In Defense of an Old Stand-By - Benjamin Glaser

 I had the privilege of preaching the funeral service for a dear saint this past Wednesday, and leading another for someone I had never met prior to conducting his graveside memorial this last Saturday. In both cases there was a blessed commonality. The opportunity to show the blessings of faith in Christ, the hope that we have in the resurrection, and comfort found alone in the finished work of our Savior.

But there was something more to what these somewhat disparate circumstances had in common than the blessings of the gospel message.

In both services I had read from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer and used forms which have left the lips of ministers for 350 years. Now, if you know anything about me you know that I disdain the Anglicization of Presbyterianism that has gone on over the past century or more, especially things like Holy Days, candles, vestments, and the like. However, when it comes to the rubric written out for the Burial of the Dead there is no peer. It is clear in regards to the nature of gospel faith, the unnatural nature of death, the reality of what happens to the body after death, and the certainty that all men will face this time in the grave, no matter how hard they may try and flee. Death makes no discrimination and the only hope we have is in the resurrection offered by Jesus Christ.

As an example, when you are reading the opening scripture trilogy of John 11:25-26, Job 19:25-27, and 1 Timothy 6:7 (along with Job 1:21) it brings forth a word of comfort and peace to grieving family members that is unmatched in human language. Likewise the pairing of Psalm 39 and 90 followed by the well-known verses of 1 Corinthians 15 provide a common language that all men can read and hear and know the blessings which come to those who die in Christ, and the consequences of those who do not. Much like the verbal cues that Hallmark cribs for wedding dialogue the phrases found in this book written so long ago are as much a part of Western culture as pie and sausage. Even the most ignorant of pagan knows what follows when these words are read, “Forasmuch as it has pleased Almighty God of His great mercy to take unto Himself the soul of our dear brother here departed…” There is such relief in the old paths. They have been used so long for a reason.

We live in a time of commodification and balkanization. I wonder what will bind future generations together? (I think we can already see the results in front of us). The same question could be asked of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. When asked what we have in common Christians often say “the Gospel”, and of course that is true, to an extent. We are all one in Christ Jesus, yet why do we see so much of a culture which cannot speak to one another, and what do we do about it? I think, ironically again for this old-school ARP man, the BCP can provide an answer for us.

There is much to be said for the Christian faith having a common language and a common way of speaking, not only when it comes to funerals, but in the life of the church as well. I do not think I speak too rashly when I say the proliferation of Bible versions over the past fifty years has left the people of God in a lamentable position. It is an almost Babel-like situation. How many times have you been at an inter-church function and heard five different ministers say the same verse five different ways? I recently had that experience and my middle daughter came up to me afterwards and noted how weird that was. Well, it was weird. In my mind it did not provide a helpful example of a faith which is going on the same path and which is united around a common culture to a world that sees nothing but disintegration and destruction of symbols and history.  

What does this have to do with the BCP? Well, when this age has passed on and the myriad of “new” things have gone with it the BCP (and its sister the AV, if bible sales are anything to go by) will still be with us, not just because it is old, but because there is a timelessness to its simplicity. The BCP was hardly the first work put together with forms for ministers to follow during services of worship and there have been hundreds of attempts to top it, all without success. Outside of a few Presbyterian history nerds who knows about the 1906 Presbyterian Book of Common Worship? Or the Book of Alternative Services? Yet, there is a bond with my Anglican brothers in this work put together by Thomas Cramner (with minor updates).

There is much to be said for uniformity of language in worship, if not style. Losing that has been a real detriment to the church of Christ, not just now but in the past. Things like the BCP (and the Psalms, of which the BCP has an excellent section for daily reading) can do a lot to bring us closer together not only as a denomination, but as Christians. I know it is weird for a Puritanophile like me to recommend something like the BCP, but it is worth remembering it wasn’t the forms so much as the requirement to use them that rankled the non-comformists. So if the heir to Alexander Moncrieff can find value in the BCP and the benefits of it, I think you can as well.

God bless.