This is the Archbishop of Canterbury's Easter Sermon 2009, preached at Canterbury Cathedral on 12 April, and reproduced here with grateful acknowledgement.
Do you know that God exists? the interviewers ask; or, How do you know Christian faith is true? There are two tempting ways of responding, both wrong. There is the apologetic shuffle of saying, 'Of course, I don't really know; this is just the truth as it appears to me and I may be wrong'. And there is the confident offer to prove it all to the hearer's satisfaction; here are the philosophical arguments, here is the historical evidence, now what's the problem?
Two kinds of mistake: the first because it reduces faith to opinion and shrinks the scale of what you're trying to talk about to the dimensions of your own mind and preferences; the second because it keeps you at arms' length from the whole business by making it impersonal: here are the proofs and it doesn't much matter what I or anyone may be doing about it. It's just true in much the same way as it's true that Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the British Isles. You may say, 'Well, there you go' but are unlikely to fall to your knees.
St Paul in today's epistle makes it clear that to speak of Jesus' resurrection is also to say something crucial about who and where we are, not just to make a claim about the past.. Now we should not doubt for a moment that Paul means what he says and that he takes for granted that the resurrection of Jesus is not a piece of fantasy or wishful thinking but the actual emptying of a grave. However, the point of Paul's entire teaching on the resurrection is to take us much further than that. This event, the emptying of the grave, has done something and has brought the Christians of Colossae – like all Christians – into a new universe. They are living in a new climate, with new 'thoughts' – a climate in which the various ways in which we've put up barriers between ourselves and God have been shattered and our old selves are dead. We may still go on trying to put those barriers back up again, but something has happened that opens up a new kind of future. Our selfish and destructive acts and reactions can be dealt with, overwhelmed again and again by the love shown in the cross of Jesus. Because of Jesus' death and rising from the dead, our resurrection has started, and our citizenship in heaven has begun. There is a hidden seed of glory within us, gradually coming to its fullness.
Resurrection has started. How do we know? Not by working it out and adopting it as well-founded opinion, not by deciding that this idea suits us, not by getting all the arguments straight, but because we are dimly aware of something having changed around us. For Paul's converts in Colossae, Corinth, or wherever, it's about the impact on them of his early visits: here was someone who although he wasn't a good speaker or a charismatic teacher (so he himself tells us) was so intensely aware that the world had changed that he changed the world for those around him. They trusted him; they were prepared to risk all the mockery and harassment and worse that Christians had to put up with because they were able to say, 'It's so real for him that we can sense the sort of imperative urgency in what he says and what he sees; whatever he believes, this is life at a new level'.
That's why the two sorts of defence of faith I mentioned earlier aren't good enough. It's not that this is an attractive theory that I've decided to try out – but I may be wrong. Nor is it that I now have a knock-down argument that will convince everyone. There is something compelling here. I can't help being drawn to this promise of life and freedom, it isn't about my opinions only; yet I know that I can't put this into neat words that will make everyone say, 'Oh yes, it's obvious really'.
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
Monday, 13 April 2009
Easter's true roots!
Question: "What are the origins of Easter?"
Answer: The origins of Easter are rooted in European traditions. The name Easter comes from a pagan figure called Eastre (or Eostre) who was celebrated as the goddess of spring by the Saxons of Northern Europe. A festival called Eastre was held during the spring equinox by these people to honor her. The goddess Eastre’s earthly symbol was the rabbit, which was also known as a symbol of fertility. Originally, there were some very pagan (and sometimes utterly evil) practices that went along with the celebration. Today, Easter is almost a completely commercialized holiday, with all the focus on Easter eggs and the Easter bunny being remnants of the goddess worship.
In the Christian faith, Easter has come to mean the celebration of the resurrection of Christ three days after His crucifixion. It is the oldest Christian holiday and the most important day of the church year because of the significance of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the events upon which Christianity is based. Easter Sunday is preceded by the season of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and repentance culminating in Holy Week and followed by a 50-day Easter season that stretches from Easter to Pentecost.
Because of the commercialization and pagan origins of Easter, many churches prefer to refer to it as “Resurrection Sunday.” The rationale is the more we focus on Christ and the less we focus on the pagan holiday, the better. As previously mentioned, the resurrection of Christ is the central theme of Christianity. Paul says that without this, our faith is futile (1 Corinthians 15:17). What more wonderful reason could we have to celebrate! What is important is the true reason behind our celebration, which is that Christ was resurrected from the dead, making it possible for us to have eternal life (Romans 6:4)!
Should we celebrate Easter or allow our children to go on Easter eggs hunts? This is a question both parents and church leaders struggle with. There is nothing essentially evil about painting and hiding eggs and having children search for them. What is important is our focus. If our focus is on Christ and not the eggs, our children will understand that the eggs are just a game. Children can participate in an Easter egg hunt as long as the true meaning of the day is explained and emphasized, but ultimately this must be left up to the discretion of parents.
Taken from www.gotquestions.org
Answer: The origins of Easter are rooted in European traditions. The name Easter comes from a pagan figure called Eastre (or Eostre) who was celebrated as the goddess of spring by the Saxons of Northern Europe. A festival called Eastre was held during the spring equinox by these people to honor her. The goddess Eastre’s earthly symbol was the rabbit, which was also known as a symbol of fertility. Originally, there were some very pagan (and sometimes utterly evil) practices that went along with the celebration. Today, Easter is almost a completely commercialized holiday, with all the focus on Easter eggs and the Easter bunny being remnants of the goddess worship.
In the Christian faith, Easter has come to mean the celebration of the resurrection of Christ three days after His crucifixion. It is the oldest Christian holiday and the most important day of the church year because of the significance of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the events upon which Christianity is based. Easter Sunday is preceded by the season of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and repentance culminating in Holy Week and followed by a 50-day Easter season that stretches from Easter to Pentecost.
Because of the commercialization and pagan origins of Easter, many churches prefer to refer to it as “Resurrection Sunday.” The rationale is the more we focus on Christ and the less we focus on the pagan holiday, the better. As previously mentioned, the resurrection of Christ is the central theme of Christianity. Paul says that without this, our faith is futile (1 Corinthians 15:17). What more wonderful reason could we have to celebrate! What is important is the true reason behind our celebration, which is that Christ was resurrected from the dead, making it possible for us to have eternal life (Romans 6:4)!
Should we celebrate Easter or allow our children to go on Easter eggs hunts? This is a question both parents and church leaders struggle with. There is nothing essentially evil about painting and hiding eggs and having children search for them. What is important is our focus. If our focus is on Christ and not the eggs, our children will understand that the eggs are just a game. Children can participate in an Easter egg hunt as long as the true meaning of the day is explained and emphasized, but ultimately this must be left up to the discretion of parents.
Taken from www.gotquestions.org
Tuesday, 7 April 2009
Love Prevails.
Feel privileged, I am just going to type an excerpt out of my journal with God - a rarety.
Some of this stuff may shock you mate - BE WARNED! :)
"As I come before God in prayer about my past relationship with a girl (she was and is Wiccan and I was and am a Christian) I was wondering why it is my times with her are the deepest love that I have felt or experienced? Perhaps the deepest instance of love that I can recall. As I pause, I am struck by the response lodging in my spirit. It's like God is saying to me "It was a mutual acceptance and ignorance, due to sexual desire". As I think on this more I remember the amount of times that I said to her "Just become a Christian & everything will be fine" to which she would reply "just become a wiccan". Stalemate. At that time, my committment was deeply rooted enough that I would not leave this God of mine, this Jesus who bled for my atonement. However, when it cam to me being a moral witness of Jesus, I compromised.
We both had chosen to be ignorant orr tolerant of the other persons religious beliefs (although it was in the forefront of my mind) in order to be in harmony on the common ground we had... sexual desire for one another and a desire to be physically and intimately close. The desire for physical intimacy with the one I was committed to was so strong that I had deluded my self, in thinking it was love. Part of this was due to my now Christian mindset of having to be in a loving marriage to have experiences of a sexual nature. I was making excuses and compromising my beliefs, making it OK. I had mistakenly chosen sexual gratification over true love (with a partner and with God). I had turned a godly mindset inside out. Love had become a bi-product (or secondary addition) to sexual activity because I had focused on sexual closeness and genuinely believed that it was loving intimacy. But really it was a selfish flesh gratifying relationship, but it was all we knew.
But... the godly model is that love, Chrst-like, God-centred, self-sacrifcing love should be the primary focus of an intimate relationship and both marriage and sex are a bi-product or secondary addition to it.
Love Prevails!"
Ok, so I have adapted a bit as it would not have made sense.
Maybe I should just process on my blog from now on, as it is easier to delete mistakes and re-word for my true meaning.
Even, as I wrote this up, I was struck with the last few lines of it, but on the side of marriage this time and not sex.As Christians, especially when young in the faith, it is easy to get pressured (usually inadvertently) into a desire for marriage because it is the vehicle for sex. However, marriage should not be even in the headlights until love is deeply rooted. Love should prevail over all.
Some scripture comes to mind too....
1 Corinthians 13:13 "So now faith, hope and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
Ephesians 3:14-19 "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. "
Some of this stuff may shock you mate - BE WARNED! :)
"As I come before God in prayer about my past relationship with a girl (she was and is Wiccan and I was and am a Christian) I was wondering why it is my times with her are the deepest love that I have felt or experienced? Perhaps the deepest instance of love that I can recall. As I pause, I am struck by the response lodging in my spirit. It's like God is saying to me "It was a mutual acceptance and ignorance, due to sexual desire". As I think on this more I remember the amount of times that I said to her "Just become a Christian & everything will be fine" to which she would reply "just become a wiccan". Stalemate. At that time, my committment was deeply rooted enough that I would not leave this God of mine, this Jesus who bled for my atonement. However, when it cam to me being a moral witness of Jesus, I compromised.
We both had chosen to be ignorant orr tolerant of the other persons religious beliefs (although it was in the forefront of my mind) in order to be in harmony on the common ground we had... sexual desire for one another and a desire to be physically and intimately close. The desire for physical intimacy with the one I was committed to was so strong that I had deluded my self, in thinking it was love. Part of this was due to my now Christian mindset of having to be in a loving marriage to have experiences of a sexual nature. I was making excuses and compromising my beliefs, making it OK. I had mistakenly chosen sexual gratification over true love (with a partner and with God). I had turned a godly mindset inside out. Love had become a bi-product (or secondary addition) to sexual activity because I had focused on sexual closeness and genuinely believed that it was loving intimacy. But really it was a selfish flesh gratifying relationship, but it was all we knew.
But... the godly model is that love, Chrst-like, God-centred, self-sacrifcing love should be the primary focus of an intimate relationship and both marriage and sex are a bi-product or secondary addition to it.
Love Prevails!"
Ok, so I have adapted a bit as it would not have made sense.
Maybe I should just process on my blog from now on, as it is easier to delete mistakes and re-word for my true meaning.
Even, as I wrote this up, I was struck with the last few lines of it, but on the side of marriage this time and not sex.As Christians, especially when young in the faith, it is easy to get pressured (usually inadvertently) into a desire for marriage because it is the vehicle for sex. However, marriage should not be even in the headlights until love is deeply rooted. Love should prevail over all.
Some scripture comes to mind too....
1 Corinthians 13:13 "So now faith, hope and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
Ephesians 3:14-19 "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. "
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