Christ Church

“To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven”

“Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, says your God.” So begins the fortieth chapter of The Book of the Prophet Isaiah. It marks the beginning of what has come to be called The Book of Consolation comprising chapters forty through fifty-five of The Book of Isaiah. From the outset we may note the connection between comfort and consolation. In short, this section of The Book of Isaiah, also sometimes called Deutero-Isaiah, belongs to our consideration of the Comfortable Words and the literature of consolation.

The literature of consolation is a great collection of writings that deal in one way or another with the question of how we face loss and suffering. There are many examples ranging from The Epic of Gilgamesh to Homer – one thinks of Achilles consoling Priam on the loss of his son, Hector, in The Iliad – from Sophocles’ Chorus in Electra to the letters of Seneca, Plutarch and Cicero, from some of The Psalms of David to Augustine, not to mention one of the great classics of consolation, Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy. All of these contribute in one way or another to later works of consolation, particularly in terms of mystical theology.

The Book of Consolation in Isaiah appears to deal with the fortunes of the people of Israel close to the time of the ending of their exile in Babylon. In the Jewish perspective, any political change of fortune is really about God’s power and grace. Thus The Book of Consolation highlights the idea of God restoring his people, comforting them in terms of strengthening them theologically, we might say, with respect to the majesty of God, on the one hand, and the compassion of God towards Israel, on the other hand. The last chapter of this section of Isaiah, for instance, emphasizes the distance between God and man. “For my thoughts and not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” This strong sense of the difference between God and man is a critical theme and is the condition for the grounding of our lives in the will of God. For immediately before that passage, Isaiah exhorts us in ways that anticipate the Comfortable Words of our liturgy.

Seek the Lord while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near,
let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon (Isaiah 55.5-9).

Such words anticipate the Comfortable Words and underscore the point that consolation is found in our being returned to truth, to God, to a principle which greater than our experiences and our suffering.

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The collect for today, the commemoration of George Herbert (1593-1633), Priest, Poet (source):

King of glory, king of peace,
who didst call thy servant George Herbert
from the pursuit of worldly honours
to be a priest in the temple of his God and king:
grant us also the grace to offer ourselves
with singleness of heart in humble obedience to thy service;
through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord,
who liveth and reigneth with thee,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

The Epistle: 1 St. Peter 5:1-4
The Gospel: St. Matthew 5:1-10

The hymn, “Let all the world in ev’ry corner sing”, was originally a poem by George Herbert, published in The Temple.

Let all the world in ev’ry corner sing,
My God and King.

The heavens are not too high,
His praise may thither fly:
The earth is not too low,
His praises there may grow.

Let all the world in ev’ry corner sing,
My God and King.

The church with psalms must shout,
No door can keep them out:
But above all, the heart
Must bear the longest part.

Let all the world in ev’ry corner sing,
My God and King.

George Herbert was born to a wealthy family in Montgomery, Wales. Educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, he appeared headed for a prominent public career, but the deaths of King James I and two patrons ended that possibility.

He chose to pursue holy orders in the Church of England and became rector at Bemerton, near Salisbury, in 1629, where he died four years later of tuberculosis. His preaching and service to church and parishioners contributed to his reputation as an exemplary pastor. He did not become known as a poet until shortly after he died, when his poetry collection The Temple was published.

He is buried in Saint Andrew Bemerton Churchyard.

“Yet the little dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table”

Matthew’s account of Jesus’ encounter with “a woman of Canaan” is masterful. There is a perfect equipoise between her three statements and the three statements of Jesus. And yet, the encounter also reveals the silence of Jesus. To her first request for mercy, “he answered her not a word.” That silence marks the turning point because she does not turn away and even refuses to be sent away and continues persistently to persevere in getting Jesus’ attention.

It might seem that what is at issue is how we get Jesus’ attention. But that is to miss the real power and truth of the dialogue. Ultimately, it is about God’s attention and care for us and about our attention to God intentionally and with strength. In a way, this Gospel story for The Second Sunday in Lent is about our active attention to God. It means perseverance, indeed, great perseverance. Nowhere is that shown more wonderfully than in the story of the Canaanite woman. Here is the story of a strong woman and a story about the strength of faith. She holds on to what she senses and knows about God in the person of Jesus Christ.

No story in the Gospels suggests so much about the necessary interplay of our humanity with God in Christ. In the story, it seems that what drives the entire argument is the perseverance of the woman who seeks the healing of her daughter “grievously vexed with a devil,” itself an interesting malady. It is a malady of the soul, a torment of the mind, not altogether unlike the forms of mental instability and confusion which belong to our culture. And, to be sure, the Canaanite woman here is a great exemplar of the true meaning of faith. She recognizes something divine in Jesus which alone can provide the healing she seeks for her daughter. The healing she seeks is entirely psychological and spiritual, not physical.

