Home Contact Us

Ordination Sermon

By The Rev. Canon Matt Currin, Ph.D. at
the Ordination of The Rev. Luke Jernagan
May 12, 2007


The Coastline July/August 2007
The Rev. Canon Matt Currin, Ph.D.

Pensacola,FL       In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord
seated on a throne, high and exalted and the train of his robe filled the temple.

Above him were seraphs, each with six wings:
With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet,
and with two they were flying.
And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory."

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds
shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips,
and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty."

Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand,
which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
With it he touched my mouth and said,"See, this hs touched your lips.
Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,

"Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"

And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
Isaiah 6:1-8

That wonderful and mysterious and mystical reading from the sixth chapter of Isaiah is my favorite Old Testament passage. I am glad you selected it, but knowing you Luke, I am not the least surprised. You know in your own experience what it means. God high and lifted up . . .filling the temple, angels all over the place singing and chanting and incense like at General Seminary! The shaking of the foundations . . . somewhat like our sermons are supposed to do at times! And finally, the young prince Isaiah saying, "Woe is me for I am undone, for I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."

Yes, Luke, you have seen the King, the Lord of hosts, and I have, too and that is why we enter the priesthood...and the reason we are able to stay in the priesthood. He has called us. And He has sustained us. And He will go with us wherever it is He takes us.

Again, as you know Luke, I, too, saw the Lord on September 15, 1952 and had a powerful visitation from the Risen Christ calling me to go to seminary. He called me and He called you and He called Isaiah.

Isaiah's response is our response, unless we run away as fast as we can, is

"Here am I, send me!" And He goes with us.

I was ordained, according to the church, forty-nine years ago. I have had good times and very bad times. If you think the present trouble over human sexuality is a great crisis, you ought to have lived through integration, through the battles to have women finally ordained, and of all things, changes in the Prayer Book! Every generation has its own crisis.

The more things change, the more they remain the same. None of these issues is The Great Issue facing the Church...these things really turn out, in the long run of history, to be the slow progress that is always part of the Church. Remember that old one, that the Church is like Noah's Ark: If it weren't for the storm on the outside we couldn't stand the smell on the inside. That's why I laugh at "Onward Christian Soldiers" when we sing, "Like a mighty army goes the Church of God." The proclamation of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is the big Issue facing the Church. And when you have seen the Lord high and lifted up, you know where your priorities are . . . and your salvation. God is good to make himself known to us.

If I have learned anything these almost fifty years in the priesthood, it is that God's Grace is our only hope! And that Grace He pours over us day after day, even when we do not realize it, and certainly when we don't deserve it . . . that's why it is Grace. God's Grace in our Risen Savior available to us is all we need to know and to preach.

God has saved me and you and us and them. God will continue to pour His Grace on us all...even if it may be at the last minute. But worry not, He, in His good time, will get around to it and He probably says, "Oh, I almost forgot...there is Luke, yep, I will give him another shot of Grace."

But Luke I have found God's Grace, of course in the Bible, in the liturgy, in the Eucharist, but more often I have found God's Grace in my relationships with people. That is so very important. The Bishop of Widdering said to Ernest Reymond at his ordination, "My advice is this. I don't want you to aim at being the biggest intellectual light in my diocese; nor do I want you to be the finest preacher; but I do want you to be the holiest man in it. But, my boy, promise me this: that you will swear to work no revolution till you're satisfied that you've worked a fine revolution in your own soul. That's where the revolution must first take place. And when you're entirely satisfied that your life is re-centered on Him ,then in His name and strength, go out and overthrow us all."

God's grace is mostly found in our relationships with other people. But also God's Grace comes when we finally admit we need it and that nothing else can deliver us from the bondage of sin and death. Luther told young Philip Melancthon to "sin bravely that Grace may abound" but Luke, be very careful with that one. We know what it means...so leave it at that. God will forgive you much more quickly than you will forgive yourself. We take ourselves too seriously and God not seriously enough.

