Join Us For The Second Sunday After Easter, April 30, 2017

Second Sunday after Easter, April 30th, 2017

I remember when I was growing up . . .  I find myself saying that more and more .  . . .  . .. anyway, I remember when I was growing up, it was understood that a person started at the bottom and worked their way up from there.  To me that was how things were done.  I suppose that's why while still in high school I got a job scrubbing pots and pans in a cafeteria.  You don't get much more "bottom-rung" than that, it seems to me.  You start at the bottom and then work your way up the ladder, so to speak.  Now I don't want to paint everyone the same way.  I realize there are exceptions to every rule.  But it just seems that today, very often anyways, that people are not content to start out at the bottom and work their way up.  They want to start out at the top.  Even when someone is at the "bottom," so to speak, very often they seem to know things better than the boss.  Even where I work, the kids there seem to have an attitude that they know things better than any adult and they are always right no matter what.  Unfortunately, it's not just the kids that have this attitude at times.  I think we all have this perspective at times.  We so often have to come up with excuses when we are criticized.   We have to explain things instead of just accepting that we could have handled things differently or better.  We have to always be "in the right" or "have the last word."  The reason I am reflecting on these thoughts is because in the Tenth Chapter of St. John's Gospel, Our Blessed Lord is speaking of Himself as being the Good Shepherd.  Our Lord says:  "I am the good shepherd; and know my sheep, and am known of mine"  (St. John 10:11 ff)  Now, keep in mind that there are three different statements or observations in the above sentence:  Our Lords says that He is the "good shepherd."  He also says that He knows His sheep.  And then He ends up by saying basically that His sheep know Him. In regards to this last statement or observation, do we know the Good Shepherd?  Or to put it another way, do we know that we are His sheep?  Are we content with being His sheep?  This sounds strange to ask but do you know anyone that just has to always be right?  Do you know someone that just always has the have the final word in everything . . . . no matter what.  In the spiritual life, there are people like that as well.  When they go to God in prayer, they tell God what they want to happen instead of listening to God telling them what He wants to happen.  Do we ever go to God demanding things when we pray?  Sure, we may do our "demanding" in a nice, respectful way . . . . . . but the bottom line is that we are still telling God to do it our way.  We have things all figured out and we know what's best and so we pray not so much saying "Thy will be done" as much as we do "My will be done."  Our Lord is the Good Shepherd.  As such, there is only room for one shepherd.  Let us continually fashion ourselves and remind ourselves that He is our shepherd.  God is in control.  Let all of us remember that fact and let God be God, in other words.  As human beings we do not like to be told what to do.  We very often have to have the final word.  As devout Christians, let us remember that God is in charge and that God gets to have the final word.  Let us always remember that Christ is the Good Shepherd and that we are His sheep and to follow Him.

St. Margaret of Scotland Anglican Church is a traditional Anglican parish, which uses the Anglican Missal and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  We also use the King James Version of the Bible.  We believe strongly in Our Lord's words . . .  "this is My Body and this is My Blood" . . . and truly believe that Our Blessed Saviour is truly present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar and we receive Him at Communion time.  Come join us every Sunday morning at 9:30 AM as we gather together as God's family to worship Our Blessed Lord.  We celebrate Mass in the Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

He shewed unto them His Hands and His side

First Sunday after Easter, April 23rd, 2017

In the Twentieth Chapter of St. John's Gospel,  the evangelist tells us when the disciples were gathered together after Our Blessed Lord had been crucified and laid to rest in the tomb.  St John relates in verse 19 that "the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews."  Our Lord appeared to them and we can only imagine their utter shock and disbelief if we were in their position at that time.  After after Our Blessed Saviour had greeted them, St John tells us:  " . . . . He shewed unto them His hands and His side. "

How often when we are in disbelief about something . . .  anything . . . do we have to show the evidence to show what we are talking about?  If we get cut doing something, we run and show the cut.  Or if a storm has gone through and knocked down a tree or at the very least knocked down heavy branches, you tell somebody to come and look at this.  "Oh, look at that  . . . . "  As humans, we are physical beings.  We see with our eyes.  We feel with the touch of our hands.  We hear with our ears.  We want to experience something first hand by seeing it for ourselves.  Our Lord knew this and this is why He showed the disciples His wounds.  He wanted them to see with their own eyes the "evidence" that it was Him.  

In our own life . . .  for those of us who claim the name of "Christian,"  . . . . . the question remains how do we show the "evidence" of our faith?  As mentioned above, we are able to see with our eyes, for example, the result of a storm . . .  or a car crash.  We can see the fruit of our labour when we work hard on a project and we see it after completion.  Such as building an addition on a house, cleaning and organizing a room, etc.  We can see the results with our eyes with examples such as those mentioned.  But how do we "see" a person's faith?  Faith is definitely something that is internal to each one of us.  Faith itself is not something that we can "see" physically with our eyes.  And yet the faith that we have inside of us.  The faith that we have internally that demonstrates our love for God.  This same faith is translated into action.  The way that we treat others.  The way that we are moved with compassion.  The things that we do for others around us that are less fortunate.  These are all examples of how we can "see" faith.  

As human beings, we want to "see the evidence," we want to see with our own eyes.  Let us all work on "showing" others our love of God.  Let others see how much we love God by how we live our lives.  As I often say in my sermons, the majority of people that you encounter this week probably do not ever go to church.  For those people they will only see the face of Christ as it is found in you.  If this is true, what will the world see?

Mass is celebrated every Sunday morning at 9:30 AM.  St. Margaret Anglican Church worships in the Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Join St. Margaret so that you can spend part of your Sunday morning worshiping God, hearing the Word of God in the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, receive Him in His Precious Body and Blood. 

Are We Outraged?

In the Twenty-Seventh Chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew, we read about the various events leading up to the Crucifixion of Our Blessed Saviour.  The chapter begins point blank:  "When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put Him to death." (St. Matthew 27:1)  This sets the tone for the events described in this chapter.  One of the main characters portrayed in this chapter is, of course, Pontius Pilate. This is because the chief priests and elders had enough with this "radical rabbi," . . .  . this "miracle worker," . . . . this "blasphemer," . . . . . and they led Him away, and delivered Him to Pontius Pilate the governor.  The reaction of Pilate always struck me as someone who is in a sort of a "calm panic."  In other words, Pilate  . . . . at least in my opinion . . . . always seems to be somewhat calm in his demeanor on the outside.  On the inside, though, he seems to be in a panic:  he does not know what to do with the Man Jesus that is brought before him.  Pilate seems to know that he was caught somewhere in the middle and was about to be squeezed from both sides. "And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release Him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar." (St. John 19:12)  Remember also  it was the wife of Pilate, who received a warning in a dream and told her husband not to have anything to do with Jesus.   It is at this point in the chapter that Pilate speaks to Our Blessed Saviour:  "Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly."  (St. Matthew 27:13-14)  Now if you survey this whole Twenty-Seventh chapter of the St. Matthew's Gospel, you will find that the interaction between Pilate and Our Blessed Saviour takes up a big chunk of this chapter.  And throughout this whole interaction between Pilate and Our Lord, He only says two words to Pilate in response to Pilate asking Him if He was a king, Our Lord responded:  "Thou sayest."  (v. 11)  You see, Pilate "marvelled greatly" because he was facing a man who was facing imminent death.  Most men, I am sure, in similar circumstances were probably protesting their fate, telling how innocent they were, and begging for mercy.  But now Pilate is facing off against someone who is doing none of these things.   He does not know how to react to this reaction from Our Blessed Saviour to the dire consequences He is faced with.

If you look throughout the chapter, you can not help but contrast the emotions and reactions of those around Him.  It is interesting to compare and contrast the reaction of the Lord compared to the crowd.  If you look at the example of the crowds and the chief priests and the elders mentioned in this chapter, it would seem that they were outraged, full of anger, and filled with hatred.  When we read this account from St. Matthew we can feel the anger and hatred and outrage from the crowd all directed toward Our Blessed Saviour.  And despite this "venom" from those around Him, ". .  . He answered (Pilate) to never a word . . . "  This is why Pilate, as St. Matthew observes, "marvelled greatly."  It is no wonder that Pilate found this contrast amazing because on the one side he saw so much hatred . . . and anger . . . and bitterness  . . . . . and when he saw Our Lord, he did not witness any of those emotions.  

How often in our own life is our first reaction to become outraged when someone has wronged us?  How often do we become angry when we feel we are in the right about something?  How often do we react with bitterness and contempt towards others around us when they have differing points of views that do not necessarily match ours?  It is so easy for us in the day and age in which we live to become "outraged" about a multitude of things.  With "social media," not only can we get outraged about events happening halfway across the world in addition to local events that can enrage us.  We can get outraged about international events or local events or even "personal" events such as getting stuck in a traffic jam or when gas prices jump up in price forty cents.  We have the potential to be outraged about a whole host of things from little to huge.  
An interesting quote in light of the subject at hand in our own day and age:  "Outrage (has become) a substitute for religion: It convinces us that our existence has some kind of meaning or significance beyond itself, that is to say beyond the paltry flux of day-to-day existence, especially when that existence is a securely comfortable one." (Dalrymple, "Better Left Unsaid," Takis's Magazine, Dec. 31, 2016)  
  

Did the crowd described above look to the chief priests and elders for something to get "outraged" over?  Do we look for things to get "outraged" over?  We are called to pattern our lives after Our Blessed Lord.  Of course, as humans, we are prone to failure but we are still called to keep on trying.  All of us have reason to be outraged.  All of us have reason to feel frustrated in life.  All of us have reason to feel anger at various points now and then.  And yet it is our reaction to these feelings that we need to work on.  Are we constantly outraged like the chief priests and crowds surrounding Our Lord or are we calm and prayerful like Our Blessed Saviour?  When confronted by our enemies and those who have wronged us, is our reaction "anger" and "outrage" or even "revenge"?  Or when confronted by those who hate us and are angry with us, do we ever respond with prayer for that person and maintain a sense of calm?  Remember Our Blessed Saviour stated:  "But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you."  (St. Luke 6:27)   If we see something on social media that makes us mad .  . . .  if we get cut off in traffic by some inconsiderate jerk . . . .  if we get chewed out by our boss . . . .  is our first reaction to be "outraged"?   Do we constantly seem to be outraged or angry about something?  As much as possible, we should be different from the world.  As much as possible, we should not conform to the world.  We achieve this by following the teachings and the example of Our Blessed Saviour. Just like Pilate "marvelled greatly" at Our Lord's  reaction to the outrage and the anger of the crowds, the world should "marvel greatly" at the way in which we react to anger and outrage: responding with love and prayer.