The Ordination of Jason Clark and Josh Weaver to the Order of Deacons
St. Paul’s Chattanooga | Acts 6:2-7 | Luke 22:24-27
“Is there a need for deacons in the Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee?”
That very question was posed to me in a meeting last week. The person who asked the question was a man who had come to see me, to inquire about beginning a process of discernment, to discover, with a listening community, whether he was being called to be a deacon.
It was a great question. Before he goes to the trouble, it would be good to know if there is a need.
For what if the man who asked the question entered a process of discernment to the diaconate and was discovered to have a call and then prepare and then be ordained, only then to be told there was no need for deacons? “The good news is, congratulations, you are now a deacon. The bad news is we are all “deaconed” up. We are up to our neck in deacons. We hope to get you in at some point, but for now, have a seat.”
If you are wondering, we are not up to our neck in deacons in East Tennessee. There is a need for the diaconal ministry that far outstrips the current number of deacons.
In fact, the whole ministry of the diaconate arose out of a need, a critical moment when there was a work to be done and no one assigned to do it. In the Acts of the Apostles, there is a conflict in the daily communal life shared by the early followers of the Risen Jesus.
You see, there was a lack of fairness in how food was being shared. The widows of the Hellenists were being discriminated against by the Hebrews, who favored their own widows. The apostles knew there was a need to address the conflict and set the situation aright, but they also knew it was not their primary work or call. So, they chose seven, including Stephen, to serve the tables, to distribute the food fairly, to attend to the needs of the community.
Stephen, the first martyr of the Church, was a deacon, a servant. But as the first martyr, he was also a witness to the Way of Jesus. He served the tables of the poor and the widows, but he also told us of another world, where God’s reign was already breaking in. For that, he lost his life.
It is worth considering the setting aside of the seven to serve the tables fairly in Acts 6 as the first reform movement in the early Church. At the end of Acts 2, with the early believers still celebrating the Pentecost fire, we see a vision of a community living up fully to its ideals. The followers of Jesus are who they say they are. If you have need, we meet the need.
By the beginning of Acts 6, however, we see early on that the Church is made up of people, real people, broken people. Sure, everyone gets food, but let’s serve the Hebrew widows first, and while we are at it, they might end up with an extra portion, too.
As servants of the table, Stephen and the others are set aside to address the reality that Christian communities are made up of people, not angels. They are communities of practice, of learning, offering grace and forgiveness and healing to each other and to all. They are also communities of imperfection, where conflict arises and we often end up doing the very things we do not want to do.
Is there a need for deacons? Well, does our world here in East Tennessee suffer from any lack, from any hardship, from any epidemic, from any conflict? Yes, yes, yes, yes. Is there a need for deacons? Does the Episcopal Church in East Tennessee need renewal, to look past ourselves, past our own survival, in order to reclaim a gospel voice that can be heard over the life-denying chaos of our age? Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Jason and Josh have been called to the ministry of the diaconate. In a few moments, with prayer and the laying on of hands, we will declare them to be deacons. And we will let them know there is much work to be done.
If we could tonight, we would ordain twenty, not two. For there is work to be done, there are many tables in East Tennessee where conflict and strife is the only bread being shared. The diaconate, a ministry of service, is also a call to seek fairness, both in the Church and the in world. It is a ministry to serve, it is a ministry to proclaim that God has reconciled the world through Christ Jesus and that such good news should now inform all the other news we know.
Because there is much work and not enough workers, it is tempting to always treat the ministry of the diaconate as a ministry for overachievers. How many things can you accomplish for Jesus this week?
However, Jason and Josh, we have not called you to a ministry of exhaustion. We are not asking you to burn out from overwork in six months. Like all followers of Jesus, we are asking you to lay down your life, to take up a cross, to die to self. But that is the call of all of us, all the baptized.
As deacons, as servants in the Church and in the world, you are called, first, to listen. Just listen. Listen to God, listen to God’s people, listen to the needs of the world, and listen to what is inside of you, what you hear from your own heart. Deacons, before they act, before they move, should be the best teachers and practitioners of the ministry of listening in the Church. Deacons should always ask the rest of us, have we listened enough?
This evening, after you are ordained as deacons, Jason and Josh, we will give you Bibles. The Bibles given to you this evening are from St. Francis and Nativity, the two parishes where you all are being sent to serve.
These Bibles should remind you that the ministry of the diaconate is a ministry of service AND proclaiming the Good News. Is there a need for deacons in East Tennessee? Yes, there is much work to do and there are countless places to serve. But there is also a need for Good News to be proclaimed.
In worship, you all will read to us from the Gospels, telling us again and again the story of how Jesus entered our world, upended our world, remade our world, saved our world. Your reading of the Gospels will take place within your life and your work, where you will also see how our world today remains unfair, broken, needy, hurting.
Both things are true. God has reconciled the world through the life, death and resurrection of the Christ. And the world continues to resist such news. So, help us tend to the world in pain and help us take the vision of God’s reconciled world to wherever we go.
As deacons in the Episcopal tradition, it is also important to remember that ministry is never a selfish act. It is not your ministry. It is our ministry. As your bishop, it is not my ministry. It is our ministry. In serving at the Eucharistic table, remind the parish where you serve that each table has need of all the others.
You two have prepared and studied together. Tonight, you are being ordained together. Let each one of you remind the other that all our ministries are shared. Let each one of you pray for the other always as a reminder that the work of a deacon is not simply a work of outward action, but it is also a work of prayer.
“Is there a need for deacons in the Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee?”
Yes. So, Jason and Josh, come join us in the work of listening, serving, proclaiming, and renewing. Let us serve together in the name of the Risen Christ.