That We All May Be One

Friday in the Fourth Week of Lent  (Wisdom 2: 1a, 12-24; Psalm 34:15-22; John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30)

For millennia believers who share the faith of Abraham in the one God have tried to describe their ideal Prophet, the One they have hoped for and looked forward to, and looked up to as an exemplar.

The Psalmist describes him this way: “Many are the troubles of the righteous, but the Lord will deliver him out of them all.  He will keep safe all his bones; not one of them shall be broken…the Lord ransoms the life of his servants, and none will be punished who trust in him.”  

Decades before Jesus was born, the author of the Wisdom of Solomon describes how “the ungodly” might view such a person: “Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions…He professes to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a child of the Lord…he calls the last end of the righteous happy, and boasts that God is his father. Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life…”

And, during Jesus’ lifetime, some of the people of Jerusalem said about him, “Is not this the man whom they are trying to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, but they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah?”

Here is how a contemporary of ours tries to describe him: “He comes as yet unknown into a hamlet of Lower Galilee. He is watched by the cold, hard eyes of peasants living long enough at the subsistence level to know exactly where the line is drawn between poverty and destitution. He looks like a beggar yet his eyes lack the proper cringe, his voice the proper whine, his walk the proper shuffle.

He speaks about the rule of God and they listen as much from curiosity as anything else. They know all about rule and power, about kingdom and empire, but they know it in terms of tax and debt, malnutrition and sickness, agrarian oppression and demonic possession.

What, they really want to know, can this Kingdom of God do for a lame child, a blind parent, a demented soul screaming its tortured isolation among the graves that mark the village fringes? Jesus walks among the tombs and, in the silence after the exorcism, the villagers listen once more, but now with curiosity giving way to cupidity, fear, and embarrassment.

He is invited, as honor demands, to the home of the village leader. He goes, instead, to stay in the home of the dispossessed woman. Not quite proper, to be sure, but it would be unwise to censure an exorcist, to criticize a magician… But the next day he leaves them and now they wonder aloud about a divine Kingdom with no respect for proper protocols, a Kingdom, as he had said, not just for the poor like themselves, but for the destitute.

Others say that the worst and most powerful demons are not found in small villages but in certain cities. Maybe, they say, that was where the exorcised demon went, to Sepphoris or Tiberias, or even Jerusalem, or maybe to Rome itself where its arrival would hardly be noticed amidst so many others already in residence. But some say nothing at all and ponder the possibility of catching up with Jesus before he gets too far.” (The Essential Jesus by John Dominic Crossan, page11)

Well, we may never catch up with Jesus. He is always way ahead of us! We may, each of us, describe him in somewhat different ways. But, as we approach this Table, we will all receive him in his fullness, as he truly is. And we can all pray to him in this Lenten season in these words:

“Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name.” Amen.  

Today, at our House of Bishops’ meeting, we had presentations from Dr. Ephraim Radner and Dr. Kathy Grieb — two members of the Covenant Drafting Committee — about the possibility of developing an Anglican Covenant which might serve to bind us together more fully as a global communion. The three bishops who accompanied our Presiding Bishop to the Primates’ meeting in Tanzania were asked to share our remarks with the House. I share them also with you. On Feb. 14th, I said:   

 My dear sister and brothers: First of all, it will not surprise you that I have a different view of the Episcopal Church than my brothers who have just spoken. As ecumenical officer, I travel all across the United States and I do not recognize the church they describe. I find Episcopalians generally more orthodox and less divided that what you have just heard.

However, I assume that the main reason I have been invited into this conversation is to share my perspective as Deputy for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations for the Episcopal Church, given our current difficulties in the Anglican Communion. Obviously, the presenting issues of homosexuality and the ordination and blessing of homosexual persons and their relationships are of deep concern to our ecumenical and interfaith partners.

In the United States, and elsewhere in the Communion, these are vexing issues and our partners are in different places with respect to these issues. Most notably, some of the Old Catholic churches in Europe and some of the churches of the Reformed tradition, in the
US and elsewhere, permit such ordination and blessing. Obviously, the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches, and others, do not. Two of the three branches of Judaism, the Reformed and Conservative traditions in America, similarly allow for such ordinations and blessings. The Orthodox Jews do not!

