Last Sunday after the Epiphany - Year A - 1996

Last Sunday after the Epiphany

This Proper is always used on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday.

O God, who before the passion of thy only begotten Son
didst reveal his glory upon the holy mount: Grant unto us
that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may
be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his
likeness from glory to glory; through the same Jesus Christ
our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy
Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Preface of the Epiphany

A reading from the book Exodus. Exodus 24:12-18
12 The LORD said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tables of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction." 13 So Moses rose with his servant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. 14 And he said to the elders, "Tarry here for us, until we come to you again; and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a cause, let him go to them." 15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days; and on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. 18 And Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
The Word of the Lord.


99 Dominus regnavit page 728


1 The LORD is King;
let the people tremble; *
he is enthroned upon the cherubim;
let the earth shake.
2 The LORD is great in Zion; *
he is high above all peoples.
3 Let them confess his Name, which is great and awesome; *
he is the Holy One.
4 "O mighty King, lover of justice,
you have established equity; *
you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob."
5 Proclaim the greatness of the LORD our God
and fall down before his footstool; *
he is the Holy One.
6 Moses and Aaron among his priests,
and Samuel among those who call upon his Name, *
they called upon the LORD, and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them out of the pillar of cloud; *
they kept his testimonies and the decree that he gave them.
8 O LORD our God, you answered them indeed; *
you were a God who forgave them,
yet punished them for their evil deeds.
9 Proclaim the greatness of the LORD our God
and worship him upon his holy hill; *
for the LORD our God is the Holy One.

A reading from the letter of Paul to the Philippians. Philippians 3:7-14
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith; 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
The Word of the Lord.

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Matthew 17:1-9
1 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 And Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is well that we are here; if you wish, I will make three booths here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah." 5 He was still speaking, when lo, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces, and were filled with awe. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise, and have no fear." 8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. 9 And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, "Tell no one the vision, until the Son of man is raised from the dead."
The Gospel of the Lord.

The Last Sunday in Epiphany
Year A

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

This past Christmas, I was given a pair of khaki slacks that I really like. Because they are comfortable and fit well, I wanted to make sure that I knew the manufacturer so that I could buy an additional pair. The label inside said, "Faded Glory".

This past week I again looked at the label and found myself wondering why someone would call their company "Faded Glory". It seems sort of negative from a marketing perspective. It brings to mind the term, "Has been", it brings to mind the Vietnam War when the phrase, "Faded Glory" was often applied to our military in relation to how the glory of the fantastic achievements in World War II were being forgotten, and the Vietnam era began to try an vilify the US military. I could find nothing positive about the term.

This past Thursday night, during one of our two weekly Bible studies here at Saint John's, I found myself again faced with the concept of "Faded Glory". This time in one of Paul's letters to the Corinthian Church. There he compared the Glory of God which shown in the face of Moses after he received the Commandments, to the glory of Christ Jesus.

Paul points out that the Law was received with Glory and Splendor. But that Moses veiled his face, not to hide the glory, but to hide its' fading. Moses' face did not continue to shine with the glory of the Lord, but instead, he only had to wear the veil immediately after he was in the presence of the Lord.

The glory of Christ too, was veiled for a time. But not because He did not want us to see that glory fade. Christ's Glory is the Glory of God, because Christ is God. And as were heard in this morning's Gospel, the glory of God, when witnessed by perishable, corruptible, and sinful mortals brings about fear, and it brings about confusion.

Imagine yourself on the mountain top with Christ when his glory is allowed to be seen. His clothes and face do not just become white, they actual give off light. A glowing person would be a fearful thing. But then Moses and Elijah, both who were known to be in Heaven, suddenly appear.

Listen again to the words which indicate Peter's reaction, he says,

"Lord, it is well that we are here; if you wish, I will make three booths here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah."

That is not a particularly rational response to what Peter was witnessing, but it was the best he could manage under the circumstances. It is a manifestation of Peter's awe, fear, and confusion. He is reacting to the Glory of God which he witnessed unveiled for the first time, and it simply overloaded his circuits.

This is the same man, who was the first to confess that Jesus, "was the Christ, the Son of the living God," only a week before. Peter knew who Jesus was, but he was not prepared for the beauty, and the splendor, of His Glory.

Now God's Glory does not fade. The Glory of Christ has no beginning and no end. He did not receive His Glory at His Baptism, because He is the eternally begotten Son of the Father, begotten before all worlds. The Glory of Christ did not end because He now sits at the right hand of the Father in Glory everlasting. The Glory of Christ is eternal. But His glory was veiled so that faith would come.

The glory of Christ was veiled so that faith would come. It was necessary for Peter to believe and know that Christ was God before Peter could behold His Glory, because Peter needed to first have faith. And if one has faith, and if one beholds the glory of the Lord, then that Glory begins to become a part of those who were Created in His likeness, because God's glory is something that man is to share.

I must wonder if the faces of Peter, James and John shone with the same radiance as did that of Moses. The Gospels do not mention this, but I wonder.
If they did shine, then it could not have been for long because the other Apostles would have reacted to it. I suspect that the reason the Glory which shown in the face of Moses faded, is because Moses, like the rest of us, sinned. Perhaps a sinful body cannot retain glory. Or as Paul said, the perishable cannot inherit the imperishable.

Not only can we not receive the everlasting glory of God as we are, but we can only rarely glimpse that glory, and only if God chooses to unveil it, that is, reveal it, to us. But what perceptions we have of God as He is, is always but a fleeting moment. Never to be grasped by us fully, and always diluted with our sins, and the distractions of the world.

I was taught during my confirmation classed that we are always to genuflect if we cross before the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament of His Body and Blood--except under two circumstances. The first is important only if you are an acolyte, and that is you merely bow deeply if you are carrying a torch. This is a practical consideration, but the other circumstance in which you would not genuflect before the Sacrament is not so much practical as it is spiritual.

Fr. J.J. Niles told me that when you return to the pew after receiving the Body and Blood of our Lord, you bow to the Altar, but do not genuflect to the Sacrament because you are carrying the Sacrament within you at that time. But there is another form of piety that I have noticed some in this parish follow, and that is to genuflect even when you are carrying the Sacrament within you from the Altar Rail. I asked a priest several years ago why some did this, and he asked me a question by way of response. He said, "How long does the Consecrated Bread and Wine remain in your body?"

I said, I don't know, but it was certainly still there by the time I got back to my pew. He asked another question, he said, "What happens to the effect of the Body of our Lord when we sin while it is still in it?". To this I answered that I thought it probably was as if we had rejected Christ at that moment and the effect was diminished, but not power of Christ within the Sacrament. He then asked me one more question, he said, "How far can you go from the Altar Rail before you have thought of something other than God, or sinned in your mind, or had an uncharitable, or unholy thought?" And I answered, I am pretty sure I have never made it back to my pew before that happened. He then said, "That is why some genuflect right after they received, to indicate that they recognize that the undiminished glory always remains only in the pure presence of Christ."

I have genuflected after receiving the Sacrament ever since. It is a way of confessing that I have no glory of my own, and that which Christ gives me, fades because of my lack of holiness.

But while I attempt to recognize my own sinfulness, and thus, my own dependance upon God's Grace, I do not wallow in self-pity, nor do I loose hope that one day, God's glory will be in me, and nothing will be able to cause it to fade, nor diminish. Paul tells us by his example in our Lesson this morning that we are to 'forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead.' And that we are to "press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

That prize of the upward call is the prize of an imperishable body that lives forever without sin, and that upward call is to His Glory which never fades, but rather is everlasting by our being made one body with Him, that he may dwell in us, and we in Him. It is to that day, that we all must press on. Not that we have already attained it, but yet we press on to make it our own, as Christ Jesus has already made us His own. We press on to the glory which never fades--we press on to Christ's Glory.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Last Sunday after the Epiphany

This Proper is always used on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday.

