The Propers for today are found
on Page 212-213, with the Collect first:
The
Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity.
The Collect.
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O
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LORD, we
beseech thee, let thy continual pity cleanse and defend thy Church; and,
because it cannot continue in safety without thy succour, preserve it evermore
by thy help and goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Ryan Hopkins read today’s Epistle, which came from
Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, the Third Chapter beginning at the Thirteenth
Verse. Paul, writing to the church
in Ephesus, prays that the people might “be strengthened with might by his
Spirit in the inner man; 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
fullness of God.” More
simply put, Paul asks that we open our hearts to God and to Christ, that they
might work in our hearts the miracle of love.
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I
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DESIRE that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is
your glory. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would
grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might
by his Spirit in the inner man; 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
fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all
that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory
in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
Deacon Striker Jack Arnold read today’s Holy Gospel which
started in the Seventh Chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke, beginning
at the Eleventh Verse. Jesus was
going into the city of Nain with his disciples and many followers. “When he came nigh to the gate of the
city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and
she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.” In those days, a widow with only one
son had little, a widow with no son was in deep trouble. Taking compassion on her and also the
opportunity to make His power evident, He came to the bier, and touch it said,
“Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.”
The young man arose and began to speak; whereupon Jesus brought him to
his mother. Not surprisingly, news
of this event was spread “forth throughout all Judæa, and throughout all the
region round about.” Like the
young man, we are dead to eternity until we hear the command “… Arise.” If we hear and act on that command, we
have eternal life, just like the young man, it starts right then!
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A
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ND it came to pass the day after, that Jesus went
into a city called Nain; and many of his disciples went with him, and much
people. Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead
man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much
people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion
on her, and said unto her, Weep not. And he came and touched the bier: and they
that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And
he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his
mother. And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a
great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people. And
this rumour of him went forth throughout all Judæa, and throughout all the
region round about.
Sermon
– Time and Action
Today’s sermon tied the Epistle and Gospel together
and is partly contained in the forewords above.
If we will open our hearts to God, He will send the
Holy Ghost to fill our hearts with Love, Courage, Inspiration, Tenacity and
Confidence, to mention just a few helpful additions to our portfolio. If we will open our hearts to Him, our
ears will hear the command “… Arise.”
When we rise, we rise with the confidence of immortals and can conquer any
obstacle. But, without an open
heart, our ears will never hear the command directed to our soul, “…
Arise.” We will be dead to
eternity.
Open your heart to our Lord and arise. Arise; go forth with Love, Courage,
Inspiration, Tenacity and Confidence to fight the battle our Lord leads us
into.
All Jesus asks is that we follow Him. That is all follow Him. But, words mean something. The word follow is very important.
In the military fighter world the strongest
acceptance and recognition of excellence that can be given is, "You lead;
I'll follow." For to do so is
to put your life in the other's hands.
Literally, completely and without question. It is a matter of putting the light on the star and hanging
in there. It is said by few
to an even smaller number. When
you break out of the cloud after an hour of GE-28Volt burning in your retina
and see the runway or pop over the ridge after a half hour of dodging trees and
triple A and the target is right there in the reticle, it is all okay. Sometimes in between, it does not seem
like it will turn out that way.
What makes you keep the light on the star is trust. I see this as another aspect of that
truth. The numbers are different
in the case of God. We all
(unlikely to happen) need to put our lives in the hands of a small number (that
would be ONE).
We need recognize who has the ability, the power, the
perfection in leadership and have that trust to say, "You lead; I'll
follow." I believe that is what Jesus expects from us in regard to our
entire life. We may get out of position or even go lost wingman on the odd
occasion, but he expects us to Our very best to follow His lead and stay in
position. Hard to do if your eye
is not padlocked on Him.
I might add, as ministers of our Lord, we have a
similar responsibility to those who would follow us here on earth. And we have to work even harder, for
created by a perfect God, we are imperfect creatures with free will. A problematic combination. We must strive for a correct attitude,
heading, stability and predictability in our path so that we can be followed
towards that final destination that marks a successful mission.
Bishop
Ogles’ Sermon
Bishop Jerry provided his very interesting sermon
notes for today. I am certain you
will find them very enjoyable. As
always, I cannot commend it to you enough.
Saturday 1 October 2011 Anno Domini
in 14th Week after Trinity Sunday
"37 But as the
days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.38 For as in
the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and
giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39And knew
not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of
the Son of man be.40 Then shall
two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.41 Two women
shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.42 Watch
therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.43 But know
this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would
come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken
up.44 Therefore be ye also ready:
for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.45 Who then
is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his
household, to give them meat in due season? 46 Blessed is
that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.47 Verily I
say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.48 But and if
that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;49 And shall
begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;50 The lord
of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour
that he is not aware of,51 And shall
cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be
weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matt 24:37-51)
From the moment of the fall of
our fleshly father, Adam, in the Garden at Eden, sins began to multiply among
the children of man. The results of these sins also led to the increase of
disease and pestilence where, in times past, there had been none. Roses grew
thorns, and blood began to be shed abroad on the earth as a legacy of Cain's
grievous murder of his brother Abel. As the decades rolled into centuries, and
centuries into millennia, the heart of man became all the more wicked and full
of evil. The pattern of growing wickedness was temporarily abated by the Flood,
but not long after, it began anew in earnest. It continues even to this day of
the modern era. Because the memory of Noah is raised by Christ, it should
signal to us the importance of knowing and remembering the conditions on earth
that led to the Deluge.
"But as the days of Noe were, so
shall also the coming of the Son of man be." How were the days when
the Ark was under construction? If the enormity of sin in the days preceding
the Flood are heralds of the last days, we need to carefully examine those days
and compare them with our own time to discover any signs of the Coming of the
Lord of all Glory. "And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great
in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil continually." (Gen 6:5) "The earth also was
corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked
upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his
way upon the earth." (Gen 6:11-12) When the heart of man is
corrupt and full of sin, even the earth also becomes corrupt. After the
sin of Adam, God said to him "…….cursed is the ground for thy sake….."
(Gen 3:17)
The Godly man, Noah, suffered
the ridicule and rejection of all society as he labored at the Ark. Moreover,
he preached righteousness to an unbelieving people for more than one hundred
years. The scorners gathered about as Noah built the Ark under the Divine
guidance of God. He warned them of God's wrath at their wickedness and how God
would destroy the whole earth with water. This was unbelievable to these people
of Noah's day for it had never before rained upon the earth from the Creation.
Plants were watered by dew that arose at night and refreshed all life. A Flood!
What was a Flood? They would soon find out. If God warns of impending judgment,
we need not wonder how it can happen – we need only prepare for it! Faithful
Noah walked with God. He heard His voice and responded in obedience. No matter
how he may have been ridiculed by men, Noah knew that God would still sit on
the Throne of Heaven even when these mortal sinners were suffering the flames
of Hell.
"For as in the days that were
before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,
until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so
shall also the coming of the Son of man be." The point made here is
that of the complete surprise of the coming destruction of the flood by all living
(except Noah and his family). Men had been sinning with impunity since Adam.
They continued to sin, to drink, to marry, to given in marriage, to rob, to
murder, and to commit every evil imaginable. They felt immune to retribution.
The greatest travesty and miscalculation was that these people did not take God
seriously. He was too God to bring a devastating judgment against them, so they
continued with all disregard to the Creator God who made them.
The presumption of security
that these people demonstrated reminds me of the true account of the Captain of
the Titanic of the White Star Line just a day prior to its weighing anchor for
its fatal rendezvous with an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Captain Edward J.
Smith was asked by a reported if the ship was safe – if it could be sunk?
Captain Smith responded with this awfully vain comment: "Sir, I tell you
in complete confidence - God Himself could
not sink the Titanic!" Do we of today believe that time shall go on
indefinitely and that we may never face an end of it? Every reader of
this devotion has a future place and time, determined by God alone, for dying.
We know not the hour or circumstance, but we do know that we alone will not be
the exception to dying. We may not know when or how, but we can certainly know
and prepare for the condition in which we leave this world – either lost of
safe in the arms of Christ. William Saroyan was an Armenian writer whose short
stories I came to enjoy while abroad. He was at best a tepid believer. In the
early 1980's, William Saroyan passed away in a Los Angeles hospital. Days
earlier, he had sent a note to Walter Cronkite to read only after his demise.
After his death, Mr. Cronkite read Saroyan's note on CBS Evening News: "I
have always known that everyone has to die sooner or later but, I felt, in my
case that there would be an exception – NOW
WHAT?" If Mr. Saroyan felt the question one he needed to ask,
I'm afraid the answer will not be pleasing. Do you know, friend, that you are
called and chosen by God?
"Then shall two be in the field;
the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be
taken, and the other left." Though this prophecy may relate fully to the coming
destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman Legions under Titus in 70 A.D., it has
parallel bearing on the return of Christ at some point unknown to us. Many
shall be employed in the same pursuit and action when Christ comes, yet one
will be taken and the other left. Why? It is because our good works will not
merit heaven for us, but that which is in our hearts.
"Watch therefore: for ye know
not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the
goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would
have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up." If we are fervent
students of history, we will see the ugly head of tyranny being raised in our
won government as well as abroad. Defending the liberties of our people is not
a sometime consideration, but one requiring constant vigilance on the part of
the people. We face an even greater prospect with the Coming of the Kingdom of
God. We must be on constant watch for our souls and those of our family and
neighbors. Be a watchman is a serious business. It is a duty which weighs
heavily on the shoulders of every clergyman, and every Christian layperson. We
must be awake, we must be watching, and we must sound the alarm. Even in our
contemporary times, sleeping on guard duty has ever been punishable with death,
because on the carefulness of the watch may depend the safety of the army and
the nation. In the Korean Army, our allies during the Vietnam War, a soldier
found sleeping on guard would never wake up. He would be shot in his sleep.
"In the Temple, during the night, the captain of the Temple made his
rounds, and the guards had to rise at his approach and salute him in a certain
manner. Any guard found asleep on duty was beaten or his garments were set on
fire." M. R. Vincent "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk
naked, and they see his shame." (Rev 16:14-15) Christ gives here His charge
to be watching, for the same reason but even more importantly, for His coming
and clothed in the garments of justification
and sanctification, so as to be accepted.
If you knew that the End would
come at noon today, would your manner of living suffer great change? Near the
end of the eighteenth century, there was a day which came to be known in New
England history as the Dark Day. On this day, April 19, 1780, the sun was
suddenly and inexplicably obscured at the noon hour. The darkness descended on
the land from the middle, to the New England, states. The Connecticut
Legislature was in session, and some of the members, moved with fear, proposed
an immediate adjournment. "It is the day of Judgment," they
said, "and it is not fitting that we should be here." But a
Colonel named Davenport, one of the members, stood up and said, "I do
not know whether this is the day of judgment or not. But if it be the day of
judgment it cannot overtake us at a better place than at the post of duty. Let
us light the candles and go about the business of the house." And then
he made his speech regarding the use fish nets in Long Island Sound. Will you
continue your good duty until the Lord finds you then?
"Therefore be ye also ready: for
in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." There are, today, many
knowledgeable theologians of whom the Lord may not have been aware for they
claim to know the day and hour of His return. I have two small books in my
library attesting to the Lord's return on September 22, 1988 and October 1,
1992 respectively. But wait! Something must be amiss with their reading since
the Lord did not come as predicted. A more recent example is the prophecy of
Mr. Harold Camping that Christ would return on May 21, 2011. Did we miss that
gathering? Such false prophecies attract much attention (as well as money), but
the price to be paid by those who speak falsely in the name of the Lord is a
serious matter. No one knows the time of the Lord's return, so let us live
every day as if that is the day. "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord
hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh
shall find so doing.Verily I say unto you,
That he shall make him ruler over all his goods."
