You Believe What?!

So what's with angels anyway?

Recently a friend who serves as a missionary in a mountainous region of Asia Minor recounted the story of a teammate who had to make a treacherous crossing from the remote village area where she was serving back to the capital city in order to catch a flight. The road was closed due to repeated avalanches and mudslides and no vehicles could get through. So she took a vehicle as far as possible on the road and then crossed the obstructed area of road (several miles) by foot until she could catch another ride in a vehicle waiting at the other end of the closed off section. This missionary reported that it was harrowing crossing through an area where the cliffs around her had so recently given way and where they could have again at any given moment. But, she reports that she had a sense the entire time of God's holy angels holding back the very rocks and debris and protecting her on her journey.

This got me thinking, in the contemporary West we do not think much about the angels of God. In fact, sadly when most Americans think of angels the image is usually something like this:

Can you envision these two holding back a landslide for you? Neither can I. The fact of the matter is that angels as they are presented in the Scriptures are generally arrayed as warriors and they inspire awe, fear-hinging-on-dread, and even at times the temptation to worship. The angels of God are ministering spirits and protecting warriors. Traditionally they are depicted more classically like this:

I love this particular depiction with its inscription of promise from Psalm 91. Angels are very real, very present though unseen. And so we can ask Almighty God for the protection and ministry of them. Thus I close with the following prayer from St. Augustine's Prayer Book (An "Anglo-Catholic" devotional supplement):

"O Lord our God, who orderest all things in Heaven and earth; we beseech thee, look upon us, toiling in this sinful world, and mercifully vouchsafe to refresh us by the protection and ministry of thy Holy Angels. Through Christ our Lord. Amen."

Why Do You Do That?!

Auricular Confession Part 2

Well, it has taken me longer to get back to it than I wanted. But as promised here is the text of the Office of Reconciliation that the American prayer book offers as a form for organizing auricular confession. Note first of all the directions given at the outset:

The ministry of reconciliation, which has been committed by Christ to his

Church, is exercised through the care each Christian has for others,

through the common prayer of Christians assembled for public worship,

and through the priesthood of the Church and its ministers declaring

absolution.

The Reconciliation of a Penitent is available for all who desire it. It is not

restricted to times of sickness. Confessions may be heard anytime and

anywhere...

When a confession is heard in a church building, the confessor may sit

inside the altar rails or in a place set aside to give greater privacy, and the

penitent kneels nearby. If preferred, the confessor and penitent may sit

face to face for a spiritual conference leading to absolution or a

declaration of forgiveness.

When the penitent has confessed all serious sins troubling the conscience

and has given evidence of due contrition, the priest gives such counsel

and encouragement as are needed and pronounces absolution. Before

giving absolution, the priest may assign to the penitent a psalm, prayer,

or hymn to be said, or something to be done, as a sign of penitence and

act of thanksgiving.

The content of a confession is not normally a matter of subsequent

discussion. The secrecy of a confession is morally absolute for the

confessor, and must under no circumstances be broken.

The Office itself begins like this,

The Penitent begins

Bless me, for I have sinned.

The Priest says

The Lord be in your heart and upon your lips that you may

truly and humbly confess your sins: In the Name of the

Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Penitent

I confess to Almighty God, to his Church, and to you, that

I have sinned by my own fault in thought, word, and deed, in

things done and left undone; especially__________. For these

and all other sins which I cannot now remember, I am truly

sorry. I pray God to have mercy on me. I firmly intend

amendment of life, and I humbly beg forgiveness of God and

his Church, and ask you for counsel, direction, and absolution.

Here the Priest may offer counsel, direction, and comfort.

The Priest then pronounces this absolution

Our Lord Jesus Christ, who has left power to his Church to

absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe in him, of

his great mercy forgive you all your offenses; and by his

authority committed to me, I absolve you from all your sins:

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy

Spirit. Amen.

The Priest adds

The Lord has put away all your sins.

Penitent

Thanks be to God.

The Priest concludes

Go (or abide) in peace, and pray for me, a sinner.

It is truly such a beautiful meeting on Holy Ground to enter more deeply into the mercy and grace of God.

Why Do you Do That?!

Auricular Confession, Part 1

As Anglicans we seek to cultivate a culture of confession. A General Confession is traditionally a part of all Anglican public prayer from Morning or Evening Prayer, to the Eucharist to Compline. But one blessing that few avail themselves to in our tradition is the option of auricular (or private or "sacramental") confession. I have offered this form of private confession throughout my ministry but it has not been until this Lent that a number of people have been taking me up on it. And I am motivated to write on it largely because of the power and the fruit I have seen in such a context.

