RevGal Friday Five: Decisions

Like Songbird, I've been in the midst of a discernment process. And getting that all figured out means I'm thrust into a whole different realm of deciding: new house, moving company, schools... I'm glad to have nothing more complicated than this to decide at the moment.

Let's keep it simple and go with five word pairs. Tell us which word in the pair appeals to you most, and after you've done all five, give us the reason why for one of them.

Here they are:

1) Cake or Pie
No contest-- pie!

2) Train or Airplane
This one's harder. Train for comfort, plane for speed (since there is very little comfortable about air travel anymore).

3) Mac or PC
Mac, all the way. I've used both extensively, and I wouldn't own anything else, for a lot of reasons.

4) Univocal or Equivocal
Equivocal (it's always "more complicated than that.")

5) Peter or Paul
Paul gets it right more often, but I do love Peter-- he's so honestly earnest in his fumbling, which makes him endearingly real. Hmm... when in doubt, see #4.

"The way, the truth and the life..."

Someone asked me That Question the other day. Clergy peeps, you know the one. Christians all get it at one time or another, and priests and pastors with a certain regularity.

"What happens to Them after death?"

("Them" can include Jews, Muslims, other sorts of non-Christians, or even *low whisper* non-believers, agnostics and atheists.)

Now, I realize that some of my esteemed brothers and sisters in Christ believe they have an easy answer to this one. They quote a favorite verse, John 14:6, as Jesus' definitive answer to that question:

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

And they assume that settles the issue. Christian believers will be welcomed into Heaven, while all others get a ticket on the fast train to Elsewhere.

The thing is, the Bible has this pesky foible: there's more in there than just one verse. There are actually lots of verses, and they say lots of things about Jesus, God, faith, life, and so forth. Which means, as my favorite NT professor often notes, it's more complicated than that.

Even after learning a little in seminary about a couple thousand years of discussion and debate, the short answer is, I don't believe we really know. No one does for sure, except God. But I can tell you what I believe...

First, yes: I believe that Jesus matters. Knowing the Messiah makes a difference. I do believe that. It's why I'm Christian, and a priest.

However, we hear a few other things as well.

1a. We know that for thousands of years before Jesus, God had a covenant with the Hebrew people-- a connection, a relationship, affirmed and reaffirmed, repeatedly. Jesus did not erase that-- as he said, he did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it (Matt 5:17).

1b. Throughout scripture, over and over, we see that ours is a God of second chances. Adam & Eve, Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Moses, Rahab... all the way forward through Samaritans and sinful women and even wayward apostles in the Gospels, God is always giving people another shot, another chance, another opportunity. I could quote verses all day-- it's a consistent theme, from Genesis to Revelation.

So why wouldn't it be true that the people beloved enough to be the ones with whom God's first covenant was made, not have the same sort of second chance option offered them yet again?

2. I believe this is also true for many sorts of non-Christians, especially when you consider what a lousy witness to Jesus we his followers have often been. Never mind history; think about the Christians that make the press in our own day with mean-spirited announcements and/or bad ("UnChristian") behavior: pedophile clergy, money-grubbing televangelists, Ted Haggard, Pat Robertson, Fred Phelps, Donald Wildmon, etc. Let alone the far-less-than-perfect rest of us! With this sort of witness to go by, I can see why it would be very hard for a non-believer, looking at the Body of Christ, to accept Jesus as a Savior worth following.

But of course, that is not the fullness of Christ, not by a long shot.

Given all that, I have to believe that God, who so loved the world that he came in the flesh to live with and die for ALL of us, would provide an opportunity at some point to see clearly what Jesus was/is all about-- if not in this life, then perhaps in the next. I do not know how it happens, nor can any of us on this side of eternity; but that's what I believe.

What are you looking for in a church?

"What are you looking for in a church?"

This question is not so often asked of clergy. As it happens, it was asked of me because I'm in the process of searching for a new call. The reasons for this are myriad. Some are surface reality-- financial issues, and small, isolated communities, and differences in approach to mission. Others are unbloggable, as issues of ministry often are (and I tend to err on the side of caution in this regard-- one reason for the long stretches of silence recently). In this day and age of almost daily salacious news reports about priests and pastors, I will say that it is in no way due to any sort of misconduct, thank you.

