The Propers for today are found
on Page 214-215, with the Collect first:
The Collect for the Seventeenth
Sunday after Trinity follows:
The
Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity.
The
Collect.
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ORD,
we pray thee that thy grace may always prevent and follow us, and make us
continually to be given to all good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Ryan Hopkins read the Epistle for today, which came
from the letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians beginning at the First Verse of
the Fourth Chapter. Once again, Paul
calls us to a new life, different from our old life. A life in which we act in a manner worth of the better life
to which we have been called by Christ and for which He gave His life. Paul, of all people, knows the
importance of setting aside your old life, as Saul did, so that as Paul he asks
us to put God first in our lives, to put ourselves last. He reminds us, “There is one body, and
one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one
faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through
all, and in you all.” The key to a
successful life is to put the important things at the top of your To Do
List. And, notice it is a To Do List, not a To Think About or To Wait a
While List. What is more
important than God?
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therefore,
the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation
wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering,
for-bearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called
in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and
Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all[1].
Deacon Striker Jack Arnold read today’s Holy Gospel which
came from the Fourteenth Chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke, beginning at the
First Verse. The Gospel starts out
reminding us the Law was designed to be flexible. The goal is to do God’s will, not to “follow the letter of
the law” as the Pharisees were so keen on. They brought before Him a man in need of healing as they sat
to eat on the Sabbath Day. They
watched to see what He would do.
Putting the monkey on their back, He asked, “Is it lawful to heal on the
Sabbath Day?” Wishing to be in a position to criticize rather
than answer, “they held their peace.”
He healed the man, then asked them, “Which of you shall have an ass or
an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath
Day?” They would not respond; for
the answer was obvious.
Then “He put forth a parable to those” who had been
invited to dine with him, after He had seen them joust for the seats of
honor. “When thou art bidden of
any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest seat; lest a more honourable
man than thou be bidden of him; and he that bade thee and him come and say to
thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest place.
But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest place; that when he
that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt
thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For
whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall
be exalted.” Do we put God first
and let others raise us up, or do we put ourselves first and let others put us
down?
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t came came to pass, as Jesus went
into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day,
that they watched him. And, behold, there was a certain man before him which
had the dropsy. And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees,
saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? And they held their peace. And
he took him, and healed him, and let him go; and answered them, saying, Which
of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway
pull him out on the sabbath day? And they could not answer him again to these
things. And he put forth a parable to those which were bid-den, when he marked
how they chose out the chief seats; saying unto them, When thou art bidden of
any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest seat; lest a more honourable
man than thou be bidden of him; and he that bade thee and him come and say to
thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest place.
But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest place; that when he
that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt
thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For
whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall
be exalted.
Sermon
– Time and Action
Today’s sermon tied the Epistle and Gospel together
and is partly contained in the forewords above.
We ask the Lord to lead us and follow us, to keep us
always. Paul calls us to a new and
different life. One whose goal is
to do the Lord’s will, not to avoid 613 laws. To do what is right and be humble.
Bishop
Ogles’ Sermon
Bishop Jerry provided his great sermon notes for
today. I am certain you will find
them very enjoyable. As always, I
cannot commend it to you enough.
Sermon Notes for 17th Sunday after
Trinity 16 October 2011 Anno Domini
"1 And it came to pass, as he went
into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day,
that they watched him. 2 And, behold, there was a certain man before him which
had the dropsy. 3 And Jesus answering spake unto
the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? 4 And they held their peace. And
he took him, and healed him, and let him go; 5 And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox
fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day? 6 And they could not answer him again
to these things. 7 And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden,
when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them, 8 When thou art bidden of any man to a
wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou
be bidden of him; 9 And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give
this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. 10 But when thou art bidden, go and
sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say
unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence
of them that sit at meat with thee. 11 For whosoever exalteth himself
shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. (Luke 14:1-11)
It
was the Sabbath Day.
"We
have been thinking and speaking of a miracle done on the Sabbath. It is evident
that our Saviour had a preference for the Sabbath as a time for working
miracles. How, then, is it with respect to ourselves — we who, many of us,
would be glad to have a miracle wrought on our behalf, and yet have no right
whatever to expect one? It is just thus — we are waiting for the Sabbath. In
other words, it was intended, no doubt, to be taught us by our Saviour's
practice, that there is a special time of rest coming, when all the various
troubles that hamper and injure us will be utterly removed — our burdens
unbound; our fevers cooled for ever; our weakness changed to strength; all our
heaviness lightened; our blind eyes made clear; our deaf ears unstopped; our
feet filled with vigorous leaping blood; and all that is within us lighted up
with joy, even as the house was lighted up, and music and dancing sounded in
it, when the prodigal came home. There is a Sabbath coming; and as Christ
wrought His cures upon the Sabbath, when He was upon earth, we are taught to
look on to a day of cure that is coming — that Sabbath, namely, of rest, into
which we hope to enter hereafter. It may be needful for our perfection, and the
perfection of our friends, that we should still be burdened; but we are quite
sure that, after the round of the six days, there will come the seventh; we are
quite sure, when the time of trial has ended, the boon of health will be
granted." (the
Rev T. T. Lynch.)
Jesus
has been invited to the house of a prominent Pharisee one of the chief of them,
we are told.
"And
it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat
bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him."
Many
other of the Pharisees were doubtless there for "they watched him."
How greatly would they have benefitted if they had watched Him to learn instead
of to find fault.
Why
was Jesus invited by one of those who hated Him and were constantly trying to
destroy Him? They had invited Jesus to catch Him in an act of disobedience of
the Sabbath – it was a `set up' in the popular vernacular.
Why
do you suppose Jesus accepted the invitation? Jesus was no recluse – He
came to help all who would hear Him. He loved to be in social gatherings
where men would listen – ALL men…even Pharisees.
"And,
behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy."
The
cunning mind of the Pharisee bypassed no opportunity in providing a means of
entrapment for Christ. Seemingly, just by coincidence, a man with a grave and
serious malady is present – a man who probably had not been invited had it not
fit comfortably in the plans of the Pharisees to present Jesus with a
temptation.
These
men are ruthless. They will use even the kindness and compassion of Jesus to
try and condemn Him.
They
have seated the man with the dropsy (congestive heart failure) in a place
BEFORE Jesus. They know that He loves to heal and to do good regardless the
occasion, but today is the Sabbath! They will use this as an occasion to condemn
Christ of violating the Sabbath by doing healing works on this day.
But
Jesus knows the heart of men, and He knows the evil thoughts of the hearts of
those who sit watching Him.
"And
Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?"
Jesus
sets the circumstances to turn the tables on these miscreants. The question
restated might read: "Is it ever unlawful to do good?" Did God
provide man with the day of rest for the purpose of omitting even deeds of
kindness?
The
Pharisees and priests of Jesus day had added so many cumbersome proscriptions
to the Sabbath observance and every other aspect of the law, that men could not
bear them without misery – just the opposite of what God had intended.
Jesus
was continually tempted in every way that we are tempted, but Jesus never gave
into temptation except in certain cases.
What
were those cases? When tempted to do good, as in the present case, Christ could
not resist the temptation to act out of His compassion to heal and to comfort.
This was not a temptation to sin, but a temptation by sinful men of Christ to
do good. He always did!
You
and I are tempted, on the other hand, to do bad things not pleasing to God. But
in every temptation to do evil is found an opportunity to, instead, do good.
Jesus sets the example for us in every case.
Because
they have set their trap, the Pharisees do not respond to the pointed question
of Christ: "And they held their peace." Men will
most often speak out when they can condemn or hurt, but will less often speak
out on the part of righteousness. Political correctness restrains them from
speaking righteousness but tends always to wickedness.
So
Jesus poses the simple question which they decline to answer so as not to give
away their plot. How many clergy, as well as laity, remain silent on issues of
great importance? I have observed the silence, even on discussion groups
of the church, remain stony silent on matters on which they should have strong
opinion. The silence of those is like a scream in the night.
Those
who are legalist often forget that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for
the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27)
The
failure to accept the Sabbath in the manner and purpose for which it was given
nullifies its benefits. The Christian Sabbath is not a once per week observance
but a daily one. Christ has given us an Eternal Sabbath (Rest).
