"Come, Let Us Arise and Build"

Ed. Note: CANA Bishop Julian Dobbs gave this address on January 17, 2012 at Moving Forward Together A Sacred Assembly of Worship, Reconciliation, and Connection in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Votre grâce,l'archevêque, mes frèresen Christ rwandais, brothers and sisters in Christ, grace and peace from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Journey with me in your mind back to the glittering court of the Imperial Palace at Susa in ancient Persia [modern day Iran], 450 years before the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. God’s People were a long way from the Promised Land as they had broken their promises to Almighty God; straying far from His will and commandments, and, as a punishment for their disobedience, had been defeated and deported from Judaea at the hands of their enemies. By the time we join them in Susa, most of the Chosen People had been living in exile for over seven decades years. By God’s grace, however, Nehemiah, a young Jewish aristocrat of tremendous faith and great vision, gained appointment as the cup-bearer to Artaxerxes, the Shahanshah, King of Kings, Ruler of the Persian Empire and most powerful man alive the world at that time. It was not, however, a very nice job… tasting wine for poison, but it was a very responsible position that brought Nehemiah into daily contact with the monarch and into the King’s intimate confidence.

While serving (literally) at the right-hand of the King, Nehemiah receives the very disturbing news that the remnant of God’s people back in Jerusalem are in great trouble; the walls surrounding the once great City of David are broken down; her gates destroyed by fire; her public places desolated.

In an act of amazing courage for an exile risen to the intimate circle of a king, Nehemiah requests permission to leave his post and, in an incredible display of Almighty God’s loving goodness and favor, the Lord moves the heart of Artaxerxes to release this faithful young patriot from service and grants him authority to rebuild the ruined walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah receives letters of personal introduction from the hands of the King and all the necessary materials to successfully complete his mission and departs for a homeland he has never seen. To read more, click here.

While I recognize that there is indeed a critical need for "a renewed biblical missionary Anglicanism" in North America, and I agreed with much of what Bishop Dobbs said, I question whether the Anglican Church in North America is biblical and missionary enough in its Anglicanism to replant such Anglicanism in Canada and the United States.