A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME…
Walter Williams, the noted economist and educator, recently said during a radio address that when he was a young man, it was commonly understood in the African-American community that “Urban Renewal” was simply a socially acceptable substitute for “Negro Removal.” Over the last couple of centuries, professional philosophy’s fascination with definitions and subjective reality have crept into everyday life to an alarming degree. “Intact Dilation and Extraction” sounds clinical enough to be welcomed as a necessary and acceptable part of medical reality. The Romans simply called it “Infanticide.” All of us who are old enough to remember the 1990’s recall one of our elected leaders discussing the meaning of the word “if” with reporters. Subjective use of vocabulary has become in our day an acceptable means of what might be called a nuanced approach to verity. I cannot help but think that we would be better off to call it what many of our great grandparents called it: lying.
A century and a half ago, John Ruskin addressed this same problem in his essay “Of The Pathetic Fallacy” (Modern Painters, III, 1856) “German dulness, and English affectation, have of late much multiplied among us the use of two of the most objectionable words that were ever coined by the troublesomeness of metaphysicians,- namely, ‘Objective,’ and ‘Subjective.’ No words can be more exquisitely, and in all points, useless…” He complains that by means of redefinition and cunningly reasoned argument, there were those philosophers who denied the place of common sense and of what Jefferson called ‘that which was self-evident.’ Ruskin realized that the word games of the philosophers ultimately meant that there was no categorical imperative, no right and wrong determined by a loving Creator, no ultimate rule of justice, or of pragmatic utility, or even of nature. Where subjectivity replaces objective reality, what is right to me is just as valid as what is right to you, or right to anyone else, even if I am dead wrong.
Certainly, I doubt many of the holders of such beliefs would apply them to the medical or structural world. My contention that I felt very deeply about healing and that I had field dressed many birds and rabbits, and a few deer, would not in their eyes qualify me to perform experimental surgery on them when they were in the hospital, even if I were convinced that my procedures represented a great advance in medical science. In the same way, I doubt that many of them would board an airplane made of hemp and recycled plastic, and powered by an inadequate engine simply because I believed that it was good for the environment. And yet in the areas of cultures and morals, they are adamant that subjectivity is the norm that must be applied. I would differ. It was good that the British outlawed suttee and slavery in their empire. It was also good that the Nazis were defeated, and that Marxism-Leninism was discredited and lost its base of power with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Some ways of doing things may not be perfect, but they are better than others. It is also better not to steal than to steal, and to maintain the nuclear family as a committed body for the rearing of children than to declare sexual freedom for all, with its inevitable results of fatherless children and widespread venereal disease.
Ruskin makes a good argument in “Of The Pathetic Fallacy” that objective reality, or categorical imperative, or the Law of Nature’s God, is much more real than many of us moderns are willing to admit. I daresay that we would all be better off if we would be honest with ourselves, stop playing at redefining words and splitting hairs, and realize that there are certain laws of creation that we ignore or deny to our peril.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
September's Musings: Birds, Icons, and Creedal Christrianity
Rector’s Rambling: September 2010
Freckles and Monet, the parakeets, are chattering pleasantly in the dining room as I write today. As I walked back from the car to the house a few minutes ago, I could hear the Speckled Sussex hens clucking amicably as the rooster, a rather nasty and self-important brute, crowed triumphantly in the distance. Earlier in the day, my pheasants were as agitated as the quail were quiet in their respective pens. There is no accounting for avian personalities or proclivities. But I do love having the birds around. There is a sense of rightness about being surrounded by the mesmerizing sounds and the seemingly synchronized beat of wings as a flock of birds moves together, apparently leaderless, but as if on cue. After a long and hot summer of waiting, the chickens are starting to lay. The eggs are small, pullet eggs, but as the hens mature, the size of the eggs will increase. Nothing in the store can quite match the color or taste of fresh free range eggs from happy girls. Surely God has blessed me and surrounded me with things that I love.
Often, I see Briarwood, our home, as a sort of Icon. At its best, it gives me a glimpse of what heaven just might be like. Sometimes, it also reminds me of our parish home a St. John’s. Filled with all kinds of birds, beautiful, somewhat unpredictable and certainly uncontrollable, it is a place where I so often experience God in our midst. It often leaves me with a rather rushed sense of being completely out of control, but it also teaches me that God is always in control, and that through circumstances and senescent beings that always seem to surprise me, God is working out his purposes not only in the world, but in each of our lives.
Of late, I’ve been trying to read a bit more serious theology. Bishop Nazir-Ali of Rochester, Archbishop Williams of Canterbury, John Calvin, and of course the Church Fathers. But I am still recalled to the standards which have impacted my life for so long: Anthony Trollope’s “The Warden”, assorted poetry of the English Romantics, and Spencer’s Faerie Queen are always high on my list for browsing. I find great comfort in the company of ideas new and old, and it is a wonderful feeling to discuss with my wife and children how those ideas fit together. I believe with those who have gone before me that God is unavoidable in and around every idea, the good ones and the bad ones, because he employs them to ultimately draw us to himself. As we exercise the reason with which He has endowed us, we come to see His fingerprints on all of human experience. That is I suppose why radicalism and extremism is so dangerous. The higher our emotions run, it seems the less likely we are to see God all around us. Certainly emotions are a good thing which help us to know love and to perceive God with us, but when they run unchecked, they lead us to fearful expressions of ego and thoughtlessness which consume us and all we have built over the centuries.
It interests me that those on the left generally blame those on the right of unthinking extremism, and those on the right generally return the charge against those on the left. What a shame it is that both are so often right! In our attempts to control and manipulate each other into some imagined ideal conformity, we tend to become hateful and absolute…and not very pleasant to be around. Oh how I wish I could go back and tame the intemperateness of my youth. A bout with melanoma and encroaching years really have made a difference in my outlook and my faith.
