Why care for the prisoner? It’s a question I’ve been asked more than once by a critical inquisitor. Reflecting upon the question recently placed this small piece upon my heart and I felt compelled to share not merely my answer to the question, but the call I feel traditional Anglicans have sadly neglected far too often.
Why do I care for the prisoner? Because “if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” Galatians 6:3 (ESV). As we traditional Anglicans confess each morning and evening, “O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders.” Before I start to think I’m anything more than a redeemed captive, I need the reminder that I too am locked in bondage and require freedom from the only One who can break my chains.
The daily office’s confession provides much clarity as to who I am and who I am not. I am not innocent, you are not innocent, and the prisoner is not innocent when it comes to neglecting God and hating our neighbor. “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:22-23, ESV). The Law condemns us, one and all. We are each horrific offenders of the Lord’s commandments – and believe me, before you say to yourself “But at least I haven’t murdered or swindled someone out of their money like they have,” examine yourself. Such thinking smacks of the Pharisee who looks to heaven and side-eyes the tax collector in the temple behind him while saying “Thank you God I’m not a sinner, like him.” We are professionals when it comes to overlooking one’s own sin while obsessing over another person’s sin.
Far too often, we are not beating our chests and looking down at the ground while crying out kyrie eleison. Instead, when we reflect on our spiritual state in comparison to our fellow man, we pat ourselves on the back and dwell on the sweet-sounding poetry of the Lord’s Beatitudes. Allow me to share a word of caution, return to the Scriptures, and take a gander at how the Son of God expounds upon the true depth expounding and expanding upon the law in His Sermon on the Mount. We all love the Beatitudes but we ought to wince in pain when we hear that simply calling our brother “fool” endangers us to hellfire. The bar is low in our Lord’s eyes as to what constitutes murder – and I assure you I have called people far worse than “fool.” Do not get lost in the poetry of the Beatitudes and bypass the harsh realities revealed in Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. We require His righteousness and do not merit any blessing apart from His grace.
As the saying goes, “But for the grace of God, there go I”; and precisely because of the grace of God, I there go – to the prisons, to the parishes, and to fellow priests, advocating for greater ministries to the incarcerated and the families impacted.
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We see through a mirror darkly 