When I was in Middle School, I thought that God was a figment of people's imaginations and that religion was a crutch for the weak. My friends and I used to have long debates about it during breaks at Lincoln Middle School in Pullman. Amy and I were on the no-God side and all the rest were on the God side. As I look back on that time I suspect that most of my friends were in Confirmation classes at their churches, though I don't recall knowing that at the time.
Then during my second semester of my freshman year in High School my Dad took a sabbatical and I went to Europe with my parents. Dad met with mathematicians in England, Italy, and Germany. Mom and I took in the sights in each of those places. I took Correspondence Courses and Dad taught me
Algebra 1. It meant that at the age of 15 I was effectively in solitary isolation with my parents.
Letters from my friends were a life line. While we were in Tubingen, Germany, I got a letter from Amy. She mentioned going to a Young Life meeting with our other friends. "Traitor!" I thought, since she had been the only other one to agree with me that God did not exist. But then, as I sat there by myself in that little pension' room, I thought, "Maybe God does exist."
That was all. Maybe God does exist. I don't remember a rush of emotion or a blinding flash – simply that thought. I didn't think it made much difference. For the next months in Europe it did not. But when we got home (and was I ever glad to see my friends!) I went with them to Young Life and soon to a Bible Study. I found that God's existence DID make a difference – and within a few months I had committed my life to Christ.
I think it was soon after Christmas that Amy invited me to come with her to youth group at Simpson United Methodist Church, where they had just welcomed a new pastor named Tom Martin. I went somewhat unwillingly – it is hard for introverts like me to go somewhere new – but we had been praying in Bible Study about finding a church home so how could I say no? I never missed another meeting.
Two and a half years later I was a senior in High School. I'd become friends with a college senior named Gail, who was heading off to seminary. She kept telling me that God was calling me into ordained ministry. I was planning to become a preschool teacher and laughed at her predictions. The night before graduation, almost exactly 39 years ago today, I went to bed thinking about something Gail had said. She had been telling me about a conversation she'd had with Tom and that he'd said, "I hope Sue doesn't feel like she's being railroaded into something." Suddenly I had the most powerful sense of God's presence I have ever had. I thought, "You mean YOU think I should go into ordained ministry too, God?" The rest, as they say, is history.
In a few moments I have just told you the stories of my conversion to Christianity and of my call to ministry. Some of you may have heard them before. As I prepare to leave Moscow, and as five of you prepare to graduate from High School, I thought I would tell you again.
In our reading today from Galatians, Paul tells them his conversion and call stories. Some in the region of Galatia questioned Paul's authenticity as he insisted that Christianity was open to both Jews and Gentiles without imposing Jewish requirements on Gentiles. So Paul told them that the gospel he proclaimed came straight from God. He notes that he had always been a devout Jew – and that God had set him apart from a young age to proclaim Jesus to the Gentiles.
While my story centers around significant people – Amy, Tom, Gail – Paul is clear his story is centered around God. Only after a three-year period of reflection in Arabia did Paul consult with any people, and then only Peter and James. His primary point is that his message had no human origins; it came from God alone.
Today we gather to share in the baptism of little BE. At 2 ½, Benjamin knows something big is going on. I have explained to him that this is a special way to show God loves him. I'm proud to share in this moment of his story. He is the 77th person I will have baptized here in Moscow.
There is a lot of his story yet to come. It will be up to you to teach him, to guide him, to love him. I entrust him to your care.
Today we also gather to celebrate with five young people about to graduate from high school. All of them have grown up in this church. They have few memories of other churches, if any. They were in first grade when I came here. I baptized two of them, taught most of them in confirmation, and have watched them grow from little kids at Children's Moment into the fine young women and men they are today. I am proud to share in this moment with them. Each of them has plans to go on to college. You've heard their intended career paths. It's not uncommon for plans to change as young people go through college. I didn't even get that far before God changed mine! And health care, teaching, science, and computers are all ministries in their own rights.
And next week my call will take me from Moscow to Vancouver. I believe I have given my best to this church and the time has come for me to go elsewhere. The Mill Plain UMC has a church run preschool, from which they've drifted apart. There's been some tension between church and preschool. I've already met with the preschool staff. They were surprised when I asked them how as the pastor I can support them. They were delighted when I told them that if I hadn't ended up in ordained ministry I would likely be teaching preschool. I intend for involvement with the preschool to be a high priority.
The Mill Plain church has set up a partnership with an elementary school – and the house Doug and I fell in love with happens to be half a block from the school. That will be another priority.
My story is about to start another chapter. And your story as First United Methodist Church will open a new chapter as well. A month from now Pastor Debbie will begin her ministry. If you ask, I suspect she will tell you how God has called her.
We all have a story of call into relationship with God. I am blessed that you have been such an important part of mine.