Verse of the Day

Sunday, January 12, 2014

First Sunday after The Epiphany

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 –

Few skills are so well rewarded as the ability to convince parasites that they are victims.
Thomas Sowell

Creative Evolution
One reason why many people find Creative Evolution so attractive is that it gives one much of the emotional comfort of believing in God and none of the less pleasant consequences. When you are feeling fit and the sun is shining and you do not want to believe that the whole universe is a mere mechanical dance of atoms, it is nice to be able to think of this great mysterious Force rolling on through the centuries and carrying you on its crest. If, on the other hand, you want to do something rather shabby, the Life-Force, being only a blind force, with no morals and no mind, will never interfere with you like that troublesome God we learned about when we were children. The Life-Force is a sort of tame God. You can switch it on when you want, but it will not bother you. All the thrills of religion and none of the cost. Is the Life-Force the greatest achievement of wishful thinking the world has yet seen?
Jack Lewis
Mere Christianity

He's wild, you know. Not like a tame lion.
Mr. Beaver
Chronicles of Narnia

Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.
President George Washington
Farewell Address, 1796

If you do not take the distinction between good and bad very seriously, then it is easy to say that anything you find in this world is a part of God. But, of course, if you think some things really bad, and God really good, then you cannot talk like that. You must believe that God is separate from the world and that some of the things we see in it are contrary to His will. Confronted with a cancer or a slum the Pantheist can say, ‘If you could only see it from the divine point of view, you would realise that this also is God.’ The Christian replies, ‘Don’t talk damned nonsense.’ For Christianity is a fighting religion. It thinks God made the world—that space and time, heat and cold, and all the colours and tastes, and all the animals and vegetables, are things that God ‘made up out of His head’ as a man makes up a story. But it also thinks that a great many things have gone wrong with the world that God made and that God insists, and insists very loudly, on our putting them right again.
Jack Lewis
Mere Christianity

Treat everyone with politeness, even those who are rude to you - not because they are nice, but because you are.
Author Unknown

I've seen men die because they were sure that what should not happen, would not.
Robert Jordan

What at first was plunder assumed the softer name of revenue.
Thomas Paine

To follow Christ or not?
“Are you not thirsty?” said the Lion.

“I’m dying of thirst,” said Jill.

 “Then drink,” said the Lion.

 “May I—could I—would you mind going away while I do?” said Jill.

The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience.

The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.

 “Will you promise not to—do anything to me, if I do come?” said Jill.

 “I make no promise,” said the Lion.

Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer.

 “Do you eat girls?” she said.

 “I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms,” said the Lion. It didn’t say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.

 “I daren’t come and drink,” said Jill.

 “Then you will die of thirst,” said the Lion.

 “Oh dear!” said Jill, coming another step nearer. “I suppose I must go and look for another stream then.”

 “There is no other stream,” said the Lion.

It never occurred to Jill to disbelieve the Lion—no one who had seen his stern face could do that—and her mind suddenly made itself up. It was the worst thing she had ever had to do, but she went forward to the stream, knelt down, and began scooping up water in her hand. It was the coldest, most refreshing water she had ever tasted. You didn’t need to drink much of it, for it quenched your thirst at once.
Jack Lewis
The Silver Chair

The Bible
Unless the religious claims of the Bible are again acknowledged, its literary claims will, I think, be given only “mouth honour” and that decreasingly. . . . It is, if you like to put it that way, not merely a sacred book but a book so remorselessly and continuously sacred that it does not invite, it excludes or repels, the merely aesthetic approach. You can read it as literature only by a tour de force. You are cutting the wood against the grain, using the tool for a purpose it was not intended to serve. It demands incessantly to be taken on its own terms: it will not continue to give literary delight very long except to those who go to it for something quite different.
Jack Lewis
Selected Literary Essays

God is not obliged to give us a reason for what he does. The meaning of his proceedings we know not now; it will be time enough to know hereafter when it will appear that what seemed now to be done by prerogative was done in infinite wisdom and for the best.
Matthew Henry
17th and 18th century English pastor and author

Nothing will ever enable you to choose God before the world, except faith. Nothing else will do it. Knowledge will not, feeling will not, a regular use of outward forms will not, good companions will not. All these may do something, but the fruit they produce has no power of continuance... A religion springing from such sources will only endure so long as there is no “tribulation of persecution because of the Word”; but as soon as there is any, it will dry up. It is a clock without a mainspring or weights; its face may be beautiful, you may turn its fingers round, but it will not go. A religion that is to stand must have a living foundation, and there is none other but faith.
JC Ryle
19th century Anglican bishop and author
(Holiness, pp. 183-184).

