Ninth Sunday after Trinity, July 29th, 2018

Ninth Sunday after Trinity, Sunday, July 29th, 2018

In the Fifteenth Chapter of the Gospel of St. Luke, we hear one of the most famous parables Our Lord ever told.   It has come to be known as the "Prodigal Son."  Yet I have stated for years that this parable is misnamed because in my opinion, at least, it would be better named, "The Loving Father."   I say this because the real hero in this parable is the father.  This, of course, is because it is the father that shows love, compassion and  forgiveness and goes "over and beyond" when his son returns home.  Of course, this is why Our Blessed Lord told the parable.  This is the point of the parable.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

We all know this story, don't we?  The younger son wants to get his share of his inheritance early so that he can go out and enjoy life the way that HE wants to enjoy life:  on his terms the way that he wants to enjoy it.  And so he demands what is "owed" to him from his father.   Again, we all know the rest of the story.  Things don't go as planned for the younger son and he runs out of money as I like to say:  quick, fast and in a hurry.   It is only at that point that he decides to go back home with his tail between his legs.  And so he begins practicing his speech to his father.  He begins the speech like this:  "Father, I have sinned against Heaven . . . . " (St. Luke 15:11 ff)   As we know, the son goes back to his father and the father welcomes him home with open arms.  

But what can this story show us?  What can this parable tell us about our relationship with God and with one another, quite frankly?  Well, both of the sons in this story showed that they were focused on one thing:  themselves.  Of course the main emphasis in the parable is focused on the younger son that leaves his father and then returns.  But remember that the older son also comes into the parable at the end.  Remember, the older son is jealous of the younger son.  He resents the fact that his younger brother went out and partied and spent all the money while he stayed by his father's side doing as he should have.  He was jealous that his father treated his younger brother like royalty after his return in shame.  Thus, the younger son only focused on himself and his needs.  The younger son only wanted to fulfill his own needs and desires and so he demanded his share of his father's estate that was "owed" to him.  The older son, while yes he stayed with his father and did as he was expected.  But in the end he was simply jealous and did not rejoice that his brother had returned home as his father was rejoicing at the return home of the brother.  He resented the fact, quite frankly, that his brother was making party and fiesta with his father's money while he was left doing all the work.  

As I stated, both brothers were mainly focusing on themselves.  But how many times are we like the brothers in our own lives?  How many times do we only focus on ourselves?  As Christians, we are called to focus our lives on doing the will of our Heavenly Father.  And yet so many people focus on doing what they want to do.  Like the younger son, they want what they want NOW.  People want to go out and make party and fiesta and focus on themselves until something goes wrong.  Just like the younger son.  Even when things went wrong the focus was still on himself, wasn't it?  He didn't go back to his father to beg for forgiveness.  He didn't go back to the father because he suddenly felt a sense of responsibility and so that he could do the right thing.  No, he went back home because he was broke and had nowhere else to turn.  How many times do we leave God's side because we want to do what we want to do?  How many times do we ignore God in our life, either directly or indirectly, and then only go back to Him when we need Him?  As I have often stated, we like to keep God in a box placed up on the shelf.  We take Him down only when we need Him.  We go running to Him only when we need Him.  Other than that, we focus on ourselves and don't worry about God.  And yet we know as Christians that is wrong.  We are called to serve God every day of our lives.  We are called to do His will in our lives.  We are called to love one another and serve one another just as Our Blessed Saviour came to love and to serve.  And so often we are like the two brothers:  only focusing on ourselves . . .  only wanting to satisfy our own desires . . .  getting jealous when someone else gets "better" than us.  

St. Margaret of Scotland Anglican Church worships each and every Sunday at 9:30 AM.  Please take time to join us as we gather together to worship Our Heavenly Father as a family.  We worship at the beautiful chapel at Marquette Manor, which is located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.

Seventh Sunday after Trinity, July 15th, 2018

Seventh Sunday after Trinity, Sunday, July 15th, 2018

We read in the Eighth Chapter of St. Mark's Gospel his account of the "Feeding of the Four-Thousand."  In this first verse we read that Our Blessed Saviour called the disciples close to Him and told them:  "I have compassion on the multitude" (St. Mark 8:1)    He had compassion because He saw that the people had been with Him for three days and had nothing to eat.   He saw that they were hungry.  He saw that they were exhausted.  He saw that they needed nourishment.  Two things I would like for us to consider briefly.

