January 2, 2005

Covenant, Ark & Interim

By Susan Lincoln

Covenant -

You and I have a covenant together which we will be ending today at the end of this service. So, what's a covenant?

Dr. Van Harvey, in his Handbook of Theological Terms, says that "a Covenant is a relationship between two parties in which each party voluntarily agrees to certain conditions of the relationship and gives their word to uphold it. A Covenant is a living, dynamic relationship symbolized outwardly by a visible bond."

So, after we say all that, what does it really mean, and where does it come from? After all, it seems to be used only in church things.

Well, the term really goes back into the Old Testament story of Noah and God's promise to Noah and Israel that their God, whom they called Yahweh, would never again flood the earth killing every living thing. It's as if everything before Noah was erased except for what Noah carried with him in the famous ARK. Yahweh then set in the clouds a bow to be that outwardly visible symbol of the promise. Forever after a covenant always includes God

Our Covenant together began in August, 2003, and you offered me the keys to the church as symbol of our agreement together, and I offered my Communion plate and Chalice as my symbol of our covenant relationship. These things are dynamic symbols used regularly in our sacred and everyday life together. Today we symbolically give them back to each other.

The journey of transition from one called pastor to the next, this period in your life called INTERIM, is over. Tomorrow your next official, called Minister, the Rev. Julianne Stokstad, begins. My symbol for the transitional journey from David Ray's ministry to Julianne Stokstad's ministry is Noah's Ark.

"Then the Lord said to Noah: 'Go into the ark, you and your entire household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before me in this generation. Take with you 7 pairs of all clean animals, etc....to keep their kind alive on the face of all the earth...'

"The flood continued 40 days on the earth; and the waters increased, and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth...But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and all the domestic animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided..."

Sort of sounds like the weather we've been having world-wide this last week, doesn't it? But, remember the rainbow.

I told you this story as we began together, and I'll tell it again as it concludes today. This Story is symbolic of our life together in many ways.

The first interim task is remembering and making a respectful and peaceful closure with the church's past, or generally called "coming to terms with history." As with Noah's family, this church has a long and wonderful history, 111 years! There is also a history of the earth, of this country, the UCC. There's a history of the creatures who joined Noah, and we each bring our own history with us into the Interim time. Some of us have had bad experiences. Some of us no experience, and some very good. We climbed on this ARK because we trusted that God had put us together for this voyage, and we would make the best of it.

Who did Noah bring along? Were there some giraffes? Every church community needs a few good giraffes! We need somebody who's always looking into things, looking over our shoulder. The "checker-uppers" are so valuable for keeping us on our toes. Were you a giraffe this last year?

And how about the meercats or prairie dogs? We needed those who dug into things and came up laughing! We do need the watchers among us on our ark voyage.

As Noah and his sons and daughters-in-law felt the ark lifting in the waters they must have had some anxiety. "Will this thing float?" Were you one of the anxious ones who wondered if this church would survive all the waves and bumps, all the winds and storms, the unknown ahead? Did you really trust that we'd make it to the "other side" without being wrecked and drowned?

With God as our true Captain, we certainly could trust that this ark and community would float for as long as it took to get to the other side - the Biblical 40 days and nights, the number of completion, God's time. And, as Noah and his family spent time with all those animals, domestic and wild, they must have felt pretty "zooy." We had to learn new ways of working together and just being together sometimes was sweet and sometimes kind of smelly! It was a time for healing, patience, trust, prayer, and peace. Noah's animals and this church had to discover a new identity. You are a different and I'd say, a stronger and more confident people.

As an Interim Pastor, I offered you some new ways of connecting with others. We have learned to communicate a little better in the Ark, and to navigate in the waters of this new sea. We not only learned to keep afloat, but eventually gained a real sense of God's direction for us. That implies a process for survival and for living well while you set up and directed a Search Committee to look for your new Pastor. You identified yourselves and put yourselves forward as God, who is Still Speaking, called you into the future. God still calls you. Your journey continues, of course.

The Seals are so happy. The Fish are overjoyed to find new places to swim. Do you know that there is a large and devoted group now participating in the Interfaith Community? The Squirrels and Eagles, Lions and Horses can hardly wait for new dry land. It's just there, they can smell the new grass and nuts! We've renewed our linkages with God and with our supporting UCC Northern California/Nevada Conference. The Rev. Mary Susan Gast, our Conference Minister, David Bergman-Hill, our Minister for Stewardship, Finance and Administration have both been here to preach and talk to you about how the Conference could and can continue to help you. "The God is Still Speaking Campaign" gave us materials and a 1/2 day workshop to encourage this church and all our UCC churches to grow and prosper. The Rev. Gayle Madison was here more than most of you know to support and guide the Search Committee. They were not set adrift to fend for themselves. Support and encouragement were what we all tried to provide.

There's new territory out there. Where are the trees we needed to climb? Where did you "fish" for your candidates? How did God sustain you in the hungry days? Were there times you thought you'd surely float along in the rain forever? How is God calling you now to hunt for new nourishment? In which pastures do you long to run free with the joyful guidance of a new Pastor?

There were some leadership shifts. More of you agreed to take on Board positions; we added new members. You have a new Office Manager in Cheryl Scott, who, with the Board of Trustees, takes care of the rentals and makes administration work for your minister and interns. Her first anniversary just passed in December. Alan Miller stepped up on deck to shed some light on our guide, the Bible. You welcomed and encouraged, and are still encouraging, 3 Student Interns: Susan Brecht, Faune Towery & Linda Anton. We welcomed Linda home after her internship in Cloverdale. Linda and Faune took on the task of leading a "Spirituality in Advent" series for us. There were always willing people to act as Liturgists and Children's Story tellers for our worship services. Yes, new leadership has come in all kinds of places. The doves do get tired of always being the mediators and peace makers, condors tire of always cleaning up after us, and even monkeys tire of monkeying around. There are still leadership opportunities that wait to surprise us at this year's Annual Meeting.

The final Interim task is and will be to truly commit to a new future. "In the six hundred first year, in the first month...Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and saw that the face of the ground was drying." There is an end to this journey. It's today. And, after all the time that you and I have spent together, it is hard to let go and commit to Julianne and your new vision together. You'll have to work on that. I'll have to deal with missing you too. The process has already begun. Closure is intentional. I won't just vanish. Noah didn't just vanish...he went into the wine business. For you, the vision of the future still it needs filling out and planning. The new sign must go up. The Courtyard needs rethinking and building, the Plum Room bathroom/classroom design and building can begin. New locks, new blinds, new plants... there's so much that makes one smile. Bible Studies, Lenten series, don't forget Epiphany, Jan6. That's the experience of God's presence. The arrival of the 3 ships... the arrival of the 3 wise, Persian men, the arrival of royalty, healing and eternal life [gold, frankincense and myrrh] - God's Spirit is with us, and with you in a new way this week.

The ark has stopped bobbing along, and we are ready to disembark and go our separate ways.

Praise God, there is a wonderful new heaven and a new earth out there waiting for you. For all of our churches that go through the "Interim Process," I deeply believe that God is even now preparing a new place for me, just as God prepared our Covenant for us. In God's own time, life does change, and it gets even better than before. God calls us to build an ark and trust the process. Thank God you did, I did, we did. Go into your future on solid ground. Trust in God. Be thankful. I thank God for you. Peace be with you. May God bless us all.

Shalom. Amen.