The Propers for today are found
on Page 120-122, with the Collect first:
The
Sunday called Sexagesima, or the
second
Sunday before Lent.
The
Collect.
O
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LORD God, who seest that we put not
our trust in any thing that we do; Mercifully grant that by thy power we may be
defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Ryan Hopkins read the Epistle, which came from the
Eleventh Chapter of Saint Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians beginning at
the Nineteenth Verse. Paul reminds
us salvation, honor and glory come not from what we do or have done, but rather
from God. Paul, who as Saul, had
been a super star on his way to being the number one rabbi in the Hebrew
nation, he was more learned, more vigorous in following the law, more vocal in
all things. When he “saw the
light” and converted, he took that same approach to Christianity. No one was more in any thing than
he. He had been the best of the
worst and the best of the best.
Now he was aware of how short he himself fell. More importantly, he was keenly aware of the saving
perfection of Christ.
No one did more than Paul, yet he counseled all to
take comfort and pride in God, not themselves. Do your best and look towards God.
Y
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E suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise.
For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man
take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face. I speak as
concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is
bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also. Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they
Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I. Are they ministers
of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes
above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times
received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I
stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;
in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by
mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils
in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in
weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in
fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without,
that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and
I am not weak? who is offended, and I burn not? If I must needs glory, I will
glory of the things which concern mine infirmities. The God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.
Deacon Striker Jack Arnold read the Holy Gospel for
today which came from the Eighth Chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke beginning at the Fourth Verse and
tells the well known Parable of the Sower, which might be better referred to as
the Parable of the Four Soils, for the seeds were all alike.
A sower scatters seed on to four different types of
soil.
·
Hard ground
·
Stony ground
·
Thorny ground
·
Good ground
Hard ground “by the way side” prevents the seed from
sprouting at all, and the seed becomes nothing more than bird food. Stony ground
provides enough soil for the seeds to germinate and begin to grow, but because
there is “no deepness of earth,” the plants do not take root and are soon
withered in the sun. Thorny ground allows the seed to grow, but competing
thorns choke the life out of the good plants. Good ground receives the seed and produces much fruit.
Jesus explains the seed is The Word.
Hard ground represents someone so hardened by sin that
though he hears he cannot understand the Word. Thus, Satan can pluck the message away, keeping the heart
dull and preventing the Word from making an impression.
Stony ground represents those who hear and express
delight in The Word, but do not change to live The Word. When trouble arises, they abandon their
faith.
Thorny ground represents one who hears and receives
The Word, but who does not connect to it and whose heart is full of riches,
pleasures, and lusts. The effort
that should by rights given The Word are given to the things of this world and
he has no time for The Word.
Good ground represents he who hears, understands, and
implements The Word. Thus, The
Word can work its wonders in his life and that person gains salvation.
The Word is there. We may hear it.
We may take it in our heart.
The benefit comes only when we take it in our heart and act on it. At that point, The Word is acting in
our lives and salvation is in hand.
W
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HEN much people were gathered together, and were come
to him out of every city, he spake by a parable: A sower went out to sow his
seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way-side; and it was trodden down, and
the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it
was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell
among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell
on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had
said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And his
disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? And he said, Unto you
it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in
parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not
understand. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the
way-side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word
out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock
are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no
root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that
which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and
are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit
to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and
good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with
patience.
Sermon – Time
and Action
Today’s sermon brought the
Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and is partly contained in the forewords above.
Consider these words from the Collect:
…put not our trust in any thing
that we do; Mercifully grant that by thy power we may be defended against all
adversity …
In the Collect, we tell God we put our trust for
eternal life not in our actions, but in His Power. If we do this, then we must do as He asks us. For, to make trust in His Power
rational, we must follow His Direction.
This squares with what Paul tells us, that is
salvation, honor and glory come not from what we do or have done, but rather
from God. Paul, who as Saul, had
been a super star on his way to being the number one rabbi in the Hebrew
nation, he was more learned, more vigorous in following the law, more vocal in
all things. When he “saw the
light” and converted, he took that same approach to Christianity. No one was more in any thing than
he. He had been the best of the
worst and the best of the best.
