One of the advantages of being an Ordinand, like myself, is that retiring priests, when they're cleaning out their offices and attics and basements, often pass things on to you – like vestments, books, their favorite stories for homilies, and so on. Recently I was given such a “care package” by a priest friend who is retiring, and when I sorted through the contents, I found an old videotape. It was an interview with a former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, and it had the cheery title, “The Anglican Church: One Generation From Extinction.” And, since, at this point in my life, I am putting literally all of my eggs in the basket of the Church, that title gave me pause . . .

So I listened to the interview, and, as it turned out, what Archbishop Carey was suggesting is that the church has really always been, and always will be, “one generation from extinction.” Because the church is not merely an institution, but a way of living in a transforming relationship with the Mystery we call 'God'. Such mysteries can only be transmitted through person-to-person relationships, from one generation to the next. Archbishop Carey suggested that the particular ways of transmitting this “Gospel way of life” are the very same three ways that were used by Jesus: (1^st) Jesus taught the people; (2^nd) He healed the sick; and (3^rd) He proclaimed, or “preached,” the Kingdom of God, that Unseen World, which we can inhabit even now through faith and practice.

Reflecting on these three ways in our generation of the church, Archbishop Carey makes a very interesting observation: He says that although we, the church, frequently rely on the 1^st way (teaching) and the 3^rd way (preaching), we seem to have very little to offer when it comes to the second way, of “healing the sick.” Now he was very quick to clarify that he wasn't speaking literally, in terms of the kinds of miracles that Scripture describes Jesus performing. Rather, he was speaking of the kinds of transforming personal & social care that were always at the center of Jesus' healing ministry.

In the modern era, we have witnessed the growth of an entire industry of secular healers – counselors and therapists, psychologists and psychiatrists, personal coaches, and so on.... Some of these healers are even highly specialized in helping people resolve very particular problems – like depression, stress disorders, addictions, marital problems, school- or work-related problems, even “hoarding” problems. You name it, and chances are that there is a credible expert offering to provide a service that will heal it. And the healing industry is market-driven, in the sense that, if healer 'A' can do a better job than healer 'B' for the same amount of money, or less, then healer 'B' might well find himself or herself out of a job. Because people don't want to waste time and money with something that doesn't actually help them.

In the pre-modern world, the church played a key role in addressing these kinds of problems in living, which are now mainly the province of professional healers of one kind or another. And in the pre-modern world, the healing ministry wasn't market-driven, because the Church was essentially the only game in town. They had a monopoly. Of course, that is not the case any more. Not only are there a multitude of credible secular healers who are ready and willing to provide service, there are a variety of other religious traditions, who are teaching and preaching and healing the sick, and thereby, attracting large numbers of followers. And, actually... why should it be otherwise?

In this morning's gospel, we read that “A large crowd kept following Jesus, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick.” This Scripture begs the question that former Archbishop Carey was so boldly putting forward: Why should our ministries, our communities, be attractive to others if there is little credible evidence, if there are few signs, that what we have to offer will actually heal and transform broken lives?

Jesus, we claim, is the ultimate, fully human being. We claim that, although he was put to death he is now somehow still alive, and that through him, and with him, and in him, we too can become fully human. And we claim even further that we can help others to encounter this Real Presence of Christ through our ministries of Word, and Sacrament, and Pastorally Caring relationships... so that they too can become fully human in him.

It is quite a grand set of claims! But, as always, the proof is in the pudding. And, Archbishop Carrey suggests that, on a fairly large scale, it seems that the church's pudding has been tried, and found wanting, particularly in this area of healing lives that are broken. It seems to many in our society that what the church actually has to offer is not enough to make people's lives genuinely better, instead of either just the same, or, God forbid, worse. It seems to many that the solutions which we have to offer are not adequate to the problems that need to be solved.

Well, in fact, these were the very fears of the disciples in today's gospel text. Jesus says to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” And Philip answers, “Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” Another of Jesus' disciples, Andrew, jumps in and says: “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that among so many people?”

They were afraid that they didn't have what it would take to meaningfully address the overwhelming needs of the people around them. And notice that Jesus does not argue with them! He does not give them a pep-talk, and say, “C'mon guys, you can do it! Just have faith and get out there and everything will be fine!”

He doesn't say that because the fear that the disciples have is not some neurotic fear; it is realistic. They really don't have what it takes to address the spiritual needs of the masses. They really are not competent or qualified on their own to minister to others. Because what is required in such a situation is not simply a matter of technical or professional skill. What these people are fundamentally hungering for is God. And the disciples are not God. They are are not in any position to say “Eat my flesh, and drink my blood, and you will find what you are really seeking in life.”

The disciples are really no different than the people in the crowd.... with one critical exception: They know the One who is competent and qualified to address the needs of the masses, to forgive their sins and heal their wounds, and empower them to live holy lives. That is the only real difference between the disciples and the rest of the crowd: the disciples know Whose lead to follow.

Maybe there is a parallel here to our contemporary situation. People “out there” are in need of so very, very much. It can feel like a bottomless pit, I know. And I don't think that we want to take the naive approach of claiming that we, as the church, can do everything that secular healing experts can... much less that we can do it better than they can. That spirit of competitiveness has no place in the healing ministry of the Church. So what exactly is our “niche”??? What do we really have to offer a broken world???

Jesus – the Living Word, the Bread of Life, the Good Shepherd – has something very significant to say to all who are suffering in this world. That is really our central claim. The focus that we are called to take is not one of “what we can do for you.” The only effective focus of the church has always been, and always will be, on Christ. The times when the church becomes unhealthy are when she has forgotten that basic fact. Christ is our only distinctive offering. Our message is not that “we have what it takes” but that Christ is what it takes... for our lives to become fully human. Our work is merely to point others toward Jesus, by pointing to what Christ and Christ's Community have done within our own lives.

When the church is healthy, all of her various ministries of Word, Sacrament, and Pastorally Caring Relationships are moving in that one direction: pointing us and others to the reality of Christ in our midst. We bring the gifts that we have been given to Jesus. Jesus adds his blessing to them. And we find that this spiritual co-operation between Jesus and ourselves makes all the difference. Then, we have something to offer that is not just adequate; it is priceless. It can transform peoples' lives for the better, because, then, what we are offering is more than our selves alone. And that is the secret. That is what all souls on the planet are searching for: something more than themselves alone... that divine companionship within community that makes us whole.

This is the re-direction that God is calling the church to, in our day, and particularly in our Diocese. It is more than just a strategic re-direction. It is a foundational re-direction: A re-direction of our attention, our time, our troubles, our gifts, our understanding of what it means to be church – all to the Living Christ. Because when the foundation of our lives is something other than the reality of the Living Christ, and the difference that he makes in our lives, we really don't have a lot to offer...

Without that Living Centre, who makes peoples' lives genuinely better instead of just the same, or worse.... church can be pretty boring. But when church is integral to our actually becoming the persons we were meant to be.... That is anything but boring...! Then we possess something that is interesting enough, effective enough, worthy enough... to transmit to the next generation. And then we have the capacity to actually make that crucial transmission. Then it is no longer distressing news that we are “one generation from extinction.” Because, then, we are prepared to meet that challenge, head on. Because we are no longer attempting to meet it by ourselves alone.

Thanks be to God.