The Rev. Fred G. Garry - January 26, 2003
Text: 2 Samuel 18-19 Things don't always turn out how you
plan. At this point in my life I cannot only affirm such claims
to ambiguity and uncertainty, but I can up the ante: things almost
never turn how I plan. In some regards this is a good thing.
When I started college I believed that studying Russian and being
a Russian Studies major was a good career move. I was never insightful
enough to speak to a college advisor, so it was my wife who delicately
and succinctly explained to me that years of voracious poverty
in academic obscurity punctuated by stints in the then bleak
and depressing Soviet Union were neither to her liking, nor even
on her top ten list shall we say. So there was one plan out the
window.
Being a pastor was also not part of the
plan. I had always believed that being in the midst of such real
life, far from the safety of the sixteenth century, speaking
to people who needed you to make sense as opposed to the penchant
of professors to be obtuse, was far from the gifts God had given
me. I believed this until God convinced me that my plans and
his plans needed to tend more toward the latter. So many times
my expectations in life have been so different from where I ended
up. Literally the path that led me here began with a conversation
in a pastor's study just before I graduated from college where
I said, "I am confused." The next thing I knew I was
attending classes at Princeton Seminary.
Having five children is a bit of a shock
as well. I am always amazed by the transparency of others when
they discover the number of our herd; it is as if they say, "are
you out of your mind?" And sometimes as I sit down for an
evening meal and I am surrounded not by the gentle murmurs of
domestic bliss, but the cacophony which is my sons and daughters
trying to eat, but not eat, I too say, "are you out of your
mind?" It is then that Kathy always reminds me, "you
had hoped for eight, like the TV show." Things don't always
turn out how you have planned or expected.
I read a wonderful book that had this
as a subplot. It was a business/management book so it is strange
to think it had a plot, let alone a subplot, yet there you have
it. The book is entitled Good to Great. The author Jim
Collins traces eleven companies that no one expected to be, nor
even truly associate with being, great. Yet, great they are.
Companies like Wells Fargo, Circuit City, Fannie Mae, companies
that beat the market by exponential margins. The book as a whole
is wonderful, a great help for those struggling with the reality
of organizations, but two anecdotes made a great impression upon
me.
The first was the story of Darwin Smith,
the CEO of Kimberly-Clark. Now if you are saying, "who"
like I did, we are on the same page. I had never heard of this
man, most people haven't. Yet here was a man who took over a
good company and made it great, something no one expected, no
one planned on. He did it without selling out or becoming a corporate
raider or inside trader. His greatness wasn't a sham like Ecron.
Yet in the annals of the business world his success was truly
remarkable. Perhaps the most remarkable facet of his accomplishment
though had nothing to do with business.
A few months after he took the reigns
of Kimberly-Clark, Smith was diagnosed with cancer. Rather than
hide this he told the board of directors and said matter of fact,
"I'm not dead yet and until I am let's get to work."
So amidst chemotherapy and all the life changing, daunting thoughts
that come over us when we are faced with such a challenge, Smith
beat the cancer for twenty years all the while manufacturing
a Fortune 500 company.
The other story that hit a cord with
me was about Coleman Mockler. Now again, most of us haven't heard
of him, yet we have heard of the company he led to prominence,
Gillette. During Mockler's tenure as CEO he steadied the company
through three hostile takeovers all on the promise of a series
of products that might prove profitable. Those products were
the Sensor and the Mach3. Now when Mockler did all this, these
well known brands were in development and it was his tenacity
and leadership that kept Gillette from being just another good
company bought and sold so to gain market share. With his patience
Gillette became great.
Here is where the story becomes poignant
though. Mockler was a shy unassuming man. When his triumph had
become obvious the press came knocking. Forbes magazine couldn't
get him to agree to a picture so they commissioned a cartoon
of him done in the image of Conan the Barbarian, depicting him
as conquering his competitors. As Mockler saw the picture for
the first time, just as Gillette was beginning its meteoric rise
the man who brought it about suffered a heart attack in the halls
of his office with the picture still in his hand. He died that
day.
