Verse of the Day

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity

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 –

On God
He who has God and everything else has no more than he who has God only.
Jack Lewis
The Weight of Glory
On feeling
I think the thrill of the Pagan stories and of romance may be due to the fact that they are mere beginnings—the first, faint whisper of the wind from beyond the world—while Christianity is the thing itself: and no thing, when you have really started on it, can have for you then and there just the same thrill as the first hint. For example, the experience of being married and bringing up a family cannot have the old bittersweet of first falling in love. But it is futile (and, I think, wicked) to go on trying to get the old thrill again: you must go forward and not backward. Any real advance will in its turn be ushered in by a new thrill, different from the old: doomed in its turn to disappear and to become in its turn a temptation to retrogression. Delight is a bell that rings as you set your foot on the first step of a new flight of stairs leading upwards. Once you have started climbing you will notice only the hard work: it is when you have reached the landing and catch sight of the new stair that you may expect the bell again. This is only an idea, and may be all rot: but it seems to fit in pretty well with the general law (thrills also must die to live) of autumn & spring, sleep and waking, death and resurrection, and “Whosoever loseth his life, shall save it.”
Jack Lewis
The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume II

Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others?
Thomas Jefferson
First Inaugural Address, 1801

Of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics, the greatest number have begun their career by paying an obsequious court to the people, commencing demagogues and ending tyrants.
Alexander Hamilton
Federalist No. 1, 1787

When large numbers of people in this country continue not to find work, when they don’t have enough to eat, when their money won’t buy the necessities of life, when they can’t afford to travel because of high fuel prices, and when they continue to lose their homes, they will become desperate. This desperation will result in civil unrest. That will be the government’s reasoning for declaring Martial Law.
Gary D. Barnett
21st  century American businessman and economic commentator

The government turns every contingency into an excuse for enhancing itself.
John Adams
Founding Father and 2nd  President of the United States

Veterans Day – Guest Editorial
Tomorrow, 11 November, is Veterans Day.  It is Monday.  The Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month.  Is not the first Monday in anything, it is not an occasion to sleep in or barbeque.  It was originally Armistice Day, the day the Great War (World War I) ended.  The armistice was signed on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month ending the War to End all Wars which took the lives of about 20 million people.  We remembered that day until World War II, a war which took the lives of about 70 million people, not including the 25 million killed by the Soviets internally.  In total, almost 100 million people lost their lives during the period of this war.

Our country has chosen this day, Armistice Day, to honor those who have served our country.  This is not the same as Memorial Day, the last weekend in May, during which we honor those who have given their lives for our country.

On this day, we honor those who have and do serve our country: men and women who have stepped forward when their country called; some even before the call.  We honor those who have put their country before themselves and families.

Sometimes we forget the sacrifices made by the families.  It is one thing to be in combat, forward deployed or on TDY at Christmas.  It is another to have your son, daughter, husband or wife gone.

We can both tell you from personal experience that it is a lot easier to go to war than to send someone to war.

It is easy to think the country is going to hell, in or out of the proverbial hand basket and it may well be.  Yet, so far we have young people who step forward and fill the breech in the line.  How long we know not, but still they come forward.  While they come we are safe.  When they stop, we fall.


Rev LTC Hap and Captain Dru Arnold, USAF Retired

   Semper Fly!

A Veteran’s Day Message from Jerry L. Ogles, Presiding Bishop:
Bishop’s Letter – Veteran’s Day – 11th November 2013 Anno Domini

God and soldier, we adore, in time of danger, not before.The danger passed and all things righted, God is forgotten and the soldier slighted.
- Rudyard Kipling

            I would venture to say that 98% of all men and women who are readers of this letter are veterans. Of what war, you ask? Well, of every military conflict in which you have participated for the Liberties of your beloved country, but also of every soldierly engagement in which you have participated on the part of righteousness and that perfect Law of Liberty made available only through Christ. In a sense, the latter are never finally veterans for they are constant belligerents of the war against evil and godlessness. On All Saints Day, we honor the fallen veterans of the Righteous War of God. The bodies of many godly saints lie in unmarked graves under jungle canopies, or have their bones resting in state, dry and bare, on some desert dune. But today, we observe the day on which we pay tribute to those veterans who have defended our political rights and liberties as a free people.

