{"id":17935,"date":"2019-10-13T19:33:21","date_gmt":"2019-10-14T00:33:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/?p=17935"},"modified":"2022-07-06T14:36:26","modified_gmt":"2022-07-06T19:36:26","slug":"sermon-preached-on-the-occasion-of-the-recognition-service-to-mark-my-election-as-the-13th-archbishop-of-the-province-of-the-west-indies-in-the-cathedral-of-st-jago-de-la-vega-on-october-10-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/sermon-preached-on-the-occasion-of-the-recognition-service-to-mark-my-election-as-the-13th-archbishop-of-the-province-of-the-west-indies-in-the-cathedral-of-st-jago-de-la-vega-on-october-10-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Recognition Service to mark my Election as the 13th Archbishop of the Province of the West Indies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the Cathedral of St Jago de la Vega, on October 10, 2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let us pray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almighty God, in\nevery age you have called out men and women to be your faithful servants.  We believe you have now called us to join\nthat great company who seek to follow you. \nGrant unto us today and always a clear vision of your call and strength\nto fulfill the ministry assigned to us. \nWe pray in the name of Christ. \nAmen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeremiah 1:4-10 \u2013 Jeremiah\u2019s Call and\nCommission<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My sisters and brothers\nin Christ, I bid you welcome to this service of worship in this our beloved\nCathedral, which is a Provincial celebration, hosted by this diocese, and\nattended by bishops, clergy and laity from within the Province and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a diocese we have\nbeen observing a season of intentional discipleship in concert with the rest of\nthe Province and the Anglican Communion, during which we have heard much about\ndiscipleship.  We have explored the call of\nthe first disciples of Jesus as a paradigm of the call to discipleship in\nsubsequent ages, and we have been reminded of our understanding of discipleship\nas that which begins with our baptism in Christ and affirmed in our\nConfirmation and active participation in the sacramental life of the church and\nher mission. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Provincial Synod\nmeeting in May in Trinidad and Tobago adopted an Action Plan which is intended\nto guide our reflection and action in advancing the call to discipleship among\nour membership by focusing on five areas:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Equipping\nour youth for Discipleship<\/li>
  2. The\nexercise of discipleship within the family<\/li>
  3. Discipleship\nwithin the Multicultural society<\/li>
  4. Discipleship\nin an era of moral indifference<\/li>
  5. The\nChurch\u2019s role in developing models for Christian discipleship<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Ben Campbell Johnson\nin his book, Hearing God\u2019s Call,<\/em> reminds us that both ordained and lay\npersons experience the call of God in Jesus Christ to discipleship, and that\nthis call has a powerful hold on the one God calls.  He expresses it this way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A call from God has the power of a conviction that it is not our work\nalone but is something both intended and empowered by God. ( Page ix)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    At the same time, there is that call to positions of lay or pastoral\nleadership which comes to various individuals in the exercise to their\ndiscipleship.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In the contemporary publication Emotional\nIntelligence for Religious Leaders<\/em>, the authors West, Oswald and Guzman,\nspeak of the concept of calling in this way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cReligious leaders have a unique understanding of what it feels like to\nhave a \u201ccalling from God\u201d.  A calling is\na phenomenon experienced by those who feel an intense, persistent, divinely\ninspired compulsion to live in service to others as their long-term\nprofession.  It is defined as \u201cthe\nunmistakable conviction an individual possesses that God wants him [or her] to\ndo a specific task.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I have been led to choose as the focus for this address the theme which\nwas chosen for our last Provincial Synod, held in May in the Diocese of\nTrinidad and Tobago, \u201cBeing disciples in\nour Caribbean Context: Called, Empowered, Sent.\u201d  <\/strong>This theme has informed the Action\nPlan which is intended to provide the trajectory which will guide the mission\nand ministry of the various dioceses as together we bear witness as disciples\nof Jesus Christ in these Caribbean lands over the next three years.   