Life doesn't always move along a path
of anticipated outcomes. Things don't always turn out how we
plan. Sometimes that is good. With Smith and Kimberly-Clark I
am sure that everyone on the board expected the company to suffer
with a new CEO facing cancer. Sometimes our surprises prove hard.
I will never forget that image of Mockler dying with his picture
of triumph in his hands. For Collins though these were just two
of many surprises he found when he looked to companies no expected
to be great.
When David was made king he and everyone
else must have thought all would be right with the world. Here
was the man who had slain Goliath, was a great warrior and inspirer
of men in battle, yet also a sensitive player of the harp, poet,
and a man who trusted mercy more than judgment. Who better to
be king? Yet if we were to recap the kingship of David as it
was recorded in the sacred texts of the Hebrews we have a less
than rosy picture.
We can start with his first wife and
how she grew to hate him. Then there was his father in law who
was bent on killing him. David's second marriage didn't have
a fairy tale start being born of adultery, murder, and the loss
of a child. Speaking of his children there was the daughter who
was raped by her brother, and then this son being killed by another
brother, and then this vengeful son, Absolam, starts a civil
war ousting his father and takes his stepmothers as wives.
So it is fair to say that as David sat
with his kingdom in ruins yet victory his life was less than
what he had expected. And then there was Joab. When we find David
here he is made to listen to Joab, and listen he must. Yet, and
this is the real irony of the passage, nothing in David wanted
to listen to Joab. Joab was telling him to be king, to be the
man God had made him, and he was right. Yet Joab was the one
who had just murdered Absolam even though David had forbid it.
So here is David listening to Joab tell him the truth, and David
lost in grief wanting none of this. It is fair to say that David's
kingdom hadn't proved as smooth as he had thought. One of these
would have done in most of us. Add them all up and it is no wonder
David was a bit out of sorts.
For the last few months I have been a
bit out of sorts. Even though there has been great success and
accomplishment and unexpected blessings to say the least, I was
a bit undone when I believed God was calling me to affect a change,
to leave our life here. It was not what I had expected. Yet,
as I have come to find out, nothing at Summit has ever been what
I expected.
In some instances that is good. I never
expected to see a congregation raise their giving fifty percent
in two years. When I share this with colleagues they are shocked
and just a bit jealous. I never expected to see the Mexico Mission
trip foster such an inspiring youth group. Just the other day
I drove with Joshua and one of the boys in the youth group, Jason.
Jason only comes on Sunday evenings so he asked, "on Sunday
mornings what do you all do? Is it like that time before we went
to Mexico?" When I answered yes, he said, "I'll have
to check that out." Those are the sorts of words that make
my gray hair feel gold. And I never really expected to have the
session agree to finish this facade with new organ pipes, but
they voted to do so.
Yet mostly what I didn't expect were
friendships that changed my life, made me not only a better pastor,
but also a better person. Moments spent with Phil _____, watching
him take delight in plastic plates covered in cow designs for
kids to use in Mexico, moments spent with Kent _____ watching
him fall over in a waterfall in the Olympics, moments spent with
Ruth and Terry _____ before their all too untimely passing.
Not all of what I didn't expect at Summit
was about friendship. There were times that I felt The Godfather
by Mario Puzo was making too much sense. Yet the pulpit is not
the place for dirty laundry. Suffice it to say, I didn't expect
to be leaving so soon and I am sorry for the surprise. It has
taken me months just to begin to navigate my own confusion and
disappointment; I have all confidence many of you may have the
same experience. I spend my day trying to follow where God leads
so I can lead others unto hope. The idea that I would cause any
one pain or suffering is a terrible weight. So if our departure
causes grief know that this is not something I treat lightly
or with, indifference, but with a great sorrow.
I will be here for three more Sundays.
In a couple of Sundays I will try to explain our move a bit more,
but not much. I have tried to make these things clear to the
session. I would encourage you to direct questions not only to
me, but to them as well.
Yet, like David before Joab, I have many
emotions to be resolved as life works itself out. I am not a
king, or a CEO, most of the time I am just a mismatched terribly
absent minded pastor reading coffee stained books and basking
in the privilege of being part of your lives. Know I give thanks
to God each day for you and will ever do so. My prayer for you
today is that we can enjoy these last weeks together in worship,
fellowship, and study and part as friends. Amen.
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