Now he was keenly aware of how short he himself fell. But even more importantly, he was
keenly aware of the saving perfection of Christ. Thus he counseled all to take comfort and pride in God, not
themselves. Do your best and look
towards God.
This brings us right in to the well known Parable of
the Sower, which might be better referred to as the Parable of the Four Soils,
for the seeds were all alike.
Like the seed sown by the sower, The Word is spread
throughout the world for all to hear and act on:
·
Yet, some will not even hear The Word (Hard
ground);
·
Others will hear, act quickly and abandon God’s
help at the first sign of adversity (Stony ground);
·
Still others will hear The Word, but The Word is
overtaken by the “pleasures” of this world and is choked out by them. Like the line from the Bible, where
your money is, that is your worldly effort, there is the evidence of your
heart. The temptation of this
world is great, the reward from God should be greater, but you have to look
long term;
·
Finally we come to those who accept and act on
The Word, like the one seed planted growing into a great plant bearing its
fruit, the rewards are manifold, though the effort is also great, the end
reward far greater. For the seed
to grow to full fruition and glory, with its manifold blessings, it must have
the ground prepared, carefully tended against encroachment of the evil weeds,
it must be continually watered by the life blood of those around it. There is much effort required on our
part, but the ultimate reward is so much greater.
While we are on the subject, consider the issue of
weeding. Is this not part of the
reason for the Church, that is to say the body of believers, to exist. We cannot often pull our own weeds, but
we can help others and they can help us.
Christianity is not a religion of hermits, it is a social religion where
we can help each other.
So, think about this, we need to understand eternal
life and indeed on a shorter term, happiness in our life here, comes not from
our self directed actions, but those of God and our action following His
direction. We put our trust in Him
and follow His commands. Do your
best and look towards God for the Light to illuminate your path. If you prepare your heart, as the
farmer prepares the field, root out the forces of this world as the farmer
roots out weeds, cultivate the good given by God, water your heart with His
Water, your life will be manifold.
Bishop Ogles’ Sermon
We are oft fortunate to get
copies of Bishop Jerry’s sermon notes.
Today is one of those Sundays.
Today we get a brilliant and inspiring sermon based on the Collect for
this week:
Sexagesima
Sunday
12
February 2012 Anno Domini
The
Sunday called Sexagesima, or the
second
Sunday before Lent.
The
Collect.
O
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LORD God, who seest that we put not
our trust in any thing that we do; Mercifully grant that by thy power we may be
defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The COLLECT for today focuses
our attention on the ultimate power in all of Creation – The Lord of Heaven.
Our hands are slowly wrenched by God from those concerns that are penultimate
of the physical existence to those that have their ultimate residence in Him.
The moment that our souls inhabit a body of flesh and blood, we fall victim to
the curse of Adam and begin to die. Our footing is tenuous and incapable of
sustaining us for more than a fleeting second of eternity.
As we grow and mature, we
realize more and more that we have no power at all to live apart from that
sustaining Hand of God that continuously preserves us, body and soul, from the
inevitable demise to which flesh is heir to. Life itself is a time of decision.
It is the Valley of Decision, and the duration is always uncertain. So we
gradually let go of those confidences that seemed to satisfy us in our youth
and look to that great Savior who is every whit deserving of the title to save
us from our hopeless circumstance.
We look about the swirling
waters of life and realize that we are without help in the arm of flesh. It is
as if we were in the Niagara River headed for the Falls. Every branch and limb,
every other human soul, in that Flood is alike headed for the precipice to
destruction. We do not profit by grasping a floating bit of deadwood, for it
suffers the same fate and is headed for the same doom. So is life. But life
comes from life, and Life Eternal is the grant of our Father in Heaven. When
our last earthly hope is gone, there He stands at the Gate ready to grant
pardon and forgiveness. He will save us from the impending death if we will
call upon Him in our time of trouble.
