Overwhelmed? Empty? Finding our Balance in Life

It's November and here they come... the Holidays:
   Tons of food with calories galore,
       lots of family and all those complicated relationships,
           gifts and decor to buy with increased spending, bills, and debt,
     or perhaps none of these. Maybe the Holidays leave us feeling utterly desolate and hollow. Or maybe overwhelmed and hollow.

Isn't there a balance? Must we be either overwhelmed with too much or left feeling empty and hollow?


The Christian spiritual discipline answering that question is called "stewardship". Now before you move on to something else, hear me out. I'm not speaking primarily of money. I'm speaking of governing everything God has given us in this life, including time, relationships, skills, character, and wealth.

Stewardship IS the counterbalance to feeling overwhelmed by life or feeling life is hollow. The fundamental paradigm of stewardship is this:

All we have is given us by God and none of it truly belongs to us. 

Our time is life is limited. The amount of money we can make in a lifetime is limited. The number of skills and talents we can develop is limited. Even the number of meaningful relationships we can have is limited. Thus stewardship is the spiritual discipline of using all these well, to their full potential.

That might sound like 'investing', using our resources well to maximize their potential, but there is a key difference between investing and stewardship. Investing is designed to serve our own personal ends, whether personal gain, philanthropy, or future planning. Conversely, stewardship is aimed at whatever God is aiming at. We never achieve lasting balance by getting what we selfishly want. What God wants is ultimate abundance and equity for all. But, like successful investing, wise stewardship doesn't happen accidentally! Thus the second key to stewardship and to balance is this:

God knows better than I, the greatest good that can come from the gifts God has given me. 

Let's go back to the Holidays and either being overwhelmed or left bereft. The balance of stewardship comes from appealing to God's will over our own and over the pressures of society and family. Just because we want it doesn't mean we should get it. Just because others ask it of you doesn't mean you have to give it. Stewardship is asking "What does God want of me with what God has given me" and knowing that God will give you everything necessary to do what God hopes of you.

Stewardship keeps us from straining to acquire, hoard, and protect what is ultimately God's. And stewardship protects us from coming away empty handed in the end. Be good stewards. Find the balance God intends for your life.

Why I'm Anglican

          A number of people have asked me why I became an Episcopalian, what drew me to the Anglican tradition. Here are five of my most important reasons.

  1)      The Ancient Western Church – The Anglican Church       (Episcopalians included) is directly descended from the Ancient Christian Church, established by Christ and his apostles. There are other churches who continue in the historically unbroken line of the Ancient Christian Church, but in Anglicanism I found the broadest welcome and most acceptance. I was invited to live into the Christian faith and into Christ-likeness, not required to acquiesce and conform to statutes of governance and tradition. I was invited, not commanded. 

2)      Shared Authority of Scripture, Tradition, & Reason – Growing up where the Bible supposedly reigned supreme, I had nonetheless seen tradition and reason used as authorities. We did some things because they had always been done that way (tradition) or because doing so made sense (reason). But reason and tradition could never be overtly recognized as authorities. In the end, it seemed  more honest to recognize all three, Scripture, Tradition, and Reason - and celebrate that God had given them all to all of us.

3)      Active Theological and Spiritual Worship – In Anglicanism I found that Christian theology and spirituality were seamlessly interwoven in worship. Every little detail about worship had at least one layer of meaning. The depth of meanings, known and unknown, lead me to an encounter of God’s majesty and mystery. The task of worship was not to figure out what to do, it was learning to unveil the meaning of what we were already doing. Worship was plunging through the forms and into the holiness and the immensity of God’s being.

4)      Adaptive Flexibility – I hadn't, and still haven’t, found a tradition that is so rooted in the past revelation of God (tradition) and yet finds itself constantly opening itself up to the current revelation of God (leading of the Holy Spirit). I have seen traditions who had one or the other, Tradition or Spirit, but not both. “Here,” I thought, “is the Church of Acts! It carries on what it has been given and yet looks to God with openness to the future!”