Private Confession (for ease of the conversation, lets just call it "confession" from here on out and you'll know what I mean) takes pastoral care to a whole new level. Repentance is the basis of Christian healing and so the power of unburdening and hearing a personal word of direction, penance and absolution brings that healing on a level that I simply have not seen anywhere else in my ministry (or really in my life within the Christian Church). It is simply a shame that after the Reformation much of the Christian West did away with the practice.

In Anglicanism too for the first 400 years of our history Confession was a lost practice. Perhaps owing to the abuses of Late Medieval Catholicism (and its strong association with penances and indulgences etc.) it was informally rejected in favor of the forms of corporate general confession which, as I have noted, the Reformers made a part of every public service. But in the late 1800's as a part of the Anglo-Catholic revival which brought many of the more "High Church" practices and paraphernalia back into the life of the Anglican Church auricular confession was brought back by an obscure few.

This was not initially met with enthusiasm on the part of the broader Anglican Communion. Many saw it as crossing a line and diverging from the Anglican tradition and returning to Rome. But the champions of the practice appealed to the pastoral sensibilities that have always been innate to the Anglican churches. Even within the 1662 Book of Common Prayer (the theological standard of Anglican liturgies) there is a pastoral provision that when a minister visits the sick the sick person may make a special confession of his sins if, "he feel his conscience troubled with a weighty matter. After which confession, the priest shall absolve him." The proponents argued that the sense of auricular confession is plain, though the form (with the exception of the absolution) is not prescribed. There is nothing ungodly about a form or Office for making particular confession they argued. And so the practice began to make its way into the consciousness of the Anglican Church. Before long, the practice spread from pastoral application exclusive to the sick to all of the "sin sick" who are in need.

As a result, in several of the "modern" prayer books a form for confession is included. Still, true to our ethos of "reformed-catholicity" confession is offered as a pastoral option, never a mandate. In Anglicanism the aphorism goes "all may, none must, some should." As I said at the outset, based on my personal and pastoral experience probably more of us are among the some that should than what actually do.

So what exactly does confession involve? Well, the first thing is to make an examination of conscience. That is, to take a time of personal prayer, silently and uninterrupted to ask the Holy Spirit what things you need to bring to the priest and confess. Of course, some who come don't have to take more than 10 seconds to think on this one. Some are haunted by the memory of a word or action or a pattern of thought that they want to cast far from themselves. But others, especially those who decide to take on confession as a disciplined part of the maturation in the Lord will need to take the time to pray and ask for Divine illumination of those subtle sins that we have given into without even thinking twice about it.

The second step is to make an appointment with the priest. Some priests (like myself) make particular times available for confession especially in penitential seasons such as Lent or even Advent. Others may be "by appointment only." In either case most Anglican churches do not have the traditional Roman style "confessional booths". The priest may meet with the penitent in the sanctuary, both facing the altar or in some other designated place. Typically, to ease the mind and nerves of the penitent the priest faces away from him or her and both priest and penitent orient themselves toward a cross or some other symbol of the faith. The priest will don the purple stole, a symbol of his God-given authority to absolve penitents (purple being the color associated with repentance).

Anything that is said within the confessional stays within the confessional. Priests are held to the absolute strictest standards of confidentiality when it comes to confession. The Church of England's canons state, "if any man confess his secret and hidden sins to the minister, for the unburdening of his conscience, and to receive spiritual consolation and ease of mind from him; we...do straitly charge and admonish him, that he does not at any time reveal and make known to any person whatsoever any crime or offence so committed to his trust and secrecy." I have known more than one priest (self included) that would rather face the legal charge of obstructing justice than face the judgement of God for transgressing the sacred nature of confession. I always tell penitents when they come to me that after I pronounce absolution I will never again bring up whatever we have talked about. If they wish to pursue counsel on how to make life-changes or restitution I am happy to talk to them but I will never pursue it. The confessional is between the penitent and God with the priest as spokesman and witness and when we confess our sins they are truly put away from us as far as the east is from the west. I personally pray that when I remove my stole and leave the confessional that I will be stricken with holy amnesia and actually forget everything that occurred there. Most times that works. But I believe it is the holiness, the set apartness of that time and space and the confidence in the complete confidentiality of the act that encourages penitents to share and receive pastoral care on this deeper level that just grabbing a cup of coffee with your priest doesn't get you.

