Bishop Ogles’ Sermon
Bishop Jerry is TDY today
to Atlanta, he felt his sermon might be too basic for the AOC Sunday Report as
the congregation he is visiting is quite young. We think that not to be the case, a return to basics is oft
the most profitable thing we can do.
So, if the sermon shows up, there will be a Change One to the AOC Sunday
Report.
In the mean time, he asks that you consider this sermon:
Sermon – Reverend Jack Arnold - Time and
Action
Church of the Faithful Centurion - Descanso, California
Today’s sermon tied the
Epistle and Gospel together talked, as is oft the case, of the need for action,
not simply diction, the general content is in forewords above.
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| The entire AOC Sunday Report is RIGHT HERE! |
Consider the words from the Collect, wherein we ask
God to give us … the spirit to think and do always such things as are right;
that we, who cannot do any thing that is good without thee, may by thee be
enabled to live according to thy will …
This is kind of a follow-on to last week’s
Collect. We are asking God to give
us direction that we might know right from wrong and follow the right way. If we listen to our hearts and minds,
like the aviator, mariner or adventurer without a compass, we will soon be
hopelessly lost. With the compass
God gives us, we can find the One True Way, much like the compass always points
North.
This is nothing new. As Paul reminds us we have a common
spiritual past, regardless of our actual lineage. Spiritually, we are descended from the Jews of the
Exodus. Their God is our God; God
directed their actions. He was a
Trinity then as He is today. Their
reality it our reality, whether we choose to understand or accept it. Our
forefathers drank of “the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that
spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.” Those who have gone before provide
examples, both good and bad. We should aspire to follow the good examples of
those who have gone before and not the bad examples that they have left behind.
In this letter Paul addresses the bad and suggest we should see what their ill
behavior gained them before we set our course and not after. We should not strive to emulate the
murmurings of the people, though we may feel that way sometimes, as we can
learn from their bad examples.
Following after the Jews, we
should strive to not incorporate those bad examples, but the good examples into
or lives. And, lest we think ourselves ever so special, he reminds us we are
subjected to no special temptations, only those “as is common to man.” Every man on this planet is a sinner
who desperately needs help, every bit as much as the next, albeit likely in
differing ways. In sin, all are
equally lost to death, unless they accept the saving grace of Jesus Christ.
Which is to say, common to everybody within the human race who is not Christ,
which is also to say 100% of the human race. This is another example of the adage,
“Those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it.” It is an old saw, but one as valid
today as the first time it was used.
That is a reason the Old
Testament should be read and reviewed and compared to the New Testament, to see
where we came from, how we got here and where we should go next. It works like
a process flowchart, from the beginning from Adam, down through the various
figures of the Old Testament, the flowchart ends at the arrival of Christ and
the Holy Ghost, and in our redemption. Analyzing this flowchart, we can see our
temptations and sins are nothing new, and sins are a waste of our spiritual
life. We must practice continuous improvement, kaizen as the Japanese called it, and or total quality management
of our spiritual life.
Just like total quality
management requires each and every member of the organization work together to
achieve quality and serve the needs of the customer, so too, do the Scriptures
require all believers work together, to serve the needs of those we serve,
namely other believers and the Church. We must continuously improve ourselves
in our day to day lives, not just in the church, but in our businesses and
personal lives. This is the message Paul is conveying to Corinthians, that we
must see how our forefathers acted, emulate their good qualities and dispose of
the wasteful, bad, sinful qualities.
Speaking of lessons, when Saint Luke recounts the
story of the prodigal son we oft think ourselves at that prodigal one returning
to God so late in life. Yet there
is far more to be learned than this, the titular one.
Consider the two sons. The older is a wonderful young man who strives to please his
father in everything he does. The
younger son asks for his inheritance, now rather than later, and sets off to
spend it wastefully in a far off land.
In dire straits, he decides to go home to his father and beg to be
allowed to live as one of his servants.
He decides to tell his father, “Father, I have sinned against heaven,
and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son…” Before he can get the words out of his
mouth, his father welcomes him, gives him new clothing and calls the servants
to prepare a fatted calf for a big party.
The elder son is very angry and hurt. He asks his father what he did wrong; he followed his
instructions every day to the best of his ability, worked hard, and yet his
father had never even given a small party for him. The father answered, saying, “Son, thou are ever with me, and
all that I have is thine.”
It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother
was dead, and is alive again; and was lost and is found.”
This story, like that of the workers in the vineyard
has a number of meanings. Like the
father in the story, God wants us to be His faithful child, but rejoices when
we return to Him. Like the
prodigal son, we should be grateful to live long enough to return to Him. We should recognize when we have erred
and as soon as we recognize that, we should immediately return to Our Lord in
prayer, asking for His forgiveness. Like the father in the story, Our Lord will
warmly welcome us back with open arms. The moral of the younger son’s story is
that God is always waiting for us, and if we are not too late, we can always
return to Him. Today preferably
rather than tomorrow! He will always accept us with opening arms, but we must
make sure it is not too late. Don’t wait until you die! If you feel you have
erred and strayed, repent now! Do not let the sun go down on your sins and
wrath, you may not live to see another day! On the other hand, consider the
oldest son, let us learn from his mistake and be joyful when our brothers and
sisters come home to our family. Let us put aside the anger and jealousy and
replace those hurtful emotions with the emotions of pure love and joy! Let us
join in the celebration and not begrudge the fatted calf. We should not be jealous or angry when
our long lost brethren return to the flock of Christ! We should be merry and
joyful that they have returned to us! Do not let you anger and pride cloud your
emotions like it does so many of us. But rather see a sinner coming back into
His flock and rejoice in that he is no longer headed towards the Pit!
Action counts.
For by their actions ye shall know them.
Heaven is at the end of an
uphill trail. The easy downhill
trail does not lead to the summit.
The time is now, not tomorrow. The time has come, indeed. How will you ACT?
It is by our actions we are known.
Be of God - Live of God - Act of God
