Tuesday
Aug052008
Choose to Serve
Tuesday, August 5, 2008 at 11:11AM
Choose to Serve
A homily in the summer series on "How we share our faith".
Ian Fergusson
It’s really hard for me to get up here. I worry about saying the wrong thing, offending someone who might’ve otherwise liked me, and I worry about coming across like an idiot or worse, a heretic. It’s not easy to set aside the worries about speaking responsibly or just getting up the nerve to speak up amongst so many. I’m trying to effect some change in myself and this is an attempt to be true to what I am and what I want to be. I say that because it goes to the heart of who I am; I am quiet, private, perhaps a bit pensive and I have a deep desire not to declare to the world just how shallow this soul really is.
So I come to the question that is before us for this summer homily series. How do we share our faith? How do I, as a quiet, inhibited man share his faith? I’m not an evangelist, I’m barely a teacher but I suspect the answer to the question is the same for many of us, we share by living our lives for others to see. What we do and who we are speaks volumes more than the actual words we speak, and for quiet, private, somewhat shallowly pensive guys like me when the words are less frequent then it’s my hope that my actions and choices speak more often.
As I neared the end of high school (back in the days of the dinosaur) I began to try to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I was working weekend nights at a convenience store trying to save up some cash to pay for tuition at a small Bible College. I went to Emmanuel Bible College with the idea that I just want to help people, wherever I am or whatever I’m doing. If that meant that mopping floors in a Mac’s store served someone then I’d mop floors in a Mac’s store and use my pittance to pay my tuition. I went on to study Theology, a little music, then some history and finally I settled on Social Development. My career has been working in convenience stores, group homes, amongst the disenfranchised, minorities, and finally I’m now a welfare worker. This is the right path for me and I’m very happy with my job.
So, how do I share my faith? A guy like me likes to find a quiet example when looking for some help to study how better to share my faith. This past Monday was the feast day in the church calendar for the 7 deacons listed in Acts. I call these 7 deacons the first welfare workers and … I’m inclined toward them because of the connection that I personally draw to them. 7 men, full of the Holy Spirit and with wisdom, were chosen so that the apostles could devote themselves to prayer and teaching. Their names were Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas. How did they share their faith? They lived and served and spoke when they could and needed to. That to me is cool. That’s how I want to share my faith and share my life.
These homilies are supposed to draw our attention to one main point and so, if you hear nothing else this morning, hear this; choose to serve. It doesn’t matter how or what you choose in order to fulfill that concept in your own life, I just want to encourage you to choose to serve. These 7 deacons were picked because they had the Holy Spirit and wisdom, and they served. I’m not saying that we all need to be doing what they were doing although a significant part of me does believe that ministry to the poor needs to be a part of what we do as we “share our faith”. I’m just saying, choose to serve. That speaks volumes.
Think of Stephen. The church was still in its infancy when Stephen became its first martyr. It must’ve been thoroughly disheartening to lose someone like him but consider the impact that he must’ve had on a man like Saul of Tarsus. When Stephen was stoned scripture says that Saul approved and the first persecution of Christians began, led by this same Saul. I wonder who was Stephen arguing with in the temple courts on a daily basis? I wonder what arguments might’ve persuaded a young Saul toward the kingdom? I wonder where is the Christian church without Saul, later named Paul? I wonder where is Paul without Stephen? That, to me is just plain living your life, sharing your faith and doing your thing.
Think of Philip, called the evangelist. He baptized the Ethiopian eunuch, traditionally starting the Ethiopian church. He preached to great success in Samaria and some traditions hold that he died as the bishop of Asia Minor. All that because he wanted to be sure that widows and orphans were cared for.
Little is known about the remaining 5 deacons but tradition does hold out some very nice hope for their lives.
Some say that Nicanor died the same day as Stephen as the first persecution of the church began. Others say he became a missionary and went to Cyprus and eventually was martyred on his home island of Vespasian. Still others say that he died in peace after a long life.
Prochorus, according to tradition became bishop of Nicomedia and died a martyr in Antioch.
Timon was bishop of Arabia and died after being martyred by fire.
Nicolas was bishop of Samaria but some argue that he became a heretic later in life. There is no concrete evidence of this however, just so we don’t go spreading rumour about a man.
Parmenas was one of the 70 that Jesus sent out in Luke 10 according to one source. After preaching for many years in Asia Minor he settled in Macedonia as the bishop of Soli. He died a martyr in Philippi in 98 AD.
My philosophy for many years has been, “I just want to help people”. I look at these 7 men and I see some guys who didn’t draw a lot of light to themselves but they did their thing, they lived their life and they helped people. They all spread the good news, they all shared their lives and they chose to serve. They all finished as bright lights for the church but they started just wanting to make sure that everyone was cared for. I struggled with the idea in this homily that it sounds self-serving, please don’t interpret me in that light. You probably don’t want my job, you probably wouldn’t want to choose my path, nor should you. I just want you to choose to serve, whatever that means for you. I’m not suggesting that everyone needs to be a “deacon” nor am I claiming that title for me or anyone else around me but I will say this; we all need to share what light we have and ministry to the poor was integral to the ministry of all 7 of these men.
I’m a big Apostle Stephen fan but I think it’s probably the historical link that I draw from him to Paul, I still think that’s pretty cool. If I could lean any direction toward being like any of these guys, it’d probably be one of the quiet guys that we don’t hear much about. Different monk orders have a tradition of renaming people who commit to the process and that’s something that I’m curious about. I don’t want to be a monk so no suggesting that I sign up but maybe taking on a nickname might be cool. How about Parmenas, that’s a cool nickname right?
