The Very Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
One score years and six days ago our Fr. Marsden brought forth in this parish a new ministry, conceived as a call from God through yours truly, and dedicated to the proposition that all people are created and loved by God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now we are engaged in a great celebration of Fr. Rick’s 20th anniversary at the Church of the Redeemer. Rick, it’s hard to believe that it’s been a whole 20 years that you and I have labored together in God’s Vineyard, and it’s been a great 20 years!
I had been here almost 2 years and during that time I only had one full-time assistant, Fr. Carter Croft. I had looked high and low for the right full-time second assistant and simply had not found the right person. If my memory serves me correctly, I had looked at 11 priests to fill that second position, and then Fr. Croft told me he would be leaving the end of the year in 1995. That would leave only me as the full-time priest and Fr. Saunders as a part-time priest, in a parish that was accustomed to three full-time priests and one half time priest.
One day I was talking with Jeff Kern about my dilemma, and without much hesitation, Jeff said, “You ought to look at Fr. Rick Marsden. He’d be great! He’s just down the road at Christ Church. He could probably continue to live in Bradenton so we wouldn’t even have to pay to move him.” Jeff is a very spiritual person and wouldn’t have suggested Fr. Rick unless he thought that it could be a good fit, but he really liked the idea of saving a little money at the same time! He was on the Finance Committee and I believe it was at the end of a meeting when we had this conversation.
I told Jeff it was worth exploring, and the next day I called Fr. Kezar, the Rector of Christ Church, and asked him if he would mind if I spoke with Fr. Rick about coming to Redeemer. Fr. Kezar gave his permission for me to talk to Fr. Rick, his assistant, and so I called Rick and broached the subject to him. His first response was that he was not an Anglo-Catholic, and his second response was that in his next move he really hoped to move into a colder climate. Redeemer would be south, not north. I told him to continue to think and pray about it and I would do the same. I wasn’t put off at all by his first response, because I knew that God tends to like reluctant leaders. Just look at the calls of Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah, none of whom wanted to follow God’s call, so Fr. Rick’s first response was OK with me. If this was what God wanted, then it still might happen.
I understand what happened next was that Gail, Fr. Rick’s wife, came to church at Redeemer the next Sunday and scoped us out. She then went home and told her husband that he ought to take a look at it. Like every good husband, he did what his wife told him to do. We set a time to get together and talk about it. The rest, shall we say, is history. One day we met for lunch, I believe it was at Patrick’s, and sealed the deal. As we were walking back to the church after lunch I mentioned that we chant parts of the service and I asked him if he thought he could do that. He said he thought he could, but he has complained about it for 20 years, even though he’s one of the best chanters in the Episcopal Church!
You work with someone for 20 years and you get to know that person pretty well. Let me take just a few moments to talk about my friend and colleague. The Gospel appointed for today is a perfect one to describe Fr. Rick’s faith journey. Many of us have heard him describe his journey of faith. He had wandered far from the Christian faith in his life, like the prodigal son, but eventually he returned to the fold, took his place as an active Christian, and eventually answered the call to the priesthood. He has never forgotten that he is a sinner in need of God’s grace, and that humility shines through his ministry in his teaching, preaching, and his pastoral care.
He is a great listener. M. Scott Peck said that “Listening is the form love takes in our modern world.” With so many people, you get the feeling that they’re not really hearing what you’re saying and they aren’t all that interested anyway. Fr. Rick is not that kind of a listener. He gives you his undivided attention. Then, when he responds, you feel that you have really been heard and that his advice has real weight to it.
Fr. Rick can really be frustrating at times when you want him to agree with you no matter what he really thinks and he simply won’t do that. He doesn’t fashion his words according to what he thinks a person wants to hear. So, while he would never be a successful candidate for President of United States, his counsel is always valuable.
There are so many more things that I could say about him, like mentioning his love of war stories in his preaching, but suffice it to say that Linda and I treasure the friendship between us and him and Gail; I am immensely grateful for all that I have learned from him, for his loyal support, his wise counsel, and his superb leadership; and most of all for his unwavering witness to the grace, mercy, and love of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. It has been a great 20 years, and I look forward to what this second score of years will bring as we labor together in this part of God’s Vineyard.
Sermon preached by The Very Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota, Florida
4th Sunday in Lent
6 March 2016