However, I must say, in all humility but with complete honesty, that – at least in the States – we have been treated with more charity by our ecumenical and interfaith partners than we have by some in our own Anglican Communion! No national dialogues have been terminated, or even missed a beat, because of our current difficulties. The only church which has officially broken off dialogue with the Episcopal Church is the Russian Orthodox Church and – if I may say – even the Vatican has difficulty sustaining that relationship!

Every bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in American – a church with which we are in full communion – will receive Communion from every bishop in the Episcopal Church – and the priests and deacons they have ordained!  The Anglican – Roman Catholic dialogue in the
US has never missed a meeting and reports of the Lambeth Commission and the Windsor Report have provided rich input for our discussions on “The Gift of Authority” and the balance between the local and universal exercise of authority in the Church.

I just returned last week from Washington and the National Workshop on Christian Unity. Nearly 400 participants engaged in common worship and seminars on a variety of topics. Fr. Paul McPartlan, an English Roman Catholic scholar, and I co-presented to a packed house on the new document, “Growing Together in Unity and Mission,” from the International Anglican Roman Catholic Commission on Unity and Mission. And the issues with which we are concerned here were not avoided! They were faced squarely, but put into the context of 40 years of advances and convergences between Anglicans and Roman Catholics. If that context is important, how much more must be our own history together as Anglicans – which is much longer!

I do not wish to minimize the difficulties we face in some of these conversations! But I believe I can honestly say that the greatest concern of our ecumenical partners is the potential “deconstruction” of the Anglican Communion! Many, though not all, of our partners deal with us, first and foremost, as a global Communion…and only derivatively as a “national church.”

Many of them are very interested in the development of an Anglican Covenant. I am often asked – by Episcopalians and others – whether we have learned anything in the ecumenical movement which can be helpful in our current difficulties as Anglicans. And I often point to ecumenical agreements as models of “covenantal relationships” that have served us well over time. Whether it is the Bonn Agreement with the Old Catholics, the Concordat with the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, or “Called to Common Mission” with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America – these are very fruitful for both unity and mission.

Indeed, in the development of such covenants each partner learns more about the other, time is taken to get it right, and then solemn agreements are reached. Of course, there is a variety of opinions across the Communion about the contents, or even viability, of such an Anglican Covenant, but I think I can say without exception that our ecumenical partners want us to give it a try!    

Of course, I have to point out that – at least in ecumenical and interfaith dialogue – both partners want to be at the table! In ecumenical conversations, we are not willing to place the best of our tradition against the worst of another – because we have learned how destructive that can be for dialogue and eventual communion! In ecumenical dialogue, we have learned to honor difference and to look for common ground where it can be found. In the ecumenical movement, we have learned to respect one another and to assume that – even in disagreement – both partners are seeking to be faithful to God in their own context. Never in ecumenical conversations do we describe ourselves (as we have heard here) as being of “two faiths.” We share one Christian faith!

That does not mean “papering over” genuine disagreement! But it does mean staying together while we each learn from the other. I hope that a similar commitment can emerge among us. I know that is what the Episcopal Church wants.

(This statement also appears in the March 25, 2007 edition of The Living Church magazine)

At our weeklong meetings of the House of Bishops we normally try to honor the Lord’s Day, the Christian “sabbath” by a day of rest. We celebrated the Eucharist together at 10 a.m., had brunch, and have the afternoon off before gathering this evening for an informal “fireside chat” with our Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori.

Katharine presided at the Eucharist and we heard a fine sermon on the Parable of the Prodigal Son by one of our chaplains, the Canon Precentor of Washington’s National Cathedral. I was most moved, however, by the words of the Offertory hymn, sung responsorially with the volunteer “bishops’ choir” made up of bishops who enjoy singing together at these meetings.

The refrain is based on the words of Archbishop Helder Camara, retired as the Roman Catholic prelate of Olinda and Recife, which was a favorite of our former Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, “My door, my heart, must be open to everyone, absolutely everyone.” And from a line of an ancient Celtic Rune of Hospitality, “Often goes Love in the stranger’s guise.” So we sang:

“Open, open, open my heart.  I must be open to everyone. Often goes Love in the stanger’s guise. Open, open my heart.”

And the verses were no less powerful:

“You are the peace of all things calm; You are the place to hide from harm; You are the light that shines in dark; You are the heart’s eternal spark.

