Trinity Sunday 2010

A Sermon delivered to All Saints Anglican Church on May 30 2010, at the Convent Chapel of St. Mary's Medical Center.

Today is Trinity Sunday, the one day a year when we pay particular attention to the nature of God - the idea that there is One God, but three persons within the Godhead. Since the very earliest days of the church, Christians have had a hard time understanding this concept. The Jews of Jesus' day strongly emphasized the unity of God, to such an extent that many early Christians had a difficult time with the idea of personal distinctions within God.

The word 'Trinity' is not actually found in the Bible, but was first used by the Latin theologian, Tertullian, in about AD 225 to explain the idea that God was 'one in essence - not one in Person'. A hundred years later, the Council of Nicea (325AD) met to respond to the teachings of a man named Arius - where we get the term 'Arianism'. The council of Nicea was led by the church father Athanasius, who helped develop the Nicene Creed, which describes Christ as "God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance (homoousios) with the Father."

Although the council of Nicea pretty much settled the matter, there was still controversy around this doctrine for several more decades. However, after the fifth century, all branches of the Christian faith accepted the doctrine.

St. Augustine grappled with this idea and described the Trinity as comparable to the three parts of an individual human being: mind, spirit, and will - three distinct aspects, yet inseparable and together constituting one unified human being.

Icon painters looked for ways to help people understand the doctrine, but were put off by the prohibition against depicting God directly, so they turned to the story of the hospitality of Abraham, who was visited by three wanderers (Gen. 18:1-8).

"And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth and said, “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, while I bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! Three seahs of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.” And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate." (ESV)

The painters who depicted this story included many details -- the figures of Abraham and Sarah, a servant killing a calf in preparation for the feast, the rock, the tree of Mamre, and the house (tent) -- all in an attempt to be as faithful as possible to the text.

But look at this reproduction of the most famous of all Trinity icons, that painted by the Russian Andrei Rublev in the 14th century.

Rublev has omitted all the narrative details of the story, including Abraham and Sarah, and only painted the three angels. By doing this he wanted to convey the Unity and Indivisibility of the three persons of the Trinity. Some people have objected to this, saying that Abraham was visited by the pre-incarnate Christ and two angels, so some icon painters painted Christ as the middle angel and set him apart either by a halo with a cross, by enlarging his figure, giving him widely spread wings, or a scroll in His hand.

Jurgan Moltmann, comments that in Rublev's version, 'the three divine persons are seated at a table. In the slight inclination of their heads toward each other and in the gestures of their hands, a deeper unity of the three is suggested. A chalice on the table symbolizes the sacrifice of the Son on Golgotha for the redemption of the world. ...

it is impossible to tell which is the Father, Son or Spirit. In this way, the painting expresses the ultimate un-representability of the triune God. (Moltman, Sermon on the Trinity.)

So although people have tried to illustrate the concept of the Trinity, it is fundamentally impossible to really represent God. He is just too big, and the concept is just too hard for us. But even though we will never be able to plumb the depths of God's being, we can definitely know that God is relational.

Moltman puts it this way: "the triune God is a social God, rich in internal and external relationships. It is only from the perspective of the trinitarian God that we can claim that “God is Love,” because love is never alone. Instead, it brings together those who are separate while maintaining their distinct characters."

In John 16, Jesus lays out this inter-relatedness :
Verse 5: "...I am going to him who sent me, (namely, the Father, v. 10).
In verse 7, he tells the Disciples, "I will send him [the Helper, Paraclete, the Comforter, the one, 'just like me'] to you.

Verse 10: I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer...

The Holy Spirit is to complete the teaching work of Jesus: (v.12)“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Add John 5:19 to the mix:
Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise."

The sense is of continuous intercommunication and cooperation, complete harmony among equals - each with a role to play, but each in complete agreement with the other two.

Phillip asked Jesus to show them the Father, and Jesus replied, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. ... I am in the Father and the Father is in me."

The Son is not only the exact representation of the Father, but He speaks and acts on the authority of the Father:

"The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works."

Again we see a complete unity of message and purpose - in the midst of diversity.
I'd like to relate this concept to some examples from our daily lives - with the caution that they are not really analogies of the Trinity - the comparison to the God who is 'one essence but Three Persons" quickly breaks down, but I still think they are useful comparisons.

The United States of America
According to our national slogan, "E Pluribus Unum", we become one people out of many backgrounds; one nation in the uniting of 13 - now 50 - independent states. Of course, the United States of America is not a Person, but the ideal of the founders was for us to come together despite our differences.

The Church
The Church is to be one as Jesus and the Father are one (John 17: 21: ...that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us....). We are to function as His Body: (Romans 12:4,5: For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.)

I Cor: 12:12 "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ."

I Cor.12:27:"Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it."

Unity in Diversity. The church as a picture of the Trinity.

Many people are grievously offended by the fact that there are so many denominations. Yet, how can it really be otherwise, given that God is so vast and people have had so many different experiences in God, so many ideas about how to worship Him - and so many quarrels about who is right!

Because we are sinful, we will never have complete unity. Because God is big, no one way of worshiping Him will ever be adequate to do Him justice. There must be some basic things we agree upon - and that's why we have Creeds - so that we can say that some expressions are truly Christian, and some are not.

