13.04.2017
Chrism Eucharist – Those in Ministry Urged to be Open to Accepting Service from Others
Clergy, deacons and lay ministers of Dublin & Glendalough gathered in Christ Church Cathedral this morning to renew their commitment to ministry at the annual Chrism Eucharist. The Maundy Thursday Service also saw the blessing of oils for use during the year. The Eucharist was celebrated by Archbishop Michael Jackson who also washed the feet of several members of the congregation during the service.
For his sermon, the Archbishop drew on St John 13.12 ‘After washing their feet, Jesus put on his garment and sat down again’ and suggested that those involved in ministry needed to be wary of the dark side of care.
He said it was very easy for those involved in ministry to identify themselves too readily with Jesus in the stories contained in the Bible, to instinctively draw themselves into the person of Jesus in the Scriptures. He suggested that those in ministry could relate more to the wide range of characters met in the pages of the Bible and on the streets of our land.
“We are not The Christ; we are not The Good and Beautiful Shepherd. Jesus discloses himself in at least four people in the story of The Good Samaritan: the teacher who takes the rich young ruler sufficiently seriously to teach him the essential connection between what he already does and who he wants to become; the man on the side of the road who needs help and is willing to accept it; the person who gives that help and is willing to take the risk of himself being set upon; the innkeeper who is willing to take in someone who will undoubtedly turn out to be a very demanding paying guest for a period that could turn out to be much longer than expected and for which he has only the word of another to assure him he will be paid. This clustered community of care and service together make up the parable that has long pointed us to the outpouring of unconditional love and service of others in the name of Jesus Christ. This is a mercy few of us could deliver or sustain, however high our ideals and aspirations, however full our pride,” he said. The Archbishop suggested that a frequent temptation in ministry was to dispense service to others and not be willing to receive it. He said it was a challenge to be open to receiving hope, wisdom and mercy from others.
He spoke of the ‘dark side of care’. “It is the very antithesis of what The Good Samaritan and Jesus Christ and The Good Shepherd did because the dark side of care is of such a sort that you do not let go of the person who receives your care precisely because your need to keep caring is to you more important than your requirement to let go, to let the other person continue with his or her own life on his or her terms after your caring intervention. It is a very deep temptation in pastoral work and a temptation that ministers, lay and ordained, need to purge and to banish on Maundy Thursday,” he stated adding that they needed to be aware of the strength of distance as well as the power of closeness.
“Readers and clergy alike need to be wary of the dark side of care. We need to heed the deliberate decisions to act in ways that are bold and merciful. We need to heed also the warning signs around about when and in what capacity we are in fact needed when precisely what may well be needed is that we, like the Jesus of St John, put on our garment and sit down again. We do and then we withdraw,” he concluded.
You can read the Archbishop’s sermon in full in the Sermons Section.