In the meantime, I am posting the lessons and sermon which I preached about yesterday:
Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Isaiah 6:1-8
Isaiah’s Vision of the Lord
1In the year that(A) King Uzziah died I(B) saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train[a] of his robe filled the temple. 2Above him stood the seraphim. Each had(C) six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3And one called to another and said:
(D) "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;(E) the whole earth is full of his glory!"[b]
4And(F) the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and(G) the house was filled with smoke. 5And I said: "Woe is me!(H) For I am lost;(I) for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the(J) King, the LORD of hosts!"
6Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7And he(K) touched my mouth and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for."
Isaiah’s Commission from the LORD
8And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for(L) us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me."
Psalm 138 Page 793, BCP
Confitebor tibi
1
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with my whole heart; *
before the gods I will sing your praise.
2
I will bow down toward your holy temple
and praise your Name, *
because of your love and faithfulness;
3
For you have glorified your Name *
and your word above all things.
4
When I called, you answered me; *
you increased my strength within me.
5
All the kings of the earth will praise you, O LORD, *
when they have heard the words of your mouth.
6
They will sing of the ways of the LORD, *
that great is the glory of the LORD.
7
Though the LORD be high, he cares for the lowly; *
he perceives the haughty from afar.
8
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you keep me safe; *
you stretch forth your hand against the fury of my enemies;
your right hand shall save me.
9
The LORD will make good his purpose for me; *
O LORD, your love endures for ever;
do not abandon the works of your hands.
Epistle
1 Corinthians 15:1-11
1Now I would remind you, brothers,[a] of the gospel(A) I preached to you, which you received,(B) in which you stand, 2and by which(C) you are being saved, if you(D) hold fast to the word I preached to you—(E) unless you believed in vain.
3For(F) I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died(G) for our sins(H) in accordance with the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised(I) on the third day(J) in accordance with the Scriptures, 5and that(K) he appeared to Cephas, then(L) to the twelve. 6Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to(M) James, then(N) to all the apostles. 8Last of all, as to one untimely born,(O) he appeared also to me. 9For(P) I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because(Q) I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary,(R) I worked harder than any of them,(S) though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
Gospel:
Luke 5:1-11
Once while Jesus was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret, and the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he saw two boats there at the shore of the lake; the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little way from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." Simon answered, "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets." When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!" For he and all who were with him were amazed at the catch of fish that they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. Then Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people." When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.
This Sunday’s lessons remind us that throughout the history of His creation, God has used his messengers to remind us of His love for us, His people, the works of His hand. It seems that we need to be continually reminded of God’s presence, because, if we look at both New and Old Testament history, we see the same continuous pattern in God’s people of disobedience, repentance, revival, deliverance, and then, again, deterioration, right back into disobedience. It seems like déjà vu, all over again, doesn’t it? Yet, during each cycle of apostasy, God doesn’t abandon his creation. Instead, he redeems them, because we are the works of His hands, and He loves us.
Some theologians believe that the first act of redemption was God’s creation of the earth, itself. Genesis 1 says that 1In the(A) beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was(B) without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. They separate the first and the second sentences into two different time periods, suggesting that at some time after God initially created the earth something might have happened to corrupt it, making it into a formless, darkened void. Needless to say, not all people will read Genesis 1 that way. But almost all theologians agree that the first act of redemption, performed by God for his creation, man, took place in the Garden of Eden, when, instead of destroying His creation, God made for Adam and his wife garments of skin and clothed them.
If, from there, we fast forward to the time that Isaiah wrote his prophesies, man had already given to God reason enough, a thousand fold, to abandon the works of His hands. God’s covenant with Abraham had been broken by man’s disobedience. The great nation that returned from the exodus in Egypt was only a shadow of itself because of its apostasy. Yet, God sent judges to deliver His people from their enemies; He then granted them their request for a king, so they could be like other nations, only to have those kings eventually import other Gods and other religions into God’s Promised Land. The work of the great prophets like Elijah, and Elisha had been forgotten or ignored, and the Nation of Israel had been split off from Judah and sent into exile under the Assyrians. And yet, God still would not abandon the works of His hands.
And now, Isaiah becomes the messenger that God sends to Judah. Here is yet another prophet through whom God communicates to His people, even though they are again steeped in apostasy. This prophet would give his message in two parts. The first was a message of impending doom. The Kingdom of Judah, like Israel, faced exile if they continued their disobedience. And yet, the second part of Isaiah’s message would proclaim redemption and revival and the coming of the servant king who would redeem God’s people, once and for all.
According to Robert Chisholm’s commentary on A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament, the theological message of Isaiah is that “The Lord will fulfill His ideal for Israel by purifying His people through judgment and then restoring them to a renewed covenantal relationship. He will establish Jerusalem (Zion) as the center of His worldwide kingdom and reconcile once hostile nations to Himself….Central to Isaiah’s vision of the future covenant community is the Messiah, the ideal king who fulfills God’s ancient promises to David.”
The message of today’s Gospel is, of course, that Jesus Christ is that Messiah who fulfills the Old Testament prophesies. And, like the prophets of old, God again sent his messengers, those who, in their gospels, witnessed and wrote about Jesus’ ministry on earth, as well as those apostles, like Peter and Paul, whose letters provide us with additional understanding and enlightenment of the meaning of those gospels.
And yet, even with God’s revelation of Himself in scripture, like those people of both Testaments, mankind failed, and still continues to fail, to get God’s message. We are like that nation of God’s people, Israel, to which Isaiah spoke, who still have not outgrown our apostasy. While God gives us His revelation in scripture we, his creation and the works of His hand, still seem to turn away. For example, the country of Israel is not, as many people would think, a totally religious nation. It is, to a great degree, secular in nature. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, the population in 2008 was 75.4% Jewish. Yet, according to Wikipedia, only 65% of identified Jews professed a belief in God, and 44% considered themselves to be secular, rather than practicing Jews. This is hardly a demographic picture that one would expect of God’s chosen people.
We can compare this to our own country, where, according to Wikipedia, the majority of Americans (76%) identify themselves as Christians. Yet, Gallup International indicates that only 41%[1958] of American citizens report they regularly attend religious services. However, both the United States and Israel seem to be doing better in church or synagogue attendance than much of the rest of the world. For example, 15% of French citizens, 10% of UK citizens,[1959] and only 7.5% of Australian citizens[1960] admit that they attend services regularly. My point here is that we are not just dealing with apostasy in the Episcopal Church. We are dealing with apostasy all over the world. And, we have been steeped in apostasy for most of human history.
In his epistle, Paul needed to remind the Church of Corinth to hold fast to his preaching. This was a church that needed to be reminded that just truth and knowledge of God was not enough. That knowledge of God had to be accompanied by growth in Christian maturity, and that Christian maturity had to be nurtured by love. For, we cannot become mature Christians unless we can follow God’s commandment to love our neighbor. The church in Corinth, like many of our churches today, was in transition, and that transition brought problems. Spiritual growth, thus, comes as we proclaim the truth while affirming our love for each other, in spite of our differences. We must follow God’s example: that He loves us in spite of our shortcomings. He freely gives us His grace so that we, the works of His Hand, the sinners, heretics, and those, like Paul, who persecuted the church and disobeyed God, can find redemption.
Most theologians today would suggest that the days of the prophets have passed. Now, I am not suggesting that prophets might not at times raise their head or do not exist. I am only suggesting that most of us may never experience them. Because God has revealed Himself in scripture, we have direct information that allows us to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We, like the disciples, who were called to be fishers of men, are called to become modern messengers of the Gospel, and God calls us to spiritual vocations, giving us time, talent, and treasures to work on His behalf. But, it is up to us whether or not we use that time, talent, or our treasures to do God’s work.
It is hard to imagine that, on January 22nd, I will have completed my first year in this parish as your deacon. I think that I have weathered this past year pretty well. I have also just had the wonderful opportunity of spending a college semester learning about the Old and New Testament through study and travel to Israel.
On our first Sunday in Jerusalem, I visited Christ Church, an Anglican parish that I affectionately call the Blessed Sacrament of Jerusalem; and I had lunch with their Deacon. Like us, they have an impaired relationship with their diocese. They house a visitor’s center and a guest house for those who wish to visit and stay in the Old City of Jerusalem and were the hosts of the GAFCON conference, for Anglicans who consider themselves to be traditional and catholic, which took place before Lambeth. Although officially under the Diocese of Jerusalem, no offering money that the Episcopal Church of the United States sends to the Jerusalem Diocese, yearly, to is given to Christ Church for their projects. And, like Blessed Sacrament, they have what I call a congregation implant. Ours is the Church of the Resurrection, a group of Anglicans; theirs is a large group of Messianic Jews who worship with them. Their web site states:
Today Christ Church is an evangelical Anglican congregation that worships in our historic church in the Old City of Jerusalem. The congregation, compromised of expatriates who have come to serve in Israel or the West Bank along with local believers (both Jews and Arabs), welcomes visitors and tourists to its worship services. We are an English speaking congregation that appreciates our Jewish roots in a liturgical and historical context. Towards this end we celebrate both Jewish and Christian holidays, incorporate some Hebrew into our liturgy and preach in a way to emphasize a Hebraic understanding of the Gospels. At the same time we remain unashamed of our Christian heritage and recognize that the spiritual treasures handed down to us by previous generations of Christians are part of our lives and worship.
There are two things that set our parishes aside from the rest of our diocese members. First, we are both evangelical. We profess the Gospel, the truth given to us in God’s revelation to us. Second, we are catholic. We are part of that universal catholic and apostolic church that was instituted by Jesus Christ and grown by those, like Paul, whom Jesus appointed to establish and nourish the Christian congregations. I bring this up to remind you that Blessed Sacrament is not alone.
Our pastor, Father David, has made it clear to us that we strive for understanding of the truth through love. For those of you who took the opportunity to hear our Bishop Pastor Ed Little preach and answer questions, I am encouraged that he shares those same core philosophies and values with us. In fact, we are one of four Episcopal Churches under the pastoral supervision of Bishop Little. So, again, we are not alone.
Let us then accept encouragement, realizing that we are not alone on the rough seas of apostasy, nor will we drown because of it. Let us do our best to steer the true course according to the compass that has been set for us in scripture, using the charts given to us by those patriarchs, prophets, and saints, and accepting navigational guidance from the Holy Spirit. And, as we mature in our own personal relationships with our Lord Jesus Christ, and as we show our love for our neighbors, let us preach and show the truth of the Gospel in love.
In closing, I would like to share with you one final thought. I studied for ordination at Biola University’s Talbot Theological Seminary, an evangelical institution. This has given me a unique perspective through which I theologically view the world. Like most evangelical churches, we may call ourselves a community of true believers; and we, for the most part, accept our assignments as modern messengers of the Word in spreading the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ, not only by our own communication with the world, but also, by example: in our love for our neighbors. And yet, unlike the mega churches and the standalone evangelical free churches, we also have the rich heritage of the patriarchs, prophets, and the saints and the understanding of the Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament of our Lord Jesus Christ. I truly believe that this is the model for the church that Paul may have had in mind, when he preached to the Corinthians.
We are, and should continue to be, the modern messengers of God: preaching the truth of the Gospel with love in that world steeped in apostasy. So let each of us be like Isaiah who, when he heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for(L) us?" Let us say, "Here am I! Send me."
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