Pentecost 4
7 June 2026
Vineville Baptist Church
Macon, Georgia
W. Gregory Pope
WHERE EVERYBODY KNOWS YOUR NAME
Galatians 6:1-10
Deacon Ordination: David Graham
This morning as we ordain David Graham to the deacon ministry, I want us to think about the ministry of caring for each other, being a priesthood of compassion and grace – which is the nature of our deacon ministry. The Baptist conviction of the priesthood of all believers means that we are all priests to each other. It means that every single member of the church is a minister. Not just the paid clergy and ordained persons. All believers are ministers. Clergy are leading equippers, called to help others do ministry in the world.
The Church of the Savior in Washington DC affirms in its membership statement that the Church of Christ is a ship on which “there are no passengers – all are crew members.” Each of us has a particular place of service on this ship called the church. And we serve as priests to each other.
For most of us, we are, in many ways, a room filled with Forrest Gumps. Our lives are weighted down with burdens too heavy for us to bear alone. We need a place to sit down and a good friend who will not judge us, but will love us and accept us and walk with us through seasons of darkness and trial.
It may be that our burden is some sin whose consequence we carry with us. We’ve done something that has done damage to others as well as ourselves, and the guilt is overwhelming. We knew better, but we did it anyway. We would undo it if we could, but we can’t. And we need a priest. He or she may not wear a collar or have a divinity degree. He or she may live in your house. They may be your best friend. They may be sitting next to you or across the room from you in worship today. But you need a priest, someone upon whom you can unload your burden of shame, someone who can help restore you, someone who can help you make amends where possible, someone who can bathe you in the grace of God and help you feel like the Beloved of God that you are.
It may be that you need to be the priest. You may know someone who, in Paul’s words, has been “overtaken in trespasses,” buried by sin or failure, and you are the one called to restore him or her in a spirit of gentleness. We are called to be “priests to one another,” to convey the grace of God to one another and to “be church” to one another, bearing one another’s burdens.
And we all carry burdens, don’t we. Sometimes the weight is heavy. Sometimes light. Sometimes our burdens feel like a five-pound purse on a shoulder. At other times we feel like a
fifth-grader lugging around a fifty-pound book bag. But we all carry burdens. We all endure our own private and sometimes public hells. We bury the weight of our secrets. Our loneliness dehydrates us. Our depression engulfs us. We suffocate in our fears. Afraid of failure. Afraid of a new kind of life. Afraid of what might be coming. We wonder to ourselves: will we survive this?
It may be that the church adds to these fears and burdens. Some of the deepest wounds people carry around with them have been inflicted by the church. Perhaps they just couldn’t believe what the church told them they were supposed to believe – and though they maintained their integrity they were shamed as a heretic. Or in the face of some failure, some sin, they received harsh judgment and cruel condemnation, instead of God’s grace and Christlike restoration. Or it seemed like the church’s focus was never on what really mattered and religion became a burden rather than a life-giving way. Yes, even the church can be a burden. And so from time to time we have to reminded of the basics: to give ourselves to God in worship, to form our lives in the way of Jesus, to open our hearts to one another in compassion and grace.
The New Testament is full of very concrete descriptions about what it means to be priests to each other, to care for each other. There are those from our scripture lesson this morning: If a person is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him or her, in a spirit of gentleness (Galatians 6:1). Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2). As we have opportunity let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are in the household of faith (Galatians 6:10). And then from other places in scripture we hear: Judge not lest you be judged (Matthew 7:1). Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away (Ephesians 4:31). Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:32).
And then from a televised bar in Boston called “Cheers” we witness compassionate community. Some of you may recall that old 80’s sitcom with Sam, Diane, Rebecca, Woody and Coach, Norm and Cliff, Frazier and Lilith, and of course – Carla – ever the encouraging one! Do you remember the theme song?
Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name
And they’re always glad you came
You want to be where you can see
Our troubles are all the same
You want to be where everybody knows your name.
The folks around Cheers weren’t always the nicest to each other. It was indeed a special challenge for Carla. But when life turned hard, in the end, they were there for each other.
Can the church be the place you want to go, where everybody may not know your name, but it’s a place where you are known and welcomed for who you are? Can we be a place where people are glad they came? Can we be transparent enough to see that troubles do come to us all, and that we have more in common than we do that separates us, even if our greatest commonality are the burdens that we carry? Can we be a place where you do not have to hide who you truly are for fear of being rejected. Can the church be that kind of place? Can we be that kind of place?
We are here to care for each other, to love, forgive, and restore one another. And in many ways we do that well here. And if that’s what people experience when they walk through these doors, then the church, which had been a burden to them, can become a healing home.
Our deacons serve as family ministers, reaching out in love, staying in contact with their assigned families, making sure they’re doing okay, seeing if they have needs the church can help meet. They are not the only ones among us who do this ministry. Rather they model for us how we are to take care of one another. They seek to embody the words of the hymn we will sing in a moment:
We are pilgrims on a journey,
fellow pilgrims on the road.
We are here to help each other
walk the mile and bear the load.
I will hold the Christ-light for you
in the night-time of your fear.
I will hold my hand out to you,
speak the peace you long to hear.
Will you let me be your servant,
let me be as Christ to you?
Pray that I may have the grace to
let you be my servant, too.
I will weep when you are weeping;
when you laugh I’ll laugh with you.
I will share your joy and sorrow
’til we’ve seen this journey through.