I stand before you this morning in a long line of people called to be followers of God. Our Scripture today told of two such people. First, we heard about the prophet Amos. Amos was a migrant worker, picking grapes and dates, tending sheep, and working land for other people. Like many migrant workers in our society today, Amos was uneducated and poor. He was neither a preacher nor a preacher’s kid. Yet, God spoke to Amos. God’s voice to Amos sounded like the roar of a lion and the roll of thunder. God said to Amos, "Go, preach to my people. (7:15)" Amos became a follower of God.

Hundreds of years later, Saul was a very different follower of God. Saul was an intelligent, young Pharisee. He came from a home with money and prestige, and had trained with the best scholars. As an up-and-coming religious professional, Saul worked at the religious headquarters in Jerusalem. Saul loved the Jewish faith and fought its enemies, especially the followers of a new cult, based around a man named Jesus, called "The Way." Then one day, on assignment from his superiors to arrest followers of Jesus in Damascus, a bright light struck Saul down. Blinded and stunned by the light, Saul then heard the voice of Jesus. Jesus asked why Saul was persecuting the Christians. The voice from heaven then declared: "Go, and you will be told what to do. (9:6)"

I too have been called to be a follower of God. God, however, did not call me either like a lion or roll of thunder, nor did God strike me down with a flash of light. I describe my encounters with God like a stream of water. A stream takes its birth in the mountains at an unseen spring deep beneath the earth. The stream begins as a trickle of water, gently tumbling over mossy rocks. As the water flows down the mountain, the stream gains power. Other streams begin to feed the flowing water until the waters together become a mighty river. This river is then fed and also feeds other rivers until the waters reach the sea. I have had a blessed life, and the image of flowing water, gaining strength and moving forward, characterizes the story of my life and relationship with God.

My call began at my birth in Charlotte. My parents were both raised in Charlotte and married at Dilworth Methodist Church. I was the first-born of four sons and our whole family still stays in close touch with one another. My father, until his death three years ago, was a United Methodist preacher and theologian and I grew up listening to his sermons and lectures. From my father I learned to love the Bible, theology, and the joy of learning. My mother, still alive and quite active, has also my teacher and guide. She took me to Sunday School, served throughout our church, and taught me how laity also are ministers. In my family, ministry has not been a word but a way of life. Thus a trickle of water began.

When I was four days old, my parents took me to church for the first time. My mother handed me over to the nursery teacher and asked her to watch over me. From that time forth, the church community has shaped my life. When I was six months old, on a Palm Sunday morning, I was baptized at Dilworth United Methodist Church. I grew up in Durham and in the shadow of Duke University where my father taught. You will discover that I am a great fan of Duke basketball and fight with my brothers over my mother’s season tickets. As I grew up, I attended a large, quite traditional, downtown Methodist congregation. I went to Vacation Bible School, confirmation, day camps, youth retreats, and Sunday School every week.

I did not always want to go to Sunday School. One Sunday when I was in fifth grade, I woke up and saw snow on the ground. I jumped up and down. Snow meant that the city would be closed down and there would be no Sunday School. But lo and behold, my parents pulled me away from the window, put on my coat and tie, and took me to church. While we usually had thirty children in my class; that morning we had only two students. What was significant, however, is that both of my Sunday School teachers also arrived. Those two lay people took seriously their teaching ministry and they would not let the children down. The gentle stream built up strength as the church continued to shape me and mold me.

At age eighteen, the stream of my life hit some serious rocks. Our country was at war in Vietnam and in our own streets. In those days, I was forced to declare publicly my commitment to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I dedicated myself to God not in a revival but in my struggle with the military draft. I was among the last American men drafted to fight in Vietnam. At that time, because of what the church taught me about the Bible and of Christian tradition, I decided that God forbid me to join our military, even in defense of our country. I acknowledge that other good, faithful Christians disagree with me; you will discover that I rarely believe that all Christians must believe all the same things. And I rejoice that we are in a denomination that allows us to disagree on military service and many other issues, but still be sisters and brothers together. Refusing to join the military, however, was not a popular decision; I was abused at school and even my own church pastor and father believed that I was wrong.

To make my claim as a conscientious objector, I had to go before my local draft board and prove to them that my first loyalty was to God. The Durham draft board was notorious for denying conscientious objector status. When I went in for my hearing before the board, with my father at my side, I discovered that a member of the draft board was a member of our local church. At the end of the hearing, this man declared that he knew that my witness was based on my faith. After all, we had worshiped God together every Sunday morning. I was one of the few young men in Durham that year accepted as conscientious objectors.

In my struggle to decide God’s will for my life in relationship to the draft, I recognized that God called me to give my life to God. As God had nourished me through my parents, my family, my church, and through my struggle with the draft; now God had a claim upon my life. I believed that God expected me to give myself back to God and in service to other people.

