Sermon for Easter Eve, 2021

“The Night is Come”

The Great Vigil on Easter Eve, 2021

Rev. Dcn. Kyle Hughes

At last, we have arrived at this most holy night. In the cycle of the liturgical year, the Easter vigil is its center and climax. It is the greatest liturgy of the year and is, in the words of St. Augustine, “the mother of all sacred vigils.” The reason for the importance of this vigil is that in it we celebrate the events which are the center and climax, not just of our liturgical year, but of God’s saving purposes in all of history. This night is in fact the fulcrum around which our lives--and indeed, the lives of all people in all times and in all places--find their purpose, meaning, and final end. 

The death and resurrection of Christ is, as the exultet and the liturgy of the Word tell us, the culmination and the fulfillment of all God’s saving deeds as recounted in the Old Testament. Thus, in his death and resurrection Christ is revealed as the greater Adam, the greater Noah, and the greater Moses. What God did in creating Adam, in bringing Noah through the waters of the flood, and in leading the people of Israel out of Egypt, he does anew in Christ, redeeming our fallen nature, leading us out of bondage to sin and death into newness of life. No wonder the exultet collapses all of salvation history into this one moment: “the night is come,” goes the refrain of that ancient song, when God leads his people in that first Passover out of Egypt, just as he now leads us in that greater Passover out of the grave. 

Thus, God, in his eternal wisdom, has given us these earlier events in salvation history as a way of prefiguring what Christ has won for us on this very night. In the second century, likely in the midst of a liturgy much like the one we are celebrating here tonight, Melito of Sardis said this about the stories of God and his people in the Old Testament: “For indeed the Lord’s salvation and truth were prefigured in the people, and the decrees of the Gospel were proclaimed in advance by the law. Thus the people was a type, like a preliminary sketch, and the law was the writing of an analogy. The Gospel is the narrative and fulfillment of the law, and the church is the repository of reality.” Thanks be to God! He has not left us without a series of events, the Passover merely being the greatest of a much larger set, to help illustrate and illuminate the meaning of what God has done in Christ, on this night.

But Jesus’ death and resurrection is not simply that to which everything before it pointed. It is, also, that which gives meaning to everything that has come after it, including your life, and mine. In our epistle reading from Romans 6, St. Paul tells us that it is in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we find our own identity as Christians. As Paul writes, we were buried with Christ by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. In baptism, we mystically participate in Christ’s own death and resurrection, availing ourselves of the benefits and purpose resulting from this intimate identification with our Lord. That is why it is on this very night that, following the ancient practice of the church, we renew our baptismal vows, echoing St. Paul in praying that we would die to sin and rise to newness of life. Again, it is as if salvation history is collapsed into a single moment: on this very night, Christ is raised from the dead, and we are raised with him through holy baptism.

Our Gospel passage for tonight, then, brings us to the historical event that is the pivotal moment at the center of all history. In this passage, St. Matthew recounts how the women arrived at the empty tomb, heard the words of the angel, and met Jesus on the way to Galilee. Note carefully, though, how this famous story ends with an invitation: the risen Lord tells the women not to be afraid, but to go and gather Jesus’ disciples that they too might meet their Savior. Not only, then, is tonight the night that we are buried and raised with Christ, but it is also the morning on which we stand with the women at the empty tomb and on the way to Galilee, encountering the risen Christ and deciding what we are going to do with this momentous, earth-shaking news, and this invitation that we have been given. It is an invitation that Melito of Sardis summarizes so well in a famous passage in which the present and risen Christ speaks anew to us this very evening: “It is I, says the Christ, I am he who destroys death, and triumphs over the enemy, and crushes Hades, and binds the strong man, and bears humanity off to the heavenly heights. It is I, says the Christ. So come all families of people, adulterated with sin, and receive forgiveness of sins. For I am your freedom. I am the Passover of salvation. I am the lamb slaughtered for you, I am your ransom, I am your life, I am your light, I am your salvation, I am your resurrection, I am your King. I shall raise you up by my right hand, I will lead you to the heights of heaven, there shall I show you the everlasting Father.”  