5)      Humility – There are many individuals and groups within Anglicanism that cannot claim the virtue of humility. And yet, as a whole, I find Anglicanism as a tradition to love humility. It surfaces in its ability to admit its own fallibility, to always claim its need for grace and redemption and to recognize the status and goodness of other faith traditions. Humility is evident Anglicanism’s love of incarnational theology, that God loves material existence and exalts by Divine Grace. And I see Anglicanism’s humility in the understanding that God calls us to a holy worldliness.   

                And so I am and remain Anglican even with all the current debates about Scripture, authority, sexuality, and gender. If anything recent schisms and failures have served only to strengthen my commitment to the principles of Anglicanism. I know some would argue that Anglicanism has failed, that it has abandoned the ancient Church, rejected God’s authority, lost its sense of true worship, and adapted beyond the limits of Christianity. For me, it is not that the principles of Anglicanism have failed us, but rather that we have failed in Anglicanism’s Christian principles. We are (surprise, surprise) sinners in need of a Savior. 

               Thus I will go to Mass this Sunday to receive the Eucharist, to make thanksgiving to God and to find Communion with God and my neighbor in Christ Jesus.  All the while I will join in the ancient prayer of the Church, “Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.” For as an Episcopal Anglican I am in need of God’s mercy; and in being an Episcopal Anglican I have found God’s mercy.   


May you also know God's mercy.
In Christ,
Fr. James+

What is the purpose of Satan in Christian theology?

Question: “What exactly is the purpose of Satan in Christian theology? Is he just a bogeyman type scare tactic? I ask because I remember being terrified on the bus in elementary school when an older girl told me all about Revelations, the anti-Christ, Satan, etc--this little Episcopalian had never heard any of that. And if he's not just something to scare waverers--if he represents an actual power that strives against God, then how is it a monotheistic religion?”

An Answer:

C.S. Lewis has a marvelous way of explaining the traditional view of the Devil/Satan for modern thinkers in his book Mere Christiantiy. Much of what I have to say here is inspired by his thoughts. Lewis points out that the concept of the Devil and Satan reveal several things about Christianity's view of existence:

‎1) God and the Devil are not equals. The philosophy that says good and evil are equal is called “dualism.” In dualism there is a never-ending struggle between good and evil and it is the opposition to the other that defines each. So a dualist would say, “We don’t know good times without the hard times.” The problem with dualism is that human existence is doomed to always know evil, wrong, and tragedy.  There is no possibility of existence without evil – a very grim forecast.

      The Christian view believes in a blissful paradise, an ideal state where good exists without evil. This is explained by the story of origin where good (God) exists before evil (the Devil). In short, the devil was the Archangel Lucifer, a created being who, though originally good, corrupted himself with envy, pride, malice, and self-deceit.  

Thus, Christianity teaches it is possible to have good without evil (God without the Devil) but evil without good cannot exist, just as Lucifer/the Devil would never have existed without God, his creator. The end result of which is that Christians don’t believe evil must exist, should exist, or will always exist. In other words, Christians have hope that evil will eventually not exist.   

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2) Evil cannot create. It can only corrupt.  Christianity believes that evil was never able to create, to make something from nothing. Evil can only take what is good and change it in some way God had not intended. There are several lessons here:

    - All created things are, by their original nature, good. There is nothing that exists that was ever   solely evil.

    - Many things that are good can be turned to evil. This is a warning against complacency. 

    - There is hope that anything evil might be turned back to good. This is called redemption.

    - If evil were ever successful in destroying good, evil would not be able to proliferate (since it cannot create) and would eventually die. Thus the end of evil is nihilism – self-destruction and non-existence.

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3) The names for evil specify its primary activity. The "Devil" means "deceiver" and "Satan" means "accuser". Thus in Job, the Satan is more like a lawyer making a case against Job. However, by the time of Revelation, Satan is in outright war with God, attempting to be Judge and Ruler of the world, accusing creation and God of abandoning each other. Revelation is the counter story, where neither God nor the People of God have abandoned one another. As the Deceiver, the Devil is attempting to convince God and Creation of the truth of a false reality – that neither loves, cares, or belongs to the other. 