You are the caller, You are the poor; You are the stanger at my door; You are the wanderer, The unfed; You are the homeless with no bed.

You are the one driven insane; You are the child crying in pain; You are the other who comes to me; If I open to another you’re born in me.

You are the door that’s open wide; You are the guest who waits inside; You are the light, the truth, the way; You are my Savior this very day.”  

Open, open, open our hearts; we must be open to everyone. Often goes Love in the stranger’s guise; open, open our hearts!

“Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands at a distance; for truth stumbles in the public square, and righteousness cannot enter. Truth is lacking, and whoever turns from evil is despoiled.  The Lord saw it and it displeased him that there was no justice.  He saw that there was no one, and was appalled that there was no one to intervene…” (Isaiah 59:14-16) 

A very painful two days, listening to testimonies from a delegation of Philippine religious and civil society leaders at an international ecumenical conference on human rights in the Philippines, March 12-14, 2007 in Washington, DC.  Many of these women and men, clergy and lay have lost friends and family members to what are being called “extra judicial” killings there.

There is a distrubing escalation of human rights violations in the Philippines. In total 833 persons have been killed in what international observers and human rights organizations all agree is a well-designed scheme to eliminate and intimidate leaders who speak out peacefully against human rights abuses of their government.

In response to the National Council of Churches in the Philippines appeal to churches and ecumenical bodies around the world to be in accompaniment with them in making their appeal to end these killings, Tony Kireopoulos of the National Council of Churches in the USA was able to share that organization’s statement and work. I was able to share Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori’s letter (also shared with Condoleeza Rice,  Sen. Joseph Biden, and Rep. Tom Lanto) which concludes:

“I wish to assure you of the ongoing concern of many religious leaders in the United States and elsewhere.  We will continue to monitor and make known our distress over the deeply troubling human rights problems now besetting your country, and we will continue to actively support our partner churches in the Philippines as they work to bring these concerns to the attention of the international community, including the United Nations Human Rights Commission.”

The brave Philippine delegates will testify before Congressional staff and committees tomorrow. The latest word from the Philippines is that the government is sending military and police officials to “observe” the testimonies! Pray for the safety of our sisters and brothers…  

Bilateral dialogues are ongoing meetings between two partners seeking mutual understanding, finding common ground, and working for unity. In ecumenical conversations, the goal is full communion — and eventually the restoration of the full visible unity of the Church. From March 8-10, clergy and laity from the Roman Catholic and Episcopal churches met at St. Paul’s College in Washington, DC for the 62nd meeting of the Anglican – Roman Catholic Theological Consultation in the USA. This conversatioin has been going on for over 30 years!

We prayed Morning and Evening Prayer together everday, alternating between the Book of Common Prayer and Shorter Christian Prayer (a Catholic daily devotional). Each day we also celebrated the Eucharist. That is both joyful and painful. Because Roman Catholic discipline does not permit Eucharistic sharing until full agreement has been reached on matters of faith, order, and polity, we are unable to receive holy communion together. So, at the Episcopal Eucharist, Roman Catholics come forward for a blessing rather than receiving the sacrament. At Catholic Mass, Episcopalians do the same.

I have often wondered about the wisdom of this. Perhaps we should just pray the Daily Office together and let it go at that. But, over time, I have come to see that participating in “real but imperfect” communion in this way allows us to bear the pain of separation and renews our energy for the long journey forward.

It is excruciating, for example, to have the Roman Catholic celebrant hold up the consecrated Bread and Wine and say (as, of course, he would at any Mass) “Happy are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And to know that we are not!  Equally painful for me to hold up those same sacramental signs and say, “The Gifts of God for the People of God” and know that the Roman Catholics will receive those gifts from me.

Yet, it is for that reason that we press on. At this meeting we shared news of our two churches, listened to and discussed two papers on “Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ” published by the Anglican – Roman Catholic International Commission. We reviewed the first draft of a pastoral guide for Spanish-speaking Christians, which attempts to make clear both the similarities and differences between the Roman Catholic and Episcopal churches for new Latino immigrants who may find the terms “catholic” and “episcopal” confusing.