We have all heard people foolishly joke that when they die and go to Hell, they will hold a great party because all of their friends will be there as well. These careless jokes reflect the almost total absence of belief in the reality and the horror of an eternity in Hell.
Dr. Grant Jeffrey
20th and 21st century Canadian Christian author
(Journey Into Eternity, p. 221)


Propers
The Propers are found on Page 109-111 with the Collect first:

The First Sunday after The Epiphany.
The Collect.

O
 LORD, we beseech thee mercifully to receive the prayers of thy people who call upon thee; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epiphany, or the Manifestation of Christ
to the Gentiles.
[January 6.]
The Collect.
O
 GOD, who by the leading of a star didst manifest thy only-begotten Son to the Gentiles; Mercifully grant that we, who know thee now by faith, may after this life have the fruition of thy glorious Godhead; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

¶ This Collect is to be said daily throughout the Octave

Dru Arnold read the Epistle for today, which came from the Twelfth Chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans beginning at the First Verse. Paul asks not only those long gone Romans, but us, as well, to “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”  He tells us our home is in heaven.  Life here is not the end, rather the stepping off point, either to heaven or hell.  Thus were are “not conformed to this world: but to be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that we ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”  Some of us may be better than others, but all fall short of the minimum standard.  Through Christ we attain eternal life.  In the meantime, each of us should not “think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”  Each of us has a place in the church, a reason to be and job to do.  “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.”

I
 BESEECH you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

Hap Arnold read the Gospel for today which came from the Second Chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke beginning at the Forty-First Verse.  It tells the story of when Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem after the Passover Feast in his twelfth year.  When they were done, the family group, for they likely traveled with their extended family for safety, left together.  After the first day’s travel they stopped for the night and could not find Jesus.  So, fearing the worst, they headed back at night for Jerusalem.  Braving robbers and worse, they made their way back.   After looking for three days, they went to the temple, where lo, they found him.  He was among the learned men “both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.”  His parents were amazed and confounded.  He asked them why they worried and why they did not understand that he was about his Father’s business.  It is noteworthy that Jesus at twelve was able to “hold his own” with the learned scholars of Judah.  He was able to out reason those who lived to dissect the Law.  “A little child shall lead them,” Isaiah 11:1-10

N
OW his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day’s journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

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. 

Consider these words from the Collect:

…grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil the same…

As imperfect creatures with free will, we will never figure out what we should be doing, let alone do it, on our own.  That was the part of the reason God sent the Holy Ghost; that we might listen to Him and understand.  Not just understand The Word that had been spoken to us through Jesus and the Scriptures, but to understand what we should do, hence the prayer to figure out what we need to do, then give us the power or strength to do what we are supposed to do.  We might have some difficulties, some nervousness, some stumbling, but in the end as long as we do our best to follow His will, and not worry, things shall be ok. Because then we will be on the path to eternal life and happiness, as he wants us to be happy. To be on that path and not just think or talk about being on it. We need to act, using the Scriptures as our Holy Handbook for our actions within our lives. He did not mean for us to simply read it only, but to digest it and use what we learned in the real world.

After all isn’t that what the school system was supposedly put in place for? University, the words comprise it are “Una Veritas”, meaning “One Truth”, as it was supposed to be a place of Godly learning, where one would learn the “One Truth”. The school system was intended that we might have Godly children growing up in the faith, therefore strengthening them as men/women of great moral character. If we put back the Scriptures in our schools and held the kids to the standards of those Scriptures, then we would find ourselves on a moral higher ground.

