In the second chapter of his letter to the Philippians, the apostle Paul says to his readers, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed… continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. (Phil. 2:12).”  The “obedience” to which Paul refers is not an obedience to him, that is, to Paul himself, but rather an obedience to God. Paul is not one more despot seeking to amass and execute power as is the nature of so many in human history.  Rather Paul is a disciple of Jesus, seeking to reimagine and reinvent his life as an imitation of Jesus himself, and he is an apostle of Jesus, seeking to point others to reimagine and reinvent their lives as well. Paul recognized that it was the privilege and obligation of all believers to figure out how to live a faithful life.  He did his best to provide instruction, encouragement, sometimes admonishment to those entrusted to his care, but he recognized that, at the end of the day, he was powerless to force anybody to live a certain way.  And that is why he tells his readers that it was their responsibility to “work out [their] own salvation with fear and trembling.”

The approach that the Episcopal Church takes in our own instruction is similar to that of Paul. Deacons make promises to be faithful in prayer and the study of Holy Scripture.  They vow “to make Christ and his redemptive love known” to the communities in which they live.  Priests make promises at our ordinations to study the Holy Scriptures and to seek knowledge of other “such things” as to make us stronger and more able ministers of Christ.  Priests are called to proclaim by word and deed the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Finally, Bishops are called “to guard the faith, unity, and discipline of the Church,” and to do so in such a manner that their “joy will be to follow him who came, not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”  In all of this work, it is implicit that the ordained leaders of the Episcopal Church, like Paul, provide their people with instruction, encouragement and, sometimes, a gentle kick in the rear in the ways of love as made manifest through the life of Jesus. Just as Paul exhorted the early Church to obey God with their lives, so do leaders in today’s Church exhort the modern Church to do the same.

But in the final analysis, it is the responsibility of each believer to take the instruction of its leaders and to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. There is nothing in the dictates of the Episcopal Church that require a person to agree with or abide by the instruction of its leaders.  Our church encourages dialogue and faithful engagement with all issues and concerns that face our lives and world.  Our church provides wide theological parameters within which lively conversation and disagreement are tolerated and even cheered. Our Church trusts that in such conversation, the Spirit of God moves and speaks, and as a result, the will of God for our lives becomes more clear.

As I and others preach and teach at St. John’s, we will continue to do our best to interpret Holy Scripture and proclaim the Way of Christ.  We do so, however, trusting that all of you will do your own part to listen to the Spirit of God and to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

~Father Art