The Underground Pewster responds to "Canterbury: Repentance And Reformation Before Reconciliation"

Fr. Dale Matson

From The Underground Pewster in response to “Canterbury: Repentance and Reformation before Reconciliation”

“Good points. Let me present a question. Unity in the Church as it now stands appears to mean being able to share the communion cup with those who you see supporting an ‘innovative’ (AKA heretical) Gospel. Is that theologically tenable? I don't think it is, but I will leave it to wiser minds such as yours to spell it out. The "innovator" will claim that his position is Spirit led, not heretical, etc., and therefore those who believe communion has been impaired by those innovations are labeled as the ones who are less than Christian.  A renewal is clearly needed, but Canterbury has not wanted to offend anybody except perhaps the "orthodox" recently. I think any honest attempt by the Church to create unity will have to come out of a search for the truth. I don't see that happening anytime soon. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer reflected on his days at Union Theological Seminary.
"...in the conflict between determination for truth with all of its consequences and the will for community, the latter prevails. This is characteristic of all American thought, particularly as I have observed it in theology and the church, they do not see the radical claim of truth on the shaping of their lives. Community is therefore formed less on truth than on the spirit of 'fairness'." 

(This sounds like a potential canonical exam question)

If only purity of doctrine could save us. The Law itself couldn’t save us. Having said that however, heretical doctrine could surely damn us. Look at our Christian brethren in the Lutheran Church Missouri Syond and the Wisconsin Synod who are orthodox in their doctrine but don’t share altar and pulpit fellowship with one another. Do we sup with the Big Endians or the Small Endian Lilliputians? How much doctrinal agreement is necessary? What must we agree upon? I hear often that someone is a “Creedal Christian”.  Is it the “I believe” (rite I) or the “We believe” (Rite II) in the Nicene Creed? The Nicene Creed is more than a set of truth statements. It is a mystical document that is confessed with the mouth AND received in the heart by faith.

 

If God the Holy Spirit is doing a new thing in the Church of Christ, He will not contradict what has already been revealed in Scripture.  Even the Gospel was tested with Scripture by the Bereans. (Act 17:11) Scripture is like a proof set of Johansson gauge blocks where we measure truth, and Tradition is the working set of ‘Jo blocks’. As a journeyman plumber I knew plumb lines did not parse the truth. Reason is intellect informed by God through revelation. Even the contemporary Christian church is a measure of the truth. A province or denomination by itself does not speak for the one holy catholic and apostolic church and has no authority to innovate.

“I think any honest attempt by the Church to create unity will have to come out of a search for the truth.”

I think much of the church has been captured by the spirit of the age. The spirit of the age includes a mixture of individualism (a sense of personal entitlement), feminism, humanism, rationalism, science as religion, anomie, moral relativism, consumerism, and nihilism. These unclean things have crept into the church and were given lodging. They are the ‘legion’ of this age that possesses the church. The bishops did not man the watchtowers and the prophets were afraid to speak. The truth we seek is Jesus the Christ; The Way, The Truth and The Life. It is His church, He is the head, let us not be ashamed to proclaim this. Any organization that does not proclaim this is not a Christian church. 

And yet God’s people remained arrogant. There is no agreement because there is an endemic spirit of confusion. Pilate said, “What is truth?” (John 18:38) Wherever there is evil, there is confusion. There is especially confusion about truth.  And Satan is the author of confusion. Today we are reliving the tower of Babel. It is Babel 2.0. The spirit of the age, I would have to say, this is Satan celebrating the Fat Tuesday of an era before the real season of repentance begins.

I believe God is about to call his church out of captivity. He will gather the scattered denominations together. We are about to awaken from our slumber. I believe we are about to see a huge outpouring of His Spirit. Satan’s preemptive ascendance in our age is a good indicator that God is about to bust a move. God will not be fair. He will be Sovereign and true to His word.

Pax et bonum,

Dale+

The Underground Pewster has his own blogsite called “Not Another Episcopal Church Blog”

http://lowly.blogspot.com/

The Church: Manning Up Part II

Dr. Robert A. Wilson

December 30, 1927-November 7, 1999

Fr. Dale Matson

I have been reading a devotional this year called Voices Of The Saints: A Year Of Readings by Bert Ghezzi (2000). As I read it I am amazed at how well my mentor Dr. Bob Wilson would fit right in with so many of those blessed folks. I want to use him as an example of a Spirit filled, Christ like, complete man.

