A fun meme.

1) Be!
2) I promise
3) You are free
4) And I love you
5) So get up and live!

Here’s another.

Talent over Bigotry. Good for LA (although I probably would have voted for the vicar).

Kendall is Disappointed. The Archbishop is frustrated. Fr. Tobias channels Dickens.

It was inevitable. Resolutions passed at General Convention this past summer affirmed the canonical process for ordination of priests and deacons, and elections of bishops. Namely, our canons (laws) do not discriminate against sexual orientation. In other words, sexual orientation does not preclude ordination to the diaconate, priesthood, or election, and consecration to the episcopacy.

That reaffirmation for many of us was nothing more than a statement of reality. But it also seemed to affirm the possibility that gays and lesbians might be elected to the episcopacy. For conservatives, that seemed to suggest that the decisions of General Convention in 2006 were being abrogated. In fact, the hotly disputed resolution that was finally passed on 2006, only urged that bishops and standing committees exercise restraint in consenting to the election of a gay or lesbian bishop.

Yesterday, the Diocese of LA elected an openly lesbian, partnered woman to be suffragan bishop. This has again brought the Episcopal Church into the news, aroused the ire of conservative Episcopalians, and led to much confused thinking. We will see whether the bishop-elect receives the necessary consents from standing committees and bishops. That is not a foregone conclusion by any means. You can read about the election and its aftermath in all of the usual places.

While this is going on, Uganda is debating a bill that would punish gays and lesbians with the death penalty. The Anglican Church of Uganda has thrown itself behind the bill, and today, we’ve learned that a Ugandan Anglican priest has equated gays and cockroaches. The Episcopal Church has made its views known on this issue and it is said that the Archishop of Canterbury is furiously working behind the scenes to soften the legislation. At the same time, some of those most actively involved in crafting and pushing the legislation are supported by American Evangelicals.

There is much wailing and gnashing of teeth about the “impaired” communion created by actions of the American and Canadian Anglican churches. I, for one, don’t want to be part of a communion in which a member church supports capital punishment for gays and lesbians. Let’s be done with it already.

The Anglicans have now ordained their 2nd homosexual bishop.  This is of course causing a “crisis” within Anglicanism.   But the fact it is causing a crisis at all is what is shocking.   To have a crisis one must have a large amount of support otherwise it isn’t a crisis, rather it is simply some collection of dissenters being shown the door.    In this case the so called fringe is in fact in fully control of that sect.

Anglicans are far from alone in this.   They are joined by large numbers of Lutherans, Presbyterians, Baptists ( though not the Southern Baptists )

The roots of the Protestant reformation began in sexual perversion and they continue to expand in that direction.  It is true they go through periods of contraction whereby they return to sanity but the movement began as and continues to be the home of “Sexual Liberation”.

Martin Luther wrote several works leading up to the “Diet at Worms” wherein he was condemned by the Church.   It was at this conclave that he uttered the infamous “Here I Stand, Unless I am convicted by scripture and plain reason…..” commment.

I doubt there exist more than a handful of protestants today that actually know what Luther was insisting he had been convinced of by scripture and plain reason.

It was more than occasional side comments, it stood as a key part of the proofs that the Church was evil.   They Church forbid marriage and thus was accused of being antichrist.  The “proofs” Luther gave of the cases they forbid marriage were astounding.  Why it prohibted things like “common decency” which meant it said engagements could be broken if the groom slept with someone else after having become betrothed.   The Church said that if you killed your wife you shouldn’t be able to marry your mistress that you killed her to be with.   The Church said that you should not be able to marry people you had authority over.  The Church said that if your husband or wife was impotent you shouldn’t be able to sleep with whoever you wanted.   The Church said that having your wife put to death because she wasn’t willing to have relations with you was wrong.   The Church said step brothers and step sisters especially raised in the same house shouldn’t have conjugal relations and marry.   Luther even advised doing as King Ahasuerus had done, turning out Vashti and taking yourself an Esther.

Luther expressly favored all of this and more in his bid to return to the “True Gospel”.  If the above seems over the top and you are sure I’m a nut it can only be because you have never actually read the main works of Luther that lead up to the Diet of Worms.   Instead you have read people talking about what Luther said, and folks that themselves admire Luther and so won’t talk about large and substantial parts of what he taught.  The above is hardly putting words in his mouth its virtual quotation of translations done by devout Lutherans and available from their presses even today.  After Worms he clarified his teaching on matters of marriage and sexuality by speaking even more clearly, from the pulpit saying things in front of children that a man shouldn’t even speak in private.

The Anabaptists, not to be outdone, were happily taking over a city or two, assembling with the express purpose of militarily destroying all government and leaders ( princes, bishops, kings etc. ) with the exception of the Emperor.   They were driving out the Church at sword point, seizing and pillaging, and openly promoting polygamy and worse, far worse.   Among other things taking wives by force.

Over in England, King Henry VIII, arguably the sanest person in the “Reformation”, was content to merely take for himself a new wife and have his last wife turned out.   He though going through wives at a pretty fast clip was content to only have one of them at a time.  He too seized the lands and gave them to his nobles.

By this point the Reformation in Germany had progressed to where its chief supporter, Phillip of Hesse, suffering from syphilis, fell in love with a 19 year old lass who he wanted to marry.   He complained told Luther and Melanchthon that Henry VIII got to get a new wife why couldn’t he get one too ?   It was 1539 by now and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V had sacked Rome and taken the Pope prisoner.   Philip of Hess said if he didn’t become able to marry under the rules of Luther etc. he’d go to the Emperor Charles V.   Of course that meant Luther and company would be dead as and Frederick were their protectors.   So true to the theology Luther had been espousing for the last decade or more the reformation leaders Luther and Melanchthon decided to advise Phillip to engage in bigamy and with written dispensation from both of them he had a public bigamous marriage.

The reformation was now all of 20 years along.  Even the reformers were now openly complaining about how badly their supporters were now behaving.  Things had gotten so bad that Charles V had to take time out from fighting with the French, the Turks, etc. to stop off and finish off this German insanity.   By this time Luther was already dead and the other leaders, Frederick and Phillip were taken prisoner.   To suggest this was just because Charles V was in some manner beholden to the Pope is to overlook the fact that Charles V had previously sacked Rome and taken the Pope prisoner.   It was simply open madness pure and simple.

The Calvinists were arguably the more sane ones but even they were out publishing “The First Blast : Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women” with which they managed to upset every female ruler, and every literate woman with half a brain.  Ultimately they were able to get rid of women in government, land and business ownership in lands subscribing to these views.

Through all of this each and every group was “Following the Clear Teaching of the Bible”.    Even better most had a new view of the Revelation of St. John to back them up.  The anabaptists had all that and more.  Luther was publicly teaching the millenium was up and that the Turks, The Jews, the Catholics and the other churches were going to unite in a final battle against his followers who had the true gospel of Christ.

The only thing that these groups have ever agreed on is that the Church is evil.

