Sermon delivered by The Reverend Tara L. Jernigan

on the occasion of the Ordination to the Diaconate of

Norman Marion Erb-White

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Being the Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle

The Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Springfield, Illinois

When I was a child, we lived near the theme park that later became Dollywood. When Dolly Parton purchased the theme park, a lot of new and exciting rides were added, including a “white water rafting” ride. I was maybe twelve or thirteen, and I’d never actually been rafting, so this sounded like fun. About ten of us got on the boat, and we were taken down the man-made river, getting bumped and splashed along the way. Going down a little rapid, the girls in the boat ahead of us screamed. And

it was fun, but nothing to write home about. In fact, I’d pretty much forgotten about it, until I recently found myself on a real white water rafting trip.

On paper, it sounds like Dollywood did a decent job of recreating the whitewater rafting experience. After all, we all got on an inflatable boat, and we all got bumped around and splashed, and teenage girls screamed as they went down the rapid. But there was something drastically different about the rapids of an actual river. Nobody on the Dollywood ride ever capsized their boat; there wasn’t even the possibility of it on a man-made river barely wider than that rafts that floated on it. Never, on the Dollywood ride, did you really wonder if you could get hurt.  Never did you need to paddle with all your strength to avoid a series of rather ominous rocks.  Actually, the Dollywood ride never even gave you a paddle.  Never did anyone get off the Dollywood ride so tired their legs were shaking… in fact, Dollywood would like it very much if you got off their rafting ride and went right on to another ride or ten for the day. The manmade river took you where it wanted you to go, and if you turned right back around and rode again, the ride would be exactly the same. There were no chances, no changes, and no risks.

In short, while the two concepts might, on paper, seem to be the same, they really had nothing at all in common. Simply put, one experience was very real. The other was not.  When I got off the raft at the end of 7.2 very real miles, I knew something had happened that could never, not even on the same river, happen again. And I knew that what had happened on that river was very real, every tired muscle in my body told me it was real.  All the things that could have happened but didn’t told me that it was real. And that was it. In the end, what made the difference was that there were unknowns. There were risks.  Nothing can go wrong at Dollywood, but as the guide informed us in great detail, plenty can go wrong on the river.

Most people like to live a life in our comfort zones, where we can trick ourselves into believing that nothing can go wrong. It’s normal to have a comfort zone and want to stay there; but living a life of total safety is like living life in only two dimensions. There is no depth; there is no reality. And quite often, we find that God calls us out of safety and into a fuller life, for the sake of his Kingdom.

Jeremiah, in our reading, today, shows us the pattern of the life of God’s chosen prophetic leaders. Jeremiah is suddenly being called outside his comfort zone. He knows what his liabilities are, he fully comprehends the risk to which God is calling him with those astonishing words “before you were born, I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” A prophet.  Jeremiah’s risk is immense. We can almost see the wheels turning in Jeremiah’s mind.  He articulates his first risk. What if the people will not hear him?  He says he does not know how to speak, he has no confidence in his words.  He is not eloquent.  And if that isn’t enough, he is young. Nobody had credibility or the right to speak to the assembled congregation until he was at least in his forties.  Jeremiah is probably half that age. Why should the people hear him? If nothing else, Jeremiah’s ego is at grave risk in this undertaking!

Of course, the next risk is greater. What if they DO hear him?  God promises to equip Jeremiah with the eloquence he needs, and perhaps the greater fear for Jeremiah is that he might succeed. Jeremiah knows how badly the other prophets had been treated. He knows the ridicule and scorn and persecution they faced. Jeremiah’s comfort and even his life might be on the line! 