At the same time, it is self-evident that\nthis service brings to the fore the issue of leadership and oversight in the\nexercise of discipleship within the Province. By virtue of the honour and\nresponsibility placed upon me by the archiepiscopal office I now hold, I am called\nto a life of shared leadership among my peers of the House of Bishops, the\nother clergy, and the faithful of the laity within the Province.  So today, I address you as one who stands within\nthe community of those called to discipleship by our Lord Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Instances of God\u2019s\ncall to men and women to discipleship and leadership as contained in the\nScriptures are many and varied and, it is difficult to make a selection of a\nsingle text which captures the entire range, depth, and scope of God\u2019s call to\npersons, and the ongoing call to discipleship which comes to us through our\nLord Jesus Christ.  I have been led to\nthis text from Jeremiah as it captures so many of the features which are present\nin the call to a variety of roles and ministries, and serves to explicate the\nProvincial focus on discipleship within the context of our Caribbean reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Not much\nis revealed in the biblical text about Jeremiah\u2019s life prior to his call by\nGod. This I believe is significant because, in looking at many of the biblical\nfigures who are called of the Father and of our Lord Jesus Christ, we see\npersons who have been pursuing life as they have scripted it, when God seems to\nenter in a way that disturbs and unsettles their scripted pathway. Lacking that\ninsight into the life of young Jeremiah, we note nonetheless that the call\ncomes to him in an apparently unexpected moment \u2013 \u201cBefore I formed you in the\nwomb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a\nprophet to the nations.\u201d  It is as if\nJeremiah finds himself at a place at which he has no wiggle room. God has been\nintimately involved and sharing in scripting his life in ways which preceded\nhis sense of consciousness of himself as a person.  So\nJeremiah experiences this sense of disturbance and seeks to argue his way out\nof it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Jeremiah\ndraws on his arsenal of excuses \u2013 \u201cI do not know how to speak, I am only a\nboy\u201d.  He perceives that the call of God has an\nunsettling impact on one\u2019s life, not confirmation of one\u2019s choices and the path\none has plotted for his [her] life.  It\nis a call to risk and adventure, but not a life of recklessness. The\nprotestation of being only a boy may be a reference to the expectation of enjoying\nall of the joys of adventure and youth before settling down to mature and\nresponsible living, a protestations which is probably not restricted to youth\nin any era, and which no doubt informs the first element of our Action Plan \u2013\nDiscipleship of Youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    So,\nJeremiah\u2019s experience is not unlike the response of Moses who advances his lack\nof eloquence and slow stammering speech as reasons for rejecting his call to leadership\nof the mission of God for the liberation of the children of Israel in Exodus 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But\nit is not just an issue for figures in the Old Testament.  One commentator offers a very interesting\nreflection on the gospel reading for this service by highlighting Peter as the\nsingular actor, apart from Jesus, and who typifies the resistance to the call\nof God in Jesus Christ which we have been observing.  In this brief narrative he identifies\nresonance between Simon\u2019s resistance to the call of Jesus and that of Moses,\nIsaiah, and Jeremiah. Simon objects first to Jesus’ command to go out to the\ndeep water, but then he does as he was told to do.  Further, his exclamation that Jesus should\ndepart from him because of his being a sinful man, is a common biblical motif\nfor a person to feel unworthy in the presence of the divine, as was evident in\nthe call of the prophet Isaiah.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    From\nthese cursory observations of the initial responses of individuals to the call\nof God, I would like to frame our reflection on this aspect of our theme as Call and Resistance: Narrative and\nCounter-Narrative<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It is\npart of the reality of life that, as we make our transition from childhood to\nadulthood, we begin to write and project a narrative of our personal life as an\nexpression of our sense of value, worth, purpose and meaning in life.  