Sermon Notes for Second Sunday after The Epiphany, 14 January 2023, Anno Domini, the Anglican Orthodox Communion

   

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HE beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; 2 As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey; 7 And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. 8 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. 9 And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. 10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: 11 And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Mark 1:1-11)

 

The Sermon

            It is unlikely anyone hearing this sermon can remember the day they were born. With what words could you have remembered, since you had no words in your mind at the moment of your birth? But we all remember the day Christ was born in Bethlehem – and that was even before our own birth. How is that we know? Because God has provided His Word for us to know and to understand. But even having God's Word, and knowing it intellectually, does not mean that we truly KNOW His Word and, furthermore, know Him! If you believe that you came into being the day of your birth, you would be wrong. You were conceived some months earlier; and if you believe that you came into being at the moment of conception, you would be wrong again because God knew you and conceived of you in the great eternities past. 

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will . (Eph 1:4-5) So what does St. Mark the apostle mean in his opening remarks in verse 1 of our text: The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God?

 

First of all, Mark does not mean this account to be the Gospel of Saint Mark (though for simplicity, we call it that). He means the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ insofar as we can know it. It is the revelation of beautiful truths that have existed forever, but revealed to us in the time of God's own choosing. It does not mean, for example, the beginning of Jesus Christ, for He has eternally existed with the Father, and the Holy Ghost. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word WAS God!" (John 1:1) In fulfillment of the promise of God to Abraham and His spiritual Seed, Christ came in the fullness of time to fulfill all things spoken of Him by the prophets. 

 

            When raveling to a new land, every great sovereign is preceded by emissaries who prepare the way for his visit, make all arrangements for his reception by the host people, and send out news (such as the Gospel news) of his coming. The emissary sent should reflect, though imperfectly, the nature of the Sovereign who comes. If the Sovereign takes particular interest in the poor and downcast, so should the emissary in selecting his schedule of events, insure that the Way is made ready so that those, especially, will have opportunity to be introduced to Him. The old prophets spoke profusely of this coming Sovereign, but they also spoke uncommonly often of His emissary. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. (Isaiah 40:3)  and, Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. (Mal 3:1) Truth is unquenchable and it resounds, not only across great distances, but also across the ages of time. So it is meet and right that Mark should echo and remind us of the great prophecies of one called John the Baptist: The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

 

            I have always been struck by this clear and precise description of John the Baptist.  He is one who cries, not among the false lights of the city, but in the Wilderness. If men will come to hear a "voice crying in the wilderness" then they must have a serious reason to leave the comfort of Jerusalem and come. They either are drawn by the promptings of the Holy Spirit (for those hearts whose soils are rich to bear fruit), or by the spirit of anti-Christ who sends out his spies to learn of ways to stem the rising hopes of the people in a Redeemer. We have the same among us today in both kinds – and they are IN the Church more than OUTSIDE it. The dress of John the Baptist would have met with serious disdain from the First churches of today. And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. (Matt 3:4) There certainly was nothing special about John's appearance, but there certainly was something of an overriding importance in his message! He was a burden on none that he taught, unlike many modern seekers of filthy lucre. No one brought him steak and wine – he ate locusts and honey. He wore neither Armani, nor Gucci, suits but, rather, a robe of camel's hair and a leather girdle about his loins. The Pharisees and Jewish rulers must have been in a pickle to understand John. He appeared so very low and common, but what of these wondrous words that he spoke which so completely enthralled the crowds who flocked to hear him in the Wilderness? They simply could not lower their dignity from the dunghill of religious sophistry to the pinnacle of simple righteousness and truth found in John's preaching. 

