On Mystery and Sacrament

On Mystery and Sacrament

“It is not the task of Christianity to provide easy answers to every question, but to make us progressively aware of a mystery.” These words of a 20th century British theologian (Kallistos Ware) speak directly to the theme of these Sundays after Trinity, which is the “Eucharistic Life.” What that theologian teaches is that by the Christian life, we are made more aware of a mystery. In the Church, we find many things that are characterized as “mystery.” And that is because in the Church, the word “mystery” connects with revelation. To say that Christianity is mystery is to say that Christianity is a revealed religion. In our Christian life, we are made more conscious of the truth which is only revealed in Jesus Christ through the workings of the Holy Ghost. When the Church speaks of “mystery,” it does not mean puzzle or conundrum. People read mystery novels, like Sherlock Holmes; people watch television programs and movies that are under the category of “murder-mysteries.” But “mystery” in the Church does not mean either of those. Mystery in the Church means truth that is only revealed to the people of God when it is God’s plan to do so. The life of a Christian, being a continual initiation into the reality of Pentecost, is the life whereby through the Liturgy and Sacraments, through repentance and humility, we are made more and more aware of truth that is revealed; of truth that is hidden; of truth that defies the constraints of human language. There is perhaps no better illustration that Christianity involves profound mystery than the Sacrament of Baptism. As the Baptismal Liturgy expresses: in the water of Baptism we are buried with Christ in His Death; by the water of baptism we share in His Resurrection; and through the water of Baptism we are reborn by the Holy Ghost. The Sacrament of Baptism means being born again, to continue for ever in the risen life of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Our sin is forgiven, we are given an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and love God, and the gift of joy and wonder in all our works. In Baptism, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own for ever. In Baptism, we are made one with Christ, a member of His Body the Church, and members one with each other in Christ, Who is our Head. In Baptism the Saints of old become our friends, our colleagues, our family, our fellow war-farers. We are able to recognize plainly the fact of Christ in them. Saints of the Church are both Christ’s (with an apostrophe s; that is, belonging to Christ), and they are christs (plural, as in little christs). Like the Saints, through Baptism are able to walk in the newness of life, united with Christ in His resurrected and glorified Body. And when we are baptized, we are able to feed on Christ: feed on him through faith in Holy Communion, and through Him revealed in Scripture: Christ is the Bread of Life, He is our daily Bread, and through baptism, we eat He Who is our life, our health, and our salvation. We eat Him that we might fully become Him Who we eat. In Christianity, there is a close connection between the words “mystery” and “sacrament.” The Greek word mysterion means a hidden truth or secret that God has now revealed—especially His plan to save us through Jesus. The early Church used this word for the special church rituals like Baptism and Eucharist, seeing Baptism and Eucharist as visible signs that make God’s invisible grace real to us. When the Church in the West began using Latin, they translated mysterion as sacramentum, which became the word “sacrament.” The Church of the East continues today to call these rites “the Mysteries,” while the Church of the West calls them “Sacraments.” Both words basically mean the same thing: holy actions that hide and reveal God’s presence and power at the same time. They not only reflect the Gospel, but Baptism and Eucharist are the Gospel: the good news of being joined to the Body of Christ, and the good news of being fed by Christ so as to more become Christ. In our selves, Christ wants us to see the mystery of Himself. He wants us to become aware of the mystery, the sacrament, of Christ in us. The mystery of Baptism led the greatest Archbishop of Canterbury of the 20th century, blessed Michael Ramsey (who died in 1988), to write: “The life of a mature Christian is continually responding to the fact of our Baptism.” Only a mystery enveloped in hiddenness demands a whole life of response, a whole life of listening, reflecting, discerning, and doing. The fact of baptism demands, in the words of Saint Paul, that we must consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. As Paul teaches, our old self has been crucified with Christ in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin, indeed that we are set free from sin. Set free and enabled to love everyone without condition; free and enabled to bless those who abuse us, strike us, or take from us; free and enabled to love our enemies, do good, lend, and expect nothing in return. We are enabled to live eucharistically: everywhere and in all places giving thanks to God. We are enabled say with the Prophet Job: “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though this body be destroyed, yet shall I see God; Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not as a stranger.” To live within the revealed mystery of Christ is to live sacramentally; it is to live baptismally, and it is to live eucharistically, which means a life of thankfulness to God. in the words of another 20th century British theologian (Alexander Schmemann): “All that exists is God’s gift to man, and it all exists to make God known to man, to make man’s life communion with God. It is divine love made food, made life for man. God blesses everything He creates, and, in biblical Language, this means He makes all creation the sign and means of His presence and wisdom, love and revelation: ‘O taste and see that the Lord is good.’ Man is a hungry being. But he is hungry for God. Behind all the hunger of our life is God. All desire is finally a desire for Him.” Indeed a desire for Jesus Christ Himself, Who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. Get full access to Anglican Ascetic Podcast at anglicanascetic.akensideinstitute.org/subscribe [https://anglicanascetic.akensideinstitute.org/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Evenings with Bede: S3, Ep. 12: On S. Peter as Fisher of Men