This may find expression in terms of our vocational\nchoice, our aspirations for our family, the determination of the marks of\nsuccess, and that which gives ultimate meaning to our life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In\npursuing this vision or narrative of our life, God\u2019s call in Jesus Christ may\ncome to us as the challenge of an alternative narrative \u2013 the call to\ndiscipleship.  Confronted by the gap\nbetween the narrative option to which the divine call beckons us and that which\nwe would write for ourselves, we experience a sense of anguish<\/strong>, which may lead to rejection<\/strong>,\nor acceptance<\/strong>. The call to intentional discipleship<\/strong> which is a\nrenewing of the basic call which inheres in our baptism, and which invites us\nto live this alternative narrative, is rejected by many who find it an\ninconvenience, choosing instead to pursue their own scripted narrative of life.  Occasionally, however, like Paul, it takes a\nlife shattering\/changing experience to bring the call before an individual and\nto get a positive response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The call\nto intentional discipleship is rejected by many comfortable Christians at an\nindividual as well as the congregational level. \nLet us not be deceived, every congregation has a narrative of itself,\nand some find the renewed call of God in Jesus Christ to faithful, intentional\ndiscipleship in today\u2019s context, an inconvenience, preferring to live in the\npast with an inherited narrative lacking in relevance to the contemporary\ncontext.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    So, I\nwould pose the question for all of us this afternoon, what does the call of God\nin Jesus Christ to intentional discipleship mean to you at this point in your\nlife?  What may it mean to your\ncongregation as well?  Would it disrupt\nthe script or narrative of life which you are not prepared to surrender? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    At the same time it is easy to develop a\ndistorted notion of the call to discipleship restricting it to activity, and so\nI would ask us to consider the fact that because\nour God is personal, the Call of God is a call to Relationship.<\/strong>  What may have been evident to Jeremiah from\nthe outset is that the call of God is also coming as an invitation into a\nrelationship that is personal and intimate, and which may be experienced as\nawesome and intimidating.  It recalls for\nus the experience of the Psalmist in Psalm 139, who finds the intimate and\npre-existing knowledge and relationship with God overwhelming and who declares:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Such knowledge is too\nwonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Where can I go from your\nSpirit? Where can I flee from your presence?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Discipleship is about\nan ongoing relationship with Jesus and not just one for moments of crisis or lurking\nneed. \n<\/strong>Discipleship is grounded in a personal relationship with Jesus\nChrist and from which relationship derives the commitment and imperative to\nshare the story and our testimony as a way of discipling others for Jesus\nChrist.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Sherry Weddell, that\nprolific writer on Christian discipleship makes it clear that without this\nrelationship with Jesus we have nothing to share with others, the very thing\nwhich underlies Marks 1 and 2 of the Marks of Mission of the Anglican Communion:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cTransmitting the faith is an organic, whole-person, whole-life concept\nthat goes beyond instruction in facts or doctrine.  What is not believed or lived cannot be\ntransmitted\u2026 The Gospel can only be transmitted on the basis of \u201cbeing\u201d with\nJesus and living with Jesus the experience of the Father, in the Spirit; and,\nin a corresponding way, of \u201cfeeling\u201d compelled to proclaim and share what is\nlived as a good and something positive and beautiful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u2026 we can\u2019t successfully transmit the relationship at the center of the\nfaith unless we ourselves consciously participate in that relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    However, the\nrelational dimension of Christian discipleship is not just with God in Jesus\nChrist.  It involves participation in the\nlife of the community of faith. Johnson and McDonald in their text, Imagining a Church in the Spirit: A Task for\nMainline Congregations, <\/em>make the following bold assertion: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It is true that Christ dwells in each of us, but not all of Christ lives\nin any one of us.  Because of this, the\nfullness of Christ can only be known in community.  <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    St. Paul develops in\nvarious sections of his epistles the image of the church as a body, and makes\nit clear that it cannot function without the contribution of every member.  