Verse of the Day

Sunday, June 10, 2012

First Sunday after Trinity


The Propers for today are found on Page 188-190, with the Collect first:

First Sunday after Trinity.
The Collect.

O
 GOD, the strength of all those who put their trust in thee; Mercifully accept our prayers; and because, through the weakness of our mortal nature, we can do no good thing without thee, grant us the help of thy grace, that in keeping thy commandments we may please thee, both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Dru Arnold read today’s Epistle, which came from the Fourth Chapter of St. John‘s First Epistle, beginning at the Seventh Verse.  John pointed out that if we do not love our brethren here on earth we have seen and touched, how then can we claim to have love for God, whom no man hath seen?  “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”  God loved us so much He sent His only Son to die for our sins.  That is true love.  Not that we love Him, but that first He loved us!  So, if God first loved us, ought we also not love each other?  No one has seen God at any time.  Yet, He loves us and we say we love Him.  If we do love one another, then God is in us, the Holy Ghost, and we are in Him.  Be bold, the world will end some time, for each of us it ends when we leave here.  Fear not, trust in God and dread naught.  God and His love will keep fear and the damage it does at bay.  Love each other and act on that love.

This reading covers the same ground as Jesus’ Summary of the Law, the second portion, “That he who loveth God love his brother also.”  God is love, not hate.

B
ELOVED, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

Jack Arnold, our Deacon Striker, read today’s Gospel which started in the Sixteenth Chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke, beginning at the Nineteenth Verse.  It is a story Jesus told of Lazarus, not the Lazarus whom he raised from the dead, but a fictional character. This Lazarus was poor and very ill, he was laid at the gate of an extremely well fed rich man hoping he might be fed with the castoffs from the rich man’s table.  He was so ill, he could not move when dogs came to lick his sores.  He died and went to heaven where he was well cared for and was whole.  The rich man died, and for his self centered behavior here on earth, went to hell where he was tormented horribly.  He looked up and saw Lazarus.  He begged for just a touch of water, that he might be comforted.  Abraham told the rich man that he would receive no comfort as he had partaken of all the comfort he would get while on earth when he thought only of himself.  He also told him there was a gulf between heaven and hell through which no one could pass.  Hearing that, the rich man asked that Lazarus be sent to his father’s house that his brothers might avoid his fate.  Abraham pointed out they had the words of Moses and the prophets, if they would not hear them, they would not listen to one who rose from the dead.

T
HERE was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is com-forted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

Sermon – Time and Action
Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and is partly contained in the forewords above.  How little we need other guidance, if we but listen to what God tells us.

Consider these words from the Collect:

the strength of all those who put their trust in thee; … through the weakness of our mortal nature, we can do no good thing without thee, grant us the help of thy grace, that in keeping thy commandments we may please thee, both in will and deed

This is a little longer Collect than usual, but in it we acknowledge that God is our strength, as we are weak and cannot do any true good without His Help; thus we ask His help or grace to do His Will in both in our thoughts and actions.

And, what is the first action we are to take, to love one another.  Saint John pointed out if we do not love our fellow creatures here on earth whom we have seen and touched, how then can we claim to have love for God, whom no have not seen?  “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”  God loved us so much He sent His only Son to die for our sins.  That is true love.  Not that we love Him, but that first He loved us!  So, if God first loved us, ought we also not love each other?  No one has seen God at any time.  Yet, He loves us and we say we love Him.  If we do love one another, then God is in us, the Holy Ghost, and we are in Him.  Be bold, the world will end some time, for each of us it ends when we leave here.  Fear not, trust in God and dread naught.  God and His love will keep fear and the damage it does at bay.  Love each other and act on that love.

To love one another and act on that love.  To consider the ways we might help others and then actually help them.  It is not a question of giving, but helping.  The rich man could have helped Lazarus, but it never entered his head.  Lazarus was a rather disgusting feature of his world and when he died, the rich man was pleased not to have to pass by him.  Yet, it never entered into his head to help. 

How is that possible? 

Simple, his eye was not on the donut, but on the hole.  The rich man cared about all the things that don’t count and never considered those that do.

Indeed, between heaven and hell there is a great gulf fixed, but the gulf is not of God’s making but ours.  It is us who keeps us from the heaven He offers freely, yet at a great price.

Put your trust in God and dread naught.  Love those around you and act on that love.  Think how you can help, not how you can “enjoy” life.  Helping does not mean simply giving money to those who don’t have it, no strings attached.  It means facilitating a way for those who do not have to earn what they need; to bring them the means of acquiring those things which they need.  Those things are spiritual as well as physical.  A hand up, not a hand out.  You will find out the more you help, the more you enjoy real life.

Bishop Ogles’ Sermon
We are oft fortunate to get copies of Bishop Jerry’s sermon notes.  Today is one of those Sundays.  Today’s sermon starts off with the collect.  It will give you a lot to consider in your heart.

First Sunday after Trinity 10 June 2012 Anno Domini
St Andrews Anglican Orthodox Church
Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus

First Sunday after Trinity.
The Collect.

O
 GOD, the strength of all those who put their trust in thee; Mercifully accept our prayers; and because, through the weakness of our mortal nature, we can do no good thing without thee, grant us the help of thy grace, that in keeping thy commandments we may please thee, both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

19There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. 27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: 28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. 29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.  (Luke 16:19-31)

      Before we look more closely at this great parable of Jesus, we must understand that Christ never uses a parable of things physical or spiritual whose principle is not consistent with the truth.  This story of the rich man and Lazarus may be just as actual as it is figurative. God's principles never change and neither does His truth.

         The parable addresses the issues of the hereafter in stark illustration of Paradise and Hell.  There are those whose wealth dim their eyes to mercy and compassion, and encrypt their hearts in greed and malice. There are, on the other hand, those who would prefer to give whatever material possession they have if it will render a greater good in improving the life of that one standing nearby. Because their hearts are not centered on the material, their souls are fixed on goodness and mercy. Christ does not mean to teach that there is evil in riches, but in the way that we may covet such wealth. There is no honor is being desperately poor, either, but the circumstances of life may render any of us unable to provide for ourselves and impoverished by misfortune. When poor men, such as Lazarus, are made to beg by the gates of the wealthy, this condition is an illustration of the sin in the sin that lies covered in the purple garments of the wealthy who refuse to share their excess with those who are so deprived even of food to eat.

     It should be noted that God does not always provide material reward to His righteous in this world. The tables are often turned so that the wealthy are the wicked, and the poor, the righteous. It does not necessarily need to be so, but often is. Even a very righteous man may be corrupted when he comes into great wealth. He may forget the estate from which he has come, and dwell only on the improvement of his finances.

     We must not misapply Scriptural counsel regarding money: it is not money itself that is evil, but the love thereof.  For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows (1 Tim 6:10) If God rewards you will a million dollars in your account, the mere possession of so much money does not make you a bad person. The manner in which you use the money for good is a measure of your virtue.

     The deference which Christ shows to the poor man in giving him a Godly name, Lazarus, or Eleazar, is notable. The name means, God is MY Help. We have churches in the AOC in parts of the world in which every member depends upon God alone for the next morsel of food they consume. This Holy name imputes a righteous character to the poor man.

     But what of the rich man? He is given no name at all. Why do you suppose this is so? Because if our names are not written in the Book of Life, then they are not written at all. In fact, there are no names in Hell. Why would you need a name there?

     19There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day This man was filled with himself and cared not a whit for those around him. He had much more than he needed, yet was unwilling to share a morsel from his well-stocked pantry to a poor man diseased and dying. The love of wealth petrifies the heart and closes its gates of mercy. Christ only refers to this man as a "rich man." He has no redeeming qualities that recommend him to God.

      20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores You may wonder why Lazarus is a beggar? Could it be a result of his complete helplessness due to disease. He could not help himself – he had to be helped. Someone must help those around us who are unable, due to tragic circumstances, to help themselves. Before the advent of utopian and socialistic philosophy, the Church and Community were the source of help – and still should be.

     21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. He desired no great thing – only to be fed the crumbs from the rich man's table. These the rich man did not need, but it is doubtful that the rich man cared enough to give them to Lazarus. Even though men of means showered no mercy on their own kind, at least the dogs lived up to their reputation of loyalty. The dogs comforted Lazarus – not with food which they had not – but with compassion and love. Are we better than dogs?

     22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried How casually does the LORD make reference to that grave which awaits every beloved reader of this devotion. It shall come to pass that each of us shall die. Then what?

     You will observe a great difference in the disposition of Lazarus after death, and that of the rich man after death. Christ says of the beggar (he) was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom Truly the destination of all righteous souls. Abraham is father, not only to the Hebrews, but all who believe in the Promised Seed – Jesus Christ! What a royal sendoff did Lazarus receive. Though a poor, sick beggar, he was honored with the dignity of being carried by the angels to Abraham's Bosom. Angels are important heavenly dignitaries, but not so dignified as to ignore any soul that dies in Christ.

     How does the honor paid Lazarus differ from the disposition of the Rich Man's body? The rich man also died, and was buried. He was placed, not in the Bosom of Abraham, but in the depth of the earth – his eternal home, or ultimately, Hell. Instead of the angels carrying him to Abraham's Bosom, the rich man lies in the cursed soil of the world. Quite well do the final words of a poem by Sir Walter Scott summarize the matter:

"For him no minstrel raptures swell; 
High though his titles, proud his name, 
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim 
Despite those titles, power, and pelf, 
The wretch, concentred all in self, 
Living, shall forfeit fair renown, 
And, doubly dying, shall go down 
To the vile dust from whence he sprung, 
Unwept, unhonored , and unsung."

     But Scott's words do not fully reveal the extent of the tragedy of such a lifestyle – the fires of Hell await such a one the very moment his eyes are blinded by death.

     23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Christ does not leave the reality of hell open for question, but states the fact outright. There are fires in Hel, and torments as well. There are no medical stations there to relieve the pain for, in Hell, the character of its citizens rule – NO MERCY! The rich man can see Lazaraus "afar off" in the bosom of Abraham. Heaven is a far off place from Hell. But the wicked can see the delight of those in Heaven.

     24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame The pride of wealth no longer dominates the rich man's thinking. He takes no longer pride in his fine raiment for that was burned away the moment he was cast into Hell. The rich man begs for that which he had none of in life – MERCY! Lazarus is now rich, and the rich man a beggar. He begs for mercy to be delivered by the very finger of him to whom he granted no mercy. Hell is a hot dry place. The drought never ends there. It is interesting to note that there is no evidence that Lazarus is aware of the rich man's condition in Hell. Such knowledge might dampen his joy in Heaven for he obviously was a man of compassion as opposed to the rich man. Hell is a place of torment. God sends no one to Hell – we send ourselves.

     25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. We sometimes find men in conditions and circumstances from which we cannot extricate them, but we still should have what kindness we can have and show respectful regard. Observe with what sympathy Abraham addresses the rich man in Hell: He calls him "son!" It is possible that this man could have been a true son of Abraham as was Lazarus had he followed in that faith of Abraham in Christ. But he was more likely a son by hereditary descent and not spiritual. The temporary luxuries of riches born out of greed will avail nothing in Heaven. The pleasure is so temporary, and eternity so very long – endless in fact.

     26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. We must recognize that the distance is so great between Heaven and Hell that none can pass to and from. No one has descended to Hell and returned to tell of it, and the same is true of Heaven regardless the cheap little books of commercial fodder marketed today. If you believe that you can visit Hell, you probably will do so for longer than you wish.

     27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: 28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Even the wicked in Hell are aware of the lost condition of their loved ones. Does this give cause for pause? Those in Hell would do anything to save their loved ones (for the damned also love their own) from coming to such a place of hot torment.

     . 29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. Have we, too, heard the voice of Moses from the beginning in Genesis? Have we heard and heeded the writings of the prophets and the Gsopel and Espitles that tell of Christ? If so, it is enough! We need no astounding signs to prove our faith else it is not faith.

An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matt 12:39-40) Is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior enough for you, or do you seek cleverly designed signs of men?

     30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. Really? Christ rose from the dead and the obstinate, faithless Jewish rulers still hated Him. Faith is based in hope and love, not sure evidence.

     31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.  If our faith is not founded on God's Word, no other considerations are important. We believe because God's Love is reflected to our hearts in the hope and reality revealed by Scripture. If our hearts are made of lead, the iron Magnet will not attract it. There must be a kinship (even if distant) in the heart that responds to the Call of God.

Do you have that kinship?

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 a great sermon for the First Sunday after Trinity:

God is Worth It

Psalm 73

First Sunday after Trinity

June 10, 2012


If we are going to find any kind of peace and meaning in life in this world, we are going to have to ask and answer several very important questions, for the answers will direct the course of our existence, now, and for all eternity. The first question is, does God exist? The second question is, how can I know God? The third is do I owe God anything? The fourth question is based on the faith that the answers to the previous questions are "yes." This question is, is obeying God "worth it?" Is obeying God worth the time and energy and trouble and sacrifice I have to put into it?  This is the question dealt with in Psalm 73, and it is asked in light of the differences the author sees in the lives and circumstances of those who obey God, and those who do not.

Evening Prayer.
Psalm 73. Quam bonus Israel!

T
RULY God is loving unto Israel: * even unto such as are of a clean heart.
 2 Nevertheless, my feet were almost gone, * my tread- ings had well-nigh slipt.
3 And why? I was grieved at the wicked: * I do also see the ungodly in such prosperity.
4 For they are in no peril of death; * but are lusty and strong.
5 They come in no misfortune like other folk; * neither are they plagued like other men.
6 And this is the cause that they are so holden with pride, * and cruelty covereth them as a garment.
7 Their eyes swell with fatness, * and they do even what they lust.
8 They corrupt other, and speak of wicked blasphemy; * their talking is against the Most High.
9 For they stretch forth their mouth unto the heaven, * and their tongue goeth through the world.
10 Therefore fall the people unto them, * and there- out suck they no small advantage.
11 Tush, say they, how should God perceive it? * is there knowledge in the Most High?
12 Lo, these are the ungodly, * these prosper in the world, and these have riches in possession:
13 And I said, Then have I cleansed my heart in vain, * and washed my hands in innocency.
14 All the day long have I been punished, * and chas- tened every morning.
15 Yea, and I had almost said even as they; * but lo, then I should have condemned the generation of thy chil- dren.
16 Then thought I to understand this; * but it was too hard for me,
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God: * then un- derstood I the end of these men;
18 Namely, how thou dost set them in slippery places, * and castest them down, and destroyest them.
19 O how suddenly do they consume,*perish, and come to a fearful end!
20 Yea, even like as a dream when one awaketh; * so shalt thou make their image to vanish out of the city.
21 Thus my heart was grieved, * and it went even through my reins.
22 So foolish was I, and ignorant, * even as it were a beast before thee.
23 Nevertheless, I am alway by thee; * for thou hast holden me by my right hand.
24 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, * and after that receive me with glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but thee? * and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee.
26 My flesh and my heart faileth; * but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
27 For lo, they that forsake thee shall perish; * thou hast destroyed all them that are unfaithful unto thee.
28 But it is good for me to hold me fast by God, to put my trust in the Lord God, * and to speak of all thy
works in the gates of the daughter of Sion.

The Psalm makes a shocking point; disobedience pays. The general teaching of most religions is that those who obey God receive blessings from God. This idea is often reduced to the catch phrase, "do good, get good." But the author of this Psalm looks around Israel and Jerusalem and sees that it doesn't always work that way. It often happens that nice guys finish last and bad guys win. Who are the prosperous, the healthy, the well-fed? According to the Psalmist, it is not necessarily the man who works hard at an honourable job and lives an honourable, Godly life. He is more likely to be poor, barely able to feed his family, and sick from poor nourishment and overwork. It is the wicked who prosper, and they do so by taking advantage of others. They scheme and cheat and lie to get what they want, "Therefore fall the people unto them, and thereout suck they no small advantage" (vs. 10). The King James says, "waters of a full cup are wrung out " to the wicked. They gain a full cup by wringing it out of others. The picture is of a person twisting a damp rag until the water runs out of it, and the idea is that the wicked wring their wealth out others instead of earning it honestly. The wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. That is the shocking point made by this Psalm, and the implication is that if this is true, then serving God is not worth it. Turn away from God, join the wicked, do whatever it takes to claw your way to wealth, then eat drink and be merry.


The author of this Psalm was considering this. "I have cleansed my heart in vain" he wrote in verse 13. He is saying, "I've been a fool to try to be righteous. It is useless. The blessings go only to the wicked, and I'm going to join them." He was tired of playing by the rules while the wicked got all the prizes. I am sure most of you have felt that way sometimes. When I went into the ministry I thought people hungered for God the way I did. I thought they wanted to know the Scriptures the way I wanted to know them. I thought they wanted to turn away from the destructive emptiness of self-indulgence and materialism. I thought they would come to a church where the Bible is believed and taught and lived. So I invested and sacrificed myself and my family to bring the Word to people, in hope of seeing them come to Christ or grow in grace. Thanks be to God, I have found many solid Christian people in the Church. I have also found animosity to God. I have also found people desire a feel-good gospel and a church based on emotionalism and programs rather than truth and holiness. I have found that most people would much rather feel like a Christian than be a Christian, and they don't want any Bible waving clergyman upsetting their world and challenging their views. There is nothing new about this. Around the end of the Nineteenth Century, Bishop J. C. Ryle noted the same thing. After saying the methods which emphasise shows and feelings instead of doctrine and holiness draw large crowds and are extremely popular, he wrote in the preface to his book, Old Paths, "I am not surprised. It is exactly what a study of human nature by the light of the Bible would lead me to expect." It took me a long time and a lot of major disappointments to learn the truth of those words, and I have often thought of giving up. I am sure each of you could share similar stories about work, friends, family, even church.


Look what the Psalm says about us when we think about giving up. "My feet were almost gone, my treadings had well-nigh slipt" (vs. 2). In other words, thinking about quitting on God is to be in the condition of slipping spiritually. What happens to a person who is physically slipping? Either he will be able to catch himself, or he will fall. So the Bible is telling us here that to think about quitting on God is to be in danger of falling away from God. It is to be in danger of falling back into unbelief and sin, and that's a deadly fall. As I say this, I am sure many of you are thinking about Hebrews 6:4-6:


For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they should fall away, to renew them again unto repentance."

But there is a far better reason to continue with God than simply the fear of falling. That reason is the unfathomable riches of the grace of God, in this life, and in the next. Verse 24 expresses this well, "Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and after that receive me with glory." It is true, as our Lord said, that we will have tribulation in this world. The world is against us. In addition to the opposition of the world, God disciplines and stretches us until it sometimes feels like He is going to break what little faith we have. But, through all of our tribulations, God is with us, and our blessings in God far outweigh both the sorrows we bear and the luxuries we forgo in the service of God. The wicked may have worldly success, but we have the counsel of God to guide us. We have the Bible, the Spirit, the sacraments, and the Church. We have prayer and worship. We have God living in us, we have meaning and purpose in life that gives direction to our struggles and makes sense of our trials. All of these things are ours to enjoy here and now. What more could we want out of life when God is our portion forever? It has been said that if there were no Heaven or hell, the Christian life would still be the only life worth living. I agree. I would not want to take part in the dogfight people join in their attempts to rise to the top. I would not want to lie and cheat, and step on others to get a promotion or a raise. I would want to conduct myself with honour and integrity in every sphere of life, even if there were no Heaven or hell. I would strive to be a Godly employee, employer, spouse, parent, daughter, son, in-law, sibling, for that is the only way to live and still be able to respect myself. In such a life I would be free of many of the habits and attitudes that destroy others and myself. I would not want the life of the wicked, not even for all the treasures of the world.


And we have the promise of even greater blessings for us in heaven. As verse 24 says, God will receive us with great glory. A major part of this is that God will receive us into His everlasting joy in Heaven. There is a place where we will no longer face sickness, sorrow, or death. There is a place where we will no longer face temptation, and no longer fall into sin. There is a place where you can see God "face-to-face," and in Him will find the greatest treasure and joy that can be found by the human soul. Would you trade all of this for the trinkets of earth? Would you sell your soul to make a few dollars? Truly nothing in this short life on earth is as valuable as knowing God and enjoying His grace. The Psalm asks if following God is woth the cost. It answers its own question. If I were to attempt to state the answer in modern terms, I would say, obeying God is the only thing that is worth it.
--
+Dennis Campbell

Bishop, Anglican Orthodox Church Diocese of Virginia
Rector, Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
Powhatan, Virginia

Guest Sermon from Rev Dr Peter Mullen, Mercers' Company of Richmond, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom

Foreword by Bishop Jerry Ogles - This is an excellent paper by the Rev Mullen. He echoes the same sentiments of those of Bishop Dees fifty years ago.  The scholars of the church were not blind-sided in the sixties-eighties. They were fooled with their eyes opened. The professors of faith of Church of England simply did not believe the Word of God and, therefore, felt free to expunge it once and for all from their midst.

Many mainline churches are doing the exact same thing at this moment without any notable outcry from their adherents. 

Comment by Bishop Dennis Campbell – A very accurate appraisal.

Sermon: "The State of the Church of England" Preached by The Revd Dr Peter Mullen for the Mercers' Company of Richmond, North Yorkshire Corpus Christi 2012, Courtesy of Pastor Roy.

For years now, a great number of people have been asking me what's going on in the Church of England these days: the implication and tone of these enquiries suggesting that all is not well.

Indeed, it is not at all well.

I should like to try to offer some explanation of what has gone wrong. But the catastrophic farce into which the church has descended did not happen overnight. So you will have to listen to a bit of history - not much - but for this I beg your patience. Let us go back to, say, 1958. The Church of England was enjoying a period of confident expansion. Congregations were on the increase. The habit of Parish Communion was replacing Matins and enlivening churches everywhere. Christenings and weddings were up. Ordinations to the priesthood were up. In the working class parish of Armley, Leeds, where I was raised, there were three of us who had offered ourselves to the priesthood.

To re-apply William Wordsworth: bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, and to be young was very heaven.

Let us look at this scene.

One of the most constructive, creative and unifying aspects of the church was that throughout it used The King James Bible and The Book of Common Prayer. This was a sort of happy genius, for these same books were used by all three parties in the church: High, Low and Broad.

Then, the “authorities” started to tinker with this happy arrangement and the decline set in. They were bent on making new versions of the Bible and the first of these was the New Testament part of The New English Bible which was published in 1961. This version is illiterate and in many places laughable. As, for instance, when the King James's Son of Belial (that is the devil himself) is rendered by the New English Bible as a good- for- nothing (I Samuel 25: 25)? What, the son of the devil himself is only a good- for-nothing - like a truant from the fourth form who has been stealing apples from the housemaster's orchard! There isn't time to give you dozens of other examples of idiocy in the new versions of Scripture, but I devote a chapter to this in my book A Partial Vision: Christianity and the Great Betrayal. Buy one today and laugh all week...

Having emasculated Holy Writ, the authorities then devoted themselves to the ruin of public worship by the invention of jiving-for-Jesus, Noddy, services vastly inferior to The Book of Common Prayer, which had proved its worth in every parish in the land for 300 years.

Why, you may ask, did the hierarchy of the church perpetrate this destruction? Simply because they liked the sound of their own voices or, as Thomas Cranmer puts it in his Preface to The Book of Common Prayer, they were, such men who always had more regard for their private fancies than for that duty they owe to the public. But the full story of this desecration is truly scandalous.

In 1980 the bishops and synod put all these pathetic services into a new publication called The Alternative Service Book. At the time, they advertised this book as the greatest publishing event in 400 years. Twenty years later the bishops and synod actually banned - yes, officially banned - The Alternative Service Book and replaced it with something even more barbarous called Common Worship. So, first the sidelining of The King James Bible and then the destruction of the Common Prayer which had sustained the whole church for centuries. But there was, if you can credit it, a greater evil to come and it is this that I want to tell you about now. The authorities were not content merely to dumb down worship and produce illiterate versions of the Bible: they decided that the church must be secularized.

Suddenly, theological paperback books became all the rage. These were some of the titles: Objections to Christian Belief; The Secular Meaning of the Gospel; The Gospel of Christian Atheism; But That I Can't Believe! ; Radical Theology and the Death of God. And, most successful of the lot, Honest to God by John Robinson, Bishop of Woolwich. He launched this iconoclastic book with a long article on the front of The Observer newspaper entitled Our Image of God Must Go. In his book, Robinson sought thoroughly to undermine our notions of the being of God. Let me quote from him: In place of a God who is literally or physically 'up there' we have accepted, as part of our mental furniture, a God who is spiritually or metaphysically 'out there'." (Honest to God, p. 13). But Christians for 2,000 years had held as their core belief the objective, metaphysical existence of God. Honest to God was an explicit denial of this. Robinson's book was catastrophic in another way. In Chapter Six Robinson denies the authority of the Ten Commandments and says that instead our moral decisions should be guided by what he called situation ethics. In other words, you make up your own morality on the hoof. This appalling book had enormous influence, going into half a dozen reprints in as many months

