Readings:
Psalm 35
Deuteronomy 7:12-16
Titus 2:1-15
John 1:35-42
Sermon:
Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help. Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation. Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.
Psalm 35:1-4
Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, amen.
For those who humble themselves…
For those who humble themselves before the Lord God Almighty with a pure heart there is strength, and protection that, for those who believe on His name, offers the power of salvation.
On Ash Wednesday we heard the story of the Pharisee and the Publican, the story of two men who would go to the temple to pray, one with his chest puffed out, his good works first and foremost in his mind, the other with his heart filled with shame and sorrow, his sins weighing heavily on his soul. (Luke 18:9-14) There the Pharisee would brag to the Lord of his righteousness, while the other would confess of his iniquities, and though the Lord would hear both prayers, it would not be the man who had dedicated himself to the law who would go home justified, but rather the one who would humble himself before the Lord, the one who would stand before him, unable to even lift his eyes from his own breast, staring down at his feet, as he, with contrite heart, with a submissive spirit, with an honesty about his nature, would cry out to God for salvation.
But how does this humility come to us? Is it only in our confession of sins? Or, in the wider scope, in the grander view of things, does it mean in every aspect of our life?
In the Psalm of David, we find another case of the humble heart turned once more to the Lord. Here though, it is not in the acknowledgement of sin, but rather in the admission that were we are weak, God… God is strong.... Though we may waver against the struggles of this world, though we may find that we stumble when the challenges arise before us, though we may wonder if we have the power to stand up for truth and righteousness when our faith is put to the test, through all things and in all things, the lesson of David, the lesson of the Psalm is that God, who is always faithful to us, will heal the broken places of our soul, will guide us and protect in the moments of darkness that seem to overtake us, if we come to Him and lay it at His feet, with no sense of self righteousness, or pride, when our hearts are unassuming and humbled not by the power of this world, but by the realization of God’s great love for us.
After all, as we are taught in the words of St. Paul, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10)
It is the same lesson taught over and over again throughout the word of God.
Joshua, that great leader of the children of Israel, filled with awe as to the immense weight that was cast upon him as he picked up the staff of leadership to guide his people after the passage of Moses. He would realize his authority, his strength, it would not come from the admiration of men but from the God of his fathers, and there he would not be so proud as to fail to give glory to the Lord, as to fail to humble himself before the Lord in search of His guidance.
Job, as he filled with anguish and pain, as he was filled with the sorrow of this world as all he had and all he loved was ripped away from him, could not be turned from the Lord God Almighty. In a deep sense of humility he would bow before the Lord, in good times and in bad, understanding that all that he was and all that he had, it did not come from a sense of entitlement because of the works of his hands or the righteousness of his deeds, rather, it came from the power of God, who gives and takes according to His divine will. There he would never be as bold or as foolish as to curse the name of the Lord, instead looking to His overwhelming power as a fount of strength in his time of need.
And then, of course, there was David, that mighty and powerful king of Israel. Through his words in the Psalms we hear a man who looks not to worldly armies or earthly power as his means of strength, who looks not to those that he can and does command as the source of authority, but instead to the might of the Lord. There, come what may, come what must, the Lord will justify and sanctify him in the face of his enemies, those who would seek to drag him down, to destroy him those who would, in a moment of weakness, would seek to break him. David knew that, as he bowed by the Lord, he was given the strength to stand.
There, it was not the works of the hand, nor the self righteousness of the heart, but the grace of God, that provided.
And so it is in our lives…
Humility… humility comes in many forms and in many ways, and yet it is marked by one unchangeable, unalterable truth, that it, not our works, draws us closer to God. After all, as we are reminded in the Gospel, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17)
Even now, as we face the challenges and the trials of this world, as we face the tribulations, confronting those that would seek to rob us of our peace that springs forth from the love of God, we come to the same truth that those saints before us dwelt in. Christ’s great sacrifice, that sacrifice that shed his precious blood on the cross, not our own works, is what offers to us salvation, strength and guidance. There though our works must shine his love in our life in testimony to his life, death and resurrection, to his teachings, it is only when we humble ourselves, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to the Cross, to the Lord, that we find the grace that will offer to us salvation through redemption and sanctification.
Humility does not just mean in our confession of sins, or in the realization that we all sin and fall short of the glory of God, we all miss the mark, it means to turn our lives over to God in the understanding that He will provide for us all that is needed, all that is necessary for us and our salvation. We are His and He is ours, to those who trust in His name, those who place their faith in Him, those who humble themselves before Him, handing their life to Him He gives the power to become His children. There, a loving and caring Father, He would never give His Children like lambs to be devoured by wolves.