When members of the community engage in ministry\ntogether, community solidifies.  It is as\ndisciples participate in the life of the church that they are fed, nurtured and\nchallenged through hearing the Word of God proclaimed and in sharing in the\nsacrament of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The exercise of mission\nand the discipling of others arise within the context and experience of\ncommunity.  Hence Johnson and McDonald\nadd:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cFor mission to be effective, it\nmust be grounded in a living community\u2026<\/strong> When a community alive to the\nSpirit of Christ gathers, amazing things happen; the deaf hear, the blind see,\nand the dead are raised up \u2013 transformations that do not go unnoticed by the\ngeneral populace\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    So the call of God is to a relationship with\nHimself in Jesus Christ and with those who are of the community of faith.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Unlike the flow of the Synod theme which\nsuggests a clearly demarcated sequence of call, empowerment and sending<\/em><\/strong>, in\nthe case of Jeremiah the sending or mission is announced in the same breath as\nthe call and expression of the relationship with God are introduced.  So Jeremiah is being told that from the time\nof conception he has been earmarked and called to be a prophet. In this light I\nwould like to rework the Provincial Theme at this point to read:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Call,\nEmpowering and Sending: Interlocking Realities<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    So the call comes to Jeremiah to be a\nprophet.  One of the things of which we\ncannot be unmindful at this point is that there was an institutional religious\nestablishment at the time of his call, no doubt concerned with the temple, the\nreligious functionaries, the rituals, the attendant codes and laws, the\nobligations for the maintenance of the institutional fabric, and no doubt characterized\nby cultural accommodation to the status quo of the day.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But what does it mean to be a prophet in this\nkind of context? There is an early tradition of prophets known as seers who\nwere seen as possessing the spirit of God and thus enabled to interpret signs, usually\narising out of an ecstatic experience, and after which they would declare the\nwill of God to God\u2019s people.  The later\nprophetic tradition as emerged in the time of Jeremiah is one in which the prophet\nwould make pronouncements in the name of God regarding the punishment of Israel\nfor its sin and infidelity; the political situation; the compromising\nexpressions of their religious faith tradition and practice; social injustices;\nthe oppression of the poor by the wealthy and the powerful; and a predictive\nelement which pointed to consequences in the future for inaction and moral and\nreligious re-alignment.  It should not\nsurprise us that this understanding of prophecy developed during the period of\nsettled living in Israel with urbanization, kingship, the emergence of economic\nprosperity for some, the emergence of a ruling class, and alliances of various\ninstitutions, administrative, military and religious, to create the operative\nstatus quo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    It is into this kind of context that Jeremiah\nis being called upon to be the prophet for the moment.  It may have been reassuring, if not\nre-affirming to hear the initial greeting from God that he has consecrated him\nfrom before he was born, as what could follow could be the promise of blessing\nand all his dreams being fulfilled.   \nBut then, God drops the challenge when He mentions the word \u201cprophet\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cI appointed you a prophet\nto the nations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Then follows immediately the protestation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cAh, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak,\nfor I am only a boy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What you are talking\nabout, God, is a man\u2019s job, and not just any man at that.  So I do not qualify.  I wonder if this line of excuse resonates\nwith any of the young persons gathered in this cathedral this afternoon?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The response which\nfollows from God is one which lays a foundation for empowerment as\nauthorization and relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cDo not say, \u2018I am only a boy\u2019;
    \nfor you shall go to all to whom I send you,
    \nand you shall speak whatever I command you.
