAT good!"
This is a new day, a good day and the start of a new chapter in life for Lee and Helen. They are a couple who knows God and who knows the deep companionship of God in good times and in bad times.
They are a couple who have faced trial and adversity, and yet who have clung to God, trusting in his faithfulness and love. If you’re at all like me, it’s a little tough to separate Lee and Helen in your mind.
They are one of the most unified couples and, frankly, impressive teams I’ve known. They are best friends, business partners, ministry-partners and they are, as Lee has said, quite madly in love. That’s a good thing. A very good thing.
When a person is called to pastoral ministry, it can be a bit of a scary thing. But for the one who is called there is no greater joy than to serve God in this way. It’s said that one should be a pastor only if they can’t not be a pastor.
Being a pastor at Yonge Street Mission is a unique privilege unlike any other pastorate. I talk to pastors in more traditional settings and you can’t help but pick up a sense of loneliness, a sense of isolation, a sense of burden – the burden of one man or woman who carries the load of pastoral care for a group of people they love.
But I think the mission’s got it right. Lee, the calling you have as a pastor to this congregation and to this mission, to this city, is not that of a lone shepherd leading a flock. You are part of a team.
You are part of a marvelous group of people who are dedicated and passionate about Jesus Christ. Look around you…this church is your team.
Every person here who loves Jesus Christ with all their heart is a core team member.
Each one here who is a Christ-follower is your partner in the gospel, your fellow co-labourer in Jesus. Did you know that you are surrounded by priests of God?
1 Peter 2:9-10 says this: But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Pastor Lee, this royal priesthood that surrounds you exists to declare the praises of God who has called each and every one of us out of darkness and into His marvelous light.
We’ve been declaring God’s praises here today in song and in prayer, in worship and adoration of the living God. This priesthood shares the calling with you to the mission of Jesus Christ to love the world, to seek and save those who are lost, and to enfold humanity into the love of God in Christ.
And among this royal priesthood, this body of believers, are the gifts of God intended to be used for the glory of God for the mission of God by the people of God. We don’t all do the same things. We don’t all serve the same function.
In Romans 12:4-7 the Apostle Paul says: “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully”.
Sometimes people are surprised by this. Sometimes we can think that the role of a pastor is to do everything in the church. That can be the way churches function, but it’s far off the Biblical mark. It is, plain and simple, not want God wants of His church.
Paul goes further into this in 1 Corinthians 12: 4-11 where he continues: “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.8 To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines”.
So the gifts of God for the healthy functioning of the church are present in the local church. And everyone who is part of this church has the joy and privilege and responsibility to use those gifts for the building up of the Body of Christ.
The great violinist, Nicolo Paganini, willed his marvelous violin to Genoa -- the city of his birth -- but only on condition that the instrument never be played upon. It was an unfortunate condition, for it is a peculiarity of wood that as long as it is used and handled, it shows little wear. As soon as it is discarded, it begins to decay. The exquisite, mellow-toned violin has become worm-eaten in its beautiful case, valueless except as a relic. The moldering instrument is a reminder that a life withdrawn from all service to others loses its meaning.
Now our key Scripture today read by _______, applies to each and every follower of Jesus Christ here. As we consider the new ministry that Pastor Lee is launching into and for which we have commissioned him today, we hear its relevance to Lee:
“I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace”.
There are three ways that I’ve experienced that make it possible to live in obedience to this passage.
The first is: PRAY.
Lee, the quality of your ministry among us here at Church at the Mission and at Yonge Street Mission as a whole, depends in large part directly on the caliber of your relationship with God. The thing about knowing God and loving God is that we can always go deeper.
I found out some time back that Lee and Helen are people of prayer. They have all kinds of personal stories, that some of you have heard, about God answering prayer in marvelous ways.
That’s a great reason to pray – God has ordained that we pray and that He will always answer prayer (perhaps not as we would like, but He will always answer). The author Phillips Brooks said: “Pray the largest prayers. You cannot think a prayer so large that God, in answering it, will not wish you had made it larger. Pray not for crutches but for wings.”
It is great to see the results of prayer, and Lee…you will spend a lot of time praying for and with the members of this congregation, this mission and this community.
But Lee as you and Helen know, the most transformative impact of prayer is in how it increases and enhances our intimacy with God our Father, our knowing God, our ability to hear when He speaks.
Before refrigerators, people used icehouses to preserve their food. Icehouses had thick walls, no windows, and a tightly fitted door. In winter, when streams and lakes were frozen, large blocks of ice were cut, hauled to the icehouses, and covered with sawdust. Often the ice would last well into the summer. One man lost a valuable watch while working in an icehouse. He searched diligently for it, carefully raking through the sawdust, but didn’t find it. His fellow workers also looked, but their efforts, too, proved futile.
