Easter VII - Skip Windsor

The Ministry of the Just

Early in my ordained ministry, I served churches as an interim priest in Weston, Milton and Newton. As many of you may know an interim priest serves a congregation during rector vacancies for a period of one to two years. An interim does not have the authority of a rector but he or she does lead worship, make pastoral calls and teaches adults and Sunday school.

I remember a visitor coming up to me in Weston after a service and asking me if I was the rector; and I replied, “No. I am just the interim priest.” Later that afternoon I reflected upon my answer to the visitor’s question about being just an interim. What was I really saying and what was I really saying about my vocation being just an interim? It was as if I thought being an interim had less value than a rector; or that somehow I was not as important as a rector.

How often have you heard someone say: “I am just a volunteer here;” Or,  “I am just working in the office as a temp;” Or I am just an enlisted man in the Army. In church circles, the same question could be asked: “Are you clergy?” “No, I am not a priest. I am just a lay person.” I wonder what Justus would say to people in our epistle reading today from Acts after he lost the election to Matthias to take Judas’ place among the apostles: “Hey Justus aren’t you one of the twelve apostles?” What would Justus say? “No I am just a disciple?”

This morning I would like to speak to you about the ministry of the just. I would like to reflect with you about how there is no need to qualify who we are and what we do. For in the eyes of God all of us are held with equal value and seen as worthy of respect and dignity. If we look at today’s text from Acts, we can wonder what Justus might have felt like after losing the election to Matthias. And maybe we can learn something from Justus about being more than just “just.”

After the death self-imposed death of Judas and before the coming of the promised Holy Spirit, Peter, as the appointed leader of the 120 disciples believed it was necessary to complete the circle of apostles back to twelve. This was to re-instate Jesus’ will that the number of apostles matched the same of number of the tribes of Israel. The qualifications to be an apostle was that candidates must have known personally Jesus and been with him during his public ministry from the time of his baptism to his death in Jerusalem.

The two chosen candidates were Justus and Matthias. Lots were cast in the ancient tradition of the Jewish Temple when making personnel decisions; and Matthias won and was added to the twelve. No further in scripture is ever heard about Justus; but no further word is heard about Matthias either. Scripture is silent about them. Yet, I would like to believe that losing an election did not stop Justus from continuing to serve God.

Like Justus there continues to be faithful Christians who serve with faith and devotion to God and to their church. Two women who were a lot like Justus were Rosie Burke and Pearl Blackman two African-American women who started the Cathedral Monday lunch program over 40 years ago. Were Rosie and Pearl just volunteers? Were they just lay people? Following in the spirit of Justus, the early faithful disciple of Jesus, they were continuing and sustaining the ministry of the just.

Just people are helping others everyday. You and I do not have to look far to see people helping people whether it is driving a person to a doctor’s appointment, tutoring a student in history, walking with an Alzheimer’s patient, raising a foster child, bringing communion to a shut-in, or taking a prayer shawl and a meal to someone recently released from the hospital.

As I look out at you, I know the quiet ministries you do without fanfare or notice. Not all can do such direct ministries every day and all the time but all of us can support each other through prayer and fellowship. All of us are connected through the life giving power of the Holy Spirit.

This is the time for graduations. It is also the season of inaugurations. Confirmation is more than a graduation; it is also an inauguration into the mature life of faith. Through instruction and the laying on of hands all 23 of our youth and adults begin a new stage in the ministries. You are more than just volunteers and more than just numbers in a parochial report. You are given gifts and talents through the Holy Spirit.

 Just as Jesus called James and John from their fishing boats, just as the Almighty called the Israelites out of Egypt, just as God called Amos from the orchards, so God calls you, and each of us, to do the work of ministry given to us by God through Christ.

When the circle of twelve apostles was diminished by death to one, the remaining apostle, John, wrote letters to his beloved friends reminding them that God gives us a Son; and more than this, through the Son, God gives us a life-a just life to live fully and well. John sums it up well in his First Letter that we just heard this morning: “God gave us eternal life; and this life is his Son. Who ever has the Son has life.”

I will conclude my sermon with the story of a wealthy father and his son who loved to collect rare works of art. Often they would sit together admiring the beauty of their collection.

When the war in Viet Nam broke out the son went to war and was killed saving another Marine. A month later, a young Marine carrying a large package under his arm came to see the bereaved father. The Marine told the father how his son saved him and several other men the day he died. He shared with the father how the son talked about their love for another and their mutual love of art.

The Marine held out the package and said this was for the father. Opening the package, he saw a portrait of his son painted by the young Marine. He stared in admiration at how well he had captured the likeness of his deceased son. The father thanked the Marine and offered to pay him for it. The Marine refused saying that what his son did for him could never be repaid and that the portrait was a gift.

The father hung the portrait of his son over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home, the father always showed the son’s portrait before showing them any of the other great works of art he had collected. When the Father died, there was a great auction for his paintings. Bidders came far and wide hoping to have the opportunity to purchase one of the great paintings for their own collection. On the platform among the paintings by Picasso and Raphael sat the painting of the son.

The auctioneer started the auction with the painting of the son. No one made a bid on the painting of the son. The bidders said it was just a painting by some unknown artist. The auctioneer asked for $100, then $50, and then $15. The bidders protested to move on to the “better” paintings. The auctioneer continued asking,  “Who will take the son?”  Finally, a humble gardener offered $10 since that was all he had.

“Going once. Going twice. Sold to the man for $10.” Then the auctioneer suddenly announced the auction was over. He said there was a stipulation in the father’s will that whoever takes the son gets everything.

Whoever takes the Son gets everything.  God gives us eternal life and this life is his Son. Whoever has the Son has life.