The end of the matter is however so very simple. I am to love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and my neighbor as myself. I suppose a corollary would be that I ought to acknowledge my own inability to consistently get things right, and put my trust in Jesus Christ, the Incarnate God, who came to make amends for all my shortcomings and to offer me fullness and peace in this world and the next. Another might be that I really ought not to think too much of myself, and that my ultimate holiness is more or less dependent on modeling among family and friends the kind of relationships that God models for us all in His character as Trinity in Unity.
This “Rector’s Ramble has been pretty rambly today, but it is too hot to do anything else, and so like my friends Freckles and Monet, I have chosen to chirp away in joy and hopefully with some sense of God’s harmony.
Sincerely,
Bill+
Freckles and Monet, the parakeets, are chattering pleasantly in the dining room as I write today. As I walked back from the car to the house a few minutes ago, I could hear the Speckled Sussex hens clucking amicably as the rooster, a rather nasty and self-important brute, crowed triumphantly in the distance. Earlier in the day, my pheasants were as agitated as the quail were quiet in their respective pens. There is no accounting for avian personalities or proclivities. But I do love having the birds around. There is a sense of rightness about being surrounded by the mesmerizing sounds and the seemingly synchronized beat of wings as a flock of birds moves together, apparently leaderless, but as if on cue. After a long and hot summer of waiting, the chickens are starting to lay. The eggs are small, pullet eggs, but as the hens mature, the size of the eggs will increase. Nothing in the store can quite match the color or taste of fresh free range eggs from happy girls. Surely God has blessed me and surrounded me with things that I love.
Often, I see Briarwood, our home, as a sort of Icon. At its best, it gives me a glimpse of what heaven just might be like. Sometimes, it also reminds me of our parish home a St. John’s. Filled with all kinds of birds, beautiful, somewhat unpredictable and certainly uncontrollable, it is a place where I so often experience God in our midst. It often leaves me with a rather rushed sense of being completely out of control, but it also teaches me that God is always in control, and that through circumstances and senescent beings that always seem to surprise me, God is working out his purposes not only in the world, but in each of our lives.
Of late, I’ve been trying to read a bit more serious theology. Bishop Nazir-Ali of Rochester, Archbishop Williams of Canterbury, John Calvin, and of course the Church Fathers. But I am still recalled to the standards which have impacted my life for so long: Anthony Trollope’s “The Warden”, assorted poetry of the English Romantics, and Spencer’s Faerie Queen are always high on my list for browsing. I find great comfort in the company of ideas new and old, and it is a wonderful feeling to discuss with my wife and children how those ideas fit together. I believe with those who have gone before me that God is unavoidable in and around every idea, the good ones and the bad ones, because he employs them to ultimately draw us to himself. As we exercise the reason with which He has endowed us, we come to see His fingerprints on all of human experience. That is I suppose why radicalism and extremism is so dangerous. The higher our emotions run, it seems the less likely we are to see God all around us. Certainly emotions are a good thing which help us to know love and to perceive God with us, but when they run unchecked, they lead us to fearful expressions of ego and thoughtlessness which consume us and all we have built over the centuries.
It interests me that those on the left generally blame those on the right of unthinking extremism, and those on the right generally return the charge against those on the left. What a shame it is that both are so often right! In our attempts to control and manipulate each other into some imagined ideal conformity, we tend to become hateful and absolute…and not very pleasant to be around. Oh how I wish I could go back and tame the intemperateness of my youth. A bout with melanoma and encroaching years really have made a difference in my outlook and my faith.
The end of the matter is however so very simple. I am to love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and my neighbor as myself. I suppose a corollary would be that I ought to acknowledge my own inability to consistently get things right, and put my trust in Jesus Christ, the Incarnate God, who came to make amends for all my shortcomings and to offer me fullness and peace in this world and the next. Another might be that I really ought not to think too much of myself, and that my ultimate holiness is more or less dependent on modeling among family and friends the kind of relationships that God models for us all in His character as Trinity in Unity.
This “Rector’s Ramble has been pretty rambly today, but it is too hot to do anything else, and so like my friends Freckles and Monet, I have chosen to chirp away in joy and hopefully with some sense of God’s harmony.
