Sermons for Advent, Yuletide and Epiphany
[[@DayOfYear:November 30]]November 30, Saturday vigil of 1st Sunday of Advent
A Discourse, Delivered on Sabbath Morning, February 23, 1851 by
Samuel Clark Aiken
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Nahum 2:4
Fulfillment of prophecy; hope; transportation
Aiken, Samuel Clark
February 23, 1851
A Discourse, Delivered on Sabbath Morning,
February 23, 1851 on the Occasion of the
Opening of the Cleveland and Columbus
Railroad1
Opening of the Cleveland and Columbus
Railroad
http://preachersinstitute.com/2013/05/20/sermonon-the-moral-view-of-railroads/
The chariots shall rage in the streets: they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they
shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings.
- Nahum 2:4
On reading this verse, one might naturally suppose that the prophet lived in the days of rail roads and
Locomotives: But it was not so. His chariots of lightning were chariots of War “ armed and sent forth by
the King of Babylon, to effect the conquest and ruin of the city of Nineveh. From the passage however, I
shall take occasion to speak, not of war, which has proved such a curse to the world, and yet, has often
1
For the information of persons at a distance, it may be well to say a word respecting the occasion which gave rise
to this discourse. By invitation from the Common Council of Cleveland, the Legislature of Ohio, now in session, and
the Common Councils of Cincinnati and Columbus were induced to unite with the citizens of Cleveland in celebrating
Washington’s birthday and the opening of the Cleveland and Columbus Rail Road. Accordingly the Legislature
adjourned for this purpose; and, accompanied with numerous gentlemen and ladies, the first train of cars passed
over the road on the 21st inst., with entire ease and safety, and the guests remained until the Monday following. The
Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, anticipating the presence of strangers on the Sabbath, had determined to
speak on the absorbing topic of the day, and had intimated the same to one or two friends. It so happened, that one
of our editors hearing of it, inserted his own responsibility a notice of it in his paper, which circumstance will account
for the large number of strangers at the Stone Church.
been overruled for good but of the development and progress of a new power, which, we trust, is destined
to supersede war and to introduce into our world, a new order of things, which seems to betoken the
rapid fulfillment of prophecy:
“Behold, I create new Heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor
come into mind: In the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desert, and a highway
shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called, The Way of Holiness.”
This prophecy, reminds me of an occasion similar to the one, that has called so many strangers to our city:
when, on the opening of the Erie Canal, it was my privilege, on the Lord’s-Day, to address De Witt Clinton,
and the Commissioners, in grateful recognition of the beneficent Providence, which had carried them on
to the completion of a work, deemed chimerical by some and impolitic by others: but which has proved a
highway for commerce, and made many a wilderness and solitary place to blossom as the rose.
In a moral and religious point of view, as well as social and commercial, to me, there is something
interesting, solemn, and grand in the opening of a great thoroughfare. There is sublimity about it
“indicating not only march of mind and a higher type of society, but the evolution of divine
purposes, infinite, eternal“
connecting social revolutions with the progress of Christianity and the coming reign of Christ.
To overlook such an event to view it only in its earthly relations, would be to overlook a movement of
Providence, bearing directly upon the great interests of morality, and religion
“ the weal or woe of our country, and of unborn millions. It is the duty of Christians, and especially
of Christian ministers, to watch the signs of the times“
to see God, and lead the people to see Him, in all the affairs of the world, whether commercial, political
or religious,in the varied aspects, in which He is presented to our view in His word.
The history of roads is one of the best commentaries upon the intellectual and social state of society. Of
course, it will not become the time and place, to go into it any further than is needful as preliminary to
my subject.
A road is a symbol of civilization the want of it, a symbol of barbarism.
By its condition we may ascertain, with considerable accuracy, the degree of the one or of the other.
“Let us travel,” says the Abbe Raynal, “over all the countries of the earth, and wherever we shall
find no facilities of traveling from city to town, and from a village to a hamlet, we may pronounce
the people to be barbarous.”
The government is weak, the inhabitants poor and ignorant. The road, then, is a physical index of the
condition and character of any age or nation. Viewed from this standpoint, its history may correct one of
our errors, and lead us to see, that we are not quite so far in advance of antiquity, as we are apt to imagine.
If we look back to the earliest period of the world, of which we have any record, we find that roads were
the dividing line between civilization and barbarism. The first country, of which we have any definite
knowledge, distinguished for the arts and sciences, was Egypt. Could we read its lost history, we should
see that under the reign of its Pharaohs, it rose to a pitch of civilization and grandeur of which, probably,
we have no conception. This fact is indicated by its pyramids and magnificent remains, which clearly show
its former glory. If Thebes had its hundred gates, it is likely, that it had also its paved and spacious avenues
leading from it into every part of the kingdom, on which the chariots of its kings and nobles rolled in
splendor.
Nor was the Jewish commonwealth without its roads, constructed in the most durable manner, under the
reign of Solomon. Those leading to and from the cities of refuge, have probably never been excelled. But
in the uncivilized surrounding nations, we hear nothing of roads.
Mark also the Roman empire at the period of its highest prosperity and grandeur. The famous “Appian
Way,” celebrated by Horace, built three hundred years before Christ, remains of which are still visible
after the lapse of more than twenty centuries, is familiar to every reader of history. Two-thirds of it, from
Capua to Brundusium, were built by Julius Caesar “ and formed one of the most splendid memorials of
that Emperor’s reign. Its entire length was nearly four hundred miles
“graded so far as practicable to a level“
paved with hewn stone in the form of hexagonal blocks, laid in durable cement with a surface spacious
and smooth. Besides this, there were other roads, constructed by different emperors, such as the
Salernian, Flaminian, Ostian, and Triumphal, leading from the capital one of which extended four
thousand miles, from Antioch on the north, to Scotland on the south at one place tunneling a mountain
of rock,2 at another, stretching over ravines and rivers by bridges and aqueducts, interrupted only by the
English channel and the Hellespont.
Nor were the Romans so greatly behind us as to speed. History records the fact, that one Cesarius went
post from Antioch to Constantinople
“ six hundred and sixty-five miles“
in less than six days. The modern traveler in his rail-car smiles at the statement; but he forgets, that the
Roman horse was neither fire nor steam, and that he is indebted for his speed to the discovery of a new
and wonderful power of which the ancients knew nothing.
Now turn and consider the old Saxons. Look at the Feudal age of comparative barbarism, when each
community or county had its Baron and castle, built upon inaccessible rocks; “ when the people dwelt in
walled cities, with sentinels upon the towers; “ when there were no roads “ no wheeled vehicles, except
a few, and those of the most cumbersome kind; “ when the mode of travel was on foot or horseback,
through fields and streams and forests. Then it was, that the arts, sciences, and religion were at a dead
stand. There were no ducts for commerce no life or motion. Day and night, the people lived in fear of
robbers, and their only hope of safety lay in having no intercourse with one another, nor with distant
neighborhoods and provinces. So it has always been. So it is now. Point me to a country where there are
no roads, and I will point you to one where all things are stagnant where there is no commerce except on
a limited scale no religion, except a dead formality no learning, except the scholastic and unprofitable. A
road is a sign of motion and progress a sign the people are living and not dead. If there is intercourse,
social or commercial, there is activity;
2
The under ground tunnel of Pozzuoli, near Naples, is said to have been half a league, or, in American measure, one
mile and a half. The passage was cut through solid rock fifteen feet square
“advancement is going on new ideas and hopes are rising. All creative action, whether in
government, industry, thought, or religion, creates roads,”
and roads create action.
To an inquisitive mind, it is extremely interesting and instructive to mark the progress of mechanical
invention. To one accustomed to trace effects to their causes, it is more than interesting. He sees
something besides human agency at work in the provision of materials in the adaptation of means to ends
“ in the wisdom, order, and regularity of general laws, which the practical mechanic has learnt to
accommodate to his own purposes. But he is not the originator of those laws, nor of the materials on
which he operates. He has discovered that certain agents will serve particular ends. Of these agents he
skillfully avails himself, and the result he aimed at is produced.
The elements of water-power have been in existence since the world was made; and yet, there doubtless
was a time when there was no waterwheel applied to a dashing current, to propel machinery. Why did
not the human mind grasp at once the simple law, and dispense with animal power to grind meal for daily
bread? On the principles of philosophy, this question is not so easily answered. To say that mind is slow
in its development, does not solve the difficulty. From the earliest ages, it has accomplished wonders in
the arts. It has built cities and pyramids aqueducts and canals calculated eclipses and established great
principles in science.
The truth is, there is a providence in mechanical invention as well as in all the affairs of men. And when
God has purposes to accomplish by this invention, he arouses some active spirit to search for the laws
already in existence, and to arrange the materials with reference to the end.
In past ages, for all practical purposes, the world has done well enough with the mechanical powers it
possessed. The water-wheel has moved the machinery attached to it. The stagecoach has trundled its
passengers along, contented and happy with the slow pace, though not always convenient or comfortable,
because they had no better mode of conveyance. The merchant has cheerfully committed his goods to
the sail boat, because he knew of no more powerful agent than the winds. But the human mind has
received a new impulse. It is waked up to unwonted energy. It is filled with the great idea of progress. It
is leaving the things that are behind, and pressing onward.
Nothing has contributed more to wake up the mind from its sleep of ages to draw out its powers and to
set it on the track of discovery, than the invention of the steam engine. This event occurred about eighty
years since, and the name of the inventor is inscribed on the tablet of immortality. It was no freak of
chance no random thought of the human intellect, unaided by that Infinite Intelligence, at whose disposal
is all matter and mind; and who, in his own time and way, makes them subserve his own purposes. Was
Bezaleel raised up by God and filled with wisdom
“to devise cunning work to work in gold and silver and brass”
to aid Moses in building the tabernacle? Was Hiram afterward endowed with great mechanical skill in the
erection of Solomon’s temple? So was Watt.
God raised him up to invent the steam-engine; and, when
“he gave it to mankind in the form in which it is now employed for countless uses, it was as if God
had sent into the world a legion of strong angels to toil for man in a thousand forms of drudgery,
and to accomplish for man a thousand achievements which human hands could never have
accomplished, even with the aid of such powers of nature as were previously known and
mastered. The earth with the steam engine in it, and with all the capabilities which belong to that
mighty instrument for aiding the industry and multiplying the comforts of mankind, is a new earth;
far better fitted in its physical arrangements for the universal establishment of the kingdom of
Christ, or in other words, for the universal prevalence of knowledge, liberty, righteousness, peace,
and salvation.”
The application of steam, as a mechanical power, to locomotion on land and water, forms a new era in
invention, and in the history of the world. Twenty years ago, the first successful experiment with the
locomotive, was made between Liverpool and Manchester. Now, we can hardly compute the number of
railways. Forty-three years ago the Hudson was first successfully navigated by a steamer. In the summer
of 1838 the Atlantic ocean was crossed for the first time by vessels exclusively propelled by steam power.
Now look at the progress. The steamer ploughs our navigable rivers our great lakes our coasts; and asserts
its supremacy over all other craft, from the Pacific to the Atlantic, and from the Atlantic to the Indian
ocean. The changes in the moral and physical condition of our world, by means of this wonderful agency,
are what no one can witness, without mingled emotions of admiration and wonder. That the hand of the
Almighty is in it; that he has some good and grand design to accomplish through its instrumentality, must
be evident to all who believe Him to be the moral Governor of the world. Were a new planet to start into
existence, I should as soon think it the result of a fortuitous conglomeration of atoms, as to disconnect
the present revolutions by steam, from the wisdom and power of God.
Some good people, I am aware, look with a suspicious eye upon the iron-horse. They fancy there is a
gloomy destiny in it a power to subvert old and established customs; to change the laws and ordinances
of God and man; to introduce moral and political anarchy, ignorance and impiety, and to make our
degenerate race more degenerate still.
Now, I am not troubled with such specters. I look for evils to be multiplied with the increase of travel. But
order will reign law will reign religion will reign, because there will be an increase also of counteracting
agents. If the effect should be the increase of wealth only, we might well pre-predict, fearful
consequences. To look upon the railroad simply as an auxiliary to commerce as a great mint for coining
money; is to take but a superficial and contracted view of it. If we would contemplate it in all its bearings,
we must consider it as a new and vast power, intended by Providence to act upon religion and education
upon the civilization and character of a nation in all the complicated interests of its social organism. This
is a great subject, and while I have neither time nor ability to do it justice, I can see in it matter that may
well employ, and will yet employ the best heads and hearts which God has bestowed on mortals. Without
anticipating evils there are certain benefits to follow, which will prove more than an antidote. To name a
few.
The increase of commerce and wealth is a consideration which I leave to the political economist. In no
country should they be overlooked, much less in our own. Wealth is power, and when properly used, is a
source of unspeakable good.
As to commerce, there are two aspects aside from its bearing on wealth in which I love to contemplate its
connection with the railroad.
One is, as a preventive of war. This remark applies more to commerce as now conducted by steam on the
ocean. It is bringing the nations together, and making them feel the sympathetic throbbings of one family
heart “ of one great brotherhood. Would the idea of a World’s Fair have been conceived, had it not been
for steam navigation? It was a noble thought! Let the people of every tongue, and kindred, and nation
from under heaven assemble. Let them gather under the same magnificent crystal palace, and through its
transparent dome, raise their eyes to the same God, and feel that he has made them all of one blood, and
united them, by one common tie of interest and affection, to the same father and to one another ; and
we may expect to hear that a motion has been made and carried by acclamation, to “beat their swords
into plough-shares and their spears into pruning hooks.”
The other view of steam-commerce is, its tendency to unite more closely the states bringing them into
more intimate relations, and subjecting them to the influence of mutual intercourse.
Owing to emigration, we are becoming a heterogeneous people unlike in habits, language and religion,
and scattered over a vast territory, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. How States, formed out of such a
population, thus widely dispersed, can be held together and consolidated, is a question vitally interesting
and important. One thing is certain; it cannot be done by law, nor by military power alone. Sectional
interests and jealousies will spring up against which the Constitution and brute force will form no barrier.
Under circumstances so unprecedented in the history of nations, our only hope, it seems to me, lies in the
general diffusion of religion and education, and in the kind and frequent intercourse which the railway is
calculated to promote, bringing distant portions of the country into the relation of neighborhoods, and
thus removing sectional jealousies and animosities, and inspiring mutual confidence and affection. It is for
this reason, as well as others, I rejoice in the construction of a railroad., connecting, us I may say, with the
Southern States. The influence, according to all the laws of our social being, cannot fail to be peaceful and
happy. On a little better acquaintance, our brethren of the South will feel more kindly towards us, and we
towards them; and, possibly, some mistakes and misapprehensions, on both sides, will be corrected and
removed By means of recent intercourse with foreigners, the Chinese begin to think it doubtful whether
the earth is a plane, and they in the center of it, and all upon the outside barbarians.
By a law of our nature, minds in contact assimilate, and, for this reason, we hope to see good result from
the intermingling of the North with the South; and, could a railroad. be extended to the Pacific, it would
do more to promote union in the States to circulate kind feelings to establish our institutions in California,
Oregon, Utah, and New Mexico, and to consolidate our glorious confederacy, than all the legislation of
Congress from now until doomsday. A new and vast trade would at once spring up between the parent
States and those more recently formed, also with the numerous islands of the Pacific, and with the
populous regions of eastern Asia. In its tendency all legitimate commerce is peaceful and happy, because
its benefits are mutual and reciprocal. Every new railway, therefore, constructed in our country, is another
link in a chain of iron, binding the States together.
Another benefit. In one respect, the railroad. is a leveler, but it levels up, not down. Its tendency is to
place the poor on a level with the rich, not by abolishing the distinction of property it is no socialist not by
depressing the rich, but by elevating all to the enjoyment of equal advantages. It is like the Press. Before
the art of printing, the poor had no books. Now, the possession of books is no very distinctive mark of
wealth. Manufactories are leveling in the same way, by bringing to the firesides and wardrobes of the
poor, articles of comfort and luxury, which once were attainable only by the rich. So with the railway The
poor can travel with as much ease, rapidity and cheapness as the rich. They are not doomed, as formerly,
to spend life within the limits of a parish or a city; but, can take their seat beside the millionaire, breathe
the pure air of the country, recreate and recruit health and spirits in its valleys and on its mountain tops.
But there are other advantages still greater.
One is the general diffusion of education.
“Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”
The motion of the body quickens the mind. The rapid passing of objects “ the active interchange of
commodities in commercial intercourse, is attended with the interchange of ideas. Then, possibly, such
active intercourse maybe unfavorable to education. In a passion for travel, there is danger of cultivating
the senses more than the intellect. Should knowledge degenerate into mere sight-seeing and become
superficial, the effect will be deplorable. But as an offset to this evil, which we hardly anticipate, we see
everywhere the multiplication of schools and a disposition in the people, and especially in our rulers, to
patronize and encourage education. Happily for the world, rulers are beginning to see, that they are
invested with power not for themselves, but for the people; that the interest of one is the interest of both;
and, that in shaping their policy so as to advance general knowledge, industry, equal rights and privileges;
they are laying a broad foundation in the intelligence and affection of the masses for permanent peace
and prosperity. In political science, this is a great advance from the old gothic notion that God made the
people for the king and the king for himself. This branch of my subject I cannot close better, than in the
words of an eloquent writer. Speaking of governments, he says:
“Having it for their problem to make every man as valuable as possible to himself and to his
country, and becoming more and more inspired, as we may hope, by an aim so lofty, every means
will be used to diffuse education, to fortify morals and favor the holy power of religion. This being
done, there is no longer any danger from travel. On the contrary, the masses of society, will, by
this means, be set forward continually in character and intelligence. As they run, knowledge will
be increased. The roads will themselves be schools, for here they will see the great world moving,
and feel themselves to be a part of it. Their narrow, local prejudices will be worn off; their
superstitions forgotten. Every people will begin to understand and appreciate every other, and a
common light be kindled in all bosoms.”
The effects to result from the great facilities for travel, in regard to the general interests of religion is
another subject on which a large portion of community feel a deep interest. And well we may. Whatever
tends to loosen the bonds that bind society together to uproot law and order to introduce anarchy and
misrule, guilt and wretchedness.
There is one fact, however, which encourages us to hope that the influence of railways will be favorable
to religion. As I have already said, they mark a new era in the world. They are destined to erect a great
revolution in all the departments of society.
Now, if we look back on the past half century, we see nothing but a succession of revolutions in
government “ in the arts and sciences in the conditions of political and social life; and yet, where is there
one that has not immediately or remotely favored the extension of Christianity given prosperity and
power to evangelical truth, and caused the heart of Christian philanthropy to beat more intensely for the
happiness of universal being? On that one, I cannot place my eye. It is not in memory. It is not on record.
Wrongs deep and dreadful there have been, and are still; but every attempt to perpetuate them “ as is
obvious to the nice observer is working out, slowly it may be, but surely, their removal.
When railroads were first projected, it was predicted, and not without some reason, that they would
demolish the Christian Sabbath. But what has been the result? So far as ascertained, I confess I see no
occasion for alarm. True, this sacred season of rest, given to man by his Creator, and which his physical
nature imperiously demands “ being able, as has often been demonstrated, to do more labor with it than
without it “ is shamefully desecrated by steamers, railcars and other modes of conveyance. But, so far as
railroads are concerned, experience both in this country and in England is gradually deciding favor of
remembering the Sabbath day to keep it holy. If correctly informed, several lines are already discontinued
and others will be. Wherever the voice of community favors it, Directors are not backward to let their
men and enginery remain quiet on this day; for it is found that nothing is gained and much lost by running.
All the business can be done in six days of the week; while, not only one-seventh part of the expense is
saved, but the hands employed are refreshed and invigorated by rest, and better prepared with safety
and fidelity to discharge their duty. Thus the evil is working out its own remedy. The truth is, the law of
the Sabbath is written, not only in the Bible, but upon the constitution of man; and such are the
arrangements of Providence that it cannot be violated without incurring loss. The penalty will follow, and
if religion does not enforce obedience, self-interest will. All that is necessary is, to direct the attention of
considerate men to the subject, and leave it with conscience and common sense to decide. This done, I
have no fears of the result.
Another thing. When a railway is managed as it should be, and as I confidently believe ours will be, it is
found to be an important auxiliary to the cause of temperance. In a concern involving so great an amount
of life and property, it is worse than folly to employ men who are not strictly temperate. The public expect
and have a right to demand, for the sake of safety if nothing else, the most scrupulous adherence on the
part of directors to the principles of temperance; in the appointment of their agents. This will inspire
confidence in the traveling community, and secure patronage; and if no higher motive actuates, its
influence will be good, at least upon a large class of persons necessarily connected with such an
establishment.
But it is in the power of directors and that power can be easily exercised, especially at the first start of a
railroad. To extend the healthful influence of temperance, along the whole line; operating benignly upon
the population at large, through which it passes. They can and ought to control the eating-houses and
depots maintained for its accommodation; and if this be so, the prohibited use of intoxicating liquor in
them, by its example, will do good to the whole state. If this wise and practicable measure be adopted, as
it has been on some other roads, and with entire success, it can readily be seen how powerfully it will aid
the cause of temperance. For years past, one prolific source of intemperance, has been the taverns and
grog-shops upon our great thoroughfares. Persons who drank but little at home, under the excitement or
fatigue of traveling, have thought it pleasant if not necessary to indulge in the intoxicating cup, especially
where none but strangers could be witnesses to their delinquency. As these sources will in a great degree
cease to corrupt, if others are not opened on the railroad., incalculable good will result to the public. May
we not hope that the noble stand will be taken and maintained, and that our railway, so big with promise
to other interests, will apply its mighty fires and forces to dry up the poisonous fountains of intemperance?
It will be an achievement worthy of the age. It will reflect honor upon our State. Its example will tell upon
other railroads and upon the nation. In a few years, it will save money enough to repay the building of the
road. It will scatter unnumbered blessings of contentment, peace, prosperity, and religion over our great
commonwealth!
Let me, in conclusion, recall your minds to the thought already suggested; that the hand of the Almighty
is concerned in the vast system of railroads. In their construction, the object of man may be commerce,
convenience, pleasure, profit, or national glory. But “my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your
ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than
your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” What God intends to accomplish, we are incompetent
fully to determine; but we may rest assured, that he has some great and glorious object in view, and will
make man’s agency in this earthly enterprise instrumental in bringing it about.
Do you think it derogatory to Him who creates worlds and guides them in their orbits, to have thing to do
with railroads? Or, do you adopt the Epicurean theory, revived by the author of “Vestiges of Creation” a
work replete with palpable and enormous blunders a work based on the principle, that God, after creating
the world, left it to take care of itself, and retired into the bosom or eternity? Revelation forbids the
thought. Reason forbids it. The presence and action of universal laws forbid it. Look at the wisdom, order
and harmony of these laws. Look at their unity, and in that unity, see the agency of one Infinite Mind
upholding and governing all. Or do you take another view of the subject less revolting to the Christian
mind? Is God in nature, but not in its movements and evolutions? Is he in matter, but not in the mind that
molds it? Is he in the stars, but not in the telescope, nor in the mechanic that made it? Is he in the bow in
the cloud, but not in the beautiful mechanism of the eye that looks upon it? And is he in the fires of Etna,
and not in the locomotive? Give me the philosophy of David, rather than that of Laplace.
“O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all.”
David looked up only to adore. Laplace never worshipped. David saw God everywhere. His boundless glory
filled the universe. Laplace looked into the temple of omnipotence to scrutinize the principles of its
structure, but saw nothing of
“its Builder and Maker who is God.”
Let us not be equally blind, unbelieving or irreverent. Let us not say, God is a spirit, infinite, omniscient,
omnipresent; and yet deny him an agency in those mechanical forces destined to change the face of the
world. Rather let us love and adore. Let us rejoice in the truth, that God reigns and
“doeth his pleasure in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth.”
It is this view of the subject which I love to contemplate; and it is because deeply impressed with this view
of it, that it is in my heart to congratulate the President and Directors, and my fellow citizens generally,
on the completion of the first railway connecting Cleveland with the Capital, and with a great inland city
upon the beautiful banks of the Ohio. I feel it to be a noble achievement worthy our state worthy the age;
and while I praise God, who has furnished the men and the means, the skill and the talent, to carry it
forward, amidst toils and difficulties, to a successful termination; I must not forget to mention the only
drawback upon our rejoicings.
In the prosecution of the work there was one, who from its commencement has sustained a high and
honorable part in it. Of his forecast, integrity, mechanical skill, incessant toil and uncompromising energy
and perseverance, I need not speak. In connection with this road, the name of Harbach will long live in
our affectionate remembrance. Strange, that just as it was completed, he should drop into the tomb! But
we know that active mind lives, and is active still; and who can tell the interest it may now take, viewing
events in the clear light of eternity in the wonderful developments connected with his short but useful
career!
“God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform.”
Those most useful whose services to the world seem indispensable, are often, as was our friend, suddenly
called away. Let the dispensation, mournful to us all, and especially to the bereaved partner and family,
with whom we deeply sympathize, teach us, that in the midst of life we are in death; that life is only good
and great as it works out the problem of a higher destiny, in the realization of a blessed hope of
immortality through Jesus Christ.
My Friends, the stirring scenes through which we are passing the movements of which we are spectators,
and in which we are actors, are great to us. And, indeed, connected with the progress of our race, and
with the destiny of our country and world, they are great in reality. But another existence is before us.
Other scenes are yet to open scenes of still deeper interest
“vastly different in their nature“
of a higher order
“spiritual, eternal; and we are all approaching them in the great railcar of time, with a speed more
rapid than lightning “
more irresistible than chariots of fire.
God grant, that through infinite mercy in Jesus Christ, we may be faithful in our day and generation “ live
to some valuable purpose “ that when we reach the great depot of our earthly existence, and go out of
this tabernacle, we may enter into the building of God “ “An house not made with hands, eternal in the
heavens.”
[[@DayOfYear:December 1]]December 1, First Sunday of Advent
The King of Salem by Isaac Williams
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Romans 13:8-14; Matthew 21:5; 1 John 4:20; Malachi 3:1-2
Title
Occasion
The King of Salem
First Sunday in Advent
Oxford Movement; duty; love
Williams, Isaac
Source
http://www.lectionarycentral.com/advent1/WilliamsEpistle.html
Behold, Thy King cometh unto thee.—ST. MATT. xxi. 5.
WHEN our Blessed Lord was taking leave of His disciples at the Last Supper, the one great lesson and dying
injunction which He left them was of loving one another. Very seasonably therefore does our Church take
up at once the same Divine note when she bids us look for His return; beginning thus our Epistle for today, Owe no man any thing, but to love one another. Not with regard to pecuniary obligation only, but
fulfil every duty of every kind to every man, except that of love, for that you can never sufficiently
discharge; you must be ever buying and ever paying, for it must be like the love of God, in which you can
never go far enough. The more we love, the more we shall feel the debt, and the more we feel the debt,
the more shall we grow in humility.
Let your only debt be love; for, adds St. Paul, he that loveth another hath fulfilled the Law. For this, Thou
shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shall not bear false witness, Thou
shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour, such as the Law would
restrain; therefore love is in the highest and best sense the fulfilling of the Law. This is in effect the same
as our Blessed Lord said to the rich young man who wished to know what he should do to obtain eternal
life: our Lord questioned him respecting the six last commandments, of his duty to his neighbour; because
in the love of God consists eternal life, and “he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can
he love God whom he hath not seen ?" (1 St. John iv. 20.)
No duty is omitted where love is; love shall cover a multitude of sins; love alone shall not fail on the Great
Day; love unites to God; amidst the darkness of this world love, as St. John describes it, is light; and to
walk in love is to walk in the light; love is the best preparation for beholding Christ, Who hath so loved us;
and therefore St. Paul goes on to connect it with the great Morning of Christ’s appearing: He dwelleth in
the light which no man can approach unto, yet by love we in some sense draw more and more near unto
Him.
And that knowing the time, adds St. Paul, lifting up the Advent trumpet, that now it is high time to awake
out of sleep,—the sleep of this world with all its dreams,—for now is our salvation nearer than when we
believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Very beautiful and forcible is this comparison of
Scripture, whereby our present condition is likened to the night, and that which approaches to the day.
And no doubt the expression contains a great truth and reality, that the Advent which approaches is like
the sudden breaking in of daylight would be to those who had been always in the dark, or knew nothing
but the night. What wonderful things would the light reveal to them, which they now only see darkly, or
feel around! It will be like sight suddenly given to the born blind. What a new world would burst upon
him! what faces, what eyes, what companies of which he can now form no idea, and himself also, like a
blind man seeing for the first time his own countenance in a mirror ! This state Holy Scripture assures us
is ever nearer and nearer, is fast approaching, is just appearing. And here it is as if there were signs of the
coming dawn, the birds twittering under the roof, or such other tokens that the night was on the wane,
and men were awaking each other and saying, It is now time to arise; it is time to put on our armour, our
clothing for the day.
The day is at hand, Let us therefore, proceeds the Apostle, cast of the works of darkness, and let us put
on the armour of light. We are to clothe ourselves with armour,—with what armour? That which suits the
day. Although Scripture speaks of the manifestation of Christ as the day of light, yet the light is of that
spiritual kind that we may have it even now—we are “children of the light.” Let us walk honestly, i. e.
orderly and well behaved, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and
wantonness, not in strife and envying. For all these are the works of darkness. But put ye on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Put on the armour of light, he had said, and now, as if explaining what this armour of light is, he
adds, Put on—be clothed all over with— the Lord Christ. Be conformable to Him, do all things for His sake,
love all men in Him, let Him dwell within you, and dwell ye in Him, put Him all around you, clothe
yourselves with Him, be armed with Him—your heart, your hands, your feet; let all your members be in
Him. Let your life be with Him hidden in God; and here on earth be as strangers and pilgrims. And make
not provision for the flesh, he adds, to fulfil the lusts thereof. Let not your forethought be for the life in
the flesh and for its desires.
Thus the Epistle for to-day is like the herald voice in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make
His paths straight. It sounds all of preparation for His appearing in light and glory. But the Gospel carries
us back to His former Advent, and His visiting us in great humility. It is the account of His great kingly
entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. As the Great High Priest that was to be, He offered up Himself
on the Cross; as the Prophet,. He foretold of Heaven and Hell, and of all future things pertaining to His
Church; but as the promised King of the Jews He showed Himself on this occasion;—condescending to
take upon Himself something as it were of earthly pomp, yet with such extreme lowliness, that the
circumstance is precisely of the same character as when He was born in a stable; when He girded Himself
as a slave to wash His disciples’ feet. The Prophets had described Him as a King, and as a King He appears
to fulfil the Prophets, and by such fulfilment to strengthen the hearts of those who would hereafter look
upon these things as fulfilled in Him. As a King indeed, but as one Whose kingdom is not of this world, and
Whose only manifestation here below is in more exceeding lowliness; as a King indeed, but to the eyes of
this world having in His appearance something so little kingly, as not to have alarmed the Roman, nor
given occasion to Chief Priests, nor exalted any disciple with ambition.
When they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, says St. Matthew, and were come to Bethphage, unto the Mount
of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and
straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her; loose them, and bring them unto Me. And if any
man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them, and straight-way he will send them.
Never was a royal procession, a kingly entrance into a kingdom, like unto this; for where are the carriages,
and the horses, the attendants, and the soldiers? it is as much the opposite to any-thing of this kind as
words can describe. It is an ass— the humblest of all beasts to ride on; nor this only, but the foal of an ass,
the colt with the dam by her side, as of one but half fit to ride on at all; and both together as signifying all
meek love and tenderness, as shown by the mother and her colt, neither separated from the other; both
combined setting forth something very unlike kingly state and pride. And not this only—for the Great King
has not even this of His own, it is borrowed; but borrowed of one whose heart He knew and governed as
King of kings; say, “The Lord hath need—and he will send them.”
But what occasion was there for all this at all? The Evangelist then explains the reason of it; which the
disciples, says St. John, did not observe at the time, but they afterwards understood. All this was done,
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell, ye the daughter of Sion, Behold,
thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. Not the Law only,
but the Prophets also, did our Lord with the greatest carefulness fulfil, that no one mark or tittle of the
letter should fail of the Word of God.
And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them: and brought the ass, and the colt, and put on
them their clothes, and they set Him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the
way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that
went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He that cometh in
the Name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. The reason of this concourse was, that Christ had come the
day before to Bethany, which was about two miles from Jerusalem, and many of the Jews had come there
from Jerusalem to see Him, and also Lazarus whom He had raised from the dead. And on this occasion
they fell in with many coming from Jerusalem to meet Him for the same cause; and therefore it was in
fact as acknowledging in Him the power of the Resurrection; as the King who had not only the keys of
David, his kingly authority, but also the keys of hell and of death; as the King who was putting under His
feet every enemy, visible or invisible. But in this they knew not what they did. Their hearts were in His
hand and He moved them. But they were probably nearly all of them poor people; and these, with the
little children who caught up the strain, and sang afterwards, when He came into the Temple, and the
blind and the lame who came there to be healed, were His most meet kingly retinue. Let us, too, join them
as on this day, and say, Blessed is He that cometh, the Infant of days, with the babes and sucklings His
attendants ! Blessed is He that cometh in our hearts, the King of Peace, Who inviteth us the blind and the
lame into His kingdom! Blessed is He that cometh, the King of glory !
And what were the feelings of our King Himself on this His great kingly coming; His entrance into His own
festival city; His triumphal entrance as Conqueror of death? They also were suitable to this occasion of His
great meekness, for St. Luke says, that when He came in sight of the city He wept over it. His entrance was
meet for the “Man of Sorrows,” it was with a heart full of tears; as suited to Him who now in a few days
was, by the hands of His own people whom He loved, to be lifted up upon His throne, and His title of King
to be written thereon in every language, and this His throne was the shameful and painful Cross. He wept
at the grave of Lazarus, because he was dead; He wept at the sight of Jerusalem, because it was as a
whited sepulchre without, and within worse than dead.
Thus was He now approaching as one goeth on his way weeping. But as He moved the hearts of men to
do Him this little appearance of honour, so did He also move His own city at His appearing, that they might
afterwards, when they had crucified Him, know and remember how this was He to whom the Prophets
had borne witness.
And when He was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude
said, This is Jesus the Prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. This was the answer of the multitude, for the
common people were not ashamed of the lowly Nazareth, and the despised Galilee; while the fact of His
coming from these obscure places was an offence to the great, and the rich, and the learned.
What a wonderful contrast is all this to His next appearing, for which we daily wait, when all the dead shall
be moved at His coming, and all the living; when the sun, moon, and stars shall fall, and earth and Heaven
shall take wing before His face, and when there will be no more asking, Who is this? For all shall know
Him, from the least to the greatest—all shall know Him as “Jesus the Prophet “—the Prophet, indeed the
more than’ Prophet, bringing about the fulfilment of all things—the Prophet of Nazareth of Galilee, Who
“rideth upon the Heavens as it were upon a horse ;“ Who maketh the clouds His chariot; Who cometh
with ten thousands of His Saints, when some He will “bring with Him,” them that are “with the Lord;” and
some shall go forth to meet Him at His coming, the saints that are on earth.
But now, when He came in so much meekness without, and with so much sorrow of heart within, He
showed by a remarkable sign what was the occasion of that sorrow remarkable, as differing from every
other action of His life, when He came not to judge but to save; remarkable as showing that in the Lamb
of God Who came to offer up His life for us all, there is also wrath hidden which shall one day break forth,
that the King Who is the Lamb of God, is also the Lion of Juda. For the account thus proceeds.
And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple; and
overthrew the tables of the money-changers, and the seats of them that sold doves; and said unto them,
it is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. Now what
is this transaction to us? Much no doubt in every way, as it is the only act of judgment and wrath recorded
in the Gospel, it seems to put us back when we would approach Him, Who in meekness and mercy
received all men, and warns us to pause and consider. “The Lord is in His holy Temple.”
But what is the peculiar lesson which our Lord would teach us with such altered tokens of His gracious
Presence? There can be no doubt but it signifies that it is of the very utmost importance how we keep
holy the House of Prayer. This lies at the very heart of all religion; it is the very fountain-head and spring
from which flows the stream of life, and if this be polluted, all must be full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
Judgment must begin at the house of God. Surely there was great evil then in Jerusalem; in the councils
of the Chief Priests, in the court of Herod, in the popular keeping of this festival; but one thing only made
the wrath of the Lamb to burst forth as a flame anticipating the last Judgment, and this was want of
reverence in God’s House. This is the most obvious and important lesson it would impress on us. Worship
God aright, and all will be well. Come before Him without fear, and all your life will be as a city over which
Christ weeps.
But again; when our Lord spoke of the temple—of destroying it and rebuilding it—lie was under that
symbol speaking mysteriously of His own Body, which evil men took literally, but good men, when they
afterwards thought of it, understood what He meant. It is right, therefore, that we should reflect whether
by this action in the Temple our Lord did not intend us to consider its application to that spiritual Temple
made without hands, which is His own Body the Church.
Nay, further, to bring the case more closely home to each one of us, the body of every Christian is called
in Scripture the Temple of the Holy Ghost; it should be the House of Prayer. It is of infinitely more value
in God’s sight than the Temple of the Jews was of old; and He comes to it in the day of visitation,—in
various ways giving us tokens and warnings whenever He discloses Himself. He will come to it in the day
of Judgment, and be revealed therein in mercy or in wrath. What have we to regard with awe and
reverence so much as the Presence of Christ in our own souls?
To conclude; we are to look to the Gospels as the treasure-house of all mercies, and therein to study all
meekness, love, and goodness as in the face of Jesus Christ, and so to prepare for the coming of our King,
Who will receive as His own the poor in spirit, the meek, and the merciful,—this is putting on the armour
of light, putting on the Lord Jesus Christ, and preparing ourselves for His coming. But then in the same
Gospels we must remember the dreadful judgments lie has declared will await impenitent sinners at His
next appearing, and this awful token He has given us of the same when He appeared in His Temple of old.
“Behold, the Lord, Whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His Temple, even the Messenger of the
Covenant, Whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts. But who way abide the day
of His coming? and who shall stand when lie appeareth?" (Mal. iii. 1,2.)
[[@DayOfYear:December 2]]December 2, Monday in the first week of Advent
An Exhortation to Good Works and First Sunday in Advent by Martin
Luther
Sermon File Type
Passages
Topics
Tags
Speaker
Venue
Date
Title
Occasion
Source
Sermon
Romans 13:11-14; Rom 12:7-8; 1 Thes 5:4-10; Tit 2:11-13;
Ps 76:5; Ps 73:20; Is 29:8; Rom 1:2-3; Gen 22:18; Ac 3:1824; Lk 16:22; Rom 1:17; Ps 8:3; Ps 9:2; Rom 6:13; Eph 6:
13:8; Tit 2:11; Rom 1:2; Ps 110:3; Mal 4:2; Ps 118:24; Jn
9:5; Ps 19:1; 1 Pet 5:8; Job 7:1; Rom 6:13; Eph 6:12; 2 Cor
4:3-4; 1 Jn 3:20-21; Eph 5:9; Rom 12:17; 2 Cor 1:12; 1
Thes 5:6; Gal 5:19-21; Col 3:5; Eph 4:31; Gal 5:19-21; Gal
3:27; 1 Cor 15;49; Eph 4:22-24; Col 3:12-15; Phil 2:5-8; Gal
5: 22-23; 2 Cor 6:1-10; Sir 33:24; 1 Cor 9:27; 1 Cor 8:8; Col
2:18-23; 1 Tim 4:1-3; Matthew 21:1-9; Lk 19:41; Is 62:11;
Rom 1:2; 2 Pet 2:1-2; Lev 26:36; Prov 22:2; Rom 10:14-15;
Rom 8:32, 34; 1 Cor 1:30; Zech 9:9; Rom 3:26; Rom 1:1617; Hab 2:4; Ps 31:1; John 8:51; John 11:25-26; Ps 4:8;
Dan 4:27; 1 Pet 4:8; 2 Pet 1:10; 1 Cor 13:2; Gen 2:17; Gen
3:15; 1 Jn 2:18; 1 Cor 10:11; Rom 1:2; Ps 36:6; Rom 3:21;
Deut 17:6; Is 55:11; Col 1:6; Gen 6:5; Acts 20:29-30; Jn
12:32; Gal 4:2; Rom 6; Rom 1:2; Mt 23:37; Gal 5:17; Jn
21:19; Rom 13:21; Tit 2:10; 1 Cor 11:1; Heb 13:7; 2 Cor
1:24; 2 Cor 4:5; 1 Pet 5:3; Jn 12:13; Rom 1:16; Gen 8:11;
Rom 1:16; Heb 13:8; 1 Cor 10:3-4; John 8:56; Ps 50:15; Ps
118:25-26; Mk 11:10
Lutheran
Luther, Martin
An Exhortation to Good Works
First Sunday in Advent
http://www.lectionarycentral.com/advent1/LutherEpistle.html
"An Exhortation to Good Works"
A Sermon by Martin Luther;
taken from his Church Postil of 1521.
First Sunday in Advent; Romans 13:11-14
1. This epistle lesson treats not of faith, but of its fruits, or works. It teaches how a Christian should conduct
himself outwardly in his relations to other men upon earth. But how we should walk in the Spirit before
God, comes under the head of faith. Of faith Paul treats comprehensively and in apostolic manner in the
chapters preceding this text. A close consideration of our passage shows it to be not didactic; rather it is
meant to incite, to exhort, urge and arouse souls already aware of their duty. Paul in Romans 12:7-8
devotes the office of the ministry to two things, doctrine and exhortation. The doctrinal part consists in
preaching truths not generally known; in instructing and enlightening the people. Exhortation is inciting
and urging to duties already well understood. Necessarily both obligations claim the attention of the
minister, and hence Paul takes up both.
2. For the sake of effect and emphasis the apostle in his admonition employs pleasing figures and makes
an eloquent appeal. He introduces certain words -- "Armor," "work," "sleep," "awake," "darkness," "light,"
'day," "night'' -- which are purely figurative, intended to convey other than a literal and native meaning.
He has no reference here to the things they ordinarily stand for. The words are employed as similes, to
help us grasp the spiritual thought. The meaning is: Since for sake of temporal gain men rise from sleep,
put aside the things of darkness and take up the day's work when night has given place to morning, how
much greater the necessity for us to awake from our spiritual sleep, to cast off the things of darkness and
enter upon the works of light, since our night has passed and our day breaks.
3. "Sleep" here stands for the works of wickedness and unbelief. For sleep is properly incident to the night
time; and then, too, the explanation is given in the added words: "Let us cast off the works of darkness."
Similarly in the thought of awakening and rising are suggested the works of faith and piety. Rising from
sleep is naturally an event of the morning. Relative to the same conception are Paul's words in First
Thessalonians 5:4-10: "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness . . . ye are all sons of light, and sons of the
day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep, as do the rest, but let us watch and
be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that are drunken are drunken in the night. But
let us, since we are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet,
the hope of salvation. For God appointed us not unto wrath, but unto the obtaining of salvation through
our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him."
4. Paul, of course, is here not enjoining against physical sleep. His contrasting figures of sleep and
wakefulness are used as illustrations of spiritual lethargy and activity--the godly and the ungodly life. In
short, his conception here of rising out of sleep is the same as that expressed in his declaration (Tit 2:1113): "For the grace of God hath ap-peared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us, to the intent that,
denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present
world; looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ." That which in the passage just quoted is called "denying ungodliness and worldly lusts," is here in
our text described as a rising from sleep; and the "sober, righteous, godly life" is the waking and the
putting on the armor of light; while the appearing of grace is the day and the light, as we shall hear.
5. Now, note the analogy between natural and spiritual sleep. The sleeper sees nothing about him; he is
not sensitive to any of earth's realities. In the midst of them he lies as one dead, useless; as without power
or purpose. Though having life in himself he is practically dead to all outside. Moreover, his mind is
occupied, not with realities, but with dreams, wherein he beholds mere images; vain forms, of the real;
and he is foolish enough to think them true. But when he wakes, these illusions or dreams vanish. Then
he begins to occupy himself with realities; phantoms are discarded.
6. So it is in the spiritual life. The ungodly individual sleeps. He is in a sense dead in the sight of God. He
does not recognize--is not sensitive to--the real spiritual blessings extended him through the Gospel; he
regards them as valueless. For these blessings are only to be recognized by the believing heart; they are
concealed from the natural man. The ungodly individual is occupied with temporal, transitory things, such
as luxury and honor, which are to eternal life and joy as dream images are to flesh-and-blood creatures.
When the unbeliever awakes to faith, the transitory things of earth will pass from his contemplation, and
their futility will appear. In relation to this subject Psalm 76:5, reads: "The stouthearted are made a spoil,
they have slept their sleep; and none of the men of might have found their hands." And Psalm 73:20: "As
a dream when one awak-eth, so, 0 Lord, when thou awakest, thou wilt despise their image." Also Isaiah
29:8: "And it shall be as when a hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his
soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold,
he is faint, and his soul hath appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount
Zion."
But is it not showing altogether too much contempt for worldly power, wealth, pleasure and honor to
compare them to dreams--to dream images? Who has courage to declare kings and princes, wealth,
pleasure and power but creations of a dream, in the face of the mad rage of earth after such things? The
reason for such conduct is failure to rise from sleep and by faith behold the light.
"For now is salvation nearer to us than when we first believed."
7. What do these words imply? Did we believe before, or have we now ceased to believe? Right here we
must know that, as Paul in Romans 1:2-3 says, God through his prophets promised in the holy Scriptures
the Gospel of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom all the world was to be saved. The word to
Abraham reads: "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." Gen. 22:18. The blessing here
promised to the patriarch, in his seed, is simply that grace and salvation in Christ which the Gospel
presents to the whole world, as Paul declares in the fourth chapter of Romans and the fourth of Galatians.
For Christ is the seed of Abraham, his own flesh and blood, and in Christ all believing inquirers will be
blessed.
8. This promise to the patriarch was later more minutely set forth and more widely circulated by the
prophets. All of them wrote of the advent of Christ, and his grace and Gospel, as Peter in Acts 3:18-24
says: The divine promise was believed by the saints prior to the birth of Christ; thus, through the coming
Messiah they were preserved and saved by faith. Christ himself (Lk 16:22) pictures the promise under the
figure of Abraham's bosom, into which all saints, from the time of Abraham to Christ's time, were
gathered.Thus is explained Paul's declaration, "Now is salvation nearer to us than when we first believed."
He means practically: "The promise of God to Abraham is not a thing for future fulfilment; it is already
fulfilled. Christ is come. The Gospel has been revealed and the blessing distributed throughout the world.
All that we waited for in the promise, believing, is here." The sentence has reference to the spiritual day
Paul later speaks of--the rising light of the Gospel; as we shall hear.
9. But faith is not abolished in the fulfilment of the promise; rather it is established. As they of former time
believed in the future fulfilment, we believe now in the completed fulfilment. Faith, in the two instances,
is essentially the same, but one belief succeeds the other as fulfilment succeeds promise. For in both cases
faith is based on the seed of Abraham; that is, on Christ. In one instance it precedes his advent and in the
other follows. He who would now, like the Jews, believe in a Christ yet to come, as if the promise were
still unfulfilled, would be condemned. For he would make God a liar in holding that his word is
unredeemed, contrary to fact. Were the promise not fulfilled, our salvation would still be far off; we would
have to wait its future accomplishment.
10. Having in mind faith under these two conditions, Paul asserts in Romans 1:17: "In the Gospel is
revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith." What is meant by the phrase "from faith unto
faith"? Simply that we must now believe not only in the promise but in its past fulfilment. For though the
faith of the fathers is one with our faith, they trusting in a Christ to come and we in a Christ revealed, yet
the Gospel leads from the former faith to the latter. It is now necessary to believe not only the promise,
but also its fulfilment. Abraham and the ancients were not called upon to believe in accomplished
fulfilment, though they had the same Christ with us. There is one faith, one spirit, one Christ, one
community of saints; but they preceded, while we come after, Christ.
11. Thus we--the fathers and ourselves--have had and still have a common faith in the one Christ, but
under different conditions. Because of this common faith in the Messiah, we speak of their act of faith as
our own, notwithstanding we were not alive in their day. And similarly, when they make mention of
hearing, seeing and believing Christ, the reference is to ourselves, in whose day they live not. David says
(Ps 8:3): "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers," that is, the apostles. Yet David did not
live to see their day. And (Ps 9:2): "I will be glad and exult in thee; I will sing praise to thy name, 0 Thou
Most High." And there are many similar passages where one individual speaks in the person of another in
consequence of a common faith whereby believers unite in Christ as one body.
12. Paul's statement "Now is salvation nearer to us than when we first believed" cannot be understood
to refer to nearness of possession. For the fathers had the same faith and the same Christ with us, and
Christ was equally near to them. Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yea
and for ever." That is, Christ exists from the beginning of the world to all time, and through him and in
him all are preserved. To him of strongest faith Christ is nearest; and from him who least believes, is
salvation farthest, so far as personal possession of it goes. Paul's reference here is to nearness of the
revelation of salvation. When Christ came the promise was fulfilled. The Gospel was revealed to the world.
Through Christ's coming it was publicly preached to all men. In recognition of these things, the apostle
says: "Salvation is nearer to us" than when unrevealed and unfulfilled in the promise. In Titus 2:11, it is
said: "For the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation." In other words, God's grace is revealed and
publicly proclaimed; though the saints who lived prior to its manifestation nevertheless possessed it.
13. So the Scriptures teach the coming of Christ, notwithstanding he was already present to the fathers.
However, he was not publicly proclaimed to mankind until after his resurrection from the dead. It is of
this coming in the Gospel the Scriptures for the most part teach. Incident to this revelation he came in
human form. The taking upon himself of humanity would have profited no one had it not meant the
proclamation of the Gospel. The Gospel was to present him to the whole world, revealing the fact that he
became man for the sake of imparting the blessing to all who, accepting the Gospel, should believe in him.
Paul tells us (Rom 1:2) the Gospel was promised of God; from which we may infer God placed more
emphasis upon the Gospel, the public revelation of Christ through the Word, than upon his physical birth,
his advent in human form. God's purpose was concerning the Gospel and our faith, and he permitted his
Son to assume humanity for the sake of making possible the preaching of the Gospel of Christ; that
through the revealed Word salvation in Christ might be brought near- might come--to all the world.
14. Some have presented four different forms of Christ's advent, adapted to the four Sundays in Advent.
But the most vital form of his coming, that upon which all efficacy depends, the coming to which Paul here
refers, they have failed to recognize. They know not what constitutes the Gospel, nor for what purpose it
was given. Despite their much talk about the advent of Christ, they thrust him from us farther than heaven
is from earth. How can Christ profit us unless he be embraced by faith? But how can he be embraced by
faith where the Gospel is not preached?
THE DAY OF GRACE.
"The night is far spent, and the day is at hand."
15. This is equivalent to saying "salvation is near to us." By the word "day" Paul means the Gospel; the
Gospel is like day in that it enlightens the heart or soul. Now, day having broken, salvation is near to us.
In other words, Christ and his grace, promised to Abraham, are now revealed; they are preached in all the
world, enlightening mankind, awakening us from sleep and making manifest the true, eternal blessings,
that we may occupy ourselves with the Gospel of Christ and walk honorably in the day. By the word "night"
we are to understand all doctrines apart from the Gospel. For there is no other saving doctrine; all else is
night and darkness.
16. Notice carefully Paul's words. He designates the most beautiful and vivifying time of the day--the
delightful, joyous dawn, the hour of sunrise. Then the night has passed and the day broken. In response
to the morning dawn, birds sing, beasts arouse themselves and all humanity arises. At daybreak, when
the sky is red in the east, the world is apparently new and all things reanimated, In many places in the
Scriptures, the comforting, vivifying preaching of the Gospel is compared to the morning dawn, to the
rising of the sun; sometimes the figure is implied and sometimes plainly expressed, as here where Paul
styles the Gospel the breaking day. Again, Psalm 110:3: "Thy people offer themselves willingly in the day
of thy power, in holy array: out of the womb of the morning thou hast the dew of thy youth." Here the
Gospel is plainly denominated the womb of the morning, the day of Christ's power, wherein, as the dew
is born of the morning, we are conceived and born children of Christ; and by no work of man, but from
heaven and through the Holy Spirit's grace.
17. This Gospel day is produced by the glorious Sun Jesus Christ. Hence Malachi calls him the Sun of
Righteousness, saying, "But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing
in its wings." Mal. 4:2. All believers in Christ receive the light of his grace, and righteousness, and shall
rejoice in the shelter of his wings. Again in Psalm 118:24, we read: "This is the day which Jehovah hath
made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." The meaning is: The natural sun makes the natural day, but the
Lord himself is the author of the spiritual day. Christ is the Sun, the source of the Gospel day. From him
the Gospel brightness shines throughout the world. John 9:5 reads: "I am the light of the world."
18. Psalm 19:1 beautifully describes Christ the Sun, and the Gospel day: "The heavens declare the glory of
God." As the natural heavens bring the sun and the day, and the sun is in the heavens, so the apostles in
their preaching possess and bring to us the real Sun, Christ. The Psalm continues: "In them hath he set a
tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strongman
to run his course. His going forth is from the end of the heavens, and his circuit unto the ends of it; and
there is nothing hid from the heat thereof." It all refers to the beautiful daybreak of the Gospel. Scripture
sublimely exalts the Gospel day, for it is the source of life, joy, pleasure and energy, and brings all good.
Hence the name "Gospel" --joyful news.
19. Who can enumerate the things revealed to us by this day--by the Gospel? It teaches us everything-the nature of God, of ourselves, and what has been and is to be in regard to heaven, hell and earth, to
angels and devils. It enables us to know how to conduct ourselves in relation to these--whence we are
and whither we go. But, being deceived by the devil, we forsake the light of day and seek to find truth
among philosophers and heathen totally ignorant of such matters. In permitting ourselves to be blinded
by human doctrines, we return to the night. Whatsoever is not the Gospel day surely cannot be light.
Otherwise Paul, and in fact all Scripture, would not urge that day upon us and pronounce everything else
night.
20. Our disposition to run counter to the perfectly plain teachings of Scripture and seek inferior light,
when the Lord declares himself the Light and Sun of the world, must result from our having incurred the
displeasure of Providence. Had we no other evidence that the high schools of the Pope are the devil's
abominable fostering-places of harlots and knaves, the fact is amply plain in the way they shamelessly
introduce and extol Aristotle, the inferior light, exercising themselves in him more than in Christ; rather
they exercise themselves wholly in Aristotle and not at all in Christ.
"Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light."
21. As Christ is the Sun and the Gospel is the day, so faith is the light, or the seeing and watching on that
day. We are not profited by the shining of the sun, and the day it produces, if our eyes fail to perceive its
light. Similarly, though the Gospel is revealed, and proclaims Christ to the world, it enlightens none but
those who receive it, who have risen from sleep through the agency of the light of faith. They who sleep
are not affected by the sun and the day; they receive no light therefrom, and see as little as if there were
neither sun nor day. It is to our day Paul refers when he says: "Dear brethren, knowing the season, that
already it is time for you to awake out of sleep, etc." Though the hour is one of spiritual opportunity, it
has been revealed in secular time, and is daily being revealed. In the light of our spiritual knowledge we
are to rise from sleep and lay aside the works of darkness. Thus it is plain Paul is not addressing
unbelievers. As before said, he is not here teaching the doctrine of faith, but its works and fruits. He tells
the Romans they know the time is at hand, that the night is past and the day has broken.
22. Do you ask, Why this passage to believers? As already stated, preaching is twofold in character: it may
teach or it may incite and exhort. No one ever gets to the point of knowledge where it is not necessary to
admonish him--continually to urge him--to new reflections upon what he already knows; for there is
danger of his untiring enemies the devil, the world and the flesh--wearying him and causing him to
become negligent, and ultimately lulling him to sleep. Peter says (1 Pet 5:8): "Your adversary the devil, as
a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." In consequence of this fact, he says: "Be
sober, be watchful." Similarly Paul's thought here is that since the devil, the world and the flesh cease not
to assail us, there should be continuous exhorting and impelling to vigilance and activity. Hence the Holy
Spirit is called the Paraclete, the Comforter or Helper, who incites and urges to good.
23. Hence Paul's appropriate choice of words. Not the works of darkness but the works of light he terms
"armor." And why "armor" rather than "works"? Doubtless to teach that only at the cost of conflicts, pain,
labor and danger will the truly watchful and godly life be maintained; for these three powerful enemies,
the devil, the world and the flesh, unceasingly oppose us day and night. Hence Job (Jb 7:1) regards the life
of man on earth as a life of trial and warfare.
Now, it is no easy thing to stand always in battle array during the whole of life. Good trumpets and bugles
are necessary preaching and exhortation of the sort to enable us valiantly to maintain our position in
battle. Good works are armor: evil works are not; unless, indeed, we submit and give them control over
us. Then they likewise become armor. Paul says, "Neither present your members unto sin as instruments
of unrighteousness" (Rom 6:13), meaning: Let not the works of darkness get such control of you as to
render your members weapons of unrighteousness.
24. Now, as already made plain, the word "light" here carries the thought of "faith." The light of faith, in
the Gospel day, shines from Christ the Sun into our hearts. The armor of light, then, is simply the works of
faith. On the other hand, "darkness" is unbelief; it reigns in the absence of the Gospel and of Christ,
through the instrumentality of the doctrines of men-of human reason-instigated by the devil. The "works
of darkness" are, therefore, the "works of unbelief." As Christ is Lord and Ruler in the realm of that
illuminating faith, so, as Paul says (Eph 6:12), the devil is ruler of this darkness; that is, over unbelievers.
For he says again (2 Cor 4:3-4): "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that perish: in whom
the god of this world [that is, the devil] hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the
gospel of the glory of Christ . . . should not dawn upon them." The character of the two kinds of works,
however, will be discussed later.
"Let us walk, becomingly (honestly), as in the day."
25. Works of darkness are not wrought in the day. Fear of being shamed before men makes one conduct
himself honorably. The proverbial expression "shameless night" is a true one. Works we are ashamed to
perform in the day are wrought in the night. The day, being shamefaced, constrains us to walk honorably.
