The political agenda of Christians

"But might there not be an enormous significance for both the individual and secular society, for the whole field of public and political life, for people in evey position, in every office and in all ranks, as also for structures and institutions,...in the light of Jesus Christ

on the identification with the weak, sick, poor, underpriveleged, oppressed and even the moral failures?

on forgiveness without end, mutual service regardless of rank, renunciation without a quid pro quo?

on the removal of barriers between associates and non-associates, distant people and neighbors, good and bad, in a love that does not exclude good will even to opponent and enemy?

on the norms, precepts and prohibitions, which exist for the sake of men, and on the men who do not exist for the sake of norms precepts and prohibition?

on the institutions, traditions and hierarchies, to be relativised for man's sake?

on God's will as supreme norm, which aims at nothing but man's well being?

on this God himself who identifies himself with the needs and hopes of men, who does not demand but gives; who does not oppress but raises up; who does not punish but liberates; who establishes the absolute rule, not of law , but of grace?

on this death finally and it's forsakenness and on the hope of new life and the consumation in God's kingdom?

Does it need much imagination to see that things would look different, not only in man's heart, but also in society, its structures and institutions, if this message were really lived? or indeed that things look different even now whenever this message is lived? We do not really lack a fundamental Christian program, there is nothing wrong with this Christ Jesus himself: it is entirely the fault of Christians if too little is changed in the world.

Christians

themselves are the strongest argument against Christianity: Christians who are not Christians. Christians themselves are the strongest argument for Christianity: Christians who live a Christian life. Faced with the familiar and hardly pleasant history of the Church, we often forget the very much more encouraging history of Christians- unfortunately only to a very limited extent an object for the historian"
Hans Kung "On Being a Christian" London:Collins, 1977. pp558

This whole day belongs to Jesus

Reading through the 1662 Book of Common Prayer recently. Two things have struck me. Firstly, the prayers are about everyday things, rain, harvests, safety, holiness, that show and encourage a genuine dependence on God. It seems with all our modern technology, the only thing we really need God for is providing the heaven tickets. The second is the way in which prayer and the scriptures marked the day and the year. Each day was shaped by the rhythm of morning and evening prayer, not simply for the recluse monastic, but for everybody (or at the very least the minister). When did we give this up as a communal reality? When did we allow economics to dominate our time?

As an Anglican, I've been engaging some Anabaptists like these guys. over the last few months with guilty pleasure, as though tasting some forbidden ecclesiological fruit. But the more I think about it, the more the ideas of sustainability and rhythms of prayer and communal living appear to be part of the Anglican tradition we have foolishly ignored.