Taking Back The Reason for the Season

Have any of you noticed that, as every year passes and we come to Christmastime once again, Christmas becomes more and more secular? Several years ago, we used to get outraged when a single store omitted the term “Merry Christmas” and instead opted for the more politically-correct term “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings.” Now, it seems that we just don’t care anymore because almost every business is doing it. It has become such a routine part of our Christmas experience that we have become desensitized to it.

It used to frustrate me greatly because I see something seriously wrong with Retail America hijacking the Christmas spirit and using it for their own profit, and then refusing to acknowledge publicly that Christmas even exists, or that it is even important, for that matter. Some people have even become so discouraged and frustrated with this, that they have opted not to celebrate Christmas at all, or Easter, or Halloween (All Saints’ Eve), for that matter – all Christian holidays that have become secularized. It is very sad to me when Christians let secularism rob them of the joy that comes with celebrating the wonderful things our Lord has done for us.

I urge you, brothers and sisters, to please enjoy Christmas anyway. When you walk into a store and they say to you “happy holidays,” turn to them and say “may the peace of Jesus Christ be with you this Christmas season and always.” During this season, we remember the birth of the single most important person to ever walk the face of this earth. It is a time when we remember that God Himself came down into this world in the flesh to redeem the flesh, to undo what Adam and Eve did when they wanted to be like God. The miracle that is the life of Jesus Christ is to be celebrated in the hearts of all faithful people and we should never allow ourselves to be robbed of the joy of Christmas by those who want to use Christmas for their own financial gain, or who want to have the joy of celebrating Christmas, but have no intention to love or follow Jesus Christ.

My favorite part of the Christmas story is the shepherds (Luke 2:8-20). The shepherds saw something so glorious that it scared them to death. The angels calmed their fears, then gave them something to rejoice about. But they didn’t stop there. They ran all around the countryside and told everyone that they could find the good news, or should I say “The Good News?” In this Christmas season, rejoice as the Shepherds did when the angels sang “Glory to God in the Highest Heaven, and on earth, peace, among men whom he favors.” But most importantly, let others see you rejoice. Do not be afraid to share the true reason for the season. Christ is counting on you! May you be richly blessed this Christmas, and may God you a blessing to others.

Speak the Truth Boldly - No Fear!

When we were at Diocesan Convention in October, there came that poignant moment in time when our new Bishop, Eric Menees, stood up to speak and to give his new vision for the Diocese. He talked of the Great Commission, and his vision of us planting new dioceses. In his vision, he also stated that the Episcopal Church “was and is willfully leading others along the path to hell.”

I must confess to you all that, when he said that, I immediately recoiled. Did he just say what I think he said? Boy, he’s going to pay for that one. Of course, I knew that what he was saying was absolutely right – and I knew immediately that he had just called me up short.

How many times do we withhold our witness or not speak the truth out of fear of what people are going to think of us? The fact that I winced when he said those words let me know that I have a long way to go. If we are to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ, then we have to care more about Jesus than we do ourselves, and when we hold back in fear of how people are going to take what we say, then that shows that we care more about ourselves than we do speaking the truth to others – we choose fear over love. I maintain to you that this is one of the reasons that the Episcopal Church got itself into trouble. It cared more about not offending its individual members than it did about faithfully proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And as someone who was in the Episcopal Church for 34 years, I can assure you that old habits die hard.

For that reason, I want to do something. In front of all of you who are reading this article, I repent for all the times that I did not faithfully say what needed to be said because I was worried about who gets offended. I repent of all those times when I chose to do what was easy, rather than what was right. I repent of all those time when I held back, and thus sent the message that I cared more about myself and my own conflict avoidance than I did about the people that God entrusted me to care for. Lord, I beg your mercy and your forgiveness and I am so thankful that you died on the Cross to forgive me of my sins. Thank you, Lord.

My brothers and sisters, I am not advocating that we go out into the world to be recklessly offensive. If we do that, then we really do care more about ourselves than we do God or others. When we hear that little voice in our head that says “I wouldn’t say that if I were you,” we should be careful. Often, that is the voice of Satan in our heads trying to talk us out of saying what God wants us to say. I encourage you all to stand firm in your faith. Speak the truth in love. And in all things, I ask our Lord and Savior to deliver us from any fear that might keep us from being the most effect witnesses for Jesus Christ that we are all called to be. May God give us strength, enthusiasm, and a joy for His Gospel that conquers all!

