Worldwide Communion
Tenth Sunday after Trinity
St. Bartholomew - The Apostle
August 24, 2025 - Sunday Report
Tenth Sunday after Trinity Propers:
The propers are special prayers and readings from the Bible. There is a Collect for the Day; that is a single thought prayer, most written either before the re-founding of the Church of England in the 1540’s or written by Bishop Thomas Cranmer, the first Archbishop of Canterbury after the re-founding.
The Collect for the Day is to be read on Sunday and during Morning and Evening Prayer until the next Sunday. The Epistle is normally a reading from one of the various Epistles, or letters, in the New Testament. The Gospel is a reading from one of the Holy Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Collect is said by the minister as a prayer, the Epistle can be read by either a designated reader (as we do in our church) or by one of the ministers and the Holy Gospel, which during the service in our church is read by an ordained minister.
The propers are the same each year, except if a Red-Letter Feast, that is one with propers in the prayerbook, falls on a Sunday, then those propers are to be read instead, except in a White Season, where it is put off. Red Letter Feasts, so called because in the Altar Prayerbooks the titles are in red, are special days. Most of the Red-Letter Feasts are dedicated to early saint’s instrumental in the development of the church, others to special events. Some days are particularly special and the Collect for that day is to be used for an octave (eight days) or an entire season, like Advent or Lent. The Propers for today are found on page 203-204.
The Collect for Tenth Sunday after Trinity
The Epistle for Tenth Sunday after Trinity. I Corinthians xii. 1.
CONCERNING spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
The Gospel for Tenth Sunday after Trinity. St. Luke xix. 411.
AND when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation. And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought; saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves. And he taught daily in the temple.
On Point
Someone asked, where do the quotes
come from? The answer is from the
people who uttered them. But, how did
you find them? Oh, that. Some from Bishop Jerry, others from Rev.
Geordie and many from Rev Bryan Dabney
and a
few from other places.
Rev. Geordie Menzies-Grierson – England (above)
Points to Ponder:
Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that
walketh in his ways.
Psalm 128:1
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for
us, who can be against us?
Romans 8:31
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.
I St. Peter 3:10
The living cannot but know that they shall die, that
they must needs die. They know they are under a sentence of death; they are
already taken into custody by its messengers and feel themselves declining.
This is a needful, useful knowledge; for what is our business, while we live ,
but to get ready to die? The living know they shall die; it is a thing yet to
come, and therefore provision may be made for it. The dead know they are dead,
and it is too late; they are on the other side [of] the great gulf fixed.
The Rev.
Matthew Henry
When I speak of ‘the world’ in this paper, I mean
those people who think only, or chiefly, of this world's things, and neglect
the world to come — the people who are always thinking . . . more of earth than
of Heaven, more of time than of eternity, more of the body than of the soul,
more of pleasing man than of pleasing God. It is of them and their ways,
habits, customs, opinions, practices, tastes, aims, spirit, and tone — that I
am speaking when I speak of ‘the world.’ This is the world from which Paul tells
us to ‘Come out — and be separate.’ Now that ‘the world,’ in this sense, is an
enemy to the soul, the well-known Church Catechism teaches us at its very
beginning... that there are three things which a Christian is bound to renounce
and give up, and three enemies which he ought to fight with and resist... are
the flesh, the devil, and ‘the world.’ All three are terrible foes, and all
three must be overcome if we would be saved.
The Most
Rev. J. C. Ryle
There is nothing colder than a Christian who does not
seek to save others.
St. John
Chrysostom – 4th century bishop at Constantinople.
So honesty, sobriety, and such things may be very good
among men. But all these things put together, without faith, do not please God.
Virtues without faith are whitewashed sins.
The Rev.
Charles H. Spurgeon
The Spirit of God not only once inspired those who
wrote [the Bible], but continually inspires, [and] supernaturally assists,
those that read it with earnest prayer.
The Rev. John Wesley
Biblical wisdom may be viewed as knowledge
imbued with love.
Bishop Jerry Ogles – Sermon for the 10th Sunday after Trinity
Jerry Ogles, Presiding Bishop – Metropolitan AOC Worldwide
We are fortunate to get copies of Bishop Jerry’s you tube links, devotions on the Prayer of the Collect and sermon notes.
