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Pastor · Sunday Schedule · FBC
News
2002
From the Pastor
The New Robe
It sits draped across a chair in front of my desk. The red roping around the velvet panels almost seem electrifying, as though it is battery charged. The red signifies the field of my degree work which was theology. The rest of the robe is black with the black of the velvet panels the blackest black I have seen. The three stripes on each sleeve indicate that the wearer has a doctorate.
It is in fact an academic robe. The reason for this comes out of our Protestant tradition. At the time of the Reformation clergy exchanged their liturgical vestments for the academic gown. It was a way of pointing out that the primary purpose of the pastor was to study and interpret the Word. The minister had no word of his own. He wasn’t just the speech maker, exposing ideas that came into his head; his text was the Scripture, his sermon was born from the Bible.
The robe reminds me I am subservient to the Word of God. It is never my star that should shine on the pulpit. I am not an entertainer, asking the congregation to watch my performance. I am a pointer. I even garb myself in black so I can stand in the shadow and the spotlight can be where it should be on God and His Word.
My old robe was wearing out. The sleeves were frayed, and patches of the velvet had worn away. I like to think the wear and tear came from use not misuse. The old robe was a gift from the congregation I served in Pontiac, Michigan. It was presented to me following my graduation from McCormick Theological Seminary. In a way we had worked in tandem because all of my course work and research and thesis were centered in the work we did in the church. They indulged me and they rewarded me.
Now, I stare at my new robe laid across a chair on the other side of my desk. It too is the gift of a congregation. It was given to me after fifteen years as pastor of First Baptist Church. I hope in a way it is the congregation saying to me, “keep on preaching.”
The robe looks so new. It doesn’t have any battle scars. It is not experienced. It needs to hold a few babies in Infant Dedication, it needs to stand before a few couples and assist them with their wedding vows, it needs to be worn when families gather to say good-bye to a loved one in a funeral service, it needs to be worn on the pulpit enough times so a little crease begins to appear where the lapel mike is pinned and in the velvet panel is seen a slight line where the robe has touched the pulpit.
I know people are going to say, “But it looks just like the old robe,” and that’s okay. I wouldn’t feel comfortable or want something that stands-out. I kind of like wearing something that is a five hundred year old fashion statement. I like its tradition and I like, especially, that at my age it is new and it comes from a people I love very much. Thank you.
Dr. David W. Andersen
            
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