Now they wag their tongues and act surprised at the open ordination of homosexual bishops/preachers in Anglicanism, Lutheranism, Presbyterianism, Calvinism etc and even among branches of Baptists.

The Reformation was founded on the idea of letting the people do what they want and choosing preachers/priests for themselves who told them what they wanted to hear.   As they ultimately reflect whatever the current culture wants to hear they are driven by every wind of doctrine.   In theory Anglicans being the exception but that is largely a theoretical difference now.

To the extent that the underlying culture remains in any sense Christian they too remain with some semblance of Christian virtue.   But now that the devil has successfully divided the Church and reduced its power, and now that he has convinced a large enough group in the splinterlands that they shouldn’t directly promote morality in government the only ones in charge are the pagans.  Society is on a rocket ship course off the edge of the cliff being led by a never ending torrent of immoral anti Christian propaganda from Hollywood.  Society is becoming more and more pagan by the day.   A trip to your local big box book store will show more self space given to paganism than is given to Christian teaching in any form.

As society lurches more and more into paganism and hedonism the churches that only reflect a slightly more conservative view of current prevailing thought will be dragged along behind the mass of insanity.   The large mainstream branches of the faith are now openly embracing homosexuality in one form or other.   The more conservative branches will eventually follow.

Through all of this one thing remains unchanging.   That is the Church founded by Christ and the Apostles.  The Church which he still guides by the Holy Spirit in unending secession to this day.  Their doctrines do not change no matter what.   They will let an entire county leave them rather than change their doctrine.  They preserve the deposit of faith and indeed preserve the scriptures themselves.

They have done it again.

This morning we read in an Associated Press article by Christopher Weber and Rachel Zoll that the Episcopal Church USA, the Diocese of Los Angeles has elected an avowed lesbian to the episcopacy. The news appears, almost without notice at this point, under the heading in the Miami Herald, “2nd Gay Bishop for Episcopal Church, Anglicans.” Of course, the Archbishop of Canterbury had warned this body (I shall not call the organization a “church” though there are true sons in her pale who have not yet left) to refrain from any more ordinations of homosexuals. Of course, thousands have left to unite with Bible believing continuing Anglican churches which are more in line with what even the AP recognizes, namely, that “Most overseas Anglicans are Bible conservatives.” Of course, while the Mrs. Katherine Jefferts Schori, the Presiding Bishop of the ECUSA, presides over fewer and fewer congregants and churches, she will consecrate this latest heretical Episcopalian cleric, Miss Mary Glasspool of Baltimore, and plow through the ecclesiastical rubbish and worldwide relationship debris still left over from the ordination of openly homosexual Gene Robinson. The Rev. Kendall Harmon, of South Carolina, a believer in Christ, and a faithful Anglican, wrote, in the article by Weber and Zoll:

“This decision represents an intransigent embrace of a pattern of life Christians throughout history and the world have rejected as against biblical teaching.”

Indeed. And I am reminded, as all who read their Bibles are, that this act of blasphemous proportions will lead to their demise as a movement blessed of God. They shall be called a church but they shall be outside of the Kingdom of God, according to the Scriptures,

“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us”  (1 John 2.19 ESV).

That is not to say, again, that there are not godly, faithful and true congregations within this wayward organization (even Calvin admitted there were true believers among the corrupt church he was seeking to reform in his day), who choose not to comply with or bow the knee to such openly wicked acts against God and His Church. How I pray, this morning, as I read this article, for those believers and those holy pastors who wrestle, now, with the challenges before them.

Yet there is a place of refuge, a church that is on fire with the Gospel, that is going forth in our day. Indeed, God’s blessing is resting on this group and they are helping us all to see the primacy of church planting, and personal evangelism, and allegiance to the Scriptures and our historic Reformational confessions. The Anglican Church in North America, a Christ-centered, Bible-believing movement, started through the missionary efforts of godly archbishops like Henry Luke Orombi of Uganda, and others from Africa and Latin America, and courageously led forth by godly ministers and laymen of Spirit-formed conviction here in the United States and Canada, is building up the Kingdom of God, even as the EPCUSA is falling away. It is at times like these that we all need to reflect how any of our Christian denominations end up in such a mess. I do not claim to have a final answer on every cacse, but I do have a Biblical one that applies to all of them in some way. Some time ago, I delivered a Bible message which I called “When Your Creed Cracks, Your Code Crumbles.” And I share portions of that here again, as we are the grieved witnesses, once more, of a most sad report of yet more apostocy.

The other night we went to a Braves game. John Smoltz was pitching which was great. He is a strong Christian and we heard him speak here not too long ago. But my problem was with the x rated mouth behind me pitching the worst kind of language. I promptly told him to be quiet. And he did, thankfully, without your pastor being beat up!

Has it always been that bad in public places? Or is it just your old prudish preacher? I can’t help but believe that there is a downgrade of courtesy and manners and decency because there is a denial of God in the public square.

And that is what we will study today from Romans. This passage is Romans is explicit. I will do my best to preach the principles without making families uncomfortable. But, my beloved, this is the very Word of God from Romans 1.24-32.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, Romans 1.24 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 25

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; Romans 1.26 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 27

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. Romans 1.28 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 29 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 30 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 31 Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. 32

From this passage, I want to bring you a message called, “When Your Creed Cracks, Your Code Crumbles.”

But first let us pray.

Lord of life, we so often ignore you to our own hurt. Please show us, in these passages, not only how to analyze a culture, but to see our hearts in the mirror of your word, to repent, and to find new life in Jesus Christ. In Your name I pray. Amen.

Introduction to the Reading

Edward Gibbon was no friend of the Church. But this gifted enlightenment era historian, whose life work, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire wrote of the

“Vicissitudes of fortune, which spares neither man nor the proudest of his works, which buries empires and cities in a common grave” (LXXI, par. 1).

When I was in Albania, I witnessed the vicissitudes of fortune in one place. I had visited museum of Roman antiquities, in Durres. As I walked out, I looked into the yard next to the museum, and there were piles of ancient Roman “stuff”-statues, and pieces of temples, mixed together with the head of a Communist dictator, or the remnants of the Ottoman Empire. It was a veritable graveyard of empires.

Here lies the crypt of Babylonia, next to her lies the tomb of Sennacherib. But he and his Assyrian kingdom were destroyed by the mighty Egyptians. And so Hezekiah’s prayer in Isaiah 37:

“It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. Isaiah 37.18

They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. Isaiah 37.19

Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God.” Isaiah 37.20 NIV

Egypt was great, but now the sands blow across the ruins of the empire and their leaders are but mummies for school children to view. Cleopatra’s beauty is only an image in stone. She and the vestiges of a world empire were trampled over by the mighty Rome.

But on August 24th, 410 someone opened the gate from within and the Visigoths sacked the once seemingly invincible empire. And Augustine, the first great historical theologian sought to help Christians make sense of the fall and wrote “The City of God and the City of Man.” And he would lament the moral decline of that once great “city of man”:

“…Why were the gods so negligent as to allow the morals of their worshippers to sink to so low a depth?…why did not those gods…lay down moral precepts that would help their devotees to lead a decent life?”

