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Jun 18, 2012 | EDOT Staff

Nine Deacons Ordained Saturday

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On Saturday, June 16, Bishop Andy Doyle ordained nine deacons: Viktoria Johanna Petra Gotting; Pamela Louise Potchernick Graham; Elizabeth Wendy Huber; Robert L. Lowry; Travis Hunter Smith; Sean William Steele; Portia Ann Suddreath Sweet; Mitchell Joseph Tollett; Sharon Vaughan Williams.


See the Rev. Canon John Newton's sermon below or click here to listen to audio.

 

 

But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves.  In the name of one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  AMEN. 

 

About a year ago I officiated a casual, outdoor wedding, and literally seconds before the service, this little kid snuck up on me and asked me a question.  “What’s the deal with the costume?”  He was clearly confused by my clerical collar and my long, flowing robe.  And so I told him that I was a priest.  And after telling me how cool he thought that was, he demanded to see my best magic trick.  Apparently he hadn’t learned the subtle differences between being a priest and being a wizard.  And so I explained that as the priest, I’d be officiating the wedding.  And something about that seemed to register, because it took this kid all of two seconds to fire off another six questions.  “Ohhhh, so you’re the I do guy? Wait, aren’t you too young to be an I do guy? How old are you?  How much do you charge?  Have you always wanted to be an I do guy?” And then the kicker; he got really serious and looked at me very skeptically and asked, “Are you a professional?”

 

Now, I’m okay being the “I do” guy.  And being mistaken for a wizard – it’s not my favorite.  But a professional?  Is that what we are?  For those who will be ordained deacon this day it’s an important question to ask.  What exactly does it mean to be a deacon? 

 

And I believe a deacon has two essential callings, which can’t be separated, but, that do have a proper order.  And this may appear to fly in the face of conventional wisdom, but the primary calling of a deacon is not to serve God, nor is it to serve other people. 

 

You see in today’s Gospel – which, by the way, takes place at the Passover Supper the night before Jesus dies – the disciples get in a fight over who happens to be the greatest.  And we have to wonder how.  I mean, did Thaddeus elbow Peter when passing the lamb and announce, as Muhammad Ali once did, “I’m not the greatest; I’m the double greatest!”  We don’t know, but a dispute arises, and Jesus’ first response is that the greatest must become like the youngest.  And Jesus’ teaching here echoes Luke 9, where Jesus embraces a child and says that to be great you’ve got to become like a child.  And so that’s the meaning of Jesus’ teaching here.  “The greatest must become like the youngest.” 

 

Now Jesus is not saying that we need to become more creative, or trusting or innocent.  But as Luke Timothy Johnson notes, the “powerlessness of a child” is what Christ would have us welcome.  You see children utterly depend on someone else to serve them.  A child is not on a mission to give, or to serve, but they live their life with hands open asking to receive.  And what Jesus would have his quarreling disciples know is that if they want to be great they must first, before they do anything else, become like that. 

 

Now, to be clear, I’m not saying you’re called to ask other people to serve you.  Far from it!  Because – today’s Gospel ends with Jesus declaring, “I am among you as one who serves.”  And there are really only two responses to this statement.  We can make it into a moral lesson.  “I’m a servant” says the Teacher, “go and do likewise.”  Or, we can hear these words as a radical statement about the nature of God and let the Son of Man serve us.     

 

You see as Christians we believe that God is triune, and that from all eternity, each person – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – has gloried, honored and loved the other two.  And so within the very being of God is an other-orientation.  And in dying on a cross Jesus wasn’t disguising who God is, but revealing who God is – the Ultimate Servant, the Most Humble Being in the Universe.  And that’s why the fundamental question of Christianity isn’t will we serve God, but, will we become a child, and will we let God serve us? 

