Advent 2011

We are now in the Advent season. The word Advent comes from the Latin adventus which means coming. It is used to translate the Greek word, parousia, which means arrival or official visit. In the Church we recall Christ's birth as He came into the world and we look forward to His second coming as He gathers the elect unto Himself at the end of time. Into the world Jesus came and out of the world we will be rescued. (Mk. 13:27)

Our world is a place that is hostile to God. (John 15:18) Israel continually prayed to be saved from their enemies that surrounded them. (Lk. 1:71) But all too often, Israel succumbed to the very practices that they were to witness against. It’s easy to be a part of the world. In the United States, many people will be spending time and money buying gifts for others and taking advantage of sales for one’s personal desires. Buying gifts and looking for bargains do not seem to be bad things but our society has used the Nativity season as an excuse to encourage consumerism before the end of the year’s accounting for corporate shareholders. And with that comes the exposure of human sin. This past Black Friday saw the use of pepper spray by a customer in order to get ahead of another customer. Fist fights broke out over waffle makers. The list goes on and on. When Jesus returns, what will He find? And more to the point, who will He gather unto Himself?

Advent is a time to call the world to repentance. It’s what John the Baptist did!  It’s what Jesus did! It’s what the Apostles did! And it is what the Church does for the world is hostile to God! Covetous is idolatry according to St. Paul. (Col. 3:5) We are to be content with what we have! (Heb. 13:5-6)

ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for the First Sunday in Advent.)

Do you recognize the darkness of our world?

My Observations on Occupy Atlanta

With The Occupy Wall Street 'movement' making news I thought I would visit Occupy Atlanta and see what it was really about. I was expecting wall to wall tents in Atlanta's downtown Woodruff Park. What I saw was a nearly vacant park on a sunny fall day near Atlanta's historic district.

12 Tribes Members Dancing

When I arrived at the park I saw 2 tents, a trio of senior citizens singing '60's folk songs in the middle of the lawn and a group of hippie looking people sitting in folding chairs dancing to live music provided by a a flute, accordion, and recorder with people dancing. A bearded gentlemen with a pony tail approached me and we began to talk. His group with the live band and dancing is a member of the The Twelve Tribes . They came down from Chattanooga to show their support for Occupy Atlanta. Now I know something of the 12 Tribes as I lived close to one of their communes in Cambridge, NY.They take Acts 2 & 4 literally. They renounce private property and run businesses such as a sandwich shop or crafts to support the commune. Their coffee shop in Cambridge made very good sandwiches.  The gentleman I spoke with was named Malak, the Hebrew word for 'angel'. He proudly talked about building a new kingdom on earth. I did not disclose that I was an ordained seminary trained priest. I asked him about his theology and he had all the right answers. But I also knew they, the 12 Tribes, hold heterodox views. They may initially say they believe in grace, the communities are quite legalistic.

These Gentleman are Capitalists Selling T-Shirts. But They Did Not Have Permission from the 'Central Committee'.

I wondered away and walked around the park until I heard an announcement from a gentleman that a General Assembly was about to begin. A small circle of people maybe 30 at the most gathered and a gentlemen began with the rules of the meeting. We were instructed on how to communicate with certain hand signals.Waving your fingers in an upright position meant agreement and downward meant disagreement. After that a statement of purpose was read. I was expecting some manifesto of economic justice but instead it went on and on about gays and transgender equality and solidarity and the such. Minutes of the last General Assembly was read and announcements made about helping people get out of jail, where the next meetings will be held, etc. The crowd was mostly white and young. In the end, I felt this 'movement' was a waste of time. There are committees one has to go through to get permission to do things like sell t-shirts and the such. But I did discover one thing about Woodruff Park. They have a corner dedicated to public speaking. And of course, the irony is that no one was using the corner for public speaking. Speaking of ironies, Woodruff Park is dedicated to Robert Woodruff a capitalist and philanthropist who gave away tons of money to support education and the arts. Think Coca-Cola!

So in the end, I came away believing Occupy Atlanta was nothing more than an excuse to make oneself feel important and offering no real solutions that plague our country today. But I did discover a government provided soap box where I can open air preach if I feel so called!







Now for something completely different, this video captures the mood of Occupy Atlanta's meeting!

THE BARABBAS EFFECT or Why the Penn State Riots Occurred

 Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. And he answered them, saying, "Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?" For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. And Pilate again said to them, "Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?" And they cried out again, "Crucify him." And Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has he done?" But they shouted all the more, "Crucify him." So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. (Mk. 6-14)


I am amazed by how human beings react when a revered person is found to be complicit in a crime. Many times people will justify their behavior or excuse it altogether. Never mind the person's guilt! He is bigger than that. We saw this happen when Penn State announced the firing of their long-time and successful coach, Joe Paterno! Several boys, and at this writing more are coming forward, were raped by Paterno's assistant Coach Jerry Sandusky. When Paterno heard an accusation against Sandusky, he 'kicked it upstairs' notifying the president of the university. But he did not report it to the police. At the news of Paterno's firing, the student body erupted into riots. Interestingly, no one rioted when it was becoming apparent that children had been harmed by a man responsible for their welfare employed by the university. They rioted when the head coach was fired! I call this the Barabbas Effect!


