St Matthew 28: 18 – 20
Teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. Teaching. Teaching takes a lifetime of learning to listen and learning to put what we have learned into action. Before Easter, St Matthew’s Cathedral in Brandon had a minister’s estate library available for anyone to take the estate books for free. And being good Presbyterians, we love the word “free”. We dived into the tables and tables of books at least three times, each time bringing home boxes of books. Last Wednesday we chose our last free books. One book I picked up was all dog-eared and well loved. The title was “Reading and Decency”. What an odd title. But when I opened up the book to see what it was all about, my eyes full upon the publisher….. Society of St John the Evangelist. This was an Anglican Society of Brothers in Bracebridge Ontario. The Order is no longer, but the books they used to publish are worth their weight in gold. This book that I was holding, “Reading and Decency” is all about the proper stances and postures for Minister’s in the Anglican Church as they celebrate Communion. What a gem! The book was published in 1945. As I read this new -to-us book, I am struck that we have lost a lot of our understanding of “Reading and Decency”. We must relearn and reteach the foundations of our Gospel. Let us go forth this day, ready to learn and ready to teach the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.