Prophetic Witness: “The prophet has never been popular among his other contemporaries. He has been stoned, beheaded, crucified and shot. If not killed, we have been all too ready to vilify him or her in the name of God, little realizing that it may well be God who sent the prophet to challenge our complacency.” Urban T. Holmes III.
The final article in this series is a call to action. Holmes concludes his book on Anglicanism with
the understanding that the previous chapters lead us to our individual and corporate
actions to work in the world. We are the
ongoing fulfillment of Jesus’ prayer “…thy will be done on earth as it is in
heaven.” This is incarnational, making
our prayers come to life.
This is an impossible task for one generation of believers
so each generation works to move closer and closer to the Kingdom images that
Jesus declared. Our job is to bring the
values that Jesus taught into our lives and into the lives of people in the
world.
One of the most obvious prophetic voices in the Anglican
past was William Wilberforce Anglican layman and parliamentarian who pushed for
the end of the English slave trade in the late 1700s until his death in 1833. Clergy such as John Newton (author of Amazing
Grace) who worked as a slave trader until his conversion to Christ empowered Wilberforce
to use his voice in the early abolitionist movement.
What happens when the Gospel is truly preached? What do we expect to hear when the Good News
of Jesus Christ is truly preached? And
how should we act in response to it? Some
erroneously, interpret the Gospel to say that the sufferings of this world are simply
to be endured by those who suffer, so that their place in heaven can be
greater.(As in slavery) Some interpret
the Gospel to say that as we enjoy the luxuries of our economic system this is
God’s tacit approval of our religious state and culture. (today called the
Prosperity Gospel). The problem with
these two outlooks is that both are static and accept the status quo. These mentalities do not bring healing to the
sick, or freedom to the oppressed as such they do not reflect the mentality of
Christ to bring about his Kingdom. There
is something about the Gospel of Jesus that enacts change in persons and
subsequently in cultures.
Upon hearing the Good News of Jesus Christ and accepting his
gift of God’s grace, love, and life to us, we are changed and desire a change
in the lives of the world around us.
Upon hearing this message, a desire within us is awakened to bring about
the Kingdom, a longing for heaven here on Earth.
Through history and today, bishops and clergy will often come
alongside political movements hoping to affect changes in our culture. These often come in the passing of
legislation, constitutional amendments and the like which have been both
freeing and catastrophic for some communities.
The Civil Rights movement of the 1960s certainly helped confront overt
racist policies and mentalities in our culture.
At the same time there have injurious effects to the African American
family in the last 50 years. These are
not just political talking points. These
are people suffering.
How do we respond to that suffering? We must first listen. We must listen to God. What is God’s desire for all people? To be reconciled to God and one another. We must listen to the sufferer. Give room for him or her to convey the
suffering instead of assuming we know what it is and that we can fix it. Finally, we must work with others to bring
about God’s healing and reconciliation for all of us.
