20th Sunday after Pentecost 23 Oct 2022 Sermon

20^th Sunday after Pentecost 23 October 2022 All for God

Be not drunk with wine (epistle). Many think the Church is restrictive and makes life harder than it needs to be. As teacher the Church explains the word of God to all who are prepared to listen.

The word of God brings life and joy to all who pay heed to it. This word sometimes restricts, and sometimes commands, but always is aimed at helping people to the greatest happiness – which is the knowledge of God, and being in right relationship with Him.

Sinners will try to avoid God, much as Adam did when he committed the first sin. He tried to hide in the bushes! We cannot escape Him As the psalm puts it (Ps 138 (139), 8): If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. But we don’t need to escape.

God owns us body and soul, as He owns the whole of creation. Is this a scary thought? Not if He has only goodwill towards us.

It is not every day that God asks us something major. Most of the time it will be just ambling along, trying to get all our decisions right.

The next word we speak, the next thought we think, or action we do. Taken one at a time it is not so hard. If God asks it of us we know two things straight away – it is good for us, and it is achievable. God will never ask more than we can give.

Some things are with us all the time, like being married, or having a particular career. Other things might happen only once, like being caught in a flood or a fire. In all cases we are disciples of Christ, and we seek to bring Him to every situation.

Nothing is completely my own – my time, money, possessions, even my life – these are His, more than they are mine.

It is easy to say this while inside a church but the old ways creep back in! It takes about one lifetime to get this right, and that is what we are attempting.

The key is to see things in their true light - never forgetting the overall view, which is to get to Heaven.

Getting back to drinking wine, many things are good in themselves but become sinful if taken to excess. Wine, food, television, computer games, entertainment, sleep…

Some things are always wrong, others may be alright depending on other factors.

Our religion is not all hard grind; there are many joyful aspects to it as well. It is a matter of getting the right balance. Joy will have the last word, when all the dust has settled.

God can use people who let Him into their lives. This is how saints emerge; they are people who took God seriously enough to do what He wanted.

Whatever I do, whatever I refrain from doing - I give it to God to turn to good effect, happy to express gratitude that I am even allowed to exist.

Had we never sinned we would not have the distorted desires we have now. Obeying God would be as easy as breathing, so natural would it be.

We would then be wondering why anyone would ever disobey God.

Until that state is reached, God will give us the necessary understanding and willpower to eradicate harmful habits, and steer ourselves back into the right path.

We redeem the time because the days are evil (epistle); we claim time for what it was meant for, which is for us to worship God and seek to lead others to the same conclusion.

Many are still hiding from God, trying to avoid His eye; trying to navigate difficult waters by their own ingenuity, when they could be aboard the unsinkable ship, the Church. Unsinkable and unerring, till the final harbour is reached.

19th Sunday after Pentecost 16 Oct 2022 Sermon

19^th Sunday after Pentecost 16 October 2022 Invitation

Our Lord invites us to the banquet, which represents His kingdom, or we could say, His Church.

Some invitations are too good to refuse and this is certainly one of those.

Coming from God an invitation is much the same as being commanded.

We might resent being commanded to do anything but if it makes us happier why complain?

If we refuse an invitation it means we forfeit whatever benefit would come to us from acceptance. People are sometimes very casual about God, as though they can sort it out with Him anytime. The time might run out before they ever do sort it out.

There is too much at stake to delay entry into His banquet, to get ourselves right with Him, and stay in a state of grace.

To be without God for all eternity is an agony, comparable to but far worse than suffering a burning thirst or any similar pain.

Is it unfair of God to put such a weighty choice on us? It is best not to be too fussy; better just to accept the invitation and then sort out what it all means.

We cannot demand to be treated as equal partners. We have to trust that God has set up the best arrangement possible for us.

If we are being rescued we don’t want to have a discussion about it, till the danger is past.

A direct straightforward approach is required; God proposes and man agrees.

We can't do it by ourselves, nor on our own terms. If we can humble ourselves enough to realize this we will be fine.

God did not ask does not ask us first how He was going to arrange His universe or what various creations He would make.

We are born into these things; we have no say. But why argue? It is better if we agree and go from there (be it done unto me according to thy word).

We cannot change the system, but we can work with it.

The only way to be saved is to go with Christ and be admitted into His kingdom.

To belong to the Church requires that we conform on certain matters of faith and morality. We do need someone to tell us what to do when it comes to things of major import such as basic beliefs and teachings.

But that is not to limit us; it actually serves as a springboard to greater knowledge and freedom.

To live in a state of grace is much happier than living apart from God, deep in sin.

It is not strength but pride which leads people to refuse to conform to a higher truth.

I can work it out myself, they will say. For how long?

We will have the chance to exercise our particular gifts once we have come inside to the banquet.. Humility will protect us from any temptation to go it alone. This is wearing the wedding garment – conforming to the conditions of the banquet.

There is strength in unity and together we can make our talents available as the Holy Spirit directs (1 Cor 12,11). We bring what we have and it is multiplied (parable of talents Mt 25,14-30) (or the loaves and fishes, Jn 6,1-14)).

And who knows what limit there is to the Church if enough of her members can wake up to this?

Each person has the power to strengthen or weaken the Church according to how he responds to Our Lord’s offer.

For ourselves, we accept the invitation and enjoy the banquet!

