Author: martin

An atheist intellectual who focused on the study of Ancient Greek and Roman cultures had much admiration for them. However, he could only spend limited time immersed in their culture. These colonizers were ‘Old Testament’ like in their brutal approach to their fellow human beings, particularly to those outside their own clan. This former atheist credits the teachings of Jesus Christ and the influence He has had on the world for changes in our modern way of being.

The hallmark of the early Christians, even before they called themselves Christian, was how this very diverse group of folks loved one another.  Before Jesus, humans worshipped and followed the precepts of whatever gods that were assigned as part of the culture of their particular village, tribe or people.  Jesus and his early followers changed all that. As Paul wrote to the Galatians around 53-54, 

For all of you are the children of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus
Since every one of you that has been baptized has been clothed in Christ
There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither slave nor freeman, there can be neither male nor female – for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
And simply by being Christ’s you are the progeny of Abraham, the heirs named in the promise.  Galatians 3:26-29

These early Christians stood out as a beacon of love and peace in the midst of an otherwise very brutal world.  Non-believers of that time would comment, “Behold, how they love on another.”

As Phyliss Tickle has noted, God has to bring revival to his Church on a regular basis.  Over time, we lose sight of the way of being exemplified in the early church. The modern European colonizers could be every bit as brutal as the ancient peoples who did not know Christ.  Decolonization is bringing many changes not only to the world, but also to the church. 

I was privileged to be welcomed to Songhees First Nation land in the latter part of my teaching career at Camosun College. In partnership with the the Songhees Employment and Learning Centre, we offered adult upgrading off campus. In my time there, I learned at least as much, as I taught.  I feel called to extend the learning I received from First Nations’ colleagues and elders in this last phase of my life. 

In my time at Camosun, I became familiar with ‘acknowledgement of the traditional territory’. I am doing more research on how that would apply in the territory where our church, St. John the Baptist Cobble Hill, is located. The bishop, when she visited St. John’s last Sunday started the service with an acknowledgement we are on Meluxulh (Malahat) land.  I have learned, however, that the parish of St. John’s also includes Quw’utsun and  Pauqachin (Hatch Point (Indian Reserve #12)) territory.  Clearly, I have a lot more to learn and look forward to doing that with the help of First Nation colleagues and elders I have met in my time working with First Nation’s people. 

The Liturgical Year calls us to an ancient practice of faith. We learn that following the events of Christ’s life through the liturgy can be a path to becoming a Christ follower, one who thinks as God thinks.

Participating in the liturgical year, with its major feasts and seasons, can bring about the radical change of losing ourselves more completely to Christ. Through the liturgy we share Jesus’ walk with his disciples, revealing both His and their paths to the cross. Simon is the first disciple to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, “the Christ, the Son of God” (Matthew 16:16). Jesus then names him Peter, the rock on whom He will build His church. However, almost immediately Jesus chastises Simon Peter for urging the Christ to turn away from His path to death and resurrection. He says to Peter, ”You are an obstacle in my path, because you are thinking not as God thinks but as humans do.“ Jesus then turns to his disciples and says, ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. (Matthew 16:23-24) This journey through the church year shows us how to “not only follow Jesus but to live as Jesus lived, to think as Jesus thought, to become what Jesus had become by the end of His life.”  (Chittister, 2009, p. 7). Through the liturgy we come to better understand what it means to live a Christian life.

The liturgy takes us through Scripture and the faith journey of the people of God from the beginning of time, through the current age and beyond to the end of time. Here “we meet the Jesus of history and come to understand the Christ of faith who is with us still.” (p.10) An individual, through this dissolve of self into Christ, can come to see oneself as a key part of ‘one people’ coming together to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to fruition. This is not just ‘by and by’, but also ‘here and now’. The liturgical year directs the church to be the kind of community God meant us to be, moving us beyond the pale imitations of Christ we currently are, towards the ideals we see in the life of Christ (p. 13), and come to know what it is to truly become Christian (p. 14). “The liturgical year . . . is Jesus with us, for us, and in us as we strive to make His life our own (p. 16). The liturgical year is not about just practicing, but more importantly living the presence of Christ and thereby escaping the existential angst that is so prevalent in this age. In Christ’s liturgy we see that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that the Kingdom of Heaven can now at hand. Through the liturgy we come to know the grave is not the end, God is not remote, life is not purposeless, and the individual is not nothing. (p. 18).

While the liturgy takes us through Jesus’ path to the cross from conception to death, more importantly it points to his resurrection AND beyond. With that resurrection comes the release of the Holy Spirit and the actualizing of God’s plan for His church towards a new way of being, thinking and seeing which is both corporate, in the body of the church, but also individual. The liturgy is key to becoming active participants in the body of Christ here on earth.