The Propers for today are found on Page 186-188, with the Collect first:
Trinity Sunday.
The Collect.
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LMIGHTY and everlasting God, who hast given unto us thy servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of the Divine Majesty to worship the Unity; We beseech thee that thou wouldest keep us stedfast in this faith, and evermore defend us from all adversities, who livest and reignest, one God, world without end. Amen.
The text which serves as this morning’s Epistle comes from the Fourth Chapter of the Revelation of Saint John the Divine beginning at the First Verse. John attempts to show us the majesty and glory of heaven using words. The picture he paints is intended to be awe inspiring and seems to meet that goal handily:
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FTER this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes before and behind. And the first was like a lion, and the second like a calf, and the third had a face as a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when those living creatures give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are, and were created.
Today’s Gospel came from the Third Chapter of the Gospel according to Saint John beginning at the First Verse:
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HERE was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: the same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Sermon – Reverend Hap Arnold - Time and Action
Church of the Faithful Centurion
Descanso, California
Rev Hap's sermon can be viewed on video RIGHT HERE! https://youtu.be/nXz14dcfSiw
Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and is partly contained in the forewords above.
Consider these words from the Collect:
… acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of the Divine Majesty to worship the Unity…
In the Collect, we acknowledge there is a Triune God, that is to say there are three aspects of God; God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. A Triune God means literally Three in One, not three separate Gods or godlets, but a single being with three aspects. How does this work?
The honest answer is – WE DON’T KNOW. We have not been told of how this Being operates. We just have been told there are three and They are ONE. We have some knowledge and scriptural guidance on how parts of the thing work, but not all. Saint Paul told the people of Corinth, 12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. (1 Corinthians 13:12)One of the basic principles of classified information is it is only to be revealed to those who have an actual NEED TO KNOW, not just the curious. Like many secrets, we don’t really have a need to know, so we have not been told.
What we do know is:
· God is I AM;
· God the Father sent The Son to be our Savior, He was there at the beginning and created this world;
· The Holy Ghost breathed life into the world, and brings understanding, comfort, strength, perseverance, courage, inspiration, patience;
· They all have always been and always will be.
That is what we know; it leaves a lot we don’t know, but we can certainly be kept busy with what we do know. What we do know is that what we have must be enough for the here and now. It should enough for us to operate on His Word with our simple and limited understanding of the Trinity. We must be content with what we read in Scripture, all the other stuff we wonder about Him are just extraneous details, like how many angels can dance on the head of a pin? So much theological discussion is captured in that term. So, how many angels can dance on the head of a pin? Whatever the number, the answer from our standpoint is so very simple; As many as God determines the circumstances require. Note, as God requires! Not you, not me. God. Trying to think about those intricate details that we do not know or understand only serves as a distraction from following God and doing what He asks. He does not want us to speculate on how the Three in One concept works, but rather just understand it is and go forth and follow Him to the best of our abilities.
We must put aside the thoughts of who and what God is, and just understand He is I AM, there is God, there is the Son, there is the Holy Ghost and they all work together in their own way to be the one God of our faith. There is a reason for this even though we don’t know it, but it works out, so we do not have to wonder how it works, we just continue believing and acting! Why do we feel the need for details when Jesus just asks to believe, 2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, 3And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:2-3)
You don’t need to know how may angels can dance on the head of the pin, just that a sufficient number can and will at the right time,
But, what of later? If we have eternal life, we have it now and later. What comes later? Heaven. What is heaven? In the epistle John attempts to describe to us what Heaven is like. He attempts to show us the majesty and glory of heaven using words. The picture he paints is intended to be awe inspiring and seems to meet that goal handily. The main thing we can be certain of is that we will not be disappointed. We speculate as to will this or that be in heaven? When we get there, the answer will manifest itself and you will have no regrets. John’s description should serve to tell us heaven will easily surpass all of our expectations. He is trying to convey Heaven is a destination truly worth our earthly toils. Heaven is the real world, where things are bright, not dull and dark as though looking through a glass. Rest assured, we will see for ourselves what it is like one day, all we need to know is that it is a really wonderful place we should be aiming to go to when we die, through our belief and actions here on earth working together!
As to the details of heaven, think about the angels dancing on the head of a pin. The only detail I can give you with complete certainty is you will not be disappointed, nothing will be lacking, there will be no disappointment.
So, how do we get to the real world from these Shadowlands? There is but one way, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the Propitiation for our sins.[1]
Do not be fooled by “there are many paths to God” which seems to be the way of the world today, there is only one way into heaven. All roads do not lead to heaven. Many lead to the pit, but out of the many roads, there is only one narrow uphill path which will get you to heaven. Doing good is good, so to speak; doing good without God is not good enough. Only being accounted perfect will get you up the path and in the door.
One thing is clear, in order to traverse this narrow uphill trail we need help! Lots of help as a matter of fact. The first thing we need in our hearts is a new heart, a new and contrite heart. This is what Jesus was telling Nicodemus in the Gospel. He was explaining how we need a new heart in order to continue to serve God. The Pharisees could not or would not see that their hearts were not good enough on their own to serve Him, as ours are not if they are not regenerated. That is really hard, in fact, it is so hard it cannot be done by ourselves. We need something like turning over a new leaf so to speak. There is a way as a matter of fact for us to do this.
We must be born of the spirit! What spirit?
The Holy Ghost. We must accept we in and of ourselves will never be perfect. Our hearts as they are will not lead us towards God, but away from God unless we have the help of the Holy Ghost! No one gets in to heaven unless they are accounted as perfect. We will never be perfect in and of ourselves. Should we quit trying? No! We are commanded to follow our Christ. Will we fail? Without question. What is the solution? To believe and follow the Christ. To open our hearts to the Holy Ghost that we might believe in full and accept the help from the Christ that our imperfection needs to be His followers.
To follow God, we need Christ as our leader and the Holy Ghost as our compass. In short, we need all members of the Trinity’s influence in our lives if we are to arrive in the real world, that of Heaven.
There is but one way to heaven.
That easy to find, easy to follow, easy to hike path does not lead to the summit where eternal life in the real world awaits. Open your heart to the Holy Ghost; use His Power to follow our Lord to God who awaits in heaven.
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
