My friends;
As we approach Christmas this year, an image from the coronation of King Charles III has been rattling around in the back of my mind – (there being plenty of space there, in which to rattle 🙂). It is the most sacred moment of the coronation when the King is anointed with holy oil, and consecrated as ‘king’. It is a part of the ceremony during which screens are placed around the monarch to prevent the cameras seeing what goes on. For several centuries it was the custom that the monarch stayed at the Tower the night before the coronation, and then processed wearing just a linen shirt to the Abbey, bare-footed. This practice was discontinued in 1661 with the coronation of Charles II….(no surprise there, if you know of his reign). This was an intentional display of a sort of humility, and the common humanity of the monarch. The screens shielding public gaze from the anointing is an old tradition due to the fact that the monarch, at the time of anointing, was stripped bare except for the most minimal covering to preserve modesty.
The image has been in my mind because even at the anointing of our current King, he was stripped to a simple linen shirt, and there he was, surrounded only by a few bishops. No kevlar vest. No body guards. No weapons. No protection officers. Just the King. And some bishops. It is a striking image of complete vulnerability, and complete trust in ones personal safety, in the church, kneeling before the altar.
And this is what church is supposed to be, right? The one place in the world where you can be completely vulnerable, and….completely safe. Like Jesus was, in the manger, in Bethlehem. It is because of our Christmas story that this was always a stated and aspirational reality of one’s presence in the church.
Sadly, as an institution, this has all too often not been the case. And we have been severely chastised as a result. But something that has always bothered me about this chastisement is that in many people’s minds the exceptions have been used as emblematic symbols for the whole. This is inaccurate. No story, no part of history, no event, no motivation in historical events, is one-dimensional. There is, in history, complexity, and nuance, and an unfathomable depth of human motivations and thoughts.
For decades we main-line Christians seem to have been on the back foot. Apologizing for our participation in those times when we’ve gotten things wrong – tragically, and unthinkably wrong….unimaginably wrong with devastating consequences. There is no debate about that. But I wonder if, as a result of our awareness, we have lost any sense at all that being a member of the Anglican church is a positive force and influence in a person’s life, and in our society. If we allow our church to only be defined by tragedy and error, and never anything good, then why would anyone raised in a secular culture like the current state of affairs in Canada, with the Church set off to the margins, be interested at all?
We can not, perhaps, have direct influence on large institutions, but what we can do is think about our own lives, and our own witness as Anglican Christians. Am I someone around whom people feel safe, and safe to be vulnerable and completely who they are. Am I someone around whom people can feel accepted wholly and experience some degree of what might be described as ‘sanctuary’ from the hostility and judgement and power-games of the world? Now, of course, we can never control other people’s emotions, or their responses to us. But we can be sure to do the best we can to exude Jesus and the best of what it is to be a disciple of his, to those around us. Is it love and gentleness and compassion and empathy and a power of light so strong no darkness can overcome it, that emanates from us?
I was recently in a lengthy discussion with a young person heavily tattooed, who stated to me at one point that they’ve always avoided church because of a fear they’d be rejected and cast out, given the ‘tats’. So I enthusiastically invited the person to come check out St. Thomas’. I said, “I’m quite certain I can guarantee no one would bat an eye”. Do you remember when Jesus reminded us that it’s what is inside the human, and inside the human heart, that God looks upon – not the outside.
So this Christmas, think on that image of even the King – the King! – standing exposed, and vulnerable, and unprotected, surrounded only by disciples of Christ, and he was completely safe. Like Jesus was, in the manger. Surrounded by Mary and Joseph and a few others. Perhaps if this were more broadly what people experienced of the Church, there would be less hostility in our world, and far more healing, which is so desperately needed.
Merry Christmas, and the happiest of all New Years.
Fr. Brad
