Anglican AND Catholic

I have to admit that when Pope Benedict announced the establishment of Anglican Ordinariates I was excited. After all, the Anglican Communion has her issues. However, as time went on and more information was released about how these ordinariates would be ordered, my hope faded. You see, I was under the naive impression that this action as aiming at restored communion between Anglicans and Romans. As it turns out, the Ordinariate seems to be just an expansion of the Pastoral provision that was already in place. Now, with the announcement of the U.S. Ordinariate, Anglo-Catholics have an opportunity. For what? Conversion. Every time I read the word in this context, my heart sinks. And it seemed like we were so close to genuine unity. I understand that there are a number of congregations and clergy who are accepting this "opportunity." So to answer the question before it is asked, no, I will not be one of them.

So how did this happen? How could we seem so close to unity and then flinch, and step back to the "safety" of the status quo? I cannot answer for Rome, But I can answer for myself, and probably many Anglican brothers and sisters. Anglo-Catholics, such as myself, are not "wanna be" Roman Catholics. We are Anglican Catholics. We desire unity in the Body of Christ as Anglicans. If we really believed that the Rome Catholic church was the ONLY true expression of the Church, we would have had opportunity to "convert" a long time ago. However, to "convert" would demand a level of dishonesty that I cannot tolerate. It's as if we are to say, "Well let's pretend my confirmation, my ordination, and every mass I ever said, every absolution I ever pronounced, was invalid. Oh, and by the way, I'll be allowed to keep my wife, but I really shouldn't have married, it was a mistake." Seriously? Unity at the cost of integrity? No, Thank you.

Sadly, it seems that the only possibility of restored unity in the Church catholic, rests on the shoulders of the Roman Catholic Church. She must recognize as valid the other catholic jurisdictions, such as Anglican and Eastern Orthodox. Unfortunately, that would mean overturning her belief in the universal jurisdiction of the Pope, and, amending decisions and edicts of prior popes. Pope Benedict could do this, but will he?

What does lie on our shoulders, is for Anglo-Catholics to get our own house in order. Maybe we were hoping that Brother Rome could help us sort out our differences. Well that didn't work, so lets get back to the table. How dare we point our finger at Rome, while there is not visible unity between us? It is well past time for unity among the "alphabet soup" of Anglo Catholicism.

Believing and Doing

Sometimes well meaning people speak of the Liturgical or Sacramental worship as though it were an option or a preference, "for people who like that kind of stuff." As long as you are worshiping Jesus, preaching the Gospel, its OK. Even within the Anglican tradition, there are those who would shelve the vestments, and liturgy for the sake of a more "seeker sensitive" environment. If reaching the lost is our objective, why persist in a worship "style" that is so "uncomfortable." Why kneel, and sign the cross in prayer, when standing or sitting works fine in other churches? It's just a formality a ritual.

Such reasoning sounds pretty good at first, yet it is a symptom the resurrgence of a gnostic heresy, that has once again infiltrated the Church. The Gnostics, held to a dichotomy between spiritual and material. The spiritual is good, material is certainly of lesser value, if not evil by nature. It is expressed in the idea that worship of God is primarily spiritual, and that the material is a distraction, of no value whatsoever. Your faith need not have any material or out-ward expression. Thus we enter the age of "casual" worship. Come as you are: jeans or shorts are fine, coffee holders in the pew, pray however you are comfortable, sing or sit back and enjoy the music. The important thing is that you are praying, and that you are present. Worship however you want. Be baptized, or not, have communion or not. Its the Spirit that matters.

The danger in this thinking is that it contains a grain of truth. The spirit is more important. The flesh is weak, and mortal. The Spirit is eternal. The error is in the premise that the two are separate. That the flesh is not effected or influenced by the spirit or vise versa. The Incarnation teaches us otherwise: It was Jesus' real physical death, his very lifeblood, that atones for our sins, that is, it accomplishes a spiritual effect, our eternal salvation. He taught us that we must be born of water and the Spirit to have eternal life, and that only a fool would hear his words, and not do them. The New Testament is replete with examples, testifying to the fact that your spiritual condition has ramifications for your outward life and behavior. The Apostle Paul testifies that mishandling the sacrament, profanes the Body and Blood of Christ, and had resulted in sickness and even death among the Corinthians. (1 Corinthians 11:27-32) To top it off, we live in the hope, not to be free from this prison of the flesh (Plato) but the resurrection of our bodies, immortal and glorified for all eternity.