The Collect reminds us that
our works are nothing but cinder wood and ashes. We can do no good at all apart
from Christ working in and through us. If we cannot trust our own solitary
heart, how can we trust that of another? "It is better to trust in
the LORD than to put confidence in man." (Psalms 118:8) This same truth is repeated in the New Testament: "We
ought to obey God rather than men." (Acts 5:29)
So, in the final analysis, we
have no hope but that hope which springs eternal in Christ alone. We are
ready to admit that there is only One Power, and that Power resides in God who
created heaven and earth. Being unworthy in our own right, we must plead a
mercy from One who can both grant the mercy, and is willing to grant that
mercy. Resting on His grace and mercy, we shall be defended against every
adversity (and every adversary). God is just and will not abide sin; however,
we have a Mediator with the Father – the Son Jesus Christ who died for our
Redemption. Now that we are IN Christ, the Father looks upon the righteous
merits of His Son when He looks upon us and we are admitted to His Kingdom of
eternal life and joy.
1 Cast thy bread upon the waters: for
thou shalt find it after many days. 2 Give a portion to seven, and also to
eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth. 3 If the
clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree
fall toward the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree
falleth, there it shall be. 4 He that observeth the wind shall not sow;
and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. 5 As thou knowest not
what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her
that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.
6 In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand:
for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether
they both shall be alike good. (Eccl
11:1-6)
This morning I picked up a
photo from a pile of old photos on my desk and it was one taken of me when I
was in the first grade. The photo was black and white and somewhat faded (it
has every right to be after sixty-two years. That photo is perfect
representation of me when I was so young and full of life. Compared to photo of
myself today, the differences are not all that complimentary. Age is a process
of dying. The photo will float around my office, to be seen only by friends and
family, until that body which it depicts will be dust and ashes. It will then
disappear somewhere on the ash heap of history – forgotten by man – but not by
God.
How fragile is life! How
temporary and uncertain. We sometimes sink into moments of despair in
contemplating the coming tragedy. But for the Christian disciple, life does not
get forlorn or hopeless. We look forward to seeing the Face of our dear Father
in the same way we anxiously awaited the home coming of our earthly fathers
from a long trip. When our fathers returned from battle during the Second World
War or some other great endeavor, we knew all was well with the world, and….
with us. We had a provider and a protector. We still have a Father far greater
than that earthly father to provide our every need and protection. But we
must know Him to Love Him.
What have we done in our Father's
delay in coming to make Him happy with us as His cherished children? Have we
been silly and wasteful of our time? Have we been good scholars of His Word and
stewards of His blessings to us? Or have we squandered away our time and
blessing so that there is no difference between us and orphan children of the
street?
We may have fallen very short
in the labors of our hands, but He is yet our Father, and He will forgive us if
we call on Him. But how much greater blessing to hear that magnificent voice
speak "Well done my good and faithful servant."
1. Cast thy bread upon the
waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. This is a full
representation of faith and charity. In casting our bread upon the waters, we
know not where their benefit will be enjoyed, nor the beneficiary of the bread.
We do it in a great general love that mimics that Love of God in providing for
all of His Creation. He makes it to rain upon the wicked as well as the just.
"45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven:
for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on
the just and on the unjust. 46 For if ye love them which love you, what
reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47 And if ye salute
your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is
perfect.
" (Matt 5:45-48)
Have we made our charities
investments instead of freehold grants? Do we look, perhaps subconsciously, for
some benefit to ensue to us from our giving? We must give out of a joyful heart
for a joyful heart expects no recompense.
The waters are free flowing
and always descend down to the lowest part. If we are abundant blessed, or even
scarcely so, all blessings flow DOWN to us from the Father of Lights. Shall we
be the Dead Sea of Souls and therefore retain every refreshing water that flows
into us? Or shall we be as the Sea of Galilee in abundance of life because we
share the same waters we have received from the heights of Mt Hermon?
2 Give a portion
to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the
earth. (Eccl 11:2) This means that we must not
limit that which we give while we still have the ability to give. A fountain
continues its flowing because the water it provides is shed about the head as
life-giving waters. If it flows into a jug or bottle, it can flow no more once
the bottle is stopped. Let us not be stopped bottles. The Dead Sea gives
up none of the waters it receives. The waters are precisely the same as that
which feeds into the Sea of Galilee. So why is the Dead Sea dead? Because it
gives nothing and takes all. If water is not moving, it becomes putrid and
sedimentary. Our souls are the same. If we hoard every blessing solely for our
own sake, we will become dead and unfit for man or beast.
3 If the clouds be full of
rain, they empty themselves upon the earth: and if the tree fall toward
the south, or toward the north, in the place where the tree falleth, there it
shall be. (Eccl 11:3) It is the principle in
nature to always give when full. Clouds do, rivers do, seeds do, etc. It
is natural for clouds to give up their waters. Why is this so? God made
clouds, and God made the science of meteorology. As the warm clouds pick up
more and more moisture, their warm nature causes them to rise. As they rise,
they grow cooler. Cool air cannot hold as much moisture as warm air, so the
clouds release their moisture upon the earth. As our souls, full of blessings,
are lifted up higher and higher to God, it will be natural for us to share the
blessings God has given us.
Once the rain is given, it
falls where it may. Once given, it cannot be called back. Let us not be those
clouds that promise water for a parched earth and then withhold the promise:
"These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you,
feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about
of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by
the roots; 13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame;
wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. Jude 1:12-13 (KJV)
No man has ever spoken with such
beauty and imagery as the Almighty in His Word!
4 He that observeth
the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. No one stops or starts the
winds. They come at go at their own pleasure. If we delay our sowing until the
conditions are perfect, the season will be past ere we get the seed into the
ground. The same is true of watching the weather with inordinate anxiety. If we
wait for days of cloudless weather, it may be the winter of our harvest.
We are to offer our charity
in faith not evaluating always the means and gratitude of reception. At
Christmas of 1972, my wife and I, who used to drive a desolate rural highway
from south Alabama to Ft. Benning, Ga regularly, had often commented on an old
wooden cabin off the road and among the trees. The yard was always full of
children. There was no paint on the walls, and no care in the yard. There was
an older couple who always seemed to be on the porch watching the children
play. My wife and I had no Christmas plans. So we decided to take a TV,
several bags of groceries (including a turkey), candies and fruits, and some
small gifts for children. I had not the nerve to go to the door for embarrassment.
But my wife did go. She took the groceries and children came out to help. The
light in their eyes and on their faces told the whole story. I shall never
forget that one Christmas when we took ten minutes to make a family so very
happy. The waters of blessing gushed back upon us and we still drink of those
waters.
5 As thou
knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the
womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who
maketh all. Yes, our charities are without discretion! God has
formed us in our mother's womb and according to His perfect plan. Our DNA is
evidence that God designed us from conception. If our dependence was totally
upon His loving Fingers in the womb, at what point did we become independent of
His Favor?
6 In the morning sow thy
seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether
shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good. We sow in the morning, and
continue in the evening of our lives – both while we are young AND old. "Sow
to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for
it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.
13 Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the
fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy
mighty men. (Hosea 10:12-13)
As God has loved and bless us, we must love and bless
one another.
Bishop
Dennis Campbell’s Sunday Sermon
As
is oft the case, we are honored to present Bishop Dennis’ Sunday sermon
presented to his parish. Dennis
has an excellent command of scripture and is able to present it in a manner
which is completely understandable to the rest of us. This year’s sermons are being drawn from the book of
Psalms, or, as it is known by Anglicans, "The Psalter" which begins on page 343 of the Book of Common
Prayer. But, today he moved to
drawing the propers together in a far different sermon than Hap’s and adding in
the psalm for this Sunday, Psalm 71.
We think you will really enjoy it!
Sexagesima
Sunday
12
February 2012
B
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LESSED Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our
learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and
inwardly digest the, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may
embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou
hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ."
Psalm
71. In te, Domine, speravi.
I
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N THEE O Lord, have I put my trust; let
me never be put to confusion, * but rid me and deliver me in thy righteousness;
incline thine ear unto me, and save me.
2 Be thou my
stronghold, whereunto I may alway re- sort: * thou hast promised to help me,
for thou art my house of defence, and my castle.
3 Deliver me,
O my God, out of the hand of the ungodly, * out of the hand of the unrighteous
and cruel man.
4 For thou, O
Lord God, art the thing that I long for: * thou art my hope, even from my
youth.
5 Through
thee have I been holden up ever since I was born: * thou art he that took me
out of my mother’s womb: my praise shall be alway of thee.
6 I am become
as it were a monster unto many, * but my sure trust is in thee.
7 O let my
mouth be filled with thy praise, * that I may sing of thy glory and honour all
the day long.
8 Cast me not
away in the time of age; * forsake me not when my strength faileth me.
9 For mine
enemies speak against me; * and they that lay wait for my soul take their
counsel together, saying,
10 God hath
forsaken him; * persecute him, and take him, for there is none to deliver him.
11 Go not far
from me, O God; * my God, haste thee to help me.
12 Let them
be confounded and perish that are against my soul; * let them be covered with
shame and dishonour that seek to do me evil.
13 As for me,
I will patiently abide alway, * and will praise thee more and more.
14 My mouth
shall daily speak of thy righteousness and salvation; * for I know no end
thereof.
15 I will go
forth in the strength of the Lord God, * and will make mention of thy
righteousness only.
16 Thou, O
God, hast taught me from my youth up until now; * therefore will I tell of thy
wondrous works.
17 Forsake me
not, O God, in mine old age, when I am gray-headed, * until I have showed thy
strength unto this generation, and thy power to all them that are yet for to
come.
18 Thy
righteousness, O God, is very high, * and great things are they that thou hast
done: O God, who is like unto thee!
19 O what
great troubles and adversities hast thou showed me ! and yet didst thou turn
and refresh me; * yea, and broughtest me from the deep of the earth again.
20 Thou hast
brought me to great honour, * and com- forted me on every side:
21 Therefore
will I praise thee, and thy faithfulness, O God, playing upon an instrument of
music: * unto thee will I sing upon the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel.
22 My lips
will be glad when I sing unto thee; * and so will my soul whom thou hast
delivered.
23 My tongue
also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long; * for they are
confounded and brought unto shame that seek to do me evil.
As
we saw last Sunday, Septugesima Sunday is the third Sunday before Lent and the
ninth Sunday before Easter. Sexagesima Sunday, then, is the second Sunday
before Lent and the eighth Sunday before Easter. It is the Sunday nearest to
the sixtieth day before Easter. So we are reminded again that we are beginning
to leave that part of the year in which we celebrate the Saviour's birth, and
entering the time in which we remember that tremendous Sacrifice by which He
accomplished His great work of the forgiveness of our sin and the Redemption of
our souls.
Sexagesima
Sunday emphasizes trust in the work of Christ alone, rather than in our own
attempts to be good or to please God. The Collect clearly declares that
we trust not in anything that we do, but cast ourselves on the mercy of God to
defend and keep us by His power. The Collect is already looking toward
the fasts and prayers of Lent. It reminds us that these are acts of
self-discipline and dedication, not things that make us worthy of Heaven, and
it reminds us that we are not to put our trust in them to make us acceptable to
God. We fast, we pray, and we discipline ourselves not because we think
we can make ourselves acceptable to God by such "good works," but
because Christ has already made us acceptable to God. These things are
part of our response to His mercy, not the cause of it.
The
Epistle recalls the afflictions of St. Paul, who vigorously maintained that
even his work and tribulations in the service of Christ did nothing to make him
acceptable to God. Even he received his acceptability as the gift of
grace through faith, not by anything he accomplished for God (see Titus 3:5).
Today's
Gospel reading is the Parable of the Sower, in which Christ's work of
Redemption is the good seed and our hearts are the soils in which it is
planted. As differing soils have different responses to the seed,
different people have different responses to the Gospel. So the parable
implies the question, what kind of soil are you? What are you doing to
make your heart ready to receive Christ, and to continue in Him now and
forever?
The
Psalm for this morning continues the theme of trust in God. It begins
with a declaration, "In thee, O Lord, have I put my trust; let me never be
put to confusion."
At
the most basic level, it means to trust God with our cares in this life.
It means to trust God to provide for our basic needs of food, water, and
shelter. St. Paul was often homeless and hungry in the service of
Christ. Sometimes his "shelter" was a prison, sometimes his
only shelter from heat or cold or rain or snow was a tree beside a road.
Often he had nothing to eat or drink. Yet he thanked God for providing
for him, and wrote that if we have enough food, water, and shelter to survive
we have enough. So this thing of trusting God for the things of this life
includes trusting Him in the way He chooses to provide them. He may give
plenty at some time and scarcity at another. No matter. Like Paul
we must learn to be content "in whatsoever state I am" (Phil.
