On
Point
Someone asked, where do the quotes come
from? The answer is from the
people who uttered them. But, how
did you find them? Oh, that. Some from Bishop Jerry, many from Rev
Bryan Dabney, a few from other places, some from Rev Geordie Menzies-Grierson, but
overall mostly from Bryan. He
always has a few great ones to share. On to the On Point quotes –
As a democracy is perfected, the office of the President represents, more
and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day,
the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the
White House will be occupied by a downright fool and a perfectly narcissistic
moron.
HL Mencken
The Baltimore
Evening Sun, July 26, 1920
H.L. Mencken
(1880 - 1956) was a journalist, satirist, critic and a Democrat. He wrote this
editorial while working for the Baltimore Evening Sun. It appeared in the 26
July 1920 edition.
The good man is perished out of the earth:
and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt
every man his brother with a net. That they may do evil with both hands
earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great
man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up. The best of them
is as a brier: and the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of
thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.
Micah 7:2-4
Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the
former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of host; Turn ye now
from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor
hearkened unto me, saith the LORD.
Zechariah 1:4
. . . Jesus ... saith unto him, Go home to
thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and
hath had compassion on thee.
St. Mark 5:19
Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of
man cometh at an hour when ye think not.
St. Luke 12:40
But take heed lest by any means this liberty
of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.
I Corinthians 8:9
Those that sow in the tears of godly sorrow
shall reap in the joy of a sealed pardon and a settled peace.
Matthew
Henry
17th and
18th century English pastor and author
If we desire to do good, let us never be
ashamed of walking in the steps of our Lord Jesus Christ. Work ... for the
souls of others. Press them to consider their ways. Compel them ... to yield
themselves to God. Offer them salvation ... Do not present only one side of
Christianity. Do not keep back ‘the cross’ of self-denial ... Explain fully
what Christianity entails. Entreat men to repent and come to Christ; but bid
them at the same time to ‘count the cost.’
JC Ryle
19th century
Anglican bishop and author
(Holiness, pp.
96-97)
The Bible makes it clear: There are no good
men and there are no good women ... If you think you’re good, it’s only because
you are so far out in the darkness you cannot see how bad you are.
Dr. D. James Kennedy
20th and
21st century American Presbyterian pastor, teacher and author
(Skeptics Answered,
p. 156).
. . . So from what you see while you are
alive, learn what will happen after you are dead. If you have gotten your
wealth justly, use it, as did the blessed Job, for needful purposes; if
unjustly, restore it to those who have been defrauded of it, as you would a
thing captured in war, giving back either just what you took, or that with
something added, as did Zacchaeus [St. Luke 19:8]. If you have no wealth, do
not get any by wickedness. For as you go the inevitable way, your sin, a bitter
portion, will follow you, while the enjoyment of your ill-gotten gains will be
left behind for whom you know not. And then you will admire David because he
says, He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them [Psalm 39:6].
And observe also the rich man contrasted with Lazarus, of whom we have just
read in the Gospels, — a narrative which is no fable composed to inspire
terror, but a true picture transmitted to us of what is to be.
Asterius of Amasea
4th and
5th century bishop and author
(excerpt from his
third sermon Against Covetousness)
Today the path of total dictatorship in the
United States can be laid by strictly legal means, unseen and unheard by the
Congress, the President, or the people. Outwardly we have a Constitutional
government. We have operating within our government and political system,
another body representing another form of government — a bureaucratic elite.
William Jenner
20th
century American senator
The strongest reason for the people to retain
the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves
from tyranny in government.
Thomas Jefferson
American patriot
and third president.
They who voluntarily put themselves under the
power of a tyrant deserve whatever fate they receive.
Aesop
6th
century BC Greek philosopher and author.
Propers
The Propers for today are found
on Page 214-215, with the Collect first:
The
Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity.
The
Collect.
|
L
|
ORD, we pray thee that thy grace may
always prevent and follow us, and make us continually to be given to all good
works; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Dru Arnold read the Epistle for today, which came
from the letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians beginning at the First Verse of
the Fourth Chapter. Once again, Paul
calls us to a new life, different from our old life. A life in which we act in a manner worthy of the better life
to which we have been called by Christ and for which He gave His life. Paul, of all people, knows the
importance of setting aside your old life, as Saul did, so that as Paul he asks
us to put God first in our lives, to put ourselves last. He reminds us, “There is one body, and
one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one
faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through
all, and in you all.” The key to a
successful life is to put the important things at the top of your To Do
List. And, notice it is a To Do List, not a To Think About or To Wait a
While List. What is more
important than God?
|
I
|
therefore,
the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation
wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering,
for-bearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called
in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and
Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all[1].
Hap Arnold read today’s Holy Gospel which came from
the Fourteenth Chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke, beginning at the First
Verse. The Gospel starts out
reminding us the Law was designed to be flexible. The goal is to do God’s will, not to “follow the letter of
the law” as the Pharisees were so keen on. They brought before Him a man in need of healing as they sat
to eat on the Sabbath Day. They
watched to see what He would do.
Putting the monkey on their back, He asked, “Is it lawful to heal on the
Sabbath Day?” Wishing to be in a position to criticize rather
than answer, “they held their peace.”
He healed the man, then asked them, “Which of you shall have an ass or
an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath
Day?” They would not respond; for
the answer was obvious.
Then “He put forth a parable to those” who had been
invited to dine with him, after He had seen them joust for the seats of
honor. “When thou art bidden of
any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest seat; lest a more honourable
man than thou be bidden of him; and he that bade thee and him come and say to
thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest place.
