Mere Anglicanism and Theosis

 

What possibly went wrong at the ACNA conference.

Mind your own business!

Sermon for Septuagesima 

People who worked

for one hour

are paid the same fair days wages

as those who worked

a twelve hour day.

Why does it sound unfair?

We know it isn't unfair

because Our Lord

uses this parable to tell us 

something about ourselves.

[PAUSE]

The person who seems

to come in for the most criticism

is the Employer

who justifies himself

by saying that he has a right

to do with his money 

as he pleases.

You agree with that, yes?

You can do what you like

with your own possessions.

But then...

How do you feel 

about that statistic

that a handful of people

control the majority

of the wealth in the world?

Aren't they allowed 

to hoard their money

and use it for their own purposes

which may,

or may not, 

be godly?

[PAUSE]

Some of us are very good

at deciding what

other people should do

with their money.

When we see

a rich man pass by a collecting tin

without putting something in,

we grumble something about

camels passing through eyes of needles.

When we see 

a rich man put something into

that collecting tin,

we grumble that he's making a show

of his wealth

in false generosity.

The rich man can't win.

But we don't want him to, do we?

[PAUSE]

There are two things

that Our Lord teaches us 

about money and possessions.

The first is

that we should render unto Caesar

that which is Caesar's

and unto God

that which is God's.

Material things

matter most for those

who are materially minded.

Bills must be paid.

Tax must be paid.

Debts must be paid.

This is true for all of us.

While they may be

important

they are not what defines

our relationship with God.

God's claim

on our lives

is greater than

Barclay's Bank's claim

on our overdraft.

This leads to Our Lord's second point.

Those who have been given much

will be expected to show much interest

on God's investment.

God wants us 

to bear good fruit

and has given us the means 

to grow it.

He will not expect growth

from where He has not given.

So the rich man

will always find himself

required to give an account

of what he is doing for his wealth.

But this account

will not be rendered to us,

but to God.

[PAUSE]

Those who labour all day

receive the agreed generous daily wage,

but their eyes

are on other people's

wages.

Their outrage 

comes from envy

and pride in their assumption

that their time is worth more

in their own eyes

than was agreed.

Notice also

that the Employer himself

is making use

of what he has.

He may earn more money

as a result,

but so do his employees.

The wealth is not 

buried in a field,

mattress

or investment fund.

It is being used 

and everyone benefits.

[PAUSE]

It might sicken us

to see celebrities

living the high life

in yachts,

drinking champagne

and eating Ferrero Richer,

but that money is going somewhere.

It is being rendered unto Caesar.

What concerns us 

as Christians

is what is being rendered to God.

In that sense,

that's the rich man's problem

and not ours.

[PAUSE]

We should not allow

other people's use of their wealth

to distract us

from using what we have

to the glory of God.

We should not allow

other people's expenditure

to tempt us to judge

another person

in a way that will judge us

in the same way.

It is what we do

with the wealth that 

we have been given

that matters more 

to us eternally

than other people's business.

Filioque, St Vincent of Lérins and Ecumenism

 Why the Vincentian Canon is of more value to the Catholic Church than we think.

Miracles under a bushel

Sermon for the third Sunday after Epiphany

Just think.

Something wonderful

happens to you,

something life-giving,

something that changes 

your pain into joy.

What do you do next?

But then?

What do you do

after you receive

something truly wonderful?

Do you not want 

to tell someone?

Do you not want

to scream in utter happiness

that you have 

received something marvellous?

And then

Jesus says, 

"Sshh! Don't tell anyone!"

What do you do?

[PAUSE]

There are several times

when Our Lord 

tells people that He heals

not to tell anyone

what has happened to them.

In this case,

Our Lord tells the leper

not to say what has happened

but concentrate 

on fulfilling the Jewish Law

and present himself at the temple.

Our Lord

is effectively telling

the man He heals

to give thanks to God first

as a matter of priority.

But why can't the man

tell people on the way?

