3 years ago today, September 26th I knelt before my bishop who thoroughly soaked his fingers with anointing oil and thoroughly messed my hair whilst speaking these words:
"Therefore Father, through Jesus Christ Your Son, give Your Holy Spirit to Steven, fill him with grace and power, and make him a priest in Your Church. May he exalt You O Lord, in the midst of Your people; offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to You; boldly proclaim the gospel of salvation; and rightly administer the sacraments of the New Covenant. Make him a faithful pastor, a patient teacher, and a wise counselor..."

I pray that in these last 3 years I have grown in that same Spirit and come at least a little closer to embodying these things and ever more bearing in mind, "...both the Dignity and the weight of the Office and Charge to which you are called: that is as a Messenger, Watchman and Steward of the Lord; to teach and admonish, to feed and provide for the Lord's family; to seek for Christ's sheep that are scattered abroad, and for his children who are in the midst of this naughty world, that they may be saved through Christ forever."

That is who I am. That is what I am here to do.
"Almighty God who has given you the will to undertake these things, give you also the strength to perform them; that he may complete that work which He has begun in you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

Those who know me know that I am a big fan of the sayings of the Desert Fathers, the first monks and nuns who fled the "world" in the 4th century and sought lives of solitude seeking the Lord in the deserts of Egypt. This morning I came upon this powerful quote.

As I was riding my bike back to my office from a lunch meeting yesterday I saw a sign in a front yard that read, "Not on Our Watch, SaveDarfur.org" That phrase, "not on our watch" really got me thinking. Thinking of course because it is a quote or at least a paraphrase of our President's words in recent years related to terrorism and Iraq. This got me thinking about how it seems we only care about terrorism and injustice if there is something in it for us. (And by we here I am not pointing fingers at the President or even simply our nation as a whole - I mean we as human beings). It would appear that as a global community we are not as concerned about Darfur, Sudan (although the US government and others have made official denunciations of what the government of Sudan is doing there) because it is not an imminent threat to the US nor are there any economic advantages for anyone to get involved (not that I or anyone want to see us getting involved in yet another conflict). But by and large conflict areas in Africa especially seem to get short shrift when it comes to global attention.

This led to my next thought. As a priest in the Anglican Mission I am operating under the jurisdiction of the Episcopal Church of Rwanda - a nation and a church that suffered it's own great tragedy in 1994 while the world similarly sat by and watched. Our Archbishop, Emmanuel Kolini has said on a number of occasions since that the Rwandan people and the Rwandan church have vowed that they would never let that kind of willfull neglect happen to another people again. What little aid they are able to muster they will do so. It is in this same spirit that I have determined to get involved in a very modest way through this same Save Darfur Coalition and would encourage anyone and everyone to do the same. It is a minimal commitment to go to their site, www.savedarfur.org and sign up to receive emails to keep you informed about what is going on and what you might do to help. Over the last several months I have phoned the White House, signed onto several petitions and emailed all of my legislators and all only taking me a cumulative 15 minutes max. The world does not care about Africa (save for a few celebrity adoptive children) but we as the Church of God who proclaim the message of Jesus Christ for ALL people must care and I believe, where possible, we must act.

It occurs to me that a blog is a good place to address some of the things in my prayers and on my mind that I don't necessarily get to address on Sunday mornings. One of those things is the Christian's approach to environmentalism. It seems to me in fact that this is something that most churches do a poor job of addressing - at least those of us coming out of an evangelical background. All too often we've relegated environmental issues to the "left" (not that the Church should too readily associate with either "right" or "left" as there are elements of Truth that are upheld by both as well as terrible injustices in both side's closet - but that's a subject for another time). At any rate, by relegating the Earth to the purview of "hippie tree huggers" we do ourselves and the world a disservice.

One of the things that bothers and saddens me most is when many others in our culture do the things we should be doing better than we ourselves do them. Here in Northern Colorado we live amidst people who are very concerned to care for the environment, reduce carbon emissions, seek sustainable energy and respect animals as the creatures God made them to be by allowing them free ranges and humane care. Traditionally the kinds of Christians and churches that I have hung with would have said, "Ugh! What a bunch of bologna. We have far more important things to worry about, souls to save, people to evangelize etc." What has occurred to me in recent years is that we miss two opportunities when we do this.

First, we miss the opportunity to create bridges with these people by affirming their obedience to the Law of God in His mandate to Adam (Genesis 2). We could celebrate these people and take the opportunity to say, "I really see God in that act of stewardship. Thank you." Instead of rolling our eyes. Just because saving the baby humans is exceedingly more important than saving baby whales or seal pups - it doesn't mean seals are irrelevant and unimportant to God. How far would it go in gaining an ear with your neighborhood pagans if you affirmed instead of condemned their concern for God's creation?