But decency and greatness, indecency and decline all go together. And the Bible tells us so.

Paul gives an explanation of this to his Roman and Gentile auditors. He explains the condition of the Gentile world apart from God. He gives what I would call a downward spiral of life, from glory to the grave. And how did they do it? When your creed cracks, your code crumbles.

How the Creed Can Crack

The word “creed” comes from “credo” or “I believe.” The Creed we are talking about in Romans is the belief in God Himself.

The Creed was the knowledge of God. We have studied that this knowledge of God is known internally, as God has placed eternity in our hearts, and externally, as God has placed knowledge of Him in the heavens and in all of creation.

“For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, an their foolish hearts were darkened” (v. 21).

One time I heard of a fellow who was drunk and saw a sign that said, “Danger, Bridge Out Ahead.” But he went on anyway. Of course what happened? He ran off into the river at night and was killed.

God shows us here that to deny Him, to deny his truth, is like running through a barricade and driving towards certain destruction.

Now Paul is explaining the condition of the Gentile world in his day, but I say again, we remember that Creeds, what we believe about God and about ourselves from His Word, keep our lives on the right road.

Jesus said that you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. But here we see that truth is set aside for personal pleasure in sin.

Whenever I counsel people who are going through a tough time, I remind them to stay in the Word, stay in church, stay in fellowship, stay close to God through the ordinary means of grace.

And now more than ever in our generation, we who live in a world that looks so much like Romans 1.26-32, must stay in the Word, stay close to Christ and to his Bride, the Church.

I think it is a time to rediscover the blessings of Bible reading and Bible teaching and to seek Jesus Christ on every page.

It is a time to teach our children the creeds of our faith beginning with the Bible, but also giving them explanations of the Word of God that apply to our lives, like the Confession of Faith and the Catechisms of our church.

There is a passage I often think of at this point:

To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.  Isaiah 8.20

To turn from the truths of God is turn from light and to retreat into darkness. In such times, we need watchmen on the walls crying to return to the light, Jesus Christ! In His light we shall see light.

May God keep our hearts faithful to the Word of God in this church and in our families.

And May God forgive our nation, and send revival. And in every revival, there is a revival of creeds, a revival in the things we believe about God and about ourselves as found in his Word.

How the Code can Crumble

The Creed is what we believe. The Code is how we live. The two are linked together and cannot be separated. If you creed goes, then anything is possible.

Romans one shows us what can happen.

First, God judicially allows the rebellion as a form of punishment.

You have heard it said that the worst thing that could ever happen is that God gives us what we want. Well, Romans one say this is exactly what happened in Gentile Rome and happens every time a people forget God. Step by step they descend the staircase into Hell.

But what does this say to believers: The Bible says:

Do not quench the Spirit. 1Thessalonians 5.19

We can quench the Spirit by ignoring the leading of the Lord, disobeying His clear commands, or by withdrawing ourselves from Word, Sacrament and Prayer.

I once had a friend who would not listen to the truth of God. She had grown up with me in the same Sunday School class. She began to walk away from the Lord, though she knew the truth. Ultimately, she seemed so hardened to the things of God that is appeared that she got what she wanted: she wanted away from God and His people. And as far as I know she died in this condition. How horrible.
What a warning to each of us to be quick to turn to Christ, to be quick to repent, to keep our hearts supple and soft before the Lord Jesus and to seek him daily in our hearts lest we should fall into the downward spiral of sin by denying Him.

Second Men begin to sink into a moral cesspool.

Paul mentions immorality of several kinds: carnal sensuality that defies nature itself (and you know what I am talking about), gutter minds, violent hearts, wicked mouths, and inhumane treatment of others who don’t like them.

I remember when I was in the Navy. I lived with a very unkept fellow in the barracks where we were in training. One day the old Chief Petty Officer came in while we were gone and unlocked our room, walked through and began to throw things all over the place. He then left a sign that said, “Filthy Rodents Live Here. See Me Immediately.”

That was a very bad memory. And he made his point as only crusty old Navy chiefs can do. But the point for us is that if you give up on God, God will allow you to pursue the base part of your life which will lead you to live like a rodent.

We can point to culture today and see it. But I am a pastor, and the place of my work today is in your heart and mind. How much of the world’s lustful, godless language and thinking has made its way into your very being?

My Aunt used to say that we may be poor and live among the poor, but we don’t have to live without honor and dignity. Aunt Eva had little food in the pantry, but plenty of manners in the public. She had little money, but a lot of generosity. She had an old home, but you can bet your bottom dollar that you eat off of the floor it was so clean!

Well, what am I saying? I am saying that God is calling to say, “We may be living in a culture that has abandoned the Creed, and its Code of living is cracking, there may be rodents all around us, but they will not be on us! We may be in a spiritually barren era, but we need not be famished if we have God’s Word in our hearts. The world may be seeking to cross the sacred boundaries of God ordained decency, in language and relationships, but we need not cross it with them.

And more than this, we are here, to reach out as Fanny Crosby wrote:

Third, the Society that they create eventually codifies the immorality.

This is one of the most tragic and damning effects of this downward spiral of sin: verse 32:

“Thought they know God’s decree that those who practices such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”

I have read, with you, of states like New Hampshire who are saying, “Immorality in marriage will be recognized in our state.” And there are others coming on board. We are in a mixed audience and I need not go further. Those who do these things begin to approve them.

The codification or at least the normalization of such godless immorality will meet with the most severe judgments of God.

Now all of this is the condition of Rome. Paul, who said that whoever trusts in the Gospel will be saved, the Jew first and then the Greek, also says in Romans 2.9:

“there will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek.”

Paul is making plain that all are sinners, all have sinned in a wicked way, we are all capable of even greater sin, if the restrains of God are lifted, and that we are all in need of a Savior.

Someone came to me recently to say that the cry of the hour ought to be forgiveness in Christ. And I fully agree. I do not need to list all of the heinous sins that are so like what we see here. It is upon us. This is not theory. We see all of it coming true.

But where do we go from here?

Cry out to the Christ

In my times of counseling I often point people to Joel 2.25. There, after God has severely judged the people of God for their forgetting of God, he promises that when they return certain things will begin to happen:

“I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army which I sent among you.”

We have studied this before. But in this one verse God says, “I am the One who sent the judgment that set in because of your sin of unbelief. But as there was a downward spiral of devastation, so there will be a restoring of life through my grace.”

This is a wonderful promise to a world like ours. If we forget God and our Creed cracks, then our Code will crumble. Our lives, our nation, our world falls into tremendous judgment. But if we will turn to God, then there will be a supernatural time of refreshing and blessing and renewals of life.

The reversal of judgment came to us in Jesus Christ. The cross of shame became a thing of hope. The death of Jesus brought life. The tomb brought resurrection.