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4) In continuing to teach about a "Devil" or "Satan", Christianity continues to assert that evil exists; can be recognized; is devious, cunning, adversarial, and even personal; and that we are currently in the middle of an epic conflict full of intention and not just random happenstance. Thus the Christian is likewise to be intentional in living life, carefully making choices and seeking God and not to naively or ignorantly stumble carelessly through life.

One last observation:  Our lives in the West are fairly shielded from some harsh realities - that's not to say life is easy here. I don’t mean that at all. What I do mean to say is that the idea of the Devil/Satan may look a lot more feasible to those of us in the world who have seen diabolical evil - millions injured or killed by plague, disaster, war, or genocide. 

In simple terms, without the Devil everything that happens, including tragedy, is a result of God's intention or negligence. Who else is left to attribute it to? And if God intends such tragedy, then we have to arrive at the conclusion that God is not supremely good.  

Why is there evil in the World? The Parable of "The Wheat and the Weeds"

When looking at the Parable of The Wheat and the Weeds (or traditionally "Tares") we could address many different topics, but lets talk about what this parable teaches about why evil, corruption, and sin are in the world.

First, notice that the owner of the field did not create the problem. Interestingly, neither is the problem attributed to angels or to the wheat. An "enemy" purposefully placed the seed. Thus, from the perspective of this parable, the existence of evil in our lives was originally intended, but intended by the "enemy", not by God.

Second, there is an option to remove evil from the world, but the result is catastrophic, though not complete, destruction of the world. Take a look at the story of Noah, his family, and the Flood, if you want to see what this might look like. Do notice in the story of the Flood that Noah's family returns to the old status-quo (imperfection) almost immediately after disembarking from the ark.

Getting back to the parable, removing the weeds from the wheat would require identifying them early before their roots are entangled, so as not to uproot both, but the challenge here is that early sprouts may look much the same. Errors in judgement would presumable be frequent.

Alternatively, reapers could wait for the plants to bear fruit, and identify each by its fruit. This would be best done at the harvest when all is ripe, because now the roots are entwined and pulling up one would mean pulling up the other. Problem is, the wheat and the weeds exist in conflict and competition.

The parable says that God has chosen to allow the weeds for now to preserve the wheat. In a sense, God allows for evil and for pain, so as not to destroy what good there is. Difficult to accept? Yes. But then faith is trusting that God, who is omniscient (all-knowing), has a better perspective of this problem than we do. And this makes sense. After all, our perspective comes from maybe 80 years of personal experience and the perspective on one individual, namely "me". God's perspective, even if God weren't omniscient, comes with a great deal more knowledge and experience. So, personally, I think God might be the expert here.

That doesn't make evil any more tolerable. Nor does that make God's decision any easier to bear. Thus Christ says, "Take up your cross and follow me." Life is a mixed bag. And perhaps some fields will have more weeds that wheat or vice versa.

What does give us hope is the end of the parable. God collects all of the field, weeds and wheat, and separates the two. For those who are worried about that separation and its implications, keep in mind that the weeds want to dominate (choke out the wheat) and the wheat wants to grow in peace. No one, however, wishes to be thrown in the fire, but burning was a common method for containing that which is contagious or spreads unchecked.

The point here is that there is consequence and justice. Both what we do and who we are have meaning and purpose. And that is the Christian Hope, the aspiration of the Church - to be what God has intended and do what good and right and pure, as God intended. We want to see God's creation, including ourselves, made whole. We want to be wheat in God's fields, citizens of Heaven even while on earth.
 

4 Basic Tenets of Christian Ethics

Q: " I am co-directing a camp session ... and we are focusing our program on how to be an everyday hero. Obviously we are basing the program on things like Jesus commandment to love your neighbor as yourself, and the baptismal covenant (respecting the dignity of every human being). What are some tenants from other religions that can help illustrate the point we are trying to make?"