4:11-13), and "in everything give thanks: for this is the will of
God" (1 Thes. 5:18).
One
of the most basic cares of this life is health, and trusting God also means
trusting Him with it. St. Paul must have had terrible health. The
beatings, the prisons, the shipwrecks, the hunger and heat and cold he suffered
in his travels must have left him in chronic pain and illness. Yet the
Paul who wrote about suffering much affliction, lack of necessities, distress,
beatings, imprisonments and hunger (2 Cor. 6:4-5), also wrote, "in
everything give thanks." So, trusting God for our health also means
trusting Him when He chooses to allow us to suffer illness as well as when He
allows us to enjoy good health. So the author of Psalm 71 professes great
boldness of faith that trusts God in all of these things. He trusts God
when evil people wrong him. He trusts God in the adversities of life
(19), and he trusts God in old age and weakness (8, 17).
There
is another way in which we must trust in God. We must trust Him for the
life of the soul. Most people will think I am talking here about Heaven,
and, in a sense I am, for that is the ultimate life of the soul. Heaven
is only gained by trusting in Christ to forgive your sin and dress you in His
righteousness so you are fit to be in that Holy place which is the immediate
presence of God. But I am also talking about the life of the soul now in
this world. Many people, including Christians turn to things for their
real meaning and comfort in the soul. These can be good things, like
community service or helping professions. They can be amusements and
recreations we think we need to help us deal with our stress and problems.
I have to be careful here, for I do not want you to think such
things are evil. I think God has given such things to us for our
enjoyment, and they are good things. But even good things can be misused,
and we misuse these things when we turn to them instead of to God for the life
of the soul.
It
is possible to go through life with a belief in God and a certain amount of
faith and intention to live a moral life, yet trust in other things to provide
your meaning, purpose, and help in life. So instead of seeking God in
prayer and worship and Scripture, you run to your favourite pastime when things
get tough. Instead of seeking God's help to be content in your
circumstances, you run to your amusements to help you forget your
discontentment for a while. I think this might be especially true of our
over stimulated, over-amused, distraction-addicted generation. We rush
from one distraction to the next, from TV to cell phones to computers to
stereos to malls and hobbies, always looking for another rush, or, at least,
another distraction. Have we forgotten how to trust God with our happiness?
Have we forgotten how to be still before God? Have we forgotten how
to enjoy God who is the life of the soul?
The
Psalmist has not forgotten. He writes about praising God and His
faithfulness. He means to honour God with our lips and with our lives by
living in fellowship with God and in loving obedience to His will. He
means to live in thanksgiving. This is what the Psalm means in verses
21-23, and this is what I mean by the life of the soul, It is not a passing
emotional experience, it is a way of thinking and a way of living, to be able
to say what David wrote in verse 4, "For thou, O Lord, art the thing that
I long for; thou art my hope" (4).
In
the Psalms, and indeed, in all of Scripture, you can hear the story and
experience of Christ. In some places it is shouted from the house
tops. In this Psalm it is a low whisper. You can hear it in verses 9 and
10, "For mine enemies speak against me; and they that lay wait for my soul
take their counsel together, saying, God hath forsaken him, for there is none
to deliver him." How tragically this sounds like Matthew 27:1,
"all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus
to put Him to death." Look at verse 19, "O what great troubles
and adversities hast thou showed me! and yet didst thou turn and refresh; yea,
and broughtest me from the deep of the earth again." How very much
like the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ this sounds. There is
more, but this is enough to show how we can often see Christ in the Psalms.
Let us close the sermon with a final exhortation to trust in
God. Let us determine in our hearts that we will be able to say with
confidence what Psalm 71 says so triumphantly at its very beginning: "In
thee, O Lord, have I put my trust." Amen.
--
tR. Dennis Campbell
Bishop of Diocese of Virginia
Rector, Holy Trinity Anglican
Orthodox Church
Powhatan, Virginia
www.HolyTrinityAnglicanOrthodoxChurch.org
Commentary
on Sexagesima Sunday's Gospel
from Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
Courtesy of Rev. Geordie
Menzies-Grierson, AOC UK
ONE SEED AND DIVERSE SOILS
Luk 8:4 - Luk 8:16.