And thus Isaiah gives hope to a nation facing doom for their sin:

“Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.  Isaiah 1.18

One time when I was a boy I went deep into the woods. I was in search of a supposed lost civilization. But my journey kept getting me deeper and deeper into the thicket and the swamps. I was lost. The sun was setting. I tried re tracing my steps but I could not get out. I was a the point of desperation, when I heard the voice of Aunt Eva calling me. And then I looked and saw a light, a flashlight in her hand. I followed her voice. I followed her light. And I got out.

My beloved there is no human way out of the downward spiral of sin. You cannot humanly get yourself out of sin. And we are all sinners. Some of us have gone deeper into the woods than others, but we are all there. And there is only one way for us to get out:

“Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” John 8.12

Listen to His voice. Follow His light. There is a way out for our culture; there is a way out for you.

Bartlett, John, comp. Familiar Quotations, 10th ed, rev. and enl. by Nathan Haskell Dole. Boston: Little, Brown, 1919; Bartleby.com, 2000.www.bartleby.com/100/. [June 23, 2007].

Canadian Politics

• Senior diplomat Richard Colvin testified at a House of Commons committee Wednesday that he warned government and military officials that Afghan detainees being turned over by Canadian soldiers were being tortured. Conservatives have denied the credibility of Colvin’s testimony.

American Politics

• The Senate is expected to vote Saturday on whether to take up sweeping health legislation that would cover five million fewer people than a companion bill passed by the House of Representatives, but it would cost less, in part because Senate Democratic leaders felt they had to win support from fiscally conservative members of their party. For a breakdown of some of the differences between the House and Senate bills, click here.
• Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in an unannounced visit to Kabul on Wednesday, warned Hamid Karzai that future civilian aid would depend in part on how his government performed in areas like developing an effective army and curbing cronyism.

Reproductive Choice

• A report released by the George Washington University, found that the Stupak/Pitts Amendment will have an industry-wide effect, eliminating coverage of medically indicated abortions over time for all women, not only those whose coverage is derived through a health insurance exchange. Read the report here.

Gendered Violence

• The suspect in the brutal homophobia fueled murder of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado in Puerto Rico was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder and four other counts. Juan A. Martinez Matos was arrested late Monday in connection with the slaying of the teenager, whose decapitated, dismembered and partially burned body was found Friday afternoon on a road in central Puerto Rico.
• Waiting lists are a common occurrence in crisis shelters, “which is a strange thing to have when you’re talking about women needing to get into a safe place, away from someone who is a risk of violence toward them,” admits the executive director of the YWCA Regina crisis shelter.

Health

• In a new report released Wednesday by Statistics Canada, the highest-earning Canadians can look forward to 10 more years of healthy living than their poorest counterparts.

International

• A new United Nations report, released this week has chronicles the effects climate change will have on women. “Poor women in poor countries are among the hardest hit by climate change, even though they contributed the least to it.” This article, explores the effect climate change will have on global food supply.
• A Somali woman has been stoned to death for committing what a judge has said was adultery. The 20-year-old divorcee was executed on Tuesday after confessing to having had sex with a 29-year-old unmarried man.
• A fascinating interview with Malalai Joya was featured in the Globe and Mail this week, to read it click here.
• A growing number of Egyptian women are demanding divorce and seeking marital counseling. The social stigma against these practices has weakened as talking about relationship problems have become more popular in the media.
• Following the Pope’s call to Anglicans to join Catholicism and recent changes to Anglican practices on ordaining women as Bishops; Rev Vincent Nichols, the most senior Catholic in England and Wales warned that Anglicans should not become Catholic to protest against female clergy or sexual ethics.
• World leaders convened on Rome this week for a United Nations sponsored Hunger Summit. Leaders rallied around a new strategy to fight global hunger and help poor countries feed themselves, but failed to pledge funds sought by the U.N.
• November 20th is Transgender Day of Remembrance, and a day to grieve Trans and gender non-conforming people killed over the past year because of fear and hatred. It also serves as a time to raise awareness about all gendered violence.

Not that I anticipated today being a better day- I got up anyway and went through the motions of life realizing that I’m carrying a long a big fat sack of crap that I really don’t want to be dealing with. Suddenly today I wish I were still 10 years old, eating popsicles in the summer and riding my bike around town. Things were certainly less complicated then.

My mum and I are kind of talking again, but I’m not happy. That whole situation is a big fat sack of crap too. Beyond that, things aren’t looking all that great for my aunt either…which in turn increases the chances of me becoming a parent faster than I had planned or anticipated for myself.

But I suppose life will be what life will be.

So yesterday, I talked about the Church of Jesus Christ in former times and pointed out that Jesus never even founded a church. I believe he was bringing the message of Islam to the world-Christians believe he was the messiah and Jews consider him perhaps a rabbi of his time. I’m sure there are a half a dozen other thoughts about who exactly Jesus was.

Anyway, since it is quite obvious just by reading the Bible and looking at the annals of history that Jesus didn’t start a church that would only end up being taken away from the earth, which then need to be restored again, it is a little ridiculous to suggest that Jesus’ church is again upon the earth and found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The more I have come to understand Mormonism, the more I question the intelligence of those following its doctrine, considering there are so many contradictions that a blind man standing half a mile away can see that Allah had nothing to do with its formation.

The LDS Church, it seems, digs to make “parts” of the Bible fit its need to prove it really is divine.  I mean, I had to chuckle when I read on page 100 of the Gospel Principles book that the Church will never again be taken from the earth. Its mission is to take the truth to every person. Thousands of years ago, the Lord said He would “set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people,…and it shall stand forever.” (Daniel 2:44) So if it will never be destroyed and it will stand forever, then will some please explain to me why the “Church” needed restoring?

Chapter 17 of the Gospel Principles book talks a lot about Joseph Smith’s involvement in restoring Jesus’ church to the earth. The simple fact of the matter that Joseph Smith restored nothing-he started something.  This chapter discusses other important truths that the Lord restored(see page 99). Among these restored truths is the concept that God has a body of flesh and bone (a topic I already covered) that the priesthood is necessary and that children do not need to be baptized until they are accountable (eight years old). (pp 99)

I did a little looking into the whole children needing baptism at the age of eight thing and here’s my question: Why baptize a child at the age of 8? I thought baptism was done for the remission of sins. If they aren’t accountable of sinning until the age of 8 then what sin does the child stand in need of remission from?

Ok, so anyway, back to Joseph Smith.

All across the board, Mormons believe that Joseph Smith was an instrument in God’s hand’s to bring Jesus’ church back to earth. Question: Why didn’t Jesus just bring it back himself? And beyond this: If Jesus is a god, as Mormons believe he is, then isn’t he powerful enough to form a church that would have never fallen?

Darn that logic.

I did a little digging into the Mormon Church’s history and a little looking at its holy books. It turns out that Joseph Smith was never called to start a church, but was only asked to translate the Book of Mormon. (This is what I have been able to ascertain anyway from Mormonism’s own holy books.)

So was Joseph Smith a prophet, called to restore Jesus’ church? (Considering that Jesus never started a church, the answer is nope and here’s the proof.)

