7th Sunday of Easter, St.

James Eatontown
May 17th 2015
With a clear conscience I follow the mystery
of faith as on a leaf in a stream, holding fast to
its edges as the wind, the Spirit, blows me
toward Jesus, joy filled in the knowing Gods
grace keeps afloat my craft.
Taking my cue from long dead saints, along the
shore I gather those in whom I see Christ, my
craft growing larger as their needs are tended
happily offering my decks to the poor, the sick,
the lonely, the hungrythe seekers; no
strangers join my crew for their faces are all
Jesus own. I proclaim the good news and am
joyful.
And friend, the voice of Jesus calls; no
longer servant, but friend, and looking I catch a
vision of something to live forI am beloved. I
am accepted. I am free in Jesus and through
Jesus I am with God.
And it is in this deacons heart that I
understand the needs of those in whom I see
Christ, and my desire to bring those needs to

my church and share the love and care of my

church in return.
Happy are we..

Hi! Its great to be back! Back where this

journey to the Diaconate began in earnest
quite a few years ago. And I am honored and
humbled to introduce myself to you as The
Reverend Paul Chalakani, Deacon.Wow.
That was a first. If you will indulge me, I am
just going to take a moment to let that sink in.
Isabella and Victor will most likely call me
Deacon PaulieWaulie; Tara will on occasion
refer to me, no doubt, as Deacon PapaBear..
All of you are more than welcome to call me
anything you likeI think.

One of my favorite jokes about deacons goes

like this: One Saturday a pastor accepted an
invitation from two of his deacons to go with
them to their favorite fishing spot. They had
been on the lake for several hours and had
caught several fish when noon rolled around.
One of the deacons pointed towards the bank

and said, Theres a great spot for lunch right

over there. What do you guys say?
After everyone agreed, the first deacon stood
up, pick up his lunch box, stepped over the
side of the boat and walked across to the bank
without sinking. The priest was so amazed that
his jaw nearly hit the deck of the boat. He
couldnt believe that one of his deacons had
faith enough to walk on water.
Then the other deacon got up, stepped over
the side and walked over to the bank without
sinking. This time the priest was so amazed he
nearly fell out of the boat. Then he thought to
himself, Im not going to be outdone by two
deacons. If they have faith enough to walk on
water, then I can too. Well, the poor priest
stood up, took one step over the side of the
boat, and sank like a stone. Over on the shore,
one of the deacons said to the other, I guess
we should have shown him where the rocks
were.
I cant tell you how happy, grateful I am to be
standing here as a new Deacon..
George Burns once said that the key to a good
sermon was having a good beginning and a

good end and keeping the two as close

together as possible. So, here we go
Whats a Deacon? Why a Deacon?.........I just
happen to have dozens of books on the subject
which are gently used which Id be happy to
sell you for a song.just kidding.

So many churches have deacons now.

However, many people do not know why
churches have deacons, and there is a great
deal of confusion over exactly
what deacons are for. First I can tell you we are
not JV PriestsA Deacon from the greek
word Diakonos, is a servant, minister, helper,
messenger, go-between, bridge, advocate if
you will. The Diaconate are those ordained as
stated in the Book of Common Prayer, to a
special ministry of service under the direction
of the Bishop and in close cooperation with
priests; and as Bishops and priests represent
the link between the church and God, deacons
represent the link between the church and the
community. Deacons symbolize the church in
community by spreading, living, preaching the

word of God. Aside from assisting at the

Eucharist, Deacons can be found in ministries
of peace and justice, pastoral and spiritual
ministries Deacons can be found in schools,
hospitals, hospices, prisons.social service
organizations, homeless shelters, food banks,
soup kitchens, nursing homes, assisted living
facilities, half-way houses, college
campuses.and on and on. We are the visible
representation of the church in our
communities, telling the churchs story so to
speak, and the story of Gods relationship with
his people. I like to think of our role as having
one foot in the church, one foot in the world
and handing back and forth the messages of
each to the otherWhat a privilege. God
offered His son to live and work with His people
and minister to them for the greater good just
as Jesus asked that the ministry of his disciples
and apostles be the same and the apostles
after him appointed deacons to do the same.
In our gospel reading today, while Jesus prays
to his father in heaven, he says, I am no
longer in the world, but they are. As a deacon,
I am called and sent out as Christs
representative in the world. Part of the
Ordination Rite for Deacons in the BCP states

You are to make Christ and his redemptive

love known, by your word and example, to
those among whom you live, and work, and
worship.. At all times, your life and
teaching are to show Christ's people that in
serving the helpless they are serving Christ
himself. Continuing from the Gospel this
morning, Jesus prays that his father will protect
those who will act as Christ in the
world.and so beautifully described by Saint
Teresa of Avila, Christ has no body on earth
but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but
yours, yours are the eyes through which the
compassion of Christ looks out on a hurting
world, yours are the feet with which he goes
about doing good; yours are the hands with
which he is to bless now.
After ignoring, as many do, God calling me to
something over 40 years ago, I first
acknowledged that call as one to servant
ministry over 30 years ago. Thomas Merton
put it so simplyWe do not exist for
ourselves. It took a long time for me to find
my way into the deacon program. In our
reading from ACTS earlier when the Apostles
needed to replace Judas, we heard Then they

prayed and said, Lord you know everyones

heart Show us which one of these you have
chosen. Well God has known my heart
forever; He chose me and was patient with me
as I spent years wrestling with His call to me.
Often, I think, the people who seem to know
us best, have expectations of how we should
act, behave.expectations of who we should
become..They cant quite seem to envision
us outside the box theyve fashioned for us in
their minds. When I first mentioned my
call, so long ago now, and how I thought I
would answer it to friends and family, I was
saddened to find very little support for any
action on my part to fulfill that call. After all I
was the son of a very successful business man
and that of course should be my life as well.
And the church was not a factor in my home as
my mother and father as well as most of my
siblings were not church going folks. (So many
changes 30+ years has made)
I thought that by becoming active in various
lay positions within the church the call would
be answered; I was wrong. Though happy and
always joyful in my church ministries, there
was something still wrestling within me. I

realized as I learned more about myself,

church, ministry, and serving God through
Jesus, that the call was and still is a call to
ordained ministry. As I accepted my call was
genuine, I was encouraged in knowing that
there were so many people, family, friends,
fellow parishioners, teachers, mentors, like
father Bill and especially Tara without whose
love and support this journey would never have
brought me back here today, who shared my
confidence that I was where God wanted me to
be I still wake up every morning aware of
the wonders of God both large and small and
find that I am in awe of how God is at work in
the world and joyful that, through ordination
and with the support and authority of the
church behind me, I can play a part in
representing Gods church and its mission to
the world and the world and its needs to Gods
church.
I look forward to continuing this amazing
journey. I am often asked what my ministry will
beGods work, where and whatsoever it
will be, is my go-to answer.perhaps a bit
quixotic, but true.

You know, as I reflect on my life and the

journey that has brought me here today, I am
uplifted in the knowledge that my worth has
never been measured in paychecks, but in how
many lives I have touched in a positive way.
My calling to ordination as a deacon, first felt
so many years ago was a calling to servant
ministry; in that I have never wavered. It has
been a process, yes a journey, .a
challenge and it has come to fruition and
fulfillment as I enter the newest chapter of my
life.
I wrote the poem I began with this morning as I
was beginning the deacon program three years
ago. I looked at it again recently and, though
no work of literary art, it still spoke to me of my
diaconal calling.
And it is in this deacons heart that I
understand the needs of those in whom I see
Christ, and my desire to bring those needs to
my church and share the love and care of my
church in turn.
Amen.