So, while we differ from the Orthodox in our understanding of who exactly sends the Holy Spirit - Father only vs. Father and Son - we still recognize them as Christians because they embrace the Trinity - unlike Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses and Unitarians, who deny the Trinity.
Our unity around the basics of the Creeds defines us a members of the same household.

Marriage
Marriage also provides us a picture of unity in diversity:
Eph. 5:28-33: ..." husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” (Gen. 2:24) This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband."
Jesus quoted Genesis 1:27 and 2:24 in regard to Marriage: (Mark 10:6-8 and Mt. 19:, 45): "But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh.

Again, the comparison to the Trinity breaks down because in marriage, we still have two separate persons joined together by covenant and union, while in the Trinity we have Three Persons, but one essence.

So, there are three comparisons to the Trinity. How does this work itself out in our practice as Christians?

Let's start with our Worship

Anglican worship is very trinitarian. From the opening acclamation, to the Gloria, to the

Doxology, to the Sanctus and the Communion prayer, one hears many references to the Trinity. And as a local parish we say that we emphasize the Liturgical/Catholic/Sacramental,
the Evangelical or Word-based understanding of the faith, and the Spirit-led, or the Charismatic, roughly mirroring Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Our focus is both on the transcendent God, who is high and lifted up, receiving the praise of all creation, and on the immanent or Present God, who is Emmanuel, God with us.
Devotionally, as I read the Bible, I want to allow the words to become the Word of God to me - to allow the concepts I am reading to become life-giving 'manna' from heaven, speaking to me in my current life situation right now. I want the 'Logos' Word of God to become the 'Rhema' word of God to me, that I might become transformed by the renewing of my mind.
Psychologically, I want my mind to learn to think God's thoughts, my emotions to be conformed to those of Christ, and my will to be transformed so that I can choose to obey even when it's hard.

Responding to God's love, I want to give of myself - my time, my talents, and my treasure, I want to realize that the focus of my giving is God. I am giving back to the Father, through Jesus the Son, as I am led by the Spirit, just as God first loved me and gave His Son to die for me. I give in response to a God who gives me Himself. The hymn by William How puts it this way: "We give thee but thine own, whatever the gift may be. All that we have is Thine alone, a trust O Lord from Thee." (We Give Thee but Thine Own. How, 1864).

This giving includes service to our world. Through God's Spirit, we take Christ to our world. Through our good deeds, we proclaim the Good News that Christ has come to seek and save that which was lost - namely the whole world! .

In their book, The Externally Focused Church, Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson relate that 'When the Communists took over Russia in 1917, they vigorously persecuted the church, but did not make Christianity illegal. The Constitution of 1918 (chapter 5, article 13), in face, guaranteed a freedom of religion. But the Communists did make it illegal for the church to do any good works. No longer could the church fulfill its historic role of feeding the hungry, educating the young, housing the orphan, or caring for the sick. The state would handle those duties. What was the result? After seventy years, the church in Russia was largely irrelevant to the communities in which it dwelt. take away service, and you take away the church's power, influence, and evangelistic effectiveness. The power of the gospel is combining its life-changing message with selfless service "( pg. 118).

We proclaim the Good News through our actions, in addition to our verbal proclamation. Our goal is for all the world to know the Joy of Loving and serving God, the joy of abiding in God, and he in us, just as it says in the trinitarian pattern of I John 4: 13-16:

"By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

Ultimately it comes back to the two great commandments: Love God, and Love your neighbor. I pray that as we contemplate our great God and his great love for us, that our capacity for loving God and others may increase and that we might truly abide in Him and He in us, just as The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit are one and abide in each other. AMEN.

Wait for the Promise, Go in the Power

A sermon delivered to All Saints Anglican Church on Pentecost Sunday, 2010 at the Convent Chapel of St. Mary's Medical Center, and based on Acts 2:1-11 and Joel 2: 28-32.


When our girls were small, we had a Tri-Color Shelty, a little collie type dog that is very smart, and who responds well to training. The reason I know that is not because our dog was well-trained - it wasn't - but because as Cindy and I would walk in Ritter Park, we used to observe a couple who would train their own Shelty.

We used to see this couple often and we would observe them in every stage of the process: arriving in the car and unloading themselves and the dog, preparing for their training session by setting up little cones in a sort of course, walking the dog, giving him commands, and then finally packing up and leaving to go home. It was a sort of liturgy I suppose.

This whole process made a big impression on us. We used to admire how dedicated the couple was to this training, how well-behaved the dog was - and even how the little dog seemed to take pride in this work they were doing. We used to think to ourselves, "Wow, look what we could do with Sarah..." and then we stopped to think how much time this process took - and we settled for the less well-behaved dog, who was also less time-consuming!

At any rate, one of the training excercises we used to observe was what I might call Stop, Wait, Go. The man or the woman would walk the dog, then come to a full stop, give the command to 'Wait' and then another command to 'Go'. Dog and owner seemed to flow together as one unit - and it really was an interesting - even beautiful - thing to watch.

Well, while it may sound a silly, I think there is a lesson for us here regarding the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. I've coined a slogan for it:

'Wait for the Promise, Go in the Power"

First, the Wait part.

The background of our reading from Acts 2 is, of course, Acts 1, beginning in verses 4 and 5:
"And while [Jesus was] staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

So, just like the dog owners in the park, Jesus basically said to the disciples, "Sit! Stay!" "Wait " - just about the hardest thing in the world to do! - Especially if you've just seen your Lord taken up bodily into heaven ...which was the very next thing that happens after Jesus tells them to Wait.

Jesus ascends to heaven on Mount Olivet, 'a Sabbath days' journey from Jerusalem ( not very far at all), and the disciples return to Jerusalem. Picking up in v. 13 of Acts Chapter 1: "And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

Obeying, they take up their vigil, all gathered together in one place, devoting themselves to prayer.

After choosing a replacement apostle for Judas (Matthias), the day of Pentecost arrives. They're still gathered together in one place. (Acts 2:1), when the Holy Spirit shows up like tongues of flaming fire, sounding like a locomotive tearing through the room. They all start speaking in tongues, preaching the mighty works of God to "Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians" (Acts 2:9-11), in fulfillment of that prophecy from Joel that he would "pour out [His] Spirit on all flesh..." (Joel 2:28 ff).

They sat still, they waited and they received the promised Holy Spirit, which in turn enabled them to preach the mighty deeds of God in power.

In his sermon on Pentecost, the apostle Peter explains to a bewildered crowd:
"This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing" (Acts:2: 32,33).

In other words, 'You just saw us get what God has been promising us for hundreds of years!"
Peter goes on to admonish the crowd to "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." Again, he makes reference to the Promise:

Acts 2:39 "For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

The result of his simple and powerful preaching is the salvation and immediate baptism of 'about three thousand souls". After Waiting for the Promise and receiving it, Peter Goes in the Power of the Holy Spirit with tremendous results! And this pattern immediately becomes a lifestyle for the new believers:

Acts 2:42:
And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. In other words, the devoted themselves to a lifestyle of active, participatory waiting. They weren't just sitting back watching TV and playing video games. They were engaged in a work together - the work of waiting on the Lord. This work extended to taking care of one another:

"And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. (Acts 2:44,45)
This work went hand in hand with "attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes,

The ultimate result was that the believers "received their food with glad and generous hearts.
As they praised their God (v. 47) they found favor with all the people.
..."awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

All in all, pretty remarkable. Remarkable enough for even secular people to catch the ideal and try to make it into an idol of secular government.

But there's a crucial ingredient to making this pattern of life work: The Holy Spirit.

The believers waited upon the Lord. He filled them with the Spirit of Promise, and then he sent them out into the world to serve Him in Power. I think this is a basic pattern for Life in the Spirit. It's a pattern that results in getting something from God, and then doing something for God.

We've recently been studying NT Wright's book, "Simply Christian". Here's what he says in his chapter on God's Breath of Life:

"God doesn't give people the Holy Spirit in order to let them enjoy the spiritual equivalent of a day at Disneyland. ...the point of the Spirit is to enable those who follow Jesus to take into all the world the news that he is Lord, that he has won the victory over the forces of evil, that a new world has opened up, and that we are to help make it happen." (pg. 122).

Immediately before his ascension, Jesus tells the disciples:
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts1:8).
The gift of the Holy Spirit is a gift for witness, ministry and outreach - a gift for 'external focus' as Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson would say.

In their book entitled "The Externally Focused Church", these authors
quote a second century writer who reflected on what the church was to the world of AD 150:
"As the soul is to the body, so Christians [are] to the world." (Epistle of Mathetus to Diognetus, Chapter 6, v. 25).

Imagine what the church of that day must have done in their world to be viewed as the 'soul of the world' ! ...

Rusaw and Swanson also describe how the church is viewed in our own day:
"There is no question that the church has been marginalized in our society. ...The church is seen...as an 'island of piety, surrounded by a sea of irrelevance.' ... [it] is generally not viewed as an important part of the fabric of the community. In most places the church has lost any voice on the issues and needs facing the community. The church isn't on the list of resources community leaders consult when looking for assistance in resolving the challenges they face." Pg. 104.

This past week, I received a letter from Chief of Police Skip Holbrook asking me and others to attend a presentation of the High Point Drug Market Intervention Strategy. The presenters from High Point NC will be Major Marty Sumner and Pastor Sherman Mason. The presentation will be held at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church. The letter goes on to say, "You are an important stakeholder in the future implementation of this innovative community based strategy. Your attendance for the presentation would be greatly appreciated."

What a contrast! Instead of being seen as irrelevant and beside the point, here's a case in which the church is taking an active role and pastors from the community are being invited to participate.

Why is this? It's because Pastor Mason and others like him in the High Point church got involved in an important local need.

It's because those of us in Mission Tri-State have created relationships with our local community leaders, praying for them personally and regularly over many years. It's because at least some of our Huntington churches have taken on an 'External Focus', reaching out beyond our own walls to seek the welfare of our city. It's because local pastors who get this letter from Skip Holbrook will rearrange their schedules to be at this presentation.

Through the prophet Jeremiah , the Lord told the exiles in Babylon to 'seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile.' They were told to Pray to the Lord for it because if it prospers, you too will prosper." (Jer. 29:7).
Notice that the strategy involved prayer. I would relate this back to the 'waiting on Promise', the first part of our equation.

