Within the past few days, I have had serious discussions with a “churchman” who describes himself as a “post-theist.” I had to ask for help with that term, because it did not want to leap to any unfounded conclusions about it. Apparently, a post-theist believes that, while God may have been a useful idea at an earlier time in human history, God is now just an out of date idea, a concept that should be discarded altogether by our more “mature” society today. Post-theism rejects the very idea of God as simply irrelevant to modern man. Along with this, from this same “churchman” I learned that he believes that there is no such thing as sin. Further, he tells me that the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross was pointless and completely unnecessary; he says that the Resurrection is the proof of this fact. Oh, and that Jesus death on the Cross had nothing to do with sin. One really amazing statement was this one:

In my view, “sin” is a purely human concept. It has nothing to do with God. Nor does God give as damn (sic) about what we do in bed!

It has been a real education for me!!

Let us consider again the opening quote I gave from Psalm 14, which by the way is repeated almost identically again in Psalm 53:1. Ancient man knew with great certainty that there was a God in heaven; he saw the evidence of this all around him every day. He was aware of creation as an ordered event, demanding a Creator, not the result of an accident. He was aware of his own fallen state, his sin, because the Law of God was written on his heart and later he was given the Ten Commandments. It was clear to ancient man that he was a created being, that he was not the final arbiter of right and wrong, but that he would be eventually held accountable for his deeds in this life. It was even evident to ancient man that this world was not the end, there is in fact life after death, and that how we live this life will determine how we will spend our time in eternity.

Now it is certainly true that not all ancient men had these insights. There have always been men who denied that there was anyone or anything at all greater than themselves. The Lord God who created the heavens and the earth chose to reveal Himself to a particular people whom He called His Chosen People, the Hebrews. Through their history, He has interacted with mankind, and revealed Himself continually through the ages. He sent a steady stream of messengers, the great leaders such as Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, and all of the prophets to bring his message to the Hebrews. God’s ultimate messenger was His Own Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, sent to bring the message of salvation for all people through His own atoning sacrifice on the Cross followed by the defeat of sin and death in His Resurrection.

Since the time of Jesus Christ, in the Christian West, there has been a huge expansion of knowledge, more than in all preceding time combined. It has been an accelerating expansion, that is, the more knowledge has been gained, the more rapidly it has continued to expand.  This has been true in every are of knowledge that one might wish to consider. In particular, the knowledge of science and the way the world and the universe works has grown profoundly. Questions which ancient man might have never even considered are today considered as standard exam questions in many areas such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology. And yet, we have to ask, “Has man become wise?”

It was in the 17th century that the great Isaac Newton discovered his Laws of Motion and Newton’s Law of Gravitation. He, along with Leibnitz, invented the calculus, a huge leap in mathematics, simply because it was necessary for their work. Newton’s work was built in large part on the work of others including Kepler, Brahe, and Galileo. His results seemed to explain the observed motion of the planets, and many other mechanical phenomena entirely, and were accepted as established Laws of Physics for many, many years. This situation remained until the early 20th century when Einstein showed that Newton’s Laws of Motion are in fact not entirely correct; this came under Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. And yet, Newton’s Laws of motion are sufficiently accurate for most purposes, unless the motion approaches the speed of light. All of the trajectories, orbits, transfers, etc. involved in the US space program have been calculated on the basis of Newtonian mechanics; the theory of relativity is not used at all there. So what have we learned? The older methods of Newtonian mechanics remain useful in almost all cases, while the “correct” relativistic mechanics of Einstein has little application.

In the 19th century, Charles Darwin published his theory of natural selection, the basis of the very popular theory of evolution today. Many are concerned that it appears to contradict the Bible account of creation given in Genesis. More about that in a moment. Consider the theory of evolution itself. It has never, ever, been demonstrated at all, by anyone, to the best of my knowledge. To be sure, viruses do mutate into other, closely related viruses and we discover that our drug therapies are no longer effective. This is not the gross evolution indicated by the theory of evolution. The theory of evolution tells us that birds came from reptiles. Has anyone been able to make that happen, to start with a reptile and through some sort of breeding process produce a bird? I don’t think so. No one has been able to produce a different species from that which they start with. Dogs always produce dogs; cats always produce cats; horses always produce horses, and so forth. The theory of evolution is entirely, utterly without a single demonstrable case. And yet, this is what people demand, shouting and screaming, must be taught as “science?”

Now, does the (impossible to demonstrate) theory of evolution really contradict the Genesis account of the creation of the earth? NO. The Bible is not intended to be a science book, and therefore is not intended to address the question of “how.” The Bible is a book of the history of God and man, and with regard to the creation, it addresses the question of “who.” Specifically, the Bible tells “Who created the heavens and the earth?,” not “How were they created?”  The Bible also makes clear that the process of creation was an orderly process, done in a definite sequence under the control of the Creator, rather than the chaos of a random event. Everything that is of God is orderly (even if we have difficulty at times seeing the order), and that right there excludes anything that is random.

The more man learns, the more he should be able to see and appreciate his Creator. Sadly, mankind in the large is not like that, and many tend to see themselves as becoming “gods.” (Recall that it was the pursuit of knowledge, through the eating of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil that caused the downfall of man, according to Genesis.) So it is today that many people, particularly those with only limited and superficial knowledge of science, are inclined to think that science has overthrown God and provides all the answers today. Those who know most about science are often the most religious and the most convinced of the operation of God, probably because they get a better view of Him through their work.

But we are in a precarious situation. The more people come to believe that there is no God, the more irrational, brutal, and tyrannical they become. They think, in their own minds, that they will never have to answer to any One for their evil. This is where we are today. Man has become knowledgeable, but man is most certainly NOT WISE! Knowledge without wisdom is exceedingly dangerous!!

At this point, I want to tell you a story, related to me many years ago by my Dad. Some years before I was born (we are talking about the period between WW I and WW II here), my Dad served as a Scout Master for a troop of Hispanic boys in South Texas. These were really a rowdy bunch of boys, and fist fights during Scout meetings were common. My Dad instituted a policy that anyone involved in a fight would get a whipping. He enforced this policy, but the fights continued.

As Dad studied the situation, he noted that there was one boy, let’s call him Roberto, who was never in the fights, but seemed to enjoy them very much. He watched carefully and realized that Roberto was the instigator of most of the fights. Roberto would say to one of the boys, “Ruben called you a $@#&!! What are you going to do about it?” and perhaps follow up by saying something similar to Ruben. Sure enough, a little later, Ruben would be in a fight with the other boy.

