Our new Deacon

August 13th  2023
Year A; 11th Pentecost; Proper 14
Genesis 37: 1-4, 12-28
Psalm 105: 1-6, 16-22, 45b
Matthew 14: 22-33
 
 
 Homily by Rev. Megan Limburg

In the name of the Holy Three. Amen.
 
Yesterday five deacons were ordained at Grace Episcopal Church in Alexandria, including Deborah Falls Lockhart, now the Rev. Deb Lockhart, Deacon!
The service was beautiful, holy, and deeply joyous!
And the service taught us who deacons are and how they are called to serve in the church.
Deacons have served since the early church, the first reference to deacons appearing in the book of Acts, where they are tasked with distributing food to those in need.
But until fairly recently deacons were not common in the Diocese of Virginia.
And as priests are first ordained as transitional deacons, one might understandably be a bit confused about what happened to Deb yesterday!
Deb was ordained a vocational or permanent deacon in the church yesterday, one of the three orders of clergy in the church, along with priests and bishops.
To better understand deacons, our first lesson comes from noticing what the deacon does in the worship service.
Deb just read the gospel, proclaiming the word of God. Deacons bring the text to us, readying us to hear the sermon, and to better understand what God is saying to us in the passage.
In a little while, Deb will set the table for the Eucharist, creating and preparing the space for the consecration of the bread and the wine, the place we draw so near to our brother and savior Jesus.
Deb will then assist with the serving of the communion, and then will, as it is called, do the dishes! Carefully cleaning up after the Eucharist.
And then at the conclusion of the service Deb will do the dismissal. This piece is crucial, as the deacon, invites us, encourages us and leads us out the doors of the church with the dismissal, taking us out of the church and into the world. The quote on the cover of your bulletin, from a deacon leader in the Episcopal Church, reminds us that deacons are the ones that get our church doors open wide and teach us to “venture farther”.
Proclaiming the gospel, setting the table, and sending us forth, worship teaches us the work of the deacon. But the most vivid lesson about deacons is visual, the stole that Deb wears on her left shoulder.
At the Last Supper Jesus steps away from the table, as his friends argue about who among them is the most important, the greatest. Jesus silently goes to the door, picks up the basin of water and the towel, and goes to each disciple and washes their feet, taking on the lowest job, the work of a servant, offering refreshment, care and welcome with the water and towel.
The stole on Deb’s left shoulder echoes the placement of the towel in Jesus’ left hand as he washed with his right.  The stole echoing the towel prompts the deacon, and all of us seeing it, that the deacon comes with a particular call, to remind us of our call to learn from them and to serve with them, to be humble, caring, compassionate.
A dear friend of Deb’s, who was ordained with her yesterday, Hope Laingen, wrote the lyrics of the hymn “A Deacon’s Hymn” that is on the additional sheet you received this morning, and that we will sing as our closing hymn.
The words Hope wrote are beautiful and teach us again about deacons and how they will lead us.
The first verse reads in part:
“Modest, humble, strong and constant, we would live by Christ’s design. Servant’s towel we wrap around us, not our glory, Lord, but thine.”
And so, our churches are deeply honored and blessed that Bishop Stevenson has placed The Rev. Deb Lockhart to serve as deacon among us. And too, we will be challenged to have Deb serving among us, as she will be reminding us, promoting us, nudging us and occasionally pushing us, to venture further and serve more deeply!
Deb’s initial focus in ministry as a deacon will be on the Upper Lancaster Community Food Pantry that is housed at Trinity Pavilion, where she now serves as Co-Coordinator of the Pantry with Kathy Kelsey.
Last Thursday, the Food Pantry fed over 350 people, and  40 volunteers eagerly arrived to help and haul, bag groceries, greet clients, load groceries and offer compassion in a hurting world. As I sang the final verse of The Deacon’s Hymn yesterday at the ordination service, I saw Deb in my mind’s eye, at the Pantry.
 
The verse reads:
“Praise we give for Christ’s example, humbly washing disciples’ feet. In the way we lead by serving at God’s table in the street.”
 
Deb was checking-in clients, leaning into car windows with a smile and a word of welcome, talking to each person, calling them by name, hearing joys and sorrows, offering help and hope, being a deacon.
May we be ready to follow our deacon out the doors of the church, ready to venture further, and to serve with her at God’s table in the street.
Amen.