Secondly, by writing off environmental issues as someone else's deal we miss the opportunity to speak Truth to our generation. It was God's idea, not Joni Mitchell's or Al Gore's that human beings should be the stewards and caretakers of the Earth. Again see Genesis 2 - God created the earth and every living thing and then he set the man in the midst of it and gave him charge over it. The word that biblical scholars often use here is vice-regent. God has given human beings the authority and responsibility to 'rule' the earth on His behalf. God is King - we are his vice-regents. And those of us who live in the Kingdom of Christ have an added responsibility to engage the world with the redemption that Christ has bought on her behalf (note Romans 8:19-21 - the whole creation groans and waits for its redemption in the hope that it will be 'set free from its bondage'). We believe that while this work will not be completed or perfected until Christ's return and the ushering in of a new heaven and a new earth, even still the work begins now. And it begins with us. So be green...for God's sake.

Maybe it starts with something simple. I have started to ride my bike more rather than drive to meetings that are only a few miles from my house. Maybe it starts with a shorter shower or remembering your own bag at the grocery store. It's not crazy. It's responsible. And it gives you one more point of contact with a real world filled with real people that have real and legitimate concerns. Concerns that are ultimately only answered or fulfilled by the hope that you carry within you - Christ in you the hope of glory.

Several people have been bugging me lately about a "recommended reading list" or something of the sort. I thought an easy place to start would be to mention what is on my desk presently and go from there. Right now I am working through two books one of a more "devotional" nature and the other more theological and academic, both of them I highly recommend.

Ancient-Future Prayer:

Calvin Miller's The Path of Celtic Prayer: an Ancient Way to Everyday Joy is a very well written and practical guide to integrating the Celts' great gift for beautiful, simultaneously exalted and earthy prayer into our post-modern, every day lives. Miller writes in his introduction, "I am not a groupie...I did not take up my current interest in Celtic theology because it has achieved a popular fascination." And I believe him. Miller goes on to state that his exploration of Celtic spirituality stems from his own desire and need to rekindle the fire and ardour in his own spiritual life that the Celts exemplified and preserved through some of Europe's darkest years.
Dr. Miller introduces 6 classic forms of Celtic prayer from Trinity prayers, to nature prayers to the uniquely Celtic Lorica prayers and he gives the reader the opportunity to explore and experiment themselves with these ancient prayer traditions. Indeed, rather than jumping on an emerald green bandwagon Miller's work is born out of a conviction that, "...It is sometimes by looking at the past that the present amends its dead soul, and there dawns a hope that the future will be born with new vitality."

The Essence of Who we Are:

"Bad worship produces bad theology, and bad theology produces an unhealthy Church." In his book Liturgical Theology, Simon Chan brings his incisive intellect to bear on the post-modern Church and particularly its Evangelical expression. The problems we face today, says Chan, are born out of what could frankly be called an identity crisis. As a Church we have lost track of who we are meant to be and as a result we are floundering to effectively find what we are to be doing. The Church, Chan will argue, is not simply the God-ordained instrument for accomplishing God's purposes in His creation. Rather, the Church is an expression of God's ultimate purpose itself. Pointing to Paul's statement in Ephesians 3.9-11 Chan argues that the Church, proclaiming the heretofore hidden wisdom of God in Christ to the whole of the cosmos, is not a Plan B as so many misguided Christians believe, but rather it is the continuation and expression of the completion of Plan A. And, says Chan, this proclamation is experienced in its fullness in the Church's worshipping life.

"Salvation is the sharing of the divine life of the Trinity by rational creatures. The grace of salvation is the grace of trinitarian self-communication" (Chan 59). Chan goes on to explore the ways that the worship of God in Word and Sacrament (always combined and never separated!) is THE place where this restoration of communion with the Trinity, which is the chief end and joy of humankind, is experienced. The liturgy of Word and Sacrament is missional - proclaiming to us our purpose in bringing all of creation back into communion with its Creator. The liturgy is eschatological - keeping the believer from either forgetting that this world is not our true home or that the triune God of the universe both created and blessed this world through the miracle of His Incarnation. In our worship the Church is reminded of all that we are, all that we are to do and the totality of the message we are to proclaim. As the Orthodox are fond of saying, in foretaste, type and shadow, the worshipping Church is Heaven itself.

Welcome to the Christ Our Hope blog. In the near future I will begin posting reflections and recommendations on readings, prayer emphases and upcoming events within the life of Christ Our Hope Anglican Church. Stay tuned.