May 21, 2017 - Fr. Cunningham

         There is a question that is often asked concerning the validity of Christianity, which is bandied about now and then by both believer and non-believer.  And that question has to do with those who die who have never heard the Gospel message.  The problem that those asking such a question believe they have identified is that if salvation is, as the Baptists might say contingent on us accepting Jesus Christ as Savior in our hearts, what happens to those who have never heard of Jesus and are therefore unable to accept him?  For it would seem unfair that those who have never heard of Jesus to then be condemned before the great judgment seat of Christ.  I have to say that for some reason this question has never really troubled me a whole lot for at least two reasons.  The first reason is not terribly pastoral – well actually it’s not pastoral at all but rather has more of a Mr. Spock like quality to it.  And that answer is what does it matter.  The truth of something is not dependent on how many people have heard it.  In other words if you have never heard that Canberra is the capital of Australia is does not mean that there is something iffy about the proposition.  Canberra being the capital of Australia is not dependent on a 10th Grader in New Prague, Minnesota being aware of that fact.  But of course that reasoning is not warm and fuzzy especially for those who have never heard the Gospel and it does not solve the seeming unfairness of the impetuous behind the question.  But the other reason this has never bothered me a whole lot is more warm and fuzzy.  If someone is saying that there is inherent unfairness in the way God has ordered the universe than it sets up a scenario where we feel that God might need a little instruction from us on how things should work.  But since we worship a God who sent his son to die for us miserable sinners why should we be worried that God might not be sympathetic to someone who has never heard the Good News of Jesus Christ.   It seems our concern is that God would suddenly start acting like a midlevel bureaucrat who has discovered that you did not check box 3c/a on your building permit and now you will now have to live in a house without toilets.  If the crucifixion shows us nothing else it is that God goes to some very extreme measures to be in communion with us.  How exactly salvation works out for those who have never heard of Jesus I do not exactly know and fear that speculating too much might bring me into some sort of heresy, but I do think that Paul’s discussion with the Athenians from this morning’s reading in Acts reveals something of how this all occurs for those who have never heard the Gospel. 

            Paul this morning says to the Athenians, “I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.”  Paul then goes on to give a description of who God is and gives a brief overview of the God’s interaction with humanity.  He ends it all by saying, “From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us.”  It is a rather interesting discussion.  Paul starts by saying that the people with whom he is talking have a concept of God, but do not know who he is.  He then proclaims who this unknown God is and then appears to say that part of God’s plan was that certain people would not know him but would “grope for him” almost like trying to find a light switch in the dark.  Or put another way Paul is saying that God has given us clues of his existence in the world and a drive to find him.  Those in Athens today had gotten to the point of realizing that there was something more, there was a God they could not identify who undergirded the universe, but that is all they knew.  And so Paul comes along and proclaims the identity of this unknown God.  The way Paul explains things is somewhat akin to how an archeologist might work.  For example let’s say an archeologist is digging in Peru and unearths something like a vase or a drinking vessel.  From that bit of knowledge they begin to construct a narrative about what the people who produced such an object were like.  Similarly God has produced a world and through clues left here, people begin to construct a story of what this God must be like.  Which gets us back to the original question of those who have not heard about God. 

            Paul argues and I would agree with him that the world is filled with evidence about the existence of God or as the poet Gerard Manly Hopkins put it, “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.  It will flame out, like shining from shook foil.”  Reflections of God’s nature are everywhere in this world.  We might see it on a walk through nature, or in the faces of our children or in a benevolent act.  God is everywhere if we just look.  But in many ways this can be a difficult task because our God is the God who as the Prophet Isaiah tells us was not in the earthquake or the fire but rather in the still small voice.  God is everywhere, but he is not always the brightest and shiniest and so it takes deliberate action.  But let’s return again to those who have not heard the Gospel message – can they also hear the still small voice?  And the answer to this question is yes.  Paul today recognized in the Athenians that they were desperately seeking God, but did not have the God revealed knowledge to grasp what they were seeking and so Paul names it.  Now just to be clear this is not universalism which posits that all people go to heaven but it rather demonstrates the wideness of God’s grace.  If God can forgive us sinners who should know better, it seems that there is also room for those who are seeking the goodness that is God, but have not heard the Gospel.  God has placed signs of his existence into the very fabric of creation.  People are of course free to ignore it just as those who have heard the Gospel message are free to ignore it, but what Paul suggests that those who have not heard the Good News are still capable of having at least a rudimentary understanding of God. 

