The Meaning of Surrender

Over the weekend, I had a very enlightening series of conversations. It wasn’t planned as much as it was serendipitous. There were a series of questions and answers as well as reflections that caused me to reflect on surrender in the Christian spiritual walk. I remembered back to my earlier reading of St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, and it took me back to the moment of my conversion. Reading over the sixth chapter of Romans, was especially enlightening as I thought about this post. In the chapter, St. Paul talks about the radical nature of Christian initiation. St. Paul himself had a staggering and soul-shaking conversion experience. So what does all this have to do with surrender?

Let me go back to the moment of my conversion. I have to share that my conversion was not mere assent to Christian beliefs, but something much deeper. In that moment, I felt transformed in such a way that it shook the very foundation of my soul. I have been seeking to understand that transformation and what it means, and living it out. The insight that I gathered revolves around the moment that I was in my darkest hour and Christ issued the same call He has issued for the last two thousand years: “follow me”. In two very simple words is a very loaded consequence. In that moment of conversion, Christ asks us to surrender our selves wholly to him. St. Paul describes conversion as evidenced externally by the Sacrament of Holy Baptism as death to the old self and resurrection as a new creation in the Lord.

In that sense, I see my Christian walk as a journey of perfecting my surrender. In my walk I see myself as seeking to perfectly surrender my will, my passion and my desire to Christ for His use. Of course, I realize that I’m fallen and therefore imperfect, but in the refinement of surrender, I grow. Indeed, I think that the more we are able to surrender deeper and deeper parts of our selves to Christ, the more we grow in Him. There is no qualifier or easy out here. There is no, “well we’re all rational beings and need some measure of independence”. There is just surrender, and growing surrender at that.

Blog Platform Switch

Hey All:

I found the WordPress blogging platform to be much more flexible and useful for my purposes. So Someplace On The Way is here, but will be going to the wayside soon. I'll be moving my blogging posts onto WordPress soon.


The new blog will be called "The Ladder Home" (with reference to St. John Climacus' spiritual classic) ...

http://theladderhome.wordpress.com

Posts will be placed on both blogs for the next month or two, and during Great Lent the transition will be complete.

Orthodox Hymns ...

Today is the feast of St. Athanasius and St. Cyril, and some of the hymns this week were especially poignant:

Those mystic stars who shone bright with the rays of right belief poured forth exceeding splendor in their Orthodox writings; one shut up the God-hated jabbering mouth of the impious Arius; and by the other Nestorius, who was mad, was cast down with vain Sabellius.
(from the Ainoi for Ss. Athanasius and Cyril)

Ye proved to be initiates and truly wise defenders of the transcendent Trinity, O blessed Athanasius and Cyril, thou God-revealer; for ye destroyed completely Arius and Sabellius and Nestorius also the most profane, yea, and every other deceit and error of all ungodly heresies, O Hierarchs of the Lord (Exapostilarion)

Preparing for the Spiritual Marathon

We are only 38 days from the beginning of the Great Fast. This year, after taking a break last year from the practice of Eastern Lent, I've decided to take it up again. For those of you that don't know, Eastern Lent starts two days before Western Lent (instead of Ash Wednesday, Orthodox start the Sunday preceding), and involves a much stricter regimen of prayer, reading and fasting than those of us in the Western Church are used to. To throw a wrench into the gearbox this year, the Orthodox start Lent one week after we do (because Eastern Pascha is one week later due to differences in the way they calculate the date of Pascha). So, I've either ordered or received all the pertinent service books as well as the quintissential manual for the Orthodox during this time: The Ladder of Divine Ascent by St. John Climacus. This year, I'm looking forward to practicing what the Orthodox call "joyful sadness" and in making an effort to run this spiritual marathon known as the Great Fast. God willing, it will be capped off with another night spent in the presence of the Body of our Lord at the Cathedral on Great and Holy Thursday in deep prayer.

The preparations have begun. First, I've started to clean out the apartment and prepare the icon corner so that there is enough space for all the service books (the Horologion, the Triodion, Octoechos printouts, and the Kathisma psalter) - I may need to add an extra side table for the books. I've also stretched my Liturigcs muscle and adapted the Eastern Calendar for Lent into the Western one (thank goodness the length of Lent is the same for Westerners as Easterners ... whew!). Also, I've begun making a discipline of saying the Hours on a regular basis every day, beginning with the Midnight Office, Orthros and First Hour in the morning, and Small Compline in the evenings (on weekends, I read an expanded office). Working this into EFM is going to be interesting.

Physically, I am getting ready for the next step, that is cleaning out the Pantry and the kitchen and buying adequate supplies for the Lenten diet. The Orthodox tradition during Lent is to forego all animal products with the exception of shellfish during the Great Fast (with a minor let up on Saturday and Sunday which allows for wine [alcohol] and olive oil). The only break occurs on March 25th for the Feast of the Annunciation where all fish is permitted. In addition, the Orthodox restrict the quantities of food or at least the number of meals eaten (I'm still figuring out where I'm going with this one). So, I've got to stock up on those lentils, beans, potatoes, rice, and other important staples of the vegan diet. To prepare for this, I've also taken on the Orthodox discipline of strict fast on Wednesday and Friday of each week (same as the Lenten diet) and add more reading and reflection on those days.

