Series on Prayer 1: Praise

In the next several weeks, as we enter Lent, we'll be directing you on this blog toward a classic series of post and sermons which the Brothers at SSJE put together. Called "Teach Us to Pray: teaching on the seven classic forms of prayer," it was series which I found incredibly

Here's a link to the first sermon in the series, by Br. David Vryhof: "Praising God: Our True Vocation." And, here's a sample.

In the Rule of our Society, we echo that truth when we say, “Human beings were created to bless and adore their Creator and in the offering of worship to experience their highest joy and their deepest communion with one another. In our fallenness we continually turn in upon ourselves to seek fulfillment without self-offering. We squander on lesser things the love which is due to the one source of all being” (SSJE Rule, chapter 16).

It’s not about us. It’s about God, who created and redeemed us, and who sustains our life day by day. We have been created by God and for God, and we will find our deepest joy and satisfaction when we live in union with God.

One of the early Church Fathers, St. Irenaeus, commenting on Genesis 1:26, suggests that the primary meaning of humanity’s being made in the image of God is that God has made humanity sufficiently like himself for communion between God and human beings to be possible. Being created in the “image” of God, says Irenaeus, expresses the possibility of human communion with God. Being created in the “likeness” of God stands for the existential or moral similarity with God into which humanity is to grow as it actually lives in communion with God. We are to become more and more like God as we live in union with him.

“Our hearts are restless, O God, until they find their rest in You.” (St. Augustine)

Christmas Translations 2:

I know it's hard to believe, but the Twelve Days of Christmas are hardly over yet. In honor of this ongoing feast, let me offer you another brief reading from the patristic tradition, this one from the work of the Venerable Bede about the "peaceful" circumstances of Christ's birth. Just follow this link to the original post on my own blog.

Posts on Another Blog

Dear friends,

In case you find yourself itching for something brief and spiritual to read during these Christmas holidays, I'll be posting some of my translations of Christmas sermons from the Church Fathers on my own blog. The first one is here.

ZG

Religious Pluralism 3: Thoughts of the Eminent Philosophers

This post continues our series on religious pluralism by linking to two longer pieces from the thought of two philosophers. One, John Hick, is a noted philosopher of religion often connected with religious inclusivism: that all religions have, in some sense, the same end. He has taught at Claremont, Cambridge, the University of Birmingham, and many other places. He is well-known for his books The Metaphor of God Incarnate and The Myth of Christian Uniqueness.

The other, Alvin Plantinga, is frequently regarded (even by Hick) as the most eloquent philosophical defender of exclusivism (that only one faith is correct and others are incorrect) and, indeed, of the rationality of faith in general. He is the John A. O'Brien Professor of Philosophy (Emeritus) at Notre Dame University. His books include Warranted Christian Belief and Science and Religion (w/Daniel Dennett), among many others.

I'll warn you that Hick's talk "Religious Pluralism and Islam" is really quite long, so you may want to break it up. Unfortunately, though many analytic philosophers are capable of stating their case briefly (i.e. 5 propositions or less), they tend not to.

Similarly, Plantinga's "Pluralism: a Defense of Religious Exclusivism" will take a bit of reading as well (note: there's a bio before the main piece; just scroll down). I really recommend both pieces, however, especially because they each account for the position opposite to their own rather interestingly.

Here's a taste of Plantinga:

...in recent years probably more of us western Christians have become aware of the world's religious diversity; we have probably learned more about people of other religious persuasions, and we have to come see more clearly that they display what looks like real piety, devoutness, and spirituality. What is new, perhaps, is a more widespread sympathy for other religions, a tendency to see them as more valuable, as containing more by way of truth, and a new feeling of solidarity with their practitioners. 