O God, who before the passion of thy only begotten Son
didst reveal his glory upon the holy mount: Grant unto us
that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may
be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his
likeness from glory to glory; through the same Jesus Christ
our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy
Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Preface of the Epiphany

A reading from the book Exodus. Exodus 24:12-18
12 The LORD said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tables of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction." 13 So Moses rose with his servant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. 14 And he said to the elders, "Tarry here for us, until we come to you again; and, behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a cause, let him go to them." 15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days; and on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 Now the appearance of the glory of the LORD was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. 18 And Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
The Word of the Lord.


99 Dominus regnavit page 728


1 The LORD is King;
let the people tremble; *
he is enthroned upon the cherubim;
let the earth shake.
2 The LORD is great in Zion; *
he is high above all peoples.
3 Let them confess his Name, which is great and awesome; *
he is the Holy One.
4 "O mighty King, lover of justice,
you have established equity; *
you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob."
5 Proclaim the greatness of the LORD our God
and fall down before his footstool; *
he is the Holy One.
6 Moses and Aaron among his priests,
and Samuel among those who call upon his Name, *
they called upon the LORD, and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them out of the pillar of cloud; *
they kept his testimonies and the decree that he gave them.
8 O LORD our God, you answered them indeed; *
you were a God who forgave them,
yet punished them for their evil deeds.
9 Proclaim the greatness of the LORD our God
and worship him upon his holy hill; *
for the LORD our God is the Holy One.

A reading from the letter of Paul to the Philippians. Philippians 3:7-14
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith; 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
The Word of the Lord.

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Matthew 17:1-9
1 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. 3 And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4 And Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is well that we are here; if you wish, I will make three booths here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah." 5 He was still speaking, when lo, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." 6 When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces, and were filled with awe. 7 But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise, and have no fear." 8 And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. 9 And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, "Tell no one the vision, until the Son of man is raised from the dead."
The Gospel of the Lord.

The Last Sunday in Epiphany
Year A


I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.


In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

This past Christmas, I was given a pair of khaki slacks that I really like. Because they are comfortable and fit well, I wanted to make sure that I knew the manufacturer so that I could buy an additional pair. The label inside said, "Faded Glory".

This past week I again looked at the label and found myself wondering why someone would call their company "Faded Glory". It seems sort of negative from a marketing perspective. It brings to mind the term, "Has been", it brings to mind the Vietnam War when the phrase, "Faded Glory" was often applied to our military in relation to how the glory of the fantastic achievements in World War II were being forgotten, and the Vietnam era began to try an vilify the US military. I could find nothing positive about the term.

This past Thursday night, during one of our two weekly Bible studies here at Saint John's, I found myself again faced with the concept of "Faded Glory". This time in one of Paul's letters to the Corinthian Church. There he compared the Glory of God which shown in the face of Moses after he received the Commandments, to the glory of Christ Jesus.

Paul points out that the Law was received with Glory and Splendor. But that Moses veiled his face, not to hide the glory, but to hide its' fading. Moses' face did not continue to shine with the glory of the Lord, but instead, he only had to wear the veil immediately after he was in the presence of the Lord.

The glory of Christ too, was veiled for a time. But not because He did not want us to see that glory fade. Christ's Glory is the Glory of God, because Christ is God. And as were heard in this morning's Gospel, the glory of God, when witnessed by perishable, corruptible, and sinful mortals brings about fear, and it brings about confusion.

Imagine yourself on the mountain top with Christ when his glory is allowed to be seen. His clothes and face do not just become white, they actual give off light. A glowing person would be a fearful thing. But then Moses and Elijah, both who were known to be in Heaven, suddenly appear.

Listen again to the words which indicate Peter's reaction, he says,

"Lord, it is well that we are here; if you wish, I will make three booths here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah."

That is not a particularly rational response to what Peter was witnessing, but it was the best he could manage under the circumstances. It is a manifestation of Peter's awe, fear, and confusion. He is reacting to the Glory of God which he witnessed unveiled for the first time, and it simply overloaded his circuits.

This is the same man, who was the first to confess that Jesus, "was the Christ, the Son of the living God," only a week before. Peter knew who Jesus was, but he was not prepared for the beauty, and the splendor, of His Glory.

Now God's Glory does not fade. The Glory of Christ has no beginning and no end. He did not receive His Glory at His Baptism, because He is the eternally begotten Son of the Father, begotten before all worlds. The Glory of Christ did not end because He now sits at the right hand of the Father in Glory everlasting. The Glory of Christ is eternal. But His glory was veiled so that faith would come.

The glory of Christ was veiled so that faith would come. It was necessary for Peter to believe and know that Christ was God before Peter could behold His Glory, because Peter needed to first have faith. And if one has faith, and if one beholds the glory of the Lord, then that Glory begins to become a part of those who were Created in His likeness, because God's glory is something that man is to share.

I must wonder if the faces of Peter, James and John shone with the same radiance as did that of Moses. The Gospels do not mention this, but I wonder.
If they did shine, then it could not have been for long because the other Apostles would have reacted to it. I suspect that the reason the Glory which shown in the face of Moses faded, is because Moses, like the rest of us, sinned. Perhaps a sinful body cannot retain glory. Or as Paul said, the perishable cannot inherit the imperishable.

Not only can we not receive the everlasting glory of God as we are, but we can only rarely glimpse that glory, and only if God chooses to unveil it, that is, reveal it, to us. But what perceptions we have of God as He is, is always but a fleeting moment. Never to be grasped by us fully, and always diluted with our sins, and the distractions of the world.

I was taught during my confirmation classed that we are always to genuflect if we cross before the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament of His Body and Blood--except under two circumstances. The first is important only if you are an acolyte, and that is you merely bow deeply if you are carrying a torch. This is a practical consideration, but the other circumstance in which you would not genuflect before the Sacrament is not so much practical as it is spiritual.

Fr. J.J. Niles told me that when you return to the pew after receiving the Body and Blood of our Lord, you bow to the Altar, but do not genuflect to the Sacrament because you are carrying the Sacrament within you at that time. But there is another form of piety that I have noticed some in this parish follow, and that is to genuflect even when you are carrying the Sacrament within you from the Altar Rail. I asked a priest several years ago why some did this, and he asked me a question by way of response. He said, "How long does the Consecrated Bread and Wine remain in your body?"

I said, I don't know, but it was certainly still there by the time I got back to my pew. He asked another question, he said, "What happens to the effect of the Body of our Lord when we sin while it is still in it?". To this I answered that I thought it probably was as if we had rejected Christ at that moment and the effect was diminished, but not power of Christ within the Sacrament. He then asked me one more question, he said, "How far can you go from the Altar Rail before you have thought of something other than God, or sinned in your mind, or had an uncharitable, or unholy thought?" And I answered, I am pretty sure I have never made it back to my pew before that happened. He then said, "That is why some genuflect right after they received, to indicate that they recognize that the undiminished glory always remains only in the pure presence of Christ."

I have genuflected after receiving the Sacrament ever since. It is a way of confessing that I have no glory of my own, and that which Christ gives me, fades because of my lack of holiness.

But while I attempt to recognize my own sinfulness, and thus, my own dependance upon God's Grace, I do not wallow in self-pity, nor do I loose hope that one day, God's glory will be in me, and nothing will be able to cause it to fade, nor diminish. Paul tells us by his example in our Lesson this morning that we are to 'forget what lies behind and strain forward to what lies ahead.' And that we are to "press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

That prize of the upward call is the prize of an imperishable body that lives forever without sin, and that upward call is to His Glory which never fades, but rather is everlasting by our being made one body with Him, that he may dwell in us, and we in Him. It is to that day, that we all must press on. Not that we have already attained it, but yet we press on to make it our own, as Christ Jesus has already made us His own. We press on to the glory which never fades--we press on to Christ's Glory.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.


