Only One Moving Finger

Dear friends,

The sermon notes that follow are the beginning of a process of thought that has not yet reached its maturity.  I am pondering what it means for us as Anglicans to have lost our privileged position in society even as we remain a means of God's saving compassion in a world focused on privilege, prestige and power.  I hope that you will be patient with me as I work these thoughts out, whether in future sermons or essays.  In the meantime, may God give us hope, guidance and joy.

Richard+

RCL Proper 22C (Series 2)

1 September 2013

Saint Faith’s Anglican Church

Vancouver BC

Propers:  Sirach 10.12-18; Psalm 112; Hebrews 13.1-8, 15-16; Luke 14.1, 7-14

Click here to hear the Sermon as preached with some additions at the 10.00 a.m. Eucharist.

         On the 15^th of October 1906 the sometime Anglican Bishop of Shanghai died in Tokyo where he had retired in 1883.  His name was Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky.  His life’s pilgrimage began in Lithuania as the son of Jewish parents, continued to Germany, then to the United States where, after time spent in the Baptist and Presbyterian churches, he became an Anglican deacon.

         He answered a call for missionaries to China and, during his travel to Shanghai, he learned how to write the Chinese language.  From 1862 to 1875 he served in Beijing where he began his translation into Mandarin of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer.  In 1877 he was elected Bishop of Shanghai and, in addition to his pastoral work, founded Saint John’s University, some of whose alumni established Saint John’s College at the University of British Columbia.  He also turned to translating the Bible into Wen-li, another form of the Chinese language.

         But Schereschewsky’s tenure as Bishop was cut short by Parkinson’s disease and he was virtually paralyzed by the disease.  He retired as Bishop in 1883 and then spent twenty-three years in Japan.  During those twenty-three years he continued his translation work having the use of only one finger.  When interviewed four years before his death about his disability, Schereschewsky said, “I have sat in this chair for over twenty years.  It seemed very hard at first.  But God knew best.  He kept me for the work for which I am best fitted.”

         In all of our readings today there is a common thread:  Walk humbly with your God.  The author of Sirach expresses it simply, “Pride was not created for human beings” (Sirach 10.18a).  But let us not confuse humility with groveling, self-denying abasement.  Humility mean recognizing who we are, what are our gifts and what role is God calling us to play in the great drama of salvation.  Perhaps Bishop Schereschewsky did not achieve all his dreams for his ministry in China, but he left a foundation in his translation work that later Christian missionaries and teachers built upon.  With one finger he gave the Christians of Shanghai and the surrounding region the resources necessary to share their faith with others.  And he did it well.

         I cannot help but think that we Anglicans are living through a time when the pride of our past has come home to roost.  After centuries of assuming our place at the head of the table, we are being asked to vacate our privileged position and to move to a less exalted place.  Our heritage of beautiful buildings, inspired music and dignified liturgy serves as a constant reminder of who we were while, at the same time, presenting us with a challenge:  Who do we wish to become?  What gifts do we bring to life in the twenty-first century?  What role is God calling us to play in contemporary society?

         I will not try to answer these three questions today, but I can say that I believe that many Anglicans are willing to walk humbly with our God.  We are seeking to embody in our lives and in our public ministries the qualities the author of the letter to the Hebrews describes:

• Learning to love our neighbours as ourselves.
• Showing hospitality to strangers, especially to those who have no knowledge or experience of the Christian faith.
• Remembering those who are held prisoner to hopelessness, hunger, homelessness and addiction.
• Honouring the loving relationships with which God gifts us.
• Building up the lay and ordained leadership of our communities.
• Doing good and sharing what we have.

Losing our privileged place in society may be the best thing that has ever happened to us.  We have been liberated to return to our roots, a movement begun in the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, empowered by the Spirit to share with God in the work of renewing the creation.

         Setting aside the sin of pride and taking on the mantle of humility does not mean denying the wisdom we have gained over two thousand years or denying the knowledge and skills God has given us to meet the needs and concerns of our neighbours and our world.  Mrs Lucardi, my Grade 8 algebra teacher, once said, “It ain’t boasting if it’s true!”  There are things that we know; there are things that we may do better than anyone else.  But humility also is found by acknowledging what we do not know or do not do well.  Humility means partnering with others and becoming a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

         So, my friends, the summer has come to an end and we’ve work to do.  Part of that work is clearing our garden of the weeds of centuries of Anglican pride and planting the seeds of Christian humility.  It is a humility that celebrates what God has done for us and for all creation as we ask for the wisdom to know what God would have us do in the coming year and beyond.  It is a humility that dares to use the wisdom, knowledge and skill we have in companionship with others, whether of our faith or not, who will bring their own wisdom, knowledge and skill to our common task. 

