Calvary Episcopal Church, Rockdale |
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This morning, I will be brief. No, really! I promise!
We have a guest with us this, morning, John Henn, and in a little while, he’s
going to speak with you about the mission and ministry of Episcopal Community
Services, its past year and its coming year – and I don’t want to take his time.
But this might be a good time to just go over one or two things related to the
topics I raised two Sundays ago, and continued last week.
Two weeks ago, you’ll recall, I listed just a few of the subjects, the topics, that
face us, these days – that confront us on TV, on radio, in the papers; that call on
us to form opinions, and make decisions: decisions of war and peace, sickness
and health, love and hate, life and death!
And I told you that we owe it to ourselves, our people and our God to do what we
must to come to intelligent, informed, wise decisions on these issues.
Last week, in continuing, I said that many of these burning questions of the day
depend on our understanding of what it is to be human – what it is that makes
human beings human beings. And I said that that issue depends – for us, at least,
as Christians – on how we define the soul!
This morning I want to mention, briefly, that point of this discussion that touches
both on the issues I’ve raised and what our visitor, this morning, will be
speaking about. And that point is about what it is to be Christian, in the first
place – what Christianity is all about!
One of the great biblical scholars, theologians and preachers of the last century,
the Evangelical, Carl Barth, used to say, “The best preacher has a newspaper in
one hand and a Bible in the other.” I’ve always believed that – and even when I
don’t mention anything that seems to have to do with the contemporary scene,
you can be certain the newspaper headlines are in the forefront of my mind as I
preach!
But in a very real way, it seems that these days it’s harder to keep the two
separate than to bring them together. In recent years Christian faith, and the
book that belongs to it, seem almost to be synonymous in the newspaper
headlines!
There’s no secret, certainly, that one of the keys to the political ascendancy of
the conservative thinking, in recent years, has been the virtual alliance that has
been forged between the political conservatives and the evangelical wing of the
Christianity!
Many Christians, certainly, have applauded the appearance of the Faith in the
political arena. They feel it is about time.
But I’m afraid I have to take exception to that feeling!
I take exception to the feeling because I do not recognize the Christianity of my
experience and of my Church’s tradition in the kind of evangelicalism that has
taken the floor!
Now, I take no exception to evangelical Christianity, per se. To paraphrase an old
line, “some of my best friends are evangelicals;” and, indeed, Anglicanism has a
long and proud evangelical tradition within it.
But it is Not the evangelicalism of today’s political scene!
Traditional evangelicalism has been religiously conservative, indeed: it has
taken the Scriptures very seriously; it has been traditionally slow to change –
preferring to “conserve” the tradition until it becomes clear and undeniable that
change is necessary; and it has emphasized the more “protestant” elements in
our Church’s history. But the Core of the faith has always been shared by the
Evangelicals, the Anglo-Catholics, the Broad Church, and whatever other
expressions of Anglican Christianity there might be!
And that’s not true of today’s Evangelicalism!
Evangelicalism, today, proclaims its faithfulness to the Scriptures, while ignoring
most of the Gospel message!
The radical Evangelicalism of today, proclaims its faithfulness to Jesus Christ,
while ignoring most of what he says!
Today’s Evangelicalism is thoroughly legalistic! – unbending in it’s application of
the law; whereas Jesus said the two Great Commandments are to love God and
love your neighbor – and all the rest of the law depends on those!
Today’s Evangelicalism is concerned more with what it calls “being born again” –
an emotional response to Jesus – than anything else; while Jesus tells us we will
be judged on how well we clothed the naked, fed the hungry, healed the sick
and visited the lonely, the sick and the imprisoned!
Today’s Evangelicalism is more concerned with the “end time” than with what’s
happening, today; while Jesus cautions us that we cannot know when the end is
coming, and calls us simply to be one with one another as he and the Father are
one – and to love one another as he has loved us!
There was a time in the history of Anglicanism when the Evangelical wing of the
Church led the way in matters of justice, in charity, in caring for the sick, and in
ministry to the imprisoned.
Those things are at the heart of the Gospel – and they are not the things that
have brought the Evangelicals into politics!
As we consider the issues I’ve been talking about, in coming weeks, we will deal
more with these topics.
For today, I will simply leave it at this – with one added comment: that the man we
are going to hear from in a few minutes, Jack Henn, as he simply tells you about
the work of our own Episcopal Community Services, whether he realizes it or
not, will be preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ much more truly, and much
more faithfully than all the Pat Robertsons and Jerry Fallwells in the world!
In Jesus Christ’s Name. Amen.