Sincerely,
Bill+
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Holy Fire
Proper 15C The Sunday Closest to August 17
Isaiah 5:1-7 or Jeremiah 23:23-29
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
Luke 12:49-56
Today’s Propers are very troubling. The Old Testament Lesson speaks of judgment come upon God’s people because of their unfaithfulness. When I look upon the falling attendance in so many denominations, the financial difficulties faced by parishes and by extra parochial ministries, and the general lack of unity among Christians today, I am compelled to conclude that perhaps in this age we are seeing the fulfillment of that prophesy regarding what God will do to His people to recall them to lives of justice and holiness. It would not be the first time in history that God had given His people enough rope to hang themselves to lead the community of faith to rigorous self-examination, repentance, and faith. The second lesson, from Hebrews, continues last week’s catalogue of the heroes of the faith, but makes it increasingly obvious that to heroically stand for God’s ways will put a person, or an institution, at odds with the world at large, and will lead to persecution. We have seen it in our own experience. No one seems to like a boat rocker, and yet sometimes the people of God are called to make a bit of a fuss on behalf of those who suffer the gross injustices and wrongs that are so characteristic of human society. Eventually, the majority may come around to addressing the wrong that the prophet of God illuminates, but generally, the prophet is seen as an annoyance we are unwilling to tolerate, and is cast aside in one way or another. But perhaps the most troubling lesson of all today is that of the Gospel. It challenges our preferred vision of Jesus as gentle pastoral philosopher who went about doing kind and cuddly things. When he says, “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled,”# the Lord leaves us with an uneasy sense of uncertainty. We all remember playing with fire as children. It was so wonderful and unpredictable. It was beautiful and consuming, and it could turn and hurt us so very quickly. It is ultimately a disturbing image, which causes us to ask with St. Cyril of Jerusalem, “Why is it fire?”#
I would argue that St. Ambrose of Milan best answered that question in his fourth century work Isaac, or The Soul. “Love is good, having wings of burning fire that flies through the saint’s breasts and hearts and consumes whatever is material and earthly but tests whatever is pure. With its fire, love makes whatever it has touched better. The Lord Jesus sent this fire on earth. Faith shined brightly. Devotion was enkindled. Love was illuminated. Justice was resplendent. With this fire, he inflamed the heart of his apostles, as Cleophas bears witness, saying, “Was not our heart burning within us, while he was explaining the Scriptures?”(Luke 24:32) The wings of fire are the flames of the divine Scripture.”# St. Cyril of Alexandria echoes this understanding of the words of Jesus. “We affirm that the fire that Christ sent out is for humanity’s salvation and profit. May God grant that all our hearts be full of this. The fire is the saving message of the gospel and the power of its commandments. We were cold and dead because of sin and in ignorance of him who by nature is truly God. The gospel ignites all of us on earth to a life of piety and makes us fervent in spirit, according to the expression of blessed Paul.(Romans 12:11) Besides this, we are also made partakers of the Holy Spirit, who is like fire within us. We have been baptized with fire and the Holy Spirit. We have learned the way from what Christ says to us. Listen to his words: “Truly I say to you, except a man be born of water and spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”(John 3:5)”#
Does your heart burn within you? Does the love of God fly through your breast with wings of burning fire? Has God’s fire ignited you to a life of piety and fervency? Do faith, devotion, love, and justice inflame your heart? We were all cold and dead and walked in ignorance of him who is the true God, but now we have been baptized with fire, and the Holy Spirit- and we are called by God to demonstrate the reality of his holy fire to a world where so many are alone, and discouraged, and without hope. As they see the results of God’s anointing with fire in our lives, they will be drawn to his love, and will be transformed into his glory. And there will be those who will reject us even as they reject our Lord, because that piety which he places in us will remind them of the evil of their selfish ways. Our devotion to him will seem to them a root of intolerance. Our love will be interpreted as weakness. Our faith will be called a crutch for the unrealistic. And households will be divided, two against three and three against two as the word of God goes forth to the saving of the nations.
On this day, we are called to examine our lives honestly. Does your life exhibit the fire of God? Has your baptism resulted in a life of humility, honest introspection, ethical righteousness, and a desire to see God’s justice roll down like a mighty river in this world, and not just in the world to come? Have you truly forgiven those who do you wrong, even as Jesus forgave you when he said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”?(Luke 23:34) If so, give thanks to God in all humility, and go forth to share his love with everyone you meet. If not, let this be the day that you receive God’s cleansing and redirection, lest you, like the people of God in today’s Old Testament lesson, are judged and given over to the tormenters of this world that you might be brought back to God through the recognition of your own misery.
“We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us …lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.”(Hebrews 12:1-2) In the Name of the Father, and of the son, and of The Holy Ghost. AMEN.
Isaiah 5:1-7 or Jeremiah 23:23-29
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
Luke 12:49-56
Today’s Propers are very troubling. The Old Testament Lesson speaks of judgment come upon God’s people because of their unfaithfulness. When I look upon the falling attendance in so many denominations, the financial difficulties faced by parishes and by extra parochial ministries, and the general lack of unity among Christians today, I am compelled to conclude that perhaps in this age we are seeing the fulfillment of that prophesy regarding what God will do to His people to recall them to lives of justice and holiness. It would not be the first time in history that God had given His people enough rope to hang themselves to lead the community of faith to rigorous self-examination, repentance, and faith. The second lesson, from Hebrews, continues last week’s catalogue of the heroes of the faith, but makes it increasingly obvious that to heroically stand for God’s ways will put a person, or an institution, at odds with the world at large, and will lead to persecution. We have seen it in our own experience. No one seems to like a boat rocker, and yet sometimes the people of God are called to make a bit of a fuss on behalf of those who suffer the gross injustices and wrongs that are so characteristic of human society. Eventually, the majority may come around to addressing the wrong that the prophet of God illuminates, but generally, the prophet is seen as an annoyance we are unwilling to tolerate, and is cast aside in one way or another. But perhaps the most troubling lesson of all today is that of the Gospel. It challenges our preferred vision of Jesus as gentle pastoral philosopher who went about doing kind and cuddly things. When he says, “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled,”# the Lord leaves us with an uneasy sense of uncertainty. We all remember playing with fire as children. It was so wonderful and unpredictable. It was beautiful and consuming, and it could turn and hurt us so very quickly. It is ultimately a disturbing image, which causes us to ask with St. Cyril of Jerusalem, “Why is it fire?”#
I would argue that St. Ambrose of Milan best answered that question in his fourth century work Isaac, or The Soul. “Love is good, having wings of burning fire that flies through the saint’s breasts and hearts and consumes whatever is material and earthly but tests whatever is pure. With its fire, love makes whatever it has touched better. The Lord Jesus sent this fire on earth. Faith shined brightly. Devotion was enkindled. Love was illuminated. Justice was resplendent. With this fire, he inflamed the heart of his apostles, as Cleophas bears witness, saying, “Was not our heart burning within us, while he was explaining the Scriptures?”(Luke 24:32) The wings of fire are the flames of the divine Scripture.”# St. Cyril of Alexandria echoes this understanding of the words of Jesus. “We affirm that the fire that Christ sent out is for humanity’s salvation and profit. May God grant that all our hearts be full of this. The fire is the saving message of the gospel and the power of its commandments. We were cold and dead because of sin and in ignorance of him who by nature is truly God. The gospel ignites all of us on earth to a life of piety and makes us fervent in spirit, according to the expression of blessed Paul.(Romans 12:11) Besides this, we are also made partakers of the Holy Spirit, who is like fire within us. We have been baptized with fire and the Holy Spirit. We have learned the way from what Christ says to us. Listen to his words: “Truly I say to you, except a man be born of water and spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”(John 3:5)”#
Does your heart burn within you? Does the love of God fly through your breast with wings of burning fire? Has God’s fire ignited you to a life of piety and fervency? Do faith, devotion, love, and justice inflame your heart? We were all cold and dead and walked in ignorance of him who is the true God, but now we have been baptized with fire, and the Holy Spirit- and we are called by God to demonstrate the reality of his holy fire to a world where so many are alone, and discouraged, and without hope. As they see the results of God’s anointing with fire in our lives, they will be drawn to his love, and will be transformed into his glory. And there will be those who will reject us even as they reject our Lord, because that piety which he places in us will remind them of the evil of their selfish ways. Our devotion to him will seem to them a root of intolerance. Our love will be interpreted as weakness. Our faith will be called a crutch for the unrealistic. And households will be divided, two against three and three against two as the word of God goes forth to the saving of the nations.
