Church of the Epiphany
Surrey BC
Seeking a Better Country
When I first came to Canada, I did my best to learn about its history, its cultures and its institutions. One of the institutions that immediately caught my attention was the Order of Canada. It caught my attention because of its motto: Desiderantes Meliorem Patriam. It means ‘They desire a better country.’ But I wonder how many members, companions and officers of the Order of Canada know the source of the motto. It comes from chapter 11 of the Letter to the Hebrews, a chapter that describes the faithfulness of patriarchs, matriarchs and prophets who lived before the birth of Jesus, a faithfulness fuelled by hope rather than goaded by fear.
All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better homeland, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11.13-16)
I know that there are members of our congregation who came to Canada seeking a better homeland. I have been an immigrant twice in my life – from England to the United States and then from the United States to Canada. I came for a professional opportunity thinking to return to the United States. I have ended up spending more than half my life here and as a Canadian citizen. I, and perhaps many others, am seeking what I hope to find. But I know that I have not yet found that place where God’s promises have been complete fulfilled.
Political at all times
During the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu express his surprise that some people insisted that religion and politics do not mix. He is supposed to have said this: “When people say that religion and politics do not mix, I wonder which Bible they are reading.” He was right. Being a disciple of Jesus of Nazareth means that we are always political.
We are political because we are concerned about the ‘public good of all people’. It’s important to remember that when the first Christians were asked to describe what their communities were, they chose the Greek word ekklēsia. An ekklēsia in the ancient Greco-Roman world was an assembly of the citizens of a city to debate and to determine the policies that would guide their city or state. In ancient Greek the city or state was called the polis, the word from which we get the English word politics.
The earliest Christian communities understood they were nots club or a fraternal societies. They were and we are a gathering of people whom God has called together (i) to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength and (ii) to love our neighbour as ourselves. The importance of our love of neighbour finds voice throughout the whole of the apostolic writings we call the New Testament. The writer of the 1stLetter of John states quite simply, “Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate a brother or sister are liars, for those who do not love a brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” (1 John 4.20)
We are political but we strive to avoid a partisanship that does not listen. There will always be different points of view among any group of people about how we best serve the common good of the whole community. Unfortunately there is a psychological reality that humans must struggle to overcome. We tend to hear only what we want to hear. We tend to hear only what conforms to our existing set of norms and expectations. In other words, we find it hard to listen to other people, especially other people who may have a different point of view than we have. But if we are to be faithfully political, we must listen to one another. Only by listening to one another, by asking open-ended questions that seek understanding, can we move towards that better country we all hope to reach.
We are political because we occupy a visible place in the communities we serve. We have what is sometimes called ‘social capital’. We provide many of our neighbours with space to gather to attend to their needs – day care providers, twelve-step groups, non-profit community groups, refugees, food banks, thrift stores and more. We provide for the hungry and advocacy for the voiceless. When some years ago, the City of Richmond wanted to withhold the discretionary property tax exemption from the churches and other religious organizations, the churches came together and demonstrated that the City would lose more in far more in social capital than it would gain in property tax dollars. The Council changed its mind.
Paving the Way
On this Canada Day weekend our Parish is on its way towards what we hope is a future where we continue to play our part in God’s great work of re-creating right relationships between all peoples, to bear witness to Christ’s compassion for each of us and to be open to the Spirit leading us in paths as yet unseen. We are here to listen to God and to one another to discern how we might best serve the common good of all.
The coming eighteen months will test us. On the world’s stage there are elections in many countries where some of us have ties. Our own country faces a federal election at some point between now and the end of next year. Our province will hold an election this fall. But perhaps the most important challenge will be our work together to search for a new Rector and to discern what how best to use the property and buildings entrusted to our stewardship. Like those who bear the insignia of the Order of Canada, we who bear the sign of the cross are seeking a better country, a place where we and all God’s children shall be free and the whole earth lives to sing the glory of God.
