Late in 1941
three things came together: the new Mustang, the newly constructed Rainbow
Bridge at Niagara Falls, and a young fly-boy named Nelson Purdue. The Mustang was a small fighter plane that
out performed the Spitfire and was destined to take a major role in the
war. The Rainbow Bridge had some strong
romantic connections as the replacement for the Honeymoon Bridge, which
collapsed due to an ice jam in the Niagara River. The new bridge had a
marvelous view of Horseshoe Falls. Put
those two tempting items together with the newly engaged Nelson Purdue and a
sunny day in the fall of 1941 and you have the stuff of family legends. The tragedy is that Nelson was lost somewhere
over Germany later in the war, leaving only the sparse legend surrounding his
name. My aunt, who died several years ago, lost the most, and the event colored
her life for some time to follow. The
rest of the family barely knew him. I
never met him. Now sixty-five years
later I know only the brief legend which was always told with joyful
admiration, “Nelson flew under the Rainbow Bridge!”
What comes to
mind is the admonition of a 8th Century Saint, John of Damaskos,
“All human affairs, all that does not exist after death is vanity. Riches vanish, glory leaves us… every man
born of the earth troubles himself in vain… by the time we have gained the
whole word we shall be in the grave, where king and pauper are one.”[1]
What is truly
important? What is it that exists after
death? Certainly if God is our one true
Love, all other loves and relationships will exist in him. Here I want to raise a very important
question for those of us in The Episcopal Church today. Sixty-five years from now what will remain of
the conflicts, vested interests, and personalities of the crisis within the
church today? The simple answer is not
much!
In 1771 conflict
arouse in the Church of England. 250
clergy who were deeply affected by the spread of Unitarianism submitted a
petition to parliament. British Statesman
Edmund Burke responded: "These gentlemen
complain of hardships: let us examine a little what that hardship is. They want
to be honored as clergymen of the Church of England … but their consciences
will not allow them to conform to the doctrines and practices of that Church.
That is, they want to be teachers in a Church to which they apparently no
longer belong; and that is an odd sort of hardship. They want to be paid for
teaching one set of doctrines, while they are teaching another."[2] Today’s conflict is only a variant of an
ongoing debate between the orthodox and those who, like the second century
heretic Marcion, refused the authority of Scripture and the Church wherever
either disagreed with him.
Marcion we know because the theologian Tertullian named him, but who are
the 250 clergy who petitioned Parliament in 1771? Their names are lost to posterity and they
are only an obscure footnote in the history of the Church. At least my family remembers that it was
Nelson Purdue who flew under the Rainbow Bridge. Karl Barth said something to the effect that
it is one of God’s miracles that the Church still exists. For twenty centuries, battered and bruised,
the Church, the Bride of Christ rises from the ashes of conflict and opens the
door to Salvation, Jesus Christ our Lord.
From the perspective of history, there is nothing novel, or particularly
earth shaking in the current attempts to deny the authority of Scripture in
faith and practice. Roseanne
Roseannadanna was right, “it just goes to show you,
it's always something! If it's not one thing, it's another!” Of course it is. St. Paul clearly warns us, “Pay careful
attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made
you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own
blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not
sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking
twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.”[3] So what’s new?
Conflict within
the Anglican Church is like waves crashing against the beach. No matter how many times they come in, they
always recede again. In the meantime,
what are we to do? First, and it ought
to be obvious, don’t build your house on the sand. Build your house on the rock! This is precisely where Jesus presents a
stiff challenge to today’s Church. What
is the rock? The One whom we call the
Rock says, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them
will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”[4] The rock, very simply is the self-revelation
of God in Holy Scripture itself.
By
definition, “In the name of Holy Scripture we do understand those canonical
Books of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority was never any doubt in
the Church.”[5] The poet John Donne said it very nicely, “The
Scriptures are God’s Voice. The Church
is His Echo.”[6] I am well aware that not everybody wants that
to be the solution for the painful stresses within the Church today, but I’m
afraid that it is, and I don’t see away around the rock except by walking on
the sand. Stability in times of distress
is a matter of basic principles firmly held.
I have always enjoyed the seashore, but for some reasons which should be
obvious, I wouldn’t insist on building my house on the sand.
The second thing
we are to do is follow the advice of Jesus who said “Fear not!”[7]
and “Love one another!”[8] Instead of worrying over things that are out
of your control, put your trust in Him who is our steadfast love[9]
and do the amazing thing he told you to do, and “love one another.” That’s a whole lot better than pushing and
shoving and saying uncharitable things.
The third thing
we are supposed to do you already know.
Jesus said, “"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given
to me. 19 Go therefore and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all
that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the
age."[10] He didn’t mean for you to do it only on mild
sunny days, but in all kinds of weather, even when it’s stormy. The secret of Church Growth is this: Go and
make disciples! That is as simple as
inviting people to Church. How do I
know? Because that is the way most of us
came to faith in the first place, somebody invited us.
[1] John of Damaskos, quoted by St. Peter of Damaskos in “The Fifth
Stage of Contemplation” in the Philokalia, Vol.3
[2] Alfred
Plummer, The Church of England in the Eighteenth Century, (London:
Methuen, 1910), edited in contemporary English, Rob
Smith 2006, p. 168
[3] Acts 20:28-31 ESV
[4] Matthew 7:24
[5] The Articles of Religion, BCP, p. 868
[6] John Donne, Sermons VI. 5-7
[7] Many places in the gospels, but for a helpful verse look up Psalm
64:1b
[8] John 15:12 etc.
[9] Psalm 144:2
[10] Matthew 28:18-20
