Commissioning of Jennifer
Griffith, Deaconess – July 13th, 2014 – Mt. 25:31-46
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
To be a Christian is to be a servant. Indeed, to be a human being means you were created by God to serve – Adam was created and placed in the garden to tend the garden, to care for it, to serve. Eve was created as a helpmeet, to help and rightly serve Adam. There is a reason why Paul begins almost every letter talking about how he is a bondservant of Christ. It is who he is – it is who you are by virtue of your baptism. When Jesus is asked what is the greatest commandment, He says that it is to love God, but that a second one is like unto it – a second one is so tied up completely with loving God that you cannot mention loving God without mentioning it – love your neighbor. Serve your neighbor. Care for your neighbor. And just incase we weren’t taking Jesus seriously, did you note how He describes the end, the final judgment? “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to Me.” Your service to God isn’t defined by some abstract thoughts, or how you feel about God – it is defined, shaped, shown precisely by your service to your neighbor.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
To be a Christian is to be a servant. Indeed, to be a human being means you were created by God to serve – Adam was created and placed in the garden to tend the garden, to care for it, to serve. Eve was created as a helpmeet, to help and rightly serve Adam. There is a reason why Paul begins almost every letter talking about how he is a bondservant of Christ. It is who he is – it is who you are by virtue of your baptism. When Jesus is asked what is the greatest commandment, He says that it is to love God, but that a second one is like unto it – a second one is so tied up completely with loving God that you cannot mention loving God without mentioning it – love your neighbor. Serve your neighbor. Care for your neighbor. And just incase we weren’t taking Jesus seriously, did you note how He describes the end, the final judgment? “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to Me.” Your service to God isn’t defined by some abstract thoughts, or how you feel about God – it is defined, shaped, shown precisely by your service to your neighbor.
And of course, after the fall, that service to the neighbor
is rather messed up. Sin, your own
sinful flesh, cries out for you to serve not your neighbor, but yourself. And let’s face it, there are just some people
we tend not to like, and we don’t want to serve them. We want to turn the cold shoulder, be cold,
be uncaring, insist on our own way to their detriment, shake our heads at
them. Use how mean they are as an excuse
to be mean and cold and callous to them!
Or sometimes it’s just indifference, we can’t be bothered. We are too important, we are too “busy” with
things that really don’t *need* to be done but provide a nice sounding
excuse. Or sinful flesh calls out for us
to look out for number 1. You are
Christians, you know you are to fight against those sorts of selfish desires.
To help and aid the members of this congregation fight against
their sinfulness and to help and aid the members of this congregation in their
own works of love and service to each other and the community, St. John’s,
Covington, has called Jennifer Griffith to be her deaconess. Know what this is, what this means. Deaconess Jennifer is not here simply and
merely to do stuff for you. While she is
a servant – for that is what “deaconess” means, and while she will serve, her
service doesn’t mean you here don’t have to serve anymore. Consider it this way – if someone were to
walk up to you and say, “Well, I don’t need to pray – we’ve got that Pastor
Griffith fellow to pray – he can just do it.
I don’t need to study God’s Word – that there bearded fellow can just
read the Word and I’ll go fishing instead” – if someone said that to you, that
wouldn’t fly. Likewise, you are not
going to get to say, “I don’t need to serve the congregation – we’ve got
Deaconess Jennifer for that – I don’t have to serve the community – the
Deaconess does that for me.” That’s not
what a Deaconess is or what a Deaconess is for.
All Christians are given the task of serving others. You have been given by God various vocations,
various callings. Fathers, mothers, sons,
daughters, husbands, wives, neighbors, friends, workers, bosses, teachers,
students. Members of this congregation,
part of this community. You all have
many hats to wear – and that can be a tiring, wearying thing. We all know that. St.
John’s has called Deaconess Jennifer so that her
members will grow and learn to wear those hats, juggle those duties better,
learn to love and serve their neighbors better.
And your old sinful flesh will often… dislike that. If I can give a simple example by way of analogy. When I was in college I worked in the Athletic
Department at OU as a writing tutor, and Bob Stoops was the newly hired
coach. And I worked in the evenings, and
the players would come in after practice, and there were times they were a bit
miffed at what Coach Stoops had just put them through in practice. But it made them better football
players. When I’d look at their papers
and make them rewrite this sentence or rethink that section, they’d be miffed
at me (at which point I was kind of glad for that 300 pounder to be worn out by
practice), but it made them better writers.
