The Guidance of the Spirit of God

By Rev. Gusti Linnea Newquist


1 Samuel 16:1-13


“I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh . . .” Peter says on Pentecost Sunday . . . “and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy . . . and the ones among you who are young shall see visions . . . and the ones among you who are old shall dream dreams” . . . so that in all things you will seek and be receptive to the guidance of the Spirit of God . . . in the name of Christ . . . Amen . . .

And so we have arrived. The final chapter of our meditation on the Madison Square mission. A meditation that began with a celebration of Madison Square’s 130th anniversary on Transfiguration Sunday, and a sermon series on the mission statement combined with Focus Groups in the Season of Lent, and has continued since Easter Sunday with a report from your Transition Team on the vision and values and priorities for Madison Square, and with the presbytery affirming that Madison Square is, indeed, ready to begin the search for an installed pastor.

You may recall, if you were paying very close attention in this period of preparation, that I never did officially preach on the final statement of the Madison Square mission: “in all things, to seek and be receptive to the guidance of the Spirit of God.” And that is because I was saving it for today. The day we elect a Pastor Nominating Committee to do this very thing that ties your entire vision and mission together, which is “to seek and be receptive to the guidance of the Spirit of God” in calling that new installed pastor who will lead you into the future.

I saved a sermon on the guidance of the Spirit of God for this day because we really must live this part of the Madison Square mission in the next step of the interim process. We really must trust the guidance of the Spirit of God in bringing your installed pastor to you. We really must affirm together that this part of the Madison Square mission is in the end the only thing we can truly hang our hat on in any part of living out our mission as the Pentecost People who form the Christian Church.

The mystery and the promise of our faith is that we really do trust that the Spirit of God that was present in the beginning of Creation, present in the anointing of kings and the utterance of prophets, present in the baptism of Jesus, present in the birth of the church on Pentecost Sunday, present in the promise of our own baptism, present at the table that sustains us with bread and wine in abundance, present through the words of memory and hope that soar through the sacred words of ancient Scripture, is also present in the still, small voice that speaks within every one of us. In our sighs too deep for words to express. In our visions. In our dreams. And in our prophetic actions for justice and peace.

What we have learned and affirmed over and over and over again in this Spirit-led meditation on the Madison Square mission is that the Spirit of God really does call the entire congregation to the ministry of this church. Not just the next installed pastor. Or, I might add, the current interim pastor. We are, every one of us, called by the Spirit of God to the ministry of the gospel through our baptism. Nourished by the Spirit of God in our communion. And commissioned by the Spirit of God in our preaching.

And so I would even dare to say that in a very real sense it should not matter who your next installed pastor is. Because the ministry of Madison Square belongs to you, the ones God has called to worship in this sanctuary and called to service beyond these walls. Your vision is the Spirit’s vision for you. Your mission is the Spirit’s mission for you. Your priorities are the Spirit’s priorities for you. And you are the ones who will bring this vision to life, through the power of the Spirit.

It is precisely because we have been so diligent in affirming your calling as a congregation in seeking the guidance of the Spirit of God in the recent meditation on the Madison Square mission that we are finally ready to elect and commission a small group of people to serve as your Pastor Nominating Committee, in the same manner as the prophet Samuel in our Scripture lesson today, seeking just the right person to bring to you as a candidate for your next installed pastor. To support and encourage and nurture the vision God has given you, receptive always to the ongoing guidance of the Spirit of God.

The good news is we really are ready. It has been a long haul, but we really are ready. The challenging news is . . . well . . . the task of seeking a new installed pastor is just plain challenging. If we have been paying any attention to how the guidance of the Spirit of God works in our lives—and in the lives of our biblical ancestors—well, we just cannot ever predict how the guidance of the Spirit of God will lead. Or how long it will take to discern the guidance of the Spirit of God. Or if we will even like the guidance of the Spirit of God.

Take Samuel, for example. He is the biblical version of a Pastor Nominating Committee in our Scripture lesson for today. And surely he is seeking with due diligence “the guidance of the Spirit of God” in declaring who will lead the people in his own time and place. But if you remember from last Sunday’s lesson, Samuel was never in favor of this whole “king” business to begin with. He only submits to it begrudgingly. And it takes him a while to find exactly the right person.