A Priest’s Reflection and Testimony on the Tithe

By Fr. Townsend Waddill, Rector

St. Michael's Anglican Church, Ridgecrest, California

I can honestly look you in the eye and tell you this. I have been a Christian disciple all of my life, and I have never tithed until very recently. And this might shock you, right? I mean, after all, I am a priest of the Church. Surely all priests tithe, right?

Until this year, I did not tithe, although I did give. Deep down in my spirit, there was something that seemed wrong about not tithing, and I began to doubt whether or not I was doing the right thing. Tithing is, after all, an obligation for all Christians, isn’t it? In order to put a salve on that doubt and that growing sense of guilt, I tried all kinds of excuses and reasons for it. Here is just a small sampling of some of the excuses that I used for not tithing:

• God wants me to take care of my family, so He will not have a problem with me taking care of the needs of my family and giving Him what’s left.
• God wants me to get out of debt, so He should want me to do that first before giving to the Church.
• Since most of my debt is seminary-related, and since seminary is church-related, then my debt payments related to seminary should count toward my tithe.
• Since I am a priest and paid by the Church, then it would make no sense for me to pay the Church’s money back to the Church.

All of these reasons, these excuses, sounded very good…at first. As time went by, there was this gut feeling down in my heart that, even though I had my reasons, they just weren’t good enough, and something was still wrong.

That is when Dave Ramsey and his Financial Peace University program came into my life. I knew I needed to get rid of the debt and knew that his program would help me do that, but the most important thing that FPU impressed on me was the joy, the freedom, and the peace that comes from giving, and giving at least a tithe. FPU is designed to help people in even worse debt than me get that needed freedom from the slavery of debt. Yet in all his budget worksheets, no matter your debt load, the tithe was the first thing to come off the top of the budget. And he is right theologically. When we did our budget, we took the tithe off the top and designed our budget around what was left. Sure, our budget really seemed tight, and we had to make some sacrifices, but when I wrote that first tithe check and dropped it into the plate that Sunday, I cannot even begin to describe for you the sense of peace that washed over me. That was the manifestation of the blessing that God gave me as promised in Malachi, Chapter 3 – “Bring the full tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.” I mean, how cool is it that the Lord gives us one place in Scripture where we can put him to the test? Lisa and I put him to the test, and He responded mightily. The question you might ask is: how did He respond?

When we made the commitment to tithe and put it at the top of our budget, we thought that we would have financial troubles, that we would not be able to pay the bills, that it would take us much longer to get our debt paid off. Strangely, that didn’t happen. We don’t live extravagantly, but we also have not found ourselves in serious need. The Lord has really and truly provided for us, just as He always does. In fact, we are still on track to pay off our debt using the same schedule as before we tithed. Our God really and truly is an awesome God. All that we have to do is trust in Him.

Now that we have made the commitment, the Lord has blessed us with more new manifestations of that peace of God which surpasses all understanding. We know that we are helping to provide resources that will make the ministries of St. Michael’s, the Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin, and the Anglican Church in North America as amazing as possible. We are so passionate about what the Lord is doing here that being able to support these ministries is one of the best gifts that God has given us. We are so thankful and so amazed at the awesome provision of our Almighty God!

If you are not tithing – if you are holding back because you are anxious, I encourage you brothers and sisters to take a leap of faith. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. Take this one and only opportunity to put the Lord your God to the test, and sit back and be amazed at how the Lord will bless you. I know in my heart, with all faith in Jesus Christ, that He will bless you, and give you that wonderful gift of peace – financial peace.

Letter To Congregation about Charges Filed Against Bishop Mark Lawrence

Dear St. Michael’s Parish Family,

This morning, I woke up with a tremendous feeling of thanksgiving – thanksgiving that God has placed me and my family in such a wonderful parish, in a wonderful diocese with two wonderful bishops, in a Province that is so committed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ – the real, historical Jesus Christ! The word that came to me over and over again was “Wow! The grass really is greener on the other side. Not perfect, but definitely greener.”

Then, as I sat down over my morning coffee and my computer (which has replaced the newspaper for those in my generation), I read that the Episcopal Church has laid down charges against Bishop Mark Lawrence of the Diocese of South Carolina for abandoning the Episcopal Church. I thought I would be shocked and sad, but for some reason that attitude of gratitude continued to pervade my spirit as I read more and more. Then it became clear. The only thing shocking to me about what TEC has done to Mark Lawrence is that they waited until October to do it.