This Scriptural truth is expressed in our worship. We show our love and respect for God, by our actions. We acknowledge his Majesty, by giving up our comfort for the sake of his Honor. We bring our outward bodies into submission to our heart and mind. If we honor Him with our thoughts, and emotion, we should also honor him with our behavior and dress. It is important. It's not that jeans or shorts are unacceptable if it is the best you have. Why would you not wear your best to worship the King of Kings?

Here we come to the heart of the matter-- our objective. The Church is the visible Body of Christ. He is present where two or three are gathered in his Name. He is present in the blessed Sacrament. Our worship is directed toward Him and Him alone. Consequently, we are not at liberty to worship as we see fit, or to pamper our flesh with comfort or convenience. Worship ALWAYS reflects and is appropriate to the object/person we worship. Our submission to the ancient liturgy of the church is a fitting and appropriate expression of our love and faith in Christ Jesus. He is not a motivational speaker or a rock star. He is, after all, God incarnate, the Second person of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, the Head over all things for the Church which is his body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. (Ephesians 1:22-23)

Bread, Sawdust, and....

Chickens??? Tractors? The truth is I haven't been making much sawdust lately. In fact, business has been slow for the last year and a half. Oh, I'm still in the cabinet business, but until the economy turns the corner, I've had to diversify. It's called making do. In reality it is what bi-vocational ministry is all about. Sure, I enjoy cabinetmaking, and it has provided well for us over the last 13 years or so, but its not my career. I was pastor of a small church, with a pile of student loans, when I graduated from Seminary. The four hundred dollars I received each month from the church, would just cover my loan payments. I had to find a job or leave the assignment.
Providentially, a good friend, who was a cabinetmaker offered me a job, as his helper. I didn't have any woodworking experience outside of "Industrial Arts class in Jr. High, but the job worked out well, and apparently, I had a knack for it. In a couple years I was working for myself, building custom cabinets, but more importantly I was providing for my family while I served the church. Cabinetmaking has made it possible for me to serve God in churches that cannot afford a full-time paid pastor. (For the man willing to do it, there is no shortage of small churches that need a shepherd.)

So this is me adjusting to a new economy: building cabinets, giving piano lessons, gardening, raising chickens for meat and eggs, and whatever else it takes, to provide for my family, and serve the dear people of my parish.

9 Years and Counting

It doesn't hardly seem possible that nine years have passed since I was ordained to the priesthood of God's church, but as they say, "Time flies when you are having fun." Well its not all been fun, but most of it has been. And the parts that have not been fun have been worth it. Our children have always brought us more Joy than sorrow. Serving God has always had a cross at the middle of it, but the way of the cross is life and peace. Bi-vocational service has lingered far longer than I had anticipated when we began this mission. I had ambitiously thought that in 2 or 3 years we would have a self sustaining parish. However, when I said "yes" to God, it was without conditions, and escape clauses. Besides, look at what I would have missed: All the people in whose lives we have sown the seed of the gospel, through the business; Years of working with my boys teaching them the trade, and so much more; Teaching them that the Christian way, is more than what we do at church-- it's how we live our lives, together as a family, how we work, the quality of our efforts, doing our best at whatever we do, to the Glory of God: the peaceful rest enjoyed by one who has worked long and hard all day long.

I can hope that one or more of my boys might get called to orders, and follow in my foot steps. But if not I want them to know that for the Christian there are few secular vocations. The only truly secular profession is the one that CAN NOT be done for the Glory of God. What ever we do, we do our best, and work at it with all of our might, for the Glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Life lessons are not taught in the class room. They are learned in the bump and grind of life. Our lives are an offering to God, poured out for His Honor and glory.

Nine years, really isn't that long after all. If God allows, I will give Him many more,
and when I finally lay this body down, by His grace it will be well spent.

Welcome Ezra Jude!