    \n8 <\/sup><\/strong>Do not be afraid of them,
    \nfor I am with you to deliver you,
    \nsays the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There is a\nre-enforcement of the mission on which he is being sent and the introduction of\nthose words of comfort which recur repeatedly in encounters with the divine and\nthe divine messengers throughout the Old and New Testaments \u2013 \u201cdo not be\nafraid\u201d, and which are followed by a reassuring promise \u2013 \u201cI am with you to\ndeliver you\u201d.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There is hardly a\ndivine call to a person to a particular mission in the Old Testament which does\nnot include an expression of fear at the awesome nature of the task to which\none is being called, and which is not accompanied by the words of assurance \u201cdo\nnot be afraid\u201d.  The same is true in the\nNew Testament from the moment of the annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary,\nthrough the call of Jesus to his disciples, the resurrection appearances, the\nGreat Commission, and the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit with the\nchurch in the Acts of the Apostles in face of threats and opposition.     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    For Jeremiah to\nundertake this mission as a prophet is to accept a mission of confronting the\npower structures of the day.  The power\nstructures of society have operated with similar dynamics throughout the ages in\nspite of the millennium, century, or national contexts.   Gathered in this Cathedral is the leadership\nof the Church in the Province of the West Indies, and who I believe are called\nto be the agents of God to represent the church in speaking truth to power in\ntoday\u2019s Caribbean as contemporary expressions of the prophetic call and\nministry.  Indeed, the Provincial Canons\nexpress it this way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The House of Bishops shall in addition to its other functions be\nobligated to give expression to the Pastoral and Prophetic Ministry of the\nChurch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The biblical scholar\nWalter Brueggemann sheds some light on this dynamic, even though culturally\nbound in some ways. He advances the notion that public power is everywhere\nwielded and administered by those with concentrations of wealth, who control\nthe supply of money, legislation, and who support military strength and\nactivities.  The exercise of power and\nthe advancement of what is regarded as public truth is achieved through an\nalliance of state, corporate structures and institutions.  This alliance functions to maintain truth\nthat reflects status quo power.  That\nexercise of power and truth claims a preeminence that is not easily challenged.  In the mission to which Jeremiah is being\ncalled, there is the implicit mandate to engage and challenge this claim to\npower and truth implicit in the status quo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Herein lies the fear\nof Jeremiah.  He sees himself being\ncalled to stand before Goliath while having the stature of a boy.  The enormity of the task is spelt out\nfurther:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    10 <\/sup><\/strong>See, today I appoint you\nover nations and over kingdoms,
    \nto pluck up and to pull down,
    \nto destroy and to overthrow,
    \nto build and to plant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This is not a call to\npreoccupation with the religious liturgy, ritual and matters confined to that\nspace called \u201cthe spiritual\u201d or the temple and its maintenance. So, those in\ncontemporary society who believe that the Church of God is about entertainment,\nemotional highs, and prosperity, better go back again and engage the Scriptures\nof the faith.  And those who believe that\nthe Judeo-Christian tradition has nothing to do with matters of state, including\npolitics, economics, social justice and freedom, do not know the tradition.  These are those who seem to believe in the\nprivatization of religious beliefs and expression and would confine religion to\n\u201cquarantine\u201d. It is this aspect of the increasing pluralistic and secular\nnature of our Caribbean region that the Provincial Action Plan also calls us to\naddress.  The call and mission entrusted\nto Jeremiah is to engage, challenge and confront rulers, institutions, and\npower structures, and the assumptions and values which underlay their modus\noperandi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    At no point does it\ninvolve a call to use the methods and tools of those who control the power and\ntruth of the status quo.  Here Brueggemann\nspeaks of a counter truth and narrative which has the potential to undercut the\nofficial truth and power.  He argues that\nthere are versions of truth which arise from below and have a potency of their\nown. These versions of truth are close to actual concrete and actual lived\nexperience of the powerless, and contain a subversive potential and create\nbewilderment for the establishment.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Jeremiah having\nembarked subsequently on the mission to which God called him, there is that\nironic scene in which power responds to truth from below, as the king with\ndisdain takes his knife and cuts in pieces the scroll on which the message of\nJeremiah is written and throws it in the fire as each section is read to\nhim.  