Of courses, there is going to be more and more preparation and as the Great Fast approaches, you'll hear more about the running of the spiritual marathon. More posts to come.

Did You Lie At Your Baptism or Confirmation?

This is a shorter reflection, and is certainly not going to be as voluminous as the last two, but it's really simple. I've been reflecting quite a bit on heresy and its prevalence in the Episcopal Church. So much so that a Priest could in good conscience deliver a sermon in which he asserts that Jesus Christ was a sinner in need of repentance, an assertion that is repugnant and abhorrent to scriptures and to the doctrine and dogma of the Church. Today, I thought of the Examination that is made when we make (or renew) our Baptismal covenant.

I think that there is a great theological significance to the portion of the baptismal rite that is technically referred to the Presentation and Examination (Book of Common Prayer pages 301-305). In this part of the baptismal rite, the Candidate (or his / her parents) are scrutinized by the Priest in great detail. The Church wants to be assured that she is receiving only those who have made a choice to become part of the mystical body of Christ and to follow the teachings of the Lord. The candidate must affirm faith in the principal doctrines and dogmas of the Church through the Apostles Creed and must further affirm their desire and commitment to continue in the prayers and the teachings of the Apostles. I don't know how people who deny cardinal doctrines of the Church can in good conscience lie, and dishonestly affirm belief in something they have set themselves against. I don't think the Church should be scrutinizing the truthfulness and commitment of those coming to Baptismal waters so as to be overbearing, but I think that we who have taken upon that covenant and those of us about to take upon our covenant should consider our answers to the questions of the Presentation and Examination.

Do you believe?

Ubuntu, Mission Focuses and ... God

I was reading an article on ENS (that's the Episcopal News Service) about the upcoming General Convention in Anaheim. There's lots of hype on this one, even a word that was outside the vocabulary of most Episcopalians until now ... "ubuntu" ... That's the theme of General Convention 2009. The meaning of the word is something like "I am because we are" and the article talks a lot about new-fangled "emergent" worship, getting conversations in dioceses started on "mission focuses", Creative Worship from different cultural perspectives to include Chinese drums, and Korean drums, new liturgies and all this and that. Well, frankly I have to say that I am troubled by all this. Just one huge smorgasbord ... sprawled out over an Anaheim convention center.

All that to say, that I think we have a lot more to worry about as a Church than using choosing between Vietnamese Strings and African drums in our liturgy and a lot more than "mission focuses", when I see a lack of focus on God. When I mentioned smorgasbord, that, I think is an accurate representation of the current state of the Episcopal Church, just one huge smorgasbord. One huge mass of scattered people circling around the newest worship fads, the newest doctrine fads, the newest "mission" fads (don't get me started on the MDGs). Although I am proud to be an Episcopalian/Anglican (though less so Episcopalian on many days), I just find myself troubled over the direction that the Episcopal Church is going. Although in some pockets our numbers are growing, by and large, I think our numbers (along with those of the wider 'mainline Protestant' movement) are declining albeit it is a slow leak. On the other hand, we see growth in places we wouldn't think would grow in a time such as ours. Tridentine Masses (that is Roman Mass in Latin) is a fast growing movement in Roman Catholic circles. These masses are not filled with the decrepit ancients, instead they are being filled by the new young generation who have been totally disillusioned by the liturgical and theological reforms of Vatican II. We are also seeing swaths of Protestants and Anglicans, being disillusioned by the newest developments in theology ,convert wholesale into the Eastern Orthodox Church, whose Liturgy is about 1,500 years old, it's theology not much younger, and where innovation is considered to be a very very bad word.

I think that instead of seeking out new fads and revising liturgies to suit modern tastes, I think we ought to go back and take a good look at those old liturgical books, dogmatic theology books, and Bibles we traded in for shiny glossy hardcovers that talk about a Jesus that doesn't require you to go to Church or be part of a community, or a Jesus who didn't rise from the dead, or a Gospel that behaves more like secular humanism than God's direct intervention into human history. It is in these ancient tomes that we will find the key to the way forward. Using our Anglican ingenuity and fortitude and our firm grasp on tradition and innovation, we can forge a way forward that responds to the spiritual hunger of our society and present the Gospel in a way that makes sense.

While I believe that all the outreach we do is important, valuable and are actions that help us to fulfill the Great Commandments, I think we focus too much on the second one and lose focus on the first one. Let me remind you all that the Great Commandments are: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and love your neighbor as yourselves". There are two commandments there. While the second is, again, important, it should be an outgrowth of the first. Notice that the Scriptures don't phrase it as "Love your neighbor as yourself, and love God only if you feel you have to". We need to love God first, we need to first hand over our whole existence to Him. We can never pretend nor presume that our reasoning or our thoughts on their own are ever perfect because of our innately fallen nature as children of Eve.

