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The trouble with the Church of England is
that it does something for pragmatic reasons and then looks for a
theology to justify it.
Sometimes this search for theological
justification can become absurd, as in the story of The Guru and the Cat, told by
Anthony De Mello in his book of religious anecdotes The Song of the Bird. It is
about a holy man or guru. When he sat down to worship each
evening, the monastery cat would get in the way and distract the
worshippers. So he ordered that the cat be tied during evening
worship. After the guru died the cat continued to be tied during
evening worship. And when the cat died, another cat was
brought so that it could be duly tied during evening worship.
Centuries later learned theological books were written by the guru's
disciples on the religious and liturgical significance of tying up a
cat while worship is performed. A very good example of doing
something for pragmatic reasons and then finding a theology to justify
it.It is certainly possibly to find similar examples in Anglicanism but on the whole there is a very different truth to be discovered. Doing something for practical reasons and then finding a theology to understand it is not just the practice of the Church of England - it has biblical backing.
When, after Pentecost, the Church expanded and more and more were added to the number of those who were being saved (Acts 2:47), the work of the Apostles to proclaim the Gospel was being impeded because of the need to care for the poor and needy. The Apostles therefore brought the problem to the whole community and as a result, seven men were chosen and set apart for the practical work of the Church. The most well-known of them was Stephen, whose Martyrdom is our reading from Acts this morning.
The choosing of the seven was the beginning of Christian pastoral ministry and the first recognition that there is something that Paul was to develop in his later writings. The selection of the seven also gives us the first Christian Ordination because, whereas Matthias was chosen to replace Judas as an Apostle, by the drawing of lots; the seven were commissioned for the new ministry through the laying on of hands by the Apostles. This act has been at the centre of ordinations and commissioning for ministry ever since.
When Helen and her two companions kneel before the Bishop in a few weeks time to be ordained as priests, it will be when hands are laid upon them with prayer that they will be set apart from ministry as a priest, just as last year, hands laid upon them commissioned them as deacons.
In the commissioning of the seven we have the birth of the ministry of the deacon. It was a pragmatic ministry - serving a particular need. In many Christian denominations the ministry of the deacon is equated with Eldership or senior leadership. In others it is a stepping stone to priesthood as in the Church of England - a training year which culminates in a different kind of ministry. It has also been given liturgical functions which were never part of the original purpose of the deacon. These developments are the result of theological reflection on the role of the deacon and an example of how a pragmatic ministry has gained theological justification.
But, as with the Guru's cat, a bit of meaning has been lost or obscured. The diaconal ministry (a posh way of saying the work of a deacon!) is rooted in the Greek word Diakonos which means 'servant'. If we are to understand what this ministry is about then we need to look back to the end of the Last Supper when Jesus girded himself with a towel and washed the disciples' feet. This needs no volumes of theology to explain it. Jesus says all there is to say when he asked the disciples if they understood what he had done to them. The Lord and Master shows his Lordship in an act of loving service. That is the example we must follow.
A Church of England Deacon is called to that service but if it is seen as a learning year and is followed by a different ministry - that of a priest - what's it all for? Part of the answer is that a priest does not lose the diaconal ministry. it is carried into priesthood and a priest remains a deacon, as indeed does a Bishop.
But the ministry of care and service to others is not exclusive to deacon or priest. I have no difficulty in arguing that diaconal ministry is part of the ministry of a Reader. and there is, I believe, a case for seeing Readers as Deacons.
But it doesn't stop there. Christian Service towards others and response to a variety of needs is part of our Baptismal ministry. Because we are baptised, we are all called to serve. This service takes a lot of forms, and response to need is not just getting alongside the sick, the bereaved, the obvious pastoral situations. Christian Service also includes affirming and encouraging others. It embraces the young, the old and everyone in between. It concludes the work of Christian education and formation at every level. It touches everything we do as a Church - a Christian community from care of our mission centre, this building, to outreach in the wider community. Today, for example, we give thanks for a remarkable ministry of service which has been about fixing broken lights to touching broken hearts. The ministry of Churchwarden is a very special ministry of service - a truly diaconal ministry. Today we say thank you to Bob and we say to Marian, we will walk with you and uphold you as you serve us.
