“Like what?”
“Well, are you
religious or an atheist?”
“I’m religious,” the man said.
“So am I!” said the rescuer. “Are you Christian?”
“Yes.”
“Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?”
“Protestant.”
“Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?”
“Baptist,” the man said.
“Wow!” said the rescuer. “So am I. Baptist
Church of Christ or Baptist Church of God?”
“Church of God,” the man said, as he began to
move closer to the rescuer.
“Me too!” said the rescuer. “Are you Original
Baptist Church of God or Reformed Baptist Church of God.”
“Reformed,” said the man, now interested enough
to smile.
“Me too!” beamed the rescuer. “Reformed
Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1879 or Reformed Baptist
Church of God, reformation 1915?”
“Reformed Baptist Church of God, 1915,” the man
said excitedly.
To which the rescuer scowled and said, “Die, heretic
scum!” and pushed him off the bridge.
What are the chances that we’ll ever agree completely
in the matters of the church?
We complain and pout; point fingers and feel forgotten sometimes.
Divisions in the church have caused such anger these days that
some of us have wished less than the best for others. At least,
under our breath, the thought and suggestion of the timely
demise of our “heretic scum” neighbors seems not
to be an unpleasant one. We think, with the right people (or
the wrong ones, I should say) out of the way, the church, and
the world, would be far better off.
Just think of what the Church could be,
If all inside agreed
with me!
We’d pray as one and sing glad songs,
If I could choose
just who belongs.
Church and faith and theology,
Would require less thought, less
energy.
God’s love and grace I’d clearly give
If by this
rule the Church would live:
My will be done; My truth is sure.
Let no one doubt this final
cure.
Just think of what the Church could be,
If everyone agreed with
me!
Today in our Lesser Feasts and Fasts, we celebrate
the feasts of three great reformers and leaders of the English
Church: Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley.
Cranmer, of course, is best known as the chief architect of
the first Book of Common Prayer and its first revision in 1552.
He was a man of love and vision for the church, and we owe
much of our Anglican identity to him.
Hugh Latimer was famous as a preacher. The Bishop of Worcester,
he resigned his see because of Henry VIII’s refusal to
allow Protestant reforms in the Church of England, but continued
his preaching and his advocacy for reform.
Nicholas Ridley was converted to the Protestant cause by Archbishop
Cranmer and became Cranmer’s private chaplain. He became
Bishop of Rochester under Edward and assisted in the preparation
of the first Book of Common Prayer.
All three of these men became early targets of Mary’s
crusade to squelch the Protestant movement and restore the
Church of England to its Roman faith and rule.
In 1555, Ridley and Latimer were charged and convicted of
heresy and ordered burned at the stake together. In 1556, by
Mary’s order, Cranmer followed his two contemporaries
to the fire stake.
Latimer’s last words to Ridley as they awaited the executioner’s
torch were these: “Be of good comfort, Master Ridley,
and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle by
God’s grace in England as (I trust) shall never be put
out.”
Bold and grace-full words from one who knew that his own human
flesh would fuel the wick of that candle of protest and enlightenment
and faith.
Church history, you see, is full of division and disagreement.
From the beginning, from the first days of church, as recorded
in the book of Acts, there have been disagreements on how things
should be done, what leaders should be listened to, who should
be included -- and who shouldn’t. The early Church Fathers
wrestled with, argued about, fought over, what was to be believed
as true, right, orthodox. The Crusades and the Inquisition
had a remedy: convert — to our way of thinking and believing — or
die! A faith cleansing. It didn’t work.
The Reformation was another great division in the church.
For the status quo orthodox Christians, it threatened the very
foundations of the faith. To even entertain or discuss these
new ideas was heretical and an affront to God. For the “neo-orthodox” Christians,
however, there was nothing new about it but
a “recovery” of orthodoxy in its pure and simple
form. It was reclaiming a faith and a church that had lost
its way amid the complex rules and meaningless requirements
and exclusionary practices and blatant abuses by bad leaders,
and a seeking to return to a faith that put God above the church
and people above the institution, grace above works and loving
God and our neighbor and ourselves as a summary of the Law.
As we remember Bishops Cranmer and Latimer and Ridley, we
are reminded that the disagreements were considerable and passionate.
It was a time when “getting burned by the church” was
more than just a figure of speech.
In our own country, we have seen times of disagreement ourselves,
as well as fear-based persecution. Witch hunts, slavery, Prayer
Book revision all pitted Christian against Christian. And speaking
of Prayer Book revision, it wasn’t just the ’28
to ’79 transition that was rough.
When I joined the Episcopal Church in 1976, the first parish
meeting I attended was a discussion on whether the new “trial” Prayer
Book would be used in that parish. What I remember about that
meeting was a middle-aged woman standing at the podium making
a plea to retain the ’28 book. I don’t remember
all she said, but it was along the lines of keeping the true
church’s Prayer Book -- the book she grew up with, the
book of her parents’ church. When she had finished, a
little old woman, who must have been 90, stood up from where
she was sitting in the pew and said, “Honey, I didn’t
like the ’28 book when it came out, but I got over it.”
The rise of fundamentalism, the Charismatic movement, the
ordination of women, children at the communion rail: all of
these were predicted to split the church. Each one the Great
Schism -- the break from Anglican orthodoxy. But the church’s
survival and continued fellowship has proven every time that,
indeed, God’s Spirit is present and at work among us,
sometimes in spite of us, and our divisions and our own efforts
to prove otherwise.
God’s love is bigger, God’s will for unity greater,
than our feeble attempts to divide and exclude in his name!
Claiming God, exclusively, is a losing battle for those who
would hold an inclusive God captive. And God will overcome
it every time. God has overcome it every time
through 20 centuries of church history.
Today we hear again about the demise of the Episcopal Church.
Our latest controversy seeks to divide us again, to draw lines
of separation: who’s right, who’s wrong; who’s
orthodox; who’s apostate; who’s for God, who’s
against God.
We all want to look out for God, to protect God from the rest
of us, to make sure God stays made in our image. God
will survive our latest division as well. And, because of God,
so will the church.
You know, in the midst of all our arguments with each other,
we need to remember, if there’s anything “orthodox” about
the Anglican Church, it’s the via media — the
middle way (the “center,” as Bishop Wolfe said).
Our whole sense of being, by design, is to open our arms as
wide as we can to include and accept as many as we can, to
restore all people to unity with God and one another, to seek
and serve Christ in all persons, to respect the dignity of
every human being. Not to put up walls, not necessarily to
agree with each other, but to love one another in spite of
disagreements. If we could spend less time seeking God’s
agreement with us and more time seeking God’s will for
us, we’d be a better church and a better witness to those
outside it.
It has been said that the trouble with the church is it’s
just full of human beings. We’re going to have to live
with that as long as the church is here. We’re also going
to have to live with disagreements. But let us remember, in
all things, it’s not so much a matter of “rightness” as
it is a matter of love. It’s not so much a matter of
law or judgment as it is a matter of grace. And it’s
not so much a matter of agreeing with one another, as it is
a matter of respecting one another as brothers and sisters
in Christ — and children of God.
“This is the first and great commandment: Love the Lord
your God with all your heart, and with all you soul, and with
all your mind. The second is like it: love your neighbor as
yourself.” Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment.
Love one another as I have loved you.” So when you think
about it, it isn’t really that difficult to see and agree
on what’s most important.
May we go from this place as a church renewed in spirit and
in our commitment to unity in the name of our Lord. A unity
based on none other than love for God and for one another,
and for the sake of the coming kingdom.
And may the peace of God, the love of Jesus Christ and the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit bless us and sustain us this
day and always. Amen.
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