Problems: Joseph Smith changed revelations that were given to him in order to support his claim that he was called to restore the church:

And you have a gift to translate the plates; and this is the first gift that I bestowed upon you; and I have commanded that you should pretend to no other gift until my purpose is fulfilled in this; for I will grant unto you no other gift until it is finished. (D&C 5:2 compared with Book of Commandments IV:2. Emphasized words added by Joseph Smith.)

Verily, I say unto you, that woe shall come unto the inhabitants of the earth if they will not hearken unto my words; For hereafter you shall be ordained and go forth and deliver my words unto the children of men. (D&C 5:5-6 compared with Book of Commandments IV:3. Emphasized words added by Joseph Smith.)

And in addition to your testimony, the testimony of three of my servants, whom I shall call and ordain, unto whom I will show these things, and they shall go forth with my words that are given through you. (D&C 5:11 compared with Book of Commandments IV:4. Emphasized words added by Joseph Smith.)

In the original revelation Jesus suggested to Joseph about restoring a church. Those words were added by Joseph. Please see below.

And to none else will I grant this power, to receive this same testimony among this generation, in this the beginning of the rising up and the coming forth of my church out of the wilderness — clear as the moon, and fair as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners. (D&C 5:14 compared with Book of Commandments IV:4. Emphasized words added by Joseph Smith)

Churches that are highly organized, such as Catholic, Anglican and in the case Mormonism require ordinations that are formally presented. This was also added by Joseph Smith.

And behold, whosoever believeth on my words, them will I visit with the manifestation of my Spirit; and they shall be born of me, even of water and of the Spirit — And you must wait yet a little while, for ye are not yet ordained — (D&C 5:16-17 compared with Book of Commandments IV:4. Emphasized words added by Joseph Smith.)

Beyond this, a restoration is not the same things as starting a church so again Joseph had to fiddle with the words originally recorded.

And thus, if the people of this generation harden not their hearts, I will work a reformation among them, and I will put down all lyings, and deceivings, and priestcrafts, and envyings, and strifes, and idolatries, and sorceries, and all manner of iniquities, and I will establish my church, like unto the church which was taught by my disciples in the days of old. And now if this generation do harden their hearts against my word, behold I will deliver them up unto Satan, for he reigneth and hath power at this time, for he hath got great hold upon the hearts of the people of this generation; and not far from the iniquities of Sodom and Gomorrah, do they come at this time: and behold the sword of justice hangeth over their heads, and if they persist in the hardness of their hearts, the time cometh that it must fall upon them. Behold I tell you these things even as I also told the people of the destruction of Jerusalem, and my word shall be verified at this time as it hath hitherto been verified. (D&C 5:20 compared with Book of Commandments IV:5. Emphasized words added by Joseph Smith.)

The damning evidence of all this is available in The Joseph Smith Papers and anyone who can get a hold of a copy of the original Book of  Commandments can compare the writings of such to the modern day Doctrine and Covenants.

With this evidence available to anyone who would but put a few hours of research into it I have to question why anyone would believe him. Beyond this, I would have to question why anyone with this knowledge would continue to believe him- For Joseph to change the words of the original revelations is to suggest at Jesus didn’t know what he was talking about in the first place and if Jesus is a god, as Mormonism believe he is, then he would certainly know what he was talking about and would certainly say what he meant the first time.

God does not make excuses for the things He says. What he says he means and once the words Thus saith the Lord are uttered, a mere mortal cannot go back and make “corrections.”

Former Episcopal bishop John Lipscomb has been ordained a Cath0lic priest. He just seems to be relieved to be in a position to serve God quietly, instead of being the head of an Episcopal diocese in one of the more divisive times in Anglican history. Honestly, I can’t blame him.

The ministry of OFM is to provide ministry education in places where such education is hard to get.  The ministry is very effective but not glamorous. The teaching day starts at 9 AM after breakfast.  Whenever we begin a session, we sing a hymn from the Swahili hymnbook and a class member prays in Swahili.  We end each session in a similar way. The usual schedule is listed below:

8:00 AM                        Breakfast

9:00 AM                        Class

11:00 AM                         Tea

11:30 AM                        Class

1:30 PM                        Lunch

2:30 PM                        Class

4:00 PM                        Tea

4:30 PM                        Class

6:00 PM                        Dinner

We usually meet in the church with little table-desks for each student.  See the pictures. Often noise or heat forces us to move, usually outside, under a tree.  One time, my chair was placed uncomfortably near a pile of goat manure. It was not a quality comment on the teaching by one of the students, but something that the Africans just do not notice.  I noticed!  Sometimes rain then forces us back into the church.  Students take copious notes, page after page.  See the picture of one of the student’s class notebook.

It is interesting and ironic to be teaching about the beauty, grace, and details of liturgy and then hear the Muslim call to prayer being sung throughout the town.  Muslims are a small minority here but their money gives them some influence in the town.  I have seen very little of the town because of the daily schedule of teaching.

The students have grown to love learning.  After class, they talk and compare notes to make sure they have all information and understand it all. They are working extra hard now because there is an examination for record coming.  Feelings of being second-class citizens of the church are disappearing rapidly.  The pastor here, who coordinates all the Anglican churches in the Geita area, is thrilled with all that is happening here, and already talking about next year.  Local pastors have also visited me from the Assembly of God Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the African Inland Church. All three pastors had heard of the classes from others in the town, asked for copies of the lesson plans, and inquired about me coming to teach in their churches.

Your prayers and donations are making a difference here.  These twenty pastors will change the nature of church in these rural areas.  They will become seed for sowing in God’s kingdom here in Tanzania.  Thank you God.  Thank you people of God.  Your prayers and financial support are bearing great fruit here in East Africa.  The teachers of God’s people are being taught.  Without you, all this does not happen.  We are grateful for those who supported this trip and we are grateful to the monthly donors who keep this ministry alive.  This ministry, the students in Africa, the rural church in Africa all rely on you and all thank you. Asante sana!

Fr Francis Wardega MSJ

Mission Station Geita, Republic of Tanzania

The Guardian (UK) recently looked at the high-ranking mettings of late between Catholic, Anglican and Orthodox clergy, and suggests, that this very well may signal that old schisms might soon be healed…

In the past two months, relations between the three main Christian churches have moved in more promising directions than perhaps during the past 50 years of uninspiring liberal dialogue. By opening a new chapter of theological engagement and concrete co-operation with Orthodoxy and Anglicanism, Pope Benedict XVI is changing the terms of debate about church reunification. In time, we might witness the end of the Great Schism between east and west and a union of the main episcopally-based churches.

Read the article in full here.

The Most Revd Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, who heads the Catholic Church in England and Wales, had a message for disaffected Anglo-Catholics: women’s ordination and sexual ethics alone are inadequate reasons for leaving the Anglican Communion.

An article in the November 20, 2009 issue of The Guardian quotes Archbishop Nichols as saying:

It must be a positive desire in the heart – not questions of the ordination of women to the episcopate, not questions of sexual ethics – but it must centre round the understanding of the role of the office of the bishop of Rome. 

