Verse of the Day

Sunday, March 16, 2014

The Second Sunday in Lent


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 –

But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble...
Jeremiah 2:28a

Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
St. Mark 9:23

I am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
St. John 6:48-50

This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
I St. Timothy 1:15
Holy zeal and bitter envying are as different as the flames of seraphim and the fire of hell.
Matthew Henry
17th and 18th century English pastor and author

If you ever look about yourself and find that your country is a Goliath, towering over a small enemy, be afraid. God enjoys letting giants grow, giants like Persia, or our own country, but he always fells them, and he always fells them with something small or petty, a stone, or a ragged bunch of impoverished Greeks with schizophrenic gods. It is a curious thought to consider what God will use to rein in our present predominate unrighteousness.
Douglas Wilson
20th and 21st century American theologian and Christian Classical educator
(Omnibus I, p. 132).

On Vice
There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which every one in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves. I have heard people admit that they are bad-tempered, or that they cannot keep their heads about girls or drink, or even that they are cowards. I do not think I have ever heard anyone who was not a Christian accuse himself of this vice. And at the same time I have very seldom met anyone, who was not a Christian, who showed the slightest mercy to it in others. There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others.

The vice I am talking of is Pride or Self-Conceit: and the virtue opposite to it, in Christian morals, is called Humility. You may remember, when I was talking about sexual morality, I warned you that the centre of Christian morals did not lie there. Well, now, we have come to the centre. According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.
Jack Lewis
Mere Christianity

They promise to be good masters; but they mean to be masters.
Daniel Webster
We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.
Benjamin Franklin (1776)
Pride
If you want to find out how proud you are the easiest way is to ask yourself, ‘How much do I dislike it when other people snub me, or refuse to take any notice of me, or shove their oar in, or patronise me, or show off?’ The point is that each person’s pride is in competition with every one else’s pride. It is because I wanted to be the big noise at the party that I am so annoyed at someone else being the big noise. Two of a trade never agree. Now what you want to get clear is that Pride is essentially competitive—is competitive by its very nature— while the other vices are competitive only, so to speak, by accident. Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better-looking than others. If everyone else became equally rich, or clever, or good-looking there would be nothing to be proud about. It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone. That is why I say that Pride is essentially competitive in a way the other vices are not. . . . . Greed may drive men into competition if there is not enough to go round; but the proud man, even when he has got more than he can possibly want, will try to get still more just to assert his power. Nearly all those evils in the world which people put down to greed or selfishness are really far more the result of Pride.
Jack Lewis
Mere Christianity
Propers
Each Sunday there are Propers: special prayers and readings from the Bible.  There is a Collect for the Day; that is a single thought prayer, most written either before the re-founding of the Church of England in the 1540s or written by Bishop Thomas Cranmer, the first Archbishop of Canterbury after the re-founding. 

The Collect for the Day is to be read on Sunday and during Morning and Evening Prayer until the next Sunday. The Epistle is normally a reading from one of the various Epistles, or letters, in the New Testament.  The Gospel is a reading from one of the Holy Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  The Collect is said by the minister as a prayer, the Epistle can be read by either a designated reader (as we do in our church) or by one of the ministers and the Holy Gospel, which during the service in our church is read by an ordained minister or our Deacon Striker.

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

The Propers for 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.

Dru Arnold read the Epistle for today, which came 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.

Hap Arnold read this morning’s Gospel which 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.



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:

… 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 “inner self” 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. I had the experience of flying our Ercoupe N7543C today. I had to maintain altitude, heading and airspeed all at the same time. I then looked outside and re-checked my instruments. As I was flying along, I thought about how these principles of flying could be applied to being a Christian. The Holy Scriptures are our instruments and we re-check our progress in the world by the instruments of His Word to make sure we are on the right heading and not stagnating in our progress as pilgrims. God is also our infallible co-pilot, always making sure that we stay on course. If we are good pilots of our future, then we shall listen to God and His Holy Word so that we might be on course.

 It should also be noted that our life here will be a lot more pleasant if we stay on course.  Recently, I read something of Rev Rick Reid’s which said at the end of our lives, the words will be “Thy will be done.”  The question is will it be us saying it or God?  We need to listen to God and do His Will.  His guidance will bring us on a path to success in our lives, if we listen to His guidance. We have to initiate the contact/relationship with Him. He does not do it on His own. He waits for an opening into our hearts. 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 have to be willing and ready in order to receive His Guidance, than we have to act upon the information His Guidance gives us.