We discussed “Growing Together in Unity and Mission” which will soon be published for use by clergy conferences, seminaries, and local congregations. This international document summarizes, in very accessible fashion, the progress made in over 40 years of Anglican – Roman Catholic dialogue, clearly articulates where we still disagree and new stumbling blocks which have arisen, and yet suggests very specific ways in which the two churches can engage in mission and ministry together even now.    

In the words of this new document,”Because we hope in the bountiful grace of God, we are encouraged to persevere, and to face the difficulties of growing together. We give glory to God, ‘whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine; glory be to him from generation to generation in the Church and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. (Ephesians 3:20-21)'”

Isaiah 1:2-4, 16-20; Psalm 50:7-15, 22-24; Matthew 23:1-12.

The Episcopal Church has historically valued liturgy and sacraments, titles and ceremonial, spiritual disciplines and ascetical practices. So, a church like ours is particularly vulnerable, and needs to pay attention to, Jesus’ admonitions in today’s Gospel. Along with the scribes and the Pharisees we are warned about placing too much emphasis on honorific titles (like “Father” or “Teacher” or – by implication — “The Rev.” or “The Very Rev” or “The Rt. Rev.” or “The Most Rev!” Do we have “The Partially Reverend?” I can’t remember! It may be the only one we missed!

We are warned about getting too wrought up about our beautiful vestments or the latest designs for our naves and sanctuaries (our version of “the best seats in the synagogues!”). Most of all, we are warned about not practicing what we preach! About laying guilt trips on people when we ourselves may be guilty of the same things!

This is Jesus’ version of the prophetic message from people like Isaiah who used to quote the Lord as saying, “…incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and calling of convocation – I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity. Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become a burden to me…”Ah, sinful nation…who have forsaken the Lord, who have despised the Holy One of Israel, who are utterly estranged!” (Isaiah 1). Hard words for
Israel…and for us.

So, what is the remedy for all this? How do we “judge ourselves” so that we will not “be judged” negatively by our God? Well, Isaiah says – simply – “cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” (Isaiah 1:17). And Jesus says, even more simply, “The greatest among you will be your servant. (For) all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:11-12) 

How are we doing on all that? Well, we obviously have a long way to go – as a church and as individuals. But I would invite you (if you’ve not already done so) to take a look at the web site as to what the Executive Council of this church did, last weekend, in Portland, Oregon. And what the Anglican Women’s network has been up to all last week!   

While many, across the land, seem preoccupied with re-arranging the deck chairs on our Noah’s ark of a church, Council spent most of its time on the Millennium Development Goals, on passing a balanced budget focused on God’s mission, on the just re-building of the Gulf Coast, on peace with justice in the Middle East. And the Anglican Women spent most of their time “seeking justice, rescuing the oppressed, defending the orphans, and pleading for the widows!”

Now, I don’t want to fall into the trap of “exalting ourselves” lest – according to Jesus – we find ourselves “humbled!” But the members of our Executive Council – elected to represent this whole church between General Conventions – and the network of Anglican women from around the world did indeed spend most of their time trying to find ways to heed Isaiah’s warnings and to follow Jesus’ direction.

And I, for one, want to commend them as some of the “greatest among us…who acted as servants. As ones who sought to humble themselves, rather than be exalted.” For 

“Whoever offers me the sacrifice of thanksgiving honors me; but to those who keep in my way will I show the salvation of God!” (Psalm 50:24) Amen.   

Since the Episcopal Church is “episcopally led” but “synodically governed” (meaning that not only bishops make decisions for this church, but councils comprised of clergy and laity) it was important to see how the Executive Council would react to the recent Primates’ Meeting and the requests made of our church.

Meeting in Portland, Oregon, March 2-4, Council did a number of things: created a Millenium Development Goals “Inspiration Fund;” raised continuing concern about the peace process in the Middle East; urged an end to secret military detention centers and “extraordinary rendition;” passed a balanced budget for 2007; and a number of other things.

Among them was to state that:

“We wish to clearly affirm that our position as a church is to welcome all persons, particularly those perceived to be the least among us. We wish to reaffirm to our lesbian and gay members that they remain a welcome and integral part of the Episcopal Church.”

“Further, we offer our prayerful affirmation to all who struggle with the issues that concern us: those who are deeply concerned about the future of their Church and its place within the wider Communion, and those who are not reconciled to certain actions of General Convention. We wish to reaffirm tht they too remain a welcome and integral part of the Episcopal Church.”