 

            John did not simply speak in even tones when he preached – he roared the message of the coming Savior as one "crying in the Wilderness." The message was to ALL who believed – not the ones who failed of faith and good will. The dark chambers of the heart were opened in the bosoms of many men and women to a new Voice – a new Truth (to them) of hope and wonder. Yet, it was not in the polished halls of the Temple at Jerusalem that they first learned of this hope – it was in the lonely Wilderness. Have you ever considered how much more clearly one can hear the Voice of God in a quiet place as opposed to the hustle and bustle of the city? The point of John's preaching in the Wilderness that most touches my heart is the fact that all who ever preached the Gospel before, or after, were as a Voice crying in the Wilderness. Perchance, one is easily enticed to go to the city square to hear a speaker; but they will not travel into the Wilderness to hear the words of a man dressed in camel's hair and a leather girdle unless there is something mighty special about his message. Did I say HIS message? I should have said "the Gospel of Jesus Christ." THAT message is worth travelling into the Wilderness to hear. If you are a minister of God, or a devoted witness, you, too, will be as a Voice crying in the Wilderness, calling men and women to the HIGHWAY of the Lord – not the BROADand DESCENDING Way which leads to The Pit.   Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matt 7:13-14)

 

            If a man preaches the whole counsel of God, even with great love, the city crowds will not flock to his audience. Therefore, I hope that the ministers of God will cultivate the ground, and plant the seed, without expecting great success in the eyes of the world. The world has never known the meaning of truth and joy in Christ. If the numbers of Wilderness travelers remains few, be happy for the FEW! We sow the seeds of the Gospel – their germination and sprouting to the sun is the responsibility of the Holy Ghost. He works in the darkness of the soil, unseen by human eye, in creating the new life in the heart of the convert.

 

            I love John the Baptist as my true brother! He surely is! What does one see in John that would discourage love? He speaks the truth, as any real friend would do, even when it hurts the water of our face. He is dedicated and earnest. Finally, he is HUMBLE! We are often lifted up with pride at our tiny successes, or even a presumed superior knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. Why should we be if the Word we have learned is not ours, but God's? 7 And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. 8 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. It was, in the time of John, the responsibility of the lowest servant in a household to unloose the shoe latchets of guests, and to wash their feet. But John, by contrast with Christ, was not even worthy to SERVE Him – and, friend, neither are you and I.  If He calls us to the duty, He will MAKE us worthy through His own imputed righteousness. 

 

It is the duty of every believer to be publicly baptized. That is the means by which, like circumcision, we come into the covenant relationship with Christ and His Church.  Faith, too, must be the work of the Holy Ghost in the heart. When, by the grace of God, faith is confirmed in the "broken and contrite heart" the Holy Ghost has baptized that heart in the heavenlies.

 

8 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. It is not the outward form of baptism that is efficacious to us before God, but the inward and spiritual grace attaining thereto – else it is only a work of man's hands. It is much like the calling to the ministry and its recognition by the Church in the following ordination. If the head is ordained to preach, and the heart is not, there is no authority granted to preach. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Eph 4:4-6) Must we be baptized twice? Certainly not! There is one baptism for the remission of sins. The Holy Ghost attend the believing heart in baptism just as we see that it presents Itself at the baptism of our Lord. 

 

 9 And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. "And it came to pass….." I love the casual manner in which God speaks of momentous events! Sure it came to pass, but it didn't simply come to pass as a matter of happenstance – it was foreordained from all time and eternity! When all of the stars of Heaven were drawn in perfect alignment; when all the words of the prophets had been met with fulfillment of time and purpose; when Christ had been incarnated and made a man after our physical likeness; when the approval of God the Father thundered down the halls of time – Christ was baptized by John in the unseemly little waters of Jordan. How seemingly inappropriate in the eyes of man, but altogether appropriate in the eyes of God! There was a time fixed for you coming to Christ. Do you feel that coming was accidental, or ON PURPOSE!

 

I hope you will notice that the presence of the Divine Trinity at the baptism of Christ….Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! 10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: 11 And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. The Holy Spirit descended at the moment of baptism – not a long delay of months or years afterward; and the Voice of a joyful Father thundered out of Heaven! Did you feel the love and comfort of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost at your baptism, or in your confirmation? Though you may not have felt it in the first, it was nonetheless, present; and certainly the Trinity was present at your confirming faith in your baptism. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. (Luke 15:7)

Collect for the Second Sunday after The Epiphany

The Second Sunday after The Epiphany.

The Collect.

