A Place for Everyone and Everyone in His Place (2006)

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I fear that a creeping passivity paralyzes many good Christians who fear that they will be guilty of seeking out a high position or putting themselves forward in an unseemly manner if they try to interact with a notable name or make it known that they would like some help from the Church in discerning whether or not they might be called to the ministry.

A related fear I have is that a vacuum is created when gifted people fail to make themselves known. I fear that this vacuum is filled by people whose hearts may be in the right place but whose bodies and minds are not. They should be in the pew with open ears and closed mouths learning the faith, not learning to stand in Christ's stead as a priest.

On the one hand there are many people who should be speaking and writing, receiving Holy Orders and helping to lead the Church who are never culled from the laity. The Church suffers as a result.

On the other hand, there are an embarrassing number of people who take a christianized aptitude/personality test, hear a sloppy exegesis of the Scriptures that deal with "spiritual gifts," and are convinced that God must be calling them into ministry. The Church suffers as a result.

There are some people who are bold enough to approach the powers-that-be within the Church and ask for help in discerning their place. These people should be encouraged in finding their place, whether it be as clergy or laity.

There are other people who need to be sought out, for they will always be backwards about making themselves known. They will always defer to someone else. This attitude may have an element of humility in it, but it is misguided when it leads to passivity regarding good works.

The last thing that I would want to do is to discourage a person from communicating with his priest. We should all be zealous for good works. We should all be earnest about the "one body, and one Spirit ... one hope of [our] calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all." There is a place and function for every member of the Body of Christ. I want you to prosper in that place.

I realize that the clergy have much on their plates. Much is expected of them by their churches. I will not presume to dictate to anyone, especially the clergy, how they should go about occupying their days. I will offer a personal word and an appeal.

I have greatly benefitted from interacting with a few older Christians who helped to direct my steps. These men were from an Evangelical background. As an Anglican, I would like to see the Anglican Communion in the US become more visible, especially in connecting with high school and college age people. I believe that this age range is so important in a person's life, as decisions about vocation, marriage and religion are often made during this period.

I believe that as we make known the healing grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the Church and humble ourselves before God, he will answer our prayer, heal our sins and exalt us to a place of fruitful service.

"LORD, we pray thee that thy grace may always prevent and follow us, and make us continually to be given to all good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

Propers for Trinity 17

Above and Beyond (2006)

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May the Father "grant you,
according to the riches of his glory,
to be strengthened with might
by his Spirit in the inner man;
that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith;
that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
may be able to comprehend with all saints
what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
and to know the love of Christ,
which passeth knowledge,
that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God."
(Ephesians 3:16-19 KJV)

There is an approach to theology known as apopahticism, or the via negativa. The basic idea is that it is impossible for our words to finally express God. Our knowledge is bound by finitude. We speak of God in the negative, in other words, by what his is not.

There is an existential element to this apophaticism as seen in the above prayer from St. Paul. The love of the Father that we know in the person of Christ by the strengthening of the Holy Spirit passes all our knowledge. Nevertheless, we must never see the surpassing nature of love as a repudiation of human knowledge.

We are not to give up the life of the mind, intellectual curiosity, and true philosophy. We are to continue loving God with all our minds. Love does not repudiate knowledge; love fulfills knowledge.

The list of temporal concerns that we bring to God in prayer for ourselves and others is important. But, how often do we pray for the fullness of God, to be surrounded by and infused with his love? He "is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us" (Ephesians 3:20). He will meet our temporal needs. He will also meet the deep needs that we are neither able to conceive nor express.

If we were to witness a dead person come back to life, what would be our reaction? Would we stop at astonishment over the turning back of the natural order? Or would we go on to see the greater presence at work? "A great prophet is risen among us. God has visited his people."

That is the point. The temporal will be perfected and fulfilled in the eternal. The resurrection from the dead and final glorification of all creation are the ultimate witness of this fullness. Along the way the material provisions that we receive from God are gifts and good in themselves. They are also signs of a greater goodness that the Triune God desires to share with us in the fullness of his love.

