The propers for the Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity can be found on Page 220-222:
The Twenty-Second Sunday after Trinity
The Collect.
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ORD we beseech thee to keep thy household the Church in continual godliness; that through thy protection it may be free from all adversities, and devoutly given to serve thee in good works, to the glory of thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle for today came from Saint Paul’s letter to the Philippians beginning at the Third Verse of the First Chapter. Writing to the church in Philippia, Paul sends his greetings letting them know he has been praying for them constantly. He tells them that the good work God has begun in them will surely continue until Christ returns to them. Paul tells them he prays that they will find more and more joy in following the will of God. Continually reminding people of the joy of being born a new person, Paul prays that their “love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.”
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thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the tender mercies of Christ Jesus. And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
The Holy Gospel came from the Twenty-Eighth Chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew beginning at the Twenty-First Verse. On the subject of confession, repentance and forgiveness, knowing the rabbis had ordained forgiving one’s transgressors three times Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” Knowing Jesus as he did, Peter no doubt expected Jesus to say more times than three, but 490 may have been somewhat more than he expected. In one of the more important stories in the Bible concerning God’s forgiveness of us and our obligation to forgive others, Jesus went on to liken the kingdom of heaven to a king, who was balancing his accounts. He found a servant who owed him, in today’s terms, a million dollars. The man had no money, but promised to pay and begged for mercy rather than have himself and his family sold into slavery as the law allowed to repay the debt. The king forgave him the debt and set him free. Upon release, the man being reminded of his debts, began to attempt to collect from those who owed him. The first debtor he came across owed him $10.00 and had it not. The one who had been forgiven cast the $10.00 debtor into prison. The king found out and bye, bye.
The quote is - Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Not – Do unto others before they do unto you.
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eter said unto Jesus, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellow-servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow-servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.
Church of the Faithful Centurion - Descanso, California
Today’s sermon tied the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and talked, as is oft the case, of the need for action, not simply diction and are all tied together. Today’s propers really put to lie the concept of the hermit Christian. When we talk about them, look how the Collect talks about the Household of God, what Bishop Cranmer styles as the Church, and how Paul speaks of the benefits of fellowship and joint prayer. If that were not enough, see how Jesus reminds us of the need for forgiveness and patience, things you only need if you interface with others.
Consider these words from the Collect:
… keep thy household the Church in continual godliness; that through thy protection it may be free from all adversities, and devoutly given to serve thee in good works, to the glory of thy Name …
In the Collect we ask the Lord to keep His household, (that would be the Church or us) in continual godliness (that is to keep Him as our leader and follow Him and the principles of Scripture), so that with His Help we can have as smooth a path as practical and serve Him in happiness. It also says through His protection we might be free from all adversities and to do good works for Him. By being free of adversities, it means in times of adversity God might give us the guidance needed to soar through these adversities and do good for Him.
This is only possible if we listen to the Scriptures and apply them with the help of the Holy Ghost. Without the help of the Holy Ghost, we cannot have His Protection and will not be able to keep on the straight and narrow uphill path towards heaven.
Saint Paul follows this same thought in his Epistle when he thanks the Philippians for their fellowship and talks about how their bond through Christ have strengthened his faith as a result which enabled him to continue doing good works for the Lord. He expresses his wishes for the Philippians to do the same and to keep growing in heart, soul and spirit, with their judgement and knowledge increasing as they allow the Holy Ghost in their hearts more and more.
And they would approve of godly things and their holiness would increase as they walk more and more with God. It ties in nicely with the collect asking for God to keep the Church in continual godliness. Our Lord accomplishes this by having our bonds strong in the church, He keeps us in that continual godliness. The more we love the Lord, the more it will show through in our actions and our judgment. So, let us keep loving the Lord, so our actions and judgment will align His!
Which brings us to the point of the Gospel, in which Christ tells Peter about forgiveness and how we must be ever patient with our fellow humans, and if they are repentant, grant them that forgiveness, no matter how many times they might err and vex us. It doesn’t matter if we want to or not, if they are truly repentant then we must forgive them, regardless of how we want to do otherwise. This is important as if we hold the evil of non-forgiveness in our hearts, it is to our own detriment. We would not be following the words of the collect of staying in godliness if we were to not forgive. For as God forgives, so must we forgive those who are truly sorry.
Holding non-forgiveness in our hearts is as bad for us as holding a grudge against an individual. It acts like a very slow acting poison. In the long term it can turn our soul from a bright light to a black soul if left unchecked. This is why Jesus councils us to never let the sun go down on our anger. If we hold non-forgiveness against an individual who is clearly penitent, then we are not acting like a Christian, but like our old unsaved selves. So, we need to let go of our anger and forgive others regardless if we like them or not. We should do unto others as we would like them to do to us, if the roles were reversed.
We can only forgive those sins against us, for those that are against God, only God can forgive. Contrary to the belief of the Roman Catholics, priests do not have this power. We can only pronounce God’s forgiveness. We don’t have God’s power of forgiving, is God doing the actual action of forgiveness, but it falls upon us to tell people about it. When one sins against a fellow creature, they sin against God also. When we say we forgive them, we are not forgiving them ourselves only, but informing them God has forgiven them for their sins. Remember, we can forgive them for personal trespasses against us, but through God’s power, only He can grant absolution of our sins, not us. Nowhere in Scripture does Christ tell Peter humans have the power to forgive sins, as the Roman Catholics claim they have, but rather God must forgive sins, but we can tell others God has forgiven them.
The parable illustrates what happens to those who are forgiven, but yet turn around and do not forgive their neighbor (in this case, a debtee) for their sins and have thus abused their forgiveness from Our Lord. If we follow this person’s path, we will find ourselves in a poor spot in eternal life; not only the eternal life, but our temporary life here on earth would be made more miserable by our abusing of the forgiveness. Let us not be like that fellow, but let us forgive our neighbor, if he is truly sorry and willing to repent and re-start the friendship, and turning a new leaf so to speak.
If God has been so good to forgive us, why should we not inform others God can and will forgive them of any sins against Him or us for that matter? It would be truly selfish not to do so and to go against what He has commanded us to do, in spreading the Word to all nations. This is why the Gospel is called the Good News, because God has forgiven us for our sins and sent His Son to die for us, that we might have eternal life instead of eternal damnation. This is the ultimate forgiveness, accounting us as perfect, when we are anything but.
Today’s propers speak of the power of Our Lord in forgiveness and how we must remember our bond with our fellow Christians in Christ, especially in times of great sorrow or trouble and use that to strengthen us in our day to day lives. We must always remember there are others in our heavenly family who are struggling along with us. With the help of the Holy Ghost and our bond with Christ, we shall not fail.
The Collect’s prayer, Epistle and Gospel tie together, laying out, detailing and reinforcing the same message, ultimately. We have to be willing to forgive others, tell them about God’s forgiveness, and not turn around and commit the grave error of not forgiving others as God has forgiven us for our sins. We have to act more like God each day, though we are not and never will be perfect. If we try our utmost best, that is all we can do.
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
