Rev Jack's sermon is available on video RIGHT HERE!
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.
Consider the words of the Collect: “…whose only gift it cometh that thy faithful people do unto thee true and laudable service; Grant, we beseech thee, that we may so faithfully serve thee in this life, that we fail not finally to attain thy heavenly promises…”
In our prayer to God, we acknowledge that His greatest gift is that we are, through Him, able to give Him true service. For, it must be understood the only way we can really be happy is when we align our being with His Being. We must be truly aligned, not trying to get around by using loopholes. There is a big difference. We are trying to live by the Big Picture and not worry about little things. Sometimes that is easier said than done, but we must get it done all the same. How are we to get the monumental strength and inspiration to tackle this? It is simple, we are to call on the Holy Ghost to enter into our hearts and ask for His Advice. The harder part is once we receive the advice to act upon it and do it for Him. Once we do this we will have the strength and inspiration we need to live by the Big Picture and not worry.
If we are to follow Him truly, we have to truly love Him with all our hearts, souls and minds and to “love thy neighbor as thyself.” This is the first step to following Him. This is a follow on to last week’s message. This is because the Bible echoes itself at various points, especially in the New Testament. There are many repeating themes in the New Testament; this is one of them. And the gift that the collect speaks of is the Holy Ghost. We need His help if we are to truly love Him with all of our hearts souls and minds. Then, you have to act upon your trust in Him. If you trust Him as a spiritual parent, then just like with your earthly parents, you will take His advice into consideration when acting.
If we do what we should do, we will follow the little rules as a matter of course. If we get the important things, the little things will follow soon after. The only rules that are important really come from:
1. Love thy God with all thy heart and soul and mind;
2. Love they neighbor as thyself.
As Jesus says, “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” He means all of the moral laws and preaching of prophets past can be traced back to these laws, which comprise the basis for all of the laws that would follow thereafter, especially the Ten Commandments. The 613 Mosaic Laws can call be traced back to these two commandments. They are the basics of the Christian faith; there is no way to get around these two and be within the spirit or the intent of the Law.
The Law failed not because of God but because of the frailty of man. The people spent their time thinking about how to get around technicalities which is different than doing what is right. In fact people still try to do this with laws of man to this very day. It is inherent in our fallen nature. Complying with the Law is a different matter than finding loopholes around the Law. The Pharisees did the latter, and we should do the former.
In the Epistle, we are reminded God chose Abraham not because he complied with The Law, for the Law was far into the future. God chose Abraham because he had faith, put his trust in God and desired to follow Him. If we do the same and put our trust in God, we will be able to perform the laudable service He so desires for the rest of our days. The Law is a small part of the large picture, when we see how it ties into the New Testament, we have a far better understanding of what God wants in our lives, as individuals. It is not just enough to follow the letter of the the law, we need to follow the Spirit of the Law as Jesus embodied in His Summary of the Law. Love God and Love your neighbor and things will work out as a result. We will naturally follow the 10 commandments by following the Summary of the Law
However, not everyone on the globe will follow Him, and they will not be truly happy as a result. An example of this are the Pharisees; religious lawyers who specialized in the 613 Mosaic Laws, which brought them death, not life. Their job was to help people not break The Law without unduly interfering with their lives by forcing them to embrace the intent of The Law.
When the Pharisee of the Gospel asked Jesus what he should do to gain eternal life, the Pharisee correctly summarized The Law: Love God; Love your neighbor. He would have been fine had he stopped there. But, he had to show the Son how smart he was. In doing so, the lawyer was about to learn the first lesson of lawyering, ‘Never ask a question to which you don’t know the answer.’ So, he asked, ‘Who is my neighbor?’ The answer, of course, is everyone but you; the rest of humanity. But, as was often the case, Jesus presented the story of the injured man helped by the Samaritan, then asked, Who was neighbor to the injured man?
The priest and the Levite would not see the injured man; there are none so blind as those who will not see. They could or would not follow the second commandment of the Summary of the Law, of loving they neighbor as thyself. Whatever the reason it ended in the same result, they turned their heads away and walked by not even thinking of the injured man and his suffering. They were too prideful to see the truth of loving they neighbor. They were too wrapped up in the riches and cares of this world. Alas there are too many people that are like the Priest and the Levite today in our country. They are caught up in their riches and cares and cannot see their fellow countryman suffering, or will not see them suffering more likely. They think of the suffering people as an inconvenience to their lavish lifestyle.
The material things of this world are temporary and they have blinded and ensnared many. Many of churches (like the Roman Church for example) today have fallen into this trap, caring about their position on Earth more than following God’s clearly stated will. Focusing on this world, which is only a temporary state, is a foolish and fleeting thing. Things on this earth will corrupt and rust and pass away; but things in Heaven and life in Heaven will never corrupt and pass away. We should focus on things eternal, not on things temporary. What they should focus on is their eternal life. While they claim to know the concept of Heaven, they truly do not know it or believe in it per se. For it is action that demonstrates and validates claimed belief.
Those Jews cared only about not breaking The Law on Earth and hoping that flawed concept would bring them salvation. No matter how they followed it, they could not obtain salvation on their own. The missing link to their solution was one that has been here since The Creation: Jesus Christ. They are searching for Him, but they cannot find Him, as He is right under their noses. He is right in front of them, but they will not see Him as their Messiah. So, they are doomed to always looking for Him, but never being able to find Him until they open up their spiritual senses. This is the problem with the World as well. They search for the answers He provides, but they will not acknowledge Him or His solutions.
The world would be better off if they learned the lesson the lawyer learned in today’s Gospel. You will also note the Samaritan, one of those separated from the chosen mass of Judaism, did his duty. When he left the injured man at the inn, having given the innkeeper roughly two days wages, he said, “Do what need be done, if I owe more I will pay when I pass by next.” You will note, he put no limit on his duty, he just committed to doing what needed to be done, regardless of cost.
The lawyer to his credit answered honestly, “He that shewed mercy on him.” Jesus told him, Go, and do thou likewise.
Right is not a matter of quantum; it is not a matter of majority rules or public opinion; actions speak louder than words.
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
[1] Samaritan - Of or pertaining to Samaria, in Palestine. -- n. A native or inhabitant of Samaria; also, the language of Samaria. [1913 Webster]
Samaritans were descendants of those who had stayed behind during the Captivity and had been separated for many years from the body of Judaism. They had not developed, nor did they subscribe to them, all the rules the Jews managed to invent during their separation. The main body of Jews viewed them as lesser peoples, not really Jews.
[2] Good Samaritan n : a person who voluntarily offers help or sympathy in times of trouble [syn: {Samaritan}]
