What do you think of when you hear “Waterloo?" Folks in my
generation might first think of the pop band, ABBA, and their hit with the same name; others may think of a city in Iowa. But, for those raised in England, Waterloo has a much different meaning. Here’s a quick, and painless, history lesson. Sunday morning, June 18, 1815, near the town of Waterloo in present-day Belgium, Emperor Napoleon was attempting to take over the world. If Napoleon had won, many believe his next stop would have been the shores of England. The Duke of Wellington was sent with an army to make this Napoleon’s last stand. The fate of Europe hung in the balance. Across the English Channel, communication occurred by means of flashing lights. Many on the English side stood waiting to hear the news of what happened with Wellington’s army. Through the fog, a light on the French side started to blink. It read, “Wellington” and then a long pause. Then, “Defeated”. … and nothing else. Panic spread throughout the English countryside. Villagers started to gather their belongings to flee north. Many feared the outcome and wondered whether or not England would survive. But a few faithful, believing in the sovereignty of England, and the strength of Wellington’s leadership, waited on the shore. As the day passed, the fog cleared. The message was flashed again. “Wellington” a pause, “Defeated”, a longer pause, “Napoleon”. Cheers erupted from the shore and messengers were sent quickly to London to say their interpretation of the first message had been wrong. Wellington had defeated Napoleon! A Biblical commentary that I recently discovered suggests the story of Waterloo is pretty close to what happened on Good Friday. The message was sent out from Jerusalem that Jesus had been crucified. It could have been something like this: “Jesus” pause “Defeated.” Sorrow and despair would have filled the air along with desperation and depression. Why did we believe in him? might have run through the minds of many of his followers. But, like those Brits who stayed by the shore until the fog cleared, some faithful women hung in there. On Sunday morning, they went to Jesus’ tomb. The fog of death and despair had cleared. The message they received that morning was this: “Jesus. . .Defeated. . .Death”. And this message was the one they passed to the eleven disciples – Jesus died but was now alive. He had defeated death! The sovereignty of God had overcome death and the Kingdom of God still stood. Many times in life, the fog of despair rolls in. Or sometimes it is the fog of misunderstanding or not having the full picture that obscures our vision of the truth which sets us free. Sometimes people call our faith “blind” because we cannot see all the way. In late spring, 1815, they could not see all the way across the English Channel. Likewise in late spring, at Jesus’ last Passover, they could not see all the way through to the joy of Sunday morning. But some waited, listened and watched. And they received the Good News. Like the women who faithfully went to Jesus’ tomb and found that he was alive; like the faithful English who waited on the shore for a sign of good news from the battlefield; may you also have the faith to stick it out and wait patiently for the Lord, for he has Good News for you, - Fr. Marshall The Church remembered the life of Ephrem of Edessa this past Monday
in its calendar of saints. His life points to an aspect of faith that I want to share with you. Ephrem was born in the year 306 on the border of what is now Turkey and Syria, near where both countries border Iraq. For anyone who has traveled northwest on Highway 1 from Mosul, Iraq, to the border of Syria, you were heading toward Ephrem’s home town; the rest of us will settle for Map Quest. He was ordained a Deacon and served the Church for his entire life mostly in teaching, preaching, and defending the faith. 72 of his hymns and reflections on the Bible remain popular to this day. During a famine, he distributed food and organized a sort of ambulance service. Ephrem died on June 9th, 373, from exhaustion and sickness. It would be easy to talk about his popular poetry and hymns or his possible involvement in the Council of Nicea (whence we get the Nicene Creed) but today I want to highlight something else about his life. This struck me perhaps because of Father’s Day but Ephrem was unlike his father in the practice of his faith. His dad was probably a pagan priest until he converted to Christianity. His mother, a Christian, may have had a role in that conversion. Nevertheless, they raised Ephrem with a focus on education, specifically writing and poetry. But at some point, Ephrem took on the faith of his father and made it his own. The early 300’s were an exciting time to be a Christian. For one thing, it was legal: Emperor Constantine had legalized the practice of Christianity. The Christ-driven movement was flourishing. Saint Jacob, the second bishop of the diocese of Nisbis, was Ephrem’s mentor in the faith. So Ephrem was baptized, and perhaps simultaneously ordained, in his youth and then embraced a type of Syrian-monasticism. Several years later, his bishop and mentor was a signatory at the First Council of Nicea; Ephrem may have attended. And yet, the time was not without difficulty. A series of attacks from Persia forced the Emperor to surrender Ephrem’s region