The first thing tsunami watchers would tell people, is at the first sign of a tsunami approaching, go to higher ground. Therefore, I would like apply that same principle to our lives. At the first sign of any sort of evil, temptation or sin, that we headed to the higher ground that God lives on and seek him out, rather than wait for the wave of evil to envelop us.

We are asking God to help us know what we should do and then help us to do it right.  Seems pretty simple.  That is the root of almost all our problems. It is harder to do what is right than what seems easy to us.  First, even if we ask God what He wants us to do, “There are none so deaf as those who will not hear.”  Then, if we hear what He wants us to do, and hear it correctly, we often find it “too hard.”  Do you recall this quote from GK Chesterton:

·      “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.”


So once we find out what God wants, we often rationalize our way around it.  Think about the 613 Mosaic laws and the Pharisees who made a good living telling people how to comply with them to the letter and still do just what they wanted to do.  So, then even if we find out what God wants and decide to actually do it instead of avoid it, we are faced with the often huge problem of where do we get the strength to accomplish this task.  The answer is circular, from God.  He never asks us to do anything we cannot do good enough for Him if we rely on Him.  Never.  End of that discussion.

Now, once you have managed to get this far, you gain the power needed to become one of Paul’s New Men, a person who has accepted God’s Grace, turning to God and relying on Him for guidance, strength, courage and perseverance. To do that, we need to turn outward.  Not think of ourselves, but of God and our fellow Christians.  Speaking of that, one of the tools God gives us to get things done is a Team, that Team is fellow Christians.  So, we need to work together as a Team.  Think not of your glory, but that of God.  President Reagan had a sign on his desk which read:

“There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit.”

Paul tells us not to concentrate on our status, position or grandeur, but to see what we can do to help.  Just like our body would not function if all parts were brains, neither will Christ’s Team function if everyone is concerned about their position.

When we look at the Gospel today, aside from the historical function telling us that Jesus was in the temple bringing the light of the gospel to the rabbis, I am reminded there are other lessons.  It is not that we want to micromanage your life, but keep your friends and family informed of what you are doing and where you are going.   Jesus’ earthly parents risked life and limb going back up the road to Jerusalem at night.  But, that was their duty as parents.  A duty which must have been done, no matter the cost.

When we look back at those who fought in Vietnam, who fought in World War I, who fought in Normandy, Peleliu, Bastogne, Iwo Jima, and Concord, we find a unifying theme of Duty, which is doing what you have to do, no matter what it takes. Christ is the ultimate example of this, doing His duty to die for us, which is what God wanted Him to do, to save us from eternal hellfire. So it was His Duty and He did it with honor. Through duty, we might have a noble death and welcoming in the afterlife.  Those who fought in World War II mostly did not do it for the money, but they did it out of duty to their country and God and to protect their family. We must emulate their purpose and serve God dutifully.

Duty –
God • Honor • Country • Family

But, back to the Gospel and the parents arrival at the temple, where lo, they found him.  He was among the learned men “both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.”  His parents were amazed and confounded.  He asked them why they worried and why they did not understand that he was about his Father’s business.  It is noteworthy to see Jesus at twelve was able to “hold his own” with the learned scholars of Judah.  He was able to out reason those who lived to dissect the Law.  “A little child shall lead them,” Isaiah 11:1-10

He comes!
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 - The First Sunday after The Epiphany - 12 January 2014, Anno Domini (in the Year of Our Lord)


The First Sunday after The Epiphany.
The Collect.

