Elder Installation, pt. 2

As I prepared for Wednesday’s elder installation, I wanted it to be a significant event. In our history, elder installation was not done with any sort of ceremony, we just affirmed a guy and started calling him ‘elder.’ But I’ve come to realize that these sorts of events are hugely significant both in the lives of the men you’re calling and in the life of your church. It’s a good thing for your people to know who their leaders are and to celebrate their leadership. Yesterday, I posted the vows of affirmation taken by both the new elders and Sojourn’s members in response. We also gave the men three symbolic gifts to display wherever they do their ministry work as visual reminders of their call and testaments of their leadership.

First, we gave them vials of salt and miniature lanterns as a reminder of their calling to be salt and light in the world. Matthew 5:13-16:

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

We also gave each man a staff, a symbol of their role as an under-shepherd of God’s flock. I Peter 5:2:

Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing…

And to go along with the poem, I commissioned Michael Morgan, my assistant, a deacon in our body and our daily devotional writer to compose a poem. I asked him to share that poem on the blog and a few thoughts:

When Daniel asked me to compose a poem, I was excited about the challenge. I wanted to convey the elder’s work that my brothers were being called into – the work of a prophet, a priest and a king, but I also wanted to communicate that these men were ordinary Christians, saved by grace before they were leaders, and that their role in the church was reflective of an extensive legacy of godly churches led by godly men. So the poem breaks down into three parts. The man of God’s salvation, the man of God’s growth in the church, and the man of God’s task as an elder.

The Man of God

The man of God was crafted.

Knit in his mother’s womb

From flesh and bone and fertile soil,

And so was born.

The man of God was born.

The Word of God, a seed, was sown.

Spoken by faithful lips;

Tended by hands likewise faithful.

The man of God received.

The man of God received.

The thorns of Babel grew neck high.

Crows swept hungering down,

But the seed had grown in fertile soil,

And would not be undone.

It would not be undone.

The man of God, born far away;

The God of man sought after.

The Son of God, Christ, killed and raised,

His blood to bring men near.

The man of God brought near.

* * *

The man of God lived,

Wrought by trial. Held by living faith.

The man of God served,

Poured himself to strengthen the church.

The man of God led.

Following Christ, as others him.

* * *

Now the task.

Holy wisdom, first filling then uttered

God-shaped holes,

Hollow, aching, agape with rebellion,

Soundly filled.

Bone-soothing words point the downcast to joy.

Seasoned heirs:

Illumined word applied from weathered page.

Overseer,

Fill the holes.

To the task.

Earthy hands of a holy gardener

Planted vines,

Tended, nurtured, cultivated. But pruned.

Brought to fruit

By Master, through gardener. Watered, warmed.

Flourished root:

Strong, sweet, deep beneath Heaven’s living streams.

Overseer,

Tend the vines.

To the task.

Heav’n blueprinted holy architecture

Quarried stones,

Hewn from sooty pits by God’s lighted hand,

Placed with care;

Guided to their rest on the Cornerstone.

Walls and doors:

Christ’s cathedral of living sacrifice.

Overseer,

Place the stones.

Be equipped.

Take your staff. Urge Heaven’s flock to Glory!

Wield your staff

To strike out the teeth of serpentine wolves.

Overseer,

For your love of Christ, now, attend His sheep.

Again, we are so happy to have seven new elders on the team. I thank God for these men and look forward with great anticipation to laboring and leading alongside them.