            Though “the poppies blow o’er Flanders Field, between the crosses row on row” these are the veterans who have fallen in battle. What of those who stood to the call of the bugle and laid their lives upon the altar of Freedom, yet lived? Their sacrifice is no less noteworthy, for an offer made is no less worthy if it is not required. My father spent many freezing nights in the snows of Germany and Belgium in the Second World War. Having come through the great depression, his character was reinforced by the hardship those times presented. He lost many fine American and British comrades to hostile fire during that War; but when he returned home, he was not plagued with any such affliction of mind as Post-traumatic Stress Syndrome.  In fact, that was not yet invented. He turned out to be the same loving father he had been before his wartime experiences but with a more touching compassion for humanity. So many others of that ‘Last Great Generation” came home to a like disposition. They built factories, cars, airplanes, highways, bridges, and institutions of higher learning unexcelled in all of the world. Some of these gallant heroes still remain among us. Almost without exception, they remain the proud but humble specimens of the American man-at-arms. They followed the principle inscribed on the walls of Suza (Shushan in the Farsi)  in Persia by that first great, benevolent Persian King, Cyrus: “I caused the strong not to strike the weak, but lifted their unbecoming yokes and gave them their lands and their customs inviolate.”

            In the trail of these heroes, follow hard on the veterans of the Korean Conflict, of Vietnam, of the Persian Gulf, of Iraq and Afghanistan. Many left their blood in the Gardens of Liberty by which our freedoms might be preserved and fertilized. Many return home to silent welcomes – what a travesty – and quietly resume the pieces of their lives which they abandoned to defend our ideals and principles. If all were made wealthy by war, or rewarded richly for their efforts, there would have been no sacrifice in answering the call. But a grateful nation that is founded on biblical principles will not fail to forever acknowledge and remember the soldiers of the nation who have preserved our liberty in battle.

            The life of a soldier is lonely since his duty requires him to travel far from home and to mingle with strangers. Moreover, those whom he confronts at close combat are mortal enemies. He travels lightly with his only belongings crammed into a 72 pound pack, which he carries on his back, along with his weapons of war. When at the march, his eyes are focused straight ahead and his steps are uniform with those of his fellow soldiers. He obeys his commander’s orders promptly and without question for lives depend upon such discipline. What shall we learn from such soldiers to aid us in our Christian service?

Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” (2 Tim 2:3-4)

                Ah, so the Christian is called to endure hardness as a soldier? Yes, by all means, he will suffer deprivation and perhaps hunger. The Christian soldier has no discharge date, but perseveres until the last call of the Bugle. He has no time for the fancy frills and gossamer pleasures of the world. He must fill his place in the line of battle at all times being ever watchful for demonstrations of the enemy to his front. He is the forward vedette and sentinel of our defenses. Just as an American officer is commissioned by the President of the United States, the Christian soldier is commissioned by the King of Kings, and contends under a Royal Charter. Just as an American, British, German, or Korean soldier fights to defend the liberty of his country, so the Christian soldier fights to defend that Perfect Law of Liberty made available by the shed blood of that Great Captain of our Army – our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The Christian soldier studies the regulations and laws of Higher Headquarters and obeys to his utmost ability. “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” (James 1:25)

            Have you enlisted, Friend? Our thanks to all American and allied veterans on this Veterans Day of 2013 Anno Domini.

In Christ during Trinity,

Jerry L. Ogles
Presiding Bishop – Veteran
238th Birthday of the
United States Marine Corps
No better friend, no worse enemy


On 10 November 1775, Captain Samuel Nicholas formed two battalions of Continental Marines at Tun’s Tavern in Philadelphia as naval infantry in accordance with a resolution of the Continental Congress.  They were to "be able to serve to advantage by sea when required" and "that they be distinguished by the names of the first & second battalions of American Marines."

No better friend: someone who will kill to protect you; someone who will give their life for you; someone who will be right there in your times of trouble and, thinking of you and your problems, will sacrifice so that you might get through your problem.

No worst enemy: someone who will not hesitate to destroy you even if that means destroying himself in the process; someone who will chase you down to the ends of the earth to extract revenge; someone who will cause you blood and tears and smile when it happens.

