“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; Send me!’ ” (Isaiah 6:8)
“James and John ... came to Jesus and asked, ‘Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.’ But Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what you are asking....For the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’” (Mark 10:35, 45)
Vic, Nosisi, Bukhosi, Bubele, Siphokazi, Kazeka, Pat, Mzinzisi, Mary: what a very special day this is for you all, for your families, for your parish communities. It has been so good to journey with you these past few days. Thank you.
Early this year, the Bishop indicated to me that he wished me to conduct the ordination retreat, and preach at the ordination – so thank you, Bishop Ebenezer, for the privilege and the responsibility.
Our context…world and church…
What a wonderful and exciting and challenging time for an ordination.
Since last Sunday, Ascension Sunday, we have been praying each day, in the words of the Collect for the 6th Sunday after Easter:
“…do not leave us desolate, but send your Holy Spirit to strengthen us…”
We are also in the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the ten days from Ascension to Pentecost, as we hear and pray the prayer of Jesus in John 17:
“may we be one, as the Father and the Son are one, so that the world may believe…” (Jn 17:21)
May we as the church of God be one – and may the world believe through our witness.
And tomorrow is the Day of Pentecost, the birthday of the Church, when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon those first disciples. Tomorrow, Christians all over the world will be once again praying, “Come, Holy Spirit. Move in our hearts and lives. Move in the church. Move in the world. Empower us to live and work to the praise and glory of God.”
In the words of the Collect for the Day of Pentecost:
“inspire our hearts and set them on fire with his joy and power
and send us out as witnesses to the wonder of your love…”
Our prayer is that as we offer ourselves to God once again, so He may transform our hearts and use us to bring His love to those around us. May it be so!
And, of course, the start of the FIFA World Cup is only 20 days away. In fact, we had thought to have the ordination on the day of the opening match, but Danny Jordaan and Seph Blatter asked us very nicely not to, as they were worried about ticket sales…
The World Cup, with all that it is bringing our country – brand new football stadia, new transport networks, hopefully thousands of visitors from overseas, brilliant soccer, wonderful publicity and spotlight on our country – so much that is good; but also huge debt, human trafficking, drugs and crime: the dark side as well: it is a reminder on our doorstep that people need God’s saving love.
Why deacons?
The Church has always seen a big difference between the ministry of deacons and the ministry of priests. We first encounter deacons in the church in Jerusalem where, as we read in Acts 6, there was growing tension between people about the fair distribution of food for the needy. It was interesting: what normally happens in a parish when there is a problem? Call the priest! Mfundisi, sine inxaki apha! You need to sort this out! And all too often, the priest is the one who then does sort it out. In fact, the priest is often the face and hands and voice of the church: visiting the sick, caring for the poor, writing the letters, preaching and teaching the word of God on Sundays, leading the prayers. The priest is seen as the one who does most if not all the ministry. But that is not what happened in the early church.
The apostles called a meeting of the whole community of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should neglect the word of God in order to help with the care of the poor. Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing; full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word.” What they said pleased the whole community. The first seven deacons were chosen. They had these men stand before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.” (Acts 6:2-6)
The result? “The word of God continued to spread; the number of the disciples increased greatly in Jerusalem….” (Acts 6:7)
The point is not that all those first deacons were men – we have moved beyond that debate, and we now ordain men and women – but that deacons were ordained, set apart, for a particular ministry.
And those first deacons were people of real stature in their own right and in the eyes of the community. They were not simply chosen and ordained to organise food parcels. They were chosen and ordained, set apart, because there were tensions between the Greek Christians and the Jewish Christians: tensions between different racial and language groups, which threatened to tear the early church apart. These deacons were chosen from both groups – you can tell that from their names – so both the Greeks and the Jews were represented in this new ministry team. But they were also chosen because they were big enough to rise above those groups and prejudices and suspicions, and be living symbols of reconciliation and healing.
What happened to them? Stephen became the first martyr. Philip baptised the Ethiopian eunuch on the road to Gaza, and through that one convert may have planted the seeds of the Gospel in Africa. In some ways, we know more about those first deacons than we do about some of the first apostles.
I wonder how good we are, all of us, at not only doing the job, doing the ministry, but also, in our relationships with one another, living out and showing the love of Christ for one another? Do we show in our life together, in our parishes, in our guilds, a quality of relationship that speaks of reconciliation, and forgiveness, and healing of hurts, creating a new community so much needed in our divided land?