A:   Dear S., 


The most widely held tenet of faith across all religions is what Christians call the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" (Luke 6:31). It exists in some form or another in almost all religions. Jesus emphasizes that the motivation for what we ought to do (i.e. doing unto others) is Love, and reveals that Love is the nature of God. The Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) teach that we are ultimately and eternally accountable for our earthly actions. Jesus' teaching stresses that God's grace makes accountability a place of redemption and not condemnation. 


So if you can teach...


1) Mutual Respect (the "Golden Rule"), 
2) Self-sacrificial love of all God's creation,  
3) Mutual accountability,  
4) and Grace, 


I think the camp will be a tremendous achievement. As for examples, I think the behavior of the campers themselves will provide plenty of opportunities for your campers to relate to. Perhaps having them break into small groups and come up with their own illustrations would be a good learning experience.  


Blessings and prayers for your ministry.


FrJ+

Vows and Grace

Q: "In a post-modern society of shifting relationships, ever-changing situations, and a general sense of subjective reality, do vows mean anything anymore? Are they simply a promise of intent knowing that intentions do not always produce the desired outcome? Should we make vows at all, knowing the likelihood that we will break them?"

A: I appreciate the Episcopal tradition's use of answering many vows with "I will with God's help." It seems to me that while we have the authority to make vows and break them, we don't have the power in and of ourselves to wholly keep them. So why make vows? In a sense, I think my vows, kept or broken, call me into further dependence on God's Grace and the awareness of that fact. And perhaps dependence, rather than perfection, is more important to God. Making God's grace the foundation of our lives leads to freely living into our vows instead of obsessing over whether we have kept or have broken our vows at any given moment.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is this: my vows pull me further into God's grace because I know I cannot keep them without God's help. It is no surprise to me or to God that I have broken and will break my vows. And yet I am still loved, still being redeemed, and still continually called to holiness. Alleluia for God's grace!

Fr. James+

The Power to Live Life Abundantly

It’s a busy season. Final exams and papers, graduations, end of the year parties, finalizing summer vacation plans, garden planting, and out outdoor projects abound. Life’s busyness is abundant. But when Christ said, “I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly,” I’m pretty sure he didn’t mean that he came to fill up our “to do” lists and schedules. Abundant life is something else.

In June we celebrate both the Ascension (June 2^nd) and Pentecost (June 12^th). These are two of the Seven Principle Feasts of the year. (Christmas and Easter are another two). Ascension celebrates Christ’s authority, his honor and power as ruler and governor seated “at the right hand of the Father”. In this celebration we recognize Christ’s power over our lives and over the universe. It is a celebration and acclamation that love, self-sacrifice, mercy, and justice rule – not greed, revenge, and spitefulness.

And lest you think that God has abandoned us on Earth in order to rule in Heaven, Pentecost is the celebration of God’s Holy Spirit indwelling God’s people, giving them the power to live in God’s kingdom on Earth, even in the midst of brokenness and evil.

These are beautiful days! These are days of abundance! And so when the busyness of seems to overtake us, the message of these Principle Feasts remind us that God’s abundant life is greater. Perhaps our motto should not be carpe diem, “seize the day” as we live life, but carpe regnum, “seize the Kingdom.” And thanks be to God, we can seize the Kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit within us!

Alleluia!   

Are we sugar-coating the Faith?

Recently, a Christian friend voiced concern about how many sermons and preachers were "sugar coating" God's message, the Scriptures, and the theology of the Church. I suspect what this person was looking for is some of the hard core "Thou shalt..." and "Thou shalt not..." found in the Bible, in the Christian and Hebrew Testaments (i.e. New & Old Testaments) alike.