One is to continue to believe what you have all along believed; you learn about this diversity, but continue to believe, i. e., take to be true, such propositions as (1) and (2) above, consequently taking to be false any beliefs, religious or otherwise, that are incompatible with (1) and (2).  Following current practice, I shall call this exclusivism; the exclusivist holds that the tenets or some of the tenets of one religion—Christianity, let's say—are in fact true; he adds, naturally enough, that any propositions, including other religious beliefs, that are incompatible with those tenets are false.  Now there is a fairly widespread belief that there is something seriously wrong with exclusivism.  It is irrational, or egotistical and unjustified (4) or intellectually arrogant, (5) or elitist, (6) or a manifestation of harmful pride, (7) or even oppressive and imperialistic. (8)   The claim is that exclusivism as such is or involves a vice of some sort: it is wrong or deplorable; and it is this claim I want to examine.  I propose to argue that exclusivism need not involve either epistemic or moral failure, and that furthermore something like it is wholly unavoidable, given our human condition.  

And here's one of Hick:

The historical fact is that we inherit, and always have inherited, our religion together with our language and our culture.   And the religion which has formed us from childhood naturally seems to us to be obviously true; it fits us and we fit it as usually none other can.  It is true that there are individual conversions from one faith to another, but these are statistically insignificant in comparison with the massive transmission of faith from generation to generation within the same tradition.

    How then are we to understand this global situation in which, due to the accident of birth, we all start from within what we have traditionally regarded as the one true faith?  To enquire into the relationship between the religions is clearly to ask a difficult but unavoidable question

Have fun!

Zack Guiliano

Kellogg Fellow

Religious Pluralism 2: the ABC on Christ's Finality

After last week's post, I thought that we might appreciate a slightly different point of view from our own Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. We're liking to a copy of a lecture he gave, titled "The Finality of Christ in a Pluralist World." You'll see that he attempts to strike a slightly different ground than simple exclusivism (one faith is correct) and inclusivism (all faiths are correct). We'll leave it to all of you to decide how successful he is. Here's a taste:

And so out of these two powerful and heavily-charged texts comes the classic Christian conviction: what we encounter in Jesus Christ is simply the truth. It is the truth about God and the truth about humanity. Not living into that truth and accepting it, has consequences because this is the last word about God and God's creation. So we speak of the finality of Christ. There's nothing more to know. Or we speak of the uniqueness of Christ. No one apart from Jesus of Nazareth expresses the truth like this.

That is what is so problematic for so many people in our world today. It's not just a question about people of other faiths (though it's partly that). It's also a question about how we in general communicate what we believe, and about what we believe God is doing in the world. And in the last forty years or so, the problems around the classical interpretation of these texts have been more and more highlighted. They fall into three broad groups, and in the first part of what I'm going to say I just want to look at the kinds of objection that have been raised to those classical interpretations of the texts.

The first difficulty is moral. What kind of God is it who makes salvation or eternal life dependent on what's always going to be a rather chancy matter? What about all those people who never had a chance of hearing about Jesus? What about all those who have heard about Jesus but have not understood or waited to find out?

A Note on Thanksgiving

Moses said to all Israel: For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you may mine copper. You shall eat your fill and bless the LORD your God for the good land that he has given you. ---Deut 8:7-10

As the holidays approach, it is increasingly common to hear two notes begin to sound in our culture. One urges us towards expense and enjoyment of all the good things we tend to look forward to at this time of year, as if we deserve some indulgence at the end of another difficult year. The other sounds a note of caution regarding consumerism and materialism, a tendency to focus on worldly goods to the detriment of the spiritual nature of the season, and what sometimes seems to be a kind of selfishness inherent to our festivities, as if the season is about getting what each one of us desires.

Of course, we are probably more likely to hear the latter note in most churches at this time, particularly as we move through the observances of Advent, which seems increasingly countercultural. But I am glad that Thanksgiving precedes Advent and, indeed, that Advent is “bookended” by both Thanksgiving and Christmas, both times of great celebration in our country. For I cannot help but think that we must learn to strike a balance between feast and fast, or gain some better understanding about the celebration of all things. At the very least, even to attempt to balance these two things will teach us much about ourselves and about the proper way to relate to the “goods” of life.

