The early Church


Thinking about people driven out of the Church because they cannot cope with female bishops or gay priests (of either sex).

Our Sermon on Sunday touched on “Follow me! and they did“.  I thought - how many of us, approached by a stranger who said “Follow me!” would leave friends and family and do just that? Then I wondered what Jesus wanted of them and I assumed it was to wander with Him, listening to His message, so that when the time came they could pass it on.  And it was a simple message of love - love God, love your neighbour - amplified in the Sermon on the Mount.   So that was the whole doctrine of the church of Christ.  But then men took over - from Constantine onwards - and more and more “rules” were added until it became just like the church Jesus had left.  Then what happens? Schism.  Does the Holy Spirit proceed from the Father only, or from the Father and the Son?  How earth-shattering is that? “What would Jesus say?”  No one asked, I suspect.  But it was enough to split the church.  Then came the adoration of Mary, the Doctrine of Transubstantiation, the Infallibility of the Church....and so it goes on.  Why does the Church need infallibility - unless they keep moving the goalposts?  Inevitably one keeps coming back to “What would Jesus do?” and the answer must be “nothing” - He set out the Rules of Salvation during his lifetime and He would say - “Don’t waste your time arguing on these matters - just concentrate on MY message”.  I see the Church as a giant tree with Jesus Himself as the trunk and branches sticking out from it, all valid in the eyes of God, whatever their procedures, so long as they follow the original commandments.  No-one is "driven out" - they just chose to go, to follow the path which, for them, is most comfortable.

Nostalgia

When my first grandchildren - a boy and a girl - were small, they often came to stay with us and I used to say bedtime prayers with them.  I would kneel between the beds, take a hand each, and off we would go.  Of course, they were over excited, so to calm them down I would pretend we were on the telephone to God but the line was engaged: while we were waiting we would say a Hail Mary and Oh Sacred Heart (they were Roman Catholics) and then, when Jesus was free,  we would start on everyday prayers - from our usual Grace -  “Thank you Jesus for my food, I hope you’ll help me to be good” to “God bless Mummy & Daddy etc etc etc" until we had covered everybody we could possibly imagine....and anyone we had overlooked.  By then, they were fast asleep, and I would creep out, knowing that they were in safe hands.   I once submitted a narrative like this to our then Parish Magazine and was roundly told off by the Rural Dean for suggesting that Jesus might have been too busy to listen at first; but as the RC magazine had published it without demur I told the Dean to get lost.  I think I said “lost”.

WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY
For me - an Anglican - the main differences between the Church of England and the Church of Rome have been resolved, but one remains and can never be resolved by negotiation: either you are capable of looking at a piece of bread and truly believing that it has changed and is really Christ Himself, or you are not.  No amount of discussion can change that: if you can, worshipping the Host is not only a pleasure, but a duty; if you cannot, it is idolatry.  So I think movement towards the sort of unity for which Christ prayed - “that you all may be one in the same way that My Father and I are one” - has for years been tackled on the wrong basis.  Because of the Roman doctrine of infallability Pope Francis cannot change their stance but he could announce that all who believe that, at Holy Communion, all who believe that they are replicating Christ’s commandment “Do this in remembrance of Me” are welcome, would be a powerful move in the right direction.

Pope Francis

Before the Conclave to elect a new Pope, the Cardinals have several meetings, not to canvass support - that is not permitted  - but to exchange views.  They can be joined by the older Cardinals who are not allowed to vote but can offer guidance.  I was interested to learn that at one of these get-togethers Cardinal Bergoglio made a short speech which included the following: “When Jesus said ‘Behold I stand at the door and knock’ people assumed He was outside, wanting to come in.  But sometimes Jesus  knocks from within, wanting to be let out into the wider world.”  This sentiment sounded familiar - where had I heard it before?  Then I remembered! My blog of 2nd May 2011 when I recounted my encounter with John Paul II and ‘saw’ Jesus - “ here He was, trapped in all the ceremonial of the Church of Rome when He wanted to be out among His people.”  Welcome, Pope Francis.