Sermon for the 4th Sunday After Trinity, 2021

You can tell a lot about a culture by the professions that its people honor and aspire to join. Athens had its philosophers, Sparta its warriors, Rome its patricians, the Middle Ages its saints, the Renaissance its artists, the Industrial Age its titans of industry, and so on and so forth. It is perhaps a sign of our society’s deep decadence that the equivalent aspirational vocation in our society--as I have learned from hearing the dreams of many of my students--is, in fact, the social media influencer. For those of you who don’t know, a social media influencer is someone who is perceived to have credibility on a certain topic, has a massive online following, and can motivate their followers to act based on their recommendations, earning them the big bucks from large corporations looking to cash in on these influencers’ fan bases. While one might think that shilling merchandise for cash might cost influencers followers, being paid to promote products has become such a status symbol online that, as The Atlantic reports, some wannabe influencers actually create fake sponsored posts that suggest they have cut lucrative brand deals with big business. With the social media influencer, we have arrived, I believe, at the apotheosis of humankind’s predilection towards vainglory, which is the subject of this morning’s homily.

In these early weeks of Trinitytide, the Prayer Book focuses our attention on the seven deadly or capital sins. This week, the collect and our readings present us with the sin of vainglory. Simply put, vainglory refers to an excessive or disordered desire for status, recognition, or fame. As the word itself indicates, the “glory” being sought after is, however, “vain,” insofar as it is sought for the wrong things, in the wrong way, or from the wrong people. 

While closely related to pride, vainglory is a distinct sin: we can, for instance, take pride in our excellence without needing it to be affirmed by others, as in the case of someone with a narcissistic superiority complex; likewise, we can be vainglorious without having any actual excellence to take pride in, as in the case of the fraudulent social media influencers. Think of it this way: if pride is thinking yourself better than others, whether it be at your job, at trivia night, or even in your spiritual walk with God, vainglory is making sure that others know that you are better than them at those things. Thus, our social media influencers are our poster children for vainglory: their goal is simply to win fame and approval from others without having actually done anything truly virtuous or excellent that would merit such honor and attention. They are, simply put, famous for being famous. 

This overview of vainglory brings us to the collect and readings for this morning. Let’s start with the epistle, from Romans 8, where the subject of glory runs through the entire chapter. In our passage for this morning, St. Paul reminds us that the human desire for glory is actually something that God has built into us, for we are intended to desire that glory “which shall be revealed in us” at the time of our “full adoption as sons” and the “redemption of our bodies.” Paul is speaking of our future glory, which will be made manifest in us when God brings all things to their consummation in the new heavens and the new earth. This has been God’s purpose for us all along; as Psalm 8 tells us, God made man “lower than the angels, to crown him with glory and worship.” Thus, as Rebecca DeYoung explains in her excellent book on the vices, “The glory itself isn’t the main problem; it’s the vanity of how we seek it and what we seek to find in it.” Indeed, as St. Paul puts it back in our Epistle reading, the problem is that our desire for glory has been distorted, corrupted due to sin, and as a result all of us (and even creation itself!) have been subjected to vanity, to the pursuit of a false or vain glory that only leads to emptiness and disappointment. Within the present “bondage of corruption,” we find ourselves frustrated by our inability to be as we were intended to be before the Fall. And so, we instead pursue a false glory, vainglory. Our pursuit of the applause and the affirmation of others, as understandable as it may be, can only ever lead us to the words which open the book of Ecclesiastes: “Vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth forever.” 

What then shall we do? Paul, in our Epistle reading, shows us how we can reorient our thinking away from vainglory. For Paul, our hope in this future glory is what allows us to endure the sufferings of this present time. We need not chase after the empty applause and fleeting approval of this world precisely because God has promised eternal glory to those who endure, with the help of the Holy Spirit, our present sufferings, looking forward to the “glorious liberty of the children of God” at the time of the resurrection. We can certainly understand how those who, without this eternal hope, survey the wreckage of the world around them with the aforementioned attitude described at the outset of Ecclesiastes and conclude that the best they can make of their lives is to pile up as much wealth, power, and status as they can--fleeting and vain though they know it to be--before they die, hoping to be remembered as someone who has gone down in history as having been famous and important. But this is not the way of the Christian; we need not fight over the scraps of vain glory in this life because we can look forward to feasting on the glorious banquet that God has promised to those who have been adopted as his sons. This, I think, is what the collect for this morning is getting at: it beseeches God to help us to “pass through things temporal, that we may finally lose not the things eternal.” Indeed, one of the things that is so ruinous about our pursuit of vainglory is that it diverts our attention from God’s eternal promises. 