Copyright © 1996 W. Crews Giles

Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany - Year A - 1996

Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany

O God, the strength of all those who put their trust in thee:
Mercifully accept our prayers; and because, through the
weakness of our mortal nature, we can do no good thing
without thee, grant us the help of thy grace, that in keeping
thy commandments we may please thee both in will and deed;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with
thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Preface of the Epiphany, or of the Lord's Day

A reading from the book Ecclesiasticus Ecclesiasticus 15:11-20
11 Do not say, "Because of the Lord I left the right way";
for he will not do what he hates.
12 Do not say, "It was he who lead me astray";
for he has no need of a sinful man.
13 The Lord hates all abominations,
and they are not loved by those who fear him.
14 It was he who created man in the beginning,
and he left him in the power of his own inclination.
15 If you will, you can keep the commandments,
and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.
16 He has placed before you fire and water:
stretch out your hand for whichever you wish.
17 Before a man are life and death,
and whichever he chooses will be given to him.
18 For great is the wisdom of the Lord;
he is mighty in power and sees everything;
19 his eyes are on those who fear him,
and he knows every deed of man.
20 He has not commanded any one to be ungodly,
and he has not given anyone permission to sin.
The Word of the Lord.

119

Aleph Beati immaculati page 763 (verses 1-16)

1 Happy are they whose way is blameless, *
who walk in the law of the LORD!
2 Happy are they who observe his decrees *
and seek him with all their hearts!
3 Who never do any wrong, *
but always walk in his ways.
4 You laid down your commandments, *
that we should fully keep them.
5 Oh, that my ways were made so direct *
that I might keep your statutes!
6 Then I should not be put to shame, *
when I regard all your commandments.
7 I will thank you with an unfeigned heart, *
when I have learned your righteous judgments.
8 I will keep your statutes; *
do not utterly forsake me.

Beth In quo corrigit? page 764 (verses 9-16)

9 How shall a young man cleanse his way? *
By keeping to your words.
10 With my whole heart I seek you; *
let me not stray from your commandments.
11 I treasure your promise in my heart, *
that I may not sin against you.
12 Blessed are you, O LORD; *
instruct me in your statutes.
13 With my lips will I recite *
all the judgments of your mouth.
14 I have taken greater delight in the way of your decrees *
than in all manner of riches.
15 I will meditate on your commandments *
and give attention to your ways.
16 My delight is in your statutes; *
I will not forget your word.

A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
1 But I, brethren, could not address you as spiritual men, but as men of the flesh, as babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food; for you were not ready for it; and even yet you are not ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving like ordinary men? 4 For when one says, "I belong to Paul," and another, "I belong to Apollos," are you not merely men? 5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are equal, and each shall receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.
The Word of the Lord.

The Holy Gospel is written in the 5th chapter of Matthew
beginning at the 21st verse.
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew
Matthew 5:21-24,27-30,33-37
21 "You have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.' 22 But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
27 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' 28 But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
33 "Again you have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.' 34 But I say to you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil.
The Gospel of the Lord.

Sixth Sunday after Epiphany
Year A

[God] has not commanded any one to be ungodly,
and he has not given anyone permission to sin.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.


Sin causes the Church quite a bit of problems. Sin, of course, presents each of us more than a few problems, but it is problematic for the Church in a different way.

Just what exactly is the Church supposed to do about sin? How does the Church respond to it? How should the Church talk about it?

It is a difficult problem to solve. I remember my very first sermon I ever preached. I had not even been ordained at that time, and I was a nervous wreck. Just before the processional hymn, a well intentioned woman took my arm and said, "You will do just fine, don't worry. Just don't mention anything about sin." My carefully typed, well rehearsed and printed sermon was sitting in the pulpit at the time.

As the music began, and we processed in, I started trying to count the number of times of I had used the "sin" word in the sermon I was about to preach. Seven. I counted later that afternoon. Seven times I had used the "S" word.

From what I can tell, there are a variety of opinions on this matter, but I have noted two extremes that I consider of interest. The first of these extremes is to ignore sin. The Church tells you that you don't have any sins, that you are just great, and 'Thanks be to God!, we are Christians, now, all we have to do is convince everyone else to be a Christian so that there won't be anymore sin.' This is the "warm-fuzzy" Church, where we are all just great and wonderful people, and nothing ever is supposed to go wrong in our lives, or any of our friends lives, because we are Christians.

I remember a time when I was in college and was watching a tele-evangelist in front of thousands of people packed into an auditorium. I have been trying to remember his name all week, and could not recall it. But last night when I told the story at the 6PM Mass, several people nodded their head and someone said his name loud enough for me to hear. I'll let you see if you can recognize the story for yourself.

This television preacher was explaining how baptism takes away all our sins, and how once we were baptized we could not be re-baptized. All of this is true. However, he then said, that if we sinned even one more time after we were baptized, the only hope we had was the fires of Hell. There was no forgiveness, he said, after we had confessed Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.

I thought, where is the message of repentance?, where is the Gospel message of forgiveness? Where is the salvific work of Christ on the Cross? And then, I thought, here is a man who is not able to face his own sin. Here is a man who is scared of the Truth, and so is handing out warm-fuzzies in hopes that he might one day believe it himself.

Several years later this poor man did have to face his own sins. In fact we all had to face them with him as they were on the front page of the newspapers and the lead stories on the evening news. His warm fuzzies had suddenly become a source of horrible pain.

A few weeks later, he was shown on television crying. In anguish, he sobbed out the words, "I have sinned before God and man!". Some said it was an act, but I didn't think so, and I want to believe I was right. I want to believe he meant it.

I saw this man about a month ago on television again. I was channel surfing, and there he was. But he was different. He was preaching another Gospel, because this time, he was preaching the True Gospel. He was talking about how Jesus died on the Cross so that we could have our sins forgiven if only we would turn to Him. He was preaching how we are all sinners, and how we cannot have any hope except through Christ. He was preaching repentance. He was preaching the Gospel.

What is perhaps most startlingly beautiful about this story is when we realize that God used this man's abrupt and unwanted confrontation with his sins to draw him into the True Church, and to preach the True Gospel. God used this man's sins to bring about something wonderful and holy.

But the tale is bitter-sweet. I noticed that despite some really clever camera angles designed to cover the fact, it was obvious that there were no more than a couple of dozen people sitting in the audience. Thousands desired to hear him tell them that they were perfect, but only a few would come to hear the Truth--even a Truth that saves.

There is another extreme that I want to mention. Rather than trying to ignore sins, the Church could focus only upon sin. The preacher stands in the pulpit and points at you and begins to list off sins that he is sure that you have committed. I remember hearing about a Church in Oklahoma which had taken to the practice of finding out who, in their congregation, was living a less than perfect life, and then barring them at the door.

This, of course, required that when the Church "spies" learned of a transgression, this transgression was immediately shared with the rest of the "perfect" people, so that they could snub the poor sinner and block their passage into Church.

But the impetus for such behavior is the same as the other extreme. That is, it stems from a desire not to look at ones own sins. These self-righteous people would not shy away from sin as long is wasn't their own.

But sin is ugly, and sin is nasty, and it is very hard for us to admit that we sin. Until Jesus sharpened the law, one might be able to feel pretty good about being able to keep the Ten Commandments. I haven't killed anyone, so I must be holy. But Jesus not only fulfilled the law, he made it impossible for us to take any hope from the law by putting a finer edge on it. He says, if you are even angry with your neighbor, you are liable to judgement.

No one can claim never to have been angry--that is with an unholy anger. Therefore, no one can claim to have been saved by the law. We are all under judgement. The writer of Ecclesiasticus says,
If you will, you can keep the commandments,
and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice.


But the problem is that we cannot will to keep the commandments. Our wills are usually self-serving. We cannot help ourselves, it is our nature. But God can help us, and God does help us, because that is His nature.

He became one of us for that very purpose.

It is painful for us to look at our sins, but it is what we are called to do. If we look at our sins, and we find that pain, there is some comfort in knowing that Jesus experienced pain for our sins--upon the Cross. But that knowledge does not remove our own pain. Yet pain, when it is physical, tells us something is wrong--it is therefore useful to us. I like to use the analogy of touching a hot stove. We feel pain, and immediately know to pull our hand back--to stop doing what we were doing.

When we experience a spiritual pain, such as that of confronting our own sins, we should react in the same way, we should turn back--that is, we should repent.

If we turn back from our sins, then we turn towards God. And if we begin to see God, however distant, it is there that we can see what we are really like. We can see how He sees us, and we may even find that in His light, we are far worse than we had feared. For a while, we may feel an even greater pain.

But there is another part of the Truth in facing God. When we begin to catch of glimpse of Him, it isn't just what we really are that we can see, but what He wants us to be.

Sharing with God the pain of our sins through Christ on the Cross is only half of the story. The Cross is how God shared with us what we are now. But the other half of the story is what God wants us to be, and that we can have through Christ as well.

Because it is the glory of Christ that He wants for us, not just Christ on the Cross, but Christ, seated at the right hand of The Father in Glory everlasting. That is what He wants for us, and that is why we must turn back from ourselves and turn towards Him.

We must seek His glory, even if it is at the expense of our own, because True Glory, is only God's. Our own glory is a myth, it is a lie, it is dishonest, and it offers no hope. But God's Glory, is Truth-- and this, He offers to us.

The reason there is such difficulty in dealing with sin in the Church is because the Church is made up of sinners, and sinners do not like to think about sins. But we are the Church, and we are sinners, and we are God's, and we have the promise of His Glory.

The solution to the Church's dilemma, therefore, is to be found in the Body of the Church, in the individual members--that is, in each of us. If each of us is a sinner, then each of us is in jeopardy of being cut off.

Jesus said, if one member causes you to sin, it is better to cut it off than for the whole body to go into hell. The body that Christ speaks of is not our flesh and blood bodies, but the Church; and the member of the body to be cut off is not a hand, but rather it is any of us who sin without repentance. We are the members who are threatened with being removed if we continue in our ways, and believe that we have no sin within us.

Despite the pain of admitting sin, and despite the pain in turning away from sin, when we turn to God we are no longer in danger of being cut off. And when we turn to God we can begin to see His Glory. And if we can really begin to behold His Glory, then we will know that this gift is something far beyond what we can achieve going our own way. And, like the tele-evangelist who faced his sins, God will use even our mistakes to draw us closer to Him--not just drawing us to His pain of the Cross--but drawing us to His glory in Heaven.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany - Year A - 1996

Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

Almighty and everlasting God, who dost govern all things in
heaven and earth: Mercifully hear the supplications of thy
people, and in our time grant us thy peace; through Jesus
Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the
Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Preface of the Epiphany, or of the Lord's Day

A reading from the book of the prophet Micah Micah 6:1-8
1 Hear what the LORD says: Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. 2 Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the LORD, and you enduring foundations of the earth; for the LORD has a controversy with his people, and he will contend with Israel. 3 "O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me! 4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of bondage; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. 5 O my people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the saving acts of the LORD." 6 "With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" 8 He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
The Word of the Lord.

37 Noli aemulari Psalm 37, verses 1-6(1-18), page 633

1 Do not fret yourself because of evildoers; *
do not be jealous of those who do wrong.
2 For they shall soon wither like the grass, *
and like the green grass fade away.
3 Put your trust in the LORD and do good; *
dwell in the land and feed on its riches.
4 Take delight in the LORD, *
and he shall give you your heart's desire.
5 Commit your way to the LORD and put your trust in him, *
and he will bring it to pass.
6 He will make your righteousness as clear as the light *
and your just dealing as the noonday.
7 Be still before the LORD *
and wait patiently for him.
8 Do not fret yourself over the one who prospers, *
the one who succeeds in evil schemes.
9 Refrain from anger, leave rage alone; *
do not fret yourself; it leads only to evil.
10 For evildoers shall be cut off, *
but those who wait upon the LORD shall possess the land.
11 In a little while the wicked shall be no more; *
you shall search out their place, but they will not be there.
12 But the lowly shall possess the land; *
they will delight in abundance of peace.
13 The wicked plot against the righteous *
and gnash at them with their teeth.
14 The Lord laughs at the wicked, *
because he sees that their day will come.
15 The wicked draw their sword and bend their bow
to strike down the poor and needy, *
to slaughter those who are upright in their ways.
16 Their sword shall go through their own heart, *
and their bow shall be broken.
17 The little that the righteous has *
is better than great riches of the wicked.
18 For the power of the wicked shall be broken, *
but the LORD upholds the righteous.

A reading from the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians
1 Corinthians 1:(18-25),26-31
18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will thwart." 20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26 For consider your call, brethren; not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth; 27 but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong, 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption; 31 therefore, as it is written, "Let him who boasts, boast of the Lord."
The Word of the Lord.

The Holy Gospel is written in the 5th chapter of Matthew,
beginning at the 1st verse.
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew. Matthew 5:1-12
1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.
The Gospel of the Lord.

Epiphany 4 - Year A

Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.


When ever I read the Beatitudes that we heard in our Gospel lesson this morning, I feel a little robbed. In the very last blessing, Jesus tells us that those who are reviled and persecuted on his account are blessed. I want all of the blessings that Christ has to give us--perhaps that is gluttony on my part, but I want them all, and in this country, at this time, persecution for what I believe is simply not a realistic expectation.


Granted, if there ever was a mixed blessing, persecution would be it, and there is a sense of relief in knowing that we are gathered together to do this morning has no physical threat associated with it. But, I still feel cheated.

But the Christians upon whose martyrdom our faith was secured, had something in that blessing of persecution that we do not. They had a commitment that is difficult for us to equal because they had paid a price.

Last week, I had a conversation with Fr. Twyman and some others about tithing. We were discussing stewardship and Fr. Twyman mentioned something that I had never heard. He said that the Episcopal Church could try what some protestant churches and even some synagogues have done, and that is require a tithe to be considered a member of the congregation.

While I was thinking about how extreme that sounded, somebody else asked the question that was forming in my mind, they said, "What would that do to attendance?" Father said that those congregations that required a tithe were packed. Again I was trying to reason out why this would be when he said, it was for the same reasons that the Ancient Church, under persecution was filled with people risking their lives to attend every service.

Can you imagine what it would be like to go to Church and know that if you were seen by the wrong people--you may have been arrested by the state? Can you imagine having to sneak out of your house, under cover of darkness, to slink off to a Church held in cave outside of town--just so you could receive the sacrament and hear the Word preached? Can you imagine having to hide your faith from your business associates, and even friends, while looking for the opportunity to share the good news of Jesus Christ with anyone you thought might not turn you over to the authorities?

If you can imagine yourself in that situation, could you then imagine NOT taking advantage of any opportunity to worship, NOT going to every service in the Church, NOT attending every Sunday? Thousands upon thousands of Christians have risked their lives just to attend the Eucharist, and thousands upon thousands have given their lives, just to attend a Eucharist.

They had a commitment. They had paid a price.

If you have paid for something in advance, that something is going to be more important to you. I wish I was going to the Superbowl in Arizona today. Theoretically, I could hop on a plane, and (if I had enough money to pay a scalper), I could buy tickets and get in. Strange how I keep coming up with football examples lately!

However, as it is, I'm going to go with our youth group to see a movie right after Church this morning, and be back in time to settle in and watch the game on television. But what if I had a plane ticket already, and had already purchased my superbowl tickets. If that were the case, you would not be surprised if I were absent this morning.

If I already had the tickets, I would have done a lot to make sure I could use them. But merely having the opportunity to buy a ticket is not enough to make me want to go to the trouble nor the expense. While football and the church are not the same, human nature is.

We will be found doing that which is important to us, and the more options that are available merely make our selection more difficult, but if something has cost us something--it automatically becomes perceived by us as more important than other things.

My parents just got back from a trip to England. They love the culture, they love the people, they love the countryside and they love the Church. For those reasons, they were outraged to have read in a paper over there that less than 4% of the people in England bothered to go to Church during Christmas.

People died so that the Christianity could be in England. English people died to insure that the church would continue. But now that it is a state Church, no one is required to pay a price. The result is that the Church is perceived as something of a low priority. It didn't cost them anything, so why should they bother? Why should they bother to celebrate with the body of Christ the Incarnation of the Son of God? Why should they bother to join with others and give thanks and praise for the salvation which God has offered us?

Did you know that you don't actually have to believe anything, but can force the local parish in England to baptize your baby? They are required by law to agree to baptism and marriage and burials of the people who live near. They are often seen as an instrument of the state, but not often seen as the Body of Christ.

In those blessings, the beatitudes, that Jesus spoke, we hear of od several other blessings. None of which are easy to gain and all of which cost us something. To be meek, we must put others above ourselves. To be a peacemaker, we must feel the pain when peace is lacking. To be able to mourn, we must first learn to love, and then, to know loss.

Blessing come at a cost. Eternal life came at the ultimate cost--the death of the Son of God who had become man for that purpose. To accept the gift of eternal life, we must begin to die to this world, so that we can life in the next. Our priorities must change. Despite the opportunities and choices we have available to us, the most precious is that of worshiping God and becoming sons and daughters of the Most High.

I remember with mixed feeling a time when I was in Junior High School. I had a wonderful circle of friends and we were together every weekend. We went to movies together, and went to each other's houses, and celebrated each other's birthdays, and became very close. We remained close in our first year of high school. But one day, one of the group, a girl named June made a point to speak to each of the group privately. She told me, as she told the others, that she could no longer have anything to do with us. She explained that she was Jewish, and that she felt it was important to associate only with other Jews.

I tried to reason with her, wanting her to remain my friend, but the fact was that reason was on her side. Her faith was more important to her than even her friends. God, was more important to her than anything else. A few years later the synagogue that she attended was attacked several times, the windows broken on one occasion, horrible threats spray painted on the walls, and once partially burned.

While I feared for her safety and the safety of others that I knew who worshiped God there, I also realized that had a commitment that was stronger than mine. They had been forced to pay a price for what they believed.

But through it all, there was no demonstration of outrage, but rather meekness. There was no demanding of vindication, but rather a thirst for righteousness that can only come from God. There were no threats from the people of that synagogue, but rather a desire for peace. Their sorrow was private, not displayed for the media.

I never heard a word about it from any of my friends. But a year or so later the news media ran a piece that told of how they had rebuilt, and how they had grown since the attacks on their place of worship.

Those people did not attend the synagogue because they deserved to attend their or because they had a right to attend there, but because they were willing and even desirous to pay a price for their faith.

Our faith must cost us something if it is to have meaning to us. Moreover, our faith must cost us something if it is to have meaning to others.

If we wish to having the blessing given to the meek, then we will be about the business of becoming meek. If we desire the blessing of being merciful, then we will be about the business of practicing mercy. If we are desirous of being Christians, then we will be about the business of being Christians.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.


Copyright © 1996 W. Crews Giles

Second Sunday after the Epiphany - Year A - 1996

Second Sunday after the Epiphany

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light
of the world: Grant that thy people, illumined by thy Word
and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ's
glory, that he may be known, worshiped, and obeyed to the
ends of the earth; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord,
who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one
God, now and for ever. Amen.

Preface of the Epiphany, or of the Lord's Day


A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah Isaiah 49:1-7
1 Listen to me, O coastlands, and hearken, you peoples from afar. The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. 2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away. 3 And he said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified." 4 But I said, "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the LORD, and my recompense with my God." 5 And now the LORD says, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength-- 6 he says: "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." 7 Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the servant of rulers: "Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you."
The Word of the Lord.

40 Expectans, expectavi (verses 1-10) page 640

1 I waited patiently upon the LORD; *
he stooped to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the desolate pit, out of the mire and clay; *
he set my feet upon a high cliff and made my footing sure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God; *
many shall see, and stand in awe,
and put their trust in the LORD.
4 Happy are they who trust in the LORD! *
they do not resort to evil spirits or turn to false gods.
5 Great things are they that you have done, O LORD my God!
how great your wonders and your plans for us! *
there is none who can be compared with you.
6 Oh, that I could make them known and tell them! *
but they are more than I can count.
7 In sacrifice and offering you take no pleasure *
(you have given me ears to hear you);
8 Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required, *
and so I said, "Behold, I come.
9 In the roll of the book it is written concerning me: *
'I love to do your will, O my God;
your law is deep in my heart."'
10 I proclaimed righteousness in the great congregation; *
behold, I did not restrain my lips;
and that, O LORD, you know.

A reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
1 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 4 I give thanks to God always for you because of the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were enriched in him with all speech and all knowledge-- 6 even as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you-- 7 so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ; 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
The Word of the Lord.

The Holy Gospel is written in the first chapter of John
Beginning at the 29th verse.
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John John 1:29-41
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks before me, for he was before me.' 31 I myself did not know him; but for this I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel." 32 And John bore witness, "I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him; but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God." 35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples; 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, "What do you seek?" And they said to him, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?" 39 He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where he was staying; and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first found his brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which means Christ).
The Gospel of the Lord.

Epiphany 2 - Year A

The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples; and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!." The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.

In this morning's Gospel, Jesus only speaks seven words, and the first four are in the form of a question. He sees Andrew and the other Apostle (probably John), following him after they hear John refer to our Lord as the Lamb of God. Jesus asks them, "What do you seek?"

If Jesus were to ask me this question, I am not sure I would know how to answer. Apparently, while they met with Jesus, Andrew found the answer to Jesus' question, because we are then told that he ran to his brother, Peter, telling him that they had found the Messiah -- the Christ.

What Andrew and the other disciple were seeking was the Messiah, and that is who they found. But it was a strange matter that started their search. They had merely heard the words, "Behold the Lamb of God!" and decided to follow the man who John the Baptist had pointed out to them.

"Behold, the Lamb of God!" is a strange expression. It comes from a strange man who is somewhat infamous for his style of dress and, in particular, his eating habits. Neither the message nor the messenger would suggest that two searchers would be wise to take much notice.

I checked, and the term "Lamb of God" does not occur even once in the Old Testament. If it had, it might have made more sense for the Baptizer to have used it, and for the disciples to have headed it, but as it stands it would have been nearly non-sensical to a Jew in 30 AD.

Every significant reference to a lamb in the Old Testament relates to the idea of sacrifice and atonement. For example, the passover lamb which was to be eaten prior to the Exodus, it's blood sprinkled on the door post to protect the inhabitants from the death and judgement; and the sacrificial lamb, slain to purify sinners and transgressors of the law. Some of the other words used in connection with Old Testament references to a lamb are: offering, redemption, purification, sanctification.

So what was John the Baptist thinking? In hindsight, it is obvious that this must be a reference to the sacrifice that Jesus made on the Cross for our sins, but isn't it odd that John would be thinking in those terms before the fact? It is even odder that Andrew and the Apostle John would hear those words and follow Jesus.

As for John the Baptist, his whole message dealt with sin, and the ugliness of man's state. Perhaps he knew, as prophets sometimes do, a bit of what kind of nasty solution that God was intending. A nasty solution is required for a nasty problem, and our sins are definitely a nasty problem. John was not looking for a solution to the economic problems of the national economy, nor a way to end wars, lower taxes, balance the budget, save the whales -- or fill in your own favorite cause; rather, he was looking for the solution to the only problem that follows a man into the grave namely, how to get out of that grave once you are in it.

Easter is Glorious. Clean white linens, new life, and a happy ending. But, I have heard it said, you cannot have easter without the crucifixion. Ah, but we could have had! We could have had Jesus die a pleasant death -- going peacefully in his sleep, with no pain, no blood, no suffering. The kind of death that we all would like to have. The kind of death the antisemitists wanted our Lord to have. They blame the Jews for our Lord's suffering, and believe that without that suffering we would have been better off. But what would Easter have proved by itself?

Without the nasty death by being nailed to a piece of wood, without the sacrifice of the unspotted lamb without blemish, what would we have had? We would have had God's Incarnate Son inviting us to join Him in eternal life in Heaven without any hope of ever being able to accept the invitation.

Heaven is a very exclusive place, they don't let just anybody in there. For example, anyone with the stain of sin is barred at the door. And for Jesus to have simply died and been raised again, he would have gained admittance for himself only, being the only one to have achieved death without sinning. We on the other hand, each and every one of us -- dark with the stain of sin -- simply could not get in without first being cleansed of that stain. And the only method by which we can be cleansed is the nasty one -- sacrifice. We needed a Sacrificial Lamb. It was our only hope.

John the Baptists knew this, and the saints knew this too. It isn't a coincidence that any good book on prayer instructs one to first recognize one's sins, failures, imperfections, and complete and utter hopelessness before trying to speak or listen to God in prayer.

It is only reasonable that we must try to see where we stand in relationship to God if we are to be able to communicate with him. We are only righteous in as much as he has declared us to be righteous, but we have no righteousness of our own without Him. And even with that, we continue to sin, and thus still need the stain of sin removed.

Whether Andrew was thinking about any of this I cannot say. But something clicked with him. Something drove him to follow Jesus. Something clicked with Andrew, and suddenly he knew that he had found what he was looking for. We have all experienced this 'click' ourselves in various ways. We don't know how we know something, we just know that we do in fact, know.

Being a native Texan, I love football, and I have watched a lot of it in my day--and I have a gift, of sorts, for being able to predict when one team is about to take the ball away from the other team. The teams will be lined up and about to hike the ball and I suddenly know that the ball is going to be intercepted or fumbled on that play, or the next. I have even leaned over to the one next to me and commented that there is going to be a turn over. Probably nine times out of ten, it happens. This is not a gift from God, nor am I psychic, and I don't know exactly what it is that I see that causes this click, but the click happens every now and then.

I have a theory, however. You see, when I was five years old, my parents bought season tickets to the Cowboy games, and I faithfully attended each home game for nearly twenty years. I watched the games on television, I watched the coach's shows, I read about football, talked about football and even played a little football. It was important to me and so I learned everything that I could about the game. Then, in the middle of a game I would see something wrong that the offense was doing or something right that the defense was doing I don't know which, and knew ahead of time that the defense was going to take away the ball from the offense.

The point is that I was able to see something that few, if any, others saw; and furthermore, I believe that I had this ability because of the amount of time I spent studying and watching the sport.

Andrew, as a Jew, had been waiting for the Messiah. He had studied and watched for His coming, he knew the prophesies, and was ready when that small and almost imperceptible something caused everything to click.

Unlike most of those who encountered Jesus as he walked the earth nearly two thousand years ago, Andrew recognized that the Messiah the Christ was the one that would be Sacrificed and offered to atone for our sins and to bring about our sanctification.

Most expected a worldly king, greater than even David, but very much a king of this world like David had been. These were the ones who felt justified in their rejecting Jesus when our Lord was nailed to the cross and died.

The Magi brought gold, for a Christ the King, but Andrew was not looking for just a king. They brought frankincense for Christ the Great High Priest, but Andrew was not looking for just a priest, the ultimate of which Jesus Christ is. They also brought myrrh, which symbolized and foreshadowed the Death of Christ. It was this, the sacrifice -- the inevitable and blessed death that Jesus was to suffer -- that Andrew recognized in his (and our) Savior.

It is a revelation of sorts, but one that was conditioned by Andrew's (and the other Jews') waiting and searching for the Messiah. Once they had seen him, they recognized him.

So what are we, as Christians, waiting for? What is it that we have studied and watched for? To quote our Lord, "WHAT DO YOU SEEK?"

Paul tells us, in our Epistle today, that the Church in Corinth was waiting "for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ". Yet he also says of the Church in Corinth that:

They were Sanctified in Christ Jesus, They were called to be saints, They were given the grace of God, They were in every way enriched in him with all speech and all knowledge The testimony to Christ was confirmed in them, They were not lacking in any spiritual gift, and that they were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

And this was Paul's "problem Church"! It seems they had everything. Yet, Paul says that they were waiting. Waiting for the "revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ;" he says, "who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ."

As I studied and watched football and found that click that something big was about to happen, and moreover, as Andrew studied Scripture and watched for the coming of the Messiah, which he recognized with the click of the words, "Behold the Lamb of God!", we must be studying and watching for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The mere fact that you are sitting in this church right now is unarguable proof that you too have been called to be saints. You have been given the grace of God, and to a person you have most, if not all, of the seven attributes with which Paul credited the Corinthians. But, like those -- we must still wait, watch and study.

Our work is not done to have the testimony of Christ confirmed in us. Andrew, as a Jew, could not rest even though he was one of God's chosen even after he recognized Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ, Andrew still watched. We are told that he, with Peter, James and John ask Jesus about the end of the world so that they might be ready when it comes.

We have the revealing our Lord Jesus in the Four Gospels, and we find more revealed of him in the rest of the New Testament, yet we are still awaiting his revelation. It is in the Word of God, the Scripture, which tells us that Jesus is not finished revealing himself to us, and it is there that we must focus our study and watchfulness; and it is also in His Church that we must study and watch, so that when he does choose to reveal himself to us again, we will be ready for that click.

The Sunday temple that I faithfully attended in my youth sat seventy five thousand people. Nearly every seat was filled because what went on there was important to us. It was our way of life, and we knew the game.

We are in another Sunday Temple and we are, each of us, charged to make this our way of life, and we cannot do that unless we know the game. We must watch, we must study and we must wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to reveal himself to us, and if we do, Paul tells us that we "will be sustained to the end, guiltless".

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.


Copyright © 1996 W. Crews Giles

First Sunday after Christmas Day - Year A - 1995

First Sunday after Christmas Day

This Sunday takes precedence over the three Holy Days which follow
Christmas Day. As necessary, the observance of one, two, or all three
of them, is postponed one day.

