Not by debate or arguments
It is in Doing the Work of the Gospel that the Church will
be Reformed
Address to the 128th Convention of the Diocese of Bethlehem
Bishop Paul V. Marshall -- June 11, 1999
My dear sisters and brothers in Jesus Christ,
Each of you, and the parishes you represent, continue to be the
principal source of my joy in ministry, and it is a privilege to
address the Diocese gathered at this convention. I am grateful to
Father Stringfellow and the people of St. Luke's for their gracious
and unhesitating hospitality when our plans for a hotel site fell
through.
As we approached convention this year, I noted that something has
shifted in my own process. For the first time in my life, I have
been eager to get to a meeting. That something is my perception of
our increasingly deeper relationship and partnership in the gospel
of Jesus Christ, and I thank God for that fact.
NOT BY DEBATE OR ARGUMENTS Earlier this week I spent some time with
another bishop just for mutual support, conversation, and prayer.
As we talked about some of the problems our church faces, we shared
our common belief that the church of our day will not be reformed
by debate or arguments for the most part. The other bishop summed
our discussion up in words that I will now originate: It is in our
doing the work of the Gospel, that the church will be reformed.
For many of us, that is our repeated experience: as we increasingly
commit ourselves to that work, the church as a whole changes and
grows. That is true because there are no private Christians - we
are part of an organism, the body of Christ, and are formed by experience,
by what we do as we let the Holy Spirit lead. Surely that doing involves
speaking, and our testimony needs to be clear, but it is by understanding
ourselves as being in the larger category, being in mission, that
we come to rely on and experience the presence of God the Holy Spirit.
TRUTH IS A PERSON When Jesus, in one of his great I AM statements,
said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life," he taught us that
truth is not just an idea that can be freeze-dried and meditated
upon: in the long run, truth is a person, Jesus, living the wisdom
of God, with and for all humanity. Knowing him, knowing him as the
truth, is what sets us free. We can claim to be Jesus' followers
when we commit ourselves to live out the truth that Jesus taught,
the truth that he lived, the truth that he was. One of our parishes
has as its mission statement its commitment to learning and doing
the work of Jesus, and that comes very close to what I am getting
at here.
JESUS DIED FOR YOUR SINS TOO We naturally tend to think of Jesus
as on our side, and are sure that we would have treated him differently
2000 years ago. Of course if that were true, we'd be in the wrong
religion, because you can only get into this one if you think that
Jesus died for your sins, too.
I don't think that we usually realize how annoying, threatening,
infuriating Jesus was to the good, decent, and respectable people
of his day, people like us, whether they were the supporters of the
leading conservatives (the Sadducees) or aligned with the leading
liberals (the Pharisees) or just trying to get along under Roman
occupation. He was infuriating to the priests and theologians as
well, I recall the observation that if Jesus were to walk among us,
we wouldn't bother to stone him, we'd invite him to be on a talk
show and make fun of him.
JESUS OUTRAGED THE GOOD PEOPLE The things that Jesus did that most
dismayed, perplexed, and outraged the good people of his day was
his meeting on friendly terms with, and actually sharing meals with,
the agents of foreign oppression, tax collectors like Matthew and
Zacchaeus. Jesus outraged decency more in that he also met with people
otherwise identified as sinners by even the enlightened and progressive
minds of his day. In one strand of the gospel tradition is it Jesus'
befriending seriously bad people that first provoked plots to destroy
him. But who among us could ask for a better epitaph than the charge
contemptuously hurled at Jesus: "Look, this one receives sinners
and eats with them."
I have tried in my own way during the past few months to lead by
giving examples of what it means to love those whom others, rightly
or wrongly, label as outcast, sinners or enemy, but I've gotten enough
ink for one year.
TELLING WHAT I'VE SEEN AND HEARD Let me tell you about some other
ways I have seen people doing the truth that Christ is and thereby
reforming and reinvigorating the church - not by arguing but by doing.
Our diocesan mission statement asks us "to tell what you have seen
and heard," so please come with me as I do tell you.