Bob became a Marine after high school graduation. While in the marines, he won the golden gloves heavyweight boxing title. After discharge he attended Fresno State University on a football scholarship. He met his wife Dede at Fresno State and they were married in 1952. He had them both kneel on the night of their wedding and dedicate their marriage to God. Together they raised six sons and one daughter.

Bob was diagnosed with an aggressive form of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma about 1984. He wasn't given much chance for survival and even went to Lourdes seeking a cure. During this dark night of the soul Bob, already a deeply religious man, turned finally to Dede and said, “May God’s will be done.” Bob’s cancer went into remission and God gave him an additional 15 years of life.

He was a part of the Fresno Pacific University search committee that hired me to direct the School Psychology masters and credential program in 1992.  Bob had retired from the Fresno Unified School District as the Director of Psychological Services. He was hired by the graduate school at Fresno Pacific to create the Special Education credential program and later created the School Psychology and School Counselor programs.

It is not possible to discuss Bob’s professional life without discussing his Christian life also. He was a deeply committed and spiritual Roman Catholic. He was a lector and Eucharistic minister at his church. He would pray with his advisees and offer supportive counsel along with academic guidance. He was voted counselor of the year by the San Joaquin Counselors Association and received the highest honor in California counseling, the H.B. McDaniel award.  He was the first Roman Catholic (and a Veteran to boot) professor hired at Pacific, a Mennonite Brethren University (Pacifist). He won over the “Brethren” who previously had been unsure if Catholics were even Christians.

Bob rarely made it to meetings on time because someone would spot him headed to the administration building and have a pressing problem that needed attention. Bob would always make time for them. Bob had no malice toward anyone. He loved everyone and always attributed the best motives to the behavior of others. He had a pure heart and I never heard him say a negative thing about anyone. He brought out the absolute best in others. We simply called him, “Coach”. He was so skilled at leadership that even when you were given correction by Bob you would come away feeling good about yourself.

Bob and Dede lived a Spartan life in a simple house. He was continually giving away money to those in need. We were once at a stop light and he gave me a dollar to hand to a homeless man holding a sign at an intersection. I chided Bob that the man was probably running a scam. Bob simply looked at me and said, “ I've got it and he doesn't.” I never refused anyone after that.

When Bob retired from Fresno Pacific, we had a party in his honor and invited all the alumni we could still contact. There was an enormous response and attendance. For the first time Bob’s family was able to see all the people that they had shared their father with for so many years. Bob’s resume’ would have been dozens of pages of names of people that he had encouraged and helped over decades of service.

At Bob’s funeral I read the Old Testament lesson. One nephew told about Bob taking all the men Ling Cod fishing. Bob pushed the huge rubber raft into the surf and got wet to his waist. He was obviously cold the entire time out but just smiled at the opportunity to be with his sons and nephews. After the funeral, Dede said to me, “You know Dale he loved you.” I said, “Dede, Bob loved everyone.” She said, “Yes, but he loved you like a son.” That kind of love for seven years brought enormous healing to me. Soon thereafter, I sought Holy Orders and retired from Fresno Pacific too.

Bob was a real man. He was a gift from God to everyone who met him. I have never seen the tears of so many men (and women) as I saw at his funeral. We were happy for Bob but sad for ourselves. I look forward to seeing Bob again.   

The Church: Manning Up

Fr. Dale Matson

“ When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” (1 Corinthians 13:11, KJV)

It has been said often enough that the innovation in theology and decline in membership in parts of the church is a failure of the bishops in the church to be bishops. They did not do their duty to “…banish and drive away from the church all erroneous and strange doctrine contrary to God’s Word…” (1929 BCP)  They failed to protect the sheep.

Reflecting on this further, it seems to me that bishops are first and foremost called to be men of God. But what does this mean? What is a Godly man? For that matter, what is a man? At the most basic level, much of the church has become feminized and matriarchal. Is the church, still even a place for men?

