Fathers
Day
Today we prayed for our fathers, those who are with us and
those who have gone before us and brought us to this point in our lives.
Fathers Day is a day we celebrate the role of fathers in our
lives. It is normally a day of joy
and congratulations. But, it is
more than that, it is a reminder of what a father’s role should be. A father is to be the spiritual head of
the family, a provider of both spiritual and earthly needs, the protector,
commander, president, judge and most of all - the leader. To lead, you must be ahead of those you
lead. Lead means, follow me; not,
head that way. A father must live
his life for his family. The role
comes with privileges, but the privileges are granted only to those who fulfill
the responsibilities. Those
responsibilities are awesome, but the rewards incredible. Yet, as a father, I assure you, in the
words of Paul, we all fall short.
But that does not mean we should give up, but rather we must redouble
our efforts.
I share with you a poem in my Fathers Day card. I can tell you I have fallen short, but
it is clear from the card what I must do in the coming year:
Only
A Dad
Edgar A. Guest[1]
Only a dad with a tired face,
Coming home from the daily race,
Bringing little of gold or fame
To show how well he has played the game;
But glad in his heart that his own rejoice
To see him come and to hear his voice.
Only a dad with a brood of four,
One of ten million men or more
Plodding along in the daily strife,
Bearing the whips and the scorns of life,
With never a whimper of pain or hate,
For the sake of those who at home await.
Only a dad, neither rich nor proud,
Merely one of the surging crowd,
Toiling, striving from day to day,
Facing whatever may come his way,
Silent whenever the harsh condemn,
And bearing it all for the love of them.
Only a dad but he gives his all,
To smooth the way for his children small,
Doing with courage stern and grim
The deeds that his father did for him.
This is the line that for him I pen:
Only a dad, but the best of men.
From
the book "A Heap o' Livin'" ©1916
When we remember our fathers, we remember not only those who
brought us into this world, but also those who have gone before. We stand here in the present only on
the shoulders of those whose actions and leadership got us here. As fathers we know we are not perfect,
nor were our fathers, nor theirs.
For the sins of the fathers upon
the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the
fourth generation. Exodus 34.7 We need be mindful of that when we live our lives. We serve as a model for our children
and grandchildren, as well as others who see our lives. Living as a father gives one greater
tolerance for the errors of their fathers and an appreciation for the pressure
they were under. One can only
marvel at the job they did.
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ay God grant each father the strength to live
their life in a manner consistent with our duty as a father, husband, brother;
and to fulfill the promise we made to God and Family when we accepted the role
as a father. We, each of, us fall
short, but ask God God’s help to meet the challenge, in the Name of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen
God • Honor •
Country • Family
Propers
The Propers for today are found
on Page 188-190, with the Collect first:
Second
Sunday after Trinity.
The
Collect.
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LORD, who never failest to help and govern those whom thou dost bring
up in thy stedfast fear and love; Keep us, we beseech thee, under the
protection of thy good providence, and make us to have a perpetual fear and
love of thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Dru
Arnold read today’s Epistle, which came from the Third Chapter of St.
John‘s First Epistle, beginning at the Thirteenth Verse.
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ARVEL not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have
passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not
his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and
ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we
the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down
our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his
brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how
dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word,
neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of
the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us,
God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart
condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we
receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are
pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on
the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us
commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in
him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath
given us.
John gave us God’s commandment:
That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one
another. We are exhorted to
love one another not in word only, but in deed and in truth. We are to carry out the word we have
been given, not just to repeat the words.
Actions speak louder than
words. If we are to lead people to
Christ, we must be in front of them showing the way.
Deacon Striker Jack Arnold read today’s
Holy Gospel which started in the Fourteenth Chapter of the Gospel according to
St. Luke, beginning at the Sixteenth
Verse. This is another of Jesus’
stories. This one is of a rich man
who made a great supper; a thing of great value in times of hunger.
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CERTAIN man made a
great supper, and bade many: and sent his servant at supper time to say to them
that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one
consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of
ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And
another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray
thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I
cannot come. So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the
master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the
streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed,
and the halt, and the blind. And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou
hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go
out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may
be filled. For I say unto you, that none of those men which were bidden shall
taste of my supper.