DORIS BRAY I don't have time to read it to you here, but I was given
a newspaper article written by a man who does not normally have much
use for conventional religious institutions or people in ordained
ministry. He had to admit, though, that he had met one priest whose
joy, sincerity, and dedication to God and people made him rethink
his position. That priest whose example stirred him so was our own
Canon Doris Bray, who this spring is retiring from 20 years of service
at the Episcopal Ministry of Unity. Doris is for me a person of practical
holiness, and a living witness to the truth that it is by living
out our identity in Christ that things change. We can only thank
God for her, and wish Marvin and Doris many wonderful years in the
next stage of their lives.
NEW BETHANY MINISTRIES You and I have been amazed and delighted
this year to witness resurrection in New Bethany Ministries. Canon
Robert Wilkins, Maggie Watkins, the trustees, and many individuals
gave countless hours and much love to the task of putting this ministry
back on its feet with a healthy future before it. Their witness was
so strong that one day I found in my mail a check for twenty thousand
dollars from a person whose faith commitment is not Christian, a
check she sent because the witness of New Bethany was given clearly
and compellingly.
WORLD MISSION COMMITTEE In a similar vein, you may recall that last
year I told you of my hope to reconstitute a World Mission Committee.
God has been very good to us here, and a team of people with the
fire of the Spirit have taken off with breathtaking speed. In a time
when they were supposed to simply study, pray, and form themselves,
they have led our response to several natural disasters and gotten
our attention and compassion mobilized in response to people-made
disasters as well. They have brought an African priest, Father Michael
Kiju-Paul, to be with us this summer, so that everyone who wants
to can learn firsthand what our sisters and brothers endure because
of their commitment to Jesus Christ. I cannot wait to see what the
World Mission Committee is led to do once their reflective and formative
period is over.
The Roman Catholic Bishop of Allentown, Bishop Cullen, shared with
me the fact that in 1900 there were one million Catholics in Africa.
Today there are 103 million. Our Anglican numbers are proportional,
if not so large: the center of Christian growth is in Africa, and
it is a center that will be the source, not the recipient, of the
next wave of Christian evangelism in Asia. Thirty years ago a professor
told me that African and Asian missionaries would be coming to America
in my lifetime, and it very much looks like he was right.
ST. STEPHEN'S CHURCH, WILKES-BARRE One of the persistent witnesses
to the love of Christ among us has been the ministry of hospitality
practiced so generously, and at times arduously, by St. Stephen's
Church in Wilkes-Barre. At tomorrow's eucharist I will officially
recognize this ministry by designating St. Stephen's as a pro-cathedral.
A pro-cathedral in this sense is a church where a bishop has a second
seat, usually in a place at some distance from the diocesan headquarters.
This action does not, of course, affect the canonical status of
my beloved Cathedral Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, where we
shall have our Convention next spring. What it does do is recognize
an ongoing ministry in the north, and make it as clear as I can that
my love for and commitment to God's people does not change when I
come through the Lehigh Tunnel. I will have more to say about this
tomorrow, but mention it here to indicate that hospitality is witness,
powerful witness to the love of God.
CHAR HORST In just the same sense, I want to tell you now about
a gift you and I have received. The Incorporated Trustees of the
diocese have found a way to launch a ministry to assist each parish
in this diocese in their planned giving and development needs. We
have about ten years left of the largest transfer of assets in all
of human history, about 70 Billion Dollars' worth, and we want to
be responsible and responsive to the stewardship issues this event
implies. So next week Char Horst will join my staff, at no additional
cost to this convention or to Diocesan Council, to begin work in
the ministry I have described. You will see her on Sundays, and she
will be working with clergy and parish groups to help us understand
and practice the ministry of planned giving. She comes to us with
an enormous energy and commitment, and it is impossible to be in
the room with her without contracting some of her enthusiasm, so
watch out.
YOUTH MINISTRY I spoke to you last year of the importance of work
with youth, and we have seen important progress. The plan for a camp,
led by Jim Saba and Bob Rust, is moving ahead very well. In our parishes,
we increasingly hear words like Rite Thirteen and Journey to Adulthood.
Character and community are being built among our young people. I
hope that in the next year we can get the parishes who have found
Journey to Adulthood to be successful to share their experience with
us.
On the diocesan level, Father Dane Bragg hit the ground running,
and in four months has organized and solidified diocesan youth ministry
like never before. This summer will see Bethlehem youth participating
in the Irish Youth Exchange and in the USA in the Episcopal Youth
Event. We are not even to final deadline and have 143 young people
registered for our next event, the Bishop's Youth Day at Kirby House
later this month.
COMMISSION ON CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP Renewal and Evangelism and
the Commission on Ministry have been restructured, and we now have
a group of the COM working on lay ministry, and the Commission on
the Ministry of the Baptized is now the Commission on Christian Discipleship.
The goal of these transformations is to leave no person in our fourteen
counties without access to discernment, training, and encouragement
for the use of the gifts God has given them where they live and work.
WHAT HAS THE DIOCESE EVER DONE FOR US? The moments when I remember
how much work we have to do for the renewal of the church are the
moments like those this year when people have said, sometimes a bit
heatedly, "What do we get for our money?" and "What has the Diocese
ever done for us?" I hope that the answer to both questions is the
same. Your sisters and brothers who form Diocesan Council, the Trustees,
and the Bishop's staff are there to give you opportunities and support
as you give of yourselves fully to be Jesus' disciples for the sake
of the world around us. I am in dead earnest when I say that what
you get for your money is the opportunity to give more, and what
your diocese does for you is show you how to do more for the people
around you.
As we do the work of the gospel, the church changes. Think of the
quiet work of the United Thank Offering, the Presiding Bishop's Fund,
the work our Episcopal Church Women are doing for children at risk,
the renewed witness of the Brotherhood of Saint Andrew, our new church
coming soon in Womelsdorf, and you begin to see what I mean. I beseech
you by the mercies of God to offer yourselves, a living sacrifice.
The Church will change.
Did you know that among the first missionaries to come to America
were Moravian missionaries to the slaves in Georgia and the Carolinas?
They discovered that the slave owners would not give them access
to the slaves. To allow slaves to be baptized would recognize them
as equals, and they weren't about to permit that. With such a refusal,
I would have said, "Oh, sorry to have troubled you," and found a
new ministry, I fear. But these missionaries had not traveled thousands
of miles to be treated like Jehovah's Witnesses or door-to-door vacuum
cleaner sellers. They would do what it would take. To gain access
to the slaves, these missionaries sold themselves into slavery. Think
about that. They did whatever was necessary, at whatever personal
cost, to bring words of hope to people who had no freedom at all.
One can only stand in humble awe at such a story.
SHARE THE BREAD 2000 I am going to ask considerably less of you
and me. Next Spring, on May 6, there will be no weddings during the
daytime in this diocese, and I am serious about that. This will be
true because all the clergy and as many of the people as we can get
will be together at "Share the Bread 2000." As I pray about it, 3500
seems to be the right minimum goal, although an even 5000 would be
better. All the things we enjoyed at the last festival will be there,
plus much more. At the last festival we as members of the diocese
shared with each other our treasures in the Gospel, were shaped as
a community, and had a very good time. In 2000 we want to take the
next step, and be in mission to others through the festival.
I ask each of you to begin praying about the person you should invite
to come to this festival. Which of your friends and coworkers could
most benefit from being with us as we celebrate the Gospel and the
community God creates in Jesus Christ? Please pray about this and
keep your eyes open for six months, and in January or February start
asking the person or people God has led you to invite. Calendars
get crowded, so I ask you to do your inviting early in the year.
Invite them simply to share an interesting and enjoyable time like
the one you had last year. Tell what you have seen and heard.
I made a profound error in beginning to plan for the festival. I
tried to engage a major hot-shot evangelist from another tradition
to speak to us twice on that day. God slammed that door in my face
so loudly that my ears are still ringing. Why? Well, we are inviting
people to come spend a day sharing with us who we are, seeing what
God has made of us in the Episcopal tradition. It would be false
advertising to treat them to a mesmerizing kind of preaching that
is not our style. So I am continuing to look for Episcopalians, perhaps
an excellent storyteller for the morning and a powerful preacher
for the afternoon. Suggestions are welcome, but I have been taught
that this needs to be us, doing what we do, being who we are in Christ,
for the sake of the world.
If we take this simple challenge seriously, somebody we are led
to care about will be helped, God's purpose will be carried out,
and as a church we will change. Who could ask for anything more?
Let's pray a bit in silence about our call in the Diocese of Bethlehem.
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