Therefore humble yourselves, dear brothers and sisters… humble yourselves to the Lord and the power of His might, humble yourselves to the works and the will of the Holy Spirit and its divine hand in your life, humble yourselves before the cross and that great sacrifice of Christ, knowing that, through all and in all, it is the power of your salvation, a salvation that cannot be robbed of you if, in faith, your eyes remain focused on God and your soul bowed before His righteousness, not your own.
Lord grant this unto us.
Now may the peace of the Lord, that peace that transcends all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus even unto life everlasting. Amen.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Episode 26: Ash Wednesday
Readings:
Psalm 130
Jonah 3-4:11
Hebrews 12:1-14
Luke 18:9-14
Sermon:
In today’s gospel reading Our Lord sets up a classic confrontation between two great Biblical characters, the self-righteous Pharisee and the self-despising tax collector. We are accustomed to viewing the Pharisee as the villain of the story, and Jesus does have harsh words for this spiritual showoff. Indeed, this parable has become so ingrained in our culture that to call someone a Pharisee is synonymous with hypocrite, one of the worst insults that can be hurled at a person.
In Jesus’s day, however, Pharisees were seen as heroic figures, the counter-cultural rebels who tried to live holy and perfect lives according to the ancient Law that God had given to Moses, and which had been neglected to Israel’s peril far too many times in her history. Tax collectors, on the hand, never popular even today, were despised as the lowest of the low, collaborators with an oppressive Roman government who profited from the sufferings of their fellow countrymen. So it would only seem natural for the Pharisee in the story to puff out his chest a little and thank God that he was not like that lowlife traitor.
Jesus reminds His listeners, and us today, that even the best behavior and most worthy deeds are of no value in God’s eyes when they are not performed with a humble and contrite heart. Our Lord does not belittle the good works of the Pharisee, nor does He romanticize the tax collector’s sinful life. Rather He looks at their hearts: one heart puffed up with pride, expecting God to admire it; the other heart pierced with sorrow and asking only for God’s mercy.
During the holy season of Lent, which begins today, it is customary for Christians to take on some form of spiritual discipline in preparation for Easter, whether acts of self-denial such as fasting or abstaining from a favorite food, or in dedication to meditation, study, or acts of charity. The goal of these practices, however, should be to for us to draw closer to God and enjoy a deeper fellowship with Him, not to make us feel that we are more spiritual than our neighbors or that we are deserving of admiration for our mighty deeds of righteousness. It matters not to God whether we eat fish on Friday or give up pie for Lent if this is done with an attitude of superiority and condescension; these same deeds, however, if done with a true desire for a closer communion with Our Lord, will strengthen our spirits and give us the joy of a fresh love and appreciation for His grace and mercy towards us. Let us be thankful then, not that we are better than our sinful neighbors, but that Our Lord loves both the righteous and the sinners, and offers the same gracious gift of salvation to all those who will humble themselves to accept it.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Psalm 130
Jonah 3-4:11
Hebrews 12:1-14
Luke 18:9-14
Sermon:
In today’s gospel reading Our Lord sets up a classic confrontation between two great Biblical characters, the self-righteous Pharisee and the self-despising tax collector. We are accustomed to viewing the Pharisee as the villain of the story, and Jesus does have harsh words for this spiritual showoff. Indeed, this parable has become so ingrained in our culture that to call someone a Pharisee is synonymous with hypocrite, one of the worst insults that can be hurled at a person.
In Jesus’s day, however, Pharisees were seen as heroic figures, the counter-cultural rebels who tried to live holy and perfect lives according to the ancient Law that God had given to Moses, and which had been neglected to Israel’s peril far too many times in her history. Tax collectors, on the hand, never popular even today, were despised as the lowest of the low, collaborators with an oppressive Roman government who profited from the sufferings of their fellow countrymen. So it would only seem natural for the Pharisee in the story to puff out his chest a little and thank God that he was not like that lowlife traitor.
Jesus reminds His listeners, and us today, that even the best behavior and most worthy deeds are of no value in God’s eyes when they are not performed with a humble and contrite heart. Our Lord does not belittle the good works of the Pharisee, nor does He romanticize the tax collector’s sinful life. Rather He looks at their hearts: one heart puffed up with pride, expecting God to admire it; the other heart pierced with sorrow and asking only for God’s mercy.