The Church is, first and foremost a worshiping community. We come to this place each Sunday to hear God's Holy Word, to be fed with spiritual food and to be empowered by God's Spirit - so that we can then 'love and serve the Lord' in the world. Without being built up in the Spirit, we cannot go out in the Spirit. So Worship is first and foremost.

But as Rusaw and Swanson write, their is an increasing conviction among Christian leaders from around the globe 'that effectiveness is not measured by what happens inside the church but rather by the impact the people of the church have on their communities.' (EFC, pg. 16).
Folks, we of All Saints Anglican Church have been given the privilege of impacting our community far beyond our numbers. If you watched the news last night or read the paper today, you would have seen the story about Hope House packed with grieving people seeking solace in their loss. If you could have been there last night, you would have seen a cross section of our community gathered together, along with our mayor and our police chief, experiencing the relevance of the church in our city.

You may not think of this as 'spirit empowered' ministry, but it is. It has to be. It could not happen without the power of God's Spirit.

Today I would like to challenge us to be willing to be of service to our communities, wherever we live. But I'd also like to challenge us to take some time and 'wait for the promise of the Spirit', so that we may be empowered for the service God expects of us.

Right now, in the presence of God, I would like for us to quietly wait upon the Spirit. This will be our ministry time today. We're going to invite the Holy Spirit to come and empower us as we wait upon Him.

I invite you to come to the altar, or to kneel at your place, to stand in prayer or even to walk around and pray if you wish. But let's take some time and actively wait upon the Lord.

Let's pray:
'Holy Spirit, we now invite you to come and minister to us. We give you permission to do something within us that we cannot imagine. Fill us now with your grace and your power to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord."

Come Holy Spirit.

On Receiving God's Good Things

A Sermon Delivered to All Saints Anglican Church on May 9, 2010 at the Convent Chapel of St. Mary's Medical Center, Huntington, WV
The Sermon began with listening to the first minute a four seconds of 'Somthin's Comin' from West Side Story,, ending with, 'it's going to be great!"

Have you ever felt like that - felt that something was coming just up ahead? You didn't know what, you just knew that it was coming - but you had to wait for it....?

Well, that what it must have been like for the Jewish people of Joel's day. In the 2cnd chapter of his book, vv. 24 and following, Joel conveys the following promise to his people:

24 “The threshing floors shall be full of grain;the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.25 I will restore to you the yearsthat the swarming locust has eaten,the hopper (Locust), the destroyer, and the cutter,my great army, which I sent among you. 26 “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,and praise the name of the Lord your God,who has dealt wondrously with you.And my people shall never again be put to shame.27 You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,and that I am the Lord your God and there is none else.And my people shall never again be put to shame.

WOW! Something's Coming! Something big! Something Awesome! Something Good!
Restoration, Plenty of good stuff to eat - and the Lord's Presence with His people to boot! How Great! For once it's good to be Jewish!

The feeling must have been the same as what Tony was singing about in West Side Story: Something Good is coming!

Of course, we as Christians know that the Good Thing being predicted was really Jesus. He is the ultimate fulfillment of all God's Promises, just as it says in 2 Cor: 1:20: "For all the promises of God find their Yes in him..."!

Jesus was the one who would rebuke the devourer - namely the Devil and his minions: Sin and Death, ushering in the Kingdom of God and the Lordship of Christ. All the promises of God find their Yes in him!

But I think that we as Christians can also relate to the Jewish people in the sense that we have yet to see the ultimate fulfillment of God's Kingdom - the re-creation and renewal of all things.

This is what John was talking about in Revelation 21l 22 - 22:5:
22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

The River of Life
22:1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

We too as Christians have Something REALLY Good to look forward to!

Here again, the promise involves good stuff to eat - a Fruit of the Month Club, Some Kind of Awesome Aloe Vera leaves - and the very presence of God manifested so intensely that we won't need the sun or moon or stars any longer! - It's comin'!

But, you know, as wonderful as all that stuff is for the future, there's also the present reality that God wants to give us good stuff now as well. His plan is to bless us in our coming in and our going out.

Deuteronomy 28:
1-6 If you listen obediently to the Voice of God, your God, and heartily obey all his commandments that I command you today, God, your God, will place you on high, high above all the nations of the world. All these blessings will come down on you and spread out beyond you because you have responded to the Voice of God, your God:
God's blessing inside the city,
God's blessing in the country;
God's blessing on your children,
he crops of your land, the young of your livestock, the calves of your herds, the lambs of your flocks.
God's blessing on your basket and bread bowl;
God's blessing in your coming in,
God's blessing in your going out.

7 God will defeat your enemies who attack you. They'll come at you on one road and run away on seven roads.
8 God will order a blessing on your barns and workplaces; he'll bless you in the land that God, your God, is giving you.
9 God will form you as a people holy to him, just as he promised you, if you keep the commandments of God, your God, and live the way he has shown you.
10 All the peoples on Earth will see you living under the Name of God and hold you in respectful awe.

11-14 God will lavish you with good things: children from your womb, offspring from your animals, and crops from your land, the land that God promised your ancestors that he would give you. God will throw open the doors of his sky vaults and pour rain on your land on schedule and bless the work you take in hand. You will lend to many nations but you yourself won't have to take out a loan. God will make you the head, not the tail...

The rewards and blessings of living faithfully in covenant with God are many. He pours out his abundance upon His people because of his own joy in giving. And when you start to list out those benefits, it soon becomes amazing and overwhelming.