On this day, we are called to examine our lives honestly. Does your life exhibit the fire of God? Has your baptism resulted in a life of humility, honest introspection, ethical righteousness, and a desire to see God’s justice roll down like a mighty river in this world, and not just in the world to come? Have you truly forgiven those who do you wrong, even as Jesus forgave you when he said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”?(Luke 23:34) If so, give thanks to God in all humility, and go forth to share his love with everyone you meet. If not, let this be the day that you receive God’s cleansing and redirection, lest you, like the people of God in today’s Old Testament lesson, are judged and given over to the tormenters of this world that you might be brought back to God through the recognition of your own misery.
“We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us …lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.”(Hebrews 12:1-2) In the Name of the Father, and of the son, and of The Holy Ghost. AMEN.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
The Most Important Thing
Sermon Proper 14C The Sunday closest to August 10
St. Luke 12:32-40 Preached at St. John's Lancaster
Jesus is coming again! It may be during the middle of the night. It may be near dawn. It may be tomorrow. It may be in a a thousand years. But Jesus is coming again. Of that you may rest assured. Before He left this world, He said that the people of the earth would see Him coming on the clouds of heaven. At His ascension, the holy angels told the disciples that He would come, again in glory, on the clouds, just as he had been taken up that day. The ancient Creed of St. Athanasius, affirmed historically on the great feast days of the church at Morning Prayer, states unmistakably and succinctly the beliefs of the body of Christ about this parousia, or coming again: “He ascended into heaven, he sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty: from whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies: and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting: and they that have done evil into everlasting fire. This is the Catholick Faith: which except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved. Glory be to the Father, and to the son: and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. AMEN”
According to Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary, parousia is “a Greek word that refers to the Second Coming, or the return of the Lord Jesus Christ at the end of this age to set up His kingdom, judge His enemies, and reward the faithful. The Greek word literally means, ‘a being alongside,’ hence ‘appearance’ or ‘presence.’ Christians are ‘looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ’ (Titus 2:13). This blessed hope of the Parousia, or Second Coming, sustains believers in a godless age.”
And so, this good news of the Second Coming is meant to “sustain believers in a godless age.” How interesting it is that this news which sustained the men and women of God through the disownings and dislocations of the first century, through the great persecutions of the second and early third centuries, through those horrible sixth and seventh centuries when all the world seemed turned upside down, and the great shrines of our faith fell to the forces of Mahomet- that same good news has sustained the people of God through the great bloodlettings of the twentieth century when Stalin, Mao, and the others slaughtered so many of our brothers and sisters for refusing to give the state higher reverence than they gave to their Lord and Saviour, their Brother and Friend Jesus Christ. And now, in an era when so many things are so good for so many of us, but when the way of Christ seems to be marginalized and relegated to the realm of personal preference in so many ways, we are called with our brothers and sisters of ages past to take comfort in seeing the “big picture.” You see, whatever may happen in our individual lives, or in this world, Jesus is coming again. “And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting: and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.” And so, you see, there is justice after all. The loving God who made the world and created us in His image did not abandon us to destruction. It is true that he has given us the gift of free will, and sometimes we have by his grace used it to his glory and to the betterment of all; and sometimes we have in our selfishness used it to horrible ends. But even in our bad decisions, He is working to bring about salvation to all those who cry out to Him and receive the provision He has provided in His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ- and he is indeed accomplishing the regeneration and deliverance of the entire created order. Take heart my brothers and sisters. Whatever things may come to trouble you or worse, God knows your Name, and in His faithfulness He will give you strength to rely on Him, and at the end, He will come to receive you as his own.
In today’s Gospel lesson from St. Luke, Jesus makes it clear that being ready spiritually for the coming of Jesus is the single most important thing any of us can do. In His words, He indicates an intimate knowledge of how we think, and of those motivations which so often dominate our lives. As the agent of our creation, and as one who was fully incarnate as one of us, I suppose that is only to be expected. Our Lord lists four temptations which so often lead us astray, and cause us to neglect this greatest gift, namely the gift of our salvation. Fear, enslavement to money, thoughtlessness, and sloth are, in today’s Gospel, posited as perhaps the greatest threats to our souls.