With a Marine as your friend, you have a person who will kill to protect you. With a Marine as your enemy, you have a person who will kill you. Pretty simple, huh?

The concept comes from the epitaph of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, famous general and legendary dictator of ancient Rome:

"No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full."

Happy 238th Birthday, USMC!

Propers
Each Sunday there are Propers: special prayers and readings from the Bible.  There is a Collect for the Day; that is a single thought prayer, most written either before the re-founding of the Church of England in the 1540s or written by Bishop Thomas Cranmer, the first Archbishop of Canterbury after the re-founding. 

The Collect for the Day is to be read on Sunday and during Morning and Evening Prayer until the next Sunday.  If you have a hard time remembering, “Do I read the Collect from last Sunday or next Sunday during the week?”  Remember Sunday is the first day of the week.  There are also two Bible readings, the Epistle and the Gospel.  While they are “lessons”, they are not the First Lesson and the Second Lesson, they are the Epistle and the Gospel.  The Epistle is normally a reading from one of the various Epistles, or letters, in the New Testament.  The Gospel is a reading from one of the Holy Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  The Collect is said by the minister as a prayer, the Epistle can be read by either a designated reader (as we normally do in our church) or by one of the ministers and the Holy Gospel, which during the service in our church is read by an ordained minister.

The propers are the same each year, except if a Red Letter Feast, that is one with propers in the prayerbook, falls on a Sunday, then those propers are to be read instead, except in a White Season, where it is put off.  Red Letter Feast, so called because in the Altar Prayerbooks the titles are in red, are special days.  Most of the Red Letter Feasts are dedicated to early saints instrumental in the development of the church, others to special events.  Some days are particularly special and the Collect for that day is to be used for an octave (eight days) or an entire season, like Advent or Lent. 

The propers for the Twenty-Third Sunday after Trinity can be found on Page 223-224:

The Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity
The Collect.


O
 LORD, we beseech thee, absolve thy people from their offences; that through thy bountiful goodness we may all be delivered from the bands of those sins, which by our frailty we have committed. Grant this, O heavenly Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord and Saviour. Amen.

Dru Arnold read the Epistle for today which was written in the First Chapter of Saint Paul’s letter to the Colossians, beginning at the Third Verse.  Writing to the people of Colossus, Paul tells them that he is constantly praying for them and exhorts them to do their very best to actually fulfill the promises they have made to God, to Walk the Walk, not just Talk the Talk; to study hard the Word and use the strength they will get from God to act on the things they have learned and professed.

W
e give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard  of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth: as ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit. For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness; giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.

Hap Arnold read the Holy Gospel which came from the Ninth Chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew beginning at the Eighteenth Verse.  While Jesus was talking to some of the disciples of John the Baptist, one of the local politicians whose daughter had just died came to Him with faith that He could return her to life.  As he was leaving His meeting with the disciples to follow the politician, a woman who had been ill for many years, reached out in faith to “touch His garment.”  She knew He was the key to her life, though she likely had no real understanding of just how.  She had faith in Jesus.  As she touched his garment, He turned saying, “Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.”  She was instantly healed.  Like the Faithful Centurion[1]: Truth set her free, faith made her whole. Jesus continued on to the politician’s house and returned his daughter to the living.  Consider that in none of these cases did Jesus’ saving grace hinge on actions by the saved, but rather their faith that Jesus would save them, then acting in accordance with that faith.  It was not what they did, but what He did that saved them.  But, His actions were in accord with their faith.

W
hile Jesus spake these things unto John’s disciples, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live. And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples. And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: for she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour. And when Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, he said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose. And the fame hereof went abroad into all that land.

Sermon – Reverend Jack Arnold - Time and Action
Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and is partly contained in the forewords above.

The Collect asks God to pardon our offences, through His great mercy we will be delivered from all multitudes of sins, by which our frail nature of ungodliness, we have committed these sins. As Abraham Lincoln said in the famous Gettysburg address “That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom.”  Only under God, can be reborn a new, and as he said, our freedom will be reborn again.  However, we first have to ask for our sins to be pardoned and be delivered from our sins by Jesus Christ Our Lord and Our Heavenly Father.

Through a sense of godliness, we obtain that “new birth” of freedom. If everybody in this country followed that simple advice, just think of how great our country would be. Look at Abraham Lincoln for an example of a Godly man, one of the greatest Presidents ever elected, who by following God and His Word, helped preserve the Union of this wonderful nation.

In the Epistle, St. Paul tells the Colossians if we are to be reborn through Christ into a “new birth of freedom”, as Lincoln said, we must place our hope not on Earth, but in Our Heavenly Father and his abode above. If we do this, the truth shall shine forth through in our work, at home, in our daily lives and people shall see Christ working through us for His purposes. If we follow what God asks, which is a very common theme in the Bible, as it is in my sermons, we prosper and do well.

Which brings us to the point of the Gospel, in which Christ heals a woman, who has such supreme faith in Christ healing her, that if she but touches his cloak, she knows she will be healed. She did not have a single doubt about Christ’s power to heal her, her faith was solid.  Christ was impressed by the woman’s faith.  If we had the faith of this woman in Christ, imagine how we could impact the world around us. And, I might add, what is stopping us?  The ruler whose daughter had died also shared this amazing faith in Christ.  He had zero doubt whatsoever Christ would do these things.  The most important thing of all which was to raise his daughter from the dead. Christ also recognizes this man’s faith and rewards with the girl’s resurrection.  Quite a surprise for those who had just laughed and scorned him, basically telling him “That is impossible, you can’t raise the girl from the dead.”

He proved them wrong.  He gave a very practical demonstration that much is denied men, but though God all things are possible.  But, we need the faith of the woman, the faith of the ruler and the faith of the centurion.  We must follow Him and the plan that he lays out for us. We have to be willing to listen and be ready to follow Him.  In time, we shall too have an amazing reward, through our faith and we shall be in a “new birth of freedom” from otherwise certain death. Like the Marines who proved many skeptics wrong in World War I and II, with the grueling jungle battles against the Japanese Army, seen by some as the elite army of Asia at the time, we too can do things thought impossible, if we put our trust in Him, as I have aforementioned. Works must follow faith however. We cannot have a full faith, unless we act to demonstrate the faith.

Jesus’s miracles were all about actions, not just in word, but in deed. He did both, as we must also. If we only talk the talk, but do not walk our talk, then our words mean nothing. But if we walk the walk also, then our words have more weight, more meaning, as we become men and women of the Word. I say of the Word and not like the old saying, he is a man of his word. For we want to become a Man/Woman of His Word, not our word! If we go by His Word, then we can never go wrong. We always seem to go on our word and that is where we get into trouble.

Following this theme of words and action, on this Veteran’s Day, I realized God has used godly men to our prayers for our freedom to be kept, by laying down their lives for ours. No greater love could be found in the world, then those men who died in the Pacific and the European theatres of World War II, in Vietnam, in the Gulf War, 1 and 2, and Afghanistan, in World War I, the Civil War, the Spanish American War, the Mexican-American War, the War of 1812 and finally the American Revolution.

Through a sense of godliness, these men went to battle on our behalf, as Christ battled Satan on our behalf.  These men did not just go into battle with the godliness, they prayed hard for them, they prayed for each minute just to stay alive, especially in the hellholes of the Pacific.  The danger they faced were far more perilous than the ones we face today.  We overcame the enemy, not only because of our superior tactics, but we had men ready and willing to take the enemy on and do our best to prevail, and that followed God.

The Collect, Epistle and Gospel tie together, laying out, detailing and reinforcing the same message, ultimately.  We have to have faith in Christ and God, and be willing to accept the Holy Ghost into us, that through Him, we may do good works on Earth and that we will receive our just reward for doing what is right in the end.

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
Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity
10 November 2013, Anno Domini

The Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity
The Collect.


O
 LORD, we beseech thee, absolve thy people from their offences; that through thy bountiful goodness we may all be delivered from the bands of those sins, which by our frailty we have committed. Grant this, O heavenly Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord and Saviour. Amen.

The Epistle
Colossians 1:3

W
e give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard  of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have to all the saints, for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth: as ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit. For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness; giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.

The Gospel
Saint Matthew 9:18-26

W
hile Jesus spake these things unto John’s disciples, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live. And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples. And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: for she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour. And when Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise, he said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose. And the fame hereof went abroad into all that land.

