Jenkins Continued....

One last thing from Jenkins' book.  Christianity seems to have fared best in places where believers were not members of a single class or social group.  Rather, where the faith is spread broadly throughout the population, it remains strongest.

The example here is north Africa.  In Egypt, Christianity became identified with the whole people, originally the Copts.  Thus it was harder to stamp out; the faith remains relatively strong in Egypt today, compared with other countries in the region.  But in the rest of north Africa, Christianity was wiped out early and completely.  This is because the faith never got out of the cities and into the countryside, and it was identified with a particular class of people, and didn't take root in the general population.

There is no automatic and easy application of Jenkins' insights to our situation.  Presbyterians and "main-line" Protestants have experienced breathtaking declines over the past 40 years.  (It may be argued that this "decline" is only after an anomalous period of growth in the 1950's, and that we are now resuming the longer and more gradual decline that had already been happening earlier in the century.)  

Be that as it may,  we face some of the same dynamics that other Christian groups have had to deal with in other parts of the world.  

We experience no overt persecution, but do have to face a tempting alternative ideology/philosophy (secularism/Modernism) which subtly and not-so-subtly overwhelms the integrity of churches.  

We do have a persistent identification of the church with a particular class, generation, race, or social group.  

We do have in the minds of many the identification of the church with a particular nation and often its policies and interests.  

This interestingly cuts both ways.  Christianity seems to flourish more when it is thoroughly indigenized, as in Egypt.  But there is a danger of becoming a "national church," which was the downfall of European Christianity over the disgrace of World War I, with "Christian" nations slaughtering each other at a ghastly rate.  And: is the nominal Christianity identified with a particular people or nation really faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ, or is it just a religious prop to a national self-identity? 

  

The Lost History of Christianity

(Forgive me if this is posted twice.  Some kind of error....)

Philip Jenkins' new book, The Lost History of Christianity, chronicles much of the history of the church in Asia.  It is sobering because it tells a story of a very long decline of what was once a rich and vibrant tradition.  It reminded me of William Dalrymple's book, From the Holy Mountain, which is a tour of dying Christian cultures in west Asia.

As recently as a hundred years ago, there were strong Christian communities in Iran, Iraq, and Turkey.  But now they are all but dead, due to a variety of causes.  These range from outright genocide, as with the Armenians in 1915, to systematic persecution as a result of wars, as in Iraq in the last decade.

In its prime, Christianity had missions, churches, and even metropolitan sees all the way into central China.  There were bishops in Tibet and India.  Most of these were of the non-Chalcedonian "Oriental Orthodox" traditions, to which little attention was paid by European scholars and ecclesiastics.  But these missions were strong, had venerable roots in the Middle Eastern cradle of Christianity, and constituted the majority of Christians in the world when evangelization in Europe had hardly begun.   

First, the book calls into question Tertullian's famous motto, that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.  In the cases of these churches the blood of the martyrs didn't buy them a future.  It appears to have swirled down the drain of extinction.  

Second, the reasons for the long, slow decline have a strong political component.  Christian communities were often identified with foreign powers, which incurred the hostility of the local States.  China and Japan expelled Christians for this reason.  Christians made alliances with the invading Mongols, which sparked a harsh reaction from their Islamic host States.  Many Christians were identified with Byzantium or Rome or European powers, and were oppressed as potential traitors in places where these were considered the enemy.

This identification with particular States and empires ought to give us pause.  Yes, it feels good to have the sponsorship of secular powers... but when these powers fall or lose influence, it leave the church vulnerable to attack by the ascendant adversaries of these powers.  

This is not an idle question even today.  To identify the church with any particular State or political system is extremely dangerous, and tends to backfire over time.  We need to be careful about making sure the church relates to its context and becomes indigenous, and is not simply the expression of imperialism.   

Finally, while Christianity may formerly die out in a particular place, its echoes and influences remain in the culture in different ways.  

The area in question, stretching from Egypt to China, is largely Islamic today.  On the one hand, Islam was initially cordial to Christians.  But intermittent and systematic persecution, sometimes extremely harsh, gradually wore down the churches.  More and more adherents were lost to conversion, emigration, or just plain slaughter.  (And when they had the means, Christians were not much more tolerant of Islam, it must be said.)

We American Christians do not view the world from the perspective of this kind of loss and defeat.  It is easy to talk about what an advance it is when aboriginal religions are overcome by a powerful Christianity.  But what about when Christianity is slowly ground into dust and replaced by another faith?

Christians from the Middle East are now becoming our neighbors.  Perhaps we can learn from them.  Often diaspora looks like disaster, but eventually may become the seed for new growth.  (Ask the Dalai Lama or Russian Orthodox.  See Acts 8:1b & 4.)

But I am reminded to keep in our consciousness the words of the Confession of 1967: "The church that identifies the sovereignty of any one nation or any one way of life with the cause of God denies the Lordship of Jesus Christ and betrays its calling" (9.45).  

Eucharistic Prayers for Lent

Prayer of Dedication

Blessed are you, God of all creation; 

through your goodness we have these gifts to share.

What we keep we lose,

but what we give away we have forever.  

Accept and use our offerings for your glory 

and for the service of your kingdom.  

Amen.

Invitation to the Lord's Table

This is the joyful feast of the people of God!

They will come from all the world,

from every race and language,

men and women,

young and old,

to sit at table in God’s Kingdom.

This is the meal of paradise!

The foretaste of the blessings coming to us,

a sign of abundance and generosity,

forgiveness and deliverance. 

This is the Lord’s table.

Our Savior invites those who trust in him

to share in the feast

which he has prepared.

The Story

On the night 

when he was betrayed by his friends 

and arrested by the authorities,

the Lord Jesus celebrated the Passover meal 

with his disciples.

After supper he took some of the bread.  

He blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, saying: 

“This is my body, broken for you.  

Do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way he took the cup of wine, saying:

“This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood,

shed for the forgiveness of sins.  

Whenever you drink it,

do this in remembrance of me.”

Every time we eat this bread and drink from this cup,

we proclaim the saving death of the risen Lord,

until he comes. 

The Great Prayer of Thanksgiving

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

We give you thanks, O God,

for all we have and are,

for you have given us everything.

We lift up our hearts to you

raising our thoughts 

above negative words and images,

abandoning the ideologies of scarcity and death,

fear and violence,

that dominate our lives in the world.

We recognize and celebrate your saving Presence 

with and within and among us,

granting us your peace,

establishing among us your justice,

bathing us in goodness and blessing,

straightening us in righteousness,

gathering us in community.

In this holy season we strip off 

all the extraneous accretions of our existence:

the useless and trivial thoughts,

the vain fantasies of our imagining,

the empty daydreams of our longing,

the sour rantings of our deepest horror,

the cheap chanting of our most ancient pain...

And we bid them be silent

in the face of your contradicting love.

In your cross and resurrection

we see what we are worth.

We see who we truly are in your eyes:

blessed, holy, good, and precious,

the culmination of your creation

made to bless and be a blessing to

everything you have made.

And so we join our voices 

with those of all your people

in every time and place,

in the angels’ song of praise to you:

Sanctus

Holy, holy, holy Lord

God of power and might.

Heaven and earth are full of your glory,

hosanna in the highest!

Blessed is he,

who comes in the name of the Lord!

Hosanna in the highest,

Gracious God of life,

by your Word and Spirit

you created the universe and declared it very good.

You called a holy family to bless the Earth.

Liberated from Pharoah’s bondage,

you gave your people a law by which to live in peace.

You sent prophets to remind and recall them

to this purpose.

And from that family in the fullness of time 

you came among us in your Son, Jesus Christ.

He walked lightly on the Earth,

healing, teaching, and blessing,

casting out evil spirits,

preaching the good news,

establishing your new community, 

and showing us your holy way of love.

Murdered by the organized violence that rules our world,

resurrected by the power of your infinite love,

he spreads his life over the whole world,

healing, purifying, and protecting, 

restoring the balance and integrity of creation,

reconciling us to you, to each other, 

and even to our true purpose and destiny,

and gathering a holy people

in your Spirit.

Send your Spirit, O God, upon your holy people,

called out from the world and gathered together,

and upon these holy gifts,

fashioned from the fruits of the Earth,

revealing here and now 

the living and saving Presence of Jesus Christ

with us, within us, around us, and among us.

Empower us to share together in your mission,

showing your love and justice in all we do.

O God,

like a mother hen you are always gathering your children,

and so we are bold to pray the prayer that Jesus taught us,

saying:

The Lord’s Prayer

The Breaking of Bread

Because there is one loaf, 

we, many as we are, 

are one body; 

for it is one loaf of which we all partake.

Baruch ata Adonai Eloneinu Melech ha-olam, 

ha-motzi lehem min ha-aretz.

When we break the bread, 

is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?

Baruch atah Adonai Eloneinu melech ha olam, 

borei p’re ha-gafen.

When we give thanks over the cup, 

is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ?  

1 Corinthians 10:16-17

These are the gifts of God

for the people of God.

Take them in remembrance 

that Christ has given us his life,

and may his life of thanksgiving, joy, peace, and justice

become our life

as we are sent into the world as witnesses

of his saving love.

Amen.

The Holy Communion of the People

Closing Prayer 

Gracious God of life,

we thank you for this supper

shared in the Spirit with Jesus,

and with all believers,

and all creation.

Send us out,

empowered and energized

by your Body and Blood,

that we may witness in all things

to your saving love

that fills all things.

Amen.