Bishop Jerry creates videos on various subjects, they last just under ten minutes and this week’s videos are listed below:
Bishop Ogles
Blog:
https://anglicanorthodoxchurch.blogspot.com
Bishop Ogles
You Tube Channel
that is free to subscribe: all of his videos at:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuW3bgXBJFomPB5mZ4Oigxg
AOC Bishop’s Blog link: https://anglicanorthodoxchurch.blogspot.com/2025/08/drawing-to-christ.html
You Tube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddiA-MN9-JQ&t=9s
Monday Morning Meditations – 250818 – 9th Sunday after Trinity
You Tube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa65Nz3czgU
Monday Evening Meditations: Inward Grace
You Tube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGMfjzVMt_E&t=3s
Tuesday Morning Meditations: Humility in Prayer
You tube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygasgbmpy68&t=1s
Tuesday Evening Meditation: Zacchaeus
You Tube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV0fe5dsuEc&t=7s
Wednesday Morning Meditations: Five Smooth Stones
AOC Bishop’s Blog Link: https://anglicanorthodoxchurch.blogspot.com/2025/08/morning-meditation-five-smooth-stones.html
AOC You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJ9TEXF8Qoc
Wednesday Evening Meditations: Dust of His Feet
Bishop’s Blog Link: https://anglicanorthodoxchurch.blogspot.com/2025/08/dust-of-his-feet.html
You Tube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJKOkKPhx-g
Thursday Morning Meditations: The Gift God Wants
AOC Bishop’s Blog Link: https://anglicanorthodoxchurch.blogspot.com/2025/08/morning-meditation-gift.html
You Tube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6DkVeOWeE0
Thursday Evening Meditation: In the Beginning
AOC Bishop’s Blog: https://anglicanorthodoxchurch.blogspot.com/2025/08/the-beginning.html
You Tube Link: https://anglicanorthodoxchurch.blogspot.com/2025/08/the-beginning.html?spref=fb
Friday Morning Meditations: He Careth for Thee
AOC Bishop’s Blog link: https://anglicanorthodoxchurch.blogspot.com/2025/08/he-careth-for-thee.html
You Tube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIpFKchtkr0
Friday Evening Meditations: Loves Old Sweet Song
AOC Bishop’s Blog: https://anglicanorthodoxchurch.blogspot.com/2025/08/just-song-at-twilight.html
You Tube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OAIsvbz-J8&t=7s
Saturday Morning Meditations: What Came Ye out to See?
AOC Bishop’s Blog: https://anglicanorthodoxchurch.blogspot.com/2025/08/what-came-ye-out-to-see.html
You Tube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgAk1o7rw4I
Saturday Evening Meditations: The Unjust Steward
AOC Bishop’s Blog: https://anglicanorthodoxchurch.blogspot.com/2025/08/evening-meditation-unjust-steward.html
You Tube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFlLlWqjc4g
Saturdays with Ruth: Part 3:
AOC Blog link: https://anglicanorthodoxchurch.blogspot.com/2025/08/ruth-returns.html
You tube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO3YunH2QvU
Sermon Summary for 10th Sunday after Trinity
“I would not have you ignorant.” (1 Corinthians 12:1)
The Collect.
LET thy merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of thy humble servants; and, that they may obtain their petitions, make them to ask such things as shall please thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Ignorance is a great affliction of the spiritually lazy Christian. It cannot be due to an inaccessibility of Scripture teaching as these are available around the world in our day except in isolated regions such as North Korea. The greater spiritual ignorance in America is found in homes which possess more than one Bible that goes unread and unheeded. The average Christian feels he has done his part in the simple attendance of a single worship service on Sunday. He folds his Bible, if he even brought it, and returns it to the security of his desk until next Sunday when he bears it in pride to worship services. A closed book imparts no knowledge.
Of course, it is quite possible to possess knowledge without understanding as well. Many can cite page and paragraph of the Scriptures without having the slightest heart-knowledge of their meaning. Biblical wisdom may be viewed as knowledge imbued with love, and that love is too often missing in the hearts of some Christian scholars. Christ counseled the Woman at the Well, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24)
We may have great biblical truth, but lack the spirit of love; or, we may have much spirit (of a sort) and be missing biblical knowledge. There are churches that strongly preach the Gospel but absent love. There are others that demonstrate a high level of spirit that is not refined by knowledge of Scripture. Both truth AND Spirit are needful.
Our Prayer of Collect petitions God to hear our prayers, and to guide those prayers to ask for those things pleasing to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. How shall we know what things are pleasing to God if we have failed to study His Book which He has given us for our benefit. That would be equivalent to an airline pilot flying an aircraft without studying the operator’s manual. The operator’s manual of the Christian is the Holy Bible.
In our Epistle, we are counseled that “no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” True. However, the Holy Ghost works through the purview of the Holy Scriptures to bring to our REMEMBRANCE all things written of Christ in the Scriptures. If we have failed to study diligently, how can the Holy spirit bring that to remembrance which we have not even taken the trouble and time to read?
We are reminded by Paul that we are given various gifts as individuals – no man is possessed of all gifts for these are particularly granted by our Lord. Boasting of our gifts diminishes our testimony in Christ. One particular gift that is mistaken claimed today is the so-called gifts of tongues. Paul does, in fact make references to the gift of “divers kinds of tongues.” This clearly points to established languages of various kinds – not ecstatic utterances that are neither understood by the people, nor even by the one speaking them. If there were a heavenly language being spoken, it would be particular and certainly not diverse.
In our Gospel reading from St. Luke 19, we learn that truth may cease to be available to those who habitually reject truth. This is the case of the Jerusalem and Hebrew nation of which Christ makes reference when He says, “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.” (Luke 19:42) Habitual sin and habitual rejection of truth makes the heart of man calloused so that truth can no longer penetrate the hardened sinews of the heart.
How man professing Christians in earshot of this sermon today have opened your Bible to learn more of God at least once in the past six days, much less six times?
Our Lord makes a stunning prophecy of the calamity that would befall Jerusalem in the near future. In fact, that calamity did come when Titus and roman Army besieged Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and put the entire population to the sword. Now Jesus proceeds to cleanse the Temple after His entry into Jerusalem this last time in His ministry. He cleansed it at the beginning of His ministry (John 2:13-14), and now He cleanses it this last time. What is the meaning of these two cleansings? Among other things, it means that we are never clean in our own hearts solely by our own measure. We were cleansed of our sin at our first confession, and we must seek forgiveness continually for the sins of the day that we surely will commit.
