The Propers for today are found
on Page 214-215, with the Collect first:
The Eighteenth Sunday
after Trinity.
The Collect.
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ORD,
we beseech thee, grant thy people grace to withstand the temptations of the
world, the flesh, and the devil; and with pure hearts and minds to follow thee,
the only God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Ryan Hopkins read the Epistle for today, which came
from Saint Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians beginning at the Fourth Verse
of the First Chapter. Paul
tells the people of Corinth he thanks God they have been the beneficiaries of
His Grace, that through Jesus they might have salvation, that through Jesus
their sins would in the end be forgiven.
He also pointed out that if they would follow Christ in both their words
and deeds, as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in them, through their
actions, they would be “In every thing ye are enriched by him, in all
utterance, and in all knowledge…”
For by acting on Christ’s words, we not only gain entry in to heaven,
but are far more likely to prosper here on earth. This prosperity is not the mega wealth sometimes associated
with “prospering”, but rather the surplus of resources over our worldly desires
and the true happiness that comes from loving and helping others.
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thank my
God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus
Christ; that in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in
all knowledge; even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: so that ye
come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: who
shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Deacon Striker Jack Arnold read today’s Holy Gospel
came from the Twenty-Second Chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew
beginning at the Thirty-Fourth Verse.
Pharisees who had heard how Jesus confounded the Sadducees, feeling they
were superior to the Pharisees, came together to confound Him. An expert in the law, of which
Pharisees were very fond, asked Him a question, trying to trick Him, “Master,
which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus answered, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and
great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the
prophets.” Thus, He provided the Summary of the Law we hear every Sunday. The Pharisees made their earthly living
by providing guidance on how to get around the 613 Mosaic Laws with as little
inconvenience as possible. They
were astounded when Jesus boiled the intent of those laws down to two
sentences. They were much more
comfortable getting around laws than complying with ones that might
inconvenience them.
Apparently tiring of the game with the Pharisees and
wishing to confound them instead, Jesus asked them, saying, “What think ye of
Christ? Whose son is He?” They say unto him, “The son of David.” For the scripture is clear that he
should be of the House of David.
As God, Jesus has been from the beginning, so he queried them, “How then
doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit
thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then
call him Lord, how is he his son?”
Not grasping the concept that God was, is and always will be, they could
not answer and “from that day forth” no one would “ask him any more questions.”
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hen the Pharisees had heard that Jesus had put the
Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question,
tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great
commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. While the
Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What think ye of
Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of David. He saith unto
them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto
my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If
David then call him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him
a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.
Sermon
– Time and Action
Today’s sermon tied the Epistle and Gospel together
and is partly contained in the forewords above.
Paul thanks God for His Grace to us, that Jesus’
sacrifice might account us as just in the last day. But, not everyone is content to take Jesus at His Word. There have always been and always will
be people who want to pick nits with the intent of avoiding doing what should
be done, thus making it seems acceptable to do what they want to do. You can see people every day who fill
the shoes of the Pharisees, insisting on complying with arcane and useless
rules and regulations while studiously avoiding doing what God so clearly asks,
that is to be a Christian and do as Christ asks us to do. We are to be Christians, not “good”, to
do what God asks, not Go with the Flow! When you think about being a Christian,
think a bit about these quotes from GK Chesterton:
·
“Christianity has not been tried and found
wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.”
·
“The word "good" has many meanings.
For example, if a man were to shoot his grandmother at a range of five hundred
yards, I should call him a good shot, but not necessarily a good man.”
·
“The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and
also to love our enemies; probably because generally they are the same people.”
·
“Tolerance is the virtue of the man without
convictions.”
·
“A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a
living thing can go against it.”
G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
We are called to a new and different life, we ask the
Lord to lead us and follow us, to keep us always. Our goal is to do the Lord’s will, not to avoid 613
laws. To do what is right and be
humble.
Bishop
Ogles’ Devotion
Bishop Jerry provided his devotional notes for yesterday. I thought them incredibly interesting,
I always enjoy them, but there was something about this one that was more than
usual. I am certain you will find
them very enjoyable. As always, I
cannot commend it to you enough.
Devotion for Saturday 22 October 2011
Anno Domini in 17th
Week after Trinity Sunday
"31Another
parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed,
which a man took, and sowed in his field: 32Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it
is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air
come and lodge in the branches thereof.33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto
leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole
was leavened.34 All
these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable
spake he not unto them: 35That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the
prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which
have been kept secret from the foundation of the world. (Matt 13:31-35) 44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like
unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and
for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like
unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:46 Who, when he had found one pearl of
great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. 47Again, the kingdom of heaven is like
unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: 48Which, when it was full, they drew to
shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.49 So shall it be at the end of the world:
the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,50 And shall cast them into the furnace of
fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.51 Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea,
Lord.52 Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of
heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of
his treasure things new and old." (Matt 13:44-52)
We
embark today on a study of truths that are denied by many who prefer to trust
on the wisdom of religious men above and beyond that revealed in Scripture. If
we are pre- or post-millennialists, we will try to search out evidence from
Scripture that will fit snugly into one or the other of our preconceived
notions of that particular eschatological theory. I will admit up front that I
favor the postmillennial theory over that of the premillennialist; however, I
have eyes to see, and ears to hear, and the truths revealed in the text today
do not suggest to me that the Lord will find great faith upon the earth at His
return. When I observe the gross moral sins in our society, and the brazen
disrespect for the Word of God (even among churchmen), I am appalled and worry
for future children who will be brought into this wilderness of sin. The first
two parables in today's text, in my own humble opinion - and not that of
many if not most fine clergy, suggests that our pride has magnified the works
of our own hands in religion and not the name of the God whose Hands created
us, and the world itself.
"Another
parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain
of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds:
but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so
that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof." This Parable is a continuing one of the Sower,
but in this case, the seed is not wheat but mustard. Both kinds of seed
represent the Word planted. But Christ has chosen to describe the Kingdom
from a different perspective in the present case. This sowing is
not a general broadcast of seed in all areas, but a specific seed sown in the
field – one Seed. The fruit of this seed will reflect the coming Kingdom of
Heaven. Since the Kingdom of Heaven is a single entity, there is only one seed
needed to produce a fruit that will serve as an example of its presence among
men. The fruit springing up from this `least of all seeds' represents the Church Catholic. Though the Seed is
perfect, the Body is not necessarily so and, in fact, cannot be. Any
institution on whose countenance the fingerprints of man appear will bear
certain impurities despite men's best efforts to keep it pure and free of
deformities. Nothing has life that does not grow from that tiny spark of life
that is central to the Seed. There is no life eternal apart from that imparted
by the WORD (Christ). The kind of Seed (wheat, tares,
mustard) is important – it makes all the difference.
I
remember a story my father told me of a monk who desired the use of a piece of
land located nearby. The owner refused to sell the land, but after long efforts
of persuasion, he consented to lease the land to the monk. The monk took the
lease under the provision that he would use the land only long enough to raise
a single crop. The contract was signed and binding on both parties. The monk
then sowed the field with acorns – a crop that would take three hundred years
to complete. So Satan, too, asks to get possession of our souls by asking us to
permit some small sin to enter, some single wrong that seems of no real
account. But when once he has entered and planted the seeds and beginnings of
evil he holds his ground while sins and evils multiply.
The
field of wheat bore hundreds or thousands of stalks of wheat, but in this
present field, only one Seed was planted and one kind of fruit shall emerge. I
have read, many times, the diverse arguments on the properties of mustard
plants, and their capacity to grow very large. I observed many such plants
while living in Iran for more than five years and never saw a mustard plant
greater than a bush of four of five feet height. Christ tells us that this
plant is the greatest among herbs, but why would he explain that it "becometh a tree"? He does not tell us that the
wheat seed becameth wheat because that is normal for the seed and its fruit,
but a mustard seed does not normally grow into a tree. The branches of the
mustard plant are fibrous and easily broken, but THIS mustard plant becomes a
tree. It does not develop according to the norm of nature. It becomes larger
than it is intended to become. When I was a young boy, a product hit the
market, Gibberillic Acid (GA), that was used to cause fruits and vegetables to
grow much larger than normal. The tomatoes and cucumbers were gigantic and
beautiful, but those garden products had no flavor and were very porous inside.
"GA was first identified in Japan in 1935, as a metabolic byproduct of
the plant pathogen Gibberella fujikuroi (thus the name), which afflicts rice
plants; fujikuroi-infected plants develop bakanae
("foolish seedling"), which causes them to grow so much taller than
normal that they die from no longer being sturdy enough to support their own
weight."
(Wikkipedia)
I
believe the abnormal growth of the modern church in money, property, political
prestige and power, are represented by the mustard seed becoming a tree. Pride
and pelf predominate in the modern church. The obsession of many ministers and
laity of the church today is GROWTH – not righteousness! But the church is One
and not many. Very much like the tares planted among the wheat, this tree is
comprised of both faithful people and the unrighteous. The modern church has
become so large that "the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof." Do you remember who these
birds are, identified by Christ, in this same chapter? "Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by
the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up. (Matt 13:3-4) The fowl came and
devoured the Seed (Word) that was planted. Jesus tells us who these fowl of the
air are: "Hear
ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the
kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth
away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the
way side."
(Matt 13:18-19) Jesus clearly, in context, tells us that these fowl are the
Wicked One. Likewise, if context and consistency are observed, these birds that
nest in the branches of the modern church are DEMONS.
For
many long centuries, Satan has leveled his shore batteries in bombardment of
the Church to no avail. When the smoke has cleared the waters, the Ships of
Truth were immensely greater in number than before. So, being a clever serpent,
Satan has decided if his frontal assaults are unsuccessful, he will join the
church and erode its moral properties from within. There is no greater threat
to a city than a traitor within its walls, and that is the intense struggle
that confronts the church today.
"Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto
leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole
was leavened." If the Kingdom of Heaven is
like unto leaven, in which respects is it so? In almost every case of prophecy,
when a religious power is mentioned, it is presented as a woman. The Woman of
Revelations 12 represents, commonly believed, Israel or the Church; and the
woman (drunken with the blood of the saints) of Revelations 17 is thought by
many to represent the false religion of the coming Babylonian system. (I say
`coming' though it is already here). Leaven in almost every place in Scripture,
represents sin or false doctrine. Remember the words of Jesus in reference to
the false ministers of His day? "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the
Sadducees."
(Matt 16:6) "How
is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread,
that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he
bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the
Pharisees and of the Sadducees." (Matt 16:11-12) We have demons of false
doctrine residing in the high places (branches) of our churches today. There is
evidence of this truth on every hand. Look at the view toward adultery and
promiscuity, or the many churches that embrace homosexuality as legitimate. Or
observe the lack of biblical discipline and moral character demonstrated in the
modern church – even among the clergy. Friends, the days of play-acting
(hypocrisy) are soon coming to an end! Where will you stand when the Lord comes
– on that solid Rock, or upon the shifting sands of relative morality?
"All
these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable
spake he not unto them: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the
prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which
have been kept secret from the foundation of the world."
The sadly amazing fact of these words of Christ is that they still remain a secret
to the greater number of professing Christians in our time. It is
understandable that the Christ-rejecting Pharisees of Christ's time could not
see these mysteries of great value, but it is utterly disgraceful that
Christians of today will not want to know them!
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like
unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and
for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field." Treasures hidden long ago by conquerors as well as the
conquered may be discovered in areas where great armies of the past
concentrated their forces. Treasures buried by Philip of Macedon have been
unearthed in the wheat fields of Syria – buried there more than two thousand
years ago. Perhaps the discovery of the Book of the Law in the reign of Josiah
was like unto the discovery of the greatest of all treasures found among the
rubble of the Temple. Josiah commanded it to be read to all Israel, and it was
done. I discover, in the strong testimony of martyrs and reformers, great and
beautiful truths that seem beyond the grasp of modern students of theology.
When we discover truths, through diligent study, in the Gospel proclaimed two
thousand years ago, it is similar to finding a great treasure hidden in a field.
This treasure is so great that we will give all of our worldly possessions to
own it. This treasure was discovered during the normal course of life and not
searched out intentionally. This is like a lost sinner, happening upon the Word
quite by seeming chance, and believing!
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like
unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of
great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it." This treasure of the Pearl is
not discovered through accident, but determined and informed search. This man
KNOWS pearls! He knows where to search for them, and he knows their value. Such
a man is like a devout Christian layperson or minister who seeks, continually,
the deeper mysteries of God.
Again,
the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and
gathered of every kind: Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and
gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away." Here is an example of the
far-reaching effects of the Gospel. The net is a drag net, not a casting net.
The dragnet is quite large and captures every living sea creature in its way.
The net has captured every creature in its way of both good and bad. The net is
not drawn to shore until the fullness of God's Elect are gathered, but there
remains bad creatures among the good. Now the fishermen sit down with care to
separate the good from the bad just as the Holy Angels will gather the tares
from the wheat and cast into the fire. "So shall it be at the end of the world:
the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of
fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." Once the door of the Ark had been closed by God, there
was no longer hope for those without. In the same way, there comes a day when
time will be no more. At that day, we shall either be in the Ark of Christ, or
standing without in the wilderness of ruin. Where shall you be when, rather
than seas of water, there shall be seas of fire?
Jesus
asks His disciple a question – a question that He asked ALL of His disciples of
which I hope all who read are of the company: "Jesus saith unto
them, Have ye
understood all these things?" "They say unto him, Yea,
Lord." Friend, can you answer `YES' to the Lord's
question?
"Then
said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of
heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of
his treasure things new and old." The truth of God's Word is old – even from eternity
past. The Word of God is not a new thing but an old thing. It is of great value
and not to be sold but purchased. Christ gives us these dark (deeply hidden)
mysteries hidden from the wise from the foundations of the world. These new
things may be our understanding that has received new Light in Christ. We
have heard the old Gospel, but now it has changed us into New Creatures in
Christ. Though the Heavens are very old, we learn new truths every day in
searching the heavens. My friend, are you still searching the heavens to find
new points of light and truth?
Bishop
Dennis Campbell’s Sermon
Bishop Dennis is a brilliant
speaker. He is able to take
biblical precepts and make them perfectly understandable, even to me. Oft he provides the text of his sermons
and I take the utmost pleasure in passing them on:
Grace to Follow
Christ
1 Corinthians 1:4-7, Matthew 22:34-46
Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity
23 October 2011
I think I can summarize the meaning of our Gospel reading in a couple of
short sentences. First, the meaning and purpose of life is to love God fully
and completely with every fiber of your being. Second, Jesus is God.
As every person knows, loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind, is
not as easy as it sounds. It is not easy because the true love of God is not an
emotion. Much effort has been made over the centuries to turn loving God into
emotional feelings for God. We see this in the music people choose to sing
about God. Much of it is no different from the romantic love songs of pop
music. Often, it even takes their beat and style, but worse than that is that
it reduces loving Christ to sentiment and emotions similar to what is often
called, "falling in love."
Of course, those of us who have been married for a while know love is
much more than just being "in love." Really loving your spouse
requires you to be as generous, as forgiving, as committed, and as self-giving
when you are not feeling terribly good about him or her as when you are. In fact,
it is in those unromantic times, when you are not feeling very much "in
love" that your real love shows itself.
Loving Christ is the same way. It is not the way you feel when you're
singing a happy chorus about how you love Jesus; it is what you do in those
times of sorrow and trial, and it's the general direction of your heart soul
and mind when you aren't feeling particularly spiritual or loving toward God.
And, I think for most of us, that is our normal condition. I think most of us
don't live in a continuous state of spiritual euphoria, with hearts bursting
with feelings of love for Christ. This is a good thing, not a bad thing. Just
as we could not function if we lived in a perpetual state of "falling in
love" with another person, we also could not function if we lived in a
perpetual condition of "falling in love" with Jesus. And the Bible
never encourages us to be "in love" with Christ. Christ is not
telling us to be "in love" with Him when He tells us to love God with
all our hearts, souls, and minds. Christ is asking for something much more
solid. The love He calls for is the kind of love that keeps going when the
feelings grow low and the flesh calls us to quit. That's why the Bible calls it
crucifying ourselves. That's why Christ said those who love Him keep His
commandments. That's why Christ said anyone who loves, (values) his own life
above Christ is not worthy of Him, meaning, does not really love Him. So, we
could say that to really love God is to value Him more than you value your own
heart, your own soul, and your own mind.
