To
Be Rather Than to Seem
Reflections
on James 1 and Mark 7
RCL
Proper 22B
30
August 2015
Saint
Faith’s Anglican Church
Vancouver
BC
In the autumn of 1998, our older son David began Grade 8
at Magee Secondary School. It was an
important year for both David and the School.
The old Magee High School had just been replaced with a new, state of
the art building. A brand new sign was
erected that not only proclaimed the School’s name, but also provided
information on up-coming events.
Prominently displayed on the sign was the School’s motto --- Esse quam
videre --- ‘To be rather than to seem’.
The first time I dropped David off at Magee, I looked at
the sign. Something was wrong. I looked again and again before I saw the
problem --- the motto. The sign-maker
had misspelt the Latin word esse ‘to be’ and had written essa which means
nothing in Latin. So I parked the car
and asked to see the Principal. When I
met him, I pointed out the error. Poor
man! No educator likes to have such an
error so publicly displayed. It was
quickly corrected --- at the sign maker’s expense probably.
It’s a good motto, don’t you think, ‘To be rather than to
seem’. In many ways it’s a summary of
today’s readings from the Letter of James and the Gospel according to Mark. At the heart of James’ letter is his plea
that what we believe has to be embodied in what we do. In theological language orthodoxy, ‘right
thinking’ must be expressed in orthopraxy, ‘right acting’. James writes that ‘. . . be doers of the
word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. . . . Religion that is
pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their
distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world’ (James 1.22, 27).
In today’s Gospel reading Mark picks up the other side of
the equation. The Pharisees express
their concern that Jesus’ disciples are not practicing the rituals prescribed
in the Covenant of Moses. Jesus’
responds in so many words, ‘Look, right acting needs to spring from right
thinking. Just going through the motions
without an internal conversion of the heart, mind, strength and soul is not
what God expects of us.’
What we believe must affect what we do. What we do must spring from what we
believe. There is no conflict between
the two; they are the faces of the same coin --- our faith that in Jesus of
Nazareth we meet God. There is an
old-fashioned word for this concept --- integrity.
We are in the midst of a federal electoral campaign in
which competing visions of the future of our country are being
articulated. We know that there is
widespread suspicion of political leaders and the promises that are made during
an electoral campaign. Many young people
do not vote because they do not perceive our elected leaders as possessing
integrity, that unity of right thinking and right acting. There are increasing numbers of older voters
who are equally disenchanted with the political process and have withdrawn from
any involvement. The perception that
politicians lack integrity is potentially catastrophic for the common
good. Edmund Burke, the
eighteenth-century English political leader, once said that the only thing
necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.
At the heart of the Anglican baptismal liturgy is a
series of questions and promises collectively known as the Baptismal
Covenant. The first three questions ask
us to affirm our faith in the Triune God.
These are questions about ‘right believing’. But these questions are then followed by six
promises, six commitments, if you will, that are intended to lead us into
‘right acting’. ‘Right acting’ as an
Anglican Christian means
- continuing in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in the prayers;
- persevering in resisting evil and, whenever we fall into sin, repenting and returning to the Lord;
- proclaiming by word and example the good news of God in Christ;
- seeking and serving Christ in all persons, loving our neighbours as ourselves;
- striving for justice and peace among all people, and respecting the dignity of every human being; and
- striving to safeguard the integrity of God’s creation, and respecting, sustaining and renewing the life of the Earth.
This Covenant commits us
to integrity and the acceptance of the obligations that this choice requires.
There are Christian traditions that are leery of
involvement in the political process.
Anglicans are not one of them. We
know that we must walk a careful path that avoids partisanship, the advocacy of
a particular party agenda, but upholds the principle that politics is about
caring for the common good of all people, citizens and non-citizens, partisans
and non-partisans equally and passionately.
Just this week, our Church has published a document
entitled ‘Compassion, Justice, and Reason: An AnglicanApproach to Election 2015’. I
have prepared copies of the document that you may take home with you
today. This document does not tell
anyone for whom they should vote. It
does, however, describe the positions our Church has taken on various issues
that have arisen and may arise during this electoral campaign. It is our job, as baptized members of
Christ’s body, to discern which of the candidates demonstrates that unity of
right thinking and acting, that integrity, which will serve the common good of
all God’s people in this country of ours.
And there is one thing I, as your Rector, would ask of
each of you. We shall all meet people,
young and old, who are reluctant to vote because they no longer trust the
democratic process. Please encourage
them to inform themselves about the issues and to vote. It is no exaggeration for me to say that the
future of each and every one of us depends upon the active participation of all
citizens, believers and non-believers, disgruntled and hopeful, privileged and
under-privileged alike.
Esse quam videre.
To be rather than to seem. The
right words for our times, I think.
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