For now, I wanted to share with you something I was thinking about and get your feedback. Last night while eating dinner with my culinarily gifted wife and 4 rambunctious and talkative children, I had an epiphany.
Every Christian practices a belief in the Communion of the Saints whether they want to admit it or not.
Maybe their understanding isn't robust, maybe they fail to appreciate what they are doing or maybe they even ignore a vast segment of the saints...
Yet they still act like they believe.
What do I mean? Well, the example is so obvious that when I thought of it, I laughed inside.
In ANY church, the pastor will pray in front of the congregation. When the pastor prays, the congregation generally takes a position like this, especially when the stage is elevated and you have to hold your head at an awkward angle.
The point is that at the moment of the prayer, everyone joins their hearts to the pastor's prayer. They rely on his prayer to be effectual. They come into agreement with what he is praying. The pastor becomes a type of mediator between the congregation and God.
Aren't these all the reasons why Protestants object to the Catholic view of the communion of the Saints? We ask for their prayers as participators in Christ's mediation and we rely on their intercession and join our hearts with theirs in agreement that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
I wish every Christian would just admit it. It would do a lot towards Christian unity if we would stop hiding behind the firing lines of anti-Catholic rhetoric and really consider what we ALL do as Christians. Even if a protestant doesn't understand that this is what she or he is doing or ad hoc ignores those Christians in heaven, it still holds that we all rely on our communion with each other in our spiritual life.
Someone might deny what I've written. But to do so, they would have to go to their church this Sunday and do something like this:
(In front of the congregation)NOT SO MUCH...
[Pastor] "Dear God..."
(In the silence of her heart)
[Sally] "You know God that although my eyes are closed while that man prays, I am the one coming straight to you. Hear me oh Lord as my heart leap frogs the man talking out loud right now"
[Pastor] "...we all love you so much and are glad we can gather to worship this morning..."
[Sally] "God, despite his use of the pronoun we, I am singularly before thy throne in need of no other but you."
[Pastor] "...Lord, we especially ask for your help for Sister Betty as she goes into the hospital this week...
[Sally] "despite what it appears, that I am entrusting Sister Betty to the prayers of pastor, in my faith alone I confide in alone to touch your heart for the benefit of Sister Betty. It is mere pageantry that Pastor speaks on our behalf."
[Pastor] "As I preach today, open the ears of the people that they may hear the word of God and change their lives for your glory. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen."
[Sally] "Please know Lord that I, not like the pagans or Catholics down the street, know that only my prayer directly to you oh Lord doth benefit my soul. In this moment, while I acknowledge the kind but misguided gesture of my pastor, my trust is directly in you to bring about my conversion. I am but an island on which for you to live. Amen."
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| Not a scary picture |
Saints of God...Pray for Us!
