SC Sermon - Walking the Ancient Paths (Jeremiah 6:16-18)

Walking the Ancient Paths

A Homily for 10.26.25

In recent weeks and months you may have encountered a flurry of frustrating and unsettling headlines and happenings regarding Anglicanism. Some of these events have unfolded in distant countries and some in our own town. For example, you may have heard that for the first time ever a woman is being installed as the Archbishop of Canterbury. This is a seat that was established in the year 597. In accordance with Scripture and Church tradition, this is a seat reserved for a male, and over 100 men have sat in it. But, to their great shame, the Church of England has broken both the precepts of God and the ancient tradition of the Church. You may have also seen even this week that several folks here in Mount Pleasant (including a dear friend of some of us) decided to go to a large secular media outlet to air grievances against the Archbishop of the ACNA - disturbing allegations that the province is now investigating. In all of these happenings there has also been some significant fallout in the global Anglican communion. Conservative Anglicans around the world are seeking to restructure the communion in an attempt to disassociate from the more progressive and heretical groups who call themselves "Anglican."  So, instead of our ongoing Psalm series, we have decided to shift gears, just for this week. I would like to give a short encouragement to you this morning by means of a two-part reflection with one central point about us and our current Anglican moment.

First the text for today, followed by the exhortation.

The text comes from the prophetic literature of the Old Testament. From the prophet Jeremiah. You’ve likely heard much of the story. God’s chosen people, dwelling in his land, in his presence, are led astray by wicked and derelict leaders. Corruption abounded in the highest halls of the king after king. Idolatry abounded in ever corner of the kingdom. Wicked cultural practices of the surrounding nations and peoples crept into the lives of God’s own holy community. Now, in the Old Testament God’s long-suffering is remarkable. He sent numerous prophets decade after decade to warn against evil practices and to rebuke wicked rulers. These strong rebukes and dire warnings were expressions of the riches of his kindness,  forbearance, and patience – all meant to lead them to repentance. But they refused to repent. They hated and killed the prophets. They rejected God’s good way. They exchanged his loving laws for the twisted and perverse ideologies of the world around them. God had laid before them a path long ago – a good way that would cause them to flourish and bring rest to their souls. When they wandered from that path, God called for them to come, ‘Come and find the ancient path and walk in it.’ But in their hubris they hissed, ‘We will not walk in it!’ Again God sent them warnings, in his loving kindness he called for his people to pay attention, but they said, ‘We will not pay attention!’

Imagine it. God’s very own people, intoxicated by the ideologies of the world.

It starts with soft compromise, then moves to capitulation, and then corruption devours the souls of the people. Weak men become wicked men before you know it. Dereliction of God-ordained duties to guard the flock, to keep God’s good commands, leads to kingdom-wide corruption. The worst part of this whole tragedy is that these were the people that God was going to use as a means to save the world. They were the ones called to be a light to the nations. But they proudly snuffed out their own light in order to be relevant to the dark world around them.

Let us not miss the spiritual dynamics flowing hot under the surface. False gods littered the landscape of pre-Exile Israel and Judah, and the hearts and minds of the people where turned away from God’s good path by deceitful demons. It was war. Why? Because Satan, that serpentine rebel, has been at war with God and his people since Genesis 3.

A war that rages to this day. _________

It is clear that the Church is under an all out assault from satanic forces. On some strategic fronts we are indeed losing ground, and often these are high visibility defeats. And this is a live reality for all denominations and traditions at some level. The enemy appears to be employing a strafing tactic against all Christians, and it seems now that the weapons have once again come back around on faithful Anglicans. At the moment there are more negative headlines than we can keep up with.

A particularly egregious (and age-old) reality in this spiritual warfare is the impotence, incompetence, and/or imprudence of some church leaders. Indeed all throughout the Church’s long history many leaders seem even to be complicit in the attacks against the faithful. In our context modern ideologies like feminism, homosexuality, or a myriad of critical (and demonic) theories, have been embraced by whole dioceses and provinces within the broader "Anglican" frame. This is a theological travesty, and an outright rebellious betrayal. But as we’ve seen, this is the strategy of the enemy. For two millennia the Church has been attacked from both inside and outside forces. False teachers and heretics have always been lurking in the halls of the Church, some have even been ordained to the highest positions of leadership.

No doubt the situation is lamentable, but it is not without hope. Ultimately, Jesus' Spirit-filled Bride will not falter. Yes, we are in a difficult and dizzying season at the moment in the "Anglican" world, but faithful Christians still have a strong presence in this ancient tradition, and if God wills to redeem this corner of his global Kingdom it may just be through a ruffian remnant who refuse to bow the knee to satanic ideologies and corrupt leadership.

This is where Saint Casper's and the Diocese of the Living Word, and the New Anglican Missionary Society find deep communion and commitment. We are called to be a faithful kingdom outpost in an Anglican environment that has largely lost it's bearings and backbone. The stabilizing structures of male-led households and churches, sacrificial hospitality, unashamed Gospel proclamation, bold and biblical teaching, and deeply liturgical and sacramental practices need to be shored up in our increasingly unstable world. Shame on us, and shame on any church that is guilty of abandoning this ancient call in order to accommodate the comforts and sensibilities of modern, mutable man.

Fidelity to King Jesus is our sole commitment. And that fidelity can and should be tested and weighed in the scales of Scripture's infallible and immutable authority.

Here is a frank truth: the "Anglican Way" is an ancient and beautiful way of living out our allegiance to the King, but it is not perfect or impervious to corrupting forces. A Reformation era motto was "Ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda" ("The church reformed, always reforming"). We must always examine our faith and practice in light of God's perfect Word. We have inherited an ancient and rich theological and ecclesial heritage, but we must regularly remember that we are Christians before we are Anglicans. We do not need to, nor should we, defend unfaithful practices of laity or leaders who ignorantly and deceivingly wave the "Anglican" banner and shame the name of Jesus. It is right and good to walk in the old ways, in the ancient paths travelled by our faithful forefathers. We falter when we stray off the path. Just because many within the Anglican world are attempting to tread a new (broad) way, doesn't mean we are obliged to follow them into darkness.

It is critical to also remember that the locus of our lived allegiance to King Jesus is in this local fellowship of Christians – in this town, in the midst of these neighbors. God will judge those who seek to spoil his Bride, but our responsibility is to find the ancient paths and walk in them faithfully here and now in our homes and neighborhoods.

We can stay the course. We must! For the good of all people and the glory of God, we must (and by his grace, we will!). And staying the course means standing firm in this war in the full armor of God, not only on the defensive, but on the offensive. Jesus promises that the (defensive) gates of hell will not prevail over his bride. We are a gate-crashing, serpent-crushing church. We are called to boldly proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, pray without ceasing, and let the attacks of the enemy strengthen our resolve to sacrificially serve the King of kings. Let us never cower from calling evil, ‘evil’ and good, ‘good.’

'Thus says the Yahweh: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls..."' - Jeremiah 6:16

Let us remain in him, and he in us, always and forever, world without end. Amen.