Setting vainglory in this context of the contrast between “things temporal” and “things eternal” allows us to further unpack how vainglory sinks its claws into our souls. As the church fathers recognized, we are often ensnared by the things of this world insofar as vainglory is usually connected with the vice of greed. After all, if vainglory emphasizes keeping up appearances and having others think highly of us, this sin will often manifest in the need to have to keep up the kind of lifestyle that others will find impressive and respectable. In fact, in his most famous homily on vainglory, St. John Chrysostom targets precisely this connection with greed: while people of his day sought to accumulate ever greater possessions, he reminded them that in God’s economy it is the poor and the outsider who is the greatest in his kingdom. In particular, Chrysostom had an intense interest in instructing parents to guard their children from vainglory, and his counsel focused on the relationship between vainglory and conspicuous consumption. As Chrysostom laments, “[A] father thinks of every means, not whereby he may direct the child’s life wisely, but whereby he may adorn it and clothe it in fine raiment and golden ornaments. Why dost thou this, O man? Granted that thou dost thyself wear these, why dost thou rear in this luxury thy son who is as yet still ignorant of this folly?” Rather, Chrysostom thunders, “I shall not cease exhorting and begging and supplicating you before all else to discipline your sons from the first. If thou dost care for thy son, show it thus, and in other ways too thou wilt have thy reward. [...] Raise up an athlete for Christ!” By using this athletic metaphor, hearkening back to Paul’s use of similar language in the New Testament, Chrysostom is pointing parents towards a vision of training in virtue that will impress upon their souls, from a very early age, the ways of God. In the case of vainglory, then, parents have the particular responsibility of modeling for their children a household in which concerns for status, especially insofar as they derive from an attitude of “keeping up with the Joneses,” are subverted by commitments to simplicity and generosity and to avoiding ostentation and greed. Would that we raise up such athletes for Christ in this parish! Keeping God’s promises ever before our eyes, and before the lives of our children, enables each of us and our families to put aside our vainglorious pursuits and instead live the kind of life modeled to us by our Lord Jesus Christ, as evidenced in this morning’s Gospel reading.

In the Gospel lesson, taken from Luke 6, we find a further antidote to the sickness of vainglory. These famous words of Christ, also found in Matthew’s Gospel as part of the Sermon on the Mount, provide some of the core ethical content by which God’s people are called to live. While we could certainly approach this passage from any number of angles, this morning I am most interested in seeing what it tells us about the subject of vainglory. In verse 39, the Lord warns us against following purported guides who are, in fact, blind. As Jesus says, “Can the blind lead the blind? Shall they not both fall into the ditch?” While the collect reminds us that God is to be our “true ruler and guide,” we all too easily fall under the influence of any number of false guides. To return to the image that opened this homily, we live in a time in which our most popular guides are vainglorious influencers who generally lack true sight beyond their own desire for further likes and clicks. Even within the church, the phenomenon of Christian celebrities who wield great influence over their followers apart from any formal training, commissioning, or accountability suggests that the problem of “the blind leading the blind” is a symptom of the disease of vainglory within the body of the church. These words of Jesus, then, should cause us to pause and reflect: who is leading you? Where are they leading you? To things temporal, or to things eternal? To fight the sin of vainglory, we must first learn to recognize and reject those vainglorious influences in our lives who would seek to make us into their images. Instead, the central pursuit of our lives must be to follow our true guide, Christ, regardless of the attitudes and opinions of others. Rebecca DeYoung points to a story about the desert father Macarius to illustrate what it might look like for Christians to reject vainglory in pursuit of single-minded obedience to Christ: Macarius “once counseled a young monk to go to the cemetery to shout both curses and praises at the dead. The monk returned reporting that he had dutifully done so and that in both cases (not surprisingly) they had made no reply. Macarius then delivered the punch line of this living parable, soberly informing the monk that he too must become like the dead, deaf to both the abuse and the accolades of others.” Rather than follow the blind (or the dead, for that matter), or to constantly compete with others for attention and prestige, we can, as this poor monk learned, walk forwards in faithfulness and obedience without concern for the opinions of others.

How, though, do we actually go about practicing this? While vainglory pulls our attention outward, as we focus on winning the approval and applause of others, Jesus’ teachings here instead pull our attention inward, suggesting that we should be more concerned with cultivating our own souls than with impressing others or competing with others for the sake of earthly recognition. Thus, in verse 42 of this passage, Christ instructs us to “cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.” And so while we can easily point out the vainglorious behavior of celebrities and so-called “lifestyle influencers,” careful self-examination reveals that we are likely no better off than many of them. How many of us, after all, use our own social media accounts to present a carefully curated picture of our perfect lives and perfect families to the world? How many of us are truly content to serve others in a way that no one else will ever know about or thank us for? How many of us spin conversations to make ourselves out to be better than we really are? No wonder, then, that our collect beseeches God to “increase and multiply upon us thy mercy.” For it is only by his mercy and his grace that we can transcend our proclivity towards vainglory. It is only by his mercy and grace that we can become more like Christ, who, as Paul tells us in his letter to the Philippians, “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.”  It is for this reason that Jesus, in verse 36 of this passage, commands us to “be merciful, as your Father also is merciful.” The one who truly understands and has been transformed by God’s mercy, grace, and forgiveness, should have little trouble extending that same mercy, grace, and forgiveness to others who have wronged us. And, I suspect, a Christian who has been so transformed will be more eager to magnify God and work for his glory rather than pursue his own self-glorification.

You may not ever become a celebrated philosopher, warrior, artist, or titan of industry, much less a global celebrity or social media influencer, but when you work for God’s glory and not your own, when you put aside vainglory and train yourself to be an athlete for Christ, know that you can rest assured that you are working towards an imperishable, eternal reward, worth far more than all the likes and clicks of this world. Amen.

Sermon for the 3rd Sunday after Trinity, 2021

Sermon for the 2nd Sunday after Trinity, 2021

Sermon for Trinity 2, 2021

Fr. Tony Melton

You know the scene. It is in dozens of movies. A man suspects he is being followed. It is dark. He is walking fast and listening hard, watching for whoever might jump out of one of the bushes bordering the path. His heart beating in his ears, something rustles a bush behind him to his right. He turns his head over his right shoulder and bolts forward, away from the sound, and runs face first into the clutches of his attacker.

Our victim was spending so much energy to avoid an attack from the front, but the sound from behind drew all his attention so that he didn’t see the greatest threat standing right in front of him. What’s the principle here? Big reactions leave big blind spots. We must beware of the Enemy’s tactics. Often he will throw out a legitimate threat in order to produce a justified reaction, but only to get us to turn our head and miss the lethal trap right in our path.

