Weekly Sermon

The Gift of the Spirit: Peace - February 9, 2003

The Reverend Anne Benefield

Corinthians 9: 16-19

If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. What then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel. For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them to Christ. Prayer: Pour down your Holy Spirit upon us that the story we hear of your work at Geneva will speak to our hearts as your Word, made known to us in Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen. On a day like today, I think about my own call to ministry. The thing that I will always remember is that when God called me, I resisted. For three days, I struggled, trying to say "No" to God, but I found no peace. Despite my fears of inadequacy, the Lord would not let go. When I finally knelt in prayer to accept God's call, peace surrounded me. A few minutes ago, we ordained and installed officers of the church. When we prayed over those being ordained, many Elders in the congregation came forward. I believe that each officer who elected to serve receives a call from God. They are entrusted with a commission to share the Gospel. When God called them, they found no peace until they accepted God's call. There are as many stories of God's calling as there are officers and Christians. Moreover, every successful search committee has a story of how God's call unfolded. I'd like to share ours. About a year ago, the Session appointed a six-member search committee to find a youth director. Claudia Cavallini was elected chairperson and the other members of the committee were Sheena Galliani, Andy Halls, Bill Merritt, Carl Perthel, and me. We began meeting weekly, writing up information forms and position descriptions, calling everywhere for resources for our search and referrals for the position. Resumes began coming in. We carefully read them, met with a few candidates and conducted phone interviews with others. We had prepared a list of difficult questions, which we made sure to ask each candidate that looked promising. We liked some of the candidates, but with each one, at least one of us just didn't feel we had found the person God had prepared for us. We found no peace. We continued to look, adding advertising and a banner to the things we were doing to find our youth director. We began considering a joint program with another Christian organization. While the program gave us some leads, it didn't work out. Interestingly, the process helped us to understand our expectations better. We could see the Lord's hand in the process. In September, we renewed our search after a month off. One Sunday in October, as I announced that the committee was diligently searching for the person God was preparing for us, I caught Kyla Sankey's eye. It wasn't a big thing, it just happened and it made me pause. The next day, Kyla Sankey wrote a letter to the search committee, she had experienced a call to the position. In a few minutes, Kyla will tell you more about her call. The committee was very impressed with Kyla's letter and resume, but we had other resumes with which we were impressed as well. At that point, we had one candidate that was moving to the area in November. We felt it would be best to interview Kyla and the other candidate around the same time. Kyla was accommodating and waited. That candidate fell through, but within days, we had another good candidate. The credentials of the other candidate looked very good. Again, Kyla agreed to wait until we could interview both candidates within a week or so. We brought in the other candidate and asked her our questions. She spoke well, but once again, we felt doubts. There was no peace. We arranged to see her working with youth and for her to visit Geneva. Still there was no peace. We felt she was a good candidate, but something was holding us back. We interviewed Kyla the next week. Some of us came into the interview knowing Kyla; some did not. We began to ask her our questions, the same tough questions we had asked all the candidates. Immediately, we all sensed her poise and talents. Her answers were far superior to any we had received in the whole year we had been searching. I took three full pages of notes, writing like mad to capture her ideas. She exuded confidence. Her knowledge of education theory showed a depth we hadn't seen. Her street smarts about kids brought balance and showed a lively sense of humor. When the interview ended, and Kyla was safely out the door, we turned to each other, and we all said, "She's the one." As Carl Perthel put it, about 90 seconds into the interview, we knew. Each of us felt the Holy Spirit speak. We had no doubts. We were surprised and laughed at how comfortable we felt about Kyla. We had found peace. We met with Kyla to discuss the details of our expectations. Each time we talked, we found ourselves energized for ministry. In the scripture today, Paul writes about being unable to resist preaching the Gospel. He talks about how we are entrusted with a commission. We, the search committee for our youth director were entrusted with a commission. We joyfully announce that the Holy Spirit has led us to Kyla Sankey and with confidence, we introduce her to you. We have fulfilled our commission and rejoice that in bringing Kyla to us God has given us peace. Amen.