What a whirlwind past few days. Uffda. I found myself just a week ago in denial that the move to internship was coming so quickly - I packed up on Tuesday with the help of my family, drove up to Pelican Rapids on Wednesday, and immediately jumped into internship on Thursday morning - men's devotionals at the Cornfield Cafe (a local diner that I'm going to take all of my visitors to - a great mom and pop place!), a hospital visit, and church tour. Friday and Saturday were largely devoted to getting settled, meeting my parishioners, and figuring out the lay of the land in northwestern Minnesota. Saturday night I went with a husband and wife and friend of theirs (all parishioners at Zion) to a pig roast dinner at Central Lutheran Church in Pelican Rapids, and then went back and played dominoes until 10pm - they taught me how to play - and then had really great rhubarb pie and coffee. Sunday brought my first two worship services, where I preached this sermon as a sort of way of introduction. In between services they had a pantry shower - complete with a quilt, cards, kitchen goodies, and a potluck to boot! In just a few days...I have been surprised again and again and again at the kindness, generosity, and goodness of the people here. How freely I'm welcomed into their homes and lives. I'm hoping throughout the year that I am able to repay that in some way - a seemingly insurmountable task! They are good to me, and I intend to respond in kind.
I've gotten cards from parishioners that are titled "Intern Pastor Dean" and "Pastor Dean" - and what a joy it has been in just these past few days to already grow into that title. Here's to a year of pastoral formation - of growth, figuring things out, seeing how this whole "pastor" business works, and being faithful to the Gospel which God has entrusted us with. I'm excited. I'm thankful, so thankful, that God has called me to be here in this time and place.
Here's the text from this Sunday!
Grace to you and peace from God our Creator and God’s Son Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Hello, friends. I preface my first sermon with thanksgiving; that it is so very good to be here. My name is Dean Safe, and I’m pleased to be the 20th intern in the long history that this congregation has of raising up future pastors. It is a joy to be among you, and I am looking forward to our year of ministry together. There’s much for me to learn, and much of your wisdom and advice to impart as I continue in my formation as a pastor. I’m excited to get to know you all and live life among and with you in the months to come.
It begins here, though. I come to you from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, but before that I lived the majority of my life in Cannon Falls, Minnesota; a small agrarian rural community an hour southeast of the Twin Cities. I was born three and a half months early, to a young farming mom and dad. I wasn’t expected to survive the night, so I was baptized just a few hours after birth. I spent the first three months of my life surrounded by teams of doctors and nurses who fought every day for my survival. These people, this “cloud of witnesses” to the beginning of my life would impact and shape not only my parent’s lives but also my own. Lifelong friendships were formed, especially with my primary nurse, and I learned the importance of being surrounded in communities that uplift and sustain life in all of its facets. I grew up a dairy farmer’s son, where we raised and milked on average about 25 Holstein cattle. I grew up with three generations working together – when we would do chores at night, my grandfather, my dad, and my brothers and I would all pitch in with milking and feeding. I grew up on strong coffee and Hank Williams Sr. playing in the barn. Things weren’t always easy, by any means – finances became tight, and my parents had to choose between either medicine or food at times. Trucks and farm equipment often weren’t fixed because parts were too expensive. Both teamwork on the farm and pulling together as a family was learned from an early age. Today, that is instilled deeply in who I am. I went to high school in Cannon Falls and it was there that I began to sense the call to some form of ministry. I had grown up in the church, attending rural Spring Garden Lutheran Church, and my pastors had always been encouraging me to explore that calling as I connected with others in youth group, servant leadership opportunities, and continued that mentorship into my college years at Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa. I graduated there in 2012 with a degree in English and Creative Writing before taking a year to work at Holden Village – a Lutheran retreat center in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State. It was being at Holden – working in the kitchen, gathering for nightly worship, and being in the community of people who found themselves there – that confirmed my call to ministry. I began seminary in the fall of 2013 as a Master of Arts student. I wasn’t going to be a pastor, but instead felt deeply called to work in the intersections of bread baking, social justice, and community work. Later that year, after many conversations with pastors and friends, I realized that the work I wanted to do would easily translate into ordained ministry. I began the path to ordination – changing degree programs, class registration, and the rest – and what a journey it has been from there – from saying, “Yes, God, I will be your servant in the way you have called me”, to being here with you all at Zion. I have found myself continually amazed at the people who surround me on the journey in the Christian faith – those who have come before me guiding the way, those who walk alongside, and those who will come after.
The creeds in response to our Christian life function much in the same way. I’ve lived my life supported and guided by people who have shaped and influenced me and my ideals, and I will hopefully leave something of myself here when my time is finished. So it is when we read the creeds – typically the Nicene and Apostles, most commonly – that we as individual people are brought into the same experience that the Church has over and over again through the ages – we join the countless faithful people who have come before us, and we boldly declare the tenants of faith for those who will come after us. The concept of belief – belief in God, belief in something radically beyond ourselves – is beautiful, here. We recite it together in worship to remember that as gathered Christians we hold fast to the promises of God – that through Christ, there will be indeed the communion of saints, forgiveness of sins, and resurrection of all people. We realize that we’re not going this journey alone – we do indeed have one another to rely upon – again, the saints have come before us and will indeed come after us – and I think that that is one of the most important things to remember along our discoveries and hopes in our faith.
Our Gospel text for today affirms what we learn in the creeds. In the Gospel of Matthew, in this passage, there’s room for all people, and it’s that idea that makes Christianity and belief flourish. In the text from Matthew, it is apparent that some worship, and some don’t. All walks of people are included in this text, because we have all been assigned a task – to go and make disciples of all, from all, nations. This task is not exclusive only to the rich, wealthy, or privileged – no, each and every one of us, no matter what our backgrounds, no matter where we find our station in life, no matter how poor or lonely or desolate we find ourselves some days, each of us are invited into this commission that continues today. We are to share the good news of Christ especially with those who seem to be other, or who are different, from ourselves, until God reconciles the world to how it should be – perfect, no longer broken, and living in God’s perpetual light. By responding to Jesus’ words, we are invited into community – to gather for the sake of those who come before us, to be faithful with the ones who are here and now, and to pass the promises of faith to future generations. In this work, in this calling to faith that we believe in, Jesus promises to be with us always – and what a promise that is.
So, my friends – where do we find ourselves in this? We find ourselves saying the creeds every Sunday – maybe sometimes mindlessly, maybe most times intentionally – and there is Gospel there. In confessing our faith with the creeds, we are led into deeper invitation to what being a Christian is all about – sharing the good news, the hope, and joy of Christ that is indeed for the whole world. It begins with the Great Commission to the disciples and continues on to us, and will continue to be infectious to those who come after us in the faith. We here at Zion Lutheran are indeed blessed to participate in all that God has called us to be and do in the name of Christ. Our Christian life is enriched and blossoms each time we say, “I believe in the Father, Son, Holy Spirit…” because it is in those words that we come back to the root of it all – to the God who has called us to be together in this time and place, to the Son who loves us beyond our wildest imagination, and to the Spirit who moves among us and calls us to service.
Again – I am thrilled to be here. I’m looking forward immensely to living life with you – of being part of this community, in the present. I give thanks for those who have come before me, and am anticipating our work together. We confess that we believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and the forgiveness of sins – now, friends, let’s go live it out – the world is indeed waiting. Thanks be to God. Amen.
God's Peace, my friends -
Intern Pastor Dean Safe
Peace to you, too, Pastor Dean. We missed you at the Holden gathering yesterday, btw. Know that people are thinking of you!
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