This goes back to what Churchmouse Campanologist has been saying throughout the past month with regard to discernment over the Pope’s invitation to cross the Tiber.  Conversion is a ‘running to’, not a ‘running from’. Running from will not enhance spiritual fulfilment or bring one closer to Christ.

Archbishop Nichols added (emphasis mine):

A person must be embracing of that concrete aspect of Catholic life, which is the authority of the Holy See in the person of the Pope, if they are going to make this journey with integrity.

Nothing is envisaged in this provision of a minimalist approach to picking bits of the Catholic faith I like and seeing myself as a quasi-Catholic, not a real Catholic, under the umbrella of this constitution.

The Catholic Church already has enough CINOs.  They have damaged her reputation terribly, confusing many onlookers — particularly orthodox Protestants.  As yesterday’s post said, the best thing for Anglo-Catholics to do during the next few months is to study the 39 Articles and the Catholic Catechism side by side.  Compare, reflect and pray.  Some are bound to decide they wish to convert.  Others, undoubtedly, will choose to remain Anglican. 

The Guardian explained what is happening at the Vatican now:

The prevailing view, almost certainly shared by Benedict, is that recent developments within Anglicanism, including the ordination of women and the acceptance in the US of gay bishops, have pushed the prospects of church unity beyond the horizon.

But there is a clear distinction within the Curia, the papal bureaucracy. The softer and more accommodating line is represented by the department which is meant to handle relations with other Christian denominations, headed by a German cardinal, Walter Kasper.

The harder, less yielding approach is that of the Vatican ‘ministry’ that deals with doctrinal orthodoxy, known as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

It was this department, which the pope himself headed as a cardinal, that was given the job of drawing up the constitution.

What does the ‘Anglicanorum Coetibus’ (Anglican Groups) actually mean in layman’s terms?  Good Jesuit, Bad Jesuit explains in a post dated November 10, 2009.  The Revd Gianfranco Ghirlanda, SJ, who is Rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, says:

… the provision does not create a new Ritual Church as this might result in ‘ecumenical difficulties’.

Cardinal William Levada and the Revd Luis Ladaria, SJ, Prefect and Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, respectively, devised the aforementioned norms for the constitution and new personal ordinariates (church jurisdictions). These include the following:

- The Holy See must approve any Anglican liturgical traditions to be used in the Catholic Church

- Married former Anglican bishops can oversee the ordinariates provided they are (re)ordained as Catholic priests

- Married Anglican clergy who wish to continue in their positions as Catholics or married Anglican deacons who wish to become Catholic priests may do so, but only with the approval of the Pope on a ‘case by case’ basis

- Any celibate Anglican priest wishing to become a Catholic priest must remain celibate in his Catholic ministry

- A Catholic priest who later became an Anglican priest may not apply for the aforementioned considerations

You can read everything in full at the Vatican website here.

Most Christians haven’t heard of an Advent fast. The Orthodox keep it quite seriously, as they do all four of the major fasts. But Western Christians, even those raised in the traditional Roman church, have forgotten or never knew about the disciplines of Advent. While keeping a strict fast may only be possible when one is living a monastic life or in a fasting community, some discipline is a good practice in the seasons of preparation before the festivals.

For those of us whose lives overlap the world, we may not be able to be so strict without causing others discomfort or great inconvenience. Honestly, I don’t like cooking two sets of meals myself if a member of the household is not able to fast with us. I know I can’t starve myself on bread and salad for six weeks, either. So this year we have a modified discipline, because I am the only one in the house who is able to fast.

We have another, more practical discipline – a freezer full of meat that needed to be used before it was unusable. Now this is an odd kind of fasting, to eat beef in a fasting season. But it was the most sensible thing to do. Instead of buying fresh meat or even vegetarian foods through the month, our goal is to use up what we have before it is wasted. There are other foods in the pantry as well that we have bought but not used; it is time to clear that out and start over. I don’t want to realize some day that “uh-oh, that has gone way past its sell-by date!” or that a forgotten bag of flour is actually rancid. We have decided to be more mindful of what we have, and give thanks to God by utilizing it.

Some things have gone to the food bank for those who simply can’t keep frozen or fresh things – canned soups, pudding mixes, and so on, that are convenient for those with limited cooking facilities. Right now, we have time, power and appliances to cook almost everything from scratch. This saves money that can be better used to help others.

Our gifts to God, especially when used for the support of others, should be the first fruits, not the last fruits. When the prophet Amos has a vision of a basket of late summer fruit, the Lord tells him it is Israel, and it is not satisfactory. That is because it is the last fruits – the overripe, left behind produce no one really wanted. It is the sacrifice that a negligent people made to God. The people kept the best for themselves, and gave away what they did not want at all. This is no sacrifice.

Most financial advisors will tell their clients, “Pay yourself first,” meaning that you should set aside money in savings at the top of your budget. God tells Christians this: Give generously of your first fruits. Charity is not the last item on the budget; God puts it first. The Lord says, “What you have done for the least of these, you have done for me.” If it were Jesus standing in line at the food bank, or without the money for winter shoes, would you give him something you didn’t want? Wouldn’t you take him home for a beautiful holiday meal, hand him the new boots you were wearing? Would you hand him a stale tuna sandwich or roast a turkey for him? Would you see him walk away in your old gym shoes or your new leather dress shoes?

I have often regretted what I have bought, and I have never regretted what I have given away.

Dear Pluralist,

I seem to recall that at a point recently you indicated that you were done identifying yourself with Anglicanism.  Luckily that turned out to be merely an exasterbated cry.  Those of us who follow you know that you just can’t seem to get the Anglican blood out of your system.  I’m sure it has something to do with being liberal or inclusive or about compromising…or being bored…or secretly desirous of wearing long purple cassocks.

So it was with joy that I continued to read your perpetual angst about the state of a church you no longer identify yourself with and was glad to be rid of.  I noted especially a recent article that you published on Episcopal Cafe on the Silence of the Shepherds.  Oh how glorious the self righteous piety flowed in the article.  You alone are left amongst the righteous, the prophet of the age, the lone non-Anglican who stands against Anglican butchery.

I seem to recall also something about a dead horse.  Apparently the Archbishop of Canterbury is not the intensely humble and deeply spiritual man he says that he is, so I’m glad I got the truth from you.  The real truth as you so convincingly demonstrate is that Rowan is secretly a tyrannical, power mongering, homophobic turncoat who has abandoned the gay Christians he once supported.  He obviously is hell bent on “centralizing” the Communion and “oppressing” homosexuals, and Poperizing his See, and sending black robed-white collared infantry to Uganda to get started on the gay killing spree.

This is obvious from his silence.  It seems that Bishops and Archbishops have a job:  And that job is to connect their brains to a Google News Search and daily Pronounce and Proclaim about every international topic that tickles your moral toes.  ”Proclaim Proclaim Proclaim, that’s the way to change” is what I always say.

