How to Build a New Year's Resolution

Rector's Rambling for January 2013
St. John's Lancaster

Looking to the Future
Monarch of the Glen by Edwin Henry Landseer 1851

December is the busiest time of the year for a priest.  But I must admit (as my good wife occasionally points out) that much of the busyness is of my own making.  I agree to do things that are good in and of themselves, and I suppose it is an honour to be asked to do them, and someone should do them; but they don't directly support my mission and vocation to be a good priest at St. John's, a good husband and father, and a great grandpa.  This December experience, which is much the same every year, prompts me to consider a new rubric for developing my new year's resolutions for the coming year.

Somewhere along the line, probably in the Army, I attended a management seminar which taught that I should establish a brief, quantifiable mission statement for my life, and that everything I do ought to be justifiable in terms of that mission statement.  For instance, I am a parish priest.  Therefore conduct of the worship service on Sunday is very important, because that is what my status as a priest demands that I do.  In like manner, sermon preparation, personal prayer, and adequate rest are essential to the successful performance of my professional duties, and therefore are given a high and justifiable priority.  On the other hand, a three week trip to Argentina to shoot game birds might be lots of fun, and might be very relaxing is some ways, but there is no possible way that I could say it supports my mission priority as a parish priest.  It would have a much lower priority in my life, and would be done on vacation time, not work time.  And it would be improper for the church to fund such a trip.  All because it is not directly related to my mission as a priest.

Bishop Breidenthal has over the past three years or so led our diocese in the development of a set of mission priorities.  Our budget and diocesan staff are now organized around these priorities, and all expenditures of time and money are expected to be justified in terms or their relationship to the priorities.  And so as I approach the new year, I find myself thinking that I should dig back into my old notes from the Army, and inspired by the example of our bishop, try to tighten up my own erratic calendar of commitments in the year to come.  My mission statement has already been stated above.  I will strive to be a good parish priest, a good husband and father, and a great grandpa.  That is the easy part.  Now comes the hard part.  As I fulfill current obligations, will I have the strength to say "no" to future opportunities to do good things if they do not directly support my priorities- my mission?  What it means to be a good parish priest is clearly outlined in the ordinal in the Book of Common Prayer and in the Pastoral Epistles of Saint Paul.  What it means to be a good husband is clearly outlined in the vows and charges of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.  What it means to be a great grandpa (and perhaps a good dad) is measured more subjectively by balancing the laughter of Margaret and Helen with the raised eyebrows I get from their mother!  Other things, even good things, which do not fit into one of these three priorities are luxuries that I may or may not be able to afford.  I may say yes to a few, but if I say yes to too many, I will fail to accomplish my mission and purpose, because my focus will be scattered and my resources spread too thin.

I dare say the conundrum I ponder faces us all most of the time.  In the coming year, I hope that we will all be able to establish a list of priorities, a mission for our lives.  I pray that we will have the wisdom to focus not on all of the good things that need to be done, but on those things which God has called us to include in our mission.  It may be that on occasion there is some justification for saying "yes" to something that does not directly support our mission.  But if we do that too much, we will never accomplish the work God gives us to do.  In this coming year, I hope God will give you the strength to say "no," and the wisdom to know when to say "yes."  And I believe with all my heart that if we include him in the process of determining what is the real purpose and mission of our lives, he will give us all of the strength and wisdom we need.  Through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.  AMEN.

   

Honouring My Own Time, And That of Others

It was a wonderful respite from modernity.  For several days, our church website, and with it my church e-mail account, was down.  I know it was inconvenient for several people.  They called to tell me that they were unable to reach me or the church, or to ask for information they usually acquired from the church website.  But for me it was quite refreshing to avoid daily about thirty or forty spam messages designed to make me feel better, or laugh, or convince me, or sell me something.  And it was a blessing to escape the self-induced deception that I am so important that everyone on earth must have immediate access to my wisdom and expertise.  Knowing that at least one of my electronic leashes was inoperative, I found that my life seemed to take on a more ordered and peaceful existence.  I read more (the Book of Luke in one sitting! and a goodly portion of JB Bury's History of the Reformation in the England and Scotland.)   I took walks in the woods with the terriers and Pat, the faithful old white hound.  In a very real sense it was as if I went back in time.  It wasn't that long ago that we did not have access to such instant communication, and then, it simply cost too much to send out so much to so many who already had more than they needed or wanted. 

But now I am back, saddled with the conveniences that our world demands, and obviously employing them to enter the lives of others.  But perhaps my forced hiatus from the world will help me to understand to a greater degree what is truly important.  Just perhaps I will walk away from the opportunity to keep others on such a short leash and only push myself on them when I have something meaningful to say or ask.  Just perhaps I will design my communications to to reach individuals who are interested in hearing from me instead of broadcasting them to be received involuntarily by those who really have no interest in what I have to say.   I noticed on my blogspot dashboard the other day that there is now an option which allows readers to be notified by e-mail whenever I decide to be eloquent.  Just perhaps I will find the self-control to refrain from adding that most egotistical of all buttons to this blog.  Just perhaps.......