During the holy season of Lent, which begins today, it is customary for Christians to take on some form of spiritual discipline in preparation for Easter, whether acts of self-denial such as fasting or abstaining from a favorite food, or in dedication to meditation, study, or acts of charity. The goal of these practices, however, should be to for us to draw closer to God and enjoy a deeper fellowship with Him, not to make us feel that we are more spiritual than our neighbors or that we are deserving of admiration for our mighty deeds of righteousness. It matters not to God whether we eat fish on Friday or give up pie for Lent if this is done with an attitude of superiority and condescension; these same deeds, however, if done with a true desire for a closer communion with Our Lord, will strengthen our spirits and give us the joy of a fresh love and appreciation for His grace and mercy towards us. Let us be thankful then, not that we are better than our sinful neighbors, but that Our Lord loves both the righteous and the sinners, and offers the same gracious gift of salvation to all those who will humble themselves to accept it.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Episode 25: 2/23/09
Readings:
Psalm 15
Deuteronomy 6:10-15
Hebrews 1:1-14
John 1:1-18
Sermon:
“And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word: But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD. Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.”
The Book of Numbers 14:20-24
Grace, Mercy and Peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
Trust…
There is little that God does ask of us, except trust… trust in Him and His divine plan, trust that He will be faithful to us, trust that He will never fail us nor forsake us (Joshua 1:5).
It was trust, not obedience that God would ask of Adam and Eve even in the Garden of Eden as gave to them all that He had created, and yet told to them not to eat of that Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. There, their betrayal, their disobedience, though sins, would not be what would cast them from Paradise, rather, it would be that lack of trust in the Lord that would lead to their disobedience. That… that would be their first sin.
For thousands of years.... for generations to come… it would be the same story… though great would their sins be, it would all stem from that same basic, fundamental self righteousness that would take their trust from the Lord and place it into their own hands, believing they were the masters of their own destinies.
Even after seeing miracle after miracle, the children of Israel would be no exception.
For them, they had seen firsthand the power of the Lord God Almighty at work. He had lead them from the hands of their Egyptian Masters, freeing them from the chains of slavery, from that dark bondage of the task master whip. Even as they seemed trapped, with nowhere else to go God parted the waters that they might cross to safety as the chariots of Pharaoh chased quickly behind them. Wandering in the desert He provided for them food and water and direction to those places they needed to be that they might find their way to that Land of Promise He was to deliver them into.
Each and every step of the way the Lord was there, the Lord was at work, His hand could be seen guiding them through the wilderness.
There all He asked for was trust…
In our text today we read of both the mercy of the Lord and His disappointment. In Numbers 13 we read the story of the spies sent from the Israeli camp in Kadesh to Canaan to report on the force of their enemies. There God, He would ask that the children of Israel trust Him and His judgment to deliver their enemies into their hands, as he had with the Amlekites. Yet fear would once more overtake them and their courage would be fleeting “We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.” (Numbers 13:31). Moses would hear their rumbling as they prepared to rebel, “And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? Were it not better for us to return into Egypt?” (Numbers 14:2 and 3)
But Moses would not be alone, God too would hear their voices, and how his prophet would waver under the pressure.
There, though God would forgive the Israelites for their distrust still He could not reward it. And in that, a generation, that same generation that had escaped the hands of the Egyptians and yet were so eager to go back to their masters when the path appeared to get a little bit difficult, would never set their feet upon the promised land. They would see but never enter into it.
It serves as a lesson for all people in all places in all times. We read in the Epistle to the Hebrews that faith, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) and how better to explain faith except as trust… a basic and fundamental trust in the Lord and His divine plans.
Through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus, our Redeemer, we know that God is a merciful God, and yet what we also learn is that He is a faithful God, one who keeps his promises, and who provides for us all that is needed for our salvation. Even since the beginning of creation, since that first fall, He promised to us a Savior to deliver us from the iniquities of our sins, and there, He would provide, according to His word.
But this is not all that God provides for us. In the words of Christ we learn “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” (Matthew 6:26) God gives to His children all that they need through His divine love and mercy, through His divine word, if we trust in Him and His plans for us, understanding that He will always be there for us.
There, our trust, it must be in the power of the Lord, it must be placed squarely in Him, knowing that He is true and faithful and always beholden to His word. Perhaps at times things may not go the way we had hoped or perhaps at times we do not get that which we want, it could be at times that the odds seem to be stacked against us and we are left to wonder if we have the strength to go on, but there, when our trust is placed in the Lord God Almighty as those who are redeemed by the blood of that precious lamb, then we have a sure foundation, a rock that will anchor us regardless of the tides that beat against us, threatening to wash us away, and we receive all that we need, even if we don’t understand what it is that we need at that time.
