All Saints Anglican Church - Prescott, AZ

A Life Lived for the Gospel

Following Jesus in Humility

To Be A Neighbor

It Is Well With My Soul

What the Love of God Drives Us To

Jesus Wept Over It

The Older Brother - a Homily for Trinity IX - August 9, 2020

Christ Alone

A Better Way

A Homily for Lent 1 March 1, 2020 All Saints Anglican Church, Prescott, AZ   Text: Matthew 4:1-11   Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be always acceptable in thy sight, O Lord our strength and our redeemer. Amen.             It was a perfect day, like any other day, and they were tending to the garden, pruning branches, fertilizing the roots, and assuring all the plants had enough water when the serpent walked up, beautiful and perfect in every way. She liked the serpent, she always found him to be pretty, and he was delightfully clever. But that day he looked into her eyes and said something that changed the world forever.             It wasn’t that he said a lot, or even made any sort of pervasive arguments, and she wished she’d known better how to respond. No, all that the serpent said was: “did God really say?” It was just a tiny seed of doubt, a tiny nudge away from the truth. They had hoped not to fail God, they had hoped not to disappoint him. He was their friend, and how they liked those walks in the garden in the cool of the day. How they liked to be with him, he loved them so, he loved them, better than she loved her children.             But that question – how it haunted her every day – how it haunted her, why did she fall for such a silly little thing – why didn’t she answer better when he asked: “did God really say?”             We have two accounts of Satan tempting people, two accounts of the devil seeking to trip up people – he first goes after Adam and Eve – he goes after the first people, our first parents and tempts them into disbelief – even if its just momentary disbelief – “are you certain?” He asks and it’s this little question that is enough to lead them into sin. Then, when, instead of telling the devil what God actually, instead of telling the devil to go away for what he was suggesting was evil, they add to what God said, the devil sees his opportunity. He tempts Eve further – he tempts her by calling God a liar, and promising her power, and she and Adam take and eat, and sin entered the world. Sin infected them, and it has infected everyone ever since. Sin has lead to death, sickness, disease, pain, anger, disbelief, war, famine, and natural disaster. Sin is deadly, sin is the dreadful infection.             But Satan also tempted the second Adam, Satan came to him in the wilderness and asked him to prove himself. But Christ owed no one proof – but rather – set for us a model of rebuke, a model of putting off the devil, a model of total dependence upon God.             The wilderness – spiritual or literal is an interesting place – because in wilderness there are deep dark dangers – there are pitfalls, there are demons, there is dread and terribleness – but too in the wilderness is the opportunity to depend totally upon God.             One of three things can happen when we enter into a wilderness season – whether it be that of the intentional abstinence of Lent – the intentional mortification of the flesh – or that of the seasons when disappointment, disaster, and darkness besets us.             First we can be tempted into hardening our hearts – tempted into death – tempted into saying God is not God – God does not love and care for us, and so in our despondency we cast him aside for this present trial seems too dark, too hard.             Second – we can be tempted into self-reliance – tempted into saying we do not need God or anyone else, but we can handle this on our own. We can find within ourselves all the answers that we need – we can find happiness in the wilderness of the world, and so we kick God out, and strive to be our own gods.             We live in a time – where everyone has their own truths, where everyone is encouraged “to be true to themselves.” We are told to find happiness within ourselves – but such advice leads to spiritual disaster. No – I think that ancient definition of happiness is far better – Christian happiness is that feeling that we get when we see a friend from afar coming towards us. And this leads us to the third thing that can happen in the wilderness – we see God coming towards us – like the father of the prodigal son – we see God running to us and we are reminded that we desperately need to learn on God – desperately need to become saturated in His word, desperately need to lean totally and completely upon Him. Desperately need the Lord to be our shepherd, need to trust that He will lead us through the darkness and into the light of knowing Him.             The wilderness has had such a power over people because it is there we can meet God, it is in the wilderness of fasting – or the literal wilderness that we can learn to become completely dependent upon God, but at the same time – it is there that we can learn total self-reliance.             It is not without some irony that some have noted that out of the desert came the great teachings of the first monks, the great teachings that came out of total reliance upon God – but at the same time – out of the desert comes the city that is completely man made, where man taught himself to be dependent upon no-one else and that city is known by the moniker of “sin city.”             It is in the desert that Jesus wrestled with Satan and put him away – it is in the desert – not the garden that Jesus overcame the temptations that Adam and Eve failed to resist, it is in the desert that Christ showed us – how to abide deeply in Him, so that we may not fall as our first parents fell.             As modern and post-modern Americans we tend to forget that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” as St. Paul so eloquently put it. We tend to forget that the devil and his minions are very real – and are like roaring lions that seek the destruction of souls.             We have reasonable explanations for everything, and as such we have taught ourselves not to put on the whole armor of God, but an even deeper self-reliance, but this is not what Christ has modeled for us, and this is not the right response that we are called to.             The great evangelical Anglican Bishop J.C. Ryle summarized what first we must keep in mind, how deep and dark and dangerous the devil is:             “what a real and mighty enemy we have in the devil.” Ryle writes, “He is not afraid to assault even the Lord Jesus Himself. Three times over he attacks God’s own Son. Our Saviour was ‘tempted of the devil.’             It was the devil who brought sin into the world at the beginning. This is he, who vexed Job, deceived David, and gave Peter a heavy fall. This is he, whom the Bible calls a “murderer,’ a ‘liar,’ and a ‘roaring lion.’ This is he, whose enmity to our souls never slumbers and never sleeps. This is he, who for nearly 6000 years has been working at one work, to ruin men and women, and to draw them to hell. This is he, whose cunning and subtlety pass man’s understanding, and who often appears as ‘an angel of light.’”             Let us not have the hubris, or foolishness of our modern age and think that the devil no longer roams, think that what we see with our eyes, and touch with our hands is all that there is – let us be ever mindful of that great enemy of God and mankind, and let us take upon ourselves the whole armor of God, take upon ourselves the victory we find in Christ.             Now, St. Matthew does something interesting with His gospel. As we read it, it becomes very clear that he is writing to early Jewish believers in Christ. We know that this is his audience because he takes for granted that his readers would understand Jewish rituals and traditions, and does not take the time to explain them to his readers, where St. Mark does.             But he does something else interesting – the Old Testament is filled with men who were nearly deliverers – nearly ones who crushed the head of the serpent, crushed the head of the tempter – Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and David to name a few. Each one, came close, each one models for us faith – but each one sinned, each one fell short.             But over and over again – St. Matthew points his readers to ways in which Christ fulfilled that which those who came before him failed to fulfill. He is delivered from Egypt, he wanders in the wilderness, he gives five books of teachings and two tablets of the law – for St. Matthew Christ is the new Israel, He is creating the new Israel, He is opening the door to finally and fully be that blessing to all the nations as Abraham was promised. Christ is the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets.             It was interesting, on Friday we were talking at the confirmation class about this passage a little bit – and the way it is written, it’s not entirely clear – did the devil tempt Jesus throughout the forty days or did the devil wait until Jesus was weakened and tired?             The first few verses are not terribly clear, they read – “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him.”             Perhaps – the devil was like St. Paul’s thorn in his side constantly tempting him, causing Him to struggle, and thereby reminding Jesus to trust in God the Father, to lean not on His own understanding, to learn not in his fleshy power, but perhaps the devil came at the end of the temptation, when his flesh was weakened, when the days were starting to feel longer, and more exhausting. I think I read it in the later way – that he was sustained until the end – and as his fasting was coming to the end – the devil came to Him and tempted him.             Charles Spurgeon summarizes this rather eloquently: “throughout the long fast he was miraculously sustained; but at the close of it hunger began to try him. We are more in danger when our labour or suffering is over than during the time of its continuance. Now that the Lord is drained dry by his long fast, and is made faint by hunger, the enemy is  upon him. The devil is a great coward, and takes a mean advantage of us.” The devil waits until we are the most vulnerable and then launches various and sundry attacks upon us. He whispers “you are not good enough for God to love, you are too broken, to despised,” or else “you can do this on your own, you do not need him, you’re stronger, more independent, you are better than God.”             Both are insidious lies that live in our culture today – lies that say – you are irredeemable, or that you do not need redemption. My friends – we desperately need redemption – we are not otherwise fine without Christ, we are not mostly okay and Jesus is like vitamins – nice and makes us stronger, but most of us don’t really need him – No! we desperately need him in our lives – outside of Him we are dead– but there is no sin too dark, nor no depth too deep that God can not find us there – there is nothing that can separate us from His love – so do not believe the lies of the devil.             But Christ resists three temptations: the temptation to find sustenance outside of God, the temptation to test God, and the temptation to power. We face these temptations as well – and we find our hope not in ourselves but in Christ for He overcame them for us.             Ultimately. It is no surprise that Christ over comes the temptations for He is God-incarnate, Immanuel, God with us – but at the same time – he does what so many before Him had failed to do – he starts that great crushing of the wicked serpent’s head – he shows us that He will overcome evil for our sake.             He says to Satan – “God’s word is where true life comes from, not bread alone, not temporality alone,” he says “do not test God for you Satan have already thrown yourself down from heaven, and the angels did not catch you – I have come down from heaven willingly – and on the last day I will be raised up above all others and in that raising up – I will raise all who trust in me, I will crush your head, I will destroy your power.” He says – “no, I will only worship God the father – I will only serve Him, I and in that – I will inherit not earthly kingdoms that will fall away – but the eternal kingdom of heaven.”             Christ overcomes the devil in the wilderness for us – when so many others had failed, and as such in the wilderness of our lives – the wilderness of dreadful dark days – the wilderness of the Lenten fast – we are called not to trust in our own strength and power – but in the strength we find in Christ alone.             And he models for us that which St. Paul fleshes out in his epistle to the Ephesians – “take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.”             The devil throws at Jesus every attack he can think of – even manipulates the word of God – and Jesus responds with the word of God – rightly understood. Likewise, St. Paul paints for us a picture that knowing the word of God is an offensive way to push back the power of the devil, but too we hold faith that Christ has created in us a new heart – we let the truth of Christ bind us together – we put on Christ righteousness that it may become our own righteousness, that our inner life would be protected, we guard our mind with the fact of our salvation.             The Lord has given us sufficient protection regardless of what attacks the devil may come up with.             As we travel through this Lenten season, as we see our church blessed, as we see our lives become more rich in the Lord, let us keep in mind to put on the whole armor of God, let us keep in mind that Christ has perfectly put away the temptations of the devil, let us learn not to depend upon ourselves, but throw all our cares upon the Lord, that we may find our riches and joy in Christ alone.             In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.