It is because

two men whose sight is restored 

blab to all Capernaum 

that Jesus can't go into a house

and teach

but must teach outside the city.

But surely,

people need to see the miracles!

Why?

Well,

more people will come 

to Jesus and be healed.

Yes,

but when would 

He be able to teach us

if He is busy healing everyone.

This is important,

if you think about it.

Our Lord comes

with the Good News

of our salvation

at His hands.

His message is about 

Eternal life.

Where is the leper now?

Where are those blabbing blind men now?

All those whom Jesus heals

still die.

Our Lord is clear,

Miracles follow the Message

not the other way around.

He does not need 

His miracles to be

seen by all and sundry.

If He did,

then His appearances

would be more like

a musical extravaganza

with fireworks

and people falling over

"slain in the spirit."

That's not what we get.

Our Lord heals people

as individuals

for their sake

and for the small group 

of witnesses around,

not for the sake

of making a spectacle of Himself.

To those who demand 

miracles from Him,

He will show

only His bloodstained body

dangling lifelessly

upon the Cross.

Even His Resurrection

is intimate,

reserved only for

those who love Him.

The miracles are not the message.

[PAUSE]

Our Lord is not

hiding His Light 

under a bushel.

If He did,

then we would never 

hear His word.

Even His Father speaks

in a still, small voice.

God needs no megaphone

on a street corner,

just those whom He calls

to preach His Gospel

by living that Gospel

and showing the love

of that Gospel.

We don't need to 

perform miracles

like St Peter or St John,

we just speak the Truth

and, perhaps, something wonderful

will follow.

It is the miracles

that we hide under a bushel,

not the message.

Anglican Catholicism and Women's Ministry

 Is the Anglican Catholic Church really anti-women?

Water, Wine and Incarnation

Sermon for the second Sunday after Epiphany

You do pay attention

in the Mass, 

don't you?

Of course you do.

You notice that 

the priest first puts 

wine in the chalice.

Then he blesses 

the water

before he puts it

in the wine.

Indeed,

the Mass isn't valid

if he forgets

to add the water to the wine.

Why?

[PAUSE]

There are two reasons.

You might think 

about the blood and water

that pours from

the wound in Christ's side.

That is the historical reason.

The link between

the sacrifice of the Crucifixion

and the sacrifice of the Mass.

The Mass is a participation

in the single perfect sacrifice

of the Cross.

Adding water to the wine

makes that participation

real, true and clear.

But there is a spiritual reason too.

And it's to do 

with the water jars at Cana.

[PAUSE]

It seems odd

that we add water to wine

when wine is

mostly water anyway.

But lots of things

on this planet

are mostly water.

Indeed,

it is said that we human beings

are more than 

two-thirds water.

So when we drink water,

it's like the adding

of water to wine.

And this is deliberate.

We see, 

in adding water to wine

the truth that we say

in the Athanasian Creed.

When Jesus becomes Incarnate,

He doesn't convert His Divine Nature

into Human Nature

but takes our Nature into His.

He takes the water 

of our Humanity

into the wine of His Divinity.

Our Human nature

sits in Christ

like the water 

sits in wine.

This is how

the sacrifice of the Mass

brings us into 

communion with God

because we take

the true substance of God

into our selves.

Of course, 

that's a bit like 

adding wine to water.

But this communion

here and now

points to our salvation

in Christ when He performs

the miracle of Cana again,

this time changing

the water of our Humanity

into the wine of His Divinity

within us.

While St Paul may be

thinking of St Timothy's

physical health

when he bids him

take a little wine for his stomach,

he is also pointing us

to the health-giving benefit of wine

as an image of the life-giving benefit

of the Blood of Christ

under the figure of wine.

The Chalice 

contains

not just a taste of salvation

It is the promise

- the New Covenant -

of salvation to Eternity.

This is the same promise

that Our Lord shows

at the wedding in Cana.