I have asked a few of my male friends, ranging from from midlife to old age, this question. “How many men have you known in your life”? Without exception, there is a long pause and in some cases a candid, “None”. Even older friends from law enforcement were hard pressed to name one person they could call a man. No one including me thought of their fathers as an example of man. Few men are fully developed and individuated.

Sometimes it is easier to describe what a man is not. A man is not what a feminist tainted with misandry would want him to be; a dancing bear. A man is not a Hollywood self-absorbed metrosexual preening in front of the cameras. A man is not a hard core gang member that is only one dimensional; a man-as-warrior. A man is not a sports ‘hero’ who is tested only in a stadium praised by sports groupies and aging ex-jocks on ESPN. How many athletes have disappointed the hopeful and adoring fans, so willing to put them on a pedestal only to see them come crashing down once again. How many athletes have fueled their performance with drugs or were convicted of crimes? They were athletically gifted but morally corrupt. A soldier is only one aspect of manhood. Soldiers are the Wildman and Warrior needing a leader and a mission.

Just as a bishop is required to ordain a priest, it takes a man to bring males to full manhood. It is like an apprenticeship in a guild. A fully developed man is a master craftsman in the field of man making. Real men are not just needed, they are necessary. It is a matter of testing, trial and time. The hero journey of Telemachus is the story of a boy becoming a man but he had a wife and children also. They were a part of his man making. So much of man making is sacrificial. Family or church or country requires sacrifice.  It is not acquisition as much as divestment. It is not leading as much as serving. It is not being strong as much as it is being strong for those who lack strength.

Even though men are a rare and threatened species, they do not need protection. Real men may become martyrs but are never victims. They are not clamoring for their rights because they are concerned about the rights of others. Real men are godly men. Christ is our ultimate model.  He was fully man. The bishops that turned aside from evil, compromised with heresy and participated in innovation, not only failed to be bishops, they failed to be men.

In my next posting, I will use Dr. Bob Wilson (1927-1999) my mentor as an example of a fully developed and individuated Christian man. We must never forget who real men were that we may know who real men are.    

A Consultant’s Advice For The Episcopal Church

Fr. Dale Matson

In addition to my teaching and director duties during my professional life, I was a university program reviewer for the state of California. The most important criteria for program survival in the accreditation/continuing accreditation process, was the need to answer the following question. “Is the program doing what it claims to be doing?” Putting it another way, “Are you who you claim to be?” Actually, this is not just a question for a program or an organization. As a person, is our action consistent with who we claim to be? There are related questions also. “How well is the philosophy of the program understood and articulated by leaders and participants?” This was especially looked at in satellite programs in other locations. There was a tendency for mission drift the further we went from the flagship school.

I am a priest in the ACNA and was on the TEC website recently http://www.episcopalchurch.org/ (I forget why) and read through the "What We Believe" section. It seemed rather robust and orthodox. It is consistent with my understanding of how things were for my family in the eleven years we spent in TEC but it is not what TEC has become/is becoming. It needs updating to conform to the current theology. It doesn't even have gender neutral language for the Trinity! But what is the current theology? It would be useful for the leadership to review it, which reminds me of the song, "The Way We Were" by Barbra Streisand.

I think the 'random' sample of TEC folks in the “Who We Are” section http://www.episcopalchurch.org/page/i-am-episcopalian  better typifies the current ideology of TEC than the core doctrine that is probably met with a wink and a nod by the leadership. More of the core doctrine could be put into the historical documents section of the next prayer book.

One problem for TEC is that in an effort to be relevant in a contemporary society, it is chasing the social trends in an effort to catch up, embrace and include them. The orthodox theology has really become an impediment. Doctrine that once served as an anchor has become a millstone. That is why the theology, currently mushy (some within TEC would say evolving) is of necessity more malleable. TEC really does need new vision and mission statements. It could divest itself of the Anglican label with its attendant constraints and form its own worldwide organization. It has already adopted the millennium development goals (MDG) of the United Nations. TEC thinks of itself as a global church but has forgotten that it has actually downsized. It used to be part of the cosmic church.

