Another Lent begins...

Yesterday, Ash Wednesday, marks the beginning of the liturgical season of Lent, observed by many branches of the Christian Church. What is Lent? Lent is a 40 day season in preparation for Easter that looks back to Jesus' 40 days of temptation in the Wilderness (Matt. 4; Luke 4; Mk 1); Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness in turn relfects the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness of the children of Israel before they entered the Promised Land (see Numbers, Deuteronomy, etc) and other Old Testament parallels.

As we prepare for Holy Week and Easter Sunday, Lent is for us a season of reflection, self-examination, and repentance, as we identify and turn away from those things that hinder our growth as Christians. It begins with the solemn Ash Wednesday service that climaxes with the imposition of ashes on the foreheads of the congregation, and the congregation's confession of sin using the Scriptural words of Psalm 51. This liturgy is found in The United Methodist Book of Worship p. 321 and it is closely based upon the service found in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer p.264, but without the Litany of Penitence. So this service also illustrates the familial ties between Methodists and the Anglican liturgical tradition.

What does this practice of receiving ashes mean? In the Bible, ashes are a symbol of lamenting and turning away from sins, and also of purification (see, for example, Daniel 9:3-4; Jonah 3:5-6; Matthew 11:21; Numbers 19:16-19). As Christian Churches have been doing since at least the 10th Century, we in the United Methodist Church continue to use this potent Biblical symbol to remind ourselves of our own need of repentence and spiritual renewal and purification. Like the Sacraments themselves and other practices such as burning incense in our Evening Prayer service, putting images in our stained glass windows, foot-washing, lifting our hands during worship, or making the sign of the cross over our hearts, the practice of receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday helps us engage in a way of prayer and a worship experience that is multi-sensory, rather than one based only upon speaking and hearing words.

What did Wesley really say about the Bible?

There has been a lot of talking in recent years about The United Methodist Church seeking to recover a distinctively Wesleyan identity, and not drifting into the murky bog of "anything goes" theological pluralism.

We see some signs of this tremendously important "Wesleyan turn" in the popularity of resources like The Wesley Study Bible (co-edited by Bishop Willimon) or Three Simple Rules (by Bishop Reuben Job) based on Wesley's "General Rule" of life. When we as a church are more clear about who we are and what we stand for, it will be easier for us to present a common message and witness to the world. This should mean an improvement not only in our slogan and our TV commercials, but also in our missional work everywhere.

Part of the work before us now that we have decided that we are going to be Wesleyan, is to discover again what that actually means. Many people have different ideas about what Christianity in the Wesleyan dialect actually means; for example, I have personally heard it asserted that John Wesley was a theologically ultra-conservative hell-and-brimstone preacher on the one hand and that he was a liberal and a universalist on the other hand (neither of which is exactly true). What we as a denomination, and especially as clergy, need to do is (re)familiarize ourselves with what Wesley actually did teach regarding not only the basic content of our faith, and also concerning the methods of pursuing theological truth and spiritual growth.

One of the places where the contemporary Church could really use a healthy dose of Wesley is in our understanding of what it means for the Bible to be our "primary authority" (as our Book of Discipline puts it). It might be fair to say that, at least in some cases, pastors and seminaries have at times taught ideas about the Bible that represent a much lower view of Biblical authority than was ever held either by Wesley or the ecumenical Church through the ages. So what did Wesley say about the Bible and its authority?

Rev. Craig Adams has a great post examining Wesley's writings on the subject, a must read for any who would represent The United Methodist Church as its leaders.

Prayer on the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany

The following collect is one of the prayers given for the season of Epiphany in The United Methodist Book of Worship, and one of many with origins in Anglicanism's Book(s) of Common Prayer. I'll be opening our worship services with it today, especially as it fits with the Old Testament lesson from 2 Kings 5, where God reaches out with is healing grace to Naaman, the outsider to his covenant people.

O God, you made of one blood all nations that dwell on the face of the whole earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to them that are afar off and to them that are near. Grant that all people everywhere may seek after you and find you. Bring the nations into your fold, pour out your Spirit on all flesh, and hasten your kingdom; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

-The United Methodist Book of Worship, 315 (taken from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, p.38)

Diamond Jubilee

Being something of an Anglophile, I would be remiss if I didn't make sure that everyone heard about this: This past Monday (Feb. the 5th) marks the 60th anniversary of the day that Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor became "Her Majesty Elizabeth II, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the seas Queen, Defender of the Faith." This 60th anniversary of Her Majesty's coming to the throne is celebrated as her Diamond Jubilee year. Elizabeth becomes only the second monarch to reign 60 years (Queen Victoria, the "Widow of Windsor," being the other - who reigned 63 years).

The British and Commonwealth nations have celebrations planned throughout the year, especially this summer, and The Church of England is circulating a prayer for the Queen in celebration of this jubilee.

Her first prime minister to work with upon becoming Queen was Winston Churchill (!), and for sixty years Elizabeth II has stood as a symbol of stability, continuity, traditional piety, and diligent grace in a tumultuous and often uncertain world; the British peoples are right to be proud of her.

The USA Today has a really nice article about this milestone and the Queen's impact: while there may be numerous monarchs around the world, in our cultural imagination there is only one Queen. God save the Queen, and all the people whom she represents.

Prayer for the 5th Sunday after Epiphany

Since being assigned by my bishop to a regular parish church last year (I had been serving a campus ministry for 4 years before that), I have been all the more careful to make more extensive use of The United Methodist Book of Worship (BOW), which is the official book of liturgy of The United Methodist Church, just as The Book of Common Prayer (BCP) is the book of the Anglican churches. Indeed, most of the structure and a good deal of the content of our Book of Worship is ultimately derived from the Common Prayer as well (a service-by-service comparisson between the BOW and the 1979 BCP will demonstrate the structural emulation).

I have continuously found that there is a great deal of liturgical treasure in the Book of Worship (to be sure, there is some less-useful stuff as well), that seems often neglected in ordering the corporate worship of our congregations. I believe that, as we try to renew our Wesleyan heritage, our seminaries should be more intentional in forming and training seminarians in the spirituality and use of the Book of Worship tradition (we have had several liturgy books over the centuries, going all the way back to Wesley's revision of the Common Prayer). For my part, I try to highlight some aspects of the Book of Worship from time to time as part of the work of this blog.

One aspect that can be easily integrated into any service is the collect or prayer of the day. As the Book of Common Prayer has a "collect" or prayer of the day for each Sunday of the year (that is also used at Morning Prayer throughout the following week), so the Book of Worship has a number of seasonal collects to be used throughout the year. The Board of Discipleship website often makes recommendations about which prayers to use, since there are several options given for each liturgical season, but not always specific prayers for specific Sundays.

Here is one of the recommendations for tomorrow, the 5th Sunday after Epiphany:

O Christ, who commanded the apostles to go into all the world, and to preach the gospel to every creature, let your name be great among the nations from the rising up of the sun to its going down, now and forever. Amen.

- Book of Worship #308, a prayer of Lancelot Andrewes