It certainly has nothing to do with mutually sustaining relationships of trust whereby one Bishop trusts in the Spirit to guide the moral discernment of another Bishop being united by One Spirit rather than pushing ones rich western white colonial ass around.  It certainly doesn’t have anything to do with keeping things private in an age of perpetual pornographic availability and public (and uneducated) scrutiny.  You obviously have been right all along, Rowan and now even the Presiding Bishop have really been in league all along with the Africans to turn the Communion into a Fascist regime’ of silky purple robed homo-killers.

Or, then again – you could be completely misreading the situation

*UPDATE* – Now also this “Speaking Out” by the Presiding Bishop – one of her best methinks

Peace,

Tony

*P.S. for Readers that might not “get” it.  I in no way at all endorse the possible legislation in Uganda concerning homosexuals and I do not find it an unimportant issue.  This is about the Pluralist’s essay not the Ugandan situation*

I have made some comments over at Kendall Harmon’s blog related to whether women’s ordination and sexuality issues are “first order” or “second order” issues, and whether you can simply “believe the creed” and be considered catholic.

My first comment states that I don’t believe you can divide belief from morality. The ante-Nicene church had far more developed and uniform moral standards than doctrinal ones, so the early precedent emphasizes that both faith and action are essential to being Catholic. The idea that one can simply believe certain tenets and not worry about things like sexuality and valid orders is foreign to a Catholic way of thinking. Since our souls and bodies are joined, and since we are not Manichean, who we are, and what we do with our bodies, matter. For Catholics and Orthodox, simply mentally assenting to a truth doesn’t mean one has been, and is being, transformed into someone more like Christ. Now, I will grant that a case can be made for women’s ordination and for the blessing of same-sex unions. However, to say that since neither is mentioned in the creed, neither are important, misses the point.

My second comment relates to the fact that it is not just conservatives that believe women’s ordination and human sexuality are “first order,” church dividing, issues. It is common to blame conservatives for “overreacting” to developments in mainline Protestantism, and get on them for trying to “divide” various churches based on their opposition to recent developments. However, I think this is unfair, although I admit conservatives can be an angry and loud lot, but so can progressives. As I mention in my comment, many progressives have pushed and pushed for the acceptance of women’s ordination and the acceptance of same-sex relationships, even openly defying canons and rules of their respective churches for years. This shows that who can preside at the Eucharist, and what we do sexually, are, in reality, “first order” issues for both sides. Both sides get worked up over them; it is just that acceptance of WO and gay clergy is now the status quo in many mainline churches, so who is doing the protesting has changed. Perhaps there are a few moderates and latitudinarians left who truly do believe such issues are “second order,” but let’s not blame conservatives for taking a page from the progressives and angrily and adamantly believing their views are correct!

Below is a quick round-up of what’s been happening since Pope Benedict invited Anglicans to become Catholics.  Today’s post examines what’s happened in the Church of England (C of E) since the announcement.

‘C of E — no Pope’: These words were daubed clearly in white paint over the sign in front of St Saviour’s Church in Walthamstow (northeast London).  Click the link to see the photo.  St Saviour’s is a FiF (Forward in Faith) Anglo-Catholic parish church.  Fr David Waller, priest at St Saviour’s, says it might have been done by someone under the influence of alcohol. No one knows whether this someone attends St Saviour’s. 

‘Church Buildings’: The retired Anglo-Catholic ’flying bishop’ of Richborough, Edwin Barnes, says the C of E should consider giving some of their church buildings to the Catholics or to let them out at a peppercorn rent once the ordinariates are established.  The rationale behind that is should the C of E become disestablished and disendowed as the national church, it is unclear what the Government would do with the church buildings.  Taxpayers would be more willing to pay for hospitals and schools than churches, Bishop Edwin says.  

‘The Irony of It All’: The Revd Edward Tomlinson, SSC, of St Barnabas in Tunbridge Wells (Kent), finds his patience tried by the General Synod, C of E bishops and the Revision Committee saying that they have decided not to make provision for male bishops for Anglo-Catholic churches which oppose women’s ordination (see next item).  He says these are the same people who tell Anglo-Catholics to beware of papal infallibility, yet they believe their own decisions against scriptural authority to be just as infallible, erroneous though they are.

‘Revision Committee on Women in the Episcopate’: This C of E announcement, dated November 14, 2009, says that, as Fr Tomlinson (previous item) notes, there will be no special provision of male bishops for Anglo-Catholic churches opposed to women’s ordination.  These will be delegated by the diocesan bishop, although how this will actually play out has not yet been decided.  Meetings will continue before draft legislation is created.     

‘The Wisdom of Bishops’: At Fr Tomlinson’s St Barnabas blog, commenter Frances says, ’I don’t want to go anywhere. I desire to remain within the CofE and within the Anglican Communion, it is the church of my Baptism and has nourished me as a Catholic Christian all my life. What happens next lies in the hands of others. Sadly, some who shout loudest seem less able to understand the legality of what is proposed, nor the concept of collegiality, do not care anyway and do not want us to stay.’

‘Women Bishops: here’s the (new) deal’: At The Ugley Vicar, the Revd John Richardson of Colchester (Essex) says Anglo-Catholics aren’t the only ones disappointed by the Revision Committee’s announcement. He speaks for many of his fellow conservative evangelicals — Anglican Traditionalists – when he says that perhaps a compromise is in order whereby traditionalists accept women bishops but make it clear that all C of E bishops must believe in and uphold the 39 Articles, creeds and other Anglican formularies.  He also notes in the comments that the Synod has not yet taken a final vote — some people think it may reach stalemate because no provision is made for dissenters.     

It’s all quite sad, really. 

I’m not at all surprised by the incident at St Saviour’s.  I am grateful there has only been one instance of that so far.  If people have something to say, let them talk to their priest.  Defacing church property is not the way forward.  Speaking of church property, I shudder to think what will happen someday to our beautiful C of E churches, the jewels which brighten our landscapes and point to God.  I don’t even want to consider it right now.  One of these blogging priests says his church has a photograph of the Pope hanging in one of the adjoining rooms of the church.  If this is so, I really hope he and his parish consider the move to Rome.  I do not understand how they can be Anglican.  St Barnabas reader Frances has a point.  Many agree with her.  Yet, as we will see in tomorrow’s post, objecting to women bishops is not a good reason for conversion.  She and like-minded people really need to get a copy of the Catholic Catechism and the 39 Articles, compare the two and see where they are at the end of that exercise.  Finally, I admire Mr Richardson’s optimism in thinking that C of E bishops would agree to believing in and upholding the 39 Articles and so forth.  Chance would be a fine thing.  What’s to stop them from paying them lip service when being installed as bishops and then summarily forgetting about them?  Who will hold them to their obligation?  Surely not Rowan Williams.    

Tomorrow: What Catholics say

As Baudelaire observed, the devil’s best trick is to persuade you that he doesn’t exist. Anglican clergyman, George Pitcher is persuaded:

English satanic practices always make me smile. They conjure up images of very white, fat people dancing around clumsily in a wood. So when I read our story today that a vicar in the Forest of Dean is seeing signs of “dark forces”, I’m afraid I was reminded more of Ghostbusters than of The Omen.

