Ninth Sunday after Trinity

The Propers for today are found on Page 200-203, with the Collect first:

The Ninth Sunday after Trinity.

The Collect.

G

RANT to us, Lord, we beseech thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as are right; that we, who cannot do any thing that is good without thee, may by thee be enabled to live according to thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Dru Arnold read the Epistle, which came from Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, the Tenth Chapter beginning at the First Verse.  Paul reminds us we have a common past, regardless of our actual lineage.  Spiritually, we are descended from the Jews of the Exodus.  Their God is our God, their actions were directed by our God, the same God.  He was a Trinity then as He is today.  Their reality it our reality, whether we choose to understand or accept it. Our forefathers drank of “the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.”  Those who have gone before provide examples, both good and bad.  In this letter Paul addresses the bad and suggest we should see what their ill behavior gained them before we set our course and not after.  And, let we think ourselves ever so special, he reminds us that we are subjected to no special temptations, only those “as is common to man.”  This is another example of the adage, Those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it.

B

rethern, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Deacon Striker Jack Arnold read today’s Holy Gospel, which started in the Fifteenth Chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke, beginning at the Eleventh Verse and recounts the story of the prodigal son.  A man has two sons, the older is a wonderful young man who strives to please his father in everything he does.  The younger son asks for his inheritance, now rather than later, and sets off to spend it wastefully in a far off land.  In dire straits, he decides to go home to his father and beg to be allowed to live as one of his servants.  He decides to tell his father, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son…”  Before he can get the words out of his mouth, his father welcomes him, gives him new clothing and calls the servants to prepare a fatted calf for a big party.  The elder son is very angry and hurt.  He asks his father what he did wrong; he followed his instructions every day to the best of his ability, worked hard, and yet his father had never even given a small party for him.  The father answered, saying, “Son, thou are ever with me, and all that I have is thine.”   It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost and is found.”  This story, like that of the workers in the vineyard has a number of meanings.  Like the father in the story, God wants us to be His faithful child, but rejoices when we return to Him.  Like the prodigal son, we should be grateful to live long enough to return to Him.  If we are like the oldest son, let us learn from his mistake and be joyful when our brothers and sisters come home to our family.  Let us join in the celebration and not begrudge the fatted calf.

J

esus said, A certain man had two sons: and the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: but as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine. It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

Sermon – Time and Action

Today’s sermon tied the Epistle and Gospel together talked, as is oft the case, of the need for action, not simply diction, the general content is in forewords above.

Consider the words from the Collect, wherein we ask God to give us … the spirit to think and do always such things as are right; that we, who cannot do any thing that is good without thee, may by thee be enabled to live according to thy will …

This is kind of a follow-on to last week’s Collect.  We are asking God to give us direction that we might know right from wrong and follow the right way.  If we listen to our hearts and minds, like the aviator, mariner or adventurer without a compass, we will soon be hopelessly lost.  With the compass that God gives us, we can find the One True Way, much like the compass always points North.

This is nothing new.  As Paul reminds us we have a common spiritual past, regardless of our actual lineage.  Spiritually, we are descended from the Jews of the Exodus.  Their God is our God; their actions were directed by our God, the same God.  He was a Trinity then as He is today.  Their reality it our reality, whether we choose to understand or accept it. Our forefathers drank of “the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.”  Those who have gone before provide examples, both good and bad.  In this letter Paul addresses the bad and suggest we should see what their ill behavior gained them before we set our course and not after.  And, let we think ourselves ever so special, he reminds us that we are subjected to no special temptations, only those “as is common to man.”  This is another example of the adage, “Those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it.”  It is an old saw, but one that is as valid today as the first time it was used. 

Speaking of lessons, when Saint Luke recounts the story of the prodigal son we oft think ourselves at that prodigal one returning to God so late in life.  Yet there is far more to be learned than this, the titular one.

