The Voice of

 

The Superintendent

 

             For the Apostles, the choice was clear.  When Annas the high priest questioned why the Apostles had disobeyed the order of the Sanhedrin (the ruling council in Jerusalem made up of the priests, elders and scribes) to stop teaching and preaching in the name of Jesus Christ, Peter replied, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

             As we all know, Peter was the man who had denied Jesus three times only a few hours before our Lord’s crucifixion on Good Friday.  However, Peter is also the one who became the undisputed leader of the apostolic Church.  And Saint Luke tells us that “many signs and wonders were done among the people by the hands of the apostles” (Acts 5:12).  In fact, because of his unwavering faith in the crucified, risen and ascended Lord, Peter came to be held in such “high honor” by the people (Acts 5:13) “that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and pallets, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them.  The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed” (Acts 5:15, 16). 

             After hearing Peter’s refusal to compromise his commitment to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the high priest and the rest of the council were enraged and thus ordered that Peter and the other Apostles were to be beaten and then released.  The Apostles endured their flogging for their courageous witness and then went out “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.  And every day...they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:41, 42).

             For us, the question of whether to obey God or men is rarely as dramatic as the confrontation between Annas and the Apostles.  But the choice is just as crucial and difficult for us today as it was for Peter and the Apostles 2,000 years ago.  The problem is that we are not always able to make the necessary distinction between God’s commands and mankind’s.

             We know our Lord differently than did the Apostles.  Guided by the Holy Spirit, we hear the Lord speaking through others.  He speaks to us, not only through the collective wisdom of men and women down through the ages, but also through our believing contemporaries.  Furthermore, we learn our responsibilities to God in the context of family living and especially through the family of God that we know as the Church.

             But there are countless other voices we constantly hear and which confuse us.  There are self-seeking whispers within us that demand recognition at any cost.  There are also the persuaders of secular society (movie theaters, network television, cable, the internet, radio, newspapers and magazines), urging us to give into our slightest whims.  More often than not these less than subtle pressures within our society seduce us into doing things just because others are doing them.

             We soon realize that the question “Whom shall we obey?” is inevitably linked with another question:  “How shall we obey?”  How can we sort out and interpret the numerous voices? How can we distinguish between those that take us away from God and those that lead us into a deeper obedience to Him?

             The answer is never easy.  Each of us is ultimately responsible for our own choices.  However, we can only make these choices with an informed conscience that is steeped in the life of prayer, nourished weekly with the spiritual food and drink of Christ’s Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist, and strengthened by our study of the Word of God.  We Christians know that only Christ can bring us a true sense of purpose and satisfaction in this world.  He alone is the One who encourages real confidence and peace within us.

             Surely as we come to know the faithfulness and love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and to see the quality of life He brings us, we will be able to discern more readily and more patiently what is of God and what is only of mankind’s devising.

 

I am, faithfully yours in Christ,

The Reverend Mark R. Galloway

 

 

The Education Elder

 

“Do not provoke your children to wrath,

but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.”

(Ephesians 6:4)

 

             I have been thinking a lot lately about children.  Perhaps it is because Roberta and I recently had our fifth child.  Or maybe it is because I work with children on a daily basis.  Or it could even be that I am the facilitator of the children’s education and youth programs here at the Church of The Apostles.  It is probably no surprise, then, that I have been thinking about children because I am constantly interacting with them.  On a daily basis, I attempt to witness to them the power and good news of Jesus Christ; whether it be in subtle and indirect ways in my teaching in the public schools, or in explicit witness in the classroom here at the Church, or in parenting in my own home with those dearest to me.

             In any event, I have been thinking about children a lot.  Particularly, I have been thinking about children in the context of worship.  I have been noticing in our Congregation that many children (from the toddlers through the teens) seem “misplaced” in the worship service.  Many older children seem bored or altogether disengaged.  As a general rule, the younger children are restless.  Children in our Congregation seem more concerned with what other children are doing (their siblings or friends) or what their parents are not doing (providing them with snacks and/or entertainment) than they are with the main thing.  Obviously, in worship the main thing is Jesus Christ.  After all, why do we gather here week by week?  Is it to ask God for blessings and other stuff?  Is it to “catch a Mass” so that we may feel less guilty throughout the coming week?  Is it to socialize with nice people?  Is it to please God?  Why do we come?

