Thanksgiving Day
Thursday brought us Thanksgiving
Day; a day known primarily for the excess consumption of food in the company of
all available family members.
Sometimes we forget the origin of the thanksgiving in Thanksgiving Day. While we are, or certainly should be,
grateful to God every day for the wonderful world, country and family He has
given us, this is the day our country has set aside to give thanks to God. Not thanks in general, but thanks to
God. If you look at other
countries and other times, you cannot be but thankful to God we live here and
now. The list of things to be
thankful to God is endless. If
nothing else, give thanks you are here now and able to praise Him. Here is the start of our family
list of things for which we are fortunate and give thanks for:
·
God's love for us;
·
Our great country;
·
Our families;
·
Our military who protect our freedom at great
cost to themselves and their families;
·
Our friends (that would be each of you)
·
Our health;
·
Our earthly great fortune;
Surely your list is similar.
Thanksgiving Day
The Collect.
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MOST merciful Father, who hast blessed the labours of the
husbandman in the returns of the fruits of the earth; We give thee humble and
hearty thanks for this thy bounty; beseeching thee to continue thy loving-kindness
to us, that our land may still yield her increase, to thy glory and our
comfort; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Ryn
Hopkins read the Epistle for Thanksgiving Day, which uses one of our
favorite phrases “superfluity of
naughtiness” and comes from the Epistle of St. James, the First Chapter,
beginning at the Sixteenth Verse.
James counsels us, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from
above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth,
that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.” God is the perfect source of good. What is good is of God. Through His Son, our Savior Jesus
Christ, we have been given instructions on how to act. Many of us have listened and claim to
be followers of Christ. But James
warns us, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your
own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto
a man be-holding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and
goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso
looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a
forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” With so much about us, we need ask,
what is it to do the work of the Lord?
The answer is simple, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the
Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to
keep himself unspotted from the world.”
Being able to fluently and glibly
talk the talk is meaningless, if you will not walk the walk. You have to fulfill with your body the
promises you made with your mouth.
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o not err, my beloved brethren.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the
Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of
his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of
firstfruits of his creatures. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be
swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not
the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of
naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save
your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your
own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto
a man be-holding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and
goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso
looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a
forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his
deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue,
but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain. Pure religion and
undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows
in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
Deacon Striker Jack Arnold read
the Thanksgiving Day Holy Gospel which came from the Sixth Chapter of the
Gospel according to Saint Matthew beginning at the Twenty-Fifth Verse. Jesus tell us to “Trust in God and
Dread Naught”. He reminds us that
by worrying, none of us can add even one cubit, or one second for that matter,
to the span of our life here on earth.
In a very graphic example He points out that not even the raiment of
Solomon, the most glorious of all kings, could approach the beauty of a lily,
who toiled not at all. Do as God asks, put your faith in Him and all you need
will come to you. Understand, this
means doing as He asks, not just sitting by and watching the world go by. Note the words of James in the Epistle.
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esus said, Be not anxious for
your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body,
what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than food, and the body than
raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap,
nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much
better than they? Which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto the
measure of his life? And why are ye anxious for raiment? Consider the lilies of
the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say
unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and
to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of
little faith? Therefore be not anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What
shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these
things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have
need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Be not therefore
anxious for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of
itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Bishop Jerry Ogles Sermon Notes for Thanksgiving Day
20
November 2011 Anno Domini
St
Andrews Anglican Orthodox Church
St.
Andrews celebrates Thanksgiving the Sunday before, so we have Bishop Jerry’s
great sermon notes shared with us what appears to be ahead of time! Perhaps it is the miracle of an earlier
timezone!
