Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, Pastoral Letter, and Presentation of Christ (2 February) - 2025

 

The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany

Psalm 117. Laudate Dominum.

O  PRAISE the Lord, all ye nations; * praise him, all ye peoples.

2 For his merciful kindness is ever more and more toward us; * and the truth of the Lord endureth for ever.  Praise the Lord.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son * and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be * world without end. Amen. 

The Collect.

O GOD, who knowest us to be set in the midst of so many and great dangers, that by reason of the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright; Grant to us such strength and protection, as may support us in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Old Testament Reading: Amos 3

Psalter: Psalm 75, 76 | 107

Epistle Reading: Romans 13.1-7

Gospel Reading: Matthew 8:23-34 

Homily 

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The following is what I wrote to my congregation this past week, about solidarity:

Though we have delved into this before, it bears worth repeating. There is this development in Scripture that has made the subject of ‘solidarity’ stand out to me. The subject has two sides. First, throughout Scripture, division and disunion are often part of God’s judgment on a people. For example, God bringing the Midianites to “set every man’s sword against his comrade and against all the army” was so that God could bring victory to Gideon (Judges 7:22). Or the LORD stirring up “Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, each against another and each against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom” (Isaiah 19:2) will be part of God’s humbling and condemning Egypt. Or when the LORD disciplined his people by setting “every man against his neighbor” (Zechariah 8:10). Many times, division and disunity among a people are signs of God’s judgment, whether on nations, families, congregations or on his church. 

The opposite is normally true as well. Solidarity and concord are often an indication of God’s blessing. As an example, returning to Zechariah 8, where the LORD says, “for I set every man against his neighbor. But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as in the former days, declares the LORD of hosts. For there shall be a sowing of peace...” (8:10-12). It is clearly the case in 1 Chronicles 12, as Israel gathers to make David king of all Israel, “All these, men of war, arrayed in battle order, came to Hebron with a whole heart to make David king over all Israel. Likewise, all the rest of Israel were of a single mind to make David king” (12:38). Even in the New Testament God’s kindness and blessing are displayed in his church’s solidarity, “Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul...” (Acts 4:32)^[1]. That’s why in both Ephesians 4:1-6 and 1 Peter 3:8-12 Christians are tasked with pursuing and working at fostering that God-bestowed accord. And the way to do this is with humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another in love, being eager to aim at this God-given unity. It takes some effort on our part, because it’s thoroughly counter-cultural. 

And yet this solidarity is not for its own sake. First, it must be grounded on God’s truth, which reflects God’s person. “These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace; do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the LORD…Therefore love truth and peace” (Zechariah 8:16-17, 19c). 

Furhter, the central reason for us to be of a single mind, banded together in God-given, God-blessed solidarity, is so that a divided society and world can see a gospel-empowered alternative. It’s part of evangelism. That’s what lies behind our Lord’s prayer in John 17: “I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me” (17:23). Therefore, to resist the divisiveness and discord around us, and putting our shoulders into the project of maintaining our congregational solidarity is not cowardice nor spinelessness. And it is not a distraction. It is, rather, joyful fidelity to the Lord who has saved us. And it is evangelistic, “so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” 

In a day when there is a lot of red-hot rhetoric, suspicion, and accusations in our nation and neighborhoods, let us recall that we have a bigger purpose, and a grander mission. We are to continue to be a people of a single mind, together, around our King and Sovereign, Jesus Christ. And it is for displaying the saving goodness of Jesus to our world. 

Pastor Mike

 

The presentation of Christ in the temple, commonly called the Purification of Saint Mary the Virgin

(2 February)

Psalm 20. Exaudiat te Dominus.

THE Lord hear thee in the day of trouble; * the Name of the God of Jacob defend thee:

2 Send thee help from the sanctuary, * and strengthen thee out of Sion:

3 Remember all thy offerings, * and accept thy burnt sacrifice:

4 Grant thee thy heart’s desire, * and fulfil all thy mind.

5 We will rejoice in thy salvation, and triumph in the Name of the Lord our God: * the Lord perform all thy petitions.

6 Now know I that the Lord helpeth his anointed, and will hear him from his holy heaven, * even with the wholesome strength of his right hand.

