Lord Have Mercy & Thank You Lord

Bishop Eric Menees

My Dear Brothers and Sisters, This evening we will mark a transition, but this transition will be like none other that we have experienced before. Many of us, myself included, are thrilled to see 2020 in the rear view mirror. Still, one of the true blessings of God is His willingness to allow us to see His Grace as we pass through particularly difficult times. Without a doubt 2020 counts as one of those times.  As I look back over the year I remember praying, “Lord have mercy.” This first occurred to me last January when I was in the customs line in Lima, Peru. I had gone with a team from Samaritan’s Purse to participate for a week’s distribution of boxes from Operation Christmas Child. It just so happened that our plane landed at the same time as a plane load of Korean tourists. As we waited in line for customs to clear us, it was evident that every one of them had a mask on. I wondered, “what do they know that I don’t know?” and I prayed, “Lord have mercy.”  As we began to hear of the 2019 novel coronavirus sweeping through Europe I prayed, “Lord have mercy.”  As the first cases appeared in Washington State with deaths in nursing homes I prayed with Bishop Allen of Washington, “Lord have mercy.”  When the first stay at home order came out of the Governor’s Office and the clergy and I began to navigate a very delicate path of both honoring our obligation as Christians to obey the authorities and the obligation of a priest to faithfully preach the Word of God and administer the Sacraments, I remember praying, “Lord have mercy.”  As I watched three Minneapolis police officers kneel on George Floyd’s back and neck while a fourth kept at bay those pleading for them to let him breath, I remember praying, “Lord have mercy.”  As I watched peaceful protests during the day turn to often violent mobs of looters and arsonists at night, I remember praying, “Lord have mercy.”  As I watched the wildfires burn with an intensity not seen before, I remember praying, “Lord have mercy.”  As I watched a divided nation elect a new president in the midst of wild and conflicting news and internet stories of voting fraud, I remember praying, “Lord have mercy.”  And, as I watched local hospitals fill to capacity with COVID patients and the national death toll top 300,000, I remember praying, “Lord have mercy.”  By God’s grace I have also been allowed to see the Lord answer my prayer. He did it with daily acts of kindness and mercy by Christians, young and old, black, white, and brown, who stepped up and into the fray to assist people, and I said, “Thank you Lord!” I witnessed members of our group in Peru stop to pray with masked Korean tourists, and I said, “Thank you Lord!” I witnessed clergy and religious set up field hospitals in cathedrals and parks in order to treat the sick, and I said, “Thank you Lord!” I witnessed our own clergy and lay leaders work together to offer worship services via virtual platforms and then take communion to the elderly and those alone, and I said, “Thank you Lord!”  I witnessed brothers and sisters near and far having serious and difficult discussions about the sin of racism and seeking avenues of reconciliation, and I said, “Thank you Lord!” I witnessed the mornings after riots, with men and women picking up shovels and brooms to assist shopkeepers and neighbors in cleaning up, then handing bottles of water to police officers and saying “thank you,” and I said, “Thank you Lord!” I witnessed strangers open up their homes and front yards to fire evacuees and I said, “Thank you Lord!” I witnessed our nation go to the ballot box without fear, and our military remain in their barracks, and I said, “Thank you Lord!” And I witnessed family and friends reach out to the sick and dying with compassion and grace, weeping with those who weep and rejoicing with those who left the hospitals, and I said, “Thank you Lord!” As we look back over a truly difficult year and as we look ahead at the year to come I pray that you will join me in praying, “Lord have mercy,” AND “Thank you Lord!”  I’ll close out this Bishop’s Note and this year with one of the beautiful collects from the Easter Vigil: “O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.’

Christmas 1B 2020 St. James Anglican Church Service

Christmas 1B 2020

Celebrant and Preacher Fr. Anthony Velez

https://www.stjas.org/sermons.html

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve Bishop Eric Menees

Dear friends, Today of course is Christmas Eve, and I’m sure many of you are starting the Christmas season today with Eucharist at your church, either in person or streamed online. I want to take a brief break from our look at Ministry to the Dying and instead look at the collect for Christmas Day in our prayerbook.

