WHAT IS A DEACON?

Saint Stephen, patron saint of deacons. Public Domain.

After Pentecost / Ephesians 2:11–22 

This morning’s passage from Ephesians is filled with strong imagery. It takes us back to times we were alienated from Christ, strangers with no hope in the world.  It calls us to draw close to Christ in his blood, and in his flesh— through the great mystery of the Sacrament of the Eucharist. It reminds us of a new humanity that we are grafted into, one of peace. Citizenship into this new humanity, makes our own bodies a dwelling place of God.

However, this morning I want to start in a different place and answer a question I’ve heard put to me in a few different ways since my ordination in June. 

What is a Deacon?

Well, I am a Deacon!

One month ago, I was ordained a deacon. At the ordination, we heard scripture readings of those called to special ministry, particularly those of servanthood. We remembered the first deacons who were called by the apostles in the book of Acts. 

I made certain promises – vows – before God, and before my Bishop, and before a congregation of witnesses who represent you all, the Church.  I promised to be loyal to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the Episcopal Church. I swore that I believe the Old and New Testament to be the Word of God, and to contain all things necessary for salvation.

Now, I could paraphrase, but this paragraph from the ordination liturgy sums it up so beautifully; so I will share it in its entirety: 

As a deacon in the Church, you are to study the Holy Scriptures, to seek nourishment from them, and to model your life upon them. You are to make Christ and his redemptive love known, by your word and example, to those among whom you live, and work, and worship. You are to interpret to the Church the needs, concerns, and hopes of the world. You are to assist the bishop and priests in public worship and in the ministration of God’s Word and Sacraments, and you are to carry out other duties assigned to you from time to time. At all times, your life and teaching are to show Christ’s people that in serving the helpless they are serving Christ himself. (BCP 543)

Now the challenge, here, is that I am not called to be a deacon; I am called to the priesthood. In our tradition, we are ordained in a certain order— we are all laity, then one is ordained a deacon, priest, and bishop. All priests are deacons first, and all bishops were deacons and priests first. For centuries, we interpreted this in a very human way as a vertical hierarchy— with Bishops on top as the most important ministers, followed by priests, followed by deacons, and finally, well, the rest of you.  Fortunately this is changing. That’s not how we see the church in the twenty-first century. Now, we see that the ministry is not primarily achieved by the bishop, but the ministry of the laity is the most important, the foundation of the church’s mission on earth. Now we see that ordained ministers have a special role to support the laity in ministry. You can hear it right within the vows! I am to assist bishops and priests in the celebration of the sacraments. I am to make Christ known among those with whom I live, work, and worship. and most importantly, I am to interpret the church to the world and the world to the church. 

Now we see a separation here between the church and the world; it’s that same separation St. Paul talks about in the letter to the Ephesians. St. Paul writes to a group of converts in Ephesus— those who were Gentiles, or outside the community of Israel by birth. They weren’t members; the sign of membership, circumcision, does not apply to them. However, Jesus changed things.

Jesus, brought those people in. 

Jesus erased the divisions of the people of Israel and the rest world.

Jesus sowed peace.

Somehow, through the cross— through his death and resurrection, Jesus Christ makes it possible to break down the walls between us. For those early followers of Christ, the ethnic and religious wall between Gentiles and Jews was broken down; people of any background could become followers of Christ. Through Christ, something greater than a religious group, or a social club, or even a society was formed. Through Christ’s actions, the whole world is recreated, we are born again, we are made  into a new creation.

That is why our Baptism is so significant. We aren’t just declaring our faith or just joining an organization (though we are doing those things). We are dying to our old humanity and rising to a new life, a Christian life; one that is distinct in inward matter and outward appearance from our previous existence. Whenever we were baptized, we are fundamentally changed, we are included into something new. Just as I made vows and promises and became something new when I was ordained a deacon, so too we became something new in our baptism— we become the laity, those members of the church, of which Christ is the head. The church is more than a building, or an organization. It is God’s own self dwelling within us. It is Christ knitting each of us together to become a temple of the Lord, a place where God can be found. 

So even though our world is still a fragmented place, and even though it appears that the world is more fraught with division than ever before, Christians have a different calling. The church has a different calling. “The mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ (BCP 855).” And the mission of the Deacon is to interpret the needs of the church to the world and the needs of the world to the church.

A deacon works alongside the members of the church, many of whom are already in service to their communities. A deacon points out where we fall short, and miss the mark; for even though we are baptized, we all stand in need of repentance from time to time. A deacon proclaims the gospel, as do all Christians; and a deacon has a special ministry of study and proclamation of that word of God.

All of these things culminate on Sunday morning, in the four primary roles I play in the Eucharistic liturgy. I assist the priest  at the altar, preparing the table and cleaning up after them. I proclaim the Gospel from the middle of our beloved sanctuary, allowing us to listen to what God might be saying to us today. I pray the prayers of the people, remembering the church and for the world, and for the particular concerns of our community. Here I bring those concerns of the world to God, on behalf of our congregation.

Finally, I bid the dismissal— I bid us to return to that weary world, and share the light of Christ. I say “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.”

So go in peace. God has already remade the world, and someday soon sorrow and sighing will be no more. Go in peace to be a reconciler among those estranged, to share the Gospel with those who do not know, to be Christ’s hands and feet in the world; to be the Church. Go in Peace. Amen.