In my heart of hearts, I know that God has something so much better for the Diocese of South Carolina than what they are going through now. The grass really is greener on the other side, but unfortunately, sometimes we have to travel through the desert for a time to get there. All of us here in the Diocese of San Joaquin have travelled that road at one point, and we know that, at times, it can be painful.

For this reason, I ask you all to please pray fervently for the Diocese of South Carolina, for Mark Lawrence their amazing and Godly bishop, for their Standing Committee, and for all their clergy and laity who will be struggling with potential lawsuits and some major decisions over the coming months. Please pray that God will provide in them a might sense of direction, if He has not done so already. Pray that they will continue to stand strong for the Gospel of our Almighty God in the face of the persecution that they are dealing with. If you know anyone in the Diocese of South Carolina, please send them a note or an email of encouragement – letting them know that we love them and they we are with them in this.

I remain…

Faithfully yours,

Fr. Townsend Waddill+
Rector

Let Your Faith Be Living, Not Dead

Recently, I found myself in a friendly yet spirited Facebook debate with a colleague of mine in another diocese. He had put out a quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupery that stated “if you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea."

I made the point to him that if all we do is yearn for the vast and endless sea, the ship will never get built. Why merely stand on the shore and yearn for the sea, when we can yearn for the sea, build the ship, and then experience the sea in all its power and might?

The quote really is a metaphor for our relationship with Jesus Christ. As we continued to debate, we ended up in a discussion that I believe will be debated in the Anglican Church for a long time. How do we as Anglicans understand salvation? What role does justification play? Sanctification? Grace?

I can sum this up for you in one clear and concise statement – and scripture supports this. Our road to salvation begins with justification, is perfected by sanctification, and it cannot at all be possible without grace. In other words, grace is the glue that holds it all together. Let’s look at each of these terms more closely.

Justification. By theological definition, the term justification means that moment in which we are declared righteous. In a sense, justification is the beginning of that race that St. Paul talks about. According to St. Paul, we are justified by faith – and that justification takes place when we put our complete faith and trust in Jesus – and we cannot do this on our own merit. We need grace to make it happen. Baptism and Confirmation, as sacraments, are the outward and visible signs of this inward and spiritual grace.

Sanctification. Sanctification in its most basic sense is that process by which we are made holy, and it is also a critical component of salvation. In 2 Timothy 4:7-8, Paul said “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” For Paul, faith was a component of salvation, as well as sanctification. Notice that Paul did not stand idly at the starting line. He ran the race that the Lord laid out for him, and through that process, he was sanctified – and the combination of his faith (justification) and his running the race (sanctification) led to salvation.

Grace. Grace is defined as “God’s favor towards us, unearned and undeserved.” Since grace is absolutely necessary for our own salvation, there is nothing we can do on our own accord to earn our own salvation. We are totally dependent on God’s grace.

We have to be balanced in our understanding of salvation or else we can devolve into one of several inadequate practices of the Christian faith.

Works-Based Righteousness. This places too heavy of an emphasis on sanctification, while ignoring justification (faith). People who are guilty of this can generally be found in two camps. The first are those who thinking that if they do nice things for people enough times, they can earn their salvation, regardless of whether they either believe in Jesus, or are faithful to Him. The Pharisees in Biblical times were guilty of this and Jesus called them up short. They tried to selectively apply parts of the Old Testament law in the hope that they could earn salvation. Jesus pointed out to them that they were missing the whole point. They did not love God with their whole hearts. They obeyed the letter of the law, but not the spirit, and Jesus made it quite clear that salvation was not theirs. The second are those who have an overly mechanistic and quantitative understanding of the sacraments – particularly the Eucharist. These see the grace that is imparted in the Eucharist as a quantifiable amount, and if they can get to the Eucharist enough times within a given amount of time, then they are automatically saved. People who hold this view have a misguided understanding of what grace really is.

