A Downward Mobility?
.Power and politics in the Anglican Church. First, as we all know All Anglican priests are under the authority and care of a bishop. That is to say we, as priests, are asked by the Bishop, "And will you in accordance with the Canon of this Church, obey your bishop and other ministers who may have authority over you and your work?" ( BAS P.645). If one wishes to be ordained at that point, it is wise to answer in the affirmative. If you tend to be anti-authority ..... well?
.
Now one might want to ask whether their Bishop is more into the authority thing than into the caring thing. Not me, at lest not here in a public forum that the bishop just might read. As a priest that’s a question best left for another day. .
Now Anglican Bishops were, once upon a time, priests who are elected by their priestly peers and also by "elected" lay people. Power and politics at work. Sometimes it seems to me, that the lay members elect a "caring" bishop while priests seem go after the ‘authority’ types. Just my humble opinion - you may want to disagree - and probably will - especially if you are from the priestly caste.
.
Now usually Bishops are elected after an extensive campaign for the office in which no-one openly campaigns for and it is a long standing tradition in the election of an Anglican Bishop that those who find their names on the candidates short list not be caught campaigning. They must not appear to have sought the office in any way, and once elected, the new bishop must make a public declaration that "I didn’t seek this office and I really didn’t want it but once the Lord calls ...." Now this may well be true, but as someone else has observed, very few priests, once they have been elected bishop ever turn the job down.
.
Priests for that matter, are often heard to say when moving to another parish
"I had no plans to leave this parish, and I’d rather stay here, but the Lord calls."
.
Of course the parish the clergy are leaving behind are usually the last people on the planet to know their priest is leaving. All of the interviews, plans and preparations are carried out under the umbrella of secrecy until the big announcement is made public and the people the priest has had the care and cure of souls for are surprised and even shocked, especially if the exercise of keeping the secret has really been successful. Power and politics in the Church.
.
Some skeptic cynic has observed that the Lord rarely calls a priest to leave one parish to go to another parish, unless that particular move is viewed as " an upward mobility move" . That usually means leaving a rural ( out in the middle of no where) parish to go to an urban ( city and near a university ) parish, and maybe more money too, if the city parish is wealthy. Now, I know what you are thinking. Didn’t he leave a rural parish to go to a city parish. Now I believe that such a move really was the Lord calling - but I’m perhaps the only person. Such a silly skeptic cynic to think such a silly thought. Power and politics.
.
However, the same silly skeptic cynic has also observed that very few clergy actually ever go the other direction - that is - practice a "downward mobility" that that would be seen by their peers as a step downward rather than upward.
In our Gospel today, Mark is telling us something we all know - everybody wants to be a somebody. Even James and John. They were ambitious. They wanted to be Jesus’ left and right hand men. Now I am sure that if Jesus had granted their request, these two brothers would have had a further discussion as to which one of them would actually sit at Jesus’ right and left hand. We all know that being on the right hand side is the more important position. Right? Right.
.
The story is told of how a court painter painted the portrait of Oliver Cromwell.
Now Cromwell was afflicted with warts growing on his face. Thinking to please him, the court painter painted Cromwell’s portrait without the warts. On seeing the finished work, Cromwell said "Take it away! Paint me with warts and all." .
As William Barclay observes "It is Mark’s aim to show us the disciples warts and all." The twelve disciples were not a company of perfect people. The twelve disciples were ordinary men, imperfect and ambitious and it was with people just like ourselves that Jesus set out to change the world - and change it he did.
.
When this conversation between Jesus and James and John took place, It is just five days before Jesus' crucifixion. Four days before his betrayal and trial. One
day before the clearing of the temple. A few hours before the Triumphal Entry.
St. Luke has an interesting perspective on this ambition stuff. Jesus is preparing his disciples for his death, which is just hours away. He gathers the disciples in a room somewhere in Jerusalem and they share a last supper together.
.
Jesus took the bread, and gave thanks, and broke it and gave it to the disciples, saying. "This is my body which is being given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after the supper, He took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you."
.
As Jesus was preparing them for his death, he warned that one of them would betray him and they began to question among themselves which of them might do such a thing. So far, so good, but like Mark’s Gospel, Luke’s Gospel shows us the whole picture - warts and all - for a dispute broke out among them as to which one of them might be the greatest.
.
It is tragic that while Jesus was preparing them for his death on the Cross, the disciples were arguing and quarreling over which one of them was the greatest.
Jesus told them bluntly that the standards of this world were not the standards of his kingdom. In Jesus’ Kingdom it is not the king, but the servant that counts.
.
In just a few short weeks we will begin to see people in uniforms in shopping malls ringing bells collecting donations for the poor. They are doing the work of the Salvation Army. In 1878, when the Salvation Army was really beginning to make its mark, men and women from all over the world began to enlist.
