From the Rector’s Desk

 

March, 2000

 

 

When I was a little boy I loved science fiction in the form of novels, short stories, and comic books.  Every month I would run to the corner store for the new issue of Magnus, Robot Fighter. It was a story of the distant future, in which robots sometimes went wild and were brought down by the intrepid Magnus.  It was full of flying cars, gleaming cities, ray guns, and of course, exotic robots. It took place in the year 2000.

 

Well, here we are in the year 2000.  The future has arrived!  But there seems to be a glaring lack of flying cars, gleaming cities, ray guns, exotic robots, and intrepid heroes!  The reality of today is so completely unlike the imagination of science fiction writers of yesterday!

 

Are you disappointed?

 

I am.  Not about flying cars, gleaming cities, ray guns, or exotic robots.  But I am disappointed about the lack of intrepid heroes.  We need a few heroes willing to risk their own happiness for the common good. 

 

We live in a culture that rewards the consumer rather than hero.  Organizations seem far more likely to prosper when they focus on pleasing consumers than when they focus on the good, the true, and a beautiful.  Even in our churches this is true.  At least it seems that way in the short run -- when measured by a few months or years rather than a few centuries. 

 

Well, here's a thought:  Suppose we at St Andrew were to do something about our need for more intrepid heroes?

 

When we call somebody “a real man” or an “ideal woman” we are not saying that other men are NOT men, nor that other women are NOT women.  We are saying that this one has become an example, a model of what we’re aiming for, a hero.  What if we at St Andrew became intentional about our need for more models, examples, of what it means to be a person of faith?  A hero?  A saint? 

 

That – by the way – is what Lent is all about:  The intentional effort to create heroes.  Christian heroes. We enter into a time of intentional spiritual discipline during Lent not because we are supposed to, not because there is some rule, but because we have a specific hope.  We hope that through spiritual exercises we will become spiritually stronger.  We hope by saying “no” to ourselves, through fasting and self-denial, to become free from inner obsessions, to become free from the tyranny of our own whims and desires, to become free of our self-centered individualism.  In saying “no” to ourselves, we learn to say “yes” to God.  In saying “no” to ourselves, we learn to release our own way for the common good. 

 

Jesus calls to you, “Take up your cross.  Come, follow me.”   Come learn to be hero.

 

The Lord be with you!

Rick +