"New Vision" - Musings and Miscellanies by John Oakes

Healing and Reconciliation

2011-06-20T11:48:00.001-07:00

“Healing, Reconciliation and the Stanley Cup Riots”

“Vibe” Talk on 2 Corinthians 5:14-6:10

By John Oakes

After the sad events of last Wednesday evening, few should need convincing of the urgent need for reconciliation in our world.

The terrifying, heart-rending sight of literally thousands of young people rioting, fighting, looting and destroying property on downtown streets served a powerful reminder that all is not right in Lotus Land. And while some may prefer to place most of the blame on the shifting shoulders of a few, anarchist troublemakers, no amount of scapegoating can relieve us of the communal responsibility for allowing things to come to such a pass. Most of those who participated in the mayhem after the hockey game were, after all, everyday young people, whatever the precipitating factors.

If a society, any society, can rightly be judged by the worst, as well as the best behaviour of its citizens, then it cannot be just a few hooligans who stand in the dock. We cannot distance ourselves from the perpetrators by demonizing them, because every single one of us, including the church, bears some responsibility – not least for our failures to share the gospel or to pray for our city and its leaders as much as we ought.

So while some of our dreams, or perhaps illusions about Vancouver may have been left in the rubble last week, there remained pressing questions not only about the kind of community that people wish to rebuild, but about our part in it. And as we think about those, the theme of tonight’s talk, which was picked months ago, surely stands front and centre.

We can and often should seek healing and reconciliation in so many different ways – social, as well as psychological, relational, as well as physical. But underlying them all, tonight’s reading reminds us of the fundamental human need for reconciliation with God through Christ, and that, the Bible tells us, offers the greatest healing of all.

Big Questions

We don't always pay much attention to the really big questions. What are we here for perhaps, or how can we find our ultimate purpose in life? Yet all of us have times when such issues become front and centre, and a community crisis like that of this past week can be one of them.

Our reading certainly addresses the big picture of healing and reconciliation and it highlights two key points. The first is the persistent priority for personal and corporate reconciliation with God throughout our lives. The second really flows from that, and that is our primary purpose to be healers and reconcilers to others.

For the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5 and 6, the whole of the gospel is ultimately about reconciliation and renewal. When we come to faith in Christ, we benefit from the cosmic work of healing and restoration that God has wrought through him. "All this is from God," he states in verses 18 and 19, "who reconciled us to himself through Christ." "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them."

And the basis of our reconciliation is Christ's sacrifice on the cross, when he paid the price to set us free from the consequences of our mistakes. "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us" [in other words, to take our place and bear our punishment], Paul says in verse 21, "so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

A Persistent Priority

As a result, we are not only set free from the past and "justified," or counted guiltless, before God. We find and receive the ultimate healing, the greatest healing of all, as we are released and restored from the negative effects of sin in our lives. We become "new creations" in Christ, and we are called to work and live out our spiritual rebirth by making it a “persistent priority” to seek personal and corporate reconciliation with God.

Those who are yet to come to Christ must obviously be reconciled with God. And before that can happen, they must first receive the good news of the gospel that God sent his only Son to save them. Yet the process of reconciliation does not stop at conversion. The Christian journey involves a continual process of making and finding peace with God and others, as we receive God’s grace and healing into different areas of our lives.

That's why Paul also tells the Corinthians, who are believers, to "be reconciled to God." Not because they do not enjoy the benefits of salvation, but because the apostle wants his readers to experience God's blessings more deeply. And he continues that theme in Chapter 6, verses 1-2. "We urge you also not to receive God’s grace in vain….I tell you, now is the time of God’s favour, now is the day of salvation!"

This marvelous message of reconciliation thus has a double focus. It is obviously important for those who don't yet know Christ. But it equally applies within the church, as we help each other to enter more fully into the inheritance that Jesus has won for us on the cross.

As Paul makes very clear in verses 3 to 10 of 2 Corinthians 6, the Christian life is not an easy one and we can all expect to suffer for our faith. But God calls us to growth and sanctification, whatever our circumstances.

And one of the main ways that we can meet that priority is to offer up and let go of those things that separate us from God on a regular and consistent basis. For it is as we recognize our shortcomings that we allow God to make them good and it is as seek God's mercy that we acknowledge God's grace.

A Primary Purpose

It is also as we ask for reconciliation that God empowers us to be "Christ's ambassadors" and to share the gospel of reconciliation with others. And this is a “primary purpose” in ministry, as the apostle Paul states very clearly in 2 Corinthians 5:20. "We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us,” he writes. Then he continues: “We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God."

So the church has been entrusted with a glorious and life-changing ministry. We have become nothing less than "ambassadors" or representatives of Christ. We have been commissioned to share the gospel. We have even been given the privilege of being God's spokespeople, as it were, to call others to come and receive the wonderful work of grace from which we have already benefited.

That's a “primary purpose” in ministry, as Paul states it: to be God's reconcilers and to spread the good news of God in Christ. But even as we do that, we must continue to pay attention to our own issues. We sin and we require God's forgiveness. We have wounds that require healing and we carry burdens to let go. And the only way that we can find lasting relief and renewal is to allow God to meet us at our deepest points of need.

So the message of our reading is ultimately one of paradox. The church becomes strong when we allow God to be our strength in weakness. The church becomes rich when we realize our poverty without God. We are reconciled to God when we recognize our distance from God and ask Christ to bridge the gap as only he can. And the exciting news is that this ministry of reconciliation then becomes a persistent priority and a primary purpose throughout our Christian lives.

“From Exclusion to Embrace”

In his sermon, “From Exclusion to Embrace,” Skye Jothani spoke of an Anglican leader who has become world-famous for his work for social healing and reconciliation in South Africa. Archbishop Desmond Tutu won the Nobel Peace Prize for his struggle against the evils of apartheid and in his book No Future without Forgiveness, “he shares stories and insights from his leadership role in his nation’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.”

The objective of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in post-apartheid South Africa was for those who had committed atrocities to tell the truth — both blacks and whites. But it did not end there. After confession, the goal was to bring reconciliation and forgiveness — “to break the cycle of hate so the entire country could move forward.”

In one chapter Tutu recounts testimony after testimony of people who came before the commission to talk about the torture and murder of others. Two of them were a Mrs. Calata and her daughter. Calata's husband had been been “arrested, detained, and tortured by the police numerous times.” But one day he disappeared. On the front page of the newspaper, Calata saw a photograph of her husband's car on fire. She cried so loudly during the hearing that the commission had to be adjourned.

Then when it reconvened, Calata's daughter testified. Years had gone by, and she pleaded with the commission to discover who had killed her father. But she was not crying out because she wanted vengeance or justice. Instead she said: "We want to forgive, but we don't know whom to forgive."

Eventually members of the police confessed to the crime. But rather than continue the endless cycle of hatred, Calata and her daughter forgave the men who tortured and killed their husband and father. And why and how could they do this? Basically, observed Jothani, because that's what Christ's people do.

He then posed two challenging questions. Does forgiveness mean that we do not care about justice? Does it mean there is no consequence for evil? Jothani’s answer to them was a decisive “no.” What it means instead, he concluded, is that we leave justice and vengeance in God's hands. He alone can judge rightly. Our job, as agents of his kingdom on earth, is to break the cycles of hate — to move from a people of exclusion to a people of embrace, forgiving others just as God, in Christ, has forgiven us.

Let me repeat that. “Our job, as agents of [God’s] kingdom on earth, is to break the cycles of hate — to move from a people of exclusion to a people of embrace, forgiving others just as God, in Christ, has forgiven us.” You couldn’t find a much better, much more biblical definition of what the ministry of reconciliation with which we have all been entrusted, can actually entail in practical terms.

The Church’s Calling

But the church’s calling extends even further, of course, because we have a message of reconciliation to share that supersedes all others. So we are called not just to seek social healing and reconciliation by working for forgiveness and understanding. We are tasked not only to strive for peace and justice. We have the unique privilege to help others find ultimate reconciliation with God through faith in Christ.

“All this is from God,” Paul writes in verses 18-20 of 2 Corinthians 5, “who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.”

“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” What a purpose! What a priority! And as we consider the tragic events of last Wednesday in Vancouver, it surely remains the greatest ministry and the greatest gift that we can offer.

Dean Peter Elliott of Christ Church Cathedral comes from a rather different place on the theological spectrum from me and I wouldn’t always quote him. But he published a thought-provoking piece about the Vancouver riots on the Cathedral’s website this past week and I was especially struck by his conclusion.

