Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity (and Weekly Pastoral Letter) - 2024

 

The Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity.

Cantate Domino.

Psalm xcviii

O SING unto the Lord a new song : for he hath done marvellous things.

With his own right hand, and with his holy arm : hath he gotten himself the victory.

The Lord declared his salvation : his righteousness hath he openly showed in the sight of the heathen.

He hath remembered his mercy and truth toward the house of Israel : and all the ends of the world have seen the salvation of our God.

Show yourselves joyful unto the Lord, all ye lands : sing, rejoice, and give thanks.

Praise the Lord upon the harp : sing to the harp with a psalm of thanksgiving.

With trumpets also and shawms : O shew yourselves joyful before the Lord the King.

Let the sea make a noise, and all that therein is : the round world, and that dwell therein.

Let the floods clap their hands, and let the hills be joyful together before the Lord : for he cometh to judge the earth.

With righteousness shall he judge the world : and the peoples with equity.

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.

LORD, we pray thee that thy grace may always *prevent and follow us, and make us continually to be given to all good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

*N.B. In older use prevent meant: to act ahead of; forestall; to precede; to anticipate. 

Old Testament Reading: Jeremiah 13.15-21

Psalter: Psalm 91, 92 | 105, 60

Epistle Reading: Ephesians 4.1-6

Gospel Reading: St. Luke 14.1-11 

Homily

 

This was my pastoral letter to my congregation this last week: 

I love the Old Testament prophets, and one of my favorite is Habakkuk. Many, many years ago Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the Welsh Calvinist-Methodist preacher (yes, there once was such a creature as a Calvinist-Methodist church) wrote a teeny book working through Habakkuk. The book is made up of his sermons on Habakkuk that were printed in 1953, not long after WWII, in the middle of the Korean War, and at the hieght of the Cold War. It is titled “From Fear to Faith” and you can still order it. Here’s a little taste of Lloyd-Jones as he ponders various passages in Habakkuk. 

“The key to the history of the world is the kingdom of God…And ultimately history today is relevant only as it bears upon the history of the Christian Church…The problems of today are to be understood only in its light. What God is permitting in the Church and in the world today is related to His great purpose for His own Church and kingdom” (p.21-2). 

“There are, in our time, grave dangers confronting the Church and, unless she is careful, like Israel of old she may enter into political alliances to try to stave off the very thing which God has directed. It is essential that the Church should not view things with a political eye, but learn to interpret events spiritually and to understand them in light of God’s instructions to her” (p.23). 

“If we desire to be at peace within, in spite of what is happening in the world around and about us, the only way to do so is to understand this biblical philosophy of history which explains what is happening in the secular world and its bearing on the Church of God. The essential principle is that history can be understood only in terms of God’s kingdom – that is, the rule of God in the world as a whole and including the Church. All history is being directed by God in order to bring His own purpose with respect to the kingdom to pass” (p.45-6). 

“Turning to the positive aspect of this truth (2:14) we read, ‘For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea’. It is not for anyone to attempt to predict what is going to happen in detail, but we can be certain of one great fact, namely, the ultimate triumph of God” (p.53). 

“In the light of all this, what, then, is our final conclusion? … God forbid that we should trust, or commit ourselves to, any power other than God Himself, to any idols man may set up, even though they be the British Commonwealth or the United Nations! … Put your trust in nothing of man, but in God alone! ‘But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him’ (2:20)” (p.54). 

Brothers and sisters, I hope you will find a copy of this book and read it. No matter what is happening here at home, in Europe, Bangladesh, the Middle East, or anywhere else, our God is overseeing it all, and steering it all in the right direction. And when that reality has gotten hold of us, then truly “the righteous shall live” and he shall live “by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4b). 

Pastor Mike