A Christian should so live that he need never be ashamed of the character of his works, though they be
revealed to all the world. He whose life and conduct are such as to make him unwilling his deeds should
be manifest to everyone, certainly does not live in a Christian manner. In this connection Christ says: "For
everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest his works should be reproved.
But he that doeth the truth cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest, that they have
been wrought in God, 1 Jn 3:20-21.
26. So you see the urgent necessity for inciting and exhorting to be vigilant and to put on the armor of
light. How many Christians now could endure the revelation of all their works to the light of day? What
kind of Christian life do we hypocrites lead if we cannot endure the exposure of our conduct before men,
when it is now exposed to God, his angels and creatures, and on the last day shall be revealed to all? A
Christian ought to live as he would be found in the last day before all men. "Walk as children of light, for
the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth." Eph 5:9. "Take thought for things
honorable," not only in the sight of God, but also "in the sight of all men." Rom 12:17. "For our glorying is
this, the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom . . . we
behaved ourselves in the world." 2 Cor 1:12.
27. But such a life certainly cannot be maintained in the absence of faith, when faith itself-- vigilant, active,
valiant faith--has enough to do to remain constant, sleepless and unwearied. Essential as it is that doctrine
be preached to the illiterate, it is just as essential to exhort the learned not to fall from their incipient right
living, under the assaults of raging flesh, subtle world and treacherous devil.
"Not in revelling and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and jealousy."
28. Here Paul enumerates certain works of darkness. In the beginning of the discourse he alludes to one
as "sleep." In First Thessalonians 5:6, it is written: "Let us not sleep, as do the rest, but let us watch and
be sober." Not that the apostle warns against physical sleep; he means spiritual sleep--unbelief,
productive of the works of darkness. Yet physical sleep may likewise be an evil work when indulged in
from lust and revelling, through indolence and excessive inebriety, to the obstruction of light and the
weakening of the armor of light. These six works of darkness include all others, such as are enumerated
in Galatians 5:19-21, and Colossians 3:5 and 3:8. We will divide them into two general classes, the right
hand class and the left hand class. Upon the right are arrayed these four--revelling, drunkenness,
chambering and wantonness; on the left, strife and jealousy. For scripturally, the left side signifies
adversity and its attendant evils--wrath, jealousy, and so on. The right side stands for prosperity and its
results rioting, drunkenness, lust, indolence, and the like.
29. Plainly, then, Paul means to include under the two mentioned works of darkness--strife and jealousy-all of similar character. For instance, the things enumerated in Ephesians 4:31, which says: "Let all
bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing, be put away from you, with all malice"; and
again in Galatians 5:19-21, reading: "Now the works of the flesh are . . . enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths,
factions, divisions, parties, envyings, drunkenness, revellings and such like." In short, "strife and jealousy"
here stand for innumerable evils resulting from wrath, be it in word or deed.
30. Likewise under the four vices--revelling, drunkenness, indolence and lewdness--the apostle includes
all the vices of unchastity in word or deed, things none would wish to enumerate. The six works mentioned
suffice to teach that he who lives in the darkness of unbelief does not keep himself pure in his neighbor's
sight, but is immoderate in all his conduct, toward himself and toward his fellow-man. Further comment
on these words is unnecessary. Everyone knows the meaning of "revelling and drunkenness" --excessive
eating and drinking, more for the gratification of appetite than for nourishment of the body. Again, it is
not hard to understand the reference to idleness in bed-chambers, to lewdness and unchastity. The
apostle's words stand for the indulgence of the lusts and appetites of the flesh: excessive sleeping and
indolence; every form of unchastity and sensuality practiced by the satiated, indolent and stupid, in
daytime or nighttime, in retirement or elsewhere, privately or publicly-vices that seek material darkness
and secret places. These vices Paul terms "chambering and wantonness." And the meaning of "strife" and
of "jealousy" is generally understood.
PUT ON CHRIST, THE ARMOR OF LIGHT.
"But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ."
31. In this admonition to put on Christ, Paul briefly prescribes all the armor of light. Christ is "put on" in
two ways. First, we may clothe ourselves with his virtues. This is effected through the faith that relies on
the fact of Christ having in his death accomplished all for us. For not our righteousness, but the
righteousness of Christ, reconciled us to God and redeemed us from sin. This manner of putting on Christ
is treated of in the doctrine concerning faith; it gives Christ to us as a gift and a pledge. Relative to this
topic more will be said in the epistle for New Year's day, Galatians 3:27: "For as many of you as were
baptized into Christ did put on Christ."
32. Secondly, Christ being our example and pattern, whom we are to follow and copy, clothing ourselves
in the virtuous garment of his walk, Paul fittingly says we should "put on" Christ. As expressed in First
Corinthians 15:49: "As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the
heavenly." And again (Eph 4:22-24): "That ye put away, as concerning your former manner of life, the old
man, that waxeth corrupt after the lusts of deceit; and that ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and
put on the new man, that after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth."
33. Now, in Christ we behold only the true armor of light. No gormandizing or drunkenness is here; nothing
but fasting, moderation, and restraint of the flesh, incident to labor, exertion, preaching, praying and
doing good to mankind. No indolence, apathy or unchastity exists, but true discipline, purity, vigilance,
early rising. The fields are couch for him who has neither house, chamber nor bed. With him is no wrath,
strife or envying; rather utter goodness, love, mercy, patience. Paul presents Christ the example in a few
words where he says (Col 3:12- 15): "Put on therefore, as God's elect, holy and beloved, a heart of
compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving each
other, if any man have a complaint against any, even as the Lord forgave you, so also do ye: and above all
these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness, and let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
to the which also ye were called in one body; and be ye thankful." Again, in Philippians 2:5-8, after
commanding his flock to love and serve one another, he presents as an example the same Christ who
became servant unto us. He says: "Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, existing in
the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied
himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a
man."
34. Now, the armor of light is, briefly, the good works opposed to gluttony, drunkenness, licentiousness;
to indolence, strife and envying: such as fasting, watchfulness, prayer, labor, chastity, modesty,
temperance, goodness, endurance of hunger and thirst, of cold and heat. Not to employ my own words,
let us hear Paul's enumeration of good works in Galatians 5:22- 23: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control." But he makes a still more
comprehensive count in Second Corinthians 6:1-10: "We entreat also that ye receive not the grace of God
in vain (for he saith, At an acceptable time I hearkened unto thee, and in a day of salvation did I succor
thee: behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation) [in other words, For now is
salvation nearer to us than when we first believed, and now is the time to awake out of sleep]: giving no
occasion of stumbling in anything, that our ministration be not blamed; but in everything commending
ourselves, as ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in
imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings; in pureness, in knowledge, in longsuffering,
in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in love unfeigned, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the armor
of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report;
as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as chastened,
and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and
yet possessing all things." What a rich stream of eloquence flows from Paul's lips! He makes plain enough
in what consists the armor of light on the left hand and on the right. To practice these good works is truly
putting on Jesus Christ.
35. It is a very beautiful feature in this passage that it presents the very highest example, the Lord himself,
when it says, "Put ye on the Lord." Here is a strong incentive. For the individual who can see his master
fasting, laboring, watching, enduring hunger and fatigue, while he himself feasts, idles, sleeps, and lives
in luxury, must be a scoundrel. What master could tolerate such conduct in a servant? Or what servant
would dare attempt such things? We can but blush with shame when we behold our unlikeness to Christ.
36. Who can influence to action him who refuses to be warmed and aroused by the example of Christ
himself? What is to be accomplished by the rustling of leaves and the sound of words when the thunderclap of Christ's example fails to move us? Paul was particular to add the word "Lord," saying, "Put ye on
the Lord Jesus Christ." As if to say: "Ye servants, think not yourselves great and exalted. Look upon your
Lord, who, though under no obligation, denied himself." "And make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil
the lusts thereof."
37. Paul here briefly notices two different provisions for the flesh. One is supplying its natural wantsfurnishing the body with food and raiment necessary to sustain life and vigor; guarding against enfeebling
it and unfitting it for labor by too much restraint.
38. The other provision is a sinful one, the gratification of the lusts and inordinate appetites. This Paul
here forbids. It is conducive to works of darkness. The flesh must be restrained and made subservient to
the spirit. It must not dismount its master, but carry him if necessary. Sirach (Sir 33:24) says: "Fodder, a
wand, and burdens are for the ass; and bread, correction, and work for a servant." He does not say the
animal is to be mistreated or maimed; nor does he say the servant is to be abused or imprisoned. Thus to
the body pertains subjection, labor and whatever is essential to its proper welfare. Paul says of himself: "I
buffet my body, and bring it into bondage [subjection]." 1 Cor 9:27. He does not say he brings his body to
illness or death, but makes it serve in submission to the spirit.
39. Paul adds this last admonition for the sake of two classes of people. One class is represented by them
who make natural necessity an excuse to indulge their lusts and gratify their desires. Because of
humanity's proneness to such error, many saints, deploring the sin, have often in the attempt to resist it,
unduly restrained their bodies. So subtle and deceptive is nature in the matter of its demands and its lusts,
no man can wholly handle it; he must live this life in insecurity and concern.
The other class is represented by the blind saints who imagine the kingdom of God and his righteousness
are dependent upon the particular meat and drink, clothing and couch, of their own choice. They look no
farther than at their individual work in this respect, and fancy that in fasting until the brain is disordered,
the stomach deranged or the body emaciated, they have done well. Upon this subject Paul says (I Cor 8:8):
"Food will not commend us to God; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse; nor, if we eat, are we the
better." Again (Col 2:18-23): "Let no man rob you of your prize by a voluntary humility and worshipping
of the angels . . . which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and severity
to the body; but are not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh."
40. Gerson commended the Carthusians for not eating meat, even though debility made meat a necessity.
He would deny it even at the cost of life. Thus was the great man deceived by this superstitious, angelic
spirituality. What if God judges its votaries as murderers of themselves? Indeed, no orders, statutes or
vows contrary to the command of God can rightfully be made; and if made they would profit no more
than would a vow to break one's marriage contract. Certainly God has here in the words of Paul forbidden
such destruction of our own bodies. It is our duty to allow the body all necessary food, whether wine,
meat, eggs or anything else; whether the time be Friday, Sunday, in Lent or after the feast of Easter;
regardless of all orders, traditions and vows, and of the Pope. No prohibition contrary to God's command
can avail, though made by the angels even.
41. This wretched folly of vows has its rise in darkness and blindness; the looking upon mere works and
trusting to be saved by the number and magnitude of them. Paul would make of works "armor of light,"
and employ them to overcome the works of darkness. Thus far, then, and no farther, should fasting,
vigilance and exertion be practiced. Before God it matters not at all whether you eat fish or meat, drink
water or wine, wear red or green, do this or that. All foods are good creations of God and to be used. Only
take heed to be temperate in appropriating them and to abstain when it is necessary to the conquest of
the works of darkness. It is impossible to lay down a common rule of abstinence, for all bodies are not
constituted alike. One needs more, another less. Everyone must judge for himself, and must care for his
body according to the advice of Paul: "Make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof." Had
there been any other rule for us, Paul would not have omitted it here.
42. Hence, you see, the ecclesiastical traditions that flatly forbid the eating of meat are contrary to the
Gospel. Paul predicts their appearance in First Timothy 4:1-3, where he says: "But the Spirit saith
expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and
doctrines of demons, through the hypocrisy of men that speak lies, branded in their own conscience as
with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be
received with thanksgiving." That these words have reference to ecclesiastical orders and those of the
entire Papacy, no one can deny. They are plain. Hence the nature of papistical works is manifest.
43. Also you will note here Paul does not sanction the fanatical devotion of certain effeminate saints who
set apart to themselves particular days for fasting, as a special service to God, one for this saint, another
for that. These are all blind paths, leading us to base our blessings on works. Without distinction of days
and meats, our lives should be temperate and sober throughout. If good works are to be our armor of
light, and if the entire life is to be pure and chaste, we must never lay off the arms of defense, but always
be found sober, temperate, vigilant, energetic. These fanatical saints, however, fast one day on bread and
water and then eat and drink to excess every day for one-fourth of the year. Again, some fast from food
in the evening but drink immoderately. And who can mention all the folly and works of darkness
originating from regarding works for the sake of the efforts themselves and not for the purpose they serve.
Men convert the armor of good works into a mirror, fasting without knowing the reason for abstinence.
They are like those who bear a sword merely to look at, and when assailed do not use it. This is enough
on today's epistle lesson.
First Sunday in Advent; Matthew 21:1-9
A Sermon by Martin Luther;
taken from his Church Postil of 1521.
1. In the preface I said that there are two things to be noted and considered in the Gospel lessons: first,
the works of Christ presented to us as a gift and blessing on which our faith is to cling and exercise itself;
secondly, the same works offered as an example and model for us to imitate and follow. All Gospel lessons
the us through light first faith and then good works. We will therefore consider this Gospel under three
heads: speaking first of faith; secondly of good works, and thirdly of the lesson story and it's hidden
meaning.
I. CONCERNING FAITH
2. This Gospel encourages and demands faith, or it pre-figures Christ coming with grace, and none may
receive or accept save he who believes him to be the man, and has the mind, as this Gospel portrays in
Christ. Nothing but the mercy, tenderness and kindness of Christ are here shown, and he who so receives
and believes on him is saved. He sits not upon a proud steed, an animal of war, nor does he come in great
pomp and power, but sitting upon an ass, an animal of peace fit only for burdens and labor and a help to
man. He indicates by this that he comes not to frighten man, nor to drive or crush him, but to help and to
carry his burden for him. And although it was the custom of the country to ride on asses and to use horses
for war, as the Scriptures often tell us, yet here the object is to show that the entrance of this king shall
be meek and lowly.
Again it also shows the pomp and conduct of the disciples towards Christ who bring the colt to Christ, set
him thereon, and spread their garments in the way; also that of the multitude who also spread their
garments in the way and cut branches from the trees. They manifested no fear nor terror, but only blessed
confidence in him as one for whom they dared to do such things and who would take it kindly and readily
consent to it.
3. Again, he begins his journey and comes to the Mount of Olives to indicate that he comes out of pure
mercy. For olive oil in the Scriptures signifies the grace of God that soothes and strengthens the soul as
oil soothes and strengthens the body.
4. Thirdly, there is no armor present, no war-cry, but songs and praise, rejoicing and thanksgiving to the
Lord.
5. Fourthly, Christ, as Luke 19:41 writes, weeps over Jerusalem because she does not know nor receive
such grace; yet he was so grieved at her loss that he did not deal harshly with her.
6. Fifthly, his goodness and mercy are best shown when he quotes the words of the prophets, Isa. 62:11;
Zach. 9:9, and tenderly invites men to believe and accept Christ, for the fulfilling of which prophecies the
events of this Gospel took place and the story was written, as the Evangelist himself testifies. Therefore
we must look upon this verse as the chief part of this Gospel, for in it Christ is pictured to us and we are
told what we are to believe, and to expect of him, what we are to seek in him, and how we may be
benefitted by him.
7. First he says: "Tell ye" the daughter of Zion. This is said to the ministry and a new sermon is given them
to preach, namely, nothing but what the words following indicate, a right knowledge of Christ. Whoever
preaches anything else is a wolf and deceiver. This is one of the verses in which the Gospel is promised of
which Paul writes in Rom. 1:2; for the Gospel is a sermon from Christ, as he is here placed before us, calling
for faith in him.
8. I have often said that there are two kinds of faith. First, a faith in which you indeed believe that Christ
is such a man as he is described and proclaimed here and in all the Gospels, but do not believe that he is
such a man for you, and are in doubt whether you have any part in him and think: Yes, he is such a man
to others, to Peter, Paul, and the blessed saints; but who knows that he is such to me and that I may
expect the same from him and may confide in it, as these saints did?
9. Behold, this faith is nothing, it does not receive Christ nor enjoy him, neither can it feel any love and
affection for him or from him. It is a faith about Christ and not in or of Christ, a faith which the devils also
have as well as evil men. For who is it that does not believe that Christ is a gracious king to the saints? This
vain and wicked faith is now taught by the pernicious synagogues of Satan. The universities (Paris and her
sister schools), together with the monasteries and all Papists, say that this faith is sufficient to make
Christians. In this way they virtually deny Christian faith, make heathen and Turks out of Christians, as St.
Peter in 2 Pet. 2:1 had foretold: "There shall be false teachers, who shall privily bring in destructive
heresies, denying even the Master that bought them."
10. In the second place he particularly mentions, "The daughter of Zion." In these words he refers to the
other, the true faith. For if he commands that the following words concerning Christ be proclaimed, there
must be some one to hear, to receive, and to treasure them in firm faith. He does not say: Tell of the
daughter of Zion, as if some one were to believe that she has Christ; but to her you are to say that she is
to believe it of herself, and not in any wise doubt that it will be fulfilled as the words declare. That alone
can be called Christian faith, which believes without wavering that Christ is the Saviour not only to Peter
and to the saints but also to you. Your salvation does not depend on the fact that you believe Christ to be
the Saviour of the godly, but that he is a Saviour to you and has become your own.
11. Such a faith will work in you love for Christ and joy in him, and good works will naturally follow. If they
do not, faith is surely not present; for where faith is, there the Holy Ghost is and must work love and good
works.
12. This faith is condemned by apostate and rebellious Christians, the pope, bishops, priests, monks, and
the universities. They call it arrogance to desire to be like the saints. Thereby they fulfill the prophecy of
Peter in 2 Pet. 2:2, where he says of these false teachers: "By reason of whom the way of the truth shall
be evil spoken of." For this reason, when they hear faith praised, they think love and good works are
prohibited. In their great blindness they do not know what faith, love and good works are. If you would
be a Christian you must permit these words to be spoken to you and hold fast to them and believe without
a doubt that you will experience what they say. You must not consider it arrogance that in this you are
like the saints, but rather a necessary humility and despair not of God's grace but of your own worthiness.
Under penalty of the loss of salvation, does God ask for boldness toward his proffered grace. If you do not
desire to become holy like the saints, where will you abide? That would be arrogance if you desired to be
saved by your own merit and works, as the Papists teach. They call that arrogance which is faith, and that
faith which is arrogance; poor, miserable, deluded people!
13. If you believe in Christ and in his advent, it is the highest praise and thanks to God to be holy. If you
recognize, love, and magnify his grace and work in you, and cast aside and condemn self and the works of
self, then are you a Christian. We say: "I believe in the holy Christian church, the communion of saints."
Do you desire to be a part of the holy Christian church and communion of saints, you must also be holy as
she is, yet not of yourself but through Christ alone in whom all are holy.
14. Thirdly be says: "Behold." With this word he rouses us at once from sleep and unbelief as though be
had something great, strange, or remarkable to offer, something we have long wished for and now would
receive with joy. Such waking up is necessary for the reason that everything that concerns faith is against
reason and nature; for example, how can nature and reason comprehend that such an one should be king
of Jerusalem who enters in such poverty and humility as to ride upon a borrowed ass? How does such an
advent become a great king? But faith is of the nature that it does not judge nor reason by what it sees or
feels but by what it hears. It depends upon the Word alone and not on vision or sight. For this reason
Christ was received as a king only by the followers of the word of the prophet, by the believers in Christ,
by those who judged and received his kingdom not by sight but by the spirit-these are the true daughters
of Zion. For it is not possible for those not to be offended in Christ who walk by sight and feeling and do
not adhere firmly to the Word.
15. Let us receive first and hold fast this picture in which the nature of faith is placed before us. For as the
appearance and object of faith as here presented is contrary to nature and reason, so the same ineffectual
and unreasonable appearance is to be found in all articles and instances of faith. It would be no faith if it
appeared and acted as faith acts and as the words indicate. It is faith because it does not appear and
deport itself as faith and as the words declare.
If Christ had entered in splendor like a king of earth, the appearance and the words would have been
according to nature and reason and would have seemed to the eye according to the words, but then there
would have been no room for faith. He who believes in Christ must find riches in poverty, honor in
dishonor, joy in sorrow, life in death, and hold fast to them in that faith which clings to the Word and
expects such things.
16. Fourthly: "Thy king." Here he distinguishes this king from all other kings. It is thy king, he says, who
was promised to you, whose own you are, who alone shall direct you, yet in the spirit and not in the body.
It is he for whom you have yearned from the beginning, whom the fathers have desired to see, who will
deliver you from all that has hitherto burdened, troubled, and held you captive.
Oh, this is a comforting word to a believing heart, for without Christ, man is subjected to many raging
tyrants who are not kings but murderers, at whose hands he suffers great misery and fear. These are the
devil, the flesh, the world, sin, also the law and eternal death, by all of which the troubled conscience is
burdened, is under bondage, and lives in anguish. For where there is sin there is no clear conscience;
where there is no clear conscience, there is a life of uncertainty and an unquenchable fear of death and
hell in the presence of which no real joy can exist in the heart, as Lev. 26:36 says: "The sound of a driven
leaf shall chase them."
17. Where the heart receives the king with a firm faith, it is secure and does not fear sin, death, hell, nor
any other evil; for he well knows and in no wise doubts that this king is the Lord of life and death, of sin
and grace, of hell and heaven, and that all things are in his hand. For this reason he became our king and
came down to us that he might deliver us from these tyrants and rule over us himself alone. Therefore he
who is under this king cannot be harmed either by sin, death, hell, Satan, man or any other creature. As
his king lives without sin and is blessed, so must he be kept forever without sin and death in living
blessedness.
18. See, such great things are contained in these seemingly unimportant words: "Behold, thy king." Such
boundless gifts are brought by this poor and despised king. All this reason does not understand, nor nature
comprehend, but faith alone does. Therefore he is called thy king; thine, who art vexed and harassed by
sin, Satan, death and hell, the flesh and the world, so that thou mayest be governed and directed in the
grace, in the spirit, in life, in heaven, in God.
With this word, therefore, he demands faith in order that you may be certain that he is such a king to you,
has such a kingdom, and has come and is proclaimed for this purpose. If you do not believe this of him,
you will never acquire such faith by any work of yours. What you think of him you will have; what you
expect of him you will find; and as you believe so shall it be to you. He will still remain what he is, the King
of life, of grace, and of salvation, whether he is believed on or not.
19. Fifthly: He "cometh." Without doubt you do not come to him and bring him to you; he is too high and
too far from you. With all your effort, work and labor you cannot come to him, lest you boast as though
you had received him by your own merit and worthiness. No, dear friend, all merit and worthiness is out
of the question, and there is nothing but demerit and unworthiness on your side, nothing but grace and
mercy on his. The poor and the rich here come together, as Prov. 22:2 says.
20. By this are condemned all those infamous doctrines of free will, which come from the pope,
universities and monasteries. For all their teaching consists in that we are to begin and lay the first stone.
We should by the power of free will first seek God, come to him, run after him and acquire his grace.
Beware, beware of this poison! It is nothing but the doctrine of devils, by which all the world is betrayed.
Before you can cry to God and seek him God must come to you and must have found you, as Paul says,
Rom. 10:14-15: "How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they
believe in him whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher, and how shall
they preach except they be sent?" God must lay the first stone and begin with you, if you are to seek him
and pray to him. He is present when you begin to seek. If he were not you could not accomplish anything
but mere sin, and the greater the sin, the greater and holier the work you will attempt, and you will
become a hardened hypocrite.
21. You ask, how shall we begin to be godly and what shall we do that God may begin his work in us?
Answer: Do you not understand, it is not for you to work or to begin to be godly, as little as it is to further
and complete it. Everything that you begin is in and remains sin, though it shines ever so brightly; you
cannot do anything but sin, do what you will. Hence, the teaching of all the schools and monasteries is
misleading, when they teach man to begin to pray and do good works, to found something, to give, to
sing, to become spiritual and thereby to seek God's grace.
22. You say, however: Then I must sin from necessity, if by my free will I work and live without God? and
I could not avoid sin, no matter what I would do? Answer: Truly it is so, that you must remain in sin, do
what you will, and that everything is sin you do alone out of your own free will. For if out of your own free
will you might avoid sin and do that which pleases God, what need would you have of Christ? He would
be a fool to shed his blood for your sin, if you yourself were so free and able to do aught that is not sin.
From this you learn how the universities and monasteries with their teachings of free will and good works,
do nothing else but darken the truth of God so that we know not what Christ is, what we are and what
our condition is. They lead the whole world with them into the abyss of hell, and it is indeed time that we
eradicate from the earth all chapters and monasteries.
23. Learn then from this Gospel what takes place when God begins to make us godly, and what the first
step is in becoming godly. There is no other beginning than that your king comes to you and begins to
work in you. It is done in this way: The Gospel must be the first, this must be preached and heard. In it
you bear and learn how all your works count for nothing before God and that everything is sinful that you
work and do. Your king must first be in you and rule you. Behold, here is the beginning of your salvation;
you relinquish your works and despair of yourself, because you hear and see that all you do is sin and
amounts to nothing, as the Gospel tells you, and you receive your king in faith, cling to him, implore his
grace and find consolation in his mercy alone.
But when you hear and accept this it is not your power, but God's grace, that renders the Gospel fruitful
in you, so that you believe that you and your works arc nothing. For you see how few there are who accept
it, so that Christ weeps over Jerusalem and, as now the Papists are doing, not only refuse it, but condemn
such doctrine, for they will not have all their works to be sin, they desire to lay the first stone and rage
and fume against the Gospel.
24. Again, it is not by virtue of your power or your merit that the Gospel is preached and your king comes.
God must send him out of pure grace. Hence, not greater wrath of God exists than where he does not
send the Gospel; there is only sin, error and darkness, there man may do what he will. Again, there is no
greater grace, than where he sends his Gospel, for there must be grace and mercy in its train, even if not
all. perhaps only a few, receive it. Thus the pope's government is the most terrible wrath of God, so that
Peter calls them. the children of execration, for they teach no Gospel, but mere human doctrine of their
own works as we, alas, see in all the chapters, monasteries and schools.
25. This is what is meant by "Thy king cometh." You do not seek him, but he seeks you. You do not find
him, he finds you. For the preachers come from him, not from you; their sermons come from him, not
from you; your faith comes from him, not from you; everything that faith works in you comes from him,
not from you; and where he does not come, you remain outside; and where there is no Gospel there is no
God, but only sin and damnation, free will may do, suffer, work and live as it may and can. Therefore you
should not ask, where to begin to be godly; there is no beginning, except where the king enters and is
proclaimed.
26. Sixthly, he cometh "unto thee." Thee, thee, what does this mean? Is it not enough that he is your king?
If he is yours how can he say, he comes to you? All this is stated by the prophet to present Christ in an
endearing way and invite to faith. It is not enough that Christ saves us from the rule and tyranny of sin,
death and hell, and becomes our king, but he offers himself to us for our possession, that whatever he is
and has may be ours, as St. Paul writes, Rom. 8:32: "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up
for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things?"
27. Hence the daughter of Zion has twofold gifts from Christ. The first is faith and the Holy Spirit in the
heart, by which she becomes pure and free from sin. The other is Christ himself, that she may glory in the
blessings given by Christ, as though everything Christ is and has were her own, and that she may rely upon
Christ as upon her own heritage. Of this St. Paul speaks, Rom. 8:34: "Christ maketh intercession for us." If
he maketh intercession for us he will receive us and we will receive him as our Lord. And I Cor. 1:30: "Christ
was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption." Of the
twofold gifts Isaiah speaks in 40:1-2: "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye
comfortably to Jerusalem; and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned,
for she hath received of Jehovah's hand double for all her sins."
Behold, this means that he comes to you, for your welfare, as your own; in that he is your king, you receive
grace from him into your heart, so that he delivers you from sin and death, and thus becomes your king
and you his subject. In coming to you he becomes your own, so that you partake of his treasures, as a
bride, by the jewelry the bridegroom puts on her, becomes partner of his possessions. Oh, this is a joyful,
comforting form of speech! Who would despair and be afraid of death and hell, if he believes in these
words and wins Christ as his own?
28. Seventhly: "Meek." This word is to be especially noticed, and it comforts the sin- burdened conscience.
Sin naturally makes a timid conscience, which fears God and flees, as Adam did in Paradise, and cannot
endure the coming of God, the knowing and feeling that God is an enemy of sin and severely punishes it.
Hence it flees and is afraid, when God is only mentioned, and is concerned lest he go at it tooth and nail.
In order that such delusion and timidity may not pursue us he gives us the comforting promise that this
king comes meekly.
As if he would say: Do not flee and despair for he does not come now as he came to Adam, to Cain, at the
flood, at Babel, to Sodom and Gomorrah, nor as he came to the people of Israel at Mount Sinai; he comes
not in wrath, does not wish to reckon with you and demand his debt. All wrath is laid aside, nothing but
tenderness and kindness remain. He will now deal with you so that your heart will have pleasure, love and
confidence in him, that henceforth you will much more abide with him and find refuge in him than you
feared him and fled from him before. Behold, he is nothing but meekness to you, he is a different man,
he acts as if he were sorry ever to have made you afraid and caused you to flee from his punishment and
wrath. He desires to reassure and comfort you and bring you to himself by love and kindness.
This means to speak consolingly to a sin-burdened conscience, this means to preach Christ rightly and to
proclaim his Gospel. How is it possible that such a form of speech should not make a heart glad and drive
away all fear of sin, death and hell, and establish a free, secure and good conscience that will henceforth
gladly do all and more than is commanded.
29. The Evangelist, however, altered the words of the prophet slightly. The prophet says in Zech. 9:9:
"Rejoice greatly, 0 daughter of Zion; shout, 0 daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy king cometh unto thee;
he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, even upon a colt, the foal of an ass." The
Evangelist expresses the invitation to joy and exultation briefly in these words: "Tell the daughter of Zion."
Further on he leaves out the words: "just and having salvation." Again the prophet says, "he is lowly," the
Evangelist, "he is meek." The prophet says: "upon the colt, the foal of an ass," he mentions the last word
in the plural number; the Evangelist says: "upon the colt, the foal of an ass that is used for daily and
burden-bearing labor." How shall we harmonize these accounts?
30. First, we must keep in mind that the Evangelists do not quote the prophets word by word, it is enough
for them to have the same meaning and to show the fulfillment, directing us to the Scriptures so that we
ourselves may read, what they omit, and see for ourselves that nothing was written which is not richly
fulfilled. It is natural, also, that he who has the substance and the fulfillment, does not care so much for
the words. Thus we often find that the Evangelist, quote the prophets somewhat changed, yet it is done
without detriment to the understanding and intent of the original.
31. To invite the daughter of Zion and the daughter of Jerusalem to joy and gladness the prophet
abundantly gives us to understand that the coining of this king is most comforting to every sin-burdened
conscience, since he removes all fear and trembling, so that men do not flee from him and look upon him
as a severe judge, who will press them with the law, as Moses did, so that they could not have a joyful
confidence in God, as the knowledge and realization of sin naturally come from the law. But he would
arouse them with this first word to expect from him all grace and goodness. For what other reason should
he invite them to rejoice and command them even to shout and be exceeding glad! He tells this command
of God to all who are in sorrow and fear of God. He also shows that it is God's will and full intent, and
demands that they entertain joyful confidence in him against the natural fear and alarm And this is the
natural voice of the Gospel which the prophet here begins to preach, as Christ speaks likewise in the
Gospel and the apostles always admonish to rejoice in Christ, as we shall hear further on.
It is also full of meaning that he comes from the Mount of Olives. We shall notice that this grace on account
of its greatness might be called a mountain of grace, a grace which is not only a drop or handful, but grace
abundant and heaped up like a mountain.
32. He mentions the people twice while the Evangelist says only once, daughter of Zion. For it is one
people, daughter of Zion and daughter of Jerusalem, namely the people of the same city, who believe in
Christ and receive him. As I said before, the Evangelist quotes the Scriptures only briefly and invites us to
read them ourselves and find out more there for ourselves. That the Evangelist does not invite to joy like
the prophet, but simply says: Tell it to the daughter of Zion, he does it to show how the joy and exultation
shall be carried on. None should expect bodily but spiritual joy, a joy that can be gathered alone from the
Word by the faith of the heart. From a worldly aspect there was nothing joyful in Christ's entrance, his
spiritual advent must be preached and believed; that is, his meekness; this makes man joyful and glad.
33. That the prophet gives Christ three titles, lowly, just, and having salvation, while the Evangelist has
only one, meek, is again done for brevity's sake, he suggests more than he explains. It seems to me that
the Holy Ghost led the apostles and evangelists to abbreviate passages of the Scriptures for the purpose
that we might be kept close to the holy Scriptures, and not set a bad example to future exegetes, who
make many words outside the Scriptures and thereby draw us secretly from the Scriptures to human
doctrines. As to say: If I spread the Scriptures verbatim everyone will follow the example and it will come
to pass that we would read more in other books than in the holy writings of the principal book, and there
would be no end to the writing of books and we would be carried from one book to another, until, finally,
we would get away from the holy Scriptures altogether, as has happened in fact. Hence, with such
incomplete quotations he directs us to the original book where they can be found complete, so that there
is no need for everyone to make a separate book and leave the first one.
34. We notice, therefore, that it is the intention of all the apostles and evangelists in the New Testament
to direct and drive us to the Old Testament, which they call the Holy Scriptures proper. For the New
Testament was to be only the incarnate living Word and not scripture. Hence Christ did not write anything
himself, but gave the command to preach and extend the Gospel, which lay hidden in the Scriptures, as
we shall hear on Epiphany Sunday.
35. In the Hebrew language the two words meek and lowly do not sound unlike, and mean not a poor
man who is wanting in money and property, but who in his heart is humble and wretched, in whom truly
no anger nor haughtiness is to be found, but meekness and sympathy. And if we wish to obtain the full
meaning of this word, we must take it as Luke uses it, who describes how Christ at his entrance wept and
wailed over Jerusalem.
We interpret therefore the words lowly and meek in the light of Christ's conduct. How does he appear?
His heart is full of sorrow and compassion toward Jerusalem. There is no anger or revenge, but he weeps
out of tenderness at their impending doom.. None was so bad that he did or wished him harm. His
sympathy makes him so kind and full of pity that he thinks not of anger, of haughtiness, of threatening or
revenge, but offers boundless compassion and good will. This is what the prophet calls lowly and the
Evangelist meek. Blessed he who thus knows Christ in him and believes in him. He cannot be afraid of him,
but has a true and comforting confidence in him and entrance to him. He does not try to find fault either,
for as he believes, he finds it; these words do not lie nor deceive.
36. The word "just" does not mean here the justice with which God judges, which is called the severe
justice of God. For if Christ came to us with this who could stand before him.? Who could receive him,
since even the saints cannot endure it? The joy and grace of this entrance would thereby be changed info
the greatest fear and terror. But that grace is meant, by which he makes us just or righteous. I wish the
word justus, justitia, were not used for the severe judicial justice; for originally it means godly, godliness.
When we say, he is a pious man, the Scriptures express it, he is justus, justified or just. But the severe
justice of God is called in the Scriptures: Severity, judgment, tribunal.
The prophet's meaning, therefore, is this: Thy king cometh to thee pious or just, i.e., he comes to make
you godly through himself and his grace; he knows well that you are not godly. Your piety should consist
not in your deeds, but in his grace and gift, so that you are just and godly through him. In this sense St.
Paul speaks, Rom. 3:26: "That he might himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus."
That is, Christ alone is pious before God and he alone makes us pious. Also, Rom. 1:17: "For therein is
revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith," that is the godliness of God, namely his grace and
mercy, by which he makes us godly before him, is preached in the Gospel. You see in this verse from the
prophet that Christ is preached for us unto righteousness, that he comes godly and just, and we become
godly and just by faith.
37. Note this fact carefully, that when you find in the Scriptures the word God's justice, it is not to be
understood of the self-existing, imminent justice of God, as the Papists and many of the fathers held, lest
you be frightened; but, according to the usage of Holy Writ, it means the revealed grace and mercy of God
through Jesus Christ in us by means of which we are considered godly and righteous before him. Hence it
is called God's justice or righteousness effected not by us, but by God through grace, just as God's work,
God's wisdom, God's strength, God's word, God's mouth, signifies what he works and speaks in us. All this
is demonstrated clearly by St. Paul, Rom. 1:16: "1 am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; for it is the
power of God (which works in us and strengthens us) unto salvation to everyone that believeth. For
therein is revealed a righteousness of God," as it is written in Hab. 2:4: "The righteous shall live by his
faith." Here you see that he speaks of the righteousness of faith and calls the same the righteousness of
God, preached in the Gospel, since the Gospel teaches nothing else but that he who believes has grace
and is righteous before God and is saved.
In the same manner you should understand Ps. 31:1: "Deliver me in thy righteousness," i.e. by thy grace,
which makes me godly and righteous. The word Saviour or Redeemer compels us to accept this as the
meaning of the little word "just." For if Christ came with his severe justice he would not save anyone, but
condemn all, as they are all sinners and unjust. But now he comes to make not only just and righteous,
but also blessed, all who receive him, that he alone as the just one and the Saviour be offered graciously
to all sinners out of unmerited kindness and righteousness.
38. When the Evangelist calls his steed a burden-bearing and working foal of an ass he describes the
animal the prophets mean. He wants to say: The prophecy is fulfilled in this burden-bearing animal. It was
not a special animal trained for this purpose, as according to the country's custom riding animals are
trained, and when the prophet speaks of the foal of the ass it is his meaning that it was a colt, but not a
colt of a horse.
II. CONCERNING GOOD WORKS.
39. We have said enough of faith. We now come to consider good works. We receive Christ not only as a
gift by faith, but also as an example of love toward our neighbor, whom we are to serve as Christ serves
us. Faith brings and gives Christ to you with all his possessions. Love gives you to your neighbor with all
your possessions. These two things constitute a true and complete Christian life; then follow suffering and
persecution for such faith and love, and out of these grows hope in patience.
40. You ask, perhaps, what are the good works you are to do to your neighbor? Answer: They have no
name. As the good works Christ does to you have no name, so your good works are to have no name.
41. Whereby do you know them? Answer: They have no name, so that there may be no distinction made
and they be not divided, that you might do some and leave others undone. You shall give yourself up to
him altogether, with all you have, the same as Christ did not simply pray or fast for you. Prayer and fasting
are not the works he did for you, but he gave himself up wholly to you, with praying, fasting, all works and
suffering, so that there is nothing in him that is not yours and was not done for you. Thus it is not your
good work that you give alms or that you pray, but that you offer yourself to your neighbor and serve him,
wherever he needs you and every way you can, be it with alms, prayer, work, fasting, counsel, comfort,
instruction, admonition, punishment, apologizing, clothing, food, and lastly with suffering and dying for
him. Pray, where are now such works to be found in Christendom?
42. I wish to God I had a voice like a thunderbolt, that I might preach to all the world, and tear the word
"good works" out of people's hearts, mouths, ears, books, or at least then the right understanding of it.
All the world sings, speaks, writes and thinks of good works, everyone wishes to exercise themselves in
good works, and yet, good works are done nowhere, no one has the right understanding of good works.
Oh, that all such pulpits in all the world were cast into the fire and burned to ashes! How they mislead
people with their good works! They call good works what God has not commanded, as pilgrimages, fasting,
building and decorating their churches in honor of the saints, saying mass, paying for vigils, praying with
rosaries, much prattling and bawling in churches, turning nun, monk, priest, using special food, raiment
or dwelling,-who can enumerate all the horrible abominations and deceptions? This is the pope's
government and holiness.
43. If you have ears to hear and a mind to observe, pray, listen and learn for God's sake what good works
are and mean. A good work is good for the reason that it is useful and benefits and helps the one for
whom it is done; why else should it be called good! For there is a difference between good works and
great, long, numerous, beautiful works. When you throw a big stone a great distance it is a great work,
but whom does it benefit? If you can jump, run, fence well, it is a fine work, but whom does it benefit?
Whom does it help, if you wear a costly coat or build a fine house?
44. And to come to our Papists' work, what does it avail if they put silver or gold on the walls, wood and
stone in the churches? Who would be made better, if each village had ten bells, as big as those at Erfurt?
Whom would it help if all the houses were convents and monasteries as splendid as the temple of
Solomon? Who is benefitted if you fast for St. Catherine, St. Martin or any other saint? Whom does it
benefit, if you are shaved half or wholly, if you wear a gray or a black cap? Of what use were it if all people
field mass every hour? What benefit is it if in one church, as at Meissen, they sing day and night Without
interruption? Who is better for it, if every church had more silver, pictures and jewelry than the churches
of Halle and Wittenberg? It is folly and deception, men's lies invented these things and called them good
works; they all pretend they serve God thus and pray for the people and their sins, just as if they helped
God with their property or as if his saints were in need of our work. Sticks and stones are not as rude and
mad as we are. A tree bears fruit, not for itself, but for the good of man and beast, and these fruits are its
good works.
45. Hear then how Christ explains good works, Math. 7:12: "Whatsoever ye would that men should do
unto you, even so do ye unto them; for this is the law and the prophets." Do you hear now what are the
contents of the whole law and of all the prophets? You are not to do good to God and to his dead saints,
they are not in need of it; still less to wood and stone, to which it is of no use, nor is it needed, but to men,
to men, to men. Do you not hear? To men you should do everything that you would they should do to
you.
46. I would not have you build me a church or tower or cast bells for me. I would not have you construct
for me an organ with fourteen stops and ten rows of flute work. Of this I can neither eat nor drink, support
neither wife nor child, keep neither house nor land. You may feast my eyes on these and tickle my ears,
but what shall I give to my children? Where are the necessaries of life? 0 madness, madness! The bishops
and lords, who should check it, are the first in such folly, and one blind leader leads the other. Such people
remind me of young girls playing with dolls and of boys riding on sticks. Indeed, they are nothing but
children and players with dolls, and riders of hobbyhorses.
47. Keep in mind, that you need not do any work for God nor for the departed saints, but you ask and
receive good from him in faith. Christ has done and accomplished everything for you, atoned for your sins,
secured grace and life and salvation. Be content with this, only think how he can become more and more
your own and strengthen your faith. Hence direct all the good you can do and your whole life to the end
that it be good; but it is good only when it is useful to other people and not to yourself. You need it not,
since Christ has done and given for you all that you might seek and desire for yourself, here and hereafter,
be it forgiveness of sins, merit of salvation or whatever it may be called. If you find a work in you by which
you benefit God or his saints or yourself and not your neighbor, know that such a work is not good.
48. A man is to live, speak, act, hear, suffer and die for the good of his wife and child, the wife for the
husband, the children for the parents, the servants for their masters, the masters for their servants, the
government for its subjects, the subjects for the government, each one for his fellow man, even for his
enemies, so that one is the other's hand, mouth, eye, foot, even heart and mind. This is a truly Christian
and good work, which can and shall be done at all times, in all places, toward all people. You notice the
Papists' works in organs, pilgrimages, fasting, etc., are really beautiful, great, numerous, long, wide and
heavy works, but there is no good, useful and helpful work among them and the proverb may be applied
to them: It is already bad.
49. But beware of their acute subtleties, when they say: If these works are not good to our neighbor in his
body, they do spiritual good to his soul, since they serve God and propitiate him and secure his grace.
Here it is time to say: You lie as wide as your mouth. God is to be worshiped not with works, but by faith,
faith must do everything that is to be done between God and us. There may be more faith in a millerboy
than in all the Papists, and it may gain more than all priests and monks do with their organs and jugglery,
even if they had more organs than these now have pipes. He who has faith can pray for his fellow man,
he who has no faith can pray for nothing.
It is a satanic lie to call such outward pomp spiritually good and useful works. A miller's maid, if she
believes, does more good, accomplishes more, and I would trust her more, if she takes the sack from the
horse, than all the priests and monks, if they kill themselves singing day and night and torment themselves
to the quick. You great, coarse fools, would you expect to help the people with your faithless life and
distribute spiritual goods, when there is on earth no more miserable, needy, godless people than you are?
You should be called, not spiritual, but spiritless.
50. Behold, such good works Christ teaches here by his example. Tell me what does he do to serve himself
and to do good to himself? The prophet directs all to the daughter of Zion and says: "He cometh to thee,"
and that he comes as a Saviour, just and meek, is all for you, to make you just and blessed. None had
asked nor bidden him to come; but he came, he comes of his own free will, out of pure love, to do good
and to be useful and helpful.
Now his work is manifold, it embraces all that is necessary to make us just and blessed. But justification
and salvation imply that he delivers us from sin, death, hell, and does it not only for his friends, but also
for his enemies, yea, for none but his enemies, yet he does it so tenderly, that he weeps over those who
oppose such work and will not receive him. Hence he leaves nothing undone to blot out their sin, conquer
death and hell and make them just and blessed. He retains nothing for himself, and is content that he
already has God and is blessed, -thus he serves only us according to the will of his father who wishes him
to do so.
51. See then how he keeps the law: "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye
unto them." Is it not true, everyone heartily wishes that another might step between man and his sin,
take it upon himself and blot it out, so that it would no more sting his conscience, and deliver him from
death and hell? What does everyone desire more deeply than to be free from death and hell? Who would
not be free from sin and have a good, joyful conscience before God? Do we not see how all men have
striven for this, with prayer, fastings, pilgrimages, donations, monasteries and priestdom? Who urges
them? It is sin, death, hell, from which they would be saved. And if there were a physician at the end of
the world, who could help here, all lands would become deserted and every one would hasten to this
physician and risk property, body and life to make the journey.
And if Christ himself, like we, were surrounded by death, sin and hell, he would wish that some one would
help him out of it, take his sin away and give him a good conscience. Since he would have others do this
for him, he proceeds and does it for others, as the law says, he takes upon himself our sins, goes into
death and overcomes for us sin, death and hell so that henceforth all who believe in him, and call upon
his name, shall be justified and saved, be above sin and death, have a good, joyful, secure and intrepid
conscience forever, as he says in John 8:51: "If a man keep my word, he shall never see death," and John
11:25-26: "I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall he live I
and whosoever liveth and believeth on me, shall never die."
52. Behold, this is the great joy, to which the prophet invites, when he says: "Rejoice greatly, 0 daughter
of Zion; shout, 0 daughter of Jerusalem!" This is the righteousness and the salvation for which the Saviour
and King comes. These are the good works done for us by which he fulfills the law. Hence the death of the
believer in Christ is not death but a sleep, for he neither sees nor tastes death, as is said in Ps. 4:8: "In
peace will I both lay me down and sleep, for thou, Jehovah, alone makest me dwell in safety." Therefore
death is also called a sleep in the Scriptures.
53. But the Papists and their disciples, who would get rid of death, sin and hell by their own works and
satisfaction, must remain in them eternally for they undertake to do for themselves what Christ alone did
and could do, of whom they should expect it by faith. Therefore they are foolish, deluded people who do
works for Christ and his saints, which they should do for their neighbor. Again, what they should expect
of Christ by faith they would find in themselves and have gone so far as to spend on stone and wood, on
bells and incense what they should spend on their neighbors. They go on and do good to God and his
saints, fast for them and dedicate to them prayers, and at the same time leave their neighbor as he is,
thinking only, let us first help ourselves! Then comes the pope and sells them his letter of indulgence and
leads them into heaven, not into God's heaven, but into the pope's heaven, which is the abyss of hell.
Behold, this is the fruit of unbelief and ignorance of Christ, this is our reward for having left the Gospel in
obscurity and setting up human doctrine in its place. I repeat it, I wish all pulpits in the world lay in ashes,
and the monasteries, convents, churches, hermitages and chapels, and everything were ashes and
powder, because of this shameful misleading of souls.
54. Now you know what good works are. Think of it and act accordingly. As to sin, death and hell, take
care that you augment them not, for you cannot do anything here, your good works will avail nothing,
you must have some one else to work for you. To Christ himself such works properly belong, you must
consent to it that he who comes is the king of Zion, that he alone is the just Saviour. In him and through
him you will blot out sin and death through faith. Therefore, if anyone teaches you to blot out your own
sin by works, beware of him.
55. When in opposition to this they quote verses of the Bible like Dan. 4:27: "Break off thine iniquities by
showing mercy to the poor," and I Pet. 4:8: "Love covereth a multitude of sins," and the like, be not
deceived, such passages do not mean that the works could blot out or remove sin, for this would rob
Christ of his word and advent, and do away with his whole work; but these works are a sure work of faith,
which in Christ receives remission of sins and the victory over death. For it is impossible for him who
believes in Christ, as a just Saviour, not to love and to do good. If, however, he does not do good nor love,
it is sure that faith is not present. Therefore man knows by the fruits what kind of a tree it is, and it is
proved by love and deed whether Christ is in him and he believes in Christ. As St. Peter says in 2 Pet. 1:10:
"Wherefore, brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure; for if ye do these
things, ye shall never stumble," that is, if you bravely practice good works you will be sure and cannot
doubt that God has called and chosen you.
56. Thus faith blots out sin in a different manner than love. Faith blots it out of itself, while love or good
works prove and demonstrate that faith has done so and is present, as St. Paul says, 1 Cor. 13:2: "And if I
have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." Why? Without doubt, because
faith is not present where there is no love, they are not separate the one from the other. See to it then
that you do not err, and be misled from faith to works.
57. Good works should be done, but we should not confide in them, instead of in Christ's work. We should
not touch sin, death and hell with our works, but direct them from us to the Saviour, to the king of Zion,
who rides upon an ass. He who knows how to treat sin, death and hell, will blot out sin, overcome death,
and subdue hell. Do you permit him to perform these works while you serve your neighbor,-you will then
have a sure testimony of faith in the Saviour who overcame death. So love and good works will blot out
your sin for you that you may realize it; as faith blots it out before God where you do not realize it. But
more of this later.
THE LESSON STORY AND THE FALSE NOTIONS THE JEWS HELD CONCERNING THE MESSIAH.
58. In the story of this Gospel we will first direct our attention to the reason why the Evangelist quotes
the words of the prophet, in which was described long ago and in clear, beautiful and wonderful words,
the bodily, public entrance and advent of our Lord Jesus Christ to the people of Zion or Jerusalem, as the
text says. In this the prophet wanted to show and explain to his people and to all the world, who the
Messiah is and how and in what manner he would come and manifest himself, and offers a plain and
visible sign in this that he says: "Behold, thy king cometh unto thee, meek, and riding upon an ass," etc.,
so that we would be certain of it, and not dispute about the promised Messiah or Christ, nor wait for
another.
He therewith anticipates the mistaken idea of the Jews, who thought, because there were such glorious
things said and written of Christ and his kingdom, he would manifest himself in great worldly pomp and
glory, as a king against their enemies, especially the Roman empire, to the power of which they were
subject, and would overthrow its power and might, and in their place set up the Jews as lords and princes.
They thus expected nothing in the promised Christ but a worldly kingdom and deliverance from bodily
captivity. Even today they cling to such dreams and therefore they do not believe in Christ, because they
have not seen such bodily relief and worldly power. They were led to this notion, and strengthened in it,
by their false priests, preachers and doctors, who perverted the Scriptures concerning Christ and
interpreted them according to their own worldly understanding as referring to bodily, worldly things,
because they would fain be great earthly lords.
59. But the dear prophets plainly foretold and faithfully gave warning that we should not think of such an
earthly kingdom nor of bodily salvation, but look back and pay attention to the promises of a spiritual
kingdom and of a redemption from the pernicious fall of mankind in paradise; of which it is said in Gen.
2:17: "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." The first prophecy of Christ is also against
it, Gen. 3:15: "The seed of woman shall bruise the serpent's head." Which means, he shall deliver all
mankind from the power of the devil and the captivity of sin and eternal death and, instead bring
justification before God and eternal life. Hence this prophet calls him "just and having salvation." This
truly is a different salvation than that of bodily freedom, bodily power and glory, the end of which is death,
and under which everything must abide eternally.
They ought to have considered this and rejoiced in it, since the prophets had heartily yearned and prayed
for it, and this prophet admonishes to such great joy and gladness. But they and their shameless preachers
made a temporal affair out of this misery and unhappiness, as if it were a joke about sin and death or the
power of the devil, and considered it the greatest misfortune that they lost their temporal freedom and
were made subject to the emperor and required to pay taxes to him.
60. The Evangelist therefore quotes this saying of the prophet, to punish the blindness and false notions
of those who seek bodily and temporal blessings in Christ and his Gospel, and to convince them by the
testimony of the prophet, who shows clearly what kind of a king Christ was and what they should seek in
him, in that lie calls him just and having salvation and yet adds this sign of his coming by which they are
to know him: "He cometh to thee meek and riding upon a colt, the foal of an ass." As if to say: A poor,
miserable, almost beggarly horseman upon a borrowed ass who is kept by the side of its mother not for
ostentation but for service. With this he desires to lead them away from gazing and waiting for a glorious
entrance of a worldly king. And he offers such signs that they might not doubt the Christ, nor take offense
at his beggarly appearance. All pomp and splendor are to be left out of sight, and the heart and the eyes
directed to the poor rider, who became poor and miserable and made himself of no kingly reputation that
they might not seek the things of this world in him but the eternal, as is indicated by the words, "just and
having salvation."
61. This verse first clearly and effectively does away with the Jewish dream and delusion of a worldly reign
of the Messiah and of their temporal freedom. It takes away all cause and support for excuse, if they do
not receive Christ, and cuts off all hope and expectation for another, because it clearly and distinctly
announces and admonishes that he would come on this wise and that he has fulfilled everything. We
Christians thus have against the Jews a firm ground and certain title and conviction from their own
Scripture that this Messiah, who thus came to them, is the Christ predicted by tile prophets and that no
other shall come, and that in the vain hope of another's coming they forfeit their temporal and eternal
salvation.
III. THE SPIRITUAL INTERPRETATION OF THIS GOSPEL
62. This has been said about the history of this Gospel. Let us now treat of its hidden or spiritual meaning.
Here we are to remember that Christ's earthly walk and conversation signify his spiritual walk; his bodily
walk therefore signifies the Gospel and the faith. As with his bodily feet he walked from one town to
another, so by preaching he came into the world. Hence this lesson shows distinctly what the Gospel is
and how it is to be preached, what it does and effects in the world, and its history is a fine, pleasing picture
and image of how the kingdom of Christ is carried on by the office of preaching. We will consider this point
by point.
"And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and came unto Bethphage, unto the Mount of Olives."
63. All the apostles declare that Christ would become man at the end of the world, and that the Gospel
would be the last preaching, as is written in 1 John 2:18: "Little children, it is the last hour, and as ye have
heard that Antichrist cometh, even now hath there arisen many Antichrists; whereby we know that it is
the last hour," etc. He mentions here the Antichrist. Antichrist in Greek means he who teaches and acts
against the true Christ. Again, 1 Cor. 10:11: "All these things were written for our admonition, upon whom
the ends of the ages are come." As the prophets came to man before the first advent of Christ, so the
apostles are the last messengers of God, sent before the last advent of Christ at the last day to preach it
faithfully. Christ indicates this by not sending out his apostles to fetch the ass, until he drew nigh unto
Jerusalem, where he was now to enter. Thus the Gospel is brought into this world by the apostles shortly
before the last day, when Christ will enter with his flock into the eternal Jerusalem.
64. This agrees with the word "Bethphage," which means, as some say, mouth-house, for St. Paul says in
Rom. 1:2, that the Gospel was promised afore in the Holy Scriptures, but it was not preached orally and
publicly until Christ came and sent out his apostles. Therefore the church is a mouth-house, not a penhouse, for since Christ's advent that Gospel is preached orally which before was hidden in written books.
It is the way of the Gospel and of the New Testament that it is to be preached and discussed orally with a
living voice. Christ himself wrote nothing, nor did he give command to write, but to preach orally. Thus
the apostles were not sent out until Christ came to his mouth-house, that is, until the time had come to
preach orally and to bring the Gospel from dead writing and pen-work to the living voice and mouth. From
this time the church is rightly called Bethphage, since she has and bears the living voice of the Gospel.
65. The sending shows that the kingdom of Christ is contained in the public oral office of preaching, which
shall not stand still nor remain in one place, as before it was hidden with the Jewish nation alone in the
Scriptures and foretold by the prophets for the future, but should go openly, free and untrammeled into
all the world.
66. The Mount of Olives signifies the great mercy and grace of God, that sent forth the apostles and
brought the Gospel to us. Olive oil in Holy Writ signifies the grace and mercy of God, by which the soul
and the conscience are comforted and healed, as the oil soothes and softens and heals the wounds and
defects of the body. And from what was said above, we learn what unspeakable grace it is that we know
and have Christ, the justified Saviour and king. Therefore he does not send into the level plain, nor upon
a deserted, rocky mountain, but unto the Mount of Olives, to show to all the world the mercy which
prompted him to such grace. There is not simply a drop or handful of it, as formerly, but because of its
great abundance it might be called a mountain. The prophet also calls in Ps. 36:6, such grace God's
mountain and says: "Thy righteousness is like the mountains of God," that is, great and abundant, rich and
overflowing. This he can understand who considers what it means that Christ bears our sin, and conquers
death and hell and does everything for us, that is necessary to our salvation. He does not expect us to do
anything for it, but to exercise it towards our neighbor, to know thereby whether we have such faith in
Christ or not. Hence the Mount of Olives signifies that the Gospel was not preached nor sent until the
time of grace came; from this time on the great grace goes out into the world through the apostles.
"Then Jesus sent two disciples, saying unto them, Go into the village that is over against you."
67. These two disciples represent all the apostles and preachers, sent into the world. The evangelical
sermon is to consist of two witnesses, as St. Paul says in Rom. 3:21: "A righteousness of God has been
manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets." Thus we see how the apostles introduce the
law and the prophets, who prophesied of Christ, so that it might be fulfilled that Moses spoke in Deut.
17:6 and Christ in Math. 18:16: "At the mouth of two witnesses or three, every word may be established."
68. When he says: "Go into the village over against you", not mentioning the name, it signifies that the
apostles are not sent to one nation alone, as the Jews were separated from the Gentiles and alone bore
the name "People of God" and God's word and promise of the future Messiah were with them alone. But
now when Christ comes he sends his preachers into all the world and commands them to go straight
forward and preach everywhere to all the heathen, and to teach, reprove, without distinction,
whomsoever they meet, however great, and wise and learned and holy, they may be.