The greatest example of this, again from the movies, is in Jurassic Park, near the end, when the Australian hunter goes out into jungle to hunt the velociraptor. He hears the raptor rustling in the bushes. He walks forward with a self-confident grin, stalking his prey. He trains his gun and prepares to fire, when the head of the other raptor comes straight out of the bushes on his left. The moment before he is eaten alive, he says with a mix of fear and amusement, “Clever girl.”

There have been a lot of things in the last two years that warrant big reactions. If you have given the news agencies the ability to constantly interrupt your life of prayer with notifications about this or that shocking story, then your life will be one perpetual reaction. You are nearly guaranteed to miss the biggest threats. But the question must be asked, in our reactions to legitimate threats, what are our blind spots? Big reactions leave big blind spots. Big reactions often make us miss the most basic and obvious things, and leave us vulnerable to Satan, who is far more clever than any raptor.

I ask the question because our Epistle from 1 John 3 lays out our life in the simplest of terms. “This is God’s commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.” Believe on Jesus. Love one another. Believe and Love.

This morning, I simply want to expound our Epistle, that the simplicity and clarity of what we are to do as Christians might be perceived. Then, lest the shining clarity of the command fall into one of our blind spots because of our many and great reactions, I’ll point out some things that may keep us from the commands to believe and love.

First, our Epistle. Please turn to page 4 of your booklet. We are going to walk through each verse of 1 John 3:13-24. In the first few verses of our Epistle, St. John contrasts the Way of Christ with the Way of the World. Those who belong to Jesus love one another. They abide in life. The World hates one another, and especially those who follow the Way of Christ. Those who hate abide in death. The Way of the World is marked by hatred, murder, and death. But we are called to love.

“MARVEL not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.”

The love that Christians show one another isn’t because we are such great guys and gals. We can be different from the World for two reasons. We have the example of Christ before us and the Spirit of Christ within us.

“Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” And at the very end of the passage it says, “And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.”

So Jesus’ Way to Life is to love one another, and the World’s Way to Death is to hate one another.

What does it mean to love one another? What it mean to hate one another? St. John is very clear. We hate one another when we see someone else struggling and we leave them to fend for themselves. We love one another when we see a brother or sister in need and we are moved with compassion to meet that need, whatever it is.

“But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?”

To recap, the Way of Jesus, the Way of Life, is to love one another, which is to see and then to help a brother or sister.

It is one thing to see. Many are so far from love that they do not even see those in need. We all fall into this from time to time, don’t we? We miss the downcast face. We miss the beggar trapped by his addictions, yes, but also his trauma. We miss the burdens that each and every one of us carry because we don’t press passed the facades we show each other. Do you really think that everyone here is “Fine”? It takes attentiveness to see. “But whoso seeth his brother have need.” It takes courage to see, to ask.

But it is not enough to see. The love is in the doing. “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.” This is why we try to insist that when there is a need at the church, people ask for more than prayer and people give more than prayer. It is not because Prayer is unimportant or ineffective. It is the most important and effective thing. We insist upon tangible action because we are aware of the danger that St. John mentions. That, often, people stay in the Way of Hatred and Death, because they speak but do not do.

“My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”

This is the first section of our Epistle. The idea here is simple to understand. Hard to do. We are called to Love one another, to remember how Jesus saw our need and laid down his life for us, to see need, and to love in deed and in truth. This is the Way. We are called to flee the Way of Hatred and Death, which ignores the needs of others, and hoards this world’s goods, which has no pity or compassion. This is NOT the Way.

The next section is a bit more complicated, but the basic idea is when followers of the Way love one another it is a testimony to themselves that they belong to God.

“And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.”

Do you ever doubt that God loves you? Do you ever think that you are outside of Grace? We know that we are in Jesus when we begin to love like Jesus. We know that God is our Father when we start to act like His children.

“And hereby [meaning, when we love in deed and in truth] we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.”

This confidence that we have in Him changes everything. When we love one another, we know  we are in God. We know that we please God. We know that God hears us, and gives us the good desires of our hearts.

“And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.”

And lest there be any confusion about what the commandments of God are, St. John reminds us again.

“And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.”

To believe on Jesus and to love one another. These are the commandments. This is the Way. And the purpose of all this is Communion. We say it a lot, but it is true. The purpose for all things is Communion with God. Listen.

“And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.”

To sum it up, the Way of Jesus is the Way of Life. To walk it is to Love one another, to see need and to meet it out of compassion. This love that we share is a witness to the work of God among us, of God’s presence in us and with us. His presence in and with us is our ultimate purpose and our greatest joy.

The Way of the World is the Hatred and Death. If the Way of Jesus can be so simply described, and the primary dangers so simply named, then how could anyone miss them? Our biggest blind spots come from our biggest reactions.

The last two years have given us much to react to, much to distract us from the Commandment. There has been a pandemic, a real threat of disease. It was completely understandable to be cautious. In our reaction to this threat, it was easy to see one another, not as brothers and sisters made in the image of God, but as a possible source of sickness or germs. How can we see a brother or sister in need if our primary conception of them is a droplet dispenser? In our legitimate reaction to a medical threat, we must avoid letting THE COMMANDMENT to love one another fall within our blind spot.

We have had the real threat of personal liberty, even religious liberty. It was understandable to be concerned, even outraged. Yet in the turning to face this secondary threat, whether it be political or idealogical, we often can’t see the brother or sister in need right in front of us. We miss the Way of Jesus, which is to love one another. Even worse, in our distraction with worldly things, we fall pray to the attack of the Enemy. Before we know it, we are walking the Way of Death, which seeks the preservation of the Self and its Rights to the exclusion of the needs of the brother or sister.