Our Lord considered daily Bible study supremely important for “. . . he taught daily in the temple.”
Does he teach us daily by His Word which He makes available to us, or do we slack off the privilege of allowing Him to “teach us daily” today and every day. Bible study is a form of fellowship with the Lord, and we should fellowship with Him daily if we truly love Him.
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY GHOST. AMEN
IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER,
AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY GHOST. AMEN.
† Jerry Ogles
Charles Morley
Bishop of Alabama
Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide
We are always happy to get the instruction and devotions that Bp Morley is giving to us. We hope you enjoy the following:
USING THE INSTRUMENT THAT GOD MADE
As one who has only attended small congregations all my days, my comments may be considered limited if not slanted, but I have always considered music an integral part of my role as a clergyman. A service may be conducted without it, to great edification, but it has been my experience that a service with music is far more effective in making that service more pleasing and effective in the presentation of Gospel Truth. I write from the point of view as a parish minister of some years experience, not as a musician. I play a number of instruments (badly) but I am proficient in none. I do not have a university degree in music and I do not even know how to play piano or guitar. But like so many who like good food but are not themselves chefs or even cooks, I believe much of my advice will simply come under the category of "common sense" and common experience.
My most earnest comment involves use of the voice - and by that I mean using that instrument, as they rightly say, that God made. I have always marvelled at the denomination known as the Church of Christ. By doctrine, they forbid the use of any musical instruments in their services. Their song leader will even silence his tuning fork before the congregation begins singing! But what singing there is! Both men and women sing boldly and with heartfelt earnestness - not showy or emotional - just superb singing, often in harmony. At several services I attended, even the deaf "signed" in universal sign language as the familiar hymns were sung. The only other congregational singing I have heard to rival the Church of Christ charmed when I attended a Free Church of Scotland evening service on the Isle of Skye. In that denomination, the men sit on the right and the women on the left (sheep and goats?) but when the Psalms were sung (the Psalter is their hymnbook) the roof nearly lifted off the building - or so it seemed. Everyone sang with gusto - young, old, male, female- and It was glorious - it was edifying - it was deeply spiritual.
In many churches, singing is not much encouraged, especially if the congregation has a choir. John Wesley encouraged his followers to sing boldly "as unto the Lord" but "not so boldly as to disturb the person standing next to you." Small churches often have a few strong voices which can dominate hymn singing, causing the timid and less gifted to retreat, diminish, or refrain from singing altogether. An effort must be made to encourage everyone to sing to the best of their ability. The clergy can contribute to the strength of congregational singing primarily by example. Few clergy have naturally gifted voices but should always sing "con multo gusto" - enthusiasm is contagious and can make up for a large amount of talent.
Not all music is good music. Hymnals are the proof of that generalization and churches are often victims of really bad music simply because it can be found in a hymnal. Hymns appear in hymnbooks for a variety of reasons and not all hymns are suitable for congregational singing. Some wonderful hymns are excluded from collections because of doctrine or denominational dictums. Queen Victoria forbade the wonderful "Amazing Grace" - probably the world's most popular Christian hymn - because she objected to the concept that royalty could be considered to be "wretches" in the eyes of God. The Episcopal Church caused "Onward, Christian Soldiers" to be excluded from its new hymnbook because it was too "militaristic" sounding.
The 1940 Hymnal of the Protestant Episcopal Church contains more than 650 pieces of music, allegedly chosen for congregational worship. That is an absurd number by any reckoning and reflects the syncretic spirit of the Episcopal Church of the post-war era. It intended to be all things to all men and wound up with a book, only less than half of which is useable and less than that even remotely practical. While every minister should be familiar with the hymnbook in use in his church, the 1940 Hymnal is simply not a suitable tool for parish ministry.
Several years ago, Dr. Don Husted, then Dean of Music at Dallas Theological Seminary, praised the 1940 Hymnal as being "the most suitable hymnal for any particular denomination" ever printed. He went on to say there was a good reason no other denomination should use it. Seminary students generally receive no musical training in seminary and no training in hymn selection or suitability. Many rely on a schedule printed in the back of the hymnal as a guide to hymns suitable for the church years, based on the Prayer Book lectionary. But these selections were often arbitrary and presumed that a church might have a trained choir capable of meeting the musicality of any said selection. This often proved far from reality - and the choir-less congregation suffered accordingly, with some dirge written for trained singers.
All hymnals, as all the works of human hands, are flawed and must be considered for use accordingly. Some contain hymns that are absolutely heretical or are totally secular in language and sentiment, in contradiction to the Gospel. Because they are popular, these hymns survive in the public mind and gain acceptance because of their musicality. Consider the popular dispensationalist song "I'll Fly Away" and the country favourite "When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder." At a recent wedding I attended in a Christian Church, the popular Bette Midler number "You Are The Wind Beneath My Wings" greeted the bride's entrance.
I will have much more to offer in this direction but in the interest of readability I conclude for the moment. There is much to be brought forward including the choice of music, hymnbooks, choirs, and instrumentation, as well as an answer to the question "What constitutes bad music?"
