"The Promise of Peace" by Dr. Alan Spence

I'm currently reading 'The Promise of Peace' by Alan Spence, subtitled 'A Unified Theory of Atonement', T & T Clark, 2007. This is an important book. The book deserves a wide readership as it makes a significant contribution to current debates about the theology of the atonement. Alan Spence is a minister in the United Reformed Church in the UK, serving two congregations in London. I'm up to page 81 of its 118 pages of text. Spence covers an amazing amount of territory in such a short compass.

Spence takes on some big names in Theology, past and present, including Aquinas, Schleiermacher, Barth, Tom Torrance, Ed Sanders and Tom Wright. But he is also appreciative of aspects of the theology of some whom he criticises, including Barth, Torrance and Wright. His heros are Augustine (qualified), Luther and Calvin, at least in the pages I've read so far.

His major thesis is that rather than a number of metaphors in Scripture and in the Church's theological tradition, that variously capture aspects of the atonement, there is a coherent framework which incorporates all the major, biblical teaching on the meaning of Christ's cross. He ably defends his thesis that that framework is what he calls the mediatorial view. Christ is the Mediator sent by the Father to reconcile us to God, to repair the breach caused by human sin by bearing the judgement of God which rightly should fall on us. He defends, in other words, a fairly traditional understanding. Spence, rightly in my view, makes his case that this mediatorial understanding does justice to other models, especially the victory and exemplarist models, its main competitors. He argues that those models fail as coherent frameworks.

To the point I've read at the present, his summary of his theology of atonement is:
'The Father gave his only Son to become as we are so that, in offering up himself on our behalf through the Spirit, he might reconcile us to God." (p.69).

Spence's book is not written specifically as a contribution to the current, particularly intra-evangelical, debates about the penal substitutionary view of the atonement. That view is part of the mediatorial model but is not the specific focus of the book. Yet this book makes a major contribution to these debates.

Spence has served churches in Zimbabwe and South Africa, and his Ph.D is from Kings College London University, under the late Colin Gunton. Andy Goodliff on his blog mentioned recently that he is preparing a blog for Spence, who does have his own website (sorry but I haven't yet worked out how to link to other sites in the body of the text yet).

Community Witness

Last Sunday afternoon the Yackandandah community held an Information Expo in the local Hall. It gathered lots of community organisations to display what they did. Our Anglican Church was there, so were the Lutherans. We both had information brochures about our church life, worship services, other ministries etc. along with tracts and booklets on various aspects of the Christian Faith. One of our members had made Book Marks to give away as well. It was worthwhile being part of this, not because we got into many deep and meaningful conversations, we didn't. Nor because people took lots of brochures or other literature, they didn't. It was just being there, letting our community know that our Church, and our Lutheran brethren and sisters, are part of this community. It was witness by presence. And someone who took some literature or church info just might be moved by it to contact us or come to worship.

Besides which, I won the Lucky Door Prize, quite a generous bag full of local produce, wine, and other goodies, so I definitely think it was worth being there.

Another Funeral

A few days ago I conducted yet another funeral, this time of a special person in my previous Parish who died aged 76. I think it is generally unwise for clergy to return to their previous churches to conduct funerals, weddings, baptisms or whatever. Yet there are unique circumstances to justify doing so, as was the case on this occasion. The lady in question was a life long Christian who served her Lord and his Church, and her community, with unwavering commitment, energy, creativity and self-sacrifice. She was a leader in the Parish over decades. Sadly she contracted a brain tumour about 18 months ago, and left her home for surgery in Sydney, and then to live with family there until her death. She was therefore not really known to the current Rector, who graciously allowed the family's request that I conduct her funeral, with input also from another former Rector who was a long time friend.

I felt very privileged to do this. It was a wonderful celebration of God's grace in the life of a faithful disciple. Yes there were tears, she will be greatly missed, indeed had already been much missed since moving to Sydney. But what an opportunity to praise God for her and all he achieved through her life, and to remind everyone present of the hope that is ours in Christ.

At the cemetery, after her committal, I was able to stand beside another friend and Warden of that Church, at the grave of his grandson who died earlier this year at the age of 40 days. I was tearful as he told me again of the extraordinary impact of that child's short life, not only on his family, but on the Hospital and Medical Staff as he fought for life. And the impact also on the staff, by their own testimony, of the faith in Christ of his parents and grandparents through those painful days. Like my present Parish, this former posting was also in a small rural community, somewhat more isolated from major centres. There is truly something special about such places. They can be spiritually hardened, but occasions such as this funeral, not to mention the life and witness of the person we buried, make it harder to ignore the Church.

An Interesting Day

Today began with a Service of Holy Communion at our local Aged Care Facility, a supported accommodation complex attached to our local Bush Nursing Hospital. It is always a joy to lead this Service, which happens once per fortnight, and averages a congregation of about 20 (there are 68 residents in the complex). Though it is billed as an Anglican Service, we get quite a spectrum of Christian affiliations. In the in - between week, my wife leads a devotional group with readings and prayers. After our Service, Communion is taken to the patients in the Hospital who are unable to attend.

The day ended with another Service of Holy Communion, this time in Beechworth Correctional Centre, a minimum security prison about 25 km away, which I visit each Thursday afternoon. There were 3 inmates present (the Centre accommodates 120). Some days there are no worshippers. The prison is a microcosm of Australian society when it comes to professed religious affiliation. Catholics are in the majority, followed by roughly equal numbers of Anglican, Uniting, Buddhist and Muslim, with some other Protestants and the occasional Jew or Orthodox. But the vast majority of prisoners state "no religious affiliation". There has been a noted decrease in the number of Anglicans - perhaps we're just becoming more law abiding.

It was good to bracket the working day with the Eucharist. It is reassuring to hold to Christ's promise about where 2 or 3 are gathered in his name. I have no doublt that God blessed and fed people at both Services. Tomorrow we will have a morning Communion Service in the Parish Church, we will get about the same number of worshippers as at the jail. That's the most challenging situation of them all.

Reformation Day - What does it mean for us?

Last Sunday, 23 rd Sunday after Pentecost, I preached on the some aspects of the significance of both All Saints Day and Reformation Sunday. This is a short excerpt:

So what does the observance of the Reformation say to us? Well, it calls us to constantly assess our beliefs, our doctrine, against the Word of God. It calls us to do the same with our traditions and our devotional practices. We need to ask the question – have we drifted from the Gospel in what we believe, in what we do, in the values that inform our lives? It’s about learning the lessons of history; and not just the example of the Medieval Church and its errors and corruptions. We need to look first at our own Church, especially so as we Anglicans affirm the Reformation as part of our heritage. In the wider contemporary Church, there are plentiful examples of dubious beliefs and practices, beliefs and practices which can infiltrate our Church and our personal piety. They can rob us of our assurance in Christ, distort our discipleship, and waste our spiritual energy, and our time and talents on things that are not of God. I’m thinking of things like the prosperity gospel, the popular teaching of some Pentecostal luminaries that God wants us all to be rich and successful; or the faith healing peddlers who claim that God wants to heal all our diseases and that we are only sick or suffering because we lack faith, a most insidious teaching; the ultra-liberal denial of any form of judgement, the view that God is only loving and is too nice to hold anybody accountable for their sins – a teaching which amounts to a denial of God’s holiness and which reduces his infinite love to insipid tolerance, a dark deception indeed. There are of course many others.

Important as all that is, there is a very positive lesson to learn from the Reformation. And that is that the Gospel is central, that we focus on the good news that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself; that God so loved the world that he sent his only Son that those who believe in him will not perish but have eternal life; that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. This is good news indeed, this is the heart of our faith, this is what the Reformation recovered from the crusty overlay of dubious tradition and piety which had unfortunately muted the gospel message; this is the touchstone against which we measure our Christian life, personally and collectively, in all its aspects. This is the heart of our message, this is what must always be front and centre.

Funerals

I've just come from my second Funeral this week, and the fifth in just over two weeks. That's a larger number than usual, the average in my Parish being about one Funeral every six weeks. Of course, there is a lot of fluctuation, and this past fortnight has been unusually busy. It underlines for me something that I became very conscious of early in my ministry. And that is, how much Ministers of the Word are managers of death. That may seem morbid, but it is not intended to be. Ministering to the dying, ministering to the grieving, preparing and conducting Funerals, it is all a part of ministry, and it is a real privilege. It is one of the most important aspects of serving God's people in the church. Being Anglican, and especially so in a small rural community, Funerals are a steady, in some situations and at certain times, a frequent part of the role.

Today's Funeral was for a fine Christian woman who died aged 95. Not a tragic situation, yet there was very real sorry and grief, because she was much loved and will be much missed. But there was much rejoicing, for she lived and died in faith, faith in the Lord Jesus. One can speak unambiguously of her resting with the Lord until the great day of resurrection.

The Funeral two days ago was a man of 79 who was not a churchgoer and made no profession of Christian faith. Yet his siblings are active members of one of the congregations of my Parish. We commended him to God, knowing that he is infinitely merciful, loving and just. It is indeed God who will be the Judge of us all, and it is good to leave that job to him.

Yet as I reflect on these two Services, the message I preached was essentially the same, even if I could be a little more explicit and confident about the lady today. Grieving relatives need to hear of Christ's presence and strength, his peace and compassion. All need to be pointed to the Saviour, to the One who has conquered death by his resurrection. The Christian hope was held out to them, hopefully with simplicity and clarity, the hope we have in Christ. When I say that the message was the same, what I strive not to do is simply pull out a stock funeral sermon. I know other clergy who do that, and it seems too much like shortchanging the congregation. It doesn't seem to show the right level of respect. And in a rural community such a practice quickly becomes known, potentially damaging the credibility of the minister.

It is indeed a privilege to conduct Funeral Services, they are a vital part of ministry.

Peter McKeague

First Post

Having been an avid reader of biblioblogs for the past four years, it seemed like a good time to join the fray. This is a tentative first step but I hope to get into the swing of things quickly. Let me introduce myself - I'm an Anglican Priest in the Anglican Church of Australia, ministering in the beautiful North-East of Victoria. I and my Parish are middle of the road Anglican, whatever that means. If pressed I'd place myself on the Anglican spectrum as High Church Evangelical (I'm grateful to Peter Toon 'The Anglican Way' for that one). I minister in a traditionally Anglo-Catholic Diocese (Wangaratta), so things get interesting sometimes. I'm in my late fifties and have been in ordained ministry for just over five years - definitely a second career, except of course it's a vocation not a career.

I hope to comment on issues relating to ministering in small rural communities, on biblical and theological issues of relevance and/or interest (to me), and occasionally on other subjects. We will see how it goes.

Peter McKeague