When he calls the great city of Jerusalem a village and does not give her name, he does it for the reason
that the name Jerusalem has a holy significance. The kingdom of heaven and salvation are the spiritual
Jerusalem, that Christ enters. But the apostles were sent into the world amongst their enemies who have
no name.
69. The Lord here comforts and strengthens the apostles and all ministers, when he calls the great city a
village, and adds, she is over against you. As if he would say, like Math. 10:16: "Behold, I send you forth
as sheep in the midst of the wolves", I send you into the world, which is against you, and seems to be
something great, for there are kings, princes, the learned, the rich and everything that is great in the world
and amounts to anything, this is against you. And as he says in Math. 10:22: "Ye shall be hated of all men
for my name's sake." But never fear, go on, it is hardly a village, do not be moved by great appearances,
preach bravely against it and fear no one. For it is not possible that he should preach the gospel truth,
who fears the multitude and does not despise all that the world esteems highly. It is here decreed that
this village is against the apostles, therefore they should not be surprised if the great, high, rich, wise and
holy orders do not accept their word. It must be so, the village must be against them; again, the apostles
must despise them and appear before them, for the Lord will have no flatterer as a preacher. He does not
say: Go around the village, or to the one side of it: Go in bravely and tell them what they do not like to
hear.
70. How very few there are now who enter the village that is against them. We gladly go into the towns
that are on our side. The Lord might have said: Go ye into the village before you. That would have been a
pleasing and customary form of speech. But he would indicate this mystery of the ministry, hence he
speaks in an unusual way: Go into the village that is over against you. That is: Preach to them that are
disposed to prosecute and kill you. You shall merit such thanks and not try to please them, for such is the
way of hypocrites and not that of the evangelists.
"And straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her; loose them and bring them unto
me."
71. This is also offered as consolation to ministers that they should not worry as to who would believe or
receive them. For it is decreed, Is. 55:11: "My word shall not return unto me void." And St. Paul says, Col.
1:6: "The Gospel is in all the world bearing fruit." It cannot be otherwise than that where the Gospel is
preached there will be some, who accept it and believe. This is the meaning of the mystery that the
apostles shall find the ass forthwith and the colt, if they only go. As if he would say: Only go and preach,
care not who they are that hear you. I will care for that. The world will be against you, but be not afraid,
you will find such as will hear and follow you. You do not know them yet, but I know them; you preach,
and leave the rest to me.
72. Behold, In this way he consoles them that they should not cease to preach against the world, though
it withstands and contradicts them ever so hard, it shall not be in vain. You find people now who believe
we should be silent and cause no stir, because it is impossible to convert the world. It is all in vain, they
say; pope, priests, bishops and monks reject it and they will not change their lives, what is the use to
preach and storm against them? This is the same as if the apostles had said to Christ: Thou tellest us to go
into the village that is over against us; it it is against us, what use is it that we enter there, let us rather
stay outside. But the Lord refutes this and says: Go ye there and preach, what does it matter if it is against
you? You will find there what I say. We should now do likewise. Although the masses storm against the
Gospel and there is no hope that they will be better, yet we must preach, there will yet be found those
who listen and become converted.
73. Why does he have them bring two asses or not both young or old ones, since one was enough for him
to ride upon? Answer: As the two disciples represent the preachers, so the colt and its mother represent
their disciples and hearers. The preachers shall be Christ's disciples and be sent by him, that is, they should
preach nothing but Christ's doctrine. Nor should they go to preach except they be called, as was the case
with the apostles. But the hearers are old and young.
74. Here we should remember that man in Holy Writ is divided into two parts, in an inner and an outer
man. The outer man is called according to his outward, visible, bodily life and conversation; the inner man,
according to his heart and conscience. The outer man can be forced to do the good and quit the bad, by
law, pain, punishment and shame, or attracted by favor, money, honor and reward. But the inner man
cannot be forced to do out of his own free will, what he should do, except the grace of God change the
heart and make it willing.
Hence the Scriptures say all men are liars, no man does good of his own free will, but everyone seeks his
own and does nothing out of love for virtue. For if there were no heaven nor hell, no disgrace nor honor,
none would do good. If it were as great an honor and prize to commit adultery, as to honor matrimony,
you would see adultery committed with much greater pleasure than matrimony is now held sacred. In like
manner all other sins would be done with greater zeal than virtues are now practiced. Hence all good
conduct without grace is mere glitter and semblance, it touches only the exterior man, without the mind
and free will of the inner man being reached.
75. These are the two asses: The old one is the exterior man; he is bound like this one, with laws and fear
of death, of hell, of shame, or with allurements of heaven, of life, of honor. He goes forward with the
external appearance of good works and is a pious rogue, but he does it unwillingly and with a heavy heart
and a heavy conscience.
Therefore the apostle calls her "subjugalem," the yoked animal, who works under a burden and labors
hard. It is a miserable, pitiable life that is under compulsion by fear of hell, of death and of shame. Hell,
death and shame are his yoke and burden, heavy beyond measure, from which he has a burdened
conscience and is secretly an enemy to law and to God. Such people were the Jews, who waited for Christ,
and such are all who rely upon their own power to fulfil God's commands, and merit heaven. They are
tied by their consciences to the law, they must, but would rather not, do it. They are carriers of sacks, lazy
beasts of burden and yoked rogues.
76. The colt, the young ass, of which Mark and Luke write, on which never man rode, is the inner man,
the heart, the mind, the will, which can never be subject to law, even if he be tied by conscience and feels
the law. But he has no desire nor love for it until Christ comes and rides on him. As this colt was never
ridden by anyone, so man's heart has never been subject to the good; but, as Moses says, Gen. 6:5 and
8:21, is evil continually from his youth.
77. Christ tells them to loose them, that is, he tells them to preach the Gospel in his name, in which is
proclaimed grace and remission of sins, and how he fulfilled the law for us. The heart is here freed from
the fetters of conscience and things. Thus man is loose not from the law, that he should and joyful, willing
and anxious to do and to leave undone all things. Thus man is loose not from the Law, that he should do
nothing, but from a joyless, heavy conscience he has from the law, and with which he was the enemy of
the law, that threatens him with death and hell. Now he has a clear conscience under Christ, is a friend of
the law, neither fears death nor hell, does freely and willingly, what before he did reluctantly. See, in this
way the Gospel delivers the heart from all evil, from sin and death, from hell and a bad conscience through
faith in Christ.
78. When he commands them to bring them to him, he speaks against the pope and all sects and
deceivers, who lead the souls from Christ to themselves; but the apostles bring them to Christ; they preach
and teach nothing but Christ, and not their own doctrine nor human laws. The Gospel alone teaches us to
come to Christ and to know Christ rightly. In this the stupid prelates receive a heavy rebuke at their system
of bringing souls to themselves, as Paul says in Acts 20:29-30: "1 know that after my departing grievous
wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves shall men arise,
speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them." But the Gospel converts men to Christ
and to none else. Therefore he sends out the Gospel and ordains preachers, that he may draw us all to
himself, that we may know him as he says, John 12:32: "And I, if I be lifted tip from the earth, will draw all
men unto myself."
"And if any man say aught unto you, ye shall say., The Lord hath need of them; and straightway
he will send them."
79. St. Paul, in Gal. 4:2, compares the law to guardians and stewards, under whom the young heir is
educated in fear and discipline. The law forces with threats that we externally abstain from evil works,
from fear of death and hell, although the heart does not become good thereby. Here are, as Luke writes,
the masters of the ass and its colt, speaking to the apostles: What, do ye loose the colt? Where the Gospel
begins to loose the conscience of its own works, it seems to forbid good works and the keeping of the law.
It is the common speech of all the teachers of the law, and of the scribes and doctors, to say: If all our
works amount to nothing and if the works done under the law are evil, we will never (to good. You forbid
good works and throw away God's law; you heretic, you loose the colt and wish to make bad people free.
Then they go to work and forbid to loose the colt and the conscience and to bring it to Christ and say, You
must do good works, and keep people tied in bondage to the law.
80. Our text shows how the apostles should act toward such persons. They should say: "The Lord hath
need of them," they should instruct them in the works of the law and the works of grace and should say:
We forbid not good works, but we loose the conscience from false good works, not to make them free to
do evil deeds, but to come under Christi their true Master, and under him do truly good works; to this end
he needs them and will have them. Of this Paul treats so well in Rom. 6, where he teaches that through
grace we are free from the law and its works; not so as to do evil, but to do truly good works.
81. It all amounts to this, that the scribes and masters of the law do not know what good works are; they
therefore will not loose the colt, but drive it with unmerciful human works. However, where wholesome
instruction is given concerning good works, they let it pass, if they are at all sensible and honest teachers
of the law, as they are here represented. The mad tyrants, who are frantic with human laws, are not
mentioned in this Gospel. It treats only of the law of God and of the very best teachers of the law. For
without grace, even God's law is a chain and makes burdened consciences and hypocrites whom none can
help, until other works are taught, which are not ours, but Christ's and are worked in us by grace. Then all
constraint and coercion of the law is ended and the colt is loose.
"Now this is come to pass, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken through the prophet,*
saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion."
82. This verse has already been sufficiently explained. The Evangelist introduces it that we may see how
Christ has come not for the sake of our merits, but for the sake of God's truth. For he was prophesied long
a- before we, to whom go he comes, bad a being. God out of pure grace has fulfilled the promises of the
Gospel to demonstrate the truth that he keeps his promises in order to stir us confidently to trust in his
promise, for he will fulfil it.
And this is one of the passages, where the Gospel is promised, of which Paul speaks in Rom. 1:2: "Which
he promised afore through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning his Son Jesus Christ," etc. We
have heard how in this verse the Gospel, Christ and faith are preached most distinctly and consolingly.
'And the disciples went, and did even as Jesus appointed them, and brought the ass, and the colt,
and put on them their garments, and he sat thereon, (and they set him thereon.)"
83. These are the ministers who by the Gospel have freed the consciences from the law and its works and
led them to the works of grace, who made real saints out of* hypocrites, so that Christ henceforth rides
upon them.
84. The question arises here, whether Christ rode upon both animals. Matthew- speaks as if the disciples
put him on both, while Mark, Luke and John mention only the colt. Some think be sat first on the colt and,
because it was too wanton and untamed, lie then sat on its mother. These are fables and dreams. ',Ale
take it that he rode only on the colt. He had them both brought to him on account of the spiritual
significance above mentioned. When Matthew says he sat on them as though he rode on both, it is said
after the manner of the Scriptures and the common way of speaking by synecdoche, where a thing is
ascribed to the community, the whole people, which applies only to a few of them; for example, Matthew
writes: the thieves on the cross reviled him, while only one did it, as Luke tells us, Christ says in Mat. 23:37,
that the city of Jerusalem stoned the prophets, while only a few of the city did it. You say, the Turks killed
the Christians, although they killed only a few. Thus Christ rode on the asses, though he rode only on the
colt, because the two are compared to a community. What happened to one is expressed as if it happened
to all.
85. Now consider the spiritual riding. Christ rides on the colt, its mother follows, that is, when Christ lives
through faith in the inner man we are tinder him and are ruled by him But the outer man, the ass, goes
free, Christ does not ride on her, though she follows in the rear. The outer man, as Paul says, is not willing,
he strives against the inner man, nor does he carry Christ, as Gal. 5:17 says: "The flesh lusteth against the
Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary, the one to the other; that ye may not do the
things that ye would." Because the colt carries Christ, that is, the Spirit is willing by grace, the ass, that is,
the flesh, must be led by the halter, for the Spirit -,chastises and crucifies the flesh, so that it becomes
subject.
86. This is the reason Christ rides upon the colt and not upon its mother, and yet uses both for his entrance
into Jerusalem, for both body and soul must be saved. If, here upon earth, the body is unwilling, not
capable of grace and Christ's leading, it must bear the Spirit, upon which Christ rides, who trains it and
leads it along by the power of grace, received through Christ. The colt, ridden by Christ, upon which no
one ever rode, is the willing spirit, whom no one before could make willing, tame or ready, save Christ by
his grace. However, the sack-carrier, the burden-bearer, the old Adam, is the flesh, which goes riderless
without Christ; it must for this reason bear the cross and remain a beast of burden.
87. What does it signify that the apostles, without command, put their garments on the colt? No doubt
again not all the disciples laid on their garments, nor were all their garments put on, perhaps only a coat
of one disciple. But it is written for the spiritual meaning, as if all the garments of all the disciples were
used. It was a poor saddle and ornaments, but rich in meaning. I think it was the good example of the
apostles, by which the Christian church is covered, and adorned, and Christ is praised and honored,
namely, their preaching and confession, suffering and death for Christ's sake, as Christ says of Peter, that
he would glorify God by a like death, John 21:19. Paul says in one of his epistles, we shall put on, Christ,
by which he doubtless wishes to show that good works are the garments of the Christians, by which Christ
is honored and glorified before all people. In the epistle Paul says, Rom. 13:12: "Let us put on the armor
of light." By this he means to show that good works are garments in which we walk before the people,
honorably and well adorned. The examples of the apostles are the best and noblest above all the saints,
they instruct us best, and teach Christ most clearly; therefore they should not, like the rest, lie on the
road, but on the colt, so that Christ may ride on them and the colt go under them. We should follow these
examples, praise Christ with our confession and our life and adorn and honor the doctrine of the Gospel
as Tit. 2:10 says.
88. Hear how Paul lays his garments on the colt, I Cor. 11:1: "Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of
Christ," and Heb. 13:7: "Remember them that had the rule over you, men that spake unto you the Word
of God; and considering the issue of their life, imitate their faith." No saint's example is as pure in faith as
that of the apostles. All the other saints after the apostles have an addition of human doctrine and works.
Hence Christ sits upon their garments to show that they are true Christian and more faithful examples
than others.
89. That they set him thereon must also signify something. Could he not mount for himself? Why does he
act so formal? As I said above, the apostles would not preach themselves, nor ride on the colt themselves.
Paul says, 2 Cor. 1:24: "Not that we have lordship over your faith." And 2 Cor. 4:5: "We preach not
ourselves, 'hut Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake." Again, 1 Pet. 5:3:
"Neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you." They preached to us the pure faith and offered
their examples, that Christ might rule in us, and our faith remain undefiled, that we might not receive
their word and work as if it were their own, but that we might learn Christ in their words and works. But
how is it today? One follows St. Francis, another St Dominic, the third this, and the fourth that saint; and
in none is Christ alone and pure faith sought; for they belong only to the apostles.
"And the most part of the multitude spread their garments in the way; and others cut branches
front the trees, and spread them in the way."
90. The garments are the examples of the patriarchs and prophets, and the histories of the Old Testament.
For, as we ,;all learn, the multitude that went before, signifies the saints before tile birth of Christ, by
whom the sermon in the New Testament and the way of faith are beautifully adorned and honored. Paul
does likewise when he cites Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Peter cites Sarah, and, in Heb. It, many patriarchs
are named as examples, and by these are confirmed faith and the works of faith in a masterly way. The
branches mean the sayings of the prophets, one of which is mentioned in this Gospel, which are not stories
nor examples but the prophecy of God. The trees are the books of the prophets. Those who preach from
these cut down branches and spread them in the way of Christian faith.
91. All this teaches the character of an Evangelical sermon, a sermon on the pure faith and the way of life.
It must first have the word Christ commands the apostles, saying: Go, loose and bring hither. Then the
story and example of the apostles must be added which agree with Christ's word and work, these are the
garments of the apostles. Then must be cited passages from the Old Testament, these are the garments
and branches of the multitude. In this way the passages and examples of both Testaments are brought
home to the people. Of this Christ speaks in Math. 13, 52: "Every scribe who hath been made a disciple to
tile kingdom of heaven, is like unto a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure
things new and old." This signifies the two lips of the mouth, the two points of a bishop's hat, the two
ribbons on it and some other like figures. But now none of these is kept before the eyes, the devil through
the Papists throws sulphur and pitch in the way, himself rides on the colt and banishes Christ.
92. To spread garments in the way, means that, following the example of the apostles, we should with
our confession and our whole life, honor, adorn and grace Christ, by giving up all glory, wisdom and
holiness of our own and bowing to Christ in simple faith; also that we turn everything we have, honor,
goods, life, power and body to the glory and advancement of the Gospel and relinquish everything for the
one thing needful. Kings and lords and the great, powerful and rich should serve Christ with their goods,
honor and power; further the Gospel and for its sake abandon everything. The holy patriarchs, prophets
and pious kings in the Old Testament did so by their examples. But now everything is turned around,
especially among the papal multitudes, who usurp all honor and power against Christ and thus suppress
the Gospel.
93. To cut branches from the trees and spread them in the way means also the office of preaching and
the testimony of the Scriptures and the prophets concerning Christ. With this the sermon of Christ is to
be confirmed and all the preaching directed to the end that Christ may be known and confessed by it.
John writes in Jn 12:13 that they took branches of palmtrees and went forth to meet him. Some add, there
must have been olive branches also, because it happened on the Mount of Olives. This is not incredible,
although the Gospels do not report it.
94. There is reason why palm-branches and olive-branches are mentioned. They signify what is to be
confessed, preached and believed concerning Christ. It is the nature of the palm-tree that when used as
a beam, it yields to no weight but rises against the weight. These branches are the words of divine wisdom;
the more they are suppressed, the higher they rise. This is true if you firmly believe in those words. There
is an invincible power in them, so that they may well be called palm-branches, as St. Paul says in Rom.
1:16: "The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that, believeth;" and as Christ says, "The
gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Math. 16:18. Death, sin, hell and all evil must bend before the
divine Word, or only rise, when it sets itself against them.
95. Olive branches are named, because they are words of grace, in which God has promised us mercy.
They make the soul meek, gentle, joyful, as the oil does the body. The gracious Word and sweet Gospel is
typified in Gen. 8:11, where the dove in the evening brought in her mouth an olive branch with green
leaves into the ark, which means, that the Holy Spirit brings the Gospel into the Church at the end of the
world by the mouth of the apostles.
"And the multitudes that went before him, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of
David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest."
96. For this reason they carried palm-trees before kings and lords, when they had gained a victor), and
celebrated their triumph. Again, the carrying of palm-branches was a sign of submission, especially of such
as asked for mercy and peace, as was commonly done among ancient people.
By their pomp before Christ they indicated that they would receive him as their Lord and King, sent by
God as a victorious and invincible Saviour, showing themselves submissive to him and seeking grace from
him. Christ should be preached and made known in all the world, as the victorious and invincible King
against sin, death and the power of the devil and all the world for those who are oppressed and
tormented, and as a Lord with whom they shall find abundant grace and mercy, as their faithful Priest and
Mediator before God.
The word of the Gospel concerning this King is a word of mercy and grace, which brings us peace and
redemption from God, besides invincible power and strength, as St. Paul in Rom. 1:16 calls the Gospel "a
power of God unto salvation" and "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it," as Christ says in Math.
16:18.
97. Paul says, Heb. 13:8: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yea, forever." All who will be saved
from the beginning to the end of the world, are and must be Christians and must be saved by faith.
Therefore Paul says, 1 Cor. 10:3-4: "Our fathers did all eat the same spiritual food; and did all drink the
same spiritual drink." And Christ says in John 8:56: "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he
saw it and was glad."
98. Hence the multitudes going before signify all Christians and saints before Christ's birth; those who
follow signify all the saints after the birth of Christ. They all believed in and adhered to the one Christ. The
former expected him in the future, the latter received him as the one who had come. Hence they all sing
the same song and praise and thank God in Christ. or may we give anything else but praise and thanks to
God, since we receive all from him, be it grace, word, work, Gospel, faith and everything else. The only
true Christian service is to praise and give thanks, as Ps. 50:15 says: "Call upon me in the day of trouble, I
will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me."
99. What does "Hosanna to the son of David' signify? Hosanna in Ps. 118:25-26, means: "Save now, we
beseech thee, 0 Jehovah; 0 Jehovah, we beseech thee, send now prosperity. Blessed be he that cometh
in the name of Jehovah." This verse was applied to Christ and is a well-wishing as we wish happiness and
safety to a new ruler. Thus the people thought Christ should be their worldly king, and they wish him joy
and happiness to that end. For Hosanna means: "0, give prosperity;" or: "Beloved, help;" or: "Beloved,
save;" or whatever else you might desire to express in such a wish. They add: "To the son of David," and
say: God give prosperity to the son of David! 0 God, give prosperity, blessed be," etc. We would say: 0,
dear Lord, give happiness and prosperity to this son of David, for his new kingdom! Let him enter in God's
name that he may be blessed and his kingdom prosper.
100. Mark proves clearly that they meant his kingdom when he writes expressly in Mark 11:10, that they
said: "Blessed is the kingdom that cometh, the kingdom of our father David: Hosanna in the highest."
When some in the churches, read it "Osanna", it is not correct, it should be "Hosanna." They made a
woman's name out of it, and her whom they should call Susanna they call Osanna. Susanna is a woman's
name and means a rose. Finally, after making a farce out of baptism, the bishops baptize bells and altars,
which is a great nonsense, and call the bells Osanna. But away with the blind leaders! We should learn
here also to sing Hosanna and Hazelihana to the son of David together with those multitudes, that is,
joyfully wish happiness and prosperity to the kingdom of Christ, to holy Christendom, that God may put
away all human doctrine and let Christ alone be our king, who governs by his Gospel, and permits us to
be his colts! God grant it, Amen.
[[@DayOfYear:December 3]]December 3, Tuesday in the first week of Advent
Sermon V. Advent Lessons by Charles Kingsley
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Romans 8:22-25;
Church of England
Kingsley, Charles
Westminster Abbey
1873
Sermon V. Advent Lessons
First Sunday in Advent
http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/bible_books/?view=book_chapter&chapter=
56653
Romans vii.22-25.”I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my
members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God
through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
This is the first Sunday in Advent. To-day we have prayed that God would give us grace to put away the
works of darkness, and put on us the armour of light. Next Sunday we shall pray that, by true
understanding of the Scriptures, we may embrace and hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life. The
Sunday after that the ministers and stewards of God's mysteries may prepare His way by turning the
hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just -- the next, that His grace and mercy may speedily
help and deliver us from the sins which hinder us in running the race set before us. But I do not think that
we shall understand those collects, or indeed the meaning of Advent itself, or the reason why we keep
the season of Advent year by year, unless we first understand the prayer which we offered up last Sunday,
“Stir up, O Lord, the wills of Thy faithful people,” -- and we shall understand that prayer just in proportion
as we have in us the Spirit of God, or the spirit of the world, which is the spirit of unbelief.
Worldly people say -- and say openly, just now -- that this prayer is all a dream. They say God will not stir
up men's wills to do good any more than to do harm. He leaves men to themselves to get through life as
they can. This Heavenly Father of whom you speak will not give His holy spirit to those who ask Him. He
does not, as one of your Collects says, put into men's minds good desires -- they come to a man entirely
from outside a man, from his early teaching, his youthful impressions, as they are called now-a-days. He
does not either give men grace and power to put these desires into practice. That depends entirely on the
natural strength of a man's character; and that, again, depends principally on the state of his brain. So,
says the world, if you wish your own character to improve, you must improve it yourself, for God will not
improve it for you. But, after all, why should you try to improve? why not be content to be just what you
are? you did not make yourself, and you are not responsible for being merely what God has chosen to
make you.
This is what worldly men say, or at least what they believe and act on; and this is the reason why there is
so little improvement in the world, because men do not ask God to improve their hearts and stir up their
wills. I say, very little improvement. Men talk loudly of the enlightenment of the age, and the progress of
the species, and the spread of civilisation, and so forth: but when I read old books, and compare old times
with these, I confess I do not see so much of it as all this hopeful talk would lead me to expect. Men in
general have grown more prudent, more cunning, from long experience. They have found out that certain
sins do not pay -- that is, they interfere with people's comfort and their power of making money, and
therefore they prudently avoid them themselves, and put them down by law in other men's cases. Men
have certainly grown more good-natured, in some countries, in that they dislike more than their ancestors
did, to inflict bodily torture on human beings; but they are just as ready, or even more ready, to inflict on
those whom they dislike that moral and mental torture which to noble souls is worse than any bodily pain.
As for any real improvement in human nature -- where is it? There is just as much falsehood, cheating,
and covetousness, I believe, in the world as ever there was; just as much cant and hypocrisy, and perhaps
more; just as much envy, hatred, malice and all uncharitableness. Is not the condition of the masses in
many great cities as degraded and as sad as ever was that of the serfs in the middle ages? Do not the poor
still die by tens of thousands of fevers, choleras, and other diseases, which we know perfectly how to
prevent, and yet have not the will to prevent? Is not the adulteration of food just now as scandalous as it
is unchecked? The sins and follies of human nature have been repressed in one direction only to break
out another. And as for open and coarse sin, people complain even now, and I fear with justice, that there
is more drunkenness in England at this moment than there ever was. So much for our boasted
improvement.
Look again at the wars of the world. Five-and-twenty years ago, one used to be told that the human race
was grown too wise to go to war any more, and that we were to have an advent of universal peace and
plenty, and since then we have seen some seven great wars, the last the most terrible of all, -- and ever
since, all the nations of Europe have been watching each other in distrust and dread, increasing their
armaments, working often night and day at forging improved engines of destruction, wherewith to kill
their fellow-men. Not that I blame that. It is necessary. Yes! but the hideous thing is, that it should be
necessary. Does that state of things look much like progress of the human race? Can we say that mankind
is much improved, either in wisdom or in love, while all the nations of Europe are spending millions merely
to be ready to fight they know not whom, they know not why?
No, my good friends, obey the wise man, and clear your minds of cant -- man's pretensions, man's
boastfulness, man's power of blinding his own eyes to plain facts -- above all, to the plain fact that he does
not succeed, even in this world of which he fancies himself the master, because he lives without God in
the world. All this saddens, I had almost said, sickens, a thoughtful man, till he turns away from this noisy
sham improvement of mankind -- the wages of sin, which are death, to St John's account of the true
improvement of mankind, the true progress of the species, -- the gift of God which is eternal life. “And I
saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away. And I saw
the Holy City -- New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with men,
and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be
their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither
sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
Does that sound much like a general increase of armaments? or like bills for the prevention of pestilence,
or of drunkenness, -- which, even if they pass, will both probably fail to do the good which they propose?
No. And if this wicked world is to be mended, then God must stir up the wills of His faithful people, and
we must pray without ceasing for ourselves, and for all for whom we are bound to pray, that He would
stir them up. For what we want is not knowledge; we have enough of that, and too much. Too much; for
knowing so much and doing so little, what an account will be required of us at the last day!
No. It is the will which we want, in a hundred cases. Take that of pestilential dwelling-houses in our great
towns. Every one knows that they ought to be made healthy; every one knows that they can be made
healthy. But the will to make them healthy is not here, and they are left to breed disease and death. And
so, as in a hundred instances, shallow philosophers are proved, by facts, to be mistaken, when they tell us
that man will act up to the best of his knowledge without God's help. For that is exactly what man does
not. What is wrong with the world in general, is wrong likewise more or less with you and me, and with
all human beings; for after all, the world is made up of human beings; and the sin of the world is nothing
save the sins of each and all human beings put together; and the world will be renewed and come right
again, just as far and no farther, as each human being is renewed and comes right. The only sure method,
therefore, of setting the world right, is to begin by setting our own little part of the world right -- in a
word, setting ourselves right.
But if we begin to try, that, we find, is just what we cannot do. When a man begins to hunger and thirst
after righteousness, and, discontented with himself, attempts to improve himself, he soon begins to find
a painful truth in many a word of the Bible and the Prayer Book to which he gave little heed, as long as he
was contented with himself, and with doing just what pleased him, right or wrong. He soon finds out that
he has no power of himself to help himself, that he is tied and bound with the burden of his sins, and that
he cannot, by reason of his frailty, stand upright -- that he actually is sore let and hindered by his own sins,
from running the race set before him, and doing his duty where God has put him. All these sayings come
home to him as actual facts, most painful facts, but facts which he cannot deny. He soon finds out the
meaning and the truth of that terrible struggle between the good in him and the evil in him, of which St
Paul speaks so bitterly in the text. How, when he tries to do good, evil is present with him. How he delights
in the law of God with his inward mind, and yet finds another law in his body, warring against the law of
God, and bringing him into captivity to the law of sin. How he is crippled by old bad habits, weakened by
cowardice, by laziness, by vanity, by general inability of will, till he is ready, -- disgusted at himself and his
own weakness, -- to cry, Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Let him but utter that cry honestly. Let him once find out that he wants something outside himself to help
him, to deliver him, to strengthen him, to stir up his weak will, to give him grace and power to do what he
knows instead of merely admiring it, and leaving it undone. Let a man only find out that. Let him see that
he needs a helper, a deliverer, a strengthener -- in one word, a Saviour -- and he will find one. I verily
believe that, sooner or later, the Lord Jesus Christ will reveal to that man what He revealed to St Paul; that
He Himself will deliver him; and that, like St Paul, after crying “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me from the body of this death?” he will be able to answer himself, I thank God -- God will, through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Christ will deliver me from the bonds of my sins, Christ will stir up this weak will of mine,
Christ will give me strength and power, faithfully to fulfil all my good desires, because He Himself has put
them into my heart not to mock me, not to disappoint me -- not to make me wretched with the sight of
noble graces and virtues to which I cannot attain, but to fulfil His work in me. What He has begun in me
He will carry on in me. He has sown the seed in me, and He will make it bear fruit, if only I pray to Him,
day by day, for strength to do what I know I ought to do, and cry morning and night to Him, the fount of
life, Stir up my will, O Lord, that I may bring forth the fruit of good works, for then by Thee I shall be
plentifully rewarded.
So the man gains hope and heart for himself, and so, if he will but think rationally and humbly, he may
gain hope and heart for this poor sinful world. For what has come true for him may come true for any
man. Who is he that God should care more for him than for others? Who is he that God should help him
when he prays, more than He will help His whole church if it will but pray? He says to himself, all this
knowledge of what is right; all these good desires, all these longings after a juster, purer, nobler, happier
state of things; there they are up and down the world already, though, alas! they have borne little enough
fruit as yet. Be it so. But God put them into my heart. And who save God has put them into the world's
heart? It was God who sowed the seed in me; surely it is God who has sowed it in other men? And if God
has made it bear even the poorest fruit in me, why should He not make it bear fruit in other men and in
all the world? All they need is that God should stir up their wills, that they may do the good they know,
and attain the blessedness after which they long.
And then, if the man have a truly human, truly reasonable heart in him -- he feels that he can pray for
others as well as for himself. He feels that he must pray for them, and cry, -- Thou alone canst make men
strong to do the right thing, and Thou wilt make them. Stir up their wills, O Lord! Thou canst not mean
that all the good seed which is sown about the world should die and wither, and bring no fruit to
perfection. Surely Thy word will not return to Thee void, but be like the rain which comes down from
heaven, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater. Oh, strengthen such as stand, and comfort
and help the weak-hearted, and raise up them that fall, and, finally, beat down Satan and all the powers
of evil under our feet, and pour out thy spirit on all flesh, that so their Father's name may be hallowed,
His kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And so will come the one and only true
progress of the human race -- which is, that all men should become faithful and obedient citizens of the
holy city, the kingdom of God, which is the Church of Christ. To which may God in His mercy bring us all,
and our children after us. Amen.
This, then, is the lesson why we are met together this Advent day. We are met to pray that God would so
help us by His grace and mercy that we may bring forth the fruit of good works, and that when our Lord
Jesus Christ shall come in His glorious majesty to judge the quick and the dead, we, and our descendants
after us, may be found an acceptable people in His sight.
We are met to pray, in a National Church, for the whole nation of England, that all orders and degrees
therein may, each in his place and station, help forward the hallowing of God's name, the coming of His
kingdom, the doing of His will on earth. We are met to pray for the Queen and all that are in authority,
that these Advent collects may be fulfilled in them, and by them, for the good of the whole people; for
the ministers and stewards of Christ's mysteries, that the same collects may be fulfilled by them and in
them, till they turn the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; for the Commons of this nation,
that each man may he delivered, by God's grace and mercy, from the special sin which besets him in this
faithless and worldly generation and hinders him from running the race of duty which is set before him,
and get strength from God so to live that in that dread day he may meet his Judge and King, not in tenor
and in shame, but in loyalty and in humble hope.
But more -- we are here to worship God in Christ, both God and man. To confess that without Him we can
do nothing, that unless He enlighten our understandings we are dark, unless He stir up our wills we are
powerless for good. To confess that though we have forgotten Him, yet He has not forgotten us. That He
is the same gracious and generous Giver and Saviour. That though we deny Him He cannot deny Himself.
That He is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever as when He came to visit this earth in great humility.
That the Lord is King, though the earth be moved. He sitteth upon His throne, be the nations never so
unquiet. We are here to declare to ourselves and all men, and the whole universe, that we at least believe
that the heavens and earth are full of His glory. We are here to declare that, whether or not the kings of
the earth are wise enough, or the judges of it learned enough, to acknowledge Christ for their king, we at
least will worship the Son lest He be angry, and so we perish from the right way; for if His wrath be kindled,
yea but a little, then blessed are they, and they only, who put their trust in Him. We are here to join our
songs with angels round the throne, and with those pure and mighty beings who, in some central
sanctuary of the universe, cry for ever, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power:
for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.”
We do so in ancient words, ancient music, ancient ceremonies, for a token that Christ's rule and glory is
an ancient rule and an eternal glory; that it is no new discovery of our own, and depends not on our own
passing notions and feelings about it, but is like Christ, the same now as in the days of our forefathers, the
same as it was fifteen hundred years ago, the same as it has been since the day that He stooped to be
born of the Virgin Mary, the same that it will be till He shall come in His glory to judge the quick and the
dead. Therefore we delight in the ancient ceremonial, as like as we can make it, to that of the earlier and
purer ages of the Church, when Christianity was still, as it were, fresh from the hand of its Creator, ere yet
it had been debased and defiled by the idolatrous innovations of the Church of Rome. For so we confess
ourselves bound by links of gratitude to the Apostles, and the successors of the Apostles, and to all which
has been best, purest, and truest in the ages since. So we confess that we worship the same God-man of
whom Apostles preached, of whom fathers philosophised, and for whom martyrs died. That we believe,
like them, that He alone is King of kings and Lord of lords; that there is no progress, civilization, or salvation
in this life or the life to come, but through His undeserved mercy and His strengthening grace; that He has
reigned from the creation of the world, reigns now, and will reign unto that last dread day, when He shall
have put all enemies under His feet, and delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, that God may
be all in all. Unto which day may He in His mercy bring us all through faith and good works: Amen.
[[@DayOfYear:December 4]]December 4, Wednesday in the first week of Advent
The Four-fold Day and The Coming of the King by Thomas Aquinas
Sermon File Type
Passages
Sermon
Romans 13:12;Jl 3:18; 2 Cor 6:2;
Wis 1; Zech 14:7; Ps 135:10; Php
4:5; Is 56:1; Jas 5:9; Rev 22:12; Ps
25:10; Pr 22:11; Jas 4:6; Pr 28:5;
Heb 4:11; Eccles 29:12-13; Eccles
3:4; Rom 13:13; Matt 21:5; Is 16:5; Is
34; Ps 16:5; Ps 73:1; Jer 23:5; Esth
3:9; Wis 11:10; Jer 10:10; lk 1:33; 2
Macc 1:24; :6; Rom 5:10; John John
8:12; John 1:9; Hos 13:14; Zech
9:11; Eph 1:10; Heb 2:14-15; Rom
6:6; Rom 5:10; John 3:16; Is 61:1; Ps
89:10; Eccles 3:19; 2 Sam 22:36; Mt
11:29; Prov 3:34; Eccles 10:31; Mt
5:5
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Catholic
Aquinas, St. Thomas
The Four-fold Day (Epistle)
The Coming of the King (Gospel)
First Sunday in Advent
Thomas Aquinas. Ninety-Nine
Homilies of S. Thomas Aquinas Upon
the Epistles and Gospels for FortyNine Sundays of the Christian Year.
Translated by John M. Ashley.
London: Church Press Company,
1867.
HOMILY I
The Four-fold Day
FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT.—(FROM THE EPISTLE)
“The day is at hand.”—Rom. 13:12.
THIS word Day is to be taken in a four-fold sense—“The Day is at hand;” the day of mercy, the day of grace,
the day of justice, and the day of glory. That Sun makes this a four-fold day, whose advent holy Church
now celebrates. The day of mercy is the birth-day of the Lord, in which the Sun of Righteousness arises
upon us; or more truly, He Who made that day so glorious. The day of grace is the time of grace; the day
of justice is the day of judgment; the day of glory is the day of eternity. Joel speaks of the first—(Jl 3:18)—
“In that day the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk.” Concerning the
second, 2 Cor. 6:2, “Behold, now is the day of salvation.” Of the third, Wis. 1, “The day of wrath, that day
the day of tribulation.” Concerning the fourth, Zech. 14:7, “But it shall be one day which shall be known
to the Lord—not day, nor night; but it shall come to pass that at evening time it shall be light.” Psalm
135:10, “One day in Thy Courts is better than a thousand.” The birth-day of the Lord draws near, that
devoutly the day of mercy may be celebrated and honoured; the day of grace that it may be received; the
day of judgment that it may be feared; the day of glory that it may be attained. The Church celebrates the
first, Phil. 4:5, “For the Lord is at hand.” Isa. 56:1, “For My salvation is near to come, and My righteousness
is near to be revealed.” On account of the second, 2 Cor. 6:2, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold,
now is the day of salvation.” On account of the third, James 5:9, “Behold the Judge standeth before the
door.” On account of the fourth, Rev. 22:12, “Behold I come quickly, and My reward is with Me to give to
every man according as his work shall be.”
We ought to celebrate the birth-day of the Lord, the day of mercy, with mercy and truth. Christ came to
us in these two ways, and so we ought to go to Him. Ps. 25:10, “All the paths of the Lord are mercy and
truth.” To celebrate the day of grace with purity and humility, for these two graces make acceptable grace.
Of the first, Prov. 22:11, “He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips, the King shall be his
friend.” Of the second, James 4:6, “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.” The Church
celebrates the day of judgment with meditation and fear. As S. Jerome says, “Whether I eat or drink, that
voice seems ever to resound in my ears, ‘Rise up, ye dead, and come to judgment.’ ” On the contrary, it is
said of the wicked, Prov. 28:5, “Evil men understand not judgment.” We ought to hasten to run to meet
the day of glory with righteousness. Heb. 4:11, “Let us labour, therefore, to enter into that rest.” To four
Christian virtues the Apostle exhorts us in this epistle. To mercy and truth in the words, “Let us put on the
armour of light.” For the arms of light are mercy and truth; for mercy is the shield by which we are
defended from the enemy, and truth is the power by which we overcome all things. Of the first, Eccles.
29:12, 13, “Shut up alms in thy store-houses, and it shall deliver thee from all affliction. It shall fight for
thee against thine enemies better than a mighty shield and a strong spear.” Of courage, Eccles. 3:4, “Truth
is great, and will prevail; it is great, and stronger than all things; the whole earth invokes truth, and it
blesses heaven itself; it moves all work, and they tremble because of it, and there is no iniquity in it. A
wicked banquet, a wicked king, wicked women, all wicked sons of men, and all their wicked works, and
truth is not in them, and they shall perish in their iniquity, and truth shall remain.” The epistle further
exhorts us to purity and humility, “Not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying” (Rom
13:13). Chambering and wantonness are acts of riot which make impurity. Strife and envying proceed
from pride. In prohibiting immodesty it exhorts to purity; in prohibiting pride it exhorts to humility. In the
words, “Let us walk honestly, as in the day,” it awakens us to reflection upon and to fear of the judgment;
that is, that we should so live as it is meet to live in the day of judgment. A man is in the judgment by
thinking upon the judgment; he lives honestly by fearing the judgment. It exhorts us to justice and
despatch—“Now it is high time to awaken out of sleep;” and, therefore, by hastening from the sleep of
sin, to arise to the fulfilling of justice; and the reason is given why a man should do this: “For now is our
salvation nearer than when we believed;” to which salvation may we be led by Jesus Christ Our Lord.
HOMILY II
The Coming of the King
FIRST SUNDAY IN ADVENT.—(FROM THE GOSPEL)
“Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek,” &c.—S. Matt. 21:5.
THIS is a prophecy of the Advent of Our Lord Jesus Christ, about which there are three signs. First, the
dignity of Him Who is coming; secondly, the utility of His Advent; thirdly, the manner in which He came.
Of the first sign we read in the Gospel, “Thy King cometh;” a merciful King; a just King; a wise King; a
terrible King; an omnipotent King; an eternal King. A merciful King in sparing; a just in judging; a good in
rewarding; a wise in governing; an omnipotent King in defending the good; a terrible King in punishing the
evil; an eternal King in ruling eternally, and in bestowing immortality. Of the first, Isa. 16:5, “And in mercy
shall the throne be established.” Of the second, Isa. 34, “And behold, a King shall reign in justice;” Isa.
16:5, “And He shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David.” Of the third, Ps. 73:1, “Truly God, is
good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.” Of the fourth, Jer. 23:5, “I will raise unto David a
righteous branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute justice and judgment in the earth.”
Of the fifth, Esth. 3:9, “O Lord, Lord, the King Almighty, for the whole world is in Thy power.” Of the sixth,
Wis. 11:10, “As a severe King, Thou didst condemn and punish.” Of the seventh, Jer. 10:10, “But the Lord
is the true God, He is the living God and an everlasting King;” S. Luke 1:33, “And of His Kingdom there shall
be no end.” Of the seven, collectively, 2 Macc. 1:24, “O Lord, Lord, God, Creator of all things, Who art
fearful, and strong, and righteous, and merciful, and the only gracious King.” Wisdom in the Creator, mercy
in the pitiful, goodness in the good, justice in the just, severity in the terrible, power in the powerful,
eternity in the eternal. This is the King Who Cometh to thee for thy profit. Here the use of the Advent is
noted, for it was seven-fold as applied to the present time:—First, for the illumination of the world;
second, for the spoliation of Hades; third, for the reparation of Heaven; fourth, for the destruction of sin;
fifth, for the vanquishment of the devil; sixth, for the reconciliation of man with God; seventh, for the
beatification of man. Of the first, S. John 8:12, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life;” S. John 1:9, “That was the true light which lighteth every
man that cometh into the world.” Of the second, Hos. 13:14, “O death, I will be thy plague; O grave, I will
be thy destruction;” Zech. 9:11, “As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant, I have sent forth thy
prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.” Of the third, Eph. 1:10, “That in the dispensations of the
fulness of times might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are
in earth, even in Him.” Of the fourth, Heb. 2:14, 15, “That He might destroy him that had the power of
death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage.” Of the fifth, Rom. 6:6, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of
sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” Of the sixth, Rom. 5:10, “For if, when
we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we
shall be saved by His life.” Of the seventh, S. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” It was
because the holy Fathers saw the good things which were about to happen at His Advent that they were
calling with so great desire, “O that Thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down.” Concerning these
seven things the Prophet spake, Isa. 61:1, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord hath
anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted; to
proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the
acceptable year of the Lord,” &c. He hath “anointed Me to preach good tidings.” Behold, the illumination
of the world, for by preaching He hath enlightened the world for us; “to bind up the broken-hearted,” in
destroying sin; and sin being destroyed, makes the broken heart to be healed. “To proclaim liberty to the
captives:” behold the spoliation of Hades, for by spoiling Hades He led captivity captive. “The opening of
the prison:” behold the restoration of Heaven, which is the opening of Heaven. “To proclaim the
acceptable year of the Lord:” behold the reconciliation of man with God. “The day of vengeance of our
God” is the day of the destruction of the devil: for so He visited with vengeance for all the injuries which
the devil had done to the saints. “To comfort all that mourn:” behold the beatification of men. In this
verse is noted the manner of His coming. “Meek:” in meekness Our Lord Jesus Christ wished to come; and
He wished to come meekly for four reasons. In the first place, that He might the more easily correct the
wicked: Psalm 89:10 (Vulgate reading), “For mildness is come upon us; and we shall be corrected.” In the
second place, that He might show to all His lowliness: Eccles. 3:19, “My Son, do Thy work in meekness,
and Thou shalt be beloved above the glory of men.” In the third place, that He might draw the sheep to
Himself, and that He might multiply to Himself a people: 2 Sam. 22:36, “And Thy gentleness hath made
me great.” S. Bernard says, “We wholly run after Thee, O good Jesus, on account of Thy meekness.” In the
fourth place, that He might teach meekness: S. Matt. 11:29, “Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in
heart.” There are four things which ought especially to commend meekness to us: the first, because it
delivers us from evil; the second, because it perfects grace; the third, because it preserves the soul; and
the fourth, because it deserves the land of the living. Of the first: It delivers from evil, because judicious
meekness belongs to him who feels with no bitterness of mind. Of the second, Prov. 3:34, “He giveth grace
unto the lowly.” Of the third, Ecclesus. 10:31, “Keep Thy soul in meekness.” Of the fourth, S. Matt. 5:5,
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Let us, therefore, ask that this Lord and King may
come to us.
[[@DayOfYear:December 5]]December 5, Thursday in the first week of Advent
Excerpt from Come, O Rescuer by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Sermon File Type
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Luke 21:28
Title
Occasion
Come, O Rescuer
First Sunday of Advent
A Testament to Freedom: The
Essential Writings of Dietrich
Bonhoeffer
Source
Lutheran
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich
December 3, 1933
“That such an Advent event creates something other than a depressed and weak-kneed Christianity
becomes clear from the two invitations that introduce our text [Luke 21:28]: ‘Look up and raise your
heads.’ Advent creates new men and women. Look up, you whose eyes are laden with tears, you who
mourn the loss of all that the earth has snatched away. Look up, you who cannot lift up your eyes because
you are so laden with guilt. ‘Look up, your redemption is drawing near.’
“Something different than you see daily, something more important, something infinitely greater and
more powerful is taking place. Become aware of it, be on guard, wait a short while longer, wait and
something new will overtake you! God will come, Jesus will take possession of you and you will be
redeemed people!
“Lift up your heads, you army of the afflicted, the humbled, the discouraged, you defeated army with
bowed heads. The battle is not lost, the victory is yours—take courage, be strong! There is no room here
for shaking your heads and doubting, because Christ is coming.”
[[@DayOfYear:December 6]]December 6, Friday in the first week of Advent and Feast of St. Nicholas of
Myra
How to Form Our Lives on the Basis of Faith:On St. Nicholas the
Wonderworker by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia
Sermon File Type
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Title
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Sermon
Russian Orthodox; St. Nicholas
Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All
Russia
Iveron Cathedral, the former NikoloPerervinsky Monastery, Moscow,
Russia
December 19, 2011
How to Form Our Lives on the Basis of
Faith:On St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/kirill/
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!
Today our Church solemnly glorifies the memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra
in Lycia. St. Nicholas lived at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth centuries. Nearly 1,700 years
separate us from him, but the Church has carefully preserved his memory throughout all these centuries
because he lived such an extraordinary life, acquiring great power of spirit and drawing so near to God
through his ardent faith that God granted him the special power of performing miracles.
The Church's memory is its Tradition. Having studied history, we know about certain historical events, but
think of them rarely; we very often forget what we learned in school or college. This memory is dead, it is
no longer alive; it no longer enters the activity of our spiritual powers, it has no continual effect on the
human mind. But the memory preserved in the Church, the Tradition of the Church, is a living memory; it
is supported and fertilized by the sincere prayer that man raises to those whom he remembers: the holy
saints of God.
Our memory of St. Nicholas is so alive that we often turn to him every day, asking his help in our lives. We
receive a reply from him: our prayers are answered. He appears to us through his presence in our lives,
including through his miraculous and myrrh-streaming relics preserved in the city of Bari, which are
profusely covered in fragrant myrrh. This myrrh is collected annually and pilgrims visiting Bari have the
possibility of anointing themselves with it.
What is St. Nicholas famous for? What was the basis of his marvelous life? We all know well the saint’s
troparion: in it we call him a "rule of faith and model of meekness." It is impossible to put this any better—
the entire meaning of the saint's life was that he was a rule of faith and a model of meekness.
Meekness is a Christian virtue that modern man has a difficult time understanding. After all, one's
worldview is largely shaped by one's environment, by those standards of thought and ideals and
stereotypes that are found within the public consciousness. But in modern society a conception of
meekness is lacking, and the practical worldview generated by everyday life all but excludes it. Many today
consider that the foundation of success—and many view success as the goal of life—is a constant fight.
The world is constructed according to the laws of competition and competitiveness. If within this
competitiveness everyone were to strive to show his best side, hurting no one, this would be justifiable,
comprehensible, and perhaps even beneficial. More often than not, however, the competitiveness in
which we are engaged is accompanied by conflict, a desire to weaken others, to defeat them, and to insure
one's own victory on the basis of their defeat. What room is there here for meekness, given that meekness
is nothing other than the manifestation of one's inner humility? It is expressed externally through one's
lack of irritability, anger, and spite.
One can keep oneself from irritation and restrain the feeling of anger, controlling one's actions and
emotions through an act of will—but this will not be meekness. Meekness derives from an inner condition
of spirit, for it is the external manifestation of an inner condition of human humility. This, if you will, is a
special philosophy of life—a correct philosophy, a true picture of life, one in which one places oneself in
this picture in the best manner. This is a special attitude towards God, towards other people, and towards
oneself. In humility one, as it were, cedes one's central place to God; in humility one discovers one's own
best qualities; in humility one establishes a special relationship with other people, so that this relationship
in no way destroys or causes harm to others.
In the end, human humility is a great force; with it, one can reach one's goals without harming others,
without causing them any hurt or damage. Constructing such relationships gives joy and peace, rest and
quiet to the heart. One's conscience is clean: one has hurt no one, tread on no one, cheated no one. How
sweet is such a victory, how remarkable such achievements feel when they are realized without any harm
to others! It indeed takes a great deal of strength to live one's life in this way. But if there is a worldview
at the basis of our actions, then there is also a defined worldview at the basis of meekness, namely the
Christian view of life formed by Christian faith. We say that St. Nicholas is a "model of meekness" because
he was a "rule of faith." If one's life is based on faith, then one's inner humility and meekness become a
natural manifestation of this faith.
We have just heard the Gospel according to St. Luke containing the Sermon on the Mount. What clear
commandments the Lord gives us! If we live according to these commandments, if we preserve the
Orthodox faith, not subjecting it to distortion, not introducing any commentaries and corrections arising
from human ingenuity into it; if we do not introduce into it any mistakes arising form human sinfulness,
but rather preserve it purely, then we will have a solid worldview serving as a basis for constructing a
happy, peaceful, and quiet life, in which one's success does not necessarily entail conflict with others.
St. Nicholas lived by this faith. But it has so happened that there have been attempts since deep antiquity
to change, destroy, or introduce a sinful human element into this pure and holy faith, which has Divine
revelation—that is, God Himself—as its foundation. The entire history of the Church is a history of struggle
for purity of faith, and St. Nicholas was an active fighter for the preservation of the Orthodox faith. He
was a participant in the First Ecumenical Council, fighting against the presbyter Arius, a heretic who tried
to introduce human philosophical sophistry into the Orthodox Christian faith, which would thereby have
destroyed the very foundation of this faith. Arius taught that Christ was not the Son of God, that He was
not consubstantial with the Father, and that He was not God, but only a kind of supreme created being.
But if Christ is created, then how can salvation be accomplished through His death and Resurrection?
The Arian heresy was intended to destroy the very foundation of the Christian faith. St. Nicholas the
Wonderworker, being a rule of this faith, assembled with his brother bishops in 325 in Nicaea, a city in
Asia Minor to which bishops from all over the world traveled for the First Ecumenical Council, in order to
defend the Orthodox faith; he thereby became an example of how to preserve the treasure of faith so
that it can serve as the foundation and norm of our lives.
In order that our lives be formed on the basis of faith, this faith must be pure, uncomplicated, and not
obscured by human sophistry. The difficulty lies in the fact that people perceive faith by means of their
reason, and our reason, again, is formed under the influence of our environment. Every succeeding
generation of people perceives this faith—this same one, holy, pure faith—through the prism of their
views and convictions. There is nothing wrong in this, for this is the way man is made: people in the
twenty-first century cannot think in the same way that people did in the third or fourth centuries. But,
perceiving our faith with the modern mind and through the prism of modern knowledge, we must not
destroy this faith by introducing sinful human sophistry.
St. Nicholas the Wonderworker teaches us all this, as do a host of other saints. This all sounds very relevant
to us today, for in our vain times many people are incapable of seeing the foundation of their lives, the
norm of their being, in the pure faith—that marvelous source of Divine wisdom. Therefore the Church,
including its clergy, bears an enormous responsibility to help each succeeding generation of people accept
this norm and model of faith and to make it the foundation of their lives.
A theological seminary is located in the monastery in which we are today celebrating this divine service
and praying together. Therefore I have a special word for the seminarians, for those who will tomorrow
become servants of the Church. I call on you always to remain faithful to that source of Divine wisdom
that is revealed to us in our Orthodox faith. I simultaneously call upon you to be capable of communicating
to the consciousness of modern people the meaning of the faith in clear, comprehensible, and convincing
words, so that the faith not be perceived simply as a legacy from the past, as a part of national tradition
and folklore—because faith is, in the first place, the foundational worldview of our lives. If our
contemporaries are able to penetrate everything that the Divine word contains, and make it the
foundation of their lives, then these lives will indeed become beautiful. Human success, development,
and everything that modern civilization offers us can be transfigured, can indeed serve the fullness of
human life. Today we pray to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, that he would enlighten us and help us to
build a life full of meekness, spiritual strength, and humility on the immutable rock of the rule of faith.
Amen.
By Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, Pravmir.com Orthodox Christianity and the World, translated
from Russian. Used by permission.
[[@DayOfYear:December 7]]December 7, Saturday in the first week of Advent
Why Advent is the hardest of times for faithful Christians by Catherine A.
Caimano
Sermon File Type
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Source
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Isaiah 2:1-5; Romans 13:11-14;
Matthew 24:36-44
Episcopal
Caimano, Catherine A.
St. John’s Episcopal Church in
Wichita, Kansas
December 2, 2007
Why Advent is the hardest of times for faithful
Christians
1st Sunday in Advent
http://www.faithandleadership.com/sermons/whyadvent-the-hardest-times-for-faithful-christians
“Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:12).
When the night starts coming early, and the wind starts blowing cold, there are lots of things we start to
put on: wool socks and long johns, hats and gloves, fleecy blankets and heavy sweaters. We put on the
heat and put another log on the fire and put some extra lights on outside -- because they look lovely, but
also because they seem to hold the night back just a bit. With the holidays upon us, a lot of us put on a
few pounds, and some of us put more debt than we should on our credit cards. We put on our fancy
clothes to go to parties, and put our best dishes on for our guests.
But as Paul points out in Romans, and Jesus warns in the Gospel, all the things we put on this time of year
can make it hard to clothe ourselves with Christ.
And these two readings, the first warning us of the dangers of drunkenness and debauchery, the other
reminding us that we never know when the end is near, seem to be a bit of a bummer as we start seriously
gearing up for holiday festivities.
We want to put on the mantle of joy in this season, not the sackcloth and ashes of the penitent. We want
no guilt with the glitter of windows and wrappings, trimmings and trees.
And this is surely why Advent is the hardest of times for faithful Christians, as we are exhorted to hold off
on the celebrating for four more weeks, to embrace the darkness and the silence and the cold before we
can put on the carols and presents and golden glow of the one Christian holiday that is most firmly
embraced by all of the world.
Why should we put on the color of solemnity just as everyone else is putting on the most festive dress of
the year?
In our Gospel story, despite its ominous overtones, the theme of what Jesus is saying is to be prepared.
To know that our lives as Christians are not just measured by our attendance at church, or our assent to
certain beliefs, but also by how we live our ordinary lives -- eating and drinking, working and living
together.
Our faith is about how Jesus Christ, born into this world as a small spot of light in the darkness, helps us
to believe, and to live like we believe, that love and forgiveness and redemption and hope have a part in
every choice that we make, in every regular day on our calendar.
And this sense of preparation, of not knowing when it is that we will most need to be ready, is not meant
to scare us; it is meant to remind us that the kingdom of heaven is everywhere, even when we least expect
it. And we need this reminder, because we all know that our regular life, despite our beliefs, often feels
like it forces us to put on all kinds of other things: deadlines and debts and distractions and all sorts of
dire circumstances that can lead us to live like the darkness is catching up to us.
And to just hang some lights on all the ways the pressures and pains are getting to us is no way to prepare
to put on the kind of party that is a truly joyful, truly meaningful celebration of the light of Christ in our
lives.
And so, as Paul reminds us, as Jesus reminds us, first we have to get ready. The armor of light is apparently
a suit that fits us very closely, so our first order of business is to cast away “the works of darkness.” In
other words, to put on the joy of this season, first there are things we have to take off. And this is what
the season of Advent is for.
We have to take off the fears and the pains that weigh us down, that we carry around like heavy wool
coats, that we try to wrap up in festive themes for the occasion; but really, sometimes we need a moment
of silence, a place of cool quiet, to unburden our hearts and our souls of what is troubling us.
And we have to take off our feelings of isolation, whether from habit or self-protection. Even while we are
enjoying the comforts of this time of year, this is the time to take off the blinders that keep us from
realizing that every day there are those who have nothing to put on for the holidays: no parties, no warm
clothes, no reason for joy.
And it would be good if, with this, we could also take off our guilt, because this eye-opening experience is
not about being ashamed of our abundance; it is about being called into sharing all that we have been
blessed with. It is about taking off the burden of too much and letting it become the source of plenty for
others.
And each of us, I think, probably has our own individual list of addictions and illusions that we could afford
to take off while we’re at it: the pressure to be perfect, especially this time of year, the striving to be what
we are not, the dingy collection of grudges that’s stuck in our corners. If we really want to shine, it’s time
for these to go.
Advent preparation, then, although it is a solemn time, is really about going right through the darkness,
rather than trying to circumvent it altogether. In order to cast it away, we need to get a really good grip
on it; we need to strip off what would normally hide it, as counterproductive as this seems.