In the life of the early church, deacons were doing wonderful work, working closely with the bishop and his priests, to be the caring arms of the church in the world. One of the people we remember in our church calendar, is Laurence, who was a deacon and martyr in Rome, about 200 years after the time of Christ. We know at least two things about him. Firstly, he was one of seven deacons who worked very closely with the Pope, the Bishop of Rome. They showed the practical love and care of Christ to those in need. Secondly, during a time of persecution, when Laurence was ordered by the authorities to produce the treasures of the church, he didn’t look for the nearest ATM. Instead, he brought out the sick, the lame, the blind, the poor, those for whom he was caring, and said, “These are the treasures of the church.” Deacons in the early church looked beyond the walls of the church to see the needs of the world.
Deacons have the following tasks: to preach the Gospel; to serve Christ in the poor; to do acts of justice and reconciliation; to build up the life of the church.
In the ordination service, our Prayer Book describes the ministry of a deacon like this:
“…to serve all people, and to seek out particularly the poor, the weak, the sick and the lonely….” The highways and byways. The prisoners, the naked, the hungry, the lonely (Matthew 25). The squatter camps. The victims and survivors of rape and abuse. The hurting. The desperate. Those who have lost hope. Those on the margins. The oppressed. The broken-hearted. Those most in need of the love of God.
“…..to interpret to the Church the needs, the concerns and hopes of the world…..” To be the voice of the poor, to open the eyes of the Christian community to the big issues out there, to shake complacent Christians out of their comfort zones. Dorothy Day puts it, “To comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”
“…to show Christ’s people that in serving those in need, they are serving Christ himself.” To be a sign and reminder that to get our hands dirty, to serve the least, to spend our time with the poor and the outcast, is to serve Christ.
This time last month (20th – 23rd April), clergy and lay representatives from each parish from the diocese of Grahamstown were in the middle of Diocesan Synod. It was a wonderful time during which God spoke to us through one another; we came away renewed and strengthened. The Diocese of Grahamstown is alive and well! But we also came away very aware of the big issues we face: the state of education in South Africa, climate change and sustainability, monogamy and marriage, initiation and circumcision schools, human sexuality, alcohol and substance abuse, and human trafficking. We have a gospel, good news, to proclaim, for all. And we pray that many of our deacons ordained here today will be part of initiatives to address these crucial areas of ministry.
We look forward to seeing a great explosion of ministry and new life in the months ahead. Whether you are transitional deacons, or permanent deacons[1], you have a unique and vital and quite wonderful ministry. The Church and the world both need you to do what God has called you to do.
Called, set apart, chosen, sent
Many years ago, a young man by the name of Isaiah was in the temple in Jerusalem. There he saw this great vision of God in all his glory. The temple was filled with smoke, the cherubim cried out in adoration and praise, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.” Isaiah was overwhelmed both by the presence of God, and by his own unworthiness. A coal from the altar was brought, and touched his lips, and he heard a voice saying, “Who will go for us?” and he replied, “Here I am. Send me.”
It is good to come back again and again to our call from God, to the word that claimed us and captured us, to the love that will not let us go, to the deep sense that this is where our hearts are, that this is God’s call on my life. And if we are in fear and trembling, and feel utterly unworthy and inadequate for the task – well, that’s alright, we are in good company with Isaiah, Jeremiah, Moses, Peter, Paul, Timothy, John Mark, men and women, and a few other heroes of the faith.
The call of Isaiah, and his response, became a sign of hope for a nation in crisis. For the next 140 years, Isaiah and his disciples spoke God’s word of challenge and hope and promise to a nation broken by their own disobedience, by military defeat, and by exile. It was during the darkest days in the history of Israel. Yet in those dark days, God spoke through those he had called. He spoke of a Suffering Servant, and of a new heaven and a new earth, and of a land that would be restored, and the way of the Lord, and the return of the people from exile, and of hope and meaning and deliverance, of the messiah who was to come, of the spirit of the Lord, of being sent to announce good news to the poor, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the prisoners, and a year of the Lord’s favour.
We live in days that are perhaps not quite as dark as those faced by Isaiah. But we do live in difficult and dangerous times, times when our voice, our love, our witness, our leadership, may be the only light that is shining in the darkness. We have a crucial ministry, to bring good news and hope and new life, and to do all in the name of Christ and with his love and power. Let’s not get side-tracked, or forget our calling, or think too much about power and position and honour. Every church has its James and John, who want the status and the recognition without the cross. Let’s not go down that road. People are in real need for what we have to give. Let’s go out there in the name of Christ, who came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many
CONCLUSION
There is a story that when Christ had finished his work on earth, and had returned to heaven, he was met by the angel Gabriel. Gabriel asked him, “Lord, what plans have you made for carrying on your work on earth?” Christ replied, “I have chosen twelve men, and some women. They will pass my message on till it reaches the whole world.”
Gabriel said, “But supposing those few people fail you – what other plans have you made?”
Christ replied, “I have no other plan. My Spirit is in them. I am counting on them.”
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