Which of us has not been afraid? When we were children, we were perhaps afraid of the dark, or of being alone. Things have not really changed that much. Have you ever trembled in fear because you feared, or knew that the one you loved so very much might leave you through death, or worse, through desertion or betrayal? Have you ever been afraid that through no fault of your own, you would be unable to meet the physical or emotional needs of your family? The sensation is like a vortex which consumes you, like a whirlpool that you cannot escape. Jesus knew that when such fear takes hold of our hearts, we have precious little energy for anything else, including seeking him. And so he breathes on us a blessing and says, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” And again “Consider the lilies of the field, today they flourish and bloom, and tomorrow they are cut down and cast into the fire, and yet Solomon in all his glory was not clothed as they. Will not your heavenly Father, who clothes the lily, do so much more for you, o ye of little faith?”
And then there is that other truth which distracts us from the love of God- the love of money. Jesus told the rich young ruler that he could not serve both God and mammon. How often have we neglected our families, our selves, and our God to make just a bit more, that we could probably have gotten by without? And yet the drive to make more, whether we need it or not, and at whatever cost, is as addictive as heroin, and it has destroyed just as many lives, just as many families. Today, Jesus repeats that truth “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” St. Paul admonishes Timothy to be aware of those things which he knows he cannot handle, and to flee temptation. Jesus says the same to us today. “If you can’t handle it, give it away, and not only will you help others, but you will remove that temptation to preoccupation and sin which will ultimately cost you your soul if you don’t deal with it now.” John Wesley, that great Church of England priest and evangelist, once said that we should “earn all we can, save all we can, and give all we can.” I daresay he was not just acting as a fundraiser like some early TV evangelist. Rather he was passing on a truth known from the beginning, that acquisition is addictive, and that it will turn our minds and hearts from God in the long run. Nothing in the world, no dream for our children, or our retirement, no lifestyle or home or car is worth losing our souls. Beware the love of money, for as the scripture says, it is the root of evil.
Jesus next turns to military or nautical language as he cautions against that thoughtlessness which can devour our souls. “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit.” How often have you whiled away the day in some euphoric revel and wondered at the end of the day where the hours had gone? Such a day can be wonderful and relaxing from time to time, but it, like the love of money, can be as addictive as heroin as well. There is a certain discipline involved in seeking and knowing God. It begins with the hard and sometimes unpleasant work of knowing ourselves, of honestly acknowledging and evaluating our strengths and our weaknesses. It involves setting aside our pride and admitting that we need God, and that there are some very important things that we just can’t handle by ourselves. It involves submitting to the way that God has revealed, and not imagining in our pride that we are wiser, and smarter, and better looking that anyone and everyone who has ever walked the earth, and even smarter than God Himself. If I do not by His grace discipline my mind and employ that Imagio Dei, or “image of God” with which I have been endowed, if I do not employ my reason, and my ability to apprehend truth, there is a very strong possibility that I will wait too long, and develop too many bad habits, and at the end will have put off that preparation which is most necessary for the salvation of my soul.
Perhaps sloth, the fourth sin against which Jesus warns us today, is after all a manifestation of this failure to “be dressed for action.” The servants in the parable were probably not bad people, else they would have been dismissed long ago. They had just fallen into the bad habit of getting by with what they could. If someone else would do their work, or feed them, or look after their needs, why should they trouble themselves to be diligent, and work hard, and rise to the responsibilities of life. The Master, after all, had been gone for quite a while, and wasn’t expected back for several more weeks. Laziness in the practical things of life almost always leads to laziness in the spiritual realm, because we are unified beings, and character is not something that we are likely to have in one area of our lives if it is not there in every area of our lives. To take one’s leisure, to put it off another day, and to sponge off of our neighbors might work today, and even tomorrow, but ultimately, it will cost us our souls. It will catch up with us.
And so blessed is that good servant who believes the words of our Lord that he will come again. Blessed is that man or woman who removes by the grace of God and by sheer force of will those impediments which take our eyes off of God and cause us to put off dealing with that thing which is truly most important, namely the salvation of our souls. Blessed is that person who realizes that “now is the time, that today is the day of our salvation.” “You must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour,” and we “shall rise again with our bodies: and shall give account for our own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting: and they that have done evil into everlasting fire. This is the Catholick Faith: which except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved.”
If you are not ready this day to meet our Lord at His coming in glory: 1. Affirm the provision that the Triune God has made for you in the Incarnation of Jesus as we say together the creed. 2. Bring him all of your needs in the prayers of the people. 3. Confess your sins in your own words or in those of the general confession as we pray together. 4. Renew your Baptismal vows as you come forward to this altar of God today. And then go forth from this holy place, and “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. AMEN
St. Luke 12:32-40 Preached at St. John's Lancaster
Jesus is coming again! It may be during the middle of the night. It may be near dawn. It may be tomorrow. It may be in a a thousand years. But Jesus is coming again. Of that you may rest assured. Before He left this world, He said that the people of the earth would see Him coming on the clouds of heaven. At His ascension, the holy angels told the disciples that He would come, again in glory, on the clouds, just as he had been taken up that day. The ancient Creed of St. Athanasius, affirmed historically on the great feast days of the church at Morning Prayer, states unmistakably and succinctly the beliefs of the body of Christ about this parousia, or coming again: “He ascended into heaven, he sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty: from whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies: and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting: and they that have done evil into everlasting fire. This is the Catholick Faith: which except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved. Glory be to the Father, and to the son: and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. AMEN”
According to Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary, parousia is “a Greek word that refers to the Second Coming, or the return of the Lord Jesus Christ at the end of this age to set up His kingdom, judge His enemies, and reward the faithful. The Greek word literally means, ‘a being alongside,’ hence ‘appearance’ or ‘presence.’ Christians are ‘looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ’ (Titus 2:13). This blessed hope of the Parousia, or Second Coming, sustains believers in a godless age.”
And so, this good news of the Second Coming is meant to “sustain believers in a godless age.” How interesting it is that this news which sustained the men and women of God through the disownings and dislocations of the first century, through the great persecutions of the second and early third centuries, through those horrible sixth and seventh centuries when all the world seemed turned upside down, and the great shrines of our faith fell to the forces of Mahomet- that same good news has sustained the people of God through the great bloodlettings of the twentieth century when Stalin, Mao, and the others slaughtered so many of our brothers and sisters for refusing to give the state higher reverence than they gave to their Lord and Saviour, their Brother and Friend Jesus Christ. And now, in an era when so many things are so good for so many of us, but when the way of Christ seems to be marginalized and relegated to the realm of personal preference in so many ways, we are called with our brothers and sisters of ages past to take comfort in seeing the “big picture.” You see, whatever may happen in our individual lives, or in this world, Jesus is coming again. “And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting: and they that have done evil into everlasting fire.” And so, you see, there is justice after all. The loving God who made the world and created us in His image did not abandon us to destruction. It is true that he has given us the gift of free will, and sometimes we have by his grace used it to his glory and to the betterment of all; and sometimes we have in our selfishness used it to horrible ends. But even in our bad decisions, He is working to bring about salvation to all those who cry out to Him and receive the provision He has provided in His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ- and he is indeed accomplishing the regeneration and deliverance of the entire created order. Take heart my brothers and sisters. Whatever things may come to trouble you or worse, God knows your Name, and in His faithfulness He will give you strength to rely on Him, and at the end, He will come to receive you as his own.
In today’s Gospel lesson from St. Luke, Jesus makes it clear that being ready spiritually for the coming of Jesus is the single most important thing any of us can do. In His words, He indicates an intimate knowledge of how we think, and of those motivations which so often dominate our lives. As the agent of our creation, and as one who was fully incarnate as one of us, I suppose that is only to be expected. Our Lord lists four temptations which so often lead us astray, and cause us to neglect this greatest gift, namely the gift of our salvation. Fear, enslavement to money, thoughtlessness, and sloth are, in today’s Gospel, posited as perhaps the greatest threats to our souls.
Which of us has not been afraid? When we were children, we were perhaps afraid of the dark, or of being alone. Things have not really changed that much. Have you ever trembled in fear because you feared, or knew that the one you loved so very much might leave you through death, or worse, through desertion or betrayal? Have you ever been afraid that through no fault of your own, you would be unable to meet the physical or emotional needs of your family? The sensation is like a vortex which consumes you, like a whirlpool that you cannot escape. Jesus knew that when such fear takes hold of our hearts, we have precious little energy for anything else, including seeking him. And so he breathes on us a blessing and says, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” And again “Consider the lilies of the field, today they flourish and bloom, and tomorrow they are cut down and cast into the fire, and yet Solomon in all his glory was not clothed as they. Will not your heavenly Father, who clothes the lily, do so much more for you, o ye of little faith?”
And then there is that other truth which distracts us from the love of God- the love of money. Jesus told the rich young ruler that he could not serve both God and mammon. How often have we neglected our families, our selves, and our God to make just a bit more, that we could probably have gotten by without? And yet the drive to make more, whether we need it or not, and at whatever cost, is as addictive as heroin, and it has destroyed just as many lives, just as many families. Today, Jesus repeats that truth “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” St. Paul admonishes Timothy to be aware of those things which he knows he cannot handle, and to flee temptation. Jesus says the same to us today. “If you can’t handle it, give it away, and not only will you help others, but you will remove that temptation to preoccupation and sin which will ultimately cost you your soul if you don’t deal with it now.” John Wesley, that great Church of England priest and evangelist, once said that we should “earn all we can, save all we can, and give all we can.” I daresay he was not just acting as a fundraiser like some early TV evangelist. Rather he was passing on a truth known from the beginning, that acquisition is addictive, and that it will turn our minds and hearts from God in the long run. Nothing in the world, no dream for our children, or our retirement, no lifestyle or home or car is worth losing our souls. Beware the love of money, for as the scripture says, it is the root of evil.
Jesus next turns to military or nautical language as he cautions against that thoughtlessness which can devour our souls. “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit.” How often have you whiled away the day in some euphoric revel and wondered at the end of the day where the hours had gone? Such a day can be wonderful and relaxing from time to time, but it, like the love of money, can be as addictive as heroin as well. There is a certain discipline involved in seeking and knowing God. It begins with the hard and sometimes unpleasant work of knowing ourselves, of honestly acknowledging and evaluating our strengths and our weaknesses. It involves setting aside our pride and admitting that we need God, and that there are some very important things that we just can’t handle by ourselves. It involves submitting to the way that God has revealed, and not imagining in our pride that we are wiser, and smarter, and better looking that anyone and everyone who has ever walked the earth, and even smarter than God Himself. If I do not by His grace discipline my mind and employ that Imagio Dei, or “image of God” with which I have been endowed, if I do not employ my reason, and my ability to apprehend truth, there is a very strong possibility that I will wait too long, and develop too many bad habits, and at the end will have put off that preparation which is most necessary for the salvation of my soul.
Perhaps sloth, the fourth sin against which Jesus warns us today, is after all a manifestation of this failure to “be dressed for action.” The servants in the parable were probably not bad people, else they would have been dismissed long ago. They had just fallen into the bad habit of getting by with what they could. If someone else would do their work, or feed them, or look after their needs, why should they trouble themselves to be diligent, and work hard, and rise to the responsibilities of life. The Master, after all, had been gone for quite a while, and wasn’t expected back for several more weeks. Laziness in the practical things of life almost always leads to laziness in the spiritual realm, because we are unified beings, and character is not something that we are likely to have in one area of our lives if it is not there in every area of our lives. To take one’s leisure, to put it off another day, and to sponge off of our neighbors might work today, and even tomorrow, but ultimately, it will cost us our souls. It will catch up with us.