Because the true light, the true joy that we are getting ready for, is not something that we create or that
we find; it is what comes to us when we are ready and waiting for it. To put on the armor of light is to
rejoice that we have marched right into this darkness and found that we are not alone. We will not be left
in our suffering; we will be met with hope and peace and love in the moments that we dare to take off
the kinds of armor that the rest of the world seems to demand that we wear -- cynicism and defensiveness
and isolation and fear.
The moment that we bare our true hearts and true souls is the moment that we find we are suddenly
clothed with the kind of joy that all the other sparkle of this season can’t even begin to imitate. That’s
when we put on the party that is Christmas -- not before our time to truly prepare.
So for these four weeks, we put on the light, one small candle at a time. We remind ourselves to take off
those things that we do not need and wrap ourselves in the warmth of what is coming -- the light of the
world, slowly, appearing when we most need it.
Put on the blanket of truth. Put on the mantle of hope. Put on the armor of light.
[[@DayOfYear:December 8]] December 8, Second Sunday of Advent and Immaculate Conception
Homily on the Immaculate Conception by St. Anselm
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Catholic; Mary
Anselm, St.
Immaculate Conception: 'O Virgin, by whose Blessing
all Nature is Blessed!'
Feast of the Immaculate Conception
http://www.catholic.org/clife/advent/story.php?id=39490
Blessed Lady, sky and stars, earth and rivers, day and night - everything that is subject to the power or use
of man - rejoice that through you they are in some sense restored to their lost beauty and are endowed
with inexpressible new grace. All creatures were dead, as it were, useless for men or for the praise of God,
who made them. The world, contrary to its true destiny, was corrupted and tainted by the acts of men
who served idols. Now all creation has been restored to life and rejoices that it is controlled and given
splendour by men who believe in God.
The universe rejoices with new and indefinable loveliness. Not only does it feel the unseen presence of
God himself, its Creator, it sees him openly, working and making it holy. These great blessings spring from
the blessed fruit of Mary's womb.
Through the fullness of the grace that was given you, dead things rejoice in their freedom, and those in
heaven are glad to be made new. Through the Son who was the glorious fruit of your virgin womb, just
souls who died before his life-giving death rejoice as they are freed from captivity, and the angels are glad
at the restoration of their shattered domain.
Lady, full and overflowing with grace, all creation receives new life from your abundance. Virgin, blessed
above all creatures, through your blessing all creation is blessed, not only creation from its Creator, but
the Creator himself has been blessed by creation.
To Mary God gave his only-begotten Son, whom he loved as himself. Through Mary God made himself a
Son, not different but the same, by nature Son of God and Son of Mary. The whole universe was created
by God, and God was born of Mary. God created all things, and Mary gave birth to God. The God who
made all things gave himself form through Mary, and thus he made his own creation. He who could create
all things from nothing would not remake his ruined creation without Mary.
God, then, is the Father of the created world and Mary the mother of the re-created world. God is the
Father by whom all things were given life, and Mary the mother through whom all things were given new
life. For God begot the Son, through whom all things were made, and Mary gave birth to him as the Saviour
of the world. Without God's Son, nothing could exist; without Mary's Son, nothing could be redeemed.
Truly the Lord is with you, to whom the Lord granted that all nature should owe as much to you as to
himself.
[[@DayOfYear:December 9]]December 9, Monday in the second week of Advent
Reading and Knowledge of Holy Scripture by Thomas Cranmer
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Church of England
Cranmer, Thomas
Date
1543
Title
On the Fruitful Exortation to the Reading and
Knowledge of Holy Scripture
Occasion
Source
http://www.lectionarycentral.com/advent2/advent2.html
Unto a Christian man, there can be nothing either more necessary or profitable, than the knowledge of
Holy Scripture; forasmuch as in it is contained God's true word, setting forth his glory, and also man's duty.
And there is no truth nor doctrine, necessary for our justification and everlasting salvation, but that is, or
may be, drawn out of that fountain and well of truth.
Therefore as many as be desirous to enter into the right and perfect way unto God, must apply their minds
to know Holy Scripture; without the which, they can neither sufficiently know God and his will, neither
their office and duty. And as drink is pleasant to them that be dry, and meat to them that be hungry; so is
the reading, hearing, searching, and studying of Holy Scripture, to them that be desirous to know God, or
themselves, and to do his will. And their stomachs only do loathe and abhor the heavenly knowledge and
food of God's word, that be so drowned in worldly vanities, that they neither savour God, nor any
godliness: for that is the cause why they desire such vanities, rather than the true knowledge of God.
As they that are sick of an ague, whatsoever they eat and drink, though it be never so pleasant, yet it is as
bitter to them as wormwood; not for the bitterness of the meat, but for the corrupt and bitter humour
that is in their own tongue and mouth; even so is the sweetness of God's word bitter, not of itself, but
only unto them that have their minds corrupted with long custom of sin and love of this world.
Therefore, forsaking the corrupt judgment of fleshly men, which care not but for their carcase, let us
reverently hear and read Holy Scripture, which is the food of the soul. let us diligently search for the well
of life in the books of the New and Old Testament, and not run to the stinking puddles of men's traditions,
devised by men's imagination, for our justification and salvation. For in Holy Scripture is fully contained
what we ought to do, and what to eschew, what to believe, what to love, and what to look for at God's
hands at length. In these books we shall find the Father from whom, the Son by whom, and the Holy Ghost
in whom, all things have their being and keeping up; and these three Persons to be but one God, and one
substance.
In these books we may learn to know ourselves, how vile and miserable we be; and also to know God,
how good he is of himself, and how he maketh us and all creatures partakers of his goodness. We may
learn also in these books to know God's will and pleasure, as much as, for this present time, is convenient
for us to know.
And, as the great Clerk and godly Preacher, Saint John Chrysostom, saith, whatsoever is required to the
salvation of man, is fully contained in the Scripture of God. He that is ignorant, may there learn and have
knowledge. He that is hard-hearted, and an obstinate sinner, shall there find everlasting torments,
prepared of God's justice, to make him afraid, and to mollify, or soften, him. He that is oppressed with
misery in this world, shall there find relief in the promises of everlasting life, to his great consolation and
comfort. He that is wounded by the Devil unto death, shall find there medicine, whereby he may be
restored again unto health.
If it shall require to teach any truth, or reprove false doctrine, to rebuke any vice, to commend any virtue,
to give good counsel, to comfort, or to exhort, or to do any other thing requisite for our salvation; all those
things, saith Saint Chrysostom, we may learn plentifully of the Scripture. There is, saith Fulgentius,
abundantly enough, both for men to eat, and children to suck. There is whatsoever is meet for all ages,
and for all degrees and sorts of men.
These books, therefore, ought to be much in our hands, in our eyes, in our ears, in our mouths, but most
of all in our hearts. For the Scripture of God is the heavenly meat of our souls: the hearing and keeping of
it maketh us blessed, sanctifieth us, and maketh us holy; it turneth our souls; it is a light lantern to our
feet; it is a sure, steadfast, and everlasting instrument of salvation; it giveth wisdom to the humble and
lowly hearts; it comforteth, maketh glad, cheereth, and cherisheth our conscience; it is a more excellent
jewel, or treasure, than any gold or precious stone; it is more sweet than honey or honey-comb; it is called
the best part, which Mary did choose; for it hath in it everlasting comfort.
The words of Holy scripture be called words of everlasting life: for they be God's instrument, ordained for
the same purpose. They have power to turn, through God's promise; and they be effectual through God's
assistance; and being received in a faithful heart, they have ever an heavenly spiritual working in them.
They are lively, quick, and mighty in operation, and sharper than any two- edged sword, and enter
through, even unto the dividing asunder of the soul and the spirit, or the joints and the marrow.
Christ calleth him a wise builder, that buildeth upon his word, upon his sure and substantial foundation.
By this word of God we shall be judged: for the word that I speak, saith Christ, is it that shall judge in the
last day. He that keepeth the word of Christ, is promised the love and favour of God, and that he shall be
the dwelling-place or temple of the blessed Trinity.
This word whosoever is diligent to read, and in his heart to print that he readeth, the great affection to
the transitory things of this world shall be minished in him, and the great desire of heavenly things, that
be therein promised of God, shall increase in him. And there is nothing that so much strengtheneth our
faith and trust in God, that so much keepeth up innocency and pureness of the heart, and also of outward
godly life and conversation, as continual reading and recording of God's word. For that thing, which by
continual reading of Holy Scripture, and diligent searching of the same, is deeply printed and graven in
the heart, at length turneth almost into nature.
And, moreover, the effect and virtue of God's word, is to illuminate the ignorant, and to give more light
unto them that faithfully and diligently read it; to conform their hearts, and to encourage them to perform
that which of God is commanded. It teacheth patience in all adversity, in prosperity humbleness; what
honour is due unto God, what mercy and charity to our neighbour. It giveth good counsel in all doubtful
things. It sheweth of whom we shall look for aid and help in all perils; and that God is the only giver of
victory in all battles and temptations of our enemies, bodily and ghostly. And in reading of God's word, he
not always most profiteth, that is most ready in turning of the book, or in saying of it without the book;
but he that is most turned into it; that is most inspired with the Holy Ghost; most in his heart and life
altered and changed into that thing which he readeth; he that is daily less and less proud, less wrathful,
less covetous, and less desirous of worldly and vain pleasures; he that daily, forsaking his old vicious life,
increaseth in virtue more and more. And, to be short, there is nothing that more maintaineth godliness of
the mind and driveth away ungodliness, than doth the continual reading or hearing of God's word, if it be
joined with a godly mind, and a good affection to know and follow God's will.
For without a single eye, pure intent, and good mind, nothing is allowed for good before God. And, on the
other side, nothing more darkeneth Christ and the glory of god, nor bringeth in more blindness and all
kinds of vices, than doth the ignorance of God's word.
In the first part of this Sermon, which exhorteth to the knowledge of Holy Spirit, was declared. Wherefore
the knowledge of the same is necessary and profitable to all men; and that, by the true knowledge and
understanding of Scripture, the most necessary points of our duty towards God and our neighbours are
also known. Now as concerning the same matter you shall hear what followeth.
If we profess Christ, why be we not ashamed to be ignorant in his doctrine, seeing that every man is
ashamed to be ignorant in that learning which be professeth? That man is ashamed to be called a
Philosopher which readeth not the books of philosophy; and to be called a Lawyer, an Astronomer, or a
Physician, that is ignorant in the books of law, astronomy, and physic. How can any man, then, say that
he professeth Christ and his religion, if he will not apply himself, as far forth as he can or may conveniently,
to read and hear, and so to know, the books of Christ's Gospel and doctrine? Although other sciences be
good, and to be learned, yet no man can deny but this is the chief, and passeth all other incomparably.
What excuse shall we therefore make, at the last day, before Christ, that delight to read or hear men's
fantasies and inventions, more than his most holy Gospel? And will find no time to do that, which chiefly,
above all things, we should do; and will rather read other things than that, for the which we ought rather
to leave reading of all other things? Let us therefore apply ourselves, as far forth as we can have time and
leisure, to know God's word, by diligent hearing and reading thereof, as many as profess God, and have
faith and trust in him.
But they that have no good affection to God's word, to colour this their fault, allege commonly two vain
and feigned excuses. So go about to excuse them by their own frailness and fearfulness, saying, that they
dare not read Holy Scripture, lest through their ignorance they should fall into any error. Others pretend
that the difficulty to understand it, and the hardness thereof, is so great, that it is meet to be read only of
Clerks and learned men.
As touching the first: ignorance of God's word is the cause of all error; as Christ himself affirmed to the
Sadducees, saying, that they erred, because they knew not the Scripture. How should they then eschew
error, that will be still ignorant? And how should they come out of ignorance, that will not read nor hear
that thing which should give them knowledge? He that now hath most knowledge, was at the first
ignorant: yet he forbare not to read, for fear he should fall into error; but he diligently read, lest he should
remain in ignorance, and, through ignorance, in error.
And if you will not know the truth of God -- a thing most necessary for you -- lest you fall into error, by the
same reason you may then lie still, and never go, lest, if you go, you fail into the mire; nor eat any good
meat, lest you take a surfeit; nor sow your corn, nor lahour in your occupation, nor use your merchandise,
for fear you lose your seed, your labour, your stock: and so, by that reason, it should be the best for you
to live idly, and never to take in hand to do any manner of good thing, lest peradventure some evil thing
may chance thereof. And if you be afraid to fall into error by reading of Holy Scripture, I shall shew you
how you may read it without danger of error.
Read it humbly, with a meek and lowly heart, to the intent you may glorify God, and not yourself, with
the knowledge of it: and read it not without daily praying to God that he would direct your reading to
good effect; and take upon you to expound it no further than you can plainly understand it: for, as Saint
Augustin saith, the knowledge of Holy Scripture is a great, large, and a high place: but the door is very low,
so that the high and arrogant man cannot run in; but he must stoop low, and humble himself, that shall
enter into it. Irresumption and arrogancy is the mother of all error; and humility needeth to fear no error.
For the humility will only search to know the truth: it will not presumptuously and rashly define any thing
which it knoweth not.
Therefore the humble man may search any truth boldly in the Scripture, without any danger of error. And
if he be ignorant, he ought the more to read and to search Holy Scripture to bring him out of ignorance. I
say not nay, but a man may profit with only hearing; but he may much more profit with both hearing and
reading.
This have I said, as touching the fear to read, through ignorance of the person.
And concerning the hardness of Scripture; he that is so weak that he is not able to brook strong meat, yet
he may suck the sweet and tender milk, and defer the rest until he wax stronger, and come to more
knowledge: for God receiveth the learned and unlearned, and casteth away none, but is indifferent unto
all. And the Scripture is full, as well of low valleys, plain ways, and easy for every man to use and to walk
in; as also of high hills and mountains, which few men can climb unto. And whosoever giveth his mind to
Holy Scripture with diligent study and burning desire, it cannot be, saith Saint John Chrysostom, that he
should be left without help.
For either God Almighty will send him some godly Doctor to teach him— as he did to instruct the Eunuch,
a nobleman of Ethiopia, and treasurer unto Queen Candace; who having a great affection to read the
Scripture; although he understood it not, yet, for the desire that he had unto God's word, God sent his
Apostle Philip to declare unto him the true sense of the Scripture that he read - or else, if we lack a learned
man to instruct and teach us, yet God himself from above will give light unto our minds, and teach us
those things which are necessary for us, and wherein we be ignorant.
And in another place Chrysostom saith, that man's human and worldly wisdom, or science, is not needful
to the understanding of Scripture; but the revelation of the Holy Ghost, who inspireth the true meaning
unto them that with humility and diligence do search therefore. He that asketh shall have, and he that
seeketh shall find, and he that knocketh shall have the door opened. If we read once, twice, or thrice, and
understand not, let us not cease so; but still continue reading, praying, asking of others: and so, by still
knocking, at last the door shall be opened, as Saint Augustin saith. Although many things in the Scripture
be spoken in obscure mysteries, yet there is nothing spoken under dark mysteries in one place, but the
self-same thing in other places is spoken more familiarly and plainly, to the capacity both of learned and
unlearned.
And those things, in the Scripture, that be plain to understand, and necessary for salvation, every man's
duty is to learn them, to print them in memory, and effectually to exercise them; and, as for the dark
mysteries, to be contented to be ignorant in them, until such time as it shall please God to open those
things unto him. In the mean season, if he lack either aptness or opportunity, God will not impute it to his
folly: but yet is behoveth not, that such as be apt should set aside reading, because some others be unapt
to read: nevertheless, for the hardness of such places, the reading of the whole ought not to be set apart.
And briefly to conclude: as Saint Augustin saith, By the Scripture all men be amended; weak men be
strengthened, and strong men be comforted. So that surely none be enemies to the reading of God's
word, but such as either be so ignorant, that they know not how wholesome a thing it is; or else be so
sick, that they hate the most comfortable medicine, that should heal them; or so ungodly, that they would
wish the people still to continue in blindness and ignorance of God.
Thus we have briefly touched some part of the commodities of God's holy word, which is one of God's
chief and principal benefits, given and declared to mankind here on earth. Let us thank God heartily for
this his great and special gift, beneficial favour, and fatherly providence. Let us be glad to receive this
precious gift of our heavenly Father. Let us hear, read, and know these holy rules,injunctions, and statutes
of our Christian religion, and upon that we have made profession to God at our baptism. let us with fear
and reverence lay up, in the chest of our hearts, these necessary and fruitful lessons; let us night and day
muse, and have meditation and contemplation in them; let us ruminate, and, as it were, chew the cud,
that we may have the sweet juice, spiritual effect, marrow, honey, kernel, taste, comport, and consolation
of them. let us stay, quiet, and certtty our consciences with the most infallible certainty, truth, and
perpetual assurance of them. let us pray to God, the only Author of these heavenly studies, that we may
speak, think, believe, live, and depart hence, according to the wholesome doctrine and verities of them.
And, by that means, in this world we shall have God's defence, favour, and grace, with the unspeakable
solace of peace, and quietness of conscience; and, after this miserable life, we shall enjoy the endless bliss
and glory of heaven: which he grant us all, that died for us all, Jesus Christ: to whom, with the Father and
the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, both now and everlastingly. Amen.
[[@DayOfYear:December 10]]December 10, Tuesday in the second week of Advent
Atonement, Theosis & St. Paul by Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon
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2 Cor 5:18-19; Rom 5:10; Rom 3:24
Atonement
Antiochian Orthodox; atonement;
theosis; St. Paul
Reardon, Fr. Patrick Henry
2013
Atonement, Theosis & St. Paul
http://preachersinstitute.com/2013/11/21/atonementtheosis-st-paul/
Orthodox Theology has only recently found its way into English, and much of that English is dominated by
Latin terms: Trinity, Sacraments, Deification, Advent, Mission, Nativity, Presentation, Redemption,
Salvation, and so on. Most Orthodox Christians appear to have no problem with this. Non-Latin English
theological terms appear less frequently, Lent being the obvious exception.
Writing in English, consequently, I hope to be forgiven by other Orthodox Christians for using a uniquely
English expression, “Atonement,” to designate what Christ the Redeemer accomplished on the earth. I
am relying on this word, which is signified in its central, accented, and load-bearing syllable, to convey
four ideas. Indeed, I am hard pressed to think of another English word that conveys all four of these ideas
equally well:
First, “At-one-ment” conveys the force of the idea of Reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18-19; cf. Romans
5:10). On man’s part-not God’s-says Paul, there was an enmity God Himself removed by what He
accomplished in Christ. This is one of the meanings of Atonement:
“the Redemption which is in Christ Jesus”" (Romans 3:24).
Second, the word conveys our experience of being “in Christ” and “with Christ.” These analogous
“prepositions of place” have long served to designate the union we have with Christ by his gracious love.
“Atonement” expresses this union perfectly: We are at-one with Christ.
Third, “Atonement” expresses the goal of Redemption, which is union of man with God. Orthodox
Soteriology should not start—as Saint Anselm did—with fallen man. It should commence, rather, with
man completely restored in Christ. The word “atonement” means the goal, the telos or skops of all God’s
activity in this world: man’s participation in the life of God.
(Anselm, let me mention in passing, did not know or use the word “Atonement.” He was an Italian who
wrote exclusively in Latin. Those who speak of “Anselm’s theory of the Atonement,” then, can be safely
dismissed.)
This is a very traditional idea in the Church. Already in the second century, Irenaeus of Lyons, the direct
and almost-immediate heir of the Pauline and Johannine traditions of Asia, wrote of
“our Lord Jesus Christ, who by his supreme love became what we are, in order to bring us to what
he himself is.”
More boldly Athanasius of Alexandria, two centuries later, wrote of God’s Son,
“he became man that we might become God.”
The tradition represented by Athanasius regarded the divinizing of man as the purpose of the Incarnation.
Variations of theopoiesis appear repeatedly among the Alexandrians.
Slightly later in the fourth century St. Gregory Nazianzen invented a shorter expression, theosis, which
became more common among the Greek Fathers to designate the believer’s incorporation into the life of
God. This persuasion—and even this mode of expressing it—became standard during the period of the
great Christological controversies.
Largely through the Latin translations of St. John Damascene and Pseudo-Dionysius in the Middle Ages,
the equivalent Latin word, deificatio, gradually became acceptable in the West.
I use the word “Atonement,” then, to include Redemption’s full effect in the human being—that is,
deification, man’s transfiguration in the glory of Christ. Among properly English words I cannot think of
one that better expresses this theandric (God-man) quality of what Christ accomplished.
Fourth, “Atonement” enjoys the added merit of expressing the cosmology of Redemption, the
reconciliation of the whole universe, its “re-heading” (anakephalaiosis, recapitulatio) in Christ.
“Atonement” conveys everything St. Paul meant when he wrote that it pleased the Father, through Christ,
“to reconcile all things (apokatallaxsai ta panta) to Himself, through him, whether things on earth
or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of his cross.”
Christ’s reconciliation embraces “all things”—ta panta. The glory of the transfigured Christ transforms the
whole universe; heaven and earth are full of his glory.
For this reason an adequate theology of the Atonement should treat of several subjects not commonly
associated with the Atonement, such as history, philosophy, literature, and psychology. I believe this
disassociation is a serious defect; the exclusion of these subjects narrows the soteriological idea to a mere
fraction of its meaning. All of these expressions of human consciousness and creativity give voice to man’s
place in the world, his vocation to be the one locus where the Universe tries to makes sense of itself.
[[@DayOfYear:December 11]]December 11, Wednesday in the second week of Advent
On the Advantages of Tribulations by St. Alphonses M. Liguori
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Venue
Date
Sermon
Matt 9:2; Sir 34:9; 2 Chron 33:12;
Luke 15:18; 1 Cor 11:32; Job 5:1718; Rom 5:3; Hos 6:1; Mt 11:28; Ps
45:1; Ps 77:34; Wis 3:5; Heb 12:6;
Job 2:10; 1 Cor 10:13; Matt 5:5; 1
Cor 4:17; Acts 14:21; Heb 10:36; Jdt
8:27; Jer 12:1, 3; Job 33:27; Is 26:10;
Tob 12:13; Jas 1:12; 2 Tim 3:12; Ps
55; Ps 33:19; Ps 90:15; 1 Cor 13:3;
John 16:20; Acts 5:41; John 18:11; 2
Chron 20:12; Ps 119:1; Ps 122:2; Mt
14:31; Mk 11:24; Job 13:15; Ps
126:1; Jer 8:19, 22; Jer 2:31-32; Ps
120:4
Tribulation
Catholic
Liguori, St. Alphonses M.
Title
Occasion
Source
Sermon II. Second Sunday of Advent
– On the Advantages of Tribulations
Second Sunday of Advent
Sermons for All the Sundays in the
Year
SERMON II.—SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT
On the advantages of tribulations
“Now when John had heard of the wonderful works of Christ,” etc. MATT. 9:2.
IN tribulations God enriches his beloved souls with the greatest graces. Behold, St. John in his
chains comes to the knowledge of the works of Jesus Christ: “When John had heard in prison the
works of Christ.” Great indeed are the advantages of tribulations. The Lord sends them to us, not
because he wishes our misfortune, but because he desires our welfare. Hence, when they come
upon us we must embrace them with thanksgiving, and must not only resign ourselves to the
divine will, but must also rejoice that God treats us as he treated his Son Jesus Christ, whose life
upon this earth was always full of tribulation. I shall now show, in the first point, the advantages
we derive from tribulations; and in the second, I shall point out the manner in which we ought to
bear them.
First Point. On the great advantages we derive from tribulations.
1. “What doth he know that had not been tried? A man that hath much experience shall think
of many things, and he that hath learned many things shall show forth understanding.” (Eccl.
34:9.) They who live in prosperity, and have no experience of adversity, know nothing of the state
of their souls. In the first place, tribulation opens the eyes which prosperity had kept shut. St.
Paul remained blind after Jesus Christ appeared to him, and, during his blindness, he perceived
the errors in which he lived. During his imprisonment in Babylon, King Manasses had recourse to
God, was convinced of the malice of his sins, and did penance for them. “And after that he was
in distress he prayed to the Lord his God, and did penance exceedingly before the God of his
fathers.” (2 Paral. 33:12.) The prodigal, when he found himself under the necessity of feeding
swine, and afflicted with hunger, exclaimed: “I will arise and go to my father.” (Luke 15:18.)
Secondly, tribulation takes from our hearts all affections to earthly things. When a mother
wishes to wean her infant she puts gall on the paps, to excite his disgust, and induce him to take
better food. God treats us in a similar manner: to detach us from temporal goods, he mingles
them with gall, that by tasting its bitterness, we may conceive a dislike for them, and place our
affections on the things of Heaven. “God,” says St. Augustine, “mingles bitterness with earthly
pleasures, that we may seek another felicity, whose sweetness does not deceive.” (Ser. xxix., de
Verb. Dom.)
Thirdly, they who live in prosperity are molested by many temptations of pride, of vain-glory;
of desires of acquiring greater wealth, great honours, and greater pleasures. Tribulations free us
from these temptations, and make us humble and content in the state in which the Lord has
placed us. Hence the Apostle says: “We are chastised by the Lord that we may not be condemned
with this world.” (1 Cor. 11:32.)
2. Fourthly, by tribulation we atone for the sins we have committed much better than by
voluntary works of penance. “Be assured,” says St. Augustine, “that God is a physician, and that
tribulation is a salutary medicine.” Oh! how great is the efficacy of tribulation in healing the
wounds caused by our sins! Hence, the same saint rebukes the sinner who complains of God for
sending him tribulations. “Why,” he says, “do you complain? What you suffer is a remedy, not a
punishment.” (In Ps. lv.) Job called those happy men whom God corrects by tribulation; because
he heals them with the very hands with which he strikes and wounds them. “Blessed is the man
whom God correcteth.… For he woundeth and cureth. He striketh, and his hand shall heal.” (Job
5:17, 18.) Hence, St. Paul gloried in his tribulations: “Gloriamur in tribulationibus.” (Rom. 5:3.)
3. Fifthly, by convincing us that God alone is able and willing to relieve us in our miseries,
tribulations remind us of him, and compel us to have recourse to his mercy. “In their affliction
they will rise early to me.” (Osee 6:1.) Hence, addressing the afflicted, the Lord said: “Come to
me, all you that labour and are burdened, and I will refresh you.” (Matt. 11:28.) Hence he is called
“a helper in troubles.” (Ps. 45:1.) “When,” says David, “he slew them, then they sought him, and
they returned.” (Ps. 77:34.) When the Jews were afflicted, and were slain by their enemies, they
remembered the Lord, and returned to him.
4. Sixthly, tribulations enable us to acquire great merits before God, by giving us opportunities
of exercising the virtues of humility, of patience, and of resignation to the divine will. The
venerable John d’Avila used to say, that a single blessed be God, in adversity, is worth more than
a thousand acts in prosperity. “Take away,” says St. Ambrose, “the contests of the martyrs, and
you have taken away their crowns.” (In Luc., c. iv.) Oh! what a treasure of merit is acquired by
patiently bearing insults, poverty, and sickness! Insults from men were the great objects of the
desires of the saints, who sought to be despised for the love of Jesus Christ, and thus to be made
like unto him.
5. How great is the merit gained by bearing with the inconvenience of poverty. “My God and
my all,” says St. Francis of Assisium: in expressing this sentiment, he enjoyed more of true riches
than all the princes of the Earth. How truly has St. Teresa said, that “the less we have here, the
more we shall enjoy hereafter.” Oh! how happy is the man who can say from his heart: My Jesus,
thou alone art sufficient for me! If, says St. Chrysostom, you esteem yourself unhappy because
you are poor, you are indeed miserable and deserving of tears; not because you are poor, but
because, being poor, you do not embrace your poverty, and esteem yourself happy.” “Sane
dignus es lachrymis ob hoc, quod miserum te extimas, non ideo quod pauper es.” (Serm. ii, Epis.
ad Phil.)
6. By bearing patiently with the pains of sickness, a great, and perhaps the greater, part of
the crown which is prepared for us in Heaven is completed. The sick sometimes complain that in
sickness they can do nothing; but they err; for, in their infirmities they can do all things, by
accepting their sufferings with peace and resignation. “The Cross of Christ,” says St. Chrysostom,
“is the key of Paradise.” (Com. in Luc. de vir.)
7. St. Francis de Sales used to say. “To suffer constantly for Jesus is the science of the saints;
we shall thus soon become saints.” It is by sufferings that God proves his servants, and finds them
worthy of himself. “Deus tentavit es, et invenit eos dignos se.” (Wis. 3:5.) “Whom,” says St. Paul,
“the Lord loveth, he chastiseth; and he scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” (Heb. 12:6.)
Hence, Jesus Christ once said to St. Teresa: “Be assured that the souls dearest to my Father are
those who suffer the greatest afflictions.” Hence Job said: “If we have received good things at the
hand of God, why should we not receive evil?” (Job. 2:10.) If we have gladly received from God
the goods of this Earth, why should we not receive more cheerfully tribulations, which are far
more useful to us than worldly prosperity? St. Gregory informs us that, as flame fanned by the
wind increases, so the soul is made perfect when she is oppressed by tribulations. “Ignis flatu
premitur, ut crescat.” (Ep. xxv.)
8. To holy souls the most severe afflictions are the temptations by which the Devil impels
them to offend God: but they who bear these temptations with patience, and banish them by
turning to God for help, shall acquire great merit. “And,” says St. Paul, “God is faithful, who will
not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able, but will also make issue with the
temptation that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Cor. 10:13.) God permits us to be molested by
temptations, that, by banishing them, we may gain greater merit. “Blessed,” says the Lord, “are
they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Matt. 5:5.) They are blessed, because, according
to the Apostle, our tribulations are momentary and very light, compared with the greatness of
the glory which they shall obtain for us for eternity in Heaven. “For that which is at present
momentary and light of our tribulation, worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal
weight of glory.” (1 Cor. 4:17.)
9. It is necessary, then, says St. Chrysostom, to bear tribulations in peace; for, if you accept
them with resignation, you shall gain great merit; but if you submit to them with reluctance, you
shall increase, instead of diminishing, your misery “Si vero ægre feras, neque calamitatum
minorem facies, et majorem reddes procellam.” (Hom. lxiv., ad Pop.) If we wish to be saved, we
must submit to trials. “Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God.” (Acts
14:21.) A great servant of God used to say, that Paradise is the place of the poor, of the
persecuted, of the humble and afflicted. Hence St. Paul says: “Patience is necessary for you, that,
doing the will of God, you may receive the promise.” (Heb. 10:36.) Speaking of the tribulations of
the saints, St. Cyprian asks “What are they to the servants of God, whom Paradise invites?” (Ep,
ad Demetr.) Is it much for those to whom the eternal goods of Heaven are promised, to embrace
the short afflictions of this life?
10. In fine, the scourges of Heaven are sent not for our injury, but for our good. “Let us believe
that these scourges of the Lord, with which, like servants, we are chastised, have happened for
our amendment, and not for our destruction.” (Judith 8:27.) “God,” says St. Augustine, “is angry
when he does not scourge the sinner.” (In Ps. lxxxix.) When we see a sinner in tribulation in this
life, we may infer that God wishes to have mercy on him in the next, and that he exchanges
eternal for temporal chastisement. But miserable the sinner whom the Lord does not punish in
this life! For those whom he does not chastise here, he treasures up his wrath, and for them he
reserves eternal chastisement.
11. “Why,” asks the Prophet Jeremy, “doth the way of the wicked prosper?” (12:1.) “Why, O
Lord, do sinners prosper? To this the same prophet answers: “Gather them together as sheep for
a sacrifice, and prepare them for the day of slaughter.” (Ib. v. 3.) As on the day of sacrifice the
sheep intended for slaughter are gathered together, so the impious, as victims of divine wrath,
are destined to eternal death. “Destine them,” says Du Hamel, in his commentary on this passage,
“as victims of thy anger on the day of sacrifice.”
12. When, then, God sends us tribulations, let us say with Job: “I have sinned, and indeed I
have offended, and I have not received what I have deserved.” (Job 33:27.) O Lord, my sins merit
far greater chastisement than that which thou hast inflicted on me. We should even pray with St.
Augustine, “Burn—cut—spare not in this life, that thou mayest spare for eternity.” How frightful
is the chastisement of the sinner of whom the Lord says: “Let us have pity on the wicked, but he
will not learn justice.” (Is. 26:10.) Let us abstain from chastising the impious: as long as they
remain in this life they will continue to live in sin, and shall thus be punished with eternal
torments. On this passage St. Bernard says: “Misericordiam hanc nolo, super omnem iram
miseratio ista.” (Serm. xlii., in Cant.) Lord, I do not wish for such mercy, which is a chastisement
that surpasses all chastisements.
13. The man whom the Lord afflicts in this life has a certain proof that he is dear to God.
“And,” said the angel to Tobias, “because thou wast acceptable to God, it was necessary that
temptations should prove thee.” (Tob. 12:13.) Hence, St. James pronounces blessed the man who
is afflicted: because after he shall have been proved by tribulation, he will receive the crown of
life.” (Jam. 1:12.)
14. He who wishes to share in the glory of the saints, must suffer in this life as the saints have
suffered. None of the saints has been esteemed or treated well by the world—all of them have
been despised and persecuted. In them have been verified the words of the Apostle: “All that will
live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution.” (2 Tim. 3:12.) Hence St. Augustine said, that
they who are unwilling to suffer persecutions, have not as yet begun to be Christians. “Si putas
non habere persecutiones, nondum cæpisti esse Christianus.” (In Ps. lv.) When we are in
tribulation, let us be satisfied with the consolation of knowing that the Lord is then near us and
in our company. “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a contrite heart.” (Ps. 33:19.) “I am with
him in tribulation.” (Ps. 90:15.)
Second Point. On the manner in which we should bear tribulations.
15. He who suffers tribulations in this world should, in the first place, abandon sin, and
endeavour to recover the grace of God; for as long as he remains in sin, the merit of all his
sufferings is lost. “If,” says St. Paul, “I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity,
it profiteth me nothing.” (1 Cor. 13:3.) If you suffered all the torments of the martyrs, or bore to
be burned alive, and were not in the state of grace, it would profit you nothing.
16. But, to those who can suffer with God, and with resignation for God’s sake, all the
tribulations shall be a source of comfort and gladness. “Your sorrow shall be turned into joy.”
(John 16:20.) Hence, after having been insulted and beaten by the Jews, the apostles departed
from the council full of joy, because they had been maltreated for the love of Jesus Christ. “And
they indeed went from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were accounted worthy
to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus.” (Acts 5:41.) Hence, when God visits us with any
tribulations, we must say with Jesus Christ: “The chalice which my Father hath given me, shall I
not drink it?” (John 18:11.) It is necessary to know that every tribulation, though it may come
from men, is sent to us by God.
17. When we are surrounded on all sides with tribulations, and know not what to do, we must
turn to God, who alone can console us. Thus King Josaphat, in his distress, said to the Lord: “As
we know not what to do, we can only turn our eyes to thee.” (2 Par. 20:12.) Thus David also in
his tribulation had recourse to God, and God consoled him: “In my trouble I cried to the Lord, and
he heard me.” (Ps. 119:1.) We should turn to God, and pray to him, and never cease to pray till
he hears us. “As the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands of her mistress, so are our eyes unto
the Lord our God, until he have mercy on us.” (Ps. 122:2.) We must keep our eyes continually
raised to God, and must continue to implore his aid, until he is moved to compassion for our
miseries. “We must have great confidence in the heart of Jesus Christ, and ought not to imitate
certain persons, who instantly lose courage because they do not feel that they are heard as soon
as they begin to pray. To them may be applied the words of the Saviour to St. Peter: “O thou of
little faith! why didst thou doubt?” (Matt. 14:31.) When the favours which we ask are spiritual,
or can be profitable to our souls, we should be certain of being heard, provided we persevere in
prayer, and do not lose confidence. “All things whatsoever you ask when ye pray, believe that
you shall receive, and they shall come unto you.” (Mark 11:24.) In tribulations, then, we should
never cease to hope with confidence that the divine mercy will console us; and if our afflictions
continue, we must say with Job: “Although he should kill me, I will trust in him.” (13:15.)
18. Souls of little faith, instead of turning to God in their tribulations, have recourse to human
means, and thus provoke God’s anger, and remain in their miseries. “Unless the Lord build the
house, they labour in vain that build it. Unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain that
keepeth it.” (Ps. 126:1.) On this passage St. Augustine writes: “Ipse ædificat, ipse intellectum
aperit, ipse ad finem applicat sensum vestrum: et tamen laboramus et nos tanquam operarii, sed
nisi Dominus custodierit civitatem,” etc. All good—all help must come from the Lord. Without
him creatures can give us no assistance.
19. Of this the Lord complains by the mouth of his prophet: “Is not,” he says, “the Lord in
Sion?… Why then have they provoked me to wrath with their idols … Is there no balm in Galaad?
or is there no physician there? Why then is not the wound of the daughter of my people closed?”
(Jer. 8:19, 22.) Am I not in Sion? Why then do men provoke me to anger by recurring to creatures,
which they convert into idols by placing in them all their hopes? Do they seek a remedy for their
miseries? Why do they not seek it in Galaad, a mountain full of balsamic ointments, which signify
the divine mercy? There they can find the physician and the remedy of all their evils. Why then,
says the Lord, do your wounds remain open? Why are they not healed? It is because you have
recourse not to me, but to creatures, and because you confide in them, and not in me.
20. In another place the Lord says: “Am I become a wilderness to Israel, or a lateward
springing land? Why then have my people said: We are revolted; we will come to thee no more?…
But my people have forgotten me days without number.” (Jer. 2:31, 32.) God complains, and
says: “Why, my children, do you say that you will have recourse to me no more? Am I become to
you a barren land, which gives no fruit, or gives it too late? Is it for this reason that you have so
long forgotten me? By these words he manifests to us his desire that we pray to him, in order
that he may be able to give us his graces; and he also gives us to understand that when we pray
to him, he is not slow, but instantly begins to assist us.
21. The Lord, says David, is not asleep when we turn to his goodness, and ask the graces which
are profitable to our souls: he hears us immediately, because he is anxious for our welfare.
“Behold, he shall neither slumber nor sleep that keepeth Israel.” (Ps. 120:4.) When we pray for
temporal favours, St. Bernard says that God “will give what we ask, or something more useful.”
He will grant us the grace which we desire, whenever it is profitable to our souls; or he will give
us a more useful grace, such as the grace to resign ourselves to the divine will, and to suffer with
patience our tribulations, which shall merit a great increase of glory in Heaven.
[Act of sorrow and amendment, prayer to Jesus and Mary.]
[[@DayOfYear:December 12]]December 12th, Our Lady of Guadalupe and Thursday in the second week
of Advent
Cana and Our Lady of Guadalupe by Fr. Mark Hamlet
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John 2:1-12; Rev 11-12
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Cana and Our Lady of Guadalupe
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Catholic; Mary
Hamlet, Fr. Mark
January 20, 2013
http://www.fathermarkhamlet.com/canaand-our-lady-of-guadalupe/
They ran out of wine!
This story is highly symbolic. Our religion is highly symbolic. John recounts the story years after the event
to a Christian community that well understood the symbolism of this story of the beginning of Jesus’
ministry. The “Wedding at Cana” is Jesus’ first miracle in the Gospel of John, from the beginning of the
second chapter. What was John doing, placing this story first?
He was reminding us that the Jewish religion was barren. It didn’t produce feast or wine, but was corrupt
and bankrupt. Jesus was the only way out of the malaise in which they found themselves. John’s audience
would not have missed the meaning of Mary’s comment to Jesus,
“They have no more wine.”
And, John’s audience would have understood how important was Mary’s instruction for all of us as
followers of Jesus,
“Do whatever he tells you.”
The abundance of new wine was the symbolic theme of John’s Gospel. John’s listeners knew Jesus as the
Son of God, and that his mother, Mary, was the new “Ark of the Covenant”. Mary and Jesus have a very
special, loving, eternal relationship. In the Book of Revelation, in chapters 11 and 12, John writes,
“Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the
temple.”
And then, instead of the wooden box ark of the temple, John immediately shows us the new Ark of the
Covenant,
“A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet,
and on her head a crown of twelve stars…. She was with child….”
This image John gives to us, and the abundance of Grace that would come through Mary became very
important again much later in history.
Almost 500 years ago the Spanish Conquistadors entered Mexico and the priests followed. They arrived
at the shores of Mexico in 1519, and conquered the Capital of Mexico, known as Tenochtitlan, in 1521.
At first, the Spanish conquistadors and the early missionary priests misunderstood the faith of the people
whom they encountered in Mexico. They found many pagan religious practices, including strange idols
and great numbers of human sacrifices every year. During the first ten years of the conquest, the early
missionary priests believed they were facing a polytheistic, pagan, devil-worshiping people. This term,
“polytheists”, is very important to our story. Christians are “monotheists”; we have only one Almighty
God, Creator of all. It is more difficult to evangelize “polytheists” because of their
superstitions. Polytheists have many gods, and not one almighty god. For superstitious people there are
powers equal to god, conflicting with one another. Some very evil; they believe that witches and wizards
and magic are as powerful as any god. You could not blame the first missionaries when they first believed
that they were working with demon-possessed polytheists. But this misunderstanding created many
obstacles for them.
The people were very religious, but after ten years of hard work, the missionaries had only a handful of
converts to Christianity among the ten million estimated Mexican peoples they found. Even at this time
there were still an estimated 10,000 human sacrifices every year in and around Mexico City. The number
of Catholic missionaries in all of Mexico in 1531 was estimated to be only about 40 Franciscan priests.
By this time, in December 1531, the Mexican peoples were culturally devastated due to the Spanish
military conquest, the loss of their royal leaders and government, their priests and their places of
worship. They found themselves now a people subject to a foreign king who wanted to impose a foreign
religion upon them. They had lost everything their fathers had taught them to be true. A deep, cultural
melancholy took root among the Mexican peoples. By 1531, they found themselves treated like slaves,
children, perhaps not even human, a devil-worshiping people who needed to be cleansed of their evil
ways.
Into this sad history entered Blessed Virgin Mary when she appeared to San Juan Diego at Tepeyac in
December 1531. Within four days, Dec. 9 to Dec. 12, the Virgin Mary would dramatically change the
history of Mexico and the world.
We make a mistake when we think of that moment as simply another miraculous appearance, or her
image only a sacred picture from the 16th century. It was much more than that. Mary’s appearance was,
and still is ongoing evangelization. The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a living “Gospel”, and a special
love letter for the Mexican people.
Mary evangelized with signs and symbols. Anybody can read the message Mary provided, but you have
to see the original image, all of it, to read it with confidence. Over the generations since her appearance
there have been thousands of reproductions created by human artists as copies inspired by the original
image. Like souvenirs, these frequently distort or leave out critical parts of the message. Mary did not
appear as a statue. All the elements of the original image are critical, like the sunburst. Nothing should
be left out or modified. For generations the bishops of Mexico have been concerned that people must
have faithful images of the original tilma of San Juan Diego.
You know you are reading the original message when you see the “imprimatur” of the Archbishop of
Mexico in the lower right corner of the image. The artist reproductions currently in our parish were
created in art studios fairly recently. The original image of Our Lady of Guadalupe came from heaven,
through the Holy Spirit some 500 years ago.
In the original image Mary shows she understood these people, that they were not “polytheists”, but
monotheists. The Aztec peoples believed that there was only one god and creator. However, different
tribes had different symbols for the one God. The largest group believed God was best represented by
the Sun. The next largest group included tribes that believed God was best symbolized by the
Moon. Others believed that God was best symbolized by stars of heaven or even various flowers, which
represented the sun, and the life and fertility that comes from God. Mystery can be only be represented
by symbol.
Mary knew she had to evangelize these people in a loving manner. She knew she had to correct the way
the Church fathers were attempting to evangelize them, while coming to the aid of the Church. Above
all, she had to help bring the people to her Son. It was clear that the image along with the roses gathered
by Juan Diego were special signs for the Bishop and the Church. We must remind ourselves what we
believe as Catholics, that Mary did not die. She was conceived immaculate to live forever. She was
assumed into heaven, body and soul to live forever as the “handmaid of the Lord”, in her own words.
These Aztec people were civilized and advanced in many ways. Their math and learning was
sophisticated. However, this people were culturally very different from the newly arrived
Europeans. Their written language was not phonetic, and did not use letters or any phonetic
alphabet. The Nahuatl language was more like the Egyptians or the Chinese, utilizing pictographs and
symbols. The image of Our Lady is a “pictograph” message for the Mexican people. I would caution you
not to be distracted from the original message by 20th century high-tech investigations into reflections in
her eyes, or other similar, later conclusions. We must always begin by seeing what the 16th century
Mexicans would have noticed.
Mary affirmed their faith and belief in God. She tells them she understood that they were very religious
people. She appeared to them not as a queen or a goddess, but a humble woman; a human woman, at
prayer. In the image we see that she told them that she knew they believed in the one God. But, she told
them, “He is not the sun. He is not the moon. He is not the stars or the flowers.” The original image is
on San Juan Diego’s tilma, or “poncho”, and still hangs in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico
City. The archbishop’s imprimatur appearing in the lower right corner of copies assures us that our new
image is an exact replica of the original.
Mary proclaims the Gospel. She bore God in her body. She gives birth to the new “Sun”. She showed
them she was pregnant. She wears the belt of pregnancy that they would have recognized. Her hands
are held up in prayer over her womb and over her belt, like a protective roof for her child. She told Juan
Diego in his Nahuatl language that she is the Mother of God.
Further, it is obvious from the image that our God is human, not the moon or the sun, but the son of a
human mother. She wears a mantle of the stars of heaven. She wears a tunic of earth color, rose. Her
tunic is covered with living plants well-known to the Mexicans. All the roots of the plants can be traced
back to the heavens, affirming that all life comes from the heavens. However, there is one four-petaled
flower over her womb that the people would have recognized as the flower of the new sun. She is giving
birth to their new Sun. With the sunburst she is full of the Light of God.
She anticipates that the Spirit of the Mexican people will accept her, and we see the “angel” under her
feet, embracing her gown and cloak, revealing her foot standing on the moon. The Aztecs would not have
recognized the angel images depicted by European artists. This is not a heavenly cherubim or baby with
dove wings. This angel is not above her. The color of the angel’s tunic is also a reddish earth color, like
the Virgin’s tunic. The angel is from below, the spirit of the Mexican people, with eagle wings, not dove
wings. The eagle is still preserved on the Mexican flag today, representing the people of Mexico. The
color of the wings would have been familiar to the people as it was also the color of a native Mexican bird
that Juan Diego says he heard singing before he saw Our Lady. The people would have recognized the
wings and the color of the wings, blue, white and red, the colors of the Mexican people, and inspiration
for the Mexican flag. Further, the people would have noticed that the angel is not in the form of a baby,
but of a mature man, with a receding hairline and a mature face. This “angel” is the Spirit of the Mexican
people rising up and accepting their Mother, the Mother of God.
The word Mexico derives from the Nahuatl meaning for the “Ombligo de la Luna”, the “belly-button” of
the moon, the center of the universe. The angel makes certain we see that she is in Mexico and in the
center of the universe.
In her words spoken in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, she told Juan Diego,
“Know, know for sure, my dearest, littlest and youngest son, that I am the perfect and ever Virgin
Holy Mary, Mother of the God of truth through Whom everything lives, the Lord of all things near
us, the Lord of heaven and earth.”
Mary was correct. These were a very religious people and monotheists. Generations of academic study
have confirmed that the Aztecs were monotheists. Mary brought them to Jesus, and the people accepted
the message.
The effect of her love letter to the Mexican people was a flood of Baptisms. Within five years some five
million people had been baptized; and some nine million baptisms by the death of Juan Diego and Bishop
Zumarraga in 1548. One Spanish priest wrote in 1536 that he and his partner performed over 14,000
baptisms in Mexico in just five days. The number of Baptisms in Mexico was so great that even Pope Paul
III became concerned about priests shortening the baptism catechism and liturgy, and he issued a Papal
Bull about his concerns.
The people had lost their primary temples, as the Spanish tore them down and built European churches
over those sites. They needed places to worship God. Mary sent Juan Diego to the Bishop asking for a
Church to be built on the site of her appearance. For the Spanish and the bishop, Mary appealed to their
European sense of scripture from the Book of Revelation, where we read earlier,
A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman* clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet,
and on her head a crown of twelve stars…, She was with child….
The Ark of the
Covenant
There is much, much more to this mysterious miracle. Mary is showing us how to evangelize with a
listening heart, not by confrontation or debate. With her Gospel, Mary led the people to her son, Jesus
Christ, and they were baptized.
Mary gave us Jesus in Bethlehem; Mary presented Jesus in the Temple in Jerusalem. Mary brought Jesus
to Cana. Mary brought Jesus to Mexico. Mary evangelizes still through her living image at Guadalupe. She
still tells us,
“Do whatever he tells you.”
Even today some 14 million pilgrims from every country on earth go each year to the Basilica of Guadalupe
in Mexico City. This is more pilgrims than from all the other Marian shrines on planet earth, including
Lourdes and Fatima.
John 2:1-12
[[@DayOfYear:December 13]]December 13, Friday in the second week of Advent
The Feast of St. Lucy, Virgin by Valerius Herberger
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Matt 5:14-16; John 12:36; Luke 16:8; ; John 1:4;
John 8:12; Matt 5:16; Ps 43:3; Jas 1:27; John
6:29; Matt 3:17; Matt 17:5; Dan 3:18; Ps 145:19;
Luke 12:51ff
Lutheran; St. Lucy
Herberger, Valerius
The Feast of St. Lucy, Virgin
Feast of St. Lucy, Virgin
http://lutheranorthodoxy.blogspot.com/search/label/St.%20Lucy
The Feast of St. Lucy, Virgin.
Veri Christiani, Luminaria mundi.
A heart that pleases God is a light of this world.
In the Name of the greatest, most noble Light of the World, Jesus Christ, who in the holy Gospel from the
lofty lampstand of His Cross, shines upon the whole Church, and so loves believing hearts that He shares
His name with them, and not only calls them Children of Light, but "Lights of the World." — Most blessed
with God the heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost in eternity. Amen.
Dear devout hearts, consider with diligence the beautiful words of the Lord Jesus from Matthew 5:14–16.
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do men light a candle,
and put it under a bushel, but on a lampstand; and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light
so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Lucy in German means an illuminatress, or a child of the light, as our Savior calls all His Christians, John
12:36; Luke 16:8. For she knew the great Light of the World, Jesus Christ, John 1:4; 8:12, and to His glory
let the light of her faith shine before men by the beautiful rays of Christian virtue, according to the
instruction of the Lord Christ, Matt. 5:16. For this reason I have undertaken to expound these words of
the Lord Jesus. Wherefore let us briefly (1) summarize the words of Christ, and hear how He describes His
sincere Christians, and then (2) consider how St. Lucy's faith and life agreed with what the Lord Jesus says.
O Lord, send Your Light and Your truth, that they may lead me and bring me to Your holy hill, and to Your
habitation. Ps. 43:3. …
Part II.
We are given a beautiful example in St. Lucy, who was also a light of the world. For she carried the Light
of the world, the Lord Jesus, on the lampstand of her faith, and to His glory shone with beautiful rays of
virtue as a light in the world
She was constantly asking her wealthy mother to do good to the poor. Her mother said, Wait till I kick the
bucket, then you can give everything away. Then good Lucy said, Dear Mother, Da dum vivis, "Give while
you live; then God will pay you back. For what you give when you die you give by necessity, only because
you cannot take it with you. Otherwise you just leave it there." This is a good rule for those who always
talk and prattle about what they will bequeath after their death and never get to it. Behold how her faith
burns with beautiful rays of love for her poorer brothers and sisters in Christ!
When the wreath of her virginity was threatened to be taken by force, she said, Si inviolatam me violabis,
castitas mihi duplicabitur ad coronam; non enim inquinatur corpus, nisi de consensu mentis, " 'If you
violate me who am inviolate, I will gain a twofold crown for my chastity; for the body will not be defiled
unless there is consent.' — But that shall never happen with my will."
When she was ordered to make offerings to false gods and to adhere to the older form of worship, she
said, "I am assured what is the best, oldest, and most beautiful form of worship, a pure and spotless
worship of God the Father, to wit, visiting widows and orphans in their affliction and keeping oneself
unstained by the world." These words are found in James 1:27. Behold how her love for God's Word shone
forth. How closely she must have listened to the sermon! Then the judge said, "Enough of this foolish talk,
I pray you. Tell it to those who lack wisdom. I will abide by the counsel of those who rule the Roman
empire." Then Lucy said, "Listen well, then. You shall abide by the counsel of those who rule the empire
on earth, and shall I not abide by the counsel of the Most High who rules in heaven? John 6:29; Matt.
3:17; 17:5. You fear rulers, and shall I not fear God? You refuse to anger worldly powers, and shall I anger
God? You delight to please princes, and shall I not delight to please God? Do what you cannot avoid; I will
do what I know shall profit me for ever. Behold how her Christian heart shone forth!
Therefore God wrought great wonders in her: She could not be moved from her place. God protected her
virginity as He did that of Susanna. She could not be burned, like the three confessors, Dan. 3:18. The
ancient God was living yet. She could not be executed by the sword before she had been given the most
worthy Supper. For the LORD does what the God-fearing desire, Ps. 145:19. The heathen said, "These are
very tricks of sorcery. But she said, "Not at all. Rather, they are true and miraculous proofs of My Savior
Jesus Christ's power."
There was also a famous Lady Lucy at the time of the cruel emperor Diocletian. She was treacherously
exposed as a Christian by her own son, and was delivered over to death. No doubt she saw what Christ,
Luke 12:51ff.… God grant all pious hearts patience who must still mourn such things today. Amen.
(From Valerius Herberger, Evangelische Hertz-Postille; translation © 2012 Matthew Carver.)
[[@DayOfYear:December 14]]December 14, Saturday in the second week of Advent
Sin as a Fact by Henry Alford
Sermon File Type
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Rom 3:23
Sin
Anglican
Alford, Henry
Title
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Sin as a Fact
Second Sunday in Advent
Alford, Henry. Sermons on Christian
Doctrine. London: Rivingtons, 1862.
Source
December 8, 1861
SIN AS A FACT
ROM. 3:23
“All have sinned.”
THE Gospel of Christ may be described as a glorious remedy for a disease fatal and otherwise incurable,
with which our whole race is tainted. And the first step in treating of the Gospel must ever be to lay open,
and make us sensible of, that disease. For one of its most dangerous symptoms is, that it makes men
insensible to its own presence: so that the worse a man is afflicted with it, the less he knows that he has
it at all. And, seeing that the remedy is not one which can be simply taken once and then all will be well,
but one which requires long and painful and self-denying application, a man must be very thoroughly
persuaded that he has the disease, and that he is likely to perish from it, before he will take the necessary
trouble to be cured of it. Now this disease we call SIN. And in consequence of what has been said you will
see, that in beginning a course of sermons on Christian doctrine, I must deal first with this fact which lies
at the bottom of all Christian doctrine, that all men are sinners. I may be at once met with the question,
Who does not know that? Who does not confess himself to be a sinner? Doubtless, all do this by profession
and with the lips. But, my brethren, there is as much difference between confessing with the lips and
feeling intensely in the depth of the heart, as there is between confessing and not confessing at all.
“Miserable sinners:” “Have mercy upon us miserable sinners.” But what do we mean by sinners?
Let us try and lay hold of this—let us try to-day and see what sin means—what “all having sinned” means.
When any of us looks out upon mankind, or looks within himself, with ever so little attention, one thing
can hardly fail to strike him. It is, the presence of Evil. We at once see that there is a something in the
world, and within us, rebellious, destructive, altogether unwelcome, and which we would gladly be rid of.
We want harmony among men, harmony in ourselves, for all purposes of human improvement, for all
purposes of our own progress and enlightening. But instead of harmony, we find discord every where.
From the first, man’s history has been a history of going wrong and doing wrong: from the first, our own
personal history has been a history of interrupted good and interfering bad. Now observe, I am not at this
moment speaking as a minister of the Gospel: I am speaking merely as man,—as a citizen of the world, as
one of you, or one of any band of men gathered out of any age and any place upon earth. I am dwelling
upon what is matter of universal observation. Who can deny this presence and this working of an
unwelcome and a hostile element in all human matters? What deceit will ever enable a man to hide from
himself this dark shadow which falls upon the fairest prospects and purest courses in life? What mind
looking into itself is not found to confess that there is this night side of its thoughts and ways?
Now it is not my purpose, at all events not at present, to say a word about the reason why this evil ever
came into God’s universe. I am concerned to-day with the fact, and the importance of knowing and
acknowledging the fact, that it has come into it and is every where present. Some may say—some have
said, conceal the fact, and you will get rid of it. Don’t tell people that there is evil in the world; forget that
there is evil about and in yourself; and you and they will become good. It may be true, they continue, that
there is such a dark spot in nature; that there are these black shadows amidst the shining of the Face of
the universal Father: but gazing upon them is painful and useless: look at the bright side of every thing:
believe things to be innocent and right, and infinitely more good will be done than by dwelling on the
gloom and so increasing it. This, my brethren, not only has been the published advice of a whole school
of writers,—it is also the view taken by many loose and shallow thinkers in every place at our own time.
But let me ask you, do you suppose that the unquestioned evil in universal nature, and in our nature, can
be thus got rid of? “Believe the world to be good, and it will become good,” says one of these writers:
“Believe yourself to be good, and you will become good.” I answer, Try it. Try it for a day, for an hour.
Then go into your chamber, and take strict unsparing account. And if it is urged that more time is wanted,
try it for a year: shut your eyes to all that is bad in the world—to all that is bad in you: refuse to believe,
refuse to entertain any suspicion of evil in yourself, or in others, for that time: then retire and trace your
path during the time. Does not every man see what would be the result? Do not we all know, that it would
be simply the tale of the silly ostrich over again, which imagines itself safe from the hunter by shutting its
eyes, and by hiding him from its own sight? Do we not see, that such a person would only be delivered up
far more and far more helplessly into the power of evil?