A few years later, Christian priests and theologians published The Myth of God Incarnate which denied the traditional view of Jesus as God and Man. It is crucial to notice that these new trends - the virtual abolition of The King James Bible and The Book of Common Prayer and the denial and abandonment of Christian orthodoxy - were most enthusiastically taken up by the most prominent people in the church; bishops, deans, principals of theological colleges and the like. You might say that the Church of England effectively resigned.

But the iconoclasts and virtual atheists who became the new Establishment were left with a big problem on their hands. If you denied, as they did, that Scripture and traditional church teaching actually meant what they said, what did you do with the words of the Bible and the doctrines of the Christian Fathers?

Answer: in the phrase used by Professor Rudolf Bultmann of the University of Marburg, you demythologized them. Let me spell out what this means practically. Take the feeding of the five thousand. Obviously, the new non-believing theologians could not by any means accept that this was one of Our Lord's miracles, but there it remains in the Bible - so what to do with it? Answer: it was a socialist picnic> So turn it into a banal story about sharing and make it part of a socialist ideology which grew and developed into today's rampant egalitarianism and leveling down. What about the resurrection of Christ? They didn't believe it. But there it stubbornly remains in all four gospels. So what to make of it? What they did was to deny that it happened and instead psychologize and subjectify it.

These leaders, who were supposed to be our spiritual fathers in God, our religious teachers and defenders of the faith, did not believe that Jesus rose from the dead. So they said instead that after his death his disciples experienced new life. Thus they left entirely unanswered where this experience of new life came from if Jesus remained dead. And it left unanswered the other question too: would the first Christian men and women really preach what they knew to be a lie? Would they really have had the courage to suffer martyrdom for what they knew was a cock-and-bull story?

This secularization of Christianity has accelerated over the years so that the church is now run by practical atheists. This is why you never hear many of our bishops and other senior clergy speak directly about scripture or the doctrines of the Creed. They don't believe what the Bible and the Creeds actually say. And so they retreat and re-interpret Christian doctrine in terms of the secular opinions of our time. And these opinions are always merely political. And of course they are always the fashionable left wing prejudices of the day.

This is why we hear from the bishops' palaces, the archdeaconries and the theological colleges endless palaver about diversity, equality, under-privilege, deprivation, social exclusion, saving the planet and all the rest.

If you don't believe in God who is a metaphysical reality; if you believe the feeding of the five thousand was that socialist picnic; if you think the resurrection was a mere shift in the disciples' mood; then there is nothing left for you to engage with than the secular dogmas of this world. Even this is not enough for the new brand of non-believing leaders of our church. They love above all things to discover the biggest universal delusion of the age - and identify themselves with it. So in the 1980s this was unilateral nuclear disarmament and now it is climate change.

The church has been reduced to an un-theological, bureaucratic, box-ticking, politically-correct irrelevance. That is why, to take an example close to where I live, the Occupy campsite outside St Paul's loomed so large. The hierarchy, having divested itself of fundamental belief, has nothing else to do.

To sum up: the church has lost its confidence in its own basic teachings and in its theological and dogmatic authority. Have you noticed how dogma nowadays is only a dirty word? We need a return to fundamental Christian faith. God only knows where and when such a return might begin. But we must pray for it every day.

The Rev Dr Peter Mullen is a priest of the Church of England and former Rector of St Michael, Cornhill and St Sepulchre-without-Newgate in the City of London. He has written for many publications including the Wall Street Journal.  He is also Chaplain of The Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators (GAPAN) is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The Guild was established in 1929 and was granted the status of a Livery Company in 1956. The Guild is responsible for advising the government on air safety and aeronautics.  The Guild ranks eighty-first in the order of precedence of Livery Companies and fourth in the order of precedence of the Modern Livery Companies. It is unique amongst City Livery Companies in having active Regional Committees in Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand and North America, and unique in being permitted to continue to be called a Guild notwithstanding its status as a Livery Company.

The Guild's motto is Per Cælum Via Nostra, Latin for Our Way Is By The Heavens.

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