Wesley Menke
Grace Lutheran Church
16 May 2021
One of the best parts of being a pastor is learning about people. People are very interesting. I learned that ministry was largely about getting to know people when I was a summer camp counselor. Each week I would lead a cabin of about ten boys. They would always be so different from each other. One week there was a boy named Matthias. I said he had a cool name, and asked where it was from. He said it was from the Bible, that Matthias was one of the twelve apostles. I was puzzled by this. Then he explained that after Judas betrayed Jesus and died, that God called somebody else to be the twelfth apostle. The disciples narrowed the list of candidates to just two: Matthias and Justus. Finally they cost lots, or flipped a coin, to decide the winner. It was Matthias! What would it feel like to be Matthias? Was there a lot of pressure? I guess that the bar wasn’t really set that high by Judas, so it must have been kind of easy to make a good impression.
The moral of the story is that God does call people into ministry. I felt my call to ministry that first summer that I was a camp counselor. Ministry is really only about two things:
- God’s People
- God’s Word
If you care for both of those things, then you too might be called to ministry.
After I was called to ministry I became a youth and family minister in San Clemente, California. I was in charge of the youth groups. I wasn’t just a youth director; I was also a Spanish teacher at Our Savior’s Lutheran School. The nice thing about having a school is that you reach a lot more families, just as we do with our preschool now. One family, who was very sweet, had a hard time with people gossiping and spreading falsehoods about them. I remember when they shared this with me. I had just read Psalm 1. When we allow ourselves to be taken in to gossip, slander, and naysayers we will end up suffering and failing to grow. Constantly criticizing others and worrying about it is toxic. To be nourished and grow strong like a tree planted by water, is to focus on God’s word. God’s Word is like a river of life. I learned in my calling in ministry that while it is always essential to love and listen to people, it is sometimes better to not focus on the criticisms of others.
The high school youth group decided that they wanted to do a series of lessons about different world religions. They wanted to not just criticize them, but to learn about them. We began with Roman Catholic. A number of our youth attended J Serra Catholic High School. We invited Father Vincent who taught religion to join us one evening. He was a nice man and wore an all white habit with a very small hood in the back. He was a Norbertine monk. Father Vincent shared Jesus’ high priestly prayer for unity. Jesus said, “Father may they be one as we are one.” This is essentially what it means to be Catholic, to strive for the unity of the universal church. I thought that it was kind of cool for Father Vincent to make the effort of telling us that he didn’t want to exclude us Lutherans, but pray for unity. Father Vincent shared about his calling to become a monk and priest. It was so cool to learn about him.
It’s easy to criticize, but it is valuable to learn about.
Being called to ministry means loving people, and learning about them. God’s word helps lift us out of negativity and into God’s grace.
Professor Monica Coleman supervised my Master’s Thesis and Youth Theology. She had me read Tuomo Manermaa, a Finnish Lutheran Theologian. He thinks that Luther believed that the faith of Christ living in you was actually Jesus himself. Our ability to have faith and act like Jesus happens because Jesus actually lives inside of us, and is growing inside of us. God’s word, God’s testimony, Jesus, lives in body with us. Kind of deep, right? The best part is that you have nothing to do with him being there. You didn’t choose to have Jesus inside of you. Jesus chose you as a place to live. Maybe some haven’t been called yet. Yet. God will call on everyone. God will call you. Amen.
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