“The events of Wednesday night in downtown Vancouver have strengthened my commitment to the work of the church:” Peter wrote, “…being part of a community that seeks to practice forgiveness and learn the ways of compassion are not just optional religious extras in society: this work is vitally important. In a dramatic moment within Luke’s gospel, Jesus beholds the city of Jerusalem: ‘As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace!’” (Luke 19: 41).

“May our commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ teach us the ways of peace,” the Dean concluded. To which I would say “Amen.” And may we take every opportunity to share that gospel and the healing and reconciliation which only it can bring with all-comers, including and perhaps especially those, like the rioters, who most need to hear it.

The above sermon on 2 Corinthians 5:14-6:10 was delivered on June 19, Trinity Sunday, 2011 at Holy Trinity, Vancouver’s “Healing Vibe” service.. ©John Oakes, 2009. All rights reserved.

The Life of the Gospel

2009-10-12T10:29:00.000-07:00

Sermon on Galatians 5:16-26, October 11, 2009, Thanksgiving Sunday, on the 110th Anniversary of Holy Trinity, Vancouver.

In 1899, our first Rector, Rev. John Antle and a group of residents of the growing Vancouver suburb of Fairview planted a new church. Holy Trinity was initially a mission of St. Paul's in the West End and met in a couple of local schools before constructing its own church on Pine Street between 7" and 8" Avenues. That first building held about 150 people besides the choir. But such was the parish's early growth that within 12 years, it was necessary to move into new premises at the corner of 10th and Pine.

Holy Trinity began its 81-year tenure in that location in 1912, just a year after another group of Fairview residents laid the cornerstone of a much grander building here on the corner of 12th and Hemlock. Few would then have guessed that Holy Trinity would one day take over the spacious premises of Chalmers Presbyterian Church. But God moves in mysterious ways and that is precisely what happened in 1994.

So this is a big year in the history of our parish. Not only are we celebrating the 110th anniversary of Holy Trinity's founding, but the 15th of our occupation of this building. And what better time to do all this than at Thanksgiving when we take time to give thanks for all God's blessings to us!

But what I also want to suggest to you this morning is that the most fruitful and biblical way that we can give thanks is to live the kind of life that God expects and which the apostle Paul lays out for us in this week's reading from the second half of Galatians 5. It is to live, in fact, the true and Spirit-filled life of the gospel.

Two Lifestyles

As we have consistently seen throughout this sermon series, Paul spends a long time in Galatians arguing for the basic truth of the gospel that we are saved by God's grace through faith in Christ, not by any other means. So Christ sets us free. And this freedom involves being free not only from trying to earn our salvation by doing good works, but from the root problem in everyone's life, which is sin and all its consequences. It also means being free to love God and serve others in a totally new way.

It is almost as if we are released from gaol and can take our lives in our hands for the very first time. Charles Wesley captured this idea very powerfully in his marvellous hymn, "And Can It Be?" "Long my imprisoned spirit lay fast bound in sin and nature's night; Thine eye diffused a quickening ray, I woke, the dungeon flamed with light. My chains fell off, my heart was free; I rose, went forth, and followed thee."

So we need no longer be slaves to all the negative patterns of behaviour that rule our lives without Christ. We can be free, because Christ sets us free, although we still face a choice. As Joshua said to the Israelites just before his death, day by day, we must choose whom to serve (Josh. 24:15). And Paul paints the consequences of the lifestyles that result from our decisions in very vivid terms.

In verses 19-25, the apostle gives the Galatians two lists of different kinds of behaviour and character traits which reflect a life devoted to our own selfish desires and ambitions or one led by God in the fruit of the Spirit. The contrast could not be more dramatic.

"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious," Paul writes in verse 19 following, "sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God." That is quite a list, if you think about it, and it is a challenging one. For it clearly shows that the kind of freedom that Paul is talking about does not entitle us to do whatever we want.

No, Christian freedom requires a much more demanding lifestyle. It is defined by what the apostle describes as the "fruit of the Spirit" in verse 22 following: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." These are the qualities that will be reflected in our lives if we choose to serve God, and "against such things," Paul says, "there is no law."

So there we have them, two lifestyles, and only one is committed to serving God and being led by the Holy Spirit. True freedom lies, Paul says, in going God's way. But the choice is up to us and taking God's lead is not always easy, especially when so much within and around us encourages us to do otherwise.

I was personally brought up in a fairly traditional home, where I was taught quite strong moral values from a relatively young age. But as a child of the 60s and 70s, I also learned other, less wholesome lessons. In my youth and young adulthood, I spent a lot of time in places where I was encouraged to see freedom as the license to do pretty much what I wanted. So when I came to faith in my late 20s, I faced some major challenges. I had to rethink a number of significant issues as I tried to re-direct my lifestyle in accordance with biblical standards. Many of us do.

And the media do not always help. As Tony Campolo suggests in an article for Christianity Today magazine, commercialism can be a powerful force. "In our TV ads," he writes, "it is as though the ecstasy of the spirit...can be reduced to the gratification coming from a particular car, and the kind of love that Christ compared to his love for his church can be expressed by buying the right kind of wristwatch 'for that special person in your life.' ...

Hitherto," Campolo continues, "spiritual gratification could come only via spiritual means" and "people were urged to choose between the things of this world and the blessings of God. Now, that duality has been overcome. Ours is an age," he concludes, "in which spiritual blessings are being promised to those who buy material things. The spiritual is being absorbed by the physical. The fruit of the spirit, suggests the media, can be had without God..."

"The fruit of the spirit...can be had without God." But if so, that makes a nonsense of Paul's teaching in Galatians 5. It is not as if God releases Christians from all temptations or transforms us into perfect people overnight, of course. The Bible is very clear that while we may have been saved from sin and blessed beyond measure, our lives will still be a struggle.

No, we are called to take up our cross and serve Jesus daily, despite all the pressures that we face. And we struggle internally, as the apostle makes clear in verse 17, because "the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that [we] do not do what [we] want."

So what we choose is very important. As Terry Fullam has observed, "the fruit of the Spirit grows only in the garden of obedience," and obedience involves making right choices and following God's lead whenever possible.

The Power of the Holy Spirit

But there is another point that I want to stress this morning, which is that we do not have to do all this on our own. We can obviously find great support within the Christian community. But above and beyond all that, God helps us to choose the good by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We all struggle with internal battles between good and evil and the only way to victory is found in verse 25: "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." And what does that mean? It involves trusting in Christ, listening to God's Word, and drawing on the strength and power of the Spirit to help us.

I am reminded of the story of Apollo 13, the American spacecraft that so narrowly avoided total disaster in the early 1970s. On Day 6 of their mission, the astronauts needed to make a critical course correction, and if they failed, they might never return to earth. To conserve power, the onboard computer that steered the craft had been shut down. Yet the astronauts had to conduct a 39-second burn of the main engines. The question was how to steer?

Then Jim Lovell determined that if they could keep a fixed point in view through their tiny window, they could steer the craft manually. That focal point turned out to be their destination - earth. As shown in the hit movie, “Apollo 13,” for 39 agonizing seconds, Lovell focused on keeping the earth in view. And by not losing sight of that reference point, the three astronauts avoided disaster.

When we face challenges in our mission as Christians, our most reliable reference point, of course, is Jesus. And we can find strength to follow him from our divine helper, the Holy Spirit. The Christian life can be a right, royal battle. We are challenged to meet standards of behaviour that others happily reject. We are called to make difficult choices week in, week out. We must struggle with our natural inclinations. But God the Holy Spirit is there to help us and lead the way.

So our best move, whatever our situation, is to turn to God. Whatever the challenge, if we will be filled by the Spirit and if we will keep in step with the Spirit, God has promised to keep us on the right track.

In Step with the Spirit

As we look back on our parish history, that is also one of our most important reasons to give thanks. When John Antle began meeting with his first congregation exactly 110 years ago this month and when they built their first building and grew to an Easter Sunday attendance of 385 within six short years, they did so by the grace of God, as they kept in step with the Holy Spirit.

When our second Rector Havelock Beacham and his congregation had faith to commit to moving to new and improved facilities on CPR land on 10th and Pine, they did so by the grace of God as they kept in step with the Holy Spirit. When Holy Trinity members helped the poor and reached out with the good news of the gospel to their local community and beyond, when they gave their lives and offered their service in two world wars, they did so by the grace of God as they kept in step with the Holy Spirit.

When our fifth Rector, Frederick Clark, reported in his final sermon in October 1945 that "the number of communicants on Easter Day 1945 was the largest in the history of the parish" and "we are one of two churches in the whole of the Diocese where the Holy Communion is celebrated every Sunday," he was able to do so by the grace of God as they kept in step with the Holy Spirit. When Holy Trinity selected its first woman Rector, Elspeth Alley, in 1979 and a year later elected the late Yvonne Williams to be its first female People's Warden, they did so by the grace of God as they kept in step with the Holy Spirit.

When the congregation opened its doors and then membership to the Dayspring Brethren fellowship in the late 1980s and when Michael Green and our 11th Rector, John Martin, launched a new contemporary service in 1987, they did so by the grace of God as they kept in step with the Holy Spirit. When the parish grew out of its old building on 10th and Pine and when Holy Trinity made possible the redevelopment of and relocation to this spacious sanctuary in 1994, they did so by the grace of God as they kept in step with the Holy Spirit.

When our 13th Rector, Roger Simpson and his family moved here from Edinburgh in 1995 and when they and the whole congregation saw such significant growth over the next four years, they did so by the grace of God as they kept in step with the Holy Spirit. When the people of Holy Trinity held fast to their convictions and weathered the inevitable losses following the fateful decisions of our 2002 Diocesan Synod, we did so by the grace of God as we kept in step with the Holy Spirit.

When we worked through our differences and agreed a common way forward, when we decided to maintain our orthodox witness within our diocese and to continue the much bigger, more important task of maintaining our parish's 110-year tradition of Christian service and outreach, we did so by the grace of God as we kept in step with the Holy Spirit. And now as we celebrate all these blessings and look forward with hope and expectancy to a bright and positive future, we do so by the grace of God as we strive to keep in step with the Holy Spirit.

If the past has taught us anything, it is surely that there is no other way. And what a wonderful way, what an exciting journey, what a marvellous pilgrimage it is, this Spirit-filled, Spirit-fuelled life of the gospel which the apostle Paul describes in our reading! This is the life which marks every page of our parish history. This is the life for which we give special thanks on this special Thanksgiving Sunday. And this is the life, as we exercise the gifts and bring forth the fruit of the Spirit in our everyday vocations and ministries that is the best possible way of showing our gratitude to the One who has made everything possible.

The above sermon on Galatians 5:16-26 was delivered on October 11, Thanksgiving Sunday, 2009, when Holy Trinity, Vancouver, celebrated its 110th anniversary as a parish. ©John Oakes, 2009. All rights reserved.

Part of the Family

2009-01-12T11:37:00.000-08:00

Sermon on Mark 1:4-11, January 11, 2009, Holy Trinity, Vancouver

Seeking Assurance

With Barak Obama's inauguration scheduled in just nine days, most of us may have been relieved to escape to wall-to-wall election coverage on the US networks in recent weeks. But one or two late results have still been coming in, including an interesting one from Minnesota, where a Mr. Al Franken has just been confirmed as the duly elected Junior Senator.

So why am I beginning today's sermon with this relatively obscure reference to American politics, you may ask? Well some of you may remember Franken in his previous career as a writer and comedian. And I will probably never forget him for his hilarious caricature on Saturday Night Live! a few years back of self-help teacher, Stuart Smalley. Stuart is not on any more, but when he was, he was very popular and his character had quite a lot to say about our modern New Age culture.

By normal worldly standards, he would be considered pretty much a loser and he was part of numerous 12-step programmes for his various problems and addictions. Yet in his weekly cable show, he would not only bare his weaknesses for all to see. He would boldly sit in front of a mirror and try to talk himself into success. And the image of Smalley telling himself that he's going to succeed because "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough and doggone it, people like me," has stayed with me.

It has done so, I suspect, partly because Franken captured some powerful truths in his comedy. We live in a very uncertain world. We all suffer from insecurities and many of our efforts to boost ourselves to cope with our challenges can be just as ridiculous and ineffective as poor Stuart preening himself in front of that mirror.

So what's the answer? How can we truly find assurance and confidence? Well, there are no easy solutions, of course. But our Gospel reading from Mark 1 does offer some invaluable guidance, as we consider the story of Jesus' baptism right at the beginning of his public ministry. For it clearly shows how he and so we can draw strength from the amazing truth that we are all "part of the family" of God.

Signs of Anticipation (vv. 4-9)

It is sometimes asked why Jesus needed to be baptized at all. After all, here is the divine Son of God, fully human, but without sin. So why should he have to undergo a rite that normally symbolizes repentance and rebirth from sin? Why should he be required to demonstrate commitment, as adults normally do when they are baptized?

We know from Matthew 3 that these are good and appropriate questions, because John the Baptist asks much the same thing. But we also learn that Jesus has an answer to them. He is being baptized, he tells John "to fulfil all righteousness" (Mt. 3:15). In other words, Jesus chooses John's baptism as a sign of obedience to God and as a means of endorsing the Baptist's ministry of calling the people of Israel, with whom Jesus personally identifies, to repent and prepare for the coming of Christ.

We have been thinking quite a lot about John the Baptist's ministry in recent weeks, because he features prominently in our Advent readings. So I am not going to say much about him today.

Perhaps his most important role is as Jesus' forerunner. Like an ambassador arriving ahead of her president, or perhaps a surveyor preparing for a major building project, John is a kind of advance party. In many ways, he is a strange figure - dressed in camel's hair and leather, eating honey and wild locusts, and living apart in the desert regions.

But he has a vital function and a powerful message. In fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies, he comes as a messenger to prepare Christ's way. And the main ways that he does that are to "preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins," as we read in Mark 1 verse 4, and to call people to baptism as a public sign of turning from evil to God.

John's baptism was not the same as Christian baptism, of course. It was not intended to mark people's entry into the church or into new life in Christ. Nor was it done, as far as we know, in the name of the Holy Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Instead, it seems to have been an adaptation of the Jewish practice of "proselyte baptism," by which they received converts to their faith. And it apparently involved full immersion in the River Jordan.

We also know from verse 5 that John attracted a great deal of attention with his activities. "The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him," Mark tells us. "Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River."

Yet our Gospel narrative underlines that even as he ministers to all these folks, John is still looking forward. "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie," John says in verses 7 and 8. "I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

And it is into precisely that setting that Jesus, who comes to fulfil John's prophecy, arrives in verse 9. For in obedience to God's call, Jesus submits himself to be baptized by John in the Jordan. And in the process, as we learn in verses 10 and 11, he receives all that he could ever need to cope with what lies ahead.

Showing Affirmation (vv. 10-11)

I am not sure about you, but when I am asked to do something really difficult, I tend to worry about at least two things. First, where will I find the resources that I need to do the job? And second, what happens if I fail? How will my boss or my family or whoever else might be important to me, react if I do not meet their expectations.

Some of you may enjoy perfect self-confidence here today. But I would suspect that if we are honest, we would all have to admit that we tend to get uptight about many of the same things.

You are asked to prepare a major presentation at work or at school perhaps, and you have no idea where you are going to find the time or the expertise or the materials to pull it off. But you are also concerned about the possible outcome if you fall down on the job. Will you lose your position or the respect of your peers? Will you get a low grade, or perhaps worst of all, will others laugh at you or look down on you?

We have all been there. But try to imagine how Jesus must feel at the beginning of his ministry. He may be God in the flesh. He may be perfect in virtue and infinite in power. But for the sake of a sinful and suffering humanity, he has chosen, as the apostle Paul says in Philippians 2:7, to make himself "nothing" and to take "the very nature of a servant."

To this point, he has lived a relatively quiet life in his home-town of Nazareth, probably training and working as a carpenter with Joseph. But now he is about to embark on the three-year period in his earthly life that will be most crucial of all. He is on the verge of "going public," as it were, with his teaching and his ministry.

What is more, he must know that this will involve suffering and persecution and opposition on an almost unimaginable scale. Right from the start, he is destined for the cross, because it is only there that he can pay the price and make the necessary sacrifice to save us and make us right with God.

So if anyone is about to face a major challenge, it is surely Jesus in Mark 1. If anyone needs supernatural strength and resources, it is he. If anyone could benefit from the reassurance that he has nothing to fear and that the most important people in his life are fully supportive, he could. And that is precisely what Jesus receives, if you look at verses 10 and 11 of our passage.

First, the heavens are torn open and Jesus sees the "Spirit," who is obviously the Holy Spirit, "descending on him like a dove." Since Jesus already enjoys the divine status that he does, this surely cannot mean that he receives the Holy Spirit for the first time here. Instead, the Spirit seems to be commissioning and perhaps even empowering him in a special way for the task in hand.

But that is not all, for verse 11 also tells us that a second event of major significance takes place, when a voice comes from heaven. And what does it say? According to Mark's account, the words are as simple as they are powerful: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."

"You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." Only God the Father can give this message and what a message it is! In just 10 words of Greek, the Father affirms his unique relationship with Jesus. He tells him that he loves him and that he is fully supportive and approving of him.

Again, this statement cannot have been big news for Jesus. As God the Son, he surely already knew the Father's love and approval of him. But he could receive no more timely reminder of where he stands than he does at his baptism, when both the two other persons of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit and God the Father, plainly show their love and support in such powerful ways.

Source of Acceptance

We need only turn to verses 12 and 13 to see how soon Jesus is challenged after his baptism, as he is led into the desert to be tempted by Satan for 40 days. But we'll have ample time to consider those events in Lent and I am not going to focus on them now.

Instead, I should like to leave you with some thoughts about the issue that we began with this morning, which was basically that of our insecurities and how we deal with them. In some ways, of course, because of his uniqueness and perfection, it is always difficult to compare ourselves with Jesus.

But when we look at what happens to Christ during his baptism, there is a lot for us to learn. For the fact is that while we may not enjoy Jesus' power or perfection, we too can know the anointing of the Holy Spirit and the assurance of God the Father to equip us for whatever life may throw at us. And that can be very important at this or any other time.

Just 10 days ago we were celebrating the New Year and I would guess that as we did so, we found ourselves in many different circumstances. Some of us were no doubt able to look ahead with a real sense of optimism and hope. We could be thankful that things had been going pretty well for us and 2009 seemed to offer exciting new possibilities and fresh opportunities.

But others probably had much more mixed or negative feelings. Perhaps we had been sick or depressed or just plain lonely. We may have experienced significant loss or discouragement and the future may still seem bleak or uncertain. We may even have been wondering which way to turn as we look to a year that only appears to hold out more of the same or further disappointments.

No-one needs me to remind them that we all face different challenges, whatever our personal circumstances. And it is as we consider those in particular, I think, that our reading from Mark 1 can speak so powerfully to us of God’s love and presence with us always.

The great good news of the Christian gospel is that when we come to faith in Christ and receive God's forgiveness for our sins, God does not leave us to struggle through life on our own. Instead, God comes to us by the power of the Holy Spirit to support and empower us for service. So the Spirit becomes our guide and counsellor to live inside us, to strengthen us and to show us the way.

More than this, all Christians are members by adoption and grace of the family of God. The New Testament teaches that we become God's children - even sisters and brothers of Christ, who enjoy the full rights and privileges of our new divine heritage. We are "part of the family," to quote my sermon title.

So while we may never see the Spirit descend or hear the Father's voice directly, as Jesus did, what happened at his baptism can still be a living reality for us. We too can know the Holy Spirit's presence and power. We too can receive God's wonderful message of complete acceptance that "You are my son/you are my daughter, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."

The well-known Christian author and artist Joni Eareckson Tada was paralyzed in a diving accident as a teenager and has been confined to a wheelchair ever since. But she knows a lot about God's love and acceptance for God's children, as she makes clear in the following description of her wedding day. And I quote:

I felt awkward as my girlfriends strained to shift my paralyzed body into a cumbersome wedding gown. No amount of corseting and binding my body gave me a perfect shape. The dress just didn't fit well. Then, as I was wheeling into the church, I glanced down and noticed that I'd accidentally run over the hem of my dress, leaving a greasy tire mark. My paralyzed hands couldn't hold the bouquet of daisies that lay off-center on my lap. And my chair, though decorated for the wedding, was still a big, clunky gray machine with belts, gears, and ball bearings. I certainly didn't feel like the picture-perfect bride in a bridal magazine.

I inched my chair closer to the last pew to catch a glimpse of Ken in front. There he was, standing tall and stately in his formal attire. I saw him looking for me, craning his neck to look up the aisle. My face flushed, and I suddenly couldn't wait to be with him. I had seen my beloved. The love in Ken's face had washed away all my feelings of unworthiness. I was his pure and perfect bride.

"How easy it is for us to think that we're utterly unlovely," Eareckson Tada concludes, "especially to someone as lovely as Christ." And then she affirms exactly the same message as God the Father in our Gospel. "But he loves us with the bright eyes of a Bridegroom's love and cannot wait for the day we are united with him forever." "He loves us with the bright eyes of a Bridegroom's love and cannot wait for the day we are united with him forever."[1]

"You are my son/ you are my daughter, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." I want to suggest that that is what God has to say to us all today, wherever we are on life’s journey. And when we truly hear those words, when we experience God’s presence and afiirmation in that way, as Jesus did, we have no need for the cheaper remedies of self-help or any other philosophy.

We do not have to bolster ourselves up like poor Stuart Smalley. There is no call to put up the barricades as we struggle to hold back the flood of our own doubts and insecurities. Instead, we can look to the future with confidence, as we welcome God's love and grace. And we can truly find living and lasting assurance, as God equips us to meet every challenge that comes our way.

[1]Joni Eareckson Tada in John N. Akers, John H. Armstrong, and John D. Woodbridge (gen. eds.), This We Believe: The Good News of Jesus Christ for the World, (Zondervan, 2000) p. 222.

The Meaning of Epiphany

2009-01-05T11:37:00.000-08:00

Sermon on Matthew 2:1-12, January 4, 2009, Holy Trinity, Vancouver.

Making Room for Everyone

If we were asked to make a list of moral values that are highly prized in modern-day Canada, we would probably place inclusivity pretty near the top. Most would accept the idea that everyone should have a place and no-one should be prejudicially excluded in our multicultural society.

The church has embraced it too. Especially in recent years, it has often gone out of its way to teach and show greater inclusiveness towards people of colour, for example, towards women in leadership, and perhaps most controversially, towards those of different sexual orientations. And while we may still have disagreements over some of the issues involved in such changes, we would surely all support the notion that the church should be a thoroughly inclusive body that welcomes everyone. We should not discriminate against anyone simply because of who they are.

But there is a big difference between being inclusive, of course, and welcoming all-comers, and showing indiscriminate compromise by effectively approving immoral conduct. I may welcome, I may even invite, everyone to church and I will hopefully accept them for who they are. But that does not mean that I must or should condone everything that they do.

There are some important distinctions here and they are often forgotten. What is more, the season of Epiphany, which arguably conveys one of the most inclusive messages in the church calendar, has some important things to say about them. For when we truly explore the meaning of Epiphany, what we find is a thoroughly inclusive gospel that calls us all to exclusive devotion to Jesus Christ, as we give him every good gift that we have to share.

The Meaning of Epiphany

The word "epiphany" originally comes from a Greek term that meant appearance or manifestation. And the appearance in view is clearly what the Book of Common Prayer still calls "The Epiphany of our Lord or the Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles."

"The Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles." And which Gentiles do we especially recall in the events that we celebrate this Sunday? The obvious answer is the three "magi" or "wise men," who are remembered as the first Gentiles to see Jesus and greet him in Bethlehem.

The story of the visit of the three magi in our gospel from Matthew 2 has attracted quite a lot of debate over the years. Scholars have argued about their identity and about the timing of their journey. Some have even doubted whether three such people ever visited Jesus at all.

Such concerns are nothing new, of course. In the eighteenth century, the U.S. Congress issued a special edition of Thomas Jefferson's Bible. Jefferson cut out all references to the supernatural so that his version simply contained the moral teachings of Jesus. And what were its closing words? "There laid they Jesus and rolled a great stone at the mouth of the sepulchre and departed."

As Paul Tan has noted, the trouble with such a Jeffersonian approach to Bible study is that we end up with a dead philosopher rather than a risen Lord.[1] It is surely much safer to assume that what is stated in the Bible actually happened, unless there are strong reasons in the text to believe otherwise. And in the case of the Epiphany story, I find no cause to question the basic facts, even though Matthew is the only Gospel to report it.

The magi appear to have been what we would now call magicians or perhaps astrologers and they may have been followers of the Zoroastrian religion. Except for the fact that they came from the East, we cannot trace their place of origin. But their gifts of gold and incense and myrrh could have been Arabian and they may have travelled from Babylonia or Persia in the area of modern-day Iraq or Iran.

As far as the timing of the magi's visit is concerned, there have been numerous efforts to try to date it precisely by pinpointing the star that they are said to have followed in verses 2 and 9. But the star may well have been a miraculous occurrence in any case.

Matthew 2 seems to indicate that the magi arrived some time after Jesus' birth, perhaps as much as 18 months, by which point he and his family were clearly living in a house, according to verse 11, not a stable. It is difficult to understand otherwise why King Herod should later have ordered the killing of all boys under two in the Bethlehem area. But we cannot know this for sure. All we can say with confidence is that the magi visited Jesus before he was two years old.

What we probably most remember the magi for, of course, is their selfless giving to the baby Jesus whom they recognized for who he really was, and I will expand on that in a moment. Yet the meaning of Epiphany also reminds us that this was the earliest sign in our Lord's life on earth that he came for every kind of people. He was born for both Jew and Gentile, for rich and poor, for those of whatever race, colour, creed, gender, or background.

So when the magi were welcomed into the presence of the baby Jesus, this was truly "a manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles." It was a living lesson of God's grace and mercy to us all. It was the embodiment of the great good news which Paul announced to his readers as "the mystery of Christ" in verse 6 of Ephesians 3: "that through the gospel the Gentiles are [now] heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Jesus Christ."

Models of Exclusivity

But the magi did not discover this mystery easily, of course. Nor did they do nothing, once they had.

Two of the great lies of false spirituality down through the ages are that growth will come without sacrifice and that when we are doing the right thing or on the right track, we will not face opposition. And the story of the magi gives the lie to both of them.

Wherever they ultimately came from, the magi travelled miles, probably risking many dangers, to come and worship Christ and bring him gifts. According to verses 2 through 6 of our Gospel, they were led by an eastern star to Bethlehem. And verses 9 through 11 tell us that their faith was amply rewarded. "When they saw the star, they were overjoyed," verse 10 following tells us. So "on coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary...they bowed down and worshipped him. They opened their treasures and presented him with gifts."

But they did not reach that point without showing single-minded persistence and no doubt facing significant hardships along the way. Nor could they avoid the scheming machinations of murderous King Herod after he heard of a potential new king to threaten his own position in verse 2 and summoned Jewish leaders to enlighten him about Hebrew prophecy. In fact, it was only through a dream, verse 12 tells us, that God apparently intervened to prevent the magi from becoming Herod's informers and thus betrayers of Jesus' exact location.

So through their pilgrimage to Jesus' birthplace, the magi provide us with a vivid example of what we already know to be true in our own experience - that nothing of real value tends to come easily in our spiritual lives, even if it is ultimately a gift of grace. Whether on our individual journeys of faith or in our communal life as a church, growth will meet obstacles and it will require perseverance, whatever we face. But we can be confident that we will achieve it and that it will be infinitely worthwhile, as long as we focus on its true source in our relationship with Jesus Christ, as we long as remain committed and devoted to him.

And what does true devotion mean? Again, the magi provide a powerful object lesson for us, because they not only travelled far and overcame much to meet him, they recognized Jesus for who he really was and they worshipped him. And they not only bowed down before him. They brought him the best that they had.

In other words, the magi quite literally walked their talk - for miles and miles to Bethlehem. And they put their money where their mouths were in their rich and richly symbolic gifts of gold for a king, frankincense for a great high priest and myrrh for a Saviour who would die and rise again for the salvation of humankind.

Making a Good Entrance

So in the story of the magi from Matthew 2, the inclusive generosity of God's grace and mercy to all is met by the exclusive devotion of the few who hail Jesus as he truly is. Through their inclusion in God's plan of salvation, the magi show that Christ has come and that the Christian gospel is truly open to everyone. In that sense, there are no limits to God's grace and mercy.

But while God meets us and accepts us exactly where we are, God does not leave us there. Instead, God calls us to enter the same pilgrimage of faith as the magi did, to make an unconditional commitment to Jesus and to give him the absolute best that we have to offer. That also means leaving the worst behind, of course. It entails laying our sins at the foot of the cross and forsaking all the false gods and objects of worship in our lives. It requires nothing less than the exclusive devotion to Christ alone that we cannot offer if our loyalties remain divided or if we cling to the misleading, but sadly fashionable belief that God's grace is so cheap, so indiscriminately inclusive that it virtually requires nothing of us at all.

Just three days ago we began a new year. So some of us probably feel pretty optimistic right now. Having seen images of hope and celebration from around the world, we may have been inspired by a sense of communal achievement and possibility. We may even have found a fresh vision of what the human family can do together.

But we all know, of course, that such things cannot last, because we are imperfect by our very nature. For every step that we take forwards, we tend to be dragged at least half a step backwards. So while God only knows what the future really holds, we can be pretty sure that we will experience bad, as well as good in the months and years ahead, and that our world will see both triumphs and catastrophes, great advances but equally significant reversals.

Yet as we live through such exciting, but troubled times, the good news of the Christian gospel remains that there is ultimately only one place where we can find true and lasting hope and security, and that is with God in Christ. And the message of Epiphany that Christ is there for everyone is always a very appropriate and compelling one, because it tells us that God loves us beyond measure. In the person of Jesus of Nazareth, God has been uniquely revealed to the whole world. And God invites us to draw near through faith in Christ and to receive eternal life, hope, peace, joy and security, whatever may lie ahead for us.

The big question, as always, is how we will respond. As we enter 2009, will we make the kind of resolutions and decisions that will draw us nearer to or further from Christ? Will we trust God for the future or will we prefer our own purposes and priorities to God's perfect plan for our lives and for our world? To put it another way, will we follow the magi's example of heartfelt and sacrificial commitment and devotion to Christ, or will we opt for easier, less exclusive and demanding options? The choice is up to us. But the consequences of what we choose will ultimately determine whether 2009 is truly a happy new year for us and for our community, or not.

[1]Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations, (1982), p. 669.

Final Business

2007-06-30T15:12:00.000-07:00

Despite the obvious preoccupation with issues of human sexuality over the last three days of General Synod 2007, a significant amount of other business was conducted. Major decisions included the following:

1. By passing Resolution A190, Synod refused to endorse changes in the membership of the Anglican Consultative Council [ACC] proposed by that body in Resolution 4 of its June 19-28, 2005 meeting in Nottingham which would render all Primates and Moderators of the churches of the Anglican Communion additional ex officio members of the Council. In order to become effective, the ACC motion required the support of "two thirds of the Provinces of the Anglican Communion giving their approval of such a change by resolution of the appropriate constitutional body."
2. By referring Resolutions A021 and A022 to the Council of General Synod for further consideration, Synod declined to give first reading to motions authorizing changes in its "Declaration of Principles."
3. By passing Resolution A188, Synod gave approval for the Primate "to initiate discussion with the provinces and dioceses of the Anglican Church of Canada regarding" not only "the possible reform of the provincial organization of the Anglican Church of Canada," but also of its "diocesan organization."
4. By approving an amended version of Resolution A226, Synod directed "the Faith Worship and Ministry Committee to prepare principles and an agenda for [revision of our contemporary language worship texts and the creation of fresh liturgical expressions]." A key amendment moved by Prolocutor-elect Stephen Andrews effectively protected the church from any prospect of Prayer Book revision by replacing the original words "common worship texts revision" with those above in parentheses.
5. By passing Resolutions A210, A212 and A213, Synod endorsed support of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, as well as a series of solidarity measures with Middle Eastern Christians and a range of supportive responses to the UN's Millennium Development goals.
6. By passage of Resolutions A263 and A264, Synod approved recommended changes to the church's Long Term Disability Plan.
7. By giving second reading to Resolution A020 and passing Resolution A040, Synod endorsed amendments to its "Declaration of Principles" and to its Constitution enabling active clergy of any denomination in full communion with the Anglican Church of Canada, who have been licensed to minister in a particular diocese, to be elected to Synod and its various offices.
8. By approving Resolution A240, Synod asked the Council of General Synod to convene a task force "to conduct a detailed study of the role, duties, and functions of the Primate" and "to recommend changes, if any," to the relevant Canon ahead of General Synod 2010.

General Synod 2007 closed June 25 with a memorable Installation Service for its 13th Primate, Archbishop Fred Hiltz, at St. Matthew's Church, Winnipeg, at which Archbishop John Sentamu of York was the preacher.

(Editor's note: This posting completes news coverage of General Synod 2007. "New Vision" will continue to feature periodic updates and analysis on Synod's aftermath here and/or at http://www.churchinfoweb.com/newvision).

The Call for Further Study

2007-06-29T12:41:00.000-07:00

As often happens at the end of long meetings, the final wording of every resolution passed was not fully available when General Synod 2007 closed June 25 in Winnipeg. But following further research, "New Vision" has been able to uncover the final terms of Resolution C003, which committed the Anglican Church of Canada to major processes of further study of issues surrounding human sexuality ahead of General Synod 2010.

For the record, this posting thus clarifies exactly what Synod resolved in its last session of debate, including both the original Resolution C003, moved by this blogger and Rev. Ajit John of the Diocese of Toronto, and the final text approved by Synod.

The original motion read as follows:

"BE IT RESOLVED

That in light of the statement of the House of Bishops to members of General Synod, dated April 30, 2007, this General Synod 2007:
1. Ask the Primate to request the Primate's Theological Commission to report in advance of General Synod 2010 on:
the theological question whether the blessing of same-sex unions is a faithful, Spirit-led development of Christian doctrine;
Scripture's witness to the integrity of every human person and the question of the sanctity of human relationships.
2. Ask the Primate to request the Anglican Communion Task Force to report in advance of General Synod 2010 on the implications of the blessing of same-sex unions and/or marriage for our church and the Anglican Communion.
3. Support and encourage dioceses to offer the most generous pastoral provision possible within the current teaching of the church to gays and lesbians and their families."

Following amendments moved by Bishop James Cowan of British Columbia and Stephen Hopkins, the unofficial final text of the resolution approved by Synod was changed to:

"BE IT RESOLVED

That in light of the statement of the House of Bishops to members of General Synod, dated April 30, 2007, this General Synod
2007:
1. Ask the Primate to request the Primate's Theological Commission to consult with the dioceses and parishes and to report in advance of General Synod 2010 on:
The theological question whether the blessing of same-sex unions is a faithful, Spirit-led development of Christian doctrine;
Scripture's witness to the integrity of every human person and the question of the sanctity of human relationships.
2. Ask the Primate to request the Anglican Communion Task Force to report in advance of General Synod 2010 on the implications of the blessing of same-sex unions and/or marriage for our church and the Anglican Communion.
3. Support and encourage dioceses to offer the most generous pastoral provision possible within the current teaching of the church to gays and lesbians and their families.
4. Request Faith, Worship and Ministry to develop a process to engage the dioceses and parishes of the Anglican Church of Canada in a study of the Christian perspective of human sexuality through the lens of Scripture, reason, tradition and current scientific understanding."

Again for the record, in moving the original version of Resolution C003, this blogger spoke from the following text:

" Dean Peter, Members of Synod,
In moving this motion, I address you as a theological conservative from the only diocese in the Anglican Church of Canada which has yet authorized same-sex blessings in a limited number of parishes. I also speak, therefore, as someone whose personal decision to remain a full participant in the life of our diocese has entailed significant cost.

I have partly chosen to stay because the Diocese of New Westminster has made important provisions that allow me to continue to minister according to the dictates of my conscience. But I have also chosen to stay because I am deeply committed to the Diocese of New Westminster and to the Anglican Church of Canada. So I, like many others of different persuasions, want to make a difference. And the main difference that I want to make following yesterday’s debate is to urge members of Synod to give the question of same-sex blessings further study and deliberation by approving the motion that you now have before you.

There are really three main considerations that encourage me in this view and briefly stated, they are as follows:

1) First, it is surely painfully obvious to any of us who have been listening to one another carefully here at Synod and during yesterday’s votes that we remain deeply divided over the issue of same-sex blessings. And this is not the kind of division that many of our sisters and brothers are ready to lay aside once a decision has been made and return to business as usual. So the reality is, I believe, that we cannot proceed to make concrete decisions without allowing further opportunities for study and dialogue together, as this motion calls for, and striving to find greater communal clarity and consensus. A reference to the Primate’s Theological Commission of the two questions listed under point 1 of Resolution C003 could provide us with some of the resources that we might need to move forward together and the Commission has already indicated that it will be pursuing further study of human sexuality in any case.

2) Second, we have clearly not been making our decisions in a vacuum here at Synod. We have been doing so under the very close scrutiny of the Anglican Communion and its Instruments of Unity. And what they are telling us is that if we decide to act unilaterally on this issue, without further consultation and international cooperation, we may be walking apart from Communion standards. We have different views on this question too, of course, and the situation may change further down the road. But we surely need to give further consideration to the consequences of any future decisions that we might make in terms of our relationships with other Anglicans worldwide. That’s why, members of Synod, we should reconsider not only “the theological question whether the blessing of same-sex unions is a faithful, Spirit-led development of Christian doctrine,” which so divides us internally. But we also need to explore together, I believe, the wider, external reality of “the implications of the blessing of same-sex unions and/or marriage for our church and the Anglican Communion” which has recently become such a pressing concern for us all. So the Anglican Communion Task Force could help us a great deal by addressing this issue in a report ahead of Synod 2010.

3) Finally, I believe that we need to take more time to study this issue, because that is what our House of Bishops, who are charged with upholding the unity, as well as the doctrine of our church, have requested. Whatever the circumstances of its development, we are surely called to take the counsel of the bishops’ April 30 statement very seriously. And what does it ask of us? I think that it primarily calls us to do two things, both of which are reflected in the motion now before you. First, we are to take more time, through study and communal deliberation, to find a greater measure of agreement over this deeply divisive issue. Second, we are to do all in our power to reach out to our lesbian and gay brothers and sisters in Christ and to offer them and their families 'the most generous pastoral provision possible within the current teaching of the church'.”

Back to Basics

2007-06-26T04:55:00.000-07:00

After three days of hectic and sometimes emotional debate over the issue of the blessing of same-sex unions, General Synod eventually refused to approve local diocesan authorization of such blessings and committed itself, by passing the final resolution of its last day in session, June 25, to going back to basics and to major processes of ongoing study.

After further amendment, Resolution A186 was eventually passed, June 24, by a narrow majority in the Order of Bishops (21-19) and by a larger vote in favour by clergy and laity (152-97). A186 resolved that "the blessing of same-sex unions is not in conflict with the core doctrine (in the sense of being credal) of the Anglican Church of Canada." But even with the addition of a "conscience clause" amendment, Resolution A187, which would have affirmed "the authority and jurisdiction of any diocesan synod, a) with the concurrence of the diocesan bishop, and b) in a manner which respects the conscience of the incumbent and the will of the parish, to authorize the blessing of committed same sex unions," was defeated in the Order of Bishops (by a contrary vote of 21-19), although approved by narrow margins in the Orders of Laity (78-59) and Clergy (63-53).

Following these contentious debates, Resolution A189 was passed fairly quickly on the morning of June 25, requesting "the Council of General Synod to consider a revision of Canon 21 (On Marriage) including theological rationale to allow marriage of all legally qualified persons and to report back to General Synod 2010." However, although the time-line for such an initial report was just three years, resulting recommendations for change, if any, were obviously at least two General Synods away from the possibility of full implementation.

In a further major development early June 25, it was announced to Synod that another of the potentially most controversial resolutions, B001, scheduled to be moved by Steve Schuh and Bishop Michael Ingham of New Westminster, was being withdrawn. B001 would basically have asked Synod to affirm that "notwithstanding any decisions taken by this its 2007 Synod...the present practice of the Synod and Bishop of the Diocese of New Westminster in authorizing the blessings of covenanted same-sex unions in eight (8) parishes of that diocese shall continue in the Diocese of New Westminster pending further resolution by General Synod."

In a subsequent interview with Douglas Todd of the Vancouver Sun, Bishop Ingham stated that his diocese would be making a decision "in the next few weeks" about how to proceed following the withdrawal. "We'll have to look at what the General Synod said and what its implications are for us," he told Todd. But he also gave assurances that "we remain strongly committed to supporting gay and lesbian members of our church and in the wider society. Our support...is undiminished."

Two resolutions were subsequently passed affirming elements of statements from the Canadian House of Bishops of October 26, 2006 and April 30, 2007. A224 resolved "that this General Synod welcome the statement of the House of Bishops of October, 2006 urging the church to show pastoral understanding and sensitivity to all same-sex couples, including those civilly married, and committing the House to develop pastoral strategies to give effect to the acceptance of gays and lesbians to whom we are already committed by previous General Synod and CoGS resolutions, House of Bishops guidelines, and Lambeth Conference statements."

