I have a friend who sent me a book
entitled, Jesus was an Episcopalian (and you can be one, too).
In short, this is a book about the Episcopal church and how our
particular branch of the Jesus Movement relates to worship, history,
politics, the world, and much more. She uses this book for her
inquirer's class – working especially with newcomers and people who
want to take a fresh look at their faith.
As a rule, we Episcopalians don't
evangelize very well. We aren't good at talking to people about our
faith, church, or denomination. And again, I'm generalizing here.
But one of the ways we view our faith is through the saying, “Lex
orandi, lex credendi.” That is, “The rule of prayer shapes
the rule of belief.” Put another way, “How we pray is what we
believe.”
I bring this up because, in my
experience, when people have asked about the Episcopal church there
has been a lot of himming and hawing. Descriptions such as,
“Catholic-lite,” “via media,” “A little bit Catholic, a
little bit Protestant,” “We're not told what to think,” “We
don't have to check our brains at the door,” “It's complicated,”
and others, come up in an attempt to explain the Episcopal church
and/or Saint John's. And then, frustrated that we can't offer a
simple description, we say something like, “Come and see.”
Has anyone else had this experience, or
is it just me?
So we offer a “come and see”
invitation which is supposed to answer all of their questions, as
well as get us off the hook for trying to explain our faith and
church. Or maybe we think we can pass this new person off onto the
Rector who CAN answer all questions. But the reality is that this
whole thing is complicated. Our faith is complicated. Our church
can be complicated. And I'll tell you that one of the most difficult
things I have ever had to do is to sit down with a non-practicing
Buddhist exchange student from South Korea who would sit with an open
BCP on Sunday and say, “Explain this to me.”
It's complicated, so come and see.
Come and see how we pray. Come and see
how we reach out to the wider community. Come and see how we feed
the hungry. Come and see how we offer a quiet, safe place to be with
God. Come and see how we teach our faith. Come and see how we live
our faith.
That invitation to come and see isn't a
way to get people in the door so we can hit them over the head with
the Constitution and Canons, or with a list of approved doctrines and
disciplines. The invitation to come and see is just that, an
invitation to come and see if this is where you want to be.
“Rabbi, where are you staying?” He
said to them, “Come and see.”
Jesus didn't tell them what they were
doing wrong. He didn't make them sign an oath of faith. He didn't
quote the Constitution and Canons. Instead he said, “Come and
see.”
When we say, “Come and see,” we
don't expect to have all the answers in our first meeting. I don't
think Jesus did either. But this is the first step to understanding
what we are all about. It was the first step to seeing what Jesus
was all about.
Wouldn't you love to know what was said
at that first meeting? John doesn't say anything about it other than
that those first two disciples stayed with him the rest of that day,
and that it was about 4 o'clock. Here's what I think happened.
John the Baptist points out Jesus as
the Lamb of God. The two disciples go to Jesus and ask where he's
staying. Jesus says, “Come and see.” They follow him and Jesus
begins to lay out the plans for his ministry.
Come and see good news given to the
poor. Come and see captives released. Come and see the blind
regaining sight. Come and see the oppressed go free. Come and see
the scattering of the proud. Come and see the powerful lowered and
the lowly raised up. Come and see the hungry fed. Come and see the
kingdom of God being proclaimed to the people.
I think that when Jesus answered the
question of, “Where are you staying?” he didn't say, “Come and
see” to show them the cute little B&B in Bethany that he had
booked for the weekend. Instead, Jesus had a much broader, longer
view of the question.
“Where are you staying?”
Come and see me stay with the poor.
Come and see me stay with the captives. Come and see me stay with
the oppressed. Come and see me stay with the hungry. Come and see
me live in the kingdom of God in the here and now.
Our annual meeting is next week. We
will have a budget to look at, numbers to review, and reports to read
as we do the business of the church. But the business of the church
only tells a part of the story.
Come and see where we've been. Come
and see where we might be headed. Come and see how we minister to
people both inside and outside our congregation. Come and see how we
live into our mission.
Jesus' answer of, “Come and see,”
wasn't a cop out, but a way to begin to explain to a few disciples
the complicated depth of his mission. Our answer to people about our
church of, “Come and see” isn't a cop out of trying to avoid
giving an answer, but an invitation to see how we experience God and
live into our mission today.
Faith and discipleship are difficult
and complicated things to explain to people. When we have those
conversations, don't be discouraged that you don't have all the
answers. Just follow the example of the very first Episcopalian and
invite them to come and see.
Amen.
0 comments:
Post a Comment