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ARCHIVE
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September 2005
The ministry of deacons
Michael Hawkins
At the beginning of
the service of The Form and Manner of Making Deacons it requires
that there be a Sermon or Exhortation, declaring the duty and office
of such as come to be admitted deacons; how necessary that order is
in the Church; and how the people ought to esteem them in their
office. Just these three things, a what, why and who of the
diaconate.
First, why a deacon? It is surprising that the Ordinal speaks of how
necessary the order of deacon is in the Church because Anglicans
have not always and everywhere agreed on how necessary or essential
the three-fold ministry of bishops, priests and deacons is in the
Church. While we are committed to maintaining it, the relative
necessity and priority of this shape and tradition of ministry is
disputed. And we cannot pretend that we do not have Christian
brothers and sisters who do not enjoy this same Apostolic tradition.
In our day the necessity of deacons is less apparent since sometimes
lay people fulfill the distinctive liturgical roles once reserved
for deacons.
As the Ordinal asserts this ministry and order of deacons has been
in the Church from the time of the apostles. Ignatius of Antioch
writes that “Without these three orders no church has any right to
the name.” So we maintain these orders as a means of maintaining and
expressing apostolic continuity and fellowship. But is there any
further necessity? As representing the ministry of Christ and
representing the ministry of the body of Christ, this order of
deacon is necessary because Jesus is the true deacon. A deacon is
ordained to represent Jesus Christ. A deacon is set apart to hold
out before the whole church its call to share in Jesus’ servanthood.
Jesus is both the one who serves and the one who is served. “I am
among you as he that serveth,” he says, “and inasmuch as ye did it
to the least of these, ye did it to me.” The deacon then enables us
to know and receive the ministry of Jesus Christ and calls us to
imitate that service. As Christ taught in the humblest act of his
service, the washing of feet, “Ye should do as I have done to you.”
In all this Christ serves and is served. The ministry of a deacon is
to hold out before the Church and to proclaim, “Blessed are those
servants.” That is what this congregation needs, and what the Church
needs: more servants, people who want to serve, who have a heart and
a will to serve.
Secondly, What then is a deacon? What does he do? From very early on
the seven ordained by the apostles have been regarded as the first
to serve as deacons. They provide the most helpful models. The seven
are set apart by prayer and laying-on of hands by the apostles to
ensure that food and necessities are justly distributed to all. But
their ministry was in no ways limited to waiting on tables and
Stephen and Philip show us the work of a deacon. Stephen preached
and he is accused of doing so, without ceasing. We know that the end
of his preaching was the supreme Christian witness, his glorious
martyrdom.
The second example is that of Philip the deacon. Philip is called
later in Acts, the Evangelist, and we find him preaching everywhere.
In one instance he preaches to people who have been bewitched by a
magical view of the universe, a context that sounds very familiar,
and his preaching brings them to conversion. He baptizes them and
later the Apostles come to lay hands on these. Then we find him with
the Ethiopian eunuch. We read, “Then Philip opened his mouth, and
began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.”
This ministry then is one, which is to serve as a loyal assistant to
the apostles, in ministering to the needs of both body and soul out
of the wealth of the Church.
Finally, Who is this deacon? The deacon is to be set apart to
represent Jesus Christ, the servant of all, among you, that you
might know the blessedness and greatness, the freedom and glory of
this life of service to which we are all called. We are to celebrate
not his ministry or your ministry but the ministry of Jesus Christ.
And we are so fortunate that our service concludes with the Holy
Communion. For after all these considerations, ordinations and
celebrations of ministry, we are refocused on the centre of
everything, Jesus Christ who died for us all. Remember when the
seventy returned to Jesus excited by their ministry, he recalled
them to the grace of God. Let us be recalled in this Eucharist by
him to the same thing.
Michael Hawkins
is Dean of Saskatchewan. This sermon was originally preached in
the Church of All Saints’, Melfort, SK, at the ordination of
David Chapman to the diaconate.
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