Seven whole days

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have just discovered the Sacred Sandwich. Add it to your blog reading list right away. Here’s a sample:

I’m tired of people talking about “the E-word”. I wish we Episcopalians would practice more evangelism, and I wish we’d get over our squeamishness. All those tired jokes about “E word” suggest that there’s no urgency and that it’s all a quaint relic of some bygone era. This Sunday’s Gospel should clear things up: the harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few. A few days ago, a funny video made the rounds. It’s satire, but it might be a verbatim conversation about inviting people to church, for all I know. We’ve come to a place in which we’re unwilling to share the Good News. And then we wonder why our churches are emptying out. Without the harvest, the grain rots and the barn sits empty. OK, so I’ve abused the metaphor. You get the point anyway, right?

Let’s start at the beginning. If church is just a “nice” place to spend time with like-minded do-gooders, we should just close up shop now. Any number of non-profits are already doing that, and they’ll do it better than we’ll ever manage. In the Episcopal Church, we’ve been saddled with two generations of preachers who have taught people that “God loves everyone” is the limit of the Good News. There’s not been much preaching about the need for redemption or about what salvation might look like. NEWS FLASH! Jesus is more than a teacher. Jesus is more than a Divine Super-Love Super-Guy. Jesus is our savior.

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