No, my brethren: a man who wants to get rid of evil in himself must open his eyes to the evil, not hide it:
must not shrink from any pain which the sight may give him, if it also gives him the knowledge, what the
danger is, and how to meet it. And he who wants to overcome evil in others, must not shrink from the
gloomy and unwelcome task of speaking of it, exposing it, probing its extent and measuring its strength,
that so they may be the more deeply and earnestly convinced of its existence, and the more active in
combating it.
There is then this evil all about us and in us: and we must make up our minds to see it, to recognize it, to
stand face to face with it, and conquer it. Now here come in two most important remarks. This evil is not
the only disagreeable thing in life. There are bodily pain, discomfort, misery, common to us and all
mankind—nay, common to us and the lower animals. And there is this circumstance about all these,
worthy of our present notice. If we can manage to forget them, to flee away from them, to hide them
from us, we thereby get rid of them. We need not look at them, nor study their nature. A man who wants
to avoid breaking a limb, need not be always gazing on or describing broken limbs: he has but to avoid
those risks which might occasion the mischief. A man who would avoid death will follow the ordinary
instinct of self-preservation: he would not be for ever studying all the possible ways of dying. Such
knowledge is not necessary; nay, it would be an incumbrance and a nuisance. But the man who wishes to
avoid evil in this world, must be awake and alive to the forms and accesses of evil. He cannot do without
such knowledge: his very safety consists in it. Therefore—and mark the inference as an important one in
our progress to-day—evil is a matter of a totally different kind from bodily pain, misery, or death.
Again: evil is not by any means our only inward source of annoyance and hindrance. You have—I have—
every one has—defects, infirmities, in his or her mind and disposition: things of which we would willingly
be rid if we could: bars to our progress and hindrances to our perfection. But none of these do we look
upon as we look upon evil. Let it be shewn that we are dull, or feeble, or inferior to some others, we put
up with it, we excuse it, we make ourselves as comfortable as we may under the knowledge of it: but let
it be once shewn, by others or by our own conscience that we have wished, said, done, that which is evil,
and we know at once that there is no excuse for it. We may try to shew that we did it inadvertently, or by
force of circumstances; or in some way to lessen our own share in it: but the very labour to construct an
excuse shews that we hold the evil itself, as evil, to be inexcusable. Evil itself no one attempts to excuse:
all take for granted that it is a loathsome thing, all desire that their character and their conscience should
stand free from it.
So far then this evil is something which our nature itself teaches us to revolt from and abhor. We do not,
we cannot excuse it; we cannot contentedly put up with it, we cannot be happy under its influence. Now
do not mistake me. Many a man, as we have seen, excuses his share in evil, excuses his evil deed as not
being evil, plays the self-deceiver and hides the evil of his ways from himself, abandons his helm and lets
himself drift into evil, and so is contented, and fancies himself happy, under evil. But again, and for all this,
the thing itself is simply a deadly enemy to us, whenever and wherever detected, and exposed as being
what it is. No son of man ever said or could say, from his inmost heart, what the great poet sublimely
represents Satan as saying, “Evil, be thou my good.” It requires more than man ever to say this.
Well now, my brethren, what does all this shew? Does it not testify to there being a law within us,
implanted in our nature, by which evil is avoided, and by consequence good sought and desired? And
observe that this is true, quite independently of and previous to all circumstances in which a man is placed,
all interests in which he is involved. Our abhorrence of evil as evil does not spring from our finding it to be
hurtful to us: we know that it is hurtful to us, the moment we know any thing. The little child for the first
time detected in evil, is as much ashamed of it as the experienced and mature man. Now this is
exceedingly important: all-important, in our present enquiry. A law within us tells us what is good, tells us
that we ought to be good, to say good, to do good. Mind I only assert this fact. That this law is broken in
upon, that it is not always distinctly or properly or effectively asserted, is nothing to my present purpose.
I know all this, and shall have to use it by and by. But I only care now for this great fact, that there is this
law: that we all know it, all judge by it, all act upon it as a familiar and confessed thing. All our enacted
laws, all our public opinion, even all our ways of thinking and speaking in words, are founded on there
being such a law within man, sanctioning good, prohibiting evil.
Now then it is time for us to ask, when man becomes, says, acts evil, what sort of a thing does he do? For
that such is the case, is but too plain. Evil thoughts, evil words, evil acts, are but too often to be found in
the course of all of us; evil men unhappily abound in every place and society. How are we to look upon
such evil thoughts, words, acts, and men? Are they necessary? In plain words, is it a condition of our lives
that we must enter into compact with evil, as it is that we must eat and sleep? Certainly not. This is clear
from what has already been said. Every protest against evil, every resistance to evil, every victory over
evil, proves that evil is not necessary to our being; that He who made us has made us capable of existing
without evil, and all the better for existing without evil. But now let us listen to what follows. True as this
is, we must always remember, that this great and blessed state of our being, the freedom from and victory
over evil, is not that after which all men are striving. There are all kinds of lower forms of our being, which
satisfy men, and in some cases constitute their chief good. One man seeks the gratification of his bodily
appetites and lusts: another, the heaping up of wealth: a third, the gaining of power: a fourth, the rising
in the esteem of those about him: another again, several, or all of these together: and so, not man’s
brightest aim, to be good and pure and calm and wise, but an aim very far below this, is followed by the
worse part of mankind always,—by even the best of mankind sometimes.
Now, my brethren, every one of these lower and unworthy objects, if followed as an object, does
necessarily bring a man into contact and compromise with evil. To be bent on gratifying lust, is of itself
evil: to amass selfishly, is evil: to promote our own influence and push for precedence, is evil. Greed,
intemperance, injustice to others, unkindness, overweening opinion of self, and a hundred other evil
things beset every one of such courses of life; every one of such thoughts, words, actions.
Now we have advanced, I think, close to our point. When a man lives such a course, when any one of us
gives way to such thoughts or words, or commits such deeds, he is disobeying that great first law of our
being by which, as I shewed you, we choose the good and abhor the evil. How it is that men got the wish
so to go wrong and so to disobey the law of their being, it is not my present object to enquire. But though
it is not, I must simply remind you that we Christian believers know how this was; and more than this,—
that our Bibles give us the only satisfactory account that ever was given of it. We know that it was by a
taint at the root and spring of our race; by our first parents using that freedom in which their Creator
made them, not to please Him by remaining in good, but to please themselves by entering into a
compromise with evil. But I say no more, as to enlarge on this is beyond our subject to-day. Men are (there
is no doubt of this) liable, every man is liable, thus to enter into compact with his worst enemy, evil, in
order to serve his present lower purposes. We all do this continually.
Now whenever we do this, we SIN. “All sin,” says St. John, “is transgression of law.” Where there is no law,
there is no sin; wherever there is a law, there he who disobeys that law commits sin. And we have seen
that this inward law which teaches us to abhor evil and choose good is broken and set at nought by us all.
We do not choose the good which we know we ought to choose: we do choose the evil which we very
well know we ought not to choose. The propensity to do this, the entertaining the temptation to do it, the
doing it, all these are sin. Now sin is not, like evil, a mere general quality: it is committed against a person.
And there is, properly speaking, but one Person, against whom sin is, or can be committed. There is One
who is the source and fountain of all law, all right, all purity, all goodness. And this law of good and evil of
which we have been speaking, this above and before all others, springs from that Holy and Just one who
hath made us and to whom we are accountable. All sin is against Him: is a violation of His law, is a
thwarting, by His mysterious permission, of His holy and blessed purposes with regard to man.
ALL HAVE SINNED. And in dwelling on this, the fact, that all men have inherited the disposition to sin,
necessarily comes first. And this is no fiction: this is not, as the unbeliever of our day would try to persuade
you, an exploded fallacy of a gone-by system; but it is sober and fearful truth. It is moreover agreeable to
the analogy of all God’s works in nature and in spirit: a truth, as matter of experience, undeniable by any
who is aware of even the most common phænomena of our nature. And, inheriting this disposition, but
with it inheriting also the great inward law of conscience warning us against evil, we have again and again
followed, not the good law, but the evil propensity: in wayward childhood this has been so: in passionate
youth: in calm deliberate manhood. We have not chosen evil; we have hated evil by our very nature; but
we have followed evil, fallen into sin, by reason of our lusts and our passions blinding us, dragging us
onward and downward, and delivering us tied and bound into the power of the enemy whom we naturally
shun and detest. We have done this,—we are doing it, continually: we shall ever be doing it more or less,
in our manifold weaknesses, our besetting dangers, our abounding temptations.
Now then, this being so, what follows? Can sin be safe? Can a sinner be happy? Can a sinful man be gaining
the ends of his being? The full answer to this question does not belong to our subject to-day; but I cannot
and ought not to conclude without slightly anticipating it.
Sin is and must be the ruin of man, body and soul, here and hereafter. The born sinner—the tainted child
of a tainted stock, living under that taint, with it working and spreading in him and through him,—how
shall he be safe? how shall he be happy? how shall he ever grow on to good and to a blessed eternity?
Without going any further into the matter to-day, do you not see that this cannot be so? Whoever sins,
goes wrong: lays up grief, shame, all that is dreadful, for himself, by thwarting the gracious ends for which
God created him, viz. to love, obey, and imitate Himself, that he may become like Him, and one day see
Him as He is.
No more then at present but this. Every man’s work in life, sinners as we all are, is this: to find out his sins,
to confess his sins to God, to struggle with God’s help against his sins, year by year and day by day to gain
victories over his sins through Him who overcame sin for us; to believe in, and live in the reality of, the
Atonement which His Blood has made for all and every sin. All the glorious process of that which He hath
accomplished for us, will come before us as we proceed.
But now in this season of Advent, when we are to cast away the works of darkness, I must detain you
some Sundays longer on our own need of Him for whose coming we are to prepare; and shall therefore,
by God’s help, speak to you on the next two Sundays on the manifold nature of sin, and on its guilt and
consequences.
Now to Him who hath loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, to the Son of God, with the
Father and the Holy Ghost, be honour and glory for ever. Amen.
[[@DayOfYear:December 15]]December 15, third Sunday in Advent
A Sermon for the Third Sunday in Advent by Rev. Canon Dr. Robert
Crouse
Sermon File Type
Passages
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Venue
Date
Title
Occasion
Source
Sermon
1 Cor 4:2; Mt 3:4; Is 40:3; Col 1:26; 1
Cor 3:5; 1 John 4:1
Anglican
Crouse, Robert
December 10, 2010
A Sermon for the Third Sunday in Advent
Third Sunday in Advent
http://fatherd.wordpress.com/2010/12/10/asermon-for-the-third-sunday-in-advent/
It is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. (1 Corinthians 4.2)
In the season of Advent, our attention is focused upon the coming of the Lord: his coming as our saviour
and our judge. We are like servants who await a master. We watch and wait. And on this third Sunday of
Advent, the Church’s liturgy presents us with the figure of St. John the Baptist – John the baptizer – as the
great example of one who watched and waited.We know very little, really, of John the Baptist, the
preacher in the wilderness of Judaea, “who clothed himself in camel’s hair, and wore a girdle of skin about
his loins.” (Matthew 3.4) He was the voice of one crying in the wilderness who said “Make straight the
way of the Lord.” (Isaiah 40.3)
It is sometimes supposed that he must have belonged to one of the radical sects of Judaism, such as the
community of Qumran, which produced the “Dead Sea Scrolls.” The Qumran community was a group who
had separated themselves from the main stream of Jewish life, and had gone to live in caves by the Dead
Sea, awaiting the coming of the Messiah with intense expectation. Perhaps John came from such a group.
At any rate, he was one of those who watched and waited for the fulfillment of the mystery of God’s
promises. He was a minister and steward of the mystery of God’s coming in Christ. He watched and waited,
asking,”Art thou he that should come, or look we for another?”; that mystery was revealed to him: “Go
and show John again those things ye do hear and see.”
As John was witness to the promise, so the Apostles were witnesses to its fulfillment in Christ: “Even the
mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: to
whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which
is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1.26) This is the mystery of God’s coming to us, the mystery
of God’s presence with us and in us, the hope of glory.
In the Epistle for today, St. Paul argues with the Christian converts at Corinth. Some of them claim to be
followers of Paul, some of another preacher, called Apollos. St. Paul tells them that “that way of thinking”
is nonsense: “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed?” (1 Corinthians
3.5) “Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.” That
is to say, the mystery of Christian faith, the mystery of “God with us,” is not the invention of Paul or
Apollos. It is there in Christ, once for all. The Apostles are simply its ministers and stewards, and their task
is to be faithful to that revelation. They are not judges of that mystery, picking and choosing, redesigning
and improving, deciding what works best, and so on; rather, they are its servants. Judgement belongs to
the Lord.
St. John the Baptist is our Advent example, for it is our vocation, too, to be ministers and stewards of the
mystery of God’s coming. It is our vocation, too, to watch and wait. And in our time, as much as ever,
perhaps even more than ever, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful.
Faithfulness to the mystery is no easy matter. The world is always ready with other ideas: ideas for
redesigning and improving, ideas about what works best, ideas about what is more relevant to our times
and customs. It is not easy for us, really, to think of ourselves as servants of a truth revealed so long ago.
Even some of our theologians tell us that we have reached maturity now, and have no need of the old
authority; that we have grown up and can judge for ourselves now. Well, it’s an engaging notion, perhaps;
but surely the evidence of our religious maturity is less than overwhelming.
There are those who would persuade us that the old forms of Christian belief and life are antiquated and
irrelevant: we must keep up with the times, and redesign our creeds and institutions in accord with current
fashions. There are those who claim that a new spirit is abroad, and that we must move with it. And no
doubt there is a new spirit abroad (or maybe it’s not really so new), but the advice of St. John is good,
when he says, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try (test) the spirits, whether they be of God: because
many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1).
It would be nice to be able to say with St. Paul, “it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or
of man’s judgement”; but in fact, it is uncomfortable and disagreeable to be out of step with the times.
“But it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful”; that is, faithful to the mystery revealed in
Christ.
We prepare ourselves to rejoice in Christmas, because it shows us that amid all the confusions and
uncertainties of our lives, amid all the fancies and fads of this world’s gyrations, there is the fact of God’s
coming. There is the revelation of the mystery of God with us. This is the mystery of which we are ministers
and stewards; servants of a returning Master, “Who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness,
and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts.” As a very ancient hymn expresses it,
Happy those servants, whether he returneth
At dead of midnight, or at early morning;
Happy those servants, if he only find them
Faithfully watching.
(#813 Nocte Surgentes verse 2, trans R. Bridges in Yattendon Hymnal)
Amen. +
[[@DayOfYear:December 16]]December 16, Monday in the third week of Advent
Homily 3, Third Sunday in Advent from The Northern Homily Cycle
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Passages
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Venue
Date
Title
Occasion
Source
Sermon
Matthew 11:2–10
Northern Homily Cycle
Early 14th century
Homily 3, Third Sunday in Advent from The
Northern Homily Cycle
Third Sunday in Advent
http://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/thompsonnorthern-homily-cycle-homily-3-third-sundayin-advent
Dominica iii. Adventus Domini secundum Matheum.3
Cum audisset Johannes in vinculis opera Cristi, mittens duos de discipulis suis, ait illi; Tu es qui venturus es,
an alium expectamus. Et respondens Jhesu Crist, dixit illis: Euntes renunciate Johanni que audistis et
vidistis. Ceci vident, claudi ambulant. et cetera.4;
3
Second Sunday in Advent according to Matthew
Latin rubric (Matthew 11:2–10): Now when John had heard in prison the works of Christ: sending two of his disciples
he said to him: Art thou he that art to come, or look we for another: And Jesus making answer said to them: Go and
relate to John what you have heard and seen. The blind see, the lame walk, [the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear,
the dead rise again, the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he that shall not be scandalized in
me. And when they went their way, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: What went you out into
the desert to see: a reed shaken with the wind? But what went you out to see? a man clothed in soft garments?
Behold they that are clothed in soft garments, are in the houses of kings. But what went you out to see? a prophet?
yea I tell you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written: Behold I send my angel before thy face,
who shall prepare thy way before thee.]
4
5
10
5
Sayn Mathew the Wangeliste56
Sais that Sain Jon the Baptiste
Was in prisoun, and herd telle
Of Cristes dedes and his spelle7,
And send of his decipils tua8,
And bad thaim thai suld ga9
To wit at Crist, quether it war he10
That suld cum mannes bote to be?11
“Or we,” he said, “another Crist sal bide12,
That fel miht the fendes pride?”13
Sain Jon decipels yed and said14
Thair erand that on thaim was laid,15
And quen Crist thair asking herd16,
Evangelist
6
Abbreviations: DOST: Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue; MED: Middle English Dictionary; NHC:
Northern Homily Cycle; NIMEV: The New Index of Middle English Verse, ed. Boffey and Edwards; OE: Old
English; OED: Oxford English Dic¬tionary; Small: English Metrical Homiles, ed. Small; Whiting: Whiting,
Proverbs, Sentences and Proverbial Phrases from English Writings Mainly Before 1500. For manuscript
abbreviations (ED, A, D, G, L, V), see the Introduction.
The poet returns to John the Baptist for his text and homily, explaining the different aspects of the
Baptist’s character as illuminated by Christ’s threefold posing of a question in Matthew: “And when they
went their way, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: What went you out into the desert
to see? a reed shaken with the wind? But what went you out to see? a man clothed in soft garments?
Behold they that are clothed in soft garments, are in the houses of kings. But what went you out to see?
a prophet? yea I tell you, and more than a prophet” (Matthew 11:7–9). He departs from his usual
structure, whereby the Gospel paraphrase, homily, and exemplum follow one another in neat order.
Instead he pauses after his explication of Jesus’ first posing of the question, in order to tell the story of
Herod’s murder of the Baptist, which offers a perfect illustration of John’s steadfastness, the first of the
three qualities brought out by Jesus’ question. Following this narrative he returns to the passage in
Matthew, picking up on the further implications of Jesus’ question, but then he circles back to the opening
of the Gospel text where John the Baptist has his disciples ask Christ whether he is indeed the one who
has come to be the redemption of mankind. To answer this question he turns to Gregory the Great, his
favorite commentator, to whom he refers three times in the course of this homily.
NIMEV 3018, 3399. Manuscripts: ED: fols. 20V–22V; A: fols. 10V–15R; G: fols. 15R–19R; D: fols. 45V–48V; L: fols. 4V–
6R.
7
preaching
8
sent for
9
told; should go
10
learn from; whether
11
should come; redemption
12
Or if we; shall await
13
might destroy
14
went
15
was given to them
16
question
15
20
25
17
Ful mildely he thaim ansuerd,
And bad thaim tille thair maister schaw17
His dedis that thai herd and sawe;
Als qua sai, “Dedes bers wittenes18
Of me, that I sothefast Godd es.19
I gif the blind,” he said, “thair siht,20
I ger the halt men ga riht,21
I mac unhale men al hale,22
And def men I bet of bale,23
I rais men fra ded to life,24
And pouer men mas me ful rife;2526
And ful bliced,” he said, “es he27
That es noht sclaunderd in me.2829
Als qua sai, Jowes havis eft and nithe3031
reveal
As if to say
19
true; am
20
19 "I gif the blind," he said, "thair siht." The NHC-poet follows Gregory here in passing quickly from the listing of
miracles to the response they evoke. In contrast, Robert of Gretham in his Miroir develops a lengthy allegorical
reading of the blind, the deaf, and the lepers (Duncan, Middle English Mirror, pp. 38-47). As will be seen in the NHC
homily for Septuagesima (Homily 14), there are occasional correspondences that suggest our poet's familiarity, at
least, with the Miroir; by and large, however, as noted in the Introduction, the two texts have little in common.
21
make; lame
22
make; sick; whole
23
deaf; heal; harm
24
death
25
make me well known
26
24 And pouer men mas me ful rife. Morey suggests that this verse represents a significant rewriting of Matthew
11:5 ("The poor have the gospel preached to them"), which indicates that the poor "are not being preached to but
themselves are preaching, either literally or by emulating Christ through their conduct. Here is subtle but significant
evidence of how the homilist recognized the transforming and empowering effect of vernacular texts" (Morey, Book
and Verse, p. 68).
27
blessed
28
That does not take offence at me;
29
25-26 And ful bliced . . . es he / That es noht sclaunderd in me. The NHC gloss of these lines makes explicit what is
only implicit in Matthew: that it is Jewish unbelievers who will be "scandalized" by Jesus. Gregory explains that Jesus'
words are a kind of foreshadowing of his death and his understanding that "unbelievers took serious offence at him
when after so many miracles they saw him dying" (Forty, Homily 5, p. 29). A modern commentator notes, along
similar lines, "the career of Jesus was not Messianic in any sense that would correspond to Jewish expectations of
the Messiah. The cross proved to be the ultimate 'stumbling block' to Jews; a crucified Messiah was unthinkable"
(Beare, Gospel According to Matthew, p. 258).
30
undying hostility
31
27 eft and nithe. Small: "heftand, in Scot., signifies abiding, lasting" (p. 181). I have not been able to confirm this
reading, which is nowhere to be found in DOST. A close perusal of the manuscript, however, persuades me that eft
and and are two separate words, a reading supported by at least two other occurrences in ED (First and Second
Sundays after the Octave of the Epiphany), where both also form part of the expression eft and nithe. A replaces
what is evidently an unfamiliar word with hate and nythe, an expression frequently found elsewhere in Middle
English, and G has nyght, meaning "envy," on its own. The MED cites two of the three NHC quotations under the
listing evest, with the meaning "envy or malice" which makes good sense given the word's evident derivation from
OE aefst ("envy"). MED implies that eft is a scribal error for efst, but the scribe's persistence in spelling the word eft
18
30
35
40
45
50
At me for the ferlikes that I kithe,32
Forthi er thai sclaundered in me,
Quen thai mihit of mi Goddhed se,
And for bliz ic him wit graze33
That folues noht the Jewes traze.”34
Swilk wordes til thaim spak Crist35
That com fra Sayn Jon the Baptist,
And quen thai hafd herd Crist sawe,36
Hamward til Sain Jon gan thai drawe.37
And als thai til Sain Jon ward yode,38
Crist spac tille thaim that bi him stode,
For thai havid ben Sain Jon to se
In wildernes, for thar woned he,39
Bifor that Herodis the feloun40
Did Sain Jon in his prisoun.41
Forthi asked Crist mare and lesse,42
Quat thing thai soht in wildernes.43
“Quat thing,” he said, “yed ye44
Intil wildernesse to se?
Wend ye of Sain Jon for to finde45
A red that waives wit the winde?”4647
Als qua say, he es nan of tha48
That waifes for welthe or for wa;49
For werdes welthe and wa es winde,50
suggests, at the least, intention. Further indications of the obscurity of the phrase can be seen in the following
couplet from D: as who seyth iewis come ful bliþe / to me for wunderis þat I now kiþe, which, in suggesting that the
Jews come gladly to Jesus because of his miracles, gives a quite different meaning.
32
Towards me; miracles; make known
33
because; bless
34
follows; path
35
Such;
36
words
37
did they go;
38
went toward
39
dwelled
40
criminal
41
Put
42
all the people
43
sought
44
did you go
45
Did you think
46
reed; bends
47
48 A red that waives wit the winde. These words introduce a lengthy series of comparisons of the bending reed to
human behavior, loosely based on Gregory but much expanded. As so often, the poet glosses Jesus' words in such a
way as to introduce a favorite theme: the evil influence of wealth, and the wicked ways of the wealthy.
48
not one of those
49
bends; misfortune;
50
worldly; wind
55
60
65
70
75
51
That makis werdes men ful blinde,51
For welthe to pride our hert draus,52
And wa geres us thol hard traues,53
Bitwix thir tua we held als reed,54
In wa we murne, in welthe we wede,55
Bot Sain Jon igain bathe stode,56
For nouther of thaim chaunged his mod;57
Forthi asked Crist quether man him soht58
Als he war man of fliker thoht,59
And thus askid Crist quether men yede60
To se a wind waivande rede,
Quen thai yed sain Jon to se,
That stithe stode als stalworthe tre;61
Als qua sai, “Wen ye that he62
Es als tuifald of hert als ye?63
Nai, for he es sa stedfaste
That na wind mai him fra me caste.”
Slic wordes als I you telle64
Sais Crist todai in our Godspelle
Of Sain Jon, that stithe stode65
Igain fanding of werdes flode,66
For he no was noht lic in dede67
Til thaim that heldes als the rede.68
For mani man mai bisend be69
Unto the rede, als thinc me;70
That es at say, thir glotherers71
worldly
draws
53
makes us endure; torments
54
Between the two; bend
55
In misfortune we mourn, in wealth we run mad
56
against
57
neither; mood
58
whether they sought him
59
As if; wavering
60
went;
61
sturdy; upright tree;
62
Do you think
63
irresolute
64
Such
65
firm
66
temptation; world’s flood
67
similar
68
bend
69
may be likened
70
as I think
71
flatterers
52
80
85
90
95
72
That in thair an hand fir beres,72
In the tother watir ber thai;7374
Als lawed men er won to say.75
Thai kindel baret wit bacbiting,7677
And slokenes it wit thair glothering,78
Thai heeld in tuin, als dos the red,79
Wit fair speche and wit fals dede,80
Thai ger thair riche men misdo,81
For al thair thing thai spek thaim to;
For quethir sa thai do wel or ille,82
Thai hald wit thaim in al thair wille.83
Mirthe and med and werdes belde84
Gers thaim til falshed helde.85
Bot sua did noht Sain Jon, iwis,86
That snibbed Herod quen he did misse,87
And said it was igain the lawe
His brother wif fleyslic to knawe.88
He helded noht, bot stithe stod,89
And for sothe sawe he sched his blod.90
Insted of tal, I wille you telle
Hou it of his slahter felle.9192
one; fire carry
the other;
74
77-79 That es at say, thir glotherers . . . thai. Proverbial. See Whiting F198. The NHC's is the earliest occurrence
listed, with others, including Lydgate, Caxton, and Skelton, all much later.
75
ignorant; accustomed
76
stir up strife
77
81-83 Thai kindel baret wit bacbiting, / And slokenes it wit thair glothering, / Thai heeld in tuin, als dos the red.
Compare Gregory: "As soon as [the reed] is touched by approbation or slander, it turns in every direction" (Forty,
Homily 5, p. 30).
78
slacken; flattering
79
bend in two
80
lies;
81
go astray;
82
whether they do good or ill
83
follow them [the flatterers]
84
wealth; worldly pleasure;
85
Makes
86
certainly
87
rebuked; amiss
88
brother’s wife carnally
89
firm
90
because of true words
91
slaughter
92
99 The king Herode. As indicated by the poet in lines 97-98, what follows here is not an exemplum, strictly speaking,
but a narrative based primarily on the account of John the Baptist's imprisonment at the hands of Herod Antipas, as
found in the synoptic Gospels. The NHC-poet could also have read further (and more unified) accounts in various
medieval commentaries and glosses on the Bible, such as the Enarrationes attributed to Anselm or the Glossa
Ordinaria, which draw on Josephus, Antiquities 18.5.2, for this particular story.
73
100
105
110
115
120
93
The king Herode wit mikel unriht93
Raeft his brother his wif, that hiht94
Herodias, and Sain Jon herde
Wit quatkin sin Herodes ferd,95
And snibbed him of his sinne,96
And bad him that he suld it blinne.97
Quarthoru Herodes als feloun98
Did Sain Jon in his prisoun.99
Herodias als wikke womman
Wald that Sain Jon havid ben slan.100
He mired hir flesly liking,101
Forthi scho wald to ded him bring,102
Bot chesoun till him fand scho nan,103
For Herodes that him hafd tan,104
Sau that he was an hali man
And thoht ful lathe to be his ban,105
For of Sain Jon stod him awe,106
And sinned les for his sawe,107
And herd his word wit god wille,
And did mikel that he said him tille.
Herodes mad a fest, and cald108
Princes tharto and bernes bald;109
And als he wit his gestes seete,110
And mad him glad, and drank and eet,111
Bifor him com a fair yong lasce,112
That Herodiases dohter was,
injustice
Stole his brother’s wife, who was called
95
what kind of sin; behaved
96
rebuked;
97
told; cease
98
Wherefore; criminal
99
Put
100
Wished
101
hindered; desire
102
wanted;
103
reason [for this] in him found she none
104
taken
105
was very reluctant; death
106
he stood in awe
107
less on account of his words
108
invited
109
bold men
110
guests; sat
111
ate;
112
lass
94
125
130
135
140
145
150
113
And tumbeled sa wel for alle113114
That thar war gedered in that halle,115
That al war payed of hir play.116
And Herodes til hir gan say,
“Quat sa thou wil, thou ask me,117
For freli sal I graunt thee.”
He swar his athe that he suld fille118
Alle hir asking and hir wille.
“If thou,” he said “ask halven dele119
Mi kingerik, I grant it wele.”
This mai ran tille hir moder swithe,120
And bad hir that scho suld hir lithe121
Quat the king hir haved bed,122
And asked hir moder quat scho red.123
Hir moder was fain quen scho this herd,124
And sone hir dohter scho ansuerd,
And said, “Loc that thou ask noht125
Bot that Sain Jones hefd be broht126
In a disce sone bifor thee,127
For this thing wald I gladli se.”
This maiden child ran to the king,
And said, “Sir, this es min asking, 128
Yef thou wil that mi wil be don,
Thou grant me min asking son,
And gif me in a disce weved severed129
Sain Jon the Baptist heved.”
Ful ille payed was the king130
Quen he herd this asking;
Him thoht scham igain to kalle131
tumbled
125 tumbeled. Apparently she was an acrobatic dancer.
115
gathered
116
pleased;
117
Whatsoever you want
118
oath; fulfill
119
Although; half part [of];
120
maiden; quickly
121
hear
122
promised
123
advised
124
happy
125
see; nothing
126
Except; head
127
dish
128
request;
129
severed
130
ill-pleased
131
He was ashamed to take back
114
155
160
165
170
175
180
132
That he havid hiht bifor thaim alle,132
And for he havid sworn his athe,133
To wrech that laze thoht him lathe,134
Forthi he send his queller soune135
And bad hir wil suld be don.
His queller did als he him bad,
And mad this maiden child ful glad,
For he broht hir als scho havid said,
Sain Jones hevid in a disce laid.
Thus was this mai Sain Jones ban,136
That was for riht and sothesaw slan,137
But thurt him noht haf tint his heved,138
Yef he als red wald haf wevid.139
Yef he havid noht snibbed the king,
Bot loued his dedes wit glothering,140
Than moht he haf gan quit away141,
And lifd in werdes welth and play.
Bot he did wel better than, iwisse,142
For nou es he in well mar blisse,
And Herod and Herodias
Er bathe in hel wit Satenas.143
Nou haf ye herd hou Sain Jon stod
For sothefastnes, and ched his blod.144
Forthi in our Godspel sais Crist
Til the folc, of Sain Jon the Baptist,
“Wend ye of Sain Jon for to find145
A red that waives wit the wind,146
Nay, bot swa stedfast es he,
That nathing gers him tuifald be;147
For he sal stand in sothefastnes,
And thol ded for rihtwisnes.”148
What; promised
oath
134
He was unwilling to anger that girl
135
executioner
136
maiden; slayer
137
true-speaking slain
138
needed; lost
139
wavered
140
praised; flattering
141
free
142
certainly
143
both
144
truth; shed
145
Did you expect
146
bgvvbreed; bends
147
makes; irresolute;
148
suffer death
133
185
190
195
200
205
149
An other asking, als auntour felle,149
Asked Crist in our Godspelle,
Til thaim that stod him about,
And of Sain Jon havid dout,
“Quat yed ye,” he said, “to se150
In wildernes, ye tel me:
A man robed in wlank wede?”151
Als qua sai, nai, no in fairhede;152
For al men wist that knew Sain Jon,153
That he havid camel har apon.154
Forthi asked Crist, whether thai yed155
To se Sain Jon in wlanke wede,
Als qua sai, es he nan of tha156
That er cled in gren and gra.157158
Crist spac of thaim that gas in gren,159
To scheu the folc quat he wald men.160
“In kinges houses,” he said, “won thai161
That er cled in gren and grai”
Als qua sai, about kinges es
Wel mar prid than in wildernes.162
Her mai ye se that Jhesu Criste
Loues Sain Jon the Baptiste.163
For he in pouer wed was cled,
And in povert his lif he led,164
And herbi wil Crist us lere,165
To forsak proud clething her.
question; as it happened
What did you go
151
proud attire
152
As if to say, no, not in splendid array
153
knew
154
hair
155
whether they went;
156
he is not one of those
157
clothed; green and gray
158
198 gren and gra. Here the NHC glosses expand Jesus' comment on the soft garments worn by kings with a specific
allusion to color, clearly intending its signification at this time as a marker of the rich and royal. Although Gregory
criticizes changing fashions in clothing, and "the desire of women for costly clothes," he says nothing about color
(Forty, Homily 5, p. 31). Whereas the medieval poor dressed in drab or brownish garments for the most part, "colored
woolen cloth was the princely fabric par excellence." Colored garments, especially blue, became more widespread
in the later Middle Ages, but the sumptuary laws, with their attempts to regulate color according to social groups,
give further evidence of the ways in which color continued to be symbolically read (Piponnier, Dress, p. 60).
159
wear green
160
would mean;
161
dwell
162
Much more
163
Praises
164
poverty
165
teach
150
210
215
220
225
230
235
166
The god clerk, Sain Gregorie
Schewes us aperteli,166
And yef sin no war in wlanke wede167
Haved noht Crist loued Sain Jon in lede168
For the clething of povert.
For thoh prid be al in the hert,
Riche clething nohtforthi169
Schroudes sua man bodi,170
That rifli geres it man thinc mar171
Of his bodi, that it wel far,172
Than he of his sawel dos.
Sua thinc him of his wed gret ros173
Quil he fandes fleis to fede,174
And mac it fayr wit wlanc wede.
His fairnes witout he schawes175
To sem better than his felaues.
For elles forze wald he nan mak176
Quether his clething war quit or blac,177
Bot for he will be heier calde178
Than othere, and for better talde,179
Forthi he schroudes his bodi
And lates of pouer men hetheli;180
The liking of his wlanc wede181
Gers him tin his sawel mede.182
Forthi loues Crist in our Godspel183
Pouer wed, oure pride to fell,184
And askes ef the folc yed185
openly
If there were no sin in proud clothing;
168
praised; among the people
169
nevertheless
170
Covers
171
frequently makes
172
About his body’s well-being
173
Thus; clothing; pride
174
While he attempts to feed his body;
175
outer fairness
176
otherwise; pay no regard
177
white
178
Because; accounted more important
179
taken for better
180
regards poor men scornfully
181
desire for
182
Makes; lose; reward
183
praises
184
[in order] to destroy our pride;
185
went
167
240
245
250
255
260
265
186
To se Sain Jon in wlanc wede.186
Als qua sai, bisen sal ye take187
This werdes welth for to forsak,
For werdes welthe and prid and play
Endes all wit ten and tray.188
In our Godspel yet askis Crist189
Of Sain Jon the Baptiste,
(For thris the folc askid he),
Quat thing thai yed for to se
In wildernes, and at the last
He cald Sain Jon prophet sothefast,190
And said to thaim, “I sai you yet,
Yed ye to bihald the prophet,191
Of Sain Jon in wildernesse?”
Ya, wit ye well that mar he esse192
Than prophetes war in his tim,193
For prophetes spac mikel of him,194
Thoru quaim God hit he suld send195
His angel, mannes lif to mend.196
“I send,” he said, “mi messager
Bifor mi face mi word to berre.”197
This sais the Fader of hevin to Crist
Of Sain Jon the Baptist,
That bifor Crist graythed the way198
Als sais our Godspel of today.
Nou haf I graytheli you tald199
Hou Sain Jon the Baptist es cald
Jesus Crist messager,
For he was send his word to ber,
And I todai fourtenniht tald200
Hou Sain Jon bodword broht bald.201
proud clothing
lesson
188
harm and vexation
189
yet [again] questions
190
true
191
Went
192
Yes; know; greater
193
[other] prophets [who]
194
much
195
Through whom God promised
196
amend
197
bear
198
prepared
199
truly
200
two weeks ago
201
announcement; bold
187
270
275
280
285
202
He was ryt Cristes messager,202
For he broht word that he was ner.
And als was he mar than prophet203
Quen he scheued that he bihet.204
It falles to prophet for to sai205
The thing that efter falle may,206
Bot Sain Jon said and scheued bathe,207
For that he hit, he scheued rathe.208
Quen Crist com to flum Jordan209
Als other men did mani an,210
Of Sain Jon to be baptist,211
Than said Sain Jon of Jesu Crist
Til al that folc wit swetli swar212
That thar habout him gederid war,213
“This es that lamb that I you hiht,214
That dose away this werdes pliht,215
Godes lamb mai ye se her,
Of him spac ic als messager.”
Bot her mai sum man thinc ferly,216217
Als sais the clerk, Sain Gregorie,
That sin Sain Jon the Baptist218
Knew sa wel that Jesu Crist,
truly
also;
204
demonstrated what he promised
205
It is a prophet’s task
206
afterwards; happen
207
both said and demonstrated
208
promised; immediately
209
river
210
many a one
211
By; baptized
212
gracious words
213
about; gathered
214
promised
215
sin
216
marvelous
217
287-88 Bot her mai sum man thinc ferly, / Als sais the clerk, Sain Gregorie. Here our poet draws explicitly on
Gregory to deal with what many commentators evidently considered a problem: why should John have to ask
something to which he supposedly already knew the answer? Modern commentators have acknowledged the
likelihood that John, in prison, had begun to have doubts in that the ministry of Jesus did not "correspond to the
picture that John had drawn of the mightier one to follow him" (Beare, Gospel According to Matthew, p. 256).
Patristic commentators shied away from attributing any loss of faith to John and instead read a variety of implications
into his words. According to Gregory: "He did not ask because he doubted that Jesus was the Redeemer of the world,
but to know if he who had come into the world in person would also go down in person to the courts of hell . . . 'Just
as you deigned to be born on behalf of human beings, make manifest whether you will also deign to die on our
behalf'" (Forty, Homily 5, p. 29). To this idea the NHC-poet adds the typically medieval image of Christ going down
to "heri [harrow] helle als king mihtye" (line 308).
218
since
203
290
295
300
305
310
315
219
Quarfor send he sithen him tille,219
To wit quether he suld fulfille220
Thing that was said in prophecie
Of him that mankind suld bie?221
First Sain Jon said that Crist was he,
That al mankind bot suld be,222
And sithen he spired quether he war cumen223
To felle the fend that man havid nomen.224
Ful schilfuli and wit resoun
Mai men ask this questioun.
The god man, Sain Gregorie
Undos this word dohtilye,225
And sais that Sain Jon ful wel wist226
That he of quaim he spac was Crist,
That tok kind of maiden Mari,227
Bot he no wist noht witerlye,228
Quether he suld mankind bye,229
And heri helle als king mihtye,230
And forthi send Sain Jon him to,
To wit quether he war com to do
Thing that moht bring man fra helle,231
Thar him bihoved ever dwelle,232
Tille he war comen that haved mihte
To fulfille that the prophetes havid hyhte:233
That es at say, to mak the fin234
For sin, and bring thaim of pin.235
To blis that may haf nan ending,
Our Lauerd Jesus thider us bring. Amen.236
Why did he send to him
know
221
redeem
222
savior
223
asked
224
destroy; who had captured mankind
225
Explains; cleverly
226
whom
227
human nature
228
know; truly
229
redeem
230
harrow
231
out of
232
he must
233
what the prophets had promised
234
payment
235
out of torment
236
[May] our Lord
220
[[@DayOfYear:December 17]]December 17, Tuesday in the third week of Advent
On the Gospel by St. Gregory the Great
Sermon File Type
Passages
Topics
Tags
Speaker
Venue
Date
Title
Occasion
Source
Sermon
Jn 1:29; Jn 3:31; 1 Cor 1:23; 1 Pet
3:2; 1 Tim 2:9; Luke 3:7; Ec 12:11;
Mal 3:1; Mal 2:7; Matt 25; Rev 22:17;
Matt 12:36
Patristics
Gregory the Great, St.
Basilica of SS. Marcellinus and Peter
On the Gospel
http://www.lectionarycentral.com/advent3/GregoryGreat.html
On the Gospel
Given to the People in the Basilica of SS. Marcellinus and Peter
St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor
Translated by M.F. Toale, D.D.
(PL 76, 1095 - 1099.)
1. We have here to ask, dearest brethren, why John a prophet, and now more than a prophet, who had
testified to the Lord as He came to the baptism of the Jordan, saying: Behold the Iamb of God, behold Him
who taketh away the sins of the world (Jn. i. 29); and who regarding both His humility and the power of
His divinity, declared: He that is of the earth, of the earth he speaketh. He that cometh from Heaven, is
above all (Jn. iii. 31), now in prison, sending his disciples, enquired: Art thou he that art to come, or look
we for another?
As if he knew not Him whom he himself had pointed out; as if he now were ignorant of Him Whom he had
himself proclaimed by prophesying concerning Him, by baptizing Him, by pointing Him out to others. But
this question is quickly solved if both the time and the order of the event be considered. By the waters of
the Jordan he had asserted that He was the Redeemer of the world; now, thrown into prison, he enquires
if He is to come, not because he doubts that He is the Redeemer of the world, but he seeks to learn
whether He Who, of His own will, came into the world, will also, of His own will, descend into hell? He
who, by going before Him, had announced Him to the world, the same, now dying, goes down before Him
into hell.
He says therefore: Art thou he that art to come, or look we for another? As if to say: since for men Thou
hast deigned to be born, will You also deign for men to undergo death so that I who have been the
Precursor of Thy Birth, may also become the Precursor of Thy Death: to announce Thee as about to
descend into hell, as already I have announced Thee as come into this world? And the Lord being thus
asked, having first given manifest proofs of His power forthwith answers in words that foreshadow also
the abjection of His own death; saying: The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf
hear, the dead rise again, the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he that shall not be
scandalised in me.
Who could not be astonished rather than scandalised at the sight of so many signs and wonders? But the
mind of the unbelieving suffered grievous scandal in Him, when after so many miracles they saw Him
dying. Whence Paul has said: We preach Christ Crucified, unto the Jews indeed a stumbling block, and unto
the Gentiles foolishness (I Cor. i. 23). For to men it did indeed seem foolish, that the Author of life should
die for men: and so man has taken scandal at Him, whence he ought rather to become yet more His
debtor. For the more He has borne indignities for men, the more fittingly is God to be honoured of men.
What then does He mean by the words: Blessed is he that shall not be scandalised in me, if not to signify
clearly the abjection and lowliness of His own death? As if He were openly to say: I indeed work wonders,
but I disdain not to endure humiliations. Because, however, I shall go thy way to death, men must take
care not to despise Me in death, who now honour Me because of these wonders.
2. The disciples of John going their way, let us hear what He says to the multitude concerning the same
John. What went you out into the desert to see? A reed shaken by the wind? Here He reproves them, not
by asserting, but by denying something. Scarcely does the breath of a breeze touch a reed, when it bends
the other way. And what is here meant by a reed unless a worldly human soul? Which, as soon as it is
touched either by praise, or by detraction, is immediately inclined whatsoever way you will.
For if the wind of acclaim from a human mouth should caress it, it rejoices, it is lifted up, and bends itself
over in gratitude. But should the wind of detraction blow from whence has already come the breath of
praise, it immediately bends again the other way, yielding to the force of the storm. But John was no reed
shaken by the wind, for he was neither flattered by praise, nor angered by detraction. Neither did
prosperity uplift him, nor adversity cast him down. A reed shaken by the wind John was not, but a man
whom no change of circumstances would turn aside from his path. Let us also learn, my dearest Brethren,
not to be as reeds, shaken by the winds. Let us keep firm of soul amid the varying winds of mens’ tongues;
let our minds be steadfast. Neither let detraction provoke us to anger; and let no favour move us to
bestow some harmful gift. Let good fortune not exalt us, nor adversity cause us unrest of soul, so that
anchored to the security of faith, we may in no way be moved by the insecurity of temporal things.
3. Our Saviour continues to praise John’s austerity: But what went you out to see? A man clothed in soft
garments? Behold they that are clothed in soft garments, are in the houses of kings. John is described as
being clothed in a garment of camel hair. And what means, behold they that are clothed in soft garments
are in the houses of kings, unless that he openly makes it plain that they fight not for a heavenly but for
an earthly kingdom, who in God’s service ever shun what is painful, give themselves over solely to outward
things, and seek the soft things and the delights of this life.
Let no one believe that sin can ever be absent from soft living. and from the love of precious clothing.
Because if there were no fault in it, Our Lord would scarcely have praised John for the austerity of his
clothing. If there were no fault, neither would the Apostle Peter have reproved women in his Epistle for
this very desire for precious garments, saying: not in costly attire (I Pet. iii. 2; I Tim. ii. 9). Consider then,
what fault there may be should men also seek for the things from which the Pastor of the church has said
that even women should abstain.
4. That John is said not to be clothed in soft garments can be interpreted in yet another way. He was not
clothed in soft garments, because he did not condone with flattery the conduct of those who lived in sin,
but rather upbraided them in bitter words, saying: Ye brood of vipers who hath showed you to flee from
the wrath to come? (Lk. iii. 7.) Whence Solomon also has said: The words of the wise are as goads, and as
nails deeply fastened in (Eccles. xii. 11). The words of the wise are compared to nails, and likewise to
goads, because they do not caress, but pierce the follies of sinners.
5. But what went you out to see? A prophet? Yea, I tell you and more than a prophet. It is the prophet’s
office to foretell future events, not also to point them out. For this reason John was more than a prophet,
because Him, of Whom he had prophesied, going before Him, he also pointed out, showing Him to his
own disciples. Since it is denied that he is a reed shaken by the wind, since he is said not to be clothed in
soft garments, since the name of prophet is inadequate to him, let us hear what then may fittingly be
affirmed of him.
6. It follows on: This is he of whom it is written: Behold I send my Angel before thy face, who shall prepare
thy way before thee (Mal. iii. i). That which is called angelus in Greek, is in Latin messenger (nuntius).
Fittingly therefore is he called Angel, who is sent to announce the Heavenly Judge; so that he may be in
name that which he fulfils in his office. Exalted indeed is his name; but his life was no less exalted than his
name.
7. Would, my dear Brethren, that we say not this to our own condemnation, namely: that all who are
called by the name of priest, are also named as angels, as the prophet testifies; saying: For the lips of the
priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth: because he is the angel of the Lord
of hosts (Mal. ii. 7).
You likewise can reach to the sublimity of this name, if you so wish. For each one among you, in as far as
he is able, in as far as he responds to the grace of the heavenly invitation, should he recall his neighbour
from evildoing; should he seek to encourage him in doing what is good; when he reminds him of the
eternal kingdom, or of the punishment of wrong-doers; whenever he employs words of holy import, he is
indeed an angel. And let no one say: I am not capable of giving warning; I am not a fit person to exhort
others. Do what you can, lest your single talent, unprofitably employed, be required of you with
punishment. For he that had received no more than one talent was careful to bury it in the earth, rather
than put it to profit. (Mt. xxv.)
We read that in the Tabernacle of God there were not alone golden drinking goblets but, at the command
of the Lord, there also were made ladles, or spoons, for filling the drinking vessels. For the goblets here
understand fulness of holy doctrine, for the ladles a small and restricted acquaintance with doctrine. One
person being filled with the doctrine of sacred truth, inebriates the minds of those that hear him. Through
what he says he perfectly fills the cup. Another knows that he cannot give fulness, but because he gives
warnings as best he can, he truly offers a taste from his ladle!
You, therefore, who live in the Tabernacle of the Lord, that is, in the Holy Church, if you cannot fill up the
goblets with the teachings of holy wisdom, as well then as you can, as far as the divine bounty has
endowed you, give to your neighbours spoonfuls of the good word!
And when you consider that you have yourself made some little progress, draw others along with you;
seek to make comrades on the road to God. Should one among you, Brethren, stroll out towards the forum
or the baths, he will invite a friend whom he thinks is not busy to keep him company. This simple action
of our ordinary life is pleasant to you, and if it be that you are going towards God, give a thought not to
journey alone. Hence it is written: He that heareth, let him say: come (Apoc. xxii. 17); so let him who heard
in his heart the invitation of divine love, pass on to his neighbours around about him, the message of the
invitation. And though a man may not have even bread wherewith to give an alms to the hungry; yet,
what is still more precious, he is able to give who possesses but a tongue. For it is a greater thing to
strengthen with the nourishment of a word that will feed the mind for ever, than to fill with earthly bread
a stomach of perishable flesh.
Do not, my dearest Brethren, withhold from your brother the charity of a word. I admonish myself with
you, that we abstain from every idle word, that we turn away from useless chatter. In as far as you are
able to overcome the tongue, scatter not your words to the wind, since our Judge has said: Every idle word
that men shall speak, they shall render an account for it in the day of judgment. (Mt. xii. 36.)
An idle word is one that is spoken without any profit in uprightness, or that is uttered without grounds of
sufficient need. Direct your idle conversation towards a fondness for what will edify; think how quickly
the days of your life are passing; recall how stern is the Judge Who is coming. Keep this counsel before
the eyes of your soul; bring it to mind of your neighbour, so that, as far as in you lies, you may not fail to
warn him, and so you also may with John, merit to be called angels, by Him Who liveth and reigneth world
without end, Amen.
[[@DayOfYear:December 18]]December 18, Wednesday in the third week of Advent
A Sermon for Gaudete Sunday, Dec. 11th by R. W. Foster
Sermon File Type
Passages
Topics
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Venue
Date
Sermon
Phil 4:4
Title
Occasion
A Sermon for Gaudete Sunday, Dec. 11th
Third Sunday of Advent
http://texanglican.blogspot.com/2005/12/sermonfor-gaudete-sunday-dec-11th.html
Source
Anglican
Foster, R. W. (Texanglican)
December 11, 2005
Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete. “Rejoice in the Lord always. I say again, rejoice!”
Modestia vestra nota sit omnibus hominibus. Dominus prope est. “Let your gentleness”—your
forbearance, your modesty—“be noted by all people. The Lord is near!” These are the words that give
today its name—Gaudete Sunday, "Joyful Sunday." Since at least 750 AD (and probably for centuries
before that date) Benedictine monks have begun Mass on the third Sunday of Advent by chanting this
marvelous command from the fourth chapter of St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians: Be joyful in the Lord!
On “Joyful” Sunday Christians around the world light the pink Advent candle and preparations for the
great Feast of our Lord’s Incarnation take on a more festive tone. Today we are on a mission from God
to “party”! “I say again, rejoice!”
Yet Paul’s apostolic summons to joy is immediately followed by an exhortation to gentleness, meekness,
humility. We find the same curious pairing in today’s Gospel lesson. John the Baptist tells his followers
that the sound of the bridegroom’s voice—the revelation of God’s Messiah—fills his heart with joy. The
Baptist has been looking forward to this for years—in the recent past he has been “crying out in the
wilderness” about it. John’s charismatic preaching and outlandish mannerisms made him a sort of firstcentury “rock star.” Crowds flocked from all over Palestine to hear him denounce their sinfulness and
proclaim “the One who is to come.” John’s success as a preacher is astonishing when you think about
the content of his message. But even more amazingly, the Baptist was proven right! Behold the Lamb of
God! Behold Him who takes away the sin of the world! It actually happened! The Christ really came! No
doubt John’s heart was filled to bursting with joy. But there is no gloating on John’s part—no “I told you
so.” Instead John the Baptist’s response to the vindication of his entire ministry is: “He must increase,
and I must decrease.” A greater One than John has come and a new age has dawned. The Baptist wants
only to slip quietly off the stage. Rejoicing over the Lord’s immanent victory and cultivating humility in
His Church—these are two touchstones of Advent that John the Baptist models for us this morning.
The monks in the early Middle Ages who first gave us “Joyful” Sunday understood something important:
Advent is about paradox. In two weeks we will celebrate the piercing of the veil between Heaven and
earth, when the sovereign Lord of the cosmos became one of His own creatures, united with us in joy
and suffering by His own human flesh. We shall hear the familiar story again, a story that never grows
old with retelling. God’s mighty arms, accustomed to swirling galaxies, will be bound in swaddling
clothes. God the Son, serenaded from the dawn of creation by choirs of angels, will doze to his mother’s
lullaby. New Life entering our world so that Death may no longer abide here--how can we not weep for
joy at the very thought of such divine Love? How fulfilling it is to contemplate such beauty, such
awesome grace! That pink candle reminds us that it will come very soon.
But the joy of “Joyful Sunday” is much greater than simply knowing we are two weeks away from
midnight Mass. Advent is about far more than that! Two thousand years ago John the Baptist reminded
the people of Judea that God is faithful to His promises of redemption, and I shall do the same this
morning. God’s Holy Word promises that a day will soon come when our Lord will once again make His
home among mortals. Every knee in Heaven, and on earth, and under the earth will bow to Him and
every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. The glory of God will light up the world and the
nations will walk by its light. And the God-who-is-with-us will wipe every tear from our eyes. “Death will
be no more; mourning and crying will be no more.” The entire Universe will gaze in adoration upon
Christ’s radiant scars and know that nothing will ever triumph over the boundless Love of God. Perfect
joy. Perfect peace. Soon, my dear brothers and sisters, it will come very soon. Today’s pink candle
reminds us of that, as well.
Unfortunately, the fallen world which you and I inhabit scoffs at such thoughts. The same voices that
shouted down the prophets of ancient Israel and taunted our Lord Jesus on the cross still call out
today—“realistic” voices, cynical voices, voices of despair and emptiness. “You don’t really believe all
that baloney in the Bible, do you?” they ask. “If your Christ really is coming back why is He taking so
long?” If only these sad people could know the joy that you and I feel at Christmas and Easter! If they
could comprehend just a fraction of the eternal glory that lay in that manger at Bethlehem, if they could
see the love of God pouring out of Christ’s wounds on Calvary, if they realized that the power of sin and
death has been crushed by the stone rolled away on Easter morning, their doubts would be quieted and
their hearts would be opened. You and I have to tell them. We must tell them that God is faithful and
just, and His promises are true. But more than that: you and I must show them the Love of God made
manifest two millennia ago in the Babe of Bethlehem.
Advent is not simply about preparing ourselves for the glories of the Christ Mass. It is also about
preparing ourselves to be living, breathing icons of the divine love that shows forth from the Nativity,
the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection. Christ, the perfect icon of God’s love, must increase within us, if
we are to "bring the Lord near" an age that desperately needs Him. St. Paul pairs modesty--gentleness-forbearance--with rejoicing as a testimony to all men, a means of showing forth Christ in our fallen
world. Our joy and the gentleness of Christ in which you and I partake--together they can draw the lost
to Christ. And if the lost meet Christ in our gentleness, their darkness might finally lift. And what a great
cause for rejoicing that would be! For them it would be dawn in the New Jerusalem. I say again, rejoice!
So the pink candle burns this Joyful Sunday, stoking our desire for that night two weeks from now when
we will gather here to celebrate the coming of Christ’s light into the world so long ago at Bethlehem.
The “joyful” candle also reflects our longing for that glorious day when all darkness will finally be put to
flight, when “the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's
call and the sound of the trumpet of God.” But the candle’s small, steady flame also reminds us that
Advent is not simply about the distant past and the indeterminate future. We worship the Holy One
“who was, and is, and is to come.” Between the wonders of the Incarnation and the Second Coming our
God has not stopped coming to His people. We have not been left as orphans. God the Holy Spirit, the
sacred fire at the heart of Christ’s Church, abides with us, giving us life and growth, indwelling us at our
baptism, sanctifying us in our walk through this world, and empowering us for service to the Kingdom.
And in a few moments God our Savior will make Himself present for us in the most tangible of ways as
Christ’s sacrifice at Calvary is re-presented here on this holy altar and our Lord shares His precious Body
and Blood with those He has redeemed. He comes now to offer His very own life to us. Now that is most
certainly an Advent worth celebrating!
And so, my brothers and sisters rejoice. I say again, rejoice! “May the God of peace himself sanctify you
wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord
Jesus
Christ. He who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[[@DayOfYear:December 19]]December 19, Thursday in the third week of Advent
Magnificat by Fleming Rutledge
Sermon File Type
Passages
Topics
Tags
Speaker
Venue
Sermon
1 Sam 2:1-10; Luke 2:28-32
Episcopal; Mary
Rutledge, Fleming
Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity
Lutheran Church, New York City
Date
Title
Occasion
Source
Magnificat
Third Sunday of Advent
http://www.generousorthodoxy.org/sermons/achristmas-sermon-magnificat.aspx
Magnificat
Sermon by Fleming Rutledge The Third Sunday of Advent 2010
In Memoriam
Raymond E. Brown, S.S.
Texts: I Samuel 2:1-10; Luke 2:28-32
On Friday, WNYC featured the battle of the billboards. Many of you probably heard about this. When you
wait in line to get into the Lincoln Tunnel you stare at a billboard showing a Nativity scene and the words
“You know it’s a myth.” When you come out of the tunnel you see a billboard with a Nativity scene and
the words “You know it’s real.” One was put up by the atheists, the other by the ever-vigilant Catholic
League. The most interesting part of the broadcast was an interview with an agnostic who’s written a new
book called Spiritual Envy. The author wishes he could believe in Christmas and all the rest of it. Even
more, he said, he wishes that those who do believe in Christmas would act like it, instead of running
around in the commercial rat race like everybody else.
I don’t have any way of knowing how many of you are in the atheist camp or the believers’ camp or
somewhere in between. I know one thing for sure. No matter what your faith or your doubts, just by
stepping in out of the rat race tonight and taking your seat in this church, you are planting a flag for the
deep, indeed the “real” meaning of the Christmas story. Bach has communicated the essence of the
Christian gospel with such genius that he’s often called the Fifth Evangelist.
Christmas is surely meant to be a joyful season, and no composer who ever lived has communicated JOY
better than Bach. In a few minutes, with the very first notes of tonight’s great work, you will be captured
by joy. But the message of this evening is not just joy in the generic sense. “My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.”