It would serve TEC well to reexamine their ecclesiology and missiology. Work it backwards if you must. What are you doing? Where are you investing (spending) your resources? The words that come to my mind are social justice, equity, fairness, human flourishing, GLBT etc. issues, feminism, pluralism, diversity, inclusion, preservation of legacy, reproductive rights, and environmental sustainability. How do the existing doctrines of the church justify and organize these efforts? You still refer to yourself as Christian church. To you however, Christ is not divine and only one model among many. The presiding bishop rarely mentions Him in her talks. How do the budget lines reflect what you believe?

As you examine this list, it is really about the kingdom of this world for you. Do you even need theological underpinnings? I have no hard feelings toward TEC. The adversarial relationship has helped us to reassess our priorities. TEC does not need a task force on marriage as much as it needs a task force on organizational identity. If it does not do this it will not survive as an organization let alone a 'church'.

Pax et Bonum, 

Dale Matson Ph.D., Consultant

The Church Needs Warriors: Warriors Need The Church.

Fr. Dale Matson

“He [Sampson] found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, so he reached out and took it and killed a thousand men with it.” (Judges 15:15) “Your servant [David] has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied [disrespected] the armies of the living God.” (1 Samuel 17:36) “ One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one; he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. (Exodus 2:11-12)

The world does not lack warriors today. You can find them in prisons in gangs like the Mandingo Warriors or the Aryan Warriors. They are the “one percenters” like the Hell’s Angels or the Mongols. They are in street gangs like the Bloods, Crips or M-13.  These individuals have become warriors to the exclusion of the other male archetypes within them such as Wildman, King, Prophet or Shaman.

So much of the gang life is designed to cultivate the warrior archetype to the exclusion of everything else. These are not individuated men. Gangs are tribal and members have submitted to the authority of other men. They submit to the gang leadership.  The gang provides the core meaning and rules of conduct for their lives. The gang is family, security, structure, brotherhood, and mutual respect. The level of commitment to the gang is to the death and each member understands the level of commitment.  Previously, the warrior was an archetype that was respected, civilized and nurtured by society and the church. The only warriors that society still honors today are soldiers. Many motorcycle club/gang members are former military men.

Gang members are warriors shunned by society and initiated and nurtured by other warriors. They are initiated into a manhood that is one dimensional and why is this? Why are gangs so commonplace today? It is because gangs serve a purpose. Many warriors are displaced because being a warrior is no longer honored by society. The church has also driven men away with a gender neutral and increasingly feminine god. Yahweh has become Gaia. Being patriarchal is pass’e. Gangs are fraternal organizations ruled by men. Churches so often have become matriarchal. No man, especially a warrior will allow himself to be ruled by a woman. As a man, he has overthrown the rule of his mother. How convincing is the bumper sticker, “Real Men Love Jesus”? There are plenty of ‘hang around’ men and boys that love Him also.  Having guns, knives, affiliation patches and being covered in ink may go along with being a warrior but does it make one fully a man? Does it completely fill the gnawing hole inside? Ask Nicky Cruz.

So what does this have to do with the church? How is a church different than a gang? So much of what we do is like gang business. We deal with righteousness, taking care of business, respect for one another. Church is about looking out for one another, truth and recruiting new members too. Isn't baptism about being “jumped in” by the church with an oath of loyalty after a period of initiation? It is the job of the church to equip and send. Have gang members often been used by their leadership? Yes, and so have church members.

Lord, I pray that the church would be a place for many of these displaced warriors. I pray that they would see what the full stature of a man can become and is, in Jesus the Christ. Give them a new place with new meaning. Let them find true freedom in being a slave to Jesus Christ. It is not about the gang life. It is about eternal life. Let them be empowered by the Holy Spirit and awaken to the love of their Father in heaven.

Finally, I offer this passage which continually speaks to my heart about my level of commitment to the church. I believe gang members would understand it too.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” (Romans 12:1) That should be the commitment of the Christian man to his church. It is the level of commitment of gang members to their gangs.