Well, I guess this is what I get for not posting for so long. This has become quite the lengthy missive. In Part 2 I will actually post the liturgy for the Office of the Reconciliation of a Penitent as well as talk a little bit about Penance as it is understood in contemporary Anglicanism.

You Believe What?!

All Saints Day

It has come to my attention that many believers who are new to the liturgical traditions of the Church may be unfamiliar with the Feast of All Saints. The tradition of commemorating those who have gone before us extends back to the very early days of the Christian Church. By the early 200’s evidence suggests that it was already common for local churches to celebrate and remember the martyrdoms of their various members, lauding them as examples of following Christ even unto death. It was not long however before there were indeed so many martyrs throughout the universal Church that remembering each separately became impractical (remember that Christianity was illegal for most of the first 400 or so years of the Church’s history), thus the Church began to condense its commemorations. By the early 700’s it would appear that November 1 was selected as a day to remember the examples of all those who have gone before.

In 807 Gregory IV extended the celebration from strictly the example of martyrs to celebrating the example of all the saints that have entered ahead of us into rest and glory. This was indeed fitting since the word that we translate as saints, hagioi, simply means holy or set apart ones. The New Testament applies this word to all of the faithful in Christ. Therefore it is appropriate to celebrate on this day not only those historically significant exemplars of the faith but ALL the saints, the holy ones in Christ who have entered into eternal joy.

The Feast of All Saints is a feast of the Resurrection. Thus the church is decorated in white and gold and baptisms are traditionally performed. As St. Paul notes in 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.” At Easter we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, the ‘firstfruits’. On All Saints we celebrate the fact that in Christ we all shall be raised to Life because we belong to Him.

The Church affirms in her ancient Creeds that we believe in the “communion of saints, the resurrection of the dead and the life everlasting.” In the book of Revelation chapter 7 the Apostle John, peering beyond the veil that separates Heaven and Earth, sees a great host of white robed saints from every people group on earth worshipping before the Throne of God. Likewise the author of the book of Hebrews tells us that we are “surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses” who are cheering us on in the race as we carry the baton of faith in our own day. Together, these texts affirm that while the souls of those who have died are awaiting their bodily resurrection upon Christ’s return, they have not ceased to exist but are still very much alive in the Lord, worshipping in His Divine Presence. Hebrews also suggests that they are apparently well aware of the trials and challenges of those of us who are following Christ here upon the earth and are therefore cheering us on. Thus we affirm in one of the prayers from the Burial Rite in the Book of Common Prayer, “For to your faithful people, O Lord, life is changed, not ended; and when our mortal body lies in death, there is prepared for us a dwelling place eternal in the heavens”

So also we pray on All Saints Day, “Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.”

This Collect (prayer) for the day perfectly sums up all that we have said. All Saints Day is a celebration of the life beyond the grave that is ours in Christ. As we celebrate we affirm that all those faithful who have died in the Lord are with Him awaiting the consummation of all things at the coming of His Kingdom. It is also a day to recognize, remember and celebrate the example in Christ that these have set for us. With those thoughts in our hearts and minds it is my prayer that we can all enter into the Feast together as we affirm, “O God, in the multitude of your saints you have surrounded us with a great cloud of witnesses, that we might rejoice in their fellowship, and run with endurance the race that is set before us; and, together with them, receive the crown of glory that never fades away.”

Sorry for the Silence

October has been a busy month here in Fort Collins. I apologize that I have not gotten anything up all month. Look for a new post shortly.

SPH+

Why Do you Do That?!

What is Confirmation anyway?

Last week we kicked off the Angli-whaat?! class at Christ Our Hope, the overview of Anglicanism that I teach every year which was the starting point for this blog. The class also serves as the only Confirmation/Reception class that we offer at Christ Our Hope. So while the class is open to anyone, those seeking Confirmation are required to attend.

Well, last week a very important question arose before I got into any of my prepared material. What is Confirmation anyway? So here is a brief posting on the foundation and practice of Confirmation. I will talk about Confirmation in three senses.

First and foremost Confirmation arose out of a pastoral need. As you likely know, in Anglicanism we baptize infants and young children of believing parents. But just because one was baptized as a child does not mean that as they grow and mature they will continue to walk in the faith. We all know plenty of "lapsed" or "backsliding" Christians. So, speaking into this need the Church in Her wisdom developed this service as an opportunity for those who were baptized at an early age to confirm their faith by making a mature profession of it. Thus the first act of Confirmation is an examination by the bishop who asks, "Do you reaffirm your renunciation of evil? Do you renew your commitment to Jesus Christ?" In this way the candidate is able to confirm their faith in the Lord Jesus.