We have a guest with us this, morning, John Henn, and in a little while, he’s
going to speak with you about the mission and ministry of Episcopal Community
Services, its past year and its coming year – and I don’t want to take his time.
But this might be a good time to just go over one or two things related to the
topics I raised two Sundays ago, and continued last week.
Two weeks ago, you’ll recall, I listed just a few of the subjects, the topics, that
face us, these days – that confront us on TV, on radio, in the papers; that call on
us to form opinions, and make decisions: decisions of war and peace, sickness
and health, love and hate, life and death!
And I told you that we owe it to ourselves, our people and our God to do what we
must to come to intelligent, informed, wise decisions on these issues.
Last week, in continuing, I said that many of these burning questions of the day
depend on our understanding of what it is to be human – what it is that makes
human beings human beings. And I said that that issue depends – for us, at least,
as Christians – on how we define the soul!
This morning I want to mention, briefly, that point of this discussion that touches
both on the issues I’ve raised and what our visitor, this morning, will be
speaking about. And that point is about what it is to be Christian, in the first
place – what Christianity is all about!
One of the great biblical scholars, theologians and preachers of the last century,
the Evangelical, Carl Barth, used to say, “The best preacher has a newspaper in
one hand and a Bible in the other.” I’ve always believed that – and even when I
don’t mention anything that seems to have to do with the contemporary scene,
you can be certain the newspaper headlines are in the forefront of my mind as I
preach!
But in a very real way, it seems that these days it’s harder to keep the two
separate than to bring them together. In recent years Christian faith, and the
book that belongs to it, seem almost to be synonymous in the newspaper
headlines!
There’s no secret, certainly, that one of the keys to the political ascendancy of
the conservative thinking, in recent years, has been the virtual alliance that has
been forged between the political conservatives and the evangelical wing of the
Christianity!
Many Christians, certainly, have applauded the appearance of the Faith in the
political arena. They feel it is about time.
But I’m afraid I have to take exception to that feeling!
I take exception to the feeling because I do not recognize the Christianity of my
experience and of my Church’s tradition in the kind of evangelicalism that has
taken the floor!
Now, I take no exception to evangelical Christianity, per se. To paraphrase an old
line, “some of my best friends are evangelicals;” and, indeed, Anglicanism has a
long and proud evangelical tradition within it.
But it is Not the evangelicalism of today’s political scene!
Traditional evangelicalism has been religiously conservative, indeed: it has
taken the Scriptures very seriously; it has been traditionally slow to change –
preferring to “conserve” the tradition until it becomes clear and undeniable that
change is necessary; and it has emphasized the more “protestant” elements in
our Church’s history. But the Core of the faith has always been shared by the
Evangelicals, the Anglo-Catholics, the Broad Church, and whatever other
expressions of Anglican Christianity there might be!
And that’s not true of today’s Evangelicalism!
Evangelicalism, today, proclaims its faithfulness to the Scriptures, while ignoring
most of the Gospel message!
The radical Evangelicalism of today, proclaims its faithfulness to Jesus Christ,
while ignoring most of what he says!
Today’s Evangelicalism is thoroughly legalistic! – unbending in it’s application of
the law; whereas Jesus said the two Great Commandments are to love God and
love your neighbor – and all the rest of the law depends on those!
Today’s Evangelicalism is concerned more with what it calls “being born again” –
an emotional response to Jesus – than anything else; while Jesus tells us we will
be judged on how well we clothed the naked, fed the hungry, healed the sick
and visited the lonely, the sick and the imprisoned!
Today’s Evangelicalism is more concerned with the “end time” than with what’s
happening, today; while Jesus cautions us that we cannot know when the end is
coming, and calls us simply to be one with one another as he and the Father are
one – and to love one another as he has loved us!
There was a time in the history of Anglicanism when the Evangelical wing of the
Church led the way in matters of justice, in charity, in caring for the sick, and in
ministry to the imprisoned.
Those things are at the heart of the Gospel – and they are not the things that
have brought the Evangelicals into politics!
As we consider the issues I’ve been talking about, in coming weeks, we will deal
more with these topics.
For today, I will simply leave it at this – with one added comment: that the man we
are going to hear from in a few minutes, Jack Henn, as he simply tells you about
the work of our own Episcopal Community Services, whether he realizes it or
not, will be preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ much more truly, and much
more faithfully than all the Pat Robertsons and Jerry Fallwells in the world!
In Jesus Christ’s Name. Amen.
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| THE 6TH SUNDAY OF EASTER 1 May, 2005 The Rev. Robert C. Granfeldt |
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