In a column titled "The Man and the Birds," religion editor Louis Cassels recounted the story of a man who refused to attend a Christmas Eve service with his family because he did not believe in the incarnation. He remained at home, where it began to snow. Minutes later, he heard what he thought was someone throwing snowballs against his window. Going outside to investigate, he found a flock of birds trying to fly through his window as they sought refuge from the storm. He thought they might find shelter in his barn, and he made his way there. He opened the doors and turned on the light, but the birds stayed outside. He created a trail of bread crumbs for them to follow into the barn, but that did not work. He tried to shoo them into the barn, but that effort also proved unsuccessful.

"If only I could be a bird myself for a few minutes, perhaps I could lead them to safety." At that moment, the church bells began to ring, and the man sank to his knees in the snow. "Now I do understand," he whispered. "Now I see why You had to do it."

From the Scriptures we heard: “Jesus did not come to be served but to serve…” (Mark 10: 45a) “Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant” (verse 43b).

The word translated as “servant” is diakonos. At that time it referred to a servant whose chief duty was to wait on the family table. Within a generation it had become the most common term for “ministry” in the church. Power and greatness in Christian community comes in the exercise of ministry, understanding that “ministry” includes all members, both lay and ordered. Ministry takes form in doing what is good for others and for the community as a whole. For the “good” is where greatness and power reside in the community that models itself after Jesus.

Within our United Church of Canada we have one order of ministry and at present two recognized streams. Those streams are ordained and commissioned. Colleagues who are ordained have been ordained to a ministry of word, sacrament and pastoral care. Colleagues who have been commissioned are commissioned to education, pastoral care, and social ministry. I am a commissioned minister.

Someone once asked me, during the course of a conversation about Diaconal ministry, she asked, “can you marry and can you bury?” My response was “yes”. She said “good, then that’s all I need to know.” Her interest in what Diaconal ministry means was finished.

Diaconal ministry has a long history in the United Church. In the early years of the church the role was filled by women known as ‘Deaconesses’ who’s responsibility was that of Christian education and social outreach. Women were able to keep their title of Deaconess as long as they did not marry. Once married it was felt that the women’s only role should be that of wife and mother and therefore she lost her title as Deaconess.

In 1968 Diaconal ministers were officially recognized as members of the Order of Ministry. In 1977 General Council passed a recommendation that commissioned ministers be subject to the same personnel policies as ordained ministers.

While Diaconal ministry is often thought as a teaming style ministry where the diaconal minister is responsible for Christian Education, youth work, social ministry and some pastoral care. The Ordained minister is responsible for worship, the sacraments, some pastoral care and many of the administrative tasks. In our current climate this is no longer so nor is it as feasible.

I am one of many diaconal ministers in what many may call solo ministry in a pastoral charge. However, from my perspective I am in team ministry with the people of this church.

It is hard to define diaconal ministry. While the educational components encompass pastoral care, social ministry and education, under the umbrella of the education there is much time spent on word and sacrament. But still diaconal ministry is more; it is a passion for the ministry and teachings of Jesus and his call for all people to work for justice. It is a commitment to imagining what life could be like if God’s justice worked for all people. Members of diakonia take ordinary abilities, people and situations and present a different vision. God’s vision, Christ’s vision. Diakonia is central to the ministry of all God’s people.

There are many images of diakonia and I share with you a few:

· The image of Servant: as we heard this morning Jesus came not to be served but to serve. Servanthood is hard work. It’s humble service, responding to real personal needs. Often taking us to places we would not go, touching parts of humanity we would rather not touch or see, feeling compassion and a kinship with those who are hardest to love. This diaconal spirituality leads us to the very people who were the focus of Jesus ministry.

· Table Server: Diakonia was often used in New Testament times for serving table. Some have suggested that Jesus’ words “I have come among you as one who serves” imply that Jesus himself waited on table for his disciples. Whether or not true Jesus cared about the nurturing and feeding of people in body and in spirit. To do diakonia is to follow the example of this table server by responding to the hungers in our world today, for bread, for meaning, for spiritual nourishment, for community, for the Bread of Life. In responding to those hungers with the gifts of the people of God, we have an opportunity not only to bring “bread” but to become “bread” for those who are seeking.

