Mariann Edgar Budde - Receiving Jesus: The Way of Love

Receiving

Jesus

For the people
of the Episcopal Diocese
of Washington

Copyright 2019 by Mariann Edgar Budde

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

Unless otherwise noted, the scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

2018. The Way of Love Lectionary was developed by the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. Used with permission.

Church Publishing
19 East 34th Street
New York, NY 10016
www.churchpublishing.org

Cover design by Jennifer Kopec, 2Pug Design
Typeset by Rose Design

A record of this book is available from the Library of Congress.

ISBN-13: 978-1-64065-240-8 (pbk.)
ISBN-13: 978-1-64065-241-5 (ebook)

I AM UNAPOLOGETIC in admitting that I am a one-note Charlie when it comes to proclaiming the love of God. Indeed, I mean it when I say that if it is not about love, its not about God! This loveintentional, unconditional, sacrificialis the heart and soul of the message of Jesus. And in Jesus we see the very heart of God!

In the initial days following the royal wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, one interviewer surprised me with a great question, Does this love you are preaching really work? My answer both then and now is an unequivocal YesLove is the only thing that really works. It is the force behind all that has proven good and true in the world. And because of that, choosing the Way of Love is choosing to live life as it is meant to be lived, as nothing less than Gods dream for us and our world.

But there is another question that is also worth asking: How do we live this Way of Love? It is this question that the Rt. Rev. Mariann Budde, bishop of Washington, answers so clearly and so beautifully in the following pages. Here you will be introduced to seven steps, seven intentional practicesto Turn, Learn, Pray, Worship, Bless, Go, Restthat are part of what she appropriately calls the journey of a lifetime. Through stories both personal and poignant, she makes this journey real.

Let me be perfectly clear. As I turned these pages, I found that Bishop Mariann did more than make me think; she captured my hearts desire. For here I discovered anew the unconditional love of God that Jesus taught in an intimate, personal way. Here is a Way that can change our lives for the good, and through us our society and the entire global community. She has put heart, soul, and feet to the Jesus Movement.

So dont hesitate... dive in, immerse yourself in this Way of Love, and claim it for yourself.

You will be so glad you did.

XXVII P RESIDING B ISHOP & P RIMATE
OF THE E PISCOPAL C HURCH

Jesus said I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. John 15:14

IN DECEMBER 2017 the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, Michael Curry, invited a small group of Episcopal Church leaders to help him think through an issue that was troubling him.

We in the Episcopal Church have been inspired by Bishop Currys preaching for years, long before his sermon at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle catapulted his message of love onto the world stage. Since his election as our presiding bishop in 2015, he has been preaching and teaching around the country, calling upon every member of the Episcopal Church to renew our commitment to Jesus and his message of love for the world. The energy around the presiding bishop, both within and outside the Episcopal Church, has been electrifying. Presiding Bishop Curry wants only to speak of Jesus, the one sent by God to show us all how to live and how to love. He is, in essence, a one-man revival. The church is not an institution, he reminds us any chance he gets, the church is a movement. Every time he speaks, we in the Episcopal Church cheer. But what exactly does that mean?

At our December 2017 gathering, Michael Curry wanted to talk about evangelism strategy. For while there are shining examples of spiritual vitality and growth in some Episcopal churches across the country, many of our congregations are struggling simply to survive. Even when we consider the strongest of our churches, the overall trends of decline are sobering. Despite Bishop Currys current public stature, in the United States the majority of people under the age of fifty have no idea who we are and what our deepest hopes are for our world. Sadly, the treasure of the Episcopal Church, for many, remains hidden under the bushel basket of institutional decline.

Thus for two days we prayed and wondered together how best to be faithful to Jesus and his movement. What more could the presiding bishop do? What could we do, not merely to ensure the mere survival of our churches, but that they might thrive as vibrant spiritual communities and compelling witnesses to Jesuss message of love?

Part of the problem, we told ourselves, is that Episcopalians are hesitant to speak about our faith. We almost never invite our friends and neighbors to join us in worship or small group gatherings. Moreover, we seem inordinately attached to our preferences in worship. We like to think of church communities as warm, welcoming, and inclusive, but given our institutional decline, it is highly unlikely that others experience us that way. At our gathering, we acknowledged that the trends of decline suggest that the Episcopal Church is not a particularly compelling witness to the gospel. Clearly, we need to do more than trying harder to make our presence known and be more welcoming.

After hours of conversation, someone in our group asked the presiding bishop what concerned him most. I worry, Presiding Bishop Curry said quietly, that the majority of people in our churches do not know for themselves the unconditional love of God. I suspect that the reason they are hesitant to speak of Jesus is because they dont know him as their personal Lord and Savior. He paused. How can we share what we dont have?

The room went silent. I found myself thinking back to something I had recently read of how Christians experience the Holy Spirit in a book on the essentials of the Christian faith by Methodist pastor Adam Hamilton:

When we speak about the Holy Spirit, or the Spirit of God, we are speaking of Gods active work in our lives; of Gods way of leading us, guiding us, forming and shaping us; of Gods power and presence to comfort and encourage us and to make us the people God wants us to be. The Spirit is the voice of God whispering, wooing and beckoning us. And in listening to this voice and being shaped by this power, we find that we become most fully and authentically human.