.
A man who had once dreamed of becoming a bishop in another denomination crossed the Atlantic from America to England to enlist in the Salvation Army instead. His name was Samuel Brengle and he left a fine pastorate to join William Booth's Army. At first General Booth accepted Brengle’s services reluctantly and grudgingly. One day Booth said to Brengle, "You've been your own boss too long." So in order to instill humility in Brengle, he made him work by cleaning the boots of other trainees.
.
Discouraged, feeling perhaps demeaned, Samuel Brengle said to himself, "Have I followed my own fancy across the Atlantic in order to black boots?" Then, as in a vision, he saw Jesus bending over the feet of rough, uneducated fishermen. "Lord," he whispered, "you washed their feet; I will black their shoes." Samuel Brengle went on to establish the Salvation Army in America."
.
What the world needs is service. The hilarious thing is that the business world, the consumer society preachers preach against, know this only too well. Muffler shops are "service centers" and they will crawl under your car and get themselves dirtier, and go that extra mile to fix that muffler just so they can stay ahead of their competitors. They will do it by serving you.
.
The church knows this too. We speak of service and servanthood, but it too is hilarious, we then turn around and have more arguments about the importance of positions, power and rank, and more concern about "people’s places" in the church than anywhere else. Ah, good old power and politics.
.
Samuel Brengle was reminded of how Jesus washed his disciples feet. Can you imagine a Church where people are more concerned for others than for themselves. A Church that seeks to wash the feet of the poor instead of shaking hands with the rich and powerful. A Church that founds its life in giving, not on what it can get, is a Church that understands what greatness is.
.
It took the Cross for James and John to finally understand that Jesus’ Kingdom was not based on worldly standards of ambition or power, but on service.
.
We have all kinds of positions in the Anglican Church, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops, Archdeacons, Canons, Priests, Deacons, Vocational Deacons, Layreaders, elected delegates to Synod, to name a few. All positions of power, all have the possibility of lending themselves to playing a part in Church politics
.
Do I hear the silly skeptic cynic asking, "Are those downward or upward mobility positions?" I believe there is an archdeacon position open, mmm, isn’t that the bishop’s right and left handers? Oh, but then I would have to leave this parish that I’ve become very comfortable with, and I am most pleased with my own title of Warden of Layreaders, but, you know, if the Lord calls ....
.
The other week we had a parishioner die in our Parish. As Rector, I made the announcement of this person’s death and of the time and day of the funeral. One parishioner was overheard to say that she must go home and bake something for the funeral. A servant. With such people Jesus can and did change the world.
.
Now one might want to ask whether their Bishop is more into the authority thing than into the caring thing. Not me, at lest not here in a public forum that the bishop just might read. As a priest that’s a question best left for another day. .
Now Anglican Bishops were, once upon a time, priests who are elected by their priestly peers and also by "elected" lay people. Power and politics at work. Sometimes it seems to me, that the lay members elect a "caring" bishop while priests seem go after the ‘authority’ types. Just my humble opinion - you may want to disagree - and probably will - especially if you are from the priestly caste.
.
Now usually Bishops are elected after an extensive campaign for the office in which no-one openly campaigns for and it is a long standing tradition in the election of an Anglican Bishop that those who find their names on the candidates short list not be caught campaigning. They must not appear to have sought the office in any way, and once elected, the new bishop must make a public declaration that "I didn’t seek this office and I really didn’t want it but once the Lord calls ...." Now this may well be true, but as someone else has observed, very few priests, once they have been elected bishop ever turn the job down.
.
Priests for that matter, are often heard to say when moving to another parish
"I had no plans to leave this parish, and I’d rather stay here, but the Lord calls."
.
Of course the parish the clergy are leaving behind are usually the last people on the planet to know their priest is leaving. All of the interviews, plans and preparations are carried out under the umbrella of secrecy until the big announcement is made public and the people the priest has had the care and cure of souls for are surprised and even shocked, especially if the exercise of keeping the secret has really been successful. Power and politics in the Church.
.
Some skeptic cynic has observed that the Lord rarely calls a priest to leave one parish to go to another parish, unless that particular move is viewed as " an upward mobility move" . That usually means leaving a rural ( out in the middle of no where) parish to go to an urban ( city and near a university ) parish, and maybe more money too, if the city parish is wealthy. Now, I know what you are thinking. Didn’t he leave a rural parish to go to a city parish. Now I believe that such a move really was the Lord calling - but I’m perhaps the only person. Such a silly skeptic cynic to think such a silly thought. Power and politics.
.
However, the same silly skeptic cynic has also observed that very few clergy actually ever go the other direction - that is - practice a "downward mobility" that that would be seen by their peers as a step downward rather than upward.