The Temptation or Christ

Remain in Christ

A Homily for Sexagesima February 16, 2020 All Saints Anglican Church, Prescott, AZ   Text: Luke 8:4-15   Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be always acceptable in thy sight, O Lord our Strength and our redeemer. Amen.               This morning I want to tell you the story of how I became a Christian, because once, almost twenty years ago, someone tossed some seeds, and one landed in my heart. This seed changed my heart, turned me away from a worldly life, and redirected me towards Christ. I want to tell you this story in part because I think we can live a faithful life, we can continually cast the seeds of the gospel, and we can feel as though nothing we have done makes a difference, but we may never know where a seed has landed and how the Holy Spirit has used it to foster in someone a new life.             I also want to tell you it so you understand my heart as a pastor better, my heart as your pastor and priest. When I first became a deacon or perhaps shortly before that I spent the weekend with a friend and mentor of mine. We sat on his porch in Waldoboro, Maine chatting about life and hopes and dreams. During that weekend, he asked me “Ian, why do you want to be a priest?” there are few questions I have known the answer to more intuitively than I knew in that moment, and I what responded with is what I hope my life has been shaped around, I desire to be a priest in order “to make and grow Christians.” It is my desire because I know the difference Christ has made in my life – I hope I can point those who I’m called to serve towards him, towards knowing Him more intimately, towards a deeper relationship with the one who came and died for our sins, and set us free from the dreadful death of the world.             But back to how I met Jesus – there are two things you should know about me – first I have struggled with depression my whole life – I remember one day when I was seven, wondering and thinking, perhaps 8 will be better. Like other things – this isn’t something I talk a lot about, but it has been something that has propelled me into the arms of Christ – over and over again.             Secondly, I grew up nominally Roman Catholic. What this meant was when we were home my mom and I went to church, I remember being jealous of my cousins who were taught the Lord’s prayer. I remember my devout Roman Catholic grandfather being upset that I didn’t know the sign of the cross. Religion was something we did when it was convenient, but not something that was discussed freely at home. But now to meeting Jesus: my freshman year of high school my family and I spent a year traveling – we visited Nova Scotia, the eastern seaboard of the United States, and the Bahamas. It was an incredible gift that my parents gave me, to see the world slowly, to experience cultures outside of Maine, and to experience a different life than the vast majority of Americans get to experience. It was good.             But, as it turns out people change a lot freshman year of high school.             My two closest friends from middle school changed while I was gone – one discovered doing drugs was fun, and the other discovered that being mean to the dorky kid was a cathartic experience for him, perhaps, if it’s not clear – I should mention here that I was the dorky kid in question.             That year was a year of aloneness, wandering, sorrow, and of course deep, dark, depression. But something else happened – I applied for a leadership conference. All the sophomores had to apply, so it wasn’t anything special or to be honest, something I would have done on my own. I did my best to highlight all my qualities as a leader, and there weren’t many. I dutifully turned the assignment in and didn’t think of it again.             Until one day – I was called to the principal’s office with a popular, overachieving, somewhat meanspirited girl.             As I contemplated my story this past week, I couldn’t help but think of her, and wonder how she is, and realize – this is the reason we pray for those who have wounded us. Those wounding words she’d thrown at me – those are the same wounds Christ has tended to over the years – those are the same wounds that made Christ irresistible to me. For he stood in contrast to her and so many others. It was the wounds I bore that drove me to the arms of Christ.             But – back to the leadership conference, by the providence of God I was selected to attend. Providence is the only reasonable explanation because I was certainly nothing that even vaguely resembled a leader in high school – I was cripplingly shy, nervous around people, and quite a loner.             But I attended, and it was there that I met two people who loved Jesus.             Until then, the idea of an imminent and loving God was completely foreign to me, the idea of having a relationship with Jesus made no sense, maybe I had seen stereotypes on TV. But, to know God, to walk with Him, that was not a reality I could imagine. But now I had met people who did.             Then summer came, and depression and loneliness came with it. Darkness swept over me, as it so often did.             And I started asking those nagging questions – what is the meaning of all this? Is there truth? Is there hope? Old familiar questions.             But this time – I had seen a great light in two beautiful people. I explored and dove into these painful questions – and again and again and again Jesus made sense, I saw Jesus was the answer.             My conversion to Christ has always felt like an intellectual ascent, that in Him is truth, and that he IS the truth – but as I look back nearly 20 years later – I think he was beaconing me, calling me to himself, something inside of me shifted, it felt intellectual at the time – but it was certainly spiritual as well.             There wasn’t a moment as some people experience, I didn’t pray the sinners prayer – but I know I started August 2001 agnostic and worldly – and I ended it a Christian, still a sinner, but desperately thirsty for the love that only Christ can quench and how I drank!             Seeds were cast, the sowers didn’t bother to ask “did it land on good soil or bad?” they simply cast, and kept going, kept sowing, kept shining, kept loving.             I was telling some people this story recently and someone asked if meeting Christ cured my depression – the answer is no. But it is in Christ that I find solace, that I find peace, that those dark and tumultuous storms of my youth are less dark, less tumultuous, and in the end – when they come, and they do, they always push me back to my saviors arms.             St. Paul writes about a thorn in his flesh that he asked God to take away and God said – my grace is sufficient – in this – I am reminded that God’s grace is sufficient. I share my imperfections with you – so you know that like you – I am imperfect, that I have walked where you are walking, and I hope that it encourages you and helps you to know that you are not alone in all of these, that you have a friend who has walked where you are, and has experienced Christ in dark times. My friends – you are not alone – Christ is with you and you have a Christian family who is with you.                 But now what of our seeds and soil: Just as those who cast the seeds that landed in my heart – we have no idea where the seeds that we cast land – do they land on a hard heart or a soft heart? This is not ours to know. Do our seeds grow and blossom and produce beautiful flowers and more seeds? We may never know, we simply cast. Now, there is more to farming than simply casting seeds – but the immediate call of our lesson is to cast, and cast, and cast.             