We are called to be Giihii

The Gospel this week is about the Christ life and the things we are going to face in it, as we live out the Great Commission (Matthew 10.24-39). Jesus gives those whom he is send out (the Twelve) instructions on how they are going to carry out his mission. He had given them power and authority to learn and teach, to serve and to lead. It is another four fold pattern of living the Christian life, just like the four fold pattern of the liturgy (take, bless, break and give). The mission was simple: make people aware of the nearness of the kingdom of heaven and make them ready for its coming. They need to tell people the truth and to help them get ready for the reality of the kingdom and its impact on us.

As I say that, I reflect on the fact that when I was in Yukon Diocese, I was called “giihii” in Gwitchen or in English, “man who speaks the Truth (Gospel)”. Eventually, as the people of the Northern part of the Diocese got to know me and how I walked as a Christian, I was called “giihii-inzi” or “the kindly one who speaks the Gospel/truth” The first person to call me that was an elderly woman by the name of Ellen Bruce.  I came to discover more recently that Ellen was the first of the First Nations woman in Canada to be ordained to be ordained an Anglican priest.

I asked her if I could call her grandmother since I needed someone to keep me in line and disciplined, since we lived so far away from our families and from all that was familiar to us. She agreed that this was okay with a bit of a smile on her face.  She did keep me in line, but did it with lots of humour and grace over the years that I was privileged to serve in the Yukon.

In some sense it was like the Gospel pattern laid down for us in the Gospel: a master and an apprentice. A teacher and a leaner. Ellen taught me about the realities of the land I was living in and how to relate to people so I that could be effective in my living as a giihii amongst the peoples of the North. People in that part of the world will not listen to what you preach until they see how you walk. They find it necessary to see the interior of your life and to consider it, as to whether or not it is truth and therefore whether or not you are worth following. It is important because the Faith needs to be caught and to be passed onto the next generation. We have a message that is both life and life giving for us and for the world. People need to see that.

This is also the way that we can see and reproduce in the lives of others, the life of Christ. People need to be able to see that we can die and rise in Christ, daily if necessary. Every teacher needs to have an impact on a student’s life. Without it, the lessons are probably not learned and the Christian faith is not propagated. I say that also have looked at the pictures from a former diocese, where I served for a number of years and the fact that I have had a hand in teaching many of those new deacons in the pictures about the Christian life and now God has called them to serve as ordained people. God did that, and I helped. There were many people that these freshly ordained people have encountered over the years who have served to help the new deacons to be ready for the tasks that lay ahead. They have been and will continued to be apprentice by priests, the Archbishop and the Bishop elect. What matters is the devotion to God, to the community and to the message.

I have given the last six years of my life, my family’s life and of my ministry to the congregation I serve. It has been a gift that has been freely given. Soon, it will be time to move on because the Great Commission requires it of me. At the same time, I believe that as you pray, God is working on drawing a new Master for you to apprentice under for we are reminded by the Scriptures,

“Moses said to the Lord, “May the Lord, the God who gives breath to all living things, appoint someone over this community to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.” So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of leadership, and lay your hand on him.  Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence. Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite community will obey him. He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the Lord. At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in.” Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly. Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the Lord instructed through Moses.” – Numbers 27.16-23

Ministry belongs to the community and the community belongs to Christ. Authority over ministry is given to a few, who are chosen from the community. This is God’s Church and God will lead us all through.

Jason+