Sunday Eucharist 8:30 a.m. - Spoken Word 10:00 a.m. - Music & Live Stream
Sunday Eucharist 8:30 a.m. - Spoken Word 10:00 a.m. - Music & Live Stream
Christ the King-Epiphany, Wilbraham
The Rev. Michael Hamilton
May 5, 2024 / 6th Sunday of Easter
Jn 15; 9-17
Please pray that the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts, are pleasing and acceptable to God. Amen ( pbs)
· abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love
· This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you
Our official journey begins, and I could not be happier than to be on this road with you. I have been here a few short weeks and already I see so many healthy signs of community, love of neighbor, and faith amongst 4 different communities that have come together to form one. I have not seen the separatism that often exists amongst blended communities, the divisions of ‘us’, ‘you’, and ‘them’ that can be found in newly mixed gatherings. Nor have I heard the dueling between “I am a cradle- Episcopalian” or, “I am a birth-to-grave Lutheran” or some other denominational thoroughbred papers being bandied about that blended communities often wrestle with. What I have seen is a welcoming, loving, and open community that proves to me that the Holy Spirit is welcomed here, and the gifts of the Spirit are celebrated. In many ways, you already have so many deacons among you that my work here is going to be tough. Tough to find new and creative ways for each of us to grow deeper into our commitment of loving one another as Christ does us, and in abiding with each other as we intentionally live into our Good News so we might share that experience with others.
Several have asked who I am as a deacon and what am I going to make the community do…. Two separate questions and I will take the last one first. I promise, I am not here to make anyone do anything. I have no authority, that responsibility falls on your pastor and Parish Council. I am here in a leadership role, that’s true, but one that is invited into the community to assist in your goals of how you want to live out your Christian identity and responsibilities. In doing this, I am asked to bring the needs of the world, the homeless, the marginalized, and the lonely to everyone’s attention, and as a mirror or a lens, to ask you, “how do we want to respond?”
So yes, I am ordained, and I have a commitment and responsibility in wearing this collar as others do, but my call is to assist the pastor where I can, and I am called to be in the community as a witness to where Christ and the Holy Spirit are moving. I am called to encourage each one of us to respond in loving our neighbor and abiding in the love of the God as Christ has asked us to do.
Part of the ministry of the deacon is summed up in a quote from a hero of mine, St Francis of Assisi, he said, “Preach the Gospel at all times and use words when necessary”. It is not what we say here that matters, it is not the 1.5 hours that we spend here on a Sunday or the prayers that we recite, or even the Eucharist that we share that matters as much as what we show to others as to how this time, this sharing, these prayers, and this Eucharist feeds and sustains us during the week out in the world. Out in the world that is difficult, out in the world with people that bother us. Out in the world where we encounter bitterness, crime, loneliness, and a sense of hopelessness. It is there, in those difficult life situations, that we can share what we have. We can share the identity of being a beloved child of God, we can share the knowledge that God never abandons us, and we can show the gift of compassion by encouraging and supporting others during their times of difficulty. The real purpose of our coming together, praying, and sharing Communion is to strengthen us, feed us, and encourage us to be the loving neighbor that abides in Christs’ love. That’s the Gospel, that is the Good News, may we strive to always preach it and use words when necessary.
One of the responsibilities of the deacon is to not only share the Gospel message but to interpret the message and to preach boldly. Preaching boldly is the call to deliver the difficult message at times, the unwanted message, but the one that is needed to be shared. Encouraged to preach that the emperor might not have the clothes they think they do, that society might not be responding well enough to a social ill or issue. Empowered to raise the alarm when a voice is being avoided, ignored, or drowned out because we don’t want to acknowledge or listen to certain people or issues. People such as addicts, the poor, the homeless, or the racist. The issues of distrust and hatred over divided politics where neither side can listen to the other. When one side believes that ‘other’ side is wrong and we are right, or that “we” are the real Christians and the others’ apostate. There are so many voices we choose not to hear and sometimes, we need to be made aware that those voices are speaking, and we need to be challenged in how we will, or will not, respond with our eye on loving our neighbor and abiding in the Holy Spirit even when we vehemently disagree.
I think that gives you a glimpse of a few places that the deacon is called to be and now to answer the first part of that question as to who I am as a deacon. This is not true of everyone, but very poignantly for me, the scripture passage of Matthew 25; 31-46 often referred to as the separation of the sheep and the goats is where I find my own call for the diaconate ministry.
… take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. (35) For I was hungry,
and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and
you invited me in, (36) I needed clothes, and you clothed me, I was sick, and you looked after me, I was in prison,
and you came to visit me. ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters
of mine, you did for me.’
Out of gratitude for all that I have been blessed with in life, I want to live into Jesus welcoming me in as a sheep because I recognized that anytime that I serve others or make myself available in someone else’s need, I am standing in the presence of Christ Himself. If I want to see and spend time with Jesus like I would want to do with a best friend or someone beloved, I need to look for Him where I know He will be. Where can I look? I can look amongst those that are struggling, denied, forgotten, or ignored. I know that Jesus has a preferential heart for the poor and those that struggle physically, mentally, economically, spiritually, and socially. This does not mean that I can’t be in relationship with wealthy, healthy, and regular goofy people- I can, but I also realize that the chosen ones in society and those picked first for teams, are not the only ones that matter, they are not the only ones that have dreams, and they are not the only ones that need love, assistance, or a friend at times. If I am to love my neighbor as myself and abide in the love of Jesus, then I have to think about who my neighbor is and realize they often do not look, live, or think like I do and my challenge is to open my arms and mind, and my heart to include more people, more diversity, more chaos, and more suffering into my life if the One Complete Loving Body of Christ is to become the reality that I hope to see and be a part of.
So, we begin our journey together to look for our neighbors and to share the Good News that we welcome them to abide, love, and work with us as we build the largest Body of Christ that we can possibly imagine because only by doing this work can we live into the commandment to love one another as Jesus has loved us and to abide in that love as Jesus and the Father do. Amen.
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