O
 LORD, we beseech thee mercifully to receive the prayers of thy people who call upon thee; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Epiphany, or the Manifestation of Christ
to the Gentiles.
[January 6.]
The Collect.
O
 GOD, who by the leading of a star didst manifest thy only-begotten Son to the Gentiles; Mercifully grant that we, who know thee now by faith, may after this life have the fruition of thy glorious Godhead; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

¶ This Collect is to be said daily throughout the Octave

The Epistle
Romans xii.1

I
 BESEECH you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

Holy Gospel
Saint Luke ii.xli

N
OW his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day’s journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

            The Star to which the Prayer of Collect for Epiphany refers is none other than the Bright and Morning Star which leads all, both believing Jew and Gentile, to God. There are no people of God apart from those who have placed their trust in God, the kingdom as a national edifice having been torn from the rulers of the Jews. Jesus told the Jewish rulers: “Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” (Matt 21:43) Now is that Faith of Abraham joined together into one Church of both Gentiles and Jews who believe. Neither the Muslim, the unbelieving Jew, Buddhist, or Hindu will be received into that Church – the Door is Christ.

            Paul is preaching in the Epistle not only to the Gentiles of Rome, but to the believing Jew as well. Instead of the dead sacrifices of the Jewish Temple, God requires our LIVING sacrifice of love, compassion, and obedience.  When we come to the Lord Jesus Christ, we are made new creatures in mind and soul. The process is not only abrupt, but continuing. We are to renew our minds daily to conform to the mind and will of Christ.

            Before addressing the particular details of the Gospel found in Luke today, let us first examine what constitutes the nature of the saints of God as demonstrated in Mary, the mother of Jesus, John the Baptist, and others.

            Mary inherited a special blessing in being privileged to carry in her womb the Son of God. Jesus is the only Man born to woman who had no earthly father. He was the only Man ever to be born who was also God. He came preaching the will of His Father, and representing His Father in all truth and purpose. No other can ever stand in the place of God because no man is God. The Roman Church pays much reverence to saints and exalts them to a pinnacle of divinity in praying for their intercessions; but the saints are not above the common level of mankind even if they led exemplary Christian lives. They still had shortcomings and sinned. Mary, too, was God’s perfect virgin Lady in a mortal and carnal body that was subject to sin and error. Yes, she was highly favored and blessed of god, yet she was imperfect in nature.

            Though those who are saints (all who are loyal and obedient to God) are blessed with many graces by God, they are also put through many harsh and painful trials. Consider with me the plight of poor Mary. Being young lass at the time of Gabriel’s visitation, she had hopes and dreams like all young ladies have. She wanted a loving home, a loving husband, healthy children, and parents that would always love her. She desired to be socially accepted in the community as well, and the Jewish community at Nazareth was small in number of souls, but the number of gossiping tongues and prying eyes were as the constellations of heaven. So when Mary became pregnant out of season, though Joseph was obedient to God in taking Mary as his wife, the tongues doubtless waged and expressed unmentionable conjectures.  The Christian saint of our day must suffer much libel and disapproval, too. The world labels us as freaks and malcontents. So we suffer in smaller scale the same degradations as did the precious young lady, Mary, and too often without justification. But the fruit of Mary’s womb would be a blessing to all peoples and men from the east, west, north, and south would come and sit at the feet of her Son and be blessed equally.

            Look at the ordeal young Mary had to suffer when the Child was ready to be born. Circumstances, under the Providence of God, caused Mary to travel a three days journey to Bethlehem riding on a donkey. Mothers can scarcely imagine that discomfort she experienced, and men can never even slightly grasp it. Once arrived at Bethlehem, I am sure Mary was anxious to find suitable lodging at which she could rest her head and weary body; but no such lodging was available. Mary must have pondered God’s will in allowing her Child (and His) to be born in a stable among the beasts of the field. What utter degradation in her mind. It is true that those who give their lives as a living sacrifice to God often experience circumstances that always seem contrary to their purpose. Nothing good seems to come without a great struggle and much suffering. We are suddenly and without notice often required to go places where we desire not to go, and live in conditions that are not consistent with our expectations.

            No sooner had Mary settled in a home with the Child then God ordered Joseph, in a dream, to flee into a foreign land – Egypt. Mary had never been further from her home in Nazareth than tiny Bethlehem. Now she must again pick up her scarce belongings and flee into a land of which she knew nothing. No sooner had Mary adapted to the new home in Egypt before the Lord ordered their return to Nazareth. Sometimes, the saint may begin to wonder if the world is right after all – perhaps we are more than a ‘peculiar people.’ Perhaps we are, as the world alleges, freaks. But just the opposite is true. No matter the inconvenience, the pain, the suffering – it is always the very best Way that leads the Way of Heaven.

