Month: October 2019

Serving God – in an advisory capacity

The title of this post does eventually connect with the content, but only at the end. If you’ve got the time – read on!

The relationship between the apprentice of Jesus and the civil authorities is a complicated one, particularly in our times of uncivil discourse and partisan rancor. Even in the Hebrew Scriptures, where we have a covenant kingdom defined by its relationship with the YHWH, the official business of the state religion is often condemned for maintaining the trappings of the Law and neglecting the lifestyle that the Law requires.

In the time of Jesus, there was no covenant kingdom, though there remained a covenant nation reduced to vassal status by the empire of Rome. The relationship between the Jewish community and Caesar is uneasy to say the least. When Jesus is confronted by a trick question on paying taxes, he responds with the enigmatic injunction, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Mark 12:17). The competing interpretations of his statement by centuries of Christians indicates that we’ve no more solved his riddle than did the Herodians and Pharisees who first posed the issue.

The only recorded conversations between Jesus and Pilate – the local representative of imperial authority – give only a bit more clarity. The synoptic Gospels are sparse in their description, with Pilate asking Jesus if he is the king of the Jews and Jesus giving the non-answer, “You have said so.” John, on the other hand gives a great deal more substance to the exchange.

There are two brief encounters described in John’s story. In the first Jesus declares that his kingdom is not from this world, with the use of the word kosmos referring to the order of power and values represented by Pilate and the imperial system. After having Jesus flogged, Pilate again confronts Jesus, confused and perturbed by the fact that Jesus is not behaving the way Pilate would expect. He asks, “Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?” Jesus’ answer reflects a common understanding by many Jews, that the pagan kingdoms hold power only provisionally: “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above.”

That brings us to references to civil authority found elsewhere in the New Testament. We find references there both negative and positive to the civil authorities. The most obvious is in the Revelation to John where references to these worldly rulers are swathed in opaque apocalyptic imagery. A more debatable reference is in 1 Corinthians 2:6-8:

Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

While there are some commentators who assert that the “rulers of this age” refer to spiritual powers, the context is more likely a reference to the civil authorities involved – directly and indirectly – in the condemnation of Jesus. In the broader context of Paul’s thoughts, contrasting human wisdom with God’s foolishness, he’s essentially noting that “you boys missed the boat on this one.”

Yet Paul is the source of two other references to the Christian’s relationship with civil authority. The better known is the first seven verses of the thirteenth chapter of Romans:

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing. Pay to all what is due them–taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

(Romans 13:1-7)

While such a subservient attitude towards authority may offend our modern individualistic sensibilities, we often miss the irony of Paul’s injunction. It was those very authorities who beheaded Paul. Indeed, the emperor at the time of his writing was Nero, under whom Paul was executed. These verses have been cited by Christians in our country to rebuke those who protested against government leaders and government policies. They have also been conveniently ignored by Christians who opposed leaders and policies with which they disagreed. Oftentimes it has been the same Christians who cite or ignore depending on who is in power. Neither the left nor the right have been innocent of such convenient use of Paul’s teaching, which is an eloquent testimony to the superficiality of our Christianity.

There are two more references to civil authority that are found in the Letter to Titus and the First Letter to Timothy. The Titus reference echoes the injunction to submit to civil authority. The Timothy reference, on the other hand, begins with the command to hold those in authority in various kinds of prayer. But given the ambiguity of the scriptural references to civil authority, how are we to pray?

From time to time various religious leaders have issued calls to prayer for the president at the time. Oftentimes there is some urgency in the call. Most of the time these leaders have the good sense not to list specific things to be praying, but not always. The question that frequently comes to my mind is how regularly do individual Christians pray for those in authority? In my own denomination there is a section in our worship called “The Prayers of the People.” There are many forms these prayers can take but it is required that all varieties must include, among other topics, prayers for the nation and all in authority. The various versions offered in the Book of Common Prayer tend to be generic, only a couple of them offer the option to pray for the President by name.

There is a way to make our prayers more specific, but it requires a warning beforehand. The warning comes from an episode in intercession several years ago. I was praying for leadership in the denomination, and, as usual, I was giving God detailed instructions on what needed to be done with, for and to the person in question. While I can’t say I heard an audible voice, I did experience something profound that to this day I am certain was God speaking. It was a gentle voice with a gentle rebuke: “Jack, I really don’t need your advice.” That immediately brought to mind one of the cynical statements I’d heard – and made – about Christians: “I want to serve God — in an advisory capacity.”

So, if God didn’t need my suggestions, how was I to pray? What comes to mind is Jesus’ final instructions to his disciples in Matthew’s Gospel, commonly known as “The Great Commission.”

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”

(Matthew 28:18-20)

The all authority part is the key. It is reiterated in the Revelation to John:

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever.”

(Revelation 11:15).

This is, in turn, harkens back to Daniel’s vision:

“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”

(Daniel 7:13-14)

The earlier theme is reiterated, that God is the ultimate authority and all human authority derives from God. Now that authority has been focused in the Incarnate Son and Jesus, therefore, is the rightful ruler of the nations. All human ruling authority is derived from Jesus, but derivation does not equal endorsement. In fact, Jesus is painfully clear that simply claiming his Name while ignoring his commands leads to divine rejection (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46). The prayer to God for rulers and all in authority is a prayer that they would do what God requires. It doesn’t matter what our opinion is on the controversial issues of our day. God needs neither our advice nor our instruction. Rulers who rule unjustly, whether tyrants or duly elected officials, will face judgment. But it is God’s judgment they will face, not ours. Therefore, pray daily for rulers and all in authority. And let God sort all.