+CEM
Bishop of the Diocese of the West – AOC USA
Education and Training Anglican Orthodox Church Worldwide
Church of the Faithful Centurion
Tenth Sunday after Trinity
Today’s sermon tied the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together. Consider the words from the Collect, wherein we ask God to make us … be open to the prayers of thy humble servants; and, that they may obtain their petitions, make them to ask such things as shall please thee …
Once again, this Collect is kind of a restatement of many of the Collects. First, we ask God to hear our prayers, funny in that He always listens intently to us when we pray and we very seldom listen to Him when He answers. It is an odd paradox, He listens; we never seem to listen. This is why the theme is constant through ought all of the Collects. It seems as if at times we should pray that we should listen; not Him, as He always listens! Nonetheless, we ask His help to ask for those things we need, not those things we want and are bad for us. We need to be humble when we ask.
What does that word mean?
According to the dictionary, to be HUMBLE means to be:
· Modest - unassuming in attitude and behavior
· Respectful - feeling or showing respect and deference toward other people
· Lowly - relatively low in rank and without pretensions
These are three characteristics we cannot possess in our imperfect state. We would appear otherwise as the Pharisees did loud, boastful and proud. Therefore, we must ask the Holy Ghost to enter into our hearts to allow us to achieve the characteristics of being humble and then to let those principles work in our lives through our actions. We must keep our desires in check. It is fine to desire things, as long as we are willing to work for them, but not when it comes at the cost of our spiritual and physical well being. As St. Paul says, all things in moderation. Everybody is different in this regard, but the solution to keeping our desires in check is the same. To allow the Holy Ghost to enter into us and guide our actions.
Paul reminds us though each believer is different, be in in personality, size, shape or color, in Christ’s church those distinctions are nearly meaningless. He mentions that that those who have the Holy Spirit within them cannot call Jesus accursed and he also mentions that those without the Holy Spirit within them cannot call Jesus Lord. He also mentions that the Holy Spirit gives each and every one of us unique gifts to be used for His Glory. If we work together as a team and use our individual talents to further His Will, there is no end to the good that can be accomplished. We must remember this and remember that everybody has their own talent that can be used for God’s glory and Will here on Earth. This would indicate that the Holy Spirit is key to us if we are to follow Him and if we are to any hope of succeeding, we need to let Him into our hearts and guide us. We then need to act upon His Guidance in order to find success.
If you will but read the Bible, what God wants you to do will be clear. It may be hard sometimes, but you will know it is the course of action that you must take. As the old saying goes, nothing worth doing is ever easy. If we just focus on what God wants us to do, rather than what we want to do, we will find that our journey in the end will be far easier than if we ignored God and did what we want to do. Let us let the Holy Spirit in and guide us up that narrow up hill path towards heaven. If you do your best to do His Will all will be well with you. Death is a pretty hollow threat if you do your duty. If you have done your best, that is at the end of the day, you have done your best to follow Him, then truly you have nothing to fear.
Contrast this with the people of Jerusalem. They could or would not see what God wanted for them or now for us. In 70AD, what had been so hard earlier seemed pretty easy compared to the fix they were in, but by then it was too late. They had ignored our Lord’s Gospel and were about to pay a pretty heavy price for it. By then they were left with only “There are none so poor as cannot purchase a noble death.” But, for most of them by that time they had no will. It left when they failed to follow God’s Will.
The example of them is a good object lesson for us, to do what we can in the here and now and not worry about tomorrow. It is a good lesson in not putting off tomorrow what we can do today and not to ignore God when he tells us we should do or not do something. We need to remind ourselves of today’s Gospel when we think about putting off things for tomorrow that we could indeed accomplish today.
When Luke wrote of the sales in the temple, he had a point. The point was not to preclude jumble sales at church. He is not against the sales. However, what He is against is the cheating in the name of God. That is pretty clear. You must understand the temple hawkers were selling perfect defective “sacrificial lambs” which would be recycled over and over[1]. In their very successful effort to make money they were defrauding the people and insulting God in His own House. I think in a way this can be pointed at those who are cheating people in the name of God in our own time, such as Joel Osteen and the like.
To paraphrase Christ, where their treasure is, there will their heart be also. It should also be pointed out a church should be a place of worship. It may be a Prophet Center, but not a Profit Center[2]. Similar sounding words, but a totally different meaning for the church. If the building needs constant commercial enterprise, then perhaps the emphasis is on the wrong center. All of these churches that emphasize quantity over quality should be suspect. It does not matter the quantity, as long as you have a base of quality believers who serve the One Triune God. We need to be concerned more about the spreading of His Word, the constant truth, then focusing on how many people we can attract, and how the message can be changed to suit them. These are both problems with the modern churches today. A church should be funded for its needs by its members and its wants should come much later, if not in fact unheeded. A church is about Him, not about IT.
Do what you are supposed to do when you are supposed to do it. That is duty. It does not matter how you “feel” about black or white. Black is black; White is white. Do your duty. Work as hard as you can, do the best you can, trust in the Lord. By the way, cheat no one. If you follow that, you won’t need to be told, “Particularly in God’s House.”
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.
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Rev Bryan Dabney of Saint John’s AOC Vicksburg, Mississippi
We are fortunate to have Bryan’s Sunday Sermon. If you want people to come to The Truth, you have to speak the truth, espouse the truth and live the truth. This is really a good piece and I commend it to your careful reading.