Jesus gives us two formulas for how to make disciples – first is what we read today – we go along in our several callings, doing beautiful works, glorifying God, and casting the seeds of the gospel upon the land. The second is that of the great commission – we are likewise called to go out making disciples and baptizing. To make a disciple is an active and intentional process, and so is casting seeds. But as we cast, we worry not what kind of soil it lands upon, at least not immediately.  Christ, again and again, criticizes his generation for being dull hearted, for being deaf, for never really understand what he is teaching. But Christ uses the underdogs, the outsiders, the unsuspected, the lowly fishermen, and the sinful tax collector, and the dirty prostitutes to reveal to them the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.             This same criticism can be made for our generation – we are so hardhearted, sin is normalized, we prefer our own way to the Way of Christ, we do what is right in our own mind, and not only that but we celebrate it as a culture!             But Christ uses the dorky, lonely kid from Maine, the druggies, the outsiders, the arrogant, and rude, and unkind sinners and he changes their hearts and in this he reveals to us who will be broken for Him – the kingdom of heaven.             Cultural undertones haven’t changed much, and as such the truth of the kingdom of God remain unknown, unrecognized by the world.               But Christ unravels the parables mystery for his disciples, and they through Saints Luke and Matthew and Mark unravel it for us.             On one side there is the call from the parable to let the light of Christ shine through our lives – to both an intentional and a passive scattering of seeds – to a sharing a gospel with your life – both in words and deed.             In words – knowing how God has worked in your life and being ready, as I did this morning to give a testimony, to say – this is how God has worked, how God has healed me, how God has softened my heart. Being ready to share the light and joy of Christ.             But in deeds is as important – if you tell someone God loves them, if you say I am a Christian but then you are rude to your waitress, get visible mad at the person in traffic, if you are unkind to those around you – this is incongruent with the Christian life. No – the Lord is softening our hearts and as such we grow in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The fruit of the spirit manifest in a way to testify to the world what God has done in our lives.             And so knowing the right answers is good – but showing the love of Christ to the world around us is better – loving your neighbor, your friends, your family, your co-workers is as much a part of sowing the seeds that change hearts.             But there’s a third part to the sowing – prayer. It is not our job to soften hearts – yes our witness can make a difference in someone’s life, but it was God who made my heart soft, and it was God who planted the seed, it was God who tended to the young seedling, and nurtured it into a healthy plant, it is God who reforms me and prunes me and calls me back to him, it is God who convicts me, and encourages me and again and again, and again. St. Paul writes about this. Yes various people do various things in the grow of Christians, one plants, another waters – but ultimately – it is God who gives the growth. So we pray – pray for our witness, pray for those whom struggle, pray for our loved ones who don’t know Christ. We pray constantly.             Now – there is a second side to this parable –it is a reminder of the necessity of tending to the soil of our own hearts. I want to be careful here – because we can easily become self-righteous or find our righteousness in our works. This is not what the Christian spiritual disciplines are, rather – they are a call to allow the spirit to reform our hearts.             People have suggested numerous disciplines – but these are some that are consistently cited as being important and central to our growth – privately – prayer, reading the word of God, and fasting, and as a community – corporate worship, participating in the Lord’s supper, and fellowship.             Privately – we are called to be constantly in prayer – we give God our joys, and sorrows, our hope and our disappointments. We are called to pray constantly.             We are called to be reading the word of God daily – to read His word is to hear his voice. It is amazing how often I have had struggles or question and the word redirects me, encourages me, and draws me nearer to Him and it is in reading God’s work we learn of His heart – and that the Holy Spirit is given words to form us.             We are called fast occasionally, but regularly. If you have fallen out of the tradition of fasting, I would encourage you to intentionally observe Anglicanism’s two days of fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. If you are over 72, you have a dispensation from fasting – but you can still moderate your food intake. Instead of eating big heavy meals, intentionally keep them simple that day. If you are under 72 and healthy, then abstain from all food for those two days – it might be hard – but it’ll be good. In your struggle, learn to depend all the more on Christ.             In community – in the body of Christ we are called to gather together to worship. Our time of corporate worship should be a priority for us. It is here that we are bound together, here that we learn together, here that we lay the foundations of our faith. The act of worshiping our Lord as a community is critical to our growth in Christ.             We are called to break the bread of the body of Christ, and to drink the wine of his blood, and we do so regularly. Partaking in the sacraments provide us with a mystical bond with Christ, allow us to experience Him in a tangible way that we cannot otherwise do.             Finally, in fellowship – we meet each other, and walk with each other through our trials and hardship. I have a dear friend at the seminary, we’ve traveled together through Greek for nearly two years. On our breaks during class we take a 10 minute walk together, sometimes he shares his hardships, sometimes it is my turn. It is a good and intimate time of friendship. This past week as we walked he said something – I could have been offended or hurt by it, but I know he loves me – and he has earned the right to say harsher things than many – so instead it was as though his words untied a knot in my heart that had been tangled for a very long time, it was as though I was freed from something that had plagued. We need brothers and sisters in Christ who are willing to love us, to walk with us in our hurt, and to exhort us to a deeper relationship with Christ.             It is ultimately the Holy Spirit who tends to the nature of our heart – but developing healthy Christian habits or disciplines draw us closer and closer to Christ. These are not ways to earn salvation, but rather ways that God uses to make our hearts tender for the sake of the kingdom. St. Paul, again, writes “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” We work, but it is God working.             As Lent draws near, I would encourage you to reflect upon what ways have you fallen short? In what ways is your heart hard? Are there Christian disciplines that you need to grow in, of the sake of the kingdom?             This week I provided another half sheet that you may find helpful in this time of reflection, one side has the Christian disciplines I mentioned on it, and the other asks these questions – that God may reveal to each of us where our heart needs tending to.             It is my hope and prayer that this season of Lent would be one of deep intimacy with Christ for all of us, of knowing that He lives and He is with us. For just as he is saving a dorky, lonely kid from Maine and transforming him into His child, Christ is working in all who know Him.             In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Seeds of the Kingdom

Being Remade

A Homily for The Presentation of Christ February 2, 2019 All Saints Anglican Church, Prescott, AZ   Text: Luke 2:29-32   Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be always acceptable in thy sight, O Lord our strength and our redeemer. Amen.               On January 3, 1957 four missionaries landed their plane upon a small sand strip in the Curary River in the jungle of Ecuador, some time be for this the young men had sensed a call from the Lord to reach the Huaorani people, who were known for being a particularly violent and relatively unreached people group. They had flown over the village and made initial contact and were hoping to soon make further contact, they knew this calling was dangerous, and perhaps deadly.             After three days a small group from the Huaorani reticently made contact with the missionaries. They took one of the young man flying on the plane, and at first all seemed peaceable. However, the leaders of the tribe became suspicious, and rightly so, because other outsiders were equally eager to make contact, but this contact was in hopes of taking away their land.             Soon jealousy over whelmed the leaders of the Huaorani and they planned an attack on the missionaries. At 3 pm on January 8th, the Huaorani made contact again, but this time with the intent of attacking and killing the four men. Shortly after this the missionaries were dead, and fearing retribution the Huaorani torched their village and fled.              One of the missionaries names was Jim Elliot – he perhaps is the most well know of the four for a number of reasons but one thing he is remembered for is a short statement he wrote in his journal: “he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Elliot and his four friends gave their lives which they knew they could not keep – in order to glorify God, and to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.                Perhaps to some of us this sounds absurd, but this morning we meet another man who is waiting with eager expectations to meet Christ, eager to know Christ, and to see his captive people set free. This morning we meet Simeon the prophet.             As I was studying and thinking about this passage – I was taken away by the thought of how in Christ’s early childhood narratives, he is barely seen, he is simply an infant given to the will of his earthly parents, and as such – shepherds, magi, angels, his parents, and two prophets become the focus of the narrative. Yet – even in this Christ is glorified, and we come to a deeper understand of who he is as our savior and incarnate Lord.             We of course know Simeon’s song well as it is sung or recited during Evening Prayer, and we refer to it as the Nunc Dimittis. The song was traditionally used by monks during their last time of prayer of the day. The words from Latin mean “now you dismiss” referring to Simeon’s prayer of “Lord now let your servant depart in peace,” which of course is Simeon saying “now I am ready to die, ready to be with you.”             The monks use this prayer as a closing song for the day as a part of their intentional reminder to habitually lay their lives down, to habitually die to themselves, which is our calling as well. For the monks of old the end of the day was another call to repent of the sins of that past day, to die to themselves, that come the next morning, if the Lord willed it they may rise to new life.              He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.               The English translations of Simeon’s song begins with an address to God, using the word “Lord.” However, this is fascinating because the word that is used is not the word typically used when Scripture refers to God the father as Lord, nor as Christ the son. Instead it is a far less common word that is used a mere ten times in the New Testament.             In almost all other cases the ESV translates it to “master,” one other time it is translated as “Lord,” and once, when used in conjunction with the typical word for “Lord” it is translated “sovereign.” These translational choices give us a glimpse as to what Simeon is trying to say – he isn’t saying “God, let me rest now,” no, he is saying “My master, my king, my ruler, my sovereign, dear owner of my soul, let me lay down my head, let me rest in your sweet mercy.”             Simeon sees God not as some distant sky fairy, not as a benevolent grandfather, for Simeon God is not far off, but He is the ruler, and possessor of him as a human being and by extension we are called to rest in God in the same way. And this begs the first question: Are we willing to give up our entire lives for God, are we willing to say to God “our lives are in your hands”? Are we willing to trust God with every detail of our lives from the grand to the minute? Do we believe that:             He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose?               Then Simeon prays for death – “now let your servant depart in peace.” Do you find your satisfaction in Christ in the same way that Simeon did? Do we see that his coming into the world and into our lives is the culmination of all Good things that God has planned for his people? If God took our lives today – would we smile and say “my life is complete, I have done all that God has called me to do?” or would know somewhere deep down inside we had failed to glorify God, to love God with our total being, and love our neighbors as we love ourselves? Are we willing to let Christ be our everything?             My friends – the bar for being Christian is high and you will fail to meet it. I have failed to meet it time and again, I am the chief amongst sinners, I fall down, I fail to love well, I chase false gods, my eyes wander, I doubt, I grow weary, and grumbly like the Israelites in the desert and wonder “how long o Lord?”             Recently, I have felt the need to abide more richly in Christ, to renew my trust that He is good, and sovereign, and ruler over my life. I know of God’s sovereignty intellectually, but sometimes I grow distressed that things are not working out the way I want them to. Yet, I have seen God provide. I have never been without, I have never wanted, I have never gone hungry, I’ve always had a roof over my head, a friend to talk to. I have rarely had a lot, but the little I have is enough to get by.             God has always faithfully provided – I have seen this throughout my life with Christ – in the tears and joys, in the anxiety and peace, in the seasons of a little and in the seasons of a lot he has been there – if he can provide in this way – surely he will provide in every other way, surely he will guide me – surely, he has proven himself a faithful and good master  – and now I must abide.             Beloved – we will sin, we will fail, we will feel utterly unworthy of our calling into Christ – because we are– but Christ is the father who runs out to meet the prodigal son in the field, who puts upon us the best robe in the closet, who celebrates and kills the fatted calf for us. Christ rejoices and embraces us when we’ve wandered and return home, Christ will leave the 99 for the one lost sheep, Christ will come for us, guide us, heal us, forgive us, and love us, so let us not fret for one moment.                 We have not and cannot earn our salvation – and that is the point of Christ’s death for in His death and resurrection we find grace and forgiveness and in that we are called to reside in Him, we are called to trust him with every aspect of our lives, we are called to know that He is our sovereign master, we are called to abide richly in him, we are called to die to ourselves, so that he may live abundantly in us, and we may live abundantly in him.             He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.               I hope we can see vividly that God calls us to obedience, calls us to give up our lives, calls us to see Him as our sovereign Lord and master, but how do we know what it is that God calls us to do?             Simeon says that these things are according to God’s word – and we know from verse 26 that God had revealed to Simeon through the Holy Spirit that “he would not see death before had seen the Lord’s Christ.” But how do we live such spirit filled lives? For aren’t we promised that if we are in Christ we are given the Holy Spirit?             A wise man once told me “you give the Holy Spirit words by knowing God’s word.” Of course we know that the Holy Spirit is actively drawing us closer to God, is actively re-forming our heart, is actively giving us a deeper conscious, a deeper understanding of right and wrong, we know that when the church is uniformly drawn to some purpose, it is probably the spirit moving her to do so, but how do we habitually live in submission to the Holy Spirit?             It begins with knowing the word of God, it begins with reading it voraciously, reading it as it is the bread of life, and where we will find the living water, letting the word renew our minds. It is here that we find the pure form of the word of God, it is here that we see how he has acted for the millenniums before the coming of Christ, and how he came to die to set his captive people free, it is in God’s word that we come to know his character, of his goodness, his love, his mercy, his justice.             Let us be devoted in the task of knowing God – not to earn anything – but that we would know Him and he would know us, and in that we would learn to be conformed to His will, that we would be better servants and children, that we would be able to pray Simeon’s prayer more faithfully, and that we would know – that he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.               Perhaps Simeon is endued with some great wisdom, perhaps we knows that Christ must die a death of shame to take away our own death, sin, and shame, perhaps Simeon knows that Christ will be scorned and rejected, perhaps Simeon is wiser and more faithful than Christ’s disciples will prove to be at the crucifixion, but nothing stands to tell us this is the case. No – Simeon simply prays “my eyes have seen your salvation,” for he is endued with the Holy Spirit and simply recognizes Jesus as the Christ, simply recognizes that Jesus will be the one to bring freedom to God’s people.             Simeon knows who this little baby is, but does not know how God will act – and that is enough for him. We too know of God’s deliverance, we too know that we are given peace in our abiding in Christ, we too know the end of the story – but we do not know how we will get there. So when the earth trembles and nations rage, when people are evil, when they plot or when they gossip, let us not waver, let us not faulter but say “mine eyes have seen your salvation,” and persevere with faithfulness, and remember:             He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.               But now Simeon says something amazing – think for a moment about the disciples – they all seemed to believe that Christ came to be the temporal king of Jerusalem and Israel, to drive the Romans out of the nation, and to reestablish the state of Israel, to sit upon his ancestor, David’s earthly throne. But Simeon seems to recognize that maybe, just maybe Jesus is more than an earthly king.             For it is before all people that Christ is prepared – it is before all people that Christ comes to and it is Christ who will judge all people at the end of time, it is to Christ that every knee shall bow. At the coming of Christ two thousand years ago, we find the beginning of this, but not the end, we find the beginning of the end.             And then Simeon does a double unfolding – he recognizes that Chris is light for the gentiles and the glory of God’s people, Israel.             This day in the Christian year is commonly called Candlemas, it was the day that the church traditionally blessed their candles for the year, and people would bring their candles for their homes to be blessed as well. Nothing in the church building is there by accident or happenstance, rather everything has meaning including candles.             We have intentionally set this building aside for one purpose – to worship God, we have set it aside to be a sacred space. Like all thing in the church, the candles have meaning. We light them as a habitual reminder of Christ’s light coming into the world to save sinners. We light a fire at the Easter vigil and carry that light into the church, proclaiming the light of Christ coming into the world, the light of Christ being resurrected, proclaiming that all hope is never lost. The priest or deacon sings the exultet at the vigil to remind us of the importance of that light in our lives and in the world, the candles are lit from the paschal candle, and act to remind us of the light of Christ in our lives and so when you see the candles on the altar, let them trigger your memory – that Christ came into the world to enlighten you and I, that Christ came into the world to set us free from the darkness of our sin, that Christ is our light and our hope.             But he is also the glory of His people Israel – Israel is God’s people, Israel was set aside to be a blessing to all nations – and this blessing is the coming of Christ. By bringing Christ into the world Israel glorified God, and in such Israel is glorified.             Yesterday as I was driving home around sunset and I was thinking about the beauty of the earth. My favorite time to come up from Phoenix to Sunset point is that hour before sunset. It sparks in me such an appreciation for God’s creative power. Yesterday my thoughts wandered to how one day God will re-create the earth and when God restores all things to how they were meant to be how much more beautiful it will be. Then, I realized – what will be truly beautiful will be to experience God’s glory – for now we see through a glass dimly – but then we will see fully, experience fully, we will not be separated from the glory of God by our sin, but will bask in his love and glory perfectly.             This is what God does for sinful humanity in Christ Jesus, he makes us free, and makes us to know Him, and though this is out of love – more importantly it glorifies God, because another has recognized that God is the good and sovereign master of their lives. Another has recognized that he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.             I started this sermon with the story of four missionaries who died on a sandbar in the Ecuadorian jungle and you may wonder how we know so much about them? Well, a few years later two of their widows went to live with the tribe, through this several of the Huaorani people came to know Christ, came to know his freedom, and came to be faithful followers of Christ. The four families became inextricably interlinked with the Huaorani people.             One of their sons came to be friends with one of the men who killed his father – and a reporter said to him “I understand forgiving someone who had killed your father, but how can you love him?” The man thought for awhile and then came to that old saying that perhaps we all know “hurting people hurt people,” and realized perhaps – “forgiven people forgive people” and loved people love people. We are forgiven and we are loved – and as such – we are to be forgiving and loving.             If we are residing in Christ, if Christ is our sovereign Lord, if we have given Christ the total of our being – then we know that the words Jim Elliot scribbled in his journal nearly seventy years ago are not folly but true -  He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose, for what incredible goodness we gain when we reside in Christ!             In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.

He is No Fool

A Homily for Epiphany 3 January 26, 2019 All Saints Anglican Church, Prescott, AZ   Text: John 4:1-14   Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be always acceptable in thy sight, O Lord our strength and our redeemer. Amen.               I remember when I first moved to Arizona, how my skin and my eyes felt incredibly dry, all the time, it felt as though I could feel every single cell in my skin drying out. I remember needing to adjust and be more diligent about drinking water. We probably all still need to be more diligent about this, but coming from the humidity of North Carolina, it was a sudden change for my body to adjust to, and now when I’m in a humid place I always feel damp.             Living in an arid climate we quickly learn the importance of water to our daily lives, our city council regularly discusses water availability and the effects various policies have on how much water is available to us at citizens. One of the most striking things I noticed when I first moved here is how quickly showers warm up compared to every other place I’ve ever lived, this of course is a wise water saving measure.             It was striking traveling around Israel how similar the climate is to Arizona. I remember one day driving in on the bus through the area where Jesus undoubtedly traveled, and thinking how I might as well be at home, I’d have the same views driving through the desert. Keeping in mind how dry our land is, we can start to have sympathy to the story we read today. We can understand what it would be like having walked all day and being wearied from our journey. How hot the sun is and how dry the air is. Water, for the weary traveler is therefore a necessity.             Water plays and interesting role in scripture. As I was reading about it one source noted at least three different ways it is viewed in scripture – first water is the source of chaos, second it is a source of cleansing, and finally, there is of course living water, that is water that brings life.             I have found this idea that water is the source of chaos as the most interesting. The Israelite have never been known as seafaring people, and so it is not at all surprising that as a culture they came to the conclusion that water, in particularly the sea is a chaotic force, but this was a general view of the ancient near east as well. The gods of water were often viewed as chaotic and even evil.             We see this portrayed most vividly in the book of Daniel when the evil nations rise out of water. Daniel is saying – these that will come serve not the living God, serve not the God of order, not the God that we gather together this morning to worship, but they serve chaos, they serve evil gods, they will serve themselves, these nations that rise out of water will serve chaos.             But likewise, this is why it is significant in the creation narrative when God separates the water from the land – separates the chaotic from the tamable. The seas have often captured the heart of man because out of that chaos comes a great sense of adventure, a great promise of riches, a great hope of something new – but also of great danger.             Where I grew up, many went to sea to make their riches, but not everyone came back, more than one childhood acquaintance went to sea, and never returned. We live in hubris to think that we can tame the sea, but we can just as easily be swept away by it. The sea still conjures for us an idea of chaos – and as such – we are reminded how in scripture the sea of represents that which is untamable. Just as water can give life, so it can rob men of their lives. For these reasons, when we see Christ walk on water and calm the storms – it is significant – for we are seeing that Christ has the same authority as the father – the authority to tame chaos, to tame power, Christ is more powerful than the forces of chaos.             But water also plays a cleansing role in scripture. Last week we talked about St. John the Baptist’s roll as a baptizer, he lead people to water to cleanse them. He baptized people to turn people away from sin. In Jewish villages throughout Galilee you can find baptismal fonts called Mikvas.              Don’t think baptismal fonts like what we have in the back of the church – don’t think of the little bowl in which we pour water over the head of a child or a new convert as an outward sign of the cleansing Christ does in the faithful – no, these were large enough for a grown man to walk through, to fully submerge himself in, to become totally washed clean. And not only that but the water was always moving through it, it was not a stagnant pool of water – but running water to wash away the symbolic dirtiness of the man’s sin.             Ritual cleansing was a big deal. Though it does seem that for John the Baptist, his baptism was more than just a ritual cleansing but a marking of a new life – a marking of a turning away from one’s sin in repentance, where the mikva’s ritual cleaning had more to do with simply washing away of sins before gathering for worship.             But this morning, we see the third type water – the most important type of water for the life of the Christian. We learn of living water.             It is no mistake that Jesus withdraws from Judea and makes his way back to Galilee when rumors that his ministry is mimicking that of John’s. For baptism, and repentance are important for the Christian life, but St. John the Evangelist wants to show something different – he wants the reader to see that in Christ is the light and life of humanity, that all that believe in Him should not parish, but have eternal life. St. John the Evangelist wants us to know that unless we have living water springing up in us, then we are spiritually dried up, we are spiritually dead for a human being cannot live without water, nor can we be made alive without the living water of Christ.             And so it is no mistake that Jesus meets this woman at the well. Think for a moment if we lived here 2000 years ago – if you have a hard time imagining it, take a day trip to Montezuma’s Well, this is a literal well that has an ancient small town built around it. The water here springs up from the ground and so the native Americans built their village around it, in order that they could easily have water year round.             Having a source for water would become a primary necessity for existence. Without electricity to pump water the well became a community gathering place of sorts and in the ancient near east – it became a place for women to gather, to catch up, and sometimes even for women to meet a husband.             But Jesus meets this woman who is a thorough outcast – in a culture where ritual purity was important, the intermingling of men and women was deeply frowned upon, furthermore, she was a Samaritan, and deep seated distrust between Jews and Samaritans existed. It seems that the prejudice existed on both sides, though the Jews seemed to hold more open distain for the Samaritans while the Samaritans were more vicious in their expression of their hatred towards the Jews. Finally, if we read on it would seem that the woman was not a woman of virtue and principles, but had known many men, and that she was now cohabiting with a man who wasn’t even her husband, and she had been married to several men before him.             And so we see a Jewish man approaches her and asks for a drink of water. She knows not who this man is, and it would seem that she is deeply confused by her initial interaction with hm at the well.             