The propers for the Twenty-Third Sunday after Trinity can be found on Page 222-223:
The Twenty-Third Sunday after Trinity
The Collect.
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GOD, our refuge and strength, who art the author of all godliness; Be ready, we beseech thee, to hear the devout prayers of thy Church; and grant that those things which we ask faithfully we may obtain effectually; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle for today came from Saint Paul’s letter to the Philippians beginning at the Seventeenth Verse of the Third Chapter. Writing to the church in Philippia, Paul asks them to watch whom they follow, “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, … that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.” He reminds us of our ultimate goal, of that which for us should have the principal place in our minds, “For our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed unto the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself.”
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rethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) For our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed unto the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself.
The Holy Gospel came from the Twenty-Second Chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew beginning at the Fifteenth Verse. Like many people today, the Pharisees took much comfort in the fact that they followed The Law to The Letter. Not looking to what the law was trying to get them to do and to think, but rather following The Law to The Letter. Jesus presented a threat to their very existence, because he asked the people to do what God willed, not to simply cook their food a certain way, or turn down an invitation to a luau because they served roast pig and drank Bud. Being good followers of The Law to The Letter, they sought to trip Him up. “…they sent out unto Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, ‘Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?” Having for so long lived The Law to The Letter, believing The Kingdom of God would be of this world, they could not see the obvious response. They were absolutely floored when Jesus said, “Shew me the tribute money.” With no thought of the answer, “they brought unto him a penny.” Jesus asked them, “Whose is this image and superscription?” Again playing the straight man, walking into the trap they had set for themselves, they answered, “Caesar’s.” Driving his point straight into their hearts, he told them, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.”
This ended the encounter, “they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.”
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hen went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Cæsar, or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Cæsar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s. When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.
Church of the Faithful Centurion - Descanso, California
Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and is partly contained in the forewords above.
The Twenty-Third Sunday after Trinity
The Collect.
O |
GOD, our refuge and strength, who art the author of all godliness; Be ready we beseech thee to hear the devout prayers of the Church; and grant that those things which we ask faithfully we may obtain; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Consider these words from the Collect: … hear the devout prayers of the Church; and grant that those things which we ask faithfully we may obtain …
The Collect once again asks God to hear our prayers. The Church is the body of believers, not a building, not a semi-political group. And the Collect specifies the devout prayers; that is prayers for those ideas, actions and the like that follow God’s Plan for His People. It goes on to ask that He would grant those things we ask for faithfully, that is in accordance with His Will or Plan.
He is always there, always ready, to hear our sincere prayers: He may answer those things which are good for the Church and the world for which we ask and from His Grace we may receive those things which are good for us. The part that is left unspoken is that once we receive His Advice through the Holy Spirit we have to be willing to take action. We can pray all the day long but if we don’t listen to Him and then act upon what He says, those prayers will ultimately be for naught. Action and diction together shows our beliefs and where our hearts truly lie. Diction without action is not much of a belief at all.
In the Epistle, Paul tells us, as well as the Philippians, to follow God and not be dependent on man, as so many in this country are now. The problem is many, who claim they are followers of Christ, don’t walk the walk, they are selfish and only think of themselves. There are too many people around the world who think and act in this manner. They have no desire to help others, and in fact have a desire to tear others down rather than lend them a helping hand. This is not in congruence with Christ’s teachings and the Summary of the Law. He warns them will lead them onto a path of doom and destruction. We can see that being played out in our country now with an uprising of violent behavior and tendencies and the general degeneracy in the population.
This is clear proof to me that we cannot succeed in a positive manner without God’s help and influence in our lives. If more people would realize this, our country would be in a far better state than it is now. Let us pray that people would wake up and realize this.
Whereas if people would love their neighbor as themselves, it would lead them on a path to prosperity and eternal life. In times of trial and tribulation, we are not to worry, but rather lean on Our Lord. It may be difficult but it can be done through the help of the Holy Spirit. We must realize our true and final citizenship is in heaven, for which we look to Our Saviour. If we are on the side of righteousness, of the Lord, of godliness, then who are we to fear?
Nobody; save a respectful fear of Our God.
We will not bow before the forces of darkness; but rather stand tall, equipped with the armor of light, the shield of truth, and the helmet of faith. We will give those in authority the respect they are due but we will not be dependent upon them for our every need and whim. This is why those who seek to create a larger government are working on supplanting God’s authority over us. For if God is the authority, as He is; man has no power to determine what is right and what is wrong. Man is not responsible for his own power. This is why those who are seeking to enlarge their power over the people in this country must first destroy the Church. The good news is that Paul says in the end, these people’s efforts will be in vain and they will be destroyed, as much as they are attempting to destroy us here on Earth. We can be cheered up in these depressing times, knowing we are on the winning side for eternity. We are to turn to God; if we are to be dependent on anything, it must be God upon whom we are dependent, and not Man. Being dependent on man only leads to eternal death for us, but being dependent on God leads to eternal life for us.
Which brings us to the point of the Gospel, in which Christ tells the Pharisees of how they are to deal with the problem of tribute to Caesar. They have no love for the Roman Government, as we have very little love for the swamp dwellers in our own Government. However, Christ reminds them to separate their hatred of the government, and do the right thing. As we must give God His due (our worship and prayer), we must give the government their due (taxes, etc.), but this does not mean we treat the government as demi-gods, to put it one way, as politicians often think of themselves. The government has to earn our respect, not the other way around, which too often it and the members in it forget this simple fact.
We have to realize that God has granted the government their authority to govern, but not to supplant Him. God cannot be replaced by man. His authority is where the government gets their authority, and will always be; whether they choose to recognize that or not, is up to them. That is what we pray for when we pray for the President, that he would recognize God’s authority and align his leadership with that of God’s will. The statists in this country believe the false lie that man can govern man without assistance from God or God’s authority. Governments which do not recognize this fact are in the end, doomed to fail. The history books are filled with pages of failed governments, all failed because they refused to recognize God’s rightful place as the source of their legal authority.
Jesus’ point is that we give them what they are owed, no more and no less. The Pharisees were trying to trick Christ to say that you must honor one or the other, when you can do both. We should be serving God and not man; that does not mean that we do not have to pay our dues to the government that rules us. It is only through God’s grace that he allows government to rule over man. The government we have was established with the recognition it serves at His pleasure. Its Declaration of Independence establishes people have rights endued them by their Creator, not the government. It is with the authority of the people the government serves. It must exist to serve the people and God. It is not to be a self-licking ice cream cone. Jesus told us to feed the poor people, not create laws that take money from other people ostensibly for that purpose, of which he commanded us to do.
The Collect, Epistle and Gospel tie together, laying out, detailing and reinforcing the same message, ultimately. We have to respect the authorities that govern us, no matter how we disagree or dislike them, and conduct ourselves like Christians. However, that does not mean that we replace the rule of God with the rule of Man. Man’s laws should merely be a restatement of God’s laws, not to replace God’s laws.
Heaven is at the end of an uphill trail. The easy downhill trail does not lead to the summit.
The time is now, not tomorrow. The time has come, indeed. How will you ACT?
It is by our actions we are known.
Be of God - Live of God - Act of God
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