The majority of the people in the world do not know prosperity. It is probable that the majority of the 6,000,000,000 alive today do not know safety or have the basic necessities for life: food, clothing, shelter. While they may never have adequate physical provisions, they may be first in the Kingdom of God. They may know the fullness of God in a manner that most of us will not.

We are to know this fullness "with all his saints." We do not live in isolation from the rest of the Church. The fullness of God is not found in a cell or closet, on a mountaintop or in a quiet time. Such practices have their place. Nevertheless, the normal Christian life is lived in close proximity to others. The bumps and bruises that we inflict upon one another are all a part of the process. The scars that we give to and receive from one another will be occasions for healing, resurrection and glory.

Food, clothing, shelter, even the resurrection from the dead point us to the fullness of God, his presence with his people, his abiding place in them. We should receive the lesser with thanksgiving and recognize that it points to an eternal fullness of love with God and all his saints.

PS Did you read Paul's prayer Trinitarianly?

Propers for Trinity 16

Monster Movies and Theosis

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There are no silver bullets with which we may slay the werewolves of our depravity. We have only the sacraments and the disciplines of the faith. Do not despair. These are more than enough.

I think that one of the problems is that some of us are attempting to reinvent the wheel. We end up getting something not quite round and not quite useful for locomotion. In other words, we are not able to move forward at a particularly invigorating pace.

There is too much re-envisioning and not enough rediscovery. The Church is not your laboratory. Stop, look and listen.

Back to the hard work of sanctification. If you are able to weekly (not weakly) participate in the liturgy of the Church, receiving the Eucharist, praying with the saints, hearing the Word, et al, then you are in the way of holiness.

If that is not “working,” then I would also recommend that you find a thoughtful, orthodox priest with whom to converse. Not a buddy, however necessary buddies are. Not a Christian counselor, however helpful they may be. Not a Bible Study/Small Group/Community Gathering leader, whatever appropriate role they may fill. Find a priest. He is trained and ordained to assist you in living the Gospel.

Cruciform Earnestness and Worldly Haze (2006)

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Our light, substance and reality only come from the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We see from St. Paul's life and writings how earnest he was on this point. Paul was so earnest about this "rule" that he endured a litany of sufferings that make me dizzy by their mere contemplation.

The Cross exhibits God's earnestness in including us in the communion of holy, self-giving love shared by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Triune God brooks no compromise here. God recapitulates history rather than starting over.

By the Cross the world is crucified to the Church. All non-being, all unreality, all iniquity, everything that would obscure, usurp or detract from God and his love for creation is crucified by Christ. Furthermore, all that is within man that would say "no" to the Lord and everything that is within us that would align itself with the unreality of the world is put to death by Christ.

In Paul's time, the enmity against God was ironically embodied by those who sought to continue enforcing the ritual of circumcision within the Church. The reason that this problem is ironic is the fact that circumcision was the sign begun in Abraham's flesh that exhibited his separation from the world. It was time for God's people to move on, the sign having served its purpose and having been fulfilled by the atonement of Christ.

The prophecies of Moses, Ezekiel and Joel had come to pass. The heart of man was now circumcised as the Holy Spirit baptized people into Christ. Paul would not countenace any holdouts within the Church against the New Covenant.

In light of the earnestness of the Cross we may observe the chaos and insanity of attempting to serve two masters. A man who would do so would be torn apart. We are not created to survive such a tension.

The Cross resolves this tension by clearly dividing between God and all that would rival him. This division becomes hazy in our minds when we wander outside the pale of orthodoxy, that is, when we embrace any imposter of Mother Church. The Lord calls us into the communion with himself and his Church and invites us to participate in eternal life through her sacraments.

"KEEP, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy Church with thy perpetual mercy; and, because the frailty of man without thee cannot but fall, keep us ever by thy help from all things hurtful, and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

Propers for Trinity 15

Where Are The Nine? (2006)

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The Contrast:

Walking in the Spirit
The Kingdom of God
Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance

vs.

The lust of the flesh
Being under the law
Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like

The contrast is stated so starkly in many places throughout the Scriptures. The contrast brings out the madness of continuing in sin after we have been initiated into the Church. The contrast makes plain realities that the world would obscure.