At the time, I responded only by listening, but I suspect that many of us feel either the same way or the exact opposite. We want someone to tell us what we ought to do or we don't want anyone to tell us what ought to do! Sometimes we may even to want both. In my own life that shows up in a desire for a Rule of Life, a guide to how I intend to live out my faith on a daily basis, and also an aversion to deep and honest confession to my Confessor. I want direction, the "Thou shalt...", while at the same time not really wanting to face how I've broken the "Thou shalt not...". 

I strongly believe we need to hear both. But I also believe that the order is important. If the first thing we hear is how wrong we are, how badly we behave, and look first into the depraved depths of our sinfulness... well... I personally tend to run in terror or hide in shame. But if my first look at God is grace and mercy and love, if I honestly and truly know that there is nothing I can do to make God love me more or less, then and only then, can I face my brokenness and find redemption. I respond best to the "Thou shalt" and "Thou shalt not" once I know the loving heart of God that they emanate from. 

And so, yes. On Sunday, as veteran and rookie disciples, young and old in Christ, gather together for Word and Sacrament, you will find the sweetness of God's Love most prevalent. This is no sugar-coating. Christ reveals the nature of God, that God is Love, and this strengthens us for all else. 

Therefore, I trust that we will not stop at a Sunday faith. I trust we will continue to grow into Christian maturity. I trust that as our experience of the boundlessness and bond of God's love deepens we will go on to wrestle with God's Holy Perfection and our own brokenness. Then, and only then, shall we find Godly and graceful strength to live into "Thou shalt" and "Thou shalt not". 

The Spring of Faith: An Easter Message

[This is excerpted from the 2011 Easter parish letter. It is an invitation to faith, to Christ, and to experience the Resurrection...]

The pages of history are full of worthy women and men who tell us God’s greatness, who enlighten us and point to the Salvation of God. Mohandas Gandhi, Moses the Law Giver, St. Francis of Assisi, the Buddha, St. Benedict of Nursia , the Prophet Mohammed, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the mystical, poet, Rumi, are just a few sources of great inspiration and spiritual practice. Through their lives and teachings many have cultivated a deep spirituality and religious practice. And then there is Easter…

Easter is not a person, of course. It’s an event - the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Why compare an event with a list of people? Because we so often become fixated on teaching and practice as the core of Christian faith. We believe Christianity and Christ are things of which we must learn and do. Yes, it is true. Our faith results in understanding and action, but to make these our central focus is to forget our Faith.

In truth, the source of Christian Faith is experience! Faith springs from an encounter, an experience of the Risen Christ. Easter is about God doing something BIG, something death-defying and mysterious, something beyond words. What’s more, God isn’t doing that something in the greater cosmos or in timeless eternity. God is acting right here in humanity, in our history, in our finite little selves. Imagine! This is not something we make happen. We don’t even have to understand what’s happening or why. We just get to experience it, to receive it! All the rest just follows.

I, therefore, invite you to experience Easter once again. Experience new life and renewed faith just as Christ did on that innocuously cataclysmic morning. Experience the mystery not by your own effort, but through by grace and gift of God. You don’t have to do anything. There is no obstacle course to run or test to study for. You don’t even have come believing in anything. Just come. Experience faith and life. Experience the Risen Christ. Come and see…

Our Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia! 

Beginning the Great 50 Days

One of the spiritual joys of the liturgical calendar is an unhurried schedule. For many of us, life is crammed with things to do, deadlines, things we want to accomplish, and perhaps not a few “should do’s”. I find keeping the liturgical calendar (through prayer and devotional reading) provides a beautiful counterbalance.

For example, in the world Easter has come and gone. It is finished. It is now time to move on to the next holiday marketing opportunity. But in the Church, we celebrate the Great Fifty Days of Easter! We have seven weeks to reflect and meditate on the Resurrection and our new identity as baptized members in the Risen Christ. 

Perhaps this is another great difference between Christ and the world. The world wants our time, wants to take it away, telling us there is never enough time. Christ wants to give us time. Christ wants to give us eternity. 

