Ascension Blog

I have been talking a great deal lately about how the season of Advent is a time that we are to prepare for the coming of Christ into the world.  Certainly it is a time when we are intentional in our reflections on the first coming of Christ in the form of the Babe of Bethlehem.  But it is also the time when we consider the second coming of Christ at the end of the ages.  If you are like me, thinking about the second coming of Christ compels me to look deeply into my own heart and life and to evaluate whether I truly am ready.  Just as there seems so much to be done in preparation for the Christmas festivities, so too there seems to be so much work to be done in the recesses of my soul!

To be quite honest, it can all become a bit daunting!  I become overwhelmed when I compare that which God has done for me in the gift of his only-begotten with my own meager, albeit honest response to his gift.  Before we realize it, Advent, instead of being a patient time of reflection and preparation, becomes a hectic time of hustling and bustling and trying to become good enough for the Kingdom of God.

Could it be, however, that faithful preparation comes not in the form of hustle and bustle but rather in quiet and still receiving?  That’s the way it worked for the Virgin Mary, after all.  When the angel comes to her and tells her of God’s plan for her life, she doesn’t kick into high gear.  Rather she responds with simple words of reception: “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”  As young and simple as Mary was, she recognized a truth about our relationship with God that so many of us who are older and more intellectually sophisticated seem to miss.  This great foundational truth is that our relationship with God is much more about receiving and being than it is about giving and doing.  And as such, Advent is a special time in which we are invited first and foremost to receive.

Richard Rohr has commented that “God does not love you because you are good; God loves you because God is good. God does not love you because you are good; you are good because God loves you.”  Now THAT is an Advent message that brings some peace and sanity into our lives!  So, prepare…yes.  But prepare by first opening your heart to receive the goodness and love of God.

Art+

As many of you know, I am serving this year as the President of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Eau Claire.  This position has proven to be very challenging due to the present state of our diocese being without a bishop.  Many questions which lay people and clergy would normally ask their bishop are finding their way to me.  Please pray for me as I do my very best to lead our people at this time of great change.

One of the questions that seems to arise frequently is that of whether I think that we should stay or go.  What they are referring to, of course, is whether we (as individuals, as congregations, as a diocese) should remain within TEC (The Episcopal Church) given its current inclination to push the envelope with regard to our stance on issues of human sexuality.  My short answer to those who ask my opinion is “yes.”  For those who have patience for the longer answer, I have followed up with an explanation of how I think that God hates both heresy and schism, but if I were pressed on which I think that he hates more, it would be schism.  So, unless I am absolutely morally pushed to do so, I, as a priest, intend to remain within The Episcopal Church.  Further, I have every intention to continue to counsel those who care to listen to do the same.

Recently, Father Russell Levenson Jr., who is rector of the largest Episcopal congregation in the United States, was asked basically the same question that I am being asked.  Now his congregation is not only very large, but also theologically very conservative and evangelical.  He cites a number of excellent Biblical examples of those who chose to stay despite trying circumstances.  Levenson says, “…I do not think leaving is the answer.  Daniel had to stay in Babylon, but did not abandon his faith.  Jeremiah was not given another Israel.  Ezekiel had to preach to dry bones.  When Jesus and his message were completely rejected, he did not leave.  He wept.  He stayed.  He did not move on to Egypt.  He stayed and faithfully preached when they believed and when they did not believe.”

I am very fortunate at Ascension to be among a people who seem to be able, for the most part, to set first things first.  While the Church at large seems to be twisting and swirling and groaning and straining with these issues, the people of Ascension really seem concerned with simply hearing the Word of God and responding to it in profoundly simple but genuine ways.  Its not that we are ignoring what’s going on in the rest of the Church, its just that we’ve already got our hands full with following Jesus!  And so, to my brothers and sisters at Ascension… thank you for allowing me to be a minister of the majors rather than the minors.

And to those of you whose hearts are heavy as you soulfully contemplate the state of the Church… my advice would be to hang around awhile.  It’ll be alright.  The God of our Lord Jesus Christ is a whole, whole lot bigger than these present issues.  Hang around with those of us who are striving to be faithful from within.  Art+

I read in a novel about an old carpenter who, in his craft, never used a ruler or tape measure.  He figured that if he were to use a measuring instrument, he might actually come close to perfection.  He further determined that perfection should be reserved only for God and that for mere human beings, “purt near” was good enough.  

I find that philosophy particularly refreshing as it takes so much of the pressure off of those of us who seek to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength.  We are, after all, fallen creatures, are we not?  What does God expect of us anyway?  Perhaps the old carpenter is right…”purt near” may be all that we should shoot for after all.  Or maybe not.  If I aim at only “purt near,” won’t I end up with something even less?  Let me explain…

In my experience, I have found that even when I strive for absolute perfection, I end up with “purt near.”  For example… over the last week or so I have been working on a picket fence for my wife.  She seems bent on turning our half acre lot in town into a micro farm.  Already she has created a burgeoning garden, and the picket fence is intended to enclose a strawberry patch so that bunnies and squirrels are thwarted from munching on the delectable produce.  I was enlisted as “carpenter extraordinaire” for the project.

If you have ever attempted to construct a picket fence, you know that there are any number of variables with which to contend — the shape of the picket, the space between each board, the distance between posts, the irregularities of the ground, etc..  Taking all of these variables into account and submitting them to my very limited expertise as a carpenter has resulted in what my past coaches have deemed… “a good effort.”  Despite my best attempts at perfection, the best I have come up with for the fence is “purt near.”  It will certainly deter at least some unwanted creatures, but I don’t think that “This Old House” is going to feature my workmanship in any of their upcoming episodes!

In the Beatitudes, Jesus instructs his followers to “be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48).”  As someone who is trying his level best to follow Jesus faithfully, I wrestle with this teaching.  In my ministry as a priest, in my relationships with family and friends, in my noble attempts to be a good human being, the best I seem to be able to muster is “purt near” rather than the perfection of which Jesus speaks.  

I wonder, though, if maybe that’s okay.  Maybe Jesus gives us this teaching so that we will come to understand that there will always be a gap between perfection and “purt near.”  The gap, of course, exists because even those who have committed themselves to the Lordship of Christ are still fallen and sinful beings.  And it is precisely because of this gap that Jesus came into the world — to bridge the gap.  It is solely by the grace of God in Christ Jesus that the gap between “purt near” and perfection is overcome.

So, today, I pledge to God that I will shoot for perfection in the full knowledge that what I will end up with is only “purt near.”  And may the grace of our Lord Jesus make up the difference.  Art+

Many thanks to Dave Bauer who has set up this Blog site and who has worked through the first set of complications.  It is my hope to post semi-regular comments on this Blog which address issues of faith, life, and our parish family.  In keeping with our Anglican tradition, my comments will draw on Holy Scripture, the tradition of the Church, and my reason and experience as a priest living in rural Wisconsin.  Please place this Blog (and the Ascension website) on your list of favorites.  I would heartily welcome any and all comments to my Blog posts.  If you experience difficulties in using this Blog, please do not hesitate to let us know.  May this Blog lead us all into a greater knowledge and love of God.  And when you see Dave the next time, give him a pat on the back and an ataboy!  

Art+