 

18th Sunday after Pentecost 9 Oct 2022 Sermon

18^th Sunday after Pentecost 9 October 2022 Forgiveness

The Scribes questioned Our Lord’s right or ability to forgive sins. He had the right to forgive because, being God, all sins are a direct personal offence to Himself, and therefore within His power to forgive.

Every sin pushes the sinner further away from Christ. It is a personal matter, not just the breaking of a rule.

Forgiveness restores what the sin has broken. When God forgives He treats the sinner as though nothing had happened. Though your sins are like scarlet they shall be as white as snow (Is 1,18). As far as the east is from the west so far has He moved our transgressions from us. (Ps 102 (103),12)

People might write others off  after an offence has been committed. There is often a strong desire for revenge. Not with God. He desires only the return of the sinner to a state of friendship.

God has no hatred or dislike for the sinner; He has only good will. He is not like humans insofar as He does not get progressively annoyed and impatient and finally lose His temper!

He is absolutely beyond such turbulence of feeling. He simply waits and hopes for true contrition from each person.

Sometimes the sin is punished. This is not revenge on God's part; it is meant to lead the sinner to reflect on the damage his sins have caused, and so be less likely to commit those sins again.

God looks on all sinners with love. But the sinners might not return that love, even after being offered forgiveness.

The forgiveness remains on offer; it is there in potential but not fully effective until acknowledged and received.

It is like a starving person who refuses to eat, though there is food available.

People usually welcome things which are free, but many are afraid of the ‘religious’ dimension in the case of mercy. They do not necessarily want to give up all their worldly ways.

Sin has a way of enslaving people, such that it is like an addiction which can be very hard to shake off.

Forgiveness is a great gift from God because we do not deserve such favourable treatment. ‘Forgiving’ is intensified giving. It is giving more than strict justice requires. It is like paying ten times the price of an object, purely out of generosity.

There is a proviso for us: we have to make a serious effort to refrain from further sin.

Even this, however, can be forgiven if we do not immediately break free.

True repentance will usually take more than one time; it has to be a continuous moving away from sin and towards God.

There is another proviso too, and that is that we must forgive one another. No small matter!

This is a condition Our Lord puts on divine forgiveness: But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Mt 6,15).

And the parable of the unforgiving debtor, Mt 18,21-35.

God expects us to see – as He does – the value behind the other person, even when that person has offended us. Just as God hopes and works for reconciliation with the offender, so should we.

This is part of the general requirement on Christians that we must love others, even if they do not love us.

Our willingness to forgive others should be on offer, in potential. If reconciliation happens, that is good. If not, I still have goodwill towards the offender, and will not add any further sin on my own account.

If we have a merciful attitude this creates an environment where reconciliation becomes much more likely.

And a lot less sin too, as we learn the ways of charity.

Lord, have mercy!

 

 

17th Sunday after Pentecost 2 Oct 2022 Sermon

17^th Sunday after Pentecost 2 October 2022 Love of Neighbour

It may seem a strange thing to be commanded to love someone as love is not something we can always choose or direct.

Some people, some things, are more loveable than others. It is accordingly easier to love some than others.

God wants us to see other people as He sees them, and not as how they might seem to us, with our limited perception.

If we interpret other people in terms of what faults they have, what is wrong with them, then we find them unlovable.

Often people do not go beyond this level when considering each other. Dishonest, bad-tempered, lazy, conceited, lustful… how can we love such people?

So we then settle for loving only those who love us, as Our Lord noted (Lk 6,32).

To start with someone’s faults is the wrong place.

If we try to see it from God's point of view, it becomes clearer.

God loves all His people, whether or not they are behaving properly.

Remember the father in the Prodigal Son parable (Lk 15,11-32). He loved both sons; one who was steady and dependable, and the other who was wild and foolish.

The father could see the good in the wild son; he could see past the faults to the basic goodness that was there, or would be there if the boy made a sincere repentance.

This is how God wants us to see each other. We do not dwell on the faults; they are obstacles which can be removed. The essential person is created to know, love and serve God, and to live with Him forever.

We do not have to deny the faults, only to see that they are not an intrinsic part of the person.

What is intrinsic is the image of God planted in each soul. That image might flourish or be covered with weeds, but it remains in place, and if it is overgrown with weeds, it is waiting to be restored.

We try to see the intrinsic goodness in our neighbour. Once we do see it then love follows on naturally; it will not be a great effort.

If we cannot find much good in the neighbour, and maybe a considerable amount of evil, then we join with God in seeking to restore that soul to the status that was intended for it.

God can see what He had in mind when He created each person, and He can also see the end result of each life, which we hope means salvation for most.

God has it firmly in His mind how everything should be, how one thing fits in with another. And ever since the first sin He has been restoring what has come adrift.

People enjoy restoring old houses, cars, coins, books, gardens - so why not the soul that is overgrown with sins and its effects?

Loving on our part amounts simply wanting the right and the good to emerge in each person, as God has been wanting and working for all time till now.

The human race has never got this right on any great scale. We look to Our Lord on the Cross to see this attitude in action. He loves those who are crucifying Him; He can see the good in them and is trying to draw it out.

‘Father, forgive them, they know not what they do’(Lk 23,34)

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.(1 Cor 13,7)

We are still too much like the older brother, somehow resenting that others can be forgiven without having been sufficiently punished!

Instead let us rejoice with the angels over one sinner who repents (Lk 15,10).