wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Not the same old sermon

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #8412 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Not the same old sermon
GA04118
July 2, 2004

Not the same old sermon

Co-leaders of Youth Connection preach together at Assembly worship

by Erin Cox-Holmes

RICHMOND, July 2 - To say they're the church of the future is cliched.

To say they're the "now" of the church is obvious.

To say they shine like stars when they preach is the plain truth.

Sharing the pulpit during Friday morning's Assembly worship service were the
co-moderators of the Presbyterian Youth Connection, elders Patricia Massey
and Nathan Ballantine, preaching on "A Joy in Two Parts." Their text was from
John 16, in which Jesus promises the disciples that grief will be turned into
joy.

When Massey and Ballantine were commissioned as co-moderators, they were
vested with stoles representing the Youth Connection theme, "Shine Like
Stars." As they preached, the stoles framed their faces and invested their
words with authority.

"The last time we really wore our stoles was when we were installed," Massey
said. "We didn't put them on ourselves; they placed them on us, to remind us
of the weight of responsibility to the General Assembly and the Youth
Connection."

"Every time I put it on," Ballantine said, "it brings a sense of self-worth.
I don't always feel worthy to preach or be leader of hundreds of other
Christians, but through wearing the stole I remember the power doesn't come
from me."

In March, when they began crafting their sermon, Massey and Ballantine
started with the ancient practice of Lectio Divina - listening to scripture
with the "eyes of the heart" - to discover their different pathways to
preaching.

Ballantine brought the first part. He talked about grief, and how guilt
loaded on top of grief makes it intolerable. When he had a horrid illness
caused by a bacterial infection, he said, a "miracle antibiotic" cured it -
"but there are no miracle drugs for gut-wrenching grief."

The situation would be hopeless, he said, except for the grace of
resurrection. Death becomes life. Grace conquers grief. God wants us to be
joyful.

Massey picked up that theme without missing a beat. What kind of joy is it
that the Jesus talks about in scripture? Christ isn't promising happiness,
Massey said, but a gift of God's love and acceptance.

"God knows, accepts, and loves you - the 'you' that you are, stripped of
definitions and responsibilities. You are a beloved child of God." This is
what youth ministry - all ministry - is about, she said: being joyful because
of God's love for us, and spreading that joy to others.

How did it feel to embody the Word before the whole General Assembly?

"I felt on auto-pilot," Ballantine said, "yet I knew exactly what I had to
do. ... I felt like something was using my mouth, and I was just going with
it. I felt like everything was going to be just right."

"When I sat and listened to Nathan," Massey said, "I felt excited and
honored. I was worried I would be too busy thinking about my own sermon, but
I was able to be present to his. Honestly I surprised myself. I wasn't only
preaching to the Assembly, but preaching to myself. I really felt like I was
a beloved child of God."

This story and many others may have photos, media, video clips that can be
found at http://www.pcusa.org/ga216/.

To subscribe or unsubscribe, please send an email to
pcusanews-subscribe-request@halak.pcusa.org or
pcusanews-unsubscribe-request@halak.pcusa.org

To contact the owner of the list, please send an email to
pcusanews-request@halak.pcusa.org