"Energy, Intelligence, Imagination, and Love", August 10, 2025

“Energy, Intelligence, Imagination, and Love”

A Sermon for Installation of Church Officers

Luke 10: 37

Pastor Deb Troester, STHPC, August 10, 2025

Once at a church picnic, an elder began bragging about his knowledge of the Bible. “I have a scripture verse for any and every occasion,” he claimed. At that moment, a fly flew right into his mouth. Someone called out, “What verse do you have for that?!” He answered, “That’s easy. He was a stranger, and I took him in.”

This morning we will have the joy of installing a new elder, and a new deacon, mother and daughter Kate and Emily Manley. We are happy to have them both in the leadership of our church! Of course, in some way, all of us are leaders, even if only by setting a good example for those around us. You might have heard the saying, “You may be the only Bible some people will read.”

But, as I told the kids, a sports team without a coach wouldn’t win many games. An orchestra without a director wouldn’t sound too great. Churches also need leaders.

You might remember my sermon last fall on the first deacons, from Acts Chapter 6. The apostles (remember Peter, James, and John?) were distributing food to the poor, especially widows. There were two main ethnic groups in the early church: the Greek-speaking Hellenists and the Aramaic-speaking Hebrews. The Hellenists complained that their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. So the apostles asked the community to select seven people who would be appointed to feed the poor. These became the first deacons. Thus, within the first few years of the early church, the office of deacon was created to minister to those in need, leaving the spiritual leaders of the church free to devote themselves to preaching and to prayer.

Long before there were deacons, there were elders. This office goes all the way back to the ancient Hebrews and even before the dawn of history, I suspect, as even today in tribal societies, respected elders are sought out for their advice. Little by little certain elders, who were known to be exceptionally wise, took on a greater role as leaders. In Exodus the Hebrew people, after being freed from slavery in Egypt, were wandering in the wilderness. God told Moses to choose 70 elders to assist him, saying, “they shall bear the burden of the people along with you so that you will not bear it all by yourself.” Throughout the Old Testament the elders continued to play a role in advising and leading the rulers of Israel and Judah.

In the New Testament, “elder” becomes a word used to describe a leader of the church. In every place that the Apostle Paul established churches, he appointed elders to lead the congregation. When Paul caused a stir by admitting Gentiles into the church without first requiring that they observe all the Jewish laws, including circumcision, Acts Chapter 15 says that he went before “the apostles and the elders” in Jerusalem to explain his actions. So it is clear that from the beginning of the church, there were leaders known as elders.

Presbyterians follow this ancient custom of selecting elders and deacons. Elders are decision-makers: given the responsibility for “governance and administration.” Deacons are care-givers: given the responsibility for “sympathy and service.”

Pastors are referred to as “teaching elders,” since our job includes preaching, teaching, and administering the sacraments of baptism and communion. These are the three ordained offices in the Presbyterian Church: pastors, elders and deacons, each uniquely gifted by God and called by the voice of the people to serve in these particular ways, according to their gifts and talents.

Presbyterians don’t have apostles, because we believe that the apostles mentioned in the New Testament refer only to the original twelve disciples who were with Jesus Christ when he was here on earth. We don’t have bishops either, since we believe that the elders govern the church, and their authority comes from the congregation, who elects them. This is why, our church came to be known as “Presbyterian,” after the Greek word for “elder” – presbyteros. Historians say that we played an important role in the development of democracy, because people became accustomed to electing their leaders in church, so they wanted also to elect their political leaders as well.

In the church, as in society, all of us have talents and abilities, but no one person can do it all. We must work together. As Peter says in this morning’s epistle: “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another…Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ.”

When a deacon, elder, or minister is ordained or installed in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), he or she is asked to affirm certain statements: Do you trust in Jesus Christ your Savior? Do you accept the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be…God's Word to you? Do you sincerely receive and adopt the essential tenets of the Reformed faith? And so on. One of the more unusual questions is, “Will you pray for and seek to serve the people with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love?” I puzzled over this question when I became a pastor, and I think some of you have also probably wondered why exactly the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. chose those particular words. Prayer, of course, is clear – we need to pray for one another; but energy, intelligence, imagination, and love?

