A Deacon’s Dismissal From the Heart

FROM THE DEACON

The table for the Last Supper has been set and the disciples are at the table with Jesus and listen as Jesus prays to the Father on their behalf. And then Jesus prays for us. Three times he prays for us to become one just as he and God are one.

I have been thinking about the ones who set the table for the Last Supper and created such a place for the prayer of oneness that Jesus asked God to give to the community of disciples gathered there. I resonate with that and the holy responsibility of setting the table every Sunday for the priest to consecrate the bread and wine that will be served to us to remind us of our oneness with Christ—by him and with him and in him.

Jesus isn’t praying for us to get along with one another. Or to simply be nice to one another. He prays for our oneness with one another and for our oneness to be a revelation of God’s presence in the world.

Jesus’ prayer reflects my responsibility to you as your deacon here at St. Paul’s. Imagine the deacon as a bridge person. Deacons serve as a pier with the foot of the church that is in the world. Priests are more like the pier that is footed in the institution of the church. Together we help the whole body of the church to cross the bridge that moves the church to the world and the world to the church. In doing so we are given the opportunity to reject differences in one another and eliminate the boundaries that separate us from the oneness that Jesus speaks of.

But this is not just the work of the deacon. Far from it. Our diaconal work takes place with all of us—clergy, vestry, and lay folks all working together to bridge the gap between the world and the church and lean into the oneness that Jesus prayed for.

Before I became your deacon, I was a lay person who regularly crossed the bridge between the church and the world. I did this at community meals each week; and as an advocate for the imprisoned through the Prison Story Project; and often as a nurse, assisting clergy with the acute needs of the parish and wider community. The work I have done as a lay person brought me more joy and purpose than I could ever have imagined. 

So now, at the dismissal of the worship service, I am addressing the church with my whole heart when I dismiss us to go out into the world to love and serve the Lord. Crossing the bridge that joins the church to the world brings me such deep and profound joy and what you may hear in the dismissal is how much I want you to share in the experiences I have known. That’s the hard part of my diaconate responsibility. Because now it is my responsibility to call you to service and to share in the ministries that join us in oneness to the service to Christ and the affirmation of our baptismal covenant.

There’s a place for you at Community Meals to prepare a hot meal and serve those that are homeless or food insecure, or to just and share a meal with those who gather at the table.

There’s a place for you at the Harm Reduction Ministry during Community Meals to offer IV drug abusers a safe way to protect themselves from dirty needles and overdoses; and offer blood pressure screenings to those who don’t have regular access to medical care.

There’s a place for you at the Caring Friends Ministry every Thursday (starting again on June 30th) to offer a few hours of respite for caregivers who need time for themselves while we offer a safe and loving program for their loved ones.

There’s a place for you to volunteer at the Northwest Arkansas Community Correction Center on Sunday evenings to assist with the Eucharist service for incarcerated women.

There’s a place for you on Arkansas’ death row to write to one of our friends or to visit one of our friends on death row who would appreciate contact from the outside world.

In praying for our oneness Jesus is praying for us to recognize and reject the differences that divide and separate us from each other—the incarcerated, the addicted, the hungry, the homeless, the elderly. Oneness is not about eliminating those differences. Oneness is about love.  Over and over Jesus tells us that we are to love God, love our neighbor, love ourselves, and love our enemy.

Even though Jesus is praying to the Father, you and I are the ones to answer Jesus’ prayer. We answer his prayer every time we choose how to love, who to love, and where to love. My responsibility to you as your deacon is to call you to find a place of service in one of St. Paul’s many ministries so that you, too, may experience the deep joy and the oneness with God that service brings. Amen.

In His Service,

Kathy McGregor