 

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LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who dost govern all things in heaven and earth; Mercifully hear the supplications of thy people, and grant us thy peace all the days of our life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

The Collect

            Long before we ever ask a favor of a friend, we should first know if he is able to grant that favor.  The salutation and address of this great Collect profoundly admits of God’s ability to grant the favor we ask in praying this Collect. It is a mighty favor of mercy that we ask, and He is ALMIGHTY to perform it. That peace for which we yearn we can in no manner deserve, for we have broken the peace with God in Eden.  Our disobedience, both once and continual, are acts of a belligerent and not of a friend; yet, we cannot save ourselves FROM ourselves. There must be a power from without who will come to our rescue. God has provided that power through His Son, Jesus Christ! Since He is an EVERLASTING God, the favors of mercy He grants are of an everlasting nature – from Eternity Past, to Eternity Future.

 

            If one examines the original Latin form for this prayer, he will discover a great difference in meaning and application to that which Archbishop Cranmer has rendered more powerfully for the ‘peace of God.’ The peace desired in the original Latin is an outward form of peace in our surroundings, but Cranmer added the true power of the Gospel in rendering the peace petitioned as “Thy Peace” – the Peace of God which is inward and sure. I have given an illustration before, but one which seems most appropriate for this occasion, of a great philanthropist of the arts who once offered a competition for a work of art best depicting true peace. 

 

            He solicited the works of all artists, young and old, aspiring or accomplished, to participate for a great prize in gold. Most artists, loving art more than personal fortunes, submitted their works hoping to derive income to enable them to pursue their chosen field without worry of food or lodging. There were a number of truly excellent submissions of great technical and artistic merit that tried to capture the essence of peace. Finally, the judges narrowed the field down to two works of art – one by a fine and well-known artist, and the other by an aspiring young girl who lacked training, or money to acquire it. The accomplished artist had portrayed a beautiful pastoral scene with sheep peacefully gracing in the morning light on a gently sloping hillside. The shepherd stood nearby, watchful and protective of the sheep – a young man of impressive stature wielding a large shepherd’s staff crooked at the top and sharp on the opposite end to defend the sheep from wolves. The young girl had submitted her ‘labor of love’ (in less technically superb execution) of a great mountain waterfall with is turbulent waters cascading hundreds of feet down the upper ledge of the mountain. The sight was daunting with the mist rising from the violence of the deluge. This depiction did not at first seem to be very testimonial of peace. But then, the judges noticed a tree branch BEHIND the cascading waters with a bluebird’s nest. The mother was sitting on her nest seemingly oblivious to the violence all around.   This work of art took the prize, for true peace is not dependent on our surroundings, but the condition of a faithful heart.  That truly illustrates the peace of God (Thy Peace!)

 

            This peace of God can only come to us through the redemption of the One who purchased it for us – our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27) Isn’t He lovely and kind beyond all human understanding! It is not the peaceful environment around us that is the arbitrement of peace, but the peace that frees the heart of troubling fears and doubts. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:7) Do we not appreciate the biblical beauty passed on to us through the form of worship provided in the Book of Common Prayer which has us pray this last verse from Philippians as benedictory to each Holy Communion Service – and do we hear these words with calloused hearts, or do they remain fresh and alive at every hearing?

 

            In this Collect, we acknowledge the overruling power of God in His governance of “all things in heaven and earth.” We repeat this prayer – do we believe the words we have prayed?  Is God the indisputable Sovereign of your heart, Friend? Do you seek His will for your life, not sometimes, but always? Do you act on His counsels so abundantly provided in His Word for your health? Regardless the storms and rigors of life, do you have the assurance that all is subject to His power and that He CARES even for little YOU? Are you not worth far more than two sparrows? The story is told of a young boy walking the streets of a Latin American city carrying a cage with two sparrows. As he went about hawking (pardon the pun) his charges to every passerby, he was approached by an elderly gentleman who asked, “How much for the sparrows?” “Fifty pesos each,” responded the boy. “Well, here is your 100 pesos for the two of them,” said the gentleman. The boy watched curiously as the elder gentleman opened the cage and set the sparrows free. “Why’d you do that, Mister? Are you crazy?” “No, responded the gentleman. I simply value sparrows more than 100 pesos, and God created them to be free.”  Another illustration was discovered on our first trip to the Philippines. On the 500 pesos bill appears the inscription: “The Filipino is worth dying for.” Very true, but no less true that every single soul of every tribe and nation, for whom Christ bled and died, is worth dying for.