which permitted the expulsion of the entire Christian population. Ephrem had to relocate to continue his work in the Church. We do not know much about the faith of Ephrem’s mother and father. But, based on his life and his practice in the faith, it appears he adopted Christianity pretty much on his own. This is quite different from when God spoke to Abraham and said that he would give Abraham many descendants. Abraham accordingly became the father of the faith and Isaac, Abraham’s son, took his father’s faith and made it his own. Likewise Jacob, Isaac’s son, took his father’s faith and made it his own. To this day, we call on the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Saint Paul is one of the most prolific writers in the New Testament. He was a high-up leader in the Jewish faith, something that was probably taught to him by his father. We don’t know anything about Paul’s father but Paul’s conversion experience suggests that Paul’s practice of faith was substantially different from that of his dad. King David took his father’s faith and made it his own – through writing psalms and at one point in a jubilant dance. We are told that David had a heart for God. David’s son, Solomon, took his father’s faith but not much of the exuberance for God and placed importance on building a temple and his own collections of various things (including wives). Solomon’s son took the faith handed to him and found more important matters in wealth and power. What is the faith of your father? For some us, our fathers had a strong and outwardly visible faith; other fathers have faith known to God alone. Regardless of where your dad is along that spectrum, I believe that you need to make your faith in God your own. You cannot simply adopt the faith of your parents. May God who we call our Father in Heaven shape your faith, may the Holy Spirit guide you into wisdom and instruction and may Christ be your spiritual guide as you make your ancestral faith your own, - Fr. Marshall In seminary I was a volunteer VA Chaplain. I served in VA hospital
that started taking in wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan – specifically, traumatic brain injuries, prosthetics, and spinal and ocular injuries. I have not talked much about my experience because what I saw, and the men and women that I had the honor to serve, remain deep in my heart and soul. For instance, one day I watched three Vietnam veterans, all in wheelchairs, teaching a 28-year old how to use his chair, a new black one that still had plastic covering on the wheels that matched the fresh bandages on his head and hands. That image still tears me up inside so I’ll stop talking about it now. The VA told chaplains they could pray but should refrain from naming God in public prayers. (I wish I were making this up.) We could pray, “We thank you for our country, be with us as we prepare for this day, Amen.” The Episcopal tradition is more like this: “Almighty God, creator of all things, we thank you for our country, send us your Holy Spirit to prepare us for this day, in Jesus’ name, Amen.” I wrote in my journal I felt I wasn’t actually praying when I wasn’t naming God. The hardest part was not ending in Jesus’ name or the Trinity, as in “to God Almighty, through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.” I once presided over a public VA chapel service where I found myself swallowing the words “… in Jesus’ name” at the end of each prayer. Later that day, I remembered Jesus’ words, “Anyone who is ashamed of me I will be ashamed of before the Father,” so I got on my knees and fervently prayed that God would please forgive me. I shared this with my supervisor who suggested perhaps God is bigger and more understanding than I thought. I told him about the Anglican theology of prayer and he gave me the same answer – only this time saying that perhaps God is bigger and older than “Anglican theology.” From what I can gather, military chaplains are under the same rule today. This morning I heard a radio story saying the House Armed Services Committee had voted to stop restrictions on military chaplain prayers. They decided that chaplains should be able to pray in the name of Jesus or their faith’s deity at general events. Alas, this amendment is a part of a 2014 defense policy bill the House will vote on next week which itself is a part of a $972 billion spending plan. I am torn up on this. I don’t like Congress deciding matters of prayer. On the other hand, I am relieved to hear that chaplains may be given some freedom. One of the best publications of the Episcopal Church is A Prayer Book for the Armed Services, 2008, a pocket-sized volume with many wonderful prayers, hymns, Psalms, Bible readings, and instructions on how to baptize, to pray for Christ to come into your life, to minister to the wounded, to say goodbye to someone who is dying, and even how to pray if you yourself are dying. In the meantime, will you pray with me, O God, bless our men, women and families in the Armed Services. Visit and sustain the lives of all chaplains in their rounds, duties and deployments. Give all who serve confident hearts in their work as peacemakers and peacekeepers. Protect our nation and its people in these difficult times. Never, Lord, let us abandon the character of righteousness in everything we do. In Jesus’ name. Amen. -Fr. Marshall |