Almighty God, you have given your only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and to be born this day of a pure virgin: Grant that we, who have been born again and made your children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom with you and the same Spirit be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

Christians around the world celebrate Christmas Day in multiple ways such as lessons and carols, posadas, nativity plays, but all of those things are reflections and celebrations of one singular truth, that God loves us so much that he would send his Son to take our nature upon him; to become man and taking on all the difficulty and weaknesses that entails. This year has been divisive, and there’s so much debate around this time of year on how to celebrate Christmas, but one thing is needful, the truth of the incarnation.  That doesn’t mean we can just sit and be content in knowing that fact, it’s a fact that calls us to action. Our celebration of Christ’s incarnation should be a reminder to each of us as Christians that we are not only created in the image of God, but we’re adopted sons and daughters of God. The Son of God became man so that we, man and woman, can become God’s sons and daughters. This Christmas season, don’t just celebrate the fact that God became man, rejoice in your own adoption. Spend time in prayer in thanksgiving for that adoption and asking God what that adoption means for you in your life. As God’s sons and daughters we are called to imitate Christ not only in how we live our lives but also how we minister and share the love of God with the world. I pray all of you have a blessed Christmas, rejoicing in the incarnation as well as your own adoption as a child of God!

Ordination of Deacon Anthony Velez To The Presbyterate

Ordination of Anthony Velez To The Presbyterate

Celebrant and Preacher Bishop Eric Menees

https://www.facebook.com/181426391908052/videos/406588080394614/?__so__=watchlist&__rv__=video_home_www_playlist_video_list

Feast Day of St. Thomas

Advent 4B 2020 St. James Anglican Church Service

Advent 4B 2020

Celebrant and Preacher Fr. Carlos Raines

https://www.stjas.org/sermons.html

Ministry to the Dying: The Lord's Prayer

Bishop Eric Menees

Dear friends, I pray you all had a truly joyful Gaudete Sunday earlier this week. Last week we continued our study of the Ministry to the Dying by looking at the litany. Today we finish our look at this section by examining the Lord’s Prayer and the prayers that follow it.

Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us. Officiant and People say together Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. Officiant O Lord, show your mercy upon us; People As we put our trust in you.

These are prayers Anglicans should be familiar with, as we hear the Kyrie and the Lord’s Prayer at every Eucharist. They’re so applicable and we use them throughout our lives, but having them here gives them a more focused intention. Rather than asking God for mercy generally in our lives, this is about asking God to have mercy on this person dying. Rather than asking to be delivered from evil in a general sense, it’s asking God to deliver this person from all spiritual dangers as they die. It’s a good reminder of how applicable the Lord’s Prayer is in so many situations we face.

The Officiant prays Let us pray. O Sovereign Lord Christ, deliver your servant, N., from all evil, and set him free from every bond; that he may rest with all your saints in the eternal habitations; where with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. The Officiant may invite those present to offer words of thanksgiving, reconciliation, or farewell. The Officiant may conclude with words of comfort

This section of the closes with a beautiful prayer joining together the two most important things at this time, our prayers and desires for the person dying and the promises from God and hope we have as Christians. We can’t hope for anything more than what we’ve been promised, not only for the person dying but for ourselves as well. At the very end we have an important rubric, saying that people can offer thanksgiving, reconciliation, and farewells. This is incredibly important pastorally. It not only provides comfort to the person dying, to help unburden their conscience and give them peace, it also gives space for their loved ones to confront and accept this death for what it is. For the loved ones it’s not just a recognition of that death, these three things are ways God can bless them in such a difficult and often tragic situation. Next week we’ll continue the Bishop’s Note but we’ll take a break from discussing the Ministry to the Dying and we’ll look at Christmas instead. I pray you all have a blessed 4th Sunday of Advent!

King David and the Path to True Reconciliation Part 2

King David and the Path to True Reconciliation

Fr. Carlos Raines

“What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, 

that you may bless the heritage of the Lord?”

Part 2

Turks bristle at the idea that they should meet with Armenians and try to atone for the genocide of Armenians (and Greek Orthodox and other Christians) at the end of the Ottoman empire.  “It was a great time of troubles,” they will say.  “Ugly things happened on both sides,” they will say.  But in reality, it was a very one-sided genocide.

“The white men made us many promises.  But they only kept one.  They promised to take our lands and they took them,” said an Indian chief in the late 19th century.  Native American activists like Russell Means have spent most of their lives tirelessly pointing out the 300 or more broken treaties with Sovereign Indian Nations.  Many Americans balk at the idea that they should try to atone for the treatment of Native Americans. These Americans say something like  “It was inevitable.  The two ways of life could not exist on the same land” which ignores the fact that the Cherokee co-existed very well with early settlers in North Carolina and Georgia----until gold was discovered on their lands.  

