Rev Jack's sermon can be viewed on video RIGHT HERE!
Sermon – Reverend Jack Arnold - Time and Action
Church of the Faithful Centurion, Descanso, California
Today’s sermon ties together the propers, that is to say the prayer and readings for this week. Consider these words from the Collect:
… God, who dost govern all things in heaven and earth; Mercifully hear the supplications of thy people, and grant us thy peace all the days of our life …
In the Collect, first we acknowledge God’s place in the universe, that is He is the ultimate ruler of all things. Thus, the civil authorities of each country, state, county and locality govern with His Authority, so long as they do His Will, whether they be Christian or not. It is His Authority that is the source their powers and not their own determination. They do not have the power to grant themselves the power that God grants them. The power God gives is not to be abused for self-profit or their own means, but to better the country and the people within it. Our Constitution, which serves as the skeleton or foundation of all our laws gets its authority from the Declaration of Independence. Where, pray tell, does the Declaration of Independence get its authority? From our Creator. Acknowledged right there in plain English. It needs no explanation, merely a grade school reading ability!
It tells us that men do not have the power themselves to rule and govern us, but only what God has given to them. It is not theirs to claim for themselves, no matter how hard the modern establishment tries to proclaim it so. It is only theirs for as long as God allows them to have it. God has given it to them for the specific use of governing us to the best of their abilities. It is not there for them to abuse and become tyrannical with. With that great power God has lent comes great responsibility to use that power well.
We go on to ask God to listen to us and give us His peace in our hearts. God is perfect. His hearing is perfect. It is not His hearing that is in need of help; it is ours. He hears us clearly when we pray; God always hears us when we call Him. What we learn from this Collect is that when we pray to Him, we need to listen to Him. We need to establish two-way communication. In order to act upon His Word, we need to first listen to what He tells us and understand what He is telling us. We are the ones that need help with hearing, not Him. He always listens to what we have to say, but do we always listen to what He tells us? Therefore we need the help to calm our hearts and listen to what He says and then act upon it.
To truly follow Him, we need to truly listen and take His Guidance to heart. In order to truly listen to His Guidance we need to act upon His Words. key word being ACT. We need His Guidance to transform ourselves from evil to good. Without His Guidance, we cannot hope to be transformed to be good to serve Him. His Guidance comes in the form of the Holy Ghost. Without His Guidance, we cannot ever hope to be good and righteous. To do that, we must open our hearts and minds; and let Him in. He will not force His way in. It takes action on our part to let Him in. If we open our hearts and minds, we will hear Him. Then after we hear Him, there is still more action to be done. After we hear Him, we then have to act on what He tells us to do. Action, not just diction, is what counts in the end.
In the Epistle Paul reminds us that each of us have of individual talents important help the Church further its cause. And it is equally important that we all work together. To work together in the church, each of us need to utilize our unique talents according to the needs of the church, not somebody else’s talents, but their talents. Each and every one of us has a talent of some sort, be it musical, talking (being good with communication), sweeping, taking out the trash, there is no end to the need. Almost anything else can be used for His Glory, to further His Work, His Goals, is a talent. What we need to do is co-ordinate with others of differing talents to come together and further His Will.
We should not look for praise for our own work (though we may appreciate it, we should not dwell on it too long, lest we have to start shopping for size fourteen hats for our swollen heads!) However, we should look for reasons to praise and encourage others. Encouragement is the best way to help the team grow the Church. Encouragement helps other Christians to grow in their talents. The more we encourage our fellow Christians, the better off the team as a whole will be. That which is rewarded most is what grows. And this is how we can encourage our fellow Christians and our other friends to grow and learn, by the encouragement. This encouragement will help sprout the seed for more of the good work around us to flourish.
Look at John the Baptist, out in the wilderness; not in the fancy building, the gold-plated temple, but out where he could prepare straight the way for the Lord. He was out where the people were, he came to them, rather than wait for them to come to him in a fancy building. He was on a mission to pave the way for Jesus to come and preach and ultimately for His Death and Resurrection. Smoothing the path so to speak, making ready the hearts and souls of the people for the coming of the Lord. He did not point at himself, rather he pointed the way towards God incarnate[1]!
By the way, how necessary is praise to miserable human beings? God Himself, looking on His Son’s baptism remarked for all to hear, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
How oft do we praise the actions of others? Too often we are quick to criticize the failings of others and over analyze their failings. Sometimes when we think of people we know, all we can think of is their failings and forget everyone has their good parts as well, for each of us has been created by God. It is in our nature, part of our human nature, our free will condition that we must fight against with His help. We must understand while it is valuable to know when we fall short, people strive the hardest for praise of those whose opinion they value.
When you hear those words, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, remember to use them yourself. Lead others to God, don’t just point the way.
Be of God - Live of God - Act of God
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