LAY READER’S SERMON (ROGATION DAY), 5th Sunday after Easter, 25 May 2025, Church of the Redeemer (AOC), Fairbanks, Alaska. (Bishop Jerry Ogles)
“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.”
Rogation Sunday is a day of fasting and prayer to God for His mercy in that monumental sacrifice of His only Begotten Son that has made us free from the bondage of sin.
Our Prayer of Collect represents our petitions for the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to guide and direct us into all righteousness through our Lord Jesus Christ who has sealed our salvation with His own blood and will send us that Holy Spirit as our comforter. We neither demand, nor presume upon the mighty acts and will of God, but seek His favor in humility and gracious kinship as His children. Our seeking His present inspiration is not merely a past grant, but a present benefit. We seek that inspiration for two principal blessings – that of our inner life to be guided by Godly thought and feeling; and for our outer life to be characterized by works of righteousness.
Our Old Testament reading from Ezekiel 34 reveals a new covenant of peace instead of the enmity of the law working to man’s ruin. In a sense, it is not a new covenant but simply an extension of that first covenant made to Father Abraham of a Redeemer. The promises of God remain unchanged from Adam’s Fall until our day and beyond.
“ . . . they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them.” (Ezekiel 34:27) That yoke of bondage to sin has been broken by the sacrifice of the only Begotten Son of God. No longer are we in bondage to the Law and Hagar’s religion of the letter of the Law, but made free in having the Law of God written in the soft sinews of our heart causing us to gleefully obey His Commandments – not out of compulsion, but in love and grace.
“30 Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord GOD. 31 And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 34:30-31) All the children of Abraham are the Children of Israel by the sure means of faith and not of blood only. “26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:26-29 (see also, Romans 8:8-18, and Galatians 3:7)
When we consider our Gospel reading from the Gospel of St. Luke 11, we find the theme continued of inner spiritual grace that leads to the “outward and visible sign” revealed in our obedience to God and our kindness and love of our neighbor in charity and mercy.
The inward grace must always begin with prayer. Our Lord teaches us an abbreviated version of the Lord’s Prayer in this text today. “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.”
The full text of that prayer is given in the Gospel of St Matthew 6:9-11 – “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”
Please note, first of all, that this model prayer is a ‘communal,’ or corporate, prayer – that it is to be properly said in unison with other worshippers, or in the solitary seclusion of your closet. Though the prayer is properly repeated as written, it also serves as a model of all prayers to be said by the believer.
Why do we say this prayer is communal? It is because this prayer begins with the address, “Our Father,” not “my father.” When we are One with Christ, God is truly “Our Father.”
The Lord’s Prayer is much like a letter addressed to our Father in Heaven. Let us examine the prayer in detail:
1. Our Father -This is a corporate prayer because it does not begin My Father, but Our Father. This is like a letter addressed to our Father.
2. What is His address? Who art in Heaven! That is His address.
3. Hallowed be thy Name. Your name is Holy and we should reverence you and not ourselves.
4. Thy Kingdom come, thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. We should hope for the soon appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ and , even if He delays His coming, we should work that His Will be done here on earth as well as in Heaven.
5. Give us this day, our daily bread. We should ask of Him no more than our necessity for the day. As He told us: "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." Matthew 6:34. The modern approach in worship would have us believe that we can demand from God all things and that He is obligated to provide. BIG ERROR! He is Sovereign and will provide according to HIS Will - not ours!
6. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. Each and every day we should seek forgiveness for our sins of commission and omission. But if we expect OUR sins to be forgiven, we must forgive offenses committed against us."For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Gospel of St. Matthew 6:14 &15. It is for this reason that we repeat the Prayer of General confession during our Anglican worship. How many of us are seeking forgiveness without result because we forgive not others?
7. And lead us not into temptation....We are all alike subject to the woos of the world, we are tempted of the evil one daily in our lives. But if we follow in the steps of Jesus, He will lead us away from the paths of temptation.
8. But deliver us from evil...When we do encounter evil, please, dear Lord, deliver us from its grasp. When we do fall into the depths of the sea of sin, kindly reach your nail-scarred hand down to grasp our failing arm of flesh and lift us from our despair and ruin.
9. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. It is your kingdom, not ours. You are the Sovereign Ruler, not we. We often attempt to usurp your power when we are puffed up with pride. We boast of our gifts (and think they are our own goodness), we praise men of great fame more than the Heavenly Power, we worship oftentimes to attract attention more to ourselves rather than in giving all glory to God to whom it belongs. We fail of humility and piety. Our worship should be directed toward the Glory of God alone and none to man or creature.
10. And the simple Amen at the closing is appropriate...so be it, dear Lord. Our simple supplication is not phony or long-winded, and requests no selfish motive, but succinct and humble in its appeal to the Power on High.
To me, this is the essence of the Lord's Prayer. Let us give force to our prayers in our actions and heartfelt thoughts.