God's Goodness to All Saints Anglican Church
So - with all that in mind, I'd like to begin pointing out four material things that are signal blessings to us as a congregation.

1) Christ Pantokrator Icon: Written for us by Elsie Hosie of St. George Greek Orthodox Church after attending one of our prayer meetings. To commission an original icon like this would be very costly. God laid it upon Elsie's heart to do it for us without charge!. It speaks to us of Jesus himself - God's own free gift to us - the best thing he ever gave us.

2)Yesterday, God sent us Bezalel and Oholiab in the form of Bill and Clara Clay, who worked most of the day at Hope House, installing an 'Aumbry', a little cabinet in the wall - a custom that dates back to medieval times, when the Lords of castles would put their weapons in a hidden place within a wall. Our Aumbry will contain our 'weapon' ( 2Cor. 10:4) the consecrated body and blood of Christ, the visible reminder of His Presence with us - and that there is 'power in the blood'!

3) Several weeks ago, I got a call from Christine Habrle, former weekend TV News anchor from Charleston, who is doing a Master's Degree in Digital Media. As an assignment for one of her classes, she had to analyze the media presence of a church and make recommendations. She wrote this 30 page paper about us and is now helping us to update our Digital media plan so that we can be more effective in communicating Good News electronically.

4) The Hope Quilt. ( get an assistant to help display the quilt) by Sr. Connie Mershon of the Company of Jesus and her friends, Mary and Charlie Snyder, from Charleston. It has the word HOPE built into the quilt pattern. It reminds us that: "Hope does not disappoint because of the Holy Spirit that has been poured out ...(Romans 5:1)

Non Material Good Things
Let me also list some good things that are coming our way this coming week for the Day of Hope on Saturday May 15:

First of all, the Venue: The Byrd Clinical Center is again allowing us to use their facility without charge - courtesy of a little skid-greasing from our own Richard Crespo!
And here is a list of people who are participating in, or planning to attend our event:

-Mary Lyons, the woman who spearheaded raising a $50,000 reward fund, and who has personally prevailed upon each of the families of the fallen teens to attend this service and to get behind Hope House.

-The Huntington High School Junior ROTC, under the direction of Major David Clark, who have faithfully volunteered their time for four years now.

-Mayor Kim Wolfe, who will deliver a proclamation about Day of Hope in Huntington - and who personally approved our Permit for Amplified Sound!

-Chief of Police Skip Holbrook, who will be at another event earlier that day, but will join us somewhat later in the service.

-Mr. Tim White of the Huntington Weed and Seed program, who sent out our announcement about Day of Hope on official letterhead - and who personally shows off Hope House to visiting out-of-towners when he wants to show them what Weed and Seed means in concrete community terms.

- Professional Violinist Hannah Burbery, and our own professional music teacher Cynthia Counts to accompany her.

-Hannah's husband, Dr. Tim Burbery of Marshall University's English Department, and Aimee Slash Chapman to read the names of the murdered.

-Mr. Chris Dehner, Music director from Jefferson Avenue Church of God to lead us in praise and singing.

-Reverend Reginald Hill, pastor of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, who will speak on the topic "Healing and Reconciliation".

-Rev. Mike Greider, Mission Tri-State and Rock of Grace Church, who will deliver the pastoral prayer.

-Audley Kilburn - Rock of Grace church - but also Christian-at-large and prayer warrior extraordinaire!

-The family of Steven L Ferguson, who will be on hand to witness this year's award to Mr. Thomas Kincaid, resident of Huntington since 1955 and 'Dean of the Street Mayors" ( tell story from Weed and Seed meeting): "I'm the mayor of this street, that's who!"

-Rev. Gary Brydie of the Glorious Church of God in Christ, and Mr. Leon 'Do-bug' White, both former Steven L Ferguson Memorial Award winners, who sit on the board of the Neighboring Initiative, and who will give this year's award to Mr. Thomas Kincaid.

-Special Thanks to Marcia Smith, through Clara Clay, who is providing a wonderful vacation time-share package to the winner of the Steven L Ferguson award.

-Bridge Ministries, INC. who will provide our sound system and tech support as well as perform an Offertory - and who, since January, have worked construction miracles at Hope House. (

Here are some other people who have or are blessing us:
-Curtis Johnson of the Huntington Herald Dispatch, who has always been very supportive and given us many stories over the years.

-Tom Roten and WVHU radio, who always gives us time each year, and who interviewed me on-air last Thursday morning.

-Mayor Jean Dean and her radio program, who is always supportive as well.

-Mr. Bill Smith, Cabell County Supt. of Schools, who affirmed to me on Friday that he plans to attend and who has forwarded information about our service to his publicist.

I am reminded of Psalm 68: 19, (KJV): Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.

I love the image expressed here - that God is loading us down with benefits!

As I said earlier, the first and foremost benefit he gives us is Himself - and his own body and blood poured out for us. We will experience that benefit in just a little while at the Lord's Table.

The Rite I Communion prayer alludes to this loading of blessings: .." having in remembrance his blessed passion and precious death, his mighty resurrection and glorious ascension; rendering unto thee most hearty thanks for the innumerable benefits procured unto us by the same" ...

