Last Tuesday was the anniversary of my ordination as Deacon in Durham Cathedral in 1974.  It was a joyful day and a great occasion.  At the end of the service, I and those ordained with me, left the Cathedral on a spiritual high.  I daresay that we though ourselves specially Holy that morning and certainly greatly blessed.  It is even possible that we thought that we were God's gift to the Church!   In the Parish where I was to serve as Curate, we had a 'do' afterwards in the Vicarage.  At he end of the proceedings I was given my first task as a deacon, "Carry that table across to the Church Hall", my Vicar said.  I immediately realised that the role of a deacon was that of a servant.  I knew the theology, now I discovered it in a pragmatic way!

I have always been grateful to my training Vicar for the important lesson I learned that day. Service to God is often exercise in unglamorous and quite ordinary ways.  We are not always called to high profile work which everyone can see.  Much of our service to the Gospel is 'hidden' and sometimes it is mundane.  If we seek to serve God and he Church in order to have a spiritual 'high' we may well be disappointed.  Yet those who quietly get on with witnessing to the Gospel through unsung acts of kindness and who simply and quietly care for others without bothering whether they are noticed are often great servants of Jesus Christ.

This weekend the Church of England is focussed on those who have offered themselves for ordination and we, in the Epping District Team, are rightly proud that three from our number will be ordained priest.  Their commitment to service to God and the Church will be publicly celebrated in what I hope will be joyful and uplifting ordination services.  The public commissioning of ministry is an important part of their offering because it is 'accepted' by the Church as a ministry 'on behalf' of others.  'Is it now your will that they should be ordained?" is the question put to the congregation and because of our assent the ordination proceeds.  This is an important part in the service where the Church chooses those who minister to them as priests.  All very high profile.

There are other vocations, however, that do not receive a public commissioning, except for Baptism which is a commissioning to become part of the People of God charged with proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ by what we say, what we do and who we are.  Much of this ministry is unsung and quite ordinary in one sense – though no service to God is really ordinary because it requires God's Grace to quip us and God's grace is extraordinary and lavish.

In the Eucharistic Prayer we are using during 'Ordinary Time' we pray: 'we thank you for counting us worthy  to stand in your presence and serve you'.  I always think that is so thrilling and so right.  We really do need to thank God for allowing us to minister and to serve Him in our daily lives.   However ordinary that service may seem, because God has both chosen and allowed us to do it, then it will always be extraordinary.