Second Sunday in Lent - Propers with explanation – Bishop Jack’s Sermon – With Video

Bishop Jack brings the propers together.  His sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video HERE -> https://youtu.be/-TVbL9-aRj0

 

Bishop Jack’s sermon looks at the unifying message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine how they share a common message of action as we enter into the time of Lent, which is a season of preparation.  In the Collect, we acknowledge to God that we cannot direct our own lives; if we listen to our own selves we are without guidance. Paul tells us to keep our bodies under control of our minds and our minds to be guided by God only, He helps move us on course.  Matthew gives us a fine example of faith that demonstrates how we must be guided by faith in our Lord.  The woman who cries unto Jesus is a Gentile, just like us.  Just like us she longs for His Mercy and will not give up. Action, not diction is what counts. It all comes together.

The Propers for today are found on Page 127-128, with the Collect first:

 

The Second Sunday in Lent.

The Collect.

 

 

A

LMIGHTY God, who seest that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves; Keep us both outwardly in our bodies, and inwardly in our souls; that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

And due to the rubric, the Collect for the Day is followed by the Collect for Ash Wednesday, which is found on Page 124:

 

The first day of Lent, commonly called
Ash Wednesday.

The Collect.

 

A

LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

¶ This Collect is to be said every day in Lent, after the Collect appointed for the day, until Palm Sunday.

 

The Epistle for today comes from the Fourth Chapter of Paul’s First letter to the Thessalonians beginning  at the First Verse.  Apparently the Corinthians were not the only church founded in a Red Light District.  In this letter Paul is telling the people to refrain from random sex and get married.  Paul is starting into the beginning of his New Man concept.  We are called to be as God wants us to be, not as we would be without His guidance and help.  God does this, not that we would miss fun, but rather that we would enjoy happiness.

 

W

E beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: that no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his Holy Spirit.

 

This morning’s Gospel comes from the Gospel of Saint Matthew, the Fifteenth Chapter, beginning at the  Twenty-First Verse. 

 

J

ESUS went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

 

This story surfaces again in the Book of Common Prayer in the Prayer of Humble Access, in the Book of Common Prayer, Page 82:

 

W

E do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy: Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, and our souls washed through his most precious blood, and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen.

Bishop Jack Arnold

Anglican Orthodox Church of the United States

Training and Education Department

Diocese of the West

Church of the Faithful Centurion - Descanso, California

Bp Jack brings the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together because as is always the case there is a unifying message in the Scripture for this Sunday.   Bp Jack’s sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video HERE -> https://youtu.be/-TVbL9-aRj0

Good morning! I hope you are all doing well. In today’s sermon we will be looking at the unifying message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine how they share a common message of action as we enter into the time of Lent, a season of preparation.  Let us start by reading today’s Collect:

 

The Second Sunday in Lent.

The Collect.

 

 

A

LMIGHTY God, who seest that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves; Keep us both outwardly in our bodies, and inwardly in our souls; that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Consider these words from the Collect:

 

… we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves; Keep us both outwardly in our bodies, and inwardly in our souls; that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul …

 

In the Collect, we acknowledge to God that we cannot direct our own lives; if we listen to our own selves we are without guidance.  Consider the airplane flying, it orders its movements according to Polaris, the Pole Star of True North.  If a pilot flies guided by his “inner self” he soon knows only where he is: at the controls, and little else.  Like the pilot who needs to know where the True North is so he can orient himself, we need God’s guidance to move towards our goal of eternal life with Him. While flying my aircraft in instrument meteorological conditions or IMC , I have to rely on the aircraft instruments as our bodily senses lie to us about our aircrafts true altitude. So too do we have to rely on Scriptures for our guidance on the path towards heaven as our natural inclinations will also lie to us on our true performance.. This is why we cannot rely on ourselves to navigate towards heaven but we need the help of our spiritual navigator the Holy Ghost.

