Good Courage

On the Anniversaries of Ordination of Daryn Holdsworth (20 years) and Kristen Koch (15 years)

Grace and peace to you, Pastor Kristen Koch and Chaplain Daryn Holdsworth, family and friends, and people of Shepherd of the Hills. It is so kind for you to invite a guest to bring the message on this celebration day, and I’m delighted and honored to be with you. I bring greetings from the church up north—from the people of Christ on Capitol Hill, Saint Paul, Minnesota, where our little yellow church stands next door to the Minnesota State Capitol building and where we gather in a diverse immigrant community each Sunday. In that place, our vision is to embody Christ the tree of life in the midst of our neighborhood and beyond... When Bishop Jim Gonia of the Rocky Mountain Synod visited us recently, he said, “Could I bring greetings from you to the church where I’ll be next week?” And everybody clapped & shouted “Yes!” … so I’m going to ask you the same—can I bring your greetings, people gathered here in celebration today, back to the people of Christ on Capitol Hill next Sunday?

Oh yay! It is so good to remember that despite distance and differences, we are one church, called by Christ to deeper connection, deeper love of one another, for the sake of a whole world that God loves.

Today’s gospel tells the story of a long, long day—a day when people were hungry and needing healing and Jesus was reaching out to them and finally as the day was done, Jesus too was done. Let’s cross over to the other side, he said to his equally weary disciples…

A significant number of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen, so they most likely knew this was not a good idea.
Who goes out on the sea at night? Who goes out when the skies are looking like…. this?

But, they go, they follow, and in no time exhausted Jesus falls asleep in the boat.

At this point, the storm becomes a real doozy. Finally, they’re so full of fear that they wake up Jesus, “Don’t you care that we’re about to die?” they shout. Then Jesus says to the storm, “Be still.” And immediately, the Galilee is a dead calm.

They were filled with fear, again, but this time it’s a little different. Who is this?

In this moment, I have the musical Hamilton singing through my mind—Oh, who are you? Oh, who are you? Oh, who are you? Who’s this guy, now, what’s he gonna do??!

Just like most everyone has a scar story (our brother and sister-in-law joke that it was comparing scar stories that brought them together), most everyone has a storm story. I have a few—like the time we were canoeing and had to get off the river when the rain became a deluge with thunder and lightning… another time, I accompanied my son’s 2^nd or 3^rd grade class to the Science Museum’s IMAX  “Tornado Alley” and listened as the kids around me showed total empathy, “Oh no, oh no, oh no!” they said with horror. And I wondered for a moment if this was a mistake, thinking this was a good movie for children. I bet you have your own storm stories, too, being right here at the end of Tornado Alley.

I happen to know that the Koch-Holdsworth family weathered tornado sirens once every month from January to September one year by calling them “Family Basement Fun Nights.” Remember that year? (2006)

Life has its storms and it’s hard to know what to make of them when we right in the middle of the wind and waves. Life with Jesus does not mean that we’re protected from storms and never have to go through any… And in fact, sometimes it seems like Jesus is leading us right into them.

On this milestone, anniversary celebration Sunday, it’s certainly a time to look back over our stories, though, and see where God has been faithful in bringing us through storms. Daryn told me his story of sitting in an empty church building early on, when things were not going at all well for him, and pointing a finger at Jesus—didn’t you call me into this? And hearing more clearly than any time before or since, a voice saying, “No, not this… I called you to chaplaincy.”

Ah ha! A place to use incredible musical gifts on a daily basis, a place to try unique and off-the-wall things, a place to accompany people tenderly through the last days of their lives, a way to be a presence through the whole storm of emotions that accompany death, and a way to be the voice of Jesus, 9Ø “Peace to you” at the very end of all we know of this life.

And then there’s Pastor Kristen, celebrating 15 years as a pastor (and nearly 6 years as your pastor), leading you as you celebrate who we are as the church, and what we as the church are called to do. This church is a community of beautiful and broken people whom God has chosen and called, no matter how unlikely.

So it just makes sense that your next experiment together with your creative, dedicated, and innovative pastor would respond to what Jayce’s family has been teaching—that there are many families who need a place to worship without the pressure to be quiet or still, where those who make joyful (or not-so-joyful) noises and need or want to move around have the opportunity to set the rest of us free to be fully in our bodies, to be our whole selves… beautiful and broken. You’re envisioning that the road ahead is one where differences are celebrated, where children and adults will be free to worship with heart, soul and body, a gathering full of unconditional love.

Oh how we need that!—unconditional love.

In a culture that is full of storms—a culture that seems to bow to terror, following the biggest bully; a culture where we are told that the best ways to deal with those who have needs different than our own is to lock them up, send them back or keep them out; in truly fearful storms made more fearful by the inability to communicate well across differences, we certainly might call out to Jesus, “Don’t you care that we’re about to die??”

We desperately need places where people of faith gathering truly are committed to being a community of unconditional love. Jesus calls ordinary people to faith in spite of fear, both on the sea of Galilee and now, in our presence this morning.

To you, beautiful and broken ones, you are chosen and called, no matter how unlikely. Maybe your politics are not exactly in line with the politics of Jesus—in spite of that, Jesus calls you to new, deeper, embracing love for your very different neighbor, the one who you have the most trouble valuing as a full human being, the one who you may never see eye-to-eye with… even that one you’re called to love, unconditionally, both in this space and in daily life.

To you, beautiful and broken ones, you are chosen and called, no matter how unlikely. Maybe you don’t really think you’re up to the challenges that you face. You’re vulnerable as it is, you’re barely making it as the waves grow and the winds increase, you are in grave danger and wonder if God cares at all… you are invited to be open-hearted to this Jesus who loves you, unconditionally, and God’s Holy Spirit who blows unpredictably—who calls, strengthens, empowers and sends us out to serve neighbors and strangers near and far.

To you, beautiful and broken ones, you are chosen and called, no matter how unlikely.

You who have given your life to ministry, you who are celebrating milestones, you who keep practicing getting into the boat, crossing over to the other side, holding on to life through the storm, and looking to Jesus in both storm and calm. Christ’s peace is in, with, and under you, and I rejoice for your partnership in the gospel from the first time we met until now. For you, Pastor Kristen, Pastor Daryn, people of God, as we celebrate the Holy Spirit’s faithful presence through every storm, I give thanks to the Lord, for God is good; God’s steadfast love endures forever.

And so we can venture into the next 15, the next 20 years with peace, trust, & good courage—pray with me: