The Propers for today are found
on Page 130-132, with the Collect first:
The Fourth Sunday in Lent.
The
Collect.
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RANT, we
beseech thee, Almighty God, that we, who for our evil deeds do worthily deserve
to be punished, by the comfort of thy grace may mercifully be relieved; through
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
And due to the rubric, the Collect for the Day is
followed by the Collect for Ash Wednesday, which is found on Page 124:
The first day of Lent, commonly called
Ash Wednesday.
Ash Wednesday.
The
Collect.
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LMIGHTY and
everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the
sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite
hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our
wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and
forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
¶ This Collect is to be said every day in Lent, after the
Collect appointed for the day, until Palm Sunday.
As Ryan Hopkins could not make it
to church because of the snow, the ever lovely Dru Arnold read the Epistle for
today, which came from the Fourth Chapter of Paul’s letter to the Galatians
beginning at the Twenty-First Verse.
Paul talks about the two sons of
Abraham, one of the bond, one of the free. These two, the bond under The Law and the free under The New
Covenant. The people of old are
the people of The Law, 613 laws by which they must abide. Perhaps more properly said in practice
that they must work around or evade those 613. Yet, they cannot comply with all the laws nor even work
around them. They are doomed to
failure with no help from God. As
people of The New Covenant, the original and real New Deal, we have only to comply with two laws or
rules; To love the Lord with all our hearts and to love our neighbor. Actually, those two are much harder to
fully comply with than avoiding the 613 laws of The Law. But, we have the key – Jesus
Christ. He came to earth not only
to lead us to heaven, from the front; but to be a propitiation for our sins, to
make us account as perfect to God to allow us to come into His Land.
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ELL me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?
For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other
by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but
he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are
the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage,
which is Agar. For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to
Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem
which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written,
Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not: break forth and cry, thou that
travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an
husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as
then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the
Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the
bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the
son of the freewoman. So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman,
but of the free.
Deacon Striker Jack Arnold read this morning’s Gospel which comes
from the Sixth Chapter of the Gospel of St. John beginning at the First Verse.
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ESUS went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.
And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did
on them that were diseased. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat
with his disciples. And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. When Jesus
then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto
Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to
prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, Two
hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them
may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith
unto him, There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small
fishes: but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down.
Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about
five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he
distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and
likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he said
unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.
Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the
fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them
that had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did,
said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.
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:
… we, who for our evil deeds do
worthily deserve to be punished, by the comfort of thy grace may mercifully be
relieved …
In the Collect, as is oft the case, we acknowledge to
God our sad state, our evil nature, and then ask God to grant us His Grace to
be relieved of being accounted as evil, rather accounted as perfect even though
we are so far from perfect.
Inasmuch as we are imperfect and
can only be accounted as perfect through God’s Grace of His Son, our Saviour,
Jesus Christ, Paul is right on point when he talks about the two sons of
Abraham, one of the bond, one of the free.
These two are representative of
the two covenants with God, the bond under The Law and the free under The New
Covenant.
The people of old are the people
of The Law, 613 laws by which they must abide. Perhaps more properly said in practice that they must work
around or evade those 613. Yet, they
cannot comply with all the laws nor even work around them. They are doomed to failure with no help
from God. As people of The New
Covenant, the original and real
New Deal, we have only to comply with two laws or rules; To love the Lord with
all our hearts and to love our neighbor.
Actually, those two are much harder to fully comply with than avoiding
the 613 laws of The Law. But, we
have the key – Jesus Christ. He
came to earth not only to lead us to heaven, from the front; but to be a
propitiation for our sins, to make us account as perfect to God to allow us to
come into His Land.
Now, think about the Gospel. When we need help, how about instead of
worry, we substitute trust and action?
Trust that God will give us what we need. And, acting based on what we can and should do, not what we
want to do? Acting on what we
should do gets results. Perhaps
not what we want, but certainly what we need. In the middle of nowhere, two thousand years from the
nearest McDonalds, the disciples looked to Jesus to fill the needs of their
congregation. Jesus took what they
had and gave them what they needed; “for he himself knew what he would do.” He acted
to help them. Do ye likewise:
ACT
It is by our actions we are known.