 

St. John recounts another incident in the Upper Room where Jesus wants to wash his disciple’s feet.  And Peter objects.  “You will never wash my feet.”  Now, on the outside, this incident’s kind of funny – right?  Peter embarrasses himself again.  But I would say that northing is more crucial in the life of a deacon than how you respond to Jesus’ request.  Will you let Him wash you?  Because – “unless I wash you,” Jesus says, “unless I serve you, you have no share with me.” 

 

Because a deacon’s vocation is to proclaim the Gospel.  And that word Gospel doesn’t mean good advice and it certainly doesn’t mean “good teaching.”  The word Gospel means good news.  And so, yea, there may be a time to tell people, “Jesus served the poor, weak, sick and lonely – go and do likewise.”  But, let’s just be clear, that’s not good news, it’s a moral challenge.  But I’ll tell you what’s news – that, despite the mask we wear that says we’re rich and strong and healthy and satisfied, that in reality, we are poor and we are sick and we are weak and we are lonely but thank God Almighty Christ lives to serve us.  You see when Jesus says, “I am among you as one who serves,” the Greek word translated “serves” is διακονέω (dee-ak-on-eh-o), which is where we get the word deacon.  I am among you, Jesus said, “as a Deacon.” 

 

Now to the extent that we understand this we can safely speak of the deacon’s second calling, which flows organically from the first.  For as we become like the youngest we start to get that leadership means become “like one who serves.”  And so while serving others may not be your primary ministry, but it is no doubt the primary fruit of your ministry.  Because as Jesus himself once said – “where I am, there my servant, or my deacon, will be also” (Jn 12:26).  And of course we know where Jesus is most at home – amongst the poor, the weak, the sick and the lonely.

 

You see a deacon’s call is to “interpret to the Church the needs, concerns and hopes of the world” (BCP, 543).  And let me just say, we don’t need a list, or a verbal interpretation of how we can help.  Because one meaning of the word interpret is to “bring about the meaning of something through drama or performance,” as in the phrase “interpretative dance” (which by the way a deacon must never do; at least not in the Diocese of Texas).  But my point is that, as Jesus washes your feet, you are to dramatically reenact the Gospel in such a way that we know the needs, concerns and hopes of our world and join you in meeting them. As Dorothy Day once put it, “live your life in such a way that your life doesn’t make any sense unless the story your life proclaims is true.”  Because – we, too, are called to serve the world in Jesus’ name.  But a deacon’s call is to live in such a way that she dramatically interprets the Gospel for us, so much so that our minds are changed about how we’re living and decide to join you in mission.

 

Because – there are really only two views out there of what it means to live a fully-human, abundant life.  The Western view, which says maximize pleasure, minimize pain, be nice, follow the rules, and pursue your own dream.  And then, there’s Jesus’ view – lose your life for me and for the sake of the Gospel and you’ll find it.  Seek first the Kingdom of God and everything else will be added to you.  Now as hard as we all try to mesh these two views together, they’re not compatible.  Abundant life is either found in giving our life away to others as God gives His life to us, or it’s not.  And believe that it is; but, like everyone else here, I need help with my unbelief.  A deacon is called to live in such a way that we know the Gospel is true. 

 

And so for those who will be consecrated deacons this day, I’m going to ask you to stand. You are committing yourself to an awesome trust and responsibility.  Never forget that Jesus is among you as a deacon.  Let Him set a table for you.  It’ll break your heart, so much so that you’ll become a living sacrifice for others.  Make intimacy with God the hallmark of your ministry as you live before God with hands and hearts open.  Know the good news in your heart, and your life and words will naturally proclaim it.  Tell the poor that through Jesus’ poverty they have become rich and the weak that Jesus’ strength is made perfect in them.  Remind the sick that those who are well have no need of a physician, and the lonely that Christ is always with them, even to the end of the age.  But do so, not standing above them, but on bended knee, with towel wrapped around your waste as you wash their feet.  After all, it Christ Himself who washes yours.

 

And if you want to be great you must become like the youngest.  You see it’s not that to be faithful as a deacon you can’t be a professional; but to be faithful as a deacon you can’t be an adult.