Prayer: O MOST merciful Father, who hast blessed the labours of
the husbandman in the returns of the fruits of the earth; We give thee humble
and hearty thanks for this thy bounty; beseeching thee to continue thy
loving-kindness to us, that our land may still yield her increase, to thy glory
and our comfort; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
"33
When
the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall
he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he
shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the
goats: 33 And he shall set the sheep on
his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then shall the King say unto
them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 For I was an hungred, and ye
gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye
took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was
sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer
him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and
gave thee drink? 38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and
clothed thee? 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40 And the King shall answer and
say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of
the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41 Then shall he say also unto
them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was
thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye
clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44 Then shall they also answer
him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or
naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45 Then shall he answer them,
saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of
these, ye did it not to me. 46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but
the righteous into life eternal." (Matt 25:31-46)
We
celebrate the Thanksgiving Holiday here at Church today. But Thanksgiving, just like Christmas
and Easter, is a day that we should observe every day of our lives. It is
always appropriate and Godly to do our labors before the Lord with a spirit of
Thanksgiving in all things. There are special way-markers of life upon which we
may observe a more elevated and Communal Thanksgiving such as that observed by
the Pilgrims at their first harvest in America. We have adopted, as a nation,
that day to observe in returning thanks to God for our freedoms and the nation
that He has given us for our enjoyment of those freedoms.
Our
Gospel text today speaks of that moment in time at which time itself will be no
more: It is beautifully expressed in that old Gospel hymn:
When
the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more,
And the morning
breaks, eternal, bright and fair;
When the saved of earth shall gather over on
the other shore,
And the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there
The
crucifixion of Christ divided all time into those times before, and those
after, the coming of Christ. It is the signal event of all history. I had once
said that it also divided eternity in half, but, on second though, I believe I
was mistaken because infinity cannot be divided in half. Of course, we may
label that expanse of eternity before Christ as Eternity Past and that after as
Eternity Future. Eternity is a measure of which the human mind is incapable of
conceiving.
Next
Sunday is 1st Advent Sunday. Advent is
the season in which we look to the Coming of Christ as a little child at
Bethlehem. But Christ did not only come to us at Christmas – He has been coming
to us from eons of Eternity past, and Eternity Future. For the Christian,
Christ is forever filling us with His love, with His counsel, with His
watchfulness, and even with His tears. He will never cease to come unto us for
He abides with us to a greater and greater extent as we are sanctified in Him.
"When the Son of man shall come
in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the
throne of his glory:"
Christ came in bodily form at that first Christmas long ago. He came as a
little baby nursed by the loving Mary. But when Christ returns in bodily form
the second time, He will come trailing the Armies of Heaven. (Rev 19)
His great victory which has already been won at Calvary will be fully consummated
and all His foes (including the devil and his followers) will be taken cast
into the Lake of Fire. Who will the Lord find you following at that coming day?
We are not neutral in the great war that is happening upon the earth. We are
either WITH Christ, or we are AGAINST Him. We
belong to one of two families – that of the Kingdom of God, or of Satan. Before
coming to Christ, we already belong to that rebellious and dark angel. If we
will belong to that Kingdom of God, we must make application to be naturalized
and adopted into that citizenship.
"And before him shall be
gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a
shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats." How does a shepherd
divide his sheep from the goats? Professor Broadus describes the approach
with this observation: "The morning after reaching Palestine, when
setting out from Ramleh, across the plain of Sharon, we saw a shepherd leading
forth a flock of white sheep and black goats, all mingled as they followed him.
Presently he turned aside into a little green valley, and stood facing the
flock. When a sheep came up he tapped it with his long staff on the right side
of the head, and it quickly moved off to his right; a goat he tapped on the
other side, and it went to the left. Thus the Savior's image presented itself
exactly before our eyes."
Is
it ever a possibility that the Good Shepherd might mistake a lamb for a goat,
or vice versa? See this: "I saw, at a certain spot, a great
intermingled flock of sheep and goats. The goats were all perfectly black, the
sheep were all beautifully white; and thus, even to my eye, and while I was
looking from a distance, the distinction between the two kinds was strikingly
obvious. If a separation of the two had been required, there would not have
been the least possiblity of a mistake." (Morison, Suggestive
Illustrations, 1879)
If
we suffer division and hate here among races, we will not do so in heaven – for
we shall not go there with such an attitude. If we cannot learn to love our
brothers and sisters in Christ on this earth, we shall never have a second
chance.
"And he shall set the sheep on
his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on
his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for
you from the foundation of the world." What a day of great joy to some, and such a
devastation of misery for many. The sheep and the goats have continued together
in the same flock for a very long time. Has not the Lord forewarned us of this:
"The
kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy
came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung
up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the
householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy
field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy
hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather
them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye
gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until
the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye
together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the
wheat into my barn." (Matt 13:24-30) "In the rabbinic
custom of the day, the right hand signified approbation and eminence: the left
hand, rejection, and disapprobation. The right and left were emblematical of
endless beatitude and endless misery among the Romans." - Adam
Clarke's Commentary
Have
you ever fed Christ? If not, how could you do it? Have you provided Him, at the
cross perhaps, raiment to cover His nakedness? Would you have done if you could
have? When you saw the Lord wandering as a stranger, did you give Him shelter?