7 Some put their trust in chariots, and some in horses; * but we will remember the Name of the Lord our God.

8 They are brought down and fallen; * but we are risen and stand upright.

9 Save, Lord; and hear us, O King of heaven, * when we call upon thee.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son * and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be * world without end. Amen. 

Nunc dimittis. St. Luke ii. 29.

(Simeon’s Song at seeing the Christ-child)

LORD, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, * according to thy word.

For mine eyes have seen * thy salvation,

Which thou hast prepared * before the face of all people;

To be a light to lighten the Gentiles, * and to be the glory of thy people Israel. 

The Collect

Almighty and everliving God, we humbly beseech thy Majesty, that, as thy only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple in substance of our flesh, so we may be presented unto thee with pure and clean hearts, by the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Old Testament Reading: Malachi 3.1-5

Psalter: Psalm 84

Epistle Reading: Galatians 1.1-24

Gospel Reading: St. Luke 2.22-40

 

Homily

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[1] Take the time to rummage through other passages to see this like Romans 12:16; 2 Corinthians 13:11; Philippians 1:27 and 2:2; Ephesians 4:13.

Third Sunday after Epiphany, Conversion of St. Paul (25 Jan), and Pastoral Letter - 2025

 

The Third Sunday after the Epiphany.

Psalm 72. Deus, judicium.

GIVE the King thy judgments, O God, * and thy righteousness unto the King’s son.

2 Then shall he judge thy people according unto right, * and defend the poor.

3 The mountains also shall bring peace, * and the little hills righteousness unto the people.

4 He shall keep the simple folk by their right, * defend the children of the poor, and punish the wrong doer.

5 They shall fear thee, as long as the sun and moon endureth, * from one generation to another.

6 He shall come down like the rain upon the mown grass, * even as the drops that water the earth.

7 In his time shall the righteous flourish; * yea, and abundance of peace, so long as the moon endureth.

8 His dominion shall be also from the one sea to the other, * and from the River unto the world’s end.

9 They that dwell in the wilderness shall kneel before him; * his enemies shall lick the dust.

10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall give presents; * the kings of Arabia and Saba shall bring gifts.

11 All kings shall fall down before him; * all nations shall do him service.

12 For he shall deliver the poor when he crieth; * the needy also, and him that hath no helper.

13 He shall be favourable to the simple and needy, * and shall preserve the souls of the poor.

14 He shall deliver their souls from falsehood and wrong; * and dear shall their blood be in his sight.

15 He shall live, and unto him shall be given of the gold of Arabia; * prayer shall be made ever unto him, and daily shall he be praised.

16 There shall be an heap of corn in the earth, high upon the hills; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: * and they of the city shall flourish like grass upon the earth.

17 His Name shall endure for ever; his Name shall re- main under the sun among the posterities, which shall be blessed in him; * and all the nations shall praise him.

18 Blessed be the Lord God, even the God of Israel, * which only doeth wondrous things;

19 And blessed be the Name of his majesty for ever: *  and all the earth shall be filled with his majesty. Amen,  Amen.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son * and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be * world without end. Amen. 

The Collect.

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, mercifully look upon our infirmities, and in all our dangers and necessities stretch forth thy right hand to help and defend us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 41.8-10, 17-20

Psalter: Psalm 20, 21 | 27, 29

Epistle Reading: Romans 12.16-21

Gospel Reading: St. Matthew 8.1-13 

Homily 

This was my letter to my congregation that I sent out this last Wednesday: 

The Sage makes this wise observation in Proverbs, “Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor, but evil comes to him who searches for it” (Proverbs 11:27). What you look for you often find, because what you expect to see is what you look for. There’s an incident in the Old Testament that seems to go along with this Proverb. It’s about the perspective of God’s people who flipped redemption into ruin. It’s quite startling. First, let me set up the scene. 

In Deuteronomy 1, Moses is recounting Israel’s history in the wilderness. Starting at Deuteronomy 1:18 he retells the moment when God’s people were just on the cusp of entering the land of promise decades before. The people wanted spies to reconnoiter the land, so twelve were chosen, and set out to explore and evaluate. When they returned they told all the wonders and wealth of the land (1:22-25). But they also only saw what was negative. And the negative assessments of the patrol took over the congregation’s evaluation, “Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there”” (1:28). It became a general revolt and the people almost tossed Moses and Aaron out on their ears. This is the scene. Now comes a peculiar moment where the people actually turned what was good news into bad news. 