            I love to read the writings of the great Martin Luther. He is quite serious but, at the same time, allows his German disposition to evince itself in his writings. Here is a quote that Luther made about the sufferings of Jesus and John the Baptist: “Thus God reverses the order and acts in a contrary way, deals so harshly and offensively, according to human reason and opinion, with His dearly beloved Son as He would not deal with any man on earth, as if He were not the Son of God, or of man, but the child of Satan! In the same way He also dealt with His well-beloved servant, John the Baptist, of whom Christ says, “Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” (Matt 11:11), and yet upon him He conferred the honor of being beheaded by a knave.” A saint, like Mary and John the Baptist, is a good soldier who obeys orders from God without question – even if those commands make no present sense to him.

            Finally, and this happens at the moment of death of many saints, Mary has her heart pierced by a spear at the foot of the Cross at Calvary. What agony was hers as she watched her beloved Son writhe in pain and struggle to breathe while suspended from the Cross by nails. Had not Gabriel warned the young woman of years ago, “(Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,)” (Luke 2:35)  Imagine her great sorrow and anguish when all hope of life seemed to fade for her Son and, then, at last, a soldier comes along and thrust a spear into His beloved heart. Jesus was already dead, but Mary was not! That piercing wound hurt Mary far more than it did her Son. Evil abounds on all sides in our world. It has never been the will of God that the innocent are violently slain or abused, but the heart of man is full of wickedness and evil. He gave his heart over to the wrong Tree at Eden and rejected God. We must endure that evil, and oppose it always, until we close our eyes in the sleep of death.

            Now let us observe some salient points revealed in today’s Gospel. 41 “Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover.” This was a spiritual duty, and the mother of Jesus, and Joseph, were good examples of a Christian home. They attended the religious services faithfully of their religion. While many today cannot muster energy to travel two blocks to church on the Lord’s Day, these traveled over harsh terrain a three day’s journey for the Passover. Little did Mary and Joseph realize that they carried the future and final Passover with them – “For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.” (1 Cor 5:7) Many years later, Mary and Jesus would make that same trip to Jerusalem at Passover, and Christ would be the Lamb to be sacrificed.

            For these past several years, Mary and Joseph had traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover, and now Jesus was twelve years old – the age, presumed by religion, to be the age of moral consciousness. Jesus was more than morally conscious. He taught doctors in the Temple! We have, in this account, the only meager remnants of the young life of Jesus. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.” Just as He would do some twenty one years later, Jesus enters the Temple at Jerusalem and confronts the teachers of the Temple – this time as a Child, the last with a reed with which he beat the money changers and overturned their tables.

            Since the annual Passover journey to Jerusalem was a Jewish national event, there were great numbers in the company of travelers from Nazareth – perhaps all of the village who were able to travel. 43 “And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.” It is very easy to have Jesus in our hearts, so very close as a beloved Child, yet lose His constant fellowship through neglect of attention. “44 But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.” How do you suppose poor Mary felt? She had been entrusted with a Child that was ONLY hers and that of God the Father – and she has lost Him. She did not lose Him for a few minutes, or for a few hours, but THREE days! What do you suppose went through Mary’s mind and heart? When we are separated from Christ owing to our own neglect to study and love Him, do we not suffer great sorrow? Mary had taken Jesus for granted. She believed He was among all of the other playful children on the journey, but she did not make CERTAIN! We must not take our fellowship with Christ for granted.

            45 “And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.” If we place too great a distance between our daily living and Christ, we may not so easily find Him again. Our lives, without Christ, become confused and disorderly and, though Christ is always accessible to us if we seek Him, the weeds may have grown over the trail of that access.

            Though the Temple was the most likely place to find Jesus, it was perhaps the last place Joseph and Mary looked for they had been in Jerusalem some hours before they found Him. 46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.” Here is an important lesson regarding Christ and our prayers. He not only hears us, but also inquires. So, you want an opulent new home? “Why do you need such when your neighbor is living in a shanty?” Jesus may ask.  It was completely contrary to reason that a twelve year old would be dialoguing with doctors of religion – listening to their highfalutin chatter, and then asking of them the meaning.

            Jesus will astonish us with His remarkable solutions to our problems if we will only ask in humility. 47 “And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.” These were all lawyers and doctors of religion – teachers of the law; yet, they were astonished at the wisdom and understanding of a twelve year old Boy. Should we not be even more astonished at the Words and Wisdom of the Risen Lord? All that hear (many will refuse to hear) shall be astonished at Christ. Have you been astonished at His Words?

            The human instincts of the mother in Mary overrode her understanding and memory of Gabriel’s message. 48 “And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.” Perhaps Mary’s feeling of personal guilt at losing her Son caused her to shift the blame to Jesus. But Mary was not unaccustomed to suffering for the Child that she bore by Heaven’s decree.

            It has been argued by many errant theologians that Jesus had no sense of identity until His baptism, but this verse disqualifies such a supposition: 49 “And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?” Christ clearly reveals Himself here to be the Son of God!

            How often we fail to grasp the higher meaning of the teachings of the Bible! Even though we have read, and seemingly understood, just a while later, the meaning escapes us. Mary had been told by the Angel of Christ and His Life, yet Mary has long suffered many diversions and forgotten, for the present, the whole meaning shared by Gabriel. 50 “And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.”If we had a perfect understanding of all of the Words of Christ, how could we ever lose Him. We read the Scriptures through a lens of deception too often. We read and interpret the words of the Bible in such a way as to justify our own selfish notions. How often do ministers and theologians propose and theological doctrine, and then limit their reading only to those parts of Scripture that seem to justify that doctrine?

            Jesus was an obedient Son. He knew His mother and Joseph did not understand fully what He was about, so He tarried for the perfect timing of His Father to continue His ministry. 51 “And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.” But Mary mulled over these events in her mind. Perhaps she began to recall the Words of Gabriel and compared them to her experiences with Jesus at Jerusalem and as He was growing up in Nazareth. Perhaps she even wondered about the sword that would pierce her own heart, but not fully knowing. We see now, as Paul says, through a glass darkly, but one day we shall see face-to-face!

52 “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.” There one thing that God may have not known before Jesus became man – that is, how does it FEEL to be human? Though He knows our hearts well, God had never experienced physical pain, want, hunger, and thirst. But Jesus experienced all of the emotions and sensations of pain and patience we have experienced while in the flesh. He grew in wisdom, for wisdom cannot remain idle. The favor of the Father was showered upon Hi Son more and more as the years passed and the day of His Passion approached. It was undoubtedly a time of great joy for the Father in seeing His Son fulfill the measure of love, grace, obedience and trails of life; but it must have also been and agonizing period for the Father in anticipating the great abuse and torture that His Son would undergo at the moment of that Passion. The thought of all that Christ suffered for us should be a constant source of grief mingled with joy - grief to know that He did all for us, and joy to know that His sacrifice was sufficient even for our own sins.

Could we withstand the grief and heartache of Mary, of John?

We shall see.

Roy Morales-Kuhn, Pastor - St. Paul's Anglican Church - Anglican Orthodox Church
Rev Roy is pastor of the biggest AOC parish West of the Mississippi; and is being consecrated a Bishop later this week, he will be in charge of the Diocese of the Midwest.  Roy will be a great bishop and continue as a great pastor, nothing less is in him.

First Sunday after Epiphany
12 January 2014

The Epistle: Romans 12:1-5                              The Gospel: Luke 2:41-52

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

In Paul’s letter to the Romans we find an interesting charge being made to the Gentile readers of his text. He gives them the challenge of presenting themselves as a living sacrifice to God. Notice the very real difference. Animal sacrifices were offered freshly slaughtered. The life of the animal was taken to offer parts of the animal to the gods. In the case of the Hebrew people the best or choice meats were offered to God as a burnt sacrifice. {Left-overs went to the priests and their families as a payment for the work of the priestly craft.} We see Paul’s challenge in a plea, “beseech you”, that the newly converted Gentile readers, present their bodies as a living sacrifice. Why? Because, it is ‘your reasonable service’. It is what you are supposed to do.  No less for sure and you can do no more.