Or, when you saw Him thirsty with lips parched and tongue cleaving to the roof
of His mouth, did you at least offer Him a drink? When you saw Him bleeding and
beaten, did you go to His aid, or when He was falsely charged and in the prison
of Pontius Pilate, did you at least visit Him to comfort Him? "For I was an hungred, and ye
gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye
took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in
prison, and ye came unto me." Have you done any of these things for Christ?
You should have done if you are His friend! Answer not without thinking, for it
is likely that you have performed some of these services for the Lord: "Then shall the righteous answer
him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and
gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and
clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto
thee?" Do you find yourselves attempting to answer such a
question proffered by a hurting conscience? When have we lifted a finger to
soothe the whelps of the whiplash on the back of our Lord? Or when did we apply
a soothing balm to those jagged wounds made by the crown of thorns crushed down
on His innocent brow? When did we stand up boldly and declare Him to be our
Friend as He stood before the Judgment seat of Pilate? Would we have done?
"And the King shall answer and
say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of
the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." What a wonderful
comfort. Lord, though unworthy, may I hear these words from your blessed mouth!
Have you comforted a hurting child who could never hope to repay your kindness,
or a widowed woman whose life has become hard a full of deprivation? Have you
stopped by the wayside to assist a total stranger even though your time was
pressing? Have you given of your own resources to build up the ruined ashes of
another who is helpless to raise himself? If so, you have done for Christ.
"Then shall they also answer
him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or
naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them,
saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of
these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but
the righteous into life eternal." The goats (false professors, hypocrites, and villains)
on the left hand shall go into everlasting punishment (longer than 24 hours, or
even 24 millennia) but the sheep on the right hand shall enjoy life eternal
with Christ.
If the Curtain of Time falls this morning, where shall
you be standing – as a stubborn, stiff-necked goat on the left hand (nearest
the fire) or as a lamb on the right hand (nearest the gates of heaven)? The
ball is in your court!
Advent Sunday
28 November 2011, 236th Birthday of the United States
Navy Chaplain Corps[1]
Today was the First Sunday in
Advent. This is the first day of
the new “liturgical year”[2],
a New Year’s Day, so to speak. It is
also the first Santa Ana of the weather year, sunrise temperature was 57°F on
Mount Olympus with bright blue skies and moderate winds of 5-15 knots. The start of church brought a lovely
68°F, which warmed to a lovely 73°F under those same blue skies with no clouds
at all. The superb weather brought
out 4 people for the service:
Gathering Song
Today, the propers for today can
be found on Page 90-92:
The
First Sunday in Advent
The Collect.
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LMIGHTY
God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us
the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son
Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he
shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee
and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen.
¶
This Collect is to be repeated every day, after the other Collects in Advent,
until Christmas Day.
Ryan Hopkins read the Epistle for today, which comes from Paul’s
letter to the Romans, starting at
the Eight Verse of the Thirteenth Chapter. Paul tells us to be self sufficient, but love and care for
one another, do not commit adultery, do not murder, steal or lie. But more than that, “Thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself.” For, if
you love your neighbor, you will do no ill to him. “Therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” We need to do this today, because the
time of “our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent,
the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us
put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting
and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and
envying.” We hear often “The end
of the world is near.” And it may
well be. But for each of us, this
world’s end comes when we leave for the next. Have we treated our fellow beings as Jesus commanded us in
God’s name? Because in the answer
to that is hidden the key to our next life.
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we no man any thing, but to love one another: for he
that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit
adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false
witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is
briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling
of the law. And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out
of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is
far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness,
and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not
in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and
envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the
flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.
Deacon Striker Jack Arnold read today’s Holy Gospel which
came from the Gospel according to
Saint Matthew, the Twenty-First Chapter, beginning at the First Verse. It is the story of Palm Sunday when Jesus came
triumphant into Jerusalem. Jesus
sent “two disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village over against you,
and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and
bring them unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord
hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. All this was done, that
it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the
daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an
ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.”
