In the Epistle for today's Mass from the Fourth Sunday after Easter, we hear the following: " . . . . and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls ." (St. James 1:17-21) Have you ever received a gift . . . .. or for that matter, perhaps you bought something for yourself . . . . and as you opened up the package, you discovered that it was something very precious to you. As a result, you opened the package with great care not wanting to damage your new treasure in the least. When I read the words of St. James from the quote above it makes me think of that image: " . . . receive with meekness the engrafted word . . . ." Here, St. James is referring, of course, to the Word of God. And what he is advising is that we take the Word of God and plant what we read and what we hear in our hearts. Sometimes if you go to the various social media sites such as Facebook, Pinterest, etc. you will read various sayings that people have posted. One saying I read recently stated something to the effect of: "It is good to read the Word, but it is better to know the Author." Of course, the meaning is clear. It is clearly one thing to read the words of Scripture but it is better to know God and to have a personal relationship with Him. I would agree with this and I am sure that you would also. How many times do we read something, whether it be an email at work, or a news article, or even a handwritten message, and if we are not paying attention we have to read it all over again or go back to it again to get exactly what it means? When we read Holy Scripture, often times we may read one specific passage . . . or one specific verse . . . or one specific chapter . . . and then we go back and read the same exact passage some time later, we seemingly get a completely different meaning from our reading. The passage speaks something brand new to us that we did not "see" in our previous reading. Has that ever happened to you when you read the Bible? When that happens, be assured of two things: God is speaking to you and that the Word of God is alive! This is what St. James is getting at when we stated " . . . . receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls." Engraft the Word of God into your hearts. Let it become a part of you. Let it live within you. To so many people, the Word of God is just a set of words and no more than that. To others, the Word of God is simply some "book" setting up on a shelf gathering dust. The Word of God is so much more than this. The Holy Scriptures are meant to be absorbed into your heart, your soul. The Word of God is like a seed that is planted in your heart. And you water that seed by not only reading the Word of God but also opening yourself to God and letting Him into your life. As St. James reminds us, let the Word of God to be "engrafted" into your hearts. Let God speak to you through His Word and then put those words into practice on a daily basis.
Two opportunities to join us for Mass on Sunday, May 3rd, 2015:
St. Margaret of Scotland Anglican Church gathers together every Sunday at 9:30 AM. We worship at the beautiful Chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.
The Anglican Church of the Holy Spirit gathers together every Sunday at 1:00 PM. We worship at the beautiful, historic First Presbyterian Church located at the corner of South and Pennsylvania Streets in Greenfield, Indiana.
Join us as we gather together to hear the Word of God, found in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer and also the King James Version of the Bible. Join us as we gather together as God's family to worship Our Heavenly Father, to take time out of our busy week to dedicate to Him alone and to worship Him. And, finally, come forward to received the Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Blessed Saviour at Communion time so that we can be strengthened and nourished for the journey ahead.
No comments:
Post a Comment