"Preacher! Is there any GOOD news from the Lord?!"

        Now...truth be told, I am often hesitant to just pick up my phone without knowing who is on the other end and, therefore, what "situation" to prepare myself for. I am a great fan of caller ID. And most of the volunteers who answer the phone at church, give me a "heads up" before they "send" someone to my phone extension. But this morning, the screen failed. Completely uncharacteristically, I actually picked up my phone "cold" and gave my best and most professional (and non-committal) "This is Pastor Sara" salutation to my unknown caller. The voice on the other end was IMMEDIATELY recognizable as it said VERY obnoxiously and with a VERY southern accent: "Is this the Episcopa Loci of St. Luke's Lutheran Church (Yeah, I don't know what episopa loci means, either...Something like the "local bishop." Really, I think it's just a fancy way to say "pastor.")?" It was my preaching professor from seminary (Rev. Dr. Tom Ridenhour)!

        I heard through the Facebook grapevine about 2 or 3 weeks ago that he and his wife had moved to Concord. Now, should anyone who ever studied with Dr. Ridenhour read this blog, they will know that it is both strangely flattering and horrifying that he would call just to say, "Hey, me and Ann are in the area. Let's eat lunch sometime!" I'm assuming that he means "let's eat lunch together, sometime"...but you never can be sure about him! That's the slightly flattering part (although I am under no illusion that I am the only one he called). The horrifying part is that he could just show up in the congregation anytime and without warning. 

        It's horrifying because he is so very passionate about the job of preaching, its importance and the potential impact that the preacher can have. And he makes no effort to disguise his passion. Seriously! On more than one occasion, I witnessed him stopping a student preacher right in the middle of their sermon (the only way to learn to preach is to practice preaching in front of one another...and (gulp) receive direct and immediate feedback. Students always give positive feedback to other students - because we all know that we'll be on the receiving end soon enough...So, Ridenhour would take it upon himself to give the critiques that we all knew needed to be given, but were too scared to give). Anyhow, on more than one occasion, I witnessed his climbing up on a chair in the back of the classroom, lifting the legs of his pants with one hand (the visual implication being "it's getting a little deep in here") while raising the other hand over his head in a "help me Jesus!" gesture and hollering out "Preacher! Is there any GOOD news from the Lord?!"

        And it wasn't just in the classroom...For years, I sat right in front of him during Thursday night worship services in the chapel (glutton for punishment??? I don't know why I did it). Which means for years, I heard him grunt and snort his way through sermons (most of which were given by visiting "dignitaries" of one sort or another and/or professors) that he thought were irrelevant and too wimpy. Sermons that were not daring. Sermons that sold the gospel short. He is the one who said, "If you're not preaching grace radically enough to offend someone, then you are selling Jesus short." (not that you set out to be offensive...but that grace, in and of itself, IS offensive...just too inclusive...too unmerited.). He is the one that insisted that it is not good news to tell people that they have to do this or that or the other in order to find favor with God. He is the one who insisted (very like St. Paul), that as soon as you say Jesus loves you "if..." you've ripped the good news of grace right away from people. He is the one who taught me to pay attention to order; i.e. good news is ALWAYS because/therefore, and NEVER if/then.

        He is also the man who said to me "You're going to be a damn good preacher someday Sara...if you can get out of your own way. It's not about you. You're just a mouthpiece...Granted a very unique mouthpiece whose job is to speak love and to challenge others to speak it, too. No matter what."

        He knows first-hand about that which he speaks: I wish I could remember the story in detail, but I can't. I remember hearing it - not from him - he would never tell it on himself. He was ordained in the 1960s. Early on in his ministry, the story goes, he was serving a congregation in either North or South Carolina that did not want to allow blacks to worship "intermingled" with white folk, especially when it came to being at the communion rail together. He is said to have said something like "If they (African Americans) go, I go." He stayed, and the African Americans also stayed, but about 1/3 of the congregation left. His proclamation of grace and inclusion and welcome was too big. It was offensive.

        I was ordained about 14 years ago. I'm just starting to get bold in my preaching. I am just now hearing Tom Ridenhour's counsel taking form in my own words. I'm just now starting to care more about following Jesus than about causing offense.

 

        Since I started with truth-telling, I'll end with it. I have to admit, that it was a good day to answer the phone. And I'd actually love for Ridenhour to show up at the congregation I serve...He'd love it. These are his kind of folk with his kind of passion and daring.

        And in the the name of truth-telling, while I am eager to see him, I am also a little anxious about it...He and his wife have moved into a CCRC (a Continuous Care Retirement Community...a phrase I now know because my parents and I have visited some recently). Last time I saw him (about 8 or 9 years ago), he was just starting to slow down. It's hard to get the picture of him jumping up on a desk chair out of my mind's eye (maybe he can still do it, I don't know). But mostly I'm eager...because I'm old enough and bold enough now to make him hear me (or at least, make him sit still while I talk!)...And I want to tell him - face to face - "thank you" for his fearlessness in proclamation and his challenge to be daring and his insistence that we preach with integrity and passion the good news of the Lord - that God's love is too big to be shut down by any offense people might take (All of which I might actually have the chance to do over lunch some day - assuming he means that we should each lunch together, that is.).