Sermon:
The Present
Today is the second opportunity that I have had to preach at Central. I am truly
grateful to the session and congregation at large for affording me this opportunity.
One Sunday morning a pious and dedicated Presbyterian pastor woke up to see a bright
sun and crystal blue sky. As he looked closer, not a cloud was in sight and the
temperature was absolutely perfect. Perfect that is for a round of golf. The minister
called the clerk of session and announced that he was feeling a little under the weather
and would be unable to perform the worship service that day. With the bait cast and
taken, the minister quickly gathered his clubs and was sure to drive nearly 30 miles from
the manse so he would be certain to get in a round without being noticed.
As he was now in Montclair, he had the course all to himself since everyone in the
community was in church that Sunday. Playing alone, he breathed a sigh of relief
because he thought he might actually get in a round, guilt free.
He settled in took a practice swing and then laid into the ball like never before. It
traveled approximately 412 yards before coming to a rest at the bottom of the first hole.
His eyes a wonder for he was certain that no one had ever hit an ace on a 412-yard hole
before in the history of mankind. At the second tee he slapped the ball over the water
hazard. It appeared to walk on water as it danced across the surface of the pond, rolled
up the far bank, traversed a sand trap like an all terrain vehicle to the green and then,
once again fell into the hole. Quite pleased with his game, he went to the third tee.
This hole was considered by many in the area to be rather difficult. The pastor
launched a tee shot that seemed to follow the twisting fairway as if it were following a
road map. It too fell into the cup at the end of its flight and the pastor found himself to
be nine under par after three.
In heaven, Moses approached God and alerted him to the pastor’s game. How could
God permit this minister of all people have the game of his life on a perfect Sunday, no
less. God’s response to Moses was simply, “Who is he going to tell?”
In my first sermon, I used a book by Spencer Johnson, entitled “Who Moved My
Cheese” as a means to describe change management concepts within CPC. A great deal
has changed since August 2001 for us all in our faith journey. In August 2001 we
seemed to not worry about terrorism or the threat of war and an innocuous topic of
change management was just right for a slow summer Sunday. Little did any of us
know that within a little more than a month of that sermon, we would all know these
subjects all too well.
Outside of the context of the events of September 11th, 2001 and the whirlwind events
that have polarized our nation since that tragic day, we need not look as far to see the
effects of change within our own congregation. Since I shared my sermon, “Who Moved
My Congregation?” with you all, we have seen an installed pastor leave and have now
cycled through to a second interim pastor as we wait for a permanent call. We have
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