         Remember this:  God’s work may only require one finger, a finger guided by the Spirit and strengthened by the love of Jesus.  With such a finger God can do great things.  Amen.

          

Help, Hope and Home

RCL Proper 21C (Series 2)

25 August 2013

Saint Faith’s Anglican Church

Vancouver BC

Propers:  Isaiah 58.9b-14; Psalm 103.1-8; Hebrews 12.18-29; Luke 13.10-17

Click here for an audio recording of the Sermon as preached at the 10.00 Eucharist on Sunday the 25th.

         During the second half of the nineteenth century and the first quarter of the twentieth a competitive missionary zeal consumed most of the major western Christian traditions.  Even Anglican competed against each other, especially the English and the Americans with the Canadians sneaking in between them from time to time.

         One of the playing fields for this missionary game was Africa.  Presbyterians, Methodists and Anglicans had a particularly fierce campaign for souls in the East African colonies.  Scattered throughout the jungles, mountain highlands and urban areas were the mission stations of these three predominately British churches.

         At one point in the early twentieth century the Presbyterians and Methodists made a proposal to the Anglican bishop of Zanzibar.  Since all three churches had a shortage of clergy but many mission stations, the Presbyterians and Methodists suggested that the prohibition of inter-communion might be lifted.  The idea was that when a clergyman from one of the three churches was in a given area for communion, all baptized Christians, regardless of their denomination, would be welcomed to the Lord’s table.

         The Anglican bishop was adamant in his refusal to cooperate.  He could not, would not, counsel his people to receive communion from a ‘dissenting’ non-episcopally-ordained minister nor could he permit Christians who had not been confirmed by a bishop to receive at an Anglican Communion service.

         Lest we think that this situation was limited to our past, let me tell you then when I was first appointed to the Doctrine and Worship Committee of the General Synod for a three-year term in 1989, one of the first questions we dealt with was a similar question.  Even though the Anglican Church of Canada had lifted the prohibition on unconfirmed Christians receiving communion about fifteen years earlier, one of our bishops had discovered that his diocesan chancellor had never been confirmed, contrary to the requirements of the diocesan canons.  The gentleman in question had been raised a Baptist, been baptized at twelve or thirteen and had married an Anglican in his twenties.  Now in his fifties, he had spent thirty years worshipping as an Anglican, receiving communion, serving as a member of church committee, as a warden, as a member of diocesan synod and, finally, as chancellor of the diocese --- but never confirmed.  All of his children had been baptized and confirmed in the Anglican Church and he had consistently affirmed his faith in this context.  So, the bishop asked us, what do I do?  Dismiss my chancellor?

         I’ll spare you any further details about our discussions, but I will tell you that it was the unanimous opinion of the Committee that there was no need to dismiss the chancellor.  He had more than sufficiently demonstrated his commitment to live out his baptismal covenant, the key promise made in confirmation, and had faithfully served in every way conceivable as an Anglican.

         At the heart of the East African controversy of the early twentieth century as well as the question the Doctrine and Worship Committee faced in the late twentieth century is at the centre of today’s reading from the gospel according to Luke.  It is a problem that faces every religious tradition as it navigates the turbulent and tricky waters between being a movement of the Spirit and becoming an institution of society.

         You see, every religious tradition begins as a revelation, an insight, to an individual or to a small group of people.  That revelation, that insight, empowers the first generation of believers to do extraordinary things:  Abraham and Sarah strike off in search of a new land; Moses and the Hebrew slaves escape from Egypt in search of a new land; the disciples of Jesus endure the loss of their teacher to become a movement which transforms the Roman empire.

        But movements either evaporate or, over time, transforms themselves into institutions with traditions, structures and laws.  These are not necessarily bad or ill-intentioned, but the danger is that the initial revelation, the original insight, can be submerged under the layers of tradition, structure and law.  Religious leaders begin to defend the institution rather than inspire other believers with the light that first gave rise to the movement.

         The Jewish leader in today’s gospel was not nor should he ever be portrayed as a bad man.  The tradition of the Sabbath he was upholding was one that gave his people an identity and a mission.  It maintained the integrity of the Jewish people in the face of Roman oppression.  He knew what was expected of him but he had forgotten why it was expected of him.

         The Sabbath was and is about freedom, the freedom to rest and to enjoy the bounty of God without the cares and burden of labour.  It is a custom that I try to observe on my day off.  As soon as I arrive home on Thursday evening, I take off my watch and do not put it back on again until necessary.  I might not shave.  I read what I want to read and I try to avoid answering e-mails that involve work-related matters.  But if the telephone summons me to a pastoral need, then the Sabbath ends.

         Jesus heals a woman who has suffered many years from a debilitating condition.  He heals her on the Sabbath and liberates her from the bonds of her condition.  Surely, he says to the Jewish leader and to all who are present, freeing a woman from this burden of pain and disability is faithful to the gift and to the obligations of the Sabbath.