 

The first step of getting onto the narrow uphill path towards heaven is that we have to let Him into our hearts in order to let Him guide us. If we do not do this, then how can we expect to have Him guide us, if we are not open and ready to receive Him and His Guidance? We would be perpetually lost and would never make it onto the narrow uphill path towards heaven. This is why need the help of the Holy Ghost to be our infalliable co pilot and help guide us on the narrow uphill path towards heaven

 

Thus, when Paul tells us to keep our bodies under control of our minds and our minds to be guided by God only, He helps move us on course. He tells us to avoid the things that can sabotage our journey towards God and can physically hurt both our souls and body. These things he lists out are things that would derail us if we engaged in those activities. We must seek to not do them and to instead remain on the courseline that the Holy Spirit has outlined for us. This ties in very well with the collect’s request for God to keep us outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls. It links the theme of both spiritual and physical moderation extremely well. If we stay away from the things that would derail us, we will find our journey on the narrow uphill trail to be much easier than if we didn’t stay away from those things. The Holy Ghost will help us avoid those negative activities and moderate our spiritual and physical lives if we will allow Him in and listen to His Guidance.

 

Being honest with others and especially ourselves is one of the most important things we can do. If we are not honest with ourselves to start, how can we be honest with others?  The worst person to lie to is yourself after all. For only by living our faith can we demonstrate that we in fact have faith.  For professed faith with no action when you are able to act is not real.  You must actualize what you claim to believe. We must put our nice words into action and not just leave them as words. We are called to be as God wants us to be, not as we would be without His guidance and help.  God does this, not that we would miss fun, but rather that we would enjoy true happiness.

 

Keeping evil thoughts under control can be a difficult task, but we do not have to face it alone, we have the Holy Ghost in our lives and other Christians and friends that support us and guide us, that can help us battle evil thoughts.  This is not a battle that we should be fighting alone, but with support from the Holy Ghost and our Christians and other friends. This proves that Christianity is not a solitary religion but a social one. We need the help of our fellow believers if we are to succeed at the race of Life. Of course we need to be willing to talk to our good friends within the Church about our problems and evil thoughts and listen to their advice, and more importantly to the Holy Ghost’s advice to combat these evil thoughts and drive away the temptations of the devil.  Christianity did not flourish because its followers were hermits, it flourished because its followers evangelized the religion throughout the known world. It is an active religion and it requires its followers to actively participate in it by spreading the Good news.  It would never have spread as far as it did if it was a hermetic religion.  Keeping our thoughts under control can be almost impossible at times but with the help of the Holy Spirit it is not impossible at all.

 

Matthew gives us a fine example of faith that demonstrates how we must be guided by faith in our Lord.  The woman who cries unto Jesus is a Gentile, just like us.  Just like us she longs for His Mercy.  In her case, she asks only for the mercy rejected by others, the crumbs of the Master’s Table[1].  This is the essence of our faith, we are not worthy to dine at His Table, no more than dogs are meet to dine at our table.  Yet, what is left over is more than enough for us.  And we are content with that, knowing what miserable creatures we are.  And, even more important, even knowing what miserable creatures we are, Jesus offers to share His Table with us.  This woman had just as much faith in Jesus as the Faithful Centurion. She had faith that He would share His Mercy with her and heal her Daughter. She was rewarded for her faith by Him healing her daughter.  The key in all of these interactions that Jesus had with these people, is that these people had tremendous faith in Him. We must have that same faith and we must show it in our lives by carrying out actions consistent with his message.

 

He is not content for us to grovel for His crumbs. If He offers His love for us, should we not love Him back, by acting upon our faith?  If you truly believe, you are compelled to act upon the faith you have. Action is the key cornerstone of the Christian faith. Jesus afterall laid down His life for ours on the cross that we might have eternal life, the ultimate example of action. If He did that for us, it would be behoove us to act upon our Faith and follow His Example of helping others and leading them to God. 

