Dear Friends,
By the time you read this, my ordination will be complete. On Tuesday, June 24, the Presbytery of PaloDuro in Seymour, Texas examined my faith and my fitness for ministry. Then, on June 28 in Carrollton, Ohio, a group of elders and ministers laid hands on me and prayed for the Holy Spirit to use me. This day has been the end of a long journey for me and my family. However, it is also the beginning of a new adventure that we are excited to share with you in Vernon.
Will I suddenly become a different person? Hardly. I will still be the bumbling, tongue-tied pastor thatI’ve always been. I remain imperfect, always needing God’s grace. However, something will be different. Through ordination, the Church dedicates me to the particular ministry of Word and Sacrament. I will have the particular responsibility to baptize God’s children, to speak God’s Word when no one else will, and to break the bread at the Lord’s table. Like the bread and wine dedicated at Communion, the Church asks God to take something ordinary, me, and use it for God’s purposes.
Given this understanding of ordination, all Christians are in a sense ordained. We have been baptized. As Christ identified with our humanity in John’s baptism, we identify with Jesus in his death and resurrection. Paul writes, “We were therefore buried with himthrough baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory ofthe Father, we too may live a new life” (Rom 6:4). In baptism, all Christians are formally dedicated to God. Through Christ, we are consecrated--made holy. God takes something ordinary, us, and uses us for God’s purposes. Paul understood that Christians need to be “living sacrifices” (Rom 12:1). That calling is higher and prior to my calling to the ministry of Word and Sacrament. It is a calling that we all share as brothers and sisters in Christ.
As we begin a new ministry together, let us remember our mutual ordination. Let us remember our lives as a sacrifice to God. Finally, let us remember the Savior who called us and saved us. Amen.
Grace & Peace,
James