More apropos to our study of 2 Samuel 21, is the recent “effort” of the U.S. Government belatedly and unilaterally to atone for the broken treaty of the Lakota Sioux Indians.  A billion dollars was given to the tribe to “pay for the land” stolen from them ever since the 1868 Laramie Treaty was ratified.  Yet even as the Gibeonites said “It is not a matter of silver or gold between us and Saul or his house….”  the billion dollars is still sitting in a bank, but not a single Sioux has taken so much as a dollar.  “It’s not about money” they say.  “It’s about our land.”  But unlike David the King, no one ever says to them something like “What shall I do for you? And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless the heritage of the Lord?”  Nor does any such conversation happen concerning the more than 300 broken treaties with the other Indigenous Nations.     Yet since the turn of the 20th century over a quarter of a million Indians have served the United States in the U.S. military.  Like the Gibeonites, they have tried to keep their place in the land as best they could while still being loyal Americans; even to the point of shedding their blood and giving their lives alongside their former enemies who took nearly all their land.  What is the way forward?  “What shall I do for you?  And how shall I make atonement, that you may bless the United States of America?”  

Recently there has been a growing movement for something called “reparations” for African Americans in order to atone for slavery and the subsequent years of discrimination and oppression, but many wonder; is there enough money on the planet?  And will it ever be enough to wash away forever the stain of slavery? 

Examples of such an atonement do exist, however.  From Wikipedia comes this paragraph about reparations paid from Germany to the Israeli people ever since 1952:

In the early 1950s, the negotiations began between the Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion, the chairman of the Jewish Claims Conference Nahum Goldmann, and the Chancellor of West Germany Konrad Adenauer. Because of the sensitivity of accepting reparations, this decision was intensely debated in the Israeli Knesset. In 1952, the Reparations Agreement was signed. All in all, as of 2007 Germany had paid 25 billion euros in reparations to the Israeli state and individual Israeli Holocaust survivors.

How does one make peace?  How does one find reconciliation?

In my work as a pastor and my life as a member of a family, these issues and these questions about reconciliation are as real as any of the above examples.  Who will take the road of peace?  Who will risk the vulnerability of the open-ended offer?  Who will face the shame?

It amazes me that in the passage found in 2 Samuel 21 God never tells David how to make atonement; how to effect reconciliation; how to make peace.  God simply discloses or, more likely, reminds David of the injustice he and the rest of the Israelites are willing to forget and bury.  Shame is a guest best locked away behind a door never opened again.  But God never forgets.

So, God simply tells David the facts.  There is “blood guilt” on Saul and his family.  The plague will continue; the disease will flow from the locked room where shame dwells, past the lintels and door posts and into the air of the house of Israel.  The air becomes poisoned and the people sicken.

This is how it is with us.

There is a much-respected African American pastor in our little city of Fresno, California who has this to say about seeking reconciliation with Whites: “I have to ask the question: what do we reconcile to?  When in all of history was there a time when we lived together and respected one another as equals?  What happy memory of this do we both share?  There is no “re-conciliation” possible.  But in Christ Jesus we may yet find unity.”

Having considered the massive walls erected by a history of atrocities, broken promises, lies, deception and bloodshed; having considered the oppression when one people is overwhelmingly powerful and happily uses that power to prevail in all cases (like Saul and his household against the tiny and vulnerable people known as the Gibeonites) how do the powerful find the vulnerability to earn the trust and demonstrate the repentance necessary to make peace...and to effect that peace not out of power but out of a deliberate adoption of vulnerability?  

David found the way.

Two times he repeated an open-ended offer to the Gibeonites.  “What shall I do for you?”  You tell me...how can this be made right in your eyes?  What does justice look like to you?”

David shows us how to make the offer, but with the offer made in honest vulnerability the weaker brother is also tested.  Does he desire peace?  Or punishment and revenge?  Therefore, will he be reasonable or make an offer intended to choke the one who comes with an open hand?  One cannot make peace with those whose only wish, born out of simmering hatred and bitter resentment, is utter destruction.  The modern Israeli says this; “We have no partner with which to make peace.  The Palestinians want it all, and us thrown into the sea.”  Sometimes implacable enemies exist; sometimes there is little desire for peace on behalf of the aggrieved party.  But the hope for peace does not end here; it is not banished forever.  Time and patience may yet create room for peace to grow and both brethren to live together in the same land; in the same household.