 

It is also important to understand if one loves God, He still has the exact same amount of love available for any other person or group.  His love is infinite, even if it wasn’t, love multiplies in use! We do not have to worry about God running out of love at all. There is more than enough to go around!

 

Recognize how poorly you do with your own guidance, accept His Guidance, stay on course and accept the fruits of that action. Realize that you will make mistakes multiple times in your life, but what counts is that you turn back to God and do your best not to make that same mistake again.

 

There is but one way to heaven.

 

That easy to find, easy to follow, easy to hike path does not lead to the summit where eternal life in the real world awaits.  Open your heart to the Holy Ghost, use His Power to follow our Lord to God who awaits in heaven.

 

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

---

[1] Sound familiar?  Check out the Prayer of Humble Access, Holy Communion, BCP Page 82.

First Sunday in Lent - Propers with explanation – Bishop Jack’s Sermon – With Video

Bishop Jack brings the propers together.  His sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video HERE -> https://youtu.be/0YuXV3Sko4M

 

Bishop Jack’s sermon looks at the unifying message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine how they share a common message of action as we enter into the time of Lent, which is a season of preparation In the Collect, we ask God to help us change our natural evil tendencies so we can live life here His way and honor His wishes so we can be truly happy.  Following the thought of the Collect, Paul asks us to be worthy of the grace God has given us.  He tells the people when they needed him, He was there.   The gospel, The Temptation of Christ, is really about Want and Need; two words, used interchangeably in both our speech and thought, that do not mean the same thing.  But, Jesus knew. Action, not diction is what counts. It all comes together.

The Propers for today are found on Page 125-127, with the Collect first:

 

The First Sunday in Lent.

The Collect.

 

O

 LORD who for our sake didst fast forty days and forty nights; Give us grace to use such abstinence, that, our flesh being subdued to the Spirit we may ever obey thy godly motions in righteousness, and true holiness, to thy honour and glory, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

 

And due to the rubric, the Collect for the Day is followed by the Collect for Ash Wednesday, which is found on Page 124:

 

The first day of Lent, commonly called
Ash Wednesday.

The Collect.

 

A

LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent; Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

¶ This Collect is to be said every day in Lent, after the Collect appointed for the day, until Palm Sunday.

 

The Epistle for today came from Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians, the Sixth Chapter, beginning at the First Verse.  In what at first appears to be an incomprehensible single sentence, Paul asks us to be worthy of the grace that God has given us.  He tells the people when they needed him, he was there.  They need to be there for those around them.  They must not frustrate God’s work by showing up late, or not at all.  Those around us are watching our actions in the time of testing.  We have been given eternal salvation by Jesus’ sacrifice, the understanding of the Gospel by the Holy Ghost.  We are at this time dying here on earth, yet progressing towards eternal life in the next world, in Jesus’ world with His help. While we may never be wealthy here on earth, our actions can make our fellow Christians wealthy in spirit beyond measure.  

 

If you claim to be a Christian, you know what is right.  If you are a Christian, you do what is right, you don’t take a vote to see what the right course of action might be.  Right does not change with public opinion and we must do the right thing.  It is our actions that count, in good times or bad.  We are Christ’s ambassadors to this world, unfortunately we do not have diplomatic immunity.

 

W

E then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain; (for he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation;) giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: but in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; by pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

 

This morning’s Holy Gospel came from the Gospel of Saint Matthew, the Fourth Chapter, beginning at the First Verse. This portion of the Gospel tells the story of the temptation of Christ. In many respects, it shows how little the devil understands of Christ, and through Him, of us. If you understand how little the devil really offers you and how much Christ offers, the temptation is ever so much less.  The devil is often referred to as the deceiver or dissimulator.  His forte is deception, he seems one thing, is another.  Offers what he has no intention or ability to deliver.  Ignores the inevitable result of accepting his proffered help or inside track.

 

He clearly knows Jesus is the Son of God.  There is no doubt in his mind.  So, having understood that, consider what he offers Jesus in temptation.  

 

Remember, Jesus has fasted 40 days OF HIS OWN CHOICE; he who has no real power asks Jesus to turn stone into bread to show His Power.  This to the Son of He who delivered manna daily to the Jews in the wilderness for 40 years.  

 

Cast thyself down and let angels catch thee; this to He who walked on water.

 

Up to the mountain lookout – Here is it all yours if you worship me.  This to He who as it says in Psalm 95:

 

In his hand are all the corners of the earth; * and the strength of the hills is his also.

 

The sea is his, and he made it; * and his hands prepared the dry land.

 

O come, let us worship and fall down, * and kneel before

the Lord our Maker.

 

For he is the Lord our God; * and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

 

The devil promised Jesus nothing that was his to give, nothing that would help Jesus in the real world beyond the Shadowlands.  He never does.  The devil is all about shortcuts.  Remember, if the shortcut was the best way, it would not be a shortcut

 

Like the temptation of Jesus, the devil never delivers what we need, only what we may want short term.  Remember as little as the devil understands of Christ, so he understands little of us.  He will never offer you real help.  Remember that and the temptation is ever so much less.

 

This morning’s Gospel comes from the Gospel of Saint Matthew, starting at the First Verse of the Fourth Chapter. This portion of the Gospel tells the story of the temptation of Christ.  In many respects, it shows how little the devil understands of Christ, and through Him, of us.  If you understand how little the devil really offers you and how much Christ offers, the temptation is ever so much less.

 

T

HEN was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

 

THE EXHORTATIONS.

        ¶   At the time of the Celebration of the Communion, after the prayer for the whole state of Christ’s Church, the Priest may say this Exhortation. And Note, That the Exhortation shall be said on the First Sunday in Advent, the First Sunday in Lent, and Trinity Sunday. 

 

D

EARLY beloved in the Lord, ye who mind to come to the holy Communion of the Body and Blood of our Saviour Christ, must consider how Saint Paul exhorteth all persons diligently to try and examine themselves, before they presume to eat of that Bread, and drink of that Cup. For as the benefit is great, if with a true penitent heart and lively faith we receive that holy Sacrament; so is the danger great, if we receive the same unworthily. Judge therefore yourselves, brethren, that ye be not judged of the Lord; repent  you truly for your sins past; have a lively and stedfast faith  in Christ our Saviour; amend your lives, and be in perfect charity with all men; so shall ye be meet partakers of those holy mysteries. And above all things ye must give most humble and hearty thanks to God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, for the redemption of the world by the death and passion of our Saviour Christ, both God and man; who did humble himself, even to the death upon the Cross, for us, miserable sinners, who lay in darkness and the shadow of death; that he might make us the children of God, and exalt us to everlasting life. And to the end that we should always remember the exceeding great love of our Master, and only Saviour, Jesus Christ, thus dying for us, and the innumerable benefits which by his precious blood-shedding he hath obtained for us; he hath instituted and ordained holy mysteries, as pledges of his love, and for a continual remembrance of his death, to our great and endless comfort. To him therefore, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, let us give, as we are most bounden, continual thanks; sub- mitting ourselves wholly to his holy will and pleasure, and studying to serve him in true holiness and righteousness all the days of our life. Amen. 

 

Bishop Jack Arnold

Anglican Orthodox Church of the United States

Training and Education Department

Diocese of the West

Church of the Faithful Centurion - Descanso, California

Bp Jack brings the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together because as is always the case there is a unifying message in the Scripture for this Sunday.   Bp Jack’s sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video HERE -> https://youtu.be/0YuXV3Sko4M

 

Good morning! I hope you are all doing well. In today’s sermon we will be looking at the unifying message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine how they share a common message of action as we enter into the time of Lent, which is a season of preparation.  Let us start by reading today’s Collect:

 

The First Sunday in Lent.

The Collect.