I had a hunch that it had something to do with Jesus’ two greatest commandments: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.” When I looked at the PCUSA website, it seems that I was more or less correct. Certainly energy is related to strength, intelligence is related to mind, and love is related to the heart. These are good qualities for all of us to strive for, not just our leaders.

As Peter wrote in our scripture this morning: “Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies.” Energy and strength come from God. At the same time, our energy can be easily depleted when there are more tasks to do than hours with which to complete them. Again, this is why it takes all of us to do the tasks of the church. It is also why self-care is important – not just for leaders, but for all of us. Even God rested after Creation! There is a reason for the commandment to observe the Sabbath. We all need to rest sometimes. We all need to take time for spiritual growth. It takes energy to serve and to lead God’s people.

It takes energy to love others as we love ourselves, and loving ourselves means taking care of ourselves, too!

So, we all need energy, but what about intelligence? Not all of us were straight-A students. Does that mean we can’t serve in the church? Intelligence doesn’t necessarily mean “book-learning,” as our grandparents might have put it. And, as John Calvin said, “Humility is the beginning of true intelligence.” When the Bible says we are to love God with all our mind, that word in Greek is dianoia, which refers to that part of us that processes information and makes choices. It has to do with wisdom. It also refers to deep thought or contemplation; in other words, not always coming up with quick solutions, but taking time to think things through and consider all the possibilities, carefully examining all sides of an issue before making a decision. This kind of work is required of ruling elders in particular. Churches are made up of many diverse individuals, all of whom have their own point of view, and their own needs. It’s not possible to please everyone;

instead, a good leader thinks of how each decision might serve God and equip God’s people to serve the world.

Imagination is a great quality, but it’s a word which did not come into use until the 13th or 14th century, thus it doesn’t occur in the Bible in the original languages. So why is it important? I think it is to keep us from doing things the same old way all the time. You’ve probably heard the Seven Last Words of the Church: “We never did it that way before.” Or their close relation: “We tried it and it didn’t work.” Never mind that it was tried only once twenty years ago and the situation is different now. However, the Bible does contain the word for “soul,” as in “love the Lord with all your soul.” The soul represents that which is eternal in each human being, as opposed to our bodies, which will eventually die and decay. The soul is that which makes each of us a unique individual, our distinct identity or personality. In that sense it relates to imagination. Each of us can make a unique contribution to the world by imagining good things that perhaps only we can think of, because of our unique perspective, and then working to make those dreams a reality.

Imagination also has to do with love, for it is the ability to put ourselves into another’s shoes that gives us compassion. The great theologian Frederick Buechner once said, “If we are to love our neighbors, before doing anything else we must see our neighbors. With our imagination as well as our eyes, that is to say like artists, we must see not just their faces but the life behind and within their faces. Here it is love that is the frame we see them in.”

Finally, leaders must serve with love, “with all your heart,” as Jesus said. Peter wrote, “love covers a multitude of sins.” He knew something about this truth from his own life. He experienced Christ’s love and forgiveness, even after denying him three times the night of Jesus’ arrest. He probably felt that he could never be forgiven for failing his Lord so dismally, yet the resurrected Christ appeared to him on Lake Galilee and forgave him, asking him to “Feed my sheep.” Peter never forgot the love of Jesus or the power of forgiveness. Love does, indeed, cover a multitude of sins. This advice still holds today.

The model for Christian leadership has been clearly given to us by Christ Himself when He said, “I came not to be served but to serve.” He lived His life in that way, ultimately laying down His life for us and our salvation. So, as the Church, and as leaders in the Church, we are called to lives of service, offering up and laying down our lives in service to the world He loves and came to save. “Servant leadership” is not just the few who are called to serve as officers but every one of us as members of the Body of Christ.

The good news is that we are all called to be co-workers in God’s service. We all have a job to do in building up Christ’s church. May we pray for one another, and may we all serve with energy, intelligence, imagination, and, most of all, with love. Amen.