            But I don’t think we can leave it at just that for there is also something that this understanding requires of us.  You notice that when Paul discovered that the Athenians were earnestly seeking God he did not walk away and tell them to keep up the good work, but rather invited them into a deeper relationship with God through his Son Jesus Christ.  If we look at people being unaware of the Gospel as God’s problem it sort of lets us off the hook, but it begs the question about what the point of being Christ’s body if spreading the Good News is not in there someplace.  For those of us who have found the truth we should want to bring others into that truth.  And I know this wounds an awful lot like evangelism, which scares us Episcopalians, but Jesus did kind of tell us to “Go therefore and make Disciples of all nations.”  And so while there is room in God’s grace for those who through no fault of their own have never heard the Gospel that does not allow us to ignore them.  Our charge just as it was two thousand years ago is to spread the Good News of God in Jesus Christ so that we may know him and make him known so that we all may be his now and forevermore. 

May 14, 2017 - Fabien Pering

St John Chrysostom

May 14, 2017

All the lessons contain language of direction and focus. In Acts, Stephen focuses his eyes toward heaven and sees Jesus standing at the right hand of God. The Psalmist shows his focus also being on the Lord, the rock of refuge. Second Peter talks about that as we come to the Lord, the Lord being our destination and focus. And finally, the gospel lesson shows how the Father’s house is our destination both now and forever. Moreover, we see the means by which we are to get to where we desire to go in the words that Jesus says: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.”

These passages reveal something about humanity, that we all desire some sort good life. That is, we see the world around us, seeing its beauty we realize that there is something horribly wrong and broken. We all want peace and harmony in relationships, commerce, and politics. That is the cry of the psalmist who says, “Let me not be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me! Incline your ear to me and rescue me!” Jesus shows the end vision that this deliverance comes from God the Father. That vision is what we are to align ourselves with in order we might see the effects of peace in the world here and now. [Pause]

Not only do we align ourselves with the divine reality that Jesus and the Father are one, but we are to become like Christ is. Jesus gets at this in the following conversation with the disciples in verse 9 and following. Philip asks him to show them the Father and Jesus responds by saying how if they have seen him that they have also seen the Father. For Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation. And he is the head of the body, which is the church. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.[1]

This work of reconciling all things to God is what Jesus is presently occupied with and we are to join in on that work as ones sent by God. In essence, we are to be Christ to those whom we interact with on a daily basis. So in focusing on the end destination of the Father’s house, which is a house of peace, we not only align ourselves with the truth but we become the truth, showing others how to get to where they truly want to go.

This focus on the end goal is not only a future hope but also a present reality in our lives. Being on both the evangelism and equipping the saints committee, I’d like to wear both hats and cast this vision of who we are to be here in Delafield and Oconomowoc. The present reality is that we are to be a place of refuge and strength, as the Psalmist desires. Using the transitive principle, if God is the source of safety, and Jesus is one with the Father, and we the church are his body, then we are to be present place of peace. [Pause]

In the words of 1 Peter, as we come to the Father, who is our focus, we are being made into this spiritual house from where peace and love is derived. And as Fr. Cunningham is the priest here at the altar administering the body and blood of Christ, so are you to be priests among your coworkers and neighbors offering to them the grace and peace that has been given to you.

This fixed gaze that we have on the father allows us to live into the reality of being the body of Christ. This shift in focus will fundamentally change us into the body of Christ, that is, we will change but it is conditioned on your willingness to focus on the Father through the Jesus Christ who is the way, the truth, and the life. This change might not always be so attractive, for the way is difficult but it will invariably and inevitably lead to life and freedom. [Pause]

We know that the way is difficult because of the narrative in Acts. The story of Stephen involves him preaching the way to the Father through Jesus Christ and him being killed because of it. Although we do not face the same opposition here and now, it could one day be a reality. The story of Stephen gives us hope in the work that we are to do in the name of Father because we see a Stephen peaceful passing into the arms of the Father. Stephen looked up to heaven to Jesus, not sitting as the Father is, but standing in anticipation of the work that Stephen is doing in His name. Jesus’ standing posture is that of eagerness to receive Stephen’s spirit. For Stephen will say the same words as the Psalmist, though in a slightly different tone of voice, saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And wanting nothing more than love for his persecutors, he bids the Lord not to hold this sin against them!

That is the power that comes from making the Father’s house our focus and final destination. When we make that Altar of God our focus we alter our way of living in a way that we become that which we desire and long for. The more we focus on the nature of God, everything else falls into place by giving us the ability to endure any trial and hardship. In enduring hardship we show by our attitudes and actions that there is something worth living for both now and in the future. In showing others our joy; we then are able to engage in conversation that there is something fundamentally different with us. That is, we are as Christ is, focused on God the Father.

Amen

[1] Col. 1:15-20

May 7, 2017 - Fr. Cunningham

I realize that most of you were not English majors, but please indulge me for a moment because I want to make my father feel like he didn’t blow a bunch of money on my tuition and talk about Homer’s Odyssey.  For those of you who have read the story you might remember something odd in the narrative.  Well there are actually a lot of things odd in the narrative not least of why it took Odysseus ten years in a boat to travel a distance he could have walked in ten days.  However the odd thing I am talking about is why Homer describes the color of the sea as being the color wine-dark rather than blue or some other color we might recognize in describing the sea.  There are of course many theories of why he chose this description.  Some speculate that the Greeks did not have a concept of the color blue so Homer had to kind of make something up that approximated the color of the Aegean Sea, although I am at a loss to see how really dark wine in any way approximates the color of that particular sea.  I even did research and according to the Sherwin Williams paint swatch the Aegean is more of an aqua or teal than it is a deep purple.  Others have argued that the Greeks diluted their wine and that after pouring enough water into the wine it somehow turned to aqua or teal colored.  Now I have not personally tried this experiment but let me go on record as expressing some skepticism about adding water to a purple liquid will somehow make that liquid turn to aqua and make it look like one of those drinks Captain Kirk used to have on Star Trek.  What all of this suggests is that the Greeks were seeing something different than us – somehow dark wine being used to describe the color of the Aegean Sea made sense to them.  The point in all of this and what it seems to point out is that the Greeks had mental categories that we don’t – either in wine or in the sea.  Suggesting that there are things for which one needs to be trained to understand and to see.  The Greek mind was somehow trained to understand what Homer meant when he said that wine dark was the color of the sea.  It conveyed an idea to them that is lost to us.  We simply do not have the knowledge. The brain is trained to hear and understand certain thing; which of course gets us to Jesus and sheep.

In today’s reading we hear from Jesus that, “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.”  For those of us who follow Christ there should be a familiarity to his voice, something in our brain should be trained that makes us stop and look around to see who was calling us.  The voice of Jesus should tap something just like when someone shouts out our name.  On a slight side note I should mention a funny thing that happens at Nashotah House now and then is when someone calls “father” in the Refectory and six people’s heads jerk around to see who was calling them, because they have all been trained to respond.  But unfortunately with Jesus it is not quite this simple.  For while I think we understand that we respond to our name or can identify colors that we know, how do we hear the voice of Jesus and follow his command, because, after all, we do not generally hear from Jesus in an audible way.  And so how are we to hear that type of voice?  For most of us have not been trained in how to listen to the voice of Jesus.  And the reason for this lack of training happens because we live in a very noisy society, a society that is largely afraid of any sort of silence, a society that has created countless ways to never be without a distraction of some sort.  Just as an experiment look around the next time you are standing in a line and notice how many people have pulled out their cellphones (that is if you are not on your own cellphone).  The idea of silencing our mind and truly being open to listen for something is very foreign to us.  But, unless we train our minds to hear from Jesus we are not going to hear him.  Just like the Greeks saw something in the ocean that we are unable to see, Jesus may be speaking to us and we are not hearing it because we are not at a place where we can hear it.  And so how do we train our minds to hear the voice of Jesus?  There are of course many ways, but I want to focus just for a minute on using silence.  And I don’t mean silence in the sense of locking yourself in your room with a pillow over your head, but rather in the sense of not bringing things into our lives that are meant to distract and pull our attention in one way or another.

Our inability to hear Jesus largely stems from a loudness epidemic.  Think about our society today like being at a raucous party.  When you are at such a place and want to get someone’s attention you have to talk very loudly, but then your loudness makes someone else have to talk even louder and so it goes with the loudest getting the most attention.  Now note that loudness has nothing to do with the importance or the magnificence of what the person is saying, but just the volume.  And loudness is not simply an audible quality – there are all sorts of written things that are incredibly loud.  Glance at the headlines and see just how  many of them scream at you.  Here is just a brief sample of headlines I have seen recently: “CANNES FESTIVAL FEARS ATTACK”, “HORROR – Sewage pours from ceiling of New York Penn Station” and my favorite, “Epic Fight between two male giraffes.”  The headlines are the equivalent of someone yelling or of looking at a car wreck on the freeway – they are jarring and shocking and as a result they scream for our attention.  But this is an environment where it is a very hard to find the person who says, “Be still and know that I am God.” 

                I have trouble not believing that there has to be some correlation between the rise of distraction and the decline in religious belief.  If we cannot hear God how can we believe in him.  There are days where I feel that I would be a better happier person if I got rid of my smart phone.  I mean I am old enough to remember the days when you went home on Friday and you heard nothing about work until you showed up on Monday morning.  This allowed you to do things like spend time with your family and go to church without being distracted.  Last weekend I received 10 emails about work related subjects.  How are we going to hear the voice of Jesus if we are not quiet and distraction free for long enough to actually hear it?        

I don’t think I am quite at the point of suggesting that we all become luddites but I think we need to limit our distraction – turn off the phone now and then, go for a walk without using headphones and don’t turn the radio on in the car.  If we want to hear the voice of Jesus we are going to have to take some time in solitude and quiet so that we can train our minds to hear the voice of our shepherd and respond to him so that we may be his both now and forevermore.