In our Gospel today, Mark is telling us something we all know - everybody wants to be a somebody. Even James and John. They were ambitious. They wanted to be Jesus’ left and right hand men. Now I am sure that if Jesus had granted their request, these two brothers would have had a further discussion as to which one of them would actually sit at Jesus’ right and left hand. We all know that being on the right hand side is the more important position. Right? Right.
.
The story is told of how a court painter painted the portrait of Oliver Cromwell.
Now Cromwell was afflicted with warts growing on his face. Thinking to please him, the court painter painted Cromwell’s portrait without the warts. On seeing the finished work, Cromwell said "Take it away! Paint me with warts and all." .
As William Barclay observes "It is Mark’s aim to show us the disciples warts and all." The twelve disciples were not a company of perfect people. The twelve disciples were ordinary men, imperfect and ambitious and it was with people just like ourselves that Jesus set out to change the world - and change it he did.
.
When this conversation between Jesus and James and John took place, It is just five days before Jesus' crucifixion. Four days before his betrayal and trial. One
day before the clearing of the temple. A few hours before the Triumphal Entry.
St. Luke has an interesting perspective on this ambition stuff. Jesus is preparing his disciples for his death, which is just hours away. He gathers the disciples in a room somewhere in Jerusalem and they share a last supper together.
.
Jesus took the bread, and gave thanks, and broke it and gave it to the disciples, saying. "This is my body which is being given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after the supper, He took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you."
.
As Jesus was preparing them for his death, he warned that one of them would betray him and they began to question among themselves which of them might do such a thing. So far, so good, but like Mark’s Gospel, Luke’s Gospel shows us the whole picture - warts and all - for a dispute broke out among them as to which one of them might be the greatest.
.
It is tragic that while Jesus was preparing them for his death on the Cross, the disciples were arguing and quarreling over which one of them was the greatest.
Jesus told them bluntly that the standards of this world were not the standards of his kingdom. In Jesus’ Kingdom it is not the king, but the servant that counts.
.
In just a few short weeks we will begin to see people in uniforms in shopping malls ringing bells collecting donations for the poor. They are doing the work of the Salvation Army. In 1878, when the Salvation Army was really beginning to make its mark, men and women from all over the world began to enlist.
.
A man who had once dreamed of becoming a bishop in another denomination crossed the Atlantic from America to England to enlist in the Salvation Army instead. His name was Samuel Brengle and he left a fine pastorate to join William Booth's Army. At first General Booth accepted Brengle’s services reluctantly and grudgingly. One day Booth said to Brengle, "You've been your own boss too long." So in order to instill humility in Brengle, he made him work by cleaning the boots of other trainees.
.
Discouraged, feeling perhaps demeaned, Samuel Brengle said to himself, "Have I followed my own fancy across the Atlantic in order to black boots?" Then, as in a vision, he saw Jesus bending over the feet of rough, uneducated fishermen. "Lord," he whispered, "you washed their feet; I will black their shoes." Samuel Brengle went on to establish the Salvation Army in America."
.
What the world needs is service. The hilarious thing is that the business world, the consumer society preachers preach against, know this only too well. Muffler shops are "service centers" and they will crawl under your car and get themselves dirtier, and go that extra mile to fix that muffler just so they can stay ahead of their competitors. They will do it by serving you.
.
The church knows this too. We speak of service and servanthood, but it too is hilarious, we then turn around and have more arguments about the importance of positions, power and rank, and more concern about "people’s places" in the church than anywhere else. Ah, good old power and politics.
.
Samuel Brengle was reminded of how Jesus washed his disciples feet. Can you imagine a Church where people are more concerned for others than for themselves. A Church that seeks to wash the feet of the poor instead of shaking hands with the rich and powerful. A Church that founds its life in giving, not on what it can get, is a Church that understands what greatness is.
.
It took the Cross for James and John to finally understand that Jesus’ Kingdom was not based on worldly standards of ambition or power, but on service.
.
We have all kinds of positions in the Anglican Church, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops, Archdeacons, Canons, Priests, Deacons, Vocational Deacons, Layreaders, elected delegates to Synod, to name a few. All positions of power, all have the possibility of lending themselves to playing a part in Church politics
.
Do I hear the silly skeptic cynic asking, "Are those downward or upward mobility positions?" I believe there is an archdeacon position open, mmm, isn’t that the bishop’s right and left handers? Oh, but then I would have to leave this parish that I’ve become very comfortable with, and I am most pleased with my own title of Warden of Layreaders, but, you know, if the Lord calls ....
.
The other week we had a parishioner die in our Parish. As Rector, I made the announcement of this person’s death and of the time and day of the funeral. One parishioner was overheard to say that she must go home and bake something for the funeral. A servant. With such people Jesus can and did change the world.
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posted by vesuvius2 @ 11:31 AM
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