Friday, December 26, 2008

feast of stephen


in the readings for the feast is this wonderfully quaint sentence from the wisdom of solomon: "for the bewitching of naughtiness doth obscure things that are honest; and the wandering of concupiscence doth undermine the simple mind." (4:12)

ain't it the truth? and does not every minion of the deceiver know this very well, but don't we in our assumed sophistication ignore it?

i have been pondering the past few days how the mysterious and perfect celebration of the nativity of our lord sink so low as the american christmas. ah! naughtiness is bewitching, and we listen to "christmas music," which is full of the wandering of concupiscence. and we simply find it shiny and bright. santa claus comes to town on an interstate highway paved with the obscurity of the true light which enlightens all human beings.

therefore i rejoice that the church celebrates this feast for twelve beautiful days, giving us time to get over the vulgar greediness of the shopping days, so that the dawn from on high can indeed lead us in the paths of peace.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

In the Bleak Mid Winter - Lichfield Cathedral Choir 1995

this christmas eve i am in santa fe, new mexico, with snow on snow, so this carol from my patron, chad's, cathedral seems nearly a perfect christmas card to all of you.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

an advent question: what is true christianity.2



i still feel i have fallen far short of giving a good answer to my friend's question, and although i could probably go on and on without making much more sense than i have, i want to come to a conclusion. i had thought of including a part describing some "real christians," of whom i think there are very many, but who never show up on cnn news. and, i had thought of discussing some of the worst aspects of american religion, such as inflatable santa clauses in front of "christian churches." but i think none of these things are as helpful as looking at the question from an entirely different direction.

instead of considering "real christianity" from the viewpoint of real christians, i want to look at it from the real revelation of god the father in jesus christ his son. real christianity accepts this revelation as true, and builds on it. from that viewpoint, all christianity is about recognizing who the person of jesus, the christ, is. it means that no matter how well we respond to that revelation, if we recognize that god was in christ reconciling the world to himself, then we are on the path of true christianity. the work of real christians then becomes opening ourselves to this revelation. the work of the church then becomes making this reconciliation known to the whole world.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

an advent question: what is true christianity?


a friend asked me the question, and i mostly blew it off, with my usual joke about having pencils made with john 17:3 printed on them. you know that verse, don't you? it's the punch line, as it were, to that sentence from john's gospel that is printed on pick-up trucks and radiator shops and pencils given to grade school children. there are "christian tee shirts" that say just "3:16."

but i find that in most even large groups of self-professing christians, asking them to quote john 17:3 evokes blank looks. but then so does the question, "what is eternal life?" here's jesus' definition as recorded in the gospel according to john, spoken in a prayer: "this is eternal life: to know thee who art truly god, and jesus christ whom thou hast sent."

of course, this is not true christianity. it is the goal of true christianity, the treasure hidden in the field of true christianity.

and of course this definition of true christianity leaves much of what calls itself "christianity" or "church" far short of the truth. "imposters will come claiming to be messiahs or prophets, and they will produce great signs and wonders to misleed even god's chosen, i such a thing were possible." (matt. 24:24) "not everyone who calls me 'lord, lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my heavenly father. . . . many will say to me, 'lord, lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out devils in your name, and in our name perform many miracles?' then," says jesus, "i will tell them to their face, 'i never knew you: out of my sight, you and your wicked ways.'"

that anyone might be excluded from the kingdom of heaven is one of the few anathmas of the modern psychosis. but if christianity means following jesus christ, then true christianity means truly following him, despite our contemporary prophets such as oprah winfrey or joel olsteen or john spong, even if they are recognized by broadcasting networks and american "churches." "narrow is the way."

to be a true christian, as has been recognized by great saints since the first century (matt. 19:27-30), one must take the call of jesus seriously. "if anyone wishes to be a follower of mine, he must leave self behind; day after day he must take up his cross, and come with me." (luke 9:23) there is more: "there is still one thing lacking: sell everything you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; and come, follow me." (luke 18:22)

need one say more? much more certainly has been said, and written. how does one sort through all the verbage that someone claims is christian? one simple way of course is not to bother. the desert fathers, who took the following of jesus very seriously, prayed the psalms and the gospels, and that was enough. francis of assissi heard the gospel from the 18th chapter of luke and did it. the pilgrim in the russian classic, the way of the pilgrim, read the gospel and the writings of the desert fathers and their succesors, most of whom lived in mountain fastnesses.

but for many of us, much of the time, it seems, we follow all sorts of paths that lead almost anywhere except to the cross. then we are surprised to find that our lives are not full of joy or peace. we do not recognize the wisdom of this prayer from the leonine sacramentary:

"almighty god, whose most dear son went not up to joy but
first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he
was crucified: mercifully grant that we, walking in the way
of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and
peace; through jesus christ our lord. amen."

the season of advent is not really about making ready for christmas. it is an annual reminder for us to make ready for the coming of the holy one, in our lives and in final judgement. the english book of common prayer is wise to suggest this prayer for daily use during the season of advent:

"almighty god, give us grace to cast away the works of
darkness, and put on the armor of light, now in the time of
this mortal life in which your son jesus christ came to visit
us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come
again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the
dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives
and reigns with you and the holy spirit, one god, now and
for ever. amen."

this is also the season when we spend much time with psalm 85, which includes the wonderful lines,

"mercy and truth are met together:
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
truth shall flourish out of the earth:
and righteousness hath looked down from heaven."

true christianity recognizes that we are not alone, that the same jesus whose seemingly outrageous commands also says to us, ". . . be assured, i am with you always, to the end of time," (matt. 28:20) true christianity is the source of the "joy to the world" in which "heaven and nature sing." why should we settle for anything less?

Saturday, December 06, 2008

advent friday in kansas city


accustomed as i am to the towns and cities of the pacific northwest, kansas city took me a bit by surprise: i had to walk blocks and blocks to find a starbucks. but find one i did, and sipped a grande christmas blend while muzak played "chestnuts roasting on a open fire." at the next table a japanese free-lance marketeer (mostly wireless networks, i guess) was networking with an indian marketeer, who used to work for "fairy dust." in the new economy (read post-meltdown) no one is hiring, so free-lancing sub-contractors have to hustle.

it's a strange new world. in topeka the police and their dogs inspected the luggage on our bus. they took off and questioned a seemingly exceptionally nice grandfather based on the smell of one of his checked bags. the man who had spent the entire trip talking to condoleesa rice and robert macnamara about the vice president's need to leave the earth on december 15th, left the bus when we arrived in kansas city. a concerned fellow rider had asked him whether he would like to go to the hospital."robert" told "oboy" that he should get off the bus, because the man was definitely a secret agent. although he (they) had a ticket to new york, he left with his powder blue blanket and pillow, quietly talking so the other people on the bus would not hear where they were going. a woman, nearly totally hidden in a black leather coat with a fur-lined hood, had fled in terror into the laramy cold. her ticket had been to michigan, but she felt hot.

so, in this culture of make believe in have pretended to eremeticism, but i am eating ginger bread rather than fasting. i can cast out no demons. here in the starbucks of the kansas city financial district i am surrounded by people who in their worship of the economy are much more devout than i.