St. Luke's Episcopal Church
Cleveland, Tennessee

Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost
November 11, 2007
Luke 20:27, 34-38

About ten weeks ago, I haven’t really kept count, but about ten weeks ago, I was at home one morning working on a sermon. The phone rang, and it was Brenda. She said, “The Bishop wants to talk to you.” Now this only happens about twice a year. And, every time it happens, I do have that momentary feeling of, “What have I done?” It didn’t happen very often, but when I was in elementary school, ever so often, Mrs. Rick - - Mrs. Lois Rick, was her name - - was the school secretary. She had a daughter named Myra. Myra and I were great buddies. Myra was a wonderful softball player, she was a wonderful infielder. About twice a year, when I was in elementary school, I would be minding my own business; and over the intercom, I would hear, “Joey Huffstetler, report to the office immediately.” And, that typically wasn’t good. Something had happened that Mr. Craig, the principal, had found out about. So, the Bishop called, and it turned out it was a wonderful thing. We have a policy in this Diocese that when a new rector comes to a church, the remaining clergy are transferred to another ministry. Art Bass has been at St. Thaddaeus for thirteen years. St. Thaddaeus Church is in Chattanooga. St. Thaddaeus has a new rector as of October 1. So, the Bishop called several weeks ago, and began a conversation as to if St. Luke’s would like to have the ministry of Art Bass as a part of our congregation. Art and I have sat down four times now, and have had extensive conversations. Also, the Vestry and I have talked extensively about this issue.

This morning we welcome into our parish family, The Rev. Deacon Arthur Bass. “Art, we welcome you, and are delighted that you are here with us.” I want to talk briefly this morning about what a vocational deacon is, and is not. Some of us grew up in this region of the country where the word deacon is used in a number of contexts. So, I want to talk briefly with you about what a vocational deacon is. Deacons are part of the ancient order of the church’s ministry. There have been deacons since the first century. The word that we use in English for deacon occurs in the New Testament. It occurs in Philippians 1:1. It also occurs in 1 Timothy 3:8. Very clearly, the word for deacon is used. Also, a very important passage with regard to deacons is the 6 th Chapter of the Book of Acts. Chapter 6:1-6, where Stephen and six others are ordained as deacons. You may remember that story. The first church argument is referred to in the 6 th Chapter of Acts. The very first church controversy occurs in Chapter 6. What happens is the Greek speaking Hellenists, who have converted to Christianity, the Gentiles who have converted, think that the Jewish widows are getting too much money for the poor. In other words, the converts think they are being discriminated against by the Jewish Christians. So, the apostles see what is going on, and say, “We have got to preach, and we have got to teach. Somebody else needs to handle things like this.” So, they ordained seven deacons to take on that very hands-on ministry of the relief money that had been collected for the poor. And, that is where the order of Deacons began. Deacons have been a part of the church’s ministry from the very beginning. The order of deacons really pre-dates the order of presbyters, priests. Originally, the pastors in early Christian churches were what we now call bishops. The Greek word for bishop simply means ‘overseer’. A bishop is an overseer. So, the first pastors were overseers, and they were assisted by deacons. Now, as the church grew, you couldn’t oversee all the congregations. One person could not do that. So, that is where the order of presbyters, priests, comes from.

We have this three-tiered order of ordained ministry, bishops, priests, and deacons. It is very important to realize that deacons have always been a part of the church’s ministry. Historically, deacons have been focused on servant ministries, actual hands-on ministries that help show, in a very tangible way, the love of Jesus Christ.

The Greek word, from which we get the English word for deacon is diakonos and it means, literally, servant. So, a deacon is a servant. In the modern day, when we have deacons in the church, they are focused primarily on servant ministry. Deacons serve to remind all of us that, at heart, we are all called to be servants.

I did my field education in Bat Cave, North Carolina. There really is such a place. There is a post office there.You can look it up. It is only a wide spot in the road in Henderson County, North Carolina, between Lake Lure and Asheville. But in Bat Cave, there was a wonderful priest named Jim Hindle. I went for six weeks to do my field education with Fr. Hindle. For six weeks, I just shadowed him. Everywhere he went, I went. Everything he did, I observed. I have said over the years that I learned more from Jim Hindle in six weeks than I learned in four years of seminary. If there is a little hyperbole in there, there is really not much, because I really did learn so much from Fr. Hindle. Fr. Hindle’s foundational, theological statement was this: “Serve the Lord with gladness.” As I went with him for those six weeks, and as I saw him do what parish priests do, in a very hands-on way; he would remind me, periodically, me - - his twenty-seven year old understudy, “Remember, always serve the Lord with gladness.” When I find myself getting into trouble, when I find myself getting off track, I oftentimes remember those words from the Psalms, that Fr. Hindle reminded me of, “Remember, always the Lord with gladness.”

Art’s ministry, as a deacon, is to remind all of us, myself included, that we are first and foremost to be servants. We are here this morning to worship God so that we can then go out and serve him in our daily lives.

Just a couple of words, in a very focused way, about what Art will do and not do. We do have to be very careful about vocabulary. I have said to people who have converted to the Episcopal Church like I have, “Vocabulary is the hard part. There are so many different words to learn in the Episcopal Church.” We have two kinds of deacons in the Episcopal Church. St. Luke’s has a history with one kind in recent memory. St. Luke’s has had transitional deacons in its recent history; people who have just graduated from seminary are in their first placement as an ordained person, and they will become priests. They are what we call transitional deacons, a new seminary graduate on his or her way to the priesthood, that is a transitional deacon. Art is not that kind of deacon. He is a vocational deacon. Sometimes, he is called a perpetual, or a permanent deacon. Vocational deacons have gone through a course of study mandated by the diocese, overseen by the diocese. At the end of that significant process of study, they are ordained to serve, normally in one church for a focused length of time, focusing on servant ministry. So, what we have been blessed with now, with Art coming to us, is a vocational deacon, someone who will be here on Sundays and will be part of the liturgy. When I am out of town, Art will be able to follow up with some pastoral care situations. Right now, when I am out of town, I have had to call a priest from outside of Cleveland to be on call if there is a need while I am gone. Now, when I am away, Art will be able to fill in in that role. A deacon reads the Gospel, so from now on Art will be reading the Gospel on Sunday mornings. The deacon, typically, leads the prayers. The deacon prepares the altar, so this morning, it will be Deacon Bass who is preparing the altar for the Eucharist. Also, the deacon gives the dismissal. And, there is a reason for that, because the deacon’s ministry is focused on servanthood, the dismissal reminds us now that the service is ended, our ministry begins. I have seen several churches that have on the back wall, “Now the service has ended, now our servanthood begins in the world.” So, the deacon giving the dismissal reminds us, “Now that we have worshipped, now that we have been fed, it is time to put our faith into action in the world.” We welcome Art this morning. Art will be a wonderful addition to the St. Luke’s family. I encourage you to get to know him over time. I have encouraged Art not to try to learn every name this Sunday. That is impossible. But, over time, you will get to know him, and he will get to know you. And, Art, again we welcome you, and we thank for coming to St. Luke’s, and we know we will be blessed by your ministry. Amen.