Are we like the busy people, are
our lives so filled with important activities that we have no time to come to
the Lord’s Supper? Think about
that when you set your bedtime on Saturday, think about that when you schedule
the outing for Sunday morning.
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:
… who never failest
to help and govern those whom thou dost bring up in thy stedfast fear and love;
Keep us, we beseech thee, under the protection of thy good providence, and make
us to have a perpetual fear and love of thy holy Name…
We must acknowledge God will help and lead us if we
will look to him for that help and leadership. We need His Help, in the form of the Holy Ghost, to direct
our hearts, minds and souls to look to Him for that Help in our time of need.
Speaking of time of need; when do we need God? Only when we are falling short of
perfection. That would be all the
time.
The Epistle is a great illustration of why we need
guidance from the Holy Ghost all the time. If we want God’s love, we have to love those around us. That is pretty easy. It is easy to love people. The problem is that we actually have to
act on that claim of love, not just say we love them. We have to give of our time and effort to help those around
us who have problems. John tell us
“And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son
Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that
keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know
that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.”
So how far do we have to go to fulfill our obligation
to love our fellow beings? We have
a leader, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is not only the Propitiation for our sins[2],
but who set the standard for our performance. As John reminds us, “He laid down his life for us.” So, too much work or I don’t
have time are probably not valid excuses.
Speaking of time, many times people put off church
for other “more important” things, do you? Like the certain man who made a great supper, the Lord sets
aside a time every week for us to worship with Him. Actually His time is pretty flexible. The Lord’s worship can be done at times
other than 1000 on Sunday morning if you really do have to work, you have
weekend duty, you are on alert or something you really cannot get out of. But, where are your priorities? Is a football game, a fishing trip or
just plain sleeping in the “reason” for your failing to show for the great
supper? When you fail to plan
ahead, you plan to fail.
The Gospel is about more than just going to church,
it is about priorities. We need to
put the things that are really important in the list of things to do above the
things that are not really important.
We need to think about what is important to us and to God. Sometimes they are different. Then, we need the Holy Ghost to get our
priorities in order.
People do what is important to them. When they feel guilty they come up with
excuses, but in reality, they please themselves.
So, what we need to do is ask the Holy Ghost for help
to make God’s agenda ours; thus when we please God, we please ourselves. A win – win situation.
If we do not make time for God, how do we expect Him
to make time for us? If we will
not diligently study the lessons He has left for us, how can we expect to know
what He wants us to do?
Do you recall the words
of GK Chesterton:
“Christianity has not been
tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.”
We need to come to church and
read the Bible so we can find out what God wants. But, the idea is not to find out what He wants so we can
work around it or live with it, but rather live in it. Think about the 613 Mosaic laws and the
Pharisees who made a good living telling people how to comply with them to the
letter and still do just what they wanted to do.
If we find out what God wants
and decide to actually do it instead of avoid it, we are still faced with an
often huge problem of where do we get the strength to accomplish this
task. The answer is circular, from
God, the Holy Ghost. He never asks
us to do anything we cannot do good enough for Him if we rely on Him. Never.
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.
Sermon
Notes
Second
Sunday after Trinity
17 June
2012 Anno Domini
Second
Sunday after Trinity.
The
Collect.
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LORD, who never failest to help and govern those whom thou dost bring
up in thy stedfast fear and love; Keep us, we beseech thee, under the
protection of thy good providence, and make us to have a perpetual fear and
love of thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
15 And when one of
them that sat at meat with him heard these things, he said unto him, Blessed is
he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.
16 Then
said he unto him, A certain man made a great
supper, and bade many: 17 And sent his
servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things
are now ready. 18 And they all with one
consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of
ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. 19 And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen,
and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. 20 And another said, I have married a wife, and
therefore I cannot come. 21 So that
servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house
being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of
the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the
blind. 22 And the servant said, Lord,
it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. 23 And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the
highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I say unto you, That none of those men which
were bidden shall taste of my supper. (Luke 14:15-24)
This parable of today's text was given at the home of one of the chief Pharisees
who had invited Christ to supper. It is doubtless that the invitation was made
out of a cordial courtesy, but out of a contemptuous curiosity to learn more of
how they might entrap the Son of God.