As we enter Advent, in the wake of Thanksgiving, I hope that we may hold in our hearts the vision which we see in the reading above from Deuteronomy 8. God brought his people Israel into a good land, brimming full of food and drink and resources, where they lacked nothing. And, if we read the next section of the chapter, it seems that the problem of which God’s people are warned ahead of time, is not always about over indulgence in the good things set before them, though this is surely true. Rather, it is in receiving these good things and suddenly failing to keep God’s commands, lacking gratitude for the good received, and imagining these goods stem from our own strength. As the passage then reads:

Take care that you do not forget the LORD your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes... When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, an arid wasteland with poisonous snakes and scorpions. He made water flow for you from flint rock, and fed you in the wilderness with manna that your ancestors did not know, to humble you and to test you, and in the end to do you good. Do not say to yourself, "My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth." Deut 8:11-17.

Let us, then, remember the commandments of God and his grace as we enter our observance of Advent. Let us remember that we have received all good from God’s hand, and let us turn our hands to bringing that good to others, to those who have nothing and who are alone as much as to those whom we know and love. And let us give thanks to God for all things. 

New Series on Religion Pluralism

Every few weeks, we feature a series of posts from other blogs and websites that either focus on one topic or on one group. Given a few conversations and events at the Chaplaincy recently (like the talk given by Miroslav Volf on Christian-Muslim relations), I thought that it might be useful to link to short articles from various Christian standpoints on the different types of pluralism, along with some from other faiths.

This first post is from Relevant Magazine, an evangelical magazine from a theologically conservative, but somewhat progressive standpoint (their motto is God, Life, Progressive Culture). The article is called "It's OK to Say Jesus is the Only Way." Here's a taste:

The claim that all paths lead to the same God actually minimizes other religions by asserting a new religious claim. When someone says all paths lead to the same God, they blunt the distinctives between religions, throwing them all in one pot, saying: “See, they all get us to God so the differences don’t really matter.” This isn’t tolerance; it’s a power play. When asserting all religions lead to God, the distinctive and very different views of God and how to reach Him in Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam are brushed aside in one powerful swoop. The Eightfold Noble Path of Buddhism, the 5 Pillars of Islam and the Gospel of Christ are not tolerated but told they must submit to a new religious claim—all ways lead to God—despite the fact that this isn’t what those religions teach.

Zack Guiliano

Kellogg Fellow

The Movement

As part of our final post from the SSJE preaching series, I have here a message from Br. Kevin Hackett, titled "The Movement." This post will close our sample from SSJE, and we'll be looking for some more content to highlight in the coming weeks. If there's anything our readers have found particularly interesting, please send it our way.



Here's a sample of the post:


I do not know if you claim a denominational identity, but I think we would do well to ask ourselves a couple of questions at this point. How different is it to say, “I am a member of the Episcopal Church (or use your own denomination of choice),” than to say, “I am a follower of Jesus of Nazareth.”  I do not think the two claims are necessarily mutually exclusive, and while the Episcopal Church, as well many other denominations, have stressed Christian faith and practice as a way of life, I cannot get past the differences of connotation between being a member of an institution (which suggests a kind of stasis and status quo to me) and being a follower of a movement, especially the one which was inaugurated by Jesus of Nazareth (which, from my own experience, suggests some pretty rugged engagement with the unknown).

The Message

As mentioned last week, we will periodically re-post from blogs here and there on the good old Inter-webs. This post continues our coverage of the preaching series at the monastery of SSJE last month: Conversations on the Way. This one is written by Br. Mark Brown, whose picture is below, and is called "The Message".



Here's a sample:

When we say we believe in the Resurrection we usually are thinking of what we might call the Great Resurrection: our entrance into life beyond the gateway of death, our eternal life.  I want to state unambiguously that I believe in that Great Resurrection. But I don’t know much about it and have little to say, just that I’m sure it will be wonderful beyond our imagining.

But resurrection is woven into the texture of life in the world we live in now. 

Numbers 31: a Preface

Numbers 31:7 "And the Israelites killed every male among the Midianites."

Well, dear friends, we only have had one question for the past few weeks, and it is a doozy.

Q: "How should we read and understand Numbers 31?"

A: Often described as the "Massacre of the Midianites," Numbers 31 tends to rank high on anyone's list of difficult Scriptural passages. Due to the complexity of this question, then, we are going to break up the response to it over several weeks. One could practically write a whole book about this passage, which raises all sorts of questions. In this first post, I simply want to note some of the necessary details to consider and note some of the groundwork which must be done before answering anything about this passage. In the next week or so, after we have had some more time to reflect on this passage, we'll roll out a few more posts on the topic.

First off, we want to recommend that anyone reading this post considers the full text of Numbers 31 first, along with Numbers 25 (and, indeed, most of the second half of the book is relevant). The important backstory is this: the Israelites are on the way to the Promised Land, where they will drive out the inhabitants of the land, with God as the warrior leading the charge. Along the way, however, they are beset by a whole range of different peoples and situations which complicate that task, ranging from tribes that attack them first to the Israelites' rebellion against their own cause and against God. From ch. 22 onwards, the Israelites are beset by attacks from the Moabites and Midianites. The attacks by these two groups differ, however, from Israel's battles with other people along the path to the Promised Land. Rather than attack them in direct, hand-to-hand combat, the Moabites and Midianites first hire Balaam, a local seer and (it appears) sorcerer, to try and curse Israel.  However, the conflict between Israel, Moab, and Midian arguably culminates in Numbers 25, with the involvement of the Israelites in worshipping (with the Midianites) another God beside the Lord at a place called Peor, in violation of the first commandment. They worship Baal with both ritual feasting and, it appears, ritual sex, a combination not uncommon in Ancient Near Eastern religions. This is the backstory to Numbers 31, in miniature.

Second, though, we want to note something else about this passage as well: it is not difficult to interpret simply because of the moral issues we've briefly mentioned (e.g. the "massacre"). It also offers some confusing textual details which are difficult to understand on any level. For instance, after the battle, we might note that the spoils of war which the Israelites capture are outrageously large (32:31-47). They seem to seize over half a million sheep, among other massive captures. Now, while we don't have statistics on what was "normal" for animal husbandry in the Ancient Near East, particularly among small, nomadic tribes like the Midianites, this number seems a little overblown. It is only since the population boom and the advent of new farming techniques in the modern period that we have seen such a huge amount of sheep in one place. In other words, it is hard to believe that it was even possible for the Israelites to have captured such a high level of spoils from another tiny nation. We bring up these details only to note some features of the text which must be puzzled over, when we come to answer what's going on in the portrayal of this incident and when we decide "what to do" with this passage. There are several other, similar questions this text raises.

The reason we are puzzling over these features, though, is rather important and leads to the point I want to bring up. Several times in the past few weeks, while chatting with a few of you about this topic, I have mentioned why I think it's fruitful for us to dwell on this for a while. One thing I have tried to note in those conversations is how this passage doesn't do much for most interpreters. For conservatives, it is often viewed as an untroubling example of God's wrath on human sin. The various textual difficulties and moral quandaries generate no commentary. On the other hand, for more liberal interpreters, this passage is often brought up as an example of what we believe we have transcended. It, again, serves little theological purpose. The book of Numbers also doesn't feature largely in the ancient, medieval, and Reformation commentary traditions prior to the modern period. For us then, this passage can be a site for tremendous new theological reflection, if we can but wrap our minds around it. It is, in many ways, largely untrod ground.

So, that is what we will try to do. We're going to have a few different posts, outlining some relevant information and questions related to this passage. Emily, first of all, is going to note some of the relevant moral quandaries this passage raises. I will likely, then, note some ancient and contemporary responses to these quandaries. We'll have a post on the historical-critical approach to the passage. And, hopefully, we plan to cap off our little series on Numbers 31 with a post which synthesizes all the details, questions, and issues, before sketching a theological exploration and response to the whole passage.

Brief Q/A Announcement and a Link

The Codex Sinaiticus (mid-fourth century): the earliest complete copy of the Bible. 

