What do we Owe Each other?

Dostoevsky poses this question in his writing. "What do we owe each other? He takes it further by asking "What would this look like if we see it through the eyes of faith?
He means Faith in Christ. There is no specific tight connection with Orthodoxy (church) faith although The Orthodox Church belongs in the framework of his writing.
I commenced a list to respond to the first question with

1. RESPECT - I have wondered why I thought of this first. Maybe it was a safe 'word' but it is part of the story. Respect is demanded without consideration of appearance, assumed status or .....



2. LOVE - It might be assumed that agapeo - deep self giving love is what is meant here and only this love but a little more reflection would remind us that
'storge' - affection ,
phileo - friendship and
eros - being in love ALL belong here. No, not being in love towards everyone but where eros occurs it fits correctly here.
While each Greek word opens consideration for friend / family / the attractive etc: there remains the focus of love of / for the unlovely ..... unloveable ?? Can I even mention such a group?


3. SPACE - recognising, respecting AND allowing each person their space is essential to allow each of us to be person. What if he / she has no understanding of another's space?


4. JUSTICE - this is assumed .... talkfests discuss it but where do they lead?
If Justice occurred then all would be seriously disrupted. Fair pay for work done would inevitably lead to higher costs in first world countries. Western type lifestyles would be challenged in the West and among the Merbenzy tribes in third world countries. How do we address issues in the Jewish Torah which speak of various matters are worthy of death ... of being put to death NB. 'worthy of' ie not necessarily being put to death!! Just a thought. Why is Justice so closely connected to retribution? What if Justice involves something else all together?
(This arises from a few discussions with a brother in law who has been a judge for many years)


5. TRUST - every connection however, is totally depends on this. There is no way anyone can affirm that he / she is independent of others. Wealth in and of itself does not make us independent. Buying ones independence is totally dependent on TRUST. Whether it is on the operating table, buying a car/helicopter, eating food, all depend on TRUST. Each day is an act of Trust. We attach ourselves to a prevailing ideology which tends to govern how we live.
Breaking Trust is an evil almost beyond repair.

In his book "Surprised by Hope" Bishop Tom Wright reminds the church that "our mission" demands a message of Justice .... Beauty .... Homecoming ( By the latter he means The Gospel - calling everyone HOME by and through the Death and Resurrection of Jesus the Messiah)

So to what extent do we owe the Other

6 BEAUTY When my son James was with the Grenadier Guards in Afghanistan recently, the battalion lost 17 men and 70 returned seriously wounded and as James noted so many Afghani civilians were left devastated from the war. How do we enable all the families of the dead, the injured to again see and experience BEAUTY?
We, of course would be aware of many here at home who no longer "see" beauty for too many reasons


and

7. HOMECOMING How many of us live in houses rather than homes? AND, that before we even consider the HOMELESS. The prisoner, the traveller, the soldier, even the hospital patient come home to ? what? location? ... house? ... home?
The fundamental under pinning homecoming of the Gospel demands to be made known and lived in an exemplary manner. (Bringing Heaven and Earth together. a notion that many Christians need to consider far more carefully than the escapist notions that some have)


The hard consideration is reflecting on this list in terms of the second question.

I recognise that The Gospels and the Torah write of Love of neighbour as yourself with the serious focus on the story of the Good Samaritan .. answering the question : Am I my brother's keeper? ... affirming the declaration that we are all made in the image of God.


There is also the matter of care for ourselves. ! ? Reading some material on Grief and Depression remind me that there is serious room for allowing Space, Respect, Trust, Beauty, Love, Justice and Home Coming to be applied to ourselves. No NOT self absorption, that fails to address Grief and Depression.

The Christian Society

Bishop Stephen Neill first published “The Christian Society” in 1952. The thirteen chapters outline the story of the church from Jesus and His society through the nearly two thousand years of its life. He concludes with this seven fold description of what the Church is –

First, and always, the church is the Eucharistic fellowship. In the central act of Christian faith, the interaction of time and eternity is always present. Christians are already citizens of eternity, and therefore cannot be other than pilgrims in time.