Why are so many of us determined to go back to the prison of the flesh from which Christ has emancipated us? Having tasted the goodness of the Lord, why are we hell-bent upon reintroducing ourselves to that which is evil and destructive? How is it that we are ensnared again in the sins that brought so much pain to those around us?

Where are the nine?

"Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." Heal us of the leprosy of sin. Take away our defilement. Rid us of our iniquity.

But, what then? What happens when we get a ways down the road and realize that the Lord has answered our pitiful entreaty, yet again. What are we going to do in response?

We are going to return to him in thankfulness. We are going to "kiss the Son." We are going to spend our lives in the embrace of the Trinity. We are going to live in the bosom of Mother Church, participating in the life of God and fighting our way to Heaven through whatever the world, the flesh and the devil throw at us.

We will abide in the Scriptures. We will breathe prayer. We will confess our sins to one another and pray for one another that we might be healed. We will live lives of faith and obedience. We will grow stronger as we partake of the Sacrament. Our weekly Eucharistic feast will be a perpetual "Thank You" to the Lord for healing us.

"ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain that which thou dost promise, make us to love that which thou dost command; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

Propers for Trinity 14

The Good Stranger (2006)

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Sometimes I almost despair at how the categories fixated upon and mis-defined by Reformed Christians have so corrupted the manner in which we read the Scriptures. Our conceptions of the Christian life must be freed from their false dichotomies and rootless dogmas. I grieve when I hear Evangelicals innocently regurgitate Reformed pap.

I am going to refer you to two sources that helpfully correct some of the Reformed mess that afflicts American Christians. Fr. Robert Hart's Homily for Trinity 13 deals with the relationship between faith and works. Fr. John Breck has some excellent thoughts on the Atonement entitled "God's Righteousness." These two works are especially germane to the Epistle for Trinity 13.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the more well known in the Gospels. The main character is a Samaritan for Jesus' listeners. It's unlikely that we are going to run into any Samaritans. We might think of him as a stranger.

If you’re a Roman Catholic, maybe the stranger is a Pentecostal, or vice-versa. If you’re a pro-choice, homosexual in ECUSA, maybe the stranger is a fundamentalist from the Southern Baptist Convention. If you’re a politically conservative patriot, maybe the stranger is a Muslim. If you’re me, then maybe the stranger reads John Piper or listens to CCM or thinks the theological enterprise is bankrupt. If you’re Reformed or Pentecostal, maybe I’m the stranger.

Jesus was not granting some blanket approval to the Samaritans. Neither was he saying that all of Israel, or even all the religious leaders of his day, would pass by a person in need. The point is that the stranger is the unexpected party who does what those who should have helped you didn’t. The point is that we all have a tendency to forget the basic decencies that a man owes to another man.

I don’t think that the parable can be taken to advocate some kind of welfare state. I do not believe that we are called to bail people out time and again. Sometimes a person needs to struggle at the bottom so that he will value a hand up. People need to learn how to do for themselves.

Again, the parable is about being a neighbor to whomever we encounter. The specifics require discernment. The welfare state has made charity hopelessly complicated. It is galling to give to someone who has a sense of entitlement and can’t even muster the class to say “Thank you.” I'm not so sure that such an attitude is the charitable person's cross to bear as much as it may be a sign that the thankless, needy person is not ready to receive help.

It is often easier to write a check or give a handout than it is to actually give the kind of help that will empower a person to become responsible. You know the whole “give a man a fish vs. teach a man to fish” thing.

The promises of God are realized in those who believe. Faith leads a person to action, the actions of a neighbor, whether stranger or kinfolk. We do for our own and we look out for others, too. The promises to Abraham and his seed were to extend in influence and blessing to the entire world. "In you all the nations of the world will be blessed."

I suspect that the manner in which we are good strangers to others will come in ways that we do not expect. We should go looking to help others, but God also grant us the grace to recognize such opportunities when they come upon us unawares. Jesus went about doing good to all who were oppressed. Sometimes he sought them. Sometimes they sought him. May we be ready for it all.

"ALMIGHTY and merciful God, of whose only gift it cometh that thy faithful people do unto thee true and laudable service; Grant, we beseech thee, that we may so faithfully serve thee in this life, that we fail not finally to attain thy heavenly promises; through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

Propers for Trinity 13