Editor’s note: This sermon was delivered at the June 18 Special Convention Eucharist, shortly before the Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde was elected to serve as the Diocese of Washington’s ninth bishop.

In the Book of Acts, chapter 1, there is the story of the election of the one who was to take the place of Judas… and this is the story as it is attributed to Peter:

“So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken from us – one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection.”

So they proposed Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed and said; “Lord you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.

And they cast lots for them; and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.
In John’s Gospel Chapter 20:19-23 the presence of the Holy Spirit becomes the force in the life of the Christian community.

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the religious authorities, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them. “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

Today in this great cathedral those of you who vote are entrusted with the specific and distinct authority to discern the will of the Holy Spirit in the election of the 9th Bishop of the Diocese of Washington. This I realize is no easy task and there are a variety of challenges that will be placed before you as you begin the process of discernment and then casting your ballot.

In any election, even a church election, whether it be for a rectorship, deanship or bishop there will always be competing interests: shall it be a man or a woman…shall it be a liberal or conservative…should the person elected be of local, regional or national origin…should the person be bi-lingual…Latino or a person of color…should the person be gay or straight… traditional in theological beliefs or open to the changes in theology based on the shifting sands of culture and the dynamics of history? Competing interests they are…and competing interests that are not just the priority of secular politics.

But your challenge as a diocese today is to do that which the world cannot do…and that is to honestly and openly discern the will of the Holy Spirit…one of the gifts of the trinity and the vehicle through which all Christians are able to discern the resurrected presence of our lord and savior, Jesus Christ.

Come blessed Jesus and be among us this day through the hot breath of the Holy Spirit and renew our thoughts, our hearts and minds as we seek to discern through your presence the one who will be elected and called to be the next bishop of this great Episcopal diocese in the heart of the nation’s capital.

Come blessed Jesus and remove our self interest, our desire to create an office that your church throughout history has already defined. And help each of us remember that we who are charged with the responsibility to hear your voice and feel your presence this morning are represented not just by a piece of paper – a ballot, with a pencil mark on it – but rather a piece of paper that represents thousands who claim this diocese and this branch of the Episcopal Church and the larger Anglican Communion as their spiritual and theological home. Remove us from our comfortable places of self interest and recall in each of us your cry that, “we all may be one, as you and the father are one.”

Help us to keep close to our hearts and in our prayers the staff of this diocese that have been so faithful over the years and who have faithfully supported the ministry of the parishes, clergy and people who are the foundation stones of this diocese. Help them to be patient in their waiting for the next bishop to be consecrated in November as their leader. And with quiet confidence help them not to be anxious for tomorrow but to let the tomorrows that follow be anxious unto themselves.

Blessed Jesus help all who cast their ballots today to know that their ultimate decision will impact the lives of five wonderfully gifted and talented priests who have been discerned to be candidates worthy and capable to hold the office of bishop in your holy, catholic and apostolic church. For the one who is elected, help that person understand the honor that has been bestowed upon them and also the great weight which they will be charged to carry on behalf of the Gospel and the people and places that they will serve. Help those who have been electors understand that their decision will forever change the life of the elected and their loved ones and family. And that this change is not always easy to embrace.

For those who have not been elected this day, be gentle with them Lord, and remind them that their ministry is not defined by winning an election for bishop but rather will be defined by their continuation to serve you and your people as faithful priests and pastors who have been given significant gifts of leadership in your church that will never be diminished by the results of this or any election.

And most loving and gracious one, I thank you for the honor that your people have bestowed upon me to serve as the 8th bishop of this great diocese. My life has been changed forever, for the better, and my heart will forever rejoice in the gift of service to your people here in this place.

And for the bishop-elect who will emerge from this special convention of the diocese I close by reading a simple plaque given to me by the retired Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Frank Tracy Griswold, who was my chief consecrator over nine years ago in this very same cathedral. Remind your new bishop whenever it may be needed, to recall these ancient words of wisdom and may they be burned into the very soul of the one who is to be elected today, as they have been burned into mine. For in this burning of the soul will come the healing humility required of the one elected to be a bishop in this great Diocese of Washington.

“For you I am a bishop, but with you I am a Christian; one is an office, accepted; the other is a gift, received. One is danger; the other is safety. If I am happier to be redeemed with you than to be placed over you, then I shall, as the Lord commanded, be more fully your servant.”
-- St. Augustine