Last week I blogged on the “real church” experience in reference to the Day of Pentecost. Yesterday was Trinity Sunday, which in the Roman Catholic and Episcopal liturgical calendar always falls the Sunday after Pentecost. Yesterday at church, the bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina, the Right Reverend Michael Curry celebrated eucharist with us, as well as Holy Confirmation. Besides being an awesome and dynamic preacher, Bishop Curry is one of my spiritual mentors, to whom at some point, I will directly report to as a deacon after ordination.
For those of you that are unfamiliar with Holy Confirmation, in the Catholic, Episcopal and even some Methodist churches, confirmation is a holy sacrament with the laying on of hands by a bishop, in which after an individual has reaffirmed their faith in God, and followed a brief course of study (God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, catechism and church history), and the renewal of their baptismal covenant, they are officially welcomed into the church. This does not say that they were never welcomed into the church prior to confirmation. For my Baptist friends, I would liken this to receiving the right hand of fellowship without the handshakes, but with the presence of a regional or jurisdictional minister, the bishop.
Yesterday at St. Ambrose, we were fortunate enough to confirm 13 individuals, youth and adults alike. We had an awesome worship experience with the bishop. The primary text of Bishop Curry’s sermon was “The Great Commission,” which comes from Matthew 28:18-20. “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” What a powerful statement! According to Matthew’s gospel, the last thing that Jesus said to his followers before going to heaven was “get busy, make disciples, teach them everything, and if you have any doubt, I’m still here.”
Question – What is this business of making disciples about? In his sermon yesterday, Bishop Curry referenced a book “unChristian” which is basically a sociological study of the fastest growing religious group. I bet that you’re probably thinking: the evangelicals have finally taken over. Or possibly, the Muslims have gotten out of control. You may find it interesting that the fastest growing religious group is people who identify themselves as “unaffiliated.” Bishop Curry also mentioned that within the book a group of religiously unaffiliated people was asked in a survey what comes to their mind when they hear Christian? The responses were just unbelievable but at the same time a bittersweet pill which had to be swallowed. Some of the responses were narrow minded, intolerant, bigoted, closed minded, hypocritical and homophobic. Now, is that how you would want someone to describe you? We were urged by the bishop to be Jesus Episcopalians, to walk in his ways, which primarily is the way of LOVE. We have to be willing to love and give without counting the cost. Love is the very essence of our law and the foundation for what we believe. Do you want war or coexistence? At the conclusion of his message, Bishop Curry reminded us that “They will know we are Christians by our love.”
Love is one of those things that if you give it, it will come back to you. Even a dog is capable of giving love. Trust me, my four-legged dependent, Rasul is very capable of loving, not because I feed him, give him treats and take him on walks, but just because. Love is the reason that we are here today. I echo the words of my bishop and say that not only do we need Jesus Episcopalians, we need loving Christians worldwide to redeem these times in which we are living through the power of the Holy Spirit and the love of almighty God.
Peace,
Karsten
No comments:
Post a Comment