How dare Jeremiah pronounce such\nwords against his rule and the fortunes of his kingdom!  And yet, in a twist of irony, by his actions he\nis actually acting out his own future and destiny which ends with his demise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There are those who\nhold the view that the mission of the church is to exercise charity, and which\nfinds expression in terms of giving out free things to people in need, a\nposition echoed and usually supported by those who control power in the\nsociety.  In this light we are truly the\nchurch when we run soup kitchens, distribute clothes, and offer food packages\nto the needy.  But let us step back from\ntime to time and get some perspective on this approach.  Charity of this nature can be dehumanizing of\npersons, maintain the status quo, and do nothing to challenge and change the\nstructures of governance and social organization which contribute to their\npoverty and its maintenance. To move beyond a limited understanding of poverty\nis to earn the label of \u2018socialist\u2019 or \u2018communist\u2019 from those who control or\nbenefit from the power and truth of the status quo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Contrary to being\njust an antagonistic relationship, the engagement of power and truth of the\nestablishment, in dialogue with truth from below, can be a creative and\ntransformative experience for the society. A few months ago, at the launch of\nthe book \u201cJourney to the Promised Land\u201d<\/strong>\nTheological Reflections by Neville W.\ndeSouza on Jamaica\u2019s Journey, <\/em>and which I edited, the Rev. Dr. Garnett\nRoper, President of the Jamaica Theological Seminary, in highlighting the significance\nof the contribution of the late Bishop, drawing on insights from the work of\nAmerican, Richard John Neuhaus, and Caribbean theologian, Rev Dr. Burchell\nTaylor, underscored the thesis of the public square as morally empty. It is in\npart a protest against the rigid separation of church and state in national\naffairs, arguing that this would result in the death of democracy. Roper\nunderscored the point that the public square ought to be occupied by competing\nmoral visions of faith, non-faith, or other faith communities. The\nfaith of persons and communities must be more compellingly related to the\npublic arena. “The naked public square”–which results from the\nexclusion of popular values from the public forum – will almost certainly\nresult in the death of democracy.  Here then is the warning of the\ndanger inherent in the vacuum that will arise should the Church avoid or be\nexcluded from the public square in our Caribbean national and regional\ndiscourses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We live in a world in\nwhich democracy has been hailed as the highest form of governance in the \u2018civilized\nworld\u2019, and we in Jamaica can be proud of our history of the exercise of this\nform of governance since the inception of universal adult suffrage, a situation\nwhich generally characterizes our Caribbean region. Nevertheless, there are\nominous signs emerging in our world indicating how the democratic system can be\nmanipulated by individual leaders and power interests to undermine democratic\nrule.  In this regard we must identify\nwith the outcry against the proposed, and now withdrawn legislative change by\nour government, that would make public access to Cabinet papers increased from\nthe current timeframe of 20 years to 70 years, effectively removing access to\nevery citizen within his or her lifetime. \nWe in Jamaica are famous for discounting the potential of certain global\ntrends to impact us, whether of global financial crisis or other external\nfactors.  Let us not assume that we are\nimmune as Caribbean peoples from these emerging threats to our democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In this light the\nchurch and her leaders are called to speak on the growing inequality and other\nissues of social justice and the marginalization of people, cognizant of the\nfact that our political culture is one which has been dividing our people along\npartisan political lines, making of the other an enemy and all who would speak\non issues of national concern an enemy of one side or the other.  As leaders of the church in this Caribbean\nregion, we should not allow ourselves to become captives of such distortions of\nour Westminster model of governance.  Neither\nshould we compromise ourselves by parading our personal partisan views as\nrepresentative of the mind of God when we speak. So, my brothers and sisters in\nadvancing the Five Marks of Mission of the Anglican Commuion we must: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    • Highlight how poverty and the widening\ninequality in a society weakens the life of the entire society and undermines\nsocial cohesion, promotes instability, crime and corruption.<\/li>
    • While we\nunderstand that the pursuit of economic prosperity must be a common national\nobjective, we must also take cognizance of whose voice is being heard, and\nwhose is being ignored or silenced, or who is being left behind or excluded\nfrom sharing the prosperity of the land and nation.<\/li>
    • We must address\nthe low wages being paid to significant numbers of those employed in the\ninstitutions and organization now driving the employment statistics, as well as\nthe lack of job security and social benefits through a system of contract work.<\/li>
