I wrote last week about the three pillars of Anglicanism on
which their faith rests; scripture, reason and tradition. The tradition was front and centre last
Sunday as St. James Anglican Church here in Parkhill celebrated its 150th
anniversary.
Our Bishop, Bp Linda Nicholls was present for the occasion
and preached a sermon in which she spoke of the Anglican strength of tradition
and the long tradition of St. James in this community and the lasting impact
that St. James has had on those who have been part of this community in the
past as well as the present. However,
there is the tension between the strength of tradition and the danger of pining
for the golden era of the past. In
reflecting on this, the passage from the book of Revelation came to mind, “Behold,
I am making all things new.” (Rev. 21:5).
There is much in Anglicanism which we can continue to draw on
not least of which are the three pillars that I opened with. We are able to use our God given intellect to
consider how tradition can be a foundation on which we move forward. We can use our intellect to understand
scripture and use it to consider how God is speaking to us today just as God
spoke to the people of God in those times.
Most importantly, we need to discern how God is speaking to
us in new ways today through the Holy Spirit.
God may be leading us Anglicans and all God’s people to places where we
have not considered going before to meet the challenges of today. We can use scripture and tradition to ground our
understanding of where God is leading us.
As an example, when we consider who our neighbours are in the commandment
love your neighbour, it includes not just those like us or those who we may
want to love but also whose who do not resemble us. It may be the immigrant from far away
countries. It may also be the Samaritans
in your life who seem to be completely opposed to all you stand for. That is indeed a mountain which can seem to
be impossible to climb.
Jesus has come to make all things new the possibilities are
endless and will be wonderful if we are open to meet them.
Blessings on your journey.
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