The Park Road Pulpit
Sermons from Park Road Baptist Church
Russ and Amy Jacks Dean, Pastors
Two By Two
Luke 10:1-11
Amy Jacks Dean, July 8, 2001
As we began to move toward a plan for Shared Pastoral Ministry, we knew we needed a marketing strategy. As Russ moved toward the project phase of his Doctor of Ministry degree, he needed a project title. What would best identify and define the model? This passage from Luke’s gospel came to mind. And Jesus “sent them two by two.” (Luke 10:1, NIV) That’s it! That’s exactly what our dream, our vision, dare I say, our call was: to be sent two by two. It’s as old a concept as the animals on Noah’s ark! We see this model throughout Scripture though certainly not exclusively. Plenty of people were sent out on their own to proclaim the Good News, but so many times in the history of the people of God, we see folks sent in twos. Abraham and Sarah, Esther and Mordecai, Ruth and Naomi, Paul and Barnabas, Barnabas and Mark, Paul and Silas, Aquila and Priscilla. According to Mosaic Law, two witnesses were required for testimony to be credible. (New Interpreter’s, p. 219) People sent in twos-that is certainly our story. We knew that we complimented each other. We knew that we shared a vision of ministry. We knew we had the same hoped and dreams for a community of faith. What better way to accomplish our goals, hopes, and dreams than together. We could model mutuality and equality. We could promote consensus and cooperation. We could share the life of the church and the life of our family. We could have it all! In the last week and a half, we have been to the national meeting of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in Atlanta and I have been at the Furman Pastor’s School. If I have said it once, I’ve said it a million times in the last 10 days, “We have found a slice of heaven here on earth.” I did quickly add, “We know it could turn into hell tomorrow, but for today we are enjoying heaven.” Do you know how many people want our jobs? They think our church sounds great! We want to offer to you our thanks. Thank you for calling us. Thank you for welcoming us. Thank you for giving us a chance. Thank you for having confidence in us and for encouraging us. Thank you for including us in your church family. Thank you for making your church our church.
Between the CBF and the FU Pastor’s School, we have learned that we are not the only ones out there with this dream and we are not the only ones for whom the dream has come true. We have met –face to face- 4 their couples doing the exact same thing (3 of them in Baptist life!). And we led a workshop with 40 people in attendance interested in sharing the role of pastor. This idea of “two by two” is catching on.
Early on in our dreaming process, we were confirmed in our thoughts when a pastor friend said that communion should never be served by one person – that a man and a woman should stand behind that table as representatives of the full image of God. It’s important for me that our sons see both of us as ministers and preachers. It’s important that the girls and the boys of this church know that both men and women can be pastors and that men and women can work together. It has dawned on me whenever we have had parent-child dedications and offered words of blessing upon those babies—that as they grow in this church for the next 5,10, 18 years – this will be the only experience they know – that of a man and a woman as their pastors. Our theology professor in seminary and one of my mentors, Molly Marshall, tells the story of when she pastured a church for about 5 years. There was a problem in children’s church. A children’s worship service happened simultaneously to the regular worship service The children led the service, with adult supervision and coordination. The problem was that the little girls wouldn’t let the little boys preach. The only experience the children had was that a woman was the preacher. Molly had to go to children’s worship and have a talk with the children to explain to the little girls that, yet it was true, little boys could preach too! I love that story!
So, Russ and I are living our dream – thanks be to God and to you –but what about you? Jesus sent these out – commissioned them with a set of instructions and just by his very words and his presence blessed them in their journey and their mission. If you will allow me today, as a Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I would like to commission you and offer blessing in your journey and your mission. I send you out today, two by two, and here are my categories:
1) Married couples – do you remember for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part? Your marriage vows – that covenant and commitment was your commissioning to work together. You are to leave this place today – two by two – and live your life so that everyone will know that the Kingdom of God has come near them. The sociologist that spoke this week at Furman, outlined the religious landscape of our country. Whereas 50 years ago, the family was the place of refuge and rest, the place of comfort, the place where one could be themselves, today that place is more and more the workplace. Their studies are indicating that people are not just workaholics, but they go to the office early and stay late and work overtime because they are more understood at work – that in some strange way, the workplace is more relaxing and comfortable than home. Their refuge is their work. That concerns me and it should concern you. You have not made Godly vows to your work. You have not voiced holy commitments to your boss. But you have to your spouse. In a day when I have heard more about “family values” from the political realm than I can stand, maybe it’s time to hear it from the church. If you sit here today, you can be assured that the Kingdom of God has come near to you and Jesus’ instruction is to live a life so that others may too experience the presence of God. So grab your spouse’s hand and hold on tight. You don’t go alone – you go two by two.