That trust, it shall always lead our way, it will always guide our stay, even unto the Promised Land of our Salvation.
Therefore trust, dear brothers and sisters… trust in the Lord and the power of His might, knowing that through it all we may not get all we want, after all it could be that which we want is not that which is right for us, but He will provide for us all it is that we could ever need. So long as this is what we know, so long as this is what we fasten ourselves in, we shall be forever secure, affixed to a God of love who will always provide, and will always be merciful to us even to the end of the ages.
Lord, grant this unto us all….
Now may the peace of the Lord, that peace that transcends all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus even unto life everlasting, Amen.
Psalm 15
Deuteronomy 6:10-15
Hebrews 1:1-14
John 1:1-18
Sermon:
“And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word: But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD. Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.”
The Book of Numbers 14:20-24
Grace, Mercy and Peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
Trust…
There is little that God does ask of us, except trust… trust in Him and His divine plan, trust that He will be faithful to us, trust that He will never fail us nor forsake us (Joshua 1:5).
It was trust, not obedience that God would ask of Adam and Eve even in the Garden of Eden as gave to them all that He had created, and yet told to them not to eat of that Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. There, their betrayal, their disobedience, though sins, would not be what would cast them from Paradise, rather, it would be that lack of trust in the Lord that would lead to their disobedience. That… that would be their first sin.
For thousands of years.... for generations to come… it would be the same story… though great would their sins be, it would all stem from that same basic, fundamental self righteousness that would take their trust from the Lord and place it into their own hands, believing they were the masters of their own destinies.
Even after seeing miracle after miracle, the children of Israel would be no exception.
For them, they had seen firsthand the power of the Lord God Almighty at work. He had lead them from the hands of their Egyptian Masters, freeing them from the chains of slavery, from that dark bondage of the task master whip. Even as they seemed trapped, with nowhere else to go God parted the waters that they might cross to safety as the chariots of Pharaoh chased quickly behind them. Wandering in the desert He provided for them food and water and direction to those places they needed to be that they might find their way to that Land of Promise He was to deliver them into.
Each and every step of the way the Lord was there, the Lord was at work, His hand could be seen guiding them through the wilderness.
There all He asked for was trust…
In our text today we read of both the mercy of the Lord and His disappointment. In Numbers 13 we read the story of the spies sent from the Israeli camp in Kadesh to Canaan to report on the force of their enemies. There God, He would ask that the children of Israel trust Him and His judgment to deliver their enemies into their hands, as he had with the Amlekites. Yet fear would once more overtake them and their courage would be fleeting “We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.” (Numbers 13:31). Moses would hear their rumbling as they prepared to rebel, “And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? Were it not better for us to return into Egypt?” (Numbers 14:2 and 3)
But Moses would not be alone, God too would hear their voices, and how his prophet would waver under the pressure.
There, though God would forgive the Israelites for their distrust still He could not reward it. And in that, a generation, that same generation that had escaped the hands of the Egyptians and yet were so eager to go back to their masters when the path appeared to get a little bit difficult, would never set their feet upon the promised land. They would see but never enter into it.
It serves as a lesson for all people in all places in all times. We read in the Epistle to the Hebrews that faith, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) and how better to explain faith except as trust… a basic and fundamental trust in the Lord and His divine plans.
Through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus, our Redeemer, we know that God is a merciful God, and yet what we also learn is that He is a faithful God, one who keeps his promises, and who provides for us all that is needed for our salvation. Even since the beginning of creation, since that first fall, He promised to us a Savior to deliver us from the iniquities of our sins, and there, He would provide, according to His word.
But this is not all that God provides for us. In the words of Christ we learn “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” (Matthew 6:26) God gives to His children all that they need through His divine love and mercy, through His divine word, if we trust in Him and His plans for us, understanding that He will always be there for us.
There, our trust, it must be in the power of the Lord, it must be placed squarely in Him, knowing that He is true and faithful and always beholden to His word. Perhaps at times things may not go the way we had hoped or perhaps at times we do not get that which we want, it could be at times that the odds seem to be stacked against us and we are left to wonder if we have the strength to go on, but there, when our trust is placed in the Lord God Almighty as those who are redeemed by the blood of that precious lamb, then we have a sure foundation, a rock that will anchor us regardless of the tides that beat against us, threatening to wash us away, and we receive all that we need, even if we don’t understand what it is that we need at that time.
That trust, it shall always lead our way, it will always guide our stay, even unto the Promised Land of our Salvation.