"But and if that evil servant
shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat
and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall
come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware
of, And shall cut him asunder, and
appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth."
When I was a child, my parents would often leave me and my younger brother in the care of
my older sister.
My mother gave my chores to do, and my sister was to be obeyed. As soon as the
dust cleared, I usually did whatever I pleased and was not obedient to my
sister. Some few minutes before the expected return of my parents, I tried to
get my act straight and appear diligent when they returned. Quite often, I
completely failed at this object for my parents sometime surprised me by
returning earlier than expected. I always paid a greater price for my loathsome
failure than I would have paid by doing my duty in the first place. Are we
putting off a right relation with God until we are convinced that our days are
ending? Live every minute of every day unto the Lord. That way, we will pray
with John the Revelator that He shall come quickly, and we shall be ready!
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:
God Hath Visited His People
Luke 7:11-17
Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity
Before we begin to
look at the Scriptures for today I ask you to turn to page 212 of the Prayer
Book and look at the Collect for today, the Sixteenth Sunday after
Trinity. As Anglicans we follow an annual cycle of prayer, worship, and
Scripture reading. This is a practice followed by God's people for many
thousands of years, and it is part of our identity as Holy Trinity Anglican
Church and as members of the Anglican Orthodox Church. This is a
wonderful blessing, for in the cycle of prayer we are guided and instructed in
the faith once delivered to the saints. We are not simply left to our own
devices to learn the Bible's content and meaning. We are led into the
Word in a way that helps us learn its content and its message, and, at the same
time, makes it part of the way we think, and respond to life and God. The
more you follow our cycle of worship and Scripture, the more you will
understand the Bible, and, the more you understand the Bible, the more you will
be filled with the fullness of God. This takes some effort and perseverance.
Actually, it takes years of hard work and dedication. So, if you seem to
be floundering a little, be patient and keep going. The rewards are worth
the effort.
Each week of the cycle of
prayer begins with Sunday, of course, and assumes that the people of God will
not forsake the assembly, but will come together to worship God. Each
Sunday is assigned Scripture readings and a Collect, which is a prayer that
sets forth the doctrine, Scriptural event, or exhortation for that Sunday, and
the week that follows. Sometimes the connection between the Collect and
the Scriptures is plain and obvious. Sometimes it is less obvious, and
today, I think, is one of those less obvious days. So let's look at the Collect
for today.
Please read and listen
thoughtfully as I read it aloud.
"O Lord, we beseech thee, let thy continual pity
cleanse and defend thy Church; and because it cannot continue in safety without
thy succour, preserve it evermore by they help and goodness; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen."
The point of the Collect,
and the Scriptures for this morning, is that God is able and willing to
continually cleanse, defend, succour, and preserve His Church by His continual
help and goodness. Let me show how this point is made.
First, we are shown that
God is able to help us. This is shown first in the Epistle,
Ephesians 3:13-21. The Apostle Paul, who was the human utensil through
whom God gave the Book of Ephesians, tells us God is with him even in his
tribulations. Paul's tribulations were many. He lost everything in
the service of Christ; he was persecuted, stoned and beaten, shipwrecked,
imprisoned, and finally executed for being a Christian. Yet he endured it
all with a peaceful heart, writing in Romans 8:18 that the "sufferings of
this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us." He does not promise that God will keep us from the
pains and trials of life. He does tell us we can be strengthened by His
Spirit in the inner man, that we can have Christ dwelling in our hearts by
faith, that we can be rooted and grounded in love, that we can be enabled to
understand the great things of the mysteries of God, that we can know the love
of Christ, and that we, you and I, sinners that we are, unworthy as we are, can
be filled with all the fullness of God (Eph. 3:16-19). These
are powerful statements. These are staggering words. I think that
if we ever felt their full impact it would be like being hit by a train, except
the result would not be pain and death, it would be life and joy. Can these
things be true? Yes, God is able to do them. He is able to do
"exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think" (Eph 3:20).
