Grace Episcopal Church
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Grace Notes
19 January 2012
“Why I hate religion, but love Jesus.” If you search for this phrase on YouTube you will find a video that has “gone viral,” together with numerous responses and comments to the video, many posted as separate videos. Frankly, going through all this material would be a waste of time, and may even be harmful. So why raise the issue in a parish blog? It’s because the video has “gone viral,” and it has done so because it neatly summarizes an attitude in which the frame-of-reference for all decision-making is human only.
Note that the phrase does not speak of faith, but of religion. To have faith we must first trust in God, and then must also agree with certain propositions about God, Creation, and humankind. We must trust and have mental assent, trust and believe, with belief having a content. “Religion,” spoken of properly, is about the practice of faith, but there has to be faith. Faith is about more than being “spiritual,” which involves feeling more than belief, and elevates the idea of “seeking the truth” over the idea of truth as revealed.
Let’s be clear: If the Church claimed to be “seeking the truth,” she would be more popular in this world. But the Church does not claim to be seeking the truth; she has found the truth in Jesus Christ.
Let’s be clear about another thing: To love Jesus as a great teacher and moral guide misses the truth. Either Jesus was, and is, the Word Incarnate, the eternal Son of the Father, the risen Lord at whose Name every knee must bow (Phil 2.10) or He was a fraud and a lunatic for claiming co-eternal being with God the Father. If He was and is the eternal Lord, we need to pay the closest attention to what He teaches. If He was a fraud and a lunatic, why would we look to Him for guidance in any matter?
Looking to Jesus as a teacher only misses the truth, and saying that one may love Him but hate religion misses the truth, for Jesus promises God’s presence for those who are gathered together in His Name (Mtt. 18.20). Love of God is not something that can be done alone, only. Love of God is lived in community, in the Church, and to ignore this by claiming to love our Lord while hating “religion” is no more than self-referential delusion founded on the idea that as an individual, as a created being, I can define the truth (that the frame-of-reference is me). In effect, we place God before ourselves to judge Him, rather than confessing that He is our judge. And God’s response to this self-referential hubris? If it were a video we might find it by searching under “Why I have never seen I sin I do not abhor, and a sinner I do not love.”
Bible Study: Bible study meets on Tuesdays following the 5:30 p.m. Mass, with discussion beginning at 6:30. A pot-luck soup-and-salad supper is planned. (If you do not plan to arrive before 6:30. enter using the glass doors on Ontario Avenue.) Thursday study sessions follow the 9 a.m. Mass. Study summaries of the lessons for the coming Sunday are posted on the parish website on Tuesday of each week.
Vestry appointment: Scott Edmunds has resigned from Vestry. Mary Gallimore, as the next highest vote-getter at the last election, has been appointed to serve the remainder of Scott’s unexpried term.
Thanksgivings: Thanksgivings are offered to all of the members of the Vestry, and to Fr. Ken Okkerse and Dcn. Michele Whitford, for giving up an entire Saturday on 14 January to meet to discern parish mission and objectives. Thanksgivings are also due to Dcn. Michele for organizing the meeting logistics.
Please take the opportunity to notify the office of any member or friend of the parish to whom we owe thanks, that we can publicize this in the weekly newsletter.
Music this week:
Prelude Prelude on ‘Nyland’ Healey Willan
Entrance Hymn 544 “Jesus shall reign where’er the sun”
Offertory Hymn 684 “O for a closer walk with God”
Communion Motet Jesus, Sun of Life G. F. Handel
Communion Hymn 549 “Jesus call us, o’er the tumult”
Closing Hymn 655 “O Jesus, I have promised”
Postlude Carillon Herbert Murrill
Parish Notices
§ The Annual Financial Meeting: This year’s Financial Meeting will take place on Sunday January 29, 2012. We will have one Mass at 9:00am followed by the Financial meeting held in St. Nicholas Hall at 10:30am. The agenda of the meeting will include, 2011 financial review and 2012 budget, Recent Vestry actions, and an overall review of the 2012 calendar. Please make every effort to attend and participate. Adult Education will not meet on 29 January.
§ Adult Formation: Classes are on Sunday mornings in St. Nicholas Hall, at 9 a.m. This coming Sunday we will wrap up the comparative religion course, in a session to be led by Fr. Schaffenburg, in which the theology of various Christian denominations will be compared.
§ Flower Schedule for 2012: Giving the gift of flowers is a wonderful way to remember a loved one or to offer thanksgiving for your blessings. If you wish to sign up for a specific Sunday, the Flower Schedule is available on the table in the narthex. More than one person can sign up for each Sunday.
§ Great Marriages class on the Song of Solomon: It’s known the Bible provides wisdom for righteous living and spiritual growth. But it can guide us in our dating, courtship and marriage relationships as well. As you learn about the relationship of the Bible’s most passionate lovers, you’ll see how you, too, can find the satisfaction that God created to be enjoyed in marriage. Married and engaged couples please join us for this study of the Song of Solomon held in Sheboygan on Wednesdays, 6:30-8:00 pm for 9 weeks beginning 1/18/12. Please bring a Bible to class. Suggested donation for materials, $5. To register, call Great Marriages at 920-783-3660.
§ The Discerning Our Future Task Force: is working to help the diocese discern its future direction. On Saturday, February 25th, 10am-12noon, there will be a diocesan-wide meeting hosted in each deanery. Each congregation is asked to send lay representatives who will answer the same questions used at the Clergy Day with answers compiled and posted on the website. Please volunteer to do this important work as we move forward as the Diocese of Fond du Lac.
- St. Anne's, De Pere (Green Bay Deanery)
- St. Paul's Cathedral, Fond du Lac (Lake Winnebago Deanery)
- Intercession, Stevens Point (Wisconsin River Deanery)
- St. Augustine's, Rhinelander (Northwoods Deanery)
§ Circle of Faith: Time to think about the winter retreat at the Norbertine Center, De Pere sponsored by the Diocese of Fond du Lac Women's Ministries! Pastor Diane Murray is our Spiritual Leader and she will be presenting a program called "Circle of Faith" February 17-19, 2012. You will be able to use the pool on Saturday and do exercises that include Christian music and prayer. Snowshoes will be available to those who wish to take advantage of the beautiful grounds. Is a massage more your cup of tea? or a book study? We will have crafts and fellowship! If you sign up with a friend you can get $10 off your registration! Registration cost for overnight is $110 includes room and meals, for commuters the cost is $50 includes meals. You can find more information and to register online at diofdl@diofdl.org. Deadline is Feb. 1st.
§ Interested in a Futon? The high school group no longer needs it. If you are interested it is free for the taking. Please see Ed Clabots if you are interested.
§ Moving boxes available: If you need moving boxes, contact Fr. Karl Various sizes are available.
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