Almighty God, who hast poured upon us the new light of
thine incarnate Word: Grant that the same light, enkindled in
our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through the same
Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in
the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Preface of the Incarnation

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah: Isaiah 61:10--62:3
10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. 11 For as the earth brings forth its shoots, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
62 1 For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her vindication goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. 2 The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name which the mouth of the LORD will give. 3 You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
The Word of the Lord

147 Laudate Dominum page 804 or 806

1 Hallelujah!
How good it is to sing praises to our God! *
how pleasant it is to honor him with praise!
2 The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem; *
he gathers the exiles of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted *
and binds up their wounds.
4 He counts the number of the stars *
and calls them all by their names.
5 Great is our LORD and mighty in power; *
there is no limit to his wisdom.
6 The LORD lifts up the lowly, *
but casts the wicked to the ground.
7 Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; *
make music to our God upon the harp.
8 He covers the heavens with clouds *
and prepares rain for the earth;
9 He makes grass to grow upon the mountains *
and green plants to serve mankind.
10 He provides food for flocks and herds *
and for the young ravens when they cry.
11 He is not impressed by the might of a horse; *
he has no pleasure in the strength of a man;
12 But the LORD has pleasure in those who fear him, *
in those who await his gracious favor.
13 Worship the LORD, O Jerusalem; *
praise your God, O Zion;
14 For he has strengthened the bars of your gates; *
he has blessed your children within you.
15 He has established peace on your borders; *
he satisfies you with the finest wheat.
16 He sends out his command to the earth, *
and his word runs very swiftly.
17 He gives snow like wool; *
he scatters hoarfrost like ashes.
18 He scatters his hail like bread crumbs; *
who can stand against his cold?
19 He sends forth his word and melts them; *
he blows with his wind, and the waters flow.
20 He declares his word to Jacob, *
his statutes and his judgments to Israel.
21 He has not done so to any other nation; *
to them he has not revealed his judgments.
Hallelujah!

A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Galatians: Galatians 3:23-25, 4:4-7
23 Now before faith came, we were confined under the law, kept under restraint until faith should be revealed. 24 So that the law was our custodian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian;
4 4 But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" 7 So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir.
The Word of the Lord.

The Holy Gospel is written in the first chapter of John,
beginning at the first verse.
The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John. John 1:1-18
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God; 3 all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came for testimony, to bear witness to the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness to the light. 9 The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world knew him not. 11 He came to his own home, and his own people received him not. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father. 15 (John bore witness to him, and cried, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks before me, for he was before me.'") 16 And from his fulness have we all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known.
The Gospel of the Lord.

Christmas I - Year A

But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Over the last few years I have noticed a sort of renaming of the Holy Trinity which I find bothersome. Perhaps you have heard or seen a reference to the, "Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier." I recently saw three banners using this terminology. The first one showed a symbol of God the Father--an all seeing eye, but had the word, "Creator" underneath. The second banner had a Cross for God the Son, but underneath was the word, "Redeemer", and the third showed a dove for God the Holy Spirit, but was entitled, "Sanctifier".

This bothers me. The fact that it bothers me is of little, if any consequence. The fact that it bothers the Apostle, and Evangelist John, is, however, of the greatest consequence. John tells us many important things about God in His Gospel. He, in fact, is also known as Saint John the Theologian, because of the beautiful heights and depths of his theology to be found in his Gospel.

Some have said that John, the patron saint of this parish, is symbolized by an Eagle because his Gospel soars in the heavens compared to the other Gospels. And up until recently, His understanding of the Trinity, and of the nature of God was believed to be so sophisticated, that many scholars had assumed that the Gospel of John must have been written in the late second century.
That assumption proved to be false when a fragment of his Gospel was found several years ago that testing proved to be much older than the late second century, in fact, it may have been penned by the Apostle himself.

John's sophisticated theology is not due to the Gospel being written by Christians of a later age who knew more, but by the Apostle who knew more than we do, because he knew God. He knew God the Son, who was his best friend, and describes himself in relation to our Saviour as "the one whom Jesus loved."

He knew God the Holy Spirit, because Jesus had promised him and the others that the Holy Spirit would enlighten their minds so that they could understand and teach the faith to others.

He knew God the Father because Jesus, His Son, manifest the Father to the whole world in the Incarnation, as we heard in this morning's Gospel.

Because John, knew God, John shared this knowledge with us in his Gospel. In the opening words, we hear that Jesus, the eternal Word of God is with God, and is God. We also read that through the Son, all things were made.

God the Father as Creator, ignores that God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are also our Creator. The entire Trinity Created the world, and all of us in their image. That is what my Bible says, and that is the Word of God received by this Church.

Likewise, God sent His Son to Redeem us, that is, to make us His people, as he declared long ago. And we accept Jesus by faith given us through the Holy Spirit. And God the Father Sanctified us by calling us His, and declaring us righteous, while God the Son sanctified us by His blood, and God the Holy Spirit sanctifies us by faith and grace and the water of our baptism. Therefore, God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit--all three persons of the Trinity Created us, Redeemed us, and Sanctify us.

This new trend to represent the Trinity by action rather than by name is bad theology and is contrary to Scripture as well as the faith received by this Church. Paul tells us in His Letter to the Galatians, that it is the Holy Spirit within us that cry's, " Abba, Father!"

But none-the-less, this discussion of the Trinity has not yet touched upon that which John would have us know above all other aspects of the Nature of God. There is something which is more important our Creation, and Redemption, and Sanctification, and it is more important than anything else that God has done for us, because it is the impetus, the reason, that God acts for us at all.

This crucial aspect of the Nature of God is that God loves us. Not only is the identifying nature of God--that he loves us unconditionally, has always called us His own, and has promised to take us to Himself through His Son--but it is this love of God for us that John recognized personally, that is the identifying nature of who John is, and how he sees himself.

Four times in his Gospel, he refers to himself as the one "whom Jesus loved". This is not a denial that Jesus, that is, God loves all of us, but rather a recognition of who the man John was.

You see, John was not just a great theologian, he is also a great anthropologist. Theology is the study of God, and there is no better student than John. Anthropology is the study of man, and again, none has bettered that Apostle. We are God's Creatures, and we are also His people. But most of all, we are the ones whom God loves. That is our nature, the aspect of us that defines who we are.

I can think of no better patron Saint to symbolize this parish. We at Saint John's are more than just God's people, we are God's beloved.

To a Jew, to be called God's people was birthright--born of blood and flesh, one would become a Jew. But as promised, all believe in his Name, that is, Jesus Christ are his by being born of God. We are therefore, sons (and daughters), and we are heirs.

Would that we lived our lives as testimony to our nature. Would that we could all see ourselves as the ones whom Jesus loved, and would that we could be known that we are sons (and daughters) of God by our love for Him, and for one another.

I read a headline in the paper yesterday to the effect that we ought to make our New Year's resolutions rather easily attainable, so that we don not feel defeated if do not keep them. On the other hand, as servant of God, I am going to recommend something far more difficult. I suggest that each of us set our sights higher, and reach for that which God would desire. We ought to resolve ourselves to living our lives as God's beloved, and moreover, living our lives always cognizant that each other is one of God's beloved.

I guarantee that if we as a parish make this resolution for the new year that we will simultaneously fail miserably, and succeed gloriously. God's beloved forgive because they have been given forgiveness. God' beloved pray for each other because God the Son prays for us, God's beloved help each other because God saves us, and God's beloved love one another, because God first loved us.

And when we start to think that someone is so impossible to deal with that we cannot any longer forgive, and pray, and help, and love, then remember that this is exactly what could say about us, but he forgives, and helps, and prays, and loves none-the-less.

John's sophisticated theology is not so easy for us. He saw God love, and heard him pray, he saw the miracles, and the Crucifixion, and he saw the Risen Lord. He laid his head on Jesus breast when our Lord was about to be betrayed. We lack that intimacy with God that John was blessed to have known.

And yet we know God through John, in part because of the words of hope and love that he gave to us. We have those words too, and we have Christ with us as well, because we have His Spirit working in us through His Church. In the coming year, let us also bring this message of hope and love to others--because all need it.

In the New Year, let us become Evangelists like John, not by writing great theological works nor by going to foreign lands to preach the Good News, of God made flesh, but by showing the love we have been given so that others desire to know its source. How wonderful if each of us will at some time during the coming year be asked why we behaved in such a way, and our answer would be, because it is how God would have me behave towards others, because that is how He is with me.

