The Acts of St. Luke's
The First Sunday after the Epiphany
January 9, A.D. 2011
O Lord, we beseech thee mercifully to receive the prayers of thy people who call upon thee; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power to faithfully to fulfill the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Pastor's Paragraph
In our search for a way forward in occasionally difficult circumstances, we are getting closer to the nub of some deep issues, I think -- that being "How do Godly communities work?"
The foundation of any viable community is a mutual commitment to be truth-seekers on any issue before us. Any of us could be either right or wrong. The truth emerges, as the early Church councils showed, and as God illustrates in Scripture, by insisting on an open and honest airing of the various opinions. That is part of "living in the light".
God, who could do like the Muslim deity does (submit, submit, submit..., no discussion allowed), chooses to engage us in dialogue, to draw us reasonably into His covenant. The contemporary version of "dialogue", on the other hand, is usually manipulative and dishonest -- not truth-seeking. God's version requires each of us to listen to the other side, with an eye to being corrected if wrong, to have a teachable spirit, to admit that we just might have missed something. He, the only infallible one, is gracious enough to do that with the likes of us, so we must be willing to do it likewise with each other -- and with Him.
(Examples: I Kings 18:17 ff; Isaiah 1:18; Isaiah 43; Micah 6:1 ff; Luke 7:18 ff; I Corinthians 15:12 ff; 2 Corinthians 4:1-3.) Honest and graceful engagement is the principle of the whole Incarnation. God stoops down to our level of engagement (Philippians 2:1ff.). In humbling Himself like that, He loses nothing of His sovereignty. Indeed, His teaching us humility by His own example is perhaps the most powerful expression of sovereignty ever given.
A community requires that we be willing to work through things when we do not get our way. Sometimes the issues are so important that losing on an issue means that we must depart, as many are re-aligning themselves among Anglican churches today (as the REC did over a century ago, and again today, joining with the ANCA). But I think we are a long way from any such divisive issues in our midst. Generally, Christians should have a commitment to work through disagreements, and where the disagreements are not resolved in total agreement, to allow the majority to move ahead, working as one can with them, and keep on growing and learning. Pouting not allowed.
The Vestry, for example, will be discussing our lease with Fairhaven, which is coming up for renewal at the end of February. We might or might not be able to stay in the beautiful building we now occupy. The Lord would expect us, I have no doubt, to be committed to one another in Christian fellowship more than to a building, no matter how beautiful.
Communities require both leadership and followership. But leadership must itself first exhibit followership. You get authority only by being under it. That is my commitment to the congregation -- to be under the authority of God first, under our bishop second, and as appropriate, under the authority of the Vestry. But a leader must lead, or he is useless to the congregation. And followers must follow, or the community will fracture -- not follow mindlessly, but participating in the community processes given by God (as in..., love your neighbor just like you love yourself).
Few communities have a trust relationship between leaders and followers such that the followers will trust the leader enough to be open with leaders about their complaints. Usually the leader hears the problem second or third hand, or not at all until the person has long left. Living in the light requires a courageous honesty and openness on both sides. If you have a problem, please see me or the senior warden.
God reminds me fairly often that He has me right where I need to be to do my growing (you'd think that by 75, I would be done!). It is a reminder which I have slowly and painfully come to appreciate -- because it means that, in the midst of the problem, there is a door open to progress and a deeper life with God and my fellow Christians. I hope that all of you will hear that message from the Lord (He has you right where you need to be.....), and trust Him for the outcome of our community life. We have an extraordinary future ahead of each of us if we walk humbly with God and one another in the light of truth.
Epihpany Blessings, Fr. Fox
Western Anglicans Evensong
Last night, at our Western Anglicans Evensong at 7:30pm, we were privileged to have John-David Schofield, Bishop of the Anglican diocese of San Joaquin, ACNA, as our special guest. A leading figure in American Anglicanism, Bishop Schofield is revered both for his godliness and his uncompromising stand for orthodox theology and morals in Christ's holy, Catholic Church. He was awarded an honorary D.D. from Cranmer Theological seminary, several years ago, and has been friends with Bps. Grote, Sutton and Fincke for many years.