I don't have time to list them all out, and couldn't even if I had the time, but here are

Seven Benefits of our Faith:
1. Forgiveness of our sins. Were we have missed the mark, or 'stepped over the line', God has forgiven us. Closely related to this is the idea of Atonement - that Christ as atoned for our sins, allowing us to be 'at one' with the Father.

2. Salvation, God has saved us, has brought us into wholeness, and is brining wholeness to us through Christ.

3. Justification, we have been declared to be 'in the right' by the judge of our souls. The certificate of debt against us has been set aside and we are free from the burden of our Sin.

4. Sanctification, we have been 'set aside' and made Holy - and we are continually being transformed into the image of Christ.

5. Deliverance from the bondage of sin and from the false attempts of the Devil to keep us bound in sin, shame and failure.

6. Healing of our souls from the wounds we have sustained in the past, and also healing of our minds, our thinking, and even physical healing.

7. Empowerment for Ministry through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This is what Jesus was talking about in the Gospel lesson today - that he has given us the "Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you" and give us the gift of Peace.

All of these things are God's gracious gifts to us. The emphasis is on GRACE. We don't earn any of the benefits he give us. Our work for Him does not in any way add to our worthiness to receive his benefits. In fact it's just the opposite:

Romans 5: 8-11:
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Think about this! Even if you have never been very bad in your life, you and I are all rebels at heart. We get it from our first parents.

Despite that, God gave himself to us! It's amazing, incomprehensible! Paul goes on to explain:
(Romans 5:9) Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

The same God that saved us while we were enemies, has reconciled us to Himself through the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross.

Our enemy, the Devil, would like us to forget all the benefits the Lord has given us, to steal away our joy, and even to kill us if possible. He's an unfair enemy and He uses every trick in the book -
even ourselves - to fight against us!

Our charge as Christians is to 'resist him, firm in our faith' (1Pet.5:9). One of the ways we do that is by remembering all his benefits and affirming our belief in His Goodness towards us.
And we're going to do that right now. I'm going to have you stand with me and resist the Evil One by declaring aloud all the good things that God has done for us. I've given you long lists of things that God has done.

I'd like each of you to do the same. I'd like you to think about the benefits that Jesus has procured for us and upon our adoption into God's family, I'd like you to say in your own words something about the benefits that God is giving us personally and as a church. You praise the Lord and declare all his benefits.

Go ahead right now. ......

AMEN.

Ordination

A Sermon delivered to All Saints Anglican Church on April 25, 2010 at St. Mary's Medical Center Convent Chapel based on Numbers 27:12-23

Opening Collect (BCP)
O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Joshua to Succeed Moses

12 The Lord said to Moses, “Go up into this mountain of Abarim and see the land that I have given to the people of Israel. 13 When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, 14 because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin when the congregation quarreled, failing to uphold me as holy at the waters before their eyes.” (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.) 15 Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, 16 “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation 17 who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.”

18 So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. 19 Make him stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation, and you shall commission him in their sight. 20 You shall invest him with some of your authority, that all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey. 21 And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the Lord. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole congregation.” 22 And Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and made him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, 23 and he laid his hands on him and commissioned him as the Lord directed through Moses. (ESV)

In today's reading from Numbers we see the beginning of what we now call Ordination. "Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and made him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, and he laid his hands on him and commissioned him as the Lord directed through Moses (vv.22,23).

Let's look at the text in our bulletin and ask some questions.
Why did Moses do that? ..."that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.” v. 17

Why would they be without a shepherd? Because Moses was about to die.

Why was Moses about to die? v. 14: Because he 'rebelled against [God's] word in the wilderness of Zin when the congregation quarreled, failing to uphold [Him] as holy at the waters before their eyes.”

How did Moses do that?
By striking the rock to bring water out for the people instead of speaking to it. Numbers 20:8:
“Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and tell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.”

VERSUS:

11 And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock.[He had struck the rock previously but this time he was supposed to speak to it. It's a wonder that striking the rock worked. Why didn't it just not work?]

Whose idea was it to pick a successor?
Moses V. 15: Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, 16“Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation...

Who actually picked the successor?: God: v. 18: So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun...

Why was Joshua chosen?
Because he was "a man in whom is the Spirit" v. 18

How was the ordination service to take place? V. Moses was told to "lay your hand on him. 19 Make him stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation, and you shall commission him in their sight. 20You shall invest him with some of your authority,
Why was this done publicly and before the priest? v.20" that all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey."

What would Joshua do? 17 [he] shall go out before them [the congregation] and come in before them, [he] shall lead them out and bring them in..." that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.”

What was Joshua's basic job? To be a shepherd.

The Importance of Shepherding

Joshua's basic job was to be a shepherd - and so it is with all ordained people. Let's look at some words together:

Pastor = Shepherd in Latin.
Greek Synonym: Poimeen = 'Pastor' Eph. 4:11, 1Pet.2:25; 5:1-4, Acts 20:28.

But several other Greek are used in the Scriptures, and these terms are interchangeable:
Episkopos, 'overseer, or bishop': Titus 1:7, Phil. 1:1, Acts 20:28
Presbuterous - presbyter, or 'elder" I Pet. 5:1, Tit. 1:5, Acts 20:17, 1 Tim, 4:14.
And there is the verb "Poisteemi", which means 'to rule" I th. 5:12, 1 Tim 5:17.