 

            Not only do we petition God to hear the prayers of His people, but to grant their petitions through His great mercy. You may say: “But God always hears our prayers!” Not so! If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. (Psalm 66:18)  And you may say, “But God will ALWAYS grant the thing for which we ask if our hearts are honest.” Again, not so! Like a good and loving child, we may ask our father for things which will not profit us but, au contraire, may harm us. The father will not grant such petitions if it is not His will to do so. He will always know our needs better than we do. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts (James 4:3)

 

            Finally, we do not pray for this peace for the moment, but it is the everlasting peace we seek of a heart owned by God through Jesus Christ. “….all the days of our life.” The kind of peace that God offers is not likened to that peace which comes at the armistice of wars fought on earth. There has never been an earthly peace treaty that has sealed the peace for more than a few years or decades. But the heart that belongs to Christ has the assurance of a continual peace in all of this life, and even a greater in the life to come. Do you have that peace, Friend?

 

The Uncomely Book – 10 January 2024, Anno Domini

 

 

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HO hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? * 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  (Isaiah 53:1-3)

 

The great beauty of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness was not owing to the austere plain and unbecoming goat-hair that covered its outer structure, but rather to the absolute majesty of its interior furnishing of gold plate, silk, and wool of divine colors. It was designed to impart the nature of Christ and the Christian believer. To the world, Christ had nothing to highly commend Him in appearance. Neither does the Christian life appear beautiful in the eyes of the world. But the inner beauty – that which the eye cannot see – is what makes that life beautiful as well as the life of its Redeemer. Real life is often appareled in rags, but behind those rags beats a beautiful heart.

 

When I was a young man, my wife and I lived for many years in a desert place. It was considered to be a high desert country that lacked much to recommend it to the human eye. But the days were mostly sunny, and the greater beauty of the place emerged at night as the sky drew dim and the stars appeared in utter brilliance against a purple sky. The air was pristine, the inhabitants generally poor, but good and honest.

 

One day, a friend gave me what he called a very special book as a birthday present. I wondered what kind of book it could be. As I removed the gift wrappings, I discovered a soiled and tattered book that seemed to come from an American Good Will store. I acted impressed, but must admit of my disappointment. The title of the book seemed pretentious to its appearance – The Story of San Michel, by a Swedish doctor named Axel Munthé – a 1928 Time-Life series book. The book lay on my desk for several months until one day, I picked it up and read the first chapter, and the second, and the third, and so forth until I had read the entire novel. It was totally absorbing with true accounts of the doctor’s experiences among the sick and poor of Italy following a breakout of cholera there. The stories were so full of human love and feeling that I could not have put it down.

 

I learned a spiritual lesson about judging a book by its cover from that experience. I also learned a similar experience as a young man of eighteen years of age. I had my first date with a really pretty cheerleader to attend a high school basketball game in a small mountain town in Tennessee. I borrowed my mother’s car since most young people in those days did not own a car. We drove from Chattanooga on the way to McHatesville along a lonely deserted two-lane highway. On one side were tall mountains, and on the other, a wide body of water that reflected the soft light of the moon. It was an eerie experience. 

 

About midway on that deserted road, I had a flat tire. When I opened the trunk to get the spare, I discovered it was missing. My mom had left it at a filling station (as they were called in those days) for repair the day before. I was bewildered. I turned the hazard lights on flash and hoped someone would come along to help. After perhaps ten minutes, I saw the lights of a pickup truck approaching. There were three hunters in the truck. They were attorneys from Chattanooga and had been hunting deer in the mountains the past three days. I explained to them our predicament and offered $20.00 (a good sum in 1962) if they would take me the twenty remaining miles to McHayesville to get the tire fixed. They declined since they had been away from home for three days and left us alone.