And so blessed is that good servant who believes the words of our Lord that he will come again. Blessed is that man or woman who removes by the grace of God and by sheer force of will those impediments which take our eyes off of God and cause us to put off dealing with that thing which is truly most important, namely the salvation of our souls. Blessed is that person who realizes that “now is the time, that today is the day of our salvation.” “You must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour,” and we “shall rise again with our bodies: and shall give account for our own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting: and they that have done evil into everlasting fire. This is the Catholick Faith: which except a man believe faithfully, he cannot be saved.”
If you are not ready this day to meet our Lord at His coming in glory: 1. Affirm the provision that the Triune God has made for you in the Incarnation of Jesus as we say together the creed. 2. Bring him all of your needs in the prayers of the people. 3. Confess your sins in your own words or in those of the general confession as we pray together. 4. Renew your Baptismal vows as you come forward to this altar of God today. And then go forth from this holy place, and “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. AMEN
Monday, August 2, 2010
A Race Apart
Proper 13 The Sunday closest to August 3
Colossians 3:1-11
About two weeks ago, I received a call from a very pleasant lady who announced that she was an employee of the recent decennial census. She had apparently stopped by Briarwood while Rebecca and I were at Nashotah House for Margaret’s second birthday party. Apparently, my four decade’s old custom of reporting only constitutionally mandated information had prompted the call. She worked through each of the remaining questions very professionally and politely, and did not seem surprised or annoyed by my increasingly predictable answers. The following day, I found myself pondering the fourth question: “What is your racial or ethnic identity?” My consideration was not related to the census, or to any other modern political or sociological conflicts, real or imagined. Rather, I found myself wondering how an early Christian would have answered such a question.
Archbishop Rowan Williams, in his 2005 book “Why Study the Past?”, demonstrates conclusively that early Christians viewed themselves as “resident aliens” who sought to be good citizens of Rome, but acknowledged a higher sovereignty, that of Jesus Christ. In their letters to each other, they often used the Greek word paroikoi, which means “resident aliens” or “settled migrants.” They saw themselves as a people transformed by God and set apart for his use as a nations of kings and priests. From this transformation flowed a rigorous self-accountability and rather puritanical morality. While the members of the Roman Senatorial and Equestrian classes approved of the Christian’s high moral standards, they could never come to terms with the fact that these Christians would never subordinate the sovereignty of Jesus Christ to that of the empire and it’s representative, the divine Augustus. These Christians, who were set apart by the sort of morality St. Paul admonishes in today’s second lesson, were so committed, so fanatical in their devotion to this Jesus, that they counted martyrdom as their highest crown and as the greatest proof of the power of God in the world.
His Grace Lord Canterbury points out that in the second-century Letter to Diognetus, Christians are described as “a foreign group living in the cities of the empire (and elsewhere, ‘spread throughout the world’), distinguished by no special ethnic costume or alien language but by their allegiance and their consequent behaviour, at home everywhere and nowhere…Christians behave differently…they forswear promiscuity, infanticide (including abortion), fraud and violence; and of course, in the most public counter-cultural witness of all, they will face death for their commitment. This is not just a claim for moral superiority… More important is the role such descriptions have of defining the separate identity of the ekklesia.” (the Church) (Williams p37). You see, in the early centuries, the Church of God, the people of God, were not merely seen as a religion apart, or even as a people apart, but as a separate race, a unique ethnicity; knowable by their rather odd and unique ethical system, set apart from their non-Christian neighbors not by jewelry or clothes or language, but by how their transformation in Christ was lived out in everyday life.
And so, to return to the fourth question on this year’s census form, I suppose that I should have answered, if I was to answer, “Christian.” And yet such an answer seems strange to us today, living as we do in a culture where questions of race are so charged with passion and even violence. We are accustomed to defining race primarily by color, or hair type and texture, or certain physical characteristics. We are prone to lay aside our well intentioned national ideology of individual work and opportunity and to accept, reject, or distance ourselves from a man or woman based on the degree of their physical resemblance to our preconceptions of some group of strangers that we have observed from afar, and which we have never really tried to know. But imagine a world, or even a parish, where race is defined in terms of St Paul’s admonition to the Colossians. ‘You have been raised with Christ. You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. He is your life, and when He is revealed in glory, you will be revealed with Him! Therefore, set your minds on things that are above, not on earthly things. Put those things to death! Fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry) will bring the wrath of God on their practitioners. You used to be like that, but you are now changed in Christ Jesus. Get rid of those things which characterized you old life: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language. Do not lie to each other, because you have stripped off the old self with its ways and have clothed yourself with the new self! And you are being constantly renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator. IN THAT RENEWAL, THERE IS NO LONGER GREEK AND JEW, CIRCUMCISED AND UNCIRCUMCISED, BARBARIAN, SCYTHIAN, SALVE AND FREE; BUT CHRIST IS ALL AND IN ALL!’ (Colossians 3:1-11 paraphrased from NRSV, emphasis mine).
Does my behaviour as a Man of God define me in this world as much as does my white skin and blue eyes? It is a disturbing question, but one that is indicative of the nature of my relationship with God in Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is a question which confronts us all, and which calls us to consider what it means to be raised with Christ in baptism, what it means to identify with Him in the sacrament of Holy Communion, and what it means to go forth from this Holy Place to remember the poor, to pray for the sick, and to be kind to one another.
A caveat is in order at this point. We must never allow this rigor of the early Christian community to become an excuse for feeling that we are better than others, or for looking down on those who do not share our commitment to Jesus Christ. To do so would constitute the worst kind of Pharisaism. Rather it should call us to see our own shortcomings and need of God, and encourage us to ever growing maturity, humility, and godliness. We are called by God to acknowledge the radical transformation that He has accomplished in our lives, and to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit that we might live into this holiness to which we are called. In such a way, the power of God to transform lives will be shown to all who are willing to see His mercies in the world. Surely we will fail from time to time, because we are but sinners, trusting in Christ alone for salvation. But as the consistency of our character becomes evident to those among whom we sojourn, they will come to see us as a race apart, a community of resident aliens. They will at first reject us for our differences, but ultimately, drawn and convicted by the power of the Holy Spirit, they will come to Name Him as Saviour and Lord, and they will join with us in that eternal priesthood which is the free and unmerited gift of a loving God to all who will believe. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. AMEN.
