What are our next steps?

I have just received notice from Bob Dilling, our chancellor, that the Virginia Supreme Court has “reversed and remanded” Judge Randy Bellows 57-9 ruling regarding the Truro property.

Though the Court agreed with our position that there had been a division within the Episcopal Church and the diocese of Virginia, they did not agree that we joined a legitimate “branch” of the Church as outlined by the statute. Thus the property issue has, in the language of the decision, “not been resolved.” What does this ruling mean to us now as a community? Do we lose our buildings? No, further proceedings will be required.

While I am disappointed by this decision, I continue to be grateful to all of you for your devotion to Jesus Christ, to one another, and to our commitment to remain faithful, mission focused Anglican Christians in North America. I am also enormously grateful to God for His steadfast love and mercy as He continues to challenge us – even now – to reach out beyond ourselves and share the Gospel in our own community and the world.

What are our next steps? First, we will pray and seek the Lord’s face. I ask you to stay in a season of intercession and Thursday fast days. This Friday, at 7:30pm the ADV churches will join together with our Bishops at the Falls Church for worship, prayer and thanksgiving. This Sunday at 10am, June 13th, we will devote the Rector’s Forum to this recent decision and its implications. I trust all of you will make a special effort to be at worship this Sunday. Additionally, I want you to know that I will be meeting with the Vestry on Tuesday, June 15th and together we will review our next steps. We will keep the parish posted at all crucial steps.

Over the past few weeks in my own prayer time, I have been reflecting on I John 1:3: “- that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” In this passage we see that entry into the eternal fellowship of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit is mediated through the temporal fellowship of the Christian community. This means our fellowship has both the privilege and responsibility to be a foretaste of the fellowship of the Holy Trinity. This is my prayer for all of us: that Truro will be a foretaste of heaven for all who enter the ambit of our fellowship.

For now we will be in a season of collegial discernment with other ADV churches and our Bishops. However, one thing remains unchanged – these buildings do not “belong” to us nor do they belong to the diocese of Virginia, nor do they belong to the Episcopal Church. These buildings belong to the Lord; we are merely stewards. Join me, in even greater resolve, to make them an extension of our fellowship in the Spirit – so that others may “have fellowship with us, and our fellowship with the Father and the Son.”

God and Money

From September 2007:

Last Sunday’s Gospel lesson (Luke 16:1–13) warned of the impossibility of worshipping both God and money. This Sunday’s reading of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19–31), demonstrates the foolishness of those who ignore that warning. Money and God are jealous lovers, intolerant of rivals, exclusive in their claims. Both vie for the same human heart, both have their own attractions, both have definite destinies.

There is a deep biblical theology upon which these two affirmations are based, namely that Christ came into the world to find a bride. John the Baptist summarized Christ’s mission and ministry this way (John 3:22–30), and Jesus describes his ministry in these terms as well (Mark 2:18–20).

According to the Old Testament, the heart of human history is not primarily an economic nor political contest, but rather a nuptial one; God’s very own romantic quest for his people (Genesis 1–2 and Ezekiel 16). The closing scenes of the New Testament confirm this reading of human history (Revelation 18–22). That is, the Bible begins and ends with a wedding in a garden—more than a slight hint to God’s deepest intentions for his people.

When Jesus says we can’t serve both God and money, he is underscoring the exclusive claim of God on our hearts. Though financial resources can and should be harnessed for good in the world, they want to have a more prominent place in our lives. Money is a seduction. Christians affirm the proper place of money, as an instrument to bless others, though used with proper caution.

John Wesley’s prudent counsel for Christians’ use of money still rings true:

Make all you can.
Save all you can.
Give all you can.

And keep your heart wedded only to God.