In the audio provided, both lessons are read, and then followed by a homily by yours truly. A Lesson from the Gospel According to S. Luke, 5.1 While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear the word of God, Jesus was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” A Lesson of Commentary by the Ven. S. Bede The Lake of Gennesaret is called by the Greek word, “Gennesar, (meaning) its water is not spread out flat like a pool, but is stirred by frequent breezes, sweet to taste, and good for drinking. This lake or sea signifies the present age, the Lord standing by the sea, when, after overcoming the mortality of fleeting life in that flesh in which He suffered, He entered upon the stability of eternal rest. The assemblage of crowds is an allegorical figure of the nations rushing together to Him in faith, as Isaiah says, And all nations shall flow to it, and many people shall go, and say: Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord (Is 2:2-3). The two ships placed by the lake symbolize circumcision and lack of circumcision. Jesus is well said to have seen them, because among both people the Lord knows who are His, and he conveys their heart from the billows of this age to the calm of future life, by seeing them as it were coming towards the firmness of the shore, that is, by seeing them with the mercy of His heart. The fishermen are the preachers of the Church, who convey us are caught in the net of faith, and brought up from the deep to the light, like fish to the shore, and so to the land of the living. For like the nets of the fishermen, certain sayings of the preachers are complex in order not to lose those whom they have caught in faith. When Peter says, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets,” we see that unless the Lord illuminates the heart of the pupils [disciples], the teachers labours [useless] in the night. Unless the tools of disputation are let down at the word of divine grace, the preacher hurls the javelin of his word in vain, because the faith of the people springs not from the wisdom of logical terminology, but from the gift of a divine calling. When Our Lord says, “from now on you will be catching men,” the Lord explains that just as now he catches fish with nets, so in the future he will catch men with words. And the Lord also explains that the whole order of this action shows what is done daily in the Church. If you find this edifying, please consider (if you haven’t already) becoming a paid subscriber. Your support goes directly to supporting the ministry of Akenside Institute for English Spirituality [https://akensideinstitute.org/], a project I started 12 years ago to help to rebuild the Anglican tradition. Get full access to Anglican Ascetic Podcast at anglicanascetic.akensideinstitute.org/subscribe [https://anglicanascetic.akensideinstitute.org/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