The Barabbas Effect states that people will defend, excuse or justify a criminal. Pilate was asked to execute Jesus on the charge of treason. Pilate could find no fault in Him. But as was tradition, Pilate released a prisoner before the Passover to mollify his Jewish subjects. He gave the people a choice, murderer or Jesus. Now Jesus had a reputation. He healed the sick, casted out demons, brought the dead back to life. But this was not enough to keep Him alive. The people chose the murderer. Even St. Matthew reports that Pilate wished to avoid a riot! (Mt. 27:24) How could the mob desire to have a man who may take another life be release? The answer is that each and every one of us wants to be excused for our crimes. We see in ourselves Barabbas. We may not have taken a life, but we have hated someone. We may not have committed adultery, but we have lusted. The list goes on. The Sermon on the Mount is about our guilty character!


I discovered the Barabbas Effect in my first year of ministry. I served under a pastor who hired a woman to be a hospitality minister. She was responsible for coordinating coffee hours and dinners. It was soon discovered that she was having an affair with the pastor when her husband discovered love notes from him in his home. A lot of people were angry when all of this was revealed. And a lot were very angry with the Bishop for removing the pastor from his position. I heard a stream of people within the parish complain about the Bishop's decision. Of the pastor, they said, "But he baptized my children." or, "He works so hard." Even one woman, a woman, blamed the pastor's wife for her husband's philandering! Nobody named the sin! Nobody complained of the use of the parish budget to compensate this woman. I was flabbergasted. And somehow, I became the bad guy all because I refused to support the pastor. 


In Anglican tradition, The Gospel of the Passion is read in parts by the congregation on Good Friday and by many parishes on Palm Sunday as well. The congregation as a whole plays the part of the crowd crying aloud, "Crucify Him!" We shout it because we want to see the man who is in every way like us be excused for his crimes. Dietrich Bonhoeffer called this 'cheap grace' or forgiveness without repentance. What the crowd in Pilate's time did not know was that this perfect man will stand in their place on the Cross for all of their sins. He will satisfy their debt to their Creator. The life we owe will be paid by someone else who is innocent of our crimes. 


"Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. (Acts 2:22-24)


Do you see yourself in this video?

Pro-Choice is NOT God's Choice

PRO-CHOICE

Click on the words "Pro-Choice" above and you will be taken to a website showcasing a 33 minute documentary on the moral choices we make when it comes to life. Many people, men and women, believe we have a choice over who should live and who should die. The moral center of these choices is usually the self and what best serves the convenience of the self. But God is Lord over all of us and He will not be mocked.


As a pastor for over 20 years, I have met many adult women who have been wracked with guilt over the choices they made years earlier when they aborted a child. Their conscience would not let the issue lie quietly. God's moral law states murder is a sin. (Ex. 20:13) Our conscience bears witness to God's moral law. (Rom. 2:15) Deep down we know right and wrong as 180 Movie points out. 


If you are contemplating abortion, please watch this movie first. If you had an abortion, please know forgiveness is available for those who are truly sorry for what they have done. Jesus died on the cross for thieves, fornicators, murders and liars. He died because that is the just sentence we deserve for every lie we tell, stuff we steal or the hate we harbor. Put your trust in Him who took the punishment we deserve from a just, perfect and righteous God. Because God is perfect He desires to be the center of our self, which by nature is sinful and in need of His help! (Psalm 51)

Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Rom. 3:19-26)

Do This in Remembrance of Me - A Reflection on the Lord's Supper

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, "This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. (1 Cor. 11:23-26)

When we celebrate Holy Communion we are proclaiming that Jesus died. Specifically, He died for our sins. No longer do we need to take animals and slaughter them. But why did we have to do that to begin with? Because without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. (Heb. 9:22) A body cannot survive without blood (Lev. 17:11) Since Adam's disobedience, we have carried the consequences of his sin. That consequence is that we die. (Romans 5:12-13) Until that appointment with death, God called us to make sacrifices of living creatures, innocent of our sin for each time we did not fulfill the laws of God. (Heb. 5:1-3, 9:7) This reminds us that life is not cheap. A price must be paid. So out of one’s flock or herd, a gift is given to God for His mercy.  Blood is shed in place of our own, a life is taken in our place.

But Jesus changed all that. At the last supper with His disciples, He took bread and wine and identified Himself with it. What once had been signs of God’s people’s escape from slavery has now become for us signs of our escape from sin and its consequences. He became the Passover lamb. His blood was poured out for the forgiveness of sins. (Mt. 26:28) He identified His passion that had yet to happen with our release from the captivity of sin which His death will satisfy! And it was satisfied! A perfect man, one with God, offered Himself fulfilling the Law and it’s demands. ( Col. 2:13-15)

So when Jesus commands us that we are to remember Him in a particular way, we are to remember His death and why He died. It is a proclamation (1 Cor. 11:26) And we should not forget that He died for each and everyone of us personally. We are to examine our conscience acknowledging our need for Jesus' sacrifice. If we don’t we bring judgment on ourselves. (1 Cor. 11:29)  Therefore, when Jesus says, “Do this...” we are to know exactly what we are doing and why! It is a reminder of our forgiveness through His death upon the cross! (Heb. 10:14)

Article 28 of the Articles of Religion expresses the teaching of the Anglican Faith regarding Holy Communion.

28. Of the Lord's Supper.
The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the love that Christians ought to have among themselves one to another, but rather it is a Sacrament of our Redemption by Christ's death: insomuch that to such as rightly, worthily, and with faith, receive the same, the Bread which we break is a partaking of the Body of Christ; and likewise the Cup of Blessing is a partaking of the Blood of Christ.

Transubstantiation (or the change of the substance of Bread and Wine) in the Supper of the Lord, cannot be proved by Holy Writ; but is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a Sacrament, and hath given occasion to many superstitions.

The Body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten, in the Supper, only after an heavenly and spiritual manner. And the mean whereby the Body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper, is Faith.

The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was not by Christ's ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, or worshipped.