Dead-faith Christians. These are Christians who talk a big game about their faith and their belief in Jesus Christ, but are sorely lacking at actually putting their faith into action, as Scripture calls us to do. James, in his letter, it very clear about this. “Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:17) If we truly love Jesus with all of our hearts, he will call us to do some really amazing things. We can’t be caught sitting around. I would hate to meet Jesus one day and have to explain why I was sitting around when he called me to do something. Somehow I don’t think he would accept the following explanation: “Well, Lord, I got the sense that you were calling me to do something, but I was so afraid that it would be considered works-based righteousness that I didn’t do it.”

My brothers and sister, maintain the balance. Know that everything you do must be centered around one thing, and one thing only – a deep, heartfelt faith in and love for Jesus Christ. But understand also that justification by faith does not give us a blank check to sit around. May your love for Jesus Christ cause you to do great things for His Kingdom.

Pentecost: More of a Graduation Than A Birthday

If there is one thing in the Church that I have always just taken for granted, it is that Pentecost is the birthday of the Church.

Just recently, as I was preparing my sermon for Pentecost, I came across a Bible Commentary that completely challenged the notion that Pentecost is really a birthday. I glossed over it at first, but as I continued to think, pray, and reflect on the concept of Pentecost as a birthday, I became more and more uncomfortable with it.

Recently, I came to a prayerful realization. Pentecost was more of a graduation than a birthday.

In order to understand this better, it is helpful to reflect on some basic definitions that we also take for granted. What is the definition of a Church? What is the definition of a birthday?

The word “church” comes from the Greek word ekklesia, which means, in Biblical terms, a group of people gathered for a specific purpose. A birthday is the day that something comes into being. Therefore, the birthday of the church would mean “the day that the group of people gathered for a specific purpose came into being.”

I am not comfortable with that day being Pentecost. If we say that Pentecost is the birthday of the Church, then that carries with it the implicit assumption that the Church did not exist before Pentecost. In other words, the Church ceased to exist during the time that Jesus was on this earth. I don’t believe that the witness of Holy Scripture supports this. There was a gathering of disciples, called and trained by Jesus Himself, and they were sent forth to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of Heaven, several years before the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost.

My purpose in writing this is not to demean what happened in Pentecost – not at all. Jesus spent His time on earth teaching, training up the disciples in the way that they would go. He also made it very clear that the purpose of the Holy Spirit was to give us another Counselor who would be Immanuel – God with us – when Jesus was gone. In effect, Jesus would assume a new role (our Counselor in Heaven), get out of the way and the Church would go to work, ushering in the Kingdom of God on this earth.

There are striking similarities between Pentecost and that time when a parent let’s go of their children and sends them out on their own. That time is graduation.

We will still continue to celebrate heartily at St. Michael’s on the Feast of Pentecost, and I intend to keep the tradition of decorating the church with balloons in celebration. For me, though, the celebration will be a graduation celebration rather than a birthday. Please join me in celebrating this day in which the church was empowered by God to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ in the world.

The Importance of Interdependence

As many of you are aware, a new program has come to St. Michael’s Anglican Church called Network. Network is a program that encourages people to discover their individual Spiritual Gifts, and then to discern how to use those gifts in community to make a difference in the world. Hey. We can all get behind that, right? If Network sounds appealing to you but you missed the first retreat, please do not worry. I will continue to offer this program regularly in the future.

One concept that is taught in this program is very important to us as Christian disciples – the concept of interdependence. Some definitions can be helpful here. Someone who is dependent relies on someone or something for aid or support. Someone who chooses to be completely and totally dependent has difficulty maintaining relationships because eventually those relationships become too taxing. In short, complete and total dependence (on someone or something other than God) is not the Christian model.

Then there is that word that is so fashionable in this day and age: independence. When we first toss around the idea of independence, it sounds really good, especially in our culture. We are so thankful that we live in a free and independent nation. We are taught that independence is a wonderful trait to have, and that all should have it. If we are not seen as independent, we are looked down upon as someone who falls short. Too much of a good thing, however, can be bad. People who are too independent can become very self-centered and can also have a problem establishing and maintaining relationships. They are their own person and living in relationship can be very difficult. I believe this is one of the major reasons why the divorce rate is over 60%. We have taken independence too far.

Finally, there is another term and it is a term that I believe best describes who we are to be, both as individual disciples of Christ, and as a community of faith – interdependence. Interdependence means that we are mutually dependent on each other. It means that we all have gifts to offer the Body of Christ, and each person uses those gifts for the good of the Body so that Body as a whole can do even greater things. Look at what Paul says to the Romans: "In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all others." (Romans 12:5) Paul is saying here that the Body of Christ is a body of interdependent people all using different gifts to accomplish one purpose – furthering the Kingdom of God in this world.