Secondly, the Christian fellowship is one in which no member should be in need or want, should never be lonely or friendless or in despair, since Christians are called to have all things in common; and, though the rules and methods of this Christian communion are flexible, the obligation is absolute and unchanging.

Thirdly, the Christian fellowship is that in which any stranger should feel him/her-self immediately welcome and at home. Suspicion, contempt and hostility should be excluded by the Christian law of love.

Fourthly, the Christian fellowship should be clear-sighted in the detection and uncovering of evils existent in the society immediately around it, tireless in protest against injustice, active in the relief of suffering.

Fifthly, the Christian society must make it clear that its ultimate loyalty is always and only to Christ and to His word. If it accepts for a time association with the state or any other human association, it must be prepared at any moment to withdraw from that association, if its spiritual liberty and its power to bear witness are in danger of being infringed.

Sixthly, each Christian group must be conscious of its fellowship in Christ with all other Christian groups throughout the world, even though circumstances should make impossible any expression of that fellowship other than the fellowship of prayer.

Seventhly, each Christian group must be constantly aware that the church is set for the redemption of the whole world, and that the purpose of God in Christ cannot be fulfilled, until the Gospel of the Kingdom has been preached to all nations for a witness to them.

We may quibble about this description but it is worth placing them like a mirror for us to consider our Anglican Communion and our local expression of that communion.

Stephen Charles Neill (1900–1984) was a Anglican missionary, bishop, and scholar from Scotland. He was educated and later worked in Trinity College, Cambridge University. He moved to India where he became a bishop.
I had the privilege of meeting him in Sabah in 1970.

On the Emmaus Road

Emmaus … On the Emmaus Road.

The notion of journey is popular among Christians and many others in our society. This is a reflection on what this means for Christians especially in the use of the Emmaus story as a (The!) significant justification for such thinking.

What seems often forgotten in Christian discussion is that in the Emmaus story there is the initial great disappointment that expectations had been misplaced in Jesus and then there is an explanation which provides a clear and definite starting point for a Christian Journey. Both in words and in act Jesus is revealed as the True Messiah of Israel and Risen Lord of All. For an authentic Emmaus journey there is a very clear starting point which can be described as a (THE ) door opening. .. A new direction is pointed out ……. AND powerfully an assurance there is a Guide who walks with us. For in the Ascension Jesus the Lord is seated at the Right hand of the Creator-Covenant keeping God. Jesus is there alive as the true New Adam, as the New Israel, as our true High Priest interceding for us.

It is with this New Testament formulation of the story that we ought to understand The Faith ‘once delivered to the Saints’.

Both in this story of Jesus meeting the husband and wife on the Emmaus road and in the proclamations of the Gospel in the Acts of the Apostles reference is made to ‘from Moses and the prophets …. The listeners were informed of the way in which Jesus was / is the fulfillment of these promises and expectations of that story – The Story of the Creator and Covenant Making God. While the connections of this starting point of the Gospel are rarely given today it is vital for Christians to grasp this story and work out their faith from there.

It was the telling of the story from Abraham through Moses, then the Prophets and the way that Jesus and the events of his life fulfilled that story that lead this couple to realise their expectations about Jesus had not been misplaced, and consequently to be filled with great excitement causing them to retrace their steps ( sometimes vital for any journey ) to share with the other disciples of Jesus.

While each of us has a personal journey to make it is important, no vital, to see that this Emmaus Journey is fundamentally an incorporating journey. We have become members of the New Humanity … To be bound together in Christ, .. members of the New Covenant … the New Creation … NOW.
Note Paul's reference to the Lord's Supper. "In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the New Covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." ! Corinthians 11: 23 - 26.

The Letter to the Hebrews has been vital in providing that framework of this Jewish Story. Mind you Paul’s Letter to the Romans also does this but is too often seen through the lens of the Doctrines of Justification and Righteousness – yes, they are there in great detail but Paul is concerned to frame those and other ‘doctrines’ within the full Jewish Story from the Old Testament to the Gospels.

I trust the label JOURNEYS WELL TROD is the correct label for this story.