Dean's Corner - Fall 2005

I recently came across a short commentary talking about a story from the book Joshua. The passage in scripture contains a familiar quote that many will recognize; "as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." I've seen it on posters and cross-stitch - hanging in kitchens, living rooms and entrance halls. It is a lovely statement of faithful intention. If we read the whole passage however (Joshua 24:14-15), we find that it is far more radical than a simple statement of loyalty.
Verse 15 begins with a challenge, "choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served… or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living." Joshua's lovely quote is actually his answer to his own question in which he makes a clear choice of not only who he will serve, but also who he will not serve. The contrast is interesting: the things of our ancestors, the things of the culture around us. There are two very strong challenges in this. Will we simply continue with what we've inherited - holding to it because it is inherited? Will we conform to the cultural values and context around us? Or, will we "revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness." (Josh. 24:14) Those of us who have been raised in Christian faith, or who have seen ourselves as raised in a "Christian culture", might at this point tend to object that what we have received is the tradition of serving the Lord. This is certainly true in the foundational sense.

The faith we've heard and received in Christ is the faith we are called to be faithful to. But, how we live out that faith and give it expression in our lives can often itself, through long usage and emotional attachment, become an idol in itself. Someone was telling me the other day of an avowed Anglican who stopped going to his or her parish because a particular form of worship was not available. I asked what church that person now attended and was given the answer "none". To me this is a clear form of idolatry - adhering more loyally to a form than to the One that form was designed to proclaim and worship. There is, of course, a flip side to this. In our desire for fresh expressions and cultural relevance, or even in a desire to be rid of past "idols" we can end up pursuing principles, values and goals which are taken to be more important than the truth of the Gospel message; we might trade in various bits of Christian faith because they are no longer comfortable or acceptable to our secular world. The idols of our culture are many.

Paul was keenly aware of this double dynamic when he wrote his letters to the various churches in the first century. A deep and thorough study of his writings shows that he was a faithful Jew deeply committed to the teaching of the Old Testament, who also re-interpreted that faith in light of the revelation of God in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and in the guiding of the Holy Spirit. He was also a citizen of the Roman empire who frequently, though often subtly, espoused a radical rejection of much of what that empire valued and the way it operated; the proclamation that "Jesus is Lord" was a direct challenge to the Roman proclamation "Caesar is Lord."

At All Saints' we have been in a time of transition. Our renovations have taken much longer than we've expected; we are in the process of appointing a new Associate Priest; vestry is grappling with how we grow as a parish and the challenges that growth poses to how we do things and what we do. September is often a time of transition in our own individual lives as well with the summer ending and new things beginning. What will our priorities be? How will we spend our time, talents, resources this coming year? Times of transition are times of choices. While many questions of "how" still need to be answered, the "what" or more accurately the "who" stands at the core to remind us of that ancient challenge from Joshua and from Paul. Let us stand on the one foundation of Christ.