Consider the two sons.  The older is a wonderful young man who strives to please his father in everything he does.  The younger son asks for his inheritance, now rather than later, and sets off to spend it wastefully in a far off land.  In dire straits, he decides to go home to his father and beg to be allowed to live as one of his servants.  He decides to tell his father, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son…”  Before he can get the words out of his mouth, his father welcomes him, gives him new clothing and calls the servants to prepare a fatted calf for a big party.  The elder son is very angry and hurt.  He asks his father what he did wrong; he followed his instructions every day to the best of his ability, worked hard, and yet his father had never even given a small party for him.  The father answered, saying, “Son, thou are ever with me, and all that I have is thine.”   It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost and is found.” 

This story, like that of the workers in the vineyard has a number of meanings.  Like the father in the story, God wants us to be His faithful child, but rejoices when we return to Him.  Like the prodigal son, we should be grateful to live long enough to return to Him.  On the other hand, consider the oldest son, let us learn from his mistake and be joyful when our brothers and sisters come home to our family.  Let us join in the celebration and not begrudge the fatted calf.

Be of God - Live of God  - Act of God.

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

Ninth Sunday after Trinity

5 August 2012, Anno Domini

The Ninth Sunday after Trinity.

The Collect.

G

RANT to us, Lord, we beseech thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as are right; that we, who cannot do any thing that is good without thee, may by thee be enabled to live according to thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

  

The sermon text from the Lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer today is taken from the 8th Chapter of the Book of John. (the woman taken in adultery).

 1  Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. 2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. 3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, 4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? 6  This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. 7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. 8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. 9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 11  She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

Please note the verse precedent to this account in chap 7:53 And every man went unto his own house. And now the beginning verse of this chapter.

Jesus prayed daily, but not for the observation of the public. His daily bread was communion with the Father in Prayer.

He generally prayed in private and most often on the higher ground: Example -And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

Matthew 17:1And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,

Luke 6:12 And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God

And many other times did Jesus resort to the mountain.

Why mountain? Because of the solitude…the aloneness with God. Because it illustrates that genuine prayer occurs in a high place even if our feet are in Death Valley.

Now to this most beautiful account of Grace to be found between the pages of the Holy Bible:

2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. 3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, 4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

Note first of all the absence of the man who had committed precisely the same sin. If the woman was caught in the very act, why did they not take the man?

Lev 20:10 And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

Judging….Who is judging here, and with what authority?

What does God say about judging?

Mt 7:1Judge not, that ye be not judged. Mt 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Mt 7:3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Mt 7:4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

Mt 7:5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

The modern church claims that we must not judge, but is this a true command?

1 Cor 6:1 Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? 2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

So judging is not only necessary, it is also a command. But the judgment must be a righteous judgment.

Why did these brigands bring the woman to Christ? To catch Him in a trap!

What does the text say?

6. This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him.

7. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.

Why did Jesus do this? In the Middle East, it is a characteristic of a person, when embarrassed, to write upon the ground. Jesus felt, not only pity, but embarrassment for the woman and situation.

Jesus is God. God wrote upon the ground!

What did Jesus write? We are not explicitly told, however, we may have a clue in Jeremiah 17:13 – O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.

When the finger of God writes, the issue is important! Luke 11:20 – But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you.

The names of these evil men are not written in heaven – in the book of Life – so God writes there name upon their eternal graves – the ground!

Wouldn't you rather that your name be written in God's Book of Life?

Rev 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

When we are sinful and hypocritical, God will blot our name out of the Book of Life by writing it upon the earth!

7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

Often, when Jesus stands to speak, it is in terrible judgment. The men brought the woman for judgment, but they themselves receive the judgment.

Had it not been for these evil men, the woman may never have come to Christ but THEY brought her wishing her woe, but the woman found grace and salvation instead.

8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

What did Jesus write this time. We are not told, but whatever it was, it had a strange effect on those who demanded the woman be stoned. Perhaps a name, a date, a sin.