Tenth Sunday after Trinity Sermon
Returning to our gospel lesson (St. Luke 19:41-48), our Lord prophesied that there would be no room left for mercy or repentance. A debt had been incurred and payment was required. Consider verse 42. If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. Given all that had transpired during his earthly ministry, they should have known that he was the Christ, and such would have been to their credit. How often did he reveal to them his divine nature? Did he not heal the sick, raise the dead and teach what was true? Did he not heal a man born blind and cause the palsied to walk? How often had he proclaimed the truth of God to them, but their hearts refused to receive it? More times than not to be sure.
And look at what they gave up. They forfeited God’s peace. They forfeited his salvation. They forfeited his deliverance from the power of the evil one. They forfeited their place in God’s eternal kingdom. The love and care which the Father extends to all in the name of Christ Jesus cannot be experienced by them. They will therefore remain in their sins and trespasses and after their deaths, they will be cast into perdition by a just and righteous God. The Bible tells us that when a people reject Christ, God hides his blessings from them and their foolish hearts are darkened (see I Corinthians 2:14; Romans 1:21; II Thessalonians 2:11-12).
Returning to our gospel lesson, our Lord went on to explain the particulars of what would happen to the city and its people on account of their rejection of him as their Messiah. For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side (v.43). The coming siege of Jerusalem was as described. Titus and his legions invested the city so that no one could enter or leave. The Romans were a methodical people and especially in warfare. They were well-versed in the mechanics of capturing a well-fortified city, and their soldiers were well-trained in just what to do once the walls were breached.
And they shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation (v.44). In St. Matthew’s gospel (23:38), our Lord said, Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. And in St. Mark’s (13:2) he reminded his disciples of Jerusalem’s coming destruction when he said, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. St. Luke also includes these words in a later chapter (21:6) which like St. Matthew’s gospel (24:2) are referred to as the Olivet Discourse.
What our Lord has presented is judgment pure and simple. Without his divine hand, destruction will come. When the children of Israel turned away from God to worship the false gods of the Canaanites, God took away his hand of protection and their enemies dominated them. When their kings did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, he removed his hedge of protection and they were plundered and carried away into exile. Why then would the people’s rejection of their Christ result in an outcome different from those in their past?
Many of you know St. John 3:16, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. These are wonderful and comforting words which have sustained many a Christian. But the three verses that follow are often overlooked. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. Condemnation always follows unbelief and rejection. God is the Creator of all things. God’s laws govern every aspect of the creation. God’s will cannot be hindered, neither can his ways be found out apart from his impartation of such information to man via the prophets of old, or that of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, or the work of the apostles under the guidance of the Holy Ghost. If men will not hear Moses and the prophets; if they will not hear the words of our Lord in the gospels; if they will not hear the instructions of the apostles in their epistles, then nothing but condemnation awaits such persons. The darkness of a life filled with sin and its enjoyment resists the light of truth that calls for the sinner to, come out from among them and be thou separate (II Corinthians 6:17).
Today, God is calling to you. It does not matter what you have done in the past. It does not matter if you have been recalcitrant in your Christianity. What matters is that you respond in acceptance and turn from your wickedness and live. Embrace the Lord Jesus as your Saviour and accept his free gift of grace. Renounce the devil and all his works and turn from them seeking God’s forgiveness in the name of his only begotten Son, and then accept his healing and guiding hand via the Holy Ghost.
The majority of the people in Judea and Jerusalem refused God’s offer of grace and perished. God does not bless the behavior of the unregenerate. God’s peace is for them who love him and who are in Christ Jesus and walk not according to the flesh. Purpose in your heart today to come and be forgiven of God. And purpose in your heart to be not like those of our Lord’s day who did not recognize the time of their visitation and were destroyed.
Let us pray,
O holy and loving God, pour into our hearts the desire to please thee in all our doings; that having accepted your free gift, we might ever live as a people redeemed from sin and death, and regenerated to a new life by the power of thy most holy Spirit; and these things we ask in the name of him who is the author and finisher of our faith, even Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Have a blessed week,
Bryan+
Saint Paul's Anglican Church - Diocese of the Midwest Anglican Orthodox Church
Suffragan Bishop of the AOC
Tenth Sunday after Trinity Sermon - St. Batholomew Day
Psalms 91: First lesson: 28:10-12,16-17; Second lesson: St. John 1:43-51
LET thy merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of thy humble servants; and, that they may obtain their petitions, make them to ask such things as shall please thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
43The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. 44Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 46And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. 47Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! 48Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. 49Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. 50Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. 51And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
Bartholomew a.k.a. Nathanael*
1. son of Tolmai, one of the twelve apostles (Matt. 10:3; Acts 1:13); generally supposed to have been the same as Nathanael. In the synoptic gospels Philip and Bartholomew are always mentioned together, while Nathanael is never mentioned; in the fourth gospel, on the other hand, Philip and Nathanael are similarly mentioned together, but nothing is said of Bartholomew. He was one of the disciples to whom our Lord appeared at the Sea of Tiberias after his resurrection (John 21:2). He was also a witness of the Ascension (Acts 1:4, 12, 13). He was an "Israelite indeed" (John 1:47).
