Christian Unity

Again, this is an "old" sermon -- but I have been having a series of injections into my knee - they seem to be working very well. however.  Think about what it is that we are "in-parished" to do.  Then read this sermon.  Please remember that history and theology are inseparable.  Either without the other will lead -- surely indeed -- in a wrong direction.  This was written in 1998. Comments are always welcomed.  Perren

                              Epiphany 2, Octave of Unity

It is too slight a task for you, as my servant, to restore the tribes of

Jacob, to bring back the survivors of Israel: I shall appoint you a light

to the nations, so that my salvation may reach earth's farthest

bounds.  Isaiah 49:6b

Tomorrow is the Feast of the Confession of St.  Peter, and the

week after that will be the Conversion of St.  Paul.  That

means that Annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins

tomorrow; and so today is my annual sermon on Christian Unity.

An important part of my personal prayer life since I was in High

School has been for the reunion of Christians; and especially during

this specific week, which is now about 100 years old.  If you are not

aware of it, it is the Episcopal Church   in this country   the began

the modern ecumenical movement for Christian Unity.  Its specific

origin is the Chicago Quadrilateral passed by the General Convention

in 1886, and, slightly modified, adopted by the First Lambeth

Conference of Anglican Bishops in 1888.  The American Bishops

wrote: "We do hereby affirm that the Christian unity . . . can be

restored only by the return of all Christian Communions to the

principles of unity exemplified by the undivided Catholic Church

during the first ages of its existence; which principles . . .[are]

incapable of compromise or surrender . . . and [are] essential to the

restoration of unity . . . we count the following: 1.The Holy

Scriptures; 2. The Nicene Creed; 3.  The two Sacraments   Baptism

and the Supper of the Lord; 4.  The Historic Episcopate."  The full

text is in the Book of Common Prayer on page 876,7.  

This  week of prayer grew out of this declaration; and, since the

1890's we have been speaking with the Roman Catholics and the

Orthodox Churches.  We have entered into a common relationship

with the Polish National Catholic Church, the Old Catholic Church,

and a few other very small  independent Catholic Churches.   The

last General Convention, using carefully parsed definitions of key

words, adopted a resolution that would have allowed us to enter into

a long term relationship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in

America, during which time, we would be supplying them with

Apostolic Orders.  After 30 years, it would be presumed that all

Lutherans would then be ordained by Bishops whom we recognize as

Bishops of Apostolic Succession.  The Lutherans refused to

participate with us, although they did open lines with some of the

other Protestant Churches..  Thus although we have been successful

in unity movements with Catholics, our first attempt to work also

with Protestants failed   but not because of us!

It might be noted that the changes the Episcopal Church has been

making in Baptism since the 1898 Book of Common Prayer have been

part of our fulfilling of our desire for unity.  The directions of the

General Convention to the Prayer Book Revision Committee as it

made ready the current (1979) Book of Common Prayer are also part

of our work toward unity.  The Committee was directed to go back to

the earliest forms and concepts, forms that existed before disunity

began to appear in the Church.  The Committee succeeded.

For us to understand fully about Christian Unity and our part in it, 

we need to note that the reformation in England, by and large, was

not a matter of religion.  What that means is that what Archbishop

Laud laid down his life for, the certainty that the Church of England

was the exact continuation of the medieval Church, and not a new

creation of the 16th century.  The Reformation and the Churches it

created still suffer from the same set of Medieval issues that set it off

in the first place.  The Reformation Churches   including the modern

Roman Catholic Church   still have the same non-Biblical theology

that infected the Medieval Church: 1. You earn your way into the

Kingdom of God; and, 2.  The Church is an association of individuals.

As long as Christians live and act on these two items, there will never

be Christian Unity, either on the national level or even in local

parishes such as our own.  It was Luther who taught that It is Faith

that makes God accept you, for it is by Faith that you are saved.  Even

the modern Roman Catholic Church adopted that idea.  What this

does is to make us think that we are individually members of the

Church, and further, that it is our faith that makes us members of the

Church.  We then act individually, and privately; we pray alone and

ignore the corporate worship of the Church.  This makes the Church as

the Family of God a fiction that does not exist.  Individualism in its

worst form becomes rampant; and further, we   because we are alone

before God   have no sense of vocation.  Our task is to maintain

ourselves "right" before God.  My friends, Biblical Study and the

history of the early Church, will not allow us to live this way.

Faith is not the cause of our relationship with God: the Cause of our

relationship with God is the Faithful love of God.  Faith is the badge,

the sign, that God gives us to tell us that he has brought us into his

very life in the new family of Christ.  And to that family, which is

found in the Body of Christ the Servant, God gives a vocation, a

burning vocation:  I shall appoint you a light to the nations, so that

my salvation may reach earth's farthest bounds.  Anything less than

that, however nice it may be, is not Christian life.  And if I sound

tough about this, I am.  The Gospel will bring good news and good

relationships in all the world: of Jesus did not rise from the dead.  We

are here because we believe that he did rise from the dead.  No matter

what we may have been taught in the past, it is incomplete  if it does

not bring us to corporate worship not only on Sundays, but also on

such others days as we will make the effort to accept the vocation

God has given to us.  While in the context of the failing Christianity

that has existed since the Reformation it sounds good when it is said

that this little parish has Dail Morning Prayer and Daily Eucharist,

this should not be surprising.  This   like the tithe in pledging   is not

a goal to be attained: it is a point for the beginning of real work.

If you believe the things you promised last week when you renewed

your Baptismal Promises, then praying alone in your room by your self

will not be enough; just as coming here to participate in the corporate

worship of the Church is not enough.  The Gospel expects both, not

either.  And there is no one in this room who cannot do something

positive for Christian unity.  But it will not be in pledges, it will not

be in giving money, it will not in "good works", it will not be in study,

it will not be in prayers or worship:  it certainly will not be in concern

with the petty details of parish administration.

If you believe in Christian Unity   and you shouldn't be here if you

don't   then you will immediately start doing things that will help this

parish become a beacon of light for the Gentiles.  You will go and

bring people to worship who cannot make it on their own; you will fill

this Church with the people who claim they belong here, but do not

come. 

We spent much of last years trying to get this parish established on a

framework that will allow it to work for the Gospel.  This year we

need to establish the principle that Worship is the most important

thing a Christian does: that without regular -- week by week --

worship, there is no hope for the success of the Gospel.  What else

you may do, how much money you give, how many hours of volunteer

service here or somewhere else in the name of the parish, how much

study you do: if you do not worship God, all the rest is worthless and

destructive of the mission you have accepted by your Baptismal

Promises.

My brothers and sisters, I beg you to pray hard for Christian unity this

week.  Not just in your private prayers, but here in the Liturgy, in

your Parish Church.  God gave you your faith   for you all have it  

as a badge of your participation in his task for you as his servant:

Listen again to Isaiah:  It is too slight a task for you, as my servant, to

restore the tribes of Jacob (the parish) , to bring back the survivors of Israel

(other Christians): I shall appoint you a light to the nations, so that my

salvation may reach earth's farthest bounds.  Act like Christians!