So, Dad revised his policy. Anytime anyone was involved in a fight, they would get a whipping, just as before, but Roberto would also get a whipping, even though he was “not involved.” The fights ended almost immediately.

This brings me back to the muzlim problem. At its root, izlam is a blood-thirsty political system, bent on world domination, and only hiding under the veil of being a religion. Its followers come to Western countries, not to be loyal citizens of their new homelands, but as an invading army. Their intent is conquest. There is no reason whatsoever why they should be treated to the same rights and privileges as the loyal citizens of the country they have invaded. They should be treated as invaders, even though they are not in uniform!

Applying my Dad’s wisdom here, I suggest that whenever there is any sort of muzlim violence, by all means those involved should be quickly and severely punished. But in addition, I suggest that several, perhaps a half-dozen to a dozen troublesome imams and their associated operating base (mosque, muzlim association, or whatever) be shut down. The imams should be imprisoned or deported immediately, and their base organization should be closed permanently.

I know that some will say that this denies them the “right of due process under the law.” I would argue that, as invaders, the are not entitled to due process. The army does not give “due process” to an advancing enemy soldier before shooting him, and this is exactly the same situation. We just need to wake up and see it for what it is!

+ 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.

Today is Pentecost, fifty days after Easter, and the birthday of the Christian Church. Happy Birthday, Church!! It is the day when the Holy Ghost first came upon the Apostles, placing flames of fire on their heads and causing them to speak in many foreign languages.

The first lesson for the day is:

Acts 2:1-6   1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.  2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.  3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.  4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.  5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.  6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.

In the previous chapter, the eleven Apostles remaining after the death of Judas Iscariot had just met together to elect a successor to Judas. They chose Matthias to take the place of Judas, and chapter 2 opens with the reading given just above.

It is certainly clear that the coming of the Holy Ghost cause a mighty confusion, a dramatic event with the rushing wind, the tongues of fire, and suddenly each of the Apostles beginning to speak in a foreign language. The great drama of the event is a theophany, the evidence that it is truly the coming of the Holy Ghost, the third person of the Holy Trinity. But at the end of the reading, when the Apostles begin to speak in various foreign languages, is this more evidence of the theophany, or is it something else?

I would suggest to you that this is evidence of the intent that the Gospel is to be carried to all people in their own language, so that they will be able to understand it. When the text says that the foreign visitors to Jerusalem were confounded, it really means simply that they were amazed and surprised at what they were hearing. It does not mean that they were in any way blocked from understanding the message, but rather just the opposite. The message came through to them directly and clearly in their own language.

The motivation for this post happened this morning in the small mission parish where I was worshiping. Since moving to Texas, I have not been saying Sunday Mass on a regular basis, but rather have been sitting in the pew in a congregation in the Diocese of Fort Worth. The congregation is served by a very learned man as Vicar, so I was quite surprised when he read the Gospel lesson (not the lesson above) first in Swedish, then in French, and finally in Spanish, but never in English. Later, in his sermon, he explained that he wanted us to experience something of the chaos (his word) of the events of the coming of the Holy Ghost.

This little congregation is a mixture of white, black, and brown (Hispanic) folks, all English speaking. As luck would have it, I think all of our few native Spanish speakers were not present today, so I seriously doubt that anyone present understood a word of the Gospel lesson as read. I think that the Vicar missed the point of that portion of the First Lesson; we are not to receive the Gospel as chaos and without understanding, but rather, we are to receive it in our own language and with full understanding of the Gospel message.

Be that as it may, this is the day that we remember the coming of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles, and His continuing work in the world today.

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Romans 6:9–11

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

The long awaited feast of Easter has finally arrived, and we can say with great joy,

Alleluia, Christ is Risen!
He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

These few words are the central message of Easter, and quite likely are the only words that most will carry away from their Church services this morning. It is indeed the central message of the day, that Jesus Christ, the true Son of God, who was crucified upon the Cross of Calvary for the sins of the world has in fact over come death and has risen from the dead. It is a perfectly amazing fact when stated in isolation, just all by itself, out of any context. How many other examples of people rising from the dead can you cite, rising from the tomb after several days in which it is absolutely certain that they were buried, as we know in the case of Jesus Christ? Recall that Roman soldiers were sent to guard His tomb, because it was feared that His body might be stolen away in order to fake a resurrection story, so we may say with complete certainty, no one tampered with that grave. And yet, Jesus did arise. Getting ahead of our story a bit, we know that He was eventually seen by the disciples and many others during the next forty days.

We have been talking about the simple fact of Jesus’ resurrection, something that has been known for almost 2000 years now. We may well ask the question, What Difference Does It Make? In order to approach this question, let us take as our text for the day, a passage from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans 6:9-11   9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.  10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.  11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Let us consider the first verse of the text, 9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. Since the beginning of time, death has been the mortal enemy of man. Every man has seen his future ending in death, and this has worried mankind from the beginning. A typical example of this concern is found in Psalms 89:47-48   47 Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?  48 What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave?  Death is the common expectation and experience of all mankind, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ has not changed that at all. But let us read on, remembering that Jesus was in fact true Man, because of the Incarnation, and verse 9 tells us that, not only has Jesus risen from the dead, but that He will not die again. We all know of cases, particularly in modern times, where a person is declared clinically dead, and yet they are eventually ressucitated and returned to life. In some cases, the resussications occur after relatively long time periods, so that one might be tempted to  say that the person has indeed risen from the dead. But what invariably happens is that, eventually, that person dies a natural death at a later time. This is simply our mortal nature. But verse 9 is telling us that death has no more claim upon Jesus; He will not die again. He has broken the hold of death. Death is defeated by Jesus Christ, a completely new thing!

This is important. It says that, despite the experience of all of mankind, death is not invincible. It can be defeated, and Jesus Christ is the one who can defeat death! This is a first, and it has never been repeated by any other man, for obvious reasons: Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, and there is none other like Him! If we want to have any hope of a life beyond this life, we must look to Jesus as the only One who has shown the way.

Moving on to verse 10, we see 10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.  In His death, Jesus took all of our sins upon Himself, so that He who was without sin, became filled with sin, to bear the full weight of the sins of the world upon the Cross. This is very hard for us to imagine, but only in this way could Jesus truly take our sins upon Himself. In rising from the dead, however, Jesus has shaken off all of those sins, and is once again the pure, spotless Son of God so that He can live, both in this world and in heaven above to the glory of God the Father. In defeating death, He breaks all the bondage of sin. He is able to do this for Himself, and in like manner, He is able to do this for us. This is critically important, because it means that the sins that still hold us at our death can and will be broken by Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, to the glory of His Father in heaven.