 

O

 LORD who for our sake didst fast forty days and forty nights; Give us grace to use such abstinence, that, our flesh being subdued to the Spirit we may ever obey thy godly motions in righteousness, and true holiness, to thy honour and glory, who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

 

Consider these words from the Collect:

 

… Give us grace to use such abstinence, that, our flesh being subdued to the Spirit we may ever obey thy godly motions in righteousness, and true holiness, to thy honour and glory …

 

In the Collect, we ask God to help us change our natural evil tendencies so we can live life here His way and honor His wishes so we can be truly happy.  This is the basic message behind most of the collects because it is truth. Without His help, we end up with what we want, not what we need. And what we want is not always good for us, but what we need is always good for us. We are asking for God’s help to differentiate between our wants and needs.  Lent is the time in which we focus on fighting our sinful selves and working with the Holy Ghost to reconcile us with what God wants for us. This is what the collect is referring to when it talks about abstinence. The collect is calling us to subdue our natural fleshly desires with the help of the Holy Ghost.  What we want is not the same as what we need. Lent is the time in which we focus on separating our wants from needs and concentrating on what our needs truly are.  We need the Holy Ghost to help us in this endeavor for sure. By ourselves we would fail miserably at this task, but with the help of the Holy Ghost we will surely succeed. We just have to listen to what He says and then put His Words into action.

 

We are asking him to help us fight our human nature and follow His divine nature, we are attempting to replace our nature with that of God’s. It is a long and difficult road we must travel, doing this, but we are going to be much happier in the long run if we at least do our best. Do or do not, there is no try, Yoda is quoted as saying, and I find it applicable here and in my own life. We have to act, not just say we are going to act, but we must physically perform ACTIONS!

                                 

Want and Need; two words, used interchangeably in both our speech and thought that do not mean the same thing.  Think about that!

 

Following the thought of the Collect, Paul asks us to be worthy of the grace God has given us.  He tells the people when they needed him, He was there.  Following his example, we need to be there for those around us.  We must not frustrate God’s work by showing up late, or not at all. It all goes back to Jesus’ saying, No man can serve two masters. We have to choose who we are going to serve God or Satan/Mammon and then once we have chosen to serve God, we need to do our best to be there for Him and His People. Action and not just dictions alone are needed to serve God. 

 

Our actions reflect whom we truly serve, God or the Forces of Satan. Which side will you serve? You in the end have to choose one side or another. Pick the winning side now, which is the Forces of God, and you will have a rich everlasting life. Where our treasure is, our heart will be there also to quote Jesus. So let us make sure our treasure is heaven and not on earth where moth and rust corrupt and thieves break through and steal. If our treasure is in heaven, there it is incorruptible and thieves do not steal. When times are tough we need to remember where our treasure truly lies and it is not in Earth, but in Heaven. The key to winning this battle for souls is to never ever ever give up and to trust in God and Dread Naught.  It may get gloomy and depressing sometimes but as long as we turn back to God and His Scriptures and the Church for comfort than all will be well with our souls. And also remembering when we are finished running the race here on Earth so to speak, we will get to spend eternity with God, Jesus and our family who have gone before, it makes bearing the trials and the tribulations of this world a lot easier.

 

When the Devil attempted to tempt Christ, he showed how little he knows of Him.  It also shows how arrogant the Devil truly us to even attempt this. He was very foolish to think that his attempts to tempt Our Lord would work! If we emulate our Lord, it shows how little the Devil will be able to tempt us with his deceit. Jesus provides us with the perfect template to resist Satan and his wiles. Do not even entertain them for a fraction of a second, and just tell Satan to Get Thee Hence!  If we follow Him we will be able to withstand any temptation that arises as our Lord showed for us in the desert 2,000 years ago. 

 

Consider how little the Devil really offers you and how much Christ offers, the temptation is ever so much less.  The Devil is often referred to as the Deceiver or Dissimulator.  His forte is deception; he seems to be one thing, but is another.  He offers what he has no intention or ability to deliver. He actually has zero ability to deliver on his large promises, he has no right to give away what is not his! 

