Introduction
Why “Church”? This question, which appears on our
Sunday liturgy page, is the starting point for a much greater question, which
could be phrased: What is the sense in being a Community of Faith, of Anglican
tradition, set in the heart of the city of Buenos Aires? This question is my
starting point because I recognize in our biblical texts today some sort of
response to what has led us to gather here today.
A first element I would like to put forward is an
ancient analogy from Patristic times, i.e. dating back to the first centuries
of the Christina era, cited by Didymus “the Blind”, who described the
church as Mysterium lunae [The mystery of the moon]. The moon has no
light of its own; it reflects the light of the sun. Analogously, the Church
reflects the light of Christ. She is dependent on that light, and should not
seek to take the place of Christ, but rather to manifest the love of God, who
calls us to take part in His own life.
The path I would like to reflect on this Sunday
involves three steps: Firstly, to consider the relationship between Jesus and
the Law. Secondly to look at the text of the Epistle from the diversity of
ministries and unity in God. Lastly, to present this diversity and unity from
the Anglican principle of the Middle Way.
To start with, I would like to look into some Biblical expressions.
1. Jesus and the Law
The Gospel reading this morning proclaims in the words of Jesus not only
the fulfillment of the Old Testament but also a breakaway, surpassing it and
taking its contents to further depths.
The gospel makes it clear that the Law needs to be sifted and understood
in the light of the words and actions of Jesus. The sentences have the same
structure: You have heard that it was said – But I tell you. With His
words and with His actions Jesus transforms the Law by His authority, and His
message gives new meaning to the relationships among equals, among the greater
and the lesser (man/woman) and with Dios. In 5: 21-26 the issue is murdering as
compared to wounding with words; the Law forbade taking a person’s life, but
murders occurred anyway, and the murderers came to the temple with their
offerings for purification from their sin. Jesus not only forbids murder, he
forbids wounding another in conversation, and he teaches we need to seek
reconciliation with the victim of the offense instead of seeking the
forgiveness of God by way of an offering. In 5: 27-32 the issue is adultery. The
Law always held the woman guilty of adultery, even if she had only been found
talking in the street with a man. The Law protected the man, who could
repudiate the woman and take another wife. Jesus turns this upside down and
places responsibility on the man, defending the woman who was left exposed and
vulnerable by this rule. The last issue Jesus deals with in 5: 33-37 is the
authenticity of our actions: when we say yes or no, may we keep to it. The Law
forbade swearing oaths, but allowed making vows to God. Jesus teaches that when
we live consistently with what we believe and practice, there is no need for
vows … even less to God.
To the extent that Jesus, in all
authority says I tell you he is emphatically offering a new way of
relating to God and others. Therefore, to call ourselves Christians and cling
to expressions, verses, ritual practices, etc., from the Old Testament is
contradictory to following God self-communicated in the person of Jesus of
Nazareth who invites us to live life joyfully and worthily to the full.
2.
Unity in diversity
The Epistle we heard this morning is from Paul’s first letter to the
Corinthians. It is likely the Community in Corinth was made up of three or four
groups, each of which wanted to make reference to their guide: Apollos, Cephas,
Paul, Christ. Apollos was a Jewish Christian trained at Alexandria, the center
of Greek science and oratory; he was well-educated and full of the Holy Spirit and
had previously been a disciple of John the Baptist’s (Acts 18: 24-28). In this
letter one of the important themes is the unity of the Church. The verses we
heard today make for thought-provoking questions. I would like to repeat two
verses, which I would like to say a word about.
5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task?
6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.
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Although Apollos and Paul are considered as two servants of the Word,
any fissure or confrontation is avoided. On the contrary, the value given to
their different ministries recognizes their unity in God’s activity. To some
extent, in the face of two trends, a middle way is found which gives
unity to their diverse ministries. In other words, in this text we heard today,
we can find the germ of the principle for reflection on the diversity and unity
of the ecclesial roles Paul will consider in further depth in Chapter 12.
3. The Anglican Middle Way
In the light of this situation set forth in the epistolary text, I would
like to share something of our Anglican Identity, a principle that is
still current and in need of resignification in our times.
During the initial part of the English Reformation, in other words, at
the dawn of the Church of England, there are three theologians who emerge as
having a central role. One of them is Richard Hooker. Hooker's major
contribution was his monumental Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Polity.
The first four books of the Lawes were published in 1594, the fifth book was
published in 1597, and the last three books were published much later after his
death.
This singular figure offers the concept of the Middle Way as the
answer to the two latent trends of the time: Roman Catholicism and English
Puritanism. We could analogously place Apollos and Paul as the trends between Roman
Catholicism and English Puritanism, or, if you like, between Roman Catholicism
and Protestantism.
Hooker provides the Anglican Middle Way as a search for balance
between the two prevailing Christian traditions, or, in the words of the great
Lutheran theologian, Paul Tillich, as maintaining the Catholic substrate and
the Protestant principles in Anglican tradition. The Anglican ethos is
not one of bipolarity, but one of Communion. It is a place in which we, diverse
as we are, can live out our fellowship in Christ as a Community. I don’t know
whether you were born into this Church or whether you are Roman Catholic, or
Protestant or Evangelical in origin; what I do know, is that here you will be
able to live out and experience faithfulness to the gospel in the freedom given
by the Spirit.
The Community of believers, called to reflect the light of Christ should
be to each of us a space for Communion, not with the aim of doing away with our
differences, but of leveraging them, with the call to focus on the person,
words and works of Jesus of Nazareth.
Today too, in February 2020, this, our Community of St. John the
Baptist, is invited to be a place for communion among the diverse, calling all
people to share in the common table.
Conclusion
This Sunday I invite you, evoking the initial question to acknowledge
the central nature of the person of Jesus of Nazareth as the Word that leads to
the fulfillment and, to some extent, surpassing of the Old Testament Law. I
invite you to recognize ourselves in the differences, like those of Apollos and
Paul, while confessing Unity; this unity in which we are called to live in God.
Finally, I invite you, assuming your religious background, to live the
experience of discipleship as an adventure that can be followed together in
this ecclesiastic tradition, in this parish Community in particular, which
seeks to reflect to all people the light of Christ.
I conclude, with my eyes on this altar, by quoting the German Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who took part in the
resistance movement against Nazism, and who said in his book Life Together:
The
fellowship of the Lord's Supper is the superlative fulfillment of Christian
fellowship. As the members of the congregation are united in body and blood at
the table of the Lord so will they be together in eternity. Here the community
has reached its goal. Here joy in Christ and his community is complete. The
life of Christians together under the Word has reached its perfection in the
sacrament.
By The Revd. Ariel Irrazábal
Translation: Elizabeth Birks