But the Rev Nick Bromfield, rector of Drybrook, Lydbrook and Ruardean, is taking it all very seriously: “It might sound medieval to talk about the relationship between good and evil, but there is no middle ground on this. People need to leave well alone.”

Oh, c’mon, Rev Nick. We’re not talking about Old Nick here, are we? All that classical theistic Greek dualism, which gave us the battle between God and the Devil, with the great eschatological battle fought out at the Cross of Calvary? Are you mates with Mel Gibson?  Or perhaps you just didn’t like finding a sheep’s head impaled on a stake outside one of your churches?

I agree that’s not very nice, least of all for the sheep, but are we still really talking about a Miltonesque battle for dominion between the powers of darkness and light? I don’t think so. Evil is the absence of the divine in humanity, made potent by the power of human imagination gone wrong. So I agree that humans obviously have a capacity for great evil. But because they are possessed by the Prince of Darkness? No. There’s only room for one deity here.

Let’s see, if there is no devil there was no Fall, no rebellion against God, no sin, no need for a Saviour, no Incarnation, no atonement on the cross, no salvation, no heaven, no hell, no hope.

What does that leave us with? The Church of England.

Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The prayer book collects are a wonderful spur to reflection. Having said them over the years, they strike me anew each time with power. That is especially true of the collects for the Sundays in Advent. I mentioned in my sermon the contrast between the candles we light on the Advent Wreath and the growing darkness of the season. This collect draws on that imagery, too. It’s been running through my head all week.

According to Hatchett, Commentary on the American Prayer Book, this collect was composed for the 1549 Book of Common Prayer. The juxtaposition of dark and light, as well as the emphasis on the contrast between now “in the time of this mortal life” and “the last day” remind us of the poles of our existence. They remind us, too, of the sharply different times in which we live, this present time, and God’s time, or eternity.

The beginning of Advent marks the beginning of the liturgical year, which takes us each year from the expectation of the birth of Jesus Christ, through his death and resurrection, to the birth of the Church at Pentecost. That annual remembering of the story with its incessant yearning for us to return to those events, to participate in them is challenged by another powerful force in the Christian message–the urge to look forward to the second coming. Those are two very different attitudes towards time, and occasionally they leave Christians feeling schizophrenic. Where should our real focus be? On the past, or the future?

Perhaps our focus should be somewhere else entirely. God exists outside of time and created time in the process of creating all things.

We went to an ordination service last night at the Cathedral. It is a moderate size cathedral, in a medium size city, but they do cathedral very well. They have been blessed with good deans and good bishops for a while, and the cathedral is the heart of the diocese. So ordinations are well-attended and well-planned.

The best part was seeing the Cathedral packed with people. It was wonderful to see many clergy there, all of them supporting their new brothers and sisters. The music was fantastic, uplifting and even fun at times. This is what Anglican worship should be. There are times for joy and celebration, times for solemnity, times for silence and grief, but it all needs to be done together. We are not only a  communion, we are a community.

It was the Feast Day of St. Andrew, a traditional time for ordinations. Andrew was first called of the apostles, and he brought his brother Simon (Peter) to see the Messiah. He was a missionary and a martyr, a working man who accepted an even harder life than the one he left behind. He’s a good model for clergy; working hard, without a lot of fanfare, witnessing to both his family and the world.

Ordination is not “now I’ve made it!” It is not getting the first professional job, starting a new career, or gaining a power position. It is none of those things, no matter what model we are handed in seminary. It is the continuing work of the apostles. It is witnessing, working hard, working hard without thanks, suffering and taking it all in faith. While a leadership position, it is only one in following Christ. We merely do His work, as the apostles did. There is no earthly reward. Ambitious priests are bad priests. They do their own work, not God’s.

St. Andrew’s Day is the first major holiday in the church year, which begins at I Advent. Andrew was the first called, and we begin our litrugical journey remembering him. Start at the beginning; wait for the Lord.  Advent is not just the lead time into Christmas. It is the yearly remembrance that Christ will come again. He who came in lowly humility will return in glory and triumph. He came not to bring us Christmas, but to bring us Pascha - Easter – the crossing over into new life. He dwelt among us as a child, but He did not remain that child. He grew to full manhood, and accepted a death of ignominy so that we might be raised from the ignorance of sin into a Life shared with Him. The Incarnation came among us, and He will come again.

James Carroll has written eloquently about his own faith journey and about the history of the Catholic Church in Constantine’s Sword, which I heartily recommend to everyone.  He blogs today about the increasingly right-ward turn of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in the US. His observations are here.

His comments provide a fascinating juxtaposition with a couple of recent encounters I’ve had. One was on Saturday, with someone who came by during our open doors. We talked for a few minutes; he was clearly interested in Grace only for its aesthetics, and left after mentioning he was Roman Catholic and attended Latin Mass.

Another man came by last week and asked if we heard confessions. I made an appointment with him, and we talked this morning. He grew up Catholic, was divorced, and needed to get something off of his chest. I doubt whether he could have faced a Roman Catholic priest in a confessional, but we had a lovely conversation, that ended with me offering him absolution.

In the twenty-first century, people are going to make sense of their spiritual lives from their own perspectives, with the wide variety of resources available to them. Some will be drawn to and accept the rigid, hierarchical, authoritarian approach of traditional Catholicism or fundamentalist Protestantism. Others will search elsewhere.

Yesterday was the first Sunday of Advent. As R and I have begun to worship in the Anglican tradition, time has become more important. As a reformed Evangelical, the church calendar had much less importance than it typically does in the Catholic (or Anglican) traditions. Those traditions follow periods of time dependent on historical church feasts, ceremonies, or commemorations.

Be patient with me, this is still unfamiliar territory.

So yesterday marked the New Year, in terms of the church calendar. The New Year is not ushered in with fanfare and exploding lights, but in darkness, and with anticipation, like the hush before someone tries something amazing. Some traditions take this literally, putting away the harvest plenty and abundance for austerity and solemnity. A blogging friend changed out her set of dinner plates.

I find myself awash in an unfamiliar sea. Like most recent additions, I’m still finding my footing in this new tradition. I think our Anglican church is the right place for us, melting together solid, historical Christianity and teaching with the Catholic, high-church practice that is so beloved of my husband’s. And he’s the one who introduced me to the idea of daily, solemn, remembrance of Advent.

So here is my hush before the storm:

I have signed up for a “busy person’s retreat”, taking place at my university, where I meet with a guide for 30 minutes a day and commit to living in “joyful anticipation” during this week (and the whole month, till Christmas). Our family has started a Jesse tree, so the kids can take part in the geneaology of Christ. And each Sunday, the church marks the time with songs, lessons and readings that keep us mindful of the time.

And so I am still, and do less, and listen more, waiting- hoping- and watching in the time before time.

LIGHTEN our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.