 

The Devil clearly knows Jesus is the Son of God.  There is no doubt in his mind.  So, having understood that, consider what he offers Jesus in temptation.  

 

Remember, Jesus has fasted 40 days OF HIS OWN CHOICE; now comes the devil daring Him to show His Power by turning the stone into bread.  This to the Son of He who delivered manna daily to the Jews in the wilderness for 40 years.  

 

Cast thyself down and let angels catch thee; this to He who walked on water.

 

Up to the mountain lookout – Here is it all yours if you worship me.  This to He, who as it says in Psalm 95:

 

I

N his hand are all the corners of the earth; * and the strength of the hills is his also.

 

The sea is his, and he made it; * and his hands prepared the dry land.

 

O come, let us worship and fall down, * and kneel before the Lord our Maker.

 

For he is the Lord our God; * and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

 

The devil promised Jesus nothing that was his to give, nothing that would help Jesus in the real world beyond the Shadowlands.  He never does. Jesus knew this and we would be wise to remember this. Unfortunately people who do not have the Holy Spirit within them do not see thus and sadly allow themselves to be deceived by the Devil. We have an advantage in that we have the Holy Ghost and if we listen to Him we cannot be deceived by the Devil.

 

We have to realize the devil is all about shortcuts.  Remember, if the shortcut was the best way, it would not be a shortcut. The devil will not help us at all in the long run, if you look at things from the eternal perspective. That is what we need to keep in mind every time he tempts us. And doing the right thing in the end will be far easier than if we tried the devil’s shortcuts. We have to remember that what the devil offers us will pale in comparison to what God has to offer us and that the way of the devil will cause us more pain here on Earth and a lot more pain after we leave Earth. If we keep that in mind, it makes it ever so much easier to fight off the Devil and his temptations.

 

The temptation of Jesus is no different than the Devil’s attempt to tempt us!  The Devil never delivers what we need, only what we, in our imperfection, want. This is where knowing the difference between our wants and needs will really put us on course for salvation. If we recognize that his temptations are preying on our desire for our wants, we can shut down the temptation by focusing on what we need. He can’t understand what we really need, he only knows what we want. This is an advantage we have over him. We understand what we truly need; if we remember it, then holding off against the temptations is easier. Remember as little as the Devil understands of Christ, the same way, as we are in God, so he understands little of us.  He will never offer you real help.  Remember that and the temptation is ever so much less.

 

Or, as my grandfather said, “Keep your eye on the donut, not on the hole”

 

There is but one way to heaven.

 

That easy to find, easy to follow, easy to hike path does not lead to the summit where eternal life in the real world awaits.  Open your heart to the Holy Ghost, use His Power to follow our Lord to God who awaits in heaven.

 

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

Quinquagesima - Propers with explanation – Bishop Jack’s Sermon – With Video

Bishop Jack brings the propers together.  His sermon is below the propers and can be viewed on video HERE -> https://youtu.be/ZpNUhtyjwyI

 

Bishop Jack’s sermon looks at the unifying message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine how they share the common message of action as we prepare for the real meaning of Lent, which itself is a season of preparation.  In the Collect, we acknowledge to God that if we have not charity, nothing we do is worth anything; we then ask Him to send the Holy Ghost into our hearts with the precious gift of charity.   What is charity?  The Epistle and Gospel come together to give you an understanding of just why charity is so very important. Action, not diction is what counts. It all comes together.

The Propers for today are found on Page 122-124, with the Collect first:

 

The Sunday called Quinquagesima, or the

Sunday next before before Lent.

The Collect.