2) Some of you are single parents – and for as many reasons as there are divorces, you no longer travel two by two with a spouse. But who is to say that you cannot travel two by two with your child(ren)? What a powerful example? What a vote of confidence for your child and what a moment of reward for you to be commissioned with your child. Just last week, someone facing medical problems told me that her own daughter had prayed with her. She said, “You can’t imagine what it feels like to have your own child pray for you.” Family is no longer defined as 2.2 children with 2 parents and an SUV. The concept of family is being redefined everyday. And if you find yourself as a single parent, know that you have been commissioned to go with your child. It doesn’t matter their age – from birth to adult – all sizes and shapes can be a reminder of the presence of God in our midst, if you sit here today, you can be assured that the Kingdom of God has come near to you and Jesus’ instruction is to live a life so that others may too experience the presence of God. So grab your child’s hand and hold on tight. You don’t go alone – you go two by two.
3) Friends – If for whatever reason, you do not fall into categories one or two, surely you fall into this one. Throughout my6 life, I have experienced friendships that can be closer than family. Be intentional and partner with them to go two by two into this world letting people know that the presence of God is among us. God is not out there. God is right here – in our midst – but people don’t know it. That is precisely why Jesus sent these 70-something people out ahead of him. If you sit here today, you can be assured that the Kingdom of God has come near to you and Jesus’ instruction is to live a life so that others may too experience the presence of God. So grab your friend’s hand and hold on tight. You don’t go alone – you go two by two.
These two by two’s task was simple. “The Kingdom of God has come near to you.” They just had to tell that. They didn’t have to be on a committee, they didn’t have to prepare a luncheon or a reception, they didn’t have to paint a room or collect money, they didn’t have yet another job at the church to do, they didn’t have to go door to door, they weren’t about evangelism. They had to be a witness, in the plain ordinary-ness of their lives, a witness to the presence of God among them. Barbara Brown Taylor talked about reclaiming religious words. I want to reclaim one today – witness.
Over and over and over again last week, I heard from every speaker – from the white Californian male sociologist to the African-American male homelitics professor to the white female priest – that as we preach, we must be mindful that people today are looking – even searching for meaning and purpose today – more than at any other time in history. Barbara Brown Taylor said in one lecture, “Hearts are hungry, not the head…Weekly, people hope for something to happen…they are trying to make sense of faith in God.” She said that we must save people from meaninglessness and let them know that they have a call and a purpose. That is “salvation”.
So, I’m letting you know today, that you both have a call and a purpose and that is that we have got to let people in on the fact that God is with us. And not just with us, but near us. But you can’t just tell it – you have to live it – and the Good News is that we don’t do this alone. We have been given to one another and we need to lean on each other and hold on to each other because the life of faith is not easy. It can be scary and daunting and confusing and maddening and disappointing. We may be rejected, or worse, discounted and we’ll have dust we must shake from our shoes, but we won’t be alone. We’ll be with our husband or our child or our friend.
Russ and I have chosen as a vocation to be sent out two by two and we have been ordained (commissioned/blessed) to live this life. I’ll let you in on a secret – you too, in your baptism, have been ordained/commissioned/blessed. This can be an overwhelming realization. It may sound like more work when you’ve already got more than you can say grace over. It may sound like more responsibility when you’re already over-committed. In her book The Preaching Life, Barbara Brown Taylor says she will never forget the response of one woman who was listening to her speech on the ministry of the laity as God’s best hope for the world, “I’m sorry,” said the woman, “but I don’t want to be that important.” Taylor goes on to say that “like many of those who sit beside her at church, she hears the invitation to ministry as an invitation to do more – to lead the every member canvass, or cook supper for the homeless, or teach [Vacation Bible School]. Or she hears the invitation to ministry as an invitation to be more – to be more generous, more loving, more religious. No one has ever introduced her to the idea that her ministry might involve being just who she already is and doing just what she already does, with one difference: namely, that she understand herself to be God’s person in and for the world.” (page 27 – 28).
In the Episcopal church, words spoken in the sacrament of baptism are “Send them into the world in witness to your love.” – and in the sacrament of the communion service “Send us now into the world in peace.” And we do this together – together! We don’t go alone.
If you feel lonely and you can find no one else, let me know – I go two by two with more than Russ. We go together as a church family.
If you feel your life has no meaning or purpose, I must offer you this opportunity: be a witness.
The Kingdom of God has come near you and that you can’t keep to yourself.