Finally, in verse 11, St. Paul turns his attention to what he wants his readers to remember  about all of this:  11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Just as the resurrected Christ was free from sin, so likewise, we his followers should turn away from sin in every  form. We are specifically called upon to lead chaste lives, to keep ourselves pure and unspotted from the world, and to imitate Jesus in our lives. As Jesus lives in heaven to glorify His Father, so we living in this world should live our lives to glorify God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, in every aspect of our lives.

Now, it is quite obvious that there are many in our modern world who ignore the significance of the Resurrection in their daily lives. Some do so by conscious decision that they think this whole “Jesus business” is simply for the weak and feeble minded. These are the militant atheists; they are often loudly outspoken. People such as Richard Dawkins come immediately to mind. There is a much larger number of people who simply ignore the Resurrection and its consequences by virtue of having never given it much serious thought. Our public education system today encourages this approach, often by suggesting that relgion ought to be a “very private matter,” something not to be discussed in polite company. The fact that this sort of thinking has been allowed to come to dominate our society is a failure of the Christian Church. Our Great Commission is to go out and preach the Gospel to all nations, and this cannot possibly be done if the Gospel must be considered  “a very private matter.” This line of thinking, often called Political Correctness, is actually a form of Marxism, and it is designed to suppress all religious faith. We must be prepared to ignore PC, and preach the Gospel fearlessly, just as Jesus Christ did during His public ministry (can you imagine Jesus shrinking away, for fear of offending the Pharisees? It is to laugh!). No, we must be dead to sin, but alive in Christ Jesus, and ready to pursue the Gospel without fear! If we do anything less, we are not truly alive in Christ!

Today we rejoice in the Resurrection of our Risen Lord, recognizing that without the Resurrection, there would be no Christianity. It is the Resurrection that is the proof of the pudding! This is the day that Jesus finally and conclusively proved beyond all doubt that He was indeed the Son of God, the long awaited Messiah of the Jews, and the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies. If He had failed to return, Christianity would have withered and died like so many other religions have along the way. But it has not. It has become the religion that has changed countless lives over the last two millinia, has driven the development of European culture and all of the accompanying developments in art, literature, science, medicine, mathematics, etc. None of this would have happened without the Christian faith and the understanding of God that it has given to mankind. None of that is of the slightest consequence except as it contributes to the salvation of souls and the greater glory of God who sent His only Son to be our Saviour.

Let us pray the Collect for Easter Day:

Almighty God, who through thine only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ hast overcome death, and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life; We humbly beseech thee that, as by thy special grace preventing us thou dost put into our minds good desires, so by thy continual help we  may bring the same to good effect; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

While there can be no doubt that homosexuality has existed for ages, there can also be no doubt that the rulers and leaders of the nations have recognized that this was an unnatural way of live, contrary to the will of God, and counter productive to their respective nations. For this reason, homosexuality has always been generally suppressed, that is, until recently. Now our leaders have lost their sense of moral direction, and they are willing to listen to, and be persuaded by, any foolish group that makes enough of a clamor. The LGBT group have been fairly effective in marketing their ideas, and we find all manner of civic leaders now speaking out in their favor, people who a generation earlier would not even have considered doing so. A case in point is a prominent member of Congress, well known for his opposition to gay marriage, who has just recently announced his support for gay marriage now that his own son has announced to the world that he, the son, is gay.

Some of these leaders who are coming out in support of the LGBT life style are saying things such as, “We are New Testament Christians; we are not bound by the Old Testament.” In saying this, they think that they escape from passages such as Leviticus 20:13   If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them, and other similar passages. What they are missing completely are these words of Jesus Christ: Matthew 5:17-18   17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.  18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. It is rank foolishness for us today to think that we can call ourselves “New Testament Christians,” and thereby live in total ignorance of the Old Testament. Jesus Himself followed the Mosaic Law, and we are in no way at all above our Master!

But then they argue, Jesus did not condemn anyone, He only preached love. Well that is immediately false on its face. There are many examples of Jesus’ condemnation, but one will suffice: Matthew 23:27   Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. And yet, unknowingly, they are correct; even here, Jesus is preaching love, Theological Love. At this, you may say, and just what is this Theological Love? For you to love another person, in the theological sense, does not even require that you be acquainted with that person, strange though that may sound. It requires only that you seek and desire what is best for that person, in particular, that which draws that other person closer to God. Now that does not sound at all like the popular conception of love, sometimes described as luuurrvveeee, but this is real LOVE. This is the love that is described in 1 Corinthians 13, that chapter that is so popular for use at weddings, and has nothing at all to do with romantic love!

Now, what does the matter of Theological Love have to do with the LGBT push for social acceptance and acclaim? Just this. Anyone who supports this movement to recognize and approve this lifestyle, thinking that this is an act of love, is in fact committing an act of eternal evil against these confused and sinful people. It is condoning and approving their sin, rather than helping them to move away from it. The so-call “condemnation” by the Church in previous generations has been a call to repentance, a call to turn away from sin and return to righteous living. And so the Church must continue to say to the LBGT people, “No, that life is the road to death, both physical and spiritual death. It does not bring you closer to God. Repent, and come to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Who forgives all repentant sinners.”

This is the only way to speak to them in LOVE.

Background

Since my last previous post, my wife and I have moved across country, and are now living in Fort Worth, Texas. We have joined St. Timothy’s parish in Bishop Iker’s Episcopal Diocese, and I am simply worshipping as a ordinary man in the pew on Sundays. Only once have I taken any official part in the service. I filled in for the Vicar one evening at Benediction, blessing the people with the Blessed Sacrament at the appointed time. Otherwise, I am one of several priests who worship in the parish without taking a leadership role in the liturgy.

During Lent, the parish has been having a series of Friday evening suppers, followed by Stations of the Cross, a meditation with slides of Jerusalem, Benediction, and Unction each week. We have attended each Friday since our arrival about the third week of Lent.