There has been much political dissension. Politics are important, and there are pernicious ideas infecting the political landscape. Real threats. But in our reaction to these things, human beings become enemies very quickly. Their humanity falls within a blind spot because we are fixating on this or that debate.

There has been a great deal of spending. Many feel it was unjustified. Whether or not it was justified is beside the point. If our reaction to our governments economic approach causes us to consider human beings in mere economic categories, then we have lost the Way. The destitute are not takers. The jobless are not leeches. The Way of Jesus is to see human beings made in the Image of God, to see their need, their brokenness and hurt, to enter into the tangled mess of life and to love in deed and in truth.

This month is so called "Pride Month”. Words from this very passage of Scripture are ripped out of context and thrown in our faces. Love, by which they mean full acceptance of behavior. Hate, which they mean any moral limit to individual’s behavior. This calls for some reaction. It is okay to be frustrated. St. John says, “Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.” But in our reaction to this real threat, this twisting of Love, we must not shy away from biblical Love! Love is the Commandment! To see and to act for Christ’s sake. This is the Way.

In closing, I urge you this week to consider what it means to love one another. Ask yourself what blind spots your reactions have given you. Are you truly seeing your brother or your sister? We should be experts at reading faces. We should be courageous enough to ask hard questions. “How are you really doing? Why are you so downcast, or anxious, or angry? How can I walk through that with you?” This week, ask yourself, “Am I truly desiring the Good for my brother or sister? Am I willing to step into the mess to show the love of Christ?” Are you actively involved in someone else’s struggle? Are you using your resources of wisdom, hospitality, comfort, finances, and prayer to help a brother or sister untangle their mess?

This stepping in the gap is also a stepping on the Way of Jesus, which is Life. And in that Way we dwell in Him and He in us. We commune with Him both as we eat and drink at the Heavenly Banquet, and as we share table with those within the family of God and those without.

“My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.” Amen.

Sermon for the 1st Sunday after Trinity, 2021

Christ the King

Trinity I - 6/6/2021

In the first Chapter of the book of Jeremiah we read:

Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, "Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.  See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant."  And the word of the Lord came to me saying, "Jeremiah, what do you see?" And I said, "I see a rod of almond." Then the Lord said to me, "You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it."  The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, "What do you see?"  And I said, " I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north."  Then the Lord said to me, "Out of the north evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.  For lo, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, says the Lord; and they shall come and everyone shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls round about, and against all the cities of Judah.  And I will utter my judgements against them, for all their wickedness in forsaking me; they have burned incense to other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.  But you, gird up your loins; arise, and say to them everything I command you.  Do not be dismayed by them lest I dismay you before them.  And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, and iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its princes, its priests, and the people of the land.  They will fight against you; but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, says the Lord, to deliver you."

Throughout all the scriptures the question "What do I say?" is repeatedly raised by those whom God chose to send to his people…Over and over again, God's messengers turn to Him in response to His calling with this one question…"Yes Lord, I hear but….What do I say?"  "Lord, you want me to free the people of Israel from Egypt…What do I say?"  "Lord, you want me to do what?…What will I say?"  We routinely ask this of ourselves, don’t we? We can be afraid…afraid to interact…afraid to share the Gospel…afraid to speak up and take a stand… The question “What will I say?” haunts us. Ironically, this top priority question of even God's greatest prophets is of least importance in our Lord's redemptive plans. Perhaps we are asking the wrong question. Perhaps, rather than asking “what do I say?” we should take a note from the pages of Jeremiah and ask “what do I see?”

            When I look out over all of you gathered here, I don’t see just a small group of community Christians.  I don't see a helpless bunch of social clubbers…Or a lifeless and tired band of Sunday-only ritualists…  While we have clear prospects of needed improvement…from the time we began this work, I've seen something altogether different.

            I am reminded today of Joshua preparing to go in and possess the promised land of Canaan.  But there was a problem with that plan. You see, the main passage into the heart of the land was guarded by a stone fortress called Jericho.  So there he stood, before the commander of the Lord's Army who promised him a special victory. …… A victory over the enemy which would set the tone for their whole conquest throughout the land.  This special battle was not to be like any other.  It was to be a spiritual battle and hence a spiritual example to the people…fought by the Lord himself who promised to bring down the great walls of the stone city…but not without conditions…  First, that they devote everything in it to the Lord and second, that they continue on their conquest to capture the heart of the land and drive out the heathen from among them.  Now, we should all be familiar with the great story of how the walls of Jericho came tumbling down at the shout of the people and the blast of the trumpet. And we know all too well how Israel did capture Jerusalem, the heart of the nation, but then failed to drive out the nations from among them. But what else do you see? 

I see Israel, and I see man.  I see Jerusalem and I see the heart of man, protecting its sinful self with a Jericho-like fortress of stone guarding the way in…And I see a battle in the spiritual realm, lead by the commander of the Lord's army to clear the way into man's heart.  God held out to the people of Israel when they came up from Egypt not just a new land to live in but a unique promise.  …the emphasis of which was not so much on the promised land as on the promised life for those who dwelt within that land and remained in covenant with Him.  For those who inherited the land, that promise of a privileged relationship was right there, "And you shall be my people, and I will be your God…And I shall dwell in Jerusalem, my holy hill." What was so hard for the people of Israel to understand regarding this promise?  It was the Creator working the restoration of what once was between God and Man…a special relationship, in which man lived in Him and He in them.  But they wouldn’t have it.  They wouldn’t even take possession of the promise at first.  The cold hardness of their stony hearts blocked the way into this new relationship…and these weren’t heathens we’re talking about…These were the special, chosen people of God!!!!...just like you and me! …They had just been baptized through the Red Sea miracle and led by God Himself in a cloud by day and pillar of fire by night to the promise he swore to them and still their faith was unable to crush this fortress of sin. Finally, a forty-year generation later, God rears up a new generation to come forward and claim the promise.  And He establishes firmly in their minds just who it is that leads them and just what it is that must be done to conquer the nation.  And as the childhood song goes….the walls came tumbling down.

Then the years passed and they grew weary of the warring and Israel began to settle…they disregarded God’s command that they should fight until the job was complete….they became complacent and settled for an artificial peace amidst the pagans of the land…and once again, according to the promise of God, those pagans became thorns in their flesh, causing them to turn from the Lord their King.  Time after time God delivers them and for a while they are righteous but then they turn away.  They would not listen and they hardened their hearts.  It was written, "Cursed before the Lord be the man that rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho." But nevertheless, they rebuilt a spiritual Jericho within themselves.  So, finally, there was no option but to bring judgement and to purge the land through the removal of the people by the hand of Nebuchadnezar.  The lamentations of the prophet Jeremiah tell us of the sorry state of the separation of Israel from God…we would do well to hear Jeremiah's voice…to listen to the weeping and gnashing of teeth of them upon whom God turned his back, and to pray with all fervency that He be “a God at hand, and not a God afar off" as he said to Jeremiah…. we must seek His face and let our cries come before Him…and He will hear us.  He heard the cry of his devout people in exile…and he delivered them.>>>>>  The Lord again spoke to Jeremiah in the 18th chapter:

"`Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words.' So I went down to the potter's house and there he was working at his wheel.  And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.  Then the word of the Lord came to me: `O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? says the Lord.  Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so you are in my hand, O house of Israel."

God was reworking his people…a spoiled and complacent people, formed under marvelous wonders, but neglecting to put faith in their God, called to be priests to the world but participating in the world's pagan pageantry…Having a form Godliness but denying it’s power.  God's people needed to be refashioned into a new vessel…one which could be a tabernacle for his glory and carry his holiness to the world.  This vessel was to be different…it was to seek after Him and follow in His ways…It is Ezekiel who tells us God's plan in the 36th Chapter of his book…

"Therefore, say to the house of Israel, `Thus says the Lord God:  It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.  And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them; and the nations will know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.  For I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land.  I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.  A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances…and you shall be my people, and I will be your God."

My friends, through patience and love, God formed this vessel…but it took one thing to accomplish it.  It required that the commander of the Lord's army once again lead a righteous battle against the spiritual Jericho, now called Jerusalem.

A mighty fortress she had become and a great stone in the path to salvation were her teachers of the law.  The time had come for God to fulfill his promise...to rework his earthen vessel and to remove the heart of stone from his people.  So, in the fullness of time the commander of the Lord's army is sent to lead His people into the promise of inheritance, not merely by the law but by righteousness and faith.  God sent forth his Son to wage war against the souls of men…to conquer their hearts and put the law of righteousness and the spirit of truth within them….When Jesus looked at Jerusalem and said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, if you have enough faith, you can say to that mountain cast thyself into the sea…," He was showing them the way to the promised inheritance and pointing out the giant stone that stood in the path.  In the days of old, God gave the people His law…two stone tables…but now the time had come to remove the stones upon which they stumbled, leading them only to death,…. so He sends His law, not engraved upon stone, but embodied in flesh and blood….a living and breathing Testimony.  The stone pillars of the law which propped up the sin-filled chambers of the hearts of God's people needed to be brought down…and with the strength of a thousand Samson's, Christ the conqueror came to fulfill it.

  Stone filled hearts beware…!!!

"The shatterer has come up against you!"  said the prophet Nahum…

"Man the ramparts; watch the road; gird your loins; collect all your strength.  For the Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob, [restoring] the majesty of Israel."….and we are his people…and make no mistake He is our God!  >>> The Lord, Mighty in Battle, Who was, and is, and is to come!

It’s not a question of what do we say?… It’s a question of what do we see?…And I do see something…  …I see where this new parish is becoming something virbrant, something strong, holding dearly to the historic teaching and traditions of the Church and wanting to see that be built into something for the Lord……..You know the root word “to build” appears more than 400 times in the pages of Scripture…and many times in reference to God building unto himself a holy people.  So what I see my dear friends, is a construction opportunity…And not really of the bricks and mortar and remodeling type, although I would encourage us to continue what’s been started here in our new space  …What I see is an opportunity for CTK to rekindle people’s hearts…to turn them back to God, and to focus on building up the next generation of God’s people…. It is the prospect of passing down the most precious of gifts built upon the foundation of Christ, our Rock and our Redeemer…  An opportunity to be refashioned by the Great Potter and built into a noble vessel, and holy people. St. Peter spoke well when he said, “Ye also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”  But note the latter portion of St. Peter’s declaration…that the purpose of us being built up is to offer up spiritual sacrifices.  The opportunity will not come to fruition without ongoing sacrifice from all of us.  Over the next few weeks and months of the lively summer season I would encourage all of you to reflect on the sacrifice that Christ made on your behalf and on what your spiritual sacrifice needs to be in response…and in so doing, I urge you to take some time to read through the pages of Ezra and Nehemiah…where you will there find the chronicles of how God once strengthened the people, His remnant, to do His work, ….how He blessed their efforts, and how He restored that remnant of Israel ironically through a construction project…the rebuilding of the Temple and the Great Walls of Jerusalem.  We’ll also find there an example of how we are to spiritually carry this out as we labor in the wilderness of this fallen world.  Nehemiah tells us that not only did the people give of what they had, right down to their earrings, nose-rings and jewelry, not only did they come together as one, united around the single cause of rebuilding God’s earthly kingdom, but they labored day and night, DAY AND NIGHT!!... with tools in one hand and a sword in the other.  If we at CTK are to be built by God into that which Peter calls a “spiritual house” then we as his people must labor…we must take assessment of what skills and gifts he has provided through the Holy Ghost and then we must put them to work, trusting that He will sustain us and make us strong….and we must be well equipped with our giftings in one hand and the Word of God in the other, so that we may rightly divide the truth as we place one stone upon another.  And then, just as the people of Israel returned to their nation when the walls were complete, so He will bring the people of God out of exile, even in this very city of Atlanta, into this His spiritual house.