Jean Brown Requiescat in Pace
After a long battle with liver disease, Jean, the mother of our sister-in-the Lord, Susan Brown, succumbed to renal failure and went home to be with the Lord. Jean was a gracious Christian lady with an unshakable faith in the merciful providence of our blessed Lord. She will be sorely missed by her family and the many people who came to know and love this warm, compassionate soul. Please remember Susan, and her family in your prayers, as they mourn the loss of their beloved wife and mother.
Most merciful Father, who hast been pleased to take unto thyself the soul of this thy servant; Grant to us who are still in our pilgrimage, and who walk as yet by faith, that having served thee with constancy on earth, we may be joined hereafter with thy blessed saints in glory everlasting; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer Requests
Latest update on Susan Brown.
After consulting with her oncologist, Susan discovered that in addition to her colon cancer, there are three tumors on her liver. She began her first round of chemotherapy on Tuesday December 21st, and suffered almost no negative side-effects, except for a day or two of mild nausea. Thanks be to God! Susan's oncologist has prescribed a more aggressive schedule of chemotherapy, which will require her to receive treatments every two weeks (the normal schedule is one treatment every three weeks). Susan is also considering moving back to southern California, so that she can be treated at City of Hope hospital, one of the finest cancer care facilities in the U.S. By God's grace she is hoping for a complete cure. Please remember Susan in your daily prayers; humbly beseeching our blessed Lord to ever hold her within the embrace of His loving arms and to grant her a complete recovery and healing. If you would like to call Susan, she can be reached at 503-774-7954. Cards, gifts and flowers can be mailed to 5927 SE 40th Ave, Portland Oregon, 97202.
O merciful God, Giver of life and health; Bless, we beseech thee, thy servant, Susan, and those who administer to her of thy healing gifts. Bless the means made use of for her cure. Fill her heart with confidence, that though she be sometimes afraid, she yet may put her trust in thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Our dear sister, Eve Menees, requests prayer for her son, who has been diagnosed with stage 7 testicular cancer. Let us hold Eve's son continually in our prayers and supplications.
Seminars at Road to Emmaus
Fr. Fox has started a new series of live-streaming, broadcast seminars dealing with various topics which we Christians face in our efforts to spread the Good News of Jesus.
Visit http://www.emmausmall.org/seminars.html for details on the present and future seminars, and how the system works. The series costs $17 for five sessions, but members of St. Luke's get a free pass.
Try logging on at www.ustream.tv, to get your own free account. That way, you'll be able to participate in the chat room dialogue, during presentations. If you do not have your own account, you can still log on to hear and see everything, although you will not be able to interact.
You might also want to visit www.theInterAmerican.org to see a new ministry with which Road to Emmaus ( www.theroadtoemmaus.org ) is aligning to help create an inter-American resource for restoring the Biblical foundations of North and South America.
For Your Prayers this Week
National repentance and revival; Our Presiding Bishop, Leonard Riches; The newly-constituted ACNA parish, Church of the Resurrection, Fr. Richard Avery, rector; the Anglican Church in North America;
Saint Andrew's Academy, Lake Almanor, CA; Fr. Brian Foos, Headmaster; Flagstaff Anglican Fellowship, Fr. Earle Fox's apologetics ministry, The Road to Emmaus; Church of the Resurrection, ACNA Placentia; Fr. Neil Edlin, St. Mary Magdalene ACC; Fr. Bill Thompson, Bishop of the Diocese of Western Anglicans.
In the Diocese of Mid-America
Our diocesan bishop, Royal Grote; Our bishop co-adjutor, Ray Sutton; All Saints Church, Vacaville, Fr. Carl Lund, Rector; Christ's Chapel, Riverside, Rev. Deacon Randy Pierpoint; The Reverend Chris and Bridgitte Parrish.
In St. Luke's Parish
The ministry of Dr. Earle Fox; the Bast family; Christopher Bast and the marines in his platoon serving in Afghanistan; Esther Chen & her mother; Don & Kathi Feher; Charles Hewgill; Eve Menees, prayer for her continued recovery.
Friends Near & Far
Calvin Ainley; Nicholas Armitage; Todd Aylard & family; Charles & Amanda Bartlett; James Bartlett; Melody Bartlett; John Bothwell; Susan Brown, at stage IV colon cancer; the Brown family, mourning the loss of Jean Brown; Dr. Bowman & his mother; Tom Crist; the Fisher family; Rebecca Fox; Charles & Betty Grant; George and Jordan Haber; Norma Hake; Fr. Derrick Hassert; Lara Heneveld & her family; Gregory-Theophan Hoffberg; Paul & Michelle Hughes; Linda Kolb; Todd Larsen; Glen Lenardos; Cliff Lotzenhiser; Emma Lund; Ben Matthews; Eve Menees' son; Marianne Morse; David & Rita Moyer; Brandon and Jessica Murray; The Scott Plunkett family; Perry Robinson; Mary Rooney; Barbara Routh; Greg Santone; the Schwendimann family; Charles Steichen; Leon Streit; the Strom family; Charles and Margaret Templin; Cyndi Vanderpoel.
"Duty"
From A Devotional Exposition of the Teaching of
the Christian Year, by Melville Scott
(with gratitude to, and the permission of, The Anglican Expositor, Courtenay, BC
who recently republished this work)
who recently republished this work)
THE Epiphany season is the devotional and practical commentary on the Incarnation as the revelation of human duties. Nowhere does our Church teach more happily and effectively than during these Epiphany Sundays, and it is much to be regretted that this complete and beautiful course of subjects is so frequently curtailed by the early incidence of Easter. The Epiphany Gospels claim the place of honour, and exhibit Sunday by Sunday some new manifestation of the character of Christ. Each Epistle enforces the special feature of its Gospel, and show how it is to be reproduced in the Christian character, while each Collect turns the Sunday lesson into a prayer.
THE GOSPEL — S. Luke 2:41-52 — Example of Duty
This Gospel contains our one and only record of the life of Christ between His childhood and the beginning of His ministry, and singles it out as a striking Epiphany of duty in every relation of life.
A. A Home of Godly Duty.
The Nazareth home was the scene of conscientious duty to God and His Church. Christ's parents "went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover." They rejoiced that "the boy Jesus" was now of age to take His journey with them and appear before God in Zion. It had been evidently a home of religious education, of careful holy teaching, of eager questions and understanding answers. The boy Jesus had been well taught, and long before He sat in the midst of the doctors must have learned at Mary's knee.
B. Duty towards the Things of God.
It matters little whether we translate "My Father's business," or, as is perhaps more probable, "My Father's house." Either rendering displays early devotion to the things of God, and a budding consciousness of Divine Sonship and a Divine mission. These first recorded words of Christ have been often compared with His latest words from the Cross, "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit." From birth to death Christ manifested the Father. This was His own summary of His life, and it could not be more complete.
C. Duty to His Parents.
This devotion to His heavenly Father was not inconsistent with His duty to His earthly parents, for "He went down to Nazareth and was subject to them." This applies not only to His actual childhood, but to His whole Nazareth life. Child, boy, and man, He submitted His will, time, and toil, becoming the carpenter of Nazareth before He became the Saviour of the world. This is the consecration of all labour; and especially of labour on behalf of parents.
D. Duty of Preparation.
Jesus increased in wisdom and stature. He spent thirty years in private to prepare for three years in public. The best preparation for the future is the present. He did not despise the secluded valley of Nazareth. Great is the value of quiet seasons, great the sacredness of home, great the sweetness of village life; in themselves, and to the Christian, all these are consecrated by the voluntary choice of Christ during the first thirty years of His earthly sojourn. We may even learn the needed lesson that it is quite possible to be good even in a bad village (for Nazareth, it seems, was all this), and that our surroundings are often part of our discipline.
THE EPISTLE — Romans 12:1-5 — Precepts of Duty
From the example set before us in the Gospel we pass to the precepts of duty contained in the Epistle. Having seen the manifestations of Christ, we are ourselves to be manifestations of Christ in daily life and conduct.
A. The Motive of Duty.
Duty, even the plainest, is to be done from the highest motive, the sense of "the mercies of God." We are to act from the motive of love; not our love which is so weak, but from realization of God's great love towards us. Duty is not a price to purchase love, but a thank offering for love received; not a thing of dreary necessity, but of gladness, its only sorrow being its own imperfection.
B. The Sacrifice of Duty.
Duty is sacrifice—the sacrifice of the living will, the consecration of the life to holiness and of the body and all the powers to service. Such a sacrifice God will accept, and, indeed, expects, for it is our reasonable service, and no arbitrary demand. We cannot in reason do less for Him Who has done so much for us.
C. The Freedom of Duty.
Duty has been defined as sacrifice, and such, no doubt, it is during this present life. Men try to escape sacrifice by conforming to the world around them. The Christian has a better way of escape from the pain of sacrifice, by being inwardly transformed into likeness to the will of God. The old nature shrinks from sacrifice, the new nature finds the yoke easy and the burden light, discerning "that the will of God is the thing which is good, acceptable, and perfect" (R.V. margin) in itself. A ready will makes the sacrifice easy—in fact, to be no sacrifice at all, for when we have so chosen His will that it becomes ours, the bitterness of sacrifice is past. Thus we are face to face with the strange paradox that the greater the sacrifice the greater the freedom.
D. The Humility of Duty.
If duty to God demands sacrifice, duty to men demands humility. It is easier to fall into the hands of God than into the hands of men. Duty to others is, however, duty to God, and arises from our common membership in Christ's Church. In Christ's mystical body none counts for more than one, and none for less. Every man is to be himself and do his own work, even if he thinks that his sphere might be more important. We are not to be above our work if it seems mean, nor to despise the work of others if ours seems more important. All duty done to others is duty done to Christ, and our highest dignity is to have done our best. Not what is to be done, but how it is done, makes the difference between one and another.
THE COLLECT
The Collect for Duty Sunday could not be more appropriate. We pray for:—
A. An Epiphany of Knowledge.
We need this in order that we may "perceive and know what we ought to do" with regard to our spiritual interests, the duty of our several positions, and, in doubtful cases, of conduct in ordinary life. We pray for the general direction of God's Word, and for the particular suggestions of God's Spirit. We pray for the enlightenment of conscience, lest the light within us should be darkness; for it is not enough to follow conscience until conscience has learned to follow Christ. God is our Teacher as to duty.
B. An Epiphany of Grace and Power.
It is not enough to know our duty; we need the power to perform it willingly, thoroughly, accurately, and without hesitation, and the source of this power is grace. God is not only our Teacher as to duty, but our Helper in our duty. Let us look to Him in both these characters.
The Ven. Melville Horne Scott, D.D. (late 19th Century Anglican churchman) was Archdeacon of Stafford, Vicar of Castlechurch, and Prebendary (Residentiary Canon) of Lichfield Cathedral.
Next Sunday is the Second Sunday after the Epiphany
Morning Prayer & Holy Communion
Scripture Lessons
Zechariah 8: 1-8, 20-23
Psalm 99 (p. 395)
Romans 12: 6-16
St. Mark 1: 1-11
Hymns and Service Music
Processional hymn # 545 (1) "Hail to the Lord's anointed"
The Preces #601
Venite, exultemus Domine # 608
Te Deum, laudamus # 613 & 617
Jubilate Deo # 642
Gloria Tibi & Laus Tibi # 730
Sermon hymn # 10 "On Jordan's banks the Baptist's cry"
The Doxology #139
Sursum Corda & Preface # 734
Sanctus et Benedictus qui venit # 797
Agnus Dei # 712
Gloria in Excelsis # 739
Recessional Hymn # 53 "Songs of thankfulness and praise"
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