The Event

Several weeks ago, I noticed at these Friday evening gatherings, a fairly tall, very forward, brassy, blond who intruded herself into the worship portion of the evening by taking photographs. She was always very stylishly dressed, and had long peroxide blond hair! She looked like a Revlon commercial. She would walk up to the front pew, stand and walk back and forth across the width of the pew taking pictures, taking her time and framing them to her satisfaction. She was oblivious of the rest of the congregation. It was a performance for her benefit, evidently.

Last night, of course, was Maundy Thursday, and following the washing of feet there was a High Mass. I spent much of the time on the kneeler in front of me, with my feet extending under the pew behind be. When the service began, there was an elderly woman sitting behind be, and that was all. Early in the service, she was joined by a little girl. I began to be aware of someone kicking my feet. I tried to ignore it, to write it off as an accident. When it continued, I turned around to find the little girl standing there, so I knew what the problem was. I gave her a disapproving look, and went back to the Mass.

This happened several times, more kicks, followed by a look of disapproval each time. Finally, in the middle of the Agnus Dei, I turned to the little girl and said, “Stop kicking my feet. That is extremely rude. Shame.” She burst into tears, the older woman holding her looked somewhat shaken up, and the brassy blond came rushing up. Mind you, all this in the middle of the Agnus Dei!! She said, “What’s going on?” but she did not wait to find out, she simply hustled the little girl away. We were able to return to the Mass in what was left of the peace.

Following the Mass, I saw the blond woman on the side walk outside the Church, by the parking lot. I waited until she came near and then I stepped toward her. I wanted to let her know exactly what had happened. I told her that her little girl was kicking my feet during Mass. She blazed out at me, “He is a little boy!” Well, he certainly looked like a girl to me, with a bushy hair-do, and girlish clothing, to which I said, “Whatever,” which probably was not a good response, it was just what came naturally. It made her blood boil! I went on to tell her that her child’s behavior was not acceptable and must change. She hissed at me, “You dared him.” That is completely nuts, but whatever. At that point, I added, “And I have a few words for you as well. Do you have any idea how distracting it is when you are dashing about taking pictures at the front of the nave? Most of us are here to worship God Almighty!”

That is when I saw the face of evil. She was under the control of a demon, and I had called him out. Her face contorted, became almost the face of a monkey. That evil face snarled, “I’ll keep that in mind,” to which I replied, “Please do.” Then we parted. But that face is stuck in my memory; I had called out a demon who did not want to be seen, and he was ugly as sin.

1 Corinthians 13:1–13
St. Luke 18:31–43

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Today we come to the last Sunday of Pre-Lent, Quinquagesima, meaning fifty days. It is actually forty nine days before Easter, when Sundays are included in the count. In the middle of the coming week, we will come to Ash Wednesday which officially begins Lent, we often hear described as “forty days before Easter.” How can this great arithmetic error be reconciled? The answer lies in the fact that, in counting the days of Lent, we do not count the Sundays, because every Sunday is a re-creation of Easter. When we drop out the six Sundays in Lent, including Palm Sunday, and the first part of the current week, we come up with the forty days of Lent. Perhaps it is because Ash Wednesday will be so soon upon us that the Church has only asked us to reflect on a single crowning virtue for the few days that remain before the beginning of Lent itself, the virtue of Charity, also known as Love.

A short while ago, you heard the Epistle lesson for the day read from St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. What we have read as “charity” is often given in other translations as “love,” and it is probably for this reason that this is a favorite passage of Scripture to be read at weddings. It speaks of “sounding brass” and “tinkling cymbals” Doesn’t that bring forth images of wedding bells? It says, Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love never faileth, etc. That sounds about like the minister’s charge to a couple being married, does it not? And yet, that is not really what this passage is about at all, and in thus reading it, we miss the point entirely. We need to understand Love as a theological virtue.

There are always two sides to human Love. On the one side, there is our selfish desire to possess and enjoy the other person. On the other side, there is the selfless desire for the good and happiness of the other person. It is impossible to eliminate either of these from human love.

The object of Love as a theological virtue is God. We love God because He is the sum of all perfection, He is supremely lovable in and for Himself alone. It is in Him that we find our eternal life, our true peace and happiness. This is the selfish side of our love for God. The selfless side of our love for God is found in our desire to serve Him, to place His will foremost in our lives. There are three specific aspects to this: (1) it means rejoicing in the goodness of God, (2) it means constantly seeking to give glory to God, and (3) it means zealously promoting the Kingdom of God here on earth.

When we speak of loving God in this way, some will wonder how God responds. Is there an intensity of emotional response? There may be, or there may not be. An intense emotional response is a gift which the Holy Spirit bestows on some and not on others. The lack of this response is not a personal failure or cause for despair; we cannot command the Holy Spirit. What is required of us in this life is that we continue steadfastly to put God first before all else. We will get our due in Heaven if not before. The theological virtue of love is not an emotion nearly so much as it is an act of the will to place God first.

Love of God is a judgement of value much more than it is a matter of intensity of feeling. People may easily be confused because they feel a much more intense love for a friend or family member than they do for God. But that is not what loving God is about. To love God is to prefer Him above everything else, and consequently to avoid those things that offend Him while to seeking those things that please Him. Intensity of feeling arises much more from physical proximity than it does from actual value, so we tend to have much stronger feelings about those that are physically close to us than those that are remote, and God is in many ways completely remote even while remaining personal. Thus we can say of a child that we would prefer that he had some Godly quality rather than great wealth.

We are all familiar with the command that we must love our neighbor as our selves. While at first blush that sounds simple enough, all of us who have lived a while are aware of how complicated that gets at times. Unfortunate as it sounds, we know that we have to prioritize in some manner, we have to make some sort of choices at times. How do we do this?

The first thing we have to keep in mind is that the highest priority of Love is God. We should not do anything to help the need of another person that requires us to do something displeasing to God. To do that cannot be in the best interest of either the other person or ourselves. Notice carefully what I just said; you cannot possibly help another person by doing something displeasing to God. Thus you cannot steal to give money to someone in need, and so forth. It is all displeasing to God.

Secondly, and seemingly paradoxically, we have to love ourselves more than our neighbors. Since God is the primary object of love, we must not sin and thus  offend God in order to benefit our neighbor. The only basis we have for helping our neighbor is that he too is made in the image of God and thus shares with us in God’s love. We cannot exclude ourselves from that love in order to help the other. To do that is to deny our own true love of God. This goes back to the previous idea; you cannot do evil to help someone else. It is an offense to God.

Thirdly, we are not to sacrifice our neighbor’s spiritual welfare for our own material well being. Thus if we see our neighbor in spiritual peril, we are obligated to intervene, even though it may cost us, either materially or perhaps personal injury. As an example, during time of war or natural disaster, a minister must not leave his people but rather must stay and minister to them despite the personal risks involved. This is not a far fetched example at all; there have been just such cases in civil disasters where ministers have deserted their people to their shame.

Let us turn specifically to the matter of almsgiving. There are many requests for assistance these days, more than any of us are able to fully respond to. What principles should govern our actions in this area of life? Briefly, there are three:
(1) First, spiritual needs have the highest claim on our giving before other matters;
(2) Those more nearly connected to us have a higher claim than those more remote;
(3) Almsgiving is only a duty to meet real human needs.

Considering the first item, a Christian is bound to pay particular attention to requests to support the work of the Church. Requests to support overseas missions, church planting, youth outreach, support for poor parishes, schools, colleges, and seminaries all must be given the most serious consideration. The spiritual ministry of the Church throughout the world is more important than attending to the material needs of people. This is not a popular idea these days, but it remains true. Many agencies exist to relieve their material wants, but only the Church exists to provide the word of God to them. No one but Christians will support the Church, so it is absolutely vital that this be a priority.

It is the duty of Christians to love the brotherhood (1 Peter 2:17). Thus our support should go particularly to fellow members of the Body of Christ. This accords with the second principle, that those more closely connected to us have a higher claim. By this principle, of course, our immediate family has the highest claim, followed by friends and associates. Similarly, the poor of our own society have a greater claim on our charity, not our tax dollars but our charity, than do the poor of the rest of the world.

We may very well receive solicitations to support things such as the building of a new sports stadium, a new library, a performing arts center, or similar facility. While there is nothing evil about any of these projects in and of themselves, we should not view them as Christian Charity. They do not rise to the level of meeting a need, only a desire. Such giving may win you esteem as a great civic benefactor, but it is not Christian Charity.

Now, let us return to St. Paul, with slightly modified words:

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not the love of God, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not the love of God, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not the love of God, it profiteth me nothing. 4 The love of God suffereth long, and is kind; the love of God envieth not; the love of God vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 8 The love of God never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 13 And now abideth faith, hope, and the love of God, these three; but the greatest of these is the love of God.

With this understanding of charity, let us pray again the Collect for the day which is derived from this Scripture passage:

 O Lord, who hast taught us that all our doings without thee are nothing worth; Send thy Holy Ghost, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee. Grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

———————————————————————–

Just a note to say that I will not be posting anything for a while. I am moving across country, from Iowa to Texas, in the next several weeks. So for the short term, I will be away from posting anything here, although I expect to be back in a few weeks, after we get settled again. Please come back to see me later in Lent.

Father D+

1 Corinthians 11:19–31
St. Luke 8:4–15

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Today is Sexagesima Sunday, the second Sunday of the Pre-Lenten season, and the theme of virtues for the Christian life continues. You will recall that in preparation for Lent, last  Sunday we considered Temperance, Hope and Justice. This Sunday, we move on to consider the additional virtues of Fortitude, Prudence, and Faith.

First consider just what a virtue is. A virtue is a good habit. A virtue is an established, settled practice of the soul to act in a particular way that is proper and correct. In particular, it is not a single correct choice. Those virtues that correctly direct our choices are called moral virtues, and they guide us to right actions.

There are four principal moral virtues, also known as cardinal virtues: Prudence, Courage, Temperance, and Justice. These were all known in the ancient, pre–Christian  world, and many noble ancients were guided by these virtues. They are made characteristics of the soul by hard discipline and practice. In most cases, it is fairly easy to identify those persons who exemplify these virtues and others who do not. They speak for themselves. But notice that these virtues were evident to simple, human wisdom, and thus could be known to the ancients before Christ. There is nothing uniquely Christian about them, although they are fully appropriate for Christians to practice.

There are other virtues that are uniquely Christian, virtues that come strictly from being connected to the Body of Christ. These virtues are said to be infused virtues, that is they are infused into us directly from the Body of Christ. Baptism into the Body of Christ is an example, it brings us virtues that can come in no other way. The infused virtues are gifts of the Holy Ghost, and are nourished in the souls of Christ’s members. The major infused virtues are the three theological virtues, Faith, Hope, and Love, which enable us to do what we could never do by our own efforts, namely to love God and to put our trust and hope in Him. These infused virtues – Faith, Hope, and Love – create in us the tendency to seek God who is our true end, in contrast to our natural tendency to seek the ways of the world. The infused virtues, which are solely the gifts of the Spirit, draw us towards God and to our eternal salvation.

Through the theological virtues, infused by the Spirit, Christians are given an aptitude for holiness of life. This potential for holiness must be expressed and worked out in our everyday lives, and that is where the cardinal virtues of prudence, courage, temperance, and justice become manifest as well.

Consider our Epistle lesson for today. I must confess, I have always found this to be a confusing passage. St. Paul seems to be going off in many different directions at once. The first part of the passage is in regard to a problem with false teachers that have come among the Corinthians. St. Paul is chiding them for failing to have the wisdom to reject these false teachers, but rather they have accepted them because the Corinthians thought themselves wise. They allowed these false teachers to impose burdens upon them, things not of the Gospel, and allowed the teachers to set themselves up as superior to the people. Let us consider just this much in regard to the matter of Prudence.

What is Prudence? Were the Corinthians prudent people? What is prudence? Prudence is the right choice of means for living a good life. It is right judgement, followed by right action. Prudence is not theoretical, it is not about generalities, but rather it is about guidance for living in the situations of life right here and now. It always consists of two parts: (1) correct judgement, (2) followed by prudent action. This implies a sense of good will, a desire to do what is right. If you think about it, it becomes clear that the moral virtues are interrelated such that a man cannot act prudently unless he is also courageous, temperate, and just. His will must be strengthened against fear, lust, and self–interest, which is to say that he must have the other moral virtues as well. It is by prudence that he determines in each particular case what is courageous, temperate, and just. Without prudence, the brave man becomes foolhardy, the temperate man becomes puritanical, and the just man becomes scrupulous, all examples of virtues carried to extremes, and hence no longer virtues at all.

There are three basic parts to prudent action. The first is to take counsel, to seek advice. The second is to weigh the alternatives, consider the options. And the third is make a decision and take the action. Notice that it is not impulsive, but rather it is a considered action. It is based on as much knowledge as may be available, and it is done with confidence and decisiveness. But notice that it includes taking the required action. It does not stop at simply considering the options, but goes ahead to confident action.

Now return to the beginning of our Epistle lesson for today. The Corinthian Christians have received into their congregation false teachers, teachers who have introduced various strange practices and who lord it over the people. Have they acted prudently? Did they seek counsel? We do not know to whom they might have turned, or exactly what they did in fact do. Did they weigh the options, which in this case would be to accept these teachers, or to cast them out? We might well imagine that there was some discussion of the matter, but evidently in the end, the decision seems to have been to accept the false teachers because we know that they were in Corinth. And there we have the third step, the decision as well, the decision to admit the false teachers.

Now the Corinthians may have thought that they were making a prudent judgement, but clearly they were not because it led them to admit false teachers into their Church. What went wrong here? Remember that a virtue is a settled, well established personal characteristic. Most of the Corinthian Christians had not been long in the faith, and they may not have developed the virtue of Prudence to a significant degree. To this we might add that they rather clearly were not following the Holy Spirit in their actions.

When we look further into the Epistle lesson for this morning, we hear St. Paul talking about all of his hardships endured for the sake of the Gospel. He speaks of being whipped, in prison, being beaten with rods, being stoned, being shipwrecked, in hunger, athirst, and so on. St. Paul has suffered much for the spread of the Gospel and the establishment of the Church. What is the natural human response to such suffering? Fear! We fear for ourselves when we see such dangers coming upon us.

The control of fear in the face of great danger is the virtue of Fortitude. Fortitude restrains fear to reasonable limits, while recognizing that it is necessary to avoid foolhardiness and recklessness. Fortitude is particularly bravery in a good cause, because it is the task of fortitude to hold man on the path of virtue and prevent him from being dissuaded by fear. Fortitude is not stoicism or indifference. The last two are not Christian virtues at all.

When we read St. Paul’s recounting of his list of sufferings for the advancement of the Church, we are reading a clear account of fortitude in action. Notice that his sufferings are definitely for a good cause, they are not reckless or foolhardy, but the dangers were in each case very real. Fortitude is what kept St. Paul going as he worked to spread the Gospel which we know resulted in most of the Christian Church as we know it today.

Our Gospel lesson for the day deals with the third virtue for our consideration today, Faith. Faith is a word used to describe both the content of what we believe, and also the act of believing it. The virtue of faith is the habit of belief; the object of that virtue is what we believe. Faith is habitual belief in God. This implies a wholehearted willingness to believe anything that God has said, for no other reason than that God has said it.

In the Gospel lesson, Jesus describes the Word of God as sown seed. The act of sowing the seed, planting the Word of God, is the act of planting the faith. But Jesus goes on to describe what happens to that faith in a field which is the world. Some of it is immediately destroyed by the birds of the air, referring to the circumstances of life. It never amounts to anything at all more than the seed that went out. Other seed falls upon the rock, a place where it may quickly sprout and begin, but there is no soil in which it may take root. This is the shallow person who is open to each new experience, always looking for new excitement. But that faith plant quickly withers and dies as the person moves on in search of some other new experience. This is the seeker, always looking for some new religious experience in their  life. Some seed falls among the thorns where it is choked. This is the Word of God that comes to those where it takes root and grows, but is never allowed to become truly central to their lives. Eventually, this faith plant also is choked by the affairs of the world and it dies. This is the case of so very many nominal Christians in America today. Finally there is the seed that falls in good soil and prospers, yielding a hundredfold. This is where the Word of God is truly received into the heart of a person, and becomes central in their life. This last person’s faith, growing in the world, produces an abundant yield for the Kingdom of God.

Two things are necessary for faith: (1) an external inducement, and (2) an internal inducement. The first by itself is never sufficient. For two men, observing a miracle, or hearing a great sermon, one will believe while the other does not. The miracle or the sermon is the external inducement. The necessary internal inducement is an act of God Who moves the will to assent. God moves the will to assent, He makes it possible, but He does not compel it. By the grace of God, all men can believe, but none are forced to believe. Why do some not believe? It is called free will.

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

1 Corinthians 9:24–27
St. Matthew 20:1–16

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

The season of Epiphany has come to an end for this year, and we are now come to Pre-Lent, beginning today at Septuagesima, roughly seventy days before Easter. In this short season consisting of three Sundays, the readings for the Mass focus on the teaching of Christian virtues in preparation for Lent. Today the Church asks that we consider particularly the virtues of temperance, hope, and justice. Three little words, and yet so packed with meaning for our present day!

Let us begin with the Epistle lesson for today in which St. Paul speaks about preparing to run a race. 1 Corinthians 9:25a And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Again in 1 Corinthians 9:27  But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: Paul is speaking about disciplining his own body, to bring it into subjection. What St. Paul is describing is called Temperance.

Temperance is the restraint and control of our natural appetites according to Godly reason. It applies to any natural appetite, particularly those that are most essential and pleasurable. Classically these are considered as eating, drinking, and sexual activity, although you can apply the concept to everything from playing the piano, watching TV, or exercise. We see a great lack of temperance in today’s society with people who become fixated on some one activity, whether it be rock climbing, computer gaming, or alcohol consumption, to the point that they loose sight of all else in their lives. These things become addictions which take over their lives and rule them, rather than the individual remaining in control of his own life. This is a complete failure to exercise temperance, and results in the destruction of the person.

All pleasurable human activities are directed towards some necessary goal, so this raises the question, “how much is too much?” What is intemperate? Temperance takes necessity as the goal, and allows these activities only in so far as they are necessary to meet the goal. Thus the goal of eating is to provide the necessary nourishment for our daily needs. Temperate eating provides what we need in the way of nourishment, but intemperate eating provides more than we need and we get fat or ill. Consider something as seemingly innocent as playing the piano. Done temperately, it can provide relaxation,  an opportunity to relieve stress, and a means of self expression. Done intemperately, it may simply become an excuse for sloth, a place to hide when one should be doing other things.

The temperate use of alcohol is a matter much discussed in our society today. Most would agree that a glass of wine with dinner is often a good thing, but most would also agree that drinking until you pass out on the floor is a bad thing. Far too many people fail to recognize where the line is between the two. We seem to have come to a time when our young people have lost all sense of temperance, with so–called “binge drinking” becoming very common on our college campuses today. This is the very opposite of temperance, because the goal seems to be to lose all control of yourself.

The hallmark of our modern society seems to be freewheeling, casual sexual relations on demand, most particularly among the younger people. This is, of course, specifically condemned in Holy Scripture, and we know very clearly in today’s society that it leads directly to death. In the context of our discussion of the virtue of temperance, this is the very opposite of temperance. The temperate use of our sexuality is only within marriage as provided within God’s law, and to abstain when not in the married state. It really is not surprising that this does not go over very well with modern man, because temperance is about self–control, self–discipline. These are not pleasant words for modern, self–indulgent man for whom “fun” is understood to mean the complete loss of self–control. But that is the whole message of temperance.

The second virtue we want to consider this morning is Hope. This is a word we often use carelessly, such as, “I hope we can get home before it rains,” but that is not hope in the theological sense. What is hope? Hope is a rational desire for a future good that is difficult, but not impossible, to obtain. Thus we do not hope for what we already have, and we do not hope for something evil. We do not hope for something that is impossible. So in summary, we hope for something good, in the future, that is difficult, but that is possible. In my simple example, the object of the “hope” is immediate rather than future, and it is not difficult to accomplish if we simply get busy and get along home.

In American political discourse in recent years, “hope,” has been perverted to mean the push for political power and dominance. Hope has become associated with massive public vote buying schemes that have nothing at all to do with the theological virtue of hope.

What is it we ultimately hope for? We hope to see and be with God eternally. The  ultimate end of man is God Himself. This is what we hope for. This is not the same as hoping for our own eternal happiness, but it is the desire to be with God, to be in His presence eternally. It is true that this will provide for everything we want and desire, but that is secondary. This desire to be with God as our true hope is all too often obscured with talk about rewards and punishments.

It is true that men are rarely attracted to a virtuous life simply by the rewards that such a life gives in and of itself, even though we know that virtue is its own reward. Matthew 10:41  He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. It is entirely legitimate to hope for that reward. We should not worry too much about the purity of our motives.

Finally, let us move on to the matter of Justice. Justice is a word much used in America today; we hear a lot about it. But do we really know what it means? It is rarely used correctly. Justice means that each man is to receive exactly what is due to him, no less, but also no more. It is the “no more” portion that frequently evades the understanding of modern Americans who often think in terms of “deep pockets” that should compensate those they think harmed unjustly.

Consider again the story our Lord tells in today’s Gospel lesson. It is the familiar parable of the laborers hired to work in the vineyard. Some are hired early in the morning, agreeing to work for a penny a day. As the day wears on, the owner of the vineyard hires more laborers, saying to them, Matthew 20:4b  and whatsoever is right I will give you. The owner of the vineyard does not promise the later laborers a specific wage, but the implication is that it will be at  the prevailing labor rate of a penny for a full day’s work, presumably prorated for the time that they actually work. He promises them justice, and they accept this; no man has a right to expect anything more than justice. This goes on through the day, until the last group that is hired works in the vineyard only a short time before the end of the day. Then the owner of the vineyard instructs the paymaster to pay the laborers each one penny, beginning with the last first and progressing to pay last those who were hired first. Not unexpectedly, those hired first are disappointed and object. They thought that they should have received more than those who worked only a short time. The owner of the vineyard defends his actions saying that it is his choice to pay them all the same, and that no one has been mistreated.

Has any man been defrauded? Has any laborer not received justice? What is justice in this situation? What is justice in general? Justice is to render to each that which is his right. There is a very important point here in this matter of right, that is, there must be something strictly owed and due. A laborer is most definitely entitled to his previously agreed wages. But he has no right to anything more at all. This is somewhat difficult for modern people to understand, with all of our relativistic thinking. We have a tendency to think in terms of “deep pockets.” If the owner, the business man, has a lot of money, let him pay more, more than is strictly owed, simply because he has a lot and the worker has little, we tend to think. The ancient Jews understood justice much more properly. Consider Exodus 23:3  Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause. Although brief, what this is saying is simply, that you do not give any special benefit to the cause of a poor man in his case before the court simply because he is poor. Being poor is not to be an advantage when dealing with a person of greater means. This is made more clear in this quote from Leviticus 19:15  Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour. Notice what it says: Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgement: that would be to do injustice. It spells it out that you do not respect the persons of the powerful, the VIPs, nor do you give extra weight to the persons of the poor. All are to be treated equally in order to do justice. People must receive what they are due, not less, not more. This is a very difficult concept for modern America to deal with.

It also goes beyond matters of who is rich and who is poor. Justice demands that all people be treated exactly the same before the law, without exception for who they are. In particular, no exceptions may be made for groups, such as the muzlims, who let it be known that if they do not get their way, they will retaliate with violence. To cower before such should be utterly beneath the courts, and their people, when charged with a crime, should get absolutely no special consideration at all. If there is violent retaliation, then the courts have a duty to see to eradicating the whole group from the land. The same applies to the chicanos who claim that the American southwest was stolen from them. They are ignorant of the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo and the large cash payment that went to Mexico in the 19th century to settle all of the land claims in the American southwest. People who would dispute those claims today should receive their just due, deportation to Mexico immediately where they can share in the benefits of those settlements. They must not be given any standing, nor must they be allowed to press their claims in the US today.

Then the owner of the vineyard says to the unhappy laborers, Matthew 20:15  Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? He is calling attention to their envy. Now envy is the vice most strongly opposed to both justice and to charity. He points this out clearly when he says, Is thine eye evil… Envy is being used daily as a tool by the American government to divide the American people. They foment envy at every opportunity; it is usually called “class warfare.”

Then we need to look at the entire parable again from another perspective. The vineyard is the Kingdom of God, and the owner of the vineyard is Christ Himself. Through history, He calls to each of us to work in His Kingdom here on earth. Some heard the call long ago, some hear the call now, some will hear the call in the future. Some hear the call when they are young, some hear it in middle age, others only hear it in old age. The time that each of us spend in the Lord’s vineyard is different. Should those who heard the call first expect a higher honor in Heaven? Should the ancient Jews expect to have a place of greater honor than all Christians, simply because they came before the Christians in time? Should Mother Theresa expect a place of greater honor in Heaven than the old man who comes to Christ just shortly before he dies? The message of the parable is that Christ will give everyone their proper due in Heaven. We are not to worry like the mother of the Apostles James and John about where we will sit in Heaven, to be sure that we will have a good seat. Christ is promising that everyone will get his proper due in Heaven, Justice, this time in a heavenly sense. Those who thought themselves important will find themselves less important while those who were the meek and humble will be exalted. Many are called to the Kingdom of Heaven, but only a few are chosen to be truly exalted there.

We should seek to cultivate these virtues in our lives as we move toward the season of Lent and preparation for the great feast of Easter. Let us consider seriously how we can be more aware of living these virtues in our daily lives.

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Romans 12:6-16a
Mark 1:1-11

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

We continue this morning with the Second Sunday after Epiphany, Epiphany itself having come on a Sunday this year. This is the season that focuses on making Christ known to the world. If you were to stop a man on the street tomorrow and tell him, “The Creator of the world is coming to visit you next month,” it is not very likely he would believe you. So it was in the first century Holy Land, despite the fact that the Jews had been awaiting the Messiah for centuries. To begin, they did not see Him as the Creator of the world, but rather as a sort of new Moses figure, one who would lead them into the eternal Kingdom of God, but still just an ordinary human figure, not the Son of God Himself. But they had waited and waited, and if you said he was coming next month, the reaction would likely be, “Oh yeah? Why now, after we have waited this long? How can you be so sure?” They waited, but with dampened expectations after having waited so very long.

When Jesus did come at last, it was necessary to announce His arrival quite clearly, in ways that everyone could see and be sure, if they were willing to accept the evidence, that it was indeed, the Messiah. Thus consider our Gospel lesson for today: Mark 1:2  As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. Now we notice right away that St. Mark makes reference to “prophets,” that is plural. Who are these? The first is Isaiah 40:3  The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. The Isaiah quote probably comes from the latter half of the eighth century BC. The second is Malachi 3:1  Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. The Malachi quote comes from the first half of the fifth century BC, near the end of the prophetic period. While both of these statements would be familiar to most faithful Jews at the time of Christ, it is evident that they come from long ages before their own time, and consequently were calling to mind ideas from the dim past.

Isaiah had prophesied that the herald prophet would be the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, and as recorded in Mark 1:3  The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight, we see that the Gospel words are almost an exact quotation for the words of Isaiah’s prophecy. This is not an accident, but rather shows the clear intent of the Gospel writer to identify St. John Baptist with the herald prophet that will precede the coming of the Messiah. The Malachi prophecy makes this role of the herald prophet preceding the Messiah even more explicit.

The next three verses of the Gospel lesson describe for us the ministry of St. John Baptist: Mark 1:4-6   4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.   5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.  6 And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey; Notice first what an extraordinary person St John Baptist was in his own life. He lived a rather primitive life in the wilderness regions along the Jordan River. Although he was of the priestly tribe, and his father was in fact a priest in the Temple in Jerusalem, John himself did not take advantage of the benefits due to him in this regard. He did not dress as a priest at all, but rather wore the skin of a camel, and a leather girdle rather than the fine girdle worn by the priests. Even his food was rather primitive, what today we might describe as “natural” in the sense that it was not cultivated at all. Rather it was taken straight from the ground, from the hive of a particular type of bee that lives in the ground, and also wild locust, an insect that he caught. All of this was understood, in the popular mind of the time, to mark St. John Baptist as an especially holy man, an ascetic who placed his life solely in God’s hands to provide his needs. This was a logical choice for the sort of man that would be chosen to serve as the herald prophet.

We see from the verses just read that St. John Baptist’s ministry consisted of preaching against sin and the need for repentance, and for those who did repent, he offered baptism in the Jordan. The work of the herald prophet is to make known the one who is coming, and St. John Baptist was evidently quite successful in this work, drawing large crowds of people out from Jerusalem and all the towns of Judea to come hear him preach on the banks of the Jordan. If no one had come out to hear him, he would have failed in his mission, but the fact that he attracted these crowds shows that he was indeed getting the word out as he was intended to do.

We know from elsewhere that St. John Baptist did not know exactly who the Messiah was, only that He was coming soon. This is evident in Mark 1:7-8   7 And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.  8 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. He is quite certain that the Messiah is at hand, that the Messiah is truly the One sent from God and long expected by the Jewish nation. He tells his hearers that the Messiah will do far more than what he has done for them, specifically bringing to them the Holy Ghost. We may stop to puzzle for a moment of this last statement. How does St. John Baptist know about the Holy Ghost? To the best of my knowledge, this is not an idea accepted within Judaism because it is associated with the Holy Trinity, so where did he get it? I have no idea, but we have his statement, clearly inspired by God Himself.

The next verse is just a bit terse! Mark 1:9   9 And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. If we look elsewhere for a more complete account of this event, we find Matthew 3:13-17   13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.  14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?  15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.  16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:  17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. It is clear that there is no contradiction between these accounts, but St. Mark has completely omitted the discussion between Jesus and St. John Baptist about who should be baptizing who. It is interesting that Jesus prevails, saying Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Jesus is saying that He must fulfill every righteous requirement of the Law as a man. Thus He had been circumcised, He kept all of the Jewish dietary laws, He kept all of the other Jewish ordinances so that He would be in all respects a fully righteous Jewish man for our sakes.

Returning to our Gospel text for the day, Mark 1:10-11   10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:   11 And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Again, there is full agreement between the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Matthew. The event of the dove descending from Heaven and God Himself speaking aloud is one of those rather rare times when God chooses to show Himself directly to man; such an event is called a theophany. God speaking to Moses through the Burning Bush is another example of a theophany. In this case, God speaks to clearly identify Jesus Christ as His Son, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Messiah that He has sent to earth to be our Saviour. The Father speaks, addressing no one in particular but simply to all that are within hearing distance, and proclaims Jesus to be His Son, the Son who has pleased Him so well by accepting the burden of laying aside His divinity in order to assume our humanity to express the Father’s love for us. St. John Baptist has laid all the ground work over a period of years, and now the Father Himself says, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. We dare not ignore that announcement!

Thus we have the true Messiah, Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, proclaimed as such by God the Father at the River Jordan where He has been baptized by St. John Baptist. It is a very public proclamation, for all present to see and hear. The proclamation goes on yet today by every believing Christian, as we spread the word of our Saviour to new people daily. There are few parts of the world where the name Jesus Christ is not known today, but there are many parts of the world where His word is not believed. Some of those places are on the other side of the world, but some of them are right here, in our own town. We need to be about the business of making Jesus Christ known to the world everywhere today, just as it began in the Jordan River those many years ago. The world needs to hear this saving word, not to save this world which is beyond redemption, but for the salvation of souls in the next world.

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.