Number one,  Our God is concerned with us and for us.  Our Saviour notices things like this because He was here on earth.  In other words, He is not some distant, far-removed god who could care less about the people.  No, God cares so much for His people that He sent His Son into the world to be with His people.  Christ spent time with the people.  He ate with the people.  He worked alongside the people.  Our Blessed Lord not only spoke with the people, He listened to what they had to say.  Our Lord is not distant; He is near.  He is near to us because He wants to be.  He listens to us.  All we have to do is to reach out to Him.  He is waiting.

The second thing I would like to point out in regards to this "Feeding of the Four-Thousand."  The reason why Our Lord noticed that the people were hungry was because He was taking the time to notice.  This sounds very simple, doesn't it?  Too simple, in fact.  And yet, today,  how many of us do not show compassion because we do not take the time to notice others around us.  And the reason why we do not take notice of those around us is because we are too focused on ourselves.  We look more inwardly than we do outwardly.  We spend our days satisfying our own needs, our own wants, our own desires.  We spend our days only concerned with ourselves and our needs.  If we stand in line behind someone who is having difficulty, are we more concerned that she gets her problem resolved or are we focused on the fact that we are being "inconvenienced" by waiting in line?  Like our Blessed Saviour, do we take the time to notice those around us and if they are hungry . . . or sad  . . . . or worn out . . .  or depressed . . .  Do we take the time to notice things about others?  Do we take the time to be interested in others?  Or are we simply too busy to notice because we are too busy being interested in ourselves? Do we take interest in others or do we only take interest in ourselves?  As Christians, we are called to be "Christ-like."  As such, we should try to do what Our Blessed Saviour would do.  While we may never heal lepers or cure the blind like Jesus did, we can have compassion like He did.  We can have compassion on those around us:  our family members, . . .  our neighbors,  .  . .  . our coworkers, . . . . But first we have to take the time to notice those around us and quit focusing so much on ourselves.  

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.

Dying with Christ, Dying to Self

In the Sixth Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, we hear the following:  " . . .  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him   . . . " (Romans 6:3 ff)  I would imagine that just about all of us have been in the position at one point  or another in our life where we had the feeling that we had hit "rock bottom."  Perhaps it came when we had lost a job unexpectedly.  Maybe it came about when we struggled with a difficult project that fell apart and we had to start all over again.  Maybe it  involved health issues or the death of a family member or a close friend.  Nonetheless, whatever circumstances we can think of, I am sure that most of us have had the feeling at one point or another that our world came crashing down on us.  I know I have felt that way a time or two in my life.  I have found myself struggling with some issue and everything seems to go wrong all at once and I feel like the whole world is crashing in on top of my head.  But then afterwards I moved forward and the world brightened.  In other words, I had to go through the darkest hours in order to finally see the light of dawn ahead of me.   And then everything seemed to improve and things got better and better and better . . .  . . Sometimes, as I say, we have to hit rock bottom in order to move forward.  Sometimes by struggling and going through the darkness, we are able to get stronger and learn from our difficulties.  We become strong through our struggles, it would seem.  We learn from our mistakes . . . . or at least we should learn from our mistakes.  When I look back on my life, I realize now that it was the struggles that made me a stronger human being.  It was the times when things seemed the worse, that I was able to move forward and grow stronger.   Although we may not want to admit it, it seems like the best "teacher" is to learn from our mistakes.

"Buried with Him in Baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, Who hath raised Him from the dead."  (Colossians 2:12)

This is what we are also hearing from today's passage from the Epistle to the Romans, that through death to sin we are able to live again with Christ.  It is through dying to self that we can live with Christ.  It is through dying to the world that we can live with Our Blessed Saviour.  We must never forget that Christ did not experience Easter Morning without first carrying His Cross to the hill at Calvary.  The same is true for us.  We can not truly live in Christ until we have died to our sinful ways.  And for most us, this is painful whether we want to admit it or not.  As human beings, we want things our way.  We want people to do things the way we want them to be done.  We want to be comfortable.  We desire our wants and we want them right now.  We focus on our own needs and desires and forget about what God wants for us.  Most of us, quite frankly, only go running to God when we need Him for something.  Other than that, we go our own way in life.  But sin is a barrier that keeps us away from God.  Sin is like a brick wall that we keep running into time and time and time again.  We have to remove the brick wall of sin in order not to run into it again.  And once we do this.  Once we die to our sinful selves.  Once we do all we can to get rid of the sinful desires in our life, it allows us to focus more and more on God and less and less on ourselves.