9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst

Only Jesus and the woman left alone. Every one of us will face that circumstance one day when we go before the Lord.

If we are accepted, as the woman sinner, we shall be admitted to heaven.

But if we are hypocrites and liars as the Pharisees, we will be sent away from God.

Mt 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Mt 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? Mt 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?

The wicked flee from the Lord, but this woman did not flee. She had come to know the Savior of her sinful soul.

Just imagine her terror and humiliation as she listened to the dialogue concerning her fate.

She uttered not a word, and neither will the sinner at the last day, for our guilt will be revealed. We will have been caught, as this woman, red-handed until the question from Christ:

11  She said, No man, Lord

Now Jesus utters the most beautiful words this woman's ears have ever heard:

And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

Read the fullness of Jesus words: Neither do I condemn thee

Does Jesus condone adultery and other sins? Absolutely not, but He does forgive the repentant soul:

Read the last phrase: go, and sin no more.

And you should do likewise.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. AMEN.

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 Ninth Sunday after Trinity:

God of Blessings

Psalm 115, 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, Lk. 15:11-32


Ninth Sunday after Trinity


August 5, 2012

There is a saying that goes, "out of sight, out of mind." I know that's true of me, for without reminders I am liable to forget things. Sometimes even reminders don't help. Looking over my calendar for this week I noticed I have written a large "N" in one of the boxes. I probably wrote that while on the phone, intending to fill in the details after the conversation was over. Instead, I moved into something else, and now I have no idea what the letter was supposed to remind me of. Fortunately, God is not like that. He is always mindful of you (vs. 12). He knows your down-sitting and your up-rising. He is around your path and around your bed, and is acquainted with all your ways (Ps. 139:1-15). He even knows your thoughts before you think them. He knows your trials and hurts, your miserable failures, and your desire to do better. He watches over you. He sees you through the eyes of His compassion and mercy. He has you in His mind with the intention of doing good for you. Thus we read in verse 12 of Psalm 115, He shall bless you.



The blessings of God are a major point of Psalm 115. In 18 short verses, this Psalm uses the word, "bless" five times. It is found three times in verse 12 alone. "He shall bless us;" "He shall bless the house of Israel;" He shall bless the house of Aaron." Then verse 13 says, ,"He shall bless them that fear the Lord," and verse 15 says, "ye are the blessed of the Lord." This is a Psalm about blessing, and it is a Psalm about the God who blesses.



What does it mean to be blessed? We usually think of it as getting things from God. We are blessed with comfortable houses, abundant food, friends, family, and Church. And truly these things are blessings, and truly God promises to give us such blessings, according to His wisdom, and according to what He sees we need to have and according to what He sees we need to have taken away. Verse 14 is a promise of such blessings. "The Lord shall increase you more and more, you and your children" It refers back to the promise to make a great nation of the descendents of Abraham. It refers, in part, to the increase of Israel through the ingathering of Gentiles into the Kingdom of God, and it refers to the increase in the knowledge of God that would come to Israel, and the world, through the Saviour Jesus Christ. But it surely also refers to God's intention to care for all of His people, and to "bless" you with the good things you need to live in peace and happiness before the Lord.



But the word "Blessed" means more than this. It really refers to an attribute of God. It means He dwells in perfect and unshakable peace and joy. It means He is complete and fulfilled in and of Himself. He needs no other person or thing to make His life complete. He has it all within Himself. Theologians call this the aseity of God, and if you want to get a discussion going this week, just tell someone you heard a sermon about the aseity of God on Sunday. They won't be able to resist asking what that means. If God really is complete and fulfilled in and of Himself, then He did not create you to fulfill some need in Himself. He doesn't need you to make Him happy. He created you to share His happiness with you. He created you so you could experience some part of the Joy that He is. Thus, to be blessed is to become one with His Blessedness. It is to become a partaker of the kind of joy that can only exist in God Himself. To say, God is blessing you is to say God is bringing you into deeper fellowship with Him and you are finding more and more of His perfect joy. The Bible states this in many ways. It talks about the peace of God which passeth all understanding, and the peace of Christ which the world cannot give, and of entering into the joy of the Lord. All of these verses refer to being made partakers of God through Christ, of Him dwelling in you and you dwelling in Him who is joy forever and ever. This is what the words, "He shall bless us" really mean.



