Obedient in the Faith

On Wednesday June 1 our congregation held a Worship Service and Commissioning for Captain Richard Addo.  Richard is a church member who is being deployed to serve as a military chaplain in the Middle East.  The offering below is a homily I preached for this service. 

Psalm 24, Acts 6:1-7

 

Obedient in the Faith

 

This little passage in Acts is fascinating.  So much is implied in these few verses.  The Christian faith is growing.  It is expanding more rapidly than the followers of Christ, The Twelve as they are called, can keep up with.  This is the first time in Acts that the followers of Christ are called, “disciples”.  We are told that there are Hellenists and Hebrews in the mix and it seems that they have some disagreements.  Imagine that.  I believe that in these texts the term Hellenist describes Greek speaking Christians, while Hebrews refers to those Jewish, Aramaic-speaking Christians.  The greatest difficulty is that the widows of this particular community are being neglected.  This is an affront to all parties as the Old Testament expressly encourages care for the widows, who have little property or money to care for themselves.  The Twelve assume that their leadership requires that they be about the business of preaching and teaching, leaving them little time to feed the poor.  Thus, they call from among them seven men to be about the task of seeing to the bodily needs of the people, particularly the widows.  No doubt the seven men who are chosen for this task felt led by the Spirit into this ministry. But in order to serve the Lord in this way, they no doubt had to let go of what they perceived God desired in their service and take up a new ministry. 

There are times when the Lord calls us away from the faithful life we are leading in order to serve God in another way.  This is the case for Richard.  I have had the pleasure of getting to know Richard just a little bit through my time serving on the Committee on Preparation for Ministry.  What a joy to witness Richard express his call to ministry. Most recently Richard has been serving as a hospital chaplain at Carillion.  Richard has also been preaching and serving with congregations in Baltimore and Richmond.  All this time Richard has also been a part of the Army Reserves.  It is this service that calls Richard beyond our own borders, away from his family and his home to serve the Lord in another way.  Richard will have the distinct privilege of ministering to our armed forces as a chaplain.  I cannot imagine a more difficult calling than this.  Richard will be one of these soldiers and yet set apart from them.  He will witness daily their sacrifices for our country even as he wrestles with his own.  He will provide prayer, fellowship, and sanctuary to men and women who will experience things that most of us cannot begin to imagine.  And if you yourself have experienced military deployment yourselves, you feel the weight of Richard’s coming year all the more heavily.  How blessed we are to know Richard, and men and women like him, who are willing to serve our country as well as seek peace for nations around the world, as Christ would have us do.  Much like the Seven, Richard will be commissioned and prayed over with the laying on of hands.  Much like the Seven, Richard, full of Spirit and Wisdom, will be seeing personally to the spiritual well-being of those around him.  He will ensure that they are being fed by the Word when they are spiritually hungry.  He will pray for the mental, spiritual, and physical health of his comrades in arms.  He will daily be the hands and feet of Christ.  

As Richard’s church family we too are called to be obedient in faith.  Our duty to Richard and his family does not end here, it begins here.  We are called upon to be in prayer daily for Richard, his wife, and his children.  We are called upon to provide a safe place of Sabbath for Richard and Mari’s family.  And this is not just on Sunday mornings, but each day, we are charged to be a pillar on which this beloved family can lean.  Let us listen to them when their hearts become heavy.  Let us catch tears of sadness should they fall out of loneliness or missing their spouse and father.  Let us provide opportunities for spiritual wellbeing and moments of laughter and joy.   Let us send our thoughts, prayers, and cards to uplift the spirits of Richard and his comrades.  May we continue to be the church for those here with us and those who are far away.  This is our calling.  Guide us, Lord.  Amen.