Ministry: 'Set Apart to Die, Serve and Lift High the Cross'

MINNEAPOLIS, MN (June 22, 2004) - Remember what is important – that was the oft-repeated advice given candidates for commissioning and ordination during the closing worship service of the 119th Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church Tuesday evening at First Covenant Church in downtown Minneapolis.

Those words came from the preacher of the evening – Covenant missionary Thomas E. Kelly – who just 25 years ago celebrated his own ordination during the Covenant Annual Meeting in Fort Collins, Colorado.

The pageantry of the evening was made even more magnificent by the historic surroundings of the First Covenant sanctuary that seats around 1,200, including a massive wrap-around balcony that was comfortably filled. The evening was one of contrasts, too, from the massive sounds of the pipe organ leading old hymns of the church to the hand-clapping choir from Community Covenant that literally had the audience rocking on its heels.

Kelly, whose parents Ted and Carolyn Kelly served as missionaries in Ecuador, has served 22 years in Mexico with his wife and three children where Kelly has distinguished himself in areas of church development and leadership training. His "depth of wisdom and insight" into missiology was heralded by David Kersten, executive minister of the Department of the Ordered Ministry, who introduced Kelly.

Using John 12:20-33 as his text, Kelly described the setting as Jesus moved ever closer to the hour of his death, reminding the 56 candidates for commissioning and ordination that "for you, tonight, the hour has come as well." For Jesus, it was his time to die and be glorified. "For you, it is your time to be set apart . . . to model the identity of Christ." Kelly spoke of the tension often experienced in contrasting the roles of lay persons and clergy, stressing that the position as clergy is not an elevated one; rather, he noted, "we all are to reflect the identity of Christ."

Kelly reviewed the story in the text of the Greek-speaking gentiles who approached Philip and asked to see Jesus, suggesting that this was really the beginning of the spread of the gospel message. "Because the gospel did go out throughout the world, we are here tonight," he reminded his listeners.

"What did 'his hour' mean?" Kelly asked in reference to Jesus' comment to his disciples that his time had come. "And what does it mean for those who would follow him?" Kelly went on to describe the process whereby a seed is put into the soil, noting "the seed must die to bear fruit" as was the case with Jesus. "So, too, we are set apart to die. Only through death is fruit born – this is a mystery. The parable of the seed is part of Jesus' reply to those who sought to see him.

"Tonight you are being set apart not to promote your own aims and desires, but to be productive and bear fruit – in one way or another, you are being set apart to die," he emphasized in making his first of three points.

Kelly recalled Covenant martyred missionary Dr. Paul Carlson and his work at the hospital in Wasolo, Congo. "He accepted his expendability – he accepted the cross. Thus, he died in a hail of bullets. In this, Paul Carlson took Christ as his example. Have we accepted our expendability? The cross? Our Lord does not ask us to seek martyrdom, but to follow him. And, remember that your biblical dying is but a prelude to a great harvest."

Recalling that Jesus says "whoever serves must follow me," Kelly suggested that the commission and ordination candidates are also set apart to serve. "Tonight, you are set apart to a very specific service to Christ and the church. We must be willing to imitate Jesus and follow him. What good is service without following?" Kelly suggested that service without following often leads to bitterness in ministry, cynicism and eventually silence.

"Jesus said 'follow me and you will be where I am.' But, where is he?" Kelly asked. "Why did Paul Carlson cross back over the river? He went back to where Jesus was with the hungry and the sick. Then there were the three Covenant missionaries killed in China in January 1948. Why did they stay despite the danger? Was it not because of how they understood what it means to follow Jesus? To be where he is?"

And, why did famed Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer leave the comfort of New York City and return to Germany and the dangers of war? "Whoever serves must follow – he needed to be where Jesus was."

Kelly then shared the third aspect of being set apart for ministry. Not only are candidates set apart to die and to serve, but "you are set apart to lift high the cross," Kelly declared, recalling Jesus' words that if he is lifted up, he will draw all people to himself. "This is the foundation of your commitment," Kelly admonished the group. "The church exists for a purpose – as the agent for Christ's gathering grace.

"Don't allow your churches to refuse their higher mission to humanity," he continued. "In being lifted up, Jesus draws all to him. Bear witness to the truth, make it credible, that in lifting up the cross, Jesus draws all to him."

Observing the many changes in culture and ministry over the years, Kelly said the defining issue for mission no longer is one of geography. "It is people – all people. God is just as interested in the Iranians in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as he is in the Iranians in Tehran," Kelly noted, illustrating his point further by noting there are more Muslims living in Dearborn, Michigan, than in Mecca.

Mission is not some detachable part of our faith, Kelly declared. "Mission is the central part of our being. Some see multiculturalism as a threat, not an opportunity," he continued, suggesting that the multicultural growth in this country presents an opportunity to present Jesus to a whole new group of people – Jesus, who can draw all people to himself. "Rather than hysteria, we can lift high the cross. You are being asked to help the Covenant lift high the cross of Christ's gathering grace," Kelly said.

In his closing remarks, Kelly asked candidates to remember what is truly important when speaking their vows. "Remember what is important – and what is not important," he advised. "You are being set apart to die, to serve and to lift high the cross. Remember what is important."

(Editor's note: the top photo shows the preacher for the evening, Thomas Kelly. The lower photo shows Nathan D.A. Toots, one of 56 candidates for commissioning and ordination, receiving his Stole from Ordered Ministry board member Doug Hample signifying his Ordination to Word and Sacrament.)

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