We can quickly see that the terms that relate to ordained ministry describe things that Joshua was to do - to lead the people in and out, to exercise authority, and to protect and guide the people.

But something that strikes me about Joshua is that he is a type of Christ. His job description reminds me of Isaiah 40:11: ( I can here the music from the Messiah in my ear)

11 He shall lead his flock like a shepherd...he will gather the lambs in his arms;he will carry them in his bosom,and gently lead those that are with young.

This sounds like John 10:
The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. ... I am the door of the sheep. ... If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture... 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep...

So although terms like Overseer, Bishop and Ruler are used to describe the ordained, the term Shepherd or Pastor really trumps the others because the overall sense is leading, guiding and protecting, as opposed to Lording it over or exercising power over others.

Unfortunately many of us have experienced Bishops who are less than pastoral. The poet Dante relegated bishops to the lowest level of his Inferno!

I think he did so because the Bishop is supposed to be a pastor first and foremost. However, if a pastor misuses his authority, he betrays the trust placed in him, and he becomes an instrument of the Enemy - and at least according to Dante, subject to damnation.

And here, let me just insert a plug for our leaders in the Anglican Mission. Both Doc Loomis, our Bishop, and Peter Matthews, our network leader are true pastors. Mark and I have interacted with them enough to know their heart attitudes - that they truly care for those entrusted to them. While they're not flawless, being flawless is not part of the job description. If it were, there would be no pastors or network leaders or Bishops. At any rate, we are truly blessed to have leaders who really care about us.

Now back to Moses and Joshua:
So... Moses ordained Joshua. If you've been following closely, however, you'll notice that Joshua was not ordained to priestly ministry, but to governmental, civic, and military leadership. Priests were chosen from among the Levites- they inherited their position through birth. But Joshua - and Moses were called out specially by God for their particular tasks.

The Notion of Calling.
Time doesn't permit us to go into a complete study of God's calling. But just think back to Moses and the burning bush. God spoke to Moses through the bush and called him to go down to Egypt and deliver his people. (Exodus 3).

Moses was given cool superpowers, a staff of office (a crozier if you will) and even an assistant, his brother Aaron, to validate his calling and authority.
The initial call happened in private, but there were signs to go with the calling, which signified that Moses was truly God's representative.

And this is essentially what Moses did for Joshua by calling him out publicly, having him stand before the priest, and laying hands on Joshua. His ministry was being confirmed before the people.

The Three Orders of Ordained Ministry
In our episcopal style of church governance there are the three orders:
Deacon, from Diakonos, meaning servant or minister.
Priest, from Presbuteros, meaning elder or presiding officer.
Bishop, from Episkopos, meaning overseer.

While they all have their own particular spheres of activity, yet the overall purpose for these orders is to shepherd the people. Without this 'care of souls' aspect, the orders are reduced to simple power-mongering over others.

Serving as a Deacon, Priest or Bishop is a sacred trust, one that can be thought of as sacramental. In the Anglican tradition, Ordination is not a Sacrament per se, but a 'sacramental rite'.

On the Nature of Ordination:
William Wake was the Archbishop of Canterbury between 1657 and 1737.
Here is what he said about the the nature of ordination:

The imposition of hands in Holy Orders, being accompanied with a blessing of the Holy Spirit, may perhaps upon that account be called a kind of particular Sacrament. Yet since that grace which is thereby conferred, whatever it be, is not common to all Christians, nor by consequence any part of that federal blessing which Our Blessed Saviour has purchased for us, but only a separation of him who receives it to a special employ, we think it ought not to be esteemed a common Sacrament of the whole Church, as Baptism and the Lords' Supper are. (William Wake, An Exposition of the Doctrine of the Church of England, Article XV, pp. 45ff.).

In other words, Ordination is sacramental, but it is not for all Christians and therefore is not on the same level as Baptism and Communion. So there's the basic outline of the meaning and purpose of ordination. If there had been news reporters around in the days of Joshua's ordination, they would have undoubtedly crowded around him and asked, "Joshua, how do you feel?"

While it's impossible for us to really know that, I do think it's possible to guess how Joshua might have felt. As someone who has been through this process personally, I can tell you that there is probably no experience that is as disconcerting, humbling or exciting as discerning a call to ministry and then being tested and finally ordained.

For many people, the call to ministry is deeply embedded in who they are as a person. Like the prophet, Samuel, they hear the call to ministry early in life and this calling becomes an essential life-long identity. Usually in this case, public acknowledgment through ordination is universally recognized by others and accepted as a 'fait acompli'. For someone like this, it's almost a relief to be ordained.

In other cases, the calling to ministry comes right in the midst of doing something else. Gideon was busy threshing wheat when God called him to deliver Israel from the Philistines. And remember that Moses was occupied with tending sheep on the backside of the desert when God called him.

Fr. Mark and I are species of the latter type. We were minding our own business as professional counselors when the Lord began to place within us a conviction that we were supposed to do something else.

For me, Fr. George Landry from Sparta, Tennessee was God's vehicle of calling. On January 1, 2001, Cindy and I were visiting with friends in St. Albans - folks we had come to know through the 8th Day Life Center ministry. Fr. George was also a guest and during our conversation about the 8th Day work, Fr. George pointed out that I really needed to have the sacramental aspect available in my ministry and that I should consider 'reading for holy orders.'