"The Peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord: And the Blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, be amongst you, and remain with you always.  AMEN." taddled from The Book of Common Prayer

The Call to Worship

Proper 11 Year C The Sunday Closest to July 20th
Colossians 1:15-28
Luke 10:38-42

Today’s Gospel lesson sounds strange to our modern western ears. Jesus had come into a village to teach. Preparations were well underway to extend to him that especial hospitality which was so characteristic of the ancient Jewish community. Martha had without doubt been working hard since she heard that the Master was coming into their village and home. There was a house to clean, food to be prepared, clothes to be washed, and instructions to give to the servants. All of the preparations for a major party consumed her time and her energy. Her sister Mary had probably started out being a pretty good helper as the preparations progressed. But when Jesus finally arrived, sister Mary was nowhere to be found. Sister Martha finally found her sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening intently to the Master’s words. Martha was consternated and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” Jesus did not give her the answer that she wanted, or the one she expected. “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.” I daresay most of us would share Martha’s consternation in a similar situation. Certainly there is time to sit and listen to Jesus…after the work is done. Mary is shirking her duty. Shame on Jesus for letting her get by with that!
We are, like the ancient Romans, a nation of doers. We are in the main hard working, diligent, well organized, and pragmatic. We are serious about our religion, but we realize that if someone doesn’t do the work, it is not going to get done. Those characteristics have established our national power, built our business acumen, and helped us to create a spectacularly high standard of living. Martha was a lot like most of us. People like Martha, and like us, are the engines which make the economy work, and which lay the groundwork for much of what we would generally call human achievement. In their place, our characteristics are all admirable qualities and good things, but- and there is that most disturbing word- our general propensity to focus on doing sometimes causes us to undervalue other important things in life.
Mary was beginning to realize some things about Jesus of Nazareth which had not yet fully dawned on her hard working sister Martha. Saint Paul eloquently stated those “things” years later in what constitutes our Epistle lesson for today. “Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers of powers- all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him- provided that you continue firmly established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven.” This is the Christian Faith in a nutshell, and if it is true, then certainly “Mary has chosen the better part.” To sit at the feet of the master, to bask in the light of his presence, and to adore and worship him is certainly more important than anything I could do or accomplish in a thousand lifetimes. That is not to say that our good works and hard work are unimportant or that God does not expect them to flow from our faith, but it is to recognize that worship given to our Creator and Redeemer and Sustainer is infinitely more important than any work that we might be called to do.
Unfortunately, many of us only come to appreciate this truth when some great calamity or undesired situation arises in our life. For the poet John Milton, that realization came when he realized that he was going blind, and wondered how he could possibly get along without his sight. He wrote:


When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent, which is death to hide,
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning, chide:
“Doth God exact day labor, light denied?”
I fondly ask; but Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need
Either man’s work, or His own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve Him best. His state
Is kingly. Thousands at His bidding speed,
And post o’er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait.”

Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, in his book “Frontiers in Muslim-Christian Encounter,” points out that “the ancient Churches (of the east sic), because of the restrictions on them in the past, have developed a theology of witness which emphasizes the centrality of the Eucharistic liturgy in Christian witness. This is not surprising since the liturgy was often the only way in which they could declare their faith.”
How sad it is that most of us only come to give adoration and worship of Jesus its proper significance when health, political reality, or personal tragedy remove all other options in our lives. Blessed is that woman or man who, like Mary, can see Jesus for who he is, and realizes that to worship at his feet is “the best part.”
And this brings us to the place of worship in our lives, both individually and as a parish. We are called to ask ourselves if it is indeed “the best part” in our estimation. At the risk of preaching to the choir this morning, I fear that it often is not first in our lives. There are so many other things which we value above attending every week upon the word and sacraments, which is the way that God has given us to sit at the feet of Jesus. We have all heard those who might say “I feel closer to God in the woods, or on the boat, or on the golf course on a beautiful morning than I ever do in church.” It is a noble sounding sentiment, but unfortunately, it is not an option that God gives us when He says, “forsake not the assembling of yourselves together”, and “unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no part of me.” Oh that all the people of God might say with the Psalmist, “I had rather be a doorman in the house of the Lord, than to dwell in the tents of the wicked.” Over the years, I grew to appreciate the example of Fred Hatcher, who always was attendant upon the Word and Sacrament wherever he traveled in this broad world. Here in Lancaster, in Europe, Asia, or Elsewhere, he never missed Sunday Church. Might we all be blessed with a burning desire to claim “the best part” with Mary and Fred, and with the saints of God down through the ages. As we acknowledge who he truly is, and sit at His feet expectantly and regularly, surely he will meet us and transform us more perfectly into His image by the blood of the everlasting covenant and in the power of the Holy Spirit. AMEN.