A small boy who heard about the fruitless search slipped into the icehouse during the noon hour and soon emerged with the watch. Amazed, the men asked him how he found it. "I closed the door," the boy replied, "lay down in the sawdust, and kept very still. Soon I heard the watch ticking."
Often the question is not whether God is speaking, but whether we are being still enough, and quiet enough, to hear. [SOURCE: Phillip Gunter in Fresh Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching (Baker), from the editors of Leadership.]
In praying you will continue to draw near to God personally. That will enable you to lead those in this congregation closer to God, because you will know where to point us.
So…Pray at all times, without ceasing. Dig deep into His presence. Keep short accounts. This will go a long way to living worthy of the calling you have received.
The next thing that makes it possible to live a life worthy of the calling you’ve received is to: LOVE.
Now a lot of people have a lot of different ideas about what a pastor is. What a pastor is not is a manager or an agency worker; a pastor is not a 9 to 5 worker. A pastor is one who loves people, who cares for their souls, whose key concern is the welfare of the congregation they are called to serve.
Now, any one person’s capacity to love is limited. Human love is by definition finite. Divine love is an entirely different thing. God has the capacity to love the entire world – “God so loved the world that He gave…”. God has tireless affection for everyone on this planet. God’s motive is a key aspect of His nature. The Bible says that God is love. 1 John 4:8
So what is critical is that the motive of a pastor be love. Any other motive is deficient. But love for God first and foremost is the best possible motivation. That’s because, Lee, there are times when you will need to go above and beyond what is expected.
There are times when the challenges are so great that only a personal passion to love and honour God, and a personal passion to love and journey with the people in your care will be enough to keep you going.
The final thing we’ll discuss today that is critical to a life worthy of your calling is a willingness to step out of your comfort zone and RISK. Hudson Taylor said, "Unless there is an element of risk in our exploits for God, there is no need for faith." This is true. The mission of Jesus Christ is not an easy one. It always involves new challenges and new people.
I’ve said before that as much as we’re committed to being a great church for those who attend and are involved, our bigger purpose is to reach out to the community around us that doesn’t know Jesus, that hasn’t yet entered in to a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We are a community on a mission.
Now, the congregation is critical; it is where healing occurs. The church is in some ways like a hospital; not a place where all we do is nurse our wounds, but a place where people come to get healed so they can go out and live the lives God intends for us to live.
In church we are healed so that we can then be about the mission and purpose of the church, which is the mission and purpose of Jesus – to seek and save the lost.
Now, a lot of my comments have been addressed to Lee, your new Assistant Pastor here at Church at the Mission. Right now though I want to talk to us as a whole. What should be the attitude of the congregation toward Pastor Lee?
Now, one of the great things about Lee is that he is truly a safe person. He holds confidences well. He can be trusted with your story. He will give you good counsel, and if he doesn’t know what to say to help you, he will point you to someone who does. Lee is safe.
I want to suggest that your attitude toward your pastors, and toward Lee in particular now as we consider his new role among us, is also to be SAFE. By that I mean:
Support him. Lee needs your prayers. The same way Moses needed to have his arms lifted up to fulfill his calling, Lee will need your personal support.
Affirm him. We all need encouragement from time to time. When no one gives any kind of positive feedback, we can start to wonder if we’re really being effective in our work.
So say nice things to Lee, don’t just think them…a few words of affirmation can make his day. And they cost you nothing!
Follow him. Lee has been appointed Assistant Pastor because we have discerned that God has called him for such a time as this. In 1st Corinthians 10:11:1, Paul says this: “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ”. We’re encouraged to follow the lead of those God calls to lead.
Engage him. Pastor Lee cares about you. And he cares about fulfilling the mission of God that I’ve already described to care for one another and to seek and save those who are lost. Lee is a listener. He cares more about what works to fulfill God’s calling than he cares about doing things his way. Lee is an intelligent man, highly experienced in team work.
He is called to serve God alongside you, to equip you for ministry, to care for your soul, to journey with you and to encourage you as you seek to serve God.
One last word. Lee, I want you to remember this Scripture passage. It will encourage you when times are tough: 10 God says: Isaiah 41: “I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”.
This is a new day, a good day and the beginning of an exciting time in life for Lee and Helen. To both of you I say: “May God bless you with His loving presence, may God enrich you with His deep companionship and friendship, may the Lordship of Jesus Christ remain your joy and strength, and may you prosper greatly in this new chapter in your lives together".
And Lee, welcome to the pastoral team of Church at the Mission, Yonge Street Mission”.