The Gibeonites rose to the challenge.  The offer they made was costly---but reasonable: the life of seven of Saul’s sons.  It was highly symbolic: to be hanged “before Yahweh” in the capitol city of Saul’s tribe, the Benjaminites.  Evidently this included the bodies remaining on the poles indefinitely as a sign for all to see.  Thus, for the Jews, the shame is met, embraced and extinguished.  For the Gibeonites, justice is accomplished and the manhood and the dignity of the minority re-established.  When they said “It is not a matter of gold or silver for us” this is what they meant.  The intangible shame; the intangible memory of horror and helplessness; the sting of bitterness and the embers of resentment were for them extinguished.  “Now we can look into each other’s faces again.  Now the nightmare is over and we have all awakened to new possibilities of being.”

What price is peace and reconciliation?

In the creation and fall of this world, the One truly aggrieved is the Creator God.  Strangely, in this case it is the weak and vulnerable who need to say to God “what must we do to make atonement for our sin against You and one another and the earth itself?”  Clearly, we are not capable of making it right by our own measure or suggestion.  Who could atone?

So God, the aggrieved yet also the powerful, made atonement Himself by sending His own Son.  The powerful in our world acted toward him as though we humans were the aggrieved!  Like the Gibeonites (truly a biblical type!) we cried out “Crucify Him!” and demanded that he be “hanged before Yahweh” outside the city of Jerusalem.  Not Rizpah, but Mary herself watched over her dying Son and saw to it He was taken down and buried respectfully.  This is how reconciliation is made: God the powerful and the aggrieved sacrificed Himself for our sins.  He tasted death to destroy death.  And then He raised His son from death to be the “firstfruits of the new creation.”  He also demonstrated for us how we make and maintain peace, speaking the truth in love and acknowledging our sins honestly.  Then coming to the one we’ve hurt and asking “What can I do for you?  How can I atone for how I have hurt you?”  Here is what St. Paul said about atonement in Ephesians Chapter 2: 

13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.  Ephesians 2

1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians Chapter 4)

And especially these words from Philippians Chapter 2:

1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 1 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, 1 being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

This is how one makes and maintains peace.  

Part 1 is here: https://sanjoaquinsoundings.blogspot.com/2020/11/king-david-and-path-to-true.html

Advent 3B 2020 Service St. James Anglican Church

Advent 3B 2020

Fr. Carlos Raines Celebrant

Deacon Anthony Velez Preacher 

https://www.stjas.org/sermons.html

Ministry to the Dying: The Litany

Bishop Eric Menees

Dear friends, I pray all of you are having a blessed Advent season preparing for the coming of Christ! Last week in our study of the 2019 Book of Common Prayer we examined the section titled “Concerning Ministry to the Dying” that gives an explanation of Ministry to the Dying in the BCP. Today we begin by examining the rite itself, specifically the introduction and the Litany at the Time of Death.

The Officiant begins

Peace be to this house [or place], and to all who dwell in it.

LUKE 10:5T

The Officiant continues with the following prayer

Almighty God, look on this your servant, lying in great weakness, and comfort him with the promise of life everlasting, given in the resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Note the first rubric, “The Officiant begins.” What this means is that rather than this service having a sacramental nature and needing a priest to lead it, it is structured more like an office, or a prayer service. Because of this if a priest or deacon isn’t available, laity can pray this with their loved ones.

This begins beautifully by speaking God’s peace into the place where the person is dying and to the people there. It’s a wonderful way of reminding people that even though this is a time often filled with anxiety and sorrow, we can turn to God for peace and that’s what he want for us.

LITANY AT THE TIME OF DEATH

The following may be said. When possible, it is desirable that those present join in the responses.

O God the Father,

Have mercy on your servant.

O God the Son,

Have mercy on your servant.

O God the Holy Spirit,

Have mercy on your servant.

O Holy Trinity, one God,

Have mercy on your servant.

Lord Jesus Christ, deliver your servant from all evil, sin, and tribulation;

Good Lord, deliver him.

