Contains information about various Lenten opportunities, as well as an introduction to the online discussion series.
Monthly Archive for February, 2010
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Romans 10:8b-13
Luke 4:1-13
So we’re in the desert this morning, the wilderness. This isn’t a pleasure trip to Tucson for winter vacation week. We’re not here to soak up some sun. This is where there’s nothing to eat, no shelter, no one to keep us company. We’re alone, insecure, beset by fears. We talk about “ah, ha!” mountaintop experiences. Well, we also know desert experiences, don’t we? Times when everything that gives life meaning and makes us feel secure deserts us. Times when we feel utterly alone, beset by fears. This is such a place, such a time. It’s no vacation.
And along comes the devil, the tempter. Don’t expect a fellow in a red suit with cloven hooves and a tail. He’s more subtle than that. He presents himself, very likely, as your own best friend. Continue reading ‘Lent 1 February 21, 2010′
2 Corinthians 5:20b-21, 6:1-10
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
We celebrate today two things that are difficult for us: sin and mortality. I remember being on the search committee for a new priest, back before I was ordained myself. We were going through resumes the bishop had sent us and we got to Fr. So-and-So’s. “Discard!” announced a woman on the committee immediately. “I went to a service at his church and he preached on sin.” Moral: don’t talk about sin if you want to get ahead, even in the Church, certainly not in the rest of life.
Mortality, too: who wants to talk about death, particularly their own? Obituaries always note how someone died after a “long struggle” or a “long battle” with whatever disease carried them off. Death is the enemy. Hospitals and hospices are partly places where we hide away the dying so they won’t spoil things for the living. We’ve come a long ways from our ancestors, who prayed in the Great Litany to be delivered from “dying suddenly and unprepared” and saw this life in terms of preparation for death. Continue reading ‘Ash Wednesday February 17, 2010′
An experiment. We at Holy Cross are embarking on an experiment in interactive blogging, distance learning, virtual church — call it what you will. We invite anyone interested to listen in and join in, whether or not part of the Holy Cross family. The subject is The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. The title comes from a best-selling book by Timothy Keller. Weekly through the seasons of Lent and Easter, until May 23, we will take up in turn the chapters of Keller’s book: during Lent, seven chapters on “The Leap of Doubt”; during Easter, seven chapters on “The Reasons for Faith.” You don’t have to buy the book, though you may want to. We’ll summarize Keller’s points. Anyone can agree or disagree with what he has to say, add their own points, talk back and forth, drop in or drop out of the conversation. Postings for previous weeks will remain up and can be added to. Postings can bear your name or be anonymous; your email address will not be publicized or available. Continue reading ‘Belief in an Age of Skepticism — Lent/Easter On-Line Discussion Series’
“Surely all religions are equally good.”
“Religion has led to untold strife, division, and conflict. For anyone to insist that they have ‘the truth,’ as religions require you to, means the world will never know peace.”
Religious relativism. Tim Keller says that the greatest source of skepticism about religion that he finds among young adults boils down to the enormous pluralism and diversity of religions around us today. Whether in the news about the Holy Land, radical Islam, or zealous religious sects here at home, people are fearful of religion’s exclusivist claims. They’re not about to get involved with something that will set them against their neighbors — or members of their own family. Better to hold back, let everyone believe what they want, keep spirituality private, personal and relative, “suspend” belief — at least in any organized, institutional religion, any doctrines or dogmas. Continue reading ‘Doubt 1: There Can’t Be Just One True Religion’
Exodus 34:29-35
2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2
Luke 9:28-43
Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness, not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing [on God’s glory]. — 2 Corinthians 3:12
This is one of the central themes in the New Testament, indeed in Christianity as a religion: that with Jesus Christ no longer is God veiled, a terrible presence before whom we can only cringe in fear, whom we can only approach indirectly, through observing a code of complex rules and through the rituals of a sacred priesthood. No, our God is the God revealed in Jesus, a human being like ourselves. Jesus who knows our weakness, our doubts, our confusion, our sins. But Jesus who has saved us from ourselves, who loves us and calls us to be with him.
It is a very powerful idea. We make a mistake if we treat it as simply a contrast between Judaism and Christianity. The contrast between the veiled God and the transparent God runs through all religions. Continue reading ‘Last Epiphany February 14, 2010′
This is the second of the doubts Tim Keller cites that people give him as reasons why they find it difficult or impossible to believe in God, at least the “orthodox” God of the Christian Church. Either God is not good, since there is so much suffering and evil in the world, or God is not all-powerful (i.e., God) or he would do away with evil and suffering. Continue reading ‘Doubt 2: How Could a Good God Allow Suffering?’
Timothy Keller’s language can seem like a cold shower. “Is a belief in absolute truth the enemy of freedom?” he begins this chapter by asking. He’s a Presbyterian, working out of a Calvinist theology, and that isn’t the way most Anglicans talk. Had I, your vicar, been writing this sentence, I might have said “ultimate” rather than “absolute.” Anglicans tend to be uncomfortable about asserting that they possess anything absolute; they prefer to say that they are pursuing what is ultimate. Actually, however, as Keller develops his thesis he comes out about where an Anglican would — and his arguments are strong ones. Continue reading ‘Doubt 3: Christianity is a Straitjacket’
Bishop Robinson’s official visitation to Holy Cross on February 7, 2010, centered on a joyful celebration of the Eucharist. The Worship Space was decorated with banners and paper fish echoing the theme of the gospel reading for the day, Luke 5:1-11, in which Jesus tells his disciples to “put out into the deep” and “not be afraid” — that “from now on you will be catching people.”
The Bishop and other ministers prepare to enter the Worship Space. The procession was led by Monica Houghton, dancing in a huge fish kite flying from a long pole.
Abbie Stehno reads the lesson, on the call of the prophet Isaiah.
Bobbi-Jo Plamondon helps son Wyatt with his fish kite as Brenda Larkin works on hers.
The Bishop asks the congregation what they think it takes to "fish for people."
The Plamondons prepare to receive Holy Communion.
Piper Scott Arvin gets his wind up for "Amazing Grace."
Children in the "Godly play" space show their awe at the fish kite.
Over lunch, the Vestry talked with Bishop Robinson about faith sharing.