Secure Attachment And The Church

Fr. Dale Matson

“Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.” (Isaiah 1:17)

Secure attachment is the desired outcome for young children. It is a healthy emotional bonding that takes place from 6 months to 2 years of age, between the caregiver(s) and the child. It is also that period of a child’s life where a consistent, loving and secure environment gives the child a sense of trust. There are other less desirable outcomes that can set the child on a troubled life course with interpersonal and intrapersonal difficulties.  So what does attachment theory have to do with the church?

My wife and I recently attended a Goodbye Party for our associate priest. The large gathering consisted of church members mixed with homeless folks. The homeless people attend the Wednesday church service with a meal following the service. Our table, like most tables was a mixture of church members and homeless people.  One of the individuals at our table (I will call her Sarah) is a long time church member who has struggled with episodes of depression for years. Two of the homeless people, a male and female (John and Mary), are Wednesday regulars but not church members. Those three were in their mid-fifties.

    

Suddenly it struck me how bright eyed and engaging Sarah was compared to John and Mary. Sarah had that same patina I have seen so often on the mature saints of the church. I have seen it in nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, in hospitals and even hospice. Qualities that come to mind are empathy, compassion, engagement, vulnerability, joy and hopefulness. Sarah has had a difficult life with frequent family difficulties yet there is a confident swagger in her walk as she approaches the communion rail.

Could it be that those in Christ’s body the church experience secure attachment as members? Does membership provide the consistent loving and predictable environment adults need also? Is the church a possible continuation/replacement for the family of origin? Can members find purpose, meaning and interconnectedness in this community of faith?

What I have experienced in interacting with the homeless folks over the years are characteristics that often include mistrust and detachment. There is a woundedness and hopelessness. While there is occasional laughter, there is rarely a sense of joy. Some even had success early on. They seem to be a defeated people. How can the church help them to see that commitment to Christ and a faith community is a different and better kind of freedom. It is a better freedom than the false freedom of the streets where they are killing themselves on the installment plan.

Sarah and many others in our church have similar stories to those on the streets. What is the difference? Sarah is in Christ and His body the church. She has her church family and we have “her back”. She belongs to a spiritual HMO. She has secure attachment.  Lord give John, Mary and the others the will to commit to You.

“Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked. They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.” (Psalm 82:3-5)

An Epiphany During Epiphany

Fr. Dale Matson

When I think about the New Testament Church, it is evident to me that the focus was not on social reform yet that is the mission of both the liberal and conservative Churches. The question posed to Christ was, “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6) His response redirected their agenda and became the marching orders for the Church. “And he said unto them, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 7-8)

            The contemporary Christian Church seems to be in either relevance  or recoil or mode. On the one hand, the relevant Church is pushing headlong toward accommodating a devolving culture. It has turned a blind eye to evil and called ‘blessed’, human conduct that was an anathema to past generations. It has jumped on the bandwagon headed to Hell; a place that it now denies exists. It has abandoned discernment as too judgmental. It is the Church with the social gospel. It is inclusive, gracious, and feminist. The color of the relevant church is green, not an ‘ordinary’ green. It is a false guilt-healing-the-earth-green. It is used by society but not respected. It is a dying irrational prostitute. It cannot say “No”. It is the Church of Pergamum. It’s theme song is “Imagine” by John Lennon.

            The recoil church is political with a social gospel also. It is smug and proper. It is a petition signing, get out the vote, fortress Church. It is a scared Church, no longer enjoying the favor and prestige once bestowed on it by a traditional society that is now pluralistic, hedonistic, narcissistic and pagan. The recoil church is not respected by society either because it is a prostitute used by conservative demagogues. It is not discerning but it is judgmental. It is a Church that is certain of its righteousness and reasonableness but like Ephesus is a loveless Church with no compassion. It cannot say “Yes”. It’s theme song is “A Mighty Fortress, AND Our God”.

