My dear people,
what is it that we are doing?
by Claude Miller
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 1.1)
As we greet each other in the spirit of new beginnings and begin the New Year, we wonder if our long list of well-intentioned New Year’s resolutions will hold up. Our resolutions often seem to be born out of our perceived failures over the past year and are intended, I believe, to correct the wrong doings of the past, to give birth to a new and better life in the year that lies ahead. In order to arrive at the point of making resolutions, a conscious or unconscious act of reflection needs to take place: we look back before we look forward. In ancient Roman religion and mythology we learned of Janus, the god of beginnings and transitions as well as of gates, doors, doorways, endings and time. On ancient Roman coins a bearded Janus is depicted with two faces back-to-back looking to the future as well as the past. This month of January and janitors both owe their names to Janus.
As Christians longing for change, rebirth and new beginnings, our prayer is not to Janus but to Jesus, whose name was given by the Angel before he was conceived in the womb. Jesus, born to humble earthly parents in a lowly setting, becomes manifest to the world in our present season.
In contrast to January and a new earthly calendar year, our Church [new] year began with the first Sunday in Advent; a season filled with expectation and assurance — assurance that if the Christ Child is received in our hearts our futures are certain by God’s grace. While our history or past is fact, our earthly future, at best, is contingent on similar experiences of the past year: a mixture of planned and unforeseen happenings that will result in happiness and joy as well as pain and sorrow.
To set our thoughts and sights, either individually or corporately, only on the new year of 2012 is incredibly short sighted. As people of faith we are purposed for more. There are times when we must live one day at a time, but there is a much larger picture. Again, as people of faith, we need to be reminded, that while our quest to survive and our hope for a better day are important, our larger vision and purpose is to enter into God’s Mission on earth, as we pray “thy will be done on earth as in heaven …” Holding ourselves accountable to the larger picture is no easy task and I suggest our success depends on how we see ourselves in the bigger picture. Perhaps the following story is helpful.
On a foggy autumn day nearly 800 years ago a traveller happened upon a large group of workers adjacent to the River Avon in England. Although he was already tardy for an important rendezvous, the curious traveller decided to stop and inquire about their work. He made a slight detour and approached the first of the three tradesmen and asked “My dear fellow, what is it that you are doing?”
The man continued his work and grumbled, “I am cutting stones.”
Realizing the mason did not wish to engage in conversation the traveller moved toward the second of the three and repeated the question. To his delight this man briefly stopped work and stated that he was a stonecutter. He then added “I came to Salisbury from the north to work, but as soon as I earn ten quid I will return home.” The traveller thanked the second mason, wished him a safe journey home and headed toward the third member of the trio.
When he reached him he once again asked his original question. This time the worker paused, made eye contact with the traveller, then looked skyward drawing the traveller’s eyes upward as well and replied, “I am a mason and I am building a cathedral I journeyed many miles to be part of the team that is constructing this magnificent cathedral. I have spent many months away from my family and I miss them dearly. However, I know how important Salisbury Cathedral will be one day and I know how many people will find sanctuary and solace here. I know this because the bishop once told me his vision for this great place. He described how people would come from all parts to worship here. He also told that the cathedral would not be completed in our days but that the future depends on our hard work.”
After a pause the mason continued, “So I am prepared to be away from my family because I know it is the right thing to do. I hope that one day my son will continue in my footsteps and perhaps even his son if need be.” *
I believe the responses of the masons is important to the question “My dear fellow what is it that you are doing?”
The first mason grumbled and answered, “I am cutting stones.” The second mason “stopped briefly...stating that he was a stone cutter, but as soon as I earn ten quid I will return home.” In contrast, the third mason seems to have a different attitude; he is excited and tells his story with a certain joy. He sacrificed that which is dearest to him — living with his family — for a greater good. He shared the vision of his bishop, that people from near and far would come to a great cathedral to worship God.
It has been said that the trick to forgetting the big picture is to look at everything up close. There is evidence in the collective ministries in our diocese that we have forgotten the bigger picture and are bound up in our own worlds. In our faithfulness we grumble about the little things, or we seek to find “what’s in it for me or my parish?” In this way we reflect the attitude of the first two stonecutters. When we look at things up close our heads are usually cast down. When the third mason was asked “my dear fellow what is it that you are doing?” he looked skyward to see a greater purpose and vision before he answered, “I am a mason and I am building a cathedral.”
As God’s masons, as God’s builders in this place, in this time, in this opportunity for new beginnings, I suspect that we are not called to build great cathedrals, but we are called to build. We are beneficiaries of the great vision of those who have gone before, those who looked skyward. We look back with grateful hearts then look forward, knowing that we stand on a threshold of opportunity and renewal as God’s Church. As I said in my recent charge to synod — the God of mission has a Church.
As people of faith, as builders and stewards of God’s church, we ought not to be drawn to human resolutions and the empty promises of a world that tirelessly endeavors to create new beginnings and happiness with material wealth and possessions — but to the Babe of Bethlehem, Jesus. If that is our first act of obedience to God’s call, the rest will follow in God’s time.
The season of Advent serves as a reminder of God’s timing — both of the original waiting that was done by the Hebrews for the birth of their Messiah (redeemer) at Christmas and his manifestation to the whole world, as well as the waiting of Christians for Christ's return from Heaven.
Today we are in the season of the Incarnation. God is with us as we look back and lament our weaknesses and failures. This is not a bad thing. It ought to begin our process of repentance. Looking forward with a repentant heart in faith and assurance of God’s promise of his redeeming love in Jesus is, I believe, what God desires for us. While our reflection and hope at this time of year seems autonomous and personal, it applies equally to our corporate life in our diocese, our cathedral and our parishes. Repentance and change are the first steps to redemption, a redemptive life that embraces the question “My dear people, what is it that we are doing?”
As we look forward to our future in faith, we are reminded “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) The first step to God’s kingdom is sacrifice. The Babe of Bethlehem was sacrificed for God’s larger vision of redemption for the whole world. “And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death — even death on the cross.” (Galatians 4.) God so loved the world that he gave or sacrificed his only son.
My dear people, what is it that we are doing?
In God’s presence we stand on the threshold looking backward and forward (and, might I add, upward) in assurance of God’s redeeming grace in Jesus, and we might answer “We are serving the God of Mission, and making God’s love known.” Praying that one day our children will continue in our footsteps and perhaps even their children. This New Year, may we always know God’s blessing in new beginnings.
Archbishop Claude Miller is Metropolitain of the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada and Bishop of the Diocese of Fredericton.
* [The Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management
Volume 5 Issue 2, pp 161-172.]
03 January 2012
Diocesan Communications