But there is a second sense to confirmation which comes with the laying on of hands by the bishop. It is a Confirmation of the Spirit's Power and Presence. We know of course that all those who are baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. But we also know that the Spirit grants gifts and riches that take a lifetime to receive and learn. We are, all of us commanded to be baptized (the Greek, baptizo meaning to be immersed) with the Spirit. Confirmation is just another opportunity for the bishop as a minister of Christ to pray that the flame of the Spirit would be kindled and rise up in the heart, life and ministry of the individual who is being confirmed. It is a confirmation and a calling forth of the Spirit's Power.

And finally, along with this Spirit-kindling comes an empowering and a commissioning of the individual as a member and therefore a minister of the Body of Christ. All of us are ministers. All who have the Spirit have received gifts that need to be shared with the Body and with the World. So Confirmation in this third sense means the bishop is confirming the candidate as a qualified minister of Christ's Gospel.

So there you go. Confirmation in three senses. It was a good question. Are there any others?

You Believe What?!

Who Gave You the Right?!

I was at a dinner party last night when the topic of authority came up. One of my friends was arguing that they do not accept or receive any authority accept for Christ and the Bible. This is of course not a new line of argument. It has been present in the Church since the time of the Reformation. But the problem with that line of thinking is that frankly, it's not true. We may have trouble, in our fallen sinful nature accepting authority, but we all do follow authority to one degree or another. The only question then is WHICH authorities do we receive and follow.

Allow me an example. I would venture to guess that when all of us come to a stop light we stop. The laws of the land and the rules of good driving dictate that we must stop at a red light. Without that law, and without general adherence to it there would be far more motor accidents than there already are. We accept the authority of the government and society at large to dictate certain things to us. We do not drive however we feel (or at least we shouldn't if we value life and limb). To disregard all authority is anarchy and there are very few if any who have ever been able to live consistently as true anarchists.

But to keep going with my driving example, there are plenty of us who choose to fudge on the speed limit. I am fairly certain I am not the only one who has ever heard someone invoke the "five over rule" (ie I can get away with speeding a bit, and I won't get pulled over if I'm just going 5 over or so). We know the authorities have set the speed limit, but this is an authority that many believe is somehow negotiable. But even here, while some do choose to speed excessively (and if you have ever driven on I-25 you know this is so), most adhere to some semblance of the speed limit.

So the question I come to is this, why do most citizens adhere to traffic laws and speed limits? Because we have a sense that they have been set in such a way for the common good; for our good. So again, the question is not whether or not we can accept authority but which authority we are willing to accept.

In the case of the Christian Church I would humbly submit that we are called to adhere to certain godly authority. And furthermore, most Christians have throughout the centuries, and all Christians should submit to such godly authority on the same grounds as our submission to the speed limits; because such authority is granted for our own good and that of the community. Anarchy is hard to live out in society - it is impossible to live out in the community of Christ.

In his final instructions to the Church the Author of the Letter to the Hebrews says this, "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you." (Hebrews 13:17) There is a clear teaching here. Leaders are submitted to Christ, the Church must submit to those in godly leadership. And here is the connection with my earlier examples; when both sides of that equation are working properly it is to our benefit.

The Anglican Reformers understood this need to retain some semblance of godly authority within the Church. They did not embrace the ethos of "me, my Bible and the Holy Spirit," that eventually came out of other Protestant traditions. Hear again what the Anglican 39 Articles of Religion have to say on the matter.

The Church hath power to decree Rites or Ceremonies, and authority in Controversies of Faith: and yet it is not lawful for the Church to ordain any thing that is contrary to God’s Word written, neither may it so expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to another. Wherefore, although the Church be a witness and a keeper of Holy Writ, yet, as it ought not to decree any thing against the same, so besides the same ought it not to enforce any thing to be believed for necessity of Salvation.

Do you see the beauty and balance that reflects the Hebrew's admonition here? The Church has been granted God given authority. There are decisions to be made about how we organize ourselves, how we worship and how we clarify what it means to understand the Scriptures rightly and apply them in our own day. Yet the authorities of the Church are under Authority themselves, they are accountable, expressed here in the Article as an accountability to only teach what is in accord with Scripture and to enforce only that which is taught there plainly.

Authority is a good thing. It is necessary and it is God given. We all live our lives in submission to some authorities. The question is which ones. The answer for the Christian is fairly simple.

Romans 13:1-2 "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. "

"Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you." (Hebrews 13:17)