The One Who Serves
The Rev. Canon Frank Logue preached this sermon at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Savannah, Georgia, on January 13, 2018
The One Who Serves
An Ordination Sermon for Dewayne Cope, Arthur Jones, and Bunny Williams
Luke 22:24-27
Arthur, Bunny, and DeWayne, I owe it to the three of you to be clear at the outset: The church does not trust you to be priests. I don’t just mean St. Matthew’s Church or the congregation gathered this morning, the Diocese of Georgia or even the Episcopal Church. The Church with a capital C does not trust the three of you to be priests, at least, not yet.
Yes, you felt the Holy Spirit speaking to your hearts. Not only, did you feel called to the priesthood, but the Diocese of Georgia affirmed that call. We sent you off to get a seminary education and you have all done very well. But we don’t trust you to be priests. Not yet.
You are certainly three impressive individuals:
Dewayne, your home church here at St. Matthew’s has every right to be proud of you. They know your skill at preaching and your gifts for working with children and youth as do Episcopalians around this city from your work with the Savannah convocation youth group. Your experience working with the Teen-Age Parenthood Program and the Adult Education Program certainly help you bring important experience to this call.
Bunny, you too have a supportive church family at Good Shepherd, Augusta, who is pleased you have come to this day. They know you not just as fellow parishioner and friend, but as a leader through adult education and the parish life committee. Your work in nursing from the operating room to earning your doctorate and teaching a new generation of nurses provides a wealth of experience to draw from in ministry.
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Arthur, you are an impressive man here with the support of both Christ the King Valdosta where you tested this possible call and Good Shepherd Thomasville where you strengthened that sense of call. And as someone ordained previously in the Baptist Church, the Pastor who knew you well at New Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church supports your call to ministry as an Episcopal priest as do many others.
So it is not any particular concern about each of you, the Church just doesn’t trust anyone to be a priest who has not spent time living into serving others, particularly the poor, the weak, the sick, and the lonely. That is why centuries of practice among the many millions of Christians in not just our Anglican Communion, but also the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran and other churches ordain a prospective priest as a deacon first.
We don’t intend this to diminish the Sacred Order of Deacons, but to show how vitally important servant ministry is to any Christian community. The Christian church found the need for the servant ministry of deacons very early. The Acts of the Apostles recounts the story of the first seven persons selected to serve as deacons. In time, the tradition developed to have those called to the priesthood to serve first as a deacon. This is now usually a time of six months to a year.
The work of real deacons is the work of a lifetime. You are, however, called to be what we sometimes refer to as “transitional deacons,” meaning that you will serve as a deacon during this time of further preparation for the priesthood.
This certainly is not just in line with church tradition, but also with the example of our Lord. Our Gospel reading for this day recounts a dispute arising among Jesus’ disciples as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. Jesus reminded them that they are not to look to the example of the world. He said, “Rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves.” Then he brought this home in saying, “I am among you as one who serves.”
Jesus turned the world upside with his ministry, showing how the least were the greatest and the last would be first. Jesus who valued the windows and orphans, the lost and the left out. Jesus touched untouchables, healed those not even welcome in the Temple courts because of their infirmity, and invited tax collectors and other notorious sinners to share a meal with him.
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