2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The next verse can’t be any clearer in meaning. Do not conform your life to the world. Do not act, speak, live like the world does. Instead Paul writes that we are to be transformed, changed, renewed, turn 180 degrees away from the world, by renewing the mind. This is to prove that you are God’s own. We are struggling in this ‘post-modern’ world with the concept that we need to change the Church to fit in with the world.

Why?

The world is a horrible mess, no clear center of meaning or purpose; only chaos, corruption, strife and evil. So why should we conform to that mess?  Instead as Paul wrote, we need to change our ways, we need to be conforming to what God wants us to do, not what the world wants us to do. The world has nothing to offer mankind as far as peace, security, eternal life. “...I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no man comes to the Father but by me...”.  Christ Jesus spoke that truth. Contrary to what the world says and even some religious leaders say, Jesus is the ONLY WAY. Why did He say it if it wasn’t true?

3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:
5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

Now Paul addresses another issue, no less important, as far as the life of the church is concerned. The concept of service, use of one’s talent(s), the furtherance of the Kingdom of God.  Paul’s warning is to us. Do not put yourself above others in the family of God. Do not think because you have a more important position or duty, that you are ‘better’ than just an ordinary person in the pew. “Think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” I would think that we are reading about talents and abilities. When one has the talent for numbers, or the skill with tools or research, these are God given. These are gifts that one should ‘mine’ in the most liberal way, allowing for all the talents that God has given one an outlet, a way to glorify the Lord. We can do so much with what we are given, some training, some experience and next thing you know you are doing great things for the Lord.

The next two verses (4 & 5) here speak to this division of labor and yet a central purpose to a believer’s life. A reason to bring our talents to the altar to ‘ ...present ourselves a living sacrifice...’ In these verses we find a division of labor/talents/skills and yet also a unity of purpose. We need to search our own lives periodically to see that we are using our God given talents to the honor and glory of God and to the furtherance of His Kingdom. It is so important to us both spiritually and emotionally to know that we are a part of the whole.

Just recently an illustration was shared about a visiting pastor trying to get a family to come to church. He travels to the family home, is invited to sit by the fire place and enjoy a cup of tea. As the niceties of the day are shared the pastor took a fire place poker and carefully pulled a glowing ember from the crackling fire. Within a few minutes the glowing ember began to get grey and grow cold. It eventually went out. The head of the house hold noticed the ember and told the pastor he and the family would be at church the next Sunday. As believers we are meant to be together. We are meant to edify and help each other all to the purpose of praising God our creator. We are the family of God. As we gather at the holy supper today let us remember that we are all members of God’s family. Let us remember each other in prayer, let us work together to see that the Gospel is preached and live in our everyday lives.

To God be the glory.

Let us pray: O Almighty Lord, and everlasting God, vouchsafe, we beseech thee, to direct, sanctify, and govern, both our hearts and bodies, in the ways of thy laws, and in the works of thy commandments; that, through thy most mighty protection, both here and ever, we may be preserved in body and soul; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen

O
 God, who by the leading of a star didst manifest thy only-begotten Son to the Gentiles; Mercifully grant that we, who know thee now by faith, may after this life have the fruition of thy glorious Godhead; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen
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.

First Sunday after Epiphany

In our gospel lesson today we are given the only story of our Lord as a youth approaching manhood (St. Luke 2:41-52). To the unbeliever and the skeptic, the Bible’s silence concerning that time beyond the infancy of our Lord and prior to the beginning of his earthly ministry has been a sort of “open door” for their unwholesome speculation. But for us who have been regenerated by the power of the Holy Ghost, we respect the reticence of God regarding this time in our Lord’s life as we walk by faith and not by sight (II Corinthians 5:7).