Thus, when Paul tell 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.  We are to be true and honest in all our dealings, both physical and fiscal and to live our faith.   For only by living our faith can we demonstrate that we in fact have faith.  For professed faith with no actions when you are able to act is not real.  You must actualize what you claim to believe. One must convert their stated beliefs into their actions, in order for their belief/faith to have any reasonable meaning. Without actions, the faith that one believes is not truly real, if it is not acted upon. If you claim to believe one way and act another, you are by definition a hypocrite. 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.

Matthew gives us a fine example of faith that demonstrates how we must be guided by our 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 worth 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.  He is not content for us to grovel for His crumbs. If he offers his love for us, surely we should love Him back, by acting upon our faith? If we do not act for Him, then we do not truly believe in Him. In order to truly believe, you must act upon the faith that you have. Acting is the key principle, the key cornerstone of the faith of Christians, and Christ set this example of our faith by doing it, by sacrificing Himself for our sins on the cross. This was an example of action not just diction. Action is far more important than diction only. Diction is nice, but it needs to be paired with Action in order for it to have any sort of meaning.

It is also important to understand that 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!

Recognize how poorly you do with your guidance, accept His Guidance, stay on course and accept the fruits of that action.

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
Second Sunday in Lent
16 March 2014, Anno Domini (In the Year of our Lord)

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.

One great acknowledgment that stands out in today’s Collect for the 2nd Sunday in Lent is this: Since our father Adam partook of the ill-natured tree in the midst of the Garden, Man must still find himself constantly relying upon that OTHER Tree in the midst of the Garden at Eden which he rejected – the Tree of Life. Because of that rejection, we are full of sin and incapable of helping ourselves. We even return to, stop and listen to, and partake of the ill-fated fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It is only the Mercy and Grace offered by the Tree of Life that keeps us from constantly appealing to the serpent of the other tree. This Collect originates in the Gregorian Sacramentary. For a fuller study and brief meditation on the Collects, I recommend The Collects of Thomas Cranmer, by C. Frederick Barbee and Paul F.M. Zahl. (Erdmans, 1999)

Sir Francis Bacon has said: “A man’s nature runs either to herbs or weeds. Therefore, let him seasonably water the one and destroy the other.”
The Epistle 
1 Thessalonians 4:1-8

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.

            Quite often, in discussion with the modern Christian, when the sins of abortion and homosexuality (and others of modern character) are raised, the response is: “Well, we have ALWAYS had these sins among us.” This seems to be some off-handed justification for toleration – a favorite tactic of the devil’s minions. The fact is that sins abound today that were not even uttered publicly in centuries past.

            Though all generations are wicked and adulterous, we witness in history that some are far more wicked and adulterous than others. It must be admitted that it is rare in history to see the level of wickedness and rebellion against God as we see in the present generation. The notion that things are just as they have always been is a deception of the modern church as pointed out by Peter: "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,  And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. " (2 Peter 3:3-4)

            We know, from the very Words of Jesus, that things have not continued as they have from the beginning. Those who support homosexuality love to argue that nothing has changed, but it certainly has. The nature of sin has not changed, but the abundance of it surely has increased. “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.(Matt 24:6-13) It is a sad characteristic of man to always attempt to justify himself – even in sin.

21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 22 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. 23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. 28 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(Matt 15:21-28)

            Jesus has just been confronted by the scribes and Pharisees (blind leaders of the blind) who have come to Him with a petty complaint involving hand-washing. These men ruled their charges by red-tape and the jot and tittle of the law, and not out of love. There is one cardinal principle is preaching that may be the most neglected, not only by the former Pharisees, but the contemporary ones as well. That principle is clearly elucidated in 1 Peter 5:2. Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; 3. Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. (1 Peter 5:2-4) So Jesus, wearied of the harassment from the mean fellows, resorts to the far reaching coastline of Tyre and Sidon (Phoenicia on the Mediterranean) for a time of peace and quiet. There is also a certain woman in His thoughts that needs to see Him and is awaiting His arrival there. This dear soul has no idea that the Son of David will travel to her distant home, but the Son of David knows, and He comes.

            The beauty and comfort of God’s providential care for us, even while we were yet strangers, knows no limits on time and distance.  Perhaps, ere you came to Christ, you, too, were a great distance away among a people of Godless character; yet, Christ was aware of your plight and His Holy Spirit, swift as a Dove, came to you and answered your great need. He knew you LONG before you knew Him – even while you were yet in your mother’s womb where He MADE you! Such a wonderful visit of Christ the great Healer and Physician was beyond the realm of possibility in the imagination of the Syro-Phoenician woman. Yet, there was something in her heart that made her believe that God would provide. Already, she had more faith as a Gentile than the Jewish rulers had as the lost sheep of Israel. The reassuring thing about faith in God is this: We need not understand the ways and means of God’s answering our prayers, but only to know that He certainly WILL! The ear of faith, to, is very keen to hear every whispered detail of the Way of the Lord’s Coming whether it be on the road from Galilee, or from Jerusalem. The direction is not so important, but the fact that He will come after all. There is a parallel account of this event in the Gospel of St Mark (7:24-30).

            We look in upon Jesus immediately after His confrontation over hand-washing with the Pharisees: 21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. Please do not argue that Christ knew not whom He would meet at His destination for I will not believe it. Christ always knew whom He would meet and whom He would heal in every case. He knew a woman of Samaria would come to Jacob’s Well at the noonday hour long before the woman experienced her thirst. So He waited there while the disciples went for bread. You may be the most incorrigible and egregious of sinners, judged so by infidel and Christian alike, but Christ may have already established a point in time when He will seek you out in a land far removed from the familiar people of God. This woman may not be an egregious sinner. In fact, I believe that she is a good and faithful mother to the treasure of her bosom, but she has not yet met Christ – and that meeting will make all the difference in her life. Now He is coming. The news is whispered about the villages and among travelers along the dusty roads. His fame has even reached the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, and the woman has heard with bated breath. HOPE is the dominant quality that informs her germinating faith in a Figure see has yet to meet. The Gospel of St Mark tells us that Jesus went into a house to rest near the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, but “could not be hid.” (7:24)  No truer statement can be uttered about Jesus – He cannot be hidden from the searching eye, for all that seek Him shall fid Him. (Luke 11:9 et al) There is a Syro-Phoenican woman that is seeking, and she shall find Him at all costs. This is always the cause that brings us to Christ – NEED! Many need, but fail to satisfy that need in coming to Him.

            22 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. There are three important points to be made in this one statement: 1) The woman did not casually call out for help as if her need, or her expectation, was minor. She CRIED out because her NEED, motivated by a mother’s love for a dear little girl, was GREAT! “my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil” . 2) She named no great need in her cry – only a request for mercy. If she has mercy from Christ, she has all else of her need. 3) She recognized Jesus as the Messiah. That is the meaning of her expression “O Lord, thou Son of David.” She did not call Him ‘a’ son of David, but the prophesied Son of David. When we go to Christ in prayer, do we fully realize He is? This woman KNEW before ever she met Christ. She knew out of NEED and FAITH. Perhaps feeling herself so much so unworthy as the publican who came with the Pharisee to the Temple that day and would not approach so near, she called from a distance unto Christ. Actually, our first call to Christ is always from a distance, for we call out of our bondage and need. It is just as the hymnist, William Sleeper, has written in the hymn we sang today:

Out of my bondage, sorrow, and night,

Jesus, I come, Jesus, I come;

Into Thy freedom, gladness, and light,

Jesus, I come to Thee;

Out of my sickness, into Thy health,

Out of my want and into Thy wealth,

Out of my sin and into Thyself,

Jesus, I come to Thee.

            23 But he answered her not a word. Was Jesus being unkind to this precious mother? Of course he was not! Jesus showed nothing but the deepest compassion for others in need. Jesus does not answer for two reasons: 1) He desires to allow the woman’s faith to increase, by and by, through her persistence. If we pray ceaselessly and, yet, have not gotten an answer, do we cease to call upon the Lord? God would have us pray with persistence. As we pray continually, our eyes are opened more and more to the Mind of God – our prayers thereby become more and more in accord with His own Will to grant. Do you recall in our previous studies how those who are closest to Christ often prevent those who need Him most from coming? And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. Do we value our comfort and leisure so highly that we forbid others who have a great need from coming to the source of that comfort we have? Are we too cozy in our little buildings of stone walls and high spires? The salt that is not often shaken will harden so that it cannot be dispensed from the shaker.

            24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Every Word of Christ is with power yet this is one of those ‘BUTS’ which deserve heeding. This woman is from the Canaanite race of Gentiles that the Jews despise. Christ is drawing out of a deep well, the refreshing waters of faith this woman has.  He does it not only for her own benefit, but for the benefit of his Jewish disciples to learn of compassion.  He is saying to the poor mother, “Look, I know you have a need, but I am not sent to any other than the lost sheep of Israel. If you become a child of the Promised Seed, you, too, shall be in the fold of Israel.” The statement of Jesus is looked upon with particular interest by His disciples. Jesus is slowly drawing the woman closer to Himself, and to His Love-Brimmed Heart. 25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. Yes, we see that the Love of Jesus does draw her nearer, don’t we? She finally is not afraid to worship the Savior of her soul. She asked for the deepest desire of her heart, and that desire derives from a love that is inexpressible for her daughter.

            Please note thoughtfully the kind and loving response of Jesus to the woman: 26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. At first glimpse, this may sound a bit harsh to such a loving mother, but it is laden with love. The word Jesus uses here to describe her relationship to the children of God (Israel) is not the term for the cursed and hated dog of the ghettos, but the Greek word, κυνάριον, pronounced ‘koo-nar’-ee-on’, meaning ‘puppy’ or ‘pet-dog.’ The puppy dog is a pet and is fed by the children by secretly dropping crumbs of food down to them. Perhaps we, as children of God, fail too often to drop these crumbs of the Bread of Life down to those who are starving for love and nourishment. Jesus, from eternity past, has loved this woman and her little daughter; but He needs to show her the manner in which she must come to Him. 27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. These words were evoked by Christ for the benefit of those standing nearby. He already knew these words were written in the red blood of love on the woman’s heart for her daughter. Had she not needed a healing for her daughter, she may never have sought Christ out.

            28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. What has Jesus told the woman? He has told her (in other words): “Woman, you have known who I am. You have come seeking me out of a faith born of love. You have persisted in your prayers, so much so, that YOUR will is precisely the Will of God. It is by THAT latter Will that your faith has healed your daughter. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.  God is Light, and His Finger travels with Light Speed. There was no lingering spirit-possession of the daughter – not at all. She was healed that very hour (moment).

            So what valuable lessons have we learned from this most blessed mother of ancient Phoenicia?

1.              Love will call us into a higher place – even to a higher faith in seeking after God.

2.              We must seek the Lord diligently even in places that are perceived unlikely such as the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.

3.              We must call out in earnest to Christ not holding back.

4.              We must clearly state our need in prayer.

5.              We must be persistent in prayer even if we only hear silence at first from the Throne of God.

6.              We must not only petition, but listen for the Will of God to be informed of it.

7.              We must worship God even while we are pleading our desperate cause as did the distraught mother.

We must give evidence of our Faith in God without fear of man.
 
        

Have we exercised this example in prayer? Put it to the test.

God is faithful always to answer if our wills are consistent with His Own.   
       
Bishop Dennis Campbell’s Sermon
Bishop Dennis is a brilliant speaker.  He is able to take biblical precepts and make them perfectly understandable, even to me.  Oft he provides the text of his sermons and I take the utmost pleasure in passing them on:

In Christ
Psalm 142, 1 Kings 8:37-43, Colossians 3:12-17
Second Sunday in Lent
March 16, 2014

 I want to start the sermon by reading a verse that is not in our Lessons for this morning, but is nevertheless foundationally important to a correct understanding of them.  The verse is Colossians 1:2, and the entire book of Colossians expounds the meaning of it, especially the words, “in Christ.”

To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse.

It is impossible to escape the fact that much of the teaching and evangelism of the contemporary Church emphasizes trusting Jesus so we can be saved from Hell and go to Heaven.  And this is a legitimate emphasis, one that is often found in Scripture.  But it never, not even in Scripture, has received the emphasis it currently receives. Rather than talking about being saved from Hell, earlier Christians spoke more about being saved from the power of sin and from the grip of demons and evil things that destroy lives and families and cultures and souls.  They echoed the thought of Psalm 142, that God brings our souls out of a kind of prison so we can have Him as our hope and our portion in the land of the living.  I spent much of yesterday reading very ancient sermons on Colossians, and I saw them make this same emphasis many times.  “From what monstrousness, from how great unreasonableness, hast Thou set us free” wrote St. Chrysostom.  I think that if we were to replace his word, “unreasonableness” with, “stupidity” and destructive idiocy” we will have expressed his meaning well.

I have noticed something else about the Christians in earlier ages; that rather than a constant emphasis on going to Heaven, they preferred to emphasise being “in Christ” here and now[2].  Again Chrysostom is an example, for he wrote that the entire tenor of the Epistles of St. Paul is that in all things Christians are partakers with Christ.  We are partakers of all good things, and we are partakers not just with Christ, but also in Christ.  In fact, we are partakers with Christ because we are in Christ, for we have become His body.  This emphasis entirely Biblical, for Paul refers to us as ‘in Christ,” or “with Christ,” or as having “Christ in us,” no less than eighteen times in Colossians alone.

There is something else about the teaching and preaching of earlier times.  It was not so much an appeal to accept the grace of God, but a statement that God confers grace upon His people, and this grace places us in Christ so that our lives are “hid with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3).  Being in Christ, or living in Christ is exactly what our reading in Colossians 3 is about, and that is what I want to talk about this morning.

I heard an interesting sermon last week.  I was driving home from Powhatan and I turned on the radio, and a young man, I don’t know who, was trying to preach about the difference between law and grace.  He said that in the Old Testament, people were under Law, so they obeyed God in order to escape punishment and reap rewards.  According to him, being under Law means they earned punishment by doing evil, and earned rewards by doing good.  This, he believes, is true even down to their eternal destiny, for even there they either earned Heaven as the reward for keeping the Law, or earned Hell by breaking the Law and doing evil.  I am afraid the young man does not understand what it means to be under Law or under grace.  Nor does he realize that those who were saved in the Old Testament era were saved by grace alone as surely as those in the New Testament era.  Salvation has always been by grace, never by Law.  It has always been the gift of God conferred upon His people, never a reward for good behaviour.

So, being placed in Christ by the grace of God, we are now free to live in Christ.  This is accomplished in at least four ways.  First it is accomplished by belonging to the Church.  Here I refer not only to the Invisible, Spiritual Church, but also to the organised, Visible Church. The Visible Church, the organizational Church, is the Church which the “Second Office,” which we read last Sunday morning, says you were made a member of when you were baptized.  You were baptized into a visible, organised congregation with an ordained minister and a formal membership.  And the more true to the Bible that congregation was, the more formally it was connected to the Church at large, which we often call the “Visible Church.”  It is important to note that the ancients, from the Apostles to the Reformers, believed that the unity between Christ and the organised Church is so real that to be in that Church is to be in Christ, and to be out of that Church is to be out of Christ.  There were, of course false teachers who erred in other things, and, therefore left the Church to form their own cults.  But it was chiefly after the Reformation that some, otherwise orthodox Christians, wrongly interpreted the Bible to mean the Church is only an invisible, spiritual fellowship of believers, or only a local congregation, instead of a visible, connected organisation of congregations.  But it is in Christ and in His visible body, the Church, where, according to Colossians 3:11 all differences between people are erased and we are united in Christ, who is all and in all.  It is in the visible, organised Church that we are called in one body, according to Colossians 3:15.  We truly are in Christ as we are in the Church.

Second, we live in Christ by the means of grace.  I know I say this often, but it needs to be repeated because we are under a constant barrage of attempts to make us believe we dwell in Christ, or participate in Christ, or relate to Christ primarily through religious experiences.  Such people are always attempting to feel something when they pray, worship, or do “Christian” things.  It is the feelings, the emotions, the emotional experiences that they think is contact with God.  But this view puts the cart before the horse.  It makes feelings paramount, and seeks them above God.  If they don’t get the feelings, these people conclude God is not in that service, or in that church, or in that meeting.  It doesn’t matter to them that the Bible is preached faithfully and God is honoured.  If they don’t get the feeling, they conclude God is not in it.

But feelings are not a trustworthy measure of closeness to God.  Religious “experiences” can be, and I would venture to say, usually are spurious.  They are usually nothing more than an emotional feeling evoked by a song or a story or a personality.  I have heard many people say they felt God move in a service or song or sermon filled with dismal errors in doctrine and practice.  It was not God who moved them.  What they experienced was simply an emotional feeling, what those who have gone before us in the faith called, animal excitements.”  And, by the way, they have always urged us to avoid animal excitements in faith and worship.

Third, we live in Christ by Godly living   What I have in mind here is what the ancients called holy lives and righteous living.  It is what the Bible calls keeping the letter and the spirit of God’s commandments.  This is a point that is repeated several times in this short book of Colossians, including the part we read earlier.  Today’s reading builds on the fact that we are in Christ.  We are buried with Him in baptism according to Colossians 2:12.  This verse does not refer to going under water.  It is about being united to Christ by baptism, such that we are baptized into His death and burial.  We are also risen with Him according to that same verse. This also has nothing to do with coming out of water.  It refers to faith, and it means we are baptized into His resurrection if our baptism was a true profession of Biblical faith, not just a religious ceremony.  If indeed we have Biblical faith, we have put off the old man with his deeds listed in Colossians 3:5-9.  And we have put on the new man with the things of Christ we read of in 3:12-17.  This is a big part of being in Christ.  It is a big part of the way we participate in Christ.  We participate in the kind of life Christ lives, and that is like participating in Christ Himself.  Because we are in Christ, we live as Christ lives and do as Christ does.  We are in Christ as we keep His commandments.

Fourth, we live in Christ as the word of Christ dwells in us richly.  This is one of the foundational verses in the book of Colossians.  Here God is telling His Church to let everything He has been teaching us in the previous chapters dwell in us richly.  Let all the doctrines and exhortations already written fill our being to the point that they direct our thoughts, attitudes, actions, feelings, and words.  Let the knowledge of Christ, and of being in Christ, fill and control every aspect of our being.  But the word of Christ is not found only in the first chapters of Colossians.  The entire Bible is the word of Christ, and we must be diligent to let it all dwell in us richly.  Especially let us, as St. Chrysostom urged, take the New Testament, the Apostolic Epistles, the Acts, and the Gospels for our constant teachers.  Let us seek them as the sick seek medicine.  Let us take them fully into our beings.  Failure to do this, he says, is like going into battle without weapons, and if we go into battle without weapons, how can we expect to survive?

Should we forget about Heaven and simply concentrate on being in Christ here and now?  Never.  The knowledge of Heaven keeps us going.  Knowing there is a better place, where all is joy and peace is balm to our souls.  It is like the prize at the end of a long and hard contest.  But let us not forget about the here and now.  Let us not forget that being in Christ delivers us from lies to live in the truth: delivers us from things that destroy us to live in things that build us up: delivers us from evil to live in that One who is pure and perfect Good.  Let us remember that being in Christ now is the best life we can have on earth.
--
+Dennis Campbell

Bishop, Anglican Orthodox Church Diocese of Virginia
Rector, Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
Powhatan, Virginia
Roy Morales-Kuhn, Bishop and Pastor - St. Paul's Anglican Church - Anglican Orthodox Church
Bishop Roy is pastor of the biggest AOC parish West of the Mississippi and is in charge of the Diocese of the MidAmerica. 

Second Sunday in Lent
16 March 2014

Ps 86, 142 O.T. lesson: 1 Kings 8:37-43 N.T. lesson: Col. 3:12-17

“Forgiveness, peace and security; gifts from our Lord Jesus Christ”

Psalm 142. Voce mea ad Dominum.

I
 CRIED unto the Lord with my voice; * yea, even unto the Lord did I make my supplication.
2 I poured out my complaints before him, * and showed him of my trouble.
3 When my spirit was in heaviness, thou knewest my path; * in the way wherein I walked, have they privily laid a snare for me.
4 I looked also upon my right hand, * and saw there was no man that would know me.
5 I had no place to flee unto, * and no man cared for my soul.
6 I cried unto thee, O Lord, and said, * Thou art my hope, and my portion in the land of the living.
7 Consider my complaint; * for I am brought very low.
8 O deliver me from my persecutors; * for they are too strong for me.
9 Bring my soul out of prison, that I may give thanks unto thy Name; * which thing if thou wilt grant me, then shall the righteous resort unto my company.