 

I must admit I did some praying the Lord would send another prospect. This He did do, and when I beheld the appearance of the two men who stopped, I wished that He had sent someone else. They were dirty, big, unshaven and had long side-burns which were not fashionable in those days. They roughly asked me what was the matter. When I told them, and offered to pay $20.00, they looked at each other and said, “Get in!’ I then asked if I could take my date since I feared to leave her alone on the deserted road. They said, “Tell her to get in, too.” I worried that they might kill me and abuse my date, but I stopped worrying about that as they drove at such high speed around the mountain curves. Finally, we found a filling station at which they took my tire out and got it repaired. They PAID for it and bought me and my date a coke. On returning to my car, they put the tire on and I offered them my $20.00. Their response was unexpected. They replied, “No, son. You keep your money. If you find someone who needs help sometime, your help will be our pay.” 

 

These two men worked on the railroad and had been away from home for one month and were returning home for the weekend, yet they took the time to help two kids on a lonely highway. The lesson they taught me lasted my long lifetime. You simply cannot judge a book by its cover, and only God can know the human heart. The Bible, too, is usually a common black, but is filled with nuggets of living gold.

 

Hymns of the Church – From Greenland’s Icy Mountains – 9 January 2024, Anno Domini

                       

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O ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. (Mark 16:15-16)

 

            It is altogether appropriate we consider a missionary hymn as an Epiphany study since the Epiphany of our Lord Jesus Christ was not only a missionary to His own Hebrew people, but to the Gentiles of the world as well. The Magi (priests of the Zoroastrian religion) probably traveled from the high desert city of Esfahan in old Persia (Iran). This was their traditional center of worship from the days of Cyrus the Great. I lived in sight of their holy mountain just north of the city (from which smoke continually rose from the Fire they kept burning in honor of Ahuramazda) for more than five years. Jesus did not only consider the Gentiles when His own people rejected Him as modern theologians aver. He came for all peoples – Jew, Gentile, red, white, black and yellow. 

 

            Today’s hymn articulates the missionary and evangelical zeal which possessed the Church from the Great Reformation until the early 1900s while the fiery urging of the Holy Spirit predominated in that Church. Theirs was a faith worth dying for, and worth the dying in sharing with others as well. It was a faith that refused to compromise on the Holy Gospel once delivered to the saints. 

 

            This hymn has long held a mysterious appeal to my heart due to the nations mentioned. The tune (Calcutta, also known as Aurelia), too, is hauntingly beautiful. The author of the lyrics, Bishop Reginald Heber, died serving his diocese in Calcutta, India, in 1826. He wrote this hymn on Whitsun Eve of 1819. Lowell Mason composed the music for the hymn. He also authored the hymn, Holy, Holy, Holy.

 

 

 

 

From Greenland’s Icy Mountains

 

From Greenland's icy mountains, from India's coral strand;

where Afric's sunny fountains roll down their golden sand:

From many an ancient river, from many a palmy plain,

they call us to deliver their land from error's chain.

 

What though the spicy breezes blow soft o'er Java's isle;

though every prospect pleases, and only man is vile?

In vain with lavish kindness the gifts of God are strown;

the heathen in his blindness bows down to wood and stone!

 

Shall we, whose souls are lighted with wisdom from on high,

shall we to those benighted the lamp of life deny?

Salvation! O salvation! The joyful sound proclaim,

till earth's remotest nation has learned Messiah's Name.

 

Waft, waft, ye winds, his story, and you, ye waters, roll

till, like a sea of glory, it spreads from pole to pole:

till o'er our ransomed nature the Lamb for sinners slain,

Redeemer, King, Creator, in bliss returns to reign.

 

From Greenland's icy mountains, from India's coral strand; where Afric's sunny fountains roll down their golden sand: From many an ancient river, from many a palmy plain, they call us to deliver their land from error's chain. The author of this hymn, Heber, was a widely well-traveled – not only in south Asia, but also in Scandinavia and central Europe. His interest was in people, and their souls. I have never been to Greenland, but is appears a land forsaken when viewed from the air. But it is no more a land forsaken than it is a home for approximately 60,000 living souls. It is living proof that the Holy Spirit of God works in the frozen wastes of the northland as well as in the tropical jungles of Africa and the Islands of the Sea. European settlers from Denmark were the first from that continent to make settlement on the great Island of Greenland. They built churches and conducted trade with their distant European homelands. The last recorded entry in the Hvalsey Danish Church in Greenland was of a wedding in 1408. Bishop Heber felt ‘called’ to go to distant lands armed with the Gospel. No man has a commission to go to such places without that sure ‘calling.’

 

What though the spicy breezes blow soft o'er Java's isle; though every prospect pleases, and only man is vile? In vain with lavish kindness the gifts of God are strown; the heathen in his blindness bows down to wood and stone! Observe the poetic imagery of this stanza! One can sense those spicy breezes, or better recall them if having visited those faraway shores previously. The beauty of old pagan lands contrasted sharply with the unrestrained immorality of the people in their dark superstitions. The only ugly blotch on the landscape was the stone-cold heart of man. God has richly blessed many pagan lands only to have the people thereof turn to wood and stone immovable gods. But the cause of their superstitions and false religions has been, for the greater part, a blindness to the true God. When the primitive hearts of the jungle and desert plain are converted to true faith and religion, they then hold to it with greater tenacity and gratitude than their modern ‘sophisticated’ counterparts in mainline churches. While visiting in brush arbor churches in the bush country of Kenya, or the rugged mountains of northern Luzon, I found the people less willing to forsake the tried and proven King James Bible wherewith they were saved than their American counterparts. Once the Light of Christ is revealed to formerly blind eyes, they are no longer blinded in ignorance, but rather in brilliance of light.

 

Shall we, whose souls are lighted with wisdom from on high, shall we to those benighted the lamp of life deny? Salvation! O salvation! The joyful sound proclaim, till earth's remotest nation has learned Messiah's Name.  A hymn was requested of Bishop Heber on short notice to be sung at a church service one very morning. It is said that Heber completed the hymn requested in thirty minutes. He was able to write about the souls lighted with wisdom from on high because his own soul was lighted with that wisdom. When we walk with the Lamp for our path shall we not share that Lamp with our fellows to spare them an untimely ruin? Salvation is truly a joyful sound to those scattered across the globe in harsh lands, and the islands of the sea. It is a new and beautiful sound heretofore unheard by their deprived ears. It is true that almost every nation is now recipient of the Christian religion; but to those who remain blind in those nations, the result is the same as if the Word had never reached their shores. It is becoming true of America as those who have been recipients of the Christian Faith have turned again to wallowing in the mud as the swine to the sty. The result is the same except more severe to those who have known and then turned away.

 

            Waft, waft, ye winds, his story, and you, ye waters, roll till, like a sea of glory, it spreads from pole to pole: till o'er our ransomed nature the Lamb for sinners slain, Redeemer, King, Creator, in bliss returns to reign. The wind sets forth the mysterious, but none the less effective operation of the Holy Spirit. It is invisible, mysterious, powerful, cleansing, purifying, mighty and rushing. Wind may also be an agent of destruction and death. Dr. W. G. Heslop, (Gems from Genesis p 27), 1940. The wind can also be a means of God’s judgment against the wicked. But those winds of which Christ spoke to Nicodemus, are saving winds. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8) Of course, we must not disregard, either, the overflowing rivers of life of which the believer is beneficiary through Christ. It is an overflowing Fountain of Life that is never exhausted but, instead, is replenished with greater volume with the flow of every stream of love. But we must turn not from that Fountain of Blessing, else we pay the most severe of penalties: O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters. (Jer 17:13) I fear for my fellow countrymen and women in that America seems to have turned away as well from that Fountain of Living Waters.

 

            Not only are our souls redeemed by the blood of Christ, but the Nature itself, perverted by the corrupt and sinful nature of mankind, will also be redeemed at the return of Christ! And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. (Rev 21:1-3) We no longer will look to temples of wood and stone, or to the trash-strewn streets of old Jerusalem; but we look to a new Heaven and a New Earth – a New Jerusalem and a new Temple made without hands – our Lord Jesus Christ!

AOC Sunday Report - First Sunday after The Epiphany

  

Happy First Sunday after The Epiphany!

AOC Sunday Report can be downloaded RIGHT HERE!

We have really good service today From Bishops Jerry, Roy, Jack and Dennis as well as Rev Bryan. Each of them is very different. I am confident you will enjoy them if you take the time to read them.   Bishop Jack’s sermon looks at the unifying message of the Collect, Epistle and Gospel and examine how they share a common message as we look at the arrival of the Wise Men for Epiphany.    His sermon can be viewed on video HERE -> https://youtu.be/EXjeR_B8e7Q

As imperfect creatures with free will, we will never figure out what we should be doing, let alone do it, on our own.  We are confused beings who get into trouble left to our own devices. Without an external source of help, we will never be able to follow God on our own.  God sent the Holy Ghost that we might listen to Him and understand.  Paul tells us not to concentrate on our status, position or grandeur, but to see what we can do to help.  When we look at the Gospel today, aside from the historical function telling us that Jesus was in the temple bringing the light of the gospel to the rabbis, there is duty. Duty means to do what you are supposed to do, then count the cost.

Today we have a lot of people who need your prayer.  Please start with Tom as he prepared to leave this world and Christine who just found out she has brain cancer, Shamu, Tricia and Laurie, work out from there.

There is a lot to think about with the arrival of the Wise Men and what it means. And did you ever wonder what happened to them after they left and returned to their homes? They are much like Melchizedek; who knows where they went?

Have an EPIC week.

Godspeed,

Hap Arnold

Bishop Coadjutor

Anglican Orthodox Church Worldwide

Sermon Notes - Coming of Age - First Sunday after The Epiphany - 7 January 2024, Anno Domini (in the Year of Our Lord)

  

 

The First Sunday after The Epiphany.

The Collect.

 

O

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

 

The Epiphany, or the Manifestation of Christ

to the Gentiles.

[January 6.]

The Collect.

O

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

 

¶ This Collect is to be said daily throughout the Octave

 

The Collect

            The overarching point of the Prayer of Collect for this Sunday is the Call to duty! We owe a duty to family, to Country, and to our neighbors. But our greater duty is to God which, if we faithfully fulfill, we shall be justified in the performance of our duty to all others.

            Have you ever been very close to Christ and suddenly, through your complacency and neglect, found you are separated, by a vast expanse, from your Lord? Is it even possible for one who is intimate with Christ to become separated? Have you omitted the Daily Bread that sustains you? I am afraid that it is the most common occurrence rather than the exceptional one.  Peter once became separated from Christ in the Garden at Gethsemane and lost all courage during the separation. The circumstances may even, at times, be reversed. For example: the men on the road to Emmaus believed they had been forever separated from Christ while he walked at their very side. Separation from Christ, either actual or perceived, is a failure of faith.

 

            We will learn in today’s Gospel text even the mother, and earthly father (for God was His true Father), of Jesus became separated from their son for three days or more:

 

N

OW his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. 43 And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. 44 But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. 45 And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. 46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. 47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. 48 And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. 49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? 50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. 51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

(Luke 2:41-52)

The Sermon

There are a few salient points brought out in this text that are worthy of elaboration all of which relate to our Duty to God and others:

 

1.     Jesus attended to his religious responsibilities in going up to Jerusalem every Passover. His parents even set the example for Jesus had He needed an example. It is very important that the young children of the church sit with their parents during worship rather than being separated to a period of silly play-church. When children observe their parents doing their Christian duty, a powerful impression is made – and a lasting one. Jesus and His parents observe the good order, reverence, and customs of the established feasts. Jesus enjoyed a warm family environment growing up in tiny Nazareth. He, like all of us, was accustomed to hearing His mother’s call to supper. 

 

2.     Note the relationship of Mary and Joseph to Jesus. In the KJV (Received Text) they are referred to as Joseph and His MOTHER. In the modern versions, BOTH are called His parents which blur the distinction of Christ as Son of God!  I.e. ESV, NIV & New American Standard Version:  His parents did not know it .

 

3.     Jesus was a model of obedience and discretion, therefore Joseph and His mother Mary were taken by surprise He did not follow the company back to Nazareth. Jesus was ALWAYS obedient to them, but now a higher obedience was required. It was an isolated instance of His Father’s desire to expose His only Begotten Son before the Temple elders and doctors. Though Jesus was an obedient child to Joseph and Mary, the time would come when He must obey the Higher Law of His Father. I am disgusted at clergy who advise their charges to obey the secular law when that law contradicts the Higher Law of God.

