Readings
for Easter 7/B:
Acts 1:15-26; 1Jn. 5:9-15; Jn. 17:11-19
May 28, 2006
The Rev. Karen Siegfriedt
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino,
CA
Times change and so do people. So how does an institution remain faithful to its original vision and spirit in the context of a changing environment? The New Testament is a record of the early Church’s attempt to remain faithful to the original witness of Jesus. What I would like to talk about today is the threefold approach to understanding God’s vision and purpose for our lives: Scripture, Tradition, and Reason. These are the means whereby Episcopalians hold onto Jesus’ original vision and spirit.
In 1973, I began my studies in chemistry at the University of Massachusetts. For Christmas that year, I received an HP handheld calculator that was able to perform 4 arithmetic functions: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. It cost $120, a very expensive gift indeed! But it was gift that allowed me to get rid of my slide-rule and breeze through the many statistical analyses that were required in my studies. Since that time, I have purchased many products from Hewlett-Packard Corporation, including a personal computer, an infrared spectrometer, and an atomic-absorption spectrophotometer. I have no idea what kind of chemical instrumentation HP sells today, but I do know that they have lost their original core ideology of management.
The original Silicon Valley pioneers, Hewlett and Packard, used their Stanford degrees to turn their garage-based business into one of the largest computer manufacturing companies in the world. The company grew in leaps and bounds as its founders articulated a management philosophy known as “the HP Way.” It was a concept of Management by Walking Around. The aim was to seek out people’s thoughts and opinions, thus building up mutual trust and understanding. As the founders retired, the computer industry became very competitive. Profit margins were small and the slightest extra costs had profound consequences. Over time, in the face of this very challenging economic environment, the HP management philosophy began to change to a top-down style of management. This has caused great pain for many long-time employees who do not believe that HP will ever regain it original spirit and core ideology.
Today’s reading from the Book of Acts hints at the challenges that face an organization once the founder has gone. Here is the context. Jesus has ascended into heaven. This means that his physical presence is no longer experienced by his disciples. He is no longer around to advise, encourage, and teach his followers. The eleven apostles who remain want to raise up another colleague in order to help them carry out the ministry of spreading the good news in Christ. However, they only want to choose someone who knew Jesus personally and intimately and who will witness to his resurrection. (No Jesus Seminar folks for them!)
Unlike HP Corporation who lost sight of its original vision of management, these early apostles did not want to lose site of Jesus’ original vision and spirit. So they use the best methods of discernment known to them in order to raise up new leadership. In the context of taking the Scriptures seriously (Acts1: 16,20), raising up candidates who could give personal testimony (Acts 1:21-23), and in the midst of corporate prayer (Acts 1:24-25), the Apostles elect Matthias to replace Judas. They cast lots (i.e. the longest straw), which was a traditional and widespread practice for disclosing God’s will. And while we would probably not use this traditional method for electing our new bishop (although it couldn’t be any worse than what we have tried in the past), we could certainly follow their example of using Scripture and prayer to remind us of raising up leadership within the Church.
Throughout history, the Christian Church has struggled to hold onto Jesus’ original vision and spirit. There have been times when it has failed miserably and the world is worse off because of this. In recent years, the prosperity gospel has found its way into some Christian communities. This theology of prosperity is the belief that God wants us to be rich and comfortable and that if we pray hard enough and if we remain good boys and girls, then the riches of the world will come our way. Another theology that is becoming more popular in our conservative political climate is “domination or reconstruction” theology. This is based on the premise that America is God’s choicest nation and that we must purify America so that we can rule the world. War is a helpful tool to accelerate God’s plan, which is the destruction of non-Christians. Sometimes we must use the American military to help us actualize God’s plan. Those members of Congress (and their constituents) who are committed to this theology continue to put forth the Constitution Restoration Act, which limits the power of the Supreme Court in matters of religious hegemony.
Times have changed, life appears more complex and challenging, and the world continues to be hostile to the Christian message of compassion, forgiveness, human dignity, peace, and self-sacrifice. This hostile world has convinced many Christians that more, bigger, better, and faster will ultimately make us happier. And so we frantically work harder and play harder, seeking those things in this world that fall short of Kingdom of God. As we lose sight of Jesus’ spirit, as we distance and revision his original vision, we find that our souls are aching, our minds are depressed, and our neighbors are suffering. What are we to do?
The Episcopal Church has a threefold method of discerning God’s will for us as we move into the 21st century. It includes Scripture, tradition, and reason. It is the way we hold onto Jesus’ original vision and spirit in the context of a changing world. Let me review with you this approach to understanding the demands of the Kingdom of God.
1. Scripture contains the Word of God for the people of God. “In Scripture, God has uttered for us not the last word but the first; a Word designed to set us off on a pilgrimage, in pursuit of that life that God has willed for us to have.” [W. Countryman] While Episcopalians believe that Scripture is historically conditioned, written by human authors, and from a human context, we also believe that it is divinely inspired and contains some of the earliest witnesses of people’s experience of God and Jesus. So acquiring a working knowledge of the Bible is vital in preventing revisionist theologies from exploiting Jesus’ original vision for humankind. If we read the Bible through the lens of love and if we interpret the text through the power of the Holy Spirit who leads us into all truth, then we will come to know God’s will for us and creation. Episcopalians in recent times have been remiss on studying the Bible and thus are unable to successfully challenge exploitive theologies from the religious right.
2. The tradition of the Church includes all of the wisdom, practices, polity, and theology that have developed over the last 2000 years of Christianity. This tradition also includes the spiritual disciplines of meditation, prayer, solitude, fasting, study, simplicity, submission, service, confession, worship, guidance, and celebration. By practicing these traditions, we are positioning our sails (i.e. our lives) so that God’s grace and spirit can move us forward in the direction of love.
3. Reason is using our critical faculties to interpret the Scriptures in order to know God more fully and to become more faithful. However, reason can become corrupt in the human being if it is not seeped in prayer. That is why prayer is vital in the life of a faithful Christian. “Prayer is responding to God by thought and deeds, with or without words.” [BCP 856] All of today’s readings carry the theme of prayer. Corporate prayer was at the core of the discernment process for new leadership in the Book of Acts. Intercessory prayer was elaborated in the gospel, when Jesus prayed to God that his disciples might be protected in this hostile world. The first Epistle of John speaks about the theology of prayer: that if we ask anything according to God’s will as revealed in Christ, it will be heard.
There is a lot of confusion about the nature and efficacy of prayer among many Episcopalians. So I want to conclude my sermon with some insights on prayer. First of all, God is not a Santa Claus up in the sky waiting to be convinced to move the strings according to our demands. However, we all are interconnected to each other and to God. We can’t even observe an atom without changing its behavior. If we project anger and hatred outward, it can be very harmful and deeply affect the well being of others. On the other hand, when we project love and open ourselves up to God’s truth, incredible things can happen. And while we cannot control the outcome of our prayer, we can respond to life with gratitude, praise, adoration, and concern for others. When we have caused pain and suffering, we can confess our sins and make restitution. This is called the prayer of penitence. We can offer ourselves, our lives, and labors for the purposes of God. This is called the prayer of oblation. And we can bring the needs of others and ourselves before God so that God’s will be done. This is called intercessory and petitionary prayer. Prayer does not so much change God’s mind but it can change our mind. So pray without ceasing that you may continue to embrace the original vision and spirit that Jesus laid out for his disciples.
| Updated 5/20/06 |
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