Synod later effectively closed its debate on issues of human sexuality and same-sex blessings, when it narrowly approved an amended version of original resolution (C003) moved by this blogger and Rev. Ajit John of the Diocese of Toronto. The first three clauses of the final motion resolved, with one amendment noted in parentheses, as follows:

In light of the statement of the House of Bishops to members of General Synod dated April 30, 2007, that this General Synod 2007:

1. Ask the Primate to request the Primate's Theological Commission [to consult with dioceses and parishes] and to report in advance of General Synod 2010 on:

The theological question whether the blessing of same-sex unions is a faithful, Spirit-led development of Christian doctrine;
Scripture's witness to the integrity of every human person and the question of the sanctity of human relationships.

2. Ask the Primate to request the Anglican Task Force to report in advance of General Synod 2010 on the implications of the blessing of same-sex unions and/or marriage for our church and the Anglican Communion.

3. Support and encourage dioceses to offer the most generous pastoral provision possible within the current teaching of the church to gays and lesbians and their families.

A fourth clause, added as an amendment moved by Bishop James Cowan of British Columbia, further requested "the Faith, Worship and Ministry Committee to develop a process to engage dioceses and parishes of the Anglican Church of Canada" with a view to a wider study of issues of human sexuality in light of "Scripture, reason and tradition," as well as "current scientific understanding."

The amended Resolution C003 was approved by bishops in a vote of 19 to 17 and by clergy and laity by a somewhat larger margin of 127 to 117. The divisions of June 24 over failed Resolution A187 were thus somewhat reflected in the debate over C003. But the net result was that while rejecting "local option" for dioceses to authorize same-sex blessings, General Synod also called for further time for study and consultation on all the major issues at the heart of current differences.

Thus even whilst affirming the blessing of same-sex unions not to be "in conflict with the core doctrine" of the church, in the very narrow sense of being "credal," Synod effectively left open and committed the church to further study of the more specific and arguably most central theological question, i.e., "whether the blessing of same-sex unions is a faithful, Spirit-led development of Christian doctrine." At the same time, having declined to "walk apart" from Anglican Communion standards, to use a key term in the Windsor Report, by endorsing such blessings, Synod also requested further exploration of the implications of moving forward with them and/or with same-sex marriage for the Anglican Church of Canada and its relationship with the Communion. Finally, in view of the vote against same-sex blessings, neither Resolution A224 nor C003 affirmed any further pastoral provision for gay and lesbian Anglicans beyond what is already permitted by "the current teaching of the church" (C003) or consistent with previous standards and statements (A224).

Two key questions obviously remained in light of Synod's passage of such a complex range of resolutions and decisions: 1), whether the Diocese of New Westminster would move from its existing partial moratorium on authorizing same-sex blessings in any further parishes to imposing a full moratorium throughout the diocese; 2), how the wider Anglican Communion would respond to Synod's deliberations. Both were clearly yet to be resolved at the time of writing. But well-placed commentators saw strong reason to believe that the outcome of General Synod 2007 would not be anything like as unfavourable for the Anglican Church of Canada's standing in the wider Communion as many had feared and/or prognosticated.

Still Pending

2007-06-23T20:08:00.000-07:00

General Synod closed its fourth full day, June 23, with the major questions over the blessing of same-sex unions still pending. But it looked increasingly likely that failing a negative vote in the Order of Bishops, "local option" for dioceses to authorize such blessings would be granted.

In a morning vote which followed a strong presentation by Bishop Victoria Matthews of Edmonton, Synod approved an amended version of Resolution A184 that "the blessing of same-sex unions is a matter of doctrine, but is not core doctrine in the sense of being credal." After an extended afternoon devoted to an often heartfelt, but generally respectful dialogue held in "Committee of the Whole," much of the evening session then became preoccupied with procedural questions. The net result was that proposed motion A185 that Resolutions A186 and A187 "be deemed to have been carried" only by a 60% majority of "the members of each Order present and voting" was defeated.

The key resolutions that "the blessing of same-sex unions is not in conflict with the core doctrine of The Anglican Church of Canada" (A186, as amended) and that "this General Synod affirm the authority and jurisdiction of any diocesan synod, with the concurrence of its bishop, to authorize the blessing of committed same sex unions" (A187) thus required only a straight 50% majority to pass on resumption of debate, June 24.

An earlier attempt to advance consideration of an attempted "consensus" resolution moved by this blogger and the Rev. Ajit John of the Diocese of Toronto ahead of debate on A185-7 failed to attract the necessary 66% majorities in the Orders of Bishops and Clergy and Laity that it required to pass. The subsequent debate on "local option" and related issues was often contentious and threatened to be deeply divisive in the event, as seemed quite possible at the time of writing, that the blessing of same-sex unions were approved. With an apparent majority in favour of such action among clergy and laity, much seemed to depend on whether Canadian bishops would exercise restraint in the interests of preserving a maximum degree of unity not only within the Anglican Church of Canada, but within the Anglican Communion as a whole.

A New Primate

2007-06-22T12:59:00.000-07:00

Following a close election which extended to five ballots, Bishop Fred Hiltz of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, 53, was elected to become the 13th Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, June 22. The election, which was held in Winnipeg's historic Holy Trinity Church, was closely contested between Bishops Hiltz and Victoria Matthews of Edmonton, who led the voting in the Order of Clergy through the first four ballots.

After the withdrawal of Bishops George Bruce of Ontario and Bruce Howe of Huron, who failed to attract 10% of support in either the Order of Clergy or Laity in the second ballot, Bishops Hiltz and Matthews obtained exactly the same number of votes in the third ballot (126), with the former winning a majority among laity and the latter achieving the same among clergy. Such pluralities were maintained on the fourth ballot and had they done so on the fifth, the decision would have been referred to the Order of Bishops meeting separately at the nearby Radisson Hotel. But in the end, the bishops were never called upon to make a decision, with final tallies yielding a slim majority of 60 to 56 for Bishop Hiltz in the Order of Clergy and a larger plurality of 81 to 56 in the Order of Laity.

In a gracious acceptance speech to delegates, the Primate-elect spoke of his desire to work to build and maintain the unity of the Anglican Church of Canada. He also cited Isaiah 61:1-2 and its fulfilment in Luke 4:18-21 through the ministry of Christ as a model for his primatial ministry.

Bishop Hiltz, whose installation was scheduled for June 25, was first consecrated a suffragan bishop in 1995, becoming Diocesan of Nova Scotia and PEI in 2002. He was ordained priest in 1978, serving in a variety of parishes in Nova Scotia prior to his episcopal consecration. Notable ministries in the wider church have included his position as Anglican Co-Chair of the Anglican-Lutheran International Commision since 2006.

Unlike Bishop Matthews, Bishop Hiltz was not known for his theological conservativism prior to his election. At a time of such obvious doctrinal (and electoral) division, a major challenge for the new Primate could thus be the extent to which he will prove practically willing and able to reach out to all parts of the church, including conservatives, in keeping with Synod's theme of "drawing the circle wide."

Responding to Windsor

2007-06-22T05:55:00.000-07:00

Following quite a contentious debate, which ostensibly provided something of a preview of forthcoming discussions on same-sex blessings scheduled for June 23, General Synod delegates voted to approve, June 21, a motion (A183) moved by Bishop Colin Johnson and Archdeacon Peter Fenty of Toronto to "endorse the report of the Windsor Report Response Group, as adopted by the Council of General Synod (March 2007)" and to forward the following statement "to the Anglican Communion Office and the Provinces of the Anglican Communion":

"The Anglican Church of Canada:

1. reaffirms its commitment to full membership and participation in the life, witness and structures of the Anglican Communion;
2. reaffirms its commitment to the Lambeth Quadrilateral, as received by our church in 1893;
3. expresses its desire and readiness to continue our participation in the ongoing life of the Communion through partnerships and visits, theological and biblical study, in order to foster Communion relationships, including the listening process and the development and possible adoption of an Anglican covenant;
4. reaffirms its mutual responsibility and interdependence with our Anglican sisters and brothers in furthering the mission of the church;
5. notes that, in response to the Windsor Report, the Diocese of New Westminster expressed regret, and the House of Bishops effected a moratorium on the blessing of same-sex unions;
6. calls upon those archbishops and other bishops who believe that it is their conscientious duty to intervene in Provinces, dioceses and parishes other than their own to implement paragraph 155 of the Windsor Report and to seek an accommodation with the bishops of the dioceses whose parishes they have taken into their own care; and
7. commits itself to participation in the Listening Process and to share with member churches of the Communion the study of human sexuality which continues to take place, in the light of Scripture, tradition and reason."

