Acts 5:27-32; Revelation 1:4-8; John 20:19-31

The Reverend Paul DeLain Allick, St. George’s Episcopal Church, April 11, 2010

This week PBS replayed its four hour documentary on the history of the Mormons. I watched with great fascination. I had watched the first broadcast a few years back. I remember at that time sitting at lunch with a group of Episcopalians. Some had been watching it others had not. It didn’t matter. Everyone had a lot to say about the Mormons.

The basic theme was, “These people are strange. How can they actually believe all of that stuff?” The issue of polygamy came up. Although the Mormons renounced that practice years ago. The issue of following this self-proclaimed prophet, Joseph Smith, came up. How could anyone follow a fallible human being?

The Mormons, like the Jehovah Witnesses, always seem to elevate people’s blood pressure. They believe “strange” things and are always trying to convert people. Their beliefs are outside the religious mainstream. Both groups have been maligned and set outside of society.

It reminds me of another group about two thousand years ago within the ancient Roman Empire. They were mockingly called, “Christians.” They held beliefs way outside the mainstream religious thought. They were even more strange than those Hebrews with their belief in only one god. These Christians met in secret to eat their god. They believed that their god had become human, died in a public execution and then rose from the dead.

How could these people believe such things? How could they follow some self-proclaimed prophet and then call him “God Almighty”?

My response to the table full of sophisticated, liberal-minded Episcopalians was this: We all believe some pretty strange things. The Christian Church has practiced and defended all kinds of crimes against humanity.

I am no apologist for the Mormon faith. I have many questions about it. But what amazes me about certain faith communities, like the Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses, is how they live out their faith. We Episcopalians could learn from them. In our sophisticated practice of religion what we do is highlight the parts that are acceptable and then downplay the strange bits.

What if we Episcopalians were as committed to what we believe as the Mormons are? What if every one of our nineteen year olds went out on a two year mission wherein they had to explain the Anglican Tradition to everyone they met seeking to convert others to it?

It reminds me of a riddle, “What do you get when you mix a Jehovah Witness and an Episcopalian? Someone who knocks on your door for no apparent reason.”

In the Book Acts we see what our spiritual ancestors were going through. They are brought in by the police to the council and told to stop teaching their new faith. Peter tells them, “We must obey God rather than any human authority.” From the Revelation to John we are reminded who we are: a kingdom of priests.

In the Episcopal Church today we have lost the centrality of catechesis, so we really don’t know what we believe. We are on a mission to change our language and to set aside pieces of our Creeds that are hard for us to believe.

I know that in some Episcopalian circles it is disturbing when I say that I do believe in the Virgin Birth and the literal Resurrection of Jesus Christ. This makes me strange and beyond the pale in some circles. I cannot tell you why I believe this except that it has come to me through prayer and experience within Christian Community.

St. Thomas can’t believe what the community is witnessing to him. But then he experiences it for himself. Jesus in his response to Thomas gives the rest of us encouragement, “Have you believed  because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

As Christians we are called to “come to believe.” For some of us that will come from the witnessing of the community. For others it will come from personal revelations. And for others it will come from persistent searching and praying. Whatever the case, in order to really live out what we believe we have to believe it first.

I think that I have made it clear from day one, that I see my vocation as your priest to catechize the community. Why? So that you can internalize the faith and then give it to others.

We have two thousand years of witnessing in our Holy Scriptures, in the writings of the Fathers and everything that has transpired since. We have our Book of Common Prayer which is a manual of prayer reflecting all of that witnessing. We have our personal stories of revelation, healing and hope. We see each week in the Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist the miracle of reconciliation with God and each other.

We have everything we need to be the Church. It is up to us how we will show that forth in our lives. It is up to us to come to believe. To come to believe so strongly that we share it with others intentionally and by being who are becoming.