And Jeremiah knows the measuring rod of every prophet. He knows the seriousness of the ministry to which he has been called. Surely Jeremiah knows the Scriptures well enough to know that the Law of Moses required 100% accuracy in the prophetic words of those who call themselves prophets. The penalty for speaking anything less than total accuracy was death by stoning. This is a rightful fear of the false prophet, but the true prophet understands the same demand as a risk, not only of his own life, but of his relationship with the God who commissioned and sent him. He must also remain true to the trust given him for the sake of the people’s relationship with God. The weight of the nation’s repentance is on the shoulders of the prophet. Whether the people repent and are saved or they turn away and are destroyed, the prophet feels the urgency most heavily. 

And so, Jeremiah is afraid.

You will notice that God does not scorn Jeremiah’s fear. He simply tells him to cast the fear away. And in the pattern of all the recorded prophetic calls, God addresses Jeremiah’s fear and failing by giving him what he needs to complete the task at hand.  God puts his words in the prophet’s mouth, regardless of the prophet’s age, regardless of the prophet’s fears, regardless of the prophet’s natural abilities. God equips the one he calls.

And so Jeremiah is obedient.

Like Jeremiah, Norman knows what his liabilities are. I’ve seen Norman step out in faith more than once, risking what God calls him to risk, to do the ministry God has called him to do.  Norm is blessed with a wife who not only supports this lifestyle but encourages it.  But it is my observation that the months and years after ordination will challenge the limits of those comfort zones even further, allowing for greater growth, and at times demanding greater risk.  Norman and Debby, also, must remain obedient. Like Jeremiah, you must remain obedient, not only for your own sake, but for the sake of the people you serve.

Today, we are here to celebrate something that seems to us like a reward, a culmination of many years’ worth of work and hope and prayer. There is a lot of past blessing for which to give thanks. There is a lot of work that is completed. Norman has spent a decade in formation for ministry, from classrooms to hospital rooms, with books and with real people. A phase of his and Debby’s life is ending. And yet, what is happening here today, is actually a beginning.  Norm (and Debby) have worked many years and waited patiently while God has equipped them for the work that is ahead of them; but now the real work, the day to day realities of ordained ministry will begin in a new and richer way for them and Norm’s life and ministry will take on a new and deeper significance for the church.  It’s a weighty burden and a rich joy, for those who are so called.

This week, I listened to a lecture by Bishop Ben Kwashi, bishop of Jos in Nigeria. Bp. Kwashi is a man who intimately understands the nature of ministry, its joys and its risks.  To a congregation which consisted primarily of men and women who are in formation for ordained ministry, Bishop Kwashi said “I see the role of Christian leaders in this millennium as very important… Are you going to be wavering leaders, or are you going to stand for what you believe?  And that what you believe is not only orthodox, but missionary.”  He went on to add that “If you are beginning to look for safety, forget it.  You’re not ready for mission yet.” 

The reading from the Acts of the Apostles, which we just heard, gives us a fuller picture of just what this full-fledged, out of the comfort zone, missionary faith entails. We just read about the ordination of the first deacons, among whom the most notable is Stephen.  I’ll just tell you now, St. Stephen is one of my personal heroes. In Stephen, we see the limits of fallen humanity stretched to the max.  Stephen is a fantastic demonstration of what this real-life, risk-taking, obedient, faithful ministry looks like.

The Bible gives us a remarkable profile of Stephen, especially considering that we are given nothing more than a name for five of the six other deacons. The first thing to note is that the prerequisites for selection as a deacon are laid out in this description of Stephen. We learn that all the deacons, including Stephen, were to be men of good reputation, who were full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom. These must be men who will tend the duties assigned to them so faithfully that the apostles can trust them completely with the daily work of their ministries. This is the basic qualification for the diaconate, and I would not have just stood before this congregation to certify that I believe Norman’s “manner of life to be suitable to the exercise of this ministry” if I had not already known him to be of good repute and seen the marks of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom in him. 