As God’s people were murmering in their tents, rejecting God’s provision, and rebelling against God’s prescription (1:26), they flipped God’s redemption into ruin. They saw what they wanted to see. They expected evil, searched for evil, and it came to them in their misperception: “Because the LORD hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us” (1:27). Did you catch it? Or better, did it catch you? They describe God’s redemption (good news) as ruin (bad news) “Because Yahweh hated us he brought us out...” It’s quite the shocker! They didn’t see God’s rescue as liberation but rather as a liability. They had come to believe that God’s goodness was hate, that God’s relief was destructive, that God’s kindness was a trap. Sounds like the serpent’s ploy in Genesis 3. What a perilous place to be! The people have trust issues, as we would say. But their trust issues are of their own making, their own crafting, their own rationalizing and expectancy. 

Sometimes Christians can do the exact same thing. When we assume bad we find it, even in God’s goodness. When we search for evil, we can become so focused on what is wrong, bad, unjust, etc. that all we can see is evil, even when looking at God’s grace. When we imagine that we can only expect tragedy, we often turn God’s loving dealings into doom (in our minds and hearts). “Because Yahweh hated us he brought us out of the land of Egypt…” I’ve seen this work out in similar ways with Christians over the years. You often find what you’re looking for, and it can flip your perspective upside down and inside out. 

But what would have happened if Israel had trusted God’s goodness more than their self-perceptions? What would have happened if God’s people allowed God’s goodness and grace to rework their awareness and anticipations? What would happen if we were more confident in the goodness of God, his enduring steadfast love, than in our own expectations of defeat and disaster? Wouldn’t there be different results and outcomes? Wouldn’t our relationships look healthier? Wouldn’t our marriages potentially become stronger? Wouldn’t our reactions about societal and cultural events become more soberminded? It won’t necessarily take away the challenges and difficulties, but with our perceptions flipped back, right side up and right side out, at least we will be able to grasp God’s grace and steadfast love for what it is: real goodness. 

Brothers and sisters, “Whoever diligently seeks good seeks favor, but evil comes to him who searches for it” (Proverbs 11:27). 

Pastor Mike 

The Conversion of Saint Paul (25 January) 

The Collect

O God, who, through the preaching of the blessed Apostle Saint Paul, hast caused the light of the Gospel to shine throughout the world: Grant, we beseech thee, that we, having his wonderful conversion in remembrance, may shew forth our thankfulness unto thee for the same, by following the holy doctrine which he taught; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Old Testament Reading: Jeremiah 1.4-10

Psalter: Psalm 67

Epistle Reading: Acts 9.1-22

Gospel Reading: *St. Matthew 19.27-30 

Homily

Second Sunday after Epiphany and Pastoral Letter "The Lord Hears" - 2025

 

The Second Sunday after the Epiphany.

Psalm 48. Magnus Dominus.

GREAT is the Lord, and highly to be praised * in the city of our God, even upon his holy hill.

2 The hill of Sion is a fair place, and the joy of the whole earth; * upon the north side lieth the city of the great King: God is well known in her palaces as a sure refuge.

3 For lo, the kings of the earth * were gathered, and gone by together.

4 They marvelled to see such things; * they were astonished, and suddenly cast down.

5 Fear came there upon them; and sorrow, * as upon a woman in her travail.

6 Thou dost break the ships of the sea * through the east-wind.

7 Like as we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God; * God upholdeth the same for ever.

8 We wait for thy loving-kindness, O God, * in the midst of thy temple.

9 O God, according to thy Name, so is thy praise unto the world’s end; * thy right hand is full of righteousness.

10 Let the mount Sion rejoice, and the daughters of Judah be glad, * because of thy judgments.

11 Walk about Sion, and go round about her; * and tell the towers thereof.

12 Mark well her bulwarks, consider her palaces, * that ye may tell them that come after.

13 For this God is our God for ever and ever: * he shall be our guide unto death.  

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son * and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be * world without end. Amen. 

The Collect.

ALMIGHTY 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. 