The text of the Magnificat comes from the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke, and it’s referred to in the
church as “the song of Mary.” It’s patterned closely on the song of Hannah in the Old Testament. Hannah
was a woman who could not bear children until she was visited by the Lord. The barrenness of Hannah is
like that of Abraham’s wife Sarah, and that of Elizabeth who in her old age was to become the mother of
John the Baptist. A barren womb in the Old Testament points to something much worse than inability to
have children. It represents the end of human potential. It symbolizes the impotence of the human race
in the face of sin, death, and dissolution. Into such a situation the Word of the Lord comes with startling
immediacy, announcing that the divine reversal is about to take place.
Here’s Luke’s account of what the church calls The Visitation:
In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country and greeted [her cousin]
Elizabeth…and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed
are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb….For behold, when the voice of
your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leapt for joy.”…And Mary said,
My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden…. (Luke 1:39-48)
The one Latin word Magnificat means so many things in English—“my soul magnifies the Lord”—it can
mean to praise, glorify, celebrate, adore, enlarge, exalt, extol. The words convey an experience of being
enlarged, lifted up and out of one’s self by the inbreaking of a power from another realm. This is the
meaning of the joy that is beyond mere human joy, the hope that is beyond human hope (Romans 4:18)
The yet unborn John the Baptist, his mother says, leapt in her womb “for joy.” This is not ordinary joy. It’s
an ecstasy that accompanies the promise of God concerning the future. In the Old Testament, which both
these women knew intimately, the promise of God arrives along with the power of its fulfilment, as though
the thing promised has already happened. That’s why the Magnificat celebrates the divine events as
though they are already accomplished:




God has put down the mighty from their seats
he has exalted those of low degree
he has filled the hungry with good things
he has sent the rich away empty
Mary and Elizabeth represent the poor and oppressed, those of “low estate” who can hope for nothing
from their investment bankers. Their only hope is in God. God’s arrival, as these faithful women know,
means that future events are brought into the present.. The two miraculous pregnancies manifest the
words of the adult Jesus of Nazareth, “With human beings this is impossible, but with God all things are
possible” (Matthew 19:26). This is what Luke is telling us in his “mythical” stories.
What really happened? We don’t precisely know. Raymond Brown, who taught New Testament up at
Union Theological Seminary, wrote a definitive volume called The Birth of the Messiah. In one of his
footnotes he gives an amusing illustration of the people who say “You know it’s a myth!”
Every year before Christmas I am contacted by newspaper reporters who have hit on the bright idea of
writing a Christmas column on the stories of Jesus’ birth and have learned that I wrote a long commentary
on them. Almost unfailingly they [state] that the only focus of the article will be ‘What actually
happened?’…With little success I try to convince them that they could promote understanding of the birth
stories by concentrating on the message of those stories instead of an issue that was very far from primary
[for] the evangelists. [My] effort usually leaves the reporters convinced that they have been misdirected
to a pious preacher who knows nothing about the important issues.237
So what was it that the Evangelists—including our Fifth one—cared about, if it wasn’t “what actually
happened?” It all depends on what you mean by “actually.” If the Lord God Almighty has actually, really
entered this world in human flesh, then a story that has brought awe and wonder into the barren lives of
the meek and lowly of heart for thousands of years is worth infinitely more than the dry speculations and
abstractions of human naysayers.
The atheist billboard says, “This season, celebrate reason.” I revere reason as much as the atheists do—
up to a point. But what faith knows is that although reason is a gift, it is not a god. Reason cannot explain
everything. Certainly it cannot explain the purposes and promises of God. Certainly it cannot explain the
music of Bach.
The exuberant dance forms that Bach frequently used evoke both individual and communal joy in the
message that has come from God. In the Bible the canticle is identified as Mary’s own, and you’ll have no
difficulty identifying Mary herself in the first quiet soprano solos. For the most part, however, the canticle
is not Mary’s alone. It belongs to the entire worshipping community. Immediately following the soprano
arias, the full chorus bursts forth with the words omnes generationes—“all generations,” meaning you
and me. The different soloists represent individual members of the congregation who rise in the assembly
to praise God.238 Listen for the words potens and potentia (power), sanctum (holy), and misericordia
(mercy), for it is this combination of holiness, power, and mercy together that most closely identifies the
God of biblical faith.
The power of the God of Israel, and of Mary and Elizabeth, is exercised in God’s care for the lowly. You’ll
hear the rising figure when the tenor sings exaltavit––God has exalted those who are of low degree. You’ll
hear more joy in the flutes when the alto sings that God has filled the hungry with good things. The solo
voices express individually what the chorus ratifies communally; the combined voices praise God who
“has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.” The exquisite trio then sings of God
“remembering his mercy” (recordatus misericordia suam). When you hear that recordatus, understand
that God’s “remembering” does not mean “calling to mind.” It means “to take action on someone’s
behalf.” God’s mercy is not something static. It goes forth from God as a promise already becoming reality.
This is affirmed immediately after the trio, when all the voices re-enter with a sturdy chorus affirming the
promise that God made to Abraham, now being fulfilled in the announcement of the Messiah’s birth—
the promise that is now extended to the Gentiles, meaning the whole world. The note of intense
conviction is heightened when the chorus sings Abraham et semini eius in secula—Abraham and his seed
forever, embracing all of us here tonight with its beneficence.
237
Raymond E. Brown, The Birth of the Messiah, Vol. I, 24n.
Victor Austin, “Authority in Bach’s Passion [according to Matthew] and Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue,” The
Living Church, October 17, 2010.
238
The final chorus is an outburst of pure joy as we hear final affirmation of the promise that this will be true
for ever. The only problem is that the chorus is too short. We want more of those trumpets! But this lack
reminds us of the Advent message that we still live in the time between promise and fulfilment, the time
of not-yet. In this meanwhile, it is our calling to offer hope to those with spiritual envy by getting out of
the commercial rat race. This means even more than worshipping with Bach. It means remembering—
taking action on behalf of—those who are of low estate this Christmas.
I don’t have any way of knowing what your personal balance of reason and faith might be. What we know
for sure is that works of mercy and generosity in this holy season are signs planted in this world of the
glorious promise of the world to come when those who mourn now will rejoice for ever in the presence
of our victorious God.
Amen.
[[@DayOfYear:December 20]]December 20, Friday in the third week of Advent
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[[@DayOfYear:December 21]]December 21, St. Thomas, Apostle and Saturday in the third week of
Advent
The Eve of St. Thomas, Apostle by Christopher L. Raffa
Sermon File Type
Passages
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Date
Sermon
John 20:24-29; 1 John 5:10; John
14:27; Hebrew 11:1
Lutheran
Raffa, Christopher L.
December 2007
Title
Occasion
Source
The Eve of St. Thomas, Apostle
The Eve of St. Thomas
http://sermons.logos.com/submissions/32536The-Eve-of-St-Thomas-Apostle#content=/submissions/32536
There existed a day when a favorite way of preaching on a saint’s day was to give a sermon about the
merits of the particular saint and the value of praying to him/her for intercession with Christ. The
Reformation changed all that, at least for those communions that followed in their footsteps. In that
forgotten age, the Gospel of Christ, the foundation of all Christian preaching was set free from the chains
of superstition and the complementary system of meritorious works. I suppose that nothing of such
nature would be permitted to distort the proclamation of the Word again as it did in that time of princes,
priests, popes, and long-winded monks. Yet I am not going to hold my breath either.
Nevertheless, saints’ days give the church a hard time. They give pastors a hard time. Their presence in
the church-year is somewhat out of sync with today’s church culture and so the church doesn’t seem to
know what to do with them. At one end of the spectrum, we have those who tend to completely ignore
the saints and their festival days labeling such remembrance as “too Roman Catholic” or just simply
unnecessary. At the other end there are those who rightly sound the alarm on Roman Catholicism’s
horribly misguided view of the saints in the life of the Christian as they often invoke their supposed power
for both physical and spiritual needs. What is more is that often the lessons for the saint’s days contain
no ready made sermons; the biblical basis for the sermons on the saints is often quite limited. One of the
most notorious pitfalls is that without biblical foundation or support, sermons may result in distortions of
the very Gospel message which they are trying to proclaim. So what is a preacher to do?
One of the obvious truths about sermons on saint’s days is that the preacher must proclaim the example,
the obedience, and the dependence upon Christ of the saints whose days are in the calendar, so that the
saint is seen as a real human being. Well, out of all the saints to choose from, St. Thomas is an easy target
as his legacy is couched in doubt, and what can be more human than doubt. “Now Thomas, one of the
Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have
seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger
into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe” [John 20:24].
And so, harsh but very human words emanate from the lips of this saint. In the recesses of his heart and
mind, doubt had taken root and so unbelief soon blossomed. “I will never believe.” In other words, I will
not be vulnerable. I will not submit. I will not take the risk of being wrong. It is just another one of your,
“once upon a time…happily ever after fictional stories.” People don’t just rise from the dead. Tragically,
through his words he had made a liar out of his Lord. At many junctures in His ministry, Jesus had preached
His resurrection and with His raising of human flesh He foreshadowed his own triumphant victory over
death and the grave. Beloved, take heed, this was no insignificant sin, for the man who does not believe
God makes Him a liar [1 John 5:10].
Yet, it is very easy to cast the first stone at Thomas. After all, living in the enlightened 21st century we can
so easily look down on Thomas and others who did not believe steadfastly in the Word of God. It seems
all the more remarkable to us because they were there and saw Jesus. They watched Him walk around,
and perform miracles, and preach in the temple. It sure seems that they had an advantage that we don’t
have.
Tell me this: if you saw Jesus today, would you believe He is God. Would you think this man, who is walking
around performing miracles and claiming to raise people from the dead is the same God who created the
heavens and the earth? Did Jesus look like God when He was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane and
in turmoil over His path to the cross? Would you hesitate to think for a moment that God would die? Did
Jesus look like God when He was stripped, beaten and mocked? Did Jesus appear to be God as He hung
on the cross? Did He seem like God to you when He cried out, “My God, My God, whey have you forsaken
me?”
Perhaps we would have acted like Thomas if we had been alive then. To trust our Lord’s words when He
spoke of a Kingdom that would never end, or that He would go away and return, or that He truly was the
resurrection and the life is against all reason and common sense. Really, what are the chances? Some
certainly would think winning the lottery was a better bet. And that’s the point. It’s not about chances.
It’s not about a lottery system. It’s not about fate. It’s not about, “whatever will be will be.” It’s about
God’s promises throughout history. If not for the promises of God, if not for the resurrection of Jesus
Christ, the significance of the saints’ days would be confined to the arena of pure human example and
courage, and they and us, would be without any hope, without any promises that would give to us the gift
of heaven, of life beyond this valley of sorrow and death. What is amazing and instructive for us to
perceive is that the life of St. Thomas is governed completely by the Gospel which is the complete and
total work of God alone.
We remember the saints ultimately for their relationship to Christ and their witness of Him. As Luther
once said, “The festivals have been so arranged because all parts of the Gospel cannot be heard at once,
and therefore its doctrine must be distinguished throughout the year.” Again, we take time to pause and
consider the lives of saints, not because he/she did something of greater importance, but because of their
intimate connection to Christ, and what that relationship illumines about the person and work of Him who
was crucified, died, and was buried, and on the third day rose again from the dead.
Let it be clear then, that it is the Gospel of the resurrected Lord that shines brightly in the life of St. Thomas.
For you see, Jesus doesn’t play by the rules of our playground. He is not fair. In the court of popular
opinion, with all fairness, Jesus had every right to declare to St. Thomas: I have done my part. I have
appeared to the Apostles and have sufficiently attested to my resurrection. If you will not believe, that’s
your problem. I am taking my glorified body and I am going home. Not so with Him who is the Friend of
sinners. Not so with Him the great Shepherd who leaves the ninety nine to find the one. Not so with Him
who heals the brokenhearted and comforts all those who are laden with guilt or grief or pain. The
redemptive light of Jesus’ resurrection and undeserved mercy breaks in upon the doubting and
unbelieving Thomas.
“Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were
locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with You” [John 20:26]. Such is the
declaration of God to man in the stead of Jesus Christ the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the
world. This peace which Jesus brings is not as the world gives or as countless miss America contestants
have wished for, but a peace which passes all understanding, a peace that calms your trouble heart and
gives rest to your restless soul [John 14:27]. Jesus continues, speaking to Thomas, “Put your finger here,
and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe” [John
20:27].
Yes, Jesus heard the sharp unbelieving words of St. Thomas, but it is those words which He died to forgive,
those thoughts which He removed by the agony of His sacrifice, those hardened hearts which He softened
and cleansed by the blood of His promise to make all things new, to bring to an end the reign of sin, death
and the devil, and bring forth a new creation. Thus, it is only in the light of the resurrection and on seeing
the Risen One that St. Thomas surrenders and that he, along with the disciples, begin to understand who
in truth Jesus, this man born in humble estate in the city of David, truly is. Brought therefore to
repentance and faith by the quickening Spirit of the Risen One, St. Thomas confesses, “My Lord and My
God” [John 20:28].
At this point we might still cry out, “but Thomas was there, he got to see and to touch Jesus.” Yet notice
how Jesus ends His conversation with Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have
believed” [John 20:29] Jesus is speaking here of a transition that will come into effect from this point on.
From now on—at least after Jesus’ final departure, His ascension into heaven—people will have to believe
without seeing, simply on the basis of the apostles’ witness. This is what faith is, as author to Hebrews
reminds us, “Now faith is the assurance of things hope for, the conviction of things not seen” [Hebrews
11:1]. And yet, you do see. You see with the eyes of faith. By faith you see, you hear, and you taste that
Lord your God is good and gracious to you. In the Word and Sacraments He comes to you, He appears to
you underneath the hidden elements of water and word, bread and wine. Through the eyes and hands of
faith you take hold of such gifts which bring to you the forgiveness of sins.
What is amazing about the life of St. Thomas is that through his doubting and touching of the wounds of
Christ, he became a witness to the truth of the resurrection and a preacher and testifier to its fruits of life.
As an apostle, he was sent out. As a missionary in the East, particularly to Parthia [modern-day Iran and
India he confessed His Lord and His God. Because of this faithful witness to his crucified and resurrected
Lord, St. Thomas had angered the King of Misdai, the ruler of India, who ordered his soldiers to lead St.
Thomas up to the highest mountain in Malabar. They all ran their spears through his body. To this day, in
that region of India there remains a magnificent church dedicated to St. Thomas. His symbols are most
commonly a spear with a builder’s square representing the nature of his death and the life he lived as
confessor and builder of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son+ and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
[[@DayOfYear:December 22]]December 22, Fourth Sunday of Advent
A Homily for Those Rejoicing in the Nativity Fast by Archpriest Artemy
Vladimirov
Sermon File Type
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Matthew 1-2; Luke 1-2; Luke 2:10-12;
Rev 2:26, 28-29; Rev 22:16; 2 Pet
1:19
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Russian Orthodox
Vladimirov, Artemy
28 November 2013
A Homily for Those Rejoicing in the
Nativity Fast
Occasion
Source
http://www.pravmir.com/a-homily-forthose-rejoicing-in-the-nativity-fast/
Our Mother the Church, dear reader, has the custom of preparing her children, well in advance of the
actual holy day, for extraordinary events which the central axle of both earthly and eternal existence.
Beyond a doubt, the feast of Nativity of Christ, the appearance of God in the flesh, belongs to this very
category.
Adam and Eve, the continuation of history through their descendants, the history of peoples and kingdoms
(especially the history of ancient Israel), all led up to and arrived at Bethlehem, to the mysterious cave,
where Christ the Savior of the world manifested His wondrous infant countenance to us.
It is no surprise that even two thousand years later, we, the children of Christ’s Church, do not suddenly
or immediately celebrate the Lord’s Nativity, but rather embark upon a forty-day fast (as the holy fathers
have ordained of old), so that we might be gradually illuminated by the wondrous light of the Nativity
night.
This period of fasting begins directly after the commemoration of the Holy Apostle Philip, on the 15th
November (new style, November 28) according to the Church calendar, and concludes with the Feast
itself, on Christmas night, December 25/January 7. The last day before the fast when we can eat nonfasting foods falls this year on Thursday (26 November, 2009)—the commemoration day of St. John
Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople. The rubrics of this labor of fasting are not so strict as those of
Great Lent or the Dormition fast: fish can be eaten on every Saturday and Sunday, as well as on festal days
of the Church calendar that do not fall on Wednesday or Friday (if the All-night Vigil is not served the
evening before). The fast becomes stricter with the onset of the Forefeast of the Nativity on December
20/January 2 (on which day we also commemorate the Holy Martyr Ignatius the God-bearer), when fish
is completely excluded from the table of those who strive to observe the Church rubrics in all strictness.
We should also speak a little about the Eve (in Russian, Sochelnik) of the Feast (December 24/January 6).
From ancient times on this day, Christians ate sochiva (this is where the name Sochelnik comes from)—
vegetables cooked in their own juice.239 The table is laid after the clergy have placed a lighted candle on
the candle stand and sung the Troparion and Kontakion of the Feast, directing our gaze toward the icon
of the Nativity of Christ, which has been carried out [from the altar] to the center of the church. Pious
Russian people have always deferred eating until the first star has appeared in the sky, in remembrance
239
Sok in Russian means “juice.” Sochiva is what the Russians have called the boiled grains and fruit mixed with
honey that are served on the Eves of the Nativity and Theophany. We also know this preparation as koliva. —Trans.
of the star of Bethlehem as symbolized by the lighted candle placed before the Nativity icon. But enough
about “meals”…
Let us place our attention, dear reader, upon the essential aspect of fasting; or, as they used to say in
olden times, govenie, that is, the “preparation” for receiving the Holy Mysteries of Christ (and not only
once) during the course of the Nativity fast. What thoughts and feelings shall we encounter if we might
open our minds and hearts (if only they might obey the desire of our spirit), enlightened by grace?
We can find support for these thoughts and feelings in the Gospels, in the writings of the Holy Apostles
Matthew (chapters 1 and 2) and Luke (chapter 2), which contain the substantial basis of the text of the
Nativity service. Having read and re-read these Gospel chapters beforehand, together with the daily
practice of fervently reading and fulfilling the morning and evening prayer rule (which the Church requires
of a Christian), and zealously attending the pre-Nativity services, we are now called to lift up our minds
“to the unseen regions,” having taught our own hearts to immerse and satiate us with these luminous
contemplations. We shall not forget, our reader, that a sincere confession of sins, and communion “with
fear and trembling” of the Most Pure Body and Blood of Christ, united with an earnest attempt to correct
our lives, marks a Christian’s entire life with Divine power. Grace makes possible the impossible, and
changes a dark-minded, hard-hearted sinner into a bright and meek child of God. New thoughts and
feelings enter into the mind and heart, and a new world opens up before the true, sincere disciple of
Christ…
Thus, casting aside and leaving behind all wavering and doubt, trustingly give me your hand, dear reader;
and guided invisibly by the holy fathers, we shall step into the sacred world of Gospel Revelation, hidden
from the wearying din of vain activity around us…
I will by no means show you everything, but you will see the most important thing. Having seen it, strive
to remember it, so that later in solitude you might contemplate on all else that is included in the history
of Our Lord Jesus Christ’s Nativity.
Here before you are the wise men of the East, who have left their homes, family, and native lands—to
follow the mysterious star which shone upon them from Jacob… How many dangers did they overcome,
what courage they revealed, such firmness of purpose, until they reached the cherished aim of their
wandering and finally placed the wondrous gift of gold, frankincense, and myrrh before the Divine Christ
Child, Who created the stars they once worshipped! Are you ready, are we ready to reject all service to
those deceitful idols which destroy us—our own passions of pride, lust, and love of money—in order to
leave nothing in our souls other than golden faith in the Redeemer, fragrant with the hope in His care for
us and His love, strong as death, conquering death itself? Will we be found to be as strong as Caspar,
Balthasar, and Melchior,240 so that we might not fear the punishments of Harod—the world which lies in
evil—and depart from him by another way to “our own country,” to the country of holy silence and
heartfelt prayer, which is the greatest adornment of a soul that loves God?…
And now turn your gaze, gracious reader (I hope that I do not insult you with this name or evoke an ironic
smile), towards the place well-known to any modern pilgrim of the Holy Land called the “shepherds’ field.”
There they are: the humble and guileless shepherds; pure in heart like children, heartily and vigilantly
240
Sacred history has preserved their names for us, as well as the actual relics of the Magi, which are in the famous
Gothic cathedral of Koln, Germany
watching the cold, winter night… To them, to them, and not to the envying Pharisees or the self-righteous
Scribes, hardened in their cold academia that gave nothing to the minds or heart of the people of Israel,
did the Angel of God appear with the words, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy,
which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the
Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a
manger (Luke 2:10–12).
Can you or I boast of such purity of heart and clearness of mind as did allow the Bethlehem shepherds not
only to receive the revelation, but even to fulfill the Angel’s bidding straightway, not hesitating a moment?
Can we find in ourselves the shepherds’ saving self-denial, which did not allow them to fall into the deep
and heavy sleep enveloping the entire city—the city which neither knew nor heeded the time of its
visitation? Learn, O reader, from the example of the shepherds, how important for the soul’s salvation it
is to “attend to yourself,” that is, to always direct your spiritual gaze at the field of your heart, never
allowing wolves (vicious and evil thoughts) into the sheepfold. Meek sheep are the peace and quiet of the
heart, balanced emotional powers, which the enemy of our salvation, the soul-destroying devil,
unceasingly seeks to disrupt.
If you have the strength and fortitude, behold the horrifying scene of the murder of the innocent
Bethlehem children, the first martyrs for Christ, who spilled their infant blood because of Harod’s truly
satanic guile… Killed without having ever sinned; they finished their earthly life that had not even begun!
Believe with the whole Church in the mysterious, providential, prophetic meaning of these sufferings
which cannot be rationally understood… And we shall say with the nineteenth century poet:241
The wisdom of Our God Above Is not for us to search and measure: With humble heart and trusting
love We patiently await the treasure…
Like the stars in the sky, the eternal souls of the Bethlehem infants shine to us who live in the night of this
age (“in which righteousness is often lacking”), and testify that “righteousness lives in the heavens,” 242
where “there is neither sickness, nor sorrow, nor sighing, but life everlasting”243… May our faith be
strengthened in the all-good and all-powerful Divine Providence, which turns even the most horrifying
acts by criminal human hands into beneficial consequences for their innocent victims…
The closer we come to the end of the fast, the brighter the wondrous Bethlehem star is enkindled above
our heads, proclaiming to the Magi the time of the Infant’s birth, and the place where He lay… The rays
of this rational star (according to the holy fathers, this star was actually an angelic power, and not a dead
astronomical body) illumine with their incorruptible, unfading light the twilight in the cave—the rib cage
encasing each of our hearts… The rays of this star bring the soul, which has but scarcely touched it, to
inexplicable trembling and heavenly joy, the likes of which we shall not find here on this sinful world with
its sensuous, quickly passing pleasures, disappearing like smoke. I am … the bright and morning star (Rev.
22:16), testifies the Lord. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give
… the morning star. He that hath an ear [to hear], let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches
241
From the poem entitled, “Faith and Unbelief,” by Evgeny Abramovich Baratynsky.
These quotes are taken from the Old Testament
243
From the Pannikhida, or requiem service. —Trans.
242
(Rev. 2:26, 28–29). Ye do well, repeats the Apostle Peter, that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in
a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts (2 Pet. 1:19).
The morning star is hidden prayer of the heart! It is made not with lips or fingers, but with the mind and
heart; it turns all of man’s existence to the Lord, and places the disciple before the most radiant face of
his Teacher…
Illumined by the unwaning light of the Nativity star, let us pass, obedient reader, under the canopy of the
very cave in Bethlehem… and let us timely stop, that we might not overstep the bounds laid for us sinners,
and be scorched by that radiance from the Divine Child, Who rests in the oxen manger…
There He is, the Angel of Great Counsel, the King of the world, the Father of the age to come, as the “Old
Testament Evangelist,” the holy Prophet Isaiah, exclaimed in prophetic, sober inebriation. There He is, the
Yearning of the nations, the Expectation of all peoples, the Great Light that has come into the world to
enlighten those sitting in darkness! Already celebrating the Forefeast of the Nativity night that is bright as
day, let us sing, O reader, with the whole Church, “Christ is born, give ye glory… Christ is on earth, let us
be exalted. Sing unto the Lord all the earth…”244
Concluding this narrative, I leave you, beloved reader, and entrust you to the action of God’s grace, which,
according to the words of the Apostle, can instruct its friends more aptly than feeble human words, though
they be pronounced from the heart…
Source: Pravoslavie.ru
[[@DayOfYear:December 23]]December 23, Monday in fourth week of Advent
Joseph’s Dreams by Brett Younger
Sermon File Type
Passages
Topics
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Venue
Date
Sermon
Matthew 1:18-25
Title
Occasion
Joseph’s Dreams
4th Sunday of Advent
http://www.ministrymatters.com/all/article/entry/4440/josephsdreams
Source
244
Baptist
Younger, Brett
November 11, 2013
From the katavasia of the Nativity (the Nativity canon Irmoi), sung for the canon each Sunday during Advent. —
Trans.
Saint Joseph is the patron saint of cabinetmakers, confectioners, engineers, immigrants, house hunters,
travelers, pioneers, pregnant women, fathers, and married people, as well as Manchester, New
Hampshire; San Jose, California; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Nashville, Tennessee; Austria; Belgium;
Bohemia; Canada; China; Korea; and Vietnam. It’s an impressive list, but Joseph’s connection to Nashville,
for instance, seems tenuous at best. Joseph should be the patron saint of visionaries, romantics, and
dreamers.
We might imagine that after several months of pretending to be interested in china patterns and
bridesmaids dresses, Joseph figured out that the role of the husband-to-be is to say, “Yes, dear.” The rabbi
and organist are lined up. The flowers are ordered. Planning for the bachelor party has surreptitiously
begun.
Things are going according to schedule until Joseph learns the unthinkable. His life is suddenly in shambles,
his trust betrayed, his future undone, and his insides torn up. He isn’t responsible for Mary’s unplanned,
unforgivable, indefensible, inexcusable pregnancy. Joseph’s dreams have been destroyed. He wants to
ask Mary, “How did this happen?” but he doesn’t really want to know how this happened. Nor does he
want to hear his buddies at work laugh and say, “Joseph, you sly dog.” Joseph decides to break off the
engagement quietly.
When people ask he will say nothing more than, “The marriage just wasn’t going to work.” The right thing
to do is to put all this behind him quickly, get on with his life, and let Mary get on with hers. Joseph will
find a safer, more manageable, predictable wife.
Then he has a dream in which an angel says, “Joseph, don’t be afraid. Go ahead and marry her. The child
belongs to God. It’s a boy and it’s God with us.” Without an ultrasound, Joseph knows it’s a boy—or maybe
it was just a dream. When he wakes up, he is more confused than ever.
In some ways, Joseph stays in the background in the Christmas story. Luke hardly mentions him. Joseph is
in a supporting role. He doesn’t get a single line of dialogue in all of the New Testament.
In manger scenes, Mary and Jesus are center stage and Joseph is in the shadows. He’s often hard to
distinguish from the shepherds. In the crèche on the coffee table, if Joseph’s head gets knocked off—as
often happens to ceramic Josephs—you can always promote a shepherd. In paintings, Joseph looks worn
with fatigue, his face lined with anxiety. He seems like he would be more comfortable at a funeral than a
birth.
It’s easy to imagine Joseph as cautious and careful. Carpenters aren’t usually considered thrill seekers.
“Measure twice, cut once” is the rule. When Matthew describes Joseph as just and righteous, we picture
an earnest, meticulous craftsman whose carpentry business is all the excitement he wants.
This long-expected Jesus is coming pretty fast for Joseph. He’s being asked to assume responsibility for a
girl and her baby with only a voice in a dream to go on.
Leaving Mary is the reasonable thing to do. It’s not hard to ignore an angel’s whisper. Even if Joseph could
convince himself to believe Mary, no one else will. He should shake it off and call his lawyer. Acting
honorably is easy—dismiss the dream as just a dream and walk away. Haven’t you forgotten dreams with
more details than this one?
Against all odds, Joseph pushes aside the arguments and follows the dream. He’ll marry this pregnant
teenager and be the adopted father of her child. He’ll take this huge risk on the basis of nothing more
substantive than a dream.
This curious, astounding roll of the dice puts me in mind of Noah building the ark when there’s no rain in
the forecast; Peter, James, and John dropping their nets to follow; Frodo Baggins hanging the ring around
his neck; and Neo taking the red pill from Morpheus. Joseph doesn’t sound safe, careful, or cautious.
When faced with the choice of doing what’s reasonable or taking a big chance, Joseph embraces the
unexpected. Behind his worried face there must be a big grin waiting to burst out.
He knows he’ll have to learn to deal with whatever lingering doubts he has about Mary. He’ll have to learn
not to hear the snickers. The embarrassment is his too now. When the baby is born and people count the
months, they won’t think of Joseph as quite so honorable. He knows that he’ll gaze into the face of a baby
and be unable to see the reflection of his own.
Joseph is a wonderful visionary who desperately wants the dream to be true. When Joseph marries her,
he secretly thinks, Whether it’s true or not, this is what I want to believe.
What kind of person pays attention to a dream and listens to angels? God’s angels speak this word to all
of us: “Don’t be afraid to believe, to walk a different path, to follow dreams.” We’re tempted to live a
careful life, a careful faith, keep six of the Ten Commandments, go to church three out of four Sundays,
give money we don’t need and time we can spare, try to do more good than bad, offer some grace and
some judgment, believe the parts of the Bible with which we already agree.
God invites us to wish for what’s true. God’s people long for God, even if they sometimes wonder what
that means. The yearning itself is following God’s dreams for us. Whenever we’re dissatisfied with a
cautious faith, it’s because God wants more for us.
God invites us to stop being so cautious. Dream of yourself loving God with all your heart—caring not at
all about the expectations of those who have forgotten how to dream. Dream of the people you love
letting go of jealousy and cynicism, offering only words of kindness to one another. Dream of the church
as a family where male and female, black and white, rich and poor, liberal and conservative, straight and
gay, old and young, saints and sinners gather to give thanks to God. Dream of a world where people take
chances to help others and discover that God is not only our hope, but that God has placed that hope
within us. Dream of God waiting for us to take one step in the direction of grace and discover the love
that’s always with us.
[[@DayOfYear:December 24]]December 24, Christmas Eve
The Sacrament of Christ’s Incarnation by St. Peter Chrysologus
Sermon File Type
Passages
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Sermon
Patristics
Speaker
Venue
Date
Chrysologus, St. Peter
Title
Occasion
The Sacrament of Christ’s Incarnation
Source
http://preachersinstitute.com/2009/12/21/thesacrament-of-christs-incarnation-by-st-peterchrysolgus/
A virgin conceived, bore a son, and yet remained a virgin. This is no common occurrence, but a sign; no
reason here, but God’s power, for he is the cause, and not nature. It is a special event, not shared by
others; it is divine, not human. Christ’s birth was not necessity, but an expression of omnipotence, a
sacrament of piety for the redemption of men. He who made man without generation from pure clay
made man again and was born from a pure body. The hand that assumed clay to make our flesh deigned
to assume a body for your salvation. That the Creator is in his creature and God is in the flesh brings dignity
to man without dishonor to him who made him.
Why then, man, are you so worthless in your own eyes and yet so precious to God?
Why render yourself such dishonor when you are honored by him?
Why do you ask how you were created and do not seek to know why you were made?
Was not this entire visible universe made for your dwelling? It was for you that the light dispelled the
overshadowing gloom; for your sake was the night regulated and the day measured, and for you were the
heavens embellished with varying brilliance of the sun, the moon and the stars. The earth was adorned
with flowers, groves and fruit; and the constant marvelous variety of lovely living things was created in
the air, the fields, and the seas for you, lest sad solitude destroy the joy of God’s new creation.
And the Creator still works to devise things that can add to your glory. He has made you in his image that
you might in your person make the invisible Creator present on earth; he has made you his legate, so that
the vast empire of the world might have the Lord’s representative. Then in his mercy God assumed what
he made in you; he wanted now to be truly manifest in man, just as he had wished to be revealed in man
as in an image. Now he would be in reality what he had submitted to be in symbol.
And so Christ is born that by his birth he might restore our nature. He became a child, was fed, and grew
that he might inaugurate the one perfect age to remain for ever as he created it. He supports man that
man might no longer fall. And the creature he had formed of earth he now makes heavenly; and what he
had endowed with a human soul he now vivifies to become a heavenly spirit. In this way he fully raised
man to God, and left in him neither sin, nor death, nor travail, nor pain, nor anything earthly, with the
grace of our Lord Christ Jesus, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, now and
for ever, for all the ages of eternity. Amen.
[[@DayOfYear:December 25]]December 25, Feast of the Nativity
Homily on the Nativity by St. John Chrysostom
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Homily on the Nativity
Feast of the Nativity (Christmas)
http://www.antiochian.org/node/21955
Patristics
Chrysostom, St. John
BEHOLD a new and wondrous mystery.
My ears resound to the Shepherd’s song, piping no soft melody, but chanting full forth a heavenly hymn.
The Angels sing. The Archangels blend their voice in harmony. The Cherubim hymn their joyful praise. The
Seraphim exalt His glory. All join to praise this holy feast, beholding the Godhead here on earth, and man
in heaven. He Who is above, now for our redemption dwells here below; and he that was lowly is by divine
mercy raised.
Bethlehem this day resembles heaven; hearing from the stars the singing of angelic voices; and in place
of the sun, enfolds within itself on every side, the Sun of justice. And ask not how: for where God wills,
the order of nature yields. For He willed; He had the power; He descended; He redeemed; all things
yielded in obedience to God. This day He Who is, is Born; and He Who is, becomes what He was not. For
when He was God, He became man; yet not departing from the Godhead that is His. Nor yet by any loss
of divinity became He man, nor through increase became He God from man; but being the Word He
became flesh, His nature, because of impassability, remaining unchanged.
And so the kings have come, and they have seen the heavenly King that has come upon the earth, not
bringing with Him Angels, nor Archangels, nor Thrones, nor Dominations, nor Powers, nor Principalities,
but, treading a new and solitary path, He has come forth from a spotless womb.
Since this heavenly birth cannot be described, neither does His coming amongst us in these days permit
of too curious scrutiny. Though I know that a Virgin this day gave birth, and I believe that God was begotten
before all time, yet the manner of this generation I have learned to venerate in silence and I accept that
this is not to be probed too curiously with wordy speech.
For with God we look not for the order of nature, but rest our faith in the power of Him who works.
What shall I say to you; what shall I tell you? I behold a Mother who has brought forth; I see a Child come
to this light by birth. The manner of His conception I cannot comprehend.
Nature here rested, while the Will of God labored. O ineffable grace! The Only Begotten, Who is before
all ages, Who cannot be touched or be perceived, Who is simple, without body, has now put on my body,
that is visible and liable to corruption. For what reason? That coming amongst us he may teach us, and
teaching, lead us by the hand to the things that men cannot see. For since men believe that the eyes are
more trustworthy than the ears, they doubt of that which they do not see, and so He has deigned to show
Himself in bodily presence, that He may remove all doubt.
Christ, finding the holy body and soul of the Virgin, builds for Himself a living temple, and as He had willed,
formed there a man from the Virgin; and, putting Him on, this day came forth; unashamed of the lowliness
of our nature.
For it was to Him no lowering to put on what He Himself had made. Let that handiwork be forever glorified,
which became the cloak of its own Creator. For as in the first creation of flesh, man could not be made
before the clay had come into His hand, so neither could this corruptible body be glorified, until it had
first become the garment of its Maker.
What shall I say! And how shall I describe this Birth to you? For this wonder fills me with astonishment.
The Ancient of days has become an infant. He Who sits upon the sublime and heavenly Throne, now lies
in a manger. And He Who cannot be touched, Who is simple, without complexity, and incorporeal, now
lies subject to the hands of men. He Who has broken the bonds of sinners, is now bound by an infants
bands. But He has decreed that ignominy shall become honor, infamy be clothed with glory, and total
humiliation the measure of His Goodness.
For this He assumed my body, that I may become capable of His Word; taking my flesh, He gives me His
spirit; and so He bestowing and I receiving, He prepares for me the treasure of Life. He takes my flesh, to
sanctify me; He gives me His Spirit that He may save me.
Come, then, let us observe the Feast. Truly wondrous is the whole chronicle of the Nativity. For this day
the ancient slavery is ended, the devil confounded, the demons take to flight, the power of death is
broken, paradise is unlocked, the curse is taken away, sin is removed from us, error driven out, truth has
been brought back, the speech of kindliness diffused, and spreads on every side, a heavenly way of life
has been ¡in planted on the earth, angels communicate with men without fear, and men now hold speech
with angels.
Why is this? Because God is now on earth, and man in heaven; on every side all things commingle. He
became Flesh. He did not become God. He was God. Wherefore He became flesh, so that He Whom
heaven did not contain, a manger would this day receive. He was placed in a manger, so that He, by whom
all things are nourished, may receive an infants food from His Virgin Mother. So, the Father of all ages, as
an infant at the breast, nestles in the virginal arms, that the Magi may more easily see Him. Since this day
the Magi too have come, and made a beginning of withstanding tyranny; and the heavens give glory, as
the Lord is revealed by a star.
To Him, then, Who out of confusion has wrought a clear path, to Christ, to the Father, and to the Holy
Spirit, we offer all praise, now and forever. Amen.
[[@DayOfYear:December 26]]December 26, Feast of St. Stephen
Sermon on the Feast of St. Stephen by St. Fulgentius of Ruspe
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Fulgentius of Ruspe, St.
December 26 circa 500 A.D.
Sermon on the Feast of St. Stephen
Feast day of Saint Stephen, Protomartyr
http://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/library_article/841/Feast_of_St_Stephen__Protomartyr_Fulgen
Yesterday we celebrated the birth in time of our eternal King. Today we celebrate the triumphant suffering
of his soldier.
Yesterday our king, clothed in his robe of flesh, left his place in the virgin’s womb and graciously visited
the world. Today his soldier leaves the tabernacle of his body and goes triumphantly to heaven.
Our king, despite his exalted majesty, came in humility for our sake; yet he did not come empty-handed.
He brought his soldiers a great gift that not only enriched them but also made them unconquerable in
battle, for it was the gift of love, which was to bring men to share in his divinity. He gave of his bounty,
yet without any loss to himself. In a marvellous way he changed into wealth the poverty of his faithful
followers while remaining in full possession of his own inexhaustible riches.
And so the love that brought Christ from heaven to earth raised Stephen from earth to heaven; shown
first in the king, it later shone forth in his soldier. Love was Stephen’s weapon by which he gained every
battle, and so won the crown signified by his name. His love of God kept him from yielding to the ferocious
mob; his love for his neighbor made him pray for those who were stoning him. Love inspired him to
reprove those who erred, to make them amend; love led him to pray for those who stoned him, to save
them from punishment. Strengthened by the power of his love, he overcame the raging cruelty of Saul
and won his persecutor on earth as his companion in heaven. In his holy and tireless love he longed to
gain by prayer those whom he could not convert by admonition.
Now at last, Paul rejoices with Stephen, with Stephen he delights in the glory of Christ, with Stephen he
exalts, with Stephen he reigns. Stephen went first, slain by the stones thrown by Paul, but Paul followed
after, helped by the prayer of Stephen. This, surely, is the true life, my brothers, a life in which Paul feels
no shame because of Stephen’s death, and Stephen delights in Paul’s companionship, for love fills them
both with joy. It was Stephen’s love that prevailed over the cruelty of the mob, and it was Paul’s love that
covered the multitude of his sins; it was love that won for both of them the kingdom of heaven.
Love, indeed, is the source of all good things; it is an impregnable defense,- and the way that leads to
heaven. He who walks in love can neither go astray nor be afraid: love guides him, protects him, and brings
him to his journey’s end.
My brothers, Christ made love the stairway that would enable all Christians to climb to heaven. Hold fast
to it, therefore, in all sincerity, give one another practical proof of it, and by your progress in it, make your
ascent together.
[[@DayOfYear:December 27]]December 27, Feast of St. John the Evangelist
Sermon for the Feast of St. John the Evangelist by Fr. David Curry
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Sermon for the Feast of St. John the Evangelist
Feast of St. John the Evangelist
http://christchurchwindsor.ca/2011/12/27/sermonfor-the-feast-of-st-john-the-evangelist/
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Anglican
Curry, Fr. David
December 27, 2011
“That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you”
No one more fully conveys the deep wonder and mystery of Christmas than John the Evangelist
commemorated on the second day after Christmas. The Prologue of his Gospel has been the great
Christmas gospel for more than a millennium and a half; his epistles, too, provide the most theological
apologia for the essential doctrine that Christmas celebrates, namely, the doctrine of the Incarnation.
From the blood-soaked ground of Stephen’s martyrdom we rise on eagles’ wings to the contemplative
vision of John. It is his insight into what we see and hear that makes the Christmas mystery. The theological
insight of John informs most profoundly what comes to be the Church’s creedal proclamation. This child
is “the only-begotten Son of God, Begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light; Very
God of Very God; Begotten not made.” Such creedal statements echo the words of John at Christmas.
Without doubt such statements are the fruit of a theological reflection upon John’s witness. “That which
we have seen and heard declare we unto you,” he says. And that which has been seen and declared to us
is “that which was from the beginning,” a phrase which captures at once the opening phrase of his Gospel,
itself a commentary on the opening statement of The Book of Genesis. “In the beginning God”… “In the
beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”
In the epistle reading for his Christmas feast day, “that which was from the beginning, which we have
heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the
Word of life” is the essential revelation of the Word made flesh. And like the Christmas gospel, the purpose
of this holy understanding is also revealed, namely, “that ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly
our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” The essential Christmas message is about
God with us.
Theology is a dance of prepositions. The preposition of Advent is the word ‘towards;’ the whole season
celebrates the idea of God’s coming towards us in the Word and divine Person of Jesus Christ. The great
preposition of Christmas is the little word, ‘with’. God is with us. That mystery is also the great mystery
of God himself; the Word who is with God and who is God opens us out to the very life of God himself
without which his being with us is, well, rather small beer indeed. John opens us out to the mystery of the
Trinity through the mystery of the Incarnation.
The miracle and wonder of Christmas lies in John’s insight that God has entered into the very fabric of our
world and day in the intimacy of the humanity of Jesus Christ. All that is distinctive in Christian theology
and all that connects it to the great traditions of Jewish and Greek thought are captured in John’s crucial
and essential insight about “the Word made flesh,” a phrase that is absolutely central to Christian life and
doctrine.
The First Epistle of John is a defense of the Incarnation. We can sense, I think, his intellectual excitement
and sense of wonder about what he has come to understand and his determination to unfold that wonder
to us, refusing to let it be compromised or denied. “This then is the message which we have heard of him,
and declare unto you, That God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”
“Without forsaking what he was,” namely God, “he became what he was not,” namely man, as Athanasius,
a later disciple, we might say, of the theological thinking of John puts it. It is upon such insights that the
true nature of Christian fellowship with God and with one another ultimately depends. It is a divine
fellowship that is about eternal life manifested to us in Jesus Christ and in which we participate even now
through the sacramental life of the Church. Such is the wonder of Christmas, we might say, the wonder of
Emmanuel, of God with us. It is the great gift of God to our world and our humanity.
The Collect for this day emphasizes the essential nature of John’s witness. We pray for those “bright beams
of light” for the life of the Church, praying that the Church may be “enlightened by the doctrine” of John
and may “so walk in the light” of that truth. No Christmastide prayer, perhaps, speaks more directly to
our contemporary confusions and uncertainties. Is John’s witness just so much theological bafflegab?
Utter nonsense to a people immersed in the sensual and the empirical? Isn’t Jesus whatever he means to
me?
The Gospel reading for his feast day is taken from the last chapter of the Gospel according to St. John. It
is a kind of testament to his own witness. An encounter between Jesus and Peter about following Christ
is described within which a debate about “the disciple whom Jesus loved” who “also leaned on his breast
at supper” is also related. “This is the disciple which beareth witness of these things and wrote these things,
and we know that his witness is true,” we are told. But do we? And how? For the contemporary Church
and for what passes for theology in contemporary circles, the writings of John are given rather short shrift
historically. They are regarded as being later in their composition than the writings of Matthew, Mark and
Luke and, of course, later than the writings of Paul.
That is to assume that whatever is earliest is somehow more true; a questionable assumption. Certainly
for the bulk of the Christian tradition, historically speaking John’s Gospel has had a kind of primacy
theologically. Distinguishing the synoptic gospels as they have come to be called, namely Matthew, Mark
and Luke, from John’s gospel, is a modern way of speaking that belongs to a sense of historical narrative
as having primacy. But by definition, the historical aspect of things is much harder to determine. In the
long end of the day, notwithstanding an almost endless series of theories and hypotheses, all we really
have are the texts themselves. About the historical Jesus, suffice to say and safe to say that there is general
scholarly consensus about his existence, but who exactly he is and who he thought he was continues to
be the subject area of much discussion, assertion and opinion of varying quality.
The Feast of John sets before us the theological understanding of orthodox Christianity. It provides the
essential insight and understanding of the Christian faith about who Jesus is and what he means for us
and for our humanity. The historical questions are located within the primacy of the theological. “This
then is the message.” And it is for our joy and for our good.
“That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you”
[[@DayOfYear:December 28]]December 28, Feast of the Holy Innocents
The Holy Innocents Homily by Fr. Daniel Trout
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Revelation 14:1-5; Matthew 2:13-18
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The Holy Innocents Homily
The Feast of the Holy Innocents
http://cityofgod.wordpress.com/2010/01/29/theholy-innocents-homily-2008/
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Anglican
Trout, Fr. Daniel
January 28, 2008
Revelation 14:1-5; Matthew 2:13-18
Matthew 2:18 – In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
Slaughtered children, weeping mothers, and the Christ-Child fleeing with his parents to Egypt to escape
Herod’s jealous wrath. Today’s festival in honor of the Holy Innocents seems to stand in sharp contrast
to the merriment of the twelve days of Christmas. In fact, it seems to be a kind of anti-Christmas. One
might well ask: why interrupt our Christmas festivities with this? Must we set aside the Babe lying in the
manger for a hundred lying in pools of their own blood? Instead of shepherds and wise men bearing gifts,
must we endure soldiers brandishing swords? Why do we no longer hear of Blessed Mary keeping all
these things and pondering them in her heart, but the cries of mother Rachel weeping for her lost
children? Even in the church, instead of festive white and gold, the altar and your minister are vested
this morning in red, symbolizing the martyr’s blood. Perhaps most would rather hear of four calling birds
than this sad account.
But in Her enlightened wisdom, the Church since the sixth century has placed this feast on the fourth day
of Christmas, really for the same reason that She placed the feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr of the
Church, the day after Christmas: to remind us all that this is the fallen world, and these are the wicked
sinners, that Christ came to earth to redeem from the very start. When the eternal Son of God became
Incarnate to dwell among us, He did not enter a scene always characterized by milking maids, leaping
lords, drumming drummers or even a chosen people ready to receive its Messiah. No, Christ came
precisely to save a race so sick and lost, and to restore a fragmented nation that again required an Exodus
to be the true Israel. You see, from the outset, the feast of Holy Innocents teaches us that God’s salvation
could only be accomplished by sacrifice. Modern piety tends to sentimentalize Christmas with warm
images and tender carols, but the cross goes with the crib just as much as lowing oxen and adoring
shepherds. Not everything in the divine drama is ‘comfort and joy,’ as if God could just somehow gloss
over the sin and evil that had to be defeated. Nor also, as the Church recollects all these events in her
liturgy, could Christians of all times be permitted to forget that sacrifice is a perpetual and necessary
element of faith until the end of history, as if going to church was just that weekly boost provided to make
us feel better. Hardly! Holy Innocents reminds us that if we are going to receive the coming Emmanuel,
we have to be a Church ready to face contrary forces bent on thwarting what God is accomplishing in time
and space. Just as St. Stephen was stoned before his prosecutors and the little children were skewered
before their frantic mothers, Christ’s Church has to be full of Christians willing to suffer and die either
literally or figuratively (perhaps both) because our Head, even from childhood, came also to be tested and
proved through intrigue and murder. Herod may be gone, but just as the paranoid king could not stand a
potential challenger from David’s line, so also there are plenty of Herod-types that can’t stand the threat
of Christians that undermine the rule of the day. In this day and age we may not want to hear this, but
anyone who wants to be adopted as Jesus’ spiritual brother or sister has to—at least in a converted
attitude—become one of the Holy Innocents. The children slaughtered in Bethlehem did not simply
foreshadow Jesus’ death, but all of his saints willing to carry the cross and follow Christ.
But Holy Innocents is not just about tragedy or even heroic death. As our reading from Revelation
demonstrates, the sacrifice of the slain children is counted among those sealed believers (the 144,000)
that have been undefiled by worldly godlessness. St. John calls them the “first fruits unto God and to the
Lamb” and the martyrs of holy innocents are that more than any other Christian. As first fruits, they are
the first offerings of pure religion that have ceased to follow the authorities of this age for the Lamb of
God who leads into the riches of heaven. What the feast of the Holy Innocents teaches us secondly is that
the reward for imitating the murdered infants—and any Christians martyr for that matter—is innocency
before God in the Kingdom of Heaven. We have heard from Jesus that to enter we must become as little
children—this is that statement’s fulfillment. The truly faultless Christian is one who, like a child, freely
surrenders his life to the pleasures of the world for treasure in heaven. On this subject, St. Augustine
observes: “Therefore let the earth rejoice with the greatest exultation as the fruitful parents of this
heavenly throng and of such great virtues. Behold, this wicked enemy could never have so greatly
benefited the blessed children by honor as he did by hate. For as today’s most sacred feast shows, as
much as iniquity did abound against the blessed children, so much the more did the grace of benediction
flow out upon them. Blessed art thou, O Bethlehem in the land of Judea, which endured the cruelty of
King Herod in the slaughter of thy children; who deserved to offer to God at one time a snow white army
of defenseless infants. Fittingly, indeed, do we celebrate the birthday of those whom the world brought
forth into eternal life more happily than did birth from their mothers’ wombs. Indeed, they possessed the
dignity of eternal life before they partook of the enjoyment of the present.” St. Augustine, nor Holy
Scripture, I don’t believe are suggesting an escape ticket from this life as soon possible, but presenting
and lauding the saintly character necessary to inherit the blessing of the age to come.
Finally, the feast of Holy Innocents helps us to realize that even amid such brutal infanticide, God was and
is working to realize His redemption plan. Returning to our theme verse, Saint Matthew indicates that
the slaughter of the Innocents was in fulfillment of a saying of the prophet Jeremiah: “In Rama was there
a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would
not be comforted, because they are not.” But the very next verse in Jeremiah is this: “Thus saith the LORD;
Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the
LORD…there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD.” And then just a few verses later, the prophet further
implores: “How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new
thing in the earth, a woman shall compass a man.”
There is a Christmas message in Holy Innocents and it is this: “Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine
eyes from tears…for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth.” That “new thing” when “a woman
compasses a man” refers to the Incarnation itself: the Virgin Mary that enclosed in her womb the Holy
Child, fully God and fully Man. And this new Child had come into the world to do a new thing: to
“recapitulate” or begin again the drama of man’s salvation. As I alluded to above, Israel required a new
“Exodus,” and St. Matthew highlights this in his record of the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt just before the
massacre. And what do we find but further accomplishment of prophecy; as St. Matthew observes: “that
it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, ‘Out of Egypt have I called my
son.’” Although as an infant He may not have been fully aware of what was happening, Jesus was going
to Egypt to rescue God’s people from the world again—to purify and unite them into a chosen Church
through a second Exodus. As the infants died under the imposter King Herod, the true King of the Jews
was making His preparation to return someday. The Holy Innocents died to show that the power of
tyrants over God’s people was coming to an end. The one that Herod was really seeking had escaped to
come back the victor, however inconspicuous He may have appeared. And like Rachel we must cease
crying because we do not any longer have to be subject to the Herods of this world, especially that spiritual
Herod—the Devil—who makes war against us. Temptations they may use, temporal power they may
have, and atrocities they may order—but they cannot rule us any longer. Just as the holy family found
respite in Egypt, St. John writes in Revelation 12 that Christians have a place prepared by God in the
wilderness—the Church. Though we may have no place to settle in this age, we are part of a “kingdom
colony” ruled by a new king, a legitimate king—not a Herod—and He lives in our hearts through the
sacraments and His Holy Spirit to give us hope.
So even on this feast day soaked in martyr red, the white light of Christmas still shines through. Even if
atrocities continue in the Bethlehem’s where we live and the cry of Rachel is still heard, remember that
the King has come and will come again. And this King calls us to be His Holy Innocents—not driven by
sadness or fear—but sincere expectation that the Jesus who began a new creation compassed in Mary’s
womb will consummate that new creation in a transfigured heavens and earth compassed by the love of
God where all weeping will fade away forever. AMEN.
[[@DayOfYear:December 29]]December 29, Holy Family (Sunday after Christmas)
Sermon for the Feast of the Holy Family by St. Bernard
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St. Bernard
Sermon of Saint Bernard for the
Feast of the Holy Family
Feast of the Holy Family
http://catholicism.org/st-bernard-holyfamily.html
In Mary we praise that which places her above all others, that is, fruitfulness of offspring together with
virginity. For never has it been known in this world that anyone was at the same time mother and virgin.
And see of Whom she is mother. Where does your astonishment at this so wondrous dignity lead you? Is
it not to this, that you may gaze in wonder yet never sufficiently revere? Is she not in your veneration,
nay, in the esteem of Truth itself, raised above choirs of angels? Does not Mary address the Lord and God
of all the angels as Son, saying: Son, why hast thou done so to us?
Who among the angels may thus presume? It is enough for them, and for them their greatest honour,
that while they are spirits by nature they have become and are called angels, as David testifies: Who
makest thy angels spirits. [Ps. 103: 4] Mary, knowing herself mother, with confidence calls that Majesty
Son Whom the angels in reverence serve. Nor does God disdain to be called that which He disdained not
to be. For the Evangelist adds a little later: He was subject to them.
Who was subject to whom? A God to men. God, I repeat, to Whom the angels are subject: Whom
principalities and powers obey: was subject to Mary; and not alone to Mary, but to Joseph also, because
of Mary. Admire and revere both the one and the other, and choose which you admire the more: the most
sweet condescension of the Son, or the sublime dignity of the Mother. For either am I at a loss for words:
for both are wondrous. For that God should obey a woman is humility without compare; and that a woman
should have rule over God dignity without equal. In praise of virgins is it joyfully proclaimed: that they
follow the lamb withersoever he goeth. [Apoc. 14: 4] Of what praise shall you esteem her worthy who also
goeth before Him?
Learn, O Man, to obey. Learn, O Earth, to be subject. Learn, O Dust, to submit. The Evangelist in speaking
of thy Maker says: He was subject to them ; that is, without doubt, to Mary and to Joseph. Be you ashamed,
vain ashes that you are. God humbles Himself, and do you exalt yourself? God becomes subject to men,
and will you, eager to lord it over men, place yourself above your Maker? O would that God might deign
to make me, thinking such thoughts at times in my own mind, such answer as He made, reproving him, to
His apostle: Go behind Me, Satan: because thou savorest not the things that are of God. [Mark 8: 33]
For as often as I desire to be foremost among men, so often do I seek to take precedence of God; and so
do I not truly savour the things that are of God. For of Him was it said: And he was subject to them. If you
disdain, O Man, to follow the example of a Man, at least it will not lower thee to imitate thy Maker. If
perhaps you cannot follow Him wheresoever He goeth, at least follow in that wherein He has come down
to you.
If you are unable to follow Him on the sublime way of virginity, then follow God by that most sure way of
humility; from whose straitness should some even from among the virgins go aside, then must I say what
is true, that neither do they follow the Lamb withersoever he goeth . He that is humble, even though he
be stained, he follows the Lamb; so too does the proud virgin; but neither of the two whithersoever He
goeth: because the one cannot ascend to the purity of the Lamb that is without stain, nor will the other
deign to come down to the meekness of the Lamb, Who stood silent, not merely before the shearer, but
before the one that put Him to death. Yet the sinner who makes after Him in humility, has chosen a
wholesomer part than the one that is proud in his virtue; since the humble repentance of the one washes
away uncleanness, but the pride of the other contaminates his own virtue.
Truly blessed was Mary who possessed both humility and virginity. And truly wondrous the virginity whose
fruitfulness stained not, but adorned her; and truly singular the humility, which this fruitful virginity has
not troubled, but rather exalted; and wholly incomparable the fruitfulness which goes hand in hand with
her humility and her virginity. Which of these things is not wondrous? Which is not beyond all comparison?
Which that is not wholly singular? It would be strange if you did not hesitate to decide which you regard
as most worthy of praise: whether the wonder of fruitfulness of offspring in virginity, or of virginal integrity
in a mother: sublimity of Offspring, or humility joined to such dignity: unless it be that we place both
together above each one singly: and it is truly beyond any doubt more excellent and more joyful to have
beheld these perfections united in her, than to see but one part of them.
And can we wonder that God, of Whom it is written that He is wonderful in his saints,[Ps. 67: 36] shows
Himself in His own Mother yet more wondrous still. Venerate then, Ye spouses, this integrity of flesh in
our corruptible flesh. Revere likewise, Ye virgins, fruitfulness in virginity. Let all men imitate the humility
of God’s Mother. Honour, Ye angels, the Mother of your King, you who adore the Offspring of our Virgin;
Who is your King and our King, the Healer of our race, the Restorer of our fatherland: Who among you is
so sublime, yet among us was so lowly: to Whose Majesty as well from you as from us let there be
adoration and reverence: to whose Perfection be there honour and glory and empire for ever and ever.
Amen.
[[@DayOfYear:December 30]], December 30
The Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord by John Henry Newman
Sermon File Type
Passages
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Matthew 3:15
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Catholic
Newman, John Henry
The Feast of the Circumcision of Our
Lord
Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord
Newman, John Henry. Parochial and
Plain Sermons. Vol. 2. London;
Oxford; Cambridge: Rivingtons,
1868.
