Into the Exuberance!

A sermon by Rev. Gusti Linnea Newquist

1 Corinthians 12:4-26 

If the Church Were Christian, says author Philip Gulley, in the book we have been reading in the adult education class these past several weeks, “meeting needs would be more important than maintaining institutions.”

Period.

And it makes sense, right? The whole reason the church exists is to be human need. Not to perpetuate itself.

In fact, I am quite certain that I could just repeat those words verbatim on any given Sunday at Madison Square and sit back down. And we would go on about our singing and our serving, and our MLK march planning, and our Habitat for Humanity building with the sure conviction that we are absolutely committed to meeting human needs and not at all about maintaining an institution.

But here we are, on this particular Sunday at Madison Square, ordaining and installing new church officers. Offering the very traditional gift of anointing and laying hands upon Mike Ballentine and Norma Villarreal, as a sign and a seal of God’s call to them in their baptism and a recognition of the gifts for governance and congregational care we have discerned in them for leadership among us in the years to come. And we have to admit that in many ways this act of ordination is exactly designed to perpetuate the institution called Madison Square Presbyterian Church. Which is, I would argue, an institution worth perpetuating!

On this particular Sunday we are also re-affirming the gifts for governance and congregational care we have discerned in Sharon Wallace and Ben Baker and Rebecca Baker and Vi Berbiglia, as we anoint them and lay hands upon them to install them for a second term of service as deacon and ruling elders for this congregation.

And if Sharon and Ben and Rebecca and Vi are willing to tell the truth about their first terms in their respective offices of deacon and ruling elder, I am quite certain they will tell you it has felt a whole lot like institutional maintenance, at least in the sixteen months I have ministered among you as your interim pastor. Because assessing and repairing the administrative functioning of the congregation has been a very intentional part of our work together.

Ben Baker, as your Treasurer, has given just about every Saturday in the past six months to implement a major overhaul of Madison Square’s financial record-keeping system, now that we have the recommendations from the first external audit of church books in fifteen years. Talk about institutional maintenance! And he has said “yes” to three more years! What a gift! Alleluia for Ben!

And Vi Berbiglia, as the chair of your Madison Square Child Development Center Board, has devoted countless hours to digging into the budget and staffing realities of the CDC. She has pulled together a team of people who have dedicated themselves to maintaining that institution with a new, more sustainable business model to implement for the coming year. And she has said “yes” to three more years! What a gift! Alleluia for Vi!

And Rebecca Baker, as the chair of your Mission Committee, has been plowing through the park with a cup of coffee and a compassionate heart as your ambassador. Absolutely committed to meeting human need. But she has spent just as much time in the church office trying to figure out which budget authorizations are under her oversight and which ones are not and what kinds of receipts she needs to keep and for how long. And she has said “yes” to three more years! What a gift! Alleluia for Rebecca!

And Sharon Wallace, as your Deacon representative and Stewardship Committee member, has sat through meeting after meeting after meeting of planning and preparation. I am sure if you asked her it has sometimes felt an awful lot more like running a business than it did like reaching out in love to the people she feels called to serve. But she has said “yes” to three more years! What a gift! Alleluia for Sharon!

Yes, it can feel a whole lot like institutional maintenance when we are called to leadership in the church. But just look at the great diversity of gifts God has given us among just these four people, each of whom God has raised up among us for this unique moment at Madison Square. When we have needed exactly what they have to offer. With every one of their gifts being essential for building up the Body of Christ, Madison Square version.

And just look at the gifts of Mike Ballentine and Norma Villarreal, in healing, in compassion, and in mission for the years to come. And they have said “yes”! Alleluia for Mike and Norma!

In fact I would say the greatest gift that each of these leaders brings is that they already know that the whole reason they do what they do is to meet human need. That the whole reason this institution we call Madison Square Presbyterian Church and Child Development Center exists is to meet human needs. And not the other way around. And they do it with passion and enthusiasm and conviction. Period!

So what does that look like for Madison Square 2013 version?

The first thing it means is that our elected officers are not alone in their ordination to the ministry of meeting human needs, as Paul reminds those first century Christians in Corinth. Every one of us is! Including—and perhaps especially—the ones who do it quietly, behind the scenes, just making sure whatever needs to happen does in fact happen. Like Jack Weiss and Stu Ansel somehow always making sure there’s enough food to go around at an after-worship potluck or coffee hour. Like Marsha and Audrey and Gin and so many others loving everyone they meet who walks in the door when they are the ushers for the day. Like Jerry King, who unceremoniously made a “soul friend” with a man he met in the park. And who knows both of their lives are transforming because of it.

Like every one of you who has sent Larry Correu a get-well card, filling his wall with treasures from his church family, who already know that if one of us hurts, then every other one of us is involved in the hurt. And in the healing! Which is what Paul also reminds those first century Christians in Corinth.

But it is not just the hurt of human need that we share. It is the joy of human need. Because we who are human really do need to live in joy! And so Paul reminds us that if one part of the Body of Christ flourishes, every

other part enters into the exuberance. Which is what we did last week with Mac Holmes. And it sure did feel like we all got baptized right along with him, didn’t it?

The really good news, friends, is that as far as I can tell in this moment as your interim pastor, as we ordain and install your new class of deacons and ruling elders, we have finally figured out here at Madison Square how to maintain the institution just well enough to make sure we have the foundation we need to meet the very human needs that are all around us. With compassion. With joy. With exuberance! And with love.

And that is cause for another Alleluia!

Amen.