By your holy Incarnation, by your Cross and Passion, by your precious Death and Burial,

Good Lord, deliver him.

By your glorious Resurrection and Ascension, and by the Coming of the Holy Spirit,

Good Lord, deliver him.

We sinners beseech you to hear us, Lord Christ: That it may please you to deliver the soul of your servant from the power of evil, and from eternal death,

We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

That it may please you mercifully to pardon all his sins,

We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

That it may please you to give him joy and gladness in your kingdom, with your saints in light,

We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

That it may please you to raise him up at the last day,

We beseech you to hear us, good Lord.

The following or some other suitable anthem may be sung or said

Son of God, we beseech you to hear us.

Son of God, we beseech you to hear us.

O Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world;

Have mercy upon him.

O Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world;

Have mercy upon him.

O Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world;

Grant him your peace.

O Christ, hear us

O Christ, hear us.

A litany is a form of worship with a back and forth series of prayers, often petitions. In Anglicanism the most well known is the Great Litany which is also found in the BCP. The Great Litany is very broad in its petitions but this litany speaks more particularly to the situation at hand.

It starts with a Trinitarian series of petitions asking for God’s mercy, like the Kyrie during the Eucharist. It recognizes that the person dying is a servant of God, a Christian and part of the Church, and God is Lord who alone can have mercy and help in this situation.

That transitions into a series asking God to deliver the person dying from evil, sin, and tribulation. This sums up the reason for the petition. There’s an acknowledgment that the person is dying and God is being asked to fulfill the promises he’s made us through his death, resurrection, and ascension. This is at the same time a petition from those praying for these things as well as a reminder that God has promised them and we as Christians can have a firm and secure hope in them. This is less about the person’s physical needs and more about their spiritual needs, what they face ahead in death.

The rest of the petition fleshes that out and addresses specific ways that hope is worked out in the person’s death, that they be saved from eternal death, that their sins are forgiven, that they dwell with God, and that they be resurrected on the last day. Those petitions end with a reminder that they’re not just promises made to the person dying, that as Christians this is a hope we all have.

I hope you all have a blessed Gaudete Sunday! “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4)

St. James Anglican Church Service Advent 2B 2020

Advent 2B 2020

Celebrant Fr. Carlos Raines

Preacher Fr. Dale Matson

https://www.stjas.org/sermons.html

Advent 2B 2020 St. James Anglican Church

 Fr. Dale Matson

Repentance and the End Times

        This Sunday is the second Sunday in Advent.  Today the Second Advent candle called the “candle of the way”, is lit and represents Christ as the light of the world and the way out of sin and darkness.  Although last Sunday was the first Sunday in Advent and the first Sunday in the Church year, the Gospel readings for the first Sunday in Advent in years A, B, and C come near the end of Christ’s mission on earth.  Last Sunday’s Gospel reading is near his death.  In the readings for today, the second Sunday of Advent, our Gospel readings are at the beginning of His earthly ministry.  Last Sunday deals with the end times and the return of Christ as Judge.  This Sunday deals with repentance and Christ as Savior.  So, what is this season of advent about?  The season is a time of preparation for the Nativity of Christ and serves as a dual reminder of the original waiting by the Hebrews for the birth of the Messiah as well as the waiting that Christians today endure as they anticipate the second coming of Jesus the Christ.  We state both of these beliefs every Sunday when we stand and recite the Nicene Creed.  His first coming is stated “Who for us and for our salvation came down from Heaven”.  His first coming is for our Salvation.  Our belief in His second coming is stated, “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead”. I’d like to quote from our Catechism about the creeds.

(Page 31. Item # 20) “What does belief in the creeds signify?

"Belief in the creeds signifies acceptance of God’s revealed truth and the intention to live by it. To reject any element of the creeds signifies a departure from the Christian faith.” (Matthew 16:13–20; 2 Timothy 3:14–15; 4:1–5; James 2:10–26)" Yet many people today deny that Christ arose from the dead, That Mary was a virgin, That Jesus is both God and man, that Christ will return to judge the living and the dead? Advent is a good time to reflect on the creeds. 

Cardinal Robert Sarah recently said, “The church is dying because the pastors are afraid to speak in all truth and clarity. We are afraid of the media, afraid of public opinion, afraid of our own brethren! The good shepherd gives his life for his sheep.” There is a lot said about salvation in the church today but very little about repentance.  People no longer seem to be ashamed or take responsibility for their actions.  People no longer admit that they lied; they say they were taken out of context.  One favorite faux mea culpa that we hear is, “If I have offended anyone, I’m sorry.”  

