Are you Ready for Advent?

This Sunday marks the beginning of the historic season of Advent. Advent is the beginning of the Christian year, sometimes also referred to as the Liturgical year. Advent is intended to be a time of waiting, watching, and preparation. The preparation is in reference to the coming of Jesus Christ: first in His birth in Bethlehem and then again at the end of time when He will return to “judge the living and the dead.”

Advent, like the other seasons of the Christian year, is intended to do more than provide a color code for Sunday service vestments, but to shape the daily pattern of our lives. There are a variety of traditions related to the celebration of Advent for individuals, couples, and families. The most well known is the use of an Advent wreath and the lighting of that wreath, usually at the principal meal of the day, accompanied by a prayer (for more ways you or your family can observe Advent click here).

Traditionally, Advent is a time marked by silence, quiet reflection, as well as service to others in preparation for the great feast of Christmas. In our North American culture this time of year is marked by the exact opposite: noise, stress, and self-indulgence (if you’re sick of this dichotomy, join the Advent Conspiracy by clicking here). Observing Advent requires a willingness to be different than our co-workers, families, and friends. Observing Advent requires a willingness to say, “I’m not ready to celebrate Christmas yet, I have to prepare first.” Advent is not about squashing holiday fun, but about capturing the deeper joy, the deeper meaning, and the deeper power of Christmas.  In addition, Advent causes us not only to recall the events of Bethlehem, but to consider the future as it relates to the return of our King, and whether we are ready for Him to return or not.   

I want to leave you with the words of Father Tony Clavier, an Episcopal priest, who offers some good advice related to this time of year, and to the season of Advent: “We perhaps moan about a secularized Christmas that begins before Thanksgiving and ends abruptly on the day after Christmas. Rather than moaning we can meet the challenge it presents. We can be subversive by keeping Advent in holy preparation.”

Healing and Christian Faith

October 18 is the feast of Saint Luke the Evangelist, also known as Saint Luke the Physician. According to Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition, Luke was a medical doctor who was a friend and co-worker of the Apostle Paul. The miracles performed by Jesus and by the Apostles’ remind us that healing played a prominent role in the early days of the Christian faith. This healing work has continued throughout Church history into the modern day.

Modern medicine, hospitals, and counseling can trace much of their development and origin to the Church. Today, healing in all its modern and scientific forms is offered by many sorts of people, and many sorts of institutions. For this Christians should be thankful, trusting that God uses individuals and institutions regardless of their belief as channels of His healing power.

The supernatural work of healing, which has manifested itself in every century of the Church, is met with more skepticism today than it was during the time of Jesus. Today, we are aware of many scandals and charlatans, people pretending to be so called “faith healers,” and so for many of us, the idea of miraculous healing is hard to accept.

These doubts have not stopped many Christians from continuing to pray for healing, whether through doctors or through the miraculous intervention of the Holy Spirit. Prayer chains, healing services, and specialized healing ministries (see here for example) continue to fill the Christian landscape in North America.

God may indeed work His healing power through these sorts of services and through our prayers, perhaps in the way we want, perhaps not. As one man said, “I have prayed hundreds, if not thousands of times for the Lord to heal me and He finally healed me of the need to be healed.”

Who is a Spiritual Person?

Here’s the problem. The Church has often given the impression that there is one cookie-cutter way to being a spiritual person, to being a Christian. There is not. If you take ten spiritually mature Christians and put them in a room they will not all resemble each other. Of course, they will share much in common in terms of their values and their relationships with Christ and others.

There are many paths or ways of following Jesus Christ; of being a spiritual person; of being a disciple; in short, of being a Christian. Here are some of them. 

The Serving Pathway

These folks come alive spiritually when they are helping others. They are the sort of person who wants to help people in practical ways. They rightly recognize that being a Christian means doing good for others. These folks flourish more in doing for others than they do in Bible studies and conversation groups.  

The Relational Pathway

These folks come alive spiritually as they develop meaningful connections with other people. They are the sort of person who wants to spend time with others. They rightly recognize that being a Christian means being in community. Take this kind of person away from other Christians and their spiritual life will tank quickly.   

The Intellectual Pathway

These folks come alive spiritually when they are able to engage their minds with the truths of the Christian faith.  They rightly recognize that being a Christian means learning new concepts and learning to worship God with our minds. These kinds of folks tend to suffer spiritually when in a church that doesn’t challenge their minds or take intellectual questions seriously.

The Contemplative Pathway

These folks come alive spiritually when they are able to spend long periods of time in prayer and silence with God. They rightly recognize that being a Christian means developing a close relationship with God. Trying to force these types of people to be more activist and “busy” often kills their spiritual life.

The Artistic Pathway

These folks come alive spiritually when they are creating or expressing something deep from their hearts. They rightly recognize that being a Christian means recognizing the beauty of art and that art should be used to honor God. Often people wired this way have no formal or official way of expressing their gifts in the Church, which damages their spiritual life.