            In returning to the marching orders Christ gave His church we find empowerment for mission by God the Holy Spirit. Without mission there is no warrant for empowerment. Without empowerment the Church is a Church in name only. Society cannot be convinced to reform itself. It is by nature self-seeking, self-serving and self-destructive. Society is neither emotionally mature nor cognizant. Society is limbic. Only Christ can change hearts and transform minds. It is not that society has rejected Him as much as it is His Church that has rejected Him. Is the hymn of Invocation still sung in earnest? He has not asked us to be saints. He has commanded that we be witnesses. Another name for witness is martyr. He has died for us and asked the same of us, the members of His body the Church. Epiphany reminds us that it is time for both the relevant and recoil churches to allow God to manifest Himself in Christ. It is my prayer that the veil will be lifted from our eyes. We must be willing to present ourselves as living sacrifices which is our reasonable service. Only then, will the Church rediscover empowerment and purpose.

             

                

TEC And The Loss Of Logos

Fr. Dale Matson

There is a gradual loss of identity within The Episcopal Church. I believe that what was once a Christian church is now becoming an activist organization; a faith based initiative. Like so many colleges that were begun by Christian denominations, TEC too, is now becoming secular. TEC leadership has become human focused to the extent that there are no barriers to inclusion. Baptism is “ancient” and “normative” but not necessary for inclusion in the body of Christ.

They are, in fact, ashamed of Christ and willing to see Him as only an avenue to a liberated life of self-affirmation in the here and now. I’m OK and Your OK. It is now the “I am special” church, yet the members no longer see themselves as what St. Paul referred to as a “peculiar people” who are called out of a worldly life as witnesses to the transforming love of Jesus Christ. They are not called to holy living and they are not in search of Christ. They are not sinners seeking God’s mercy; they are victims in search of justice. They are called to “live into” their natural selves, whatever that might be. In short, TEC has lost the pearl of great price; Jesus Christ Who is our true and authentic self. He is also the identity and head of the corporate and mystical body, the church. He is the Logos and the affect driven leadership is not interested in God informed reason any longer. They are too busy tithing their dill of diversity.

They don’t see the need to repent individually for personal sin but they do repent organizationally for failures to discover the blessed uniqueness of each kind of new personhood; for the insensitivity to other cultures. Whom did they fail to include this time around? We will see next time around.

The leadership seems almost “affect driven” in their need to avoid discernment as being judgmental and hateful and all in the name of inclusivity. The gate to the Kingdom of God is narrow but the red doors of TEC are wide open.  TEC, as it sheds doctrine, reminds me of a cell that no longer has a semi permeable membrane to filter out what is harmful and to allow in what is nurturing.  The organization is like Star Trek’s “Vger” moving through space and time collecting this and that, becoming an eclectic blob and seeking its creator “The god of our understanding”.

There seems to be a condescending anger and stealth cynicism that is resident in the leadership. They use phrases that are intended to send one message to the pew sitters while winking at one another that they have taken one more brick out of the church foundation of tradition. They know that only rubes believe in Scripture as God’s Word, Hell, Heaven, Christ’s divinity and even bodily resurrection. Reason informed by science is hip not knowledge revealed by God. The Kingdom of God is the material world of the here and now. TEC is an advocate of the millennium development goals and a sustainable planet, not the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

To whom will they leave the planet?  They are too concerned about their carbon footprint (not the one shod for the preparation of the Gospel) to breed. They are vocal and proud advocates for abortion with a seminary head that calls abortion a blessing. TEC leadership has lost Christ and He can do no mighty works there. They have traded in the saving red blood of Jesus for a green earth gospel. After all, would a loving God crucify His Son? What kind of God is that?

   

I write this because there is still a faithful remnant and God has honored their presence, obedience and witness. At some point if they too also leave or are driven out, then Christ will remove His lampstand and the church will be a church in name only.      

The Church

Fr. Dale Matson

“Through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known.” (Ephesians 3:10a, ESV)

"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worked in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." (Ephesians 3:14-21)

How fitting and proper that this epistle reading was selected for the Feast Day of Gregory of Nazianzus  since St. Paul’s prayer includes the three Persons of the Trinity that Gregory helped define and defend in the second ecumenical council (381). Note also that St. Paul claimed that while he was the minister of the Gospel to the Gentiles, the mysteries of God are revealed by God the Holy Spirit to the church. It is to the mystical body of Christ, the church, that God the Holy Spirit reveals the mystery of unity of fellowship and truth. These mysteries are spoken to the church by Apostles and Prophets BUT it is the church that tests, weighs, and confirms what has been revealed. St. Paul himself warned ” but though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”(Galatians, 1:8)

In the Catechism in the Book of Common Prayer, the Church is described as “The Body of which Jesus Christ is the Head and of which all baptized persons are members.  It is called the People of God, the New Israel, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, and the pillar and ground of truth.”

