Sermon

St. Philip's Episcopal Church, Durham, NC

June 14, 2008 - Deaconate Ordination of Maggie Silton

The Rev. Harriette H. Sturges

Let us pray. Let the Word of the Lord come to each of us this day and give us the grace to hear it, believe it and live it. Amen.

Jeremiah says, "The Word of the Lord came to me … and he repeated this phrase time and time again."

Without the Word of the Lord, the faith we know by tracing its roots through the Hebrew people, through Temple, synagogue, catacombs and church, through sin, flood, rainbows, slavery, wilderness journeys, exiles, restoration, death, resurrection, and reformation, this faith would have died out centuries ago. But we have a God who speaks, who calls us, who does not take youth or old age and infirmity, or lack of speaking ability, or stubbornness or virginity as excuses. This God, our God, speaks and speaks clearly enough for us to understand. Furthermore, this God calls us to speak, to speak out in spite of ourselves, to speak out in spite of the consequences, to speak out against ill treatment of God's people and God's creation and to speak out for love, peace, joy, and self-control. This God even calls us to speak out against the religion institutions created out of a response to this call when the institutions forget to show and speak for mercy and justice.

The Church itself is a cumbersome and complicated thing – an organic body and an institution, united in Christ and divided by denomination and doctrine, one minute claiming we are all one in Christ, equal before God, and the next moment saying some are more equal than others. Let me add that cumbersome and complicated isn't a negative thing. Cumbersome and complicated are natural phenomena of growth.  But as our history has shown, we are in constant need of self-examination and prayer, of vision yoked with action, tradition tempered by reform, scripture examined in the light of experience, and reason informed by spontaneous generation.

For when we answer the calls of God and speak out as the People of God – in our particular case as the Christian Church, as the Anglican Communion, a diocese, a congregation, a baptized member of the Body of Christ – things happen. The world, the cosmos are turned upside down – sometimes in a rush of wind and fire, but more often as a small mustard seed growing, or yeast expanding or as the light of Christ shining in our hearts opening them to the glory of God. When the Church has leaders who are bold, who do not give up in the face of discouragement, of distortion, of blindness, but who pray, speak and act, we are awesome. Jeremiah is an example of this type of leader. Paul is another.  Leaders who do not cave in to unjust criticism become faint-hearted, or back off. Basil the Great, whose Saint's Day is today, is also an example.

Basil became a bishop, a theologian of the church, and the founder of the monastic order of the Eastern Church in the 4th century. This was a time when the Church was experiencing turbulent times if you can imagine such a thing. The persecution of the Church had ended a generation before, but there was now conflict in the Church among the Arians, semi-Arians, and those of the Nicene Party. This and his other writings established him as a Doctor of the Church. However, what is pertinent for us today are his actions on behalf of the hungry. When Cappadocia – now central Turkey – suffered a severe and widespread famine, Basil sold his family’s extensive land holdings in order to buy food for the starving and persuaded others to follow his example. He even put on an apron to work in the soup kitchen himself. Moreover, he absolutely refused to allow any distinction to be made between Jew and Christian, saying that the digestive systems of the two are indistinguishable. He also built a hospital for the care of the sick, housing for the poor, and a hospice for travelers. He is a perfect example of servant ministry, of the church living out its baptismal ministry. History doesn’t say whether he was influenced by a deacon or not, but one can only hope.

Other more recent examples of the servanthood of the Church come to mind. I don’t intend to give any examples of when the Church was self-serving as I believe completely that even in our worst moments there was always a remnant in the Church serving following the example that Jesus gives us in today’s scripture. The Episcopal Church has long cared for the poor, the helpless, the sick, and the lonely. Sometimes we were content only with sending old clothes or checks but helping nonetheless and praying. However, sometimes we followed the example of Emily Morgan, the founder of the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross. Emily admonished wealthy women in the 19th century to be sure their monies were invested in worthwhile and upright stocks. She organized vacations for women working in factories and living in slums in Boston. The women were brought to the countryside for relaxation and rest. The wealthy women, who were those usually served by others, served them, preparing meals, cleaning rooms, and planning entertainments – a more hands-on, time-intensive endeavor.

But never do I remember the National Church adopting for its goals anything like the MDGs. I know I do not have to explain Millenium Development Goals to the people of this diocese. But this plan to reduce poverty by a certain percentage within a limited time frame is daunting, risky, and energizing.  It reflects sacrifice and mercy, vision and action, and can lead to conversion in the deepest sense.

Now I have no proof, and I don't think any studies are being done or probably need to be done, but I would like to very humbly point out that the Church has come to this decision, these goals, after the mustard seed of the diaconate had been planted in the church and the yeast of the diaconate had time to expand and develop in the form of an independent order.  Just in case you didn’t make the connection.  Of course, perhaps it’s just a coincidence – and who questions the work of the Holy Spirit?

Today, the Church is gathered to celebrate the ordinations of Jill, John, Maggie, and Rebecca to the ordained diaconate. I say ordained diaconate because by our baptisms we are all called to servant ministry as well as to the priesthood of all believers. Then some are called to be ordained priests and serve as deacons for six months as a symbol of servanthood before being ordained to the priesthood. Others like the four before us today are ordained to the independent and permanent order of deacons. There are three kinds of deacons really: lay deacons, transitional deacons for six months, and ordained-for-life deacons – but just one type of ordination service.  Like the King of Siam a.k.a. Yul Brunner, I find this to be a puzzlement and an example of how cumbersome the church is in adjusting to change. Most of us have been content just to be ordained, but I was delighted to learn that this year in the Diocese of North Carolina that the ordinations to the transitional diaconate and the permanent diaconate would at least be separate occasions, if not different liturgies reflecting the difference in ministry.

Today, Rebecca, Maggie, John, and Jill join those of us called by God to a particular and peculiar ministry under our bishop.  If the four of you feel like hybrids, it is because you are – being partly in the world but not of the world, partly in the church but not really of the church, a scout, a whistleblower, a confronter to the church, and a comforter to the disenfranchised. A platypus comes to mind as an image for what a deacon might look like. However, you will not have to worry about having disputes about who is the greatest. No one will ever mistake a deacon for the greatest. They will only be confused by your being a deacon and trying to sort out the difference among transitional deacons, Baptist deacons, and demon deacons.

John, Jill, Rebecca, and Maggie will you please stand.

Remember if you ever start feeling important, go stand in front of a mirror naked and laugh.

If you’re feeling tired, rejoice with the psalmist in the living God and rest in the House of God.

If discouraged, read Jeremiah and be glad that the same Word of the Lord didn’t come to you but be inspired by his example. He never gave up. He even bought land in Israel while going into exile as a sign of hope of restoration. He went with the people into exile.

When you have what Edwin Friedman calls a “failure of nerve,” read Friedman’s books and go talk to the Reverend Suzanna Smith in Chapel Hill.  Her phone number is listed, or call me as I have her e-mail address.

Remember if you feel lonely at any time, you are surrounded by those who love and pray for you. Saint Patrick’s breastplate is not just a metaphor in a hymn but a reality. You are not alone and don’t have to do servant ministry by yourself, just model it, explore it, risk it and call us to task.

When your heart is set on the pilgrim’s way and you are climbing from height to height in the joy of God, leave a path so others can follow.

Never get distracted from this joy of being a deacon. Enjoy your ministry. Enjoy your God and serve with your whole heart.

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