How, then, will we--will you--respond to such an invitation from such a king? On this most holy night, may we fix our minds, our hearts, and our souls on those most majestic of all words: “Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!” Amen.

Sermon for Maundy Thursday, 2021

Homily for Maundy Thursday, 2021

Fr. Tony Melton

The Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:

And when he had given thanks, he brake it…

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

This is the Feast of Maundy Thursday. You are probably familiar with the events of this night in the Passion narrative. Jesus met with His disciples in the Upper Room. He washed their feet. He instituted the Last Supper. He gave them the command to “Love one another.” This is where the feast day gets its name. The Latin word for “commandment” in mandatum. Jesus commands His disciples to love one another. You probably know, too, that later that night in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus sweat drops of blood, filled with dread. And that a little later, He was betrayed by Judas and deserted and denied by His disciples. These stories are well known.

What is commonly missed is that all of these happened together. If we think about the night from Jesus’ perspective, the events are even more mixed. He knew that Judas would betray Him. He knew His disciples would flee. He knew Peter would deny Him, thrice. As He was breaking the bread, the torrent of emotion that would be unleashed in the Garden of Gethsemane was baying at the walls of His mind. And all the while, His disciples fought over who was the greatest.

On the one side, there was terrible mess that would soon become of his band of disciples, their deceit or cowardice, and the horror of what was about to befall Him. On the other, was the intimacy and love which He showed His disciples. The betrayal formed, no doubt, a deep dark sorrow in His mind. Yet the love for his disciples burned brighter than we can comprehend. And  these two experiences dwelled simultaneously within the same soul. He washed their feet which in a short while would be covered with mud as they ran as far away from their Lord as fast as they could. He fed the lips that would give the betraying kiss and that would deny Him thrice.

The commandment to “love one another” came in the context of a betrayal of friendship. The very Sacrament of Love was instituted within the betrayal of love. The very heart of the Gospel is that Jesus loved them, and they weren’t faithful to Him, but He still loved them to the end.

As I was discussing the events of Holy Week with my children a few days ago, one of my sons asked me, “Would you have fled?” What a great question. The answer is Yes. We are no better than the disciples. Jesus went to the Cross alone. No one shared His sufferings. None of us shares His glory because of none of use shares His Faithfulness! The real question is not, “Would you have fled?”, it is “Would you have betrayed Him?”

There is an old liturgy developed in the monasteries of Britain called the “Judas cup”. The celebrant would say, “Alas for the man by whom the Son of man is betrayed.” Each in turn ask, “Lord, is it I?” They pass a special cup called the Judas Cup which has a wide reflective basin upon which was molded the face of Judas so that as each monk would take the cup, he would see his own face reflected back in the face of Judas. Would you have fled? Yes. Would I betrayed Him? Perhaps. Did the love of God press through their deceit and cowardice? Yes. Will it press through yours? Absolutely. What a comfort it is to know that Jesus loved His disciples that much, even in spite of their wretchedness. It is our comfort because He has the same love toward us.

So significant is the juxtaposition of the unfaithfulness of the Church and the overcoming love of Jesus, that in nearly every liturgy in the history of the Church, the words of Institution go like this: “…in the night in which He was betrayed, He took bread, and brake it…” After their betrayals, both Judas and Peter wept bitterly. And if there is ever a night to weep, it is Maundy Thursday. The chief difference between them was not in the nature and degree of their sin, but in their response. Peter wept and repented and rejoined the fellowship of the Messiah. Judas wept and despaired and separated Himself from God forever. Christ has already pressed through our own wretchedness. We look into the cup and we see who we are. And in that moment the Christian hold two realities within his own soul, just like Jesus. Sorrow and Love. Sorrow that we are the Betrayer. Love for Jesus. Sorrow for this Sinner who sins grievously. Love for the Lover who loves without limit. This liturgy intentionally holds these two realities together that you might know how far the love of Jesus goes past your sins, and so that you know that the commandment to “love one another” goes far past any offense. What could possibly justify any grudge, or coldness, or desire for retribution when Jesus washed his disciples’ feet and gives the cup to you and me? So, brothers and sisters, let us go forth from here tonight with Sorrow and Love in our hearts. Love for one another, and love for Jesus, our Friend and Savior. Amen.