Creation Pathway

These folks come alive spiritually when they are outdoors. They rightly recognize that being a Christian means recognizing the goodness and beauty of creation.  These types of people tend to suffer spiritually when they are unable to get outside, whether their preference is the water, the woods, the mountains, or the prairie.

The Activist Pathway

These folks come alive spiritually when they are putting everything on the line for a cause or work they believe to be important. They rightly recognize that being a Christian means being willing to sacrifice and to give our all for the causes of the Kingdom. Activists suffer when people try to “slow them down” and force them to adopt a more normal lifestyle.

The problem is that the Church has often given the impression that the “contemplative” path way is the only and best way to being a spiritual person. This is a sinful and heretical notion (and I do not use those words lightly) that has paralyzed generations of so-called ordinary Christians.  The best way to move forward in your Christian life is to embrace your primary pathway. Yes, you may be able to see yourself in more than one pathway, though for most of us one pathway dominants.

Let me say that there are certain practices and commitments that all Christians should be developing, regardless of their pathway (i.e. prayer, worship, giving, etc.). But persons of different pathways will engage in these practices differently. For example, someone with the serving pathway may have a very short time with God in the morning, a short bit of Scripture and a few short prayers, while the person with the contemplative pathway may start their day with an hour in silent prayer. One is not better than the other.

I think those of us who are teachers and leaders in the Church need to do a better job of letting people know what it means to be a spiritual person. The stereotype of what it means to be spiritual person is still out there and is still preventing many men and women from recognizing themselves as spiritual persons. This not only hurts them, but hurts the Church, because we need all the pathways in full operation to carry out the mission Jesus has given us. 

Sunday Worship

The importance of weekly worship is often under estimated by Christians today. Recent research tells us that those who attend a local church once every six weeks are considered regular attendees. Just two or three decades ago regular attendance would have been considered roughly two to three Sundays a month. For many Christians in North America life consists of one overbooked week after another. In the midst of job, family, and other commitments attendance at weekly worship is something that is sometimes, often frequently, allowed to slip.

This is, however, a dangerous trend, because the Christian life depends in many ways on the cultivation of regular habits. In fact, because life is more hectic and more stressful than in times past the importance of weekly worship increases. Martin Luther is often quoted as saying, “I’m too busy today NOT to pray.” Luther rightly recognized that as the pace of our life increases the need for prayer and worship also increases.  This is because we can easily forget who we are as Christians. We can easily lose our way and attendance at weekly worship is one of the practices that can keep us on track in our Christian lives.

When we miss weekly worship we leave a spot empty at the family table of our local church. We also we miss out on hearing the latest “family news” and from giving and receiving personal encouragement.  When we miss weekly worship we miss an opportunity to be reminded of who we are and the distinct and very different life we are to live. When we miss weekly worship we miss an opportunity to connect with Christ in a special way (especially in the Eucharist). Plus, each time we miss worship makes it easier not to attend the next time.

There are occasions where it is not possible to attend Sunday worship. However, these occasions are very rare, usually limited to sickness or dire emergencies. If we are traveling, there is almost always a church nearby (which may or may not be our particular denomination, but that does not matter), and we simply have to adjust our plans in order to worship. Even if we work some weekends, there are churches now that offer worship services at other times of the day and the week. If we are on a camping trip or stranded somewhere we can by ourselves, with a friend, or our family, enjoy a time of worship through the simple reading of Scripture and prayer.

Is missing a Sunday service the end of the world? Of course not, is missing one of your kid’s or best friend’s important event the end of the world? Probably not, is forgetting to say “I love you” to your spouse on a given day the end of the world? Probably not, yet, there is a danger here that we start to take things for granted, including our relationship with God. When we start thinking along the lines of “what is the minimal commitment I can get away with when it comes to regular worship?” we are in significant danger spiritually.

Yes, the Christian life is about more (much more!) than attendance at weekly services, but this is an important part of that life and one that should we take very seriously, following the advice of Saint Paul, “let us..not neglect meeting together, as is the habit of some” (Hebrews 10:24,25).

  

PS: Local churches sometimes contribute to this problem by only offering one service on Sunday morning, saying in effect, “If you can’t come on Sunday morning, then to bad for you.” Also, local church leaders often don’t encourage weekly attendance (sometimes don’t attend weekly themselves), don’t encourage members to attend churches of other denominations when traveling, and don’t make available simple materials for individual and family worship when attendance at a local church service would be difficult to arrange. I could go on by saying that churches don’t always make past sermons available, either in print or online, or by reducing their services during the summer, etc.

PSS: I won’t even even get into the fact that in some Christian traditions the committed are encouraged to attend worship services daily! 

Words are Necessary

In the Episcopal Calendar, October 4, is the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi. Francis is without question the world’s most popular saint. His passion and his radical acceptance of Christ’s teaching have earned him the respect and admiration of people everywhere. One phrase that is often attributed to Francis is, “Preach the Gospel, if necessary use words.” I certainly find much to applaud in this statement with its emphasis on the content and quality of our lives.  In fact, one could make a compelling case that much of what is needed in the Church today, especially in its evangelistic mission, is a better witness, as evidenced by the transformed lives of its members. In particular, I’m thinking of the so-called ordinary Christian: the sort of believer with responsibilities to country, work place, and family.

