Updated: Additional photo gallery of Rev. Davis’s first service as a deacon is below the ordination photo album.
KNOXVILLE, Church of the Good Shepherd – Bishop Brian Cole ordained James “Bo” Davis to the diaconate with an overfilled church, joyous singing, and a great reception afterwards. Rev. Davis, a member of Church of the Good Shepherd, served at Church of the Resurrection, Loudon for his field ed and will serve at St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church, Farragut. Please pray for Rev. Davis’s ministry and reception into the community of St. Elizabeth’s.
Due to an internet outage, we were only able to record the service. A recording is available below.
Service Recording
Sermon Text
The Ordination of Bo Davis to the Order of Deacons
November 10, 2022
The Church of the Good Shepherd
The Right Rev. Brian L. Cole
Psalm 199:33-40
Rest.
Rest in God.
Listen.
Listen long enough to understand what you are hearing.
Look.
Look long enough to understand what you are seeing.
Bo, in a few moments, you will be ordained a deacon. As a deacon, we understand you to have a ministry of service, of attending to the needs of the world, particularly the lost and forgotten ones.
So, deacons are people of action, of serving. But, if we are not careful, we confuse action and serving with hyperactivity and working beyond limits. They will know we are deacons by our exhausted look.
So, do not begin with action. Do not begin by filling up a week’s calendar with a month’s worth of work. Do not promise your finite self to infinite need. Do not audition to be this season’s Savior.
Rather, begin with rest. With listening. With looking.
I am aware you have a contemplative prayer practice. Centering prayer is a modern expression of an ancient Christian tradition. In silence, we pray. In silence, we listen to God, to what we hear inside of us. In silence, the interior noise begins to quiet down, and we are reminded that God is already here, not far away, but closer than your breath.
So, as you cross a threshold this evening, as you take on the vows of the diaconate, I would also ask that you take on a deeper commitment to your prayers, to holy silence—to resting and listening and looking.
In Christian contemplation, we are rightly disillusioned. Disillusioned is my new favorite word. For you see, many of us walk around blinded with illusions, such as God is far from here and we are far from God. Or, that the Church’s best days are behind us, and our work now is to recapture the past. Or, if we can just ordain enough deacons, they will do all the work we want somebody else to do.
So, Bo, be sure to become disillusioned, to let those illusions die and fall away as false and artificial and unreal.
In holy silence, we experience the grace of God. God is here, though we often are not. We are either stuck in the past or paralyzed by the future, and so miss out on being here now. Be here now. Receive God’s grace now. Do not be guided by illusions, especially someone else’s.
In holy silence, in contemplative prayer, we are reminded that God is with us, now and always. In that place, fear and anxiety no longer win the day. God wins the day. From that place of divine rest, your diaconal ministry can begin.
From a place of rest, you join in the gospel work. As a deacon, all the work is not yours. Most of the work belongs to others. If they do not do their work, do not do it for them. Simply begin again, inviting them and equipping them and serving alongside them, but do not take on someone else’s work, believing God will be pleased or the Church will be pleased.
From that place of rest, from that place of God’s grace, we can listen better. We listen to God’s Spirit, we listen to the still, small voice inside of us, we listen to others, both inside the Church and those we meet in the world.
We listen more than we speak, but when we speak, we do so because we have discovered the words that grow from God’s holy silence. The late Henri Nouwen said we expect too much from speaking and too little from silence.
From a place of rest, from a place of deep listening, you will learn how to speak, how to proclaim Good News, how to preach a sermon that is true and real and grace-filled and grounded in hope. From a place of deep listening, you will better understand how the Church can respond to the needs of the world.
Do not rush to respond to what you first hear without truly discerning what it is you are hearing. Both in the Church and in the world, the first thing often being said to us is, “Are you really listening to me?” Listening builds trust. Without trust, we mostly mishear things.
From a place of prayerful rest and a place of deep listening, your vision, your ability to see, comes into truer focus. Your awareness grows, your perception becomes infused with a gospel lens.
My favorite healing story of Jesus’ ministry is when he heals the blind man of Bethsaida in Mark, chapter 8. Jesus touches the man’s eyes once and asks him what he sees. The man, having been touched by Jesus, is brutally honest and lets Jesus knows his vision is much better, but not perfect. I see people, likes trees walking.
Thank God the man who had been blind and was touched by Jesus let him know that he needed to be touched again. Upon being touched a second time, the man’s vision was truly restored. He could see, he could see that people were people and trees were trees. Jesus, after touching him twice, had perfected his vision.
Too many of us walk around having only been touched once by Jesus. We can see, but we have lowered our expectations on what it means to have vision. Plus, Jesus is busy, and we don’t want to be a bother, so we will settle for seeing tree people.
Do not do that, Bo. Asked to be touched by Jesus, and then ask to be touched again. When Jesus asks you what you see, tell the truth. You will not hurt his feelings. Tell the truth about what you can really see. Ask for a deeper healing in order to find a more perfect vision, in order to understand what is really before you and the Church and the world.
If need be, go back a third time, and a fourth. Rowan Williams has said, “in Christ, we see as far as we are able.” Bo, as a deacon, we want you to have the very best vision, the very best sight. So, keep standing in line as Jesus keeps healing people. Help us, in Christ, see as far we are able.
From a contemplative center of rest and listening looking, then move to action and service and equipping. From a prayerful center, then help us identify others called to the diaconate.
Realizing I have reminded you to pray without words, also remember to pray with words, particularly sacred words and sacred text. Let the passage from Psalm 119 be with you every day. “Teach me, Lord.” “Give me understanding.” “Lead me in the path. ““Turn my heart.” “Turn my eyes.” Help me to rest in you. Help me to listen with my heart. Help me to see with my heart, with your heart.
To the people of Good Shepherd, who have raised Bo up for ordination and to the people of Resurrection, Loudon, who have welcomed Bo for a season of formation, and to the people of St. E’s Farragut, who will receive Bo as a new deacon, remember that we are all in this shared ministry together. We need each other. Thank you for being a part of Bo’s story and thank you for sharing his ministry, now a diaconal ministry, with each other.
Rest. Listen. Look. Then, begin.
From a place of deep and clear communion with the Living God, known to us through Christ Jesus, act and serve as a deacon in the Church.
Photo Gallery
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