The guidance of the Spirit of God has at least made it clear to him that the next leader for the people of God will come from the family of Jesse. So Samuel goes to Jesse. And what do they do? They worship God. Did you notice? The search for the new leader begins . . . with worship. Just like it is for us today. It is only after the worship service has concluded that Samuel actually evaluates the candidates.

Jesse brings his children forward. Which one will it be? Surely that first-born son is the one! (they all think) Groomed for greatness from the very beginning. The one who would allow them to call off the search right away and go back to a life of leisure. But “God does not see as mortals see; we look on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.” The guidance of the Spirit of God is clear. The one who makes the most sense in the eyes of Samuel is simply not the one God has chosen for the job. So Samuel keeps searching. Candidate after candidate parades before him. All of them are great people. All of them are fabulous in their own way. But none of them are anointed by the Spirit of God for the particular purpose of leading the people into the next era.

Samuel becomes quite certain the task is hopeless. “Do you have any more children?” Samuel asks of Jesse. And Jesse hesitates. “Well, there is that little shepherd boy,” he says, dismissing the notion this could possibly be God’s anointed. And of course that little shepherd boy turns out to be exactly the one who is clearly anointed by the Spirit of God for this purpose: King David, himself! The one we remember today as the greatest king of all.
This, too, will be the case for the Pastor Nominating Committee at Madison Square. Once they are elected by the congregation, they will gather regularly to seek the guidance of the Spirit of God in developing a “Church Information Form” to share with prospective candidates. They will bring that form to the session for approval and then they will post that form on-line to what I affectionately call the “Presbyterian Church on-line dating service,” matching the profiles of potential pastors with churches that might be a good fit for them. The great computer in the sky will send resumes to your Pastor Nominating Committee. And pastors themselves will send their resume. And the PNC will seek the guidance of the Spirit of God in reviewing applications and sermon samples and checking references of those applicants.

They will update us periodically on where they are in the search. But under no circumstances will they divulge the confidential information they share with one another in the search. So don’t ask them! Under no circumstances will they share the names of candidates they are considering. So don’t ask them! Under no circumstances will they tell us when and where they have scheduled face-to-face interviews. So don’t ask them! Under no circumstances will they enter this process with the expectation that they know from the beginning whom God has chosen for the position. That’s what Samuel did. And he was wrong. So don’t ask them!

What they will do, what they must do, in all that they do, is seek and be receptive to the guidance of the Spirit of God. Just as you have told them to do in the Madison Square mission statement. They will feel excitement and enthusiasm at the beginning, just like Samuel did. And they will go through periods of great frustration and disappointment, just like Samuel did. And they will keep on seeking the guidance of the Spirit of God through every part of the search process, just like Samuel did.

And then, in the end, at exactly the right time (and not a moment before), the Spirit of God will make it very clear who the next installed pastor of Madison Square should be, just like God did with David and Samuel. And the Pastor Nominating Committee will present that person to you for your approval at a congregational meeting. And we will most definitely shout yet another alleluia!

There is no way to know, today, when the time will be. We have been advised to expect a year. Perhaps it will take longer. I doubt it will be much less. But rest assured, that day WILL come!

In the meantime we continue to celebrate the outpouring of the Spirit upon all of us for ministry at Madison Square in this Pentecost season. The summer is full of fun for our kids with Vacation Bible School. The pulpit will be filled with incredible guest preachers and children’s moment leaders and a double infant baptism in the middle of July. The Stewardship Committee continues to prepare for a congregation-wide conversation this fall about the treasure God has given to us and our faithful stewardship of it. The Finance Committee continues to assess and improve our accounting procedures one large step at a time. AND we will move forward in August with envisioning new ideas for adult education and member care. And we will do it all with gratitude and delight in the guidance of the Spirit of God . . .

Because God is still “pouring out the Spirit upon all flesh,” . . . “and your sons and your daughters are still prophesying” . . . “and the ones among you who are young are still seeing visions” . . . “and the ones among you who are old are still dreaming dreams” . . . so that in all things we may continue to seek and be receptive to the guidance of the Spirit of God” . . . in the name of Christ, we pray . . . Amen.