Sermon for Palm Sunday, 2021

Palm Sunday

You pick up a Prayer Book for the first time and want to know which Gospel passages will be read on Sunday. Starting with Advent, through Christmas, Epiphany, and Lent, you would find almost all of the Gospel readings are no more than half a page in length. When you arrive at today, however, Palm Sunday, you would be shocked to find a Gospel reading that runs more than three pages. Tomorrow, the Monday of Holy Week, the Gospel reading is more than four pages. This holds true for Tuesday through Friday, as well. What are we to make of this? 

The answer is simple. The lengthy Gospel readings in the Prayer Book for Holy Week reflect the Gospels themselves. Nearly a fourth of each of the Gospels is dedicated to the last week of the earthly life of Jesus.  Today through Good Friday, the Prayer Book Gospel readings are the four accounts of the Passion of our Lord, read in their canonical order. Reading the Passion narratives of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John during this time of the Church calendar goes back to the earliest days of the Church. Understanding His final days are critical to understanding His entire life and ministry. It brings into the sharpest focus who He is and what He came to do. 

As we read and think about the events of Holy Week, one thing becomes clear. His Passion – the agonizing prayer in Gethsemane, the betrayal and arrest, the trials before Caiaphas and Pilate, the Crucifixion, the seven last words, and His death - He did for us. How does the Apostle Paul summarize the Gospel message?  “Christ died for our sins, according the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” Each week in the Creed we say, “Who for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven.” This morning we will look at how His Passion was for us by looking at key moments in our salvation history as found in Genesis, Exodus, and finally, Revelation.  

We begin with Genesis chapter three and our most fundamental problem. We consistently underestimate the calamity of sin. Sin is not just falling short of a standard, or not quite living up to our potential. The fall was the single most destructive event in human history, for it affected our very natures – our most essential qualities as human beings. When our first parents sinned, our original righteousness was lost. Our intellect was darkened and our wills corrupted. Our fellowship with God was ruptured. We became subject to disease and death. The mysterious, ancient requirement that the way for creatures in such a state as this to be restored to God was not only by repentance, but also by some death – the shedding of blood. The Old Testament sacrificial system was built on animal sacrifice. What was sacrificed, however, was always inferior to the one for whom for the sacrifice was made. Goats and bulls are quite unlike us. They do not possess will, intellect, or purpose. And their sacrifices were not voluntary. But God accepted these sacrifices anyway, because they were a type, a prophecy of a greater and perfect sacrifice to come later. This once-for-all sacrifice must be of a different order than these animal sacrifices. But what sacrifice would be worthy enough to atone for the sins of all mankind? Moreover, the sacrifice must be made by Man, for it was Man who had sinned. When the second Person of the Holy Trinity was born of a human mother by the Holy Ghost, He took our human nature without ceasing to be God. He did what we were never capable of doing. He lived a perfect, sinless life on our behalf, and perfectly submitted His human will to the Father in complete obedience. “He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” He accomplished, in His human nature, what we could not. He did this for us. And what He accomplished - His merits - are communicated to all those who are “in Christ.” 

