Unity In a Denomination Ruled by the Law of Entropy

Today's church service featured another lay person's sermon, and we heard a good sermon based on the Gospel reading for today, John 6:51-58. I had to reflect on the fact that while we are united in Christ through his sacrifice and our communion with Him in the Eucharist, we continually divide ourselves over how we worship, the meanings of the scriptures, and the issues of the day.

I have been listening to our Bishop in preparation for this Wednesday's blog post which will be a transcript of his recent post convention talk. As I mentioned in an earlier post, it looks like he wants us to believe that he is one who "creates space" in order to unify people. Increasing space is a bit like increasing entropy, things in that space tend to fly farther apart. When a Protestant talks about unity beyond the unity we have with Christ, I have to chuckle. Protestantism itself is a bit like the cosmological theory of baby universes begetting baby universes. Endless division into today's multiverse of denominations is hardly "unity." Likewise, when our Episcopal bishop starts talking about being a "radical centrist," or when he identifies himself as a "unifier, and all the while he is actually trying to create parallel structures within his own diocese in order that some churches can bless same sex couples and others can say "No," I have to scratch my head in disbelief and consider that he has lost the center that is Christ. He has redefined "unity" in order to satisfy his desires for the liturgical blessing of same sex couples.

I like to call the world that Bishop Waldo is creating, "Waldonia." He likes to think that he is creating space for people of diverse theological views, setting them up in little worlds all their own so that they might be "safe." This model has never worked in the past, and as far as I can tell, all the equations say that this is not going to give the desired result of (U + Me + God = 1).

All one has to do is look around at the decline of the Episcopal church to realize that this baby universe called T.E.c. is contracting. The rule for baby universes is that if the laws of physics don't work in that universe, then it will fail. The rule for denominations is that if the laws of God are not obeyed, and his Word is consistantly revised or disassembled, then that denomination will fail.

The problem of this, the Episcopal universe, is that it is operating in a space in which revisionism and disassembly are the bases from which all theories for its continued existence must derive.

I heard it again today, from a friend, that God must love everyone and their lifestyles no matter what the scriptures might say. This is an example of a theory that cannot be proven through study of scripture, and is just one of any number of bizzare theories that bubble up out of the quantum foam that makes up Episcopalian minds in this particular collapsing universe.

What happens to entropy in a collapsing universe?

Is there a way out of Waldonia?

I think I'll try to pull a David as we heard in today's highly editted version of Psalm 34 (in bold is what we were permitted to hear in church).

Psalm 34: Of David. When he pretended to be insane before Abimelek, who drove him away, and he left. 

1 I will extol the Lord at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
2 I will glory in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

9 Fear the Lord, you his holy people,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 The lions may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
11 Come, my children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,
13 keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from telling lies.
14 Turn from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are attentive to their cry;
16 but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
to blot out their name from the earth.

17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

19 The righteous person may have many troubles,
but the Lord delivers him from them all;
20 he protects all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will slay the wicked;
the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord will rescue his servants;
no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

Footnotes:
a.Psalm 34:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, the verses of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
b.Psalm 34:1 In Hebrew texts 34:1-22 is numbered 34:2-23.