I think most of you will agree with me if I say that the tendency of the
world is to draw us away from God. Again, I am not talking about emotions. I am
talking about the way the world imposes its values and ideas upon us; the way it
tends to press us into its mold. The world does not like individual thought or
personal initiative. It prefers people to march in lock step to its commands
and collective goals, and usually, those goals are not those of Godliness. The
goals are to perpetuate the same old systems and the same old evils until the
end of the world.
There is another enemy that militates against our love for God. That
enemy is us. In fact, as we go through life, we are often our own worst
enemies. We make foolish decisions that have lasting consequences based on
nothing more than passing whims. We choose fleeting pleasures over lasting
good. This is what the Bible means when it talks about the "flesh."
The desires of the flesh lead us away from God because they lead us to be preoccupied
with our own pleasures and comforts and amusements instead of God. I am sure
you know this by your own experience.
With the world and the flesh leading us away from God, we don't need
another enemy, but there is another. We know him as Satan, the devil. He is the
ultimate Anti-Christ, for he hates all that Christ loves. He is also the
ultimate anti-man, for he hates all people. He laughs when bombs fall and
cities burn and orphans cry in the streets. Hunger and disease are his friends.
Hell is what he wants for you and all people. Needless to say, he works
diligently to lead us away from God. He tells us lies about God and ourselves.
He teaches us that God is cheating us and oppressing us. He tells us the ways
of God are slavery, and we must break away from God and indulge our whims and
desires. Only then will we find happiness in life, because we will be free. We
will be like God.
Thanks be to God we are not left to fight these enemies alone. The
Epistle for today, 1 Corinthians 1:4-7, tells us of the grace of God that will
confirm us to the end, "that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord
Jesus Christ." The word, "confirm" means much more than to
simply affirm of verify something. It means to make something firm and solid.
In the realm of human relationships it means to promise or guarantee. So God,
in His grace, is working in His people to make us firm and solid in Christ so
we can be guaranteed that we will be accepted into Heaven and dwell with Him
forever in the Day of the Lord. In other words, while the world, the flesh, and
the devil tempt us away from God, God is working to draw us back to Himself and
to keep us safely in Him until we reach that Day when the world, the flesh and
the devil can't tempt us anymore.
One of the ways God keeps us in Himself is by giving us things that help
us in our journey of faith. Our Epistle for this morning calls these things,
"gifts." It is important for us to know these are not the same gifts
that caused such controversy in Corinth. The tongues and prophesies named later
in 1 Corinthians are specific gifts for a specific era in the Church prior to
the giving of the New Testament. The gifts in today's readings are different
from them. They are the things that grow faith in us, that strengthen us in Christ,
and keep us in Christ. These gifts consist primarily of our good friends, the
means of grace.
The Corinthians came behind in no gift (1 Cor. 1:7). The same is true of
Christ's Church in every era, and we, here in Holy Trinity Church in Powhatan,
Virginia, like the Corinthians, come behind in no Gift. We lack no gift from
God that will keep us in the faith now and forever. We have the Scriptures. We
have the New Testament and more than 2,000 years of history and tradition. We
have prayer. We have the Church. We have The lord's Supper, worship. the
preaching and teaching of the Scriptures, and the indwelling presence of the
Spirit of God. So, when we pray a prayer like the Collect for the Eighteenth
Sunday after Trinity, asking God for grace to help us withstand the temptations
of the world, the flesh, and the devil, so we can follow Him with pure hearts
and minds, we are asking God to help us make diligent use of the means of
grace.
Let us pray.
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ORD, we beseech thee, grant thy
people grace to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh and the
devil; and with pure hearts and minds to follow thee, the only God; through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
--
+R. Dennis Campbell
Bishop
of Diocese of Virginia
Rector,
Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
Powhatan,
Virginia
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