· Story Teller: Ulrich Bach wrote “Tell me how you talk about God, and I will tell you what your diakonia is like” [1] Diaconal storytelling seeks to touch the hearer more deeply, to give space in the story for the hearers to find themselves, to unleash imagination and memory, to open the possibility for healing, for challenge, for transformation. Storytelling is powerful. The stories of Jesus are an opportunity to meet Jesus.

· Doorkeeper/Go-Between: When the early church was under persecution, the deaconesses and deacons stood at the door when the community gathered. They checked the credentials of those who wanted in. They welcomed worshippers and arranged for a hospitable and orderly space for people to gather. Some might say they were the first greeters and ushers. They served in reconciling roles giving attention to lawsuits or quarrels and instead inviting people to exchange a kiss of peace. They stood on the boundaries between church and world. Such diakonia today would be considered ministries of outreach and hospitality and interpretation, mediation and reconciliation, bringing people together.

· Keeper of the light: When night fell, it was the task of the servant to light the household lamps. The role of the diaconate in the 3^rd or 4^th century was that of blessing and lighting the Pascal candle at the Easter vigil, or the longest night. This kind of diakonia is about having the light, bearing the light, being the light and shedding light. This kind of diakonia is about hope. It is about knowing that what we see is not what we get. The night does not have the last word. The light shines in the darkness and is not overcome by it. This kind of diakonia is about having vision. It exposes those places where the vision is distorted or obscured. It calls God’s people again and again to return to the life of that vision. And part of the vision is that this ministry belongs to all the people of God not to a select few.

The author of the letter to the Hebrews reminded us that those who are called by God to the vocation of ministry are human, subject to the same shortfalls as those who are not in such a vocation.

Every community requires leadership, and God calls some to this function. The synonyms for leadership are management, control, guidance, direction.

The kind of leadership God calls for, however, is sacrificial, generous, and serves those who are led. It is not a position of status, but a task of servitude. It does not provide luxury or power for the leader, but requires selflessness and humility.

In the world of politics, it is common for leaders to use their position for personal gain, and to pander to lobby groups and financial contributors in order to retain power and ensure re-election. However, this kind of leadership is seldom beneficial to the greater population, and the least and the voiceless are often ignored. The call of the Gospel is not to hold our leaders accountable to our own particular religious and political agenda, but rather to hold them accountable to being true public servants – serving all of the people, and seeking the greatest possible good for the greatest number of people.

Almost everyone in our churches and communities holds some position of leadership – whether it's parent, pastor, class president, opinion-maker, or politician. Some of this leadership is formal and some is informal, but all are called to the same Christ-like standard – leadership facilitated through servanthood, through taking on the suffering and pain of the least, enabling and empowering the people and through working for justice and equality for all.

Jesus models the wisdom of servanthood for the sake of community. Such wisdom exchanges power that claims privilege for power exercised in ministry. Greatness comes when power is used in the service of the common good. The greatness Jesus seeks in community comes in many ways. All of those ways connect to service. What forms of greatness grounded in service do you see at work in others in your faith community? If Jesus asked you, “What do you want me to do for you?” how would you respond? If you asked Jesus this question, what might be his reply?

Jesus calls us to be the servants of each other, to care for each other and for the world God made, and He promises to us grace sufficient for the task if we are but willing to follow where he has led the way.

[1] In Room for all of us to be Free,” in Partners in Life: The Handicapped and the Church, Geiko Mueller-Fahrenholz, ed. Geneva, 1979, p. 30, guoted by Jaap Van Klinken, p. 16. Taken from Keynote Address – DOTAC Conference, June 21 – 26, 2002 – “Diakonia: Reclaiming the Miniistry of All God’s People. Williams, Louise. p.4.