Second, the ability of
Christ to help us is shown in the raising of the dead man. There is such
a tender encouragement to faith in these verses of Luke's Gospel. We see
Christ's compassion on the man and his mother, just as He has compassion on us
in our physical and spiritual needs. We see Christ move intentionally to
the man, just as He intentionally comes to us in the Incarnation, in His Word,
Spirit, and the means of grace. We see Him touch the bier, as He touches
our lives with His love and healing. We hear Him speak,
"Arise," just as He calls us to arise from our spiritual death in
trespasses and sins. And He delivers him to His mother, just as He
delivers all who believe and trust in Him to His Father in Heaven
forever.
The man had been dead for
three days. His flesh was showing signs that he was not sleeping or in a
coma. He was dead. Only God can restore life to such a corpse. Thus
the people were correct who said, "God hath visited His people" (Lk.
7:16). Surely such a One as this is able to succour and help His people no
matter what trials we may face. "Our God whom we serve is able to
deliver" (Dan. 3:17).
To be able to do
something is one thing; to be willing is something else. Indeed to
be able is almost meaningless if one is unwilling. But our Lord is both able
and willing to help us. Our reading from Luke's Gospel today was chosen
carefully because it shows that Christ is willing. Most people, hearing
me say that, will think I am referring to the Lord's compassion and raising of
the dead man. Indeed there is great willingness to help seen here.
Our Lord was not asked to help this man. No one came to Him to seek His
aid. The people probably thought He couldn't help, for, though He had
healed many sick, He had not raised anyone from the dead at this point in His
ministry. So the people probably never thought of asking Him to raise this
man. Jesus took the initiative. Jesus went to the funeral
bier. Jesus touched the man. Jesus gave life to the body. He
was the initiator. He was proactive. He acted on the basis of His
compassion. He is willing.
But something else in the
passage also shows the willingness of Christ, and it is what I really want to
emphasise today. It is found in the words of the witnesses, "God
hath visited His people." To "visit," in this case, means
to come with the intention of caring for someone or something. It is to
come with the intention of making things right, of helping. It means that
Christ came into this world to help us. He came primarily to help us
spiritually. He came into the world to seek and to save that which was
lost. He came to save sinners. He came to give His life as the
ransom for our sins. He came to take us back to God. Indeed, God
was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. But He also came to
help us in this world, in all our troubles and needs and sorrows, and
joys. "Come unto me... and I will give you rest" is a promise
for both this world and the next, and when He exhorted us to consider the
lilies wasn't He promising to be with us and care for us in this world?
And so we come to the
conclusion, which is simply, seek Him, and trust Him. Seek Him in time of
trouble. Ask Him to help you bear your burdens. Ask Him to help you bear
your sorrows and problems. Ask Him to make you strong to bear your
cross. Ask Him to help you be content in whatever circumstances He places
you. Ask Him to help you believe that all things work together for good
to those who love Him. Run to Him and seek His help. "Seek and
ye shall find."
And then, trust Him. I
think trust is the real message I am trying to get across today. It is
the message of the Scripture texts and it is the message of the Collect.
Why would we pray that God would help and succour us if we do not trust Him to
actually do it? Why would the Bible tell us of a willing and able Saviour
if it does not mean for us to trust in Him? Dearly beloved, I beseech
you, seek and trust His help. Truly pray with me,
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O
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Lord, we beseech thee, let thy continual pity cleanse and
defend thy Church; and because it cannot continue in safety without thy
succour, preserve it evermore by they help and goodness; 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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