Hi everyone,

In case you were eagerly awaiting this week's Q/A Round-up, I wanted to announce that we'll be holding off on posting anything related to it until next weekend. We had an absolutely fantastic biblical studies question posed ("How should we read and understand Numbers 31?"), but the nature of the question is actually rather complex, as you may note if you read the passage. We'd rather not answer rashly, as is the tendency of most apologists and interpreters of this passage, because we think a considered exploration of the passage will actually be very fruitful.

So, give us a little patience as we formulate a series of responses to this question, which will not only address Numbes 31 but also, to some degree, the very nature of interpreting the Bible, particularly its difficult passages. Until then, you might enjoy reading this post from the blog Glory to God for All Things. The post is titled "Is the Bible True?", and it deals with some issues related to the question posed above. Here's a taste:

The history of literalism is a checkered affair. Some of the early fathers leaned in a literalist direction for many parts of Scripture, though leaving room for other, more symbolic approaches, where appropriate. The great battles over the historical literalism of Scripture arose in the 18th and 18th centuries in Europe and America (battles over certain scientific matters versus literalism began even earlier).

Part of the tragedy in these battles was that the battlefield itself was a fairly newly-defined area and failed to take into account the full history of Biblical interpretation. For a young believer in the midst of America’s own intellectual religious wars in the late 20th century – my question was whether the choices presented were the only choices available.

I should preface my remaining remarks with the simple affirmation: I believe the Bible is true.

The Man

One of the things we will continue to do on this blog is direct your attention to interesting pieces. Well, for the next few weeks, we'll be posting a sermon a week from the recent preaching series at the Society of St. John the Evangelist, the Anglican monastery in Harvard Square. The series itself took place in September and was called "Conversations on the Way: the Man, the Message, and the Movement."

Here's a link to the first sermon, called "The Man," which considers the life of Jesus, and was delivered by Br. Curtis Almquist.

And, here's a sneak peek:

He was simply called “Jesus,” not an uncommon name, and he was born into virtual obscurity.¹  Through our internal documents – what we call the Gospels and New Testament writings – we know about the shepherds and wise men who came to worship him in infancy; however there’s no reason to think his birth caused much of any other notice.  In the eyes of observant Jews, he was a disappointment at best and a bastard at worst...


...He had these very weird parents with this unbelievable story about his birth and destiny, a destiny which had seemed to have materialized.  Well, it did materialize, but Jesus had spent virtually his entire life, not living up to the prophecy.  Even the people who had not jeered him and his family because of his “birth story” surely would have abandoned believing the Messianic prophecy stuff long ago.  Jesus proved to be quite an ordinary human being who hadn’t found his way in life.⁵

Weekly Q/A Roundup: 1

Q1:  As a fashionable gentleman, I am fond of wearing nice handkerchiefs with my suits. As a spiritual person, I would like my fashion choices to reflect the liturgical season. Thus, I have always wondered where might I obtain handkerchiefs that match the current liturgical season. Can you help?

A1: We're glad you asked and are pleased to support the fashionable and spiritual gentleman of the 21st century! So far as we can tell, no current liturgical supplier makes such handkerchiefs for everyday use, though we suppose you could simply buy a number in the right color and wear them on the appropriate days. A quick visit to Lectionary Page in the morning will let you know the appropriate liturgical color. On the other hand, you might be interested to know that there is a piece of liturgical kit which used to be  standard, called the maniple, and was meant to recall the towel which Jesus used to wash the feet of his disciples (Jn 13:1-17). So, as another option, you could always tie a maniple to your suit in the morning, should you need to remember Jesus' admonition to serve fellow Christians as he served his disciples.  

Q2: Why do we worship on Sunday, if the Ten Commandments tell us to observe the Sabbath (Saturday), and God rested on the seventh day after creation (Saturday)?

A2: Excellent question! We know that this one is confusing to a lot of people. The Old Testament does command observation of the Sabbath on the seventh day of the week , both to commemorate creation (Genesis 2:2-3; Exodus 20:8-11) and to commemorate the deliverance of Israel from slavery (Deuteronomy 5:12-15). It is a perpetual reminder of God's creative and redeeming work on behalf of the world and of Israel in particular. Christians, however, started worshiping on the first day of the week in order to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, which happened on the first day of the week (resurrection on first day of week- John 20:1; "The Lord's day": Rev 1:10; the early Christian writing Didache 14:1; first day of the week as day for worship- Acts 20:7). 

