March 11, 2021
lex orandi lex credendi
(Praying Shapes Believing)
On Thursday, Fr. Stephen Waller and I had the pleasure of being invited as conversation partners into Theologian-in-Residence Dr. Stephen V. Sprinkle’s master class entitled “Eschatology and Ministry in Uncertain Times.” Eschatology, the parts of theology concerned with death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul, and of humankind, are not typically front-and-center of daily theological life for most clergy or flock. Images of a torn, broken world swallowed up in apocalyptic fires of judgment come to mind, not the subject of usual polite Episcopal conversation.
Episcopal images of eschatology and the eschaton, the end of the world as we know it, and the ushering in of God’s reign, are anchored in the sure and sound hope of the resurrected life of Jesus Christ, the pivotal fulfillment of the “God among us” act. The hope that we strain toward as Christians is the rejoinder of our finite humanity with our infinite Creator through the overcoming of any and every obstacle that separates us from each other and from God (sickness, death, evil, injustice, slavery, racism, etc.).
And so, what Dr. Sprinkle asked Fr. Waller and I to address is what we believe regarding this notion of eschatology and how it is expressed and shaped by what we do liturgically. As Episcopalians, our life of liturgy and prayer, indeed our theology, is grounded in and centered on the Book of Common Prayer. The liturgies that flow from it shape what we believe about the world in which we find ourselves, and they speak to what we believe about the great hope of what will come!
The Book of Common Prayer gives shape and form to the story of our faith that we tell, week in, and week out, through our many varied worship experiences. Indeed, it is the praying that shapes believing. The prayers that we pray, the liturgy that they hang on, all point the way, in one form or another, toward that great eschatological hope of Christ’s resurrection, the overcoming of separation and ultimate death.
The prayer book, and all that is in it, is important. And your, each one of us, and our interaction with the prayer book, on a daily, and weekly, ongoing basis IS important. Doing that individually, AND in community is important, because praying DOES shape believing. The way we view and act and react in the world is affected by our continual interaction with the Book of Common Prayer. We cannot pray the prayers and recite the creeds and not act in ways that say we love ALL people, and ALL creation, and intend to act with justice, mercy, and grace. Therefore, your presence in liturgy IS important.
We are half-way through the 2021 Lenten journey. Your worship team (lay and clergy, musicians, etc.) spends a great deal of time each and every week planning meaningful liturgical worship that points us toward that eschatological hope. We are already deep into planning for Holy Week and Easter. I encourage you to make priority each and every one of the liturgical experiences that are planned. YOU are a necessary and needed part of this journey we are on. None of us gets the fullness of eschatological hope without everyone else. That is the beauty of our conception of ALL.
And that is why our praying really does shape our believing!
Lex orandi lex credendi,
Fr. Christopher+
