Deacon Karleigh Crepin’s Installation

John 13:12-17

Presiding Bishop Yehiel Curry has said that in this first year of his time as presiding bishop of the ELCA, he will be emphasizing that we are a connected church. That can mean many things, but here’s one thing I know. As much as you all from Lord of Life are celebrating today, many others around the ELCA are celebrating as well. 

Pastors, deacons, and lay people across the Northwest Intermountain Synod have been praying for your call process since it began. Pastor Kirsten serves as one of our deans and the other deans she meets with regularly have been on this journey with her. The ELCA deacon community is connected to you through this call and is celebrating today. Deacon Karleigh’s home synod of St. Paul and her seminary classmates are celebrating. Further on in Jesus’ farewell discourse, which begins with his washing his disciples’ feet, Jesus will speak of himself as the vine and his followers as the branches, connected. Today is a day for us as a synod and congregation to give thanks for and celebrate the many ways we are connected to one another and to the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Many of us gathered for worship this afternoon probably know our gospel story so well that we gloss over how radical Jesus’ actions really are.  Here is a God who comes in human form and kneels at the feet of others. He holds his friends’ dirty, tired, callused feet in the palms of his hands and washes them clean. It’s as far from anything the world would expect in an almighty god. It’s as unexpected as God being laid in a manger, sharing meals with criminals, or being friends with foreigners.  

In 2025 we are invited to imagine what might take the place of such an act today. It is a tough question. We are far enough from first century Palestine and places and times like Regency England that servants or slaves are not so normalized. Certainly, there are people who take what we might see as less-desirable jobs. But that is not an accurate comparison with today’s story. Jesus shares these moments with the people that have been following him, eating with him, and journeying with him. Though the love command is something we carry with us outside our faith community, it is truly about the faith community itself.

Jesus knows his followers so well that his decision to include them all in these acts of holy intimacy is profound. Gathered in that place are those with strong faith in Jesus’ mission, though they do not yet know the costs that will come with following him. Judas is known, washed, and fed in all his fear and duplicity. Peter is known, fed, and loved despite his impending denials. 

All the rest will, in their own ways, flee in fear, leaving Jesus accompanied only by the women in his life and by his fellow condemned. But Jesus does not cancel this intimate evening to distance himself from those who will flee. Instead, he draws them that much closer to his soon-to-be-wounded side.

This is helpful context as we consider what it means to wash another’s feet today. Each of us is different and has different barriers. On the one hand I think that intimacy with others comes easier to some of us than others. And yet this story is a reminder that all disciples are called to this work, to be open to moments of closeness and intimacy and acts of love.

I can only speak for myself that what most often has prevented me from acts of intimacy is the fear that I don’t have enough: enough energy, enough good answers, enough time, or enough compassion. Teachers and mentors wiser than me, plus some experience, have taught me that just showing up is often more than enough. People long to be really and truly seen. We don’t have to have answers or special training to be present in another person’s life.

Throughout the pandemic, I led groups online through different spiritual practices. One of the favorite practices was titled, “Gazing at a beloved or friendly other.” What participants shared with me was how much they appreciate the questions. While imagining in their minds eye a person they have recently encountered, they are asked to ponder what fears the person carries/ what unmet longings do they hold, what ancient wounds haunt them, what gifts or joys light them up and yearn to flourish more fully? 

We all want someone to wonder those things about each of us. And you, gathered today, believe that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, already knows all the answers. But you who hear Jesus’ voice, who follow him, who obey his command to love one another, then are called to be compassionately curious about others, both those in our community of faith and those beyond. What fears the person carries/ what unmet longings do they hold, what ancient wounds haunt them, what gifts or joys light them up and yearn to flourish more fully?

I actually think this is part of your role as a deacon, Karleigh, to invite people from Lord of Life into this intimacy and holy knowing, as an end in itself, but also for the sake of the gospel and the reign of God breaking in here and now. This congregation knows better than most the role of a deacon and Pastor Kirsten gave us some helpful reminders at the beginning of worship. And yet, all of us who wear stoles, pastors and deacons, know that the roles are not what they were 100-50-or even 20 years ago. As the world changes, so do the calls of pastors and deacons.

In a world where the other is dehumanized through language, legislation, andvsocial media posts, who better than the deacon, who stands at the threshold of the church door and the world, to help us remember that each person is made in the image of God, the imago dei? And at the same time, in a world that continues to accelerate, in a time when it is so easy to feel that you are not enough and never will be, who better than a deacon, who kneels at your feet, to proclaim that you also are made in the image of God?

Jesus’ new commandment to love one another can only be lived with the help of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit empowers us to share in Christ’s vision of communities where vulnerability and intimacy are embraced, not for themselves but for real beloved community. God’s own abundant love makes this possible. That same Holy Spirit will be with you Deacon Karleigh, and you Lord of Life Lutheran in Kennewick, WA, as you continue to faithfully follow Jesus in your neighborhood and the world we all share. Thanks be to God.