In Article XX (39 Articles) we read the following concerning the church. "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 anything 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 is a witness and a keeper of Holy Writ, yet, as it ought not to decree anything against the same, so besides the same ought it not to enforce any thing to be believed for necessity of Salvation".

Finally, this is written to the contemporary prophets and churches as a caution. New revelations do not set the Word of God against itself. “The Old Testament is not contrary to the New: for both in the Old and New Testament everlasting life is offered to Mankind by Christ, who is the only Mediator between God and Man, being both God and Man” (Article VII) Although the Church is under the Word of God, it is the one Holy, catholic and apostolic church that is and remains the steward of the mysteries of God. 

The Garden, The Ark and The Church

Fr. Dale Matson

“He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:15-18)

In our Epistle Lesson for Tuesday of Easter IV, we read the following from 1 Thessalonians chapter 1: “Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. The Thessalonians' Faith and Example We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. Not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.” (1-8)

As each year passes, my love for the church, the mystical body of Christ grows stronger. These few verses from St. Paul are the work of the church in a nutshell. The church is the new garden and the new Israel. The church is also the new ark where God’s people are gathered in faith, hope and love. While Noah’s Ark preserved and conveyed the breath of life in animals (Genesis 7:15), the church is the ark of spiritual life. While Noah waited in hope for a sign from the dove that would return with an olive branch, we await in hope, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the return of our Lord in power and glory. As the dove brought hope to those on the Ark, the Holy Spirit descended on the church. Once the waters had receded, God again commanded humans and animals to be fruitful and multiply and repopulate the earth. It is also the command He gave to Adam and Eve. God is a God of life and fruitfulness.

As I reflected on this, it occurred to me that the great commission is essentially an extension of this same command to be fruitful and multiply.  However, Paul was talking about Spiritual procreation. It is the work of the church to be fruitful and multiply spiritually by spreading the Gospel message. Paul’s praise of the Thessalonians was that they had received the Gospel message in faith. They were passing on this word of the Lord as a labor of love and they remained steadfast in hope, even though they were being persecuted.

      The church of Christ, like the garden and ark is a place of fecundity. The church is a necessary combination of missiology and ecclesiology. We are to dress and keep, protect and persevere and be fruitful and multiply. Our works do not save us but carried out in faith, they demonstrate Godly obedience and hope of spiritual offspring. If we lose sight of our commission and fail to pass on this spiritual life, then we lose sight of who we are as a church and why we were called into the body of Christ. In fact, if we lose sight of our God given mission, we are no longer even a church. We are simply a collection of dry bones in a whitewashed tomb. Be fruitful and multiply. Amen   

The Mystical Union Of The Believer, Christ and His Church

Feast Day Of Brigid 

(February 1st)

Fr. Dale Matson

"For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, 'Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.'” (1 Cor. 1:26-31, Epistle reading for Feast Day of Brigid).

Do I worry about righteousness and redemption and sanctification? I think not if I am in Christ. If I am in Christ, I am a new creature. I am putting off the old man and putting on the new, empowered by God the Holy Spirit.  Does this mean that our personality is being destroyed? Is this self-naughting a kind of self-destruction? Of course it isn’t. It is our false self that is being burned up. Christ has baptized us with the Holy Spirit and fire. God the Holy Spirit is the refiner’s fire burning up the dross of our old nature.  As St. Seraphim stated, “The true aim of our Christian life consists of the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God."

Paul states in Colossians, “"To whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27). “Paul then passes beyond the mystery of the church and comes to the words of the text, "Christ in you, the hope of glory." The church consists of souls in whom Christ lives. This is another mystery, never to be explained by or to the unspiritual, never to be perfectly explained even by the spiritual. The mystery of individual souls in whom Christ dwells lies at the back of the mystery of the church.” (G. Campbell Morgan).