But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest place; that when he
that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt
thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For whosoever
exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be
exalted.” Do we put God first and
let others raise us up, or do we put ourselves first and let others put us
down?
|
I
|
t came came to pass, as Jesus went
into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day,
that they watched him. And, behold, there was a certain man before him which
had the dropsy. And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees,
saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? And they held their peace. And
he took him, and healed him, and let him go; and answered them, saying, Which
of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway
pull him out on the sabbath day? And they could not answer him again to these
things. And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked
how they chose out the chief seats; saying unto them, When thou art bidden of
any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest seat; lest a more honourable
man than thou be bidden of him; and he that bade thee and him come and say to
thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest place.
But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest place; that when he
that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt
thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. For
whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall
be exalted.
Sermon –
Reverend Deacon Jack Arnold - Time and Action
Today’s sermon tied the Collect, Epistle and Gospel
together and is partly contained in the forewords above.
Consider the words of the Collect, “… thy grace may always prevent and follow us, and make us continually to
be given to all good works …”
The first thing to consider when you look at today’s
Collect is a word: prevent.
Prevent is a word that has many uses, and at least one has fallen out of
general usage as time has gone on.
This is one of the. In this
case the word prevent means to go before. Before you object to archaic words,
consider this is a current word, it just has a use you may not have been aware
of and now you are! What a bonus
for this week!
So, we ask God that His Grace, His Love, His Power,
His Help may go before and after us to protect us and guide us that we might
desire to do what He wants us to do.
Pretty much a re-wording of a lot of the Collects. Why would that be? Pretty simple, our biggest failing is
we are wont to do what we want! We are creatures that have free will and are
not wont to exercise it for God or good. That is a very dangerous combination,
as my father says often. That is
not the same as doing what will provide us with the best result. If we follow
our natural inclination, we will not like the end result,that is eternal
separation from God. We know, often very clearly, what we want. For example,
this morning I started to lead the Order of Morning Prayer. My first
inclination was to do it without looking at the rubrics. But after thinking a
moment, I realized that this was a mistake, as the rubrics are there to guide
the minister in leading the service. Like the rubrics, God knows, always very
clearly, what we need. He is
there, like the rubrics to guide us along our paths in our daily life. So, we need to ask God every day, every
time, for help to do our duty.
So, what does Paul tell us in his letter to us? Once
again, he calls us to a new life, different from our old life. We shed our old clothes, as it were,
like reptiles shedding their old skin and put on the brand new armor of light,
new helmet, new boots and new everything. A life in which we act in a manner
worthy of the better life to which we have been called by Christ and for which
He gave His life. We are to act in accordance with the new way in which life,
to desist from sinning and to do good things for people and for Him. Paul, of
all people, knows the importance of setting aside your old life, as Saul did,
so that as Paul he asks us to put God first in our lives, to put ourselves last.
He even changed his name to
reflect his state as a new man under Our Lord’s leadership. He reminds us,
“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your
calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is
above all, and through all, and in you all.” The key to a successful life is to put the important things
at the top of your To Do List. And, notice it is a To Do List,
not a To Think About or To Wait a While List. It is not a I’ll Get a Round To It List, or What I Don’t Want
to Do List. What is more important
than God?
When Luke relates the parable of the feast, it is
more than just a sitting diagram. I liken it to the tale of the publican and
the Pharisee. When Christ talks about the man who exalts himself and sits too
high at the wedding and thus must be abased. That would be the Pharisee. When
Christ then talks about the man who sits low, and is raised to the higher
station, I think of the publican, who smote his breast and would not even look
up his eyes to heaven. We have to be the publican in our dealings with God,
rather than our natural tendency of being the Pharisee. We should not be one of
those selfish individuals who always causes grief for others because he is
blind to his own faults and only thinks of himself. If we do what God asks, we
will not become like those people. If we put God’s will before ours, the
welfare of those we encounter before ours, if we hold open the door as
gentlepersons are wont to do for others, we will find we are doing what God
would have us do and enjoying it.
Heaven is at the end of an
uphill trail. The easy downhill
trail does not lead to the summit.
The time is now, not tomorrow. The time has come, indeed. How will you ACT?
It is by our actions we are known.
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, and like always, it will
give you a lot to consider in your heart.
Sermon Notes
Seventeenth
Sunday after Trinity
Saint Andrew’s
Anglican
Orthodox Church
22 September 2013,
Anno Domini
The
Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity.
The
Collect.
|
L
|
ORD, we pray thee that thy grace may
always prevent and follow us, and make us continually to be given to all good
works; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
|
A
|
nd it came to pass, as he went into the house of one
of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him. 2 And, behold,
there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy. 3 And Jesus
answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? 4 And they
held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go; 5 And answered
them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an
ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?
6 And they
could not answer him again to these things. 7 And he put
forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out
the chief rooms; saying unto them, 8 When thou
art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a
more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; 9 And
he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou
begin with shame to take the lowest room. 10 But when thou art
bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh,
he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the
presence of them that sit at meat with thee. 11 For whosoever exalteth
himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. (Luke 14:1-11)
It was the Sabbath Day.
We have been thinking and
speaking of a miracle done on the Sabbath. It is evident that our Saviour had a
preference for the Sabbath
as a time for working miracles. How, then, is it with respect to ourselves — we
who, many of us, would be glad to have a miracle wrought on our behalf, and yet
have no right whatever to expect one? It is just thus — we are waiting for the
Sabbath. In other words, it was intended, no doubt, to be taught us by our
Saviour’s practice, that there is a special time of rest coming, when all the
various troubles that hamper and injure us will be utterly removed — our
burdens unbound; our fevers cooled for ever; our weakness changed to strength;
all our heaviness lightened; our blind eyes made clear; our deaf ears
unstopped; our feet filled with vigorous leaping blood; and all that is within
us lighted up with joy, even as the house was lighted up, and music and dancing
sounded in it, when the prodigal came home. There is a Sabbath coming; and as
Christ wrought His cures upon the Sabbath, when He was upon earth, we are
taught to look on to a day of cure that is coming — that Sabbath, namely, of
rest, into which we hope to enter hereafter. It may be needful for our
perfection, and the perfection of our friends, that we should still be
burdened; but we are quite sure that, after the round of the six days, there
will come the seventh; we are quite sure, when the time of trial has ended, the
boon of health will be granted. (the Rev T. T. Lynch.)