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 45.1-15

Psalter: Psalm 96, 97 | 45, 46

Epistle Reading: Romans 12.6-16

Gospel Reading: St. Mark 1.1-11 

Homily 

This is from my letter to my congregation this past week: 

During my morning devotions this morning, all three of my Scripture readings dovetailed together, and affirmed that the Lord hears. To begin, I was reading Psalm 107. It has four scenes of God’s people in impossible situations (wandering in desert wastes, some in prison, the foolish suffering affliction, and those at sea in a storm). And in each scenario those who are in their hot mess cry out and this line comes out: “Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress” (Psalm 107:6, 13, 19, 28). The Lord hears! 

My next reading was Exodus 2-4. In Exodus two, after the government mandate to destroy all of Israel’s newborn males, and describing the hardships of God’s people, we’re told: “During those many days…the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew” (Exodus 2:23-25). Wow! God heard, God remembered, God saw, and God knew! Then, when the LORD was commissioning Moses, he states clearly, “And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them” (Exodus 3:9). Dear friends, the obvious encouragement is that the Lord hears! 

Finally, I was reading through Matthew 15, and I was struck by two episodes there that fit right into this theme, but I’ll only mention one of them today. There was the Canaanite woman, who has no right to expect Jesus to do anything for her. She knows that she is not entitled to any goodness from him. Nevertheless, she comes to him and pleads with him for her daughter, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon” (15:22). And she won’t stop, which evokes a peculiar response from the disciples, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us” (15:23). Then, after Jesus challenges her and she gives her response that is built only on a cry for mercy – not right or entitlement – our Lord responds, ““O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly” (15:28). Ah, the Lord hears! 

Maybe it seems rudimentary: “Pastor, of course the Lord hears. And he even answers. Why did you get so excited about this?” I got excited because all three of my Scripture readings in the dark hours this morning bring this up, as if the Lord is hammering, hammering, hammering this truth out in my heart, “The Lord hears!” Clearly, I need to receive this with two hands, both arms and a whole heart. And, possibly, someone reading this does as well. The Lord hears! 

Pastor Mike

First Sunday after Epiphany - 2025 (Book Review and Pastoral Letter)

 

The First Sunday after the Epiphany.

Psalm 47. Omnes gentes, plaudite.

O CLAP your hands together, all ye peoples: * O sing unto God with the voice of melody.

2 For the Lord is high, and to be feared; * he is the great King upon all the earth.

3 He shall subdue the peoples under us, * and the nations under our feet.

4 He shall choose out an heritage for us, * even the excellency of Jacob, whom he loved.

5 God is gone up with a merry noise, * and the Lord with the sound of the trump.

6 O sing praises, sing praises unto our God; * O sing praises, sing praises unto our King.

7 For God is the King of all the earth: * sing ye praises with understanding.

8 God reigneth over the nations; * God sitteth upon his holy seat.

9 The princes of the peoples are joined unto the people of the God of Abraham; * for God, which is very high exalted, doth defend the earth, as it were with a shield.

Glory be to the Father, &c.

As it was in the beginning, &c. 

The Collect.

O LORD, we beseech thee mercifully to receive the prayers of thy people which 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. 

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 60.1-9

Psalter: Psalm 47, 48 | 66, 67

Epistle Reading: Romans 12.1-5

Gospel Reading: St. Luke 2.41-52 

Homily 

Here’s a book review I did on a devotional guide just for government officials: Government in the Gospels 

This was from my letter to my congregation this past week: 

It’s a new year, and a good time to think about one of the minor prophets, to help keep us oriented in this new year. The minor prophet I have in mind is Hosea. One of the ideas that is prominent in Hosea is how often God’s people looked elsewhere than to God when they had troubles. They looked to other powers and strongmen for help and recovery. For example, “When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, then Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to the great king. But he is not able to cure you or heal your wound” (Hosea 5:13). 

But they also refused to accept responsibility for their condition and sought to shift the blame and fault for their troubles to other sources or forces. Therefore, they multiplied their idols, and built a plentiful quantity of altars, “Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning, they have become to him altars for sinning” (8:11), so they could try and placate the powers-that-be to fix what was ailing them. And yet, as God diagnosed the issue: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” (4:6a). Thus they sowed the wind and reaped a whirlwind (8:7). What a striking description of the hole in their lives (personally and socially). 

Nevertheless, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Yahweh, is always beckoning his people to quit putting their hopes and trust in all the wrong things and quit shifting blame and fault. And he calls them to come close to him: “Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth…For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings…Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you…So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God” (Hosea 6:3, 6; 10:12; 12:6). 

No matter what we’re experiencing, let us check our initial reactions. Are we looking for ultimate help and recovery from other powers and strongmen? Are we shifting the blame and fault onto other sources and forces? In whatever we’re going through, let our first, foremost and fullest response be to seek the LORD, pressing on to know him, and continually wait for (long for, watch for, listen for) him. For there is our decisive help, “They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow; they shall flourish like the grain; they shall blossom like the vine; their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon” (14:7). And there is the way of wisdom, and a steady path forward, “Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the LORD are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them” (14:9). 

May we find the ways of the LORD are right, and walk in them in 2025.

Second Sunday after Christmas, Feast of the Order (3 January), Epiphany (6 January) - 2025

 

The Second Sunday after Christmas Day

Psalm 37 (v.1-6)

Noli aemulari

FRET not thyself because of the ungodly : neither be thou envious against the evil-doers.

2. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass : and be withered even as the green herb.

3. Put thou thy trust in the Lord, and be doing good : dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

4. Delight thou in the Lord : and he shall give thee thy heart’s desire.

5. Commit thy way unto the Lord, and put thy trust in him : and he shall bring it to pass.

6. He shall make thy righteousness as clear as the light ; and thy just dealing as the noon-day. 

The Collect

ALMIGHTY GOD, who hast poured upon us the new light of thine incarnate Word; grant that the same light enkindled in our hearts may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 61.1-3

Psalter: Psalm 85, 87 | 90, 91

{Epistle Reading: Philippians 2.12-18}

Gospel Reading: St. Matthew 2.19-23 

Homily

Feast of the Order of Centurions (3 January)

Renewal of our Vows

Office of the Renewal of Vows 

On this day centurions may reaffirm the Vow of the Order in remembrance of the tradition of the centurions of the first centuries "Sacramentum". Another suggested day is January 1, or its eve, which was another day when the Roman Army soldiers would affirm their vows. 

New members may be received into the order. 

Where two or more are gathered, a leader will state the Sacramentum. For those without a Cohort, the Primus Pilus will state the Sacramentum at the Chapel of the Centurions.

I acknowledge Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior. I will endeavor to obey the Ten Commandments and the Summary of the Law, and follow the Rule of the Order of Centurions; and through faith and the aid of the Holy Spirit - fear God and do what is right. So help me God. 

Centurions and candidates, in turn, affirm their acceptance with the words, "The same in my case"

When a man was enlisted in the army, he received a special mark. All early Christians received an invisible mark at baptism, when he was sealed with the cross on the forehead.

The observance then may continue with Devotion or Eucharist using the following collect, readings, and sermon and Communion and/or an Agape banquet. If this office is performed on January 1, or its eve, then the appointed collects and the readings for the Circumcision may be used. 

For the Scripture readings and homily

 

The Epiphany, or the Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles

6 January

Psalm 46. Deus noster refugium.

GOD is our hope and strength, * a very present help in trouble.

2 Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be moved, * and though the hills be carried into the midst of the sea;

3 Though the waters thereof rage and swell, * and though the mountains shake at the tempest of the same.

4 There is a river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God; * the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most Highest.

5 God is in the midst of her, therefore shall she not be removed; * God shall help her, and that right early.

6 The nations make much ado, and the kingdoms are moved; * but God hath showed his voice, and the earth shall melt away.

7 The Lord of hosts is with us; * the God of Jacob is our refuge.

8 O come hither, and behold the works of the Lord, * what destruction he hath brought upon the earth.

9 He maketh wars to cease in all the world; * he breaketh the bow, and knappeth the spear in sunder, and burneth the chariots in the fire.

10 Be still then, and know that I am God: * I will be exalted among the nations, and I will be exalted in the earth. 11 The Lord of hosts is with us; * the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son : and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be : world without end. Amen. 

The Collect.

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

[Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 60.1-9]

Psalter: Psalm 96

Epistle Reading: Ephesians 3.1-11

Gospel Reading: St. Matthew 2.1-12 

Homily