Colossians 3:1-11
About two weeks ago, I received a call from a very pleasant lady who announced that she was an employee of the recent decennial census. She had apparently stopped by Briarwood while Rebecca and I were at Nashotah House for Margaret’s second birthday party. Apparently, my four decade’s old custom of reporting only constitutionally mandated information had prompted the call. She worked through each of the remaining questions very professionally and politely, and did not seem surprised or annoyed by my increasingly predictable answers. The following day, I found myself pondering the fourth question: “What is your racial or ethnic identity?” My consideration was not related to the census, or to any other modern political or sociological conflicts, real or imagined. Rather, I found myself wondering how an early Christian would have answered such a question.
Archbishop Rowan Williams, in his 2005 book “Why Study the Past?”, demonstrates conclusively that early Christians viewed themselves as “resident aliens” who sought to be good citizens of Rome, but acknowledged a higher sovereignty, that of Jesus Christ. In their letters to each other, they often used the Greek word paroikoi, which means “resident aliens” or “settled migrants.” They saw themselves as a people transformed by God and set apart for his use as a nations of kings and priests. From this transformation flowed a rigorous self-accountability and rather puritanical morality. While the members of the Roman Senatorial and Equestrian classes approved of the Christian’s high moral standards, they could never come to terms with the fact that these Christians would never subordinate the sovereignty of Jesus Christ to that of the empire and it’s representative, the divine Augustus. These Christians, who were set apart by the sort of morality St. Paul admonishes in today’s second lesson, were so committed, so fanatical in their devotion to this Jesus, that they counted martyrdom as their highest crown and as the greatest proof of the power of God in the world.
His Grace Lord Canterbury points out that in the second-century Letter to Diognetus, Christians are described as “a foreign group living in the cities of the empire (and elsewhere, ‘spread throughout the world’), distinguished by no special ethnic costume or alien language but by their allegiance and their consequent behaviour, at home everywhere and nowhere…Christians behave differently…they forswear promiscuity, infanticide (including abortion), fraud and violence; and of course, in the most public counter-cultural witness of all, they will face death for their commitment. This is not just a claim for moral superiority… More important is the role such descriptions have of defining the separate identity of the ekklesia.” (the Church) (Williams p37). You see, in the early centuries, the Church of God, the people of God, were not merely seen as a religion apart, or even as a people apart, but as a separate race, a unique ethnicity; knowable by their rather odd and unique ethical system, set apart from their non-Christian neighbors not by jewelry or clothes or language, but by how their transformation in Christ was lived out in everyday life.
And so, to return to the fourth question on this year’s census form, I suppose that I should have answered, if I was to answer, “Christian.” And yet such an answer seems strange to us today, living as we do in a culture where questions of race are so charged with passion and even violence. We are accustomed to defining race primarily by color, or hair type and texture, or certain physical characteristics. We are prone to lay aside our well intentioned national ideology of individual work and opportunity and to accept, reject, or distance ourselves from a man or woman based on the degree of their physical resemblance to our preconceptions of some group of strangers that we have observed from afar, and which we have never really tried to know. But imagine a world, or even a parish, where race is defined in terms of St Paul’s admonition to the Colossians. ‘You have been raised with Christ. You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. He is your life, and when He is revealed in glory, you will be revealed with Him! Therefore, set your minds on things that are above, not on earthly things. Put those things to death! Fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry) will bring the wrath of God on their practitioners. You used to be like that, but you are now changed in Christ Jesus. Get rid of those things which characterized you old life: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language. Do not lie to each other, because you have stripped off the old self with its ways and have clothed yourself with the new self! And you are being constantly renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator. IN THAT RENEWAL, THERE IS NO LONGER GREEK AND JEW, CIRCUMCISED AND UNCIRCUMCISED, BARBARIAN, SCYTHIAN, SALVE AND FREE; BUT CHRIST IS ALL AND IN ALL!’ (Colossians 3:1-11 paraphrased from NRSV, emphasis mine).
Does my behaviour as a Man of God define me in this world as much as does my white skin and blue eyes? It is a disturbing question, but one that is indicative of the nature of my relationship with God in Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is a question which confronts us all, and which calls us to consider what it means to be raised with Christ in baptism, what it means to identify with Him in the sacrament of Holy Communion, and what it means to go forth from this Holy Place to remember the poor, to pray for the sick, and to be kind to one another.
A caveat is in order at this point. We must never allow this rigor of the early Christian community to become an excuse for feeling that we are better than others, or for looking down on those who do not share our commitment to Jesus Christ. To do so would constitute the worst kind of Pharisaism. Rather it should call us to see our own shortcomings and need of God, and encourage us to ever growing maturity, humility, and godliness. We are called by God to acknowledge the radical transformation that He has accomplished in our lives, and to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit that we might live into this holiness to which we are called. In such a way, the power of God to transform lives will be shown to all who are willing to see His mercies in the world. Surely we will fail from time to time, because we are but sinners, trusting in Christ alone for salvation. But as the consistency of our character becomes evident to those among whom we sojourn, they will come to see us as a race apart, a community of resident aliens. They will at first reject us for our differences, but ultimately, drawn and convicted by the power of the Holy Spirit, they will come to Name Him as Saviour and Lord, and they will join with us in that eternal priesthood which is the free and unmerited gift of a loving God to all who will believe. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. AMEN.
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