The comment that precedes the parable is noteworthy of the casual piety with
which many regard the means of salvation. Blessed is he that shall eat
bread in the kingdom of God. The one posing the comment
doubtlessly considered himself to be one of those blessed ones who would eat of
that Bread in Heaven. Many of us simply assume that we shall be among the
number and smugly look around at those whose destiny we may consider in doubt.
The comment of Balaam seems to best describe this lot: Who can count the
dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the
death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his! (Num 23:10)
The statement, of course, is a profound truth, but the way in which it is
viewed from the personal perspective may be profoundly in error. Instead of concerning
ourselves about our PRESENT righteousness, we are too focused on the end
of the play – how we shall DIE! We must not occupy our time with undue emphasis
on End of Time matters, but rather with those issues of life itself. In order
to walk from Jerusalem to Damascas, we must take EVERY step in between. Every
step is as important as the last for, if one be missing, we shall not reach
Damascus.
16 Then said he unto him, A certain man
made a great supper, and bade many: God is the `certain man'. The Great Supper is Heaven itself. Those
`many' invited are the fullness of the Will of God for those to fill His Heaven
at last. We do not know the number, but God certainly has a fixed knowledge of
it. God has invited a great many to that Supper. Though an invitation may be
received, it will benefit the recipient nothing at all if he fails to respond
to the invitation. ("many are called but few are chosen" Matt 20:16)
Certainly, if you hear these words and have read the Gospel, the invitation has
been extended to you. But what will you do in response to the invitation? Are
you presently too busy to come? Have you properties to look after that forbids
your coming? Are the trifling concerns of the world preventing you? Compared to
the salvation of your soul, every other consideration is trifling.
17 And sent his servant at supper
time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.
Jesus is speaking to the Jewish guests who have early been invited to the Great
Supper. They have not yet, at this point in His ministry, rejected Him
officially. Those hereditary descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – not
because of bloodline and DNA, but because of geographic affinity – have been
invited first to the Great Supper. "All things are made ready" in the
great I AM – the Gift has been presented in the coming of Christ, the life of
love and labor has been completed, the sacrifice of the Great Passover has been
killed, and the first fruits of God in the Resurrection fulfilled. All is ready
at great expense of the "Certain Man" who has extended the
invitation. He is speaking, first, to those who have already received the
invitation.
18 And they all with one consent
began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground,
and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.
Not a few, but ALL began to make excuse with one consent. It brings the fearful
image to mind of all the Jews gathered on the paddock outside the balcony
of Pontiius Pilate screaming Crucify Him! Crucify Him! "His blood be
upon us and our children." (Matt 27:25) …and so it has been, and is today. Of what worth is a piece of ground
which belongs to a dying world whose coming fiery death is a stark reality of
prophecy? The surgeon has scheduled you for an appointment for surgery to
remove a cancer that will certainly kill you soon if not removed. Afterwards,
he is leaving for Africa for many months. What happens if you miss the
appointment? Will an acre of ground loom more importantly to you than the
life-saving surgery?
19 And another said, I have bought five
yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. 20 And another said, I have married a wife, and
therefore I cannot come. Certainly, oxen may be more important
to the depraved of faith than coming to the Great Supper in Heaven. How can one
night of nuptial bliss surpass the eternal joys of heaven. Did not God give the
oxen, the land, the wife? Yet, we have no time for HIM! What is it truly that
prevents inquiring men and women from coming all the way to Christ? It is the
deceitfulness of riches: He also that received seed among the thorns is
he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of
riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. (Matt 13:22)
Remember the shipis like the Church. It is made for the sea just as the church
is made to be in the world. But when the sea begins to get into the ship, and
the world into the church, the resulting ship wreck will be tragic. Those who
simply do not desire to serve will always have SOME excuse to delay. The longer
the delay, the greater the thorns that choke away the remaining life until…it
is too late!