He may say to His mother

that His hour has not yet come

but instead

He promises what will happen

at the hour

- the hour of Crucifixion -

by showing us our salvation

in His blood

and the taking up

of our Humanity

into God.

[PAUSE]

When you look into the chalice,

you might catch a glimpse

of your face

reflected on the surface

of the Consecrated Wine.

This is no accident

for you see yourself

looking back at you

from Eternity.

Prayerful substance

 

How should we pray to God?

Renewing from the library

Sermon for the first Sunday after Epiphany

When was the last time

you ever borrowed a book

from the library?

Perhaps you remember

being given a date

by which

you had to return the book.

But what if you hadn't finished it

by that date?

Well, then you'd pop along 

to the library and ask 

to renew it.

Then you'd be given

a new date

by which to return the book.

Your borrowing

of the book has been 

reset.

Is this what St Paul means

when he tells us 

to renew our minds?

[PAUSE]

The idea of renewal

that St Paul is using

is a return to an

uncorrupted state.

We see that our sins

leave a mark on how we think

and how we think 

can lead us into sin.

As far as our thinking goes,

we have a vicious cycle

- quite literally -

sin begets a vice

and vice weakens our mind,

our mind cannot resist temptation

so we sin.

That first sin of Adam

kick starts the whole cycle:

we sin because Adam sinned

and weakened us

to sin further.

The corruption of our mind is clear,

and we cannot truly know

what is good while our minds

are in a fallen state.

But just how do we renew it?

We need to go back to the library.

[PAUSE]

St Paul tells us 

that he speaks through Grace

- God's active presence working in us.

Our first grace of justification

occurs at our Baptism

when we are cleansed from sin

and incorporated

into Holy Church.

This is our first renewal.

But what then?

What about our sin after Baptism?

[PAUSE]

Our Lord sanctifies 

the waters of Baptism

to make them 

not just waters of repentance

but waters of life itself.

When we confess our sins

and repent of them

then the fountain of grace

that pours within us is made clean

and we return to "factory settings".

Renewing our minds

doesn't mean that we reject tradition

and the teaching of Holy Scripture

and the Fathers.

It doesn't mean that we need 

to make new doctrines

for the present age.

To renew 

means to go back,

back to the fountain,

back to the library of Faith, 

back to those whose teaching

we need to refamiliarise

our minds.

We go back,

through the grace of God

given to us in our Baptism

and turn our minds

to Him

actively

wholeheartedly

and uncompromisingly.

The beauty of our Faith

is that God ALWAYS

gives us space to repent

no matter what we have done.

The opportunity to renew

and be renewed is always there 

for us to grasp

in the sacraments

especially the Sacrament of Confession

which is there for our comfort

not our damnation

or judgement.

But we really must

want to be renewed

and take It seriously.

[PAUSE]

One day,

time will run out

when we will be renewed

no longer.

Our borrowed time will be finished

and we must return our books

to the library.

Our Lord, 

however, 

will make all things new in Him

and,

if we choose,

we can accept our final renewal

and enter into that new life

complete, whole and perfect.

And we won't have any fine to pay, either.

Constant Change

The universe has been changing from its very moment of beginning (even Genesis demonstrates that); why should Christian belief be any different?

I am happy to believe the Theory of Evolution. It fits the evidence that I see around me and, having studied dynamical systems during my mathematical studies, I recognise behaviours in cosmology and the natural world that are predicted by these mathematical models. The empirical evidence is compelling but it is not absolutely certain. As Ross Geller says, there may be a teeny tiny possibility that it's wrong. The philosophical possibility that the Universe was created five minutes ago together with memories of aeons is not easily debunked. The opening chapters of Genesis could still be literally true as well as being theologically true.

As I say, I don't require Genesis to be literally true for my faith in God to hold. I believe in the Word of God and the Bible is secondary to that Word, unlike the Q'ran in Islamic thought in which the Word of God is the Q'ran. Genesis is theologically true which means it faithfully describes truth about God, Man and the relationship between them without requiring that truth to be expressed within the confines of scientific enquiry.