Likewise – Deaconess Jennifer has been called here not to “do” this
congregation’s service, not to “do” the service you all are supposed to be
doing – but to coordinate, to train, to encourage you in your service – and
even to get on your case a bit if needed.
She is here for your good, for your blessing, to help you do better the
things God has given you to do. Remember
that. Show her the love and respect that
is her due, and remember that when she asks you to do things, suggests things
for you to do – that’s her job, and it is for your good.
Likewise, Deaconess Jennifer – remember why you are
here. You are here to help and serve the
members of St. John’s
grow in love and kindness. And there
will be times that will be difficult – when your requests and encouragement don’t
meet with the responses you are hoping for.
When this or that seems to stagnate, or when it would seem to be quicker
and easier for you to just skip them and do things yourself. You are here to help them serve and grow in
service, not to be their replacement or substitute. Strive to help them to see and know all the
boundless opportunities God gives them to love and serve their neighbors, so
that that they find joys in serving in ways of which they have no inkling of
now – that is why you are here – to help guide and teach them the joys of love
and service. Even when they frustrate
you.
Now, with what I have just said, things may seem,
daunting. Ugh, this preacher just said
that the Deaconess is gonna make us work.
Ugh, this preacher said that this congregation’s gonna make me
work! The reality is this – life in this
fallen world is hard – that is what sin does.
It makes things hard. And sin
isolates us – Adam and Eve were created by God to work together, to serve
together – but as soon as sin comes in, there’s finger pointing and hatred and
isolation. Sin looks precisely like
someone being hungry, but given no food, naked but not clothed, sick or in
prison and not visited… hurt and wounded and not cared for… sorrowing and not
comforted… needing to learn but not taught… wanting to serve but left out. Isolated, alone. And our sinful flesh will try to deceive us,
try to tell us that is a good thing to be on our own, to have our way – but it’s
not. I, as the Circuit Visitor, am
pleased beyond the ability to say that St.
John’s has called Deaconess Jennifer – because this
will be good for this congregation, good for her/you. You will have such encouragement to fight
against that inertia of sin, you will get to see growth in people you love and
care for – you all together will learn to see past the selfish and hateful lies
of Satan more and more. This is a
blessing, a blessing I wish more congregations would realize and take advantage
of – but our old sinful flesh can be stubborn and lazy and cantankerous. And your old sinful flesh will act up in the
years to come, that’s just the reality of life in a fallen world.
Over and against that, in the midst of when things are hard
and difficult, remember who you are. You
are the baptized children of God. You
are those who are washed and redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb. Christ Jesus has died for you and all your
sins are forgiven, they are no more. Even
as they rear their ugly head, Christ has already defeated them. You are His – you’re the sheep. He has claimed you as His own already, your
life has already been consecrated unto Him, your hands already move at the
impulse of His love. This is the truth –
You are forgiven, you are God’s Child, you are redeemed. And you will hear this truth preached week in
and week out by Pastor Griffith from this pulpit, you will sing out this truth
week in and week out in the liturgy and hymns here, you will taste this
forgiveness from this very altar. And
now, with your Deaconess, during the rest of the week, the fruits of that
forgiveness will flow. The Holy Spirit
who has given you faith, who has called you by the Gospel, enlightened you with
His gifts, sanctified and kept you in the faith – the same Spirit by whom you
confess that Jesus is Lord has given you gifts and talents and skills, and He
will work through you all together, deaconess and congregation, to bring those
forth more and more.
My dear friends in Christ – this is a joyous day. God is going to work in you and through you
goodness and mercy that none of us here can predict or see, the Spirit will use
you as His instrument, making you servants.
In this, Deaconess Jennifer will be your aid, your guide – rejoice in
this, and when those moments when it seems hard arise, return here to this
place, hear Christ Crucified and Him preached and proclaimed to you and for
you, be refreshed by forgiveness. Christ
Jesus who died and rose to give you life everlasting has in his great love for St. John’s and for Deaconess
Jennifer brought you together to enrich your lives now, to enrich this
congregation, to enrich this community.
All thanks be to God for His great and underserved love towards us, His
unworthy servants! In the Name of the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit +
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