The point is that she will not be put off but persists in her quest to get Jesus’ attention. As it turns out, she actually has Jesus’ full attention. The problem is that the others, such as the disciples, don’t. She has Jesus’ attention so much that he insists on her articulating the full meaning of her request. He has heard about her daughter in her opening question to him. “But he answered her not a word.” Why? Because it is not simply about her and her daughter. It is equally about the nature of God’s engagement with our humanity seeking our good in his glory. It is a lesson about the universality of Christ’s mission which is through Israel but not confined to Israel.

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Monday, February 26th
6:30-7:30pm Sparks – Parish Hall

Tuesday, February 27th, Commemoration of George Herbert
6:00pm ‘Prayers & Praises’ – Haliburton Place
6:30-8:00pm Guides – Parish Hall
7:00pm Holy Communion & Lenten Programme II:
‘The Comfortable Words & The Literature of Consolation’

Wednesday, February 28th
6:30-8:00pm Brownies – Parish Hall

Thursday, March 1st
3:15pm Service – Windsor Elms

Friday, March 2nd
6:00-7:30pm Pathfinders & Rangers – Parish Hall

Sunday, March 4th, Third Sunday in Lent
8:00am Holy Communion (followed by Men’s Club Breakfast)
10:30am Holy Communion
4:00 Evening Prayer

Upcoming Events:

Tuesday, March 6th, St. Perpetua and her Companions
7:00pm Holy Communion & Lenten Programme III

Tuesday, March 20th, St. Cuthbert
7:00pm Holy Communion & Lenten Programme IV

The collect for today, the Second Sunday in Lent, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

ALMIGHTY God, who seest that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies, and inwardly in our souls; that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8
The Gospel: St. Matthew 15:21-28

Artwork: Thomas Boudin, The Canaanite Woman, 1612, Chartres Cathedral.

The collect for today, the Feast of Saint Matthias the Apostle, from The Book of Common Prayer (Canadian, 1962):

O ALMIGHTY God, who into the place of the traitor Judas didst choose thy faithful servant Matthias to be of the number of the twelve Apostles: Grant that thy Church, being alway preserved from false Apostles, may be ordered and guided by faithful and true pastors; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Lesson: Acts 1:15-26
The Gospel: St. John 15:1-11

The name of this saint is probably an abbreviation of Mattathias, meaning “gift of Yahweh”.

Matthias was chosen to replace Judas Iscariot after Judas had betrayed Jesus and then committed suicide. In the time between Christ’s Ascension and Pentecost, the small band of disciples, numbering about 120, gathered together and Peter spoke of the necessity of selecting a twelfth apostle to replace Judas. Peter enunciated two criteria for the office of apostle: He must have been a follower of Jesus from the Baptism to the Ascension, and he must be a witness to the resurrected Lord. This meant that he had to be able to proclaim Jesus as Lord from first-hand personal experience. Two of the brothers were found to fulfill these qualifications: Matthias and Joseph called Barsabbas also called the Just. Matthias was chosen by lot. Neither of these two men is referred to by name in the four Gospels, although several early church witnesses, including Clement of Alexandria and Eusebius of Caesarea, report that Matthias was one of the seventy-two disciples.

Like the other apostles and disciples, St. Matthias received the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Since he is not mentioned later in the New Testament, nothing else is known for certain about his activities. He is said to have preached in Judaea for some time and then traveled elsewhere. Various contradictory stories about his apostolate have existed since early in church history. The tradition held by the Greek Church is that he went to Cappadocia and the area near the Caspian Sea where he was crucified at Colchis. Some also say he went to Ethiopia before Cappadocia. Another tradition holds that he was stoned to death and then beheaded at Jerusalem.

The Empress St Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, is said to have brought St Matthias’s relics to Rome c. 324, some of which were moved to the Benedictine Abbey of St Matthias, Trier, Germany, in the 11th century.

Artwork: St. Matthias, All Saints Margaret Street, London. Photograph taken by admin, 25 September 2015.

The collect for today, the commemoration of Lindel Tsen (1885-1946), Bishop in China, consecrated 1929, and Paul Sasaki (1885-1954), Bishop in Japan, consecrated 1935 (source):

Almighty God, we offer thanks for the faith and witness of Paul Sasaki, bishop in the Nippon Sei Ko Kai [Anglican Church in Japan], tortured and imprisoned by his government, and Philip [Lindel] Tsen, leader of the Chinese Anglican Church, arrested for his faith. We pray that all Church leaders oppressed by hostile governments may be delivered by thy mercy, and that by the power of the Holy Spirit we may be faithful to the Gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ; who livest and reignest with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
The Gospel: St. Mark 4:26-32

“They hated him yet more for his dreams and for his words”

Lent is a serious season of focussed discipline which has its parallels in the traditions of the other world’s religions, like Ramadan, for example, in Islam. The term, Lent, derives from an old English word for the lengthening of the days, something which we have been seeing throughout February, especially with the increasing progress and power of the sun. Late March will bring us to the spring equinox in terms of the seasons of nature and to Holy Week and Easter in terms of the Christian faith.

