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We are God's Living House 

At the beginning of May, I invited you to join with me in celebration of my ordination as a Deacon. 

Some thoughts:

  • On Sunday, we will share Palm 68 which says, in verses 5,6 we read:

Father of orphans, defender of widows, God in his holy habitation!
God gives the solitary a home and brings forth prisoners into freedom;
but the rebels shall live in dry places.            

  • In my sermon on April 30th, I shared with you about the ministry of a deacon.
    The essential ministry of the diaconate is to provide the bridge between world and the vocation of the church.
    I prefer to change the ecclesiastical wording: “between the world and vocation of the parish (parishioners).”

Often, in our current church society, we think of "church" as meaning the formal organization of a  priest and a small group of lay people, "the mission and outreach team".

In truth, "the mission and outreach team" is all of us!            

Our recent lectionary readings have been focusing on the Gospel of John.  Jesus is preparing the disciples for his departure. We do not have all the dialogue between Jesus and his followers, but I am quite sure there were some lengthy discussions or teaching sessions.            

With reference to the Psalm, we realize this ministry Jesus is leaving for us to fulfill is not just the work of the deacon or the mission committee.

The work of the gospel is one we have all been adopted into.    

Our challenge, at St. John’s, is to capture a vision of God’s willingness for the community of which we are a part.             

"Day-By-Day" for Ascension Sunday the writer reminds us of the wisdom she discovered:

“God has no body on earth but ours.
Together, we are God’s house – a living house – providing refuge and care to those most in need.”  

At St. John’s we have a monthly focus for mission. But the challenge does not stop at the collection plate.

Our challenge is to give a personal attachment to our givings in that collection plate.

Blessings in Christ,
Archdeacon Brian+