1st
Sunday after the Epiphany; Yr. A, January 12, 2014
Isaiah 42:1-9;
Psalm 29;
Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 3:13-17
Sermon
preached at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church
I
was baptized as a baby, a short time after I was born. My family had a private baptism with my
immediate family present. Perhaps there
were others present, I’ve never asked.
The baptism was assumed because my family was Roman Catholic, and all
babies are baptized. Roman Catholics
used to believe that babies that weren’t baptized before they died lived in a
kind of Limbo, a floating existence that certainly wasn’t hell, but it wasn’t
quite heaven either. There they stayed
waiting until the end time when all things would be brought into full communion
with God. That common belief actually
made some parents a bit anxious to get the baptism done quickly. God forbid
some tragedy occur and place the baby’s soul at risk. That kind of situation hardly seems like a
choice.
In
our 1979 Book of Common Prayer, we placed baptism in the context of the Sunday
worship. The emphasis changed a
bit. Baptism became more about being
initiated into Christian community than it was about the soul’s salvation. Baptism was placed right in the midst of our
regular weekly worship. It was something
the whole faith community was meant to witness and affirm. Four days in the church year were designated
as especially appropriate for baptism: the Baptism of Jesus, the Easter Vigil,
the Day of Pentecost, and the Sunday closest to All Saints Day. Days when baptism was already the theme; the
day Jesus went to the Jordan River and was baptized by John, the historic day
when catechumenates were received in baptism and allowed to stay for the full
service for the first time, the day the Holy Spirit first descended on the
disciples after Jesus’ death and resurrection, and the day that celebrates the
communion of saints, the full Body of Christ in heaven and on earth – both the
living and the dead. Baptism is a choice
for community.
There
are people who consider themselves members of our church who haven’t been here
in years. A few have called and asked
about baptism, usually for grandchildren.
Most of the time, I explain that baptism is about joining a Christian
community. If they wish to have their
child or grandchild baptized, I’d be happy to do it … if they come to church a
few times and decide that this is still a place they want to call their church
home. Baptism isn’t a free ride. It’s the beginning of footing the bill.
On
Friday evening, I, like many of you, had the opportunity to attend Georgia
Carney’s ordination to the vocational diaconate. Some might see this as the end to a long
process, and they would be right. But
it’s also true that when the bishop placed his hands upon her head, she began a
new life – one grounded in baptism – and now ordered by her bishop. She lives under orders, Holy Orders. It was a happy day, to be sure, but one also
filled with a somber reality. Georgia
has given her life up for the church.
That journey is just beginning.
At
the reception following the ceremony, I asked the bishop what I could say to
you all about Georgia’s placement. He
said, she will stay at St. Stephen’s for now.
For now, I thought. What does
that mean? I haven’t had a chance to
really sit with her and listen. We’re
still discerning. “So what does that
mean?”, I asked. He explained.
The bishop is
looking at the ministry of deacons in a new way. He doesn’t see deacons as belonging to a
particular place. He sees them belonging
to a ministry. For several years now,
Georgia has helped with a particular diaconal ministry, a “mending
ministry”. She began by setting up her
sewing machine at the Gleaners Kitchen, the hot meal program at St. John’s in
Canandaigua. She offered to fix
clothing. She put in zippers, sewed on
buttons, repaired hems, mended tears, and she listened. At first she thought that her ministry was
about the mending, and it is … but perhaps most importantly, it’s about being
present with people and showing them that someone cares. It’s about being available. How many of us actually take the time to
listen to people, especially people that might come to the Gleaner’s Kitchen?
Her ministry
didn’t stay tied to Canandaigua either.
Over the last few years, she has taken it to Dansville and to St. Mark’s
and St. John’s here in Rochester. When
she arrived at St. Stephen’s, it wasn’t long before she invited Betsy Lewis to
join her at St. Mark’s and St. John’s.
Betsy accepted. They’ve gone together
a number of times now. Just recently I
asked Georgia if she was going to start mending here at our Sunday
suppers. We’re talking about how that
might happen. Georgia’s literally taken
her ministry “on the road” and she’s spoken to me about feeling called to
foster collaboration among parishes.
It’s already beginning.
That doesn’t mean
that a deacon wouldn’t have a liturgical home.
Georgia certainly will, but it may not be a permanent home. It may very well be one that puts her in one
church for a time, whether that is months or years, and then moves her to
another when her ministry is better served by the move. Susanne Johnston is a good example of
this. She’s deacon in our diocese whose
ministry is to the deaf community. When
I arrived in Rochester, she was assigned to St. Peter’s in Henrietta. Several years later she was moved to St.
Mark’s & St. John’s. Within a
short, she was moved to Church of the Epiphany in Gates because it was in close
proximity to RIT, a school that has a large deaf population. Our bishop seems to be saying that we are
more like stewards of our deacons, then owners. We should not expect them to
fill up their time doing things just for
us. They do not belong to us; they
belong to the larger diocese. Though,
that won’t keep me from claiming you as one of our own while you’re here!
Georgia, like
Lynne, will nudge us along as we seek to live into our own baptismal
responsibilities. Sometimes it will feel
warm and fuzzy, and other times it might feel like a cattle prod goading us out
of our comfy status quo. That’s their
job, not to do everything for us, but to get us connected to what’s already
happening with God’s grace. Deacons live
in the world and in the church,
bringing the church into the world and the world’s needs to the church. That’s why they introduce the Prayers of the
People and send us out into the world at the close of our worship. As baptized members, our job is to listen
well … and respond to those needs as we feel God calling us to do. Deacons are lights for us, like a finger
pointing at the places where God needs us to see.
I have been
grateful to have Georgia present with us these last six months, and I am
excited to hear that we “have her for now”.
I know Lynne is too! Georgia, in
these next few weeks, as you get used to wearing that collar, never forget that
you baptized first. Those promises still
count and we’ll all be renewing them together in a few moments. Good friends, let’s do our part to support
her on the beginning of this journey, the journey of a lifetime. Georgia, I’m sure it will be a grand one, and
we are privileged to have the chance to walk this way with you, to be your
first home as an ordained minister in the Church. Welcome!
Welcome to your new life in Christ. You are indeed God’s beloved, and with you God
is well pleased.
Amen
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