Every single one of us is called to exercise a Baptismal ministry which is based on service to God, to others, and within your Christian family. None is excluded, except by personal choice. All are equal, all are needed if this particular part of Christ's body we know as St John's is to be truly built up in love.
We are, hopefully, developing a responsible and mature ministry of all as we affirm the ministry of the people of God in this place. We are seeking to live out our Vision to respond to God's love in ways that will attract people to Christ. Amongst the working out of this Vision we have committed ourselves to developing the ministry of all. This is diaconal ministry at its most inclusive and it is all the more powerful when it is exercised not just by ministry leaders but by all who are baptised. The Lord added to the number is the response of God to the ministry of the early Church which is rooted in fellowship, learning about God, prayer together and service. That's a template for a Christian community which you find in Acts 2:42 and the following verses (Memorise it or writ it on your hand - Acts 2:42). It is the template for this community and for our witness and service to others. Diaconal ministry is primarily about reaching out to others in a practical demonstration of Christian love.
Inevitably this leads us into the area of Christian witness because, girded by a towel of pastoral care for the physical and spiritual well-being of another, we are imitating our Lord - and imitation is not only the sincerest form of flattery but is more specially the most powerful way of sharing our faith.
Christian communities that care also preach. We are called to be walking examples of the Gospel and we preach by who we are. There is a story about St Francis who went one day on a preaching tour. a young novice, eager to learn the ways of the master, begged to go with him. All day they wandered the Italian countryside and as the day wore on the novice was increasingly frustrated because Francis hadn't said a word to anyone beyond a friendly greeting. As they returned home, the novice blurted out When are you going to preach?
We have both been preaching all day said Francis, just by who we are and who we stand for.
We preach by who we are and by how we care. That's diaconal ministry. That's our ministry. But it is also a ministry of the Kingdom of God so inevitably it must always been centred on God as we must. For though we minister in and to the world - whether it be to individuals or to the structures of our society, we represent a different and more wonderful world.
Both our Gospel and the reading from Acts today tell us of that other world in no uncertain terms. We caught up with Stephen not at the beginning of his diaconal ministry but at its most evangelistic moment. He is being stoned to death because of his faith in, and witness to, Jesus Christ - and in that moment before death he gives an amazing picture of the King dome he is serving. Fixing his vision on th world which surrounds this world he cries out, "Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." He sees what Jesus promises us in the Gospel - the way to the Kingdom which is Jesus leading us to the place reserved for us in heaven. It is a much loved reading at funerals but we must go on because secure in that vision we must do what Jesus tells us to do which is to do the works that Jesus did and more. Because Jesus is in heaven with His Father then we shall do greater works.
Greater works that Jesus? Is that remotely possible? Dare we even think it without thinking we are greater than Jesus? Well, of course not. We do greater works because Jesus the Christ of god is doing them through us. That is if we fix our hearts and our lives on him and don't get distracted in our life's purpose to be like Christ.
Years ago, the Indian Tourist Board produced a magnificent poster which had an image of the Buland Darwaza Gate, the Magnificent Gate. Looking at the photo, it lived up to its name. The caption on the poster was The world is a bridge, pass over it but build no houses upon it. It is a quotation on the Gate which is ascribed to Jesus Christ. Though it has no scriptural foundation in the New Testament writings other supposed sayings of Jesus are known to exist.
Whether it is a quotation from Jesus or not, it certainly expresses a Christian view that we are travellers through this world as we pilgrimage to the next. Our hearts are always to fixed on God, on Jesus, on the Kingdom we serve. We cross the Bridge of the World as we go to the Kingdom and as we go, we heal and serve with love.
St John of the Cross has a saying about God passing through the thicket of his world and wherever his glance falls he turns all things to beauty. That is the ministry to which he calls us - for in the name of Jesus Christ we are called to turn all things to beauty as we travel home to God. What a wonderful diaconal ministry that truly is!