A second point of this Psalm is faith; "trust thou in the Lord." Psalm 115 uses the word, "bless" five times; and it uses the word, "trust" four times. Once, in verse 8, it refers to the ruin of those who trust in god's that do not exist. These are the idols made with human hands, the Kalis and the Baals and the golden calves before which people bow and to which they attribute the blessings they have received from God alone. But there are other idols, too. The god of mammon does not have a statue to represent it, nor a temple in which to worship, yet it is still an idol which the Bible warns us about many times. There is another kind of idol, it is the idol of our own supposed goodness, and many people worship it with all the devotion they have to give. They even believe they will be able to stand before the Judgment Throne of God one day and tell Him they are worthy to enter His Heaven and fellowship with Him forever, because they have earned it by their own goodness.



These idols have ears that cannot hear and hands cannot help. They cannot teach you how to run a home, find a vocation, or find the really important things in life. They cannot comfort you in sickness or sorrow, heal your brokenness, or save your soul from hell. Ask a stone to teach you how to live an honest and honourable life. Ask a stick to comfort you when friends and family abandon you. Ask your car, your money, your hobby, and your job to make life worth living and to carry you safely to the shore of Heaven when this life ends. Ask Buddah to die for your sins, or Kali, or Osiris, or Caesar. They cannot help when you stand before God to give an account of your failure to meet the perfect standard of His holiness. That is why the Psalm says of those who serve idols, "They that make them," that is, they that trust and hope in them, "are like unto them." They are dead.




"Trust" is repeated three more times in verses 9-12. "House of Israel, trust thou in the Lord." "Ye house of Aaron, put your trust in the Lord." "Ye that fear the Lord, put your trust in the Lord." I think it is safe to say that, as much as this Psalm is about the God who blesses, it is equally about trusting the blessings He gives. As much as it is about God giving the things we need, it is also that much about having the faith to desire the blessings He wants to give.



The amazing thing about this Psalm is that it seems to have been written to encourage faith in God during a time of tribulation in Israel, for verse 2 asks, "Wherefore shall the heathen say, Where is now their God?" It is as though enemies have gathered around Israel like scoffers around the cross of Christ, saying, "He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him" (Mt. 27:43). Where is your God now, Israel? Where is your God now, Jesus? Where is your God now Christian? Where is He now when you need Him? It is in the face of these taunts and persecutions that Israel, that you, are told, trust thou in the Lord; He is your helper and defender. It is often true that, rather than delivering you from your trials, God chooses, for your own good, to deliver you through your trials. He "preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies." Picture a small flock of sheep grazing green pastures and drinking still waters. Where are they? Not in the fold, safely locked away from predators, they are in the wilderness, under the eye of the wolf and lion, in the presence of their enemies, just like you. And the faith you are encouraged to have is faith in God when the storms arise and enemies surround. In sickness and tribulation and sorrow and loss, and even in the face of death itself. Because the One who dwells in Heaven and is able to do whatever pleases Him has promised that these things are but the fires that purify your gold, and that He will bring you safe at last to the Mansion He has prepared for you in Heaven.



Father of all mercies, who has promised that all things work together for good to those who love Thee, grant us faith to tear the idols from our hearts and life in faith and obedience in Thee, now and forever, through Christ our Saviour. Amen.

The Ninth Sunday after Trinity.

The Collect.

G

RANT to us, Lord, we beseech thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as are right; that we, who cannot do any thing that is good without thee, may by thee be enabled to live according to thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.