This was done that the prophecy of years gone past might be fulfilled of
a triumphant entry of the Messiah into Jerusalem. The people expecting a Prince of this World, “spread their
garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them
in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried,
saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of
the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the
city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the
prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.”
Rather than assuming the crown of this world, “Jesus went into the
temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and
overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold
doves, and said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of
prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.”[3]
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hen they drew nigh unto
Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent
Jesus two disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village over against you,
and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and
bring them unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord
hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. All this was done, that
it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the
daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an
ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. And the disciples went, and did as Jesus
commanded them, and brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their
clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their
garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them
in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried,
saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of
the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the
city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the
prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast
out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of
the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and said unto them,
It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made
it a den of thieves.
Sermon – Time
and Action
Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and
Gospel together and is partly contained
in the forewords above.
As is oft the case, today’s propers are all tied
together. As is usual, they provide
direction and call for action not just thoughts. The collect asks God for His Grace to accept His Help to do
what we are supposed to do, so that we might have the desired result, Eternal
Life with Him.
Paul exhorts us to love one another, for if we love
one another we cannot do each other ill.
You cannot steal from one you love. You can steal from one you say you love. Saying and doing are not the same. Paul calls on us to put on that armor
of light, the feeling in our heart and soul, the Holy Ghost, that we might do
what we are supposed to do. To do
our duty. For duty is doing what
you are supposed to do, without regard to the cost, without regard to what
others think, without regard to the likely outcome. To do what is to be done.
Consider the story of Palm Sunday
that Saint Matthew relates. The period between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday is
often referred to as Holy Week.
Most churchgoing people go to church on Palm Sunday, then to church on
Easter Sunday. It’s a fairly uplifting time with not a lot of thinking. On Palm
Sunday Jesus makes his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. On Easter Sunday
there’s the joyous resurrection. What’s not to like about that?
Well, if you follow the whole story, not just the
beginning and the end, you find Holy Week was a roller coaster, a series of ups
and downs. Some high, some low, a
true nadir and zenith. Luckily for
us the best was saved for last.
Sunday was a day of triumph and fulfilled the
anticipation of the Jews of a day for which they had waited four
centuries. The Messiah had finally
come, at the time predicted by scripture.
They were certain that He would free them from the burdensome and cruel
yoke of Roman rule. The Jews would
finally be on top of the power pyramid.
They would rule the world under Him! Yet, that was not to be. The day in the temple!
Holy Cow! Here their savior
was throwing people out of the temple, not throwing the Romans out of
Jerusalem. They were sad to learn
He came not to rule this world, for that time was not yet come; He came to give
them the key to eternal salvation.
He came to take them from this veil of tears to a state of perfect
freedom. They wanted someone to
throw the Romans out and all God sent them was the key to eternal life. What a disappointment!
Are we not so often like that? Disappointed in the gift of elegant
gold when we wanted costume jewelry.
Bishop
Dennis Campbell’s Sermon
Bishop Dennis is a brilliant
speaker, making biblical precepts perfectly understandable, even to me. Oft he provides the text of his sermons
and I take the utmost pleasure in passing them on:
Getting
ready for Christmas
Romans 14:8-14
First Sunday in Advent
27 November 2011
I have called today's sermon, "Getting Ready for
Christmas." Advent is a time to prepare for Christmas, but, unlike
shopping and decorations, Advent emphasises the spiritual aspect of
Christmas. If we are going to celebrate Christmas instead of just a
winter holiday, then it is good to consider what we are doing, and why.
Advent helps us do this. Even the name of the season, "Advent,"
tells us we are thinking about the arrival of the Saviour, the Light of the
World, who came to save His people from their sins.
Advent does not simply look back to the birth of
Christ in Bethlehem more than two-thousand years ago. It also looks ahead
to the Second Coming of Christ. Thus, it reminds us that we live in
anticipation of the Lord's Return, and to the completion of the Kingdom He
began when He came in humility to sacrifice Himself for us. It is the
aspect of looking ahead to the Return of Christ that I want to dwell on today,
and I want to begin with what watching for His Return does not mean.
Watching for Christ's Return does not mean attempting
to make current events fit Matthew 24 as signs that His Return is
near. In the first place, that is not what Matthew 24 is about.