"And
he took him, and healed him, and let him go." The whole will of
Christ was to heal the man and not to make a spectacle of him. So Jesus,
instead of having the man remain standing by for show, releases him to go his
way. How different from the Pharisees who heartlessly brought the man to tempt
Christ.
"And
answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and
will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?"
Had
they forgotten the counsel of Proverbs 12:11 - "A righteous
man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are
cruel."
An ox
or a donkey were precious to men who depended on them to produce income. If one
of the Pharisees own precious animals fell into a ditch on the Sabbath, he
would certainly have rescued the animal, if not out of kindness, then out of
greed.
He
thus shuts them. Up to this startling alternative: "Not to do good, when
it is in the power of our hand to do it, is to do evil; not to save life, when
we can, is to kill"
"And
they could not answer him again to these things. 7 And he put forth a parable to
those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms;
saying unto them,"
Righteous
words will shut the mouth of the wicked.
Jesus
is an observer of men and women. He watched as the poor widow cast her all into
the Temple treasury, and He has observed here how the guests of the Pharisee
came into the room and chose the best seats and provisions. They sought
to have their seating lend them honor when they should have allowed their honor
to determine their seating. They lacked humility and were filled with false
pride.
So
Jesus tells them a story (Parable) to which they can relate in common life:
"When thou art bidden of any man to a
wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou
be bidden of him; And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this
man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. But when thou art
bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh,
he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the
presence of them that sit at meat with thee."
All
of the counsels of Christ are full of spiritual and uplifting truths. This
short Parable is no exception.
Jesus
begins the story with a delicate allusion to a type of gathering that would be
different from that of his present host of whom He has been invited. The venue
is a wedding feast, but still a feast so that the same principle will apply.
When
we are invited to a special event, do not exalt your importance by finding the
highest place, or most visible place, to stand or sit. We will inevitably
to be embarrassed by our presumptive pride when we are told, curtly, to move
and surrender your place to one having greater honor than you. The only place
left at that time will be the place of least honor – the lowest room. "And he that bade thee and him come and
say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest
room."
He
has given an example of how not to behave, but He does not leave us in doubt as
to how we should behave: "But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room;
that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher:
then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with
thee."
Notice
the host refers to the man who is humble and takes the very lowest place of
honor as Friend. He did not refer to the man who took the highest place as
Friend. Men despise false pride and arrogance in others. If we humble
ourselves, men will always elevate us in esteem. But greater is the reward in
Heaven!
A
college professor once hosted a tea for his graduating students. When
they all presented themselves at his home, the professor had all the cups, in
the right number, assembled on the table. The cups were all of different kinds.
One was of stone, one of crystal, one of clay, and some were shaped curiously
different from any before seen. When the professor invited the students
to take a cup, the first took the crystal, the next the glass, the next the stone,
the next the clay, and so forth.
As
the professor watched them drink their tea that he had poured for them, he
observed that they had each chosen the best cup at the table; but the purpose
of a tea was not the kind of cup one drank from, but the tea which the cup
contained. The quality of the tea is not changed by the quality of the cup
which contains it. So with our worthiness before God. It is not some
superficial position or appearance that is important, but what is inside.
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:
Our
Christian Vocation
Ephesians
4:1-6, Luke 14:1-11
Seventeenth
Sunday after Trinity
16
October 2011
In our minds, the word,
"prevent" means to stop or avert. For example, if someone moves
a pile of gasoline soaked rags from the side of a hot wood stove, he might
rightly claim to have prevented a house fire. But in the days of the
Reformation, when the Collect for the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity was
being translated into English by Archbishop Cranmer, "prevent"
followed a more literal meaning of its two syllables, pre, and vent. Pre,
means to be in front of. Vent means to come. So the two together
mean to come before, or lead.
Let's apply this to
the Collect. We are not here asking God's grace to stop us from doing
something. Of course, there are times when it is entirely appropriate to
ask God, in His grace, to stop us from doing something. We should ask God
to stop us from making foolish decisions, stop us from thinking evil thoughts,
and stop us from doing evil things. We do pray for this every time we
pray the Collect for Grace in Morning Prayer, "grant that this day we fall
into no sin." We also pray for this every time we pray the Lord's
Prayer, "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil." So this is a legitimate, and a very good thing to pray for.