Bear in mind that we do not discuss any ordinary invitation – it is issued by
the King of all Kings. Is it wise to refuse? 21 So
that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the
house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and
lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt,
and the blind. The
purpose of God in bringing the full number of His Elect into the Kingdom will
not be abrogated by the small wills and
weaknesses of men. He will fill His Supper with those who respond in earnest to
His invitation. – even if He must enlarge the list of those invited. So here,
in accordance with His foreknowledge and providence from the beginning, He
sends for those who will genuinely respond, outside those first invited: the
poor, the crippled, the suffering, and the blind. We all may easily fit into
this last category. Before we knew Christ, we were absolutely blind. Have
any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? (John 7:48)
22 And
the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is
room. The angels have expanded the list, yet still there
remains room for others. Thank God that there does remain room for others, for
those others are those who read, and the one who writes, these sermon notes.
The maimed, the poor, the halt, and the blind have responded to the invitation
ahead of those prominent ones who were privileged to come and have rejected the
invitation. There is STILL room – even today!
23 And the lord said unto the
servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come
in, that my house may be filled.
God sends His ministers into the four quarters of the earth seeking
those who will respond to His gracious invitation. God will have His House
filled with those who desire Heaven more than the riches of this world….not
half-full, but wholly full with His predetermined number. The net is cast in
the darkest depths of the sea where hope was forlorn and depravity beyond
measure. The Gospel will go out to the heathen and the Gentiles. In fact, all
of the Household of Israel – those who are Children of the Promise in Abraham.
These does not require a blood heritage except the blood of Christ. It is
doubtless that the Pharisees gathered around Christ understood fully His
parable and were enraged by it. How could those vulgar Gentiles be placed ahead
of them in gaining the privilege of Heaven? How, indeed? By faith!
24 For I say unto you, That none of
those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper. Heaven
will not be a home-delivery proposition. IN order to taste of its delicacies,
we must come to it by way of the Householders Son. He has bought and paid for
your invitation with His own Blood. How shall you trample His Blood underfoot
by refusing the gracious invitation to come?
Jesus has sealed your invitation with these words: Come unto me, all ye that labour and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me;
for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For
my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matt 11:28-30)
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 Second Sunday after Trinity:
God Our Governor
Psalm 15, 1 John 3:13-24, Luke
14:16-24
Second Sunday after Trinity
17 June 2012
Second
Sunday after Trinity.
The
Collect.
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LORD, who never failest to help and govern those whom thou dost bring
up in thy stedfast fear and love; Keep us, we beseech thee, under the
protection of thy good providence, and make us to have a perpetual fear and
love of thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Psalm 15. Domine, quis habitabit?
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ORD who shall dwell in thy
tabernacle? * or who shall rest upon thy holy hill?
2 Even he that leadeth an uncorrupt life, * and doeth the thing which is right, and speaketh the truth from his heart.
2 Even he that leadeth an uncorrupt life, * and doeth the thing which is right, and speaketh the truth from his heart.
3 He that hath used no deceit in his tongue,
nor done evil to his neighbour, * and hath not slandered his neigh- bour.
4 He that setteth not by himself, but is
lowly in his own eyes, * and maketh much of them that fear the Lord.
5 He that sweareth unto his neighbour, and
disappoint- eth him not, * though it were to his own hindrance.
6 He that hath not given his money upon
usury, * nor taken reward against the innocent.
7 Whoso doeth these things * shall never fall.
The Collect for this morning has been prayed by God's
people for at least 1500 years, and possibly for more than 1900 years.
Its primary request is for God to govern, or, direct His Church, so we will
have a perpetual fear and love for Him. In other words, we are asking for
steadfastness in reverence and faithfulness. The passage from 1 John 3
reminds us that we cannot claim to be steadfast in love for God if we are not
also steadfast in our love for the brethren. The brethren are the Church;
that spiritual Temple of the Holy Spirit in which all who are in Christ through
Biblical faith are living stones. The passage gives very pointed examples
of what it means to love the brethren beginning with the antipathy of the
world. If you are at home and comfortable with the world and its ways you
are probably not going to be comfortable with the Church. Your interests
and values will be different, and you will find the Church and the worship of
God boring and out of touch with your life. If you find this to be
true in your own life you have cause for great concern about the state of your
soul. If you do not love the Church, if you do not love to gather with it
in worship, love its fellowship, and share a common life with it, you do not
love the brethren, you love the world, and to love the world is to be at enmity
with God.. This is a major point in 1 John 3.
