Jan. 21, 2015

If a man understands something and does not practice it, how can he teach it to his neighbor?  – Abba Poemen

I’ve talked about that word “practice” before: the practice of prayer, the practice of worship, the practice of Christianity.  Practice helps develop who we are and it can shape how we respond to things that happen around us.  If we practice enough, what we practice becomes second nature.  But we must guard against practicing improperly.  As an extreme example, it does no good to practice CPR by compressing the stomach area 100 times per minute.

Sticking with that CPR example, if we do understand how to perform CPR, there's more to teaching it than simply telling people, “Yeah, lay them on the ground and push really hard and really fast.”

We need to have both the knowledge and the ability that comes through practice in order to teach others about it.  The knowledge and ability that comes with practice can also develop a sense of confidence and enthusiasm in ourselves to speak with and help teach others.

Christianity is the same way.  There are all sorts of doctrines and disciplines within Christianity, and a lot of them get debated.  Some of them include: Jesus is fully human and fully divine; love God and love your neighbor; confess and repent of your sins; respect the dignity of every human being; proclaim the Good News of God in Christ.

We know this.  We renew our baptismal vows four or five times a year, and four or five times a year we promise to continue on this path.  We proclaim Jesus is the eternally begotten Son of the Father every Sunday.  And every Sunday we ask for strength and courage to love and serve the Lord.  We know this.  We know it so well that, if I removed all the Prayer Books from the pews, you would play your part in the liturgy without missing a beat.

It's one thing to understand all this, but how are we at practicing it?  How well do we love our neighbors and respect the dignity of other people regardless of their race, gender, orientation or social status?  How well do we recognize our sins?  How often do we name those sins, repent and return to the Lord?  How well, and how often, do we proclaim the Good News?

Maybe we need an Epiphany discipline.  In this season of the Epiphany when we recognize the manifestation of Christ to the world, look for that part of your faith that you would like to deepen, to practice more, and work at becoming proficient in that practice.

Maybe, with practice, you will develop the knowledge, ability and confidence to invite a neighbor to come and see.  And with that, you will be playing a part in teaching another person about this thing called Christianity.

Amen.