While the Bible communicates the plan and purposes of God; it tells us only those things which he, in his infinite wisdom, would have us know. Even so, we are not supposed to engage in frivolous speculation concerning those matters not covered by Scripture. It should be understood that God does not keep us from knowledge of his failings because he cannot fail. And God does not keep us from the knowledge of his Son’s sins because Jesus Christ lived a sinless life. For this cause came the only begotten Son of God into the world, that he might bear our reproach and carry our sins upon the cross. Ergo, without a perfect and sinless life in toto, our Lord’s sacrifice would be worth nothing (see Hebrews 4:14-16).

Another aspect of our lesson today which the critics and skeptics love to harp on has to do with our Lord’s treatment of his parents and their apparent quizzical response to his reply to them (vv.48-50). Consider the facts from our lesson. Our Lord had gone with his parents to Jerusalem to observe the Passover feast, something they had done every year (v.41). His parents then made preparations to leave after the feast had been observed, and thinking he was among their relatives and friends, they departed for Nazareth. Now, when they found him not among their fellows, they returned to the city and found him in the Temple among the learned scholars of the day both hearing them and asking them questions (vv.44-46). His mother chided him because he had caused both her and Joseph to worry over his whereabouts. His response is telling: How is it that ye sought me? wist [know] ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?(v.49). Notice also that his mother and Joseph did not understand what he had said (v.50) which has led the critic and the skeptic to pounce upon the divinity of our Lord. They claim he was only a man and that he did not possess a sinless nature because he had not kept the commandment of Honor thy father and thy mother (Exodus 20:12).

The Bible plainly tell us that though his mother and Joseph did not understand what he had said to them, they nevertheless knew who he was. One would have to omit the opening chapters of the gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke to justify such a farce. The very next verse (v.51) of our gospel states forthrightly that And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. They (like many others) would hear Christ’s words and not directly grasp their meaning, much as Christians down through the ages have at one time or another held an insufficient understanding as to God’s word.

And such is certainly the case for the critics and skeptics of today. They are so lost in Lucifer’s understanding of the word that they cannot see the truth of God’s word written. For if the Devil’s veil of deception is ever lifted, such would inevitably lead them to accept Jesus Christ’s bona fides as the only begotten Son of God and the Saviour of their souls. But the forces of darkness have worked diligently to make the very words of Scripture of no effect. Over the millennia, the Devil has sought to twist God’s word so that those who would hear it will fail to understand and heed it (St. Matthew 13:18-23). It should be clear enough to the faithful Christian that critics and skeptics will come and go, but God’s word will stand forever (I St. Peter 1:25). We may not always grasp the meaning of every passage ; nevertheless, our faith in God’s word ought not be diminished on account of our ignorance. St. Paul advised us to, Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (II St. Timothy 2:15).

We have not been called to worship one such as ourselves, but the very personage of God made flesh, full of grace and truth ( St. John 1:14). We have not been called to faith in a myth, saga, or legend, but to that one and only name under heaven by which men must be saved (Acts 4:12). We have not been called to a weekly remembrance of a dead man, but that of the living Christ, who is seated at the right hand of God the Father (St. Mark 16:19). We have not been called to study a book of magic, or of conjuring, but to inwardly digest the very words of God which he spoke unto the patriarchs, prophets and apostles who are now members of that great cloud of witnesses which are about us and are cheering us on to victory in Jesus Christ (II St. Peter 1:15-21; Hebrews 12:1).

There remain as yet many things in God’s word that are veiled in mystery. Still, God is faithful to perform the promises he has made to the whole body of the saints in times past. As we are living in these last days, we ought to be looking up and praying for the coming of him who suffered so that we might obtain the gracious favor of God through faith in his blood. So that when we are summoned before his judgment seat, we might hear these words: well done thou good and faithful servant and be received into his eternal kingdom as saints of light. Therefore, let us heed the answer our Lord gave to his earthly parents, wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business? For that is what all true Christians are expected to do in his service.

Let us pray,

O
 God, who sent thine only begotten Son into the world, that all who would believe on him might be saved; grant us grace to follow his good example, serving in his harvest and occupying until he comes again; for this we ask in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Have a blessed week, Bryan+



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