Scripture Reflections

Then Jesus said … to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. (Mt. 23:1-4)

It might be surprising to hear Jesus telling his disciples to obey what the Pharisees said. We are so accustomed to Jesus’ confrontations with them and their rejection of Jesus that we can easily miss that Jesus actually agreed with much of their teaching! Of the theological-political groups present in 1st Century Palestine, the Pharisees were by far the closest to Jesus.

But Jesus had several deep criticisms of the Pharisees. First, in their rigor with minor rules, they neglected the “weightier matters of the Law, like justice and mercy and faithfulness.” Second, they elevated their traditions (traditions designed to protect God’s Law) over the Law itself. And third, they didn’t practice what they preached—they were hypocrites.

It is this hypocrisy that Jesus denounces in much of Matthew 23, and his fierce words should wake us up! He called the Pharisees whitewashed tombs—beautiful to look at but full of death—because they were dishonest, greedy, and self-indulgent in their hearts even as they taught the opposite with their mouths.

All of us are hypocrites in that we are weak; we try, and then fail to live up to the standards that we claim. But Jesus isn’t talking about weakness in Matthew 23. He is talking about a flagrant disregard in one’s personal life for standards preached in public. In other words, he is talking about the politician running on a “family values platform” who cheats on his wife and taxes, or the pastor who is dishonest or abusive to his staff and family.

Most of us have that sort of flagrant hypocrisy in us, as well. We are good at the sort of self-justification that enables us to keep willingly choosing something in private that we would publicly repudiate. This is where we need Jesus’ words: “First clean the inside of the cup...”

But how do we clean the inside of the cup? How do we cleanse and change our hearts?

The Biblical answer begins with open and honest confession. God is willing to forgive and cleanse some of the most staggering sins we can imagine, if we would simply humble ourselves and honestly confess our faults. We clean the inside of the cup by bringing it into the light and confessing how dirty it actually is, because it is in the light—in God’s light—that God begins to cleanse and transform us.

Steven+

Vestry Nominations and Selection

At our annual meeting on the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6, 2024), we will select three new vestry members. In order for that to happen, we need your nominations!
 
As a reminder, the vestry is responsible, as the governing board of the church, for providing “oversight in the temporal activities, business, affairs, and property of the Church.” In Anglican church governance, the clergy, under the authority of the bishop, is responsible for the theological beliefs and mission of the church, and the laity, through its representatives (i.e., the vestry), governs the resources used to enact those beliefs and accomplish that mission.
 
The nomination process is simple: Any member of the church may nominate any confirmed or received member of the church. (Confirmation is not required for membership and it is not required to nominate someone for vestry, but it is required to serve on the vestry.) Simply send an email with the name of the person who would serve in this role well to our Senior Warden or Junior Warden.
 
The nomination period will run from November 1-21. After the nominations have been received, they will be vetted by the current vestry, according to the criteria listed below. Those approved by the current vestry will be announced in mid-December, and three names will be drawn by lot from this group on January 6 at the annual meeting.
 
The criteria to serve as a vestry member are as follows:

1. Be a mature Christian, and not one who has recently come to the faith;

2. Lead a life that is above reproach, according to the standards of the Bible;

3. Worship God regularly in the Church;

4. Lead an active devotional life, seeking to grow in prayer and knowledge of the Bible;

5. Faithfully give to Christian ministries, including this Church, in proportion to his or her income;

6. Have family relationships that reflect strong Christian commitment;

7. Be willing to devote time and energy to be able to serve effectively as a Vestry member;

8. Be a voting member of this local Church, as defined by these Bylaws; and

9. Be confirmed or received into the ACNA.

 
Paid staff members and their spouses are ineligible for nomination, and only one member of a family may serve on the vestry at a time. If you want more information about the vestry, send me an email! I am happy to talk with any of you about the governance of the church.
 
Please pray for wisdom and protection from God as new leaders are chosen during this season. If you are a member of the church, please pray about whether you should nominate someone for this role. We will send out a separate email to all members with a list of those eligible to be nominated.
 
In Christ,
Steven+

All Saints' Day

For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.   (Isaiah 56:7)
 
Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.   (Acts 3:1)
 
Every now and then in a movie or book, there is a scene where the lead character—usually with a great decision to make or weighed down with anguish—goes into the church to pray. Kneeling before the altar or seated in a pew, the hours move past as the character waits for God to answer.
 
Those scenes remind us of something that is disappearing from our world—the church used to be viewed as the place people went to pray, especially about important things. It wasn’t that people thought that they couldn’t pray at home, any more than the Jews thought that they had to be in the temple to pray. It was just that the church was consecrated space, a place set aside for prayer, and so it made sense to go there.
 
The fact that going to the church to pray has (mostly) disappeared from our culture probably has a lot to do with how busy we are and the fact that churches are not conveniently located near our homes or businesses. It is probably also a product of the fact that we are losing the concept of consecrated or sacred space. The idea of a sanctuary—a place set aside for the presence of God—is disappearing. It is likely also because we value personal, daily devotions more than previous ages did. (That’s a good thing!) For a variety of reasons, though, we say our prayers at home, instead of going to the church to pray.
 
On All Saints’ Day, there will be two opportunities to “relearn” the old practice of going to the church to pray, two moments when the Eucharist service is stripped down to its barest essentials: God’s word read and our response of prayer and confession; the life of the Jesus Christ given and our response of thanksgiving; God’s blessing given as we go back into the world. Without the worship team and the welcome table, we are invited to do the very simple, yet very hard, work of bringing our heart before the Lord, of coming into his sanctuary in awe, of gathering before him to pray.
 
Of course, we are supposed to do this work every Sunday, but the “production” of Sunday morning, as important as it is, can sometimes distract us. Sometimes the no-frills, sparsely attended, 30-minute service is a reminder we need. The word liturgy means “work of the people,” and the work that we do is our prayer—prayer in response to his word, and prayer strengthened by the food from his table.
 
Join us at either 7:30am or 6:15pm on Wednesday, Nov. 1, as we pray together on All Saints’ Day. Use the time to thank God for those who have set an example in the faith for you.  Both services will last around 30 minutes.
 
Steven+