The next years of my life were devoted to the academic study of religion. I went to Davidson College and enjoyed my life there. I played soccer and learned to love the discipline of study. Oh, I wondered if the Christian ministry was right for me. I tried other career options, such as business by running a small snack shop and politics by serving as a congressional intern in Washington. But I kept coming back to serving God through the church. I enjoyed preaching, visiting, and working with and leading people in local congregations. The stream of water gained force.

After Davidson, I continued my preparation for ministry by going to Duke Divinity School. Duke was also a rich experience for me; I quarterbacked the Divinity School flag-football team and learned that Greek was not my best subject. I discovered that studying with serious theologians and biblical scholars was for me a joyful experience. If you want someone to talk with you about theology and the Bible in depth, I’m your man.

During Divinity School at Duke, Sally and I met. Being the helpful person that I am, I took this younger female student under my wing to share with her my vast knowledge and guidance. I was a year older and certainly wiser. What I discovered was that Sally was a better student, a better preacher, and a better person than I was. She knows much more than I about being a follower of God, and as your new Salisbury District Superintendent you will see Sally on many occasions in this congregation. God has blessed us with two exceptional daughters, Ann Green (named for both of her grandmothers) and Sarah. Our girls each have their own gifts have taught us much about God. Sally, Ann Green, and Sarah have deeply enriched my relationship with God and feed this stream.

Our lives during the past twenty-five years have been centered on Christian ministry. My first appointment was to Royal Oaks in Kannapolis, and I was introduced to Central for the first time. Sally and I came to our first District Christmas party in your fellowship hall. I met Joe Luther who gave me advice about pastoral counseling. I’ve attended a number of the Houston Preaching events, and my father was once your Houston preacher. I helped start the chaplain’s program at Northeast Regional Hospital and got financial support for that ministry from this congregation. It never occurred to me that one day I would be in this pulpit.

Since those early years, Sally and I have been pastors together and separately in many local congregations from a seven-member congregation in the mountains to a fourteen hundred member congregation in Charlotte. Each of us have also taken time away from parish work to strengthen our skills. I went back to graduate school at Emory, and later took seven years out from parish ministry to work with our general church in the areas of preaching, worship, and music. The hymnal in your pew includes my name. In that ministry, I taught workshops, wrote books, preached from Singapore and Malaysia to England to Israel, and most importantly, learned what it means to be a person in the pew rather than a leader up front. I have traveled this nation and the world learning much about how God is shaping congregations and people all over this world.

What I have discovered in all my work, however, is that serving as a pastor in a local church is my first passion. I enjoy visiting older members, reading books to children, talking with youth, and administering a church. These past eleven years, Sally and I served congregations together and rejoiced as those congregations exploded in their love of God and others. Our seven years at China Grove were wonderful, and re-introduced us to Central. While we enjoyed being in Charlotte for four years, we are excited about being back in a community we have known for all of our married life. Sally and I will now be working apart, although her office is just a few miles down the road. And yes, you are still part of the Salisbury District although I will report to the Charlotte District Superintendent.

But our lives here will be different again. Our girls are going to be gone. Ann Green will be starting at the School of Theology at Boston University and Sarah will begin college at Centre College, a small Presbyterian college in Kentucky. Right now, they are in Costa Rico for a month learning Spanish. At times I’m going to feel a little lonely for Sally in the next office and the girls at home. But, God has looked after me and protected me and has led me to Central United Methodist Church. The stream of my life with God has become mighty and its banks are overflowing.

So I am here. Here we are. What should you expect from me? I am excited about being your new senior pastor. First of all, you should expect that I will try to know you and love you. I will visit you when are sick, work with you on committees, and teach in your Sunday School classes. I will baptize your babies and mourn with you at funerals. Throughout my ministry here, I will ask: Who are you? What are your names? What is your relationship with God? What are your hopes for this congregation? What can we discover about God’s expectations for this congregation? I’m going to do a lot of listening. And as we learn about one another we will all grow together in our love of God and others.

You will discover that I am especially passionate about sharing the Good News of Jesus with people who are outside this congregation. For example, there are thousands of people who live in this Concord area who belong to no faith community who are asking serious questions about life. Christians have answers to their questions. You should expect from me that I will take seriously the challenge of reaching out to these people beyond this church and inviting them to discover Jesus in this place.

You will discover my faults quickly. I bite my fingernails. I’m not happy with the current state of our United Methodist Church and am working hard to create some changes in our denomination at the conference, national, and international level. This work to change our denomination sometimes irritates some people established in power. I am hard of hearing and often forget to wear my hearing aids. If you speak to me and I don’t respond, I’m not being rude, I just didn’t hear you. Speak loudly. I’m getting older. When I began the ministry, people said that I looked like Jesus with my white robe and black beard. Several years ago, as I was preaching about the Ten Commandments, someone updated that and said that with my gray beard I looked like Moses. Maybe if I stay here long enough, you may begin to think that I look like God.