Let us now move to Exodus chapter 12. All the firstborn in Egypt are going to die, except for those families who sacrificed a lamb and applied some of its blood to the doorposts and lintel - the horizontal supporting piece. For that first Passover, a protective sacrifice made according to God’s instructions meant that the firstborn were spared. Judgment passed over the faithful Israelites. This Thursday, God willing, we will commemorate the events of the Last Supper, when Jesus celebrated the Passover meal for last time with His disciples in the Upper Room. Christ’s disciples had celebrated Passover meals with their families since they were children. It was always about looking back at something God had done many years before. But this was to be their last Passover meal with Jesus, and He would give it an entirely new meaning. “This is my body, which is given for you.”  The first Passover had occurred about 1200 years earlier. Why is Jesus now speaking in the present tense? This “is”?  The reason is because the countless Passover meals observed for centuries always pointed toward Him. He is the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world. All of the firstborn sons spared that night in Egypt were because of this unique Son. Judgement can now pass over all people because of one Lamb - the Lamb. He is the once-for-all fulfillment of all the Passover lambs. God can now pass over the sins of His people.  When the early Church grasped the meaning of “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us, therefore let us keep the Feast”, it is no wonder they would celebrate this not once a year, but every week. 

The early Christians did not have church buildings, and often lacked the resources with which to make crosses, but this did not stop them from constantly reminding themselves of its significance. Tertullian, the second century apologist, described this early Christian practice: “At every forward step and movement, at every going in and out, when we put on our clothes and shoes, when we bathe, when we sit at table, when we light the lamps…we trace upon the forehead the sign [of the cross].” These Christians were under constant threat of disease, death, and persecution. They knew about demon possession. Invoking the Cross by tracing it on themselves so often was seen as protection from all that might harm them. They constantly reminded themselves of the power of the Cross because the Cross had been the instrument of the greatest victory - when God, in Christ, defeated death and all the powers of darkness. We may not cross ourselves as often, or at all, but the Cross should still always be present to us.  

In a mystery we cannot fully understand, Christians have a share in Christ’s suffering, and as strange as it sounds to say, this can be a source of rejoicing. First Peter 4:13: “But rejoice in so far as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”

For the Christian, therefore, there is no such thing as mere suffering. Our sufferings are all Cross-shaped. And not just these. As the only true and perfect sacrifice for sin, His sacrifice on the Cross is the only basis for divine forgiveness and favor. Every spiritual benefit, every blessing we receive, is also Cross-shaped. 

We close with this from the Book of Revelation. God revealed to the Apostle John that Satan and all the forces of evil will finally be overcome and destroyed. The Church is purified and presented to Christ as His heavenly bride. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. 

Anything in us that has been stained by sin and suffering will be changed – when mortality puts on immortality. Human language is stretched to its very limits to try to convey such victory, triumph, and exaltation centered on Christ. And do you know the name John uses most often for this all-conquering Lord of History? “The Lamb” - 28 times in just 22 chapters. 

“Those dear tokens of his passion

Still his dazzling body bears,

Cause of endless exultation

To his ransomed worshippers:

With what rapture

With what rapture

Gaze we on those glorious scars!  

 “O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world” is not just what we say in the Liturgy each week - it will be our song for eternity. 

Sermon for Passion Sunday, 2021

Homily for Passion Sunday, 2021

Fr. Tony Melton

Christ the King Anglican ATL

What is needed to live? Maslow gave his hierarchy. The Bible does not rank our needs like that. We are not to separate physical life from our spiritual lives like that, as if one was more needful or foundational than the other. If we were to do rank them, then the order would surely be flipped. “Man does not live by bread alone, but by the Word of God.” The Bible suggests a different answer to the question “What is needed to live?” We need to know the Truth. We need our sins forgiven, our consciences cleared. And we need Justice, that quality of a society where people get their due. There is an opportunity for food, water, and shelter, because God has given these things in plenty. Truth, Forgiveness, and Justice. There is one more, but we will save that one for later.

These three needs of every person line up with the works of Christ. He in the Prophet who shows us the Truth. He is the Priest who forgives our sins. And He is the King who establishes Justice in His kingdom. Prophet, Priest, and King. Our Propers for this morning point this out.

The Old Testament lesson from Deuteronomy 18 is about God’s promise to Moses to send another Prophet to His people to show them the Truth. “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” Jesus is that Prophet, and because of Him we know the Truth. We know who God is. We know who we are. We know why the world is. We know what we are to do.

