Seventh Sunday after Trinity

The Propers for today are found on Page 198-199, with the Collect first:

The Seventh Sunday after Trinity.

The Collect.

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ORD of all power and might, who art the author and giver of all good things; Graft in our hearts the love of thy Name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of thy great mercy keep us in the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Dru Arnold read the Epistle, which was came from the Sixth Chapter of Saint Paul’s letter to the Romans beginning at the Nineteenth Verse. Paul reminds us when we strive above all else for the things of this world, we gain nothing we can take with us to the next. “For, when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.” Conversely, if we will be servants of God (righteousness) we can be free from the devil sin). “… the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. If we will follow God, we will live, not only forever in the next world, but better in this world. We must put aside what we did and do what He would have us do. Actions are the key to everything. Talk is nice. Action is what counts.

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SPEAK after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Deacon Striker Jack Arnold read today’s Holy Gospel which was written in the Eighth Chapter of the Gospel according to Saint Mark beginning at the First Verse. Jesus had been in the wilderness teaching a multitude, some four thousand in number. In those pre-restaurant on every corner days, the people had been without food and were hungry. Jesus was concerned and inventoried their supplies, seven loaves and a few small fishes. He gave thanks to God, and commanded the food to be set out before the people. When they had eaten their fill, the scraps gathered up from the seven loaves filled seven baskets.

Many speculated over the years as to just how He did it. The answer is simple, He did it. He did not talk about feeding the multitude and sit down to His own meal. He acted and they were fed. Does this story recall the words from the Last Supper used in Holy Communion at the Consecration? “he took Bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, Take, eat, this is my Body, which is given for you; Do this in remembrance of me.” Those few words produced The Word, which has satisfied so many over millenniums.

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N those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: and if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away.

Sermon – Time and Action

Today’s sermon tied the Epistle and Gospel together talked as is oft the case of the need for action, not simply diction, the general content is in forewords above.

Bishop Dennis Campbell

Today’s Sunday Report has a guest sermon by Bishop R. Dennis Campbell. Bishop Dennis is one of the smartest people I know and is very good at expressing biblical concepts in terms we can understand. He preached a wonderful sermon on one of my favorite topics – ACTS. Action, not diction.

Trusting God to Give What Is Best

Romans 6:21-23

Seventh Sunday after Trinity

7 August 2011

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ORD of all power and might, who art the author and giver of all good things; Graft in our hearts the love of thy Name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of they great mercy keep us in the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I know of nothing outside of Scripture itself, which summarizes and expresses what we are trying to do in this season of Trinity as well as the Collect for the Seventh Sunday after Trinity. Our intention is to show how the doctrines of the Christian faith apply and relate to us in everyday life. We spent the first half of the year in the great doctrinal teachings of the Bible. We marveled at the revelation of the nature and purpose of God. We saw again why the world is in such a mess, why God created us, who Jesus Christ is and why He came to earth to live and die and rise again. We learned a little more about the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, about faith and sin, and repentance and Heaven and Hell.

We spend the second half of the year, which we call, Trinity Season, emphasizing our response to God's revelation in the Biblical doctrines. We are looking at the teachings of Scripture and asking the question Francis Shaeffer asked in the title of his book and film series, "How Should We Then Live?" But we are not just asking the question for open discussion. We are asking it specifically of the Bible, for, just as it is in the Bible that we find the revelation of these great truths, it is also in the Bible that we find their meaning and application to us. So we are not just asking for human opinions about life, we are gratefully listening to the voice of God for His direction in life.

And what is God's answer? What is God's purpose in giving His revelation in Scripture? It is more than simply showing us how to get to Heaven. So much of the teaching and preaching and efforts of the Church have been limited to showing people how to get to Heaven. "Where will you spend eternity?" has been our primary question to those outside of Christ. It is difficult to fault the Church for this, because it is the single most important issue in all of human existence. But I think real evangelism does more than just tell people how to get to Heaven. Real evangelism leads people into the things of Christ, not just a mansion in Heaven. True evangelism aims at making disciples, learners, and followers of Jesus Christ. It leads them into all the things we have studied in the first half of our cycle of prayer. It tells them about the great God of Heaven who is perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness; the Maker and preserver of all things, one God, three person, of one substance, power, and eternity. It tells them they were created to enjoy and glorify God. It tells of the Fall into sin and of sin's dreadful consequences to life in this universe and to the souls of human beings. It tells of a love so profound it would not leave us in our sins, but actually became a Man and suffered in Himself the consequences of our sins and paid the price of our reconciliation to God. It tells of a new life, a life that actually begins to live in harmony and fellowship with God here and now on this earth. So we are not just telling people about a philosophy or moral system or simply a way to avoid Hell; we are telling them about the giver of all good things who is able and willing to graft in their heart the love of His name, increase them in true religion, nourish them with all goodness, and keep them in these things forever. As last Sunday's Collect says, we are telling people about the One who" hast prepared for those who love Him, such good things as pass man's understanding."

This is what Romans is talking about when today's reading tells us the gift of God is everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Lord. This is what Christ was showing us when He fed the four thousand with a few pieces of fish and bread. He is able to nourish our souls as fully as He satisfied their physical hunger.

There is a question in Romans 6:21, that often gets overshadowed by the great words of Romans 6:23, "the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." That question is, "What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed?" What was the result, what was the fruit that those "things" brought to your life? The Bible is talking about "things" that go against the will and nature of God. In other words, it is talking about sin, and it is saying sin has results in our lives, and it assumes that we are now ashamed of those sins we once thought were the means to happiness and meaning in life. The end, the result, the fruit of sin in our lives, is death. "But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life" (Rom. 6:22). The fruit of the life of sin is the death of the soul because sin kills the soul as surely as poison kills the body. But the fruit of being in Christ is holiness and everlasting life. That means to be in God now and forever.

We were created for friendship and fellowship with God. I don't mean to say God is our pal. He is not our "good buddy in Heaven." But He is a friend in the fullest and highest sense of the word because He shares Himself with us and enables us to live in Him and know Him and love Him. He is our best friend because He gives us that which is best in all things. He gives us happiness and peace and joy and love that are so full and so wonderful we can't even begin to imagine the infinite splendor of them. He gives life so wonderful it can be described as walking in heavenly places, or even better, as dwelling in the very heart of His love.

So we come to an important point: let us desire Christ to give us all that God offers. Maybe we should say, let God give us all that He offers. Let me say that again; let God, let God, let God give us all that He offers. I say, "let God" because I think we are often guilty of refusing the things He wants to give us because we want other things He may not want to give us. We refuse what He wants to give because we don't trust Him, and because we don't believe what He wants to give is better than the things the world gives. We're afraid He will require us to give up some of our little indulgences. We're afraid He won't take care of us and provide for us. But mostly we're afraid we'll miss out on the pleasures of life, and that the things He wants to give us will not be as rewarding as the pleasures of the world. We need to repent of this sin of unbelief. We need to trust God. Let us not just trust, but also beseech Him to feed our souls us with all good things, and keep us well supplied in them forever. This is what we ask Him to do when we pray:

"Lord of all power and might, who art the author and giver of all good things; Graft in our hearts the love of thy Name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of they great mercy keep us in the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord.