Bishops and bishops

            As the result of an election on July16, my next door neighbor is now the Episcopal Bishop for the state of Alabama.  Now a state Bishop in the Episcopal Church is a person with extensive power and influence.  He will receive respect and adulation from the state’s Episcopalians.  He will travel extensively as one of the governing Bishops in the United States.

            He will also walk a difficult path with all the changes going on in society and within every denomination.  Turmoil in the Episcopal Church has been openly reported in the media.

            Now the truth is, I’m a bishop too.  Note the word is spelled with a small “b.”  The translation of the Greek word bishop in the New Testament is “overseer,” and is used in conjunction with presbyter, meaning “elder,” and poimen, a word that means “shepherd” but is equivalent to the English word “pastor.”  All three of these terms are used in the New Testament to describe the leader of a local congregation.  So I am a bishop, presbyter and poimen.

            A few weeks ago my neighbor got his long handled pruning saw trapped in a large branch he was cutting.  It was fairly high and he had no way to free it.  So, like any good neighbor, I carried my extension ladder and chain saw next door, climbed up in his tree and cut the limb, freeing his saw.

            That was one bishop going to the aid of another bishop.  Now doesn’t that sound holy?  But of course it was a very mundane situation.  It was just one man going to the aid of another man.  But it also illustrates that even Bishops are just ordinary men with ordinary problems. 

Grace and peace.