But is it not also that we are born again by our baptism into Christ and His body the Church? Christ is the light of the world and the lamp inside me searching my inwards parts. Just as Brigid transformed a pagan location into a Christian community, Christ is exposing the darkness in us by the brightness of His light. He is transforming us so His Father may be glorified.  He is not making new things. He is making all things new. Just as Brigid took the pagan land and water and fire and consecrated it for Christian purposes and posterity. He is the tree of life within us and we live eternally on this fruit of the Spirit.  So, we are in Christ and He is in us. His body is the Church and we are members of it. The good deeds we perform, we do for Him and through Him and He does them through us. It is no longer we who live but Christ who lives in us and for us. Amen

Ut Omnes Unum Sint (That they all may be one)

Fr. Dale Matson

"Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One" (Deuteronomy 6:4, NASB).

“That they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (John 17:21, NASB).

“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.” Acts 2:1, NASB).

So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not three Gods but one God. (The Creed of Athanasius).

“We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.” (from the Nicene Creed).

“By Him and with Him, and in Him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory is Yours, Almighty Father, now and forever. AMEN. (Eucharistic Doxology).

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” (Eph. 4:4-5, NASB).

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35, NASB).

“We can do nothing well till we act ‘with one accord’; we can have no accord in action till we agree together in heart; we cannot agree without a supernatural influence; we cannot have a supernatural presence unless we pray for it; we cannot pray acceptably without repentance and confession. Our Church’s strength would be irresistible, humanly speaking, were it but at unity with itself.” (from Tract number 90 by John Henry Newman 1841).

“O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Savior, the Prince of Peace: Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions; take away all hatred and prejudice, and whatever else may hinder us from godly union and concord; that, as there is but one Body and one Spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may be all of one heart and of one soul, united in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and one mouth glorify thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” (BCP, ‘For the Unity of the Church’ p.818).

The Christian Church in Context

Fr. Dale Matson
1-23-11
“For 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. Therefore, we praise you, joining our voices with Angels and Archangels, and with all the company of heaven, who forever sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of your name:” (Preface for All Saints, BCP, Holy Eucharist II.)

There is a view today among many contemporary church leaders that the church and its members are a product of the culture in which they are embedded. They are captives of context. Reality begins and ends with and on this earth. This view also shapes the churches response to this same culture. The response must be culturally relevant and welcoming. Come one come all. You may come as you are and stay that way. The message must be appealing and responsive to social needs. It must be sensitive, inclusive and affirming. It must adjust to social change and address environmental concerns. It is not a response to the command of God as much as human need. It is about the here and now of the material world. It is response driven by guilt and fear rather than love. It is serving others but not serving Christ in others. This church is devoid of sin, denies guilt, the need for atonement, salvation, faith, a God in Heaven, a divine and resurrected Savior and a Hell for those who chose to reject Him. There are no mysteries and miracles because there is no Spirit. All of the words are still used but mean what the relativists want them to mean. The meaning of words is based on convenience not truth. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has been replaced by many gospels for there are many ways. The gates of Hell will prevail against it for it is in fact not a Christian church. It is only a Potemkin village masquerading as a Christian church.

The Christian church and her members were intended to live in the world but were ultimately not citizens of it. If we mean by cultural relevance that the church takes on the values of society to obtain what is called today “street credibility” then it is nothing more than an adjunct social welfare agency. On the national level it is termed a “Religious Initiative” or “Faith Based Partnership”. This church is an auxiliary agency of the government. On the international level this involvement is for some, the “Millennium Development Goals” set by the United Nations. It is society setting the goals of the church and why not, humans cannot escape their culture because they are culture bound.

The Christian Church and its parishioners however exist in a much larger context. It is not just local, national and international. We are also a part of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is eternal not temporal. It is universal in time and space and it is about the saving of souls and the worship of God. The context is without boundaries. Our community of faith has provided context for us through Scripture and Tradition. We are called by Christ and led by the Holy Spirit. Although we live out our life on this earth in a particular place for a finite period, we see ourselves embedded in the Kingdom of God that existed before the world was created and was brought to us here on earth by Jesus Christ in whom we also live and move and have our being. (Acts: 17:28).