The question above was posed on the Thinking Anglicans blog. It's an interesting question in that it seeks to put Christian belief in the same category as scientific development. In the Natural Sciences, the geocentric model of the solar system is replaced with the heliocentric model which is, in turn refined by the Keplerian model before we reach today's understanding of chaotic orbits of planets orbiting a star that is itself dancing around the Milky Way. Everything is in a state of flux.

But is Christian belief something that evolves? Certainly, the Bible charts our understanding of God relationship with Man, how the eternal relates with the ephemeral. That poses a problem: if God created all things, then He created Space and Time. There is no room for His evolution. The begetting of the Son and the procession of the Holy Ghost demonstrate that the Father is the single source of all being but, in that the begetting and procession occur outside Time, this dependency of being on the Father does not diminish the Divinity of Son and Holy Ghost.

What does this mean for poor, temporal humanity? Well, if the Christian Faith is true, then it is Eternally true. The Holy Trinity is the Holy Trinity as much as at the Creation as it is at the Council of Ephesus in AD431 and as it is now and as it is when the Universe grows cold and dark in the ensuing billions of years to come.

The Christian belief is changeless but a Christian's belief grows as he discovers the same truth as Enos, Abram, Solomon, and the saints of God grow in the Faith. Since human beings all share the same nature, the nature of the relationship between Man and God is also eternal even though each one of us has to grow in that relationship. This means that what constitutes sin is eternal because sin is a breach in that relationship. Murder is as sinful now as it was when Cain killed his innocent brother. Adultery has not changed, nor has coveting. This is why they are carried by Christ from the Old Testament into the New.

If Christian belief were to change then what would be the cause of this change? What would have the authority and power to change the belief of St Ignatius to the belief of John Shelby Spong? If they are both right in their time, then what changed? Human understanding of the universe? But our understanding of the universe is always incomplete as Prof Edward Feser ably shows in The Last Superstition. Thus we can never be sure that whether the change in our belief is correct. A true change in belief must come from God, but this would render God subject to time.

While the laws of physics require refinement and correction, the underlying mathematics does not. 1+1=2 eternally. HyperKähler manifolds only admit a tri-simplectic reduction by a Lie group if they are not compact eternally. But then, it's not the laws of physics that change but our understanding of them. That Mars goes into retrograde motion across the sky is a brute fact but has different explanations depending on whether you are Ptolemy or Copernicus. The Holy Trinity is a brute fact whether you are Samuel, St Peter or St Gregory Nazianzen.

Could, then, our Faith evolve so that Christians are required to believe in a Holy Quaternity? God could, conceivably, be experienced in more persons than three. This, however, defies what has been revealed. If God reveals that He is the Trinity to Eric but a Quaternity to George this raises difficult questions. Are Eric and George believing in the same God? Why does George warrant knowing the extra Divine person and not Eric? How can Christ build a Church on a rock that shifts like sand, contradicting His own parable. How can Christ commission His disciples to baptise in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost if there is also a Person X as well but does not share the Name?

The fact is that the Trinity has always been part of the Divine self-revelation from Genesis i to Revelation xxii, from Tertullian to St John Damascene. The truth has always been there to see. The Bible is inerrant in its theological truth but requires the Church Fathers to compile and gather that truth according to the tradition that they learned from their teachers all the way back to the apostles. This truth is eternal and this is why Christian belief stands outside the category of things that evolve. It is why sin is sin no matter what time period you are from and why the Church possesses an essential unity across the human epoch of this planet.

I have often found that people ask the question in order to justify their practices which run contrary to the teaching of the Church. "Times change and so must the Church. We cannot hold the same terrible beliefs of the first Christians!" As I say, the onus on these folk is to show why the Church has always got it wrong or what has the power, authority and motive to make that change happen. I often find that their answer to this question is, at best, unconvincing.

Feasting Faithfully

 

Why happiness is neither pagan nor sinful.