“Ralph and I Meet Again!”
©Thomas B. Cundiff
Psalm 139: 1-6 and
23, 24
O Lord, you have searched me and
known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
O Lord, you know it completely.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is so high that I cannot attain it.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
O Lord, you know it completely.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is so high that I cannot attain it.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my thoughts.
See if there is any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
test me and know my thoughts.
See if there is any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Romans 12: 3-5
3For by the grace given to me I say
to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to
think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith
that God has assigned. 4For
as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same
function, 5so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and
individually we are members one of another.
Ephesians 4: 1-7
1I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a
life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2with all
humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3making
every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one
Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5one
Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6one God and Father of all, who is
above all and through all and in all. 7But
each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
I.
Ralph! Who is
Ralph? I don’t recall any church members
named Ralph. There are no “Ralph’s” mentioned in the
Bible. I don’t think I know too many
people named “Ralph”. SO WHY WOULD WE
MEET AGAIN?
Simply, “Ralph” is not a person. Ralph, for me, is a name given to a small
trinket—a small piece of jewelry I have been holding onto for 40 years. I don’t know what else to call this. Along with some of my college friends, this
was given to me over forty years ago. We
named this small item “Ralph”. I just
had a chance to meet “Ralph” again a couple of months ago.
Honestly, though I have kept this small piece of jewelry for
all these years, I had forgotten about Ralph.
While I may have forgotten the name, I have never forgotten what this
small symbolic piece of jewelry has meant to me through the years. On the front of this jewelry a small dove
ascending into what looks like flames symbolizing the Holy Spirit. For me this is a symbol, not unlike the Phoenix
For some more explanation:
I was a student at Hastings College Hastings , Nebraska
The year was around 1972.
I don’t have a lot of memory about what took place on this particular
retreat except that we shared in what was called an AGAPE MEAL -- the breaking of bread simulating
communion around a large table – much like Jesus did with his disciples.
I recall we were near a small lake. I remember this because we had a “Trust Walk”
after dinner – blindfolded – led to the shore of this small lake and into a
boat. This is quite an experience being
blindfolded while led by someone else you trust. I recall walking on a sandy beach approaching
the shore of the lake and then, to my surprise, being led onto a small board –
all while blindfolded. These were called “Trust Walks” because you really
had to TRUST those who were leading
—symbolic of Jesus leading us in living our lives – our walking into the future
without a lot of knowledge or information about where God is leading! For it often seems, through much in life, we
are blindfolded not knowing where God is leading.
So with news that I will
be leaving as pastor of this church, this is somewhat like the trust I have had
to place in God about going into a phase of life I had never thought would
come…..the same trust you will need to place in each other and God as you identify
new leadership and as you determine your path into the future. The caution I have personally received from
the Committee on Ministry and the Presbytery – step back—to let you, the church
do it’s work trusting in God. Trust in
God to lead you as you envision and plan for the future.
II.
Back to “Ralph” – this small red triangle with an ascending
dove on the front. On the back are the
words that have had an impact on me my entire ministry. These words—hard to read:
“Come Holy Spirit, Enlighten Me!
Working from memory, I believe we were told on this retreat
some 40 years ago that this glossy red stone with the ascending Spirit was to
remind us of something known as Gestalt Psychology—the kind of psychology that
maintains the principle that the “human
eye sees objects in their entirety before perceiving their individual parts,
suggesting the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Again
to repeat this: The human eye sees
objects in their entirety before perceiving their individual parts, suggesting
the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
It is like my looking at the church. We see the church building. There are lots of working parts…..people and
programs. We are a worshipping community.
I think back to the wonderful time we had last Sunday –
almost fifty people in attendance in worship and the luncheon—almost completely
filling the Geneva ARE IN FACT THE LIVING BODY OF CHRIST—THE WHOLE
THAT IS GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ALL IT’S PARTS.
WE ARE CHRIST’S CHURCH!
More than a group of congregants – we are unique and special
and gifted children of God with interests and talents and longings and
needs. The sum of all of who we are is
so much greater than the TOTALITYH OF ALL OUR PARTS. We may be 40-50 active members worshipping
together today—but who we are and what we are doing is so much greater than the
sum of all we do….all we have done in the past and all we will do in the
future. For
together we become and we are the living, vibrant Body of Christ – THE CHURCH!
There is so much more to this church than what meets the
eye! We are more than any one
individual or leader or pastor. The
Gestalt in our experience as a church: “The human eye sees the church in its entirety before perceiving or
understanding the intricate working of all the individual parts that make us
who we are – a church that is truly greater than the sum of all our parts.”
To put this personally: my leaving should be for this church but
a bump in the road when it comes to all that God has planned for this church as
a whole….the mission of this church isn’t dependent on any one individual or
leader or pastor….but rather, God working with that which is greater than all the
little things we do.
One more thing I would like to share this morning. The decision to leave this pastorate has not
been easy. For months and even years I
have thought I could go on forever. My
prayers these past weeks and months has been:
Come Holy Spirit, Enlighten me.
Reflecting the Psalm 139: Search
me. Know me. Help me with this decision. Enlighten me.
Come Holy Spirit, guide me and show me Your path.
Come Holy Spirit, Enlighten us.
Guide us and show us your path.
Reflecting the Psalm 139: Search
us. Know us. Help us with the important decisions that
will need to be made….we all have known we would eventually reach this point in
needing to ask important questions about the future. The time has come—God’s time has come!
Come Holy Spirit, Enlighten Us!
[1] Doug Waldbaum, Rev. Kitch (Brock) Shatzer,
Rev. Bill Nottage-Tacy and myself..
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