I think that it is high time that we have a General Convention that is not about MDGs, our "Mission Focuses", our need to "revise and renew" liturgy. Instead, we ought to have one whole General Convention dedicated to doctrine and creating the foundation for our mission work in the world. If we truly claim to be Christians, our mission work must be grounded in good doctrine and good theology. We as a Church must return to a doctrinally sound foundation. Some will tell me that we are united only by our worship and not by our specific beliefs. To these people, I will respectfully say "you're wrong". While Anglicans are not doctrinally authoritarian as other Christians, Anglicans recognize that Christians are united by minimal common belief as evidence by the Articles of Religion and the acceptance of the Nicene and Apostolic Creeds as sufficient bases for our common faith. While we are free to have differences of opinion, there are somethings where our difference of opinion would put us outside of the Christian community, not just the Anglican community. We need to discuss what we as a Church believe about God, Salvation, the Scriptures and other key areas of faith and practice. Without this, I fear that we are nothing more than a benevolent association cloaked as a Church, which I hope is not where we are going.

Concerns about the Green-Letter Bible

There's been some buzz recently about the newly published "Green Bible". Published by Harper Collins in the New Revised Standard Version, this Bible prints all verses that are somehow related to creation care, or the environment in green. The website "Green Letter Bible" says:

The Green Bible will equip and encourage people to see God's vision for creation and help them engage in the work of healing and sustaining it. With over 1,000 references to the earth in the Bible, compared to 490 references to heaven and 530 references to love, the Bible carries a powerful message for the earth.

To further bolster their "environmental" credentials, the Bible is printed on recycled paper and its cover is made out of sustainable cotton/linen cover. So on its face, it looks great. It has also been endorsed by the Sierra Club and the Human Society. But to me, this publication poses several problems to the Christian church and to faithful disciples. Let me highlight some of the things that I think are potential issues:


Erroneous (possibly heretical) Theological Focus

While the Environment is a worthy concern and our duty to be stewards of it is described in the scriptures, this is far from the true theological focus of the Holy Scriptures. It is false and heretical to assert that the prime focus of the scriptures is the environment. Paul warns us against falling prey to false gospels:

" I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed." (Galatians 1:6-8, ESV)

I am not necessarily accusing the contributors or editors of the Green Bible of attempting to teach a false gospel. However, the way the book is laid out seems to imply that the most important part of the scriptural text consists of the verses related to environmentalism. Its preface and front-matter all talk about the environment and how one can face environmental issues. While there are essays from figures I respect (i.e. Archbishop Tutu, Pope John Paul II, and N.T. Wright), I wonder if in any part of this Bible there is any teaching or commentary regarding the sacrifice of the Cross and its consequences. I wonder if there is any talk of the atonement and its import to our concerns about the environment. So far, from what I have seen of the Bible there is none.

This Bible also presents difficulties for Non-Christian audiences. What is the unbeliever to think of this Bible? Is it only to serve as a neat quote-book for environmentalists looking for something they can stump their Christian friends with? Is it just to get a religious perspective on environmentalism to serve the cause of environmentalism? That also becomes a question regarding this Bible. Is it designed to glorify Christ and His present and coming Kingdom or is it meant to serve the human environmentalist cause?

I would urge Christians who are looking at purchasing this Bible to carefully consider what their purpose is in buying this. If it is as a reference to enrich your life of discipleship in companion with another respectable, theological study Bible (such as the New Oxford Annotated or the ESV Study Bible), then it shouldn't be an issue. But I would strongly caution against using this Bible as your primary reference or study tool.


Fostering Literalism, or Not?

Another concern regarding the Green Bible is the fact that its main claim to fame, or indeed its most touted feature is that all the environmental verses are in green print. This presents an issue of utmost concern to Christians who espouse a reasonable reading of the Scriptures that is based in part on literary and historical criticism. The fact that all the verses related to a particular topic are highlighted reeks of fundamentalist literalism. There are Bibles such as the Standard Full Color Bible that highlight all the messianic prophecies in a certain color, and then all verses concerning prosperity in another resulting in a mishmash rainbow highlighted Bible. What is the difference between the two? I really couldn't say.

Many of the Christians that use this Bible would probably tell me that they don't read the Bible literally. They would tell me that they would need to consider the historical context, and so on and so forth. So what are they doing with this highlighted Bible? This Bible could potentially foster a liberal-fundamentalist reading of the Bible, which basically is no different than the fundamentalist readings we see in our society now. In the "Green Bible" there is no instruction on how a neophyte to the world of Biblical Studies might read this book, which lends further credence that the Bible is the grand cherry tree from which we can pick any verse to prove our point. The National and World Councils of Churches have in recent years launched campaigns to combat literalism in the reading of the Bible. Judging by the publication of this Bible, I think they are losing this war.


Final Thoughts

While I believe that respect and care for God's creation is indeed a part of good discipleship, I think that this Bible was the wrong response. If the intent was to create a manual for environmentalists, from which they could cherry-pick Bible verses to support their cause, I guess the book is successful. If the goal was to teach people how to read the scriptures, or to teach the Gospel, this book is a failure. As I said previously, this might be useful as an occasional reference. But I would caution anyone against using this Bible as their primary text / study source.