         We who gather in this place to remember and to celebrate all that God has done, is doing and will do face the same challenge as our Jewish brother described in today’s gospel reading.  We are members of an institution that has lost its place of power and prestige in today’s society.  Being a religious believer of any sort is not what it used to be; some people even dare to say that we are dangerous to world peace and development.

         In the face of this situation we can turn inward and protect the institution.  But that is not a solution.  What we need to do is to rediscover that initial revelation, that original insight, that empowered the earliest followers of Jesus and, dare I say, has empowered members of our religious community, here and abroad, for centuries.  I will even dare to say that I believe that we began that journey of rediscovery at Saint Faith’s some years ago, a journey that can be described in three words:  help, hope and home.

         We have been and continue to be a place of help to those who are in any need or trouble.  Sometimes our help is offered through our worship as we proclaim the Scriptures and as we share the bread and wine.  Oft times our help is offered through our care for the hungry, the homeless or inadequately-housed and those who struggle to gain access to the social and public services they need and to which they are entitled.

         We have been and continue to be a place of hope, not only to those we help, but to those who are seeking to understand what God has done, is doing and will do for us and for all of creation.  When women were first ordained to the priesthood in the Anglican Church of Canada, this Parish welcomed their ministry.  When our Church established a reconciliation fund, this Parish gave more than it was asked.  People suffering from addiction gather here and find healing and support.  Practitioners of healing touch gather here to learn and practice their art.  Children come to play and to learn how to become fully alive as God’s beloved.

         We have been and continue to be a place of home.  Not so long ago I mentioned a study commissioned by the Vancouver Foundation which identified loneliness as the primary affliction of many residents of Metro Vancouver, rich and poor, men and women, long-time and recent residents.  We belong to a movement rooted in the ministry of Jesus who, throughout his ministry, was constantly bringing together those who were alone or ignored, the so-called ‘good’ and the so-called ‘not so good’.  We, too, are called to ‘draw the circle wide’ and to make Saint Faith’s a ‘neighbourhood house’ where all are welcome.

         Help, hope and home.  These are just three expressions of the good news of God in Jesus, three marks of the movement begun so long ago.  May God continue to grant us the grace to keep sight of this good news.  May God continue to grant us the grace to be that movement of the Spirit called ‘church’.  Amen.

Keeping First Things First

RCL Proper 16C

21 July 2013

Saint Faith’s Anglican Church

Vancouver BC

Focus texts:  Colossians 1.15-28 and Luke 10.38-42

Click here to hear the Sermon as preached at the 10.00 a.m. Eucharist today.

            As many of you know, I spent a week in Ottawa in early July attending the first Joint Assembly of the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.  This event draw an international crowd from the Anglican Communion, the Lutheran World Federation and the World Council of Churches.  Why?  It would seem that this was the first-ever occasion when two churches of differing families came together to do joint business as well as their own separate business.

            Because I was not elected as a member of General Synod, I attended this gathering as a guest in my capacity as an out-going member of the Joint Anglican-Lutheran Commission.  Although I had an assigned table on the floor of the Joint Assembly and another assigned table on the floor of General Synod, I had neither voice nor vote.  This gave me a lot of freedom to wander through the exhibits, to chat with friends and acquaintances from both churches and, when I wanted to do so, skip a session to relax.

            Sometimes I find such gatherings so filled with ‘busy-ness’ that there is little or no time for personal reflection.  This time, however, I had ample time to be alone.  Since all of the official delegates often had lunch-time or dinner-time or post-session meetings that did not include me, I often went back to my hotel room and thought.  This was particularly important to me because General Synod made some significant decisions regarding how our church will do its national business.  For me these changes have personal implications; I have served on national commissions, committees and task forces since 1989.  I have lived through three ‘re-structuring exercises’.

            I began to be a bit anxious as this third round of re-structuring picked up speed.  I found myself wanting to grab a microphone or corral one of the national executive to lobby for my point of view.  But then I remembered something that I had learned about myself almost thirty years ago and some of my anxiety slipped away.

            When Paula and I became engaged in 1984, a new tool for helping individuals, couples and groups to understand their personalities was coming into vogue:  the Myers-Brigg Personality Inventory.  I don’t have time to go into all its meaning today, but let me say that taking this inventory helped me understand myself.  I am happiest when I am allowed to think about something by myself and having as much information as possible with a clear time-line for decision-making.  Although I can and frequently do make quick decisions based on my intuitions and instincts, I often go through a period of ‘second-guessing’ once I’ve made such a decision.