Finally, we should never forget to emphasize the fact that despite the fact that we were sinners, Christ chose to die for us.  "But commendeth His love for us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."  (Romans 5:8)  God loves us despite the fact that we are sinners.  God loves us nonetheless.  This is all the more reason that we should do our best NOT to sin so that we do not offend God.   God never forsakes His people  He loves us despite our sinfulness.  Christ died on the Cross to save us from our sins.  Christ died on the Cross to achieve something that you or I could never hope to achieve:  to wipe away our sins.  "Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."  (I St. Peter 2:24)

"Surely He hath borne our griefs,
and carried our sorrows:
Yet we did esteem Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was was wounded for our trnsgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquites:
The chastisment of our peace was upon Him;
And with His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned every one to his own way:
And the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and He was afflicted;
Yet He opened not His mouth:
He is brought as a lamb to the slauthter,
And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb,
So He opened not His mouth."  (Isaiah 53:4-7)

Sixth Sunday after Trinity, July 8th, 2018

Sixth Sunday after Trinity, Sunday, July 8th, 2018

In the Sixth Chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, we hear the following:  " . . .  Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him   . . . " (Romans 6:3 ff)  I would imagine that just about all of us have been in the position at one point  or another in our life where we had the feeling that we had hit "rock bottom."  Perhaps it came when we had lost a job unexpectedly.  Maybe it came about when we struggled with a difficult project that fell apart and had to start all over again.  Maybe it had involved health issues or the death of a family member or a close friend.  Nonetheless, whatever circumstances we can think of, I am sure that most of us have had the feeling at one point or another that our world came crashing down on us.  I know I have felt that way a time or two in my life.  I have found myself struggling with some issue and everything seems to go wrong all at once and I feel like the whole world is crashing in on top of my head.  But then afterwards I moved forward and the world brightened.  In other words, I had to go through the darkest hours in order to finally see the light of dawn ahead of me.   And then everything seemed to improve and things got better and better and better . . .  . . Sometimes, as I say, we have to hit rock bottom in order to move forward.  Sometimes by struggling and going through the darkness, we are able to get stronger and learn from our difficulties.  We become strong through our struggles, it would seem.  We learn from our mistakes . . . . or at least we should learn from our mistakes.  When I look back on my life, I realize now that it was the struggles that made me a stronger human being.  It was the times when things seemed the worse, that I was able to move forward and grow stronger.   Although we may not want to admit it, it seems like the best "teacher" is to learn from our mistakes.

This is what we are also hearing from today's passage from the Epistle to the Romans, that through death to sin we are able to live again with Christ.  It is through dying to self that we can live with Christ.  It is through dying to the world that we can live with Our Blessed Saviour.  We must never forget that Christ did not experience Easter Morning without first carrying His Cross to the hill at Calvary.  The same is true for us.  We can not truly live in Christ until we have died to our sinful ways.  And for most us, this is painful whether we want to admit it or not.  As human beings, we want things our way.  We want people to do things the way we want them to be done.  We want to be comfortable.  We desire our wants and we want them right now.  We focus on our own needs and desires and forget about what God wants for us.  Most of us, quite frankly, only go running to God when we need Him for something.  Other than that, we go our own way in life.  But sin is a barrier that keeps us away from God.  Sin is like a brick wall that we keep running into time and time and time again.  We have to remove the brick wall of sin in order not to run into it again.  And once we do this.  Once we die to our sinful selves.  Once we do all we can to get rid of the sinful desires in our life, it allows us to focus more and more on God and less and less on ourselves.

Join St. Margaret of Scotland Church on Sunday, July 8th, 2018 as we gather together to worship Our Heavenly Father.  Join us as we listen to God's Word found in the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  Join us as we receive the Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Blessed Saviour at Communion time to nourish us and sustain us in our Christian journey.

St. Margaret 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.