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Sermon – Reverend Jack Arnold - Time and Action
Church of the Faithful Centurion
- Descanso, California
Today’s
sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and is partly contained in the forewords above.
Consider these words from the Collect:
… the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by thy
governance, that thy Church may joyfully serve thee in all godly quietness
…
In the Collect, we ask that the events of this world might follow God’s
governance or will. Why? Because in those places where it does, we
find happiness and joy. It is that
simple, it means more, reflect on that.
After all, amazing is it not?
Since the Garden, it has always been one of the two same choices:
1. We
follow God’s Will for us, we do what is good for us, individually and as a
people or a country. It is hard work,
but easier than we imagined; we prosper when all goes well. It was all our doing, we are happy because we
were so smart.
2. We
ignore God’s instructions, doing what we want to do, not what we are supposed
to do. It turns out to be way harder
than we thought possible, in the end everything turns to weasel spit. It was not our fault, it was God’s fault, He
is punishing us.
As long as we are human, imperfect creatures with free will, it will
never change for humanity. But, we
individually can change, and with enough individuals changing, humanity will
change. We can learn from the past and
live for the future in Him who gave His Life that we might be free eternally.
This is a very similar theme to last Sunday’s sermon, with very good reason. It
applies to almost every single lesson in the Bible, which is to do God’s will,
above what you want to do. Every time we do what we want to do instead of what
God wants us to do, we fail. But when we do what God wants us to do, we
succeed! Even though we want to do what we do, rather than what God wants us to
do, it is better for us in the end to do what God wants us to do. Doing what God Asks = Happiness, Not doing
what God Asks = Unhappiness, to put it into mathematical terms!
So, how do we make our little part of this world
follow God’s will? Peter tells to be of one mind, have compassion and pity for
each other, to be courteous, to give good to all our brethren, to return good
for evil, to seek peace, to do good, not just talk good. Peter tells us to not only talk the talk, but
walk the walk. When Peter speaks of being of one mind, he is speaking of the
one mind we will have when we follow the instructions of the Holy Ghost. He is saying
we need to have the one mindedness of Christ, to act as Christ would act. That
means putting away our old selfish minds and putting on the new one mind of
Christ. The Holy Ghost will help us to have this one mind.
We have to start first with ourselves and allow the
Holy Ghost into our hearts to transform us. After we are transformed by the
Holy Ghost, only then can we truly be able to help others. Then we can truly
act with the one mind that Peter speaks about. It will not happen right away,
but it is a steady and continuous process, in fact taking most of our lifetime
here on earth. But while we are being transformed, we can do our best to help
others. But we must realize that it is only through God we can help others, and
not to us only. To put ourselves in others’ places, understand when they fall
short and make good things happen. The key word is “walk”, to act upon the
teachings of Christ, and not just utter them and not do them. All of us,
including myself struggle with this, but as long as we are DOING our best, and
not just saying it, then that is all He asks of us. We cannot do more than our best. We must be
doing our best and not just faking doing our best. There is a sincere
difference between the two. If you are sincere, people will know it. If you are
not sincere, people will also know it too. As they say, actions speak louder
than words. And to paraphrase Scripture, where your treasure is, there will
your heart be also. To understand where a persons’ heart is, look at their
actions and not just their words. Words do not mean much unless they are backed
up by actions. We need to perform good actions, with the help of the Holy
Ghost, to show that we truly believe.
So, just how do we make good things happen? Fairly simple, do what God asks! Follow the
Summary of the Law and all shall be well in one’s life. Every moral law hangs
off of the Summary of the Law “Love your God with all your heart soul and your
mind, and Love thy Neighbor as thyself.”. These two commandments are all where
the Ten Commandments originate and thus what all the moral laws of the universe
are governed by. They are the ultimate benchmark for us, which we should try
and do our best to meet. They are truly what we should be judging our own
actions against. This is an extremely common theme again! Doing what God asks
is the answer to all of our problems if you think about it! Don’t figure out
ways to seem to do what He asks, while doing what you want. Don’t be a Pharisee! Consider when Jesus told
Simon Peter to go out and set his nets.
Simon was tired, he was hungry, he had fished all night with no
result. After making excuses, he decided
to do what he was told! There is a lesson there, instead of making excuses why
things are the way they are, why not be quiet and do God’s will instead? It
will have a lot better results that is for sure, like Simon Peter and his nets!
The net gathered an incredible catch
that Simon Peter and his friends could not board.
That is what happened to Simon Peter; that is what
will happen to you, if you will but listen. Listening and then acting are the
key principles of this Gospel, we must listen to what He says, and then ACT
upon it.
Do not misunderstand, every day Jesus speaks to you
telling you what to do. It is your
choice, you can listen like Simon Peter or you can ignore Jesus. He has the pony for the lottery. He wants to give it to you, all you have to
do is accept. While He is a bit more subtle
than a Drill Instructor, the question is the same, “Can you hear me?” The
problem with us is that we just do not want to hear. That is why we need the
Holy Ghost to open up our ears, that we might hear and obey.
There are none so deaf as those who will not hear.
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