 

4.     Joseph and Mary were accustomed to the ordinary expectation Jesus would follow them. They were wrong. When religious liturgy of practice becomes too ordinary, we may become complacent in its observance. We may have studied so very industriously for many years from God’s Holy Word, and then decide, “Ah, I have studied enough. I can take a sabbatical from studying the Daily Bread of Life. But now, you are in danger of being separated from Christ. Is it worth the risk?

 

5.     Joseph and Mary sought for Christ among their kinfolk and acquaintances. Need I remind you that no kinfolk, no acquaintance, nor even any ministers, bear any monopoly on Christ. We gain no spiritual favor with God owing to our faith of our family. No one can “bring Christ to us.” We must find Him ourselves. We can show the Chart and Compass to our friends, but they must take the tools in hand to seek His face personally.

 

6.     Christ has an engaging manner of teaching. He hears our inquiries and claims, and then He asks us questions that none other can conceive to ask. He is an excellent listener, and His inquiries fathom the depths of the heart of men and women.

 

7.     46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple. There were courageous and loving women who also sought Christ after three days, and found Him in the Temple of His Resurrected Body. If we earnestly seek Him, we shall find Him.

 

8.     All men were forever astonished at the words of Christ – even His mortal enemies. How often did He put the Pharisees, rulers, and Scribes to shame with His excellent and deliberative teaching.

 

9.     It may be Mary’s memory of the great Angel Gabriel’s counsel to her while she was yet a virgin may have lost some of its meaning and luster in her memory. She refers to Joseph as His father even though she knows full well that he is not, or perhaps she merely did so to appease social pressures. She was most often absent during the teaching and preaching of Christ. It may be that Mary did not come to full realization of who her Son was until after the resurrection.

 

10.   Mary feels offended by the presumed one-time failure of Jesus to obediently follow them. One thing Mary did that was right when she learned of her separation from Jesus – she sought Him sorrowing. Every soul that finds itself separated from Jesus must seek Him, not in the pride of familiarity, but sorrowing.

 

11.   One great reason that we need Christ, not only as redeemer and Savior, is that we do not know God the Father well. He does! 49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? 50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. The reason for Jesus’ lingering behind in the Temple was as clear as the Sun to Jesus, but Mary and Jesus could not have discerned the cause. They failed to understand His explanation, but our failure to understand all that Christ has spoken to us is no reason to reject His saving invitation.

 

12.   Though He would become the Savior of His people and the Light of the World, Jesus was an obedient Son and remained subject to His mother and to Joseph. I pray that young people today would be subject to their parents even if their parents are only a carpenter and a keeper at home! Even if the child aspires to some high calling, he should never exalt himself above his parents. If Jesus was subject to Joseph and His Mother, how much more should we be? 51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. There was something mysterious about this occasion to Mary. She did not fully understand, nonetheless, she kept all in her heart.

 

13.   Jesus continued to grow. When we cease to grow and learn, then we cease to live. His wisdom, too, increased with his physical stature, and He grew in favor and knowledge of God His Father. If we take our eyes off Christ, we may lose Him or be separated from Him for a time. Better to be staid on Christ constantly, than to be constantly returning from our human endeavors to seek Him out anew. 

 

Conclusion

 This incident in Christ’s points to our own responsibilities; moreover, our DUTY, in coming of age, to come to Christ! Twelve years old is a traditional and fitting age for a young person to be confirmed into the Church and to begin to grow more vibrantly into greater stature and wisdom. It represents the midline of youth when a fork in the road begins to appear in the distance – a fork which will begin to lead him more directly to the government of God in his life or, au contraire, further away if the wrong path is chosen.  Jesus dutifully was brought to the Temple on the eighth day following His birth to be circumcised (a custom that parallels baptism in the New Testament economy). And when of a knowing age (twelve years) He again comes to the Temple to be examined by the doctors thereof. This is fairly consistent with the Church practice of Confirmation at a knowing age.

 

If we continue faithfully and prayerfully in following after Christ, we shall not lose Him.