Some commentators hypothesize that the woman sees this interaction as flirtatious – as another opportunity to meet a new man, maybe a better man than the one she is with now. Others are appalled by even this suggestion. Surely, they say Jesus wouldn’t be flirted with, surely she would have viewed this interaction as innocent.             I think the second suggestion is naive, for we have an internal craving to be known, to be love, and to find security. We live in a time when the act of truly loving is dying rapidly. We find to stand up for the other, to care about those who are outcasts, to invest in people may cause an incredible amount of confusion. We see marriages breaking down because we are too afraid to love well. We see friendships as disposable. We have culturally lost the art of loving well, we have lost the art of loving people, of being communities that truly care for the souls of others.             Certainly, compassion can become a rallying cry for liberals and conservatives alike – but when it comes to caring for those who are on the outside – those who are not like us, we find it much easier paint caricatures. When it comes to sitting with those who are hurting, and lonely, to caring for those who have created for themselves a pit of misery – we are not very good.             We have become Job’s friends, we are happy to sit for a little bit – to say “yes, yes, I get it you’re hurting.” But when it comes to long journeys of healing, to long roads of learning to love others well we find ourselves stumbling into legalism, we would prefer to cut ourselves off, we want to have little communities of perfection where we aren’t reminded of the frailty of humanity, but Christ models for us a radical love for others. We realize that in order to love – requires a certain amount of vulnerability – and we have trained ourselves never to be vulnerable for vulnerability is a scary act, it requires being known and knowing other’s imperfections. It requires seeing ugliness, and not pretending it isn’t ugly, but loving the other despite their brokenness.             C.S. Lewis penned the following in his book The Four Loves: “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” To love is to be vulnerable and here Christ opens himself up to criticism, later in chapter four his disciples are scandalized by how he has interacted with a Samaritan woman, and if we were to read on we would see that even at first the woman doesn’t understand what is going on.             So, it seems possible that the woman may be flirting with him. For she does not understand love, if we were to read on, we would see how baffled she is – she only sees men as a place of security, a place of assurance that the world will not crush her any more than it already has – but Christ has something better for her, Christ has something more fulfill, Christ offers her love – but not only love – love and life.             When Christ offers her living water she is excited – for she thinks – ah-ha! If I have this water I won’t have to make this journey to well over and over again and even here we get a hint that perhaps she’d rather cut herself off from the natural place of community, would rather isolate herself and hide from the world around her. She imagines how much easier will my life be without thirst. How much easier it would be to not have to go to the place where she must be vulnerable, must be ridiculed by others. Not to mention that but the pure practicality of the time saving benefits of never thirsting again. But – this is not the living water that she is offered by Christ and that we are offered.             No, the water of life that Christ offers her is the source and sustenance of the Christian walk. The water that he offers her is eternal security, it is security in ever moment, in everything, it is life.             Think for a moment about all that is troubling you: (Pause) Are you worried about paying your bills? (Pause) Are you worried about your friends? (Pause) Are you worried about your spouse and their health? (Pause) Are you worried about the state of the world? (Pause) And then ask yourself: where are you finding your security in these worries? (Pause) Are you looking for them in others or are you bringing these troubles to Christ? (Pause)             My confession is this – too often, I find it easy to let the winds of the world push me around, to let fear grip my heart – but God calls me, God calls us to lean on Him in times of trouble and in good times. And here is the promise that Christ is offering the woman, and is offering us – If we drink of Christ, if we trust in His promise, if we pursue Him and Him alone, we will have security in the here and now, and in eternity.             If we take time to trust completely in Christ, if we take time to trust that His words for us are good and true, if we take time to believe that Christ is our source of life, the water that keeps us alive and will cleanse and deliver us into an eternity in the heavenly kingdom – what can we possibly fear, what can we possibly be concerned about? What can possibly shake us?             Can news of war separate us from the love of God? Can medical concerns separate us from the love of God? Can financial concerns? Can anger of the other possibly separate us from the love of God?             Nothing can dry up the well spring of God’s love for his people! SO why do we fear?             This is not a promise of ease, this is not a promise of getting every earthly thing we want – but this is a promise that God will be with us no matter what comes our way, a promise that God is sanctifying us, a promise that God is working all things for our good and His glory.             Today – Christ offers a sinful woman a wellspring of life – Christ offers an outcast, a woman who has made some unfortunate choices the water of life – and likewise he does the same for us. No matter where you came from, no matter your brokenness, no matter the pain that wells in side your heart – Christ has offered you living water that you may thirst no more.             We come to Christ broken, lost, hurting, we come to Christ with pains and sorrows, with troubles and concerns, and Christ gives us life – life in the here and now and in eternity. Christ offers to us security – Christ offers to us the peace which we so long for.             So, my friends let us drink richly of the promises of Christ – for it is there that we find the love that we so long for, it is there that we are given the strength to love our spouse, our friends, our children, it is there that we are given the strength to love those who are like us, and those who are different from us. It is in Christ that we are given security in the face of chaos, it is there, that we find calm amidst the storm, it is there that we find the assurance, that even if we can’t see the end, that God will work out even the most messy and wildest of situations to His glory. It is there, in Christ, in His living water, that we find life, and the peace that passes all understanding.             So let us drink deeply in the well of living water that we may have life eternal and the joy of the security that Christ alone can give us.             IN the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost.  Amen.

Living Water

Sermons, homilies, and lessons from All Saints Anglican Church, Prescott, AZ.

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All Saints Anglican Church - Prescott, AZ

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