A homily in the summer series on "How we share our faith".
Ian Fergusson
It’s really hard for me to get up here. I worry about saying the wrong thing, offending someone who might’ve otherwise liked me, and I worry about coming across like an idiot or worse, a heretic. It’s not easy to set aside the worries about speaking responsibly or just getting up the nerve to speak up amongst so many. I’m trying to effect some change in myself and this is an attempt to be true to what I am and what I want to be. I say that because it goes to the heart of who I am; I am quiet, private, perhaps a bit pensive and I have a deep desire not to declare to the world just how shallow this soul really is.
So I come to the question that is before us for this summer homily series. How do we share our faith? How do I, as a quiet, inhibited man share his faith? I’m not an evangelist, I’m barely a teacher but I suspect the answer to the question is the same for many of us, we share by living our lives for others to see. What we do and who we are speaks volumes more than the actual words we speak, and for quiet, private, somewhat shallowly pensive guys like me when the words are less frequent then it’s my hope that my actions and choices speak more often.
As I neared the end of high school (back in the days of the dinosaur) I began to try to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I was working weekend nights at a convenience store trying to save up some cash to pay for tuition at a small Bible College. I went to Emmanuel Bible College with the idea that I just want to help people, wherever I am or whatever I’m doing. If that meant that mopping floors in a Mac’s store served someone then I’d mop floors in a Mac’s store and use my pittance to pay my tuition. I went on to study Theology, a little music, then some history and finally I settled on Social Development. My career has been working in convenience stores, group homes, amongst the disenfranchised, minorities, and finally I’m now a welfare worker. This is the right path for me and I’m very happy with my job.
So, how do I share my faith? A guy like me likes to find a quiet example when looking for some help to study how better to share my faith. This past Monday was the feast day in the church calendar for the 7 deacons listed in Acts. I call these 7 deacons the first welfare workers and … I’m inclined toward them because of the connection that I personally draw to them. 7 men, full of the Holy Spirit and with wisdom, were chosen so that the apostles could devote themselves to prayer and teaching. Their names were Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas. How did they share their faith? They lived and served and spoke when they could and needed to. That to me is cool. That’s how I want to share my faith and share my life.
These homilies are supposed to draw our attention to one main point and so, if you hear nothing else this morning, hear this; choose to serve. It doesn’t matter how or what you choose in order to fulfill that concept in your own life, I just want to encourage you to choose to serve. These 7 deacons were picked because they had the Holy Spirit and wisdom, and they served. I’m not saying that we all need to be doing what they were doing although a significant part of me does believe that ministry to the poor needs to be a part of what we do as we “share our faith”. I’m just saying, choose to serve. That speaks volumes.
Think of Stephen. The church was still in its infancy when Stephen became its first martyr. It must’ve been thoroughly disheartening to lose someone like him but consider the impact that he must’ve had on a man like Saul of Tarsus. When Stephen was stoned scripture says that Saul approved and the first persecution of Christians began, led by this same Saul. I wonder who was Stephen arguing with in the temple courts on a daily basis? I wonder what arguments might’ve persuaded a young Saul toward the kingdom? I wonder where is the Christian church without Saul, later named Paul? I wonder where is Paul without Stephen? That, to me is just plain living your life, sharing your faith and doing your thing.
Think of Philip, called the evangelist. He baptized the Ethiopian eunuch, traditionally starting the Ethiopian church. He preached to great success in Samaria and some traditions hold that he died as the bishop of Asia Minor. All that because he wanted to be sure that widows and orphans were cared for.
Little is known about the remaining 5 deacons but tradition does hold out some very nice hope for their lives.
Some say that Nicanor died the same day as Stephen as the first persecution of the church began. Others say he became a missionary and went to Cyprus and eventually was martyred on his home island of Vespasian. Still others say that he died in peace after a long life.
Prochorus, according to tradition became bishop of Nicomedia and died a martyr in Antioch.
Timon was bishop of Arabia and died after being martyred by fire.
Nicolas was bishop of Samaria but some argue that he became a heretic later in life. There is no concrete evidence of this however, just so we don’t go spreading rumour about a man.
Parmenas was one of the 70 that Jesus sent out in Luke 10 according to one source. After preaching for many years in Asia Minor he settled in Macedonia as the bishop of Soli. He died a martyr in Philippi in 98 AD.
My philosophy for many years has been, “I just want to help people”. I look at these 7 men and I see some guys who didn’t draw a lot of light to themselves but they did their thing, they lived their life and they helped people. They all spread the good news, they all shared their lives and they chose to serve. They all finished as bright lights for the church but they started just wanting to make sure that everyone was cared for. I struggled with the idea in this homily that it sounds self-serving, please don’t interpret me in that light. You probably don’t want my job, you probably wouldn’t want to choose my path, nor should you. I just want you to choose to serve, whatever that means for you. I’m not suggesting that everyone needs to be a “deacon” nor am I claiming that title for me or anyone else around me but I will say this; we all need to share what light we have and ministry to the poor was integral to the ministry of all 7 of these men.
I’m a big Apostle Stephen fan but I think it’s probably the historical link that I draw from him to Paul, I still think that’s pretty cool. If I could lean any direction toward being like any of these guys, it’d probably be one of the quiet guys that we don’t hear much about. Different monk orders have a tradition of renaming people who commit to the process and that’s something that I’m curious about. I don’t want to be a monk so no suggesting that I sign up but maybe taking on a nickname might be cool. How about Parmenas, that’s a cool nickname right?
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