Ninth Sunday after Trinity - 2014

The Ninth Sunday after Trinity.

Psalm 119.65-72

Bonitatem fecisti

O LORD, thou hast dealt graciously with thy servant : according unto thy word.

66. O learn me true understanding and knowledge : for I have believed thy commandments.

67. Before I was troubled, I went wrong : but now I have kept thy word.

68. Thou art good and gracious : O teach me thy statutes.

69. The proud have imagined a lie against me : but I will keep thy commandments with my whole heart.

70. Their heart is as fat as brawn : but my delight hath been in thy law.

71. It is good for me that I have been in trouble : that I may learn thy statutes.

72. The law of thy mouth is dearer unto me : than thousands of gold and silver.

The Collect.

GRANT to us, Lord, we beseech thee, the spirit to think and do always such things as be rightful; that we, who cannot do any thing that is good without thee, may by thee be enabled to live according to thy will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Old Testament Reading: 1 Kings 10.1-25

Psalter: Psalm 46, 47 | 44, 45

Epistle Reading: 1 Corinthians 10.1-13

Gospel Reading: St. Luke 16.1-9

Toon: “This is a powerful petition in which we ask God to conform us, both internally and externally, to his righteousness (to what is rightful). Further, there is the honest admission that, in and of ourselves, that is in our wisdom and strength, we cannot please God by seeking to live what we consider to be the righteous and good life. (Note that this Collect is true to the meaning of the original Latin prayer, which is so terse that a literal translation of the second part would be, that we, who cannot even exist without thee, may have strength to live according to thee.)

Today we learn from our society and in our education and culture that each of us is an autonomous being. That is, I am in charge of my life and destiny and so are you! We think of the human being as being the centre of the universe and if we think of God at all in relation to the world it is as an Extra.

In contrast, genuine Christian thinking sees a person in total dependence upon God for his creation, his existence, his sustenance, his salvation and his eternal destiny. Whatever measure of free will and free determination a person possesses is itself from God and is only beneficial if conformed to the known will of God.

True freedom is not known in the exercise of personal autonomy and pursuing one’s own selfish will, but rather in thinking according to God’s ways and purposes and in doing his will, assisted and guided by his revelation and his Spirit. That is, the genuine life of righteousness and goodness is following the Way of Jesus Christ as his Spirit indwells the heart and mind and directs the will.

This Collect helps us to move from the mindset and spirit of the fallen world and evil age into the mindset and spirit of the kingdom of heaven and of God’s righteousness. And it presupposes that we are diligent readers of the sacred Scriptures where the mind and will of God is revealed to the Church.

The Epistle recalls the history of the Israelites in the wilderness in order to provide for us instruction in the moral and spiritual dangers we face and how they are to be overcome. The Gospel provides the Parable of the Unjust Steward in order to impress upon us the need and duty to make wise use of the present in providing for the life of the age to come” (http://www.pbs.org.uk/the-bcp/ninth-sunday-after-trinity).

The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity - 2013

The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity

Psalm 119.145-152

Clamavi in toto corde meo

145 I CALL with my whole heart : hear me, O Lord, I will keep thy statutes.
146 Yea, even unto thee do I call : help me, and I shall keep thy testimonies.
147 Early in the morning do I cry unto thee : for in thy word is my trust.
148 Mine eyes prevent the night-watches : that I might be occupied in thy words.
149 Hear my voice, O Lord, according unto thy loving-kindness : quicken me, according as thou art wont.
150 They draw nigh that of malice persecute me : and are far from thy law.
151 Be thou nigh at hand, O Lord : for all thy commandments are true.
152 As concerning thy testimonies, I have known long since : that thou hast grounded them for ever.

The Collect

O GOD, forasmuch as without thee we are not able to please thee; Mercifully grant, that thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Note the change from the 1549 BCP: "O GOD, for asmuche as without thee, we are not able to please thee; Graunte that the workyng of thy mercie maye in all thynges directe and rule our heartes; Through Jesus Christ our Lorde.")

Old Testament: Job 24.1-17
Psalter: 114, 115 | 107, 70
Epistle: Ephesians 4.17-32
Gospel: St. Matthew 9.1-8

     Personal Reflections (MWP): The 1662 BCP expands the Collect to rightly identify our need for God to "mercifully grant that" his "Holy Spirit" would direct and rule our hearts in all things. Jesus promised his people that when he was glorified after his death and resurrection he (and the Father) would send the Spirit of truth who would lead his people into all truth, and who would testify of our Lord Jesus (John 14-16). We need God's guidance and direction. In many ways the Scriptures are like a topological map, describing the contours of the terrain, land marks, and camp sites. But without a compass to keep our bearings, we may easily get lost, misread our map and end up in a completely other place. When our Boy Scout troop was doing it's two week trek at Philmont Scout Ranch in 2012, we saw this exact thing happen. A troop from Manhattan got all turned around and went over 15 kilometers out of its way, because the navigator didn't use his compass. And so, correctly, we pray for the Father to send us the Holy Spirit who makes "the reading, but especially the preaching, of the Word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith, unto salvation" (Westminster Shorter Catechism 89).