It's been almost six weeks since Ezra made his grand appearance. I had the privilege and blessing of baptizing him into the Body of Christ, at our Easter Vigil. I was reminded that it was almost 18 years ago, when the first of our children made her entrance. Nothing much has changed. It never gets old. Each child an incredible blessing, each bringing unspeakable joy, and a sense of awe. To think that God, in his grace has entrusted to us one of his children. A brand new soul, that would not have existed apart from Mary and my cooperation. God made, Adam from the dust of the earth, and Eve from his rib. But the rest of the children in the world, he allows, even requires human participation. When I think about this trust, I am humbled by the enormity of the responsibility that it entails. God loves children, He loves people. He wants them all to be with Him forever. God has entrusted us with Ezra, to raise him, to train him in His stead, the way God would raise his own children so that Ezra too will one day join the ranks of the Saints in His presence. Who is up to the task?

Thankfully, God has not left us to figure it out on our own. He's given us grace beyond measure in the Church, in the Holy Scriptures, in the guidance of the Holy Spirit. With nine living children, I still do not know all there is to know about raising children. They are all different, all unique requiring their own tailor made game plan. The foundation of all means and methods however, remains the Church, life in Christ Jesus. In the Church God has granted every grace necessary for us to accomplish this task. Our task, is to make use of every available means of Grace, for us and for Ezra, to the honor and glory of God- That there might never be a time in Ezra's life that he did not know Christ, and have peace with God.

LOL--Yeah, whatever

It's not a little ironic that those inventions which initially intend to bring people closer ultimately separate us further. Do you remember the old telephone commercial? "Reach out touch some one," they used to say, and then pick up the phone. Who would have thought in those days of rotary phones and party lines,(do you remember those?) that nearly everyone including young people would be carrying cell phones. Of course its aimed at "staying connected." Not only that, we now have text messaging, where a person doesn't even have to talk, he or she can just type words, but not whole words or actual sentences- abbreviations. Whole words, and sentences take too long and require some grammar and spelling expertise. This is an excellent way to chat with your friends while you are otherwise occupied, say at church, or school, or in the grocery check out line. You can even be in a crowd of people (or with your family,)and at the same time "stay in touch" with your friends. Then of course we have the grand daddy of all superficiality, "social networking sites." Where else can you "keep up" with all your "friends" who you never see or talk to? Now you can be "social" from the comfort of your own home, sitting in your pjs on your lazy-boy. You don't even have to comb your hair or brush your teeth.

Which brings me to LOL, or another designation aimed at communicating emotion.:) Have you ever wondered why this is even necessary? I'll help you out here. The printed text is an inefficient, maybe even inadequate medium for human communication. It's fine for text books, dictionaries and encyclopedias, that is, for sharing facts and information. However, for communication between actual human beings, it is woefully inadequate. So when we text or email, we have to give indication of the emotion or inflection that we want to accompany the message. Of course we are limited to a relatively small stock of available emotions, LOL...Human communication, and social interaction is more than just words, or even accompanying pictures. Trying to compress human experience into words, was the challenge of the great literary artists, poets and novelists of former days. They did so by means of the mastery of the language, powerful vocabulary and many words, not abbreviations and emoticons.

I have to admit I was enthralled by some of these new "advances." However the novelty has worn off, and a sense of foreboding has taken its place. They may be useful but I doubt they are good. In effect, the world of text, rather than growing to accommodate human experience, is static, compressing human experience into an increasingly narrow field. The result? superficiality, facade, and surface relationships with no depth. Not only is there the possibility of intentional deception, ( I'm thinking of the country hit..."I'm so much cooler online") but also the tacit deception, that is, the things left unsaid. What your friends via textual media know of you does not even scratch the surface of who you are. It's like the tip of the ice berg. What your friends see by means of facebook, twitter, or TM may be true, but its certainly not the whole truth, and "Relationships" thus upheld bear little resemblance to human friendship. Consequently, while we may be inundated with "friends," it's entirely possible to remain isolated, remote, and alone. We may actually find ourselves losing face to face social skills. Perhaps the most detrimental effect of the multiplication of these superficial contacts, is that they can and do sometimes distract us from the people who are physically present with us, endangering the only real relationships we have. Virtual is virtual. Real is real. Virtual is not real.

I'm reminded that God communicated through the words of the prophets and seers for ages, but to save us, to reveal Himself, and His love, the Word became Flesh. God incarnate, in Jesus Christ. The book, the text on the page was just not adequate.