To be able to make that statement is to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. And to be asked to explain that statement is a manifestation of His, not our own, Grace--because "from His fulness have we all received, grace upon grace."

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.



Copyright © 1995 W. Crews Giles

Advent IV - Year A - 1995

Fourth Sunday of Advent

We beseech thee, Almighty God, to purify our consciences by
thy daily visitation, that when thy Son our Lord cometh he
may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; through the
same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with
thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for
ever. Amen.

Preface of Advent

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah Isaiah 7:10-17
10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, 11 "Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven." 12 But Ahaz said, "I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test." 13 And he said, "Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary men, that you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, a young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 15 He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted. 17 The LORD will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah -- the king of Assyria."
The Word of the Lord.

24 Domini est terra Page 613

1 The earth is the LORD'S and all that is in it, *
the world and all who dwell therein.
2 For it is he who founded it upon the seas *
and made it firm upon the rivers of the deep.
3 "Who can ascend the hill of the LORD? " *
and who can stand in his holy place?"
4 "Those who have clean hands and a pure heart, *
who have not pledged themselves to falsehood,
nor sworn by what is a fraud.
5 They shall receive a blessing from the LORD *
and a just reward from the God of their salvation."
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, *
of those who seek your face, O God of Jacob.
7 Lift up your heads, O gates;
lift them high, O everlasting doors; *
and the King of glory shall come in.
8 "Who is this King of glory?" *
"The LORD, strong and mighty,
the LORD, mighty in battle."
9 Lift up your heads, O gates;
lift them high, O everlasting doors; *
and the King of glory shall come in.
10 "Who is he, this King of glory?"
"The LORD of hosts,
he is the King of glory."

A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans. Romans 1:1-7
1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, 3 the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ; 7 To all God's beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Word of the Lord.

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew.
Matthew 1:18-25
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; 19 and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; 21 she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." 22 All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel" (which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.
The Gospel of the Lord.

Advent IV - Year A

All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel" (which means, God with us).

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

When Ahaz heard that prophesy, that is, when he heard the words given to Isaiah by God, he believed that the young woman was his own wife (Abi), and that remains the interpretation among many who do not understand, or will not understand, the word of God in light of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, Incarnate. While the prophesy was fulfilled to the Jews' satisfaction in the birth of Hezekiah, it was not Hezekiah that embodied the sign from God given them. It was THROUGH, however, Ahaz and Hezekiah (and the numerable, if not memorable, generations which their seed produced) that the sign came.

The continuation of David's line through Ahaz was important to the salvation of the world. But the virgin was not Ahaz's wife. She may, in fact, had already born a son at the time which Isaiah gave him God's Word and promised a sign. It was through Joseph, betrothed to a virgin named Mary that the prophesy was fulfilled.

The signs of the Old Testament all point to a Saviour, but Salvation could only come through the completion of the entire Old Testament, not just a part of it. The completion of the Old Testament is also the conclusion. But is not the end of God's Word, because through this sign, through the virgin who conceived a child, God's word was fulfilled and His Gracious work begun in the salvation of the world.

It is not the Salvation of a political state known as Israel that God intended, Ahaz's kingdom was destroyed. It was the Salvation of the world that God intended.

In our Psalm this morning, David asks, "Who can ascend the hill of the Lord? And who can stand in His holy place?"

And David answers, "Those who have clean hands, and a pure heart, who have not pledged themselves falsehood, nor sworn by what is fraud--they shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and a just reward from the God of their Salvation!"

But now I ask you to consider just who those people are. Name one person you know who heart is pure. Certainly not mine. And yet, WE are the ones who can stand in our Lord's holy place. Not while our hearts remain impure, but only when the have been made pure. That is, in fact, the blessing which is promised us, that we can receive a just reward from the God of our Salvation.

Prior to the Son of God becoming man, none was able to be called pure of heart, and prior to the Incarnation, all were of unclean hands. And since the coming of God in flesh, none has been pure. But the purity which we seek for our salvation has come. The Old Testament has been fulfilled, and thus it has been completed and concluded.

The message of the Old Covenant was this, God declares to us a one way agreement, not a pact and not a contract, but a declaration from on High: "I am the Lord your God, and you shall be my people." Those words are a promise, and yet those words remained unfulfilled for us until One showed us the way.

The message of the New Covenant is this: God became man so that we might become gods.

How can we be God's people unless we are like him. And how can man, also be god? This is the mystery of the Word made flesh, and it is not just the completion of the Old Covenant, but is the way of Salvation. God became one of us, not so that he would know what it is like to be one of us, but so that we could know what is like to be man and to be God. We have seen it, we have heard it, we, as Christians, proclaim it, and yet we have not attained to this ourselves. But it can be done, because it has been done.

It is through God and flesh, perfectly united, that we have hope in the promise of the Old Testament. But it is not our birth in flesh that claims our purity, but rather His. For us, our birth must be of a pure lady which is the Church, who has known no other, but is betrothed, promised to be faithful to the One true and Triune God. But that union has, obviously, not yet been consummated.

By our baptism, we have been unified with the Church who is betrothed to God, through Jesus Christ. Now, like Joseph, is the time for us to be faithful to our betrothed. We must be obedient to the faith, as Paul says, because we are called by God to belong to Jesus Christ "for the sake of his name among all nations".

Joseph questioned the purity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but by God's command, he remained promised to her, by his own will which he submitted in obedience to God;s command, and he remained with Mary.

Her purity, like that of the Church, is such that God found a place to enter into this world which was fit for himself. The purity of the Church, like Mary is something that we should love and honor. And, as was used in the old marriage rite, we ought to love, honor, and obey--for this is the love of the betrothed, and this is love which gives of self, and requires a response from us that manifests the "otherness" which is a requirement for any relationship. Obedience is not a dirty word when it is used to describe a relationship of giving based upon love.

Obedience of the Church is expressed, not in grudging acquiescence, but in adoring humility when facing our Creator. Verbally expressed by our Lady, when she said, "Be it unto me according to thy word." and equally obediently expressed by Joseph, when he took Mary as his wife, despite her being with child.

We cannot expect to find ourselves in adoring obedience in the way that Mary and Joseph are known to us. Most of us will probably never encounter a holy angel announcing to us our task, and making clear our way in God's sight, but we must struggle. We struggle personally, because our own salvation is at stake, and we struggle collectively as the Church, because the Salvation of the whole world is at stake, and dependant upon God's grace manifest in and through His Church to proclaim the truth to an unbelieving world.

While we may fail, as Ahaz failed personally, God does not fail, and despite Ahaz's disobedience to God, despite his worshiping false idols, and despite his ignoring most of what God spoke to him, and misunderstanding the rest--God did indeed bring through him the Salvation of the world in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

What you read of Ahaz's life in the Old Testament is quite depressing. His is the story of selfishness, pride and arrogance. His is the story of the destruction and ruin of Israel. His is the story of judgement. But Ahaz, is mentioned once in the NEW Testament: and here, the glory of the grace of God is manifest, because here, in the New Testament, Ahaz may be found in the opening verses of Matthew's Gospel as an ancestor, in the Davidic line which brought about God made flesh. In the verses immediately preceding this morning's Gospel, Ahaz is mentioned along with such greats as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Boaz, David, and Solomon. He is not listed because of the work he did, but rather the work of God done through him.

We must strive to be more than Ahaz in hopes that we can also be brought into such a list. We must strive to be WILLING participants in the work which God is doing through us, preserving the one true faith, teaching the one true faith, and proclaiming the one true faith. And when we find that we cannot LIVE the one true faith, praising God for the gift of his Son which gave us forgiveness of our sins, so that we too, having received the one true faith, may find our names listed as those which the Old Testament declared as God's People, and which the New Testament promises, shall be gods, by being made one with Him, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.