There seems to be a lack of true repentance in our land today.  Paul states in 2nd Timothy Chapter 3, “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.”

People are no longer drug addicts.  They are victims who have become addicted to prescription medication. We no longer even have criminals.  We have medicalized misbehavior and now we call it behavior disorders and personality disorders.

Today even alcoholism is considered a disease, a medical problem, although step six in the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous refers to alcoholism as a “defect of character”.   

As it states in our Epistle lesson (2nd Peter), “The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.  Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire? But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.”   Notice that Peter is saying here that those who lead holy and godly lives will hasten the coming of the day of the Lord.  We usually think that the Day of the Lord is hastened by unrighteous behavior.  An important part of leading a holy and godly life is repentance and confession.  Everything that is done on earth will be disclosed.  Let us just call a life of repentance and confession a proactive approach.

I believe the end times, or the Day of the Lord is nigh upon us. In 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 Paul talks about the two things that must come about before Christ returns. One is the great Apostasy. Christians will fall away, whether it is because of temptation, delusion or persecution. The other thing is God gradually removing the restraint on evil. I believe this is God removing his church. Without Christians there is no bride. There is no church. There is an excellent new book about this called, “A Church In Crisis: Pathways Forward”, By Ralph Martin. In his book, Dr. Martin discusses the growing hostility to the church, ambiguous teaching of the contemporary church, attempting to accommodate the church to the contemporary culture. And as Paul said in 2 Timothy 1:8, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God. 

There is growing pressure to preach another gospel. About 5 years ago a parishioner confronted me about preaching about Hell. He said to me that a loving God would never consign people to Hell and that if I ever preached about Hell again, He would no longer attend St. James. I have preached about Hell since then but he has not been in the church to hear it. He left the country.

During Covid there has been a tendency to give up our freedoms. Benjamin Franklin said in 1775, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

Mark 1:1-8

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: `Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,'" John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, "The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."  In the Gospel of Matthew, John the Baptist is reported as saying, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Matthew 3:11.

What does John the Baptist mean when he states, “I baptize you with water for repentance.”? He (Christ) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire”.  Are we to understand that there are two baptisms?  Didn’t St. Paul say in Ephesians (4:5) “One Lord, one faith, one Baptism”? I believe that there is only one Baptism but as Martin Luther once stated.  “We should celebrate our baptism daily, drowning the old man that the new man would come forth.”  The more we submit our lives to Christ, the more he empowers us with his spirit and becomes the Lord of our lives not just our savior.  Christ’s Lordship does bring fire upon us and he requires us to do things that we could avoid in the past.  We must confront those aspects of ourselves that resist His Lordship.  Those things should be purged away by the refiner’s fire.  We are also challenged by circumstances in our lives that tempt us to turn away from our Lord.  Satan attempts to destroy our witness by attempting to discredit our reputation.  Remember what it says in Revelation, “….and they defeated him (Satan) by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony.”  (Revelation Chapter 12).  Unfortunately, sometimes individuals cooperate with Satan in destroying their own witness.  30 years ago, Jimmy Swaggart was a powerful man of God.  He was the most influential televangelist in the world who had his entire ministry destroyed when his ongoing private sexual sins were made public by defrocked pastor Martin Gorman.  Ironically, Swaggart had helped destroy Gorman by exposing his sexual sins.  Jimmy Swaggart had always spoken very forcefully against sexual sins, and also led the fight for the removal of Jim Bakker from the Praise the Lord (PTL) TV network. He referred to Jim Bakker as "a cancer affecting the body of Christ."   “Judge not that ye be not judged.” (Matt. 7:1)

Personal holiness is the beacon that attracts others to leading righteous lives.  Virtue is in fact power in and of itself.  In the story where the woman with an issue of blood touches the garment of Jesus, she is instantly healed.  In the King James Version of the bible, it states, “and Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him.  Here, virtue and power are synonymous. The church is big on virtues and lists faith, hope and love as the theological virtues and considers prudence, justice, courage and temperance to be the moral virtues.  These are the fruits of or rewards of a holy Christian life.

This baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire is both the power of God and the refining fire of God.  We must be empowered but we must also be a Holy People.  At the conclusion of Paul’s Ministry, before his death, Paul said that he had run the good race.  He meant by this that He did not dishonor His Lord by conduct that would discredit the Gospel message that was entrusted to him. 

This baptism of Christ that we have been baptized with empowers us to witness to others; it allows us to understand scripture and gives us a desire to worship together in his body the church.  This baptism of Christ provides both the fruit and the gifts of the spirit.  It must not be forgotten however that it is also a baptism of ongoing repentance.  It is a baptism of fire.  To be a holy people we must realize that our holiness is imparted by Christ who is our righteousness.  We fall short of being his holy priesthood every day and must confess that we cannot of ourselves even keep the basic two commandments of our Lord.  We must confess that we have broken the two great commandments that sum all of the commandments.  In the renewed ancient text, we say, “Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you by thought word and deed, by what we have done, and what we have left undone.  We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.  We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your name, Amen. (Page 130 BCP 2019) This is both repentance and confession.  Let us not look at the sin of our neighbor and look self righteously to ourselves.  May we repent of our sins, simply seek personal holiness and run the good race that our Lord and Savior has called us to run. Stop looking to the left and to the right.  May we not be a stumbling block in the lives of those who do not know Christ and may we never discredit the gospel message through scandalous lives ourselves.  Amen.

   

Ministry to the Dying

Bishop Eric Menees

Dear friends, I pray you all had a blessed Thanksgiving this last week! If you remember from before Thanksgiving, we had just finished looking at Communion of the Sick in the 2019 BCP’s Pastoral Rites section. Having begun with holy matrimony and continuing through family life with thanksgiving for the adoption of a child, reconciliation, and ministry to the sick, we now head towards the conclusion of life with Ministry to the Dying. This section bridges Ministry to the Sick and Burial of the Dead so there’s a continuity of the church’s ministry.

Ministry to the Dying begins with a section that frames what ministry to the dying is:

For Christians, death is a defeated enemy. In Christ, death has become the gateway to everlasting life. As St. Paul reminded the Church at Corinth:

‘Death is swallowed up in victory. 

O death, where is your victory? 

O death, where is your sting?’

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 CORINTHIANS 15:54-57

Far too many people even inside the church misunderstand what death is and how it relates to us as Christians. Death is not good. Death came into the world as a result of the fall. For Christians, death is an enemy. But death isn’t something we need to fear because as this section says, “death is a defeated enemy.” As a seminary professor once said, “death is a foe doing the work of a friend.” Death is not good, but through Christ’s victory over death at the resurrection, death lost its sting. Death for Christians has become the gateway to everlasting life.

When a person is near death, the minister should be notified.

This rite is a customary part of the Church’s pastoral care.

This liturgy is intended to be prayed with one who has received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. The Officiant may appropriately inquire of the dying person as to his or her acceptance of the Christian faith. If the person has not been baptized, Emergency Baptism (page 173) should be administered before the use of this rite.

Because death is a gateway to everlasting life for Christians and not humanity as a whole, this rite is meant only for baptized and believing Christians. It would make no sense to tell someone dying about the promises God’s made to them if don’t believe and trust in those promises. If people aren’t baptized, they should be encouraged to be baptized and that can be done before receiving this ministry.

This took on a very personal tone for me when I was ministering to my uncle at his bedside when my brother and I led him in the sinner’s prayer for the acceptance of Christ. He had been baptized as a baby but had long since fallen away from the church. My family and I rejoiced in the reality that my uncle had admitted his sin, sought forgiveness from God, and accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. 

I want to draw attention to the line, “When a person is near death, the minister should be notified.” This is true of ALL illness and hospitalization, but especially when someone is near death. I’ve known many priests who were devastated to find out about a parishioner’s death several days after the fact and have been unable to minister to them in their last moments. 

Lastly, please consider making end of life plans for yourself, not only financial and medical, but also if you want to be cremated or buried, what services you would like etc. Over 34 years of ministry I’ve witnessed so many family members forced to make decisions that could have easily been made prior. The best time to make these decisions is when you are healthy and clear minded. Please make sure your loved ones know who to contact at your church. For many people death is a time of great anxiety and fear, and it’s important to have a representative of the church there to speak the hope we have in Jesus Christ into that situation. 

I hope you all have a blessed Second Sunday of Advent!