SERMON
preached by Father Andrew Kinmont
on the occasion of theordination to the priesthood
of Stephen Jeremy Hill
3rd May, 2008

A member of a Parish Council received a chain E-mail. "This E-mail is meant to bring your happiness. Simply sit down and make a list of five other parishes that are tired of their priests. Send a copy of this E-mail to all five parishes on the list, and then send your priest to the parish on the bottom of the list. In one week you will receive 15,625 priests . . . one of them should work out for you. Don't break the chain. One parish did and got their old priest back"'

Sometimes it's not easy being a priest.

My brother, almost 15 years ago I sat in the Pro-Cathedral Church of the Resurrection in Nundah at my own ordination to the priesthood, and like all of the other clergy who are here to support you today. I know some of the things that you might be feeling.

Perhaps the strongest feeling that I recall about that day, was my own feeling of unworthiness. I was thinking to myself. "How is it that God wants someone like me as a priest?" Perhaps you are also thinking this.

One of the most beautiful things about the Christian Church is that our Saints are real people. I mean, when we look through the Gospels and read about the Apostles we might wonder how on earth the Church actually got of the ground.

Saint Peter - the rock upon which Jesus built His Church - was not exactly standing firm on the night of our Lord's betrayal and arrest. Three times people suggested that he was one of Jesus' followers, and three times he denied even knowing Him let alone acknowledging himself as one of His disciples.

Then, of course, there is Saint Thomas. While I think that Thomas is often treated very unfairly, there is no escaping the fact that he refused to accept our Lord's Resurrection until he was able to touch Him.

Saint Philip, who we remember today together with Saint James, we know from Saint John's Gospel as one of the first disciples to be called to follow Jesus. Yet we just heard in our Gospel reading that even after spending three years listening to Jesus teach. witnessed Him healing others, and watched Him perform numerous miracles, Philip still had no idea of who Jesus really was.

Apart from Saint John, where we the disciples when our Lord was crucified? They were all huddled away in a locked room for fear that they were to be tracked down and be dealt a similar sentence.

The "warts and all" way in which the Apostles are portrayed in the Gospels is one of the reasons why we have so much confidence in the truth that is contained in them. I am sure that if any of us wanted to write about ourselves, we would conveniently leave out all of the embarrassing stuff. Would we show up our disloyalty? Would we write about how we doubted the One we had chosen to follow? Would we reveal how slow we were to get the lessons that we had been given for three years? Would we want people to think that we were cowards and not prepared to stand by someone who loved us to the point of death"

When we read the Gospels, perhaps we can be forgiven for questioning the loyalty and conviction and, dare I say it, the worthiness of the men that Jesus called to be the Apostles and first bishops of the Church. But our Lord chose them! They did not choose Jesus; Jesus chose them.

Stephen, on this your Ordination Day, remember that Jesus has chosen you. By bringing you before Bishop David today to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit that will enable you to perform the duties of Priest in the Church of God, the Church is saying that it believes that you have been called to this office.

So those feelings of unworthiness can he placed squarely where they belong - into the loving hands of our Great High Priest. Jesus called men who displayed the weaknesses that we might find ourselves with as we strive to minister to the people of God. Rest assured that just as Jesus called them, He has also called you. Jesus has chosen you.

As comforting as this is for all priests, we need to be careful that we are not led into a lack of humility. When I was a young ordinand, I was warned not to become a pompous ass that hides behind his collar like a donkey looking over a white-washed fence.

Any priest who takes offence because his office is not recognised or respected and allows this to become a barrier between him and those to whom he is called to minister is in serious trouble. Though you might rise to the highest offices of the Church, though you might become a great and sought after preacher, though you might become known as a great liturgist, though you might rival the great Saint John Vianney as one to whom many go for spiritual direction, if you do not lay it all at the feet of the great High Priest and claim no credit to yourself, your ministry will be a sham.

Our lives as priests are not our own. Our lives are part of the priesthood of Christ. It is not you or I who stand at the Altar and offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, but Christ. It is not you or I who proclaim the great Gospel truths of Love and Redemption, but Christ. It is not you or I who sit by the bedside of a faithful soul offering them the Viaticum, but Christ.

We have no ministry of our own. You and I are nothing more than instruments in the hands of the Master. Jesus has indeed chosen us, but we have no glory of our own. We have been chosen to be channels of His Grace, and as we strive to serve our Lord with humility, we will be cleansed bit by bit until we get to the point where we can reflect His glory - not our glory, but His.

In recognising that it is Jesus' glory that we are called as priests to show forth to the world. we are also recognising Who it is that are serving. As priests, we must not just think of the people that we are called to serve and how we are to please them. We must remember Who it is that we are really serving. If we displease God - it really doesn't matter who we please.

A priest is called to be busy doing the things that God wants him to be doing - not the things that he wants to do. It is easy to be busy in ministry, but we must ensure that we have our priorities right.

It is so much easier to be busy visiting the faithful than the unfaithful. It is so much easier to be busy talking with a believer than a non-believer. It is so much easier to help a family stay together than to pick up the broken. It is so much easier to cut short our time spent with God in private devotion and spend more time drinking tea with the converted. It is so much easier to be tired on a Sunday morning, but fresh enough to be entertained on a Saturday night.

I thought you would appreciate a quotation from Martin Luther, who said. "I preach as though Christ was crucified yesterday, rose from the dead today, and is coming back tomorrow."

My brother, be busy preaching Christ crucified not only to the faithful, but the unfaithful. Be busy proclaiming the glorious hope of the Resurrection to believer and unbeliever alike. Be busy guiding people to Jesus who is the "way, and the truth, and the life," just as Saint Philip brought Nathanael, for His return could indeed be tomorrow.

Stephen, as you prepare to make vows that will be with you for the rest of your life, do so knowing that you are not only surrounded by family and friends who love you and are here to show you that they want to support and uphold you in prayer, but also that you have been called by Jesus.