The thought is that the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday is what delivered humanity from bondage to sin and death. Also, for early Christians, the resurrection of Christ was considered the beginning of a new creation, hence the shift to the first day (there are hints of this view already in John 20). So, we still commemorate creation and redemption, but it's now oriented to the uniqueness of Christ's resurrection in saving us and inaugurating a new world. 

Feast of Luke: Physicians of the Natural Kind

Today is the feast of St. Luke the Evangelist. Luke has been remembered, since the earliest Christian centuries, as “the beloved physician” mentioned by Paul in Colossians 4:14 and is said to have practiced medicine before following Paul in his missionary journeys. Luke’s gospel was beloved by the early church for its countless retellings of miracles by Jesus, who was himself called “the great physician.”

What is rather interesting about these two designations, however, one for Luke himself and the other for his portrayal of our Savior, is that they put forth two rather distinct understandings of a physician. To call Christ “the great physician” is to acknowledge the frequency of healings in his ministry. It seems as if Jesus is constantly healing the lame, the blind, lepers, and many others, being moved by compassion for their situation. However, to acknowledge Luke as “the beloved physician” is quite different. A reading from Ecclesiastes was often read on Luke’s feast day, which we still read today to celebrate his witness.

Honor physicians for their services,

for the Lord created them;

for their gift of healing comes from the Most High,

and they are rewarded by the king.

The skill of physicians makes them distinguished,

and in the presence of the great they are admired.

The Lord created medicines out of the earth,

and the sensible will not despise them.

And he gave skill to human beings

that he might be glorified in his marvelous works.

What I hope we can take from this passage and from the witness of St. Luke and his gospel is the way that our faith includes the supernatural, but is not limited to it. Let me explain what I mean. We certainly affirm and believe that our Lord healed the sick, and I know that I believe God continues to heal the sick today. I wouldn’t pray for my friends and family members otherwise. Our faith, however, also retains respect for more than the supernatural healing that shone forth in the early ministry of our Lord and in the ministry of his apostles and the saints. There is also an affirmation in Christianity of the ability which God has given to human beings to exercise ingenuity. “The Lord created medicines...and the sensible will not despise them. And he gave skill to human beings that he might be glorified in his marvelous works.”

God is certainly glorified in the miraculous. But his marvelous work is also manifested in the skill which he has given to humanity, made in his own image. The work each of us does from day to day, our use of our God-given intellect and talents, are a revelation of God’s glory. So, as we prayed in our collect this past Sunday, that we might see the glory of God displayed in Christ, so also my hope is simply that we might see the glory of God as it is revealed in our own lives and abilities as well. For such is our faith. 

The Year Begins!

In this week's lesson, Jesus tells us that when two or three gather in his name, he will be among us (Matt. 18:20). Come see what he means. Our Opening service of the academic year is Sunday, Sep. 4 at 5:30pm at Christ Church (Zero Garden Street).

Dinner and conversation follow in the Parish Library.

New Episcopal Chaplain Appointed

After a fruitful process of discernment, the Board of the Episcopal Chaplaincy is pleased to announce the end of the search process and the appointment of the Reverend Luther Zeigler as the new Episcopal Chaplain at Harvard University! We are all very glad to welcome Luther, and we look forward to the beginning of his ministry at Harvard.

Luther comes to this position from the Diocese of Washington, where he is currently the senior chaplain at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Potomac, Maryland, and where he is Chair of the Philosophy and Religion Department. Luther is also an associate priest at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in College Park, which maintains ties with the Episcopal/Anglican Campus Ministry at the University of Maryland.

Luther graduated with Highest Honors in Religion from Oberlin College, holds a master’s degree in Religious Studies from Stanford University and is also a cum laude graduate of the Stanford Law School, where he served as an associate editor of the Stanford Law Review.  Luther completed his theological training at Virginia Theological Seminary, from which he received his Master of Divinity degree with honors.