You will have that wonderful vision of God from time to time but you will also experience what Isaiah did . . . woe is me! You will long for God and feel deserted by God. You will seek God and discover He didn't come to church that day. You will wrestle with what you will say to your flock who look to you for help in this crazy, dangerous and God forsaken world, people looking to you for some word...any word...to make sense out of their messed up and tarnished lives. Sometimes all we can hear is the terrible silence.

What does God expect of you? Not a great theologian. Not a great preacher. But a holy man. A man who becomes transparent so God can shine through. This service today tells you all kinds of things you are supposed to be and to become, but what God really wants you to be is yourself...warts and all. Today is the fulfillment of a long road...I know that because I have known you since you were only one year old. I remember talking with you when you were a sophomore in high school about going to seminary and told you to come back when you were a junior.

You said with eager expectation, "Next year?" And you reminded me the other day that my response was, "No, your junior year in college." And you came back many times. And today is the fulfillment of a long road, and it is also the christening to launch out even deeper. But fear not... God called you. God has led you. And God will go with you. If he treats you as He has treated me for half a century and longer, He will gently lead you. He will talk to you and with you. He will give you almost...almost...enough rope to hang yourself but not quite that much. He will rescue you time and time again, sometimes at the last minute. He will pick you up when you fall. He will kick you in the seat of the pants often. He will let you suffer and hurt and cry, but He will suffer and hurt and cry with you. And always...always...He will love you and guide you and give you a fresh start day after day, year after year. He will laugh with you and at you. He will make a fool and a prince out of you. At times He will make you last in order that you can be first. He will be your companion, friend, Master, Savior, and your joy and peace as well as your torment and anger.

And in the bad times, remember what Lyndon Johnson told Billy Graham, "Sometimes being President is like being a jackass in a hailstorm. You just have to stand there and take it." And you will, and you can. But God will always have the last word. And you will feel many times that you may not be up to it and why bother. We all feel like that at times.

But Luke, this is a wonderful world we are living in, in spite of war and disease and killing and horrors. God is in our world. God is working His purposes out. He has chosen you to help Him do just that. I have been a priest for a long time and I have enjoyed almost every minute of it. I would do it over again if I had the chance. I was a Methodist, Presbyterian, Congregationalist before becoming an Episcopalian. My regret is that I did not become and Episcopalian sooner! This is a wonderful Church. I am proud of our Church. We are wrestling with many things and trying to determine God's will for us so we can move into the future. You will be able to work to lead us into a brave new world.

Some years ago in a youth confirmation class, a youngster answering the question of the three-fold order of the ministry said...bishops, priest and beacons. Beacons! I dared not correct him because he was right...beacons. That's what we are, Beacons of hope. We are the bearers of very good news!

Preach God's love. Preach salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Preach Grace and when you do, Grace will spill over on us all. Do not despair. Maybe in your day and age the Church will become like a mighty army goes the Church of God. Do not despair. The Church and you and your flock will be in the hands of God. Can we ask for more? Rejoice that He in His infinite wisdom called you. Enjoy your priesthood. Enjoy life.

Each one of us in the priesthood, to paraphrase a bit one of our prayers, must be a strength in need, a counselor in perplexity, a comforter in sorrow, and always a companion in joy. But our will must be so knit together in His will, and our spirits in His spirit, so that we can grow in love and peace with God Almighty and with one another.

And so we must work in a spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation so that our common lives as members of the body of Christ will be signs of God's love for this sinful and broken world, that unity will overcome estrangement, and forgiveness heal guilt and joy conquer despair.

And when we do these things...when we are beacons of hope in a dangerous and threatening world...then we will discover to our amazement, that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which have grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by Him through whom all things were made even, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Email The Rev. Canon Matt Currin at mattcurrin31@aol.com

________________________

Back to more stories

Download this issue of The Coastline

coastline@diocgc.org