In the Christian understanding, we are invited to “the observance of a Holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance, by prayer, fasting, and self-denial, and by reading and meditation upon God’s holy Word.” There are things which we learn about ourselves and one another as well as about God through the Scriptures. The Scriptures read in the Chapel, either from the Hebrew Scriptures which Christians know as the Old Testament or from the New Testament, challenge us about how we think about ourselves and one another and our relation to the world and God. They do so through a rich variety of literary forms of expression.

This Thursday and Friday we have embarked upon a brief consideration of a wonderful narrative sequence in the later chapters of The Book of Genesis. They are about Joseph and his brothers. They are the sons of Jacob, also known as Israel after his ‘wrestling’ with God (or an angel) and being renamed Israel. It means one who strives with God. Lent, too, is about our striving with God – not against God! I am aware of certain atheist groups (churches?!) that have Lenten programmes as well such as ‘giving up God for Lent’! But the story of Joseph and his brothers is a powerful story about the destructive nature of envy, about evil in the form of betrayal but even more about how conscience is convicted and about how good comes out of evil. The story as such has some interesting parallels to the story of Christ’s Passion. In both we confront the nature of human evil and the greater power of God’s truth and love.

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The Comfortable Words and the Literature of Consolation I

The “comfy words,” as they are affectionately or pejoratively called, are a peculiar feature of the Prayer Book liturgy however much one might find some precedence in the psalms surrounding the words of absolution in the Liturgy of St. Mark and the Liturgy of St. James in the rites of Eastern Orthodoxy or in sixteenth century Lutheranism such as Hermann of Cologne’s Consultations which is probably the more immediate source. That work places the Comfortable Words before the words of absolution rather than after the absolution. “Here what comfortable words our Saviour Christ saith unto all that truly turn to him,” is what we hear in the Prayer Book Communion Service just after the surpassing comfort of the words of absolution, the words of the forgiveness of our sins pronounced after confession.

What we hear are a selection of Scriptural words that are, well, comforting and powerful. But why? And what do they mean in this context? What is meant by “comfortable”? Even more, do they have any connection to the tradition of Consolation Literature, both non-Christian and Christian? This will be our Lenten consideration: to consider the Comfortable Words in relation to the literature of consolation, attending to one or two works in particular in that extensive tradition.

Our Lenten series cannot pretend to be an exhaustive consideration. The richness and the wealth of the material is just so great and vast, each work worthy of so much more consideration in its own right. It will not even be possible to name all of the works that might be included in the catalogue of the literature of consolation. But in general, the literature of consolation deals with the question about how we face suffering, sorrow, and loss philosophically and religiously. The terms are complementary.

But what about the term “comfortable”? The great mystery writer, Dame P.D. James, in a work which stands outside her oeuvre of mystery novels, The Children of Men, makes the acute observation about contemporary Christianity that “the recognized churches, particularly the Church of England, moved from the theology of sin and redemption to a less uncompromising doctrine: corporate social responsibility coupled with a sentimental humanism”. What this means, the novel suggests is the virtual abolition of “the Second Person of the Trinity together with His cross.” Good-bye Jesus. The cross, traditionally seen as the symbol of comfort and consolation, becomes “the stigma of the barbarism of officialdom and of man’s ineluctable cruelty”. Good-bye redemptive suffering. There is just the sense that for some, particularly unbelievers, the cross “has never been a comfortable symbol.” But in the context of her novel which explores more or less completely the dystopian qualities of contemporary culture, what is more cruel and more barbaric? The cross or “corporate social responsibility” which in the novel includes the Quietus, a euphemism for euthanasia of the elderly and the inconvenient? What is more cruel? The cross or “sentimental humanism” in a world devoid of purpose and meaning? These are not merely rhetorical questions.

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“And him only shalt thou serve”

The temptations of Christ belong to the logic of redemption, to the Passion of Christ. Christ wills to be tempted for us even as he suffers for us on the Cross. The accounts of the temptation show us the intensity of the encounter. There is a real struggle, a struggle for what is good and right that is greater than anything we can imagine because we have become so used to giving in and going along with the things that draw us away from our true happiness and good which is found in the will of God.

The story of “The Temptations of Christ” is about our temptations as endured and overcome by Christ. As the Fathers so often observe, Christ is our Mediator who not only overcomes our temptations but also gives us an example for doing the same. The temptations belong to the reality of the human condition. They take us back to the Fall and they point us to the Crucifixion. Strange as it may seem to say there is something good and necessary about temptation. Why? Because what is good and true has to be known as good and true and willed as such.

The temptations comprehend all of the temptations known to us. All temptation, in other words, is brought in under the three temptations of Christ as presented by Matthew and Luke, even though the second and third temptations are reversed by them. Luke presents the second temptation of Christ which Matthew presents as the third. Yet whatever the order they are, by all accounts, a summary and comprehensive view of our temptations. They put us to the test about what truly defines us. They do so after the fact of our awareness of our separation from the goodness of God. In a way, the temptations raise the question about what is the good.

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