On Thursday I attended my first district clergy meeting representing the United Methodist Foundation/Development Fund for the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference. I was grateful that Rev. Dr. David Comperry, our Field Staff Representative, was able to be present so we could each offer helpful information about the benefits of a relationship with the Foundation/Development Fund.

The meeting was in the Metro District, which covers Shelby, Tipton, Fayette, and Hardeman counties, and was hosted by Germantown UMC. Attendance and participation were strong as we sang hymns of praise, read from the holy scriptures, engaged in small group table discussions, and concluded with a liturgy of remembrance of our baptism. Metro District Superintendent, Rev. Dr. Deborah Smith offered meaningful words of encouragement and strong spiritual leadership for our first district clergy meeting since both General and Annual Conferences.

Isaiah 6:1-8 was the passage we used to guide our worship and small group sharing, with particular emphasis was on verses 6-8:

6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.’ 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’ (NRSV)

We considered how we had answered our calls to pastoral ministry, and how we might describe all the dynamics that can surround God’s call of “Whom shall I send?”, and the potential response of “Here am I; send me!” Knowing that God is always calling, our responses are ongoing and ever-changing. They can vary depending on our state of being at any point in time. We may say “Yes” or “No” or “Yes/No” but with a “not yet” attached to it. Instead of “send me” we may instead ask “why me?”

The events of the past few years that have created a lot of unpleasant, even hideous moments in church life have made pastoral leadership extremely challenging and draining. But even in the midst of an ugly moment, God still calls. This is a beautiful thing. It should be a sign of blessed assurance that no matter how departed from normal life may be, God still calls and expects us to use our true spiritual gifts and graces for continuing to build, or rebuild, the Kingdom…or endure it’s demise or departure as we know it.

I needed to be reminded of this. Perhaps you do to. I needed to see that being tired, even exhausted, makes Sabbath time even more refreshing, reinvigorating, and restorative. Living through a fog means we will appreciate it even more when it dissipates. It reminds me that we can still value the moments when God calls whether we are able to “Yes” or “No” in a particular season of life. Because grace abounds, God is patient while being persistent.

I want to close with a prayer that was offered by Rev. Dr. Renee Dillard, Director of EAP and Community Behavioral Health for Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare. It is written by John O’Donohue, from his work “Beauty – The Invisible Embrace”.

May the beauty of your life become more visible to you, that you may glimpse your wild divinity. May the wonders of the earth call you forth from all your small, secret prisons and set your feet free in the pastures of possibilities. May the light of dawn anoint your eyes that you may behold what a miracle a day is. May the liturgy of twilight shelter all your fears and darkness within the circle of ease. May the angel of memory surprise you in bleak times with new gifts from the harvest of your vanished days.

May you allow no dark hand to quench the candle of hope in your heart. May you discover a new generosity towards yourself, and encourage yourself to engage your life as a great adventure. May the outside voices of fear and despair find no echo in you. May you always trust the urgency and wisdom of your own spirit. May the shelter and nourishment of all the good you have done, the love you have shown, the suffering you have carried, awaken around you to bless your life a thousand times. And when love finds the path to your door may you open like the earth to the dawn, and trust your every hidden color towards its nourishment of light. May you find enough stillness and silence to savor the kiss of God on your soul and delight in the eternity that shaped you, that holds you and calls you. And may you know that despite confusion, anxiety and emptiness, your name is written in Heaven. And may you come to see your life as a quiet sacrament of service, which awakens around you a rhythm where doubt gives way to the grace of wonder, where what is awkward and strained can find elegance, and where crippled hope can find wings, and torment enter at last unto the grace of serenity. May Divine Beauty bless you.

 

Serving Christ, Serving you,

Rev. Dr. David O. Weatherly