On Awe at Christ's Divine Power

Saint Luke tells us that after Saint Peter saw the great catch of fish, he fell down at the knees of Jesus. And in falling down, Peter said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man.” Luke tells us that Peter was astonished. And who, brothers and sisters, would not be astonished? Peter was an experienced fisherman, surrounded by many such fishermen. They know the waters; they know when it is time to fish, and time to call it a day. But after Jesus had ceased speaking, Christ said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” Peter here does not openly resist or debate Jesus. He follows Our Lord’s command, but not before saying, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” Peter has faith: calling Him “Master,” and doing what Our Lord commanded. Perhaps Peter said these words to save face in case no fish were caught; that the other fisherman knew the command to let down the nets came from Jesus, and not from Peter. Peter’s faith in Jesus is growing (for how many of us would be comfortable calling anyone “Master” in public?”) yet a garden-variety self-centeredness is still at play. And we would expect this of him, and of all the disciples. They are still learning about Jesus, and they are still learning how He fulfills the Law, and fulfills Scripture. Jesus never expects His followers to understand everything about Him immediately; He knows we have to grow in knowledge of Him, and through growing in knowledge, growing in faith. Yet also, there are moments described in the Gospel that show Christ’s power; that show Him teaching with such authority unseen by anyone before: and this was one of them. Upon His Word, a great shoal of fish was brought in, so much so that their nets were breaking. And what’s more, all the fish filled two boats, and they began to sink. Just as the new wine of the Gospel would make old wine skins explode, and therefore need new containers, the tried and true boats were not sufficient to handle the fruits of the Gospel: a new boat would be needed, which is the Church, the ark of salvation. And so it was in witnessing all this, that Peter was astonished, and he was moved to fall down at the knees of Jesus and say, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” Yet what, we must ask, is the reason that Peter says he is sinful? Where specifically was his sin? Was it distrusting Jesus? But Peter did trust Jesus. Was it being still a prisoner of self-centeredness? Maybe, but it was not a serious case of self-centeredness. And, realistically speaking, would the self-recognition of this drive Peter to say “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord?” It would drive us more plausibly to say, “Lord, forgive me.” “Lord, I am sorry.” Or something more to scale. “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” is way out of scale, given the faith and obedience demonstrated by Peter. What is really going on in Peter and his reaction? The answer is that, as what happened to Saint Paul at his conversion, Peter is starting to perceive the Divine Majesty of Jesus Christ. This upends Peter’s life and mindset. This is the same realization that Saint Paul had at his conversion. Or Isaiah when he saw the seraphim singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy.” When Jesus confronts us with Himself, the Truth frees us, but in freeing us, it also disorients they way we live and the way we think. Paul was so disoriented that he was blind until his baptism, and then spent three years in the Arabian desert lands to find a new orientation entirely in Christ. Peter is experiencing the same thing; whereas Paul went blind and numb, Peter with a different personality than Paul, was repentant in its primary sense: experiencing awe before the King of Creation and His miracles. The miracles of Christ are signs of divine power, and they are to teach, not merely astound. The nets were full of fish because creation is a continuous process of love, not a system of infallible laws, and the Creator incarnate in Christ has the right to change the process as the artist, and only the artist, has the right to alter his own picture: prayer controls matter. It has been revealed that Christ transfigures reality, and because of that, Christ makes all of creation sacramental. Christ redeems creation, and we know that because Christ offers to God material objects … that they may become part of Christ’s sacrifice, that, being offered to God, they may be transformed by the divine acceptance. Here Christ offers fish and nets and boats, so that for us to see our Master at work, we may be drawn into awe at Christ’s Divine Majesty, and drawn into new life and new mindset of thanksgiving: the life and mindset which is eucharistic, because “eucharist” means thanksgiving. The eyes of the heart of Peter, like the eyes of the heart of Paul, were being enlightened by Jesus. The Light of Christ was blinding them both, overwhelming them both, and throwing them both into awe and wonder. And so it was for this reason that Peter said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” Peter was overwhelmed, he needed to be alone; he was truly starting to understand what his brother Andrew had first told me: “We have found the Messiah (which means Christ).” Peter had heard this, but was now inwardly digesting that Jesus is the Savior. As we receive the Eucharist this morning, let us do so knowing that what we inwardly digest is Jesus Christ, through Whom all of creation is made and recreated. We offered bread and wine to God so that He would transform them: God takes the bread and wine, and He recreates, redeems, and restores the bread and wine, and returns them to us as Jesus Christ, the King of Creation, the Eternal Word, the only-begotten Son of God: Who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. 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On the Eucharist and Spiritual Awareness

O God, the protector of all that trust in Thee, without Whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us Thy mercy; that, Thou being our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal: Grant this, O heavenly Father, for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. In my sermon today during our midweek liturgy, I preached on this pericope from St Matthew 17:11-18: And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elijah truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elijah is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist. And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. And during my preaching, I referenced this teaching from the 12th century Church Father, S. Hugh of St Victor, who is pictured below: “The good Word and wise Life that made the world is perceived when the world is contemplated. The Word itself cannot be seen, but the Word both made what can be seen and is seen through what He made.” (On the Three Days, 1.1) Get full access to Anglican Ascetic Podcast at anglicanascetic.akensideinstitute.org/subscribe [https://anglicanascetic.akensideinstitute.org/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