 

O

 LORD who hast taught us that all our doings without charity are nothing worth; Send thy Holy Ghost, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee. Grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

 

The Epistle for today came from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, the Thirteenth Chapter, beginning at the First Verse.  Paul talks of charity[1], “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.”  Paul goes on to say that no matter what you do, if in your heart you have not that love for others, it is all to naught.  Our understanding here on earth is limited, we will never here see the fullness of God’s plan, yet the part most clear is the love we must have one for another, to do unto others as we would have them do unto us, for no reason other than we know that is right so to do.  Paul uses the phraseology “through a glass, darkly”, which is very interesting inasmuch as CS Lewis uses a variation to describe earth as compared to heaven.  He calls the earth The Shadowlands and says in heaven all is clear and bright, not dark and muddled as here on earth.

 

T

HOUGH I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

 

The Holy Gospel for today came from the Gospel of Saint Luke, the Eighteenth Chapter beginning at the Thirty-First Verse.  The Gospel starts out telling of Jesus’ trying to prepare his disciples for what was to come, and they could not grasp it: “Then Jesus took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: and they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.”  The Gospel goes on to tell of Jesus’ healing of a blind man near Jericho, “And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way-side begging: and hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee. And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.”

 

If you take nothing else from today’s Gospel, take this – Faith will save you.  After you are saved, you need to act on your faith.  The order is clear.

 

W

HEN Jesus took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: and they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken. And it came to pass, that as he was come nigh unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the wayside begging: and hearing the multitude pass by, he asked what it meant. And they told him, that Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. And he cried, saying, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And they which went before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace: but he cried so much the more, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood, and commanded him to be brought unto him: and when he was come near, he asked him, saying, What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee? And he said, Lord, that I may receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Receive thy sight: thy faith hath saved thee. And immediately he received his sight, and followed him, glorifying God: and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise unto God.

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[1] Charity - Love; universal benevolence; good will; the word which properly denotes love.  Properly understood the Love of God, that perfect love, to which man should aspire. [1913 Webster]

Bishop Jack Arnold

Anglican Orthodox Church of the United States

Training and Education Department

Diocese of the West

Church of the Faithful Centurion - Descanso, California

Bp Jack brings the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together because as is always the case there is a unifying message in the Scripture for this Sunday.   Bp Jack’s sermon can be viewed on video HERE ->https://youtu.be/ZpNUhtyjwyI

Good morning! I hope you are all doing well. In today’s sermon we will be looking at the unifying message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine how they share the common message of action as we prepare for the real meaning of Lent, which itself is a season of preparation.  Let us start by reading today’s Collect:

 

The Sunday called Quinquagesima, or the

Sunday next before before Lent.

 

The Collect.

 

O

 LORD who hast taught us that all our doings without charity are nothing worth; Send thy Holy Ghost, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee. Grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

 

Consider these words from the Collect:

 

… that all our doings without charity are nothing worth; Send thy Holy Ghost, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity …

 

In the Collect, we acknowledge to God that if we have not charity, nothing we do is worth anything; we then ask Him to send the Holy Ghost into our hearts with the precious gift of charity.  Webster tells us that Charity is love; universal benevolence; good will; the word which properly denotes love. What it really means is Love in Action! Like many areas of our Christian development, we will never fully get there. But if we never try to put Love into action, we will never even get close to getting there. The key words are in action. Meaning we just can’t think about loving people, we actually have to go out and do actions showing that we really do love them, not just say it.  Just saying we love them does not mean as much as performing actions that show we actually love them. Without the love in our hearts, nothing we do here has any meaning, our actions would be meaningless without love in our hearts for God and our fellow human beings and creatures. We must strive to incorporate love for God and others in our actions. We must allow the Holy Ghost into our hearts to allow us to have that love.

 

Charity is the purest form of love there is and derives from God’s love for us. Without God’s love in us, we cannot hope to have any form of charity towards our fellow humans. God has given us love to enable us to act on His behalf here on this Earth. Without the love that God gives us, we cannot hope to be able to perform good works for Him. We are naturally not very loving beings, actually we are very sinful and angry creatures. We need to ask God to enter into our hearts and shine His Light in and replace our negative emotions with positive emotions such as His Love. Unlike our natural emotions, Love is not selfish or wasteful, but kind and abundant. We are to be agents of good change, not bad; with Charity, we will act with love towards one another.  With charity in our hearts, we will be agents for change of good. These are qualities that are not naturally part of our sinful nature. If we do not have love in our hearts towards one another, how can we expect to be able to effect positive change on the world around us?