When we read about the called disciples of Christ, the first of many who would and will be called over the centuries, we should try to understand why they are named and highlighted as examples to emulate. We are reminded throughout the New Testament that these first twelve and then eleven after Judas betrayal, were serve at examples, not intercessors. There was never an attempt by the remaining eleven disciples and eventual addition of deacons and other leaders, any command to seek their intercession on our part. In other words, the disciples never established any secondary means of salvation outside of the works and perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Lord. The error of invoking the saints to aid us in our earthly/spiritual journey was a later heresy that attempted to diminish the saving work of the Lord.
And so as we have read about the calling Nathaniel or Bartholomew we see a person who could very well be one of us or someone we know. This brings the human element of the life of Christ to our modern understanding. Nothing has changed as far as human behavior is concerned. We are still a people who need the salvation of the Lord that was provided some two thousand years ago.
I have discussed with fellow clergy over the years, the importance of biographies and even auto-biographies as an integral part of learning, especially when it comes to our spiritual journey. After all, isn’t the Bible filled with many biographies?
We can read about Adam, David, Jonah, Jesus, Paul and many others in our daily reading of the Bible, the Word of God. What can we make of this? Well in the short term, we can learn by example. And in the long term we can learn by example. Wait, didn’t you just repeat yourself? Yes. A godly example can teach us many things about living in a godless world. And for that matter, a godless example can teach us what NOT to do in a godless world. There are a few godless examples shown in the Word of God. What not follow, so in both senses a good example, all coming from the Word of God. Examples; a blue-print or template for daily living.
So let us look at this fellow named Bartholomew or Nathanael.* At first we get an idea that he may be somewhat sarcastic. “...can there any good come out of Nazareth?” This is Bartholomew’s response to Philip telling him about this Jesus. This region of occupied Palestine, Nazareth, wasn’t known for much good or for that matter bad, maybe just blasé. Philip, his friend then entreats Bartholomew to come see about these fellow Jesus of Nazareth. Something to remember, Jesus is the Greek name for the Hebrew Joshua. So, when Philip says come see this Jesus that would not have been an uncommon name. What gives significance to Philip’s statement, he says “...in whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write...”. Now Philip is giving Bartholomew a reason to come see this Jesus guy.
It is Jesus turn to show Bartholomew who He, Jesus is. Bartholomew asks Jesus how he knows him, Jesus answers ‘...I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you...’ Notice Bartholomew’s response. He acknowledges Jesus as a teacher {rabbi}, and more especially, the Son of God and King of Israel. Jesus now foretells much more than just seeing Bartholomew under the fig tree, he tell the future apostle that he will see many greater things including the heavens opening up with angels ascending and descending on earth. Here Jesus makes a direct reference to Jacob’s dream, the so called ‘Jacob’s ladder.’
I look at this reference to Jacob as Jesus showing the disciples that in the same way Jacob was the start of the twelve tribes i.e. physical Israel, these fellows now being called would be the physical/spiritual founders of the church on earth. The twelve would be the extension in taking the mission started by Jesus to the utmost parts of the earth. How, you say? Well other than with the possibility of Mark or Thomas going to Egypt or India, most of the other apostles will remain in the area where Jesus taught. It would be the second and third generations of Christians, the followers of Christ who would spread the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth. And as with Israel they started out with twelve, but through the process of leading others to Christ, both by example and by the Word, the church would continue to grow to this day.
As modern day Christians essentially living in a ‘post-modern’ world, we need to live our lives as a ‘living’ biography. Just recently I read of a nineteenth century evangelist who made a comment about Christians during his day. “...many people know the four gospels but have never read them, instead they read the fifth gospel. The fifth gospel is the daily life of a Christian that is ‘read’ by non-believers. These non-believers may never have read the four Gospels, but they certainly read the fifth one...” What are non-believers reading in that fifth gospel? Are we showing by example, by biographic nature a gospel that is not parallel to the Gospel of Jesus?
As followers of Jesus Christ the Son of God, we need to display by our lives, our actions, our very being the true Gospel of Jesus. We need to show by example, we need to show by our biographies, that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by Him.
Folks, let us live our lives for Jesus. He gave his life for us.
Let us pray:
O ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who didst give to thine Apostle Bartholomew grace truly to believe and to preach thy Word; Grant, we beseech thee, unto thy Church to love that Word which he believed, and both to preach and receive the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
O Almighty and everlasting God, we give most high praise and hearty thanks for the wonderful grace and virtue declared in all his saints, who have been the choice vessels of his grace and the lights of the world in their several generations; and pray unto God, that we may have grace to direct our lives after their good examples; that, this life ended, we may be made partakers with them of the glorious resurrection, and the life everlasting. Amen
ALMIGHTY God, the supreme Governor of all things, whose power no creature is able to resist, to whom it belongeth justly to punish sinners, and to be merciful to those who truly repent; Save and deliver us, we humbly beseech thee, from the hands of our enemies; that we, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved evermore from all perils, to glorify thee, who art the only giver of all victory; through the merits of thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Beloved, go in peace, in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen
Rector of St. Peter’s AOC located in the AOC National Office
We are grateful to have this sermon of the today from Rev. Don Fultz from St. Peter’s AOC, Statesville, NC
Tenth Sunday after Trinity
Luke19:41-47
In today’s gospel reading, we have an account by St. Luke of Jesus last visit into Jerusalem before his death. Jerusalem was the centre of Jewish religion. It was seat of the Holy Land, and the destination of Old and New Testament pilgrims. Established several thousand years ago, Jerusalem was given to the people by God as a city of peace and prosperity. However, in Jesus days, Jerusalem had more of a political tone. Rome wanted some of the splendour…leaders like Herod Antipus and Pontius Pilate got a piece of the Geo-political action. So many in Jerusalem came to understand the coming Messiah in political terms, expecting this worldly king who would deliver them from Roman occupation.