I also have a few strengths. I love to read and enjoy children. I look forward to meeting with the youth and reading stories to the Preschool children. I like to cook – I find cooking relaxing -- and Sally and I like to travel. I’m not a big NASCAR fan, but I have driven a race car around the Lowe’s track. I watch the nightly Newshour on PBS, love beach music, and like science fiction movies. You will find much about me that you dislike, and I hope a few characteristics you enjoy. You may find me hard to pigeon-hole, and I think that is a blessing.

Overall, however, I believe that I am called to a follower of God, a disciple of Jesus Christ. And each person here today has also been called by God. Some of us may have been called like Amos, others like Paul, maybe even someone like me, but each of us have been called. Each one of us here have been touched by God in special ways. I fully expect that as we share our stories with one another, we will discover that our lives and our relationships with God intersect in many ways. I look forward to being around your retired pastors like Worth Sweet and Don Beatty. You have been blessed by great pastors in this congregation, are still well-served by your current staff, and have a number of laity who care passionately about this congregation. And as we share our stories with one another, we will discover new directions that God has for us all. The difficulty for all of us, however, is that we do not know where God is leading us next.

Remember Amos and Saul? A fascinating similarity about each of these followers of God is that we do not know how their stories or their lives ended. God sent Amos to speak against the sin of his people and his king. Amos, as God commanded, went to Jerusalem, spoke out against the political and religious establishment, and then his book ends abruptly. Our best guess is that the king killed Amos because Amos followed God.

God sent Saul to Damascus, changed his name to Paul, and then sent Paul to preach the Good News of Jesus to the gentile world. In the midst of his ministry, the Romans arrested Paul, tried him in Palestine, and then sent him to Rome for trial before the emperor. We never hear from Paul again. Legend tells us that the emperor crucified Paul in the Roman coliseum. Paul listened, obeyed, and then died a violent death.

I am more optimistic about my life with you at Central. God has been gracious and loving to me throughout my life. God placed me in a loving home, nurturing congregations, challenging schools, loving relationships with Sally and our girls, and in a number of wonderful ministries. God has now placed us at Central United Methodist Church. The small stream of water that began fifty years ago has become a deep and wide river. I believe that God has only good things in store for us in the years to come. Come, let us join together in our journey with God. Let us discover together God’s future for us.

greenB/2003-a:firstsermon

Our first lesson this morning comes from the Old Testament prophet, Amos, chapter 7, verses 10 to 15. This text contains the story of the call of Amos, a migrant worker, by God, to preach to the people of Israel. Hear now the Word of God:

Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying,

"Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of Israel;

the land is not able to bear all his words.

For thus Amos has said,

'Jeroboam, the King, shall die by the sword,

and Israel must go into exile away from his land.'"

And Amaziah, the priest, said to Amos,

"O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah,

earn your bread there, and prophesy there;

but never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary,

and it is a temple of the kingdom."

Then Amos answered Amaziah,

"I am no prophet, nor a prophet's son;

but I am a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore trees,

and the LORD took me from following the flock,

and the LORD said to me,

'Go, prophesy to my people Israel.'

Our second lesson comes from the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 9, verses 1 to 6. This is the story of the calling of Saul the Pharisee who became Paul the Apostle. Hear now this Word from God:

Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord,

went to the high priest

and asked the high priest for letters to the synagogues at Damascus,

so that if Saul found any who belonged to the Way, men or women,

Saul might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

Now as Saul was going along and approaching Damascus,

suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

Saul fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him,

"Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"

Saul asked, "Who are you, Lord?"

The reply came, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do."

The Word of God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?

Will you go where you don’t know and never be the same?

Will you let my love be shown, will you let my name be known,

Will you let my life be grown in you and you in me?

Will you leave yourself behind if I but call your name?

Will you care for cruel and kind and never be the same?

Will you risk the hostile stare should your life attract or scare?

Will you let me answer prayer in you and you in me?

Will you let the blinded see if I but call your name?

Will you set the prisoners free and never be the same?

Will you kiss the leper clean, and do such as this unseen,

And admit to what I mean in you and you in me?

Will you love the "you" you hide if I but call your name?

Will you quell the fear inside and never be the same?

Will you use the faith you’ve found to reshape the world around,

Through my sight and touch and sound in you and you in me?

Lord, your summons echoes true when you but call my name.

Let me turn and follow you and never be the same.

In your company I’ll go where your love and footsteps show.

Thus I’ll move and live and grow in you and you in me.