My advice? The next time you are out with real friends, show them the respect they deserve. Be present with them. Give them your unobstructed attention. Turn off your phone. You can catch up with all your text messages later, from the comfort of your own home.

The Word Became Flesh

My inactivity for the last three months might lead one to suspect one of any number of explanations:
My computer died
I contracted swine flue
I had major surgery involving my hands
I have been on an extended vacation,
Our electricity/internet has been shut off
I've been really busy with other pursuits
I spend too much time facebooking
I just don't have anything to say

The list could go on, but let me just say most of these explanations are false. The truth is that our building project at Christ Community, and then the holidays, absorbed most of the time for blogging that I may have had. Now that Epiphany day is behind us, allow me to share some thoughts from my current pursuits.

I have been reading from the 7 Ecumenical Councils of the Church. If that sounds like exciting reading, it's not really. However, it is enlightening. I have found myself musing, "Who would have thought...hmm. That's interesting." For example, anyone not acknowledging the Blessed Ever-Virgin Mary as Mother of God is to be anathema. I know some of you may be thinking to yourself, "Isn't that just a little over the top?" Let me just say it makes perfect sense when you consider what was at stake, and also, consider the effects of the modern tendency to neglect this point.

One of the issues that stands out in all the councils, especially the first 3 is a concern for clarifying the Truth surrounding the person of Jesus Christ, and the Holy Trinity. Issues that were settled once and for all, and articulated in the Nicene and Apostles creeds. These creeds remain the measuring stick for Christian Faith. The fathers were intense about these defining issues. One of the many heresies in this time period (4th/5th centuries) sought to explain the incarnation by dividing Christ into two persons: the Logos (Eternal Word/Deity) and Christ (Jesus of Nazareth). They suggested that Christ was a man just as you and I, filled with the Holy Spirit in a profound and unprecedented way. The Fathers said, no. The Word BECAME flesh. Christ and the Logos were one. No less God, and no less Man. Jesus was not inhabited by God he was/is the incarnate God, the second person of the undivided Holy Trinity. The Fathers were very clear on the point. Theotokos (Mother of God) is not as much a statement about the Blessed Virgin but a statement about Christ. To refuse to acknowledge Mary as the Mother of God is to deny Christ, pure and simple.

So what difference does it make really? Quite a lot actually. The motivation of proponents of the many different heresies in the early days of the Church, was the fundamental distrust, or denigration of the Flesh. At best the flesh was viewed as weak, at its worst intrinsically evil. This line of thinking can be traced back at least as far as Plato. It is not the same as the Christian view of the flesh as fallen, bent or marred. It is difficult for moderns and ancients alike to comprehend how God who is perfect, holy, infinite, could become flesh. Its easier to imagine Him inhabiting flesh and even that is a stretch of faith. Neglect of this point of doctrine regarding the Incarnation of God, has lead to a "spiritualization" of the Christian faith, that likewise neglects the redemption of the flesh. The result being a artificial dichotomy between flesh and Spirit, and a failure to recognize the whole person, both of Christ and human beings generally. We sometimes see it manifested as "spiritual worship," that is to say, worship unhindered by outward forms or rituals. Casual becomes acceptable because reverence is a matter of the heart. Kneeling is unimportant if our spirits are humbled and bowed. Thinking and reasoning is supplanted by feeling and emotion. The hard facts of the Scriptures are set aside for a "spiritual interpretation." In the end, the Scriptural teaching regarding the Church as the visible body of Christ, is abandoned for a notion that justifies the many divisions within the Church.

Worst of all, this "spiritualization" denies our humanity, offering to the people a truncated salvation, rather than Christian wholeness. The Word became Flesh to restore humanity, to the human race. Human beings, severed from God, degenerate into animals, ruled by their carnal appetites and instincts supposing that it is more "natural." For the first time since the Garden of Eden, we see in Christ Jesus what being human really looks like, how we were created to be. He was/is the perfect Man. Salvation and sanctification through Christ, do not separate the spirit/soul from that which is flesh, but rather restore the proper integrity between flesh and spirit. The truly "spiritual" person is not one who stands aloof from that which is material/flesh but rather, one whose outward manner of living (and dying) is a perfect expression of his inward/spiritual life. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory...and from His fullness have we all received grace upon grace.