Title
Occasion
Source
MATT. 3:15
“Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.”
WHEN our Lord came to John to he baptized, He gave this reason for it, “Thus it becometh us to fulfil
all righteousness;” which seems to mean,—“It is becoming in Me, the expected Christ, to conform in all
respects to all the rites and ceremonies of Judaism, to everything hitherto accounted sacred and binding.”
Hence it was that He came to be baptized, to show that it was not His intention in any way to dishonour
the Established Religion, but to fulfil it even in those parts of it (such as Baptism) which were later than
the time of Moses; and especially to acknowledge thereby the mission of John the Baptist, His forerunner.
And those ordinances which Moses himself was commissioned to appoint, had still greater claim to be
respected and observed. It was on this account that He was circumcised, as we this day commemorate;
in order, that is, to show that He did not renounce the religion of Abraham, to whom God gave
circumcision, or of Moses, by whom it was embodied in the Jewish Law.
We have other instances in our Lord’s history, besides those of His circumcision and baptism, to show the
reverence with which He regarded the religion which He came to fulfil. St. Paul speaks of Him as “born of
a woman, born under the Law,”1 and it was His custom to observe that Law, like any other Jew. For
instance, He went up for the feasts to Jerusalem; He sent the persons He had cured to the priests, to offer
the sin-offering commanded by Moses; He paid the Temple-tax; and again, He attended as “a custom” the
worship of the synagogue, though this had been introduced in an age long after Moses; and He even bade
the multitudes obey the Scribes and Pharisees in all lawful things, as those who sat in Moses’ place.2
Such was our Saviour’s dutiful attention to the religious system under which He was born; and that, not
only so far as it was directly divine, but further, where it was the ordinance of uninspired though pious
men, where it was but founded on ecclesiastical authority. His Apostles followed His pattern; and this is
still more remarkable,—because after the Holy Spirit had descended, at first sight it would have appeared
1
Gal. 4:4.
2
Matt. 23:2, 3.
that all the Jewish ordinances ought at once to cease. But this was far from being the doctrine of the
Apostles. They taught, indeed, that the Jewish rites were no longer of any use in obtaining God’s favour;
that Christ’s death was now set forth as the full and sufficient Atonement for sin, by that Infinite Mercy
who had hitherto appointed the blood of the sacrifices as in some sort means of propitiation: and, besides,
that every convert who turned from Christ back to Moses, or who imposed the Jewish rites upon his
brethren as necessary to salvation, was grievously erring against the Truth. But they neither abandoned
the Jewish rites themselves, nor obliged any others to do so who were used to them. Custom was quite a
sufficient reason for retaining them: every Christian was to remain in the state in which he was called; and
in the case of the Jew, the practice of them did not necessarily interfere with a true and full trust in the
Atonement which Christ had offered for sin.
St. Paul, we know, was the most strenuous opposer of those who would oblige the Gentiles to become
Jews, as a previous step to their becoming Christians. Yet, decisive as he is against all attempts to force
the Gentiles under the rites of Law, he never bids the Jews renounce them, rather he would have them
retain them; leaving it for a fresh generation, who had not been born under them, to discontinue them,
so that the use of them might gradually die away. Nay, he himself circumcised Timothy, when he chose
him for his associate; in order that no offence might be given to the Jews.1 And how fully he adhered to
the Law in his own person, we learn from the. same inspired history; for instance, we hear of his shaving
his head, as having been under a vow,2 according to the Jewish custom.
Now from this obedience to the Jewish Law, enjoined and displayed by our Blessed Lord and His Apostles,
we learn the great importance of retaining those religious forms to which we are accustomed, even
though they are in themselves indifferent, or not of Divine origin; and, as this is a truth which is not well
understood by the world at large, it may be of use to make some observations upon it.
We sometimes meet with men, who ask why we observe these or those ceremonies or practices; why, for
example, we use Forms of prayer so cautiously and strictly? or why we persist in kneeling at the Sacrament
of the Lord’s Supper? why in bowing at the name of Jesus? or why in celebrating the public worship of
God only in consecrated places? why we lay such stress upon these things? These, and many such
questions may be asked, and all with this argument: “They are indifferent matters; we do not read of them
in the Bible.”
Now the direct answer to this objection is, that the Bible was never intended to enjoin us these things,
but matters of faith; and that though it happens to mention our practical duties, and some points of form
and discipline, still, that it does not set about telling us what to do, but chiefly what to believe; and that
there are many duties and many crimes which are not mentioned in Scripture, and which we must find
out by our own understanding, enlightened by God’s Holy Spirit. For instance, there is no prohibition of
suicide, duelling, gaming, in Scripture; yet we know them to be great sins; and it would be no excuse in a
man to say that he does not find them forbidden in Scripture, because he may discover God’s will in this
matter independently of Scripture. And in like manner, various matters of form and discipline are binding,
though Scripture says nothing about them; for we learn the duty in another way. No matter how we learn
God’s will, whether from Scripture, or Antiquity, or what St. Paul calls “Nature,” so that we can be sure it
1
Acts 16:1–3.
2
Acts 18:18.
is His will. Matters of faith, indeed, He reveals to us by inspiration, because they are supernatural: but
matters of moral duty, through our own conscience and divinely-guided reason; and matters of form, by
tradition and long usage, which bind us to the observance of them, though they are not enjoined in
Scripture. This, I say, is the proper answer to the question, “Why do you observe rites and forms which
are not enjoined in Scripture?” though, to speak the truth, our chief ordinances are to be found there, as
the Sacraments, Public Worship, the Observance of the Lord’s-day, Ordination, Marriage, and the like. But
I shall make another answer, which is suggested by the event commemorated this day, our Lord’s
conforming to the Jewish Law in the rite of circumcision; and my answer is this.
Scripture tells us what to believe, and what to aim at and maintain, but it does not tell us how to do it;
and as we cannot do it at all unless we do it in this manner, or that, in fact we must add something to
what Scripture tells us. For example, Scripture tells us to meet together for prayer, and has connected the
grant of the Christian blessings on God’s part, with the observance of union on ours; but since it does not
tell us the times and places of prayer, the Church must complete that which Scripture has but enjoined
generally. Our Lord has instituted two Sacraments, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper; but has not told us,
except generally, with what forms we are to administer them. Yet we cannot administer them without
some sort of prayers; whether we use always the same, or not the same, or unpremeditated prayers. And
so with many other solemn acts, such as Ordination, or Marriage, or Burial of the Dead, it is evidently
pious, and becomes Christians to perform them decently and in faith; yet how is this to be done, unless
the Church sanctions Forms of doing it?
The Bible then may be said to give us the spirit of religion; but the Church must provide the body in which
that spirit is to be lodged. Religion must be realized in particular acts, in order to its continuing alive.
Religionists, for example, who give up the Church rites, are forced to recall the strict Judaical Sabbath.
There is no such thing as abstract religion. When persons attempt to worship in this (what they call) more
spiritual manner, they end, in fact, in not worshipping at all. This frequently happens. Every one may know
it from his own experience of himself. Youths, for instance (and perhaps those who should know better
than they), sometimes argue with themselves, “What is the need of praying statedly morning and
evening? why use a form of words? why kneel? why cannot I pray in bed, or walking, or dressing?” they
end in not praying at all. Again, what will the devotion of the country people be, if we strip religion of its
external symbols, and bid them seek out and gaze upon the Invisible? Scripture gives the spirit, and the
Church the body, to our worship; and we may as well expect that the spirits of men might be seen by us
without the intervention of their bodies, as suppose that the Object of faith can be realized in a world of
sense and excitement, without the instrumentality of an outward form to arrest and fix attention, to
stimulate the careless, and to encourage the desponding. But observe what follows:—who would say our
bodies are not part of ourselves? We may apply the illustration; for in like manner the forms of devotion
are parts of devotion. Who can in practice separate his view of body and spirit? for example, what a friend
would he be to us who should treat us ill, or deny us food, or imprison us; and say, after all, that it was
our body he ill-treated, and not our soul? Even so, no one can really respect religion, and insult its forms.
Granting that the forms are not immediately from God, still long use has made them divine to us; for the
spirit of religion has so penetrated and quickened them, that to destroy them is, in respect to the
multitude of men, to unsettle and dislodge the religious principle itself. In most minds usage has so
identified them with the notion of religion, that the one cannot be extirpated without the other. Their
faith will not bear transplanting. Till we have given some attention to the peculiarities of human nature,
whether from watching our own hearts, or from experience of life, we can scarcely form a correct estimate
how intimately great and little matters are connected together in all cases; how the circumstances and
accidents (as they might seem) of our habits are almost conditions of those habits themselves. How
common it is for men to have seasons of seriousness, how exact is their devotion during them, how
suddenly they come to an end, how completely all traces of them vanish, yet how comparatively trifling
is the cause of the relapse, a change of place or occupation, or a day’s interruption of regularity in their
religious course! Consider the sudden changes in opinion and profession, religious or secular, which occur
in life, the proverbial fickleness of the multitude, the influence of watchwords and badges upon the
fortunes of political parties, the surprising falls which sometimes overtake well-meaning and really
respectable men, the inconsistencies of even the holiest and most perfect, and you will have some insight
into the danger of practising on the externals of faith and devotion. Precious doctrines are strung, like
jewels, upon slender threads.
Our Saviour and His Apostles sanction these remarks, in their treatment of those Jewish ceremonies,
which have led me to make them. St. Paul calls them weak and unprofitable, weak and beggarly elements.1
So they were in themselves, but to those who were used to them, they were an edifying and living service.
Else, why did the Apostles observe them? Why did they recommend them to the Jews whom they
converted? Were they merely consulting for the prejudices of a reprobate nation? The Jewish rites were
to disappear; yet no one was bid forcibly to separate himself from what he had long used, lest he lost his
sense of religion also. Much more will this hold good with forms such as ours, which so far from being
abrogated by the Apostles, were introduced by them or their immediate successors; and which, besides
the influence they exert over us from long usage, are, many of them, witnesses and types of precious
gospel truths; nay, much more, possess a sacramental nature, and are adapted and reasonably accounted
to convey a gift, even where they are not formally sacraments by Christ’s institution. Who, for instance,
could be hard-hearted and perverse enough to ridicule the notion that a father’s blessing may profit his
children, even though Christ and His Apostles have not in so many words declared it?
Much might be said on this subject, which is a very important one. In these times especially, we should be
on our guard against those who hope, by inducing us to lay aside our forms, at length to make us lay aside
our Christian hope altogether. This is why the Church itself is attacked, because it is the living form, the
visible body of religion; and shrewd men know that when it goes, religion will go too. This is why they rail
at so many usages as superstitious; or propose alterations and changes, a measure especially calculated
to shake the faith of the multitude. Recollect, then, that things indifferent in themselves become
important to us when we are used to them. The services and ordinances of the Church are the outward
form in which religion has been for ages represented to the world, and has ever been known to us. Places
consecrated to God’s honour, clergy carefully set apart for His service, the Lord’s-day piously observed,
the public forms of prayer, the decencies of worship, these things, viewed as a whole, are sacred relatively
to us, even if they were not, as they are, divinely sanctioned. Rites which the Church has appointed, and
with reason,—for the Church’s authority is from Christ,—being long used, cannot be disused without harm
to our souls. Confirmation, for instance, may be argued against, and undervalued; but surely no one who
in the common run of men wilfully resists the Ordinance, but will thereby be visibly a worse Christian than
he otherwise would have been. He will find (or rather others will find for him, for he will scarcely know it
himself), that he has declined in faith, humility, devotional feeling, reverence, and sobriety. And so in the
1
Heb. 7:18; Gal. 4:9.
case of all other forms, even the least binding in themselves, it-continually happens that a speculative
improvement is a practical folly, and the wise are taken in their own craftiness.
Therefore, when profane persons scoff at our forms, let us argue with ourselves thus—and it is an
argument which all men, learned or unlearned, can enter into: “These forms, even were they of mere
human origin (which learned men say is not the case, but even if they were), are at least of as spiritual
and edifying a character as the rites of Judaism. Yet Christ and His Apostles did not even suffer these latter
to be irreverently treated or suddenly discarded. Much less may we suffer it in the case of our own; lest,
stripping off from us the badges of our profession, we forget there is a faith for us to maintain, and a world
of sinners to be eschewed.”
[[@DayOfYear:December 31]]December 31
One Hundred Stanzas on the Nativity by St. Ephraim the Syrian
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One Hundred Stanzas on the Nativity
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Patristics
Ephraim the Syrian, St.
http://preachersinstitute.com/2010/12/23/onehundred-stanzas-on-the-nativity-st-ephraimthe-syrian/
1. This is the day that gladdened them, the Prophets, Kings, and Priests, for in it were their words fulfilled,
and thus were the whole of them indeed performed!
2. For the Virgin this day brought forth Immanuel in Bethlehem. The voice that of old Isaiah spake, today
became reality.
3. He was born there who in writing should tell the Gentiles’ number! The Psalm that David once sang, by
its fulfillment came today!
4. The word that Micah once spake, today was come indeed to pass! For there came from Ephratha a
Shepherd, and His staff swayed over souls.
5. Lo! from Jacob shone the Star, and from Israel rose the Head. The prophecy that Balaam spake had its
interpreting today!
6. Down also came the hidden Light, and from the Body rose His beauty! The light that spake in Zacharias,
today shined in Bethlehem!
7. Risen is the Light of the kingdom, in Ephratha the city of the King. The blessing wherewith Jacob blessed,
to its fulfillment came today!
8. That tree likewise, the tree of life, brings hope to mortal men! Solomon’??s hidden proverb had today
its explanation!
9. Today was born the Child, and His name was called Wonder! For a wonder it is that God as a Babe
should show Himself.
10. By the word Worm did the Spirit foreshow Him in parable, because His generation was without
marriage. The type that the Holy Ghost figured today its meaning was explained.
11. He came up as a root before Him, as a root of parched ground. Aught that covertly was said, openly
today was done!
12. The King that in Judah was hidden, Tamar stole Him from his thigh. Today arose His conquering beauty,
which in hidden estate she loved.
13. Ruth at Boaz’ side lay down, because the Medicine of Life hidden in him she perceived. Today was
fulfilled her vow, since from her seed arose the Quickener of all.
14. Travail Adam on the woman brought, that from him had come forth. She today her travail ransomed,
who to her a Saviour bare!
15. To Eve our mother a man gave birth, who himself had had no birth. How much more should Eve’??s
daughter be believed to have borne a Child without a man!
16. The virgin earth, she bare that Adam that was head over the earth! The Virgin bare today the Adam
that was Head over the Heavens.
17. The staff of Aaron, it budded, and the dry wood yielded fruit! Its mystery is cleared up today, for the
virgin womb a Child hath borne!
18. Shamed is that people which holds the prophets as true; for unless our Saviour has come, their words
have been falsified!
19. Blessed be the True One Who came from the Father of the Truth and fulfilled the true seers’?? words,
which were accomplished in their truth.
20. From thy treasure-house put forth, Lord, from the coffers of Thy Scriptures, names of righteous men
of old, who looked to see Thy coming!
21. Seth who was in Abel’??s stead shadowed out the Son as slain, by Whose death was dulled the envy
Cain had brought into the world!
22. Noah saw the sons of God, saints that sudden waxed wanton, and the Holy Son he looked for, by
whom lewd men were turned to holiness.
23. The brothers twain, that covered Noah, saw the only Son of God who should come to hide the
nakedness of Adam, who was drunk with pride.
24. Shem and Japhet, being gracious, looked for the gracious Son, Who should come and set free Canaan
from the servitude of sin.
25. Melchizedek expected Him; as His vicegerent, looked that he might see the Priesthood’??s Lord whose
hyssop purifies the world.
26. Lot beheld the Sodomites how they perverted nature: for nature’s Lord he looked who gave a holiness
not natural.
27. Him Aaron looked for, for he saw that if his rod ate serpents up, His cross would eat the Serpent up
that had eaten Adam and Eve.
28. Moses saw the uplifted serpent that had cured the bites of asps, and he looked to see Him who would
heal the ancient Serpent’??s wound.
29. Moses saw that he himself alone retained the brightness from God, and he looked for Him who came
and multiplied gods by His teaching.
30. Caleb the spy bore the cluster on the staff, and came and longed to see the Cluster, Whose wine should
comfort the world.
31. Him did Jesus son of Nun long for, that he might conceive the force of his own surname: for if by His
name he waxed so mighty, how much more would He by His Birth?
32. This Jesus that gathered and carried, and brought with him of the fruit, was longing for the Tree of Life
to taste the Fruit that quickens all.
33. For Him Rahab too was looking; for when the scarlet thread in type redeemed her from wrath, in type
she tasted of the Truth.
34. For Him Elijah longed, and when Him on earth he saw not, he, through faith most throughly cleansed,
mounted up in heaven to see Him.
35. Moses saw Him and Elijah; the meek man from the depth ascended, the zealous from on high
descended, and in the midst beheld the Son.
36. They figured the mystery of His Advent: Moses was a type of the dead, and Elijah a type of the living,
that fly to meet Him at His coming.
37. For the dead that have tasted death, them He makes to be first: and the rest that are not buried, are
last caught up to meet Him.
38. Who is there that can count me up the just that looked for the Son, whose number cannot be
determined by the mouth of us weak creatures?
39. Pray ye for me, O beloved, that another time with strength endued, I in another legend may so set
forth their foretaste, as I am able.
40. Who is adequate to the praising of the Son of the Truth that has risen to us? For it was for Him the
righteous longed, that in their generation they might see Him.
41. Adam looked for Him, for He is the Cherub’s Lord, and could minister an entrance and a residence
hard by the branches of the Tree of life.
42. Abel longed after Him, that in his days He might come; that instead of that lamb that he offered, the
Lamb of God he might behold.
43. For Him Eve also looked; for woman’s nakedness was sore, and He capable to clothe them; not with
leaves, but with that same glory that they had exchanged away.
44. The tower that the many builded, in mystery looked for One, who coming down would build on earth
a tower that lifts up to Heaven.
45. Yea the ark of living creatures looked in a type for our Lord; for He should build the Holy Church,
wherein souls find a refuge.
46. In Peleg’s days earth was divided into tongues, threescore and ten. For Him Who by the tongues, to
His Apostles divided earth.
47. Earth which the flood had swallowed up, in silence cried to her Lord. He came down and opened
Baptism, and men were drawn by it to Heaven.
48. Seth and Enos, Cainan too, were surnamed sons of God; for the Son of God they looked, that they by
grace might be His brethren.
49. But little short of a thousand years did Methuselah live: He looked for the Son Who makes heirs of life
that never ends!
50. Grace itself in hidden mystery was beseeching on their behalf that their Lord might come in their age
and fill up their shortcomings.
51. For the Holy Spirit in them, in their stead, besought with meditation: He stirred them up, and in Him
did they look on that Redeemer, after whom they longed.
52. The soul of just men perceive in the Son a Medicine of life; and so it felt desires that He might come
in its own days, and then would it taste His sweetness.
53. Enoch was longing for Him, and since on earth the Son he saw not, he was justified by great faith, and
mounted up in Heaven to see Him.
54. Who is there that will spurn at grace, when the Gift that they of old gained not by much labour, freely
comes to men now?
55. For Him Lamech also looked who might come and lovingly give Him quiet from his labour and the
toiling of his hands, and from the earth the Just One had cursed.
56. Lamech then beheld his son, Noah, him, in whom were figured types relating to the Son. In the stead
of the Lord afar off, the type at hand afforded quiet.
57. Yea Noah also longed to see Him, the taste of whose assisting graces he had tasted. For if the type of
Him preserved living things, Himself how sure to bestow life upon souls!
58. Noah longed for Him, by trial knowing Him, for through Him had the ark been established. For if the
type of Him thus saved life, assuredly much more would He in person.
59. Abraham perceived in Spirit that the Son’s Birth was far off; instead of Him in person he rejoiced to
see even His day.
60. To see Him Isaac longed, as having tasted the taste of His redemption; for if the sign of Him so gave
life, much more would He by the reality.
61. Joyous were today the Watchers, that the Wakeful came to wake us! Who would pass this night in
slumber, in which all the world was watching?
62. Since Adam brought into the world the sleep of death by sins, the Wakeful came down that He might
awake us from the deep sleep of sin.
63. Watch not we as usurers, who thinking on money put to interest, watch at night so oft, to reckon up
their capital, and interest.
64. Wakeful and cautious is the thief, who in the earth hath buried and concealed his sleep. His
wakefulness all comes to this, that he may cause much wakefulness to them that be asleep.
65. Wakeful likewise is the glutton, who hath eaten much and is restless; his watching is to him his
torment, because he was impatient of stint.
66. Wakeful likewise is the merchant; of a night he works his fingers telling over what pounds are coming,
and if his wealth doubles or trebles.
67. Wakeful likewise is the rich man, whose sleep his riches chase away: his dogs sleep; he guards his
treasures from the thieves.
68. Wakeful also is the careful, by his care his sleep is swallowed: though his end stands by his pillow, yet
he wakes with cares for years to come.
69. Satan teaches, O my brethren, one watching instead of another; to good deeds to be sleepy, and to ill
awake and watchful.
70. Even Judas Iscariot, for the whole night through was wakeful; and he sold the righteous Blood, that
purchased the whole world.
71. The son of the dark one put on darkness, having stripped the Light from off him: and Him who created
silver, for silver the thief sold.
72. Yea, Pharisees, the dark one’s sons, all the night through kept awake: the dark ones watched that they
might veil the Light which is unlimited.
73. Ye then watch as heaven’s lights in this night of starry light. For though so dark be its colour yet in
virtue it is clear.
74. For whoever is like this clear One, wakeful and prayerful in darkness, him in this darkness visible a light
unseen surrounds!
75. The bad man that in daylight stands, yet as a son of darkness deals; though with light clad outwardly,
inly is with darkness girt.
76. Be we not deceived, beloved, by the fact that we are watching! For whoso does not rightly watch, his
watch is an unrighteous watch.
77. Whoso watches not cheerfully, his watching is but a sleeping: whoso also watches not innocently, even
his waking is his foe.
78. This is the waking of the envious one! a solid mass, compact with harm. That watch is but a trafficking,
with scorn and mockery compact.
79. The wrathful man if he wakes, fretful with wrath his wake will be, and his watching proves to him full
of rage and of cursings.
80. If the babbler be waking, then his mouth becomes a passage which for sins is ready but for prayers
shows hindrance.
81. The wise man, if so be he that watches, one of two things chooseth him; either takes sweet, moderate,
sleep, or a holy vigil keeps.
82. That night is fair, wherein He Who is Fair rose to come and make us fair. Let not aught that may disturb
it enter into our watch!
83. Fair be kept the ear’s approach, chaste the seeing of the eye! hallowed the musing of the heart! the
speaking of the mouth be cleared.
84. Mary hid in us today leaven that came from Abraham. Let us then so pity beggars as did Abraham the
needy. Today the rennet fell on us from the gentle David’??s house.
85. Let a man show mercy to his persecutors, as did Jesse’??s son to Saul. The prophets’?? sweet salt is
today sprinkled among the Gentiles.
86. Let us gain a new savor by that whereby the ancient people lost their savor. Let us speak the speech
of wisdom; speak we not of things outside it, lest we ourselves be outside it!
87. In this night of reconcilement let no man be wroth or gloomy! in this night that stills all, none that
threatens or disturbs!
88. This night belongs to the sweet One; bitter or harsh be in it none! In this night that is the meek One’??s,
high or haughty be in it none!
89. In this day of pardoning let us not exact trespasses! In this day of gladnesses let us not spread
sadnesses!
90. In this day so sweet, let us not be harsh! In this day of peaceful rest, let us not be wrathful in it!
91. In this day when God came to sinners, let not the righteous be in his mind uplifted over sinner!
92. In this day in which there came the Lord of all unto the servants, let masters too condescend to their
servants lovingly!
93. In this day in which the Rich became poor for our sakes, let the rich man make the poor man share
with him at his table.
94. On this day to us came forth the Gift, although we asked it not! Let us therefore bestow alms on them
that cry and beg of us.
95. This is the day that opened for us a gate on high to our prayers. Let us open also gates to supplicants
that have transgressed, and of us have asked forgiveness.
96. Today the Lord of nature was against His nature changed; let it not to us be irksome to turn our evil
wills.
97. Fixed in nature is the body; great or less it cannot become: but the will has such dominion, it can grow
to any measure.
98. This is the day that gladdened them, the Prophets, Kings, and Priests, for in it were their words fulfilled,
and thus were the whole of them indeed performed!
99. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. Today Godhead sealed itself upon Manhood,
that so with the Godhead’s stamp Manhood might be adorned.
100. Both now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen. The voice that of old Isaiah spake, today became
reality. For the Virgin this day brought forth Immanuel in Bethlehem.
[[@DayOfYear:January 1]]January 1, Mary Mother of God
Mary, Mother of Jesus by Edward F. Markquart
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Luke 1:26-45
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Mary, Mother of God
Advent 4
http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_c_mary.htm
Lutheran; Mary
Markquart, Edward F.
Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle, WA
Mary, the mother of Jesus. It seems as if we Lutherans tend to ignore Mary. If we don’t ignore Mary, we
often have a certain distrust, distance and disdain for her.
In the Lutheran church, we don’t spend a good time talking about Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We talk plenty about many other personalities. We love to talk about the Apostle Paul and all that he stands
for. We love to talk about Martin Luther, and name numerous Bible camps after him such as Camp
Lutherwood. We love to talk about great figures of the Old Testament such as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
and famous men of the New Testament such as Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. We enjoy talking about
famous women of the Old Testament such as Rachel, Ruth and Rahab; and famous women of the New
Testament like Mary Magdalene, Mary and Martha, the sisters. We like to talk about famous women of
history such as Joan of Arc and Mother Theresa. We talk about all of these people quite often, but we seem
to have an aversion to talk about Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Personally, I think that this is an unbiblical attitude because the Bible claims that Mary is the most blessed
of all women. The Bible doesn’t say that the Apostle Paul was the most blessed of men or that Luther was
the most blessed. The Bible says that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is the most blessed of all women.
I think that part of our reluctance to appreciate Mary grows out of our old fashioned, anti-Roman Catholic
attitudes. In the past, Lutherans and Catholics didn’t get along too well; at least they never did in my
hometown growing up in Jackson, Minnesota. The priest and pastor rarely spoke to each other. We
Lutherans were taught to be suspicious of Catholics who had Madonnas in their sanctuaries and drove cars
with statuettes of Mary on their dashboards. We were taught by our pastors and the pious that Catholics
had shrines to Mary in their gardens and occasionally even prayed to Mary rather than Jesus Christ. We
were taught to distrust, then distance and finally disdain the Catholics. Of course, this didn’t sit too well with
my family. My sister married a Catholic, my other sister dated a Catholic, my aunts, uncles and cousins
were Catholics and they seemed all fine to me.
I will give you another example of this lingering prejudice against Mary. I thumbed through our hymnbook
the other day, and I could not find a single hymn that reflected a respect for this woman, the most blessed
woman on all human history. Not one hymn in our hymnbook. The closest hymn I could find was a Christmas
carol, “What Child Is This,” but that was the only hymn I could find. Needless to say, we Lutherans have
been vitally concerned about the virgin birth, but not about Mary, the mother. The virgin birth was much
more important to us than the mother who had the baby.
Our prejudice against Mary may extend way back to Ephesus. As you may recall, Mary the mother of Jesus
and John moved to Ephesus after Jesus was crucified and resurrected. There are two ancient chapels in
Ephesus, one for John and one for Mary, the mother of Jesus. It was at the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D.
where the title, “theotokos,” Mother of God, was first applied to Mary. Mary was called the Mother of God
in the Catholic Church. She was known to be a virgin and in the next centuries, the church decided that
she was a “perpetual virgin.” In the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church, Mary soon thought to be “sinless;”
then she was “conceived without sin;” and then bodily taken up to heaven directly to be with Jesus. This is
called the “bodily assumption.” Soon, the Assumption of Mary became a primary festival of the church,
similar to Christmas and Easter. Mary became the greatest of all the saints who interceded for us. As the
Roman Catholic Church elevated Mary in its adoration, the Protestants protested against her and her role
in the Christian faith was minimized. It seems to me the Catholics went to one extreme and the Protestants
to another extreme.
Today’s sermon will focus on Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one of the purposes of this
sermon is to renew our appreciation for this woman. The Bible does say that she is the most respected of
all women of all time.
Like so many personalities in the Bible, we know a good deal about Mary’s life. We know enough from both
historical tradition and the Bible to gain a fairly broad perspective on her. We know from James, a second
century gospel, that her parents were Joachim and Anna. If you read the novel, TWO FROM GALILEE, by
Marjorie Holmes, the author talks about Joachim and Anna as being the parents of Mary. This novel
suggests that Mary if of the tribe of David, and that seems to be historically true. The Bible does not say
that Mary is of the lineage of David, but in Luke 1:32, the Bible implies that she is of the house of David,
just as is Joseph.
In the Bible, we first meet Mary when she was a young girl of about thirteen. For us, that means we picture
a budding young girl, perhaps in seventh or even eighth grade in school. In other words, Mary was just
starting to become a young woman. She was just beginning to go through that change within her whereby
she would be able to give birth to a child. This was a very exciting time for her. Women would come to Mary
and say, “Mary, we hear that you have become a young woman. When are you going to get engaged,
Mary?” Or “When is your father, Joachim, going to make arrangements for you?” Her older siblings and
aunts would tease and taunt her because she had matured to that very delicate time in life when she
became a young woman and eligible for engagement.
Deep inside of her, she would have been asking herself another question: “Will I be the one? Will I be the
one who is to be the mother of our Messiah? Will I be chosen to give birth to the anointed Savior of the
Jews?” At that time in Israel, almost all the people were expecting the coming of the Messiah, the Savior.
This anticipation was also in the hearts of young women that maybe they would be chosen to be the mother
of the Messiah.
Mary’s father arranged for his daughter to be engaged to a young carpenter by the name of Joseph. Their
engagement lasted for one year. During this year that Mary and Joseph were engaged or betrothed, they
prepared for their wedding, just as a young couple would prepare for their wedding and marriage. How did
Mary prepare for her wedding and marriage? By sewing. Mary sewed the dishcloths, washcloths and
towels. She sewed all her clothes for the wedding and marriage. She was focused on preparing for that
day. Joseph, on the other hand, was a typical Jewish man. What would Joseph do to prepare for the
wedding day? By building. A typical Jewish man would prepare their future house. He would build the
furniture, the house, and make those kinds of preparations. He lived with his parents as he did this. Also,
during their engagement, the couple would become acquainted, being building their relationship and start
to fall in love with each other.
In my day and age, I have seen enough thirteen-year old girls running around this congregation, and I know
how their feelings start to explode at this time. Their smiles; their inner radiance; their budding maturity as
young women. I can easily imagine Mary’s feelings of affection and fear during this time because Mary was
a real live young woman with real live feelings. The same was true of Joseph: he was a real live man with
real live feelings.
Jewish law took their engagement seriously. The Jewish law said that if Joseph died, Mary would be a
widow. If he died, she would be a widower. If they separated, it was called a divorce.
In our Biblical resources such as the Gospel of Luke, Mary, this thirteen-year old girl, was visited by an
angel, Gabriel. Gabriel was a messenger from God. Gabriel said, “Hail, favored one of Israel. The Lord is
with you.” Mary didn’t know what to make of it; she was puzzled, worried, and afraid. The angel continued,
“Do not be afraid Mary, for you have found favor with God.” We could stop the sermon right here, if we
wanted to. We have heard the Gospel in two statements. “Do not be afraid, Mary. Do not be afraid of your
future.” The very nature of fear is to be afraid of the future, what is going to happen to us or loved ones.
Fear of the future. Of disease, death, lack of income. And God says, “Don’t be afraid of your future.” That
is gospel. Then we hear a second line, “For you have found favor with God, Mary.” Instead of Mary,
substitute your own name. Larry, Pat, John, Jean. You have found favor with God and God is with you.
Elsewhere in the Bible, God says, “Do not be afraid for I am with you wherever you go.” What good news
that is for each one of us
The angel went on to say, “You have found favor with God, Mary, because you are to give birth to the
Messiah, the Anointed one.” And Mary questioned, “Me? I am only engaged. I am not married yet. I don’t
have a husband yet.” Then the angel said, “The power of the Holy Spirit will come upon you. The Holy
Spirit will be like a shadow over you.” When Luke said, the Holy Spirit will shadow over you; that same word
was used in Genesis in the creation story. The Holy Spirit shadowed over the waters before the beginning
of time, and God created life in those waters. In the same way, the Holy Spirit is now shadowed over Mary
and created life in her. What is the bigger miracle? The Spirit over the waters in Genesis and God created
life? Or the Spirit over the womb of Mary, creating life. Both are miracles. Miraculously, the Spirit created
life over the waters in creation and the Spirit created life in Mary.
Mary was overwhelmed, but the messenger was not done speaking, “You know what? Your old Aunt
Elizabeth is pregnant. With God, nothing is impossible. God did the impossible in Creation. God did the
impossible in your old Aunt Lizie. And God did the impossible in you, Mary. God does the impossible all the
time. ” The messenger left and Mary said, “Lord, I am your handmaiden, your servant. Let it be to me
according to your word. Do with my life and my body what you want to do.”
The angel left. What were Mary’s feelings? Who knows? Fear? Excitement? Incomprehension? Mary didn’t
really know what happened to her. She was wondering if all of this was true and so she went to the land of
Judah to look for old Aunt Elizabeth. She found her old auntie, and sure enough, her old auntie was starting
to expand. Her old auntie was looking pregnant, that was for sure. Aunt Elizabeth looked at Mary and said,
“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child in your womb. You are most blessed and you
have believed God’s Word to you.” The baby in her belly kicked her a good one as if to join the celebration.
And Mary? Mary exploded in a song of happiness, “My soul praises the Lord, for God is my salvation. I am
so happy in God, my savior.”
So, this is the essential outline of the story of Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is much
more that could be said about her. As I look at the Scriptures, it is amazing to me that Mary was the only
human being with Jesus throughout his whole earthly life. That is, she was the only person to love Jesus
before he was born. You mothers are keenly aware of how much you love the child inside of you way before
the child was ready to be delivered. Mary loved Jesus at his birth. Every woman especially, way more than
the husband, remembers what it was like when you actually delivered that baby. The mind remembers
clearly every detail of a birth experience and so did Mary. Mary loved him as Jesus grew up as a young
child. The customs of society clearly dictated that she bathed him, fed him, changed his diapers, and sewed
his clothes. His childhood was Mary’s focus. Mary loved Jesus in the temple at age twelve when Jesus
amazed all of them with his profound wisdom. Mary pondered all of these things in her heart, wondering
what this all meant. Mary loved Jesus when they were together at the wedding in Cana, the site of his first
miracle. When you read the Biblical story, you sense that Mary was pushing Jesus to do the miracle and
he wasn’t even ready yet. A lot of mothers push their kids and it seems that Mary was no different. Mary
loved Jesus when he told the crowds that Mary and her other sons weren’t Jesus’ true family; those who
did the will of God were his true family. Mary understood. Mary loved Jesus at the foot of the cross, when
she had to suffer the unbearable pain of watching her son be executed and she could do nothing about it.
And finally, we see Mary in the Book of Acts, where Jesus had been raised from the dead and he now
appeared as the Risen Christ. As I look at the Bible, Mary is the only person who loved Jesus from the
beginning to the end. Of course, the Bible would declare that she was the most blessed of all women.
Three reflections about Mary.
It can be said of Mary that God chose a humble person to use as his instrument to accomplish God’s work
in the world. God chose a humble instrument. One translation of the Bible says that she was a
“handmaiden,” and the word, “handmaiden,” really masquerades that she was a servant. The Greek word
is “doulos,” and this is a common well-used word in the Bible for servant or slave. Mary was a servant girl,
a slave girl; she was someone else’s property. The Bible says that Jesus was born of a woman under the
law, a woman of low estate.
Mary was not from a high, noble class of people. I now use three words that begin with the letter “B.” Mary
was not a beauty queen. She was neither the Beauty Queen of Ballard nor the Holly Princess of Happy
Hanukah. Mary was not one of those raving beauties with sparkling teeth and a sweet little figure. Nor was
she from a family that had lots of bread. Mary did not come from a rich family like Carolyn Kennedy or
Dorothy DuPont. The Bible says that her station in life was of a commoner and less than a commoner; she
was a servant girl. God chose Mary, who was low and humble, to accomplish God’s grand purpose. Mary
was not the girl with brains; the valedictorian, the salutatorian, the number one genius of her generation.
No, God did not go after a young girl with beauty, bread or brains. God chose a lowly person, of most
common origins.
We find further examples of this principle in the Old Testament. If I had been God, I would have chosen the
land of Egypt, the superpower of that historical era, with all their connections and chariots. If not Egypt,
then I would have chosen Assyria or Babylon, for these were grand powers of human civilization. But God
chose a little hick country like Israel and then a little hick town by the name of Bethlehem. God chose what
was humble to accomplish God’s purpose.
I like the following quotation: “Just as Jesus was born in a humble stable, so Christ today is only born in
humble hearts.” That quotation is potent. Just as Jesus was born in a humble stable, so Christ is born only
in humble hearts. Proud people think they have no need of Christ; but those who humbly cry out to God
need God’s presence to heal, guide and forgive. We don’t need to have beauty, bread and brains to be
used by God.
A second point about Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ. Mary had the audacity to believe that God
had chosen her. She said, “Do with my life as you want to.” She had the audacity to believe that God had
chosen her to be the mother of the Messiah. Mary didn’t say like Moses, “Well, I am not good enough; God,
get someone who can talk better.” Nor was Mary like Zechariah, “Lord, give me a sign. Prove it to me and
then I will believe.” Mary simply believed that God chose her. Because she believed, she was able to put
into effect what God had chosen her to do.
I believe that as God chose Mary, God has also chosen you and me. I believe that you are seated here in
this congregation today because God has chosen you. God has chosen to use your life in God’s mission
for the world. I know that God has chosen me and God certainly didn’t choose me because of my abilities.
God chose me because God is gracious. He chose my life for a purpose, and I don’t have to ask God what
the purpose of my life is, what the mission of my life is, or what I am supposed to do. I simply know. And I
simply know that God has a purpose for your life as well.
God has chosen you to be an instrument to carry Jesus Christ into the world. God has also chosen me, and
through me, I go out into the world and I am to be the loving presence of Jesus Christ. I am not carrying
Jesus Christ physically in my womb or uterus. I am carrying Jesus Christ in my heart, but I am carrying
Christ just as Mary did. I carry Christ out into the world. I am the loving presence of Jesus Christ in my
world, and God has chosen you to do that. You are a chosen person. If you have the audacity to believe
that God has chosen you, you know that God is doing God’s work through you. You too are a carrier of
Christ, just as Mary, his mother, was. Like Mary, you are an instrument of God’s.
Further, I firmly believe that God has not only chosen you individually, but that God has chosen
congregations and this particular congregation, Grace Lutheran Church, to accomplish some good works
of love on Christ’s behalf. I do not believe it is an accident that we are now together as a pastor and people.
God has brought us together to do a mission, to do a ministry together. I believe that God has several great
tasks for this congregation to do. If you would dare to believe that, just as Mary dared to believe that in her
own life. If you dare to believe that God has some significant missions for your individual life and our
congregational life together, fantastic things will start to happen in the life of this congregation and in our
individual lives. If you dare to believe that you are chosen, if we as a congregation are chosen.
Third, when Mary finally realized the miracle that God has worked in her, she broke out in song. Her heart
could no longer be contained, and so she started singing at the top of her voice, “My soul praises God. For
God has remembered what a lowly person I am and he has still chosen me. Praise God.” Sometimes in
life, there comes a moment when you just burst out with a song inside of you, and this is what happened to
Mary. And when you realize the great things that God has done in you and your life; and these great things
have nothing to do with beauty and bread and brains, your heart begins to burst with praise. It is truly
amazing what God did through Mary. It is truly amazing what God has done and is doing through you, and
through us as a congregation. Praise be to God. No wonder her heart was filled with praise, as is ours.
The other day or the other year or maybe in another decade, I was watching a young thirteen year old girl
in our congregation. She was so frisky, with those flashing brown eyes. She was as fresh as a young filly.
I was watching her, imagining what may happen to her as the years go by. I looked at her and thought of
Mary, the young mother of Jesus, that young girl who was to become the carrier of Jesus Christ within her.
What a blessing when anyone is a carrier of Christ within. No wonder the Bible says that she was the most
blessed of all women. Amen.
[[@DayOfYear:January 2]]
On the Holy Lights by St. Gregory Nazianzus “the Theologian”
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On the Holy Lights
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Patristics
Gregory Nazianzus, St.
http://preachersinstitute.com/2010/01/05/onthe-holy-lights-part-1-by-st-gregorynazianzus-the-theologian/
I. Again My Jesus, and again a mystery; not deceitful nor disorderly, nor belonging to Greek error or
drunkenness (for so I call their solemnities, and so I think will every man of sound sense); but a mystery
lofty and divine, and allied to the Glory above.
For the Holy Day of the Lights (Theophany), to which we have come, and which we are celebrating today,
has for its origin the Baptism of my Christ, the True Light That lightens every man that comes into the
world, and effects my purification, and assists that light which we received from the beginning from Him
from above, but which we darkened and confused by sin.
II. Therefore listen to the Voice of God, which sounds so exceeding clearly to me, who am both disciple
and master of these mysteries, as would to God it may sound to you; I Am The Light Of The World.
Therefore approach ye to Him and be enlightened, and let not your faces be ashamed, being signed with
the true Light. It is a season of new birth, let us be born again. It is a time of reformation, let us receive
again the first Adam. Let us not remain what we are, but let us become what we once were. The Light
Shines In The Darkness,(in this life and in the flesh, and is chased by the darkness, but is not overtaken by
it:–I mean the adverse power leaping up in its shamelessness against the visible Adam, but encountering
God and being defeated;–in order that we, putting away the darkness, may draw near to the Light, and
may then become perfect Light, the children of perfect Light. See the grace of this Day; see the power of
this mystery. Are you not lifted up from the earth? Are you not clearly placed on high, being exalted by
our voice and meditation? and you will be placed much higher when the Word shall have prospered the
course of my words.
III. Is there any such among the shadowy purifications of the Law, aiding as it did with temporary
sprinklings, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean; or do the gentiles celebrate any such thing
in their mysteries, every ceremony and mystery of which to me is nonsense, and a dark invention of
demons, and a figment of an unhappy mind, aided by time, and hidden by fable? For what they worship
as true, they veil as mythical. But if these things are true, they ought not to be called myths, but to be
proved not to be shameful; and if they are false, they ought not to be objects of wonder; nor ought people
so inconsiderately to hold the most contrary opinions about the same thing, as if they were playing in the
market-place with boys or really ill-disposed men, not engaged in discussion with men of sense, and
worshipers of the Word, though despisers of this artificial plausibility.
IV. We are not concerned in these mysteries with birth of Zeus and thefts of the Cretan Tyrant (though
the Greeks may be displeased at such a title for him), nor with the name of Curetes, and the armed dances,
which were to hide the wailings of a weeping god, that he might escape from his father’s hate. For indeed
it would be a strange thing that he who was swallowed as a stone should be made to weep as a child.
Nor are we concerned with Phrygian mutilations and flutes and Corybantes, and all the ravings of men
concerning Rhea, consecrating people to the mother of the gods, and being initiated into such ceremonies
as befit the mother of such gods as these. Nor have we any carrying away of the Maiden, nor wandering
of Demeter, nor her intimacy with Celei and Triptolemi and Dragons; nor her doings and sufferings … for
I am ashamed to bring into daylight that ceremony of the night, and to make a sacred mystery of
obscenity. Eleusis knows these things, and so do those who are eyewitnesses of what is there guarded by
silence, and well worthy of it. Nor is our commemoration one of Dionysus, and the thigh that travailed
with an incomplete birth, as before a head had travailed with another; nor of the hermaphrodite god, nor
a chorus of the drunken and enervated host; nor of the folly of the Thebans which honors him; nor the
thunderbolt of Semele which they adore.
Nor is it the harlot mysteries of Aphrodite, who, as they themselves admit, was basely born and basely
honored; nor have we here Phalli and Ithyphalli, shameful both in form and action; nor Taurian massacres
of strangers; nor blood of Laconian youths shed upon the altars, as they scourged themselves with the
whips; and in this case alone use their courage badly, who honor a goddess, and her a virgin. For these
same people both honor effeminacy, and worship boldness.
V. And where will you place the butchery of Pelops, which feasted hungry gods, that bitter and inhuman
hospitality? Where the horrible and dark specters of Hecate, and the underground puerilities and
sorceries of Trophonius, or the babblings of the Dodonaean Oak, or the trickeries of the Delphian tripod,
or the prophetic draught of Castalia, which could prophesy anything, except their own being brought to
silence?
Nor is it the sacrificial art of Magi, and their entrail forebodings, nor the Chaldaean astronomy and
horoscopes, comparing our lives with the movements of the heavenly bodies, which cannot know even
what they are themselves, or shall be. Nor are these Thracian orgies, from which the word Worship is
said to be derived; nor rites and mysteries of Orpheus, whom the Greeks admired so much for his wisdom
that they devised for him a lyre which draws all things by its music.
Nor the tortures of Mithras which it is just that those who can endure to be initiated into such things
should suffer; nor the manglings of Osiris, another calamity honoured by the Egyptians; nor the ill-fortunes
of Isis and the goats more venerable than the Mendesians, and the stall of Apis, the calf that luxuriated in
the folly of the Memphites, nor all those honors with which they outrage the Nile, while themselves
proclaiming it in song to be the Giver of fruits and corn, and the measurer of happiness by its cubits.
VI. I pass over the honors they pay to reptiles, and their worship of vile things, each of which has its
peculiar cultus and festival, and all share in a common devilishness; so that, if they were absolutely bound
to be ungodly, and to fall away from honoring God, and to be led astray to idols and works of art and
things made with hands, men of sense could not imprecate anything worse upon themselves than that
they might worship just such things, and honor them in just such a way; that, as Paul says, they might
receive in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet, in the very objects of their worship;
not so much honoring them as suffering dishonor by them; abominable because of their error, and yet
more abominable from the vileness of the objects of their adoration and worship; so that they should be
even more without understanding than the objects of their worship; being as excessively foolish as the
latter are vile.
VII. Well, let these things be the amusement of the children of the Greeks and of the demons to whom
their folly is due, who turn aside the honor of God to themselves, and divide men in various ways in pursuit
of shameful thoughts and fancies, ever since they drove us away from the Tree of Life, by means of the
Tree of Knowledge unseasonably and improperly imparted to us, and then assailed us as now weaker than
before; carrying clean away the mind, which is the ruling power in us, and opening a door to the passions.
For, being of a nature envious and man-hating, or rather having become so by their own wickedness, they
could neither endure that we who were below should attain to that which is above, having themselves
fallen from above upon the earth; nor that such a change in their glory and their first natures should have
taken place. This is the meaning of their persecution of the creature.
For this God’s Image was outraged; and as we did not like to keep the Commandments, we were given
over to the independence of our error. And as we erred we were disgraced by the objects of our worship.
For there was not only this calamity, that we who were made for good works to the glory and praise of
our Maker, and to imitate God as far as might be, were turned into a den of all sorts of passions, which
cruelly devour and consume the inner man; but there was this further evil, that man actually made gods
the advocates of his passions, so that sin might be reckoned not only irresponsible, but even divine, taking
refuge in the objects of his worship as his apology.
VIII. But since to us grace has been given to flee from superstitious error and to be joined to the truth and
to serve the living and true God, and to rise above creation, passing by all that is subject to time and to
first motion; let us look at and reason upon God and things divine in a manner corresponding to this Grace
given us. But let us begin our discussion of them from the most fitting point. And the most fitting is, as
Solomon laid down for us; us; The beginning of wisdom, he says, is to get wisdom.
And what this is he tells us; the beginning of wisdom is fear. For we must not begin with contemplation
and leave off with fear (for an unbridled contemplation would perhaps push us over a precipice), but we
must be grounded and purified and so to say made light by fear, and thus be raised to the height. For
where fear is there is keeping of commandments; and where there is keeping of commandments there is
purifying of the flesh, that cloud which covers the soul and suffers it not to see the Divine Ray. And where
them is purifying there is Illumination; and Illumination is the satisfying of desire to those who long for
the greatest things, or the Greatest Thing, or That Which surpasses all greatness.
IX. Wherefore we must purify ourselves first, and then approach this converse with the Pure; unless we
would have the same experience as Israel,who could not endure the glory of the face of Moses, and
therefore asked for a veil; or else would feel and say with Manoah
“We are undone O wife, we have seen God,”
although it was God only in his fancy; or like Peter would send Jesus out of the boat, as being ourselves
unworthy of such a visit; and when I say Peter, I am speaking of the man who walked upon the waves; or
like Paul would be stricken in eyes, as he was before he was cleansed from the guilt of his persecution,
when he conversed with Him Whom he was persecuting–or rather with a short flash of That great Light;
or like the Centurion would seek for healing, but would not, through a praiseworthy fear, receive the
Healer into his house. Let each one of us also speak so, as long as he is still uncleansed, and is a Centurion
still, commanding many in wickedness, and serving in the army of Caesar, the World-ruler of those who
are being dragged down;
“I am not worthy that you should come under my roof.”
But when he shall have looked upon Jesus, though he be little of stature like Zaccheus of old, and climb
up on the top of the sycamore tree by mortifying his members which are upon the earth, and having risen
above the body of humiliation, then he shall receive the Word, and it shall be said to him, This day is
salvation come to this house. Then let him lay hold on the salvation, and bring forth fruit more perfectly,
scattering and pouring forth rightly that which as a publican he wrongly gathered.
X. For the same Word is on the one hand terrible through its nature to those who are unworthy, and on
the other through its loving kindness can be received by those who are thus prepared, who have driven
out the unclean and worldly spirit from their souls, and have swept and adorned their own souls by selfexamination, and have not left them idle or without employment, so as again to be occupied with greater
armament by the seven spirits of wickedness … the same number as are reckoned of virtue (for that which
is hardest to fight against calls for the sternest efforts) … but besides fleeing from evil, practice virtue,
making Christ entirely, or at any rate to the greatest extent possible, to dwell within them, so that the
power of evil cannot meet with any empty place to fill it again with himself, and make the last state of
that man worse than the first, by the greater energy of his assault, and the greater strength and
impregnability of the fortress.
But when, having guarded our soul with every care, and having appointed goings up in our heart, and
broken up our fallow ground, and sown unto righteousness, as David and Solomon and Jeremiah bid us,
let us enlighten ourselves with the light of knowledge, and then let us speak of the Wisdom of God that
hath been hid in a mystery, and enlighten others. Meanwhile let us purify ourselves, and receive the
elementary initiation of the Word, that we may do ourselves the utmost good, making ourselves godlike,
and receiving the Word at His coming; and not only so, but holding Him fast and shewing Him to others.
XI. And now, having purified the theater by what has been said, let us discourse a little about the Festival,
and join in celebrating this Feast with festal and pious souls. And, since the chief point of the Festival is
the remembrance of God, let us call God to mind. For I think that the sound of those who keep Festival
There, where is the dwelling of all the Blissful, is nothing else than this, the hymns and praises of God,
sung by all who are counted worthy of that City. Let none be astonished if what I have to say contains
some things that I have said before; for not only will I utter the same words, but I shall speak of the same
subjects, trembling both in tongue and mind and thought when I speak of God for you too, that you may
share this laudable and blessed feeling.
And when I speak of God you must be illumined at once by one flash of light and by three. Three in
Individualities or Hypostases, if any prefer so to call them, or persons, for we will not quarrel about names
so long as the syllables amount to the same meaning; but One in respect of the Substance–that is, the
Godhead. For they are divided without division, if I may so say; and they are united in division. For the
Godhead is one in three, and the three are one, in whom the Godhead is, or to speak more accurately,
Who are the Godhead. Excesses and defects we will omit, neither making the Unity a confusion, nor the
division a separation.
We would keep equally far from the confusion of Sabellius and from the division of Arius, which are evils
diametrically opposed, yet equal in their wickedness. For what need is there heretically to fuse God
together, or to cut Him up into inequality?
XII. For to us there is but One God, the Father, of Whom are all things, and One Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom
are all things; and One Holy Spirit, in Whom are all things; yet these words, of, by, in, whom, do not denote
a difference of nature (for if this were the case, the three prepositions, or the order of the three names
would never be altered), but they characterize the personalities of a nature which is one and unconfused.
And this is proved by the fact that They are again collected into one, if you will read–not carelessly–this
other passage of the same Apostle,
“Of Him and through Him and to Him are all things; to Him be glory forever, Amen.”
The Father is Father, and is Unoriginate, for He is of no one; the Son is Son, and is not unoriginate, for He
is of the Father. But if you take the word Origin in a temporal sense, He too is Unoriginate, for He is the
Maker of Time, and is not subject to Time. The Holy Spirit is truly Spirit, coming forth from the Father
indeed, but not after the manner of the Son, for it is not by Generation but by Procession (since I must
coin a word for the sake of clearness); for neither did the Father cease to be Unbegotten because of His
begetting something, nor the Son to be begotten because He is of the Unbegotten (how could that be?),
nor is the Spirit changed into Father or Son because He proceeds, or because He is God–though the
ungodly do not believe it. For Personality is unchangeable; else how could Personality remain, if it were
changeable, and could be removed from one to another?
But they who make “Unbegotten” and “Begotten” natures of equivocal gods would perhaps make Adam
and Seth differ in nature, since the former was not born of flesh (for he was created), but the latter was
born of Adam and Eve. There is then One God in Three, and These Three are One, as we have said.
XIII. Since then these things are so, or rather since This is so; and His Adoration ought not to be rendered
only by Beings above, but there ought to be also worshipers on earth, that all things may be filled with
the glory of God (forasmuch as they are filled with God Himself); therefore man was created and honored
with the hand(a) and Image of God. But to despise man, when by the envy of the Devil and the bitter taste
of sin he was pitiably severed from God his Maker–this was not in the Nature of God. What then was
done, and what is the great Mystery that concerns us? An innovation is made upon nature, and God is
made Man.
“He that rides upon the Heaven of Heavens in the East”
of His own glory and Majesty, is glorified in the West of our meanness and lowliness. And the Son of God
deigns to become and to be called Son of Man; not changing what He was (for It is unchangeable); but
assuming what He was not (for He is full of love to man), that the Incomprehensible might be
comprehended, conversing with us through the mediation of the Flesh as through a veil; since it was not
possible for that nature which is subject to birth and decay to endure His unveiled Godhead.
Therefore the Unmingled is mingled; and not only is God mingled with birth and Spirit with flesh, and the
Eternal with time, and the Uncircumscribed with measure; but also Generation with Virginity, and
dishonor with Him who is higher than all honor; He who is impassible with Suffering, and the Immortal
with the corruptible.
For since that Deceiver thought that he was unconquerable in his malice, after he had cheated us with the
hope of becoming gods, he was himself cheated by God’s assumption of our nature; so that in attacking
Adam as he thought, he should really meet with God, and thus the new Adam should save the old, and
the condemnation of the flesh should be abolished, death being slain by flesh.
XIV. At His birth we duly kept Festival, both I, the leader of the Feast, and you, and all that is in the world
and above the world.
With the Star we ran, and with the Magi we worshiped, and with the Shepherds we were illuminated, and
with the Angels we glorified Him, and with Simeon we took Him up in our arms, and with Anna the aged
and chaste we made our responsive confession. And thanks be to Him who came to His own in the guise
of a stranger, because He glorified the stranger.
Now, we come to another action of Christ, and another mystery. I cannot restrain my pleasure; I am rapt
into God.
Almost like John I proclaim good tidings; for though I be not a Forerunner, yet am I from the desert. Christ
is illumined, let us shine forth with Him. Christ is baptized, let us descend with Him that we may also
ascend with Him. Jesus is baptized; but we must attentively consider not only this but also some other
points. Who is He, and by whom is He baptized, and at what time?
He is the All-pure; and He is baptized by John; and the time is the beginning of His miracles. What are we
to learn and to be taught by this? To purify ourselves first; to be lowly minded; and to preach only in
maturity both of spiritual and bodily stature.
The first has a word especially for those who rush to Baptism off hand, and without due preparation, or
providing for the stability of the Baptismal Grace by the disposition of their minds to good. For since Grace
contains remission of the past (for it is a grace), it is on that account more worthy of reverence, that we
return not to the same vomit again. The second speaks to those who rebel against the Stewards of this
Mystery, if they are their superiors in rank. The third is for those who are confident in their youth, and
think that any time is the right one to teach or to preside.
Jesus is purified, and dost thou despise purification? … and by John, and dost thou rise up against thy
herald? … and at thirty years of age, and dost thou before thy beard has grown presume to teach the
aged, or believe that thou teaches them, though thou be not reverend on account of thine age, or even
perhaps for thy character? But here it may be said, Daniel, and this or that other, were judges in their
youth, and examples are on your tongues; for every wrongdoer is prepared to defend himself. But I reply
that that which is rare is not the law of the Church.
For one swallow does not make a summer, nor one line a geometrician, nor one voyage a sailor.
XV. But John baptizes, Jesus comes to Him … perhaps to sanctify the Baptist himself, but certainly to bury
the whole of the old Adam in the water; and before this and for the sake of this, to sanctify Jordan; for as
He is Spirit and Flesh, so He consecrates us by Spirit and water. John will not receive Him; Jesus contends.
“I have need to be baptized of Thee”
says the Voice to the Word, the Friend to the Bridegroom; he that is above all among them that are born
of women, to Him Who is the Firstborn of every creature; he that leaped in the womb, to Him Who was
adored in the womb; he who was and is to be the Forerunner to Him Who was and is to be manifested.
