The Institution and Induction of the Reverend Devin Shepard McLachlan
Sermon
13 September 2024
The Venerable Dr Alex Hughes, Archdeacon of Cambridge
Matthew 5.13-19
St John Chrysostom died on 14th September, 407ad. Unfortunately, when the liturgical calendar was being put together the Western Church had already allocated 14th September for the celebration of Holy Cross Day, so we remember John Chrysostom on the 13th instead. That’s today’s useless piece of information.
John was Archbishop of Constantinople and a famous preacher, which is how he picked up his nickname Chrysostomos, meaning “Golden-mouthed”. He was also a prolific author, and we still have a large number of his writings, which prompted me to look up what he had to say about today’s Gospel text. Commenting on Jesus’ exhortation, “You are the salt of the earth,” St Goldenmouth advised: “It is not for you to flatter and deal smoothly with men, but, on the contrary, to be rough and biting as salt is.”
Now I don’t know what a congregation would have made of this 1,600 years ago, but it doesn’t strike me as very palatable. And if I were to go on now and urge your new priest to be rough and biting with you all, this might be my last invitation to St Bene’t’s.
Fortunately, as you will soon discover, if you don’t already know, Devin is something of a goldenmouth. This may be due in part to his early training in improvisational comedy, though I assure you that he has gained some theological credentials too. He is also a kind and thoughtful pastor. He isn’t rough and he doesn’t bite! But there is more to his new role than flattery and smoothness. His job isn’t to keep you happy and entertained.
I explained previously that the celebration of St John Chrysostom was displaced by the festival of the Holy Cross. Perhaps this wasn't such a useless piece of information after all. Perhaps there is something important for Devin, and for all of us, about the idea of being displaced by the cross.
The primary call to Christian ministers, and all Christian people, is to be formed in the likeness of Christ-crucified. This entails a daily living under the shadow of the cross, which, for all its sweet blessings, is inescapably rough and biting too. Christ and his cross provoke us as much as they console us.
We see this played out at the altar of the Eucharist: the priest sets the many grains of our life before God under the symbol of bread, which is both blessed and broken. This is the character of the Christian life. As the great church reformer Martin Luther explained, Christians are two things at the same time: simul justus et peccator; completely forgiven and enduringly sinful.
This paradox opens up a dynamic space in which we live out our faith. The poles of judgement and forgiveness, despair and hope, humility and courage and so on give us a kind of spiritual energy in which we both rest and strive. The church is a place where you discover that you are welcome just as you are and that you also have to change. This is the rough and the smooth of life under the cross.
So Devin’s calling is not to be popular but to be prophetic; always to comfort the afflicted and sometimes to afflict the comfortable.
Sometimes, dear friends, Devin’s job will be to hold your feet to the fire, so to speak, following the prophet Malachi, so that you may be refined and purified; remembering always, of course, that God sent his Son into the world not to condemn but to save. The fire is for the dross, so that the shine of glory may appear. And note that the Son is sent for the sake of the world – not just for individuals, or the church, but (as the original Greek says) for the kosmos. The healing of the whole human community, the renewal of creation.
Sometimes, as the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, the way of Christ-crucified may look like foolishness – the kind of foolishness that Jesus often spoke about: loving your enemies; letting the last be first; taking the place of the servant; counting loss as gain; forgiving, again and again and again; pursuing truth and justice, at whatever cost. This way of the cross might feel rough and biting, but, as St Paul also said, it is the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength (from 1 Cor.1.23-25). Which is a good place for me to draw to a close.
It’s a nice coincidence that Devin’s middle name is Shepard, for the task of the priest is to care for the Lord’s flock. Devin is well-qualified for this work; otherwise we wouldn’t have appointed him. But for all the qualifications that he brings to his shepherding, his primary resource (so to speak) is the Good Shepherd, who lays down his life for the sheep.
The success of Devin’s ministry, if I may use that language, doesn’t lie in any human wisdom or skill that he has managed to accumulate. Of course, there are useful insights and methods to bring to the tasks of ministry, otherwise we wouldn’t bother with theological training; but they are only secondary. What matters most is theological formation. And this is never a solo enterprise: it’s not just down to Devin.
Discipleship, in the Christian community, is not primarily about individual journeying, but about being transformed, alongside others, into the likeness of Christ in order to model a new world order, a way of living, and making visible the God who loved the world so much that he gave his life for us.
So remember Devin, there is no shame in being displaced by the cross. Let Christ-crucified be the centre, then may we see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Amen.