Sermon Notes for 16th Sunday after Trinity, The Anglican Orthodox Communion (Bishop Jerry Ogles)
The Collect.
O LORD, we beseech thee, let thy continual pity cleanse and defend thy Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without thy succour, preserve it evermore by thy help and goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Have we lately abandoned the fountain of Living Waters which is the Word of God Incarnate? The great prophet, Jeremiah, has warned, in no uncertain terms - “O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.” That is more than a mild rebuke, it is a reminder that our eternal salvation rests upon our faith and obedience to God.
We can no longer hide, as a people, under the excuse of what ‘they’ have said or done to undermine the moral law of God - the responsibility of a nations apostacy lies squarely on her citizenry. Regardless of what ‘they’ have said or done, what have YOU done to resist the emerging evil that grows daily in our public streets and political discourse?
Our Collect dutifully points out our responsibility as a people to adhere to the words and garments of Christ :
“What hath my beloved to do in mine house, seeing she hath wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed from thee? when thou doest evil, then thou rejoicest. The LORD called thy name, A green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken. For the LORD of hosts, that planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee.” Jeremiah 11:14-17
Whether I apply the words of Jeremiah to my church, or to my nation, I cannot pray for their success in wickedness while affronting the very God who blesses them. We live in a nation whose foundation, like the church, rested upon God and His Word. Long before we saw our freedoms in America begin to dwindle and vanish, we saw our blessed Church fade and dwindle – overcome by the desires to be accepted by the world and a cowardly reluctance to stand upon those truths that made her great. Can I pray for her success in that regard? Can I pray for the success of the leaders of our nation who embrace the filthy practice of homosexual marriage and the murder of innocents before they ever see the beauty of God’s Creation bathed in sunlight? We are now harvesting the bitter fruits of rejecting God as a nation and as a Church. Murder, abortion, vile sexual sins, drug abuse, and alcoholism have grown up in our fields of infidelity. Our children stagger in lost paths, while we revel in our faith in government to the detriment of our faith in God.
The Collect for the 16th Sunday after Trinity makes a proper and appropriate appeal to the only prayer we can truly utter for an apostate church, society, and government. Our weak faith of today did not result from an over-reliance upon government, but our overly reliance on government resulted from our weak faith. The former bastion of freedom and liberty – the early Church in America - failed to stand up when divorce began to grow prolific when the 1st Amendment right of children to pray at any place (especially in school) was abrogated by a renegade judiciary, when the Holy Bible was deemed too harmful for the exposure to children in public schools when abortion (more egregious even than the slaughter of millions in Nazi death camps) became legal and even encouraged, and when high government officials began to advocate for the right men to marry men, and women to marry women. How far into the abyss can we sink ere we burst Hell wide open? So, can I pray the Prayer Book Prayer for the President (we recently had such a one) who has callously embraced the sinful and opposed the righteous? Yes, for every word of the prayer is honoring of God and calls any man in the office of President to be made aware of his right path and to turn from any wickedness:
O LORD our Governor, whose glory is in all the world; We commend this nation to thy merciful care, that being guided by thy Providence, we may dwell secure in thy peace. Grant to THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and to all in Authority, wisdom and strength to know and to do thy will. Fill them with the love of truth and righteousness; and make them ever mindful of their calling to serve this people in thy fear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen This prayer calls for righteousness in the President, and should we (as Jonah) be disappointed if he repents from the course he has embarked upon to evil?
Of course, before any President may lead us in righteousness, the heart and soul of America must be open to Christ and willing to follow on a righteous course. Whose duty is it to remind us our responsibilities and debt to God? Is it not the Church – His beloved Bride - who has committed spiritual adultery? O LORD, we beseech thee, let thy continual pity cleanse and defend thy Church Before God will grant pity, we must ask it of Him. We must ask in the same vein as 2 Chronicles 7:14 - If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Does God seek to hear the prayers of ALL people in a wicked land? No, not at all, but He DOES seek to hear the prayers of those who are “called by my Name” to humble themselves (have we?), and pray (have we?), and seek my face (have we?), and “turn from their wicked ways (have we?). Only after this formula shall God heal America. At present, we are NOT a righteous nation. At present, we are not humble. At present, we are not a pure church in prayer. At present, we still pursue a wicked path. But God WILL have pity and grant it for our asking.
Do you believe the America we have known can be safe without the special benevolence and succor of God? “….because it cannot continue in safety without thy succor.” It cannot be so preserved without its founding principles established in God for His Church.
Paul, in his Epistle reminds us of our need to be strengthened, nt by designer apparel or outward appearances, but by the strength of the inward man whose strength and stamina comes from the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. The root of of that Holy Spirit is grounded in the love of god and our fellows. That love is a grant of God, the fountain and source of all love, whose waters are broader than the sea and boundless ss the distant galaxies of deep space. That bounteous source of love exceeds every dimension of measurement in height, width, and depth. If we are filled with the fulness of God, as Paul counsels, we shall overcome every weakness of spirit and soul “according to the power that worketh in us.”
In our Gospel text today, taken from the Gospel of St; Luke, we find a living revelation of Christ as the Giver and sustainer of Life itself. Adam was introduced to the source of death and pain before that ugly Tree in Eden from which the Serpent profaned the Word of God and proclaimed the first lie that led to the death of every living creature; but, God, in His mercy and Grace, had already provided a means of salvation by which we might return to God and partake of the Tree of Life which Adam shunned at Eden.
None of the works of Christ are coincidental. When He “must needs go through Samaria” (John 4:4) it was not an uninformed meeting to which He went, but one determined for a Samaritan woman at the Well of Jacob from before the foundation of the world. and, so, we find in today’s text, another such meeting outside the city gate of Nain. Nain was a village near Mt. Tabor whose meaning is ‘Beautiful.’ And its beauty was enhanced by a wonderful miracle of life performed by our Lord Jesus Christ. The miracle was of great benefit to the faith of the citizens of that small hamlet, but of even greater significance to all who know and believe.
The scene of this miracle is one of deep sorrow and foreboding. The funeral procession of a dead man is met by Christ outside the gate of Nain. It is made more pitiful by Luke’s description of the circumstances pertaining to this event. The dead man was a young and only son of a widow woman. she had no husband to protect her, and now, her only son was gone and she would be left struggle even for her next meal.
When Jesus met this procession, He had great compassion on the widow woman. Perhaps this compassion was enlarged by our Lord’s love for his own mother, Mary, who had also become a widower - a matter for which He would arrange a remedy from the very cross at Calvary - “When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.” John 19:26-27
As we all know, the undertaker’s art holds no sway against the Giver of Life. His forst words to the woman may have seemed awkward, “Weep not!” The woman was experiencing the most horrible of loses, yet, Christ counsels her to ‘Weep not.” In the moments of our greatest calamity, we may find the Words of Christ to make little sense in light of our losses, but when He counsels, “Weep not’ there must be a great truth that escapes our understanding. Jesus came and touched the bier upon which the young man was carried. The bearers of the bier stood still. They could do nothing to restore the boy’s life. Their only purpose was to bear him to the burial site; but, when Jesus touched the bier, a far greater power overcame them and they stopped. Unable to do anything to carry the dead, there was One present who was the Author and Giver of Life - and that life eternal.
“Young man, I say unto thee, Arise” What powerful words, these - so profound that even dead ears, and dead hearts are compelled to respond. Lazarus heard them while lying entombed for four days. “And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.” What a beautiful occasion that was transformed in an instant from one of the greatest sorrows. The dead immediately responded to the voice of the Fountain of Living Waters. So may each of us who have heard that command of Christ to come alive in Him.
“I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” John 11:25-26
The promise of Christ is to all who believe in faith. We are called by grace by that same Almighty Voice that lifted the young man from the funeral bier. and awakened Lazarus from the tomb. Though we die to the physical death sponsored by Satan, we arise in the glorious resurrection to the voice of the Author of Life - our Lord Jesus Christ. Believing in Christ gives an assurance that we shall never die finally, but live forever with Him.