            One of the greatest barriers to faith in Christ is in knowing WHO Christ is. Many today consider Him in the same sense as a genie who grants our every wish, or as a good teacher of ethics and morals; but how many in the modern churches truly know Jesus to be Lord and Savior in more than a mere vocally expressed sense? He is our Lord and King. He is our Savior and Redeemer…and He is God! This last part seems to be the hanging point for many pseudo-religionists. Jesus is literally God the son and acts with the same power and authority of the Father – for both are One with the Holy Ghost!

            Our Prayer of Collect opens with the plea for an absolution of our sins and redemption of our souls. “O LORD, we beseech thee, absolve thy people from their offences; that through thy bountiful goodness we may all be delivered from the bands of those sins.” Only One has authority to absolve and forgive sins – that is God. Christ has set us free by absolution of our sins and freedom to walk in His Way. The Collect readily admits that we are frail and weak – unable to help ourselves as babes in our mother’s bosom: “which by our frailty we have committed.” We are incapable of doing good apart from the righteousness of Christ. And we petition these things for His sake, and His sake alone. It is Christ who personally paid the penalty for our redemption, and it is Christ for whose sakes we are reconciled to the Father.

            In the Epistle of the day, we see that all-important requisite for serving God and our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ – Love! We are to intercede for one another just as those who bore the man stricken with the palsy to Christ on a stretcher.  We see in the Epistle, we see the salient points of people who lover and serve God. As Christians we must conform to the following:

1)      We do not cease to pray,
2)      desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
3)      walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing,
4)      being fruitful in every good work,
5)      and increasing in the knowledge of God;
6)      strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power,
7)      unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness;
8)      giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.

My leading question would be: “Have we done these things? Have we lived up to the standard of minimal faith expressed above?”

Now follows two very tender accounts of the Love of Christ that not only heals spiritually in absolving our sins, but in absolving our diseased bodies of sickness and death as well. Jesus has just been conversing with the followers of John the Baptist and reveals to them that He is the promised Bridegroom of the Church whom they seek, but unknowingly: “Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.” (Matt 9:15) It is unlikely that these disciples understood the meaning Jesus spoke to them until much later. He had, on this same occasion, forgiven the man stricken with the palsy of his sins, and sealed the miracle of forgiveness with His second miracle of physical healing.  

We now take up the text:

Quite often, the true worship of God is constrained by hard circumstances. 18 “While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him.” This, we learn from St. Mark 5:21-43) was the daughter of the chief of a synagogue named, Jairus. Such a fellow would never have condescended to come and worship Christ were there not a desperate personal need that compelled him to come to Christ. Jairus had a precious little daughter of twelve years of age who lay dying on her sick bed. It would seem that all hope for her recovery, short of a miracle, had been abandoned. Jesus was noted as a miracle worker – and ONLY God can work miracles! So Jairus, desperate for his daughter’s sake, comes and falls on the knee to Jesus. We often are just like Jairus. We forget our vows and duties to God until a serious circumstance arises. Then, we go to Him on bended knee seeking solace and blessings. How much more fit as Christians would we be if we remained in a state of Grace always before the Lord. If our petty pride precludes our coming to Jesus in humble worship, perhaps the Lord will provide a circumstance in our lives that overwhelms that petty pride and draws us unto Himself.

Jairus forgoes all formality of a beautifully contrived prayer and goes immediately to the heart of the matter: “My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.” Whatever pressing Jesus may have is of no concern to Jairus in his burning need. His prayer to Jesus is not unlike the short, but pointed, prayer of Peter when he began to seek beneath the waves of the sea, “Lord, save me!” These are the most effectual prayers because they are offered without pretense or showmanship. Jairus was convinced that his precious daughter would die without Jesus coming and laying His hand upon her. His faith may even have doubted somewhat at that miracle. He may have been weak in infant-like faith, but there was no other hope but Jesus. Jesus would heal any lack of faith that may have remained in the heart of Jairus because Jesus does not require more than a little faith. I, too, have often prayed lacking full faith that Gods would grant my petition. Sometimes, I have felt that He did not do so, but when I look back on that time, I realized that His answer was much better than my request. To Jesus, there is no more important business than saving the life of a child. Without hesitation, He prepares to go with Jairus. 19 “And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples.” There is no question in my mind that Jesus was aware of a more pressing problem which was about to present itself. He could easily have healed the young lass from a distant, but did not do so. I believe He had a good reason not to do so. There were many unbelievers at the bedside of the dear little girl who needed the seed of faith to believe as Jairus had believed.

20 “And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment.” We are told more detail of this woman in the Gospel of St. Mark: “And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.” (Mark 5:25-27) Clearly, this woman, too, had only one hope of healing and that hope was Christ! She wasted away all of her savings on physicians, but grew only worse. Now she will come to the Great Physician who is able to heal body AND soul! How often do we, friends, struggle helplessly with our problems until they grow to immense proportion. Then we run to Christ for our solution! The woman had great difficulty approaching Jesus for the press of the crowd so close to Him on all sides. There were many who rubbed shoulders with Jesus that day, but only ONE who touched Him with faith. Just claiming the name of Christian does not avail to make us Christian unless we have the faith to match our convictions. 21 “For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.” It is the touch of faith that heals and not the material garment itself.

            22 “But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.” Here again, St Mark adds touching details that Matthew omits: “And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?” (Mark 5:29-30 (KJV) Jesus felt healing power being transferred to another. His question, “Who touched me?” is profound, for Christ KNEW who touched Him. So many in the crowd had touched Jesus in the bustle of the street, but none with the faith of this poor woman. We may call on Christ in vain if our faith is dead, but if our faith is real – even if small – the touch will bear fruit. Jesus gave comfort, not only to the body, but to the soul of the woman by telling her that her faith had made her whole – whole in every sense of the word. Not just whole in body, but whole in soul as well for Christ does not work half-way miracles. “And the woman was made whole from that hour.

            23 “And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise.” I will advise the reader that, having lived in Asia and the Middle East for much of my young life, I have observed some strange custom there with which you may not be familiar. There are paid mourners and musicians (to play and sing the sad dirge) who attend the death of a loved one. The moan and cry out with sorrowful gestures – often throwing dirt or sand upon their heads. But, remember, they care little for the deceased for they are PAID for these services. They make their living off the dead, and they know death; but Jesus knows LIFE! The precious little girl had died. Many people, perhaps neighbors, paid mourners, and members of the synagogue had arrived and were making much ado, as it turns out, about nothing.  Again, St Mark gives more detail: While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further? As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.” (Mark 5:35-36) Death is no barrier to faith. Jesus forever tells us not to fear. If we only believe, all things are possible! And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly. And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.” (Mark 5:37-40) The ridiculing of faith is not a phenomenon peculiar to our day. It has existed from time and eternity. Truly, in the eyes of God, there is no death except of the wicked. I can only imagine the grief of this poor father at his little daughter lying cold and still upon her little bed. It breaks my heart to read of it, and it must have profoundly affected poor Jairus, but he had Jesus with him who consoled and counseled not to fear. Sleep is the state of all dearly departed in Christ, for we do not awake from death, but from SLEEP. 24 “He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.

            25 “But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose. 26 And the fame hereof went abroad into all that land.”  We might say that St Matthew is a ‘facts only’ writer, for he omits some of the touching detail of St Mark: “And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment. And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.” (Mark 5:41-43) I love that command, “Talith Cumi”! Can you imagine the joy and tears of gratitude that flooded the eyes of Jairus and the girl’s mother! There was no delay in the spark of life permeating the body of the dead girl, penetrating the dead cell tissue and impacting her tiny heart. There was immediate warmth and life. The blood promptly coursed through her veins and she awoke for a most dreamy sleep. She got up and walked. Jesus delights, especially, in the blessing of little children. He commanded food be given her. He had given first the bread of life, now he commanded the bread of the body be given. He overlooks nothing.