On Eucharistic Community

“Judge not, and you will not be judged.” Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ teaches this to us. In teaching this, Christ gives us a commandment about life in eucharistic community—how to live in community—a community the nature of which is people in prayer and celebrating the Eucharist: that we are not to judge. While it may not seem the case, in fact this is a teaching shrouded in the mystery of God: for this teaching seems contrary to the actions of Him Who, for example, drove the money changers out of the Temple for their inappropriate behavior, having, it seems, judged them to be unfit for worship in the community. And so, because of this seeming contradiction, continuing our reflections in Trinitytide on the “eucharistic life,” we look at the mystery of life in eucharistic community. “Judge not, and you will not be judged.” It is short; it has a ring to it. Yet, despite its brevity, is its meaning straightforward? Are we to turn a blind eye to sin committed by others? Such as in our parish family, are we to pretend someone sinning is not in fact sinning? Or that, despite the fact that certain persons in a community are sowing dissension and discord in the congregation, it is all good? Or that what such a person is doing is their business, and not for us to take mind about? It seems like it could be about that, does it not? Judge not this person’s sinful behavior, and you will not be judged, seems like what Jesus is teaching. Judge not and you will not be judged sounds like accept and tolerate and look the other way. Yet we see in the teaching of Saint Paul, who because of the gifts given to him by God has always been recognized by the Church as proclaiming the Gospel and sharing true teachings not of himself but of Christ, that Paul had no patience for people sinning within the parish community. We need look no further than Paul’s first epistle to the church in Corinth. In it he clearly called to task all sorts of misbehavior: anyone sowing divisions within the parish; persons engaging in sexual immortality; appealing to a secular court instead of settling disputes within the parish community; disunity at the celebration of the Eucharist; speaking in tongues, and more. Paul is calling out sinful behavior, and he is calling out unacceptable behavior, of this there can be no question. Furthermore, respecting sexual immortality, Paul writes in 1 Cor 5:4-5, “In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, along with my spirit, within the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” Does Paul teach us to accept, tolerate, and look the other way? Clearly Paul is not. Does this conflict with Jesus’s commandment, to judge not? It seems to, but in fact, there is no conflict. What Paul teaches is to discern sinful behavior. To see it for what it is. Discern sinful behavior: meaning to perceive, to recognize, to distinguish and discriminate between sinful behavior and godly behavior. The Devil wants us to accept, tolerate, and look the other way. To discern sinful behavior is not to judge, but rather to see clearly, by the light of Christ and His virtuous life which we are to imitate. Without the light of Christ, we cannot distinguish right from wrong, instead relying on whether something is legal or illegal according to civil law, or simply our personal opinion and personal morality. We are to look to Christ, for He reveals the life of virtue, the life of godly behavior. And when a person not only falls short of that, but chooses to fall short, choosing to sin–knowing what the life of Christ is and choosing to live contrary to His life—we are to recognize this, and we are not to ignore it. We are to not pretend it is not happening, but make it known in the community in appropriate ways. Judging a person is something different than all this. We are not to judge. Judging people is not Christian, according to our Master Jesus Christ. The act of judging happens when, after having discerned a person’s behavior is unholy, we then pile on with pronouncements and condemnations, whether out loud or silently in our heart. We see such a person as inferior to us, that is, we imitate the Pharisee instead of the tax collector. We put ourselves in the place of God. As Saint James writes in his epistle: “There is one lawgiver and judge, He who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you that you judge your neighbor?” It is very often the case that when we judge another person, we have projected our own sins and inadequacies onto the other person, and in judging that person, we therefore judge ourselves. We have not taken the log out of our own eye; we have not confessed our sins to God and received sacramental absolution. It takes restraint and it takes faith to live in Christian community with our eyes open. Ultimately we are commanded by Christ to trust God entirely despite witnessing sinful behavior in the community. And this is a mystery, the mystery of life in community. We are to suffer, in community, knowing that we are sinners and every person in the parish is a sinner; suffering that we sometimes sin, and they sometimes sin; we are to endure the faults and sins of others. The Church is a hospital for sinners, not a club for the spiritual elite. Jesus said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.” Because of His voluntary sacrifice of Himself on the Cross, which is love in perfect expression, ultimate expression, we have the Eucharist to feed us, to love us, and to give life to our community. All of the baptized are fed and loved by Christ in the Eucharist, so that being in communion with the baptized through Holy Communion, His relationship with us is profound and intimate. Because of the Eucharist, God can become our life, and all of our life can become His life lived through us and through our body. In community, we must ever remember that God already knows everyone’s sins, that God already knows everyone’s heart. In community we must ever remember that God is at work in the heart and mind of every person to bring them to repentance, to confession, to humility and honesty before Him. Within the mystery of God is the mystery of trusting Him that He is in control, that unto Him all hearts are open, all desires known, and from Him no secrets are hid. An open secret in parish life is that there are never easy answers to people who habitually act poorly in a parish community. While we are to discern what this behavior is, and never approve of it or condone it, we are not to do God’s work of judgment, but instead abide in the mysterious work of God, which happens in community through the community’s life of prayer and thanksgiving to God: that is, through its eucharistic life. In the words of the prophet Jeremiah: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.” Because Christ’s mercies upon sinners never cease, nor should ours. “I came that they may have life,” Jesus said, “and have it abundantly”—through the same Jesus Christ, Who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. Get full access to Anglican Ascetic Podcast at anglicanascetic.akensideinstitute.org/subscribe [https://anglicanascetic.akensideinstitute.org/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]