In the psalm we read where the author is crying out to the Lord, both in supplication and even complaint. And yet he knows that the Lord has his well-being under control. Even though he is faced with danger and trouble on either hand, the author knows that the Lord will deliver him. Notice the final blessing in verse 7. (Read)

37 If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpillar; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be;
38 What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:
39 Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;)
40 That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers. (1 Kings 8:37)

This next passage of scripture, from the chronicles of the kings, Solomon is praying at the newly built temple in Jerusalem for the well being of his people. He is very mindful of the disasters that have been brought on by his sins and the sins of the people. He catalogs the multiple problems that were brought on by the sins of the people. And yet he doesn’t leave it there. He then prescribes the prayer and supplications (similar to what we pray at Morning and Evening prayer) with the understanding that God in heaven will hear us, forgive us and give to us according to His ways (read in God’s will). Why in His ways ? Because He knows our hearts and knows the difference between our WANTS and NEEDS. We seem to think that God does not answer prayer because we don’t get all our WANTS fulfilled. Have you considered no as an answer?. God does answer prayer...and no is an answer. Most importantly, we are to fear God, give our utmost respect to him all the days of our lives.

41 Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake;
42 (For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house;
43 Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy name. (1 Kings 8:41)

In the last four verses here {41-43} in the passage from 1st Kings, we see what can be called the ‘proto-evangel’. The idea that God is reaching others outside of the Hebrew people, by using the Hebrew people. ‘They shall hear of thy great name,...strong hand....stretched out arm(welcoming) when he shall come and pray....’ Then in verse 43 the whole aspect of the good news is summed up. “...that all people of the earth may know thy name...to fear thee as do thy people Israel...” Those who come because of the fame of God , what they had heard in other lands, these folk would stay and become part of the family of God. It is still the same today, people come or are attracted to a church group because they see something different. They see a people who care, a people who are honest, a people who love one another... those coming to see this are then also converted because what they see and experience is real. In both Old Testament passages we read of the bounty, blessings, forgiveness, and security that comes from the hand of God. Even with the surrounding dangers, plagues, and problems, God will deliver us from all danger, in His time.

12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. (Col 3:12)

Looking at this New Testament passage, we now see a culmination of what has been happening in the Old Testament. A fulfilling of the promises given. We do that by being merciful, king, meek, longsuffering and humble of mind. We are to be forbearing, forgiving, both in a present progressive form, in other words, continually and without ceasing. Why ? Because Christ forgave you (us), so we are to do likewise. This characteristic of Christ is something that we must nurture, it must become second nature, something we do without hesitation. Each day we most become more like Christ. That is a hard thing for us to do and yet we can, if we day by day submit ourselves to the Cross. If we daily die to self, the old man who we were born with, to be replaced by the Risen Christ, who we are to imitate in the most sincere way.

14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. (Col 3:14)

What a benediction! Look at how St. Paul finishes off this passage with a prescription of peace, love, wisdom and worshiping of God. Put on charity, love, which is the bond of perfectness. Let God’s peace rule in your hearts, being called in one body, the Church. And in this peace be thankful. We are to let the Word of Christ dwell in us, richly in all wisdom, we are to use the psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to teach and admonish one another. All this as we sing to the Lord with grace in our hearts.

And the final admonishment is to do ALL, both in word or deed, do it all in the Name of our Lord Jesus and in doing this we will be giving thanks to God the Father because of the Lord Jesus.

In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen

Let us pray:

L
et the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. 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.

Second Sunday in Lent

In our gospel lesson for today (St. Matthew 15:21-28), our Lord was
approached by a Syrophenician woman whose daughter was possessed of an e il spirit. Her faith in him was such that even when told by our Lord that he was come to the lost sheep of the house of Israel and It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and cast it to the dogs, she persisted with the comment: Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. Our Lord’s response was clear: O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And the apostle then noted, And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

In an earlier chapter of today’s gospel (9:20-22), our Lord healed a woman who had an issue of blood. He recognized her faith when he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole (v.22). The woman truly believed that by merely grasping his clothing she would be healed of her infirmity, and she was.

Another example of our Lord’s healing power was when he heard a group of ten lepers calling out to him for mercy (St. Luke 17:11-19). He did not touch them and said nothing more than to Go shew yourselves unto the priests (v.14a). Of the ten, only one returned to give thanks and he was a Samaritan. To this man he said, Arise and go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole (v.19). These events in our Lord’s earthly ministry continue to provide a message of hope for all true believers as they set forth the power of God to do good to all who hold a true and abiding faith in Jesus Christ.