The Priesthood of Christ in the details

Trinity Parish, Greeley – my former parish

After several months of blissful retirement, I went back to work. I didn’t take a regular job, just three Sundays of supply work. The location was the only problem, being in Aurora, and the far southeastern part of that city as well. If you’re familiar with the Denver metro area, there is simply no good way to get from Evergreen to that part of Aurora. Getting there was no problem as they had an 8:00 am service and the traffic is light at that hour of the morning. Going home after the 10:15a service was another matter. However, the greatest demand on my time was sermon preparation. Having never been to that church before, I could have just recycled a past sermon on those lessons (aka, “cold canned tongue”). But that shortcut didn’t seem fair and I’ve always enjoyed the work of sermon prep as much as delivering the result.

While the above paragraph does offer an excuse for my absence from posting, it also brings me back to the issue of the Priesthood of Christ and what it means to be in Christ.

At its best, sermon preparation involves not only study but prayer. The people to whom the sermon is preached are not some random collection of individuals but a Christian community with its own personality, its own history and its own challenges. When the preacher has a long-standing relationship with that congregation, he or she has a wealth of material to draw upon in connecting the Scriptures with the community. However, the supply priest rarely has that luxury. At best, we might know the circumstances that brought us there, perhaps something about the priest we are filling in for (or replacing!) and perhaps some stories we may have heard about the congregation over the years.

In the case of my three sermons I had very little information and therefore praying about the sermon took on some urgency. The third sermon in particular took a bit of a twist at the end. The lessons included a reading from Amos warning those in the northern kingdom about their indifference to the corruption of their society while indulging in luxurious living. The reading from Luke was the story Jesus tells of the rich man and the poor beggar, Lazarus. While there were several elements of the story, in the light of the Amos reading it wasn’t hard to make the connection between the indifference of the wealthy of Israel and that of the rich man. The twist came because the congregation’s dedication was to St. Martin of Tours.

The best known story of St. Martin comes during his time as a catechumen, one being prepared for baptism. Here is the best known story of St. Martin (with thanks to Wikipedia): “While Martin was a soldier in the Roman army and stationed in Gaul (modern-day France), he experienced a vision, which became the most-repeated story about his life. One day as he was approaching the gates of the city of Amiens, he met a scantily clad beggar. He impulsively cut his military cloak in half to share with the man. That night, Martin dreamed of Jesus wearing the half-cloak he had given away. He heard Jesus say to the angels: ‘Martin, who is still but a catechumen, clothed me with this robe.’”

St. Martin of Tours

I included a retelling of that story to remind them that their name dedication was to a person who was not indifferent to the needs of the poor and was paying attention to the world surrounding him. This was not an injunction to do something they weren’t already doing. Rather it was intended to show them that their current practices were a fulfilling of divine purpose they had received when taking on the name of St. Martin’s church.

One further twist in that sermon came after we’d arrived at the church and I was reviewing the bulletin before the 8:00a service. In the announcements there was a longish paragraph on being a “DIY” congregation. Their rector had resigned early in September, thus the reason for supply clergy. In the clergy-centric culture of the Episcopal Church, the departure of the priest can leave a congregation feeling adrift and uncertain. The main point of that article was to remind them that they have, in fact, always been a congregation that took care of the things that made up Christian community and that life would be “business as usual” as they started searching for a new priest. When added to the lessons and the connection with St. Martin, this provided an unexpected conclusion to the sermon for that morning.

One might ask how any of this story relates to the priesthood of Christ and what it means to be “in Christ.” To answer that I need to go back to the distinction made between the priest/presbyter and the priest/hierus made in earlier posts on this subject. My status as a priest/presbyter gave me a platform to speak to this congregation, but that’s really all it gave me. If I were going to be for them a priest/hierus then I would need to bring God’s word and God’s blessing to their life as a Christian community. In order to do that I would need pray actively in seeking what God wanted said and pray passively in paying attention to things around me that God was orchestrating.

Those actions do not require ordination as a priest/presbyter. For that period, and precisely because I did not know what to say to that community, I was able to be “in Christ” for an extended period. What the effect of what I spoke and on whom I do not know. I spoke priestly (hierus) words of blessing and encouragement. That is, I believe, what I was supposed to do. Everything else from there is God’s problem, not mine.

Now this may seem a rather trivial example in the light of the acts of Adam’s priesthood to separate, abuse, wound and destroy. But even a cursory review of stories from the Bible demonstrates that God’s plans are not worked out as grandiose schemes but through ordinary people in ordinary places. Whether it is Abraham, or the young Samuel or David, or the young Jeremiah or Mary the mother of Jesus or the fishermen Jesus chose, we dare not despise the small things that appear to be God’s favored way of working.

The priesthood of Christ, the antidote to the broken priesthood of Adam, is the Christ-directed acts of common men and women who take the time and effort to live “in Christ” and thus become agents for Christ’s healing in unexpected ways.

[Jesus] also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”

(Mark 4:26-29)