             Brothers and sisters, none of these reasons are at all adequate to describe what God envisions for our worship.  In fact, all of these motivations are displeasing to God.  The Bible says that these things, in fact, anger God.  In the context of the Old Testament, the prophets repeatedly spoke out against the Israelites’ falsely motivated sacrifices and offerings:  “Your burnt offerings are not acceptable to me, nor your sacrifices sweet to me” (Jeremiah 6:20).  In the New Testament, Jesus tells the women at the well that all who worship God must worship him in “Spirit and in Truth” (John 4:24).  So, there really is only one reason to come to worship.  We come in order that we may bring glory to the name of the Lord, in thanksgiving for his saving us in Jesus Christ.  This fact is precisely why we call the Lord’s Supper (one of two main portions of worship time) the Eucharist. In Greek it literally means “thanksgiving” (or as it is written in our prayer books, “The Great Thanksgiving”).  Specifically, we bring glory to God in faithful prayer, prayer that has been prayed by the saints for ages past; Biblical prayer as in the Lord’s Prayer.  We bring God the glory due his Holy Name in our raising our voices (no matter how bad they are) to him in joyful song.  We glorify God in listening attentively to his Word:  our training, our reproof, our instruction (as Saint Paul writes to Timothy).  And we confess and confirm Godly preaching in the pulpit, feeding on the Truth.  We glorify God in worship through acknowledging the fact that he provides our every need!  We give back to the Lord our tithes and offerings and symbolically provide the bread and wine that will be fed to us in the Holy Sacrament.  Furthermore, we glorify God in worship by confessing our sins, and by asking God to cleanse our hearts and minds.  We then offer ourselves as living sacrifices to Him, so that we may be sanctified through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives throughout the week.

             I must admit, it all sounds like a lot!  Some may ask, “We come to worship for all of that?”  The answer is “Yes!”  This fact is precisely why worship time should be so engaging and exciting for all.  Simply put, we come to worship to bring God (our Creator and Redeemer) glory.  Brothers and sisters, what could be better than that?  And it is our job, specifically as parents, to teach our children (from when they are young) about worship function and about the condition of our hearts at the time of worship.  It is our responsibility to explain to our children what worship is all about.  More importantly, it is our parental and collective responsibility as the Body of Christ to lead our children by example!  We must honestly and wholly engage in worship for the right reasons.  In this way, the children here at Church of The Apostles may learn from our actions as much as they learn from our Godly instruction.  We must commit ourselves to being truly present in worship, by putting aside the cares and concerns of the world in order to meet God where we are.  God will always meet us where we are, as long as we are willing to meet him.

             I ask you to think and pray about your own understanding about worship.  I exhort you to examine your own disposition in worship.  Are you really worshipping the living and true God?  Or are you going through the motions for all of the wrong reasons.  Furthermore, what impact are you having on your own children because of your approach and conduct in worship?  Even if you are not a parent, what impact are you having on the children of our Congregation?  Are you teaching them the right way according to your own temperament, words, and actions?

             Finally, if you are a parent, are you being proactive in instructing your young children in worship?  Are you satisfied if they “just stay quiet”?  Or are you actively teaching them to pray and to sing and to listen.  Granted, as a parent of toddlers, I know it is easier to ship the kids off to the Children’s Chapel and worship without them.  I know that it is easier to shove some crayons and coloring books in front of them so that they do not disturb those worshipping around us.  But is that what God is asking us to do with our children?  Or is he commanding us, rather, to bring them up in his “training and admonition,” in his “discipline and instruction.”

             May the Lord bless your journey, especially in worship!  May he convince you of these Biblical truths concerning worship time, and may he equip you with the presence of the Holy Spirit so that you may persevere in your own worship journey, and in the journey that you share with the Body of Christ, and especially with the children.

 

In Christ’s Holy Name,

 

Elder Chad Tvenstrup

Church of The Apostles

Evangelical Anglican