Luke 14 shows that those who reject God's invitation
to the supper do not love God. The supper has many layers of
meaning. It is first and primarily the forgiveness of sins and
restoration to God's fellowship through the cross of Jesus Christ. It is
second the eternal bliss of our Heavenly home. Third, it is the
fellowship of Christ's Church here on earth. Fourth, it is all the means
of grace God has given to feed and strengthen us in Christ during our earthly
sojourn of faith. The Bible, the Church, and the Sacraments are some of
the means of grace, and the more you invest yourself in them the more steadfast
you will become in the fear and love of God.
Psalm 15 continues this theme, asking who shall dwell
in the tabernacle of God, and who shall rest in His holy hill. The
tabernacle refers to the house of God prior to the building of the
Temple. The Tabernacle consisted of curtains and tents where the Holy of
Holies and the Altar of God stood. The holy hill is the hill of Zion in
Jerusalem where the Tabernacle stood until it was replaced with the
Temple. Together they represent the presence of God with His
people. To dwell in the Tabernacle, then, is to dwell in God. It
does not mean to take up physical residence in the Tabernacle; it does mean to
take up spiritual residence in God. Who can do this? Who is able to
reside in God? Who are those who are forgiven of their sins? Who
are those who are in fellowship with God? In New Testament language, we
would say, who are the saved? Who is going to Heaven? That is the
question that opens Psalm 15. The answer is given in several statements
which we may summarize thusly; they shall dwell in the house of God and they
shall rest in His holy place who are steadfast in the fear and love of God.
Clearly the Psalm takes us back to the point of 1
John 13 that our love for God is shown in part by our love for each other, our
brothers and sisters in Christ. The Psalm is about our relationships with
those who are part of us in the community of God. It is true that the
Church is called to do good to those outside its fellowship. It is true
that, because we see people as God sees them, as sheep without a Shepherd, and
because we are moved with Godly compassion at the sight of hunger and sickness
and human need, that we want to help. But we need to always keep in mind
that it is not our calling to be the caretakers of the physical needs of the
world. Even Christ refused to be reduced to a mere healer or
feeder. He could have fed all the hungry in Israel as easily as He fed
the five thousand. He could have healed all the sick in Israel as easily
as he healed Bartimeus. But He didn't, because that was not His
mission. His mission was to bring spiritual food and spiritual healing by
His sacrifice on the cross. Our task, as the Church, then, is to proclaim
the spiritual food and healing of the soul through faith in Christ. Our
task is to invite people to the supper. That is our primary duty to the
people of the world.
But in our dealings with people, both inside and
outside of the Faith, we are always to conduct ourselves with the utmost
propriety. It may not be our task to feed the world, but it is certainly
not our task to rob it. Rather, in Christian compassion we abstain from
all the harmful things we are warned about in the Ten Commandments. We do not
murder, we do not commit adultery, do not steal, deceive, or covet. We
live quiet and holy lives before God and before people. Thus we continue
steadfast in the fear and love of God.
"O lord, who never failest to help and govern
those whom thou dost bring up in thy steadfast fear and love; Keep us, we
beseech the, under the protection of thy good providence, and make us to have a
perpetual fear and love of thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen."
--
+Dennis Campbell
Bishop, Anglican Orthodox Church Diocese of Virginia
Rector, Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
Powhatan, Virginia
[1]
Edgar A. Guest – 20
August 1881 – 5 August 1959
Born in Birmingham, England. He and his
family moved to the United States in 1891. He worked at the Detroit Free Press
in Detroit, Michigan. He started there as a copy boy then as a reporter. He had
a radio show and a television series. Guest has written 11,000 poems. His
sentimental and optimistic poetry are inspiring and enjoyable to read.
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