            Jesus then gave a very strange command – one which He had given many times past when He worked His miracles: “And he charged them straitly that no man should know it.” (Mark 5:43). Think on this last comment a bit, my friends. Here is an entire neighborhood who has witnessed the most amazing of miracles. They knew, beyond doubt, that this darling little girl was dead. But Christ restored her to life in the same manner in which he restored Lazarus. All saw that she now lived. How do you suppose that these witnesses could ever hold their tongues about such an amazing event? They could not! Jesus knew that, too. When such a wonderful work is done in our hearts, or before our eyes, how is it possible to keep such joyous news a secret. I believe Jesus is saying to each of us, “I have forgiven, redeemed, and restored you who were dead (Ephe 2:1) to life. How can you keep such glorious Gospel News a secret. Your cup runneth over and you cannot conceal the overflow of joys. Do you understand this feeling, Reader? If so, be not silent forever about the blessings of God given to you.

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.

Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity

Saint Jude’s Epistle is not very long. In fact, it is one of the shortest books of the entire Bible. It was written about 66 AD and was a general epistle to be read in all the churches. Its principal message has to do with contending for the faith against the rising apostasy which had manifested itself within the body of Christ. The Holy Ghost had inspired the apostle to communicate the same to the churches so that those who had accepted his calling would be preserved until our Lord’s return.

So what did he mean by the expression, contend for the faith (v.3)? Clearly God desires that all who have been born again of the Holy Ghost are to be found working on our Lord’s behalf until his coming again, and that encompasses a number of things. Our Lord gave us the Great Commission which states, Go ye therefore, and teach all nations (people or ethnic groups), baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you... (St. Matthew 28:19-20). So let us now examine the component parts of this charge.
First we must teach. Our Christian witness is not only by word but by deed. Our actions speak louder than our words because they are the visible manifestations of those words. Often times we have heard people say things they do not mean, and fail to act have they have said. That is hypocrisy. We will ruin our witness if we are hypocrites. Most people are worn out with liars and prevaricators. They hear enough from the political elites and those who dominate the media centers of our society, and so when a supposed “Christian” comes to them with messages that hardly match said person’s behavior, they will reject it. Our lives need to match our words. It is not what a person once was, or what such a one once did, but how said person lives today. Are they a forgiven person? Do they confess their sins daily? Are they abstaining from every form and appearance of evil (I Thessalonians 5:22)? You see, if such a person has not done so, then said person’s witness will be considered without merit.

We are to also bring people into the faith via the workings of the Holy Ghost. If our witness is credible, those who have not been baptized will then seek to receive such. Baptism is a sacrament. It is something one does following the acceptance of the free gift of salvation. It is something that we do for our young as a commitment to God. It should be understood that mere participation in any of the sacraments does not contain any salvific quality. Salvation comes beforehand. In the case of an infant, the extending to such the sacrament of baptism reveals the decision of the parents to raise up their child in the love and admonition of the Lord. Later, when that child reaches the age of eleven or so, he or she will then confirm what their parents had vowed at their baptism. Adults who are baptized will both affirm and receive the sacrament of baptism at the same time.

Our Lord’s command is that we baptize using the formula he set forth in the Great Commission, that is, we baptize, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit. Some churches have gotten away from this important prescription. They will baptize only in the name of Jesus: which is a denial of the very nature of the Godhead. The Holy Trinity is a component part of an orthodox Christian understanding. It cannot be easily set aside because it is affirmed in Scripture. To deny or to dispense with this important biblical truth is to endanger one’s everlasting soul. If God has put such in his word written, it is then sacrosanct and not subject to rendition or revision by those to whom the word has been given. As one Bible commentator noted in part, “God did not give us his word for us to edit, but for the word to edit us.”
The issue of whether to baptize an infant, or wait until he or she reaches a so-to-speak “age of accountability”, is a personal choice with the former being something that our church encourages parents to do for their young children. The Philippian jailer and his household were baptized after his confession of faith. The apostles Paul and Silas said only, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house (Acts 16:31).That expression: thy house, refers to the component parts of a household which included young children. If there were preconditions and exclusions, the Holy Ghost would have made them known through the apostles’ teachings.

An attendant controversy among Christians is the issue of the amount of water for baptism. Nowhere is it ever expressed by either our Lord or the apostles on the precise amount of water that is necessary for the mechanics of the sacrament to work. The word “baptize” means to wash. One can wash with very modest amounts of water, or one can inundate themselves with such. There should be no argument here; still, some will deny that a person’s baptism is in effect all because of the particular formula their church body has accepted. We ought not to permit such “hair-splitting” to result in judgments that would prove divisive within the body of Christ, especially where the word is silent or nonspecific. If a person comes to us who has been baptized using the Trinitarian formula, then that should be sufficient.

Our Lord commanded us to teach those doctrines which have been set forth in Scripture. The particulars of his teachings have been fleshed out in the apostolic epistles. The apostles taught under the aegis of the gospel. Their teachings were the product of inspiration, not imagination. And because they taught authoritatively by the power of the holy Spirit of God, we ought to teach likewise those truths to others as they were taught to us.

The Bible is full of doctrinal points. The Nicene Creed expresses many of those beliefs that all Christians should accept. The Ten Commandments and the ordinances within the Law of Moses which govern moral behavior — and which were affirmed by our Lord, as well as the apostles — are to be accepted and followed in our daily lives. We are not to carve up God’s word into those things we will follow to the exclusion of those things that we will not via our “cherry- picking” of doctrines and teachings. Not all of the Law of Moses applies to us as Christians. But we can know which ones apply via our readings of the apostles and the gospel messages.

The apostle Jude noted that Christians ought to show, compassion, making a difference (v.22). Matthew Henry once wrote concerning this passage that, “We ought to do all we can to rescue others out of the snare of the devil that they may be saved from, or recovered, when entangled in dangerous errors or pernicious practices... This must be done with compassion... We must distinguish between the weak and the willful... “

We are to attempt to, save [others] with fear, pulling them out of the fire (v.23). You do not want your worst enemy to wind up in perdition. With that in mind, we ought to reach in and pull them from their potential course by, if needs be, telling them plainly about their ultimate destination if they do not change. St. Paul reminds us that, knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men (II Corinthians 5:11a). Where ever you can, reach and grab those whose present, known trajectory is headed toward destruction. Sometimes only a word is sufficient, while at other times we must be more forceful without anger or arrogance. We are not condemning so much as we are advising the wayward soul to depart from iniquity. We are the warning sign, the flashing light on the road that the bridge is out. We are the red flags, the lighthouse onshore warning of the rocky coast just in front. We are the watchmen, the sentinel, the sentry that guards against the approach of our adversary as we will call to our fellows to prepare and be ready to join the great spiritual and physical battle that is before us.

Contending for the faith means praying for those around us and beseeching our good and gracious God to be merciful unto them. Prayer is important because it is through the power of prayer that we are empowered, lifted up, and re- energized for our duties as ambassadors for Christ. Pray. Pray. Pray. Keep the fire of the Holy Ghost ablaze in your hearts. Sometimes we are not wont to pray for those who have abused or maligned us. Those are the very people who need our prayers. God delights to hear your intercessory prayers and petitions. We know that only through his will can they be turned from the power of evil which has overtaken them. Keep up your praying even when you feel like God is not listening. We ought not to think in such a manner as he is ever ready to hear our prayers if we are right with him. He loves us and cares how we feel so lift your voices and your hearts up to him not only for your own needs and desires, but for those of others, more particularly those with whom you have issues.

As we have seen, contending for the faith is more than merely doing a few things here and there; it is real work on a consistent, daily basis. The Christian life is just that: LIFE. That means every moment of every day we are in this sphere of mortal existence we are to be living for Christ. Make that your commitment today that you too will live your life daily in obedience to the will of God, and that you would rejoice as you contend for the faith for that is what a good soldier of our Lord will do.

Let us pray,

L
ord, grant us the courage to face the world every day and to live as you would have us to live in service to thy dear Son, contending for the faith, praying in the Spirit and loving others as ourselves; for these things we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Have a blessed week, Bryan+



[1] The centurion at Capernaum whose servant is ill:  Matthew Chapter 8 verses 5 to 13:

And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.

See how this story matches that of the woman:
·       His servant was sick;
·       He knew Christ could help;
·       He was prepared to ask Christ for help;
·       He knew that Christ was in a position of power;
·       He didn't even have to be near the servant to help

The centurion wasn't someone who went to get a doctor, or an itinerant herbalist. He went seeking a miracle, and that is what his faith got him.  This centurion had faith, greater faith than Christ had ever found. Yet who was he? He wasn't a scribe or Hebrew scholar. He wasn't a member of the local synagogue. He was a member of the hated, oppressing, occupying army.

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