The Unfinished Sermon
The Unfinished Sermon
Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20, Message
Six months after our pastor married my husband and me, he was gone.
Reverend Tom Shipp, the man who stood with us at the altar, who blessed our beginning, died unexpectedly at the age of 51 years. His sudden absence felt personal. And it felt like something bigger had been interrupted.
For over thirty years, he pastored and built a church where everyone was welcome. Especially those hidden in the dark…Alcoholics. Addicts. The disillusioned. People who had drifted to the margins and quietly decided church wasn’t for them — or worse, that God could never care for them.
Tom Shipp knew what it was like to be refused a seat at the table. So, he just kept adding chairs and making room, believing God’s table was larger than imagined.
Years after Shipp’s death, I read a story* about recently retired Reverend Stan Copeland when he stepped in to carry that church forward. While settling into his new role, he discovered that Shipp recorded his sermons on a Dictaphone. When he died, he had left his sermon for that week only two-thirds finished.
So Stan did something unforgettable. He stepped into the pulpit and preached the unfinished sermon, word for word as Tom recorded them … and then completed the final third himself.
He called it The Sermon from the Other Side.
Two thousand people came to hear what felt like the last words of their beloved pastor. But what they really heard was a living picture of Reverend Shipp’s mission, but that of the Church. And I’m thinking Reverend Rob Fuquay was right when he commented, “The truth is, the Church has always been built on unfinished sermons.”*
The Greek word for church, ekklesia, means a people called out for a purpose. Jesus lived that purpose fully. He loved, saved, redeemed, and welcomed all who once believed they were beyond God’s reach.
Yet, His earthly life ended before the mission, His Father’s mission to restore all creation to Himself, was complete.
Upon returning to the Father, Christ entrusted the rest of the sermon to us. Generation after generation, the baton has been passed. From pastor to pastor. From parent to child. From neighbor to neighbor. From one imperfect follower to another.
We are now the living sermon of Jesus. In our families. In our neighborhoods. In our diverse communities. We are the ekklesia, the people called out to continue the work Christ began.
As we move from Easter into the ordinary days of summer, may we remember:
The mission of the Church is to finish the unfinished business.
And every day, with every act of love, welcome, and grace, we are writing the next lines.
Reflect: Who in our world of Church may feel forgotten, unseen, or unsure that God loves them? Where might God be inviting us, the ekklesia, to continue His work of love and welcome?
Will you pray with me? Lord Jesus, Thank You for trusting us to carry forward Your mission of love and redemption. Open our eyes to see the people around us who need hope, belonging, and grace. Give us courage to welcome as You welcomed, to love as You loved, and to live as a living message of Your presence in this world. Use our lives to continue the story You began. Amen.
By His Grace,
Gloria Ashby
Lay Leader
*Reverend Rob Fuquay, St. Luke’s UMC, Indianapolis, October 3, 2021. Accessed at stlukesumc.com.