In the second place, there is vagueness in the Bible about when and how
the Lord is coming back. I think that vagueness is intentional. I
think the Lord wants to keep us on the alert, and if He were to tell us the
year and the hour of His return, His people might become lax and complacent
about being His people. My parents used to give my sister and me tasks to
do if they were going out. They would not tell us when they were coming back,
but they expected the tasks to be done, or to find us busy doing them when they
arrived. I think the Lord has the same kind of thing in mind about His
Coming; He expects to find us busy about the task of being His people, not
sleeping on the job. I think it is clear that watching for Christ's
Return does not mean trying to guess when He will return, or who the antichrist
is. All of these things are favourite pass times of people waiting for
Christ's Return, but I think they are misguided.
So what exactly does it mean to be watching for
Christ's Return? It is living in such a way that if the Lord were to
return now He would find us living for Him. It means living the kind of
life He died to give to us. It means we are busy about the task of being
the Church and Kingdom of God. In more Biblical terms, it means we are
continuing in the faith once delivered to the saints. This faith has two
components; doctrine and practice.
Doctrine of course means the truths taught in the
Bible, for it is in the Bible that we learn what we are to believe about God
and what duties God requires of us. So, when St. Paul wrote that the
Scripture is profitable for doctrine, he did not mean it is one of several
profitable sources. He meant the Bible is the source of profitable
doctrine. If you use the word, "authoritative" in place of
"profitable" you begin to see what Paul is trying to teach us in II
Timothy 3.
There is a movement within the "Church" to
do away with doctrine. People, believing they are being led by the Holy
Spirit, want to replace doctrine with sentiment and religious
experiences. They don't seem to realise that if other doctrines can be
expelled from the faith, their doctrine of the Holy Spirit can also be
expelled. Nor do they seem to realise that expelling their doctrine of
the Holy Spirit is inevitable once we start excising doctrines, or doing so
also reveals the foundation of their beliefs, which is their own imaginations,
not the Holy Spirit's leadership. Watching for Christ's Return
necessarily means continuing in the Apostles' doctrine; the doctrine Christ
gave to the Apostles, which they committed to writing, and which God preserves
for us in the Bible.
The second part of the faith in which we are to
continue, if we are truly watching for the Return of Christ, is what we often
call, "Christian living." By this I mean the obvious things of
worship, fellowship, Christian love, and all the things we generally summarise
in the term, "good works." But there is more to Christian
living than good works. There is this thing of being transformed in our
inner being so we become more like Christ and less like Satan. It is the
continuing process of becoming Godly in our essence. I have a hard time
putting this into words. I think this is because the concept is bigger
than our words can describe; which is why the Bible uses word pictures to
communicate it to us, like new creature and following Christ. I am trying
to say that being a Christian is not just doing good; it is actually becoming
good through the continuing work of the Holy Spirit in your inner being.
Though I have a hard time expressing this in concrete words, I think the
concept is readily understood by any true Christian as an essential part of
watching for Christ's Return, and of the Gospel message. I think this is
an important part of what Paul meant in Romans 13:14 by the words "put ye
on the Lord Jesus Christ."
But something very important might happen before the
Lord Returns to end the world. He might return for you or me. He
might come to take us out of this world through death. That might be the
way the world ends for us. And we need to be living life in such a way
that we are always ready for His appearing, whether it is at the end of the
world, or at the end of our lives. Advent reminds us to live in
readiness. Thus we pray;
|
A
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LMIGHTY
God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us
the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son
Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he
shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee
and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen.
--
+R. Dennis Campbell
Bishop of Diocese of Virginia
Rector, Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
Powhatan, Virginia
[1]
For our Marine
readers, it should be noted that it took the country just about two and a half
weeks after the establishment of the Marine Corps to figure out they needed a
Chaplain Corps to keep the Marines under some semblance of control.
[2]
If you would like to
know what the liturgical year is all about, there is an explanation near the
end of this report.
[3]
Sometimes quoted as a
reason for the church not to have rummage sales, the sellers were thrown out as
they were cheating the people, selling the one legged sparrow in the morning as
a “perfect specimen of an unblemished dove” without fault for a sacrifice, then
reselling the same sparrow in the afternoon. They were indeed making the temple a den of thieves rather
than a place of worship.
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