But the Collect for today is not so much about God stopping us as it is about
Him enfolding and enclosing us in His grace, so that it goes before us and
follows after us. We see in this almost the military precision of highly
professional soldiers escorting a valuable cargo to its destination.
There will be a group that precedes the main body, ensuring that the way is
clear, removing obstacles, and dealing with enemies, if necessary. There will
also be a group that follows, protecting it from attack from behind. This
is the picture we have in this prayer, that the grace of God will go before us
and follow after us, leading and protecting us from dangers, but also making
us, or enabling us to be given to all good works; enabling us to live like Christians.
It is much like the words of that great hymn, "St. Patrick;"
Christ
within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me Christ beside me,
Christ
beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ
in hearts of all that love me, Christ in mouth of friend and stranger
The Collect intends to
emphasize an important point in Ephesians 4, which is stated in the first
verse, and expounded in the remainder of today's reading; "walk worthy of
the vocation wherewith ye are called." How many of us think of being
a Christian and living for Christ as our vocation in life? Most of us, if
asked what our vocation is, would say what we do to earn our money. In
other words, we would name our occupation. But an occupation is something
different from a vocation. I know most dictionaries equate the two words,
but I maintain that, Biblically speaking, they are different. Your
occupation is the way you earn your daily bread. Your vocation is your
calling from God to live in Christ and honour Him in all things. Your
occupation is an important part of your vocation, but your vocation is more
than your occupation.
So let's look at the
word "vocation" again. In English it comes from the Latin word
for "calling." Likewise, in Greek, it means to call, and the
Greek word, kaleo, actually resembles our English word call. So
our vocation is our life calling. It is that one thing to which we devote
the majority of our time, energy, attention, talents, and abilities. It
is the one thing that gives priority and direction and meaning to everything
that we do, and everything that we are.
Our vocation is not
stated directly in today's reading. Instead we are given directions about
how to "walk worthy" of it; how to carry it out and accomplish it in
every day life. We walk worthy of our calling when we conduct ourselves
in lowliness, meekness, longsuffering, forbearance, and love, and keep the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Our reading from Luke also
guides us in how to live worthy of our calling. Here we find stated one
of the great principles of Godliness, a principle so great it was followed by
our Lord Himself; the principle of humility, showing that those who exalt
themselves, meaning to consider themselves worthy of God, will be abased, while
those who humble themselves, meaning to confess their sin and trust in the
righteousness of Christ, will be exalted. To exalt yourself is to be
against God. To humble yourself is to seek God.
This is how we
"do" our vocation. But what is our vocation? Those who know the
Westminster Shorter Catechism will remember the answer to the first question;
"The chief end of man is glorify God and enjoy Him forever." That is
a good statement of our vocation. Anglicans spend much time talking about
Christian vocation, and, for us it is expressed perfectly in the words of
Christ, who, when asked which is the first and greatest commandment, answered,
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy mind." Paul also states our vocation for us in
Ephesians 3:17-19.
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that
ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all
saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the
love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all
the fulness of God.
So the passage we read
earlier from Ephesians 4, is a commentary on and explanation of this passage,
especially the last words, "that ye might be filled with all the fulness
of God." We could also say this passage is a commentary on the words of
Christ that we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and
mind. In fact, in one sense, the entire Bible is a commentary on Christ's
words. All Scripture explains to us who God is and what it means to love
Him with our entire being. And this, to love God with our entire being is
"the vocation wherewith ye are called." This is our life
calling. This is the one thing to which we devote the majority of our time,
energy, attention, talents, and abilities. It is the one thing that gives
priority and direction and meaning to everything that we do, and everything
that we are.
Thus we ask God to go
before us and behind us, by His grace, that we may be continually given to all
good works. We're not just asking God to help us do nice things, like
work in a homeless shelter. Good though such actions may be, the
"good works" of the Collect are the things of Godliness. They
are to seek Him in the Scriptures, worship Him in His Church, and obey His
commandments. And they are to love one another as Christ loved us, and as
we love ourselves. It is to do all the things taught in our Scripture
readings for today, and to do them out of love for God and His creatures.
It is to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called.
Let us pray.
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ORD,
we pray thee that thy grace may always prevent and follow us, and make us
continually to be given to all good works; 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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