The Mission of the Faithful Remnant
By Christopher Samsom
THERE IS A weariness haunting some of our brothers and sisters in pews and pulpits across the nation. For decades they proclaimed, they articulated, the centrality and authority of holy Scripture to the identity of the Anglican Church of Canada. For decades they opposed, they fought, they politicked against the changing of the church’s doctrine to permit same-sex marriage. At GS2019 they defeated this proposed change of doctrine. Yet this decision was immediately, or proactively, ignored by much of our nation’s church. This includes the episcopate, those we look to as the defenders of our church’s unity and doctrine. We breathed in to praise God for preventing us, we breathed out groans of “thy kingdom come.”
After so much energy and concentration expended, after friends and allies departing for Rome or the ACNA, the question we are left with is: what now? For some the mission of preserving the church’s doctrine of marriage became all consuming. And there is fear – that all that is left for us now is the resentment of colleagues at our continued existence and a quiet resistance. Is it that our inheritance is a now irrelevant negative vision? What could be left for us but opposition to the trajectory of the church we love and serve? My hope is that whatever God has in store for us now, it is at least the following:
First, humbly and zealously running the race that is set before us. Jesus has called us to follow him, and to run the path of the saints. As Christians we are called to pursue personal holiness. We are first to live and love as Christ would have us, turning away from the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil and towards the Cross. The Holy Spirit burns in God’s people, refining and trying us. We are not called ultimately to play politics in church institutions, but to be saints. Our mission is first to die daily to ourselves that we no longer live but Christ lives in us.
Second, praying for our church and its leadership. Job prayed for his wayward children and offered sacrifices on their behalf. Elijah prayed for Israel when all the people had prostituted themselves out to Baal. If we believe as James’s epistle teaches that the prayer of the righteous avails much, if we claim to be faithful, we are then called to spend a good deal of time upon our knees. Wait for the Lord.
Third, equipping the saints and making disciples. We all need encouragement and have the gifts to encourage one another. Use them. Build one another up. Jesus sent us out among the nations to tell them the good news of what he has done for us, and what he is doing in us. We also need to be aware of our season, training seriously together to be fit for these days – to be as cunning as serpents and as innocent as doves.
Fourth, leading worship that proceeds from our private devotions. Worship, giving glory to God, is our right response to receiving Jesus. It is a foretaste of our inheritance. This is the purpose of our life: to praise God and find everlasting joy at his wedding banquet. We offer ourselves to God knowing that, although we are unworthy, he takes great pleasure in gathering us to be with him. We need to remain focused on drawing near to God and doing him honour. We need not get distracted by propagandistic alternatives.
Fifth, be good and faithful servants of our Bishops, encouraging with words in season. 1 Peter commands us to submit to our bishops and to clothe ourselves in humility with them. We are not to be quarrelsome or insubordinate. We must serve with sincerity of heart and be faithful in small things. The power of the God of angel armies works in the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. In this way we are to speak the truth in love and seek opportunities to encourage them to set forth the true and living Word of God.
At least this is our mission, as best I can see it in these days. Suffering, trial and the raging of the devil are givens while we await the return of the King. May those who hunger and thirst for righteousness in the Anglican Church of Canada remember that their satisfaction is also a given. Take courage, beloved. TAP
Christopher Samsom is the Incumbent of the Parish of the North Peace, Diocese of Caledonia. He lives in Fort St John, BC with his wife Bretley and daughter Margot.
