Serving with Grace
Sermon | October 11, 2020 | Rev. Julie Lombard
Today, we will explore the idea of leadership as a Spiritual Practice. This may sound like a strange idea, but does this surprise you? Had you ever thought that by being involved in leadership at church or elsewhere was a way to get to know yourself better? Let me begin by reading excerpts from the book: Serving with Grace: Lay Leadership as a Spiritual Practice by Erik Walker Wikstrom. Erik is a minister in our faith tradition who has written this book for lay-leaders so that they may tune into the work they do for their churches as way to deepen spiritual practices. Let’s see, if after hearing his thoughts, if you feel the same way…
Every religious tradition teaches the value of giving service as an end in itself. Albert Schweitzer once said, “I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know. The only ones among you will be truly happy will be those who have sought and found how to serve.” Fundamentally, serving your church is simply another form of service. In her book Blessing the World, Rebecca Parker quotes a member of her congregation explaining why he tithes. His insight applies equally well to giving time and energy to the church instead of money:
To tithe is to tell the truth about who I am. If I did not tithe, it would say that I am a person who had nothing to give, a person who had received nothing from life. A person who did not matter to the larger society or whose life’s meaning was in providing for his own needs alone. But the fact, who I am is the opposite of all these things. I am a person who has something to give. I am a person who has received abundantly from life. I am a person whose presence matters in the world, and I am a person whose life has meaning because I am connected to and care about many things larger than myself. If I did not tithe, I would lose track of these truths about who I am.
Work devoted to something greater than yourself lifts you out of the narrow sphere of individual concerns, enlarges your perspective, and provides context for the joys and concerns of your own life. It’s a reality check, bringing us constantly back to the truth of our seventh Principle, in which we affirm the interconnected web of all existence. No lay leader gets to act alone. It means working for and with a group of people who have intertwining needs, hopes, fears, and expectations, all to help fulfill a common mission that binds them together. What better opportunity to learn over and over again that we are mutually interdependent? Lay service means claiming your own strand of the interdependent web while honoring the needs of others. It means being a firsthand witness to the power of diversity united in a single mission.
There is yet another level which opens up most fully when you see service to your congregation as a spiritual practice, when you look at leadership through a spiritual lens. You will have the chance to practice patience and learn about listening, really listening, to people with whom you disagree yet who may well have something you need to hear. These are valuable lessons.1Serving with Grace: Lay Leadership as a Spiritual Practice by Erik Walker Wikstrom, kindle edition, 10/05/2020
Eric ends his book, Serving with Grace, by writing, “Spirituality is not one thing among many that make up who we are. It’s a way of looking at the world, a point of view through which everything we encounter passes. Time on a meditation cushion, in a crowded sanctuary, playing with your kids, and discussing the church’s budget are all spiritual activities if the spiritual mindset is active.”
I was already a leader before I stepped into a church. I had been a drum major in HS band, a swim instructor and life guard in my teens, and a teacher after attending college, but while at church as a lay-leader like you, I was able to put my skills to good use and develop many others. I was thinking it was a diverse community; nobody would notice me. I was so wrong.
It didn’t take long for the church to fold me into leadership. The Religious Education Committee sent me to a Religious Education workshop being held at Ferry Beach in Maine. Most of the attendees there were Directors of Religious Education. I felt intimidated by all their collective knowledge and titles, and I was clearly out of my league and comfort zone. I was there to grow. The beautiful thing was that I could attend the weekend long retreat with my 3 year old daughter. While I went off to the trainings, she went out to play on the beach. We stayed in bunk beds at the conference center as my husband and baby stayed home in NH. It was an adventure I could share with my young daughter.
Another time, the Board Chair at church approached me and told me the church wanted to send two of us to a Leadership Training being held by the District- one of us would study the governance side while the other would do the spiritual side of the conference. It was another weekend away, this time to the Crawford Notch Retreat Center in NH. My church was sending me off to grow again. I got to know the other church leader better while we carpooled and took walks in the mountains along the wild rapids of the Ammonoosic River.
I was the person in the spiritual side of that workshop from my church. The other person who studied the governance side returned to church and led workshops to explain the challenges that our church had been facing and how we might get beyond them. Again, I was sitting beside ministers at this gathering. I never lead any specific spirituality workshop upon my return sharing what I learned. I felt like a bit like a fraud. I figured I was a bad investment for the church. It didn’t matter that I had already taught more than my fair share of religious and spiritual classes at church. I couldn’t see what the leaders saw in me. I couldn’t imagine ending up being here with you serving as your spiritual leaders and minister, today.
It wasn’t until a friend from church who attended seminary himself said something that stopped me in my tracks. While I was whining to him about how I hungered to serve our faith, he asked me to “Think Bigger”. How many years will I have to call you Rev. Lombard before you see it yourself? He asked me. Of course, not everyone’s aim while exploring leadership positions at church is to grow into becoming a minister, but by being here it will make you grow your spirit.
I couldn’t be a minister. Come on- look at me! I wasn’t smart enough. I certainly didn’t know enough. Y’all know I laugh way too loudly. Yet there was my friend, urging me to “Think Bigger” and that’s exactly what doing a spiritual practice does- it makes you “Think Bigger” about yourself and your place in the world. It turns out, that it’s ok for our spiritual leaders to have a sense of humor and a hardy laugh.
It hadn’t mattered how many committees I had chaired or served on or that I couldn’t get enough of church life. It seemed like I was always at church for one reason or another- for attending the Multigenerational Games and Chocolate, to lead a Restorative Circle to help the choir overcome a conflict that was festering there, or to host a church-wide campout on the church grounds … I was there because my soul was being replenished in a way I never experienced before.
Church had become a wellspring. I also adored all that volunteering from planting bulbs at church, to serving meals at the friendly kitchen, to sewing costumes for our living nativity. I was addicted to church and every spiritual dimension it offered me. And if I was concerned about my church addiction, I could probably attend one of the 12 step programs that met there. It took having many churches seeing me as a leader and helping me to grow along the way that got me to this particular leadership role and finally seeing myself as the spiritual leader the Spirit of Life called me to be.
Serving with Grace is merely that, it’s serving the faith we love and by doing so we serve one another and the wider world. It’s giving and then it’s receiving back grace from the gifts we’ve given. We all come here seeking elusive truths about the universe. We want to know what this life is all about and understand why we’re here. I came here to serve you because of your commitment to right relationship and your ministry to the LBGTQ community, and lastly to serve your mission- it’s a great one!
We are called, each and every one of us, here, to be a part of this abundance. The voice we hear says, “I want you! You belong here!” Let us give thanks and praise for this sacred place, one that grows its leadership, one that has pulled together so many strong leaders throughout its history. May we continue to connect with the sacred in every act we do. May it be so. Amen.
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