At that moment, what appealed to me about ordination was celebrating the Eucharist and pronouncing absolution during confessions. Church planting, preaching and administration were definitely not on my radar screen in 2001. But in 2006, as you well know, something happened. We were suddenly thrust together into formation of All Saints Anglican Church. And not only do I get the joy of celebrating the Eucharist, but all the joys and challenges of church leadership as well.

To paraphrase Winston Churchill, "Never have I been so wrong, so often, about so many things, in the sight of so many, since I became a minister."

Part of this I accept as going along with the turf, and part of it terrifies me.
Moses was not allowed to see the promised land because of one impulsive thing he did - striking the rock instead of speaking to it. Nothing is easier than to fail as a minister. Nothing is harder than to constantly face up to your weaknesses and to fix your mistakes.

On the other hand, nothing is cooler than to participate in what God is doing in the life of a congregation and a community. Do you think Joshua didn't have a Miller Time moment after the Battle of Jericho - oh yeah! And after he succeeded in bringing Israel into the land and settling them successfully, do you think he looked back with satisfaction on his life's work? I'm sure he did. Ordained ministry carries with it deep resposibility pain and even suffering, but deep, deep reward as well. And that's why it's so important to actually be ordained publicly.

Here are five things that happen during ordination according theologian Martin Chemnitz:

1) Public Testimony: ...the rite of ordination is nothing else than the kind of public testimony by which the call of that person who is ordained is declared before God and in His name to be regular, pious, legitimate, and divine.

2) Commitment of Ministry: By that rite, as by a public designation of declaration, the ministry is committed in the name of God and of the church to him who has been called.

3) Solemn Vow: By this very thing also, as by a solemn vow, he who has been called becomes obligated to the church in the sight of God to render the faithfulness in the ministry that the Lord requires in His stewards, regarding which He will also judge them. (I Cor. 4:2)

4) Authorization to Teach: The church is reminded that it is to recognize that this pastor has divine authority to teach, and to hear him in the name and place of God.

5) Church's Intercession: ...and this is the most important: That rite is to be observed for this reason, that the whole church might, by common and earnest prayers, commit to God the ministry of him who is called, that He, by his Holy Spirit, divine grace, and blessing, might be with his ministry. ( Chemnitz, MWS, Sec. 29, p. 136.)

This is, in essence, why Joshua had to be ordained before all the people. Again, even though his was not to be a priestly ministry, he needed all these five elements so that he could be effective. And you'll notice, if you study his life, that Joshua was one of the few leaders in the Bible who had no blot or stain on his ministry record. From first to last he was completely faithful. This I think points again to his role as a type of Christ, but I also find it encouraging to think that one can indeed faithfully discharge their duty as a minister over the course of a lifelong work. Billy Graham would be an example of long-term faithfulness in our own day.

Now, just a word about Women's Ordination. This comes out of the policy and resource notebook from the Anglican Mission and can also be found on the website. Here it is verbatim:

Summary of AM position on Women's Ordination:
"Based on a careful study undertaken by the Rt. Rev. Dr. John Rodgers, the Anglican Mission in America determined that the most faithful response to the witness of Scripture and its teaching on headship would dictate that women be ordained only to the diaconate. While recognizing that the Church is presently seeking further clarity in this matter, the important concept of "headship" proved to be the most critical issue for us as we developed our policy on the issue of women's ordination.

In 2007, the Anglican Mission expanded its structure at the request of Archbishop Kolini by creating the Anglican Mission in the Americas, an umbrella organization made up of three entities: The Anglican Mission in America (AMiA), the Anglican Coalition in Canada (ACiC) and the Anglican Coalition in America (ACiA). The Anglican Misson's umbrella organization embraces two countries (the US and Canada) as well as two positions on the ordination of women. The ACiC and the ACIA ordain women to the priesthood, as does the Province of Rwanda, while the AMiA maintains its policy of ordaining women only to the diaconate." ( AM website)

Again, all this relates back to the basic job of the ordained person: to shepherd the flock of God.
When the apostle Paul was traveling to Jerusalem for the last time, he stopped in Ephesus to say goodbye to the church (Acts 20:17-36). He describes is part his ministry among them:
"“You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. ... 27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God." ...and then he admonishes them for the last time:

28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood..."
It is my fervent hope that I and Mark and all who are called to ordained ministry within our church may live up to this high calling in Christ.

I'd like to end with an ordination prayer by an early church father, Clementina: (Clementina, Homilies, Hom. III. Ch. LXXII, ANF VII, p. 251).

O Thou Ruler and Lord of all, Father and God, do thou guard the shepherd with the flock. Thou art the Cause, Thou the Power. We are that which is helped; Thou the helper, the physician, the savior, the wall, the life, the hope , the refuge, the joy, the expectation, the rest, in a word, thou art all things to us. In order that we may attain eternal salvation, do thou co-operate, preserve, protect. Thou canst do all things. For thou art the Ruler of rulers, the Lord of lords, the Governor of kings. Do thou give power to the president to loose what ought to be loosed, to bind what ought to be bound. Do Thou make him wise. Do Thou, as by his name, protect the Church of Thy Christ as a fair bride. For thine is eternal glory. Praise to the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost to all ages. Amen.