The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

“Saying Goodbye”

Philippians 1:3-11

Next week we will say “Goodbye!” to Margaret and Sonny Manning. Margaret will get to preach her final sermon here at Tellico on Sunday, we’ll share in a farewell reception on Sunday afternoon, and then after the MondayChurch! service, the Mannings will tie up some loose ends and then depart our company. That will all take place within a context of mixed emotions running through us all, ranging from the sadness of parting to the joy of the possibilities that lay ahead. This is a season for saying, “Goodbye!” and that’s what I want us to think about today.

Saying “Goodbye!” is more than speaking a word. For us Christians, saying “Goodbye!” is an act of faith.

It is an act of faith, first of all, because saying “Goodbye!” requires us to acknowledge that nothing in life is permanent. God did not create a world that doesn’t move. The earth spins on an axis and revolves around a sun. There are changing seasons and days and nights and weeks and years. Tides come in and tides go out. The temperature rises and falls. The world is an ever-changing place and so is life itself.

Having spent some of the summer with our four-year old grandson Ryan – full of life and energy and joy - I find myself glad for the fact that God did not create a world where people are born all grown up as adults! I suppose God could have done that – “Let us make humans in our own image…and let us make them all… 82-years old!” Can you imagine such a world? Would there be enough artificial joints to go around? Would there be any possibility of getting out of our parking lot without getting hit…or lost? Or, what if God had created a world of only teenagers? Would the planet’s course around the sun be altered by the thump-thump-thump of the subwoofers playing the music our kids enjoy? And can you imagine a world full of messy bedrooms?

No, God created us humans with room to grow. We come into life as infants and grow into children and mature into adolescents and ripen into people like Bob Puckett.

And somewhere along the way of the journey of our lives – whether early or late - we go home to God from Whom we came.

Nothing in this life and this world is permanent. The scriptures say that people are like grass. We flourish in the morning, but whither under the afternoon sun. And the scriptures tell us this not to make us feel depressed but rather to show us that we must treasure the days we have, and make the most of them. How long will it be before we have to say “Goodbye!” to our parents, our spouses, our children, our friends? How long before we have to say “Goodbye!” to the joys of childhood, or the adventure of adolescence, or the success of young adulthood, or the meaningful career of our maturity? How long before we have to say “Goodbye!” to good heath, good golf, to independence, to being able to think sharply?

Saying “Goodbye!” is an act of faith because in recognizing that nothing in life lasts forever, we discover the importance of squeezing the most out of every day and of treasuring every relationship and every moment we have. Valuing life for the gift that it is, is a true act of faith.

And, secondly, it is an act of faith because saying “Goodbye!” requires us to engage life as a journey.

Once upon a time, a man came to Jesus and asked if he could follow him. Jesus said, “Okay, but you have to understand this…foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” In other words, coming to Jesus is not about coming to a “place” of faith, but rather to a “journey” of faith. You will never get to settle down, never get to have a permanent home where you can sleep comfortably in your own bed. To follow Jesus, you have to understand that you will be constantly on the move, challenged to think new thoughts, dared to live in new ways, required to love beyond your present capabilities, forced to leave behind what you used to believe for new things that Jesus shows us are worth believing. Faith does not look like a hotel where you stay for the rest of your life, but rather like a tent that you have to pull up every morning and put down in a new place every night.

And this is unsettling for many people because we want a faith we can get a firm hold of much more than we want a faith that gets a firm hold of US, and takes us to places we don’t necessarily want to go or think we can go!

I’ve written in this month’s newsletter about the joy I find in Margaret’s discovery of her potential to become a senior pastor. She did not aspire to this kind of ministry when she first came to Tellico, but the experiences of her ministry here over the past two years have changed her mind. God has led her on a journey more deeply into herself and into God’s will and plan for her. And she has discovered new possibilities! And many in our church who wondered if our church would be struck by lightning if we called a female pastor have journeyed to a new place as well as God has used Margaret to minister to us. No lightning bolts have fallen from heaven. But lots of grace has been rained upon us. Hasn’t Margaret brought grace to your life? And so we have come to a new place in our journey of faith and our understanding of God.

Is there anyone here who knows God completely? Is there anyone here who can say with completely certainty that they understand the mystery of life? Are there any of us here today who fully know and understand themselves and the full potential of our lives?

God seems to intend life to be an ongoing, never ending journey into discovering the richness of all that God created us and the world to be – and an ever-deepening journey into relationship with the God who made us. Jesus, at the end of his life, said to the disciples, “There’s a lot more I have to teach you, but you’re not ready for it yet. But after I go, the Holy Spirit will come and lead you into all the truth.” And that’s a good way to understand how we are to live as Christians– led by the Spirit on a journey of continuous new discovery.

So we have to say “Goodbye!” to where we are right now, and step out into the uncertain future God lays out before us. Saying “Goodbye!” is an act of faith because it calls us to risk change and growth.

And finally, it is an act of faith because saying “Goodbye!” calls us to remember.

In the last church I served there was a place called the Remembrance Room. What made it the Remembrance Room was simply that an old discarded altar table was the focal point. On the front panel of the table were carved Jesus’ words, “Do This In Remembrance of Me.”

At the center of Christian worship – the Communion Table – is the call to remember. But remembering is something you can only do after you’ve said, “Goodbye!” to someone or something. In the act of Communion, we are to remember those dear ones to whom we have said, “Goodbye!” We are to remember their love, the role they have played in our lives, the good works they accomplished, the joy they brought us.

Every Sunday morning about 6:00 AM, I park my car out in the parking lot and walk past the Columbarium toward the church. I always say, “Good morning, y’all!” to those whose ashes are interred there. And I remember names, faces, times shared together. This morning, I especially remembered Dick Tracy who passed away this week, and thought about his love for Shirley, and his creative spirit that designed his house and built model ships in bottles. I even remembered Dick’s love of gin Martini’s and his willingness to share them with anyone willing to try!

And this morning I remembered Margaret and Sonny, too. I remembered how God led our search committee to find just the right person and the joy they experienced when they knew they had. I remembered watching a video of Margaret preaching at her last church and how the committee responded to it by saying, “Wow! Look at the hair!” I remembered how Margaret and Sonny were willing to risk living apart for a time in order to serve our congregation, and how hard it has been on them. I remembered how Margaret cried when she ministered to her first dying person. I remembered how Margaret brought pastoral care to many of you. I remembered how Margaret challenged my own thinking and helped me grow. I remembered the first time Sonny sang a solo here and Margaret responded by saying, “That was nice, honey!”

Do you remember some things, too?

Well, in his letter to the Philippians, the apostle Paul helps us appreciate how remembering is an act of faith. He writes:

“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this: that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Remembering those with whom we share the work of the gospel, reveals God to us, and God’s faithfulness to us through all the changes of life. It is okay to say “Goodbye!” because God cradles us all in his big loving arms, and will bring us safely through the journey that lays ahead.

So as we come to the remembrance table today, let us indeed remember – remember all those loved ones to whom you have said “Goodbye!” – remember Margaret and Sonny and what we have shared together – and most especially, remember Jesus.

In him, “Goodbye!” is never a final ending, but always a faithful new beginning. Amen.