Sexagesima, February 24, 2019

Sexagesima, or the Second Sunday before Lent, 

February 24, 2019

Have you ever had the experience of giving a presentation or giving a report perhaps in school?   Maybe it was a presentation at your place of employment.  Or perhaps you felt proud of something that you just bought and you find out that your neighbor has a similar item but even more impressive than yours with lots more features.  We've all been there at one point or another in our life.  And it's at that point that we probably just want to crawl under a rock.  It's happened to all of us, I'm sure.  In the Eleventh Chapter of St. Paul's Second Epistle to the Corinthians, St. Paul is comparing his sufferings for Christ to those who live at Corinth.  For those who are familiar with this section of St. Paul's Epistle, it sounds very much like St. Paul is boasting.  It certainly sounds like St. Paul is boasting of everything he has endured on behalf of proclaiming the Gospel:  "Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. "  (II Corinthians 11:23-24)  It would seem as though St. Paul is boasting of all the hardship he endured on behalf of Christ.  He speaks of how he has been tortured . . . how he has been shipwrecked . . . how far he has traveled ..  . how often he has been hungry  . . .  how often he has been in danger . . . . St. Paul goes on and on and on about all the suffering he has endured for Christ.   He is putting the Corinthians in their place, so to speak, about any sufferings they have to complain about.  And yet we all have things to complain about, don't we?  All of us have had to endure hardships in life.  Whether it be loss of employment; illness; death of a loved one; financial difficulties; etc.  The list goes on and on.   If we take our jobs seriously, I am sure that most of us have endured hardship at our place of employment.  Whether you be a policeman or a fireman . . . . whether you work in a factory or a steel mill . . . whether you have your own farm . . . if you are a teacher, a nurse, someone who takes care of a sick parent,  . . . . Again, the list goes on and on.  Just about all of us can complain about hardship we've endured in life.  Just about everybody can talk about sacrifices they have made in life.  But none of it compares to the sacrifice which Our Blessed Saviour has endured on our behalf.  He was mocked and hated for who He was.  He was falsely accused by those who were jealous of Him.  He was arrested and taken prisoner.  He was cruelly scourged and beaten.  He was forced to carry His own Cross, the instrument of His death.  And then finally forced to die an agonizing death on that Cross.  He endured all of this not for His own benefit but for your benefit . .  for my benefit.  He went through all this  . . . and more . . . out of love for you and I.  This is what we should always remember.  This is what we should always focus on when we want to complain how bad we have things.  When we want to moan and bellyache about how rough we have it in life.  As we approach the holy season of Lent, let us remember this lesson and focus on what Christ has endured for us.  But more importantly let us focus on why He endured what He did . . . . He did it out of love for you and for me.

St. Margaret Church meets each and every Sunday morning 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.  We use the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  Come join us as we listen to God speak to us through His Word.  At Communion time, we receive the Precious Body and Blood of Christ to nourish us and give us strength for our journey called life.