Francis was a preacher. He believed that words were necessary and often used them. However, the communication of the Christian message – of Christian words – is not to be limited to preachers. Every Christian, regardless of their particular gifting, is called by God to share the Gospel in words. Even the Episcopal Church, which today is seldom associated with excellence in preaching or evangelism recognizes this in her official liturgy. One of the promises that every Episcopalian makes at their own baptism is this: “Celebrant: Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ? – People: I will, with God’s help.” This vow including the others in the Baptismal Covenant, are renewed by Episcopal Christians several times over the course of their lives (often multiple times a year).

Words and deeds complement one another. A Christian life must contain both. It is true that some are gifted or blessed with special skill in communication, especially spiritual communication, but our lack of gifting or training does not remove the responsibility we have as men and women of God to use words when necessary.  Those of us with special gifts or a particular ministry which involves the use of words will be held by God to a greater standard than the average believer (James 3:1), but all Christians are called to use them.

One question remains, exactly when or where, are words necessary?

Fans of Jesus?

Last week I wrote about commitment and the Christian life. Discipleship, the following of Jesus Christ in every aspect of one’s life – private and public – is the Biblical call of all Christians. In fact, if you review the official documents or liturgies of virtually every Christian denomination you will find this serious commitment spelled out, sometimes in significant detail, such as in the baptismal vows of the Episcopal Church.  

Of course, we know that many Christians are not committed to their faith in any serious way. We also know in our own hearts that there are aspects of our own lives that are not in alignment with Christian teaching. No one has arrived at the destination of discipleship as long as they walk among the living. Yet there is clearly a difference between a person seeking to be a disciple and a person who has little interest in that level of commitment.

A disturbing realization I had one day was that in some aspects of my life I am striving to be a disciple, but in other aspects I’m really just a fan of Jesus (and more worrisome, seemly content for that to be so). In other words, while I admire Jesus’ own lifestyle and that of His followers over the centuries I’m not so sure I’m ready to do the same. I say, “yes, thank God for people like Francis of Assisi, or the many local saints I’ve know in my Christian life who give so sacrificially of their time, talent, and treasure,” but I’m not going to do that – not at that level – good for them!

I think all of us would do well to come to terms with the fact that often we are more fans of Jesus than we are followers. This recognition will help us to be more humble and less prone to judge others whose Christian commitment we believe is lacking. In addition, this recognition may awaken in us a need to repent and by the power of the Holy Spirit to surrender to Christ in deeper ways.

Committed Christian?

To be a Christian necessarily involves commitment. The first followers of Jesus understood this. They knew that following Christ would come at a cost. These early Christians, like those Christians persecuted today, knew from personal experience that faith in Jesus was a life altering affair. For those of us who grew up in the Church, the cost of Christian living often seems pretty cheap. Show up on Sundays, be a good person, and if you’re a parent make sure your kids get into Sunday school and youth group. For those who want to be more committed come extra hours of volunteer service, the sometimes heated controversies of local church politics (e.g. what color rug should we have in the parish hall, we can’t remove that so and so donated it, etc.), and for the truly heroic, service in the wider denomination, which often means death by meeting.

This Saturday, I will be presiding at the life profession service of one my parishioner’s who is a member of the Anglican Order of Preachers (Dominicans). The taking of religious vows has long been an option for Christians who wish to take their commitment to Christ and His Church seriously. Certainly, joining a religious order is not for the majority of Christians. Nor are those who are members of religious communities somehow innately superior to those who are not. The call to a formal and overtly sacramental life as a member of a religious order or as a priest is only for a few. This is because the ordinary work of the faith, the people through whom God will advance His Kingdom, are not supposed to be priests, religious, church staffers, but so called “ordinary” Christians.

The twenty year old college student and the sixty year old accountant are just as called by God as is the priest or the religious sister. The difference is merely in the details. All four persons are called to grow in prayer, in letting the Holy Spirit shape their characters, in witnessing to the Resurrection and in living out the mission of Jesus to love their neighbors as themselves.  The difference relates to their personalities, their gifts, and the particular role God has directed them to play in the Body of Christ. We must avoid the heretical notion that only some are called to be holy, while others are called to do the grunt work. To be holy, is to be Christ-like. To be holy, is to be fully human. This requires that we cooperate with the Holy Spirit, which honestly, often feels like grunt work. Some of the holiest persons in the world have achieved their closeness with God and their open heartedness toward man by seeking God in the grunt work (whether that was washing dishes, folding laundry, or tending the wounds of the sick and the dying).

The phrase so and so “is a committed Christian” is an unfortunate reflection on the state of Christianity today. By all Biblical standards shouldn’t such a phrase be redundant?