But the end result is the same: I have dusted off my Church Deployment Office (CDO) profile and started looking around.

"What are you looking for in a church?"

The ideal will never be there, of course. No such thing as a perfect parish-- and if there were, they certainly wouldn't call me!

That said... what sort of congregation might I aspire to serve?

• One who attempts to be the church as the Body of Christ, and not simply as a form of respectable civic religion. By this I mean folks who participate in the life and work of the congregation in a way that moves beyond showing up on a Sunday morning because "that's what one does," and who do not resent the suggestion that church membership, let alone outreach or social justice, might be about more than good citizenship.

• Corollary: one who sees the spiritual life as integral to our work together, and not simply a veneer that I'm hired to apply.

• One with an eagerness for offering the best we have in worship. I don't necessarily mean fancy vestments or expensive appointments, but more that we bring all that we are and offer it to God. Sing and respond and pray and listen and move like our collective efforts matter. Because they do.

• One that cares for the church property as more than afterthought or repository for second-hand items that aren't good enough for one's house anymore.
  

• One with a certain willingness to risk. I know this is asking a lot of Episcopalians! I'm not talking about flinging aside the Prayer Book, honest. But in a thriving church, as with any living organism, changes inevitably occur, and new things will occasionally be tried-- in worship, in outreach, in study, whatever. This prospect does not need to be met with fear and anger and the constant digging in of heels.

• One that expects its leadership to spend time in intentional reading and study, the better to preach and teach the Gospel effectively. Of course, this presumes a congregation interested in solid, Christ-centered preaching and teaching. Most say they are, but that's kind of like a church saying it wants to grow-- some mean that differently than others.

• One that exhibits a charitable approach to relationships. No, there won't always be unanimity; no two people agree all the time, let alone a larger group like a church. But God is honored and the church remains healthy, even in conflict, if we can try to listen and speak with charity toward one another. Even situations of necessary correction or dealing with wrongdoing can be handled with compassion and goodwill.
  

So... What are you looking for in a church?

"Lack of compassion"

A friend of mine just got one of those emails. I suppose clergy all get them at one time or another. I'll admit that it gets under my skin in a way that one sent to me would not. It's harder to see it happen to friends. But this one is a pip.

The email accused the priest of "a lack of compassion," because said priest had the temerity to express disappointment with the vestry's recent decisions-- actions that mean the end of the parish being able to support any full-time clergy person. Did I mention the vestry also lay the blame for their decision at their priest's feet? Of course, they are not responsible for choosing as they have done; it's all the fault of the cleric. They have every right to be angry, it seems-- angry enough to ignore years of faithful, committed service and to disregard any notion of civility, let alone Christian charity.

So, let me get this straight: clergy are supposed to offer the sacraments of the church, plan and lead worship, provide for ongoing Christian education, visit the sick and shut in, take midnight phone calls, bury the dead, and otherwise provide for all the spiritual needs of the parish at any hour of the day or night...
...AND assemble and print the bulletins, shovel the walks, water the lawn, wield the weedeater, sweep up dead flies, run the vacuum, wash dishes and clean bathrooms...
...AND hold their parishioners' hands and tell them everything will be all right, that their precious pile of stone and mortar is the most important thing in the world, and the survival of the church as a thriving part of the Body of Christ is a secondary concern at best...
...AND put up with petty sniping, take all the blame for anything that goes wrong, and accept in silence any rudeness and cheap shots toward oneself or one's family...
...all for compensation (when and if paid on time) only slightly higher (considering hours worked) than one could make slinging burgers at a fast food joint.

Because anything less would indicate a lack of compassion.

Only in Montana...

Easter

Rejoice now, heavenly hosts and choirs of angels,
and let your trumpets shout Salvation
for the victory of our mighty King.

Rejoice and sing now, all the round earth,
bright with a glorious splendour,
for darkness has been vanquished by our eternal King.

Rejoice and be glad now, Mother Church,
and let your holy courts, in radiant light,
resound with the praises of your people.

Holy Saturday

O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.