Home » Who We Are » Our Rector

Who We Are

Who We Are

A Word from Grace Street

Simple

May 12, 2010

My Dear People,

There's simple; and then there's simple.

+

Bishop David Bena, of the "Anglican District of Virginia," represents those Episcopalians in Virginia who have left the Episcopal Church in reaction to decisions the Episcopal Church has made in recent years regarding homosexuality (ordination; blessing of same-sex unions). In a recent RTD op-ed, Bishop Bena wrote:

"Once someone rejects Scripture, then they reject Jesus Christ and Christianity as a whole. It's as simple as that. We could not follow a national body that rejected the very Word of God."

For Bishop Bena, to move beyond the old teaching about homosexuality represents an absolute rejection of Scripture, of Christianity, and indeed of Christ himself. 

It's just that "simple," he says.

+

Bono, the famous front man of the Irish band U2, on Scripture and the Christian Life:

"My understanding of the Scriptures has been made simple by the person of Christ. Christ teaches that God is love. What does that mean? What it means for me [is] a study of the life of Christ. Love here describes itself as a child born in straw poverty, the most vulnerable situation of all, without honor. I don't let my religious world get too complicated. I just kind of go: Well, I think I know what God is. God is love, and as much as I respond in allowing myself to be transformed by that love and acting in that love, that's my religion."

For Bono, the key to understanding Scripture and, by extension, the key to the Christian life, is the love of God as made known in the person and life of Christ.

It's just that simple.

+

Yes, there's simple; and then there's simple.

Thanks be to God.

Your brother in Christ,

Wallace+

Next entry: Entering the Fray

Previous entry: Victory

Email Newsletter

A WORD FROM GRACE STREET

A Word From Grace Street, Wallace's weekly theological reflection, is sent by email to all who are interested. Sign-up above or read them below.

SERMONS

To Bethlehem; to Bethlehem, we have come.

And, of course, this Christmas, tonight, and tomorrow, new memories are being made; a Carol sung, pure and exquisite; an old friend; warm, endearing words exchanged; a first Christmas for a new grandbaby; a candle lit, a face aglow, eyes agleam.

The Pointer’s Point

More than fifty times, in his published writings, Barth refers to the Grunewald image; and, indeed, usually, it is precisely in reference to John,  and John’s relation to the figure of Christ; as he points.
Barth (and Grunewald before him) understood John’s sole purpose to be to serve as a pointer to Christ, a reference to Christ, a witness to Christ.

Keep Alert, Awake, and Watchful

On any given day, there are those things that would get our attention; those things that would bring fresh perspective; those things would remind us of what is most important, what is most true. If, that is, if we but notice. We never know when those things, those experiences, those people might come. And so it has always been, so it has always been.

The Rule of 72

The Rule of 72, they call it.  It’s a rule of thumb to figure how long it’ll take to double your money. If you know you can get 5%, on your investment, then you divide 5 into 72 and that tells you: it’ll take roughly 14 and ½ years to double your money. That’s the Rule of 72. Now, sometimes an investor doesn’t want to wait 14 and a ½ years, or however long the Rule of 72 tells you that you have to wait and so increased risks are taken. And sometimes you win, and sometimes you loose.

Walk the Way of a Servant

We all want, in the words of St. Paul, to “lead a life worthy of God.” A life worthy of God. Un-like the lives of the false prophets, of Micah’s day, or the false teachers of Jesus’ day, the scribes and the Pharisees, teachers of the law. Their lives are un-worthy of God, we are told, in no uncertain terms. In their hypocrisy, they serve, not God, not God’s people, but themselves.

View Sermon Archive

VIDEO & PHOTOS

It Gets Better


View Media Archive