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 147.
We think you will really enjoy it!
The God Who Makes Us New Again
Psalm 147, Galatians
4:21-31, John 6:1-14
Fourth Sunday in Lent
18
March 2012
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RANT, O Lord, that by thy holy Word
read and preached in this place, and by thy Holy Spirit grafting it inwardly in
the heart, the hearers thereof may both perceive and know what things they
ought to do, and may have power and strength to fulfill the same.
Psalm 147. Laudate
Dominum.
O PRAISE the Lord, for it is a good thing to sing praises unto our God; * yea, a joyful and pleasant thing it is to be thankful.
2 The Lord doth build up
Jerusalem, * and gather to- gether the outcasts of Israel.
3 He healeth those that are
broken in heart, * and giveth medicine to heal their sickness.
4 He telleth the number of
the stars, * and calleth them all by their names.
5 Great is our Lord, and
great is his power; * yea, and his wisdom is infinite.
6 The Lord setteth up the
meek, * and bringeth the un- godly down to the ground.
7 O sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving;
* sing praises upon the harp unto our God:
8 Who covereth the heaven
with clouds, and prepareth rain for the earth; * and maketh the grass to grow
upon the mountains, and herb for the use of men;
9 Who giveth fodder unto the
cattle, * and feedeth the young ravens that call upon him.
10 He hath no pleasure in
the strength of an horse; * neither delighteth he in any man’s legs.
11 But the Lord’s delight is
in them that fear him, * and put their trust in his mercy.
12 Praise the Lord, O
Jerusalem; * praise thy God, O Sion.
13 For he hath made fast the
bars of thy gates, * and hath blessed thy children within thee.
14 He maketh peace in thy borders,
* and filleth thee with the flour of wheat.
15 He sendeth forth his commandment
upon earth, * and his word runneth very swiftly.
16 He giveth snow like wool,
* and scattereth the hoar- frost like ashes.
17 He casteth forth his ice
like morsels: * who is able to abide his frost?
18 He sendeth out his word,
and melteth them: * he bloweth with his wind, and the waters flow.
19 He showeth his word unto
Jacob, * his statutes and ordinances unto Israel.
20 He hath not dealt so with any nation; * neither have the
heathen knowledge of his laws.
Our liturgical calendar
leads us to spend the first half of the year emphasizing what we are to believe
about God, nature, and ourselves. So we have been looking at what the Bible
says about God as the God of Grace, God our Saviour, God the Law Giver, and God
who is Faithful. Today we are looking at "The God Who Makes Us New Again."
In the Collect for the Fourth Sunday in Lent we ask God to relieve us by His
comfort and grace through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The Collect is an
ancient prayer which has carried this petition to the throne of grace for at
least 1,700, and, probably for more than 1,900 years. The earliest copies I
know of are in the collection of prayers and liturgies known as the Gregorian
Sacrametary and are written in Latin. Our English version of it uses the word,
"relieve," which means to free, help, and release from an obligation.
Its strongest meaning is to raise a person up and out of troubles and sorrows,
to elevate him to a new level of life. The Latin word used is respiremus, from
which we draw our English word, "respire." And guess what "respire"
really means; it means to re-inspire, to breathe life into again, or to make
alive again. Picture an ancient caravan traversing a hot, dry desert. After
many weary days of travel it finally reaches an oasis rich with palm trees,
grass and water. Man and beast rest themselves in the cool shade and drink
their fill of the water. They remain at the oasis for several days, and when
they leave they are relieved of their weariness and re-inspired for the journey
ahead. Or picture a military troop that has been on the front line for many
long months of hard battle. The soldiers are weak and tired, but, finally the
orders come for them to move to the rear. There, away from the battle, they
rest, eat hot meals, take hot showers, and sleep in beds. After a while they begin
to regain their strength and courage. They are freed and released from the
obligations of the war, and they are helped and elevated to a new level of life
and health. It is as though they are re-made and become new people.
Psalm 147 is about God
freeing and helping His people by raising us up to a new level of life. Verse 6
tells us the Lord "setteth up" the meek. He elevates them; He raises
them up to a new level of life. The Psalm uses the ancient city of Jerusalem as
an object lesson, and verses 2 and 3 form a key passage to those who wish to
understand the Psalm's meaning and application; "The Lord doth build up
Jerusalem, and gather together the outcasts of Israel. He healeth those that
are broken in heart, and giveth medicine to heal their sickness."
From the very beginning
enemies have besieged and scattered the Israel of God. From the death of Abel
to persecutions on this very day we have been attacked and scattered like
sheep. In Biblical times, Babylon, Greece, and Rome each attacked and destroyed
Jerusalem, and forced the Jews to flee to the ends of the earth. In Psalm 147
God is rebuilding Jerusalem as He did under the leadership of Nehemiah. He is
regathering the outcasts of Israel as He did when He brought them back from
captivity in Babylon in 536 B.C. It is as though Israel had died like the
soldiers in the valley of dry bones. And, just as God raised up and renewed the
dry bones, He is raising up and renewing Israel. He is making Israel new again
and alive again.
We need to remember that
the real emphasis of this Psalm is not what God does for the physical city of
Jerusalem. It was nice that God brought the Jews back to Jerusalem, and that He
made the gates of the city fast so enemies could not break in, and that He gave
them flour and wheat so that, in a land where people often did not have enough
to eat, His people had food. Yet these physical blessings were not the heart of
what it meant for God to relieve His people. It is the spiritual Jerusalem, the
Jerusalem which is from above, which is the mother of us all, as we read a few
minutes ago in Galatians 4:26, which is the real focus of this Psalm. This
heavenly Jerusalem is the Church, which is the company of all faithful people,
the company of those who have trusted in Jesus Christ to forgive their sins and
make them fit for the fellowship and love of God. This makes the Church as an
institution very important. It is ordained of God. It is He who sent Apostles
and pastors to it, and calls ministers to preach and teach the word and calls
people to come into His community of faith and worship Him. Yes, the Church as
an organization has its problems, but we are not allowed by God to give up on
the organization. Rather than giving up we are to seek out a church that is a
real Church, founded on the Bible and striving to live by the faith and
practice revealed in Scripture.
How does God refresh and
relieve His people? He does it primarily through the everyday things of prayer,
Scripture reading, public and private worship, and the Lord's Supper. Most of
the TV and radio preachers teach that God works miracles, according to the
measure of your faith, and it is through these miracles that He refreshes and
relieves you. But the truth is that such miracles are extremely rare. For
example, God seldom comforts and relieves us apart from His teaching and
promises revealed in the Scriptures. And He seldom gives great understanding of
Scripture's comfort and promises unless we spend time reading and studying
them. It is the Scriptures that teach us the things we need to know about God
and enable us to grow in grace. In other words, God uses the Scriptures to
relieve and refresh us. He also uses the other things I mentioned, prayer,
worship, the Lord's Supper, Christian fellowship, and baptism. Through these
things God strengthens you and enables you to face the trials and stand fast
against the enemies that attempt to scatter and destroy you. Through these
things He encourages you, comforts, and relieves you. That's why I am always
pestering you about daily prayer and daily Scripture reading, and coming to
Church. These things help you, that's why I want you to do them.
But we cannot forget our
primary means of relief from God, which is the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus
Christ for our sins. If God were to miraculously end war, crime, poverty and
sickness, yet allow us to die in our sins He would do us no good. Our sins make
us unfit to be in God's presence. Our sins make us fit only to be cast out of
His presence forever. And if Jesus had not gone to the cross to pay the price
for our sins, we would have to pay that price ourselves. We would have to be
cast into that place of outer darkness forever.
But God in mercy sent
His Son into the world to save sinners. He came to release you from the power and
penalty of sin. He came to raise you up, to elevate you to a new life, a
different life, and a better life. And this life is only possible for those who
come to Him in faith through Christ.
"
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RANT, we
beseech thee, Almighty God, that we, who for our evil deeds do worthily deserve
to be punished, by the comfort of thy grace may mercifully be relieved; through
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
--
+Dennis Campbell
Bishop,
Anglican Orthodox Church Diocese of Virginia
Rector,
Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
Powhatan,
Virginia
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