     In 2 Corinthians 10.12-11.4, Paul notes that there are many shysters who are running around, attempting to woo God's people in other directions, getting them off the right trail. These fellows are all about "measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves" (10.12). The Apostle then brings this home to the Corinthians by exposing his fear that "the serpent" who "beguiled Eve through his subtility" might have corrupted their minds "from the simplicity that is in Christ" (11.3). This Collect becomes a medicinal dose for us. In it we acknowledge that we are prone to listen to all the wrong voices and might easily lose our way ("forasmuch as without thee we are not able to please thee"). We need God's merciful gift, the Holy Spirit, to come and direct us, rule us (and thus to sometimes overrule us) so that we stay on the right footpath. In fact we need him to do this from the inside out, "our hearts." As Solomon points out, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (Proverbs 4.23). The goal of the Collect is that the Holy Spirit will guide and rule our hearts through Jesus Christ our Lord. The Jesus-focused Spirit will always guide us to Jesus, and through Jesus to the Father (Ephesians 2.18).

     How fitting is this Collect for the 21st Century Church, whether in North America, North Africa, or Northern Ireland! Now storms are brewing on the horizon, winds are picking up, dust is starting to fill the air and cloud our ability to see our direction clearly. Therefore we need our Father's merciful gift of the Holy Spirit. We need him to come, guide, rule and overrule our hearts through Jesus our Lord, so that we may become like the sons of Issachar, "which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do" (1 Chronicles 12.32).

     Let us pray:
     "O GOD, forasmuch as without thee we are not able to please thee; Mercifully grant, that thy Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

Mike

Sunday after Ascension - 2013

Sunday after Ascension-Day.

Psalm 27

Dominus illuminatio

( . . . )

8. Hearken unto my voice, O Lord, when I cry unto thee : have mercy upon me, and hear me.

9. My heart hath talked of thee, Seek ye my face : Thy face, Lord, will I seek.

10. O hide not thou thy face from me : nor cast thy servant away in displeasure.

11. Thou hast been my succour : leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.

( . . . )

The Collect.

O GOD the King of glory, who hast exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph unto thy kingdom in heaven; We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless; but send to us thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us unto the same place whither our Saviour Christ is gone before, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 65.17-25

Psalter: Psalm 108, 110 | 46, 47

Epistle Reading: 1 Peter 4.7-11

Gospel Reading: St. John 15.26-16.4

Barbee and Zahl: “The first part of the petition is that we be not comfortless in the face of Christ’s physical absence. There is a heart-rending note sounded here: Don’t leave me alone! I had you once, I saw you and touched you. I need you, but now you are gone. What shall I do? Do you hear me saying it?: Why did you leave me? I am without comfort, like Rachel weeping for her children (St. Matthew 2:18; Jeremiah 31:15). The pathos of the Ascension, ( . . . ) is now fully acknowledged. Home alone. Alone again. The difference, however, is that the prayer implores God, on the basis of St. John 14, to send the Holy Spirit to give us comfort which the world cannot give. We are not in fact alone. The personal presence of God was promised by Jesus. This prayer counts on it. And not only shall the Spirit of God provide that comfort so needed within the vale of tears that is life (honestly represented), but the Spirit will “exalt us” ultimately yonder, over Jordan, over the river of death, to the place where Christ has gone before. The themes of this Collect are absence, solitude, accompaniment, and passage to the Kingdom of Light – right through to the end, and beyond “the end.”” (65).

Massey Hamilton Shepherd, JR.: “The word ‘comfort’ bears here its archaic meaning of ‘strengthen’ (as in the Comfortable Words…) as well as its derivative connotation of ‘console.’” (“The Oxford American Prayer Book Commentary,” 179).

The Circumcision of Christ-2012

The Circumcision of Christ.

The Collect.

ALMIGHTY God, who madest thy blessed Son to be circumcised, and obedient to the law for man; Grant us the true Circumcision of the Spirit; that, our hearts, and all our members, being mortified from all worldly and carnal lusts, we may in all things obey thy blessed will; through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Epistle Reading: Philippians 2.9-13

Gospel Reading: St. Luke 2.15-21

Barbee and Zahl:

“This Collect ( . . . ) was taken from the Gregorian Sacramentary. ( . . . ) When you meditate on a written prayer such as this one, ask yourself first, what is being asked for here? When you take away the address (“Almighty God, which . . . ”), and the formal pleading (“through the same thy son . . . ”), what exactly is being prayed for? In this prayer, on the occasion of the Feast of the Christ’s Circumcision, the petitioner – and we are the petitioner – is asking God for “the true circumcision of thy spirit.”  The idea is that the Holy Spirit alone can cleanse us and prompt us to accede from the heart to the design of God for our life. A transformed will results in changed actions. The Holy Spirit “circumcises” us from within. The consequence is an inward desire to obey God. Such a will bears the fruit of good works. ( . . . ) What we do results, rather, from who we are, or better, from what the prior grace of God has helped us to become” (12-3).

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Primus Pilus II