Interdependence can break down in one of two ways. First, we can lose interdependence when we take our spiritual gifts and try to hoard them for ourselves and our own purposes. Spiritual are gifts that are given to us by the Holy Spirit to be used for the good of the Body of Christ. Second, we can lose interdependence when we do not respect the individuality of each member of the body and try to make the Body of Christ into a cookie-cutter group of disciples who are all the same. This is not what the Body of Christ is all about.

In closing, as many of us are going about the important business of discerning spiritual gifts, let us not lose sight of the main reason that we discern spiritual gifts in the first place – for the edification of the Body of Christ. As we discern what our spiritual gifts are supposed to be, let us not forget the most important question that we have to ask: How is God calling us to use them in community for the glorification of His amazing and powerful Kingdom?

The Importance of the Baptismal Font In Worship Spaces

Many of you will begin to notice a change in the worship space at St. Michael’s. Starting with the Easter Vigil, the Baptismal Font will become a permanent fixture in the church, and some of you may wonder why that is.

In addition to the fact that we use it for actual baptism, the Baptismal Font is important in a worship space for three reasons: 1) it reminds us of the amazing grace that Jesus confers on us in baptism, 2) it reminds us of the commitment that we made to Jesus at our baptism, and 3) it reminds us of the Great Commission – how we are called to share our faith with others.

When we are baptized, some truly amazing things happen. We are called to die to self, and to allow ourselves to be raised to new life in Jesus Christ. This is definitely a Resurrection theme, and it is one of the main reasons that Easter is a feast day where baptism is most appropriate. In baptism, we are washed clean of our sins and are initiated into the community of faith. As part of this commitment to die to self and allow Jesus to raise us up, we take certain vows of commitment:

• We will renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God.
• We will renounce the evil forces of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God.
• We will renounce all sinful desires that draw us from the love of God.
• We will turn to Jesus Christ and accept Him as our Savior.
• We will put our whole trust in His grace and love.
• We will promise to follow and obey Him as our Lord.

The baptismal font will be filled with Holy Water at all times. Many choose to dip their fingers in the water and make the sign of the cross as a reminder of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us, and of our commitment to Him. I think that is a great thing to do, but I will leave it up to each of you and your own individual piety. It is in no way expected of you.

Finally, as we reflect on baptism and its importance in the church, let’s not forget the importance of the Great Commission. Having the baptismal font there as we leave the church ties in very nicely with our sign leaving the parking lot which says “You are now entering the mission field.” The Great Commission exhorts us to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16-20) As Christian disciples, we should have an intense desire to see people baptized at our baptismal font, and at baptismal fonts all over the world. And by this, I do not mean only children. When we see others coming to our Baptismal Font to make their confession that Jesus Christ is Lord, living and true, we know that we are living into who Jesus is calling us to be – intense disciples of Jesus who are going about spreading the gospel not only in the world and the larger church, but in our own community as well.

My brothers and sisters, when you see our baptismal font in the church, let it do two things. Let it remind you of the wonderful grace given to you and the commitment you made in your own baptismal vows. And let it also remind you of your call to proclaim your faith, both in word and deed, by loving and serving others, and by calling them to baptism in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Blessings to you all in this glorious Easter Season!

Reaching the Lost!

According to the Gospel of Matthew, the last thing Jesus said to us before he left this earth and ascended into heaven was “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20, ESV) This is well known to many of us as the Great Commission.

Notice that in the first part of the great commission, there are four action words there: go, make, baptize, and teach. As Anglicans, we are called by the Great Commissions to two things: evangelism and discipleship. This is the reason that our vision for St. Michael’s is “Reaching the Lost. Growing the Found.” Reaching the lost is evangelism. Growing the found is discipleship.

I have found that discipleship comes much easier to Anglicans than evangelism does. In fact, many of us Anglicans who grew up in the Episcopal Church were subtly taught that evangelism was a dirty word. Other denominations did that, not us. Ironically, those “other denominations” were growing, while we were shrinking. The sad thing about it is that we were slowly taking the life out of the church, and robbing ourselves of the joy of seeing amazing miracles of God – those miracles that take place when another person comes to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

I want our church to reclaim that joy. While we will continue in outreach and mission to other parts of the world, I want us to become uniquely focused on sharing our faith in the Ridgecrest community. Having been at St. Michael’s for six months now, it is very clear to me that we have some amazing disciples worshipping in this place – people with amazing stories to tell and a deep commitment to Jesus Christ – and I want us to be able to share those stories with others. When that happens, others will want that amazing joy as well, and a new disciple will be born.

