The Traditional Church of England

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ARCHBISHOP MICHAEL'S MESSAGE

FOR SUMMER 2010

The Gift of Light

Man’s need for light and his love of light often finds expression in the pages of Scripture. There, light is frequently used to describe goodness, in contrast to evil, which is represented by darkness. Light is the effect of God’s action, seen at the very beginning of things. “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (Genesis 1: 3). It is through God’s guidance that we are led towards the light. In the Old Testament, this concept can be found particularly in the Book of Job, and also in the Book of Isaiah. In the New Testament, Jesus calls Himself “the Light of the world”, and He often uses the word in His teaching. It occurs frequently in S. John’s Gospel, and was also a favourite with S. Paul. Occurring so often in Scripture, and used by so many different people, the word “light” contains some significant ideas.

“I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth” (Isaiah 49: 6). Without going too deeply into the complex structure of the Book of Isaiah, which scholars believe may be the work of three different prophets, these words are part of God’s commission to Deutero, or Second Isaiah, who like Jeremiah, was called to be a prophet from his very birth. At the beginning of this same chapter, he writes, “The Lord hath called me from the womb; from the body of my mother hath He made mention of my name”. Part of his prophetic message was very unusual for Old Testament times, for it contained the idea that God would have mercy not only on his own people, the Jews, but also on all nations. The prophet realised that it was his privilege to be the bearer of this message, and that God had appointed him as “a light to the Gentiles”. The fact that this was such an unusual message for its time, and that the Most High God would be interested in anyone outside His own chosen few, only goes to show how little people understood about God before the coming of Christ. They did not understand that God loved them as He did, for they were more used to the concept of a God of vengeance. They had only the most shadowy ideas of how life would continue after death, and their idea of forgiveness for sin was still bound up in the crude system of animal sacrifices. Then, through Jesus Christ “the Light of the world”, much more was revealed about the true nature of God, about how He wishes us to conduct our lives, and what the future may hold for us after death.

Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, mankind has been given the light of greater knowledge. And we should not limit that knowledge only to a deeper understanding of God and His ways, for knowledge of the universe and of the world that we live in with all its wonders also comes from God, who allows His light to illumine our minds and our understanding. Coming from God, all knowledge is good and to be embraced.
When the Israelites left Egypt at the start of their journey to the Promised Land, they marched with a cloud in their sights by day, and a pillar of fire by night. Some commentators have suggested that this cloud and pillar of fire was a volcano erupting at a distance in the mountains of Arabia, towards which they would be heading, and which God had provided for them as a guide to their direction. Personally, I prefer the traditional interpretation, that the cloud and the pillar of fire was evidence of the very Presence of God with them on their journey. In Scripture, the appearance of cloud frequently denotes the Presence of God, as in the cloud that surrounded Mount Sinai when Moses went up to receive God’s commandments, and later on the mount of Transfiguration, when Jesus was seen by His disciples talking to Moses and Elijah. Fire, too, is associated with God’s Presence, as in the burning bush seen by Moses, which blazed but did not consume, and again in the fire that carried away the prophet Elijah at the end of his ministry. These things are manifestations of the light of God, guiding mankind and working for his advantage. All through the ages, God has guided those who try to follow Him, so that the Bible speaks not only of the light of knowledge, but also of the light of guidance. When Jesus declared Himself to be the Light of the world, He added, “He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life”.

In S. John’s Gospel, which has much to say about light, we read how a leading Jew called Nicodemus came to visit Jesus after dark, because he wanted his visit to be a secret. Perhaps that was why, in the course of their conversation, Jesus told him that good people love the light, whereas evil men prefer the darkness, since that helps to keep their wrongdoing hidden. Jesus ended the discussion by saying, “Everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be manifest that they are wrought in God”.
So Scripture leaves us in no doubt that in our lives it is towards the light that we must be heading, and that the way to do this is to follow Jesus, the Light of the world. Through Him we are given knowledge of God, from Him we are given guidance in the paths of righteousness, and in copying Him we gain some of the goodness that is found in abundance in His Presence. Quoting from an earlier section of Isaiah, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined”. That is the light bringing salvation to mankind, foreseen by the prophet, and finally realised in the Person of Jesus.

God grant that each one of us may live our lives guided by the light of God!

‡ Michael Windlesham

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The Traditional Church of England

If you are:

distressed at being denied traditional Worship and Ministry within the C of E;

concerned that the main-stream churches are becoming adjuncts of social services, just offering ‘feel-good’ or ‘happy-clappy’ experiences;

one of the silent majority frustrated by increasingly vocal and (apparently) successful minorities hijacking the true agenda of the church, and concentrating it on social, human rights, equality, gender and other worldly issues, and ignoring the Christian way of life;

Then... the Traditional Church of England might be for you.

We:

are a continuing part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ, and proclaim the Gospel and teach the Catholic Faith as professed by the primitive Church;

accept the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as given by the inspiration of God, and containing all things necessary to Salvation;

base our doctrine on the Holy Scriptures and in such teachings of the ancient Fathers and Councils of the Church as are agreeable to the same, the 39 Articles, the Book of Common Prayer, the Ordinal, and the three Catholic Creeds;

administer the two Sacraments of Christ as are generally necessary to Salvation, and the five Sacraments of Grace;

maintain inviolate the three Orders of the Sacred Ministry, namely: Bishop, Priest and Deacon which, in accordance with Scripture and Tradition, are male only;

expect our members to live their lives in accordance with the tenets of Christian brotherhood and love, and to support its work;

worship God in the Beauty of Holiness, and in accordance with the Book of Common Prayer (1549, 1662 & 1928), the English Missal, and the Authorised Version of the Bible. Our Priests face East at our Altars;

are a ‘broad’ Church, which welcomes all who profess the ancient Creeds and uphold the Faith, be they Anglo-Catholic, Evangelical or ‘Middle-of-the-Road’; holding that all are valuable, and have a distinctive part to play.