The Executive Council also created a process to allow for the full participation of all Episcopalians in the response to a draft text for a Covenant in the Anglican Communion. We will give this our best effort. But we will do so, as we have always done, with the full participation of all the baptized members of this church — lay persons, bishops, priests, and deacons.

And the context in which we will do all this is as a Church With No Outcasts!  

I was struck by the first line of the Gospel for this Second Sunday of Lent: “(Jesus) went on his way through towns and villages, teaching, and JOURNEYING TOWARD JERUSALEM.” (Luke 13:22). I find myself drawn to geographical references to the Holy Land like this one ever since a sabbatical I took years ago at St. George’s College located in the Palestinian section of east Jerusalem just a short walk from the Damascus gate into the Old City.

Jerusalem is a holy and timeless place. I have been back several times since and always look forward to the experience of “journeying toward Jerusalem” like Jesus. Of course, in our Lord’s case, the journey is rich with symbolism and meaning. In a way, Jesus’ whole life could be described as a “journey toward Jerusalem.” His whole life was moving toward some kind of encounter in Jerusalem.

His radical understanding of God’s inclusive love, his challenging of the religious status quo, his own special sense of vocation as God’s unique revelation — all these would have to bring him into conflict with the religious and political leaders of the day. And that conflict would have to be played out eventually in the capital and “see city” of Palestine — Jerusalem!

The former Dean of St. George’s College and retired Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, John Peterson, shared a theory of his with us during my sabbatical. He believes that one reason Jesus was tried, convicted, and executed by the Roman government with the full consent of the Temple authorities in Jerusalem was because he came from the north of the country, in the Galilee.

There, rabbis were accustomed to dialogue and debate and even arguing with Scripture and with various interpretations. While in Jerusalem, because of the Temple and the sacrificial system, things were seen as being much more “black and white.” If you commit this sin, you offer that sacrifice. Things were very “clear” to the Jerusalem authorities, and they could not handle Jesus’ rabbinical, dialogical way of getting at God’s truth.

These two perspectives — absolute clarity, black and white “easy” answers versus dialogue and continual seeking after the deeper truths of God’s ongoing revelation — frame much of the debate within our own Anglican communion today as well as throughout much of the Christian world. Indeed, these differing perspectives are present in other great religions of the world as well.

How can we engage one another — without rancor or premature closure — as we together seek God’s truth on our “journey toward Jerusalem?”       

I spent Friday evening, along with a small group, at the home of Ed and Patti Browning here in Portland, Oregon, where we are for an Executive Council meeting. The last Presiding Bishop to have served a twelve-year term (and one of the few who actually made it for the whole twelve!), the stress and brutal travel schedule had taken its toll on Ed (and Patti) by the end of their time in 1998.

They both look fabulous these days. Ed keeps his hand in by occasional preaching responsibilties (he’ll preach at the consecration of the new Bishop of Hawaii soon) but mostly they enjoy their view of Mount Hood from their country home and enjoy growing and selling blueberries from their one-acre plot. “We made $3500 last year,” Ed said with remarkable seriousness!

He listened intently to our “takes” on the Episcopal Church’s “current difficulties” within the Anglican Communion and early discussions the Executive Council has had on the matter. At the end he said, “I try to keep up as best I can with what’s going on. It’s a very difficult position we’re in right now. I pray for Katharine and for all of you as you provide leadership together. I hope we can find our way through this. However it all sorts out, I hope we will not sacrifice the vision of a church with “No Outcasts” we have grown into over these last decades.”

Ed Browning ordained me as Bishop of Iowa in 1988. I served a six-year term on Executive Council under his leadership and that of Pam Chinnis. I did a good bit of ecumenical work on his behalf, at the invitation of my predecessor,  David Perry, in the 1990’s. In all that time, sitting at Ed’s feet in over 20 Executive Council meetings, as many House of Bishops meeting, and several General Conventions, I always came away from the experiences more committed to, and excited about, this church and my service to her as a bishop — and more hopeful about the possibilities.

There is something about his gentle, compassionate spirit coupled with his fierce commitment to the poor and marginalized for the sake of Christ that is most compelling to me — and to many, if not most, who know him well. This world, and this church, in my opinion, are holier and more just because of the life and witness of the Brownings.