Third Sunday after Easter - 2014

The Third Sunday after Easter.

Psalm 75

Confitebimur tibi

UNTO thee, O God, do we give thanks : yea, unto thee do we give thanks.

2. Thy Name also is so nigh : and that do thy wondrous works declare.

3. When I receive the congregation : I shall judge according unto right.

4. The earth is weak, and all the inhabiters thereof : I bear up the pillars of it.

5. I said unto the fools, Deal not so madly: and to the ungodly, Set not up your horn.

6. Set not up your horn on high : and speak not with a stiff neck.

7. For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west : nor yet from the south.

8. And why? God is the Judge : he putteth down one, and setteth up another.

9. For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red : it is full mixed, and he poureth out of the same.

10. As for the dregs thereof : all the ungodly of the earth shall drink them, and suck them out.

11. But I will talk of the God of Jacob : and praise him for ever.

12. All the horns of the ungodly also will I break : and the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.

The Collect.

ALMIGHTY God, who shewest to them that be in error the light of thy truth, to the intent that they may return into the way of righteousness; Grant unto all them that are admitted into the fellowship of Christ’s Religion, that they may eschew those things that are contrary to their profession, and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same; through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Old Testament Reading: 1 Samuel 2.1b-10

Psalter: Psalm 120, 121, 122 | 123, 124, 125

Epistle Reading: 1 Peter 2.11-17

Gospel Reading: St. John 16.16-24

Toon: “This ancient Collect assumes greater meaning if we remember that Easter Eve is one of the great occasions for Baptisms, for the admittance of converts into the fellowship of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church by joining the local congregation. So this Prayer was used in the ancient Church a few weeks after many new members were in her fellowship.

The first part of the Collect, where we remember in Godís presence aspects of his relation to the world, recalls that God in Christ Jesus as the Good Shepherd seeks the lost sheep and, further, as the Light of the world gives to lost travellers light to find their way to everlasting salvation. Does HE not enlighten those who have been baptized in the Triune Name, who repent of sin, believe the Gospel and follow the Lord Jesus? Yes! In the Gospel reading the coming of the Lord to his disciples is a source of great joy and encouragement.

The petition in the Collect has a primary reference to the newly baptized, but also applies to all the baptized. All are called to die daily to sin and to live unto righteousness in the power of the Holy Ghost. All Christians are called to holiness of life and consecration unto the Lord and his purposes, and thus they are to think and do only that which they know to be a part of his will for them.

The verb, to eschew, emphasizes that baptised believers are to shoo away, to drive away (as birds from a fruit tree) all that is evil and contrary to holiness in their lives. And this is what is called for in the Epistle reading - as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh.

In Baptism we promise to reject the world, the flesh and the devil and to accept and follow Christ in the way of self-denial and of grace. This Collect thus recalls us to our vocation as the elect people of God, saved by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” (http://www.pbs.org.uk/the-bcp/third-sunday-after-easter).