The Epistle is from Hebrews 9. “CHRIST being come an high priest…by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” How can people live without this? Do you know how blessed you are to be forgiven? Think about Cain. He kills his brother and it says that the blood of Abel cried out to God from the ground. Not only is there the screaming of his own conscience in his own head, but there is a screaming without. The very Creation condemned him. People walk around their whole lives with this screaming. The guilt of what they’ve done screams at them. The shame they feel screams at them. But the author of Hebrews says in our Epistle that the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purges our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” We are forgiven by Christ our High Priest! There is no more screaming.

In the Gospel, we have Jesus claiming to be God Himself, taking up the very name of God, calling Himself, I AM. Both our Psalm and the Gospel speak of Jesus as being honored by God the Father. "If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me.” Who is He that is honored of God, but the King of all Creation? We live under the reign of King Jesus. Within His Kingdom, which is the Church, there is justice. The hungry have food. The corrupt are corrected. The enemies of God are put to flight. There is joy in the Kingdom. Thanks be to God for Jesus, our Prophet, Priest, and King, giver of Truth, Forgiveness, and Justice.

Today is called Passion Sunday. All throughout Lent there is an interior focus, an assessment of ourselves in light of God and His commandments. But as we near Holy Week, there is a shift toward contemplating the work of Christ, His Passion, which is to say, His Sufferings for us. The evening Bible lesson in our Lectionary change to John 12 and following this week. The beginning of the Passion. And we begin our journey with Jesus out of the wilderness and up the rock road to Golgotha. Our Gospel this morning marks a transition in the narrative, too. He claimed to be God, and they took up stones to kill Him. From this point on, the jaws of human sin clamp tighter and tighter on Jesus until He is dead. Today, the Church our Mother shows us who it is that will suffer for us. It is Jesus, our Prophet, Priest, and King.

I mentioned earlier that there was another need that we all have in addition to knowing the Truth, being forgiven, and living in Justice. It is the need to love and be loved. While it is true that God loves us as Prophet, and perhaps more clearly as Priest. I’d like to turn our attention to the Song of Solomon to show how the person and work of King Jesus fulfills our need for Love.

The Song of Solomon is my favorite book of the Bible. The Gospels, particularly Matthew, show Jesus as the New Solomon. Jesus speaks of himself as the “Greater than Solomon.” So, a Christological reading  of the Song of Solomon that sees it is a love poem between Jesus and His Church is kind of a layup for Christians. “My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.” “I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me.”

This Passion Sunday, we enter the vortex of His Passion, His Suffering for us. We are supposed to be swept away by the power of it. What He did for us is made all the more precious when we know Who He is. It makes it abundantly clear that the only way that our Prophet, Priest, and King would die for us like this, is if He was also our Lover. We know the Truth. Thanks be to God. Our sins are forgiven. Thanks be to God. We live under the just reign of King Jesus. Thanks be to God. “I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me.” Thanks be to God.

Sermon for the 4th Sunday after Lent, 2021

As we draw closer to the joyful celebration of our Lord’s resurrection on Easter day, we tend place in our mind’s eye the familiar feast of the Passover and all of its symbolic references. The Proper’s also draw us to that event. The 1stoption for the Old Testament Lesson taken from Exodus 16presents the feeding of God’s people with manna in the wilderness after He saves them from Egypt. In our Gospel Lesson, we are given the picture of Jesus miraculously feeding the five thousand with bread and fish. Both events occur within the backdrop of the Passover. And, immediately after our Gospel Lesson taken from John 6, Jesus makes the claim that He is the Bread of Life which came down from Heaven and that his flesh and blood are going to be given for the life of the world. We also know that in addition to the manna, the God gave the Israelites flesh...quail. In John 6, Jesus gives them bread and flesh...fish. In the Passover, the two main ingredients are bread and flesh...lamb. The three events are purposely enjoined by God.