For many years prior to his ordination, Luther practiced law at a major Washington law firm, where he was a partner and member of the firm’s Management Board.  At the firm, he had an active public service practice, particularly in the areas of civil rights and advocacy for the homeless.
Luther and his wife, Pat, have two adult daughters, one of whom lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area and one of whom lives in Boston and works for the Red Sox.  Luther and Pat bring with them to Cambridge a Labradoodle named Grace, who was born six years ago on Easter morning.

Please click here or on the menu above  for more information about Luther.

First 'Summer' Outing

Hi, all!

We will have our first summer outing this coming Wednesday, May 25th at 7pm. Trinity Church in Copley Square has invited pastor and speaker Rob Bell to talk about his new book Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Has Ever Lived. Depending on numbers and interest, we will be having dinner beforehand as well to talk about fire and brimstone (!) and the place of Hell in Christian theology. Please write to our Kellogg Fellow, Zack Guiliano, if you're interested in coming and if you would like to receive further information about ECH summer activities.

Lent Class

All the info is one the poster, the website, and on an e-mail we're sending out. Anyone who's interested is free to come! It's an excellent opportunity for a form of Lenten meditation, coming to terms with the Christian faith.

Mid-Week Prayer: Compline

We'll be holding our first mid-week prayer service this evening at 7pm in Christ Church. We will be using the traditional form of Compline, which is found in the Book of Common Prayer.

For any of you who have never taken part in a Compline service, it is one of the oldest forms of prayer in the Christian Church. It was originally an adaptation of one of the monastic offices (times of prayer) and has always consisted mainly of Psalms and readings from Scripture, with some short written prayers and opportunity for silent reflection. You can find a short little description in this article from Wikipedia.

We will have a very simple format; no experience required! One of the main points of the service is to become familiar with this style of prayer, to get it in your heart and mind and under your tongue. As the semester goes on, we may add to the service some simple music or chant and different liturgical actions (using icons and prayer candles, for instance, or different forms of prayer). But our first several meetings will be very simple.

We'll look forward to seeing you there.

Zack Guiliano

Kellogg Fellow

The Words of Our Teacher

Living as a Christian can be a difficult task. Our calling to live as “the light of the world” offers a number of challenges which often seem insurmountable. Just look again at a few of the Beatitudes which we considered this past Sunday:

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

Blessed are the pure in spirit, for they shall see God.

In a recent sermon, I tried to gesture towards the difficulty and tension that we can feel anytime we try to “live up” to the Beatitudes. We are immediately faced with questions for ourselves (Am I meek? Hungry for righteousness? Pure?). I also suggested that some of these tensions can be overcome when we accept our initial vocation, which is to become students of Jesus Christ, our Teacher. We must take our first steps on the road before we can “run the race” which is the Christian spiritual life.

Yet what promise do we have of finishing that race? Is it all difficulty, or do we have some relief?

One of the readings our Church offers today for meditation and prayer is Isaiah 55:1-13. It’s really quite a remarkable passage, and I would suggest reading it, slowly and carefully, if you find yourself in need of encouragement and refreshment today.  But let me break off a few pieces of it here, pieces of spiritual bread which I think pertain to our concerns about the spiritual life.

What this passage can remind us is that our teacher, the Lord himself, does not give us words or direction which are powerless. What we learn from our Teacher has an effect. As the passage says,

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, 

and do not return there until they have watered the earth, 

bring forth life and giving growth, seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 

so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; 

it shall not return to me empty, 

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55:10-11

You see, God wishes us to live our Christian lives as much (indeed, far more) than we do. When we face the struggle, we should remember that we are not alone. The words which we hear from the mouth of our Teacher have great effect, and we are promised that they will bring about their purpose in us. The newly formed life we are trying to lead will come because God is the one bringing about the new creation in us. And God cannot fail. The word shall bring forth new life, no matter how tentative, and the new life will remain.

To end with the words of Scripture, which vividly portray this promise:

You shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; 

the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song, 

and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; 

instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;

and it shall a sign of the Lord, 

an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Isaiah 55:12-13