Starting on the first Wednesday in April (and continuing through the end of May), I will begin a teaching series called “Reaching the Lost” that will take place on Wednesday nights starting at 6:30 p.m. as part of our Wednesday Night at the Well program (with dinner starting at 5:30 as usual). Both the men and the women will be combined for this teaching series. We will be focusing specifically on reaching the lost souls of our community. The course will have several components. We will begin with an overview of what scripture calls us to do regarding evangelism. After that, we will focus on two aspects of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ: What do we say? And how do we identify who to say it to? We will then close by looking at aspects of our culture that make evangelism challenging.

Sharing our faith really and truly can be a fun and exciting adventure – and I want it to be just that! Join us on Wednesday nights as we learn how to effectively reach the lost. Learn how we can truly live into who God is calling us to be, disciples of Jesus Christ who are actively living into their faith and sharing it with others.

Hermeneutics of a Stop Sign

For a little Thursday morning humor:

Suppose you're traveling to work and you see a stop sign. What do you do? That depends on how you exegete the stop sign.

1. A postmodernist theologian deconstructs the sign (knocks it over with his car), ending forever the tyranny of the north-south traffic over the east-west traffic.

2. Similarly, a Marxist refuses to stop because he sees the stop sign as an instrument of class conflict. He concludes that the bourgeois use the north-south road and obstruct the progress of the workers in the east-west road.

3. A serious and educated Catholic rolls through the intersection because he believes he cannot understand the stop sign apart from its interpretive community and tradition. Observing that the interpretive community doesn't take it too seriously, he doesn't feel obligated to take it too seriously either.

4. An average Catholic (or Orthodox or Coptic or Anglican or Methodist or Presbyterian or whatever) doesn't bother to read the sign but he'll stop if the car in front of him does.

5. A fundamentalist, taking the text very literally, stops at the stop sign and waits for it to tell him to go.

6. A seminary-educated evangelical preacher might look up "STOP" in his lexicons of English and discover that it can mean: 1) something which prevents motion, such as a plug for a drain, or a block of wood that prevents a door from closing; 2) a location where a train or bus lets off passengers. The main point of his sermon the following Sunday on this text is: when you see a stop sign, it is a place where traffic is naturally clogged, so it is a good place to let off passengers from your car.

7. An orthodox Jew does one of two things: a) Take another route to work that doesn't have a stop sign so that he doesn't run the risk of disobeying the Law; b) Stop at the sign, say "Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, king of the universe, who hast given us Thy commandment to stop," wait 3 seconds according to his watch, and then proceed. Incidentally, the Talmud has the following comments on this passage: R[abbi] Meir says: He who does not stop shall not live long. R. Hillel says: Cursed is he who does not count to three before proceeding. R. Simon ben Yudah says: Why three? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, gave us the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. R. ben Issac says: Because of the three patriarchs. R. Yehuda says: Why bless the Lord at a stop sign? Because it says, "Be still and know that I am God." R. Hezekiel says: When Jephthah returned from defeating the Ammonites, the Holy One, blessed be He, knew that a donkey would run out of the house and overtake his daughter, but Jephthah did not stop at the stop sign, and the donkey did not have time to come out. For this reason he saw his daughter first and lost her. Thus he was judged for his transgression at the stop sign. R. Gamaliel says: R. Hillel, when he was a baby, never spoke a word, though his parents tried to teach him by speaking and showing him the words on a scroll. One day his father was driving through town and did not stop at the sign. Young Hillel called out: "Stop, father!" In this way, he began reading and speaking at the same time. Thus it is written: "Out of the mouths of babes." R. ben Jacob says: Where did the stop sign come from? Out of the sky, for it is written: "Forever, O Lord, your word is fixed in the heavens." R. Ben Nathan says: Where were the stop signs created? On the fourth day, for it is written: "Let them serve as signs." R. Yeshuah says...[continues for three more pages]

8. A Lubavitcher rabbi does the same thing as an orthodox Jew, except that he waits 10 seconds instead of 3. He also replaces his brake lights with 1000 watt searchlights and connects his horn so that it is activated whenever he touches the brake pedal. He also works out the gematria of shin-tav-pey (S-T-(O)-P) and takes it to mean that the Rebbe Schneersohn, of blessed memory, will be resurrected as the Messiah after he has stopped at this intersection 780 times.

9. A scholar from the Jesus Seminar concludes that the passage "STOP" undoubtedly was never uttered by Jesus himself because being the progressive Jew that He was, He would never have wanted to stifle peoples' progress. Therefore, STOP must be a textual insertion belonging entirely to stage III of the gospel tradition, when the church was first confronted by traffic in its parking lot.

10. A NT scholar notices that there is no stop sign on Mark street but there is one on Matthew and Luke streets, and concludes that the ones on Luke and Matthew streets are both copied from a sign on a street no one has ever seen called "Q" Street. There is an excellent 300 page doctoral dissertation on the origin of these stop signs and the differences between stop signs on Matthew and Luke street in the scholar's commentary on the passage. There is an unfortunate omission in the dissertation, however; it doesn't explain the meaning of the text.

11. An OT scholar points out that there are a number of stylistic differences between the first and second half of the passage "STOP." For example, "ST" contains no enclosed areas and 5 line endings, whereas "OP" contains two enclosed areas and only one line termination. He concludes that the author for the second part is different from the author of the first part and probably lived hundreds of years later. Later OT scholars determine that the second half is itself actually written by two separate authors because of similar stylistic differences between the "O" and the "P".

12. Another prominent OT scholar notes in his commentary that the stop sign would fit better into the context three streets back. (Unfortunately, he neglected to explain why in his commentary.) Clearly it was moved to its present location by a later redactor. He thus exegetes the intersection as though the sign were not there.

13. Because of the difficulties in interpretation, another OT scholar amends the text, changing the "T" to "H". "SHOP" is much easier to understand in context than "STOP" because of the multiplicity of stores in the area. The textual corruption probably occurred because "SHOP" is so similar to "STOP" on the sign several streets back, that it is a natural mistake for a scribe to make. Thus the sign should be interpreted to announce the existence of a shopping area. If this is true, it could indicate that both meanings are valid, thus making the thrust of the message "STOP (AND) SHOP."

14. A "prophetic" preacher notices that the square root of the sum of the numeric representations of the letters S-T-O-P (sigma-tau-omicron-pi in the Greek alphabet), multiplied by 40 (the number of testing), and divided by four (the number of the world--north, south, east, and west), equals 666. Therefore, he concludes that stop signs are the dreaded "mark of the beast," a harbinger of divine judgment upon the world, and must be avoided at all cost.

A New Year's Call to Prayer for Christians Under Attack

Dear Fellow Shepherds,

Epiphany greetings!

Many of us have watched and read news reports about the attacks on Christians in Egypt and Nigeria as they gathered to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. We mourn the tragic loss of life inflicted by these heinous acts of violence. We stand in solidarity with our Anglican and Coptic brothers and sisters in the Middle East and Nigeria who regularly face religious persecution. While persecution is never welcome or pleasant, it is inevitable for those who seek to follow in the way of Jesus Christ. Jesus bids us to pick up our cross daily and follow after him and promises that we are blessed when we are persecuted for his name's sake.

In light of attacks on Christians in Egypt and Nigeria this Christmas and in Iraq this past October, I invite you to pray for Christians living in Southern Sudan this Sunday in your local parish. This Sunday (January 9, 2011) Christians living in Southern Sudan will be deciding whether to secede from the country of Sudan to form a new independent country. Many international observers expect that this referendum will result in a resurgence of violence in an area that has already faced Africa's longest civil war (more info).

Some 3 million Anglican Christians living in Southern Sudan are looking to us, their Anglican family in North America, to support them in prayer. Please join with me in praying for persecuted Christians in Southern Sudan and throughout the world this Sunday.

Prayer:
Almighty God, in these days of terrorism and persecution, strengthen Christian communities in Southern Sudan and throughout the world with your grace and comfort. May your Holy Spirit comfort the bereaved and heal the injured. And grant that the gospel message of love, forgiveness, and redemption would be proclaimed through word and deed. All this we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Faithfully your archbishop,
+Robert Pittsburgh