Plugged In and Ready To Go

Installation Sunday

This Sunday I will be installed as the Associate Pastor of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Fayetteville, GA. I'll finally be plugged in and ready to go! Installations of pastors are important events. They mark milestones in the life of a congregation; they are opportunities for congregations and pastors to reflect on God's grace through periods of transition; and they are landmark moments where we can rededicate ourselves to the life that Jesus invites us into daily. 

That being said, I have been living in our new home for several weeks now, and installation typically has a different connotation. It normally involves a window between 12-5pm with a phone call 30 minutes before workers arrive to deliver and install something new. The installation of a pastor is kind of like this as well. Through the Holy Spirit's mutual work within the congregation and the Ness family, God has brought us together. Certainly, I've already been at work getting connected, meeting people, and trying to learn and remember names. Sunday's worship will provide all involved an opportunity to celebrate and commit to the new thing that God is doing at Prince of Peace. As I'm preparing for Sunday, I thought it would be fun to share with you some of the promises I will be making to the Lord and His congregation here in Fayetteville. 

On a personal note, I'm delighted that my dear friend, Dr. Gemechis Buba, will be representing the North American Luthern Church at my installation. 

Promises To Be Made

GB     Pastor Scott Ness,  in the presence of this congregation will you commit yourself to this new trust and responsibility, and promise to discharge your duties in harmony with the constitutions of the church?

GB    Will you preach and teach in accordance with the Holy Scriptures and the Confessions of the Lutheran Church?

GB     Will you love, serve, and pray for God’s people?  Will you nourish them with the Word and Holy Sacraments, leading them by your own example in the use of the means of grace, in faithful service and holy living?

GB     Will you give faithful witness in the world, that God’s love may be known in all that you do?

SN     I will, and I ask God to help me.

GB     Almighty God, who has given you the will to do these things, graciously give you the strength and compassion to perform them.

Reflections

In these promises, I will be committing to live, lead, and serve in a God-fearing way. As I like to be reflective before making promises of this nature, I wanted to invite you into my mind and heart as I think of these commitments.

To Preach and Teach. These tasks are some of the major elements of my pastoral call. Preaching and teaching are good things. However, the power is not in preaching and teaching. The power flows from "in accordance with the Holy Scriptures." As I'm being "installed" as the pastor at Prince of Peace--I'm getting plugged in like a new refrigerator. I'm here for a purpose. I can only begin to fulfill the purpose and calling in as much as I am plugged into the Word of God. If my teaching, preaching, living, and leading is not yoked to the priceless and powerful Word of God-- then I have failed. The Lutheran lens through which I read and am read by the Scriptures is an important part of this promise as well. It pertains to the identity that I celebrate and live into and some of the defining characteristics of the congregation I am blessed to serve.

To Love, Serve, and Pray. A number of years ago a good friend and fellow pastor, Norm Sulaica, described pastors as PVC pipes. Our purpose is to be conduits of God's grace, love, mercy, and forgiveness. We are the delivery agents of all of God's goodness. This image has stuck with me and helps to inform how I serve as a pastor. Loving, serving, and praying for God's people everywhere, and specifically at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, as well as our surrounding communities, is a near to my heart. Being a conduit of God's love at the water's of baptism and with the broken bread and the poured wine is something that renews me. It is to these tasks that I am drawn. 

Faithful Witness. Jesus has changed my life. He has taken me on an amazing journey thus far, and I believe He isn't done. His sweet redemption for me and for you is renewed every morning. I submit my life to serving Him with all I've got. I fail often and get in my own way more than I'd like to admit. But I'm in progress and working hard to point to our Lord in everything I do. I hope that my life is a witness to all that God has done. And I hope that we can join together at becoming bolder in our witness and better signposts that point to Jesus at every turn. 

These are the promises that I will make during Worship this Sunday, May 12, 2019. These promises are the vows are echos of the vows that I made at my ordination on July 31, 2005. And they are commitments that I look forward to growing and living into each day. With each promise, I will respond to these commitments with "I will, and I ask God to help and guide me." It is all for His glory!