So this was the context for Jesus final approach to this holy city for Passover. He had just entered the City on a donkey to cheering crowds but instead of showing his excitement he was very saddened. In this passage we see two examples of Jesus showing emotions of sadness and anger, confirming his humanity. We may picture Jesus as always being calm and unexcitable but He actually displayed many different emotions throughout his life on earth. We not only observe the emotion of Jesus in crying for Jerusalem, we can also notice his compassion, foreknowledge and selfishness.
We are told in verse 41 that when He came near Jerusalem, “He beheld the city and wept over it.” Looking out over the valley from the Mount of Olives, Jesus could see the city spread out before Him.
Everyone else saw the grandeur of the great city with its great walls and spires and with the temple crowning the top of the hill. And yet Jesus saw something different.
While everyone else was thinking how majestic the city looked, Jesus saw through the veneer to the heart. He could see that God’s people had squandered what they had been given. Jesus was not deceived by the marble and the gold or by the religiosity of the people living in Jerusalem. The city whose name means “peace” but had no real peace inside her walls. God had called these people to himself and for a thousand years but they had repeatedly turned away from him.
He had called them to holiness but they were satisfied with superficial religion and with outward acts of piety.
Finally, God had sent his Messiah to usher in his kingdom and his people rejected him. Jesus knew well the character and the hearts of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Their cruelty, their self-righteousness, their stubbornness, their prejudice against the truth, their pride of heart was not hidden from Him. He knew well what they were going to do to Himself within a very few days. His unjust judgment, His delivery to the Gentiles, His sufferings, His crucifixion, were all spread out distinctly before His mind’s eye. And yet knowing all this, our Lord displayed his great compassion and pitied Jerusalem! “He beheld the city, and wept over it.” What a tender spirit Christ had; he wept in the midst of his triumphs, wept when all about him was rejoicing. We never read that he laughed, but we do find at least one other occasion when he was in tears. We are told in John 11:35 “Jesus wept” when he heard about the death of his friend Lazarus before he raised him from the grave.
His compassion extends to every man, woman, and child on earth. He has a love and general pity for the man who is still going on in wickedness, as well as a love of special affection for the sheep who, hear His voice and follow Him. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. John 3: 17 tells us “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.” Hardened sinners are fond of making excuses for their conduct; but they will never be able to say that Christ was not merciful, and was not ready to save. Psalms 103:8 says “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.”
In verse 42 is a further exclamation of Jesus’ grief towards Jerusalem and its people: “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes.” Jesus says that they did not recognize the things which belong to peace. This means they rejected the Gospel. When Herod was told that the Messiah was born he did not direct the people to Him. When Jesus preached His first sermon in His home-town the people wanted to kill him. When he healed the impotent man in Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, the Jewish leaders also sought to kill Him. (John 5:18). This became the story of Jesus Life.
St. John sums it up best in John 1:11 when he says: “He came to his own but his own received him not.” The Jews had killed the prophets. Now they had rejected the Messiah sent by God. They despised the way of salvation. The things of peace were hidden from their eyes.
The Gospel was preached to them by the Apostles; in Acts 2:36 all of the house of Israel was called to know assuredly that Christ was their peace, and multitudes were convinced and converted. However, as a nation, the majority of the Jews still would not believe.
The Jewish leaders had blinded themselves in their pride and self-righteousness resulting in their sinful ways. Here is what Jesus tells the Pharisees in John 9:41 in response to the question whether they are blind: “If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.”
We are also told by Jesus, that Jerusalem “knew not the day of thy visitation.” Jerusalem had a special season of mercy and privilege.
The Son of God Himself visited her. He had performed the mightiest miracles that man had ever seen in and around her. He had preached the most wonderful Gospel message that ever was heard within her walls. The days of our Lord’s ministry were days of the clearest calls to repentance and faith that any city ever received. Yet, they still rejected Him and disregarded His call to repentance. And Jesus declares that this disregard was one of Jerusalem’s principal sins and the root cause of God’s severe judgement against her. Jesus foretold about this Judgment in verse 43 and 44 “43For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee on every side, 44And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.”
Jesus words about the total destruction of Jerusalem were fulfilled in 70 A.D. The Romans under Titus laid siege to and completely destroyed Jerusalem, it inhabitants and the temple buildings.
The siege happened during the time of Passover when the population of Jerusalem was its highest. The Jewish historian Josephus, an eyewitness, described the fulfilment of Jesus words. The Roman army encircled and barricaded the city to starve it into submission.
Then they attacked the city, killing men, women and children, even priests serving at the altar. They levelled the ancient fortress to the ground, except for three towers left to serve as a landmark, not leaving one stone upon another. Hundreds of thousands of Jews lost their lives, or were transplanted and sold into slavery. (MH commentary ref. Josephus history of the war of the Jew).