Jesus has been invited to the
house of a prominent Pharisee one of the chief of them, we are told.
“And it came to pass, as
he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the
sabbath day, that they watched him.”
Many other of the Pharisees
were doubtless there for “they watched him.” How greatly would they have
benefitted if they had watched Him to learn instead of to find fault.
Why was Jesus invited by one of
those who hated Him and was constantly trying to destroy Him? They had invited
Jesus to dinner with the intention of catching Him in an act of disobedience of
the Sabbath – it was a ‘set up’ in the popular vernacular.
Why do you suppose Jesus
accepted the invitation? Jesus was no recluse – He came to help all who
would hear Him. He loved to be in social gatherings where men would
listen – ALL men…even Pharisees; and he knew that He would reveal truth even to
unbelievers.
“And, behold, there
was a certain man before him which had the dropsy.”
The cunning mind of the
Pharisee bypassed no opportunity in providing a means of entrapment for Christ.
Seemingly, just by coincidence, a man with a grave and serious malady is
present – a man who probably had not been invited had it not fit comfortably in
the plans of the Pharisees to present Jesus with a temptation.
These men are ruthless. They
will use even the kindness and compassion of Jesus to try and condemn Him.
They have seated the man with
the dropsy (congestive heart failure) in a place BEFORE Jesus. They know that
He loves to heal and to do good regardless the occasion, but today is the
Sabbath! They will use this as an occasion to condemn Christ of violating the
Sabbath by doing healing works on this day.
But Jesus knows the heart of
men, and He knows the evil thoughts of the hearts of those who sit watching
Him.
“And Jesus answering
spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it
lawful to heal on the sabbath day?”
Jesus sets the circumstances to
turn the tables on these miscreants. The question restated might read: “Is it
ever unlawful to do good?” Did God provide man with the day of rest for the
purpose of omitting even deeds of kindness?
The Pharisees and priests of
Jesus day had added so many cumbersome proscriptions to the Sabbath observance
and every other aspect of the law, that men could not bear them without misery
– just the opposite of what God had intended.
Jesus was continually tempted
in every way that we are tempted, but Jesus never gave into temptation except
in certain cases.
What were those cases? When
tempted to do good, as in the present case, Christ could not resist the
temptation to act out of His compassion to heal and to comfort. This was not a
temptation to sin, but a temptation by sinful men of Christ to do good. He
always did!
You and I are tempted, on the
other hand, to do bad things not pleasing to God. But in every temptation to do
evil is found an opportunity to, instead, do good. Jesus sets the example for
us in every case.
Because they have set their
trap, the Pharisees do not respond to the pointed question of Christ: “And
they held their peace.” Men will most often speak out when they can
condemn or hurt, but will less often speak out on the part of righteousness.
Political correctness restrains them from speaking righteousness but tends
always to wickedness.
So Jesus poses the simple
question which they decline to answer so as not to give away their plot. How
many clergy, as well as laity, remain silent on issues of great
importance? I have observed the silence, even on discussion groups of the
church, remain stony silent on matters on which they should have strong
opinion. The silence of those is like a scream in the night.
Those who are legalist often
forget that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. (Mark
2:27)
The failure to accept the
Sabbath in the manner and purpose for which it was given nullifies its benefits.
The Christian Sabbath is not a once per week observance but a daily one. Christ
has given us an Eternal Sabbath (Rest).
“And he took him, and
healed him, and let him go.” The whole will of Christ was to heal the
man and not to make a spectacle of him. So Jesus, instead of having the man
remain standing by for show, releases him to go his way. How different from the
Pharisees who heartlessly brought the man to tempt Christ.
“And answered them,
saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox
fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?”
Had they forgotten the counsel
of Proverbs 12:11 - “A righteous man regardeth the life of his
beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.”
An ox or a donkey were precious
to men who depended on them to produce income. If one of the Pharisees own
precious animals fell into a ditch on the Sabbath, he would certainly have
rescued the animal, if not out of kindness, then out of greed.
He thus shuts them. Up to this
startling alternative: "Not to do good, when it is in the power of our
hand to do it, is to do evil; not to save life, when we can, is to kill"
“And they could not
answer him again to these things. 7 And he put forth a parable
to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms;
saying unto them,”
Righteous words will shut the
mouth of the wicked.
Jesus is an observer of men and
women. He watched as the poor widow cast her all into the Temple treasury, and
He has observed here how the guests of the Pharisee came into the room and
chose the best seats and provisions. They sought to have their seating
lend them honor when they should have allowed their honor to determine their
seating. They lacked humility and were filled with false pride.
So Jesus tells them a story
(Parable) to which they can relate in common life:
“When
thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest
a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; And he that bade thee and him
come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take
the lowest room. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room;
that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher:
then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with
thee.”
All of the counsels of Christ
are full of spiritual and uplifting truths. This short Parable is no exception.
Jesus begins the story with a
delicate allusion to a type of gathering that would be different from that of
his present host of whom He has been invited. The venue is a wedding feast, but
still a feast so that the same principle will apply.
When we are invited to a
special event, do not exalt your importance by finding the highest place, or
most visible place, to stand or sit. We will inevitably to be embarrassed
by our presumptive pride when we are told, curtly, to move and surrender your
place to one having greater honor than you. The only place left at that time
will be the place of least honor – the lowest room. “And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give
this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.”