    • We can take\nno consolation in recently published Government statistics regarding the\nperformance of the economy which revealed a 2 percent increase in the\nnumber of those living below the poverty line in our country.<\/li>
    • We must express our concern about the absence\nof any clear policy regarding food security and the protection of our limited\nfertile land from conversion to residential and commercial development, as well\nas the unsatisfactory resolution of environmental concerns regarding the\ndefinition of the protected Cockpit Country and its potential degradation.  The protracted drought of this year followed\nby unprecedented rainfall should be an object lesson for all who want to see\nand learn. As the old folks would say, \u201cwe take sleep mark death\u201d.<\/li>
    • We must let\nour voices be heard regarding the pervasive culture of corruption and\nthe apparent ineffectiveness and inability of the Integrity Commission, to gain\nthe confidence of the population in face of multiple blatant displays of\ncorruption that have come to the fore in recent time.<\/li>
    • We must keep\nfocusing on the murder statistics, crime and violence which have taken centre\nstage in the life of most Jamaicans. Recognizing at the same time that there\nseems to be a fallacy that if, we get crime under control by whatever means and\nthe economy to its strongest level, while ignoring the moral underbelly of our\nsociety, the vision for this nation will be realized.  There are fundamental\nquestions regarding the value of human life, what is valued in life, and the\nfailure to build social cohesion leading to this prevailing culture of\ndeath.  The late Bishop Neville deSouza\ncaptured this destructive channel of human expression this way:<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      \u201c\u2026as long as\ninjustice and inequity and exploitation remain, as long as a man may work for\nhis whole life and, yet, die almost as he was born, as long as he has no hope,\nso long will he have no love for that society, so long will he seek to destroy\nit because he sees it as belonging to others\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The prophetic voice\nis not a voice of perfection, neither is it a voice only of morality.  It involves:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      • Advocacy\nand education<\/li>
      • Hospitality\nfor victims<\/li>
      • At times it\nmay involve the mobilization of people in the face of social injustice or\nviolation of the created order\/environment, consistent with our 5th<\/sup>\nMark of Mission.  <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        Paying careful attention to the text you will see that\nthe outcome of the exercise of the prophetic calling of Jeremiah is ultimately that\nof a creative and transformed reality for the kingdoms. So the prophet is, \u201cto pluck up and to pull\ndown, to destroy and to overthrow\u201d, and ultimately \u201cto build and to plant.\u201d<\/strong>  So\nJeremiah, as the mission is unraveled, is not the enemy, notwithstanding the\nlabels that have been placed on him, the threats to his life, the exclusion\nwhich he faces from the religious cultus, and those who make up the status\nquo.  He is ultimately for the good of\nthe nation.  So later he becomes the\nherald of hope for a despairing and hopeless nation who finds itself in exile\nbecause of the bad choices that have been made by leadership and people alike. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Because the mission\nis not Jeremiah\u2019s personal escapade, he goes with the word of promise and\nempowering from God. So, Jeremiah speaks not on his own authority, giving\nexpression to his pet peeve or agenda, but on the authority of the Lord.  It means a setting aside of the ego. This\nfinds its parallel in the articulation by St. Paul: \u201cI, yet not I, but Christ \u2026\nin me\u201d (Gal. 2:20).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \u201cI\nam with you to deliver you,
        \nsays the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        And which finds further expression in the symbolic act\nand language:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \u201cThen the Lord\nput out his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord\nsaid to me,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \u201cNow I have put my words in\nyour mouth\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        This symbolic act pointed to that understanding of the\nprophet as the mouthpiece for God.  The\nmouth being touched points to the purity of that mouth and what comes forth\nfrom it.  The connection between the\nmouth of the prophet as the effective vehicle of the word of God recalls the\nconnection between the word of God spoken at creation and which brings into\neffect whatever it declares. So, the word of God in the case of Jeremiah would\nbe filled with divine energy and accomplish the task for which God sent it,\nbringing its own fulfillment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        In the Epistle reading for\nthis service from 1 Corinthians 9, St. Paul speaks of a similar obligation and imperative\nto speak the word from the Lord, not to those who exercise power in the nation\nbut, so that those outside of the community of faith may hear the good news of\nthe gospel – \u201cWoe to me if I do not speak the gospel!\u201d  In so doing he is not only demonstrating his\nobedience to the call of God on his life but also exercising the ministry of\ndiscipling others so that they too may come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and\nSaviour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Here we come face to face\nwith the call to every disciple of Jesus Christ, and for which we have been\nempowered by the gift of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 1: 8 our risen Lord, prior to\nhis Ascension, made this promise of empowerment to his disciples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        You will\nreceive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my\nwitnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the\nearth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