The Demise of the Episcopal Church

Prologue

In his blog post "Reversing the Numerical Decline of the Episcopal Church", the Rev. George Clifford makes a prophetic call for turning around the declining membership of the Episcopal Church. Clifford accurately highlights the dismal stats and dim prognosis of TEC (The Episcopal Church) that has become all too familiar rhetoric for those of us Heaven-bent on renewal. He also gives a vision of hope. I commend the post to you. And I want to add my own observations.

Maundy Thursday

We are approaching Maundy Thursday when Jesus forms the community of the Church centered around the Passover, the commemoration of the first and greatest trauma that birthed the People of Israel - namely a story of trial, success, oppression, slavery, revolt, exodus, and rebirth.

We all wish wish to escape this. We want to go from "glory to glory" (II Cor. 3:18, KJV) and we pray "save us from the time of trial" (The Lord's Prayer, contemporary). But I don't think we in TEC will escape, nor should we.

I believe the Way of Resurrection is to be had in the Way of the Cross. I believe suffering and death, when borne in connection with doing God's will, leads to God's active re-creation of us. In terms of the TEC, parishes will decline and close. History, traditions and theologies may be abandoned (at least for a generation or ten). Our image and identity will change. We will lose much. But, in walking the way of the Cross we are also promised much!

Our Time is at Hand

I sometimes play a little mental game. If the house were on fire and I had only a few minutes to grab a few things (and all my family were safe) what would I take? Pictures? My computer? Memorabilia? Jewelry?  I think this is not a mental game for TEC. The house may not be on fire, but it is crumbling. Our time is at hand - not for the glory of worldly success, but for walking with Jesus the way of the Cross.

The house, our house, can no longer stand as it was once built. Parts will crumble. What will be saved? We can lose ourselves in trying to save the house or we can choose the few, most important things to keep. What does Christ call us to hold on to and what does Christ call us to let go of? The Cross looms in front of us.

Jesus faced very similar decisions on Maundy Thursday. His time was at hand. The Cross was looming in front of him. The disciples still didn't understand. What else could he say to get through to them? What else could he do? The house was coming down. There was precious little time. What are the essentials? What can be saved?

The answer we make together in TEC and how we determine that answer will determine our common future. My own recommendation is to follow Jesus' actions at the Last Supper and the Garden of Gethsemane. Whatever we do, I don't think we can take the option to run from the Cross, to escape "decline". If we run we might escape death for the moment, but will we gain the Resurrection? Will we be truly Christian?

For the TEC, it's time to own the Cross, to make Christ's Way, our Way, to be the People of the Cross that God might also make us the People of the Resurrection.

Renewing Lent

Personally, I sometimes get stuck with the idea that Lent is a time for soul-bashing. There’s all this talk about sin, fault, guilt, failings, punishment, anger, wrath, and eventually a few words about forgiveness. Perhaps it’s that we’ve come out of a grey winter. Maybe it’s the Puritanism, Calvinism, and Middle-Ages pietism in my background or in the prayerbook. 

But When I read Scripture and when I look at the early Church, I get a completely different picture. Lent is about renewal. When Jesus talks about “repentance,” he’s saying we need to change course, make an alteration in our understanding. Jesus is saying “Stop and revisit who God has made you. Remember the purposes for which God has called you.” When I read the Old Testament I see this is exactly what God wants most of The People of God – to stop and remember who they are. Once we know who we are, behavior follows naturally.

I’m reminded this Lent, just as the prophets reminded the Ancient Israelites, that life with God is not about offering the correct sacrifice, saying the right prayers, or even about doing all the right things. Neither Lent nor Christianity is just about the do’s and don’ts. Life with God, real true life worth living, is remembering that an incredibly loving and good God made us, and we were made to be just like God (made in God’s image).

Now that’s something worth stopping to remember! You and I are created to a be “a chip of the old block,” an apple that hasn’t fallen far from the tree. Remembering who we are – God’s people, God’s children, seeing ourselves with God’s eyes – restores our vision of ourselves and life. It isn’t guilt, contriteness, and soul-bashing that God wants.

God wants us. Again. That’s Lent.