He has given an example of how
not to behave, but He does not leave us in doubt as to how we should behave: “But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest
room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up
higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat
with thee.”
Notice the host refers to the
man who is humble and takes the very lowest place of honor as Friend. He did
not refer to the man who took the highest place as Friend. Men despise false
pride and arrogance in others. If we humble ourselves, men will always
elevate us in esteem. But greater is the reward in Heaven!
A college professor once hosted
a tea for his graduating students. When they all presented themselves at
his home, the professor had all the cups, in the right number, assembled on the
table. The cups were all of different kinds. One was of stone, one of crystal,
one of clay, and some were shaped curiously different from any before
seen. When the professor invited the students to take a cup, the first
took the crystal, the next the glass, the next the stone, the next the clay,
and so forth.
As the professor watched them
drink their tea that he had poured for them, he observed that they had each
chosen the best cup at the table; but the purpose of a tea was not the kind of
cup one drank from, but the tea which the cup contained. The quality of the tea
is not changed by the quality of the cup which contains it. So with our
worthiness before God. It is not some superficial position or appearance that
is important, but what is inside.
What of you and me? Do we honor
Christ in all good works during our eternal Sabbath Rest in Him?
Bishop Dennis
Campbell’s Sermon
Bishop Dennis is a brilliant
speaker. He is able to take
biblical precepts and make them perfectly understandable, even to me. Oft he provides the text of his sermons
and I take the utmost pleasure in passing them on:
Christians
Follow
Psalm 25, Jeremiah 13:15-21, 2 Timothy
2:19-26
Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity
September 22, 2013
One of the great treasures of the Anglicans is our annual cycle of
Scripture and worship. We call it the Christian year because it marks
time in Christian, rather than secular events and seasons. This is a custom
followed from the Apostolic times of the New Testament Church, and from very
ancient times in the history of God’s dealings with man after the Fall.
The first half of the year concentrates on faith, what Christians
believe. The second half concentrates on faithfulness, what Christians
do. To us, doctrine is not an academic pursuit for theologians. It
is vitally related to life. As we learn in Scripture that God became
flesh and lived and died and rose again, we also learn what it means to live
our daily lives in the love and obedience of God. Doctrine, then, leads
us to ask with Francis Shaeffer, How Should We then Live?
Our recent sermons have been attempting to answer that question.
We have said, “Christians Answer” meaning answer God’s call. “Christians
Continue” meaning we persevere in the faith because God preserves us. We
said, “Christians Live” “Christians Love” Christians Repent” “Christians
Pray,” “Christians See.” Today I want to continue talking about what
Christians do, and the title and subject of today’s sermon is, “Christians
Follow.”
The Bible contains some of the most famous words of all time.
This is not surprising, since it continues to be the best selling book of all
time. Of the Bible’s famous words, certainly some of the most famous are
the words Christ spoke to His first disciples, “Follow me.”
Our reading in 2 Timothy also contains the word “follow.” “Flee
youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that
call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Tim. 2:22). Having said that,
let me now say that the Greek New Testament uses two different words in these
two verses. When Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James and John on the shore
of Galilee, His word in Greek meant, “come with me and be on the same road I
travel.” When He met Phillip, He used another Greek word that meant to
join with Christ spiritually, to become a learner. I think no one has
expressed this kind of following better than Ruth in the first chapter of her
book, verses 16 and 17:
“Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee:
for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy
people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, I will die,
and there will I be buried.”
I think this is the kind of following Jesus had in mind for His
disciples, then and now, and forever
In Second Timothy 2:22, the Apostle Paul was writing to Timothy, who
lived in Ephesus as the Bishop of the churches in that city and surrounding
area. Timothy’s task in Ephesus was to preach the word of God, and to
ensure that the pastors of the particular congregations taught no other
doctrine than the Gospel they received from Paul (1 Tim. 1:3). Timothy
was also called to ordain ministers, and especially to consecrate Godly men as
bishops to oversee the small groups of congregations in Ephesus and the surrounding
villages. Thus, Paul, in First Timothy 3:1-7, gave the qualifications of
bishops. Timothy probably read this passage at the consecration services
to remind the new bishops that this is the will and word of Christ for His
Church and His ministers.
Second Timothy is a more personal letter than First Timothy. Yet
it also gives great instruction to Timothy as a minister of the Gospel, and was
probably meant to be read to ministers, bishops, and congregations at
ordinations and consecrations, and various other times and occasions. In
2 Timothy 2:22 we find our word of the day again, “follow.” But this is a
different word from the ones Jesus used in calling the disciples. This is
a harder word. This is the kind of word that would be used in 1 Samuel 31:2
and 3, “and the Philistines followed hard upon Saul… and the battle went
sore against Saul.” It is the word used in Philippians 3:14, where the
Apostle Paul is saying he has not reached perfection nor is he even close to
it, but “reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press
toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ
Jesus.” “Press” in that verse is the same word translated “follow” in 2
Timothy 2:22. It means to run down in hot pursuit as a pack of hounds
runs down its prey. So, while Jesus calls us to a spiritual oneness,
which He offers and gives to us as His gift, and is an important part of what
it means to follow Him, He also wants us to pursue some things, not timidly,
not half-heartedly, but to chase them down with all the intensity and purpose
in our being, like the Hound of the Baskervilles.
There are no surprises in 2 Timothy 2:22. We almost knew what it was
going to say before we read it, even for the very first time; righteousness,
faith, charity, peace. Nor are there any secrets revealed by reading this
verse in the original Greek. Even the word translated “charity” is the
familiar word, agape. The words are well translated in our King James
Bible as righteousness, faith, charity, and peace. No translation
difficulties there. In fact I much prefer the King James translation of
the Greek word, agape as “charity.” The modern versions all
translate it as “love” and love has become such an over used and emotionally
centered word it has little meaning any more. Charity means a
compassionate attitude that moves us to action for the best interest of
others. That’s what Christ wants us to follow.
What is surprising is that the Bible tells us to chase these things,
to press them. I wonder how many of us seek righteousness in such a way
it can be said we are chasing it like a pack of hounds. How many of us
can say we press faith the way soldiers press a retreating enemy? How
many can say with Paul, I press toward the mark when it comes to charity or peace?
I admit that, to seek these things in this way is unnatural. It is not
the way the natural man works, and it is not the way our human nature leads us
to follow God. But we are not natural creatures any more. We have
been born again into a super natural realm. A natural person suppresses
the knowledge of God and seeks the fulfillment of his own natural lusts.
Read Romans 1 this afternoon and reacquaint yourself with the Biblical teaching
on this. Natural people follow their lusts like hounds chasing prey.
Christians do not. Christians press toward God and Godliness.
Christians follow God.
--
+Dennis
Campbell
Bishop,
Anglican Orthodox Church Diocese of Virginia
Rector,
Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
Powhatan,
Virginia
Rev Rick Reid of
Saint Peter’s Sunday Sermon
We are happy to have a
sermon from Reverend Rick Reid, minister of Saint Peter’s, whose congregation
is right at the Worldwide Headquarters of the Anglican Orthodox Church. Rev Rick has all the resources and
challenges right at hand. I think
you will enjoy his sermon.
Walking worthy of your Vocation
Trinity XVII
Ephesians 4:1-6
In this morning’s Epistle, Paul is
writing to the church in Ephesus and urges the believers there to, “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are
called.”
Paul begins his letter to the
Ephesians, (and the other churches in the region which this Epistle was to be
distributed), with a strong appeal. His appeal is to "beseech" them.
He strongly and, with conviction and experience, of one who knows, compels them
to: “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are
called”.
To walk worthy refers to living a
godly life, it involves accomplishing God’s Will.
The word "vocation"
refers to one's calling. As a believer in Jesus Christ, and one who professes
to be His, we should all live like God's children.
Paul goes on to define what
walking worthy means (Eph. 4:2-3). Christians should live lives in lowliness
and meekness with longsuffering. Lowliness is having a humble attitude. The
opposite of humility is pride. Pride was the sin of Satan, which caused his
fall.
Pride will destroy us and give us a totally unrealistic view
of life, and of our relationship with others. It will separate us from God and
from each other.
In Chapter 3 of Ephesians, Paul
explains we are all equal in God's sight, and we are to have fellowship and to serve
one another. You can only do that if you have a humble spirit.
It is easier to live a life of
meekness and longsuffering if we do as Christ commanded us to do in Luke’s
Gospel (Luke 10:27), to: “love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind;
and thy neighbour as thyself.
Paul also told us (In Ephesians
5:2) And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved
us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a
sweetsmelling savour "
St. John said, "Beloved, if
God so loved us, we ought also to love one another." (1 John 4:11)
We are also to endeavor to keep
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
(Eph. 4:3)( Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace)
To "endeavor" means to
try very hard to do something. Endeavoring means to earnestly put forth the
effort to attempt and achieve something. It means to do one's utmost. The word
is taken from the French word "devoir" which means "one's
duty."
Our duty and calling is to
earnestly work hard to keep the unity of the Spirit.
Keeping the "unity of the
Spirit" means being in unity with the Holy Spirit and His goals and plans
for our lives. It means willingly letting the Holy Spirit guide us. It means living
"filled with the Holy Spirit”
If a believer is not living in
God's will, and is not filled with the Spirit, then he is not in communion with
God. He is in fact opposing God's plan for his life and thereby losing God's
blessings. When you are outside God's will, a believer will never be happy,
satisfied, or accomplish all that the Lord would have us to do.
We get our peace, joy and
satisfaction from God. If we reject God's leadership, which is the guidance of
the Holy Spirit, we will never experience the wonderful life God has for us.
Paul also says "keep the
unity in the bond of peace." When the love of God is truly in our hearts
it will produce a unity with the Spirit in our lives.
Paul also told the Ephesians that
we all a have a common calling in Christ. (Eph.
4:4-6) 4 There
is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;5 One
Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6.One God and Father of all, who is above all,
and through all, and in you all.
So, there is one body. The body
is the Body of Christ. We are all a part of that body. Paul also told the
Corinthians in his first letter: "For
as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one
body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all
baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond
or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not
one member, but many."
(1 Corinthians 12:12-14)
There is one Spirit. The Holy
Spirit is God and His function in the God Head is to carry on the work of God.
He provides the power and strength to do God's work in people's lives. The
emphasis in this statement is that God has one purpose and the Holy Spirit is
seeking to carry out God's will.
When we are not led
of the Spirit...we are not one with God; we are outside His will.
Paul says there is one, Lord, one
faith, one baptism, one God, and Father of all. He is stressing the need of unity in the body of Christ.
Some not living in the will of
God. We love the world more than
the Lord, and are sitting on the sidelines watching everything go by and hoping
for the best.
One day our time here will
end. Each of us will stand before
the Lord in judgment. Some will be greatly rewarded, and what a wonderful thing
it will be to see the Lord say to those faithful Saints, "Well done thy
good and faithful servant." What a joy it will be for that believer to
honor Christ by his good works.
We may think we are unique. In some ways we are, but in the case of
salvation, whatever we think our unique situation might be, God is beseeching
us to walk worthy of the salvation He suffered and died to give us.
The Lord is reaching out to all
of us, desiring to strengthen us, and give us His wonderful blessings; all we
have to do is receive them and act on them.
Rev Bryan Dabney
of Saint John’s Sunday Sermon
We are fortunate to
have Bryan’s Sunday Sermon. If you
want people to come to The Truth, you have to speak the truth, expouse the
truth and live the truth. This is really a good piece and I
commend it to your careful reading.
Seventeenth Sunday after
Trinity
It would seem the rule rather than the exception that we will be
confronted with those temptations which we, in former
times, once indulged in to please our flesh. St. Paul understood this well. As
he explained in our epistle lesson for today (II St. Timothy 2:19-26): But in a
great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood
and of earth; some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge
himself from these (iniquities), he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified,
and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work (vv.20-21).
In another epistle he wrote, Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren,
and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought
to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more (I Thessalonians
4:1). He then went on to speak of his hearers’ sanctification after which he
reminded them, that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel
(v.4). So what did he mean by this admonition?
Biblically speaking, a person’s vessel is their physical body.
Ordinarily, a vessel holds commodities and our vessels as Christians house the
Holy Spirit of God. In his first epistle to the Corinthian church, St. Paul
spoke along these lines when he said, Know ye not that ye are the temple of
God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple
of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye
are (3:16-17). And our Lord’s testimony affirmed that understanding which the
apostle set forth when he said, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my
Father will love him, and we will come and make our abode with him (St. John
14:23).
In his epistle to the Ephesian church, St. Paul admonished his readers
to, put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt
according to the deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and
that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and
true holiness (4:17-32).
The heresy of the Antinomians stressed the notion that once a person
became a Christian, said individual was freed from the obligations of the moral
law. The heresy of the Pelagians espoused the belief that Christians were born
into a state of grace and did not need to do good works. These and other
cleverly devised falsehoods were crafted by our adversary to lead as many souls
away from the fold of sound Christian doctrine so that the ravening wolves
outside might rend and tear them.
St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesian church (6:1-18) advised those
believers to properly arm themselves against such erroneous beliefs. As a
soldier’s armor protects him from being seriously injured in earthly combat, so
our spiritual armor guards our vessels and promotes the furtherance of the work
of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in those to whom we witness. We cannot do
ourselves or others any good if we have been injured or degraded by the
adversary. Only by keeping our armor on and in good shape will we be able to
fight the good fight in our Lord’s service. With that in mind, let us take a
few moments to examine the apostle’s prescription for armoring ourselves in
this great cause.
First of all, the apostle informed us with whom we are wrestling. While
it is true that we confront fellow mortals, we should understand that these
human agents are only the visible representations of our true enemies in this
fight. For behind our earthly enemies are the dark forces of Satanic power.
Some will attack us with anger and vitriol, while others will subtly seek to
overthrow us by appealing to our desires for goods, entertainment and the like.
Our adversary knows each of us better than we know ourselves, so it would be
wise to keep up your guard against such temptations.
Now, not all things that are pleasurable are anti-Christian, or evil.
Still, we ought to be discerning in all things that we might avoid the evil and
choose the good. We must stand girded with the truth of God’s word. But to be
so effectively garbed will require each of us to familiarize ourselves with the
Scriptures. For it is only through the study of God’s word that we are enabled
to learn and thus adopt those behaviors that will affirm our relationship with
God and keep us out of the camp of the wicked one. That is why it is imperative
that we be properly supported spiritually to avoid being overthrown and made a
castaway.
We should be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. The
apostle wrote in his epistle to the Romans (12:18) that we should live
peaceably with all men. The gospel we have been entrusted with is a gospel of
peace. It is not an earthly panacea or cure-all which can be employed by the
profane and the godless. It is of a spiritual nature which will one day result
in everlasting joy for those of the household of faith. Being within God’s
peace means being satisfied within oneself that God will do as he has promised.
And that settled nature is communicated to others around us in more ways than
just through our words. As my father taught me, “actions speak louder than
words.” Through our living and preaching of the gospel, others will both hear
and see, and perhaps will receive the blessing of God’s grace.
We need to take up the shield of faith which quenches all the fiery
darts of the wicked one. Satan’s minions are constantly battering at our
defenses. If subterfuge does not work, then they will attack us directly and in
some cases, unexpectantly. But if we have our shield of faith in the atoning
work of Christ, we will quench their malicious missiles.
We also need to put on the helmet of salvation. Your vessel needs protection
from head to foot and the helmet will protect you from the sharp blows of the
devil’s assaults because we can rest assured that we are saved and that our
armor is the best for it is from God.
And we need to take that weapon which enables us to strike our foe and
that being the sword of the Spirit. The Spirit of God gives us the courage to
go forward every day to fight off the forces of evil. It is a blade that is
sharper than any two- edged sword for the Holy Spirit brings to us the will and
word of God. The Devil seeks to use his weapons of lies and deceit but he is
powerless against the Sword of the Spirit. St. James (4:7) tells us in his
epistle to resist the devil and he will flee from us. Through our proper use of
God’s word and the empowerment of the Holy Ghost, we are able to both withstand
and to strike against the powers of darkness. The truth of the word through the
power of the Spirit spells defeat for Satan.
Finally we are able to bring to full utility our spiritual amour
through the power of prayer. The effectual and fervent prayer of a righteous
man availeth much (St. James 5:16). As we are temples of the Holy Spirit, our
prayers directed heaven-ward are heard all the more as we have God’s abiding
Spirit operating within us, urging us to bring our prayers and petitions to his
throne of grace in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our prayers ought to be said in humble recognition that God is our
Sovereign Lord and lover of our souls. Such humility ought to bring us to a
state of being whereby we confess our sins and seek his divine forgiveness for
them. In this manner our vessels will be cleansed of those things which the
devil would use to corrupt us and put us at variance with God.
So when we consider what it means to possess our vessels in a godly
manner, we will then purge out the leaven of malice and wickedness through our
private confession to the Father in the name of his only begotten Son. God
would rather we engage in self-discipline and self-judgment so that he does not
have to chasten us for our unconfessed sins. Therefore learn to possess your
vessel in sanctification and honour unto the LORD.
Let us pray,
|
F
|
ather, assist us in our efforts to properly
possess our vessels which are temples of thy most holy Spirit; that we being
guided daily in thy paths of righteousness, will avoid the devil’s broad way
which leadeth to destruction; and this we ask in the name of our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Have a blessed week, Bryan+
The
Old Tree and the Mule
Jerry Ogles, Bishop Anglican Orthodox Church, 10 April 2001
This past Sunday I lingered
on the lawn of my second church in Ozark, Alabama to chat with the older
members. This church is very traditional and old fashioned. Most of the members
exceed the age of 65 years. The church itself is almost two hundred years old.
It was organized by Scottish people who immigrated there in the 1830's from
Argura, Scotland. As I surveyed the lush, green Alabama surroundings, I noticed
a huge tree near the edge of the church-yard which seemed to be ancient. When I
remarked on the antiquity of the tree, an elderly lady told me this interesting
story about it:
"When this lady was a
small girl (about 60 years ago) horse-drawn conveyances were still quite common
in the rural South. In those days, the lady told me, there was an older man who
rode his mule-drawn surrey to church every Sunday. He would tie the mule to the
old tree - which seemed to the woman to have been of similar appearance even
those many years ago. After several years of driving to church and tying the
mule to the tree, the old man F\failed to attend services one Sunday. The old
mule, however, did not forget. He appeared at church at the appointed time and
went to his accustomed place of peace and safety. After service, when the men
of the church attempted to take hold of the mule and deliver him home, he would
not hear of it. The mule went berserk and would not leave this familiar place.
Every time the attempt was
made to move the mule, he would wildly resist so that no one dared go near him.
The mule insisted, after all those years of standing under the tree, in remaining
this last time. Finally, in desperation, a rifle was brought and the mule was
killed. I realize this is a sad story to tell. It is sad because of the mule's
attachment to the one thing in his life that never changed and, in the last
moments of his life, he refused to move from it. But this story is also
inspiring because we are reminded that there are anchors in our lives which
never change, which remain steady and unyielding to the demands of a fickle
world.
We, from our youth, have
learned of the ancient Rock which does not move. We have been taught to build
our lives upon It and, when the rains and floods descend, our building thereon
will remain fixed and weather the storms of life. That Rock of Ages followed
after the Children of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness. And that Rock
and Fortress abides with us daily as we are challenged by change and
uncertainty. Yet, that Rock remains steady, strong and unchangeable in the face
of the storm.
Perhaps we can learn from the
sad story of the mule - that some things are worth the dying rather than to
move from them. The Holy Scriptures, the Love of God, the Love of family and
Country are all things worthy of our immovable devotion. During these uncertain
times of spiritual and social decadence, shall we be blown about by every wind
of doctrine? or shall we stand on that Rock and Fortress which is Christ?
©2001, Logos of St Andrews
(Jerry Ogles)
The Sabbath Day: The Day Of Mercy – Courtesy of Rev. Geordie
Menzies- Grierson
The
Lord God declares by the prophet Isaiah …
"If
thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy
day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and
shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor
speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I
will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with
the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken
it" (Isa 58:13-14).
Our
all-glorious Saviour made the Sabbath a delight for many while he was upon the
earth, and continues to make the gospel Sabbath, which the old, legal Sabbath
portrayed, a delight to sinners to this day.
Christ
is our Sabbath; and we find delight in
him. When a sinner is turned from his
way, from his sin, from the pleasure of his depraved heart, and from this world
to the Lord Jesus Christ, finding mercy, grace, salvation, and rest in him, he
finds that Christ, in whom he rests, is a delight, a luxury, and that faith in
him is an honour. Indeed, all who trust Christ, delight themselves in him,
triumph over all their foes in him, and shall at last obtain the full heritage
of the heavenly Canaan, called here "the heritage of Jacob".
"For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."
A
Sabbath Day Miracle
During
the time of our Lord’s earthly ministry, the sabbath day was used as a day for
healing. By his example, our Saviour displayed that the Old Testament sabbath
day was intended and designed by our God to portray this day of grace.
"And
it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat
bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him" (Luk 14:1). The Jews
commonly held great, lavish feasts on their sabbath day. On this occasion our
Lord was invited to the house of one of the chief of the Pharisees, one of the
Sanhedrim, one of the primary, best known of that band of self-righteous
legalists. Our Lord was not invited to the Pharisee’s house out of courtesy,
but because these fine, law-keeping, sabbath-keeping religionists had hatched a
plan to trap the Master. So "they watched him".
"And,
behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy" (Luk
14:2). These good, kind religious men baited their trap by setting a certain
man before the Saviour who had "the dropsy". Dropsy is an old term
for congestive heart failure. This condition is accompanied by swelling, scanty
urine, poor appetite, sluggishness, and debility. The swelling usually begins
in the feet and ankles and proceeds up the legs towards the abdomen. It is
fairly common among diabetics. In addition to the swelling, the bladder
functions poorly, a person loses his appetite and becomes very sluggish. His
swollen limbs become debilitating. After a while, it becomes obvious that he is
terribly sick and will soon die, if something is not done to help him.
It
is interesting that only Luke, the physician, records this miracle performed by
our Lord. Perhaps he did so because in his day any man found in the condition
of this man was doomed to a slow, painful death. There was no cure for him, at
least no cure that could be wrought by the hands of men.
These
men brought this poor, dying wretch to the Pharisee’s house for no other reason
than to entrap the Son of God. They cared nothing for him. As religion always
does, they were simply using him for their own purposes. But it is written,
"Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt
thou restrain" (Psa 76:10). And their wrath soon showed forth our Saviour’s
praise. These devils were but vassals, by whom the Lord of glory was pleased to
bring a certain, chosen, dying man to him that he might show in that man the
wondrous, saving power of his mercy, love and grace.
"And
Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to
heal on the sabbath day?" (Luk 14:3) Though they never spoke a word, the
Saviour answered them. He answered their thoughts. They were not merely dealing
with a man. They were not attempting to trick a mere prophet. They were dealing
with the God of Glory, trying to lay a trap for the omnipotent, omniscient God,
and he lets them know it. The Lord Jesus knew exactly what they were up to. He
asked them, "Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day?"
"And
they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go"
(Luk 14:4). They held their peace, because they dared not answer. They were
trapped by their own trap. They dared not say anything that might show any
agreement with the Master. They could not say "yes" without
consenting to what he was about to do. And they could not say "no"
without denying that works of mercy were permitted on the sabbath day by Moses.
Indeed, the sabbath day was designed to portray this great gospel day in which
we live, this day of mercy and grace.
Once
the Master had shamed these babblers into silence, he took the man with the
dropsy and healed him. He who could dry up the Red Sea, calm the waves of the
raging Galilee, and bring water out of a rock had no difficulty drawing a
little water from this man’s body. Immediately, the swollen limbs were made
whole, perfectly healthy. Then he who was the real Master of Ceremonies in this
Pharisee’s house dismissed the man from the table and company and the company
of his foes; and he went home perfectly cured.
What
a picture this is of our Saviour’s works of grace in chosen, redeemed sinners!
He took him. He healed him. He let him go.
"And
answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a
pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?" (Luk
14:5). Again, our Master answered the unspoken quibbles of this cruel,
merciless, religious crowd that hated him, hated God, and hated men. They were
obviously incensed by what he had done, incensed that a poor, dying man was
made whole on the sabbath day. Yet, not one of them would allow his own ox or
ass to drown on the sabbath day, if he could help it. Our Lord’s obvious, bold
insinuation was this: You gentlemen obviously care much more for your property,
for your own beasts than you do for a human being. "And they could not
answer him again to these things" (Luk 14:6).
From:
Discovering Christ in Genesis, Ruth,
Song of Solomon, Malachi, Matthew, Mark, Luke, Galatians, Hebrews, and
Revelation by Donald Fortner
Suicide
Attack at Christian Church in Pakistan Kills Dozens
Evil is on the rise!
Mohammad Sajjad/Associated Press
Victims of an attack at the All Saints
Church in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Sunday.
By ISMAIL KHAN and SALMAN MASOOD
Published: September 22, 2013
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A suicide attack on a historic Christian church
in northwestern Pakistan killed at least 75 people on Sunday in one of the
deadliest attacks on the Christian minority in Pakistan for years.
The attack occurred as worshipers left the All Saints Church in the
old quarter of the regional capital, Peshawar, following a service on Sunday
morning. Up to 600 worshipers had attended the service and were leaving for a
distribution of free food on the lawn outside, when two explosions ripped
through the crowd.
Dozens of people were killed and more than 100 wounded, said Akhtar
Ali Shah, the home secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The death toll continued to rise as rescue workers sifted through the
damaged church property, said Hamid Ullah, a rescue worker with Al Khidmat
Foundation, a rescue service operated by the Jamaat-e-Islami political party.
He said his team had recovered 75 bodies.
The dead included women, children and two Muslim police officers who
had been posted outside the church. Witness reported scenes of mayhem as rescue
workers ferried victims from the church, which witnesses said was scattered
with body parts, shrapnel and bloodied clothing.
Enraged Christians reacted emotionally as police and rescue workers
reached the scene, forcing some to leave.
"As soon as the service finished and the food was being
distributed, all of a sudden we heard one explosion, followed by another,"
said Azim Ghori, a witness.
Police said it was not clear whether the attack was the work of a lone
attacker or of two suicide bombers. Muhammad Ilyas, a senior officer in
Peshawar, said it was more likely that a lone suicide bomber had first thrown a
hand grenade before detonating his vest.
It was the worst attack in years on the Christian minority in
Pakistan, and coincides with a broader wave of attacks on religious minorities
including Shiite Muslims this year.
In March, a Muslim mob swarmed
through a Christian neighborhood in the eastern city of Lahore, torching
two churches and more than 100 houses. Christians also frequently find
themselves accused of blasphemy under Pakistan's strict blasphemy laws.
The attacks are mostly orchestrated by Sunni extremist militant
groups, although some have also been claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.
The All Saints Church is one of the oldest in Peshawar and was built
during the British colonial era. It is at Kohati Gate in the city's old
quarter, where numerous militant attacks have occurred in recent years, mostly
targeting Muslims.
The attack coincides with efforts by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to
initiate peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban, aimed at ending a decade of violence.
An all-parties political conference held earlier this month gave the government
approval to start negotiations with the insurgents.
But that offer was publicly rejected by the Taliban, which later
claimed responsibility for the killing of a senior army general in Upper Dir,
near the Afghan border, last week.
Immediately after Sunday's bombing, questions were again raised about
the government's plans to hold peace talks.
Mr. Sharif condemned the attack. "The terrorists have no religion
and targeting innocent people is against the teachings of Islam and all
religions," he said in a statement.
The Pakistan Ulema Council, the largest clerical body, also condemned
the blast, saying that it was "standing with our Christian brothers in
this tragedy."
After the bombing, as people searched for their relatives on the
church premises, opposition politicians criticized the provincial government,
led by Imran Khan, for failing to send a senior minister to the scene.
"People are dying every day. The government seems to be absent.
Chief Minister and other ministers should visit the church," Mian Iftikhar
Hussain, a former provincial minister, said as he visited the church and
condoled with grieving protesters.
No comments:
Post a Comment