The motion was only passed after an amendment moved by theological conservatives was defeated by a large majority. The latter would have added to point 1 of the above by committing "to adhere to the principles and provisions of The Windsor Report" through "a. upholding Lambeth [1998] Resolution 1:10 as the current standard of Anglican teaching on the matter; and b. upholding a moratorium on the blessing of same-sex unions." In a special provision clearly directed against the continuation of the blessing of same-sex unions in the Diocese of New Westminster, the amendment would also have added a further provision urging "all dioceses, notwithstanding the previous practice of any diocese, to comply with the moratorium."

Tensions ran high in the course of the debate on Resolution A183, which did not augur well for the remaining days of Synod. On a more conciliatory and encouraging note for theological conservatives, Dr. Stephen Andrews, President and Vice-chancellor of the Anglican Thorneloe University in Sudbury, Ontario, was elected prolocutor of General Synod. Andrews, who joined Thorneloe in 2001, was previously Dean of Saskatchewan and pursued theological training at the evangelical colleges, Wycliffe in Toronto and Regent in Vancouver. A member of the Primate's Theological Commission responsible for the St. Michael Report, he was also one of more than 30 theologians, including this blogger, who issued a letter to Synod members rejecting the Council of General Synod motions that would affirm, among other things, that "that this General Synod resolves that the blessing of same-sex unions is consistent with the core doctrine of The Anglican Church of Canada" (A186), as well as "the authority and jurisdiction of any diocesan synod, with the concurrence of its bishop, to authorize the blessing of committed same sex unions" (A187 - "local option").

(Editor's Note: The wording of the last paragraph above was slightly revised June 23 in light of informal comments received.)

Improving the Environment

2007-06-21T13:07:00.000-07:00

"A graciously magnanimous church has a responsibility to both affirm moral standards and to ensure that its rules don't seem rigorous to the point of inhumanity," advised Archbishop John Sentamu of York in his address to General Synod, June 20. "Personally, I take an orthodox view on human sexuality," he continued, and because orthodoxy was "transformative," he was "persuaded that our sexual affections can no more define who we are than our tribe, ethnicity or nationality." But Archbishop Sentamu also noted that "I am driven to exasperation when Christians don't disagree well and Christianly."

The Archbishop of York's address was one of the highlights of a first full day during which General Synod also conducted a significant amount of business, including:

receiving consolidated financial statements, which showed an operating deficit of nearly $500,000 for 2006 (compared with a shortfall of just over $1.1 million the previous year), largely as result of losses incurred by the Anglican Book Centre, which is now managed by the Lutheran publisher Augsburg Fortress.
affirming continued financial support for the 11 church groups (10 dioceses plus the Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior) comprising the Council of the North at no less than current levels of roughly $2.4 million in 2006.
approving a series of canonical changes affecting pension and other benefit plans, making limited changes in clergy licensing procedures, and allowing non-Anglicans in full communion with the Anglican Church of Canada to sit on national committees.
merging the national Partners in Mission and Ecojustice committees into one with the added mandate of evangelism.

The two last sessions of June 20 were primarily devoted to in camera "conversations" on the topics of The Windsor Report, The St. Michael Report and same-sex blessings, finance and governance issues.

June 22 centred on morning and afternoon joint meetings with members of the General Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada, focusing on environmental themes. Although skilfully interwoven in the context of a creative eucharistic liturgy, some of the content of these sessions was disappointing for theological conservatives. Especially offensive to some participants was the keynote address by Dr Sallie McFague of Vancouver School of Theology which while helpfully encouraging a more holistic view of environmental stewardship, was seen as unfairly critical of evangelical theologies of salvation.

The afternoon session ended with a memorable ceremony at which representatives from nine Canadian church organizations, including the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, as well as Anglicans and Evangelical Lutherans, publicly renewed their commitment to the covenant, A New Covenant: Towards the Constitutional Recognition and Protection of Aboriginal Self-Government in Canada. This document, which was first presented 20 years ago, calls upon the Canadian government to safeguard and enforce the rights of first nations, including their entitlement to self-determination with "an adequate land base."

(Editor's note: The above posting was revised June 22 to include a further update, as well as in light of comments received.)

Squaring the Circle

2007-06-20T06:01:00.000-07:00

The 38th General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada formally opened with a service of Eucharist at the historic St. John's Cathedral, Winnipeg on the evening of June 19, at which retiring Primate Archbishop Andrew Hutchison gave his Presidential Address in place of a sermon. The time-frame for the service, which was already long on the pomp and pageantry of such occasions, was extended by the prelude of a first nations "smudging" ceremony, which was conducted by native elder Linda Bloom outside the Cathedral before the opening procession.

In his address, Archbishop Hutchison appealed to the central theme of General Synod, based on a song by Bishop Gordon Light of the Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior [of B.C.], "Draw the Circle Wide. Draw It Wider Still!" Much of what he said was a fairly predictable summary of the previous three years' activities. But despite his role as "pastor for the whole Church," which he described as "an awesome challenge," the archbishop could not resist commenting on the most contentious issue that Synod seemed likely to face -whether or not to authorize local dioceses to make their own decisions about the blessing of same-sex unions. He noted, for example, that "careful listening using the Anglican approach of Scripture, Tradition and Reason" would "be helpful." But he also observed, rather politically, that "the Church of England maintains full communion with the Church in Sweden...and with the Old Catholic Church in Europe" despite the fact that "both churches have authorized public rites of blessing for same-sex couples."

The main debate on same-sex blessings was scheduled for Saturday, June 23 at press-time, with key discussions on the Canadian churches' responses to both The Windsor Report and The St. Michael Report falling earlier in the week. The other major item on the agenda for General Synod was the election of new Primate on June 22.

With seven days of meetings running from 6.30 A.M. to 9.00 P.M., the patience and stamina of delegates seemed likely to be tested to the maximum. With a strictly controlled agenda and the rather directive stance taken by the Council of General Synod in presenting its own motions on some of the most contentious issues, it was also questionable how much time and opportunity delegates would ultimately have to work through the implications of very significant decisions.

The reality meanwhile remained that if General Synod decided, as its leadership plainly intended, to "draw the circle" wide by changing official policy on issues of human sexuality, the whole Canadian church would be faced with a further and potentially much more difficult challenge. How to "square the circle" of its increasingly strained relations with the wider Anglican Communion, if it further departed from the official Communion standards and expectations so clearly expressed in The Windsor Report and elsewhere?

WELCOME TO THE NEW VISION BLOG!

2007-05-29T10:58:00.000-07:00

Welcome to New Vision - a new blog for Anglicans and others seeking an alternative voice for and/or from people of traditionalist conscience.

Since 2002, the New Vision website (see links) has sought to provide a forum for those who are committed to honouring and upholding the theological orthodoxy expressed in the foundational formularies of the Anglican Church of Canada. It has also published news and aired the views of those determined to remain within the established structures of the church, despite recent departures from orthodox Anglican tradition.

This blog will offer a more personal slant on such questions, beginning with the the Anglican Church of Canada's General Synod of June 19-25 in Winnipeg where I will be a delegate from the Diocese of New Westminster. It is not designed to be a “single-issue” blog. But the debate over human sexuality has had such a dramatic impact on the Anglican Communion worldwide that it is bound to be front and centre. My hope and prayer is that other issues will eventually take proper priority - here as elsewhere.

New Vision's guiding biblical mandate is that expressed by Jesus in Matthew 5:13-16. Far from leaving the Anglican Church of Canada, or any other part of the Anglican Communion at this time, I believe that God is asking many conservatives to be “salt and light” where God has placed us and to pursue what John Stott has called “the way of witness and of protest,” which is ultimately the way of the cross.

I invite you to join in this vision of working for a biblically reformed and renewed Anglican Church. May God grant us all a church in which, to quote Article XIX of the “39 Articles,” “the pure Word of God is preached, and the Sacraments be duly ministered according to Christ’s ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same” (BCP, p. 706).

John Oakes (New Vision Blogger)