Luke is particular in dating this
parable as spoken at a time when crowds resorted to Jesus, and the cities of
Galilee seemed emptied out to hear Him. No illusions as to the depth or worth
of this excitement beset Him. Sadly He looked on the eager multitudes, because
He looked through them, and saw how few of them were bringing ‘an honest and
good heart’ for the soil of His word. Just because He saw the shallowness of
the momentary enthusiasm, He spoke this pregnant parable from a heavy heart,
and as He tells us in His explanation of it to the disciples {ver. 10}, uses
the parabolic garb as a means of hiding the truth from the unsusceptible, and
of bringing it home to those who were prepared to receive it. Every parable has
that double purpose of obscuring and revealing. The obscuring is punitive, but
the punishment is meant to be remedial. God never cheats men by a revelation
that does not reveal, and the very hiding is meant to stimulate to a search
which cannot be vain.
The broad outstanding fact of the
parable is tragic. Three failures and one success! It may be somewhat lightened
by observing that the proportion which each ‘some’ bears to the whole
seed-basketful is not told; but with all alleviation, it is sad enough. What a
lesson for all eager reformers and apostles of any truth, who imagine that they
have but to open their mouths and the world will listen! What a warning for any
who are carried off their feet by their apparent ‘popularity’! What a solemn
appeal to all hearers of God’s message!
I. Commentators have pointed out
that all four kinds of soil might have been found close together by the lake,
and that there may have been a sower at work within sight.
But the occasion of the parable
lay deeper than the accident of local surroundings. A path through a cornfield
is a prosaic enough thing, but one who habitually holds converse with the
unseen, and ever sees it shining through the seen, beholds all things
‘apparelled in celestial light,’ and finds deep truths in commonplace objects.
The sower would not intentionally throw seed on the path, but some would find
its resting-place there. It would lie bare on the surface of the hard ground,
and would not be there long enough to have a chance of germinating, but as soon
as the sower’s back was turned to go up the next furrow, down would come the
flock of thievish birds that fluttered behind him, and bear away the grains.
The soil might be good enough, but it was so hard that the seed did not get in,
but only lay on it. The path was of the same soil as the rest of the field,
only it had been trodden down by the feet of passengers, perhaps for many
years.
A heart across which all manner
of other thoughts have right of way will remain unaffected by the voice of
Jesus, if He spoke His sweetest, divinest tones, still more when He speaks but
through some feeble man. The listener hears the words, but they never get
farther than the drum of his ear. They lie on the surface of his soul, which is
beaten hard, and is non-receptive. How many there are who have been listening
to the preaching of the Gospel, which is in a true sense the sowing of the
seed, all their lives, and have never really been in contact with it! Tramp,
tramp, go the feet across the path, heavy drays of business, light carriages of
pleasure, a never-ending stream of traffic and noise like that which pours day
and night through the streets of a great city, and the result is complete
insensibility to Christ’s voice.
If one could uncover the hearts
of a congregation, how many of them would be seen to be occupied with business
or pleasures, or some favourite pursuit, even while they sit decorously in
their pews! How many of them hear the preacher’s voice without one answering
thought or emotion! How many could not for their lives tell what his last
sentence was! No marvel, then, that, as soon as its last sound has ceased, down
pounce a whole covey of light-winged fancies and occupations, and carry off the
poor fragments of what had been so imperfectly heard. One wonders what
percentage of remembrances of a sermon is driven out of the hearers’ heads in
the first five minutes of their walk home, by the purely secular conversation
into which they plunge so eagerly.
II. The next class of hearers is
represented by seed which has had somewhat better fate, inasmuch as it has sunk
some way in, and begun to sprout.
The field, like many a one in
hilly country, had places where the hard pan of underlying rock had only a thin
skin of earth over it. Its very thinness helped quick germination, for the rock
was near enough to the surface to get heated by the sun. So, with undesirable
rapidity, growth began, and shoots appeared above ground before there was root
enough made below to nourish them. There was only one possible end for such
premature growth-namely, withering in the heat. No moisture was to be drawn
from the shelf of rock, and the sun was beating fiercely down, so the feeble
green stem drooped and was wilted.