         As a faithful and intentional disciple, Paul\nhopes that others might share the benefits of a relationship with Christ. His\nwords suggest that disciples of Jesus actually want to understand what matters\nto those who are not in such a relationship. Seeing those outside of the faith\nas human beings created and beloved by God, Paul wants to lead them to a place\nwhere they can accept and affirm that status in Jesus Christ, and for Paul,\nthere is a sense of urgency to this task of discipling others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Like the religious establishment of Jeremiah\u2019s day we can\nbecome prisoners to our concern with the things that make for the maintenance\nof the institutional life of the church \u2013 the temple, the religious\nfunctionaries, the rituals, the attendant codes and laws, the obligations for\nthe maintenance of the institutional fabric, and no doubt accommodation to the\nstatus quo of the day \u2013 and lose sight of the missional dimension to our call\nto discipleship. So, we must be ever open to the call of Jesus Christ and the vision\nof where the Spirit of God is leading us in fulfillment of our mission as\nintentional disciples of Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        So, the missional dimension to the life of the\nchurch, the community of disciples, is not just about institutional maintenance\nor activism, neither is it to confine our mission to playing God and condemning\nthose who we deem the sinners and lost ones in society, and which,\nincidentally,  is having the result of\nturning off more and more persons from the faith to which we adhere, but as\nportrayed by St. Paul, a call to discernment and to assist persons to address in\nlife-giving ways the deep questions of human existence.  God is active in our world constantly\nrevealing Himself and engaging and challenging the faithful to new adventures\nand opening up new opportunities for witnessing to the gospel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Marva Dawn and Eugene\nPeterson, remind us that there are some fundamental longings of the human soul\nwhich persist even in today\u2019s world, which must constitute the core of our\nmission as intentional disciples of Jesus Christ.  They express the search and longings of the\nsoul of each human being this way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        • The search for identity, asking \u201cWho am\nI?\u201d  <\/li>
        • The search for a narrative that helps makes\nsense and meaning of one\u2019s life.<\/li>
        • The search for love, connection and solutions\nto the lonely yearning of the spirit.<\/li>
        • The search for values by which to live.<\/li>
        • The search to find a way to cope with and\nsurvive the exercise of power by those so endowed and the chaos of the world.<\/li>
        • The search for meaning and purpose for one\u2019s\nlife.  <\/li>
        • The search for hope and the courage to go on.    <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

          The gospel of Jesus\nChrist addresses these issues for persons in every age.  Disciples are called to engage the present through\na process of discernment and looking towards the future with God in Jesus\nChrist in the exercise of mission and the discipling of others. It is with this\nconviction that the Provincial Synod through a process of discernment has\noffered to the Dioceses an Action Plan which calls each Diocese to explore\nthrough a renewed sense of awareness as intentional disciples, new avenues and\nexpressions of mission and ministry to which God in Jesus Christ may be\npointing us and which are appropriate and relevant to today\u2019s Caribbean reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          It is my prayer that\nas Bishops, priests, deacons, commissioned lay workers and leaders, and all the\nfaithful, we will work together for the fulfillment of our collective mission\nand ministry as those who are Called, Empowered and Sent by God in Jesus\nChrist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          AMEN.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          In the Cathedral of St Jago de la Vega, on October 10, 2019 Let us pray. Almighty God, in every age you have called out men and women to be your faithful servants.  We believe you have now called us to join that great company who seek to follow you.  Grant unto us today and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":17936,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sermon","ctfw-has-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/610"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17935"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27081,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17935\/revisions\/27081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}