Therefore trust, dear brothers and sisters… trust in the Lord and the power of His might, knowing that through it all we may not get all we want, after all it could be that which we want is not that which is right for us, but He will provide for us all it is that we could ever need. So long as this is what we know, so long as this is what we fasten ourselves in, we shall be forever secure, affixed to a God of love who will always provide, and will always be merciful to us even to the end of the ages.
Lord, grant this unto us all….
Now may the peace of the Lord, that peace that transcends all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus even unto life everlasting, Amen.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Episode 24: 2/09/09
Readings:
Psalm 80
Isaiah 58:1-12
Galatians 6:11-18
Mark 9:30-41
Sermon:
"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."
Mark 9:37
It was not the welcome any child would look forward to: after surviving three days of induced labor in preparation for a late-term abortion, the tiny baby was born alive when the doctor arrived too late to perform the deadly procedure. But instead of being greeted as a miracle, the birth was viewed as an embarrassing failure to be covered up. The newborn girl was shoved into a biohazard trash bag and left to suffocate to death, her remains thrown into a cardboard box and left to rot in the hot Florida sun.
This incident which has shocked so many this past week only came to light because the mother of the dead child is suing the doctor for botching her abortion, for which she paid $1200 --- if the doctor had arrived 15 minutes earlier, the baby would have been killed in the birth canal instead of in a plastic bag and no one would have given the matter a second thought.
As much as we may shudder in horror when we hear of such cases, many in our society feel helpless against this evil. Abortion is legal in this country up to the moment of birth, and judging from the lack of murder charges brought in this case, for several moments afterwards. Not only is it legal, but it is regarded as a fundamental freedom, a right of every citizen under the constitution, as if the brave men and women who have died defending our country sacrificed their lives so that women could freely kill the child living in their wombs.
We, as a society, tolerate and even celebrate this horror in the name of compassion for women, sparing none for the unwanted, inconvenient child. In cases of babies with genetic defects such as Downs Syndrome, we even tell ourselves that we are being merciful to those children, saving them from a life of hardship and suffering. We claim that we love these children so much that we would rather see them dead than living what we consider a less than perfect life.
We are not the first society to value the lives of our children so low. From the beginnings of time, the pages of human history are littered with the bodies of dead children, slaughtered, abandoned, sacrificed to idols whose greed for blood could never be satisfied.
The Canaanite people who inhabited the land given by God to Abraham and his descendants were infamous for their practice of burning children alive in sacrifice to their god Moloch. Later the Carthaginians developed a high-tech version of this practice where the baby was placed in the spring-powered hands of a bronze statue which would propel the doomed child into a furnace in the belly of the idol.
The ancient Greeks were horrified by this blatant form of sacrifice but defended the practice of abandoning sick or deformed children on the sides of mountains, leaving them to die of exposure or hunger or the attacks of wild animals, claiming it was more merciful to both the child and the society at large to be rid of such unproductive future citizens. The Romans continued this tradition, making the right of the paterfamilias to determine the fate of his children a sacred tenet of the law.
Out of all this darkness, a tiny light shone. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the true God of the Universe, repeatedly condemned this practice and through His prophets and psalmists declared human life a sacred gift from the Creator, to be protected and defended from those who would cheapen it.
In the Book of Exodus we see the first recorded Scriptural reference to a tyrant seeking to oppress a despised minority by killing their children at birth:
These brave women risked their lives to preserve those innocent lives, and their names are recorded in Scripture with honor.
Despite this, Israel would repeatedly fall into the error of her neighbors after taking up residence in the Promised Land, and instead of regarding their children as a reward from the Lord would instead consider them as expendible commodities who could be offered as living bargaining chips to pagan idols. This would continue until the time of conquest and exile, when God would no longer overlook the abominations committed in His land by His people.
Our Lord was not being sentimental when He proclaimed that whoever welcomed a little child in His name would be welcoming Him. He knew that the world would reject Him just as it rejected those little children. And yet, His words have been a rallying cry to generations of Christians who have sought to answer that challenge: from the first believers who built hospitals and orphanages and worked to outlaw abortion and infanticide, to modern-day volunteers who run Crisis Pregnancy Centers and work to make adoption a realistic alternative to “reproductive choice.” May those who welcome these little children with love and true compassion be blessed when they come face to face with Our Lord and the Father who sent Him.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Psalm 80
Isaiah 58:1-12
Galatians 6:11-18
Mark 9:30-41
Sermon:
"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."
Mark 9:37
It was not the welcome any child would look forward to: after surviving three days of induced labor in preparation for a late-term abortion, the tiny baby was born alive when the doctor arrived too late to perform the deadly procedure. But instead of being greeted as a miracle, the birth was viewed as an embarrassing failure to be covered up. The newborn girl was shoved into a biohazard trash bag and left to suffocate to death, her remains thrown into a cardboard box and left to rot in the hot Florida sun.
This incident which has shocked so many this past week only came to light because the mother of the dead child is suing the doctor for botching her abortion, for which she paid $1200 --- if the doctor had arrived 15 minutes earlier, the baby would have been killed in the birth canal instead of in a plastic bag and no one would have given the matter a second thought.
As much as we may shudder in horror when we hear of such cases, many in our society feel helpless against this evil. Abortion is legal in this country up to the moment of birth, and judging from the lack of murder charges brought in this case, for several moments afterwards. Not only is it legal, but it is regarded as a fundamental freedom, a right of every citizen under the constitution, as if the brave men and women who have died defending our country sacrificed their lives so that women could freely kill the child living in their wombs.
We, as a society, tolerate and even celebrate this horror in the name of compassion for women, sparing none for the unwanted, inconvenient child. In cases of babies with genetic defects such as Downs Syndrome, we even tell ourselves that we are being merciful to those children, saving them from a life of hardship and suffering. We claim that we love these children so much that we would rather see them dead than living what we consider a less than perfect life.
We are not the first society to value the lives of our children so low. From the beginnings of time, the pages of human history are littered with the bodies of dead children, slaughtered, abandoned, sacrificed to idols whose greed for blood could never be satisfied.
The Canaanite people who inhabited the land given by God to Abraham and his descendants were infamous for their practice of burning children alive in sacrifice to their god Moloch. Later the Carthaginians developed a high-tech version of this practice where the baby was placed in the spring-powered hands of a bronze statue which would propel the doomed child into a furnace in the belly of the idol.
The ancient Greeks were horrified by this blatant form of sacrifice but defended the practice of abandoning sick or deformed children on the sides of mountains, leaving them to die of exposure or hunger or the attacks of wild animals, claiming it was more merciful to both the child and the society at large to be rid of such unproductive future citizens. The Romans continued this tradition, making the right of the paterfamilias to determine the fate of his children a sacred tenet of the law.
Out of all this darkness, a tiny light shone. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the true God of the Universe, repeatedly condemned this practice and through His prophets and psalmists declared human life a sacred gift from the Creator, to be protected and defended from those who would cheapen it.
In the Book of Exodus we see the first recorded Scriptural reference to a tyrant seeking to oppress a despised minority by killing their children at birth:
“15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 "When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live." 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, "Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?"
19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive."
20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.”
These brave women risked their lives to preserve those innocent lives, and their names are recorded in Scripture with honor.
Despite this, Israel would repeatedly fall into the error of her neighbors after taking up residence in the Promised Land, and instead of regarding their children as a reward from the Lord would instead consider them as expendible commodities who could be offered as living bargaining chips to pagan idols. This would continue until the time of conquest and exile, when God would no longer overlook the abominations committed in His land by His people.
Our Lord was not being sentimental when He proclaimed that whoever welcomed a little child in His name would be welcoming Him. He knew that the world would reject Him just as it rejected those little children. And yet, His words have been a rallying cry to generations of Christians who have sought to answer that challenge: from the first believers who built hospitals and orphanages and worked to outlaw abortion and infanticide, to modern-day volunteers who run Crisis Pregnancy Centers and work to make adoption a realistic alternative to “reproductive choice.” May those who welcome these little children with love and true compassion be blessed when they come face to face with Our Lord and the Father who sent Him.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Episode 23: 2/04/09
Readings:
Psalm 119:73-96
Isaiah 54:1-10
Galatians 4:21-31
Mark 8:11-26
Sermon:
“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.”
The Book of Psalms 51:10-12
Grace, Mercy and Peace from God, our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
We love to look at life as if we are in complete control…
Since the beginning of creation man has looked to his life and his destiny and desperately struggled for control over it, believing he could reason as God and set his course on just as sure of a foundation without the Lord.
As Adam and Eve heard the temptations of the Serpent, who, in using his forked tongue, sought to lure them to sin through his words of enticement, playing off of their vanity, told unto them “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5), they would fall into that easy trap even in their youth and naivety. They would seek wisdom that would make them God’s equal, understanding the nature of all things. There, they even before they would take that first bite of that alluring forbidden fruit, they would believe that they knew better, that they knew more than their Creator, disobeying the only rule He had laid out for them in Paradise.
With the fruit of that tree they could finally utterly take complete control over their own lives, their own destinies, determining all things for themselves.
They would not be alone in that belief.
Persistently and perpetually the children of Israel had believed that they somehow knew better than the Lord. They could not find it in themselves to lead their people from the dark chains of bondage to the Egyptians, but once God had freed them, suddenly, they knew more as to the cause and the course of their future, able to discern better than He who, in taking them as slaves, made them free men and women. The water was too bitter, then it was too sweet, God had provided manna every day but what if he stops tomorrow, we need to stockpile despite having been told not to, that the Lord would provide. Moses has been gone for too long, surely the Lord has left us and whereas God created us, we now must create our own gods to care for our needs, ones with no tongue to speak or eyes to see or ears to hear, that we might have the image of all powerful but we are the ones who are, in our own lives, the masters of our destiny.
In the end it would be this heart that would lead to the curse of a generation. Having failed to place their trust in God, and instead, having heeded the voices of men, placed their hopes and trust in their own numbers, an entire generation, including the prophet, would not set foot in the Promised Land, beholding with their eyes and yet passing from this life to the next before they could ever enter into it.
But even as they passed from this world to the next, their lessons still would not be heeded.
And there we would see King David, the mighty ruler and psalmist. As he wrote these words, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit” as a prayer of humble supplication to the Lord, he knew the consequences of the arrogant and vain self righteousness that could so easily overtake the hearts of men. After all he had stared at temptation through the window of his palace at night, and trusting not in God’s plan, nor in God’s judgment, trusting not in even the sacred bounds of matrimony laid out by the Lord to bind two together as one, he would want. Soon that want would turn to need and as so often is the case, as one covets that which is not their own, need would turn to sin.
Trusting not in the plans of the Lord, this righteous king would hatch a plan for evil, blindly turning from the Lord and relying solely on the wisdom of his heart and the judgments of this world to grasp at the future of his choosing. In the end, many would pay the price for David’s sins.
There, we come to learn that for the trust we place in this world, setting its knowledge and wisdom above that of the Lord, we pay an awful price. Yes, perhaps we want to believe that we have the power and the capacity to set our own course, or to choose our own direction, and yet, when it comes down to it, that which we can decide, that which we can discern is nothing compared to the complete understanding and comprehension of an all-knowing God who disperses the clouds of ignorance to reveal perfect judgment in all things and in all ways.
Too often on the road of life we tend to look at God as the spare tire of the vehicle that brings us to those places where we need to be, never thinking about Him except when we are in trouble or are in need or there is some sort of emergency that affects us. Yet that is not God, nor can we see Him as such. Rather, we must view Our Lord as the steering wheel, guiding and directing us. He is that which sets things in motion, moving us in the course that we need to embark upon if we truly and sincerely wish to find ourselves on the right path, going in the right way towards the destinations we are meant to be at.
God must be, first and foremost, the center, the leveler, the One who we work with to know where it is that we are going as to ensure that we are kept safe and secure in all things and in all ways. There we cannot just ignore him or pretend as if He is not there, nor can we find ourselves looking to our own wisdom, expecting it to be sufficient for us and our needs. Too often has that been tried and too often have we found that we have taken a wrong turn, a turn that leads us down a road of sorrow and pain and suffering, a road where sin and temptation, where the iniquity of our sins end up causing stumbling blocks along the way. Yet, if we sincerely seek to travel the path of righteousness we must know that this worldly person cannot be who we are or how we are.
There, as Christ Jesus, our beloved Savior, paves the way through the awesome sacrifice He has made for us and our salvation, we know that through all things and in all things we shall find a road that will take us to all places where it is that we need to be.
Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, pray…. Pray for a sincere heart, pray for God’s loving guidance, pray for the Spirit to restore the joy of your salvation, pray in thanksgiving for that which Christ has given unto you, never ceasing in the sheer joy and amazement, knowing that through He who created us, He who has saved, and He who has brought us to the gift of grace, all will be made right and whole through a divine wisdom down a road of endless power in His Holy Name.
Now may the peace of the Lord, that peace that transcends all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting. Amen.
Psalm 119:73-96
Isaiah 54:1-10
Galatians 4:21-31
Mark 8:11-26
Sermon:
“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.”
The Book of Psalms 51:10-12
Grace, Mercy and Peace from God, our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
We love to look at life as if we are in complete control…
Since the beginning of creation man has looked to his life and his destiny and desperately struggled for control over it, believing he could reason as God and set his course on just as sure of a foundation without the Lord.
As Adam and Eve heard the temptations of the Serpent, who, in using his forked tongue, sought to lure them to sin through his words of enticement, playing off of their vanity, told unto them “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5), they would fall into that easy trap even in their youth and naivety. They would seek wisdom that would make them God’s equal, understanding the nature of all things. There, they even before they would take that first bite of that alluring forbidden fruit, they would believe that they knew better, that they knew more than their Creator, disobeying the only rule He had laid out for them in Paradise.
With the fruit of that tree they could finally utterly take complete control over their own lives, their own destinies, determining all things for themselves.
They would not be alone in that belief.
Persistently and perpetually the children of Israel had believed that they somehow knew better than the Lord. They could not find it in themselves to lead their people from the dark chains of bondage to the Egyptians, but once God had freed them, suddenly, they knew more as to the cause and the course of their future, able to discern better than He who, in taking them as slaves, made them free men and women. The water was too bitter, then it was too sweet, God had provided manna every day but what if he stops tomorrow, we need to stockpile despite having been told not to, that the Lord would provide. Moses has been gone for too long, surely the Lord has left us and whereas God created us, we now must create our own gods to care for our needs, ones with no tongue to speak or eyes to see or ears to hear, that we might have the image of all powerful but we are the ones who are, in our own lives, the masters of our destiny.
In the end it would be this heart that would lead to the curse of a generation. Having failed to place their trust in God, and instead, having heeded the voices of men, placed their hopes and trust in their own numbers, an entire generation, including the prophet, would not set foot in the Promised Land, beholding with their eyes and yet passing from this life to the next before they could ever enter into it.
But even as they passed from this world to the next, their lessons still would not be heeded.
And there we would see King David, the mighty ruler and psalmist. As he wrote these words, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit” as a prayer of humble supplication to the Lord, he knew the consequences of the arrogant and vain self righteousness that could so easily overtake the hearts of men. After all he had stared at temptation through the window of his palace at night, and trusting not in God’s plan, nor in God’s judgment, trusting not in even the sacred bounds of matrimony laid out by the Lord to bind two together as one, he would want. Soon that want would turn to need and as so often is the case, as one covets that which is not their own, need would turn to sin.
Trusting not in the plans of the Lord, this righteous king would hatch a plan for evil, blindly turning from the Lord and relying solely on the wisdom of his heart and the judgments of this world to grasp at the future of his choosing. In the end, many would pay the price for David’s sins.
There, we come to learn that for the trust we place in this world, setting its knowledge and wisdom above that of the Lord, we pay an awful price. Yes, perhaps we want to believe that we have the power and the capacity to set our own course, or to choose our own direction, and yet, when it comes down to it, that which we can decide, that which we can discern is nothing compared to the complete understanding and comprehension of an all-knowing God who disperses the clouds of ignorance to reveal perfect judgment in all things and in all ways.
Too often on the road of life we tend to look at God as the spare tire of the vehicle that brings us to those places where we need to be, never thinking about Him except when we are in trouble or are in need or there is some sort of emergency that affects us. Yet that is not God, nor can we see Him as such. Rather, we must view Our Lord as the steering wheel, guiding and directing us. He is that which sets things in motion, moving us in the course that we need to embark upon if we truly and sincerely wish to find ourselves on the right path, going in the right way towards the destinations we are meant to be at.
God must be, first and foremost, the center, the leveler, the One who we work with to know where it is that we are going as to ensure that we are kept safe and secure in all things and in all ways. There we cannot just ignore him or pretend as if He is not there, nor can we find ourselves looking to our own wisdom, expecting it to be sufficient for us and our needs. Too often has that been tried and too often have we found that we have taken a wrong turn, a turn that leads us down a road of sorrow and pain and suffering, a road where sin and temptation, where the iniquity of our sins end up causing stumbling blocks along the way. Yet, if we sincerely seek to travel the path of righteousness we must know that this worldly person cannot be who we are or how we are.
There, as Christ Jesus, our beloved Savior, paves the way through the awesome sacrifice He has made for us and our salvation, we know that through all things and in all things we shall find a road that will take us to all places where it is that we need to be.
Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, pray…. Pray for a sincere heart, pray for God’s loving guidance, pray for the Spirit to restore the joy of your salvation, pray in thanksgiving for that which Christ has given unto you, never ceasing in the sheer joy and amazement, knowing that through He who created us, He who has saved, and He who has brought us to the gift of grace, all will be made right and whole through a divine wisdom down a road of endless power in His Holy Name.
Now may the peace of the Lord, that peace that transcends all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