That is what I see.  And I believe with firm conviction that He who is able to do all things will further the work that has begun in and through you.  So let us not worry so much about what say…the Lord has always provided that…just go and show the love of Christ  you have in you by sharing what you see …Build up this spiritual house….and in the words of St. Jude, “Beloved, build up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keeping yourselves in the love of God, and looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”

Amen.

Sermon for Trinity Sunday, 2021

Homily for Trinity Sunday, 2021

Fr. Tony Melton

Christ the King Anglican

Ancient explorers had a dream and a wind. Erik the Red sailing West to Greenland. The host of Spanish and English explorers who found our own continent. However the Polynesian Islands were discovered was a feat of incredible courage and hope. Why did God make man and woman to be land mammals, tell them subdue all of creation, and then cover the Earth with over 70% water? A dog would never look out at an ocean and hope. An ape would never notice the wind, build a vessel, and sail out into the Great Unknown. There is something in man’s nature that allowed him to subdue, and discover the whole Earth. It is our capacity for Hope, sustained by the echo of Eden deep within our souls. This is why God told Adam and Eve, who were made for walking, to subdue the Earth, which is mainly water. We are voyagers, and we are on a voyage.

Today is the Octave, the eighth and final day of Feast of Pentecost. In Catechesis, I’ve explained that the Liturgical Calendar can be split into two cycles: the sacral cycle and the Trinity cycle. It is true that today marks the beginning of the Trinity Season. But, as the octave of Pentecost, Trinity Sunday is not detached from the rest of the Festal Year. On Christmas, something washed up on the shore of our world. An infant was born, Emmanuel, God with us. He grew, and taught, and told us of a kingdom across the sea. He said that He would have to set sail to prepare a place for us. He died and rose from the dead, and ascended across the seemingly impassable sea. But He promised that He would send us a Helper, a Spirit, a pneuma, a Wind, who would help us. What happened on Pentecost? A mighty wind filled the room. Pentecost is when the winds changed. Today, Trinity Sunday is when we see the vision of the other land.

The Greek word pneuma means both “spirit” and “wind”. Jesus, in our Gospel, John 3, draws out the significance of this double meaning. Verse 7 and 8, “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus cannot feel the wind yet, and so he cannot imagine the voyage. It is unconscionable to him. But for those who are born again by Water and the Pneuma, they feel it, and they must obey it and board the ship.

And, the Church is the ship. 1 Peter 3:20-21 speaks of Noah’s Ark as a type of the Church and the Flood as a type for baptism. Inside the church, we call the area where you sit the “nave,” which is the belly of a boat. This is why many churches have their ceilings covered in stained shiplap and coming to a point like the hull of a boat. It is common in the history of the Church to see Christ as our captain. Similarly, in the Apostolic Constitutions (II, xlvii) the bishop surrounded by the assembly of the faithful is compared to the helmsman of a ship.” Clement of Alexandria chose the symbol of the ship as his signet ring. And the relationship between Church and boat goes both ways. We christen boats before they go out to sea. On Pentecost, the Church is christened for her voyage. God gives a favorable wind. On Trinity Sunday, we set sail.

Set sail for where? Our Propers call it the Kingdom of God, which is not a place, but a reality. It is among us now, and yet we can be very far from it yet. It requires a journey not measured in linear or nautical distance. The arrive at the Kingdom of God requires a journey of the soul, The Epistle is St. John’s vision of the throne room of God in Revelation 4. This place is real. God is real. It is not just a figment of our imaginations. There is a space, with its own dimensions which we cannot comprehend, that is the source of all joy and beauty. Every atom within this creation can be a road into this sacred center. Most ignore it for their whole lives, most rule out the possibility of a land across the sea, but we as Christians affirm its reality when we say, “I believe in God.”

Let’s take a look at our Epistle on page 11. What do we see here? We see God on his throne. Unspeakable beauty. “And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.” Humans and angels glorified. “And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.” Worship. “The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are, and were created." Peace. Holiness. Happiness. Here, in the Kingdom of God, all things find their true purpose and place.

Why am I camping on the reality of the Kingdom of God? Because Trinity Season is a long season, a long voyage—25 weeks this year. If we take a look at human history, our inclination is to stay home, unless the hope of the other land is clear, strong, in color. Why else do you think St. John mentions jasper, sardine, gold, glass, and no less than 16 colors or precious stones in Revelation 4. We are born again, we can see the Kingdom of God. We must see it because we must have a clear hope, purpose, a goal, a destination, or else we will make no progress. If you do not establish clearly where you want to go during the season of Trinity, then your summer will be spent in the harbor. What are your goals for Trinitytide? It is not enough to just survive. We will be healed as we journey.

From Genesis on, God has been crafting a boat, the Church. On Pentecost, He has given us a wind, the Holy Spirit. On Trinity Sunday he has given us a vision of another land, the Kingdom of God. But, oh, if only sailing were easy! In the Collect we beseech God that He would “keep us stedfast in this Faith, and evermore defend us from all adversities.” How appropriate. There is more than you know that is set against you setting sail this summer. Satan would love nothing more than to keep you on the shore. Can you imagine the adversities that were set against Nicodemus? The pressure and shame from his fellow Pharisees? The humility required from a man of his learning to receive strange teaching from a younger man? The intensity of Satan’s purpose against him. We see later in the Gospels that Nicodemus probably did come to Faith, but how difficult is it to be stedfast in that Faith? In a boat, the first few days, maybe weeks are exhilarating. But what happens when you don’t see land for two months? What happens when you lose your direction and get off track?  We can be inspired by St. John who, at the end of his life, did arrive at the Kingdom of God. He says in verse 10 of Revelation 1, “I was “in the pneuma on the Lord’s Day.”  And so we should pray our Collect to be defended and steadfast as we set out for our destination.

The destination for every Christian is the Kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit will lead us there. He knows the way there. Jesus made the way. He has made the voyage. He is the captain of our Salvation, the captain of the ship.

In closing, I’d like to leave you with the image of a voyage, that you might set your hearts on the Kingdom of God and use this Trinitytide well in the hope of Communion.

A.   The Daily Office is like checking your tackle, ropes and using the sextant to get an orientation on the day.

B.   Private Devotion is like putting up your sails, attentively awaiting the Spirit’s power and direction.

C.   The Eucharist is like fresh rain on a parched crew, or fish caught and prepared by our captain.

D.   Acts of mercy and discipline are like putting out the oars to row.

E.   Attending service is sitting in the nave of the ship. God promises that when two or three are gathered, His wind will push them toward the Kingdom.

F.    Giving alms is like jettisoning cargo to avoid sinking in the storms of temptation.

G.   Confession and Absolution are like discovering a leak in the hull and having it patched.

H.   Sin is like bringing rats on board, which spread disease.

I.       There is plenty of nourishment on board, but acedia is the neglect of nutrition. Instead of leading to scurvy, acedia leads to dejection and all sorts of spiritual diseases.

J.     Schism is mutiny.

K.   The world, the Flesh, and the Devil make a nasty lot of pirates.

L.    The Word of God is our cannon.

M.  The strength of God’s promise is the strength of our hull.

Soon we will have our next round of clergy check-in calls. Let those conversations be about how best to make progress on the journey, or the best direction to go, not about whether or not to go. Today, set sail. It’s hard. It’s dangerous. It takes time and effort. You have to give up other things. Prayer is not fun all the time. Fasting is less so. Contemplating the Word can be frustrating. Repentance can be scary. Forgiveness is risky. But we have everything the ancient voyagers had and more. This week, sit down and think about where God is calling you to go and grow. Strategize on what route you will take. St. John has given us a dream and Pentecost a wind. May God, who has opened the door of heaven, and has called us up hither to shew us things which must be hereafter, and who has christened us with His Spirit, keep and defend us as we keep the Faith this Trinity Season. Amen.

Sermon for Pentecost, Commonly called Whitsunday, 2021

Bob Derryberry was one of my mentors in college. He was ancient by the time I became his student—a legend in that part of the country for his work in Communications, specifically Speech and Debate. He used to call me Pastor Tony. One thing that he would often say when critiquing speeches was, “Say something! Choose one thing to say and say it!” By and large, I’ve taken his advice. Most things are communicated better when they aren’t cluttered by other competing points. BUT, Dr. Derryberry never had to preach on Pentecost Sunday. With a central text like Acts 2, there is just too much to say. So, this morning I’m going to give a brief overview of the significances of Pentecost.

Before we get started, some particulars. I want to make sure you know what I’m talking about when I say “Pentecost.” Pentecost celebrates the sending of the Holy Spirit upon the Church. After the Ascension, the Church waited in Jerusalem. One day as they were gathered together, flames of fire broke from heaven and rested above the heads of the apostles. People spoke the Gospel in the languages of the people around them, even without knowing those languages themselves. A spirit of repentance descended on the people so that 3,000 men and their households were baptized and added to the Church. We call this day Pentecost because it happened on the Jewish feast of Pentecost.

Pentecost is the culmination of the Christian Year. Upon first glance, this might simply appear to be a cool event. “Oh! Flames of fire, strong wind, other tongues, mass conversion… That’s neat! I like that story.” But Pentecost is more than a story in the Bible. It is the culmination of the Christian Year. We started the Sacral Cycle in the Calendar with Advent, then Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Passiontide, Easter, Ascension, and now Pentecost. After Pentecost is the long season of Trinity, then we restart with Advent. So, as we contemplate the mystery of our salvation in Jesus Christ, Pentecost comes last. Naturally, it serves as the resolution or culmination of what has gone before.

So having discussed the details of what happened at Pentecost, and having put it in the context of the Church Calendar, I’d like to give 5 meanings of Pentecost.

First, Pentecost fulfills the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai. Pentecost means “50 days” after Passover. The Hebrews after the Exodus went to Mt. Sinai and celebrated the first Passover. 50 days later, God gave Moses the Ten Commandments written on tablets of Stone. The feast of Passover celebrated this giving of the Law. But though the writing of the Law on tablets of stone is wonderful and worthy of celebration, it was not enough to cure man’s sick soul. The Law needed to be written on man’s heart, as Ezekiel says, “And I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh.” And later, “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.” On the same day that the Jews celebrated the giving of the stone tablets of the Law, the Holy Spirit began to engrave the Ten Commandments upon the hearts of God’s people. Now we can truly keep it! Pentecost is the fulfillment of the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai.

Second, Pentecost reverses the Tower of Babel. In Genesis 11, mankind bands together against God, building a tower of their own to reach the heavens. God confuses their speech so that they cannot understand one another. It splits mankind into separate groups. God does this because after the Fall, the solution to our Problem was not for all people to come together as one. It sounds nice. The Beatles sung about it. But the problem with humanity was deeper than a lack of teamwork, it was a disease of the heart. As we have seen, on Pentecost, God gave the Spirit which remade the heart. He solved the root of the problem, so He lifts the curse of disunity. For this brief moment and several times since, God miraculously translates the differing languages of the earth so that men can come together, not around a Tower of their own making, but around Jesus Christ who ascended into the highest realm of heaven. Pentecost reverses the Tower of Babel.

Third, Pentecost continues the Incarnation. I’ll read you the paragraph for this Sunday from Farrer, “PENTECOST is not the feast of the Holy Ghost, it is the feast of his descent upon us.  The Son of God came down and was made man in the womb of Mary.  The Holy Ghost came down and was made human in the souls of Christians.  When Jesus was ripe for birth, he left Mary's womb, to grow up and be himself.  He outgrew first her womb and then her lap, first her protection, last her person and her mind.  But as the Holy Ghost grows in us, it is not he but we who grow.  He does not grow up and leave us behind, we grow up into him.” Pentecost continues the Incarnation.

Fourth, Pentecost proves peace between God and Man. This from St. Chrysostom, “As in a long war it happens; when the war is ended, and peace concluded, Pledges and Hostages are mutually sent, both as tokens of, and securities for, the mutual agreement and peace: so was it betwixt God and Man. After our Lord Jesus had ended the long war betwixt God and Man, and finished the reconciliation, he sent up, or rather he carried up himself, our Hostage, our flesh and nature ennobled by the union with his Divine Person, as a royal pledge to his Father: on the other side, God sent this day his royal Hostage, his Holy Spirit, a security for our future peace.” Pentecost proves peace between God and Man.

Fifth, Pentecost establishes the Church as the candle of the World. God sent flames of fire to rest on the heads of the Apostles because they as the pillars of the Church would serve as witness to the Great Light of the World, Jesus Christ. We all share in this apostolic witness. We all shed this Light because we are baptized into the One, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. It is with reference to Pentecost and the vocation to serve as a candle to the world, that bishops in succession from the Apostles wear mitres, tall hats in the shape of a candle or flame. It is with Pentecost in mind and the sending of fire upon the Apostles that the Church plans an Ember Week during Pentecost Week. An Ember Week is a Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday where God’s people pray particularly for their clergy, that the fire or Ember that was lit on Pentecost would never go out, but would be sustained by the steady breathe of God. It is with reference to the Church as candle or Light that Pentecost receives its other name: Whitsunday. Baptisms are common on Pentecost and those seeking Baptism where bright white clothes showing that they receive the fire of Holy Ghost and are made bright and pure by God’s grace. Pentecost establishes the Church as the candle of the World.

Many of you are here today to see the baptism of Andrew Girard. There is hardly anything more beautiful than the baptism of an infant. When you see how great and multi-faceted our salvation is, and to think that all of that is accomplished in a baby! It is the best display that salvation is only by Grace. It is gift. On Pentecost, God rained down the gift of His Holy Spirit on the Church. Then 3,000 were included in that gift by Baptism. Baptism takes the great mystery and complexity of the Gospel and directs it toward an individual. Lest the great significances of Pentecost be lost in your minds, I’d like to tell you how they apply to the newest member of the Church: Andrew Girard. And, of course, as you hear them, remember that these are true for all who are baptized and abide in Christ.

First, Andrew now has the Law of God written on his heart. His nature is different than it was this morning. The same fire that rested on the Apostles’ heads cauterized upon his heart, “Holiness to the Lord.” Now, the Law which we recite in the Liturgy is united to his conscience by the power of the Spirit. He can still deny it, and will from time to time. But he has God’s law written on his heart.

Second, Andrew is a part of the great fellowship of the world. The Church is the only true unity of mankind in the world because we are the only ones for whom God has reversed the curse of Babel. Andrew never has to be alone. He has millions of brothers and sisters in the Lord. He is a member of a people who ever Sunday ascend high into heaven as a people unified in Christ.

Third, Andrew now has God living within him. When he is a little older and prays at night before bed, there actually is the whisper of God within him. God is very near, energizing him, teaching, convicting, and comforting him.

Fourth, Andrew is at peace with God. Jesus has a human body right now, and is sitting with the Father. The Father loves everything about His Son, even His humanity. When God sees Jesus, He is reminded of Andrew. And because Andrew has the Holy Spirit living within Him, it also true that when the Father sees Andrew, He sees Himself, too. Thus, there is more than peace. There is adoption and love.

And lastly, Andrew is pure, strong, and bright in the Spirit. He is filled with the fire of God. Not only has God changed his heart, Andrew has within him a mighty power, the same Spirit that enabled the Church to witness to the Resurrection with all boldness and without hindrance.

All this is true of Andrew Girard by virtue of His Baptism. And all this is true of those who abide in their Baptism. And so I leave you with this blessing. May the Holy Spirit redraw God’s Law on your heart. May the Holy Spirit bind you with your brothers and sisters in Christ. May the life of God continue to grow in you that you might have peace and power to be a shining witness to the Gospel. Amen.