Throughout the history of mankind, the devil and his servants have worked indefatigably against those who held a godly faith. Lucifer has sought to keep as many as he can from reaching out to God through Christ. How many others who were standing nearby that hemorrhaging woman, or the Syrophenician woman, or the ten lepers, could have been healed but were not because they had not faith enough to reach out for him?
And such remains true today. There are actually persons who claim to be Christians all the while possessing no real faith in Jesus Christ as God’s only begotten Son. They may look upon him as a good teacher, or they may refer to him as “a son of God,” but not the only begotten Son of the Father. It seems so strange that such persons would even seek membership within a church. They refuse to accept the truth about Jesus of Nazareth as being the Christ, the Saviour, the King of kings and Lord of lords. They cannot envision him as such because they have been blinded by the affairs of this world, the carnal desires of the flesh, and most assuredly by the crafts and assaults of the devil. Satan has taken the word out of their hearts leaving them with naught but an empty space wherein he has dumped a horrendous amount of skepticism and doubt concerning the things of God.

But there was no skepticism or doubt on the part of those aforementioned persons. The woman with the issue of blood had reached the end of the line with the medical practices of her day, and it was only through the power of the Holy Ghost that she at last came to touch the garment of Christ and be healed. Our Lord knew the moment she touched his clothing for he asked Who touched me? of his disciples. They were puzzled by his question because of the crowd. The woman’s faith in the person of our Lord was enough to heal her of her malady. She came forward and confessed all before him and he comforted her and sent her away in peace (St. Luke 8:43-48). And so it was for the Samaritan leper. His faith in our Lord had made him whole as well. And the Syrophenician woman who turned to him was also touched of the Spirit to come and seek our Lord’s mercy for her daughter.

God’s word has made it plain what he desires of us: that we too would come forward and confess our sins to him in the name of Jesus Christ, and be healed so that we can go on with our lives, freed from their ill effects. You see sin— just like the disease which caused that poor woman to suffer for twelve years— makes us ill spiritually and may even affect us physically. We know that when we are physically ill we ought to seek some sort of prompt relief. We will try all the conventional remedies available to us; but if they do not work, then we may even have to call on a physician for more advanced treatments.

With sin sickness, we need to go to the throne of God’s grace. Frederick W. Faber once penned these lines in a hymn (#304, 1940 Hymnal):

 “There is no place where earth’s sorrows, are more felt than up in heav’n; there is no place where earth’s failings have such kindly judgment giv’n. There is plentiful redemption in the blood that has been shed; there is joy for all the members in the sorrows of the Head.”

God loves his own and is ready to forgive and forget our sins and trespasses if we would but confess them in the name of our Lord and Saviour. And we ought to lay before him our petitions and trust in him to answer them as he sees fit. God knows what we truly need. As regenerated persons, we should understand that there is a reason behind everything that God does, and does not do. We ought to pray for understanding concerning God’s plans and purposes for each of us.

The woman with the issue of blood trusted in our Lord’s power to heal her if she but touched his garment. How often do we pray, “O if I could but touch thy garment O Lord and be healed of my sins, my illnesses, my failings and faults? O wouldest thou forgive me and cleanse me, O God, in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ?”
As we have seen in our gospel lesson, the Holy Ghost moved the woman whose daughter was possessed by a devil to approach our Lord on account of her extremity. I have often heard it said, “that when we are at our wit’s end, that is where the regenerate person will find God waiting.” He is patiently waiting for each of us to come to him when all other options in our human chest of knowledge have failed us. And when he delivers us, if we have any courage at all, we will confess to him our foolishness of not coming to him in the first place.

So the moral of our lesson today is this: Go to God with your cares and concerns, with your triumphs and your tragedies, with your sorrows and sufferings, and surely, with your praises and thanksgivings for all that he has done for you in Christ Jesus. Therefore go and seek him as if you wished to touch his garment, trusting that in that moment he will do for you more than you could ever possibly imagine. And then be sure to give him the glory and praise with heart-felt thanks.

Let us pray,

F
ather, we call upon thee to fill us with thy most holy Spirit; that under his influence we would seek thee daily via our prayers and praises, and that you would, in turn, touch our lives and make of us fit servants of thy kingdom; and this we beg in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Have a blessed week, Bryan+



[1] Sound familiar?  Check out the Prayer of Humble Access, Holy Communion, BCP Page 82.
[2] I would only comment that if you have the eternal life that Christ offers, it starts now, not when you die.  If you have eternal life, you have it now, you live in Christ and you should act like you are going to be eternally connected with now.

No comments: