From the Rector
Editor’s note: At Mosaic’s September gatherings, Fr Robert reviewed what Anglicanism is and what it means to be an Episcopalian. The emphasis of the classes was on the comprehensiveness of Anglicanism, i.e, how part of its essence is to hold together things that sometimes seem (and have often been) in conflict.
As Saint Philip’s welcomes people from many different faith traditions who become part of the community, it seems important for people new to the Episcopal faith to do just that: appreciate what is helpful from their traditions and individual histories, and incorporate that as they continue to explore how they understand God and the Episcopal tradition.
This perspective is not new to Fr Robert. In 2014 he wrote a series of blog posts about this topic. This week is the second in a three-week series* where a portion of those blogs (updated where appropriate) is shared in this space.
The way forward for the Episcopal Church—and perhaps for the Church universally—is not found in compromise for the sake of avoiding hard questions but in a comprehensive approach to our faith that draws from the wisdom of men and women across the ages who knew something more, something deeper, something true of the walk with Christ. This has happened in places and ways we can scarcely imagine and continues to give new life in ways beyond our knowledge—at the same time it resides deep within our soul.
The great Evangelical truth is that Christ is at work in the life of each and every person. This occurs within a world that the Catholic faith knows as full of promise and presence. From the source of Scripture comes the knowledge of the grace offered in the Sacraments as we are made free by authority that comes from outside of ourselves.
What does this Catholic Evangelism look like?
At its core it should have at least the following (not only and not simply, but at least):
A Belief that Christ is active in the Sacraments
Christ is at work in Baptism, Communion, Confession, and more. He is not at work simply with the goal of a vague amendment of life but for the sake of every person who would rest their hope in him—and beyond. Christ is at work in the Sacraments for the salvation of the whole of humanity, for the reconciliation of humanity to God that is mirrored in our reconciliation with one another.
The Sacraments do not exist for their own sake but for ours. They draw us more deeply as the people of God into the holiness that is Christ’s own body. The whole of the Church is taken up into the mystery of faith. As all are drawn, so is each individual drawn; as each individual is drawn, so are all drawn. Participation in this mystery is not a right. It is a gift that we should enter with thought, care, and preparation.
A Commitment to the Historic Church
There can be few deeper marks of hubris or heresy than to believe that the Holy Spirit speaks to us and not to others. Across our history, the Holy Spirit has moved and given of himself to bring consolation and transformation. The very nature of our being is revealed in our forebears and their engagement with the Spirit.
As much as we inherit the things that are of the Spirit of God, we also inherit things that are of the spirits of this world. Thus, we are tasked with the work of discernment.
We impoverish our whole self if we cast aside aspects of our heritage without the careful witness of the whole body of the faithful across time and boundaries. The Spirit moves across the ages and we receive this as the holy tradition of the church. The historic church, the church in her fullness, has lessons for each and every believer. Whether zeal, penitence, prayerful centering, selfless service, divine liturgy, theological inquiry, prophetic witness, scriptural rigor, and much more—across the whole of the church’s being and history are lessons for us to deepen our participation in the ongoing revelation of the Holy One.
A Conviction that the Holy Spirit is still transforming us
A Spirit active across the ages is still speaking and proclaiming today; it still draws us into the wonder of God Incarnate. Just as we impoverish our identity by ignoring the past, we do as much harm if we pretend that revelation is no longer being made known—that we have no more tidings to hear.
We are called by prophetic voices all around us to engage the world and to know its pain so that we may bring word of Christ the healer. Just as we ask for the Holy Spirit to descend upon bread and wine and to sanctify water, we need to pray for the Holy Spirit to descend upon the whole of the Church and upon each of us daily that we might know and share the gifts of the Spirit.
A Belief that Sin, Powers, and Principalities are real
An unfortunate side-effect of fleeing traditions that belabor the power of sin and death is that we often now downplay their very real role in our lives. If we are indeed saved, then from what are we saved? A simple answer would be that we are saved from ourselves. We are drawn out of the depredations of unmoored souls adrift from the abiding strength of Christ.
We spend much of our lives in the pursuit of an identity that will allow us to know ourselves as “independent” or “in control.” At the heart of our yearning for control or independence is a sinful impulse to know ourselves as belonging to ourselves. Only when we know ourselves as held in the hands of a Sustaining Father, shaped by the will of a Creating Christ, and caught up in the power of a Redeeming Spirit, can we begin to more clearly see the hold of sin and death.
Often, those raised in dysfunctional families are unable to see the dysfunction until they stand outside of the system and see the hold it had over their energy and being. In the same way, we need the community and the Church to help us stand outside of the shape and structure of society and help us name that which is sinful and hold some piece of us in its grip. The Church gives us the vocabulary to name that which must be exorcised in our individual and corporate lives and to name and hold onto that which is holy and life-giving.
A Belief that a relationship with Christ matters and is decisive for individuals and the whole Church
A world of diversity makes the declaration of the Lordship of Christ a sometimes uncomfortable proposition. We encounter good and even holy men and women of different and sometimes no faith and ask ourselves how a universal truth claim might be made. Yet, the way forward is not with bland or generic attempts to erase difference but to engage difference with the holy awareness that we just might be wrong.
And yet, we know that our own lives and the lives of those we know, have been bought with the Love of Christ. That conviction and conversion gives us a certain foolishness to offer Good News. The most fruitful conversations I have ever had about difference were not attempts to erase or erode difference but to name it and share stories of where that difference played out in our lives.
A conversation with another is not a chance to convert them (though the Spirit may just lead that change of heart) but a chance to know our faith deepened by encountering the diversity of God’s Creation. We lead not with the fear that another person might be damned but with the joy that we are known and claimed as Christ’s own. No one is saved as an individual alone and no Church is truly holy without a Holy People of God who know themselves, in their deepest self, as given new life.
A Conviction that sharing the Good News is required for those transformed by the Good News
A people given Good News are called to share the Word with others. Sharing the Good News is the stuff of reaching the people of God in the way that God reaches us—with tenderness, compassion, forgiveness, and love (though this may mean bearing hard truth). In the way that Jesus walked amongst us and gave of himself we are called to be among those for whom Christ gave himself.
We are to walk with the living Word, devote ourselves to live the Sacraments, bearing witness to the Presence of Christ among us. The reality of God with Us is made known in our own willingness to be with, among, and alongside. Each of us is given a bit of the Good News to share in all the ways we know; with each of our many gifts we are called to offer some glimpse of the one whose very nature is relationship and self-giving. This is at the heart of good stewardship: that God blesses and we share that blessing to bring others word of God’s abundance. At the heart of Good News is God’s great abundance—the outpouring of God’s own self.
Yours in Christ,
—Fr Robert
*If you missed the first installment in this series, click here for that article.