Being collared - knowing your place (1)

Here's what will be the first in a series of many regarding exactly what it means to have the ring of confidence*, that is the dogcollar, around your neck.

Those who visit cathedrals on a Maundy Thursday are often quite affected by what one of the called the 'last man standing' show that is the celebration of our calling. For those who have never been it goes like this:

Everyone stands - and because we all have that baptismal calling that marks us as Christ's and call us to live as strangers in this world rather than of it we pray for all the people of God. We celebrate the callings everyone present has and having prayer for laos (God's people) they sit.

Now we pray for those who are deacons (diakonos), those who are called to serve the Church to equip the people in it to make Christ better known and serve them in humility - this is the 'foot washing' role, the waiting at tables that frees the priests for higher things - and having given thanks for them, they sit.

Tine to pray for the priests (Presbyteros), those people who are called to 'lead God's people in the offering of praise and the proclamation of the Gospel'. The Shepherds of the flock who teach the word and minister the sacraments - and having given thanks for this bunch, they also sit.

Leaving the bishops, those called to be the guardians of the faith, to shepherd the shepherds and to lead the Church in mission and to be a cohesive and enabling force for the people under their care and to work in unity with the other bishops to bring about a consistent family.

Were there any Archbishops (we have two - Justin and John) then I guess the bishops would sit and we'd all celebrate the über pointyhats and the cohesive and unifying force that they are. They are the national voice of the church what we belong to and are the place for spiritual, practical and media directiveness (a word I found in an American article recently that need to be used once then burned).

So there we have it - a quick explanation of the structure of ministry within the Church of England.
Tomorrow (if time permits) we'll have a look at what it means to have been collared and what you can, can't, should and shouldn't do if you are.

So there you have it - last man standing is, could there be any doubt, Justin Welby. But now you have (I hope) a better understanding of the base roles and positions of the people around you.

And the best bit - regardless of who you are, if you're a believer then you are laos and that's ALL of us. The other jobs are just added

Can't get better than that - can you?


* Confidence because those who wear them are (supposed to be) called, tried, tested and approved and submissive to the word of God and the people placed in authority above them and have an integrity when it comes to teaching, believing and living according to Scripture. (note the 'supposed')

Prayer - Who you gonna call on (and how)?

Last night we had an interesting turn of events as the Alpha course considered the issue of prayer, the statement:

'Christian prayer is to the Father, through the Son, by one Spirit,' 

caused a bit of a kerfuffle as people asked whether it was wrong to pray to the Son or to the Spirit.

'Are we only to pray to the Father then?' one asked, 'How does prayer work? How do we pray?'

Prayer is, of course, the name we give for our communications with those in places of power and authority, the ultimate person in that category being God. In the legal world, once all the facts have been laid out there is a prayer - a request for justice and recompense, comfort and satisfaction added to the thing.

So how do we view this communication?

Having yesterday celebrated twenty years of marriage I guess it has to be made on the same wavelength and in language - although I sometimes wonder what God makes of all the buzzwords, jargon and 'God language' we cloak our chats with Him in, especially those who seem to think God only reads the KJV and speaks in that same vogue!

'O Lord, Thou knowest whatest we havest partaken of and are found mean and in the poverty of our undoneness . . .'

Nah - God wants a face to face, mano e mano, full on conversation. To talk through the day gone, the things present and the stuff to come. Two-way communication with you speaking as who you are, nothing cloaked, all in the clear and open and honest; and He (I believe) talks the same language as you.

So how do we explain prayer? Can we pray to the Son; can we chat to the Holy Spirit? Does the Father get all our mail and hold all the conversations?

A knotty problem for those seeking to form an understanding of one of the staples of Christian living and whilst the words, 'Christian prayer is to the Father, through the Son, by one Spirit,' are indeed right - they might not be helpful. So here's a few of the analogies I've tried in my quest to bring clarity and understanding.

'God - Father Son and Holy Spirit' is the focus of our prayer and because sin separated us from being one with the Father we needed someone to bring us back into relationship with Him and this is done by the Son taking upon Himself the task of restoring that relationship by His, once and for all, atoning act on the cross. So it is by Jesus that we are able to be in the Father's presence.

Putting in in earthly terms and using marriage as the example, it is like a couple who have split because of the behaviour (AKA wrongdoings or sin) of one of the two parties. The Son acts as someone who brings about a restoration of the relationship, making the two one once again.

Now the Holy Spirit, that much misunderstood and nightshirt like spook image that some wrongly have of Him (for He is definitely a 'He' and not and 'It') works in this relationship as one who comes alongside and helps support the wayward, and now restored, party in the relationship to step away from and avoid the things that caused the breakdown in the first place. He helps direct our thoughts and gives us the information and advice we need to keep the thing flying properly.

Back to the earthly terms bit, the Holy Spirit becomes that best friend we all need; that person who tells us the truth when we need to hear it and gives that advice with stops us crashing and burning.

Which leads me nicely into the analogies:

AVIATION
Father = Runway,  Jesus = Air Traffic Control,  Holy Spirit = Co-pilot

As we seek to put ourselves on the runway it is Air Traffic Control who makes this possible by giving us permission to approach; the Co-pilot who calls out heights, works throttles, lowers gear and does the stuff that stops us crashing and burning. This is how it works with our prayer for we approach the Father because the Son gives us access and the Holy Spirit works with us to lower the workload and reduce the errors as we approach.

SPECTOMETRY
 One God but when looked at more closely we find that, like the spectrograph below, that God shows up as having three distinct components - each different and yet making the one and being equally part of that one element: God.

Ten minutes gone and tea drunk - off out (but more later)