Sermon

3rd May 26

Our first reading this morning and our gradual hymn remind us of St Stephen the first to die for his Christian faith.  The account of his stoning is fairly well known.  What is not so well known is his life leading up to it.  Our reading was the last few verses of Chapter 7 of the Acts of the Apostles.  To understand Stephen’s role in the early Church we need to look at the rest of that Chapter, and the preceding Chapter 6. 

The Church was being led by the twelve apostles who had served Jesus, with the exception of Judas Iscariot who had been replaced by Matthias.  But they soon realised that they could not do everything, and that many of the jobs that they found themselves doing could be done by others.  The immediate crisis was that the work of distributing money and food to some widows had been neglected and this was leading to some unrest.  There was a need to share responsibility if important aspects of the work of the Church were not to be ignored.

After prayer, they selected seven men, and appointed them as deacons (the Greek word diakonos means servant) and Stephen was one of these.  We read that, in exercising his ministry, he clashed with members of the synagogue who took him out and stoned him to death.  

So, after the apostles, the next structured role in the Church was that of deacon.  But it doesn’t stop there.  By the time that St Paul is writing to the Corinthians some 15 to 20 years later it is clear that there are many other roles (Paul calls them “varieties of service”) being filled by members of the Church.  In Chapter 12, which we heard as our second reading this morning, he lists some of these.

As there and then, so here and now.  Hopefully, we are moving towards the end of the interregnum and looking forward to the appointment of a new Vicar.  As with any priest, he or she will with bring them both strengths and weaknesses.  But, in any case, they cannot do everything themselves.  I hope that they will not be cursed, as I was, moving into each of my three livings, by being told “I’ve been doing this job during the interregnum” and then having it dumped on me. 

I’ve heard in the last few days of one Vicar locally who, three months into his new parish, has had to publish a list of jobs that need to be done.  That could well happen here, but it would be so much better if folk were to come forward now, in order that our new Parish Priest is spared this.  The obvious vacancies here are for a second Churchwarden and for assistants at the altar.  We may not be able to field a full team of MC, crucifer, thurifer, boat boy, and acolytes, but more help is necessary for “we are the Body of Christ, and individually members of it”. 

Amen