This was God’s judgement for the rejection of his only son and his Gospel message. If anyone disobeys or rejects God there will be judgement. This should serve as a stern warning to everyone when Jesus returns to judge the living and the dead. Unfortunately, like Jerusalem we can not use ignorance as an excuse on the final day. The scriptures tell us “He who has ears let him hear.” Our righteousness is only like filthy rags before God. We need to take on the righteousness of Christ. He is the only way to salvation. “He is the truth, the way, and the life.” Those who have rejected Jesus will have to bear the condemnation that this brings and be separated from God forever. True believing Christians will not be condemned. St. Paul tells us in Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.” Christians can look forward to being with God forever, unaffected by sin and death, with perfect resurrected bodies.
Verses 45-46 of the passage tell us about the cleansing of the Temple by Jesus. We are told when “he went into the temple, he began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought: 46saying unto them, it is written, my house is the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.” During Jesus times, the temple had become a centre of commerce rather than the Holy place where God resided and people worshiped, prayed and gave sacrifices for their sins.
The largest part of the Temple referred to as the Court of the Gentiles was the place for all peoples of all nations to come and pray and worship God. Instead, when Jesus entered the Temple, he found it being used for exchanging money, and selling cattle, sheep and doves used as sacrifices to Pilgrim Jews who travelled distances and couldn’t bring their own animals. These were sold at a cost higher than outside the temple. In addition, the money exchange business had become quite lucrative. Any Jew aged twenty or older had to pay the Temple tax. This tax had to be paid in Tyrian coins which had a higher silver content. People coming in with coins from many other countries had to exchange them. Of course, a mark-up was charged for this exchange. All of these activities made money for the traders. The result was that this whole Temple enterprise had become very profitable.
Jesus was angered at not only the disrespectful use of the Temple but also at the outrageous prices charged to those who had travelled to worship there. So we are told that Jesus purified the Temple by casting out all of the sellers, buyers and animals. In so doing, Jesus quotes from Isaiah 56:7 saying, “My house is the house of prayer” (Luke 19:46) The context of Isaiah 56 is the welcoming to God’s Holy Mountain to meet Him. This was what the Temple was always suppose to be, a light to the nations. Instead Jesus says “ye have made it a den of thieves” (Luke 19:46) indicating that the Temple had been defiled.
This act of Jesus can almost symbolise the way that Jesus needs to come into our lives to drive out what is wrong and prevents us from drawing closer to and worshipping God. The fact that Jesus was able to do this shows that he is equipped to judge and to condemn what is not of God. His anger shows that it is not necessarily wrong to be angry. However, sometimes when we are angry our indignation cannot be compared to the righteous indignation of Jesus. It may be due to our own pride or impatience.
In closing, in this passage we see the humanity of our Lord in his emotions. The divinity of our Lord in His foreknowledge and his authority to judge. We are called to share His emotions, to weep and pray for a world that has rejected Him. To show compassion by sharing the love of Jesus in thought, word, and deed. To recognize who Jesus is, God and man, sent to earth to save people. And to continue devote our lives to Him who is the only one able to save us.
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen
AOC Worldwide Prayer List –
I have received updates from a few and those will be the first added to the list. Please send all prayer requests and updates to aocworldwide@gmail.com for future reports. If you would like to be removed from list just respond with remove in the subject line.
Prayer Needed:
Kamil – recovery of successful surgery – Chemotherapy begins
Sherrie – recovery from Surgery
Paul Meier – throat cancer
Richard Bailey – Brain Cancer
Pastor Glen Shoals – Skin Cancer
Steve Williams – recovery Hip Replacement
Mandy – loss
of 14 year employment, budget cuts – new job
Heather – healthy pregnancy
Marilee – Mastectomy Update – second surgery successful – chemo begun
Jennifer – upcoming surgery
Roy – Bulging disc – upcoming surgery
AOC Convention and Ministers meeting Sept 30- Oct 2
Extended Issues need continued prayer;
Laurie with long Covid Symptoms - Extreme exhaustion, heart palpitations, breathing problems and unstable blood pressures are constant worries causing depression to settle in.
Malcom Allred – Cancer Treatment
Betsey – Lane – Betsy onset of Dementia
South Korea – pray to defeat the communists trying to take over; protection for the South Korean people.
Church of the Redeemer – changes in leadership
Keep Praying for the following:
Shamu-health issues, Mike, Jim – medication
tolerance, Dotty, Jan Jessup-neuro dementia,
Josh Morley-seizures, Jennifer, AOC USA, AOC Missions, Zach, Harper-IBS, Jim Sevier- God’s
Peace, Linda –
multiple myeloma, Colin, Marianne, Robert, Donna-chemotherapy,
Eddie, Aleyda-heart and bp issues, Leslie, Daniel, Alicia-caregiver, Lydia, Sophie, Colin and Lori Beall –
cancer, Toni – cancer, Donna - cancer, Malou –
cancer, Roseanne, Bobby, Missy,
Archie, Eloise, Janice, Dakota, Katie, Lydia, Finley, Mike & Gayle
[1] The concept of being truthful in the efforts we make to spread The Word is not a separate subject by any means, but would take more time to talk about than we have time for here. Suffice it to say that we must take every care to spread The Truth and not what our audience, whoever that may be, would like to hear. When we bring our “sacrifice” to the “temple” we need make certain it is in fact as perfect as we can make it. This is so hard that one of the recurring themes of the Collects is asking for guidance to ask for the right things.
[2] A term I first heard from Bishop Dennis Campbell in 2011. It was a great thought then and a great thought now!