 

In connection with the Collect which talks about one who is brought before God without love in his heart is a dead person. And not just in eternity but in life, a person with no love is a dead person walking.  Paul makes this very point in his Epistle, saying that no matter what talents we have, without the Love of God in our hearts, it is all for naught.  You can be the best in your profession or have a super unique talent, but in the end if we do not have the Love of God in our hearts, our talents are ultimately wasted. We need to ask God to send that Love into our hearts that we might be inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit and His Love to act for Him.  We cannot do anything for God without that Love in our hearts. We must have the Love in us, brought to us by the Holy Spirit, in order to be effective in our ministerial efforts. He is the reason we are here in this life and He is the one we must act for.  It must be clear to us our understanding here on earth is limited, while here we will never see the fullness of God’s Plan; yet the part most clear is the love we are to have one for another, to do unto others as we would have them do unto us, for no reason other than we know it is right so to do. 

 

Having Love in our hearts is a must if we are to perform actions for Him here in this world. In order to have love in our hearts, we must be open to the Holy Spirit. Only then can we truly receive His Love to spread around. And do not fret, there is an unlimited supply of love for everyone. When Paul talks about God’s great plans, he uses the phraseology “through a glass, darkly”, which is very interesting inasmuch as CS Lewis uses a variation to describe earth as compared to heaven.  He calls earth The Shadowlands and says in heaven all is clear and bright, not dark and muddled as here on earth.  So, here our understanding is limited, it will not always be so. That will be fulfilled when we pass those Pearly Gates into heaven, and in order to do that, we have to have faith, and act in good works with charity. 

 

As they were coming in to Jericho, Jesus told the disciples of what was to come, yet they could not grasp their leader would submit to such treatment on their behalf. One of the reasons they could not grasp it is that they did not yet have the Holy Spirit in their heart to help grasp the words that Jesus spoke. In their minds He was the Conqueror; in a sense they were right, He came to conquer death for us, not the Roman Empire. He had the Love of God with Him and He loved us so much that He would die a painful method of execution and go into Satan’s realm in order to free us from the terrible wages of sin, that of death. As they went along, they encountered the blind man who was, like many of us are, blind.  His blindness was of eye, not heart, he knew the power of God and of love. The blind man who wanted his sight and knew Jesus had The Power.  He cried unto the Lord and was rebuffed by His People. This is the key and it applies to us as well. Did he give up?  No, he cried the more.  We are like the blind man in that our sin blinds from seeing what we could be with the help of the Holy Ghost. We must cry out for Jesus to enter into our hearts, souls and minds and lead a transformation of our minds to serve Him.

 

When Jesus heard him, he turned and asked what the man wanted.  MY SIGHT!  No generalizations, no beating about.  The blind man asked of Him what he truly wanted.  Ask and it shall be given unto you.  He lacked sight, not vision.  Nor, it might be added, did he lack faith. We should ask God to have to sight and hearing that we might see, hear and act upon the Word. To some, the faith he had might seem a blind faith, but it was one he acted on and gained what he lacked.  Will we have the faith to act?

 

True love is Faith, Hope, Charity[1].

 

There is but one way to heaven.

 

That easy to find, easy to follow, easy to hike path does not lead to the summit where eternal life in the real world awaits.  Open your heart to the Holy Ghost, use His Power to follow our Lord to God who awaits in heaven.

 

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

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[1] The three Gloster Gladiator fighters Faith, Hope and Charity defended Malta against the Italian Air Force during the early part of the siege of Malta in World War II.  Legend has it all three persisted and of the three, Charity never failed.