Justin Appel

Dear Friends,

Our reading from the Gospel According to Matthew reminds us starkly that Christianity is primarily a Way of life, not merely a system of beliefs or a set of rules.

Jesus' final sermon in Matthew contained a sustained invective against the scribes and Pharisees, the Jewish leaders of the day, for although their teachings were correct and commendable, they failed to live according to these teachings. In other words, they failed to live in a way that others could imitate. Jesus said that good leadership is primarily by example, and that a leader will not just tell people what to think, but will actually lead them to God through an example of life. In direct contrast to these leaders, St. Paul could tell the Corinthian church to 'imitate me, as I imitate Christ' (I Cor. 11:1).

Practically speaking then, Christ calls us all to a mode of existence in which the end goal of all life is communion with God. This means that primarily, we are supposed to be focusing on and developing our own inner lives, not simply looking at others and demanding changes in them. This seems like an unremarkable statement -- or an irrelevant one, depending on your perspective -- but the saints repeatedly call us back to it.

Life in communion is tremendously difficult it because involves elements that do not occur naturally in a secular society. For instance, it means living in the reality that everything around us, the whole world really, is given as a sacrament. To be sure, we have specific 'Sacraments' of the church that communicate God's presence, but we must also learn to see 'Everything' as the means of communion with God. 'Everything' means we actively commune with God's holy presence when we do anything -- write checks, wash dishes, climb mountains, smell rain, feel the crack of thunder, read a book, or pray in the darkness. God's presence is not limited to specific acts or 'God talk' but to every moment, physical object, or person we encounter.

Living in communion also means embracing difficult qualities like humility. I feel the necessity of this, perhaps especially, as a parent. It would be so easy to program our children to simply follow a particular code, to say 'Believe this' or 'do that', and expect them to follow your instructions because you are an authority figure in their lives. But as parents, we also have the opportunity to model a life of communion with God, and through that example, we can invite our children to imitate us in that life. This cannot be done without coming to grips with ourselves, our sins, with the need for constant repentance and a reluctance to cast judgments on others -- in other words, humility!

Thankfully, the church traditionally provides guidance in our attempts to live a life of communion in God's presence. This involves very practical and wise advice for such things as prayer, worship, liturgical themes, reading, service, taming the passions, and fellowship. Bishop Curry's emphasis on the 'Way of Love' is our own church's attempt to provide such practical aids.

This is, I think, where the saints call us to spend our energies: to live our lives with the goal of constant communion with God, using the time-tested tools for our much-needed inner work, with the guidance of the church and in the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. Only then will we ever be able to start avoiding the hypocrisy of the Pharisees (Lord have mercy!) and even hope to someday say with St. Paul, 'Be imitators of me, as I imitate Christ'.

Yours in Christ,
Justin