It is the type of emotional
hearers, who are superficially touched by the Gospel, and too easily receive
it, without understanding what is involved. They take it for theirs ‘with joy,’
but are strangers to the deep exercises of penitence and sorrow which should
precede the joy. ‘Lightly come, lightly go,’ is true in Christian life as
elsewhere. Converts swiftly made are quickly lost. True, the most thorough and
permanent change may be a matter of a moment; but, if so, into that moment
emotions will be compressed like a great river forced through a mountain gorge,
which will do the work of years.
Such surface converts fringe all
religious revivals. The crowd listening to our Lord was largely made up of
them. These were they who, when a ground of offence arose, ‘went back, and
walked no more with Him.’ They have had their successors in all subsequent
times of religious movement. Light things are caught up by the wind of a
passing train, but they soon drop to the ground again. Emotion is good, if
there are roots to it. But ‘these have no root.’ The Gospel has not really touched
the depths of their natures, their wills, their reason, and so they shrivel up
when they have to face the toil and self-sacrifice inherent in a Christian
life.
III. The third parcel of seed
advanced still farther.
It rooted and grew. But the soil had
other occupants. It was full of seeds of weeds and thorns {not thorn bushes}.
So the two crops ran a race, and as ill weeds grow apace, the worse beat, and
stifled the green blades of the springing corn, which, hemmed in and shut out
from light and air, came to nothing.
The man represented has not made
clean work of his religion. He has received the good seed, but has forgotten
that something has to be grubbed up and cast out, as well as something to be
taken in, if he would grow the fair fruits of Christian character. He probably
has cut down the thorns, but has left their roots or seeds where they were. He
has fruit of a sort, but it is scanty, crude, and green. Why? Because he has
not turned the world out of his heart. He is trying to unite incompatibles, one
of which is sure to kill the other. His ‘thorns’ are threefold, as Luke
carefully distinguishes them into ‘cares and riches and pleasures,’ but they
are one in essence, for they are all ‘of this life.’ If he is poor, he is
absorbed in cares; if rich, he is yet more absorbed in wealth, and his desires
go after worldly pleasures, which he has not been taught, by experience of the
supreme pleasure of communion with God, to despise.
Mark that this man does not ‘fall
away.’ He keeps up his Christian name to the end. Probably he is a very
influential member of the church, universally respected for his wealth and
liberality, but his religion has been suffocated by the other growth. He has
fruit, but it is not to ‘perfection.’ If Jesus Christ came to Manchester, one
wonders how many such Christians He would discover in the chief seats in the
synagogues.
IV. The last class avoids the
defects of the three preceding.
The soil is soft, deep, and
clean. The seed sinks, roots, germinates, has light and air, and brings forth
ripened grain. The ‘honest and good heart’ in which it lodges has been well
characterised as one ‘whose aim is noble, and who is generously devoted to his
aim’ {Bruce, The Parabolic Teaching of Christ, p. 33}. Such a soul Christ
recognises as possible, prior to the entrance into it of the word. There are
dispositions which prepare for the reception of the truth. But not only the
previous disposition, but the subsequent attitude to the word spoken, is
emphasised by our Lord. ‘They having heard the word, hold it fast.’ Docilely
received, it is steadily retained, or held with a firm grip, whoever and
whatever may seek to pluck it from mind or heart.
Further, not only tenacity of
grasp, but patient perseverance of effort after the fruit of Christian
character, is needed. There must be perseverance in the face of obstacles
within and without, if there is to be fruitfulness. The emblem of growth does
not suffice to describe the process of Christian progress. The blade becomes
the ear, and the ear the full corn, without effort. But the Christian disciple
has to fight and resist, and doggedly to keep on in a course from which many
things would withdraw him. The nobler the result, the sorer the process. Corn
grows; character is built up as the result, first of worthily receiving the
good seed, and then of patient labour and much self-suppression.
These different types of
character are capable of being changed. The path may be broken up, the rock
blasted and removed, the thorns stubbed up. We make ourselves fit or unfit to
receive the seed and bear fruit. Christ would not have spoken the parable if He
had not hoped thereby to make some of His hearers who belonged to the three
defective classes into members of the fourth. No natural, unalterable incapacity
bars any from welcoming the word, housing it in his heart, and bringing forth
fruit with patience.
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