Three Legged Stool
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Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
-This Sunday’s Collect
I met for the first time with our confirmation group after church on Sunday. Each of them comes from a very different background and it was interesting to hear what drew each them to St. James and the Episcopal tradition.
All mentioned that they were attracted by the deep roots of the Episcopal tradition and also to the spirit of free inquiry that seem to live side by side with each other here. This Sunday’s collect names our foundation in the apostles and the prophets with Jesus as our cornerstone, and in the traditional theology of the church being built of living stones into Christ’s body.
The Episcopal Church is often described as being supported by a three-legged stool. Each of those legs support us in being a church that upholds ancient traditions without being set in stone.
The first leg is Scripture, which we draw on continually, even when the Scriptures challenge us. Instead of centering our worship on modern writings or poetry, our worship is centered in readings from the Bible - stories that were written very long ago when the world was very different from our own. We look to these stories to deepen in our faith and understanding, just have generations before have done. We find deep and nourishing value in this practice and connection.
The second leg is Tradition. There is much in the Episcopal church that is traditional, particularly in shape of our liturgies, which always follow the same form even when the words are different or updated. We honor the church’s sacraments of baptism and Eucharist, and re-affirm our baptismal covenant a number of times each year. And we honor the Episcopal Constitutions and Canons which govern the way we make decisions as a communion. We honor many more recent traditions, also, because we know how important ritual is for the human soul.
The third leg is our reason (and experience) as 21st century people. Even though we don’t see smart phones, climate change or self driving cars discussed in either Scripture or tradition, we nonetheless interact with Scripture and tradition through modern minds and lives, viewing them as being in conversation with each other. We do not see our faith in a static or black and white way, but rather as a source of ever new meaning in God’s living word and through this structure of living stones we call the church.
I am always grateful to get the chance to re-visit what we value about our church tradition and talk about how it supports people’s faith journeys in its own unique way. I especially enjoy seeing our church through the fresh perspectives of new eyes. I give thanks that there always seem to be new people drawn to Christ through St. James and its Episcopal tradition.
