The Propers for today are found on Page 195-196, with the Collect first:
The Fifth Sunday after Trinity.
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The Collect.
RANT, O Lord, we beseech thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by thy governance, that thy Church may joyfully serve thee in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle came from the Third Chapter of the First Epistle of Saint Peter beginning at the Eighth Verse. 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. To put ourselves in others’ places, understand when they fall short and make good things happen.
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E ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.
Today’s Holy Gospel started in the Fifth Chapter of the Gospel according to Saint Luke beginning at the First Verse. This is one of the classic stories of Jesus in the Bible. Jesus had gone down to Lake Gennesaret to pray and then speak to the people. As they pressed in on him, he asked Simon Peter to use his boat as a speaking platform. Speaking from a small boat near the beach is almost like speaking in an amphitheatre. When he finished talking to the people, he told Simon Peter to go out and set his nets. Simon pointed out they had fished all night with no result, but at His word, he would set his net. The net gathered an incredible catch that Simon Peter and his friends could not board. At that point, it was clear to Simon Peter he was in the presence of one far greater than himself. He fell to his knees, saying, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” Then Jesus said, “Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.” From then on Simon Peter followed Jesus.
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?”
There are none so deaf as those who will not hear.
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T came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, and saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: and so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.
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 is God’s fault, He is punishing us.
As long as we are imperfect creatures with free will, humanity will not change. The key word in this phrase is will. The will of humanity is set towards embracing sin and running away from God. But there is the possibility that through the Holy Ghost, we as individuals can change and with enough individuals changing, the whole of humanity of change. We just have to start with our corner of the world and work out from there. Humanity would be better off if we fully embraced the principles found in the Gospel. However, there is a big obstacle to this: human nature. By our own nature, we are naturally resistant to embracing what God wants. We have to understand doing what God wants will be better for us in the long run than doing what we want.
If you think about it, all of our problems can be solved by doing what God asks! Don’t try to get out of doing what God wants to do what you want, and don’t look for loopholes. 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 result, that is for sure!
That is what happened to Simon Peter; that is what will happen to you, if you will but listen and act. Listening and then acting are the key principles of this Gospel, we must listen to what He says, and then ACT upon it.
The point Saint Peter makes in this morning’s Epistle is that it is easy for us to be sinful creatures and not do good. It is much easier to swim with the flow than it is to swim against it. God is calling us not to swim with the flow of the world, but to swim against it, for as GK Chesterton put it, A dead thing goes with the stream, but only a living thing goes against it. It is much harder to resist that sin and to do good. However, we have help in the form of the Holy Spirit. He will give us that strength to resist the sin and to good and to overcome obstacles and feelings, but only if we let it. God is open to those who do good and He is against those who are evil. God will open his ears to us, but we have to also open our ears to what He asks us to do. The Epistle is calling us to action, to act for Him, to be Holy and not conform our minds and actions to this world but God’s World.
Action and not just diction are what counts in the end. That phrase is what St. Peter’s Epistle boils down to and it is also a shared theme with this morning’s Gospel. When Simon Peter finally listened and acted according to Jesus’s instructions, wonderful things happened. So too will they happen for us when we finally actually listen to what God wants and do it instead of doing what we want.
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