And it’s all foreshadowing of the Eucharist to come and how Jesus was the truly the object to which the feeding in the wilderness and the feeding of the five thousand pointed. He gives us bread and his flesh and blood as pledges of His love and for the feeding of our souls. We are right to think of this as the Scriptures make reference, Christ is indeed the Passover Lamb sacrificed for us...But Scripture also teaches us that He is not just the Passover Lamb....that He was also more... and had to be more. In our recent catechesis videos we’ve taken a much deeper look into the major feasts and sacrifices of the Old Testament and seen how the Person and Work of Christ was both the purpose for and the fulfillment of the entirety of the Jewish sacrificial system. As we prepare our hearts for Holy Week and Easter Sunday, I’d encourage you to focus on the role that Jesus played amidst these major sacrifices and key in on one of them today. It occurred on the 10thday of the 7thmonth and was the highest of holy days for the Jews....a solemn occasion, during which, special rites and rituals were enacted only on that day. Only the high priest officiated over the services and the burning of incense. He interacted directly with the people. He stripped himself of his golden garments for the special sacrifices of the day and dressed in white linen. It was to be a day of cleansing to purge the consciences of the people of their sins.

The day was the Day of Atonement...and the special sacrifice was the Sin Offering. It is this day and this special sacrifice to which the writer to the Hebrews refers in the coming Epistle lesson for Passion Sunday taken from the 9th Chapter, and if you read beyond that, in the 10th Chapter as well. Once each year, the high priest was required to stand before the Lord in the Most Holy Place of the Temple, the Holy of Holies, to offer incense and sprinkle sacrificial blood for the sins of the people. The most solemn part of this offering essentially began with high priest standing before the people with 2 goats on each side, facing toward the Most Holy Place. From an urn holding two lots he would reach in with both hands and draw the lots, then placing one on each of the goats’ heads. Right hand to the right goat, left hand to the left goat. These indicated which role each goat was to play in the sin offering for the people. One was to be slain, whose blood would be used to sprinkle the temple and the mercy seat...On this goat was tied a scarlet cloth around its neck...The other was to be the scape-goat and upon its horn was tied a scarlet cloth. We read of this in Leviticus 16. The sacrificial goat was to atone for the temple of the Lord, and purify it from the uncleanness of the people, thus signifying restored access to their God. The scape-goat was led off into the wilderness as an atonement of the people, carrying upon it, the sins of the people from among them. After placing the lots, the high priest would then turn around the scape-goat to face the people, and then, after laying his hands upon a bullock and confessing his own sins, would enter into the holy of holies to offer incense before the Lord. The people waited and worshipped in silence, all the while with the scape goat facing them, as if waiting for the full burden of their sins to be laid upon him. It was an intense period of silence for about a half an hour and one which directly correlates to what we see happening in John’s Heavenly vision in Revelation8.When the high priest returned, he then killed the bullock as a sin offering for himself and the priesthood, entering again into the holy of holies where he would sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat. Upon his return, he then slew the goat designated for Jehovah and returned into the temple to sprinkle the blood. Again, the people waited and worshipped in silence. When he returned alive, the people knew that God had accepted the sacrifice and that their access to Him and all of their Old Testament covenant privileges were renewed. Of significant importance is what happened next. The high priest laid his hands upon the scape-goat and confessed before God and all the people their transgressions, pleading for God’s mercy and atonement for them. And then as the scape-goat was led through the people and off into the wilderness and drivenoff a cliff, carrying with it, the full weight of their sins and removing their guilt, the high priest would shout to the people the assurance are now cleansed! “Some Jewish traditions even state that the scarlet cloth tied around its horn turned to white after the pronouncement of absolution as a sign from God that though their sins were as scarlet, they were turned white as snow. The entire affair was elaborate and suspenseful, no doubt by design to convey the seriousness of the occasion and the importance of having their sins atoned for, and that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. But the truth of the matter is that even all of this liturgical pageantry could not fully cleanse their souls from sin. The writer to the Hebrews explains to us that these rituals were merely copies of a greater and more perfect tabernacle and sacrifice made in Heaven itself by Christ, our Great High Priest. Jesus Christ, was our Sin Offering. He entered into the Holy of Holies with the blood of His sacrifice as a sin offering unto Jehovah, placing His own blood on the mercy seat of the throne of God, restoring perfect access and communion with God for all who are in Him. And he is also the other part of the Sin Offering....our greatscape-goat, who bore the guilt of our transgressions once and for all...And perhaps we can even find this symbolism in the passion of our Lord when he is made to stand before the people aside Pilot with Barabbas....waiting for the heavy burden of His sinful people to be placed upon Him. And placed upon Him it was, for He was then sentenced and led through the people to a cliff as it were, weighed down with the symbol of our sinful curse upon his back, where He then carried away our sin forever.  What a marvelous accomplishment by Jesus Christ, our Passover Lamb, and also our Sin Offering.... In fact, if you study the Old Testament sacrificial system, you will find that Christ embodies all of the sacrificial types, save one.... the sacrifice of Thanksgiving...offered by the people....to God...and then eaten by the people. And to this day, that one remains. That is what we are doing today in this Holy Eucharist...this Great Thanksgiving... ...offering unto him ourselves, as wholly and acceptable through Christ, living, breathing sacrifices, giving thanks and praising Him forever for our redemption and eternal inheritance. Hebrews 10 tells us we now “have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, his flesh, and since we have a Great High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience...”......He has indeed purged your conscience from dead works to serve the living God!...so come... draw near with faith, ascend up to the Holy Hill of the Lord, make your sacrifice of thanksgiving, be fed with Holy food from His altar, and got serve Him in peace and love.

Sermon for 3rd Sunday in Lent, 2021

Sermon for the 3rd Sunday in Lent, 2021

Fr. Tony Melton

“Walk as Children of the Light”

One of the great charisms, or strengths, of the Anglican tradition is its pastoral theology and its aescetical theology. Beginning with the early Celtic Christians, the Anglican Way has always focused on the question of how the soul makes progress in the spiritual life and how a pastor is to help the Christian make progress. Two things that show this emphasis are the Threefold Rule and the Threefold Way. The Threefold Rule is the common Rule of Life that all Anglicans share: weekly Communion, Daily Offices in the morning and evening, and personal devotion guided by spiritual direction. The Threefold Rule. But Anglicans also often speak of the Threefold Way to understand the stages of spiritual progress. The three stages, or modes, of the spiritual life are Purgation, Illumination, and Union. The idea is simple and intuitive. First a soul is swept and cleaned—purged. During this stage or mode, there is a heavy emphasis on a moral or an ethical life, confession, repentance, habits, vices. Then, the soul is filled with God, filled with Light. This mode of Christian progress is heavy on catechesis, knowledge, nurturing a sensitivity to the Spirit, the development of the fruits of that same Spirit, virtues. Then, the soul, swept and filled with the presence of God, grows in its union with Him. This mode in the Threefold Way is heavy on contemplation, spiritual direction, acts of mercy and wisdom, even mystical prayer for some. The Church’s process for Baptism followed this progression. Catechumens were put under strict ethical training before they were taught the mysteries of Christian theology. Purgation, then Illumination.

In our texts for this 3rd Sunday in Lent, the first two modes of the Threefold Way are in clear view—Purgation and Illumination. The most obvious reference is in the Gospel. “When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.” First the house, or soul, must be purged, then it must be filled with the Spirit of the Living God.

We also see this dynamic at work clearly in our Epistle from Ephesians 5. Paul begins by exhorting the Ephesians to be followers of Christ, to walk in the Way of Love. What is the Way? Paul follows a clear progression in laying out the Way. First, he has a long section devoted to avoiding Sin, which he calls darkness. Then, there is a long section on walking in the Light, being filled with the fruit of the Spirit. “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light.” First, purgation of Sin, then, illumination by the Light of the Spirit.

I don’t know if you have ever been privy to the seemingly endless debates on how to parent. Some parenting books stress obedience to authority, a good and gentle authority, nurturing a healthy fear of the Lord, which the Bible says is the beginning of Wisdom. The use of punishment, because this perspective sees the essential issue as depravity, an issue of the Will. “Billy, clean your room.” “No.” [Whop!] “Yes, papa.” Then there are other perspectives on parenting, much more contemporary, that seek to develop a child’s conscience through appeals to their reason, logic, or self-interest. The goal here is Wisdom. Rather than command, it would seek persuade. Rather than punish, it would present consequences. This perspective sees the essential issue, not so much as depravity, but a lack of Wisdom. I find merit in both approaches at certain stages of development. For parents who are unable to affirm different stages in the development of a child, which call for different approaches, the effects are disastrous. Appealing to a 3 year old’s logic or self-interest is like pushing a rope. “Billy, don’t you want to clean your room? It is good to have a clean room.” “Nope.” Likewise, always issuing commands to a 14 year old as if they were a child, with no appeal to the use of Wisdom and discretion leaves them angry and underdeveloped. There are stages. One comes before the other. Each calls for a different approach and have different emphases.

It is so helpful and wise to have the Threefold Way. Like with parenting, so many errors and imbalances make their way into the Christian life because we cannot distinguish between different stages of growth. Sometimes people put Illumination before Purgation. Sometimes, people treat all of life as Purgation. Other brands of the Faith treat all of life as union, and the mention of purgation is immediately accused of legalism. But St. Paul exhorts the Ephesians to leave the darkness, and walk in the Light.

It is worth noting that the sins that we are to be purged of that St. Paul lists in Ephesians 5 are mainly sins of the body. “But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”

Christians are chaste people. This was an issue in St. Paul’s day. It is certainly a problem in ours. I need not give the statistics that show how filthy the common Christian’s house is. But Paul says, “let it not be once named among you.” Purgation comes first. What progress can we hope to make in the spiritual life when we walk in unchastity? Give these things no quarter. If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. If a thing causes you to sin, take a hammer to it. This leaving of sin, which we have called Purgation, St. Paul calls “not having any fellowship with darkness.” It is on the second phase that our terminology aligns. What we call Illumination, he calls “walking in the Light.”

After they leave the darkness, those who are “followers of God” are filled with Light and walk in the Light. The Light is, of course, the Spirit of God. The Spirit fills the house. Ancient commentators on the Gospel pointed out that the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit are the defense against the seven spirits more wicked than the first that Jesus says will try to return to a purged soul. This is what happens in Baptism. The soul is filled with the Spirit of Christ. In fact, the Church has called Baptism “illumination” for almost 2 millennia, starting in this very reading in Ephesians 5, which I’ll explain in a minute. So, children of God are filled with Light.

And, children of God walk in the Light. St. Paul says, "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light…And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.” In other words, when our secret sins are correct, we re-enter that holy dynamic of purgation and illumination. Our deeds of darkness are exposed by the Light, and when this happens the areas of our houses that were filthy become powerful places of holiness and light. Don’t live in the darkness. Don’t live in secrecy. The first step of Purgation is to confess. Confess to a friend, confess to your priest, confess to your family. On the other side of secrecy is not shame, it is Light, and joy, and the peace of a clean conscience. Walk in the Light.

It is fitting that these texts are given to us today, on the day of Aliya’s baptism. The Church has always believed that Baptism is an exorcism and an illumination. A purgation and a filling. Though the process of repentance is to be repeated throughout life, all the sweeping and filling that follows is really a re-entrance of the Great Sweep and the Great Filling of Baptism. Aliya is the house in the Gospel. And so are you. Every baptism is an opportunity to renew your vows, and partake of that same Grace which purged you and filled you with Light in your Baptism.

The closing verse of our Epistle, St. Paul actually uses a portion of baptismal hymn used in the early, early Church. “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” Aliya, you are filled with the Light of Jesus. Walk in that Light. The Light exposes all secrets. This is hard, but it is good. The Light of Jesus and the Water of Baptism grow in you the fruits of holiness. This is very good. May God show us all the Light of His Countenance, may He by His power expose us, sweep us, and fill us, that we would radiate His Light to those still in darkness. Amen.