Second Sunday after Epiphany, January 14th, 2018

Second Sunday after Epiphany, January 14th, 2018

Did you ever notice that sometimes something begins long before its' beginning?  In other words, sometimes things begin long before they ever start.  If I can use an example to try to show what I mean.  Think about sitting down to a delicious meal.  Now, this delicious meal doesn't simply begin when you sit down and start eating.  The food has to be prepared.  The food has to be delivered from the grocery.  The food has to be processed and delivered to the grocery and so on.  Same way with a movie or a TV show that you enjoy.  It doesn't just begin the moment you begin watching it.  The script has to be written.  The cast has to be chosen.  The production has to be produced.  There are rehearsals and lines to be memorized; sets to be built; etc.  Again, if you ever read a good book, very often there is a "preface" at the beginning which sets up the story or provides a background to what is important.  With this in mind, we hear St. Mark this morning beginning his gospel:  "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;"  And then St. Mark proceeds to talk about St. John the Baptist.  In other words, St. John the Baptist is the "preface" to Our Lord's Birth.  Well, if we want to be technical, the Prophet Malachi is the preface to St. John the Baptist because St. Mark writes "As it is written in the prophets . . . . "  and then we hear Malachi 3:1 quoted:  "Behold, I will send my messenger; and he shall prepare the way before me."  

The point is that sometimes that stories begin a long way back.  My story began a long way back.  Your story began a long way back.  It began with our parents . . . . and our grandparents  . . . . and our great-grandparents.   It began with our teachers and those who had an influence over us.  It began with the people who took an interest in us and wanted to instill in us values and beliefs and things that are important.  It began with the people that prayed for us . . . prayed for our spiritual and physical safety.  It began with the dreams of those who lived a long, long time ago but wanted things to be better.  Very often we are unable to see the relation between events but we know through faith that God is the Author of all things.  And as such, God put into motion the events that shape each one of us into who we are.  But if this is true, then we must also take the time to realize that God can use each one of us as His instruments in the world to help shape and form one another.  God uses us to do His work in the world.  The only question is do we allow Him to use us as His instrument?  

So many of us are too busy for God.  We are too busy with the things of the world to notice what God wants us to do with our lives.  You see, the question is not whether God has chosen us but whether we choose God.  God has chosen each one of us.  He has given each one of us special talents, skills and abilities.  But we are the ones who choose what we use those abilities for.  "You did not choose Me but I chose you; and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit; and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My Name He may give to you."  (St. John 15:16)

Remember in the Acts of the Apostles where Saul encountered Our Blessed Saviour and Saul was knocked to the ground and left blind for three days.  God chose Ananias to heal Saul but he was scared to do this because of the reputation that Saul had in persecuting the Church.  But God insisted because he had other plans for Saul.  "But the Lord said to (Ananias), 'Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My Name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel."  (Acts 9:15)  Saul was indeed a chosen instrument and through God's help, Saul went on to become the Apostle Paul.  He was chosen. 

Listen to what Isaiah writes:  "Is the axe to boast itself over the one who chops with it?  Is the saw to exalt itself over the one who wields it?  That would be like a club wielding those who lift it, Or like a rod lifting him who is not wood."  (Isaiah 10:15) (NASB)  What Isaiah is referring to is the fact that the instruments only do what we would have them do.  It is not the mixer that prepares the cake, for example.  It is not the hammer that builds the house.  The worker is the one who uses the hammer to build the house.   The baker is the one who uses the mixer to prepare the batter for the cake.  God uses each one of us as His instruments here in the world.  We are not greater than God when we do His work.  God uses us and we do His will in the world.  This day we should decide if we are willing to do what God will have us do.

Join us as we listen to the Word of God found in the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  Join us as we join together as God's family and worship Our Heavenly Father.  Join us as we come to the altar to be fed the Precious Body and Blood at Communion time.  And, finally, please stay after Mass for some fellowship at our coffee hour.

St. Margaret Anglican Church worships at the beautiful Chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  Mass begins at 9:30 AM.