            At some point during that week in July I remembered this truth about myself.  I even coined a motto that I have occasionally written in my journal since then:  'Watch.  Wait.  Ponder.  Breathe.  Then act.'  Several times since the Joint Assembly I’ve been at gatherings when I have said this quietly or written this in my notes to myself:  'Wait.  Watch.  Ponder.  Breathe.  Then act.'  It calms my anxious thoughts and, I hope, helps me to make better decisions.

            The story of Martha and Mary is a familiar one.  It often is re-told with Martha as the icon of Christian action and Mary as the icon of Christian contemplation and reflection.  I’ve even preached this story using these ideas.  But in preparing for today’s sermon I listened to some other interesting Christian voices who have encouraged me to look at this story a little bit differently.

            If we look more closely at Jesus’ words to Martha, then we will see what the real story is:  “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing.” (Luke 10.41a)  Martha’s problem is not that Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus as a disciple, has chosen the better thing.  Martha’s problem is that she is distracted and worried, an obstacle to Martha’s own discipleship, her own way of being faithful to Jesus.[1]  Her concern about everything being just right, about making the right impression on all Jesus’ hangers-on, has made her forget why she is offering this hospitality.[2]

            “Martha’s distraction and worry leave no room for the most important aspect of hospitality --- gracious attention to the guest.  In fact, she breaks all the rules of hospitality by trying to embarrass her sister in front of her guest, and by asking her guest to intervene in a family dispute.  She even goes so far as to accuse Jesus of not caring about her . . . .[3]

            I can almost hear Jesus say to Martha, ‘Wait.  Watch.  Ponder.  Breathe.  Then act.’  What is the main reason Jesus is there?  He is there to share with every human being God’s creating and re-creating love.  He is there not to be served but to serve.  ‘Milk from the carton is fine,’ Jesus seems to say to Martha, ‘just sit down for a moment and listen.’  Martha embodies the busy-ness of our contemporary society, our drive for faster e-mail, our lust for the newest technologies, our desire for quick solutions to long-term problems, whether in our homes, our cities, our world.  We fail to keep focussed on our discipleship, our purpose as followers of Jesus.

            The writer of the Letter to the Colossians echoes this message in today’s lectionary selection.  He describes Christ as the pattern of God’s creation and as the agent of God’s re-creation.  In other words, if we will just listen with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength, then we will discover and re-discover who we are meant to be and how we are shaped into that identity.  In Jesus of Nazareth we see the pattern of what it means to be fully human, fully alive in God.  In Jesus of Nazareth we see just how far God is willing to go to redeem human beings, to re-mould us when we stray into our proper shape.

            But the key is to keep first things first.  We inhabit a society and a culture where there are many things that do and will distract us, pulling us from pillar to post, obscuring our path of discipleship with clouds of dust and tempting side excursions.  We can become so completely engrossed in activity that we become blinded to why we are doing what we are doing:  We are disciples of Christ.  We follow the way of Jesus of Nazareth.  We are co-workers with God in the creating and re-creating of the kosmos.  When we lose sight of this, we can become anxious, uncertain --- even cranky.  And in those moments Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, is lost in the haze.

            For me the responsibilities of leadership in a religious community navigating the rough waters of a fast-moving cultural river can often lead me to forget why I’m in this boat and on this river.  At times it feels as if I and all the others in this boat are so busy surviving, managing crises and seeking safe shores that we have lost sight of the journey’s purpose:  abundant life, freely given by God, made possible in Jesus of Nazareth, renewed daily by the Holy Spirit.  Just like Martha I am so concerned with the table settings that I’ve forgotten the reason for the banquet.

            So first things first.  Why did we paint this building?  We painted this building to show our neighbours that we care for this neighbourhood.  Why did we build a new playground?  We built the playground to show the community that we care for the little ones.  Why did we buy a new furnace?  We bought a new furnace because those who come here for worship, for meetings, for special gatherings, for healing, for whatever reason need the warmth of God’s love made real.  We do all these things because at the centre of our life is Jesus of Nazareth, the pattern of our true identity and the means of our renewal when we realize we have fallen short of our true selves.

            'Wait.  Watch.  Ponder.  Breathe.  Then act.'  Amen.

---

[1] The New Interpreter’s Study Bible (2003), 1874-1875.

[2] Alyce McKenzie at www.patheos.com/blogs/faithforward/2010/07/clearing-away-the-psychic-clutter-martha-and-mary-luke-1038-42 accessed on 17 July 2013.

[3] Elisabeth Johnson at www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1723 accessed on 17 July 2013.

Become Who You Are: Pastoral Leadership

Click here for an audio recording of my presentation on pastoral leadership to Anglican and Lutheran clergy gathered at Mount Carmel Spiritual Centre, Niagara Falls ON for the annual retreat sponsored by Bishop Michael Pryse, Bishop of the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.