If you ask anyone who knows about Stephen and deacons, they’ll tell you that Stephen and the others were ordained to wait at tables. In ancient society, widows often had no other means of caring for themselves, except for receiving what was given to them by others. The Jews in Israel had a system for tending to the needs of widows and orphans and the poor, but when these people became Christians, they left that system and became dependent upon the church for their care. At this time, many people were becoming Christians, and the number of widows dependent on the church became difficult to manage. Stephen and the other deacons were called to tend to this need. 

But Stephen and the other deacons were ordained for more than waiting tables. Stephen seems to have no sense of anything being outside his job description. We read that he was full of God’s power and doing great wonders and signs among the people. In answer to Bishop Kwashi’s question: Are you going to be wavering leaders or are you going to stand up for what you believe? Stephen’s response is clear. Even in the face of instigators and charges of blasphemy, Stephen is a bold and knowledgeable preacher of the Gospel of Jesus. 

What we did not read today, was what happened after Stephen was ordained. The Scripture tells us that some men charged Stephen with speaking blasphemy against Moses and against God. They arrested him and brought him before the Jewish council, the Sanhedrin. Even there, Stephen did not waver. They set up false witnesses against him who twisted the Gospel and uttered blasphemy against Jesus. And Stephen still did not waver or wilt.  They said that Stephen had such peace and trust in God that his face was like that of an angel. And when asked by the high priest himself whether these charges were true, Stephen, with the courage and wisdom that only comes from God’s spirit, spoke in defense of the faith. Stephen carefully retold the entire narrative of Salvation history with such systematic detail and such calm wisdom that his words could only have come by God’s grace.  And even here, he does not waver, but stands for what he knows to be true: that Jesus Christ was the Messiah foretold by the Law and the prophets. Stephen preached the Word of God in such a way that a response was demanded.  And of course, the response was that the people were enraged and they rose up and stoned Stephen. And even at the moment of his martyrdom, Stephen had the grace to pray for those who were stoning him, the clarity of prophetic vision to see the heavens opened, and the trust in God to receive his spirit. Even under the pain and terror of stoning, Stephen did not waver.

The role of a deacon today is, likewise, more than waiting tables. Yes, the poor, the weak, the sick, and the lonely are still with us. Empty stomachs remain a hindrance to the ears’ ability to hear the Gospel. We still have a tenancy to overlook the needs of widows and orphans, the homeless and the intemperate. A deacon’s work is among the needy. 

But like the role of Stephen and the other original deacons, there’s not much that isn’t in a deacon’s job description. Stephen’s core ministry was to do the daily work of the Church in order to free the apostles for the ministry to which they were called. Likewise, as a deacon, Norman will work in tandem with a priest and under the authority of his bishop in order that they may be freed of many daily tasks so that priest and bishop can fulfill their own calls more effectively.

Though the needs of the church can vary greatly from place to place, person to person; one of the most pressing needs in the church now is the need for Christian leaders who are willing to take the risks necessary to live out a counter-cultural faith in the modern world. Who we put forth as our leaders will not only encourage the faithful to more godly living, but our leaders will also serve to define the faith to the world at large. As a deacon, your duty and greatest pleasure should be to proclaim the gospel, always, and as St. Francis said, when necessary using words.  You may risk wealth and prosperity. You will risk lifestyle and popular acceptance. You may even be called to risk your life. But like Jeremiah and Stephen, you must remain obedient, not only for your own sake, but for the sake of the people you serve. When you preach, you preach for their sake. When you work, you work for their sake. And there will also be times when you rest and pray and make retreat, not only for your sake, but for the sake of those you love and serve.

There will be days when you walk into the parish or hospital and you feel good. Your people love you and they let you know it. There will be times when you leave the parish or hospital wanting to bang your head against the wall. The people you love may not seem to understand the demands of the Gospel!  The church can be frustrating and given the opportunity, frustration will wear you down! There will even be times when the people don’t care for you at all, and they let you know it. Like Jeremiah and Stephen, you may have a message for them they don’t want to hear. But this call isn’t about you; it’s about God’s call for you to love his people.