“I have need to be baptized of Thee;”
add to this
“and for Thee;”
for he knew that he would be baptized by Martyrdom, or, like Peter, that he would be cleansed not only
as to his feet. “And comest Thou to me?” This also was prophetic; for he knew that after Herod would
come the madness of Pilate, and so that when he had gone before Christ would follow him. But what saith
Jesus? “Suffer it to be so now,” for this is the time of His Incarnation; for He knew that yet a little while
and He should baptize the Baptist. And what is the “Fan?” The Purification. And what is the “Fire?” The
consuming of the chaff, and the heat of the Spirit. And what the “Axe?”
The excision of the soul which is incurable even after the dung. And what the Sword? The cutting of the
Word, which separates the worse from the better, and makes a division between the faithful and the
unbeliever; and stirs up the son and the daughter and the bride against the father and the mother and
the mother in law, the young and fresh against the old and shadowy. And what is the Latchet of the shoe,
which thou John who baptizes Jesus may not loose? You who are of the desert, and have no food, the
new Elijah, the more than Prophet, inasmuch as you saw Him of Whom you did prophesy, you Mediator
of the Old and New Testaments.
What is this? Perhaps the Message of the Advent, and the Incarnation, of which not the least point may
be loosed, I say not by those who are yet carnal and babes in Christ, but not even by those who are like
John in spirit.
XVI. But further–Jesus goes up out of the water … for with Himself He car ties up the world … and sees the
heaven opened which Adam had shut against himself and all his posterity, as the gates of Paradise by the
flaming sword. And the Spirit bears witness to His Godhead, for he descends upon One that is like Him, as
does the Voice from Heaven (for He to Whom the witness is borne came from thence), and like a Dove,
for He honors the Body (for this also was God, through its union with God) by being seen in a bodily form;
and moreover, the Dove has from distant ages been wont to proclaim the end of the Deluge.
But if you are to judge of Godhead by bulk and weight, and the Spirit seems to you a small thing because
He came in the form of a Dove, O man of contemptible littleness of thought concerning the greatest of
things, you must also to be consistent despise the Kingdom of Heaven, because it is compared to a grain
of mustard seed; and you must exalt the adversary above the Majesty of Jesus, because he is called a
great Mountain, and Leviathan and King of that which lives in the water, whereas Christ is called the Lamb,
and the Pearl, and the Drop and similar names.
XVII. Now, since our Festival is of Baptism, and we must endure a little hardness with Him Who for our
sake took form, and was baptized, and was crucified; let us speak about the different kinds of Baptism,
that we may come out thence purified. Moses baptized but it was in water, and before that in the cloud
and in the sea. This was typical as Paul saith;the Sea of the water, and the Cloud of the Spirit; the Manna,
of the Bread of Life; the Drink, of the Divine Drink. John also baptized; but this was not like the baptism of
the Jews, for it was not only in water, but also
“unto repentance.”
Still it was not wholly spiritual, for he does not add
“And in the Spirit.”
Jesus also baptized, but in the Spirit. This is the perfect Baptism. And how is He not God, if I may digress a
little, by whom you too are made God? I know also a Fourth Baptism–that by Martyrdom and blood, which
also Christ himself underwent:–and this one is far more august than all the others, inasmuch as it cannot
be defiled by after-stains. Yes, and I know of a Fifth also, which is that of tears, and is much more laborious,
received by him who washes his bed every night and his couch with tears; whose bruises stink through his
wickedness; and who goes mourning and of a sad countenance; who imitates the repentance of Manasseh
and the humiliation of the Ninevites upon which God had mercy; who utters the words of the Publican in
the Temple, and is justified rather than the stiff-necked Pharisee; who like the Canaanite woman bends
down and asks for mercy and crumbs, the food of a dog that is very hungry.
XVIII. I, however, for I confess myself to be a man,–that is to say, an animal shifty and of a changeable
nature,–both eagerly receive this Baptism, and worship Him Who has given it me, and impart it to others;
and by shewing mercy make provision for mercy. For I know that I too am compassed with infirmity, and
that with what measure I mete it shall be measured to me again. But what do you say, O new Pharisee
pure in title but not in intention, who discharges upon us the sentiments of Novatus, though thou shares
the same infirmities? Will you not give any place to weeping? Will you shed no tear? Mayest thou not
meet with a Judge like thyself? Are you not ashamed by the mercy of Jesus, Who took our infirmities and
bare our sicknesses; Who came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance; Who will have mercy
rather than sacrifice; who forgives sins till seventy times seven.
How blessed would your exaltation be if it really were purity, not pride, making laws above the reach of
men, and destroying improvement by despair. For both are alike evil, indulgence not regulated by
prudence, and condemnation that will never forgive; the one because it relaxes all reins, the other
because it strangles by its severity. Shew me your purity, and I will approve your boldness. But as it is, I
fear that being full of sores you will render them incurable.
Will you not admit even David’s repentance, to whom his penitence preserved even the gift of prophecy?
nor the great Peter himself, who fell into human weakness at the Passion of our Savior? Yet Jesus received
him, and by the threefold question and confession healed the threefold denial. Or will you even refuse to
admit that he was made perfect by blood (for your folly goes even as far as that)? Or the transgressor at
Corinth? But Paul confirmed love towards him when he saw his amendment, and gives the reason,
“that such an one be not swallowed up by overmuch sorrow,”
being overwhelmed by the excess of the punishment. And will you refuse to grant liberty of marriage to
young widows on account of the liability of their age to fall? Paul ventured to do so; but of course you can
teach him; for you have been caught up to the Fourth heaven, and to another Paradise, and have heard
words more unspeakable, and comprehend a larger circle in your Gospel.
XIX. But these sins were not after Baptism, you will say. Where is your proof? Either prove it–or refrain
from condemning; and if there be any doubt, let charity prevail. But Novatus, you say, would not receive
those who lapsed in the persecution. What do you mean by this? If they were unrepentant he was right;
I too would refuse to receive those who either would not stoop at all or not sufficiently, and who would
refuse to make their amendment counterbalance their sin; and when I do receive them, I will assign them
their proper place;(a) but if he refused those who wore themselves away with weeping, I will not imitate
him.
And why should Novatus’s want of charity be a rule for me? He never punished covetousness, which is a
second idolatry; but he condemned fornication as though he himself were not flesh and body. What say
you? Are we convincing you by these words? Come and stand here on our side, that is, on the side of
humanity. Let us magnify the Lord together. Let none of you, even though he has much confidence in
himself, dare to say, Touch me not for I am pure, and who is so pure as I?
Give us too a share in your brightness. But perhaps we are not convincing you? Then we will weep for you.
Let these men then if they will, follow our way, which is Christ’s way; but if they will not, let them go their
own. Perhaps in it they will be baptized with Fire, in that last Baptism which is more painful and longer,
which devours wood like grass, and consumes the stubble of every evil.
XX. But let us venerate today the Baptism of Christ; and let us keep the feast well, not in pampering the
belly, but rejoicing in spirit. And how shall we luxuriate?
“Wash you, make you clean.”
If you be scarlet with sin and less bloody, be made white as snow; if ye be red, and men bathed in blood,
yet be ye brought to the whiteness of wool. Anyhow be purified, and you shall be clean (for God rejoices
in nothing so much as in the amendment and salvation of man, on whose behalf is every discourse and
every Sacrament), that you may be like lights in the world, a quickening force to all other men; that you
may stand as perfect lights beside That great Light, and may learn the mystery of the illumination of
Heaven, enlightened by the Trinity more purely and clearly, of Which even now you are receiving in a
measure the One Ray from the One Godhead in Christ Jesus our Lord; to Whom be the glory and the might
for ever and ever. Amen.
[[@DayOfYear:January 3]]January 3
Excerpt from Sermon 49 by St. Bernardine of Siena
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Bernardine of Siena, St.
Sermon 49
The Most Holy Name of Jesus
http://www.jc4me.net/holyJ.php
The Name of Jesus that makes us children of God is a firm foundation of faith. This is the
most holy Name so long desired by the patriarchs of old. They waited for it with much anxiety.
The delay in its coming caused them to languish. They called out for it with many a sigh; they
prayed for it with many tears. When the moment of grace arrived it was given with mercy.
Put aside, then, I beg you, any name implying political power; let there be no mention of
vengence., no mention of justice. Give us the name of mercy. Let the name of Jesus resound
in my ears because then indeed is your voice sweet and your countenance lovely.
The name of Jesus that makes us children of God is a firm foundation of faith. The faith of the
Catholic religion is based upon a knowledge and recognition of Jesus Christ who is the light
of the soul, the gateway to life, the foundation of eternal salvation. Whoever lacks this
knowledge and-recognition, or has abandoned it, is like a man who walks through the
darkness of night without a light and like a person who rushes headlong through dangers with
his eyes shut. However brilliant such a person's mind may be, he follows a blind leader when
he follows his own understanding to grasp the secrets of heaven. He attempts to build a house
without laying a foundation, he wants to enter through the roof because he left out a door.
Jesus, then, is the foundation, light and door. It is he who will show himself as the way to
those who go astray. He has shown to all the light of faith through which God can be sought
while yet unknown, believed when the search is ended, and found when believed. This
foundation supports the Church built on the name of Jesus.
The name of Jesus brings luster to those who proclaim it because he causes men to preach it
and enlightens men to heed it. To what do you attribute such sudden and brilliant light of
faith in the world if not to the preaching of Jesus? Has not God called us into his marvelous
light through the brilliance and sweetness of this name? To those who were enlightened and
who in this light were beholding the light, the Apostle could say: You once were darkness, but
now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of the light.
Glorious name, gracious name, name of love and of power! Through you sins are forgiven,
though you enemies are vanquished, through you the sick are freed from their illness, through
you those suffering in trials are made strong and cheerful. You bring honor to those who
believe, you teach those who preach, you give strength to the toiler, you sustain the weary.
Our love for you is ardent and glowing, our prayers are heard; the souls of those who
contemplate you are filled to overflowing, and all the blessed in heaven are filled with your
glory. Sweet Jesus, grant that with them we too may reign through this your most holy name.
[[@DayOfYear:January 4]]
Nativity Discourse by Fr. Moses Samaan
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Samaan, Fr. Moses
January 5, 2011
http://lacopts.org/articles/nativitydiscourse/
We behold now a great and wondrous mystery. Shepherds with cries of joy come forth as messengers to
the sons of mankind, not on their hilly pastures with their flocks conversing and not in the field with their
sheep frolicking, but rather in the city of David Bethlehem spiritual songs exclaiming. In the highest sing
Angels, proclaiming hymns Archangelic; the heavenly Cherubim and Seraphim sing out praises to the glory
of God: “Holy, Holy, Holy…” Together all do celebrate this joyous feast, beholding God upon the earth,
and mankind of earth amidst the heavens. By Divine providence the far distant are uplifted to the highest,
and the highest, through the love of God for mankind, have bent down to the far distant, wherefore the
Most High, through His humility, “is exalted through humility.” On this day of great festivity Bethlehem
hath become like unto heaven, taking place amidst the glittering stars are Angels singing glory, and taking
the place of the visible sun — is the indefinable and immeasurable Sun of Truth, having made all things
that do exist. But who would dare investigate so great a mystery? “Wherein God doth wish it, therein the
order of nature is overturned”, and laws cannot impede. And so, of that which was impossible for mankind
to undertake, God did aspire and did descend, making for the salvation of mankind, since in the will of
God this is life for all mankind.
On the present joyous day God hath come to be born; on this great day of arrival God is become That
Which He was not: being God, He hath become Man, so to speak as though removed from Divinity (though
His Divine Nature be not divested of); in being made Man, He hath remained God. Wherefore, though He
grew and flourished, it however was not thus as it were by human power to attain to Divinity nor by any
human ability to be made God; but rather as the Word, by miraculous sufferance, wherein He was
incarnated and manifest not being transformed, not being made something other, not deprived of that
Divine Nature which He possessed previously. In Judea the new King is born; but this new and wondrous
nativity which pagan Gentiles have come to believe, the Jew have eschewed. The Pharisees
comprehended incorrectly the Law and the prophets. That which therein was contradictory for them, they
explained away mistakenly. Herod too strove to learn of this new birth, full of mystery, yet Herod did this
not to reverence the new-born King, but to kill Him.
That One, Who did forsake the Angels, Archangels, Thrones, Dominions, and all the constant and luminous
spirits — He alone having come a new path, does issue forth from an inviolate of seed virginal womb. The
Creator of all comes to enlighten the world, indeed not leaving His angels orphaned, and He appears also
as Man, come forth from God.
And I, though I see by the NewBorn neither trumpets (nor other musical instruments), nor sword, nor
bodily adornments, neither lampadas nor way-lamps, and seeing the choir of Christ composed of those
humble of birth and without influence — it doth persuade me to praise of Him. I see speechless animals
and choirs of youth, as though some sort of trumpet, resonant with song, as though taking the place of
lampadas and as it were shining upon the Lord. But what shall I say about what the lampadas do light? He
— is the very most Hope and Life Itself, He is Salvation Itself, Blessedness Itself, the focal point of the
Kingdom of Heaven. He is Himself borne as offering, so that there would in power transpire the
proclamation of the heavenly Angels: “Glory to God in the Highest,” and with the shepherds of Bethlehem
be pronounced the joyous song: “And on earth peace, good-will to mankind!” Born of the Father, in His
Person and in His Being passionless, now in a manner dispassionate and incomprehensible He is born for
us. The pre-eternal birth, He alone Who was born dispassionately doth know of; the present birth, is
supernaturally known only by the grace of the Holy Spirit; but in both the first birth truly, and in the
present birth in kenotic humbling, actually and immutably God was born from God, but He — is also Man,
having received flesh of the Virgin. In the highest of the One Father — He is One, the Only-Begotten Son
of the One Father; in kenotic humbling Unique of the unique Virgin, the Only-Begotten Son of the one
Virgin… God suffereth not passions, in being born God of God; and the Virgin did not suffer corruption,
since in a manner spiritual was born the Spiritual. The first birth — is inexplicable and the second — is
insurmisable; the first birth was without travail and the second was without impurity … We know, Who
now is born of the Virgin, and we believe, that it is He, born of the Father before all eternity. But what
manner of birth it was we would not hope to explain. Neither with words would I attempt to speak of this,
nor in thought would I dare to approach it, since the Divine Nature is not subject to observation, nor
approachable by thought, nor containable by the hapless reasoning. Needful only is to believe in the
power of His works. The laws of corporeal nature are evident: a married woman conceives and gives birth
to a son in accord with the purpose of marriage; but when the Unwedded Virgin gives birth to the son
miraculously, and after birth remaineth a Virgin, — then is manifest and higher corporeal nature. We can
comprehend what exists according to the laws of corporeal nature, but concerning that which is beyond
the laws of nature, we fall silent, not through fear, but moreso through sin-wrought fallibility. We fall
silent, in silent stillness to reverence virtue with a worthy reverence and, not going beyond the far limits
(of word), to be vouchsafed the heavenly gifts.
What to say and what shalt I proclaim? To speak more concerning the Virgin Birth-Giver? To deliberate
more on the miraculously new birth? It is possible only to be astonished, in contemplating the miraculous
birth, since it overturns the ordinary laws and order of nature and of things. About the wondrous works
(of God) one might say in brief, that they are more wondrous than the works of nature, since in nature
nothing begets itself by its own will, though there be the freedom thereof: wondrous therefore are all the
works of the Lord, Who hath caused them to be. O, immaculate and inexplicable mystery! That One, Who
before the very creation of the world was the Only-Begotten, Without-Compare, Simple, Incorporeal, is
incarnated and descends (into the world), clothed in a perishable body, so that He be visible to all. For if
He were not visible, then by what manner would He teach us to keep His precepts and how would He lead
us to the invisible reality? It was for this therefore that He became openly visible, to lead forth those of
the visible world to the invisible. Far more so do people reckon their eyesight as more credible a witness
than mere hearsay; they trust that which they see, and doubt that which they see not. God willed to be
visible in body, to resolve and dispel the doubts. He willed to be born of the Virgin, not to initiate of Her
something unneeded and wherein the Virgin knew not the reasons of the matter, but rather the mystery
of His birth is an immaculate act of goodness, wherein the Virgin Herself asked of Gabriel: “How can this
be, in that I know not a man” — to which She received in reply: “The Holy Spirit shalt come upon Thee,
and the power of the Most High shalt overshadow Thee” (Luke 1:34-35). But in what manner did the
Word, Who was God, therefore issue forth from the Virgin? This — is an inexplicable wonder. Just as a
goldsmith, having obtained the metal, makes of it a thing suitable for use, thus did Christ also: finding the
Virgin immaculate both in spirit and in body, He assumed of Her a spirit-fashioned body conformable to
His intents, and was arrayed in it, as in clothing. On this wondrous day of the Nativity the Word was neither
afraid nor ashamed to issue forth from the virginal womb, nor did He consider it unworthy of Himself to
assume flesh from His creation — so that the creation, made the attire of the Creator, should be esteemed
worthy of glory, and so that mercy should be made known when revealed, from whence God through His
goodness hath descended. Just as it would be impossible for an earthen vessel to appear before it be clay
in the hands of the potter, so likewise would it be impossible for the perishable vessel (of human nature)
to be renewed otherwise, to make it the attire of the Creator, Who is garbed in it.
What more to say, what shall I expound on? The new wonders do strike me with awe. The Ancient of Days
is become a Child, to make people children of God. Sitting in glory in the Heavens, because of His love for
mankind, He now lays in a manger of dumb beasts. The Impassionate, Incorporeal, Incomprehensible One
is taken by human hands, in order to atone the violence of sinners and the iniquitous and free them of
their slavery, to be wrapped in swaddling cloths and be nourished on the knees of Woman, so that shame
be transformed into honor, the impious to be led to glory, and in place of thorns a crown. He hath taken
on my body, so that I be made capable to have within myself His Spirit — He hath appropriated unto
Himself (my nature), being garbed in my body, and doth give unto me His Spirit, so that I, giving and in
turn receiving, might discover the treasure of life.
What shall I say and what proclaim? “Behold, a Virgin in womb shalt conceive and She shalt give birth a
Son, and they will call Him the name Emmanuel, in interpretation: God is with us (Matthew 1:23). The
saying here deals not with something for future whereof we might learn to hope, but rather it tells us
about something that already has occurred and it awes us with something that already has been fulfilled.
What formerly was said to the Jews and fulfilled amidst them, is now thus amidst us realised as an
occurrence, whereof we have received (this prophecy), and adopted it, and believed in it. The prophet
says to the Jews: “Behold, a Virgin shalt conceive” (Isaiah 7:14); for Christians however, the saying
devolves upon the fulfilling of the actual deed, the full treasure-trove of the actual event. In Judea a Virgin
gave birth, but all the lands of the world accepted Her Son. There — was the root of the vine; here — the
vine of truth. The Jews squeezed the wine-press, and the Gentiles have tasted of the sacramental Blood;
those others planted the kernel of wheat, and these thrive by the grain harvest of faith. The Jews were
pricked to death by the thorns, the Gentiles are filled by the harvest; those others sat beneathe the tree
of desolation, and these — beneathe the tree of life; those expounded the precepts of the Law, but the
Gentiles reap the spiritual fruits. The Virgin gave birth not Herself of Herself, but as willed He needing to
be born. Not in corporeal manner did God act, not to the law of the flesh did God subordinate Himself,
but the Lord of corporeal nature manifested Himself to appear in the world by a miraculous birth, in order
to reveal His power and to show, that in having been made Man, He is born not as a mere man, — that
God is made Man, since for His will nothing be difficult.
On the present great day He is born of the Virgin, having overcome the natural order of things. He is higher
than wedlock and free from defilement. It sufficed that He the preceptor of purity should shine forth
gloriously, to emerge from a pure and undefiled womb. For He — is That Same, Who in the beginning did
create Adam from the virgin soil, and from Adam without wedlock did bring forth for him his wife Eve.
And as Adam was without wife before that he had a wife, and the first woman then was brought into the
world, so likewise on the present day the Virgin without man giveth birth to That One, about Whom spake
the prophet: “He — is Man, who is he that doth know Him?” The Man Christ, clearly seen by mankind,
born of God, is such that womankind was needed to perfect that of mankind, so that perfectly would be
born man for woman. And just as from Adam was taken woman, without impairment and without
diminishing of his masculine nature, so also from woman without man was needed to bring forth a man,
similar to the bringing forth of Eve, so that Adam be not extolled in that without his means woman should
bring forth woman. Therefore the Virgin without cohabitation with man gave birth to God the Word, made
Man, so that in equal measure it was by the same miracle to bestow equal honor to both the one and the
other half — man and woman. And just as from Adam was taken woman without his diminishing, so
likewise from the Virgin was taken the body (Born of Her), wherein also the Virgin did not undergo
diminishing, and Her virginity did not suffer harm. Adam dwelt well and unharmed, when the rib was
taken from him: and so without defilement dwelt the Virgin, when from Her was brought forth God the
Word. For this sort of reason particularly the word assumed of the Virgin Her flesh and Her (corporeal)
garb, so that He be not accounted innocent of the sin of Adam. Since man stung by sin had become a
vessel and instrument of evil, Christ took upon Himself this receptacle of sin into His Own flesh so that,
the Creator having been co-united with the body, it should thus be freed from the foulness of the enemy,
and man thus be clothed in an eternal body, which be neither perished nor destroyed for all eternity.
Moreover, He that is become the God-Man is born, not as ordinarily man is born — He is born as God
made Man, manifest of this by His Own Divine power, since if He were born according to the general laws
of nature, the Word would seem something imperfect. Therefore, He was born of the Virgin and shone
forth; therefore, having been born, He preserved unharmed the virginal womb, so that the hitherto
unheard of manner of the Nativity should be for us a sign of great mystery.
Is Christ God? Christ is God by nature, but not by the order of nature did He become Man. Thus we declare
and in truth believe, calling to witness the seal of intact virginity: as Almighty Creator of the womb and
virginity, He chose an unshameful manner of birth and was made Man, as He did will.
On this great day, now being celebrated, God hath appeared as Man, as Pastor of the nation of Israel,
Who hath enlivened all the universe with His goodness. O dear warriors, glorious champions for mankind,
who did preach Bethlehem as a place of Theophany and the Nativity of the Son of God, who have made
known to all the world the Lord of all, lying in a manger, and did point out God contained within a narrow
cave!
And so, we now glorify joyfully a feast of the years. Just as hence the laws of feasts be new, so now also
the laws of birth be wondrous. On this great day now celebrated, of shattered chains, of Satan shamed,
of all demons to flight, the all-destroying death is replaced by life, paradise is opened to the thief, curses
be transformed into blessings, all sins forgiven and evil banished, truth is come, and they have proclaimed
tidings filled with reverence and love for God, traits pure and immaculate are implanted, virtue is exalted
upon the earth, Angels are come together with people, and people make bold to converse with Angels.
Whence and why hath all this happened? From this, that God hath descended into the world and exalted
mankind unto Heaven. There is accomplished a certain transposition of everything: God Who is perfect
hath descended to earth, though by Nature He remaineth entirely in the Heavens, even at that time when
in His wholeness He be situated upon the earth. He was God and was made Man, not negating His Divinity:
He was not made God, since He was always such by His very Nature, but He was made flesh, so that He
be visible to everything corporeal. That One, upon Whom even the Heaven-dwellers cannot look, chose
as His habitation a manger, and when He came, all around Him became still. And for naught else did He
lay in the manger, than for this, that in giving nourishment to all, He should for Himself extract the
nourishment of infants from maternal breasts and by this to bless wedlock.
On this great day people, leaving off from their arduous and serious aff
airs, do come forth for the glory of Heaven, and they learn through the gleaming of the stars, that the
Lord hath descended to the earth to save His creation. The Lord, sitting upon a swift cloud, in the flesh
wilt enter into Egypt (Isaiah 19:1), visible fleeing from Herod, on that very deed which inspires the saying
by Isaiah: “On that day Israel wilt be third amidst the Egyptians” (Isaiah 19:24).
People entered into the cave, thinking not at all about this beforehand, and it became for them an holy
temple. God entered into Egypt, in the place of the ancient sadness there to bring joy, and in the place of
dark gloom to shed forth the light of salvation. The waters of the Nile had become defiled and harmful
after infants perished in it with untimely death. There appeared in Egypt That One, Who upon a time
turned the water into blood and Who thereafter transformed these waters into well-springs of the water
of rebirth, by the grace of the Holy Spirit cleansing away sins and transgressions. Chastisement once befell
the Egyptians, since in their errors they defied God. But Jesus now is come into Egypt and hath sown in it
reverence for God, so that in casting off from the Egyptian soul its errors, they are made amicable unto
God. The river waters concurred worthily to encompass His head, like a crown.
In order not to stretch out in length our discourse and briefly to conclude what is said, we shall ask: in
what manner was the passionless Word made flesh and become visible, while dwelling immutably in His
Divine Nature? But what shall I say and what declare? I see the carpenter and the manger, the Infant and
the Virgin Birth-Giver, forsaken by all, weighed down by hardship and want. Behold, to what a degree of
humiliation the great God hath descended. For our sakes “impoverished, Who was rich” (2 Cor 8:9): He
was put into but sorry swaddling cloths — not on a soft bed. O poverty, source of all exaltation! O
destitution, revealing all treasures! He doth appear to the poor — and the poor He maketh rich; He doth
lay in an animal manger — and by His word He sets in motion all the world. He is wrapped in tattered
swaddling cloths — and shatters the bonds of sinners having called the entire world into being by His
Word alone.
What still should I say and proclaim? I see the Infant, in swaddling cloths and lying in the manger; Mary,
the Virgin Mother, stands before it together with Joseph, called Her husband. He is called Her husband,
and She — his wife, in name but so and seemingly wedded, though in fact they were not spouses. she was
betrothed to Joseph, but the Holy Spirit came upon Her, as about this the holy evangelist doth speak: “The
Holy Spirit shalt come upon Thee, and the power of the Most High wilt overshadow Thee: and He to be
born is Holy” (Lk 1:35) and is of the seed of Heaven. Joseph did not dare to speak in opposition, and the
righteous man did not wish to reprove the Holy Virgin; he did not want to believe any suspicion of sin nor
pronounce against the Holy Virgin words of slander; but the Son to be born he did not wish to
acknowledge as his, since he knew, that He — was not of him. And although he was perplexed and had
doubts, Who such an Infant should be, and pondered it over — he then had an heavenly vision, an Angel
appeared to him and encouraged him with the words: Fear not, Joseph, son of David; He That shalt be
born of Mary is called Holy and the Son of God; that is: the Holy Spirit shalt come upon the Immaculate
Virgin, and the power of the Most High wilt overshadow Her (Matthew 1:20-21; Luke 1:35). Truly He was
to be born of the Virgin, preserving unharmed Her virginity. Just as the first virgin had fallen, enticed by
Satan, so now Gabriel bears new tidings to the Virgin Mary, so that a virgin would give assent to be the
Virgin, and to the Nativity — by birth. Allured by temptations, Eve did once utter words of ruination; Mary,
in turn, in accepting the tidings gave birth to the Incorporeal and Life-Creating Word. For the words of
Eve, Adam was cast out of paradise; the Word, born of the Virgin, revealed the Cross, by which the thief
entered into the paradise of Adam. Though neither the pagan Gentiles, nor the Jews, nor the high-priests
would believe, that from God could be born a Son without travail and without man, this now is so and He
is born in the body, capable to endure suffering, while preserving inviolate the body of the Virgin.
Thus did He manifest His Omnipotence, born of the Virgin, preserving the virginity of the Virgin intact, and
He was born of God with neither complication, travail, evil nor a separation of forsaking the immutable
Divine Essence, born God from God. Since mankind abandoned God, in place of Him worshipping graven
images of humans, God the Word thus assumed the image of man, so that in banishing error and restoring
truth, He should consign to oblivion the worshipping of idols and for Himself to be accorded divine honor,
since to Him becometh all glory and honor unto ages of ages.
Amen!
[[@DayOfYear:January 5]]January 5, Epiphany where observed on Sunday
Epiphany Homily by St. Jerome of Stridonium
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Matthew 3:17
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Epiphany Homily
Epiphany
http://preachersinstitute.com/2010/01/03/homilyon-epiphany-by-st-jerome-of-stridonium/
Source
Patristics
Jerome of Stridonium, St.
The Feast of the Epiphany is called by its Greek name epipháneia, which is the Greek expression for our
concept of appearance, or manifestation. This, therefore, is the title given to our Lord and Savior’s
manifestation on earth.
Even though He had been born of Mary and had already completed thirty years of His life, nevertheless,
He was unknown to the world. His identity was revealed at the time when He came to the Jordan to be
baptized by John the Baptist, and the voice of the Father was heard thundering from heaven:
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Mt 3:17).
The Father had proclaimed Him by His voice from the heavens, and the Holy Spirit, settling upon His head
in the form of a dove, ordained to make Him known by that revelation, lest people mistake anyone else
for the Son of God. What is more sublime than His humility, more noble than His belittlement?
He is baptized by His servant and He is named Son by God.
Along the publicans, prostitutes, and sinners, He came for baptism, and He is holier than the one who
baptizes.
He is purified by John in the flesh, but He purifies John in the spirit.
The waters that had been wont to cleanse others are now purified by the cleansing of our Lord. The Jordan
river that dried up when Joshua led the Israelites into the Land of Promise, now longed to gather together
all its waters into one place, if it could, to bathe the body of the Lord.
[[@DayOfYear:January 6]]January 6, Epiphany or Monday after Epiphany
Excerpt from Christmas Day sermon by Lancelot Andrewes
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A sermon given on Christmas day, 1620
Christmas
http://www.lectionarycentral.com/epiphany/AndrewesGospel.html
Church of England
Andrewes, Lancelot
December 25, 1620
There came wise men from the East
These that came from the East were Gentiles, and that concerns us, for so are we. We may then look out,
if we can see this star. It is ours, it is the Gentiles’ star. We may set our course by it, to seek and find, and
worship him as well as they. So we come in, for ‘God hath also to the Gentiles set open a door of faith,’
and that he would do this, and call us in, there was some small star-light from the beginning. This he
promised by the patriarchs, shadowed forth in the figures of the Law, the Temple and the Tabernacle, the
Prophets and the Psalms, and it is this day fulfilled. These wise men are come who not only in their own
names but in ours make here their entry; came and sought after, and found and worshipped, their Saviour
and ours, the Saviour of the whole world. A little wicket there was left open before, whereat divers
Gentiles did come in; now the great gate set wide opens this day for all—for these here with their camels
and dromedaries to enter and all their carriage. Christ is not only for russet cloaks, shepherds and such;
but even grandees, great states such as these came, and when they came they were welcome to him—
for they were sent for and invited by this star, their star properly.
They came a long journey, and they came an uneasy journey; they came a dangerous journey and they
came now, at the worst season of the year. They stayed not their coming till the opening of the year, till
they might have better weather and way, and have longer days and so more seasonable and fit to travel
in. So desirous were they to come with the first, and to be there as soon as they possibly might; broke
through all these difficulties, and behold, come they did.
And we, what excuse shall we have if we come not? If so short and easy a way we come not, as from our
chambers hither? And these wise men were never a whit less wise for so coming; nay, to come to Christ
is one of the wisest parts that ever these wise men did. And if they and we be wise in one Spirit, we will
follow the same star, tread the same way, and so come at last wither they are happily gone before us.
And how shall we do that? In the old ritual of the church we find that on the cover of the canister wherein
was the sacrament of His body, there was a star engraven, to shew us that now the star leads us thither,
to His body there. So what shall I say now, but according as St. John saith, and the star, and the wise men
say ‘Come’ and let whosoever will take of the Bread of life which came down from heaven to Bethlehem,
the house of bread. Of which Bread the Church is this day the house, the true Bethlehem, and all the
Bethlehem we have now left to come to for the Bread of Life—of that life which we hope for in
heaven. And this our nearest coming that here we can come, till we shall by another coming ‘Come’ unto
him in his heavenly kingdom. To which He grant we may come, that came to us in earth that we thereby
might come to him and remain with him forever, Jesus Christ the Righteous.
[[@DayOfYear:January 7]]January 7, Tuesday after Epiphany
Hymn I On the Day of Epiphany by St. Ephraim the Syrian
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Hymn I On the Day of Epiphany
Epiphany
http://preachersinstitute.com/2009/12/29/hymn1-on-the-day-of-epiphany-st-ephraim-thesyrian/
Source
Patristics
St. Ephraim the Syrian
Response — To You be praise from Your flock in the day of Your Epiphany!
The heavens He has renewed, for that fools worshiped all the luminaries:— He has renewed the earth,
for that in Adam it was wasted. — That which He fashioned has become new by His spittle:— and the AllSufficing has restored bodies with souls.
Gather yourselves again— sheep and without labour receive cleansing!— for one needs not as Elisha— to
bathe seven times in the river, nor again to be wearied as the priests are wearied with sprinklings.
Seven times Elisha purified himself in a mystery of the seven spirits;— and the hyssop and blood are a
mighty symbol.— There is no room for division— He is not divided from the Lord of all Who is Son of the
Lord of all.
Moses sweetened in Marah the waters that were bitter—because the People complained and
murmured:— Thus he gave a sign of baptism—wherein the Lord of life makes sweet them that were bitter.
The cloud overshadowed and kept off the burning heat from the camp—it showed a symbol of the Holy
Spirit, which overshadows you in baptism— tempering the flaming fire that it harm not your bodies.
Through the sea the People then passed, and showed a symbol— of the baptism wherein you were
washed. The People passed through that and believed not:— the Gentiles were baptized in this and
believed and received the Holy Ghost.
The Word sent the Voice to proclaim before His Coming,— to prepare for Him the way by which He came—
and to betroth the Bride till He should come—that she might be ready when He should come and take
her from the water.
The voice of prophecy stirred the son of the barren woman—and he went forth wandering in the desert
and crying—”Lo! The Son of the Kingdom comes!— prepare the way that He may enter and abide in your
dwellings!”
John cried, “Who comes after me, He is before me:— I am the Voice but not the Word;— I am the torch
but not the Light—the Star that rises before the Sun of Righteousness.”
In the wilderness this John had cried and had said—”Repent you sinners of your evils—and offer the fruits
of repentance;— for lo! He comes that winnows the wheat from the tares.”
The Lightgiver has prevailed and marked a mystery, by the degrees he ascended:— Lo! There are twelve
days since he ascended,— and today this is the thirteenth:— a perfect mystery of Him, the Son, and His
twelve!
Darkness was overcome to make it manifest that Satan was overcome—and the Light prevailed that he
should proclaim— that the Firstborn triumphs: darkness was overcome— with the Dark Spirit, and our
Light prevailed with the Lightgiver.
In the Height and the Depth the Son had two heralds.— The star of light proclaimed Him from above—
John likewise preached Him from beneath:— two heralds, the earthly and the heavenly.
The star of light, contrary to nature, shone forth of a sudden—less than the sun yet greater than the sun.—
Less was it than he in manifest light—and greater than he in secret might because of its mystery.
The star of light shed its rays among them that were in darkness—and guided them as though they were
blind—so that they came and met the great Light:— they gave offerings and received life and adored and
departed.
The herald from above showed His Nature to be from the Most High;— likewise he that was from beneath
showed His Body to be from humankind, mighty marvel!— that His Godhead and His Manhood by them
were proclaimed!
Thus whoso reckons Him as of earth, the star of light— will convince him that He is of Heaven: and whoso
reckons Him as of spirit,— this John will convince him that He is also bodily.
John drew near with his parents and worshipped the Sun—and brightness rested on His Face.— He was
not moved as when in the womb.— Mighty marvel! That here he worships and there he leaped!
The whole creation became for Him as one mouth and cried out concerning Him.— The Magi cry out in
their gifts;— the barren cry out with their children—the star of light, lo! It cries out in the air, “Behold the
Son of the King!”
The heavens are opened, the waters break forth, the dove is in glory!— The voice of the Father is stronger
than thunder—as it utters the word, “This is My Beloved”;— the Watchers brought the tidings, the
children acclaimed Him in their Hosannas.
[[@DayOfYear:January 8]]January 8, Wednesday after Epiphany
Epiphany by Anne Robertson
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John 2:1-11; Luke 3:21-22
Title
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Epiphany
January 6, 2003
http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/epiphanyanne-robertson-sermon-on-god-the-father57211.asp?Page=3
Source
Methodist
Robertson, Anne
United Methodist Church of Westford
I know that most of you have not been kept up nights wondering about Epiphany. A large number of
people have never heard of Epiphany, and although I had heard of it, it never really dawned on me that
anyone might actually celebrate it until I visited Germany in January of 1979.
Epiphany falls on January 6, on the 12th day of Christmas–the day you’re supposed to get 12 drummers
drumming and the day we commonly remember the arrival of the Wise Men in Bethlehem. In Germany
and a number of other countries, this is a big event. Children dress up as kings and travel from door to
door–much as we do on Halloween–only instead of collecting for themselves, they collect for the poor,
remembering that the wise men brought gifts to the poor Christ child.
Seeing those children out in their costumes was the first contact I had with anybody actually celebrating
epiphany, and it started me wondering if we weren’t missing something. Well, the more you look into
church history, the more you realize that we are missing a lot of things. Epiphany in the early church was
one of the great feast days–second only to Easter in its importance. The third great feast was Pentecost,
another day that has drifted into religious backwaters. And even Easter is greatly watered down today.
Easter used to be celebrated with an all-night vigil the night before and then the celebration continued
on for what was called the “Great 50 Days” ending with a huge blowout on Pentecost. Epiphany, Easter,
and Pentecost were the focus of the church. Nobody even thought about celebrating Christmas until the
fourth century.
So what’s the deal? Or, as one of my seminary professors used to ask, “How come nothing epiphs on
Epiphany anymore?” Why was Epiphany so important, and why is it so unimportant now?
For those few who might have heard of Epiphany, chances are that you will know it as the day the Wise
Men came. And that is right–partially. The word Epiphany means “manifestation” or “revelation.” So the
Wise Men are celebrated on Epiphany because they represented the revelation of Jesus to the Gentiles.
But it used to be that Epiphany celebrated more than the Wise Men.
In the days when Epiphany was a great church feast, it also celebrated the revelation of Jesus in his first
miracle–changing water into wine at Cana–and the manifestation of Jesus as the Son of God at his
baptism. Those three things–the Wise Men, Cana, and the Baptism were all lumped together to symbolize
the revelation of God in Jesus Christ, and such revelation was cause for great celebration.
That a baby was born in a manger was relatively unimportant, compared with the events that proved to
the world who that baby was. The authority of Jesus was validated by the signs he performed–like
changing water into wine–by the voice of God and descending dove at his baptism, and through signs in
the heavens that could be interpreted by the Gentiles. Those signs were God’s way of saying, “Pssst...this
is the guy!” and Epiphany was the church’s way of saying, “And we can never be the same again.”
So why doesn’t anything epiph on Epiphany anymore? There may be several answers, but I think one of
them is that, for the most part, we no longer expect it. We no more expect God to be revealed in our
midst than we expect stores to start giving away merchandise. And because we don’t expect it, we get
what we expect. The early church was a church full of excitement and expectation. They anticipated the
return of Jesus at any time, and the persecutions which they endured forced them to be aware of their
faith and sometimes to die for their faith at all times.
Many of us today have lost that sense of excitement and expectation. In the early church, the point of
Epiphany was not to remember history, but to be reminded that God appears miraculously to us in places
and in ways that we don’t expect. If we keep remembering that God seems to thrive on unexpected
appearances and if we keep expecting to see God everywhere we turn, we are not too likely to miss it
when it happens again.
The wedding at Cana was crowded, but only a few were aware that Jesus had worked a miracle in their
midst. Most weren’t paying attention, except to realize that the wine was flowing again. They weren’t
watching and missed an event that people have talked about for two thousand years. Bethlehem was so
full of people that Mary and Joseph couldn’t even find a room to spend the night, but there is no indication
that more than a handful paid any notice to the new life that changed all of history, bright stars and
shepherd’s stories notwithstanding.
If we want anything to epiph in our lives, we had better begin by expecting it and watching for it. If you
are expecting company in your home, you are not going to miss their arrival unless they are purposely
sneaking up on you. You have made preparations for their coming, fully expect to see them, and always
keep an ear out for the doorbell and an eye out the window. Yet how many of us expect God in that way?
Do we prepare for God to come? For that matter, have we even issued an invitation?
How many times do you prepare for your day by asking God to be revealed in your co-workers, in the
traffic on the way, in your housework, in your children, in the clients you deal with? How many times do
you prepare for church by asking God to speak to you in the music, in the sermon, in the others in the
congregation? How many of us honestly, truly expect a real, life-changing encounter with God when we
enter these doors? I can tell you that those few who do expect such things find them. But if you don’t
expect them, it’s baffling to me why you would come.
If you’re not expecting company, they might well show up when you are out, or asleep, or too busy in the
back to hear the knocking on the door. If we don’t expect God to appear or to speak or touch our hearts;
if we’re not looking for God at every turn and listening for God in every voice, chances are we’ll be as
clueless as the guests at the wedding or the people in Bethlehem when God finally appears.
If we’re looking, the signs of God’s presence are all around us, as much outside the church as inside. God
is there in the trees and ocean and sky...in the deer and the geese and yes, the woodchucks. God is in the
delivery room and the funeral home. God is in the face of the homeless man sleeping on the grate and in
the face of the child who puts a dollar in his hat. God may just be sitting beside you in the pew or might
call on the phone this afternoon.
We all meet God in different ways and at different times and places in our lives. The message of Epiphany
is that the revelation of God is talking about more than a one-shot deal. It’s not that Jesus came once and
that was that. No, there was Easter...that bright and glorious morning when God blew the lid off of
everybody’s ideas about what God could and couldn’t be and do. Come Easter morning, all bets were
off...the tomb was empty and God was on the loose. He appeared and disappeared out of rooms. He was
now here on the beach having breakfast and now there walking with disciples who had no clue who they
were talking to.
The message of Epiphany...and Easter...is that God is not dead, dried out, and stuffed into your Bibles
somewhere around the Psalms. God is alive and kicking and epiphing here there and everywhere in the
hopes that somebody will tune in to the right frequency. The God who was made manifest in Jesus of
Nazareth lives and was made manifest somewhere, somehow in your home this very morning. The God
that was calling to you in our last hymn is the God that will be revealed right after the service in the
Fellowship Hall or out in the parking lot. The message of Epiphany is, “Keep watch!” For you don’t know
the day or the hour when God will appear.
I can’t force you to encounter God. You have to have a willing spirit, and you have to be looking with a
loving spirit. But God is here to be encountered–beside you in the pews, in the sacrament of Communion,
in the Scripture reading, in the offering. From the songs we sing to the prayers we pray to the sermon that
are preached, the ultimate purpose of all of it is to provide a place where it is easier for people to
experience the epiphany of God...a time that is structured in such a way as to encourage people to open
their eyes and see the God who is here in our midst.
As we wind our way from Epiphany through the Lenten season to Easter, let God epiph in your life. Make
space in your life to have a real encounter with God. It might be here; it might be anywhere...but expect
that it will happen. Get up in the morning wondering where it will come and go to sleep listening for God’s
voice. Read your Bible expecting to hear God and come to Communion open to receive. God will epiph. I
promise. Amen.
[[@DayOfYear:January 9]]January 9, Thursday after Epiphany
Feast of the Baptism of the Lord: Homily of John Paul II
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Is 55:6; Mk 1:11; Is 12:3
Catholic
John Paul II
Sistine Chapel
January 12, 2003
Feast of the Baptism of the Lord: Homily
Feast of the Baptism of the Lord
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/homilies/2003/documents/hf_jpii_hom_20030112_baptism-lord_en.html
1. "Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near" (Is 55,6).
These words from the second part of the Book of Isaiah ring out on this Sunday that ends the Christmas
season. They are an invitation to go more deeply into the meaning for us of today's Feast, the Baptism of
the Lord.
In spirit let us return to the banks of the Jordan where John the Baptist administered a Baptism of
repentance, exhorting to conversion. Coming up to the Precursor is Jesus, and with his presence he
transformed that gesture of repentance into a solemn manifestation of his divinity. A voice suddenly
comes from heaven: "You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased" (Mk 1,11) and, in the form of a
dove, the Spirit descends upon Jesus.
In that extraordinary event, John saw realized what had been said about the Messiah born in Bethlehem,
adored by the shepherds and the Magi. He was the very One foretold by the prophets, the beloved Son
of the Father; we must seek him while he can be found and call upon him while he is at hand.
In Baptism every Christian personally meets him; he is inserted into the mystery of Christ's death and
resurrection and receives a new life, which is the life of God. What a great gift and what a great
responsibility!
2. The liturgy today invites us to draw water "with joy at the fountain of salvation" (Is 12,3); it exhorts us
to relive our Baptism, giving thanks for the great gifts received.
With these sentiments, I prepare to administer the sacrament of Baptism to the newborn babies, as is
now a tradition, in the stupendous Sistine Chapel, where the art of great artists has depicted essential
moments of our faith. There are 22 infants, who come mainly from Italy, but also from Poland and
Lebanon.
I greet you all, dear brothers and sisters who have wished to take part in this touching celebration. With
special affection, I greet you, dear parents and godparents, called to be the first witnesses of the
fundamental gift of the faith for these little ones. The Lord entrusts to you, as responsible guardians, the
lives that are so precious in his eyes. Devote yourselves lovingly to them so that they may grow "in
wisdom, age and grace"; help them to be faithful to their vocation.
In a little while, and in their name, you will renew the promise to fight against evil and to adhere fully to
Christ. May your lives always be identified by this generous pledge!
3. You are likewise conscious that the Lord is asking you for a new and deeper collaboration: that is, he is
entrusting you with the daily duty of accompanying them on the path of holiness. Make every effort to be
holy yourselves in order to guide your children towards that high goal of Christian living. Do not forget
that this training in holiness "calls for a Christian life distinguished above all in the art of prayer" (Apostolic
Letter Novo Millennio ineunte, n. 32).
May Mary, the Holy Mother of the Redeemer, who accepted God's plan without reservations, support
you, nourishing your hope and desire to serve faithfully Christ and his Church. May our Lady help these
little ones especially, so that they can fully realize the plan God has in store for each of them. May she
help Christian families throughout the world to be authentic "schools of prayer" in which prayer together
becomes more and more the heart and the source of every activity!
© Copyright 2003 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
[[@DayOfYear:January 10]]January 10, Friday after Epiphany
The Theophany Sanctification Prayer of St. Sophronios of Jerusalem
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Patristic; liturgical prayer;
Sophronios of Jerusalem, St.
The Theophany Sanctification Prayer
Theophany
http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2011/01/theophanysanctification-prayer-of-st.html
Priest: O Trinity, transcendent in essence, in goodness and in divinity, O Almighty, invisible and
incomprehensible, who watch over all, O Creator of intelligent essences, of natures endowed with speech,
O Goodness of utter and unapproachable brilliance, who enlighten every person who comes into the
world: enlighten me also, your unworthy servant! Illuminate the eyes of my mind, that I may venture to
praise your immeasurable goodness and your might; may the prayer that I offer be acceptable for the
people here present. Let not my sins prevent the descent of the Holy spirit upon this place, but permit me
now without condemnation to cry out to You, O all-good Lord, and to say: We glorify You, O Master and
Lover of Mankind, Almighty King before eternity! We glorify You, Creator and Maker of all! We glorify You,
only-begotten Son, who have no father with your Mother, and no mother with your Father.
In the preceding feast, we have seen You as a child, and in this present feast we see You as a perfect Man,
O our perfect God, appearing out of Perfection: for today we have attained the time of feasting, and the
ranks of saints have joined us, and the angels celebrate together with men; today the grace of the Holy
Spirit, in the form of a dove, comes down upon the waters; today there shines the Sun that never sets,
and the world is sparkling with the light of the Lord; today the moon shines upon the world with the
brightness of its rays; today the glittering stars adorn the universe with the radiance of their twinkling;
today the clouds from heaven shed upon man a shower of justice; today the Uncreated One willingly
permits the hands of his creature to be laid upon Him, today the Prophet and Forerunner comes close to
the Master, and he stands in awe, a witness of the condescension of God towards us; today through the
presence of the Lord the waters of the Jordan River are changed into remedies; today the whole universe
is refreshed with mystical streams; today the sins of mankind are blotted out by the waters of the Jordan
River; today paradise has been opened to mankind, and the Sun of righteousness has shone upon us;
today the bitter water, as once with Moses and the people of Israel, is changed into sweetness by the
presence of the Lord; today we are delivered from the ancient mourning, and, like a new Israel, we are
saved; today we escape from darkness and, through the light of the knowledge of God, we are illumined;
today the darkness of the world vanishes with the appearing of our God; today the whole creation is
brightened from on high; today errors are canceled, and a way of salvation is prepared for us by the
coming of the Lord; today the heavenly dwellers rejoice with those of the earth, and the dwellers of the
earth with those of heaven; today the noble and eloquent assembly rejoices, the assembly of those of the
true faith; today the Lord comes to be baptized, so that mankind may be lifted up; today the One who
never has to bow inclines Himself before his servant so that He may set us free from bondage; today we
have acquired the kingdom of heaven: for the Lord's kingdom shall have no end.
Today the land and the sea divide between them the joy of the world, and the world is filled with gladness.
The waters saw You, O God, the waters saw You and shuddered; the Jordan River turns back its course as
it beholds the fire of the Godhead coming down upon it and entering it in the flesh; the Jordan River turns
back its course as it beholds the Holy Spirit descending in the form f a dove, and hovering above it; the
Jordan River turns back its course as it beholds the Invisible made visible, the Creator existing in the flesh,
and the Master in the form of a servant; the Jordan River turns back its course, and the mountains shout
with glee as they behold God in the flesh. And the clouds give voice, and are filled with awe by the One
who is coming, Light of light, true God of true God; for today in the Jordan River they saw the triumph of
the Master; they saw Him drown in the Jordan River the death of sin, the thorn of error, and the bond of
Hades, and bestow upon the world the baptism of salvation. So also am I, your unworthy and sinful
servant, encompassed by fear as I proclaim your great wonders; and I cry out reverently to You, and say:
The priest then says in a louder voice:
GREAT ARE YOU, O LORD, AND MARVELOUS ARE YOUR WORKS AND NO WORD IS SUFFICIENT TO PRAISE
YOUR MARVELS (3X).
For by your divine will You brought forth all things out of nothing into being; by your might you control all
creation; by your providence You govern the universe, O You who made the whole world out of four
elements and crowned the cycle of the year with four seasons.
The immaterial powers tremble before You; the sun praises You; the moon glorifies You; the stars bless
You; the light obeys You; the tempests tremble, and the springs adore You. You have spread out the
heavens like a tent-cloth; You fixed the earth upon the waters; You have walled about the sea with sand;
You let the air flow about for our breathing. The angelic powers minister to You; the ranks of archangels
worship You; the many-eyed Cherubim and the six-winged Seraphim, standing around You and flying
about You, hide their faces in fear of your unapproachable glory. And You, O God, while remaining
boundless, without beginning, and beyond all words deigned to come down upon earth, to assume the
likeness of a servant, and to become like man. Because of your compassionate mercy, O Master, You were
unable to endure and to behold the race of mankind under the tyranny of the devil. Consequently, You
have come to save us. We acknowledge your grace. We proclaim your mercy, and we do not conceal your
gracious acts. You have set mankind free; by your birth You have sanctified the Virgin's womb; and since
your manifestation all creation praises You. For You, O our God, have appeared on earth and have dwelt
among men. You sanctified the waters of the Jordan by sending down your Holy Spirit from heaven, and
you have crushed the heads of the dragons who lurk there.
The Priest makes the sign of the Cross over the water three times, each time saying:
THEREFORE, O KING AND LOVER OF MANKIND, ALSO BE PRESENT NOW THROUGH THE DESCENT OF YOUR
HOLY SPIRIT AND SANCTIFY THIS WATER (3X).
And give to it the grace of redemption and the blessing of the Jordan. Make it a source of incorruptibility,
a gift of sanctification, a remission of sins, a remedy for sickness, a destruction of demons, inaccessible to
the adverse powers, and filled with the might of your angels, so that all who drink and receive of it may
be blessed in their souls and bodies, healed of their sufferings, sanctified in their homes, and may receive
every befitting grace.
~ For You are our God, who, with water and the Spirit, restored our nature made old by sin.
~ You are our God, who drowned sin in the waters at the time of Noah.
~ You are our God, who in the sea, and at the hands of Moses, delivered the Hebrews from the bondage
of Pharaoh.
~ You are our God who cleaved the rock in the wilderness, so that the waters gushed out, and the streams
overflowed, and your thirsty people were satisfied.
~ You are our God who, with fire and water and at the hands of Elijah, delivered Israel from the errors of
Baal.
THEREFORE, O MASTER, SANCTIFY THIS WATER BY YOUR HOLY SPIRIT (3X).
Grant sanctification, blessing, cleansing and health to all those who touch it, and to those upon whom it
is poured, and to those who receive of it.
Save, O Lord, your servants, our public authorities (3X).
Keep them under your protection in peace; subdue under their feet every enemy and adversary; grant
them the means of salvation and eternal life, so that your all-holy name may be glorified by the elements,
by the angels, by men, by visible and invisible creatures, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now
and always and for ever and ever.
Amen.
[[@DayOfYear:January 11]]January 11, Saturday after Epiphany
Theophany from St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church
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Luke 2:52
baptism
Greek Orthodox; theophany; St. John
Chrysostom
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St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox
Title
Occasion
Source
Theophany
Theophany
http://stjohndfw.info/theophany.html
Dear Beloved,
We have no information of the life of Jesus Christ between His Presentation in the Temple and the age of
30, except His flight into Egypt and His appearance in the Temple when He was 12 years old.
This is why some people wrongly believe that Jesus Christ has visited India, lived among the Tibetan gurus
and came wiser into Palestine to share the wisdom He has accumulated with the people of Israel. Together
with the heretic Nestorius, they basically say that He was born as a normal man and gradually acquired
the grace of God upon Him. This is a wrong interpretation of the verse "Jesus increased in wisdom and
stature, and in favor with God and man. "(Luk 2:52)
Nothing can be more wrong than this interpretation. Christ was made manifest gradually, siga-siga, as the
Greek say. He could have manifested His Godly wisdom even when he was in His Mother's womb, but he
would have appeared to the others as a monster. A new born speaking in parables would definitely not
be something people would consider normal.
Therefore Christ chose to show to reveal the wisdom of the Word progressively, according to His worldly
age, waiting to reach the human maturity age 30, to show His true divine origin at His Baptism in the River
Jordan.
The feast of Theophany (the appearance of God) or Epiphany (simply appearance or manifestation) is the
commemoration of the baptism of Jesus Christ by Saint John the Baptist in the River Jordan.
Saint John the Baptist is a very important figure of the Sacred History because He is considered to be the
link between the Old and the New Testament. His name John means "the gift from God". He is also called
the Prodromos, meaning the one that opens the way, in our case of Christ. We know he was miraculously
born of the old couple Zacharias and Elisabeth that he recognized Jesus from his mother's womb, he lived
in the desert and he baptized people in the river Jordan with the baptism of repentance.
Saint John Chrysostom makes the distinction between three types of baptism. The baptism of the Jews
who was only a cleaning of the body, but it was not granting a spiritual purification. In contrast the baptism
of the Church that we practice nowadays cleans the whole man, body and soul and gives Him the Holy
Spirit. The Baptism of Saint John the Baptist is in between the two, establishing a bridge between the Law
of Moses and the Gospel of Salvation. This last baptism was superior to the one of the Jews because it
was also announcing the coming of Christ, but was inferior to the baptism of the Christians because could
still not clean man of sin.
It appears therefore strange the Christ would subdue himself to this ritual meant to point to Him, which
was in no need of purification, being without sin. But Christ came into this world to assume our sins,
therefore accepted the baptism of John for our salvation, in order to be cleansed in our behalf, as he also
accepted on our behalf his Passions and Crucifixion.
He also accepts the baptism to show again that He came not to change the Law, but to fulfill it. Also He
accepted the Baptism to reveal at the beginning of His missionary work His Godly origin, revealing to us
the Holy trinity: The Father as the voice calling Him Beloved Son and the Spirit in the form of a Dove. We
realize now that Saint John is not the one that sanctified Christ when he performed the baptism, but he
himself was sanctified by touching the head of His Master.
The word Baptism comes again from Greek: Baptisma , meaning immersion into water. So baptism is
linked with water. Through the baptism of the Lord the waters were also sanctified, being transformed in
waters of sanctification. The water is no more water in which the demons lurk, as we see sometimes in
the icons of Theophany, but it is now water of salvation; water that liberates man from the ties of sin
making, giving Him birth again from water and Spirit. Man is remodeled by God, as a pot maker models
his vessels, using water and fire: water from the River Jordan and fire from the Holy Spirit.
On this day the River Jordan changes its course, and starts flowing backwards, underlying exactly this
concept. The river Jordan, with its two traditional streams Jor and Dan represents also our lives, lives that
stream from our ancient parents, Adam and Eve. From them the life of mankind started flowing toward
the Dead Sea of sin and perdition, as Jordan River does. But when the Master entered the river, the Jordan
started flowing backwards, in the same way as our lives turn toward our true godly origins, when Christ
enters into our lives. The events on the banks of Jordan reveal to us the deep meanings of the Sacrament
of Baptism in Christian practice. During the sacrament we sing "as many as were baptized in Christ have
put on Christ". This reveals the presence of Christ at our baptism. When we enter into the baptismal font
Christ is also there with us turning around the course of our lives from a life spent in sin and worldly things
into a life in virtue, used to gather the things that matter for eternity.
In remembrance of this divine episode we also perform the blessing of the waters in the day of Epiphany.
St. Basil the Great affirms that the blessing of water came to us as a "mystical tradition" and that the
water, through the prayer and blessing of the priest, receives a "quickening power of the Holy Spirit."
Through this heavenly power the water we bless today receives the power to bless those who drink from
it or are sprinkled with it and lasts for years without corruption.
It is a custom among our people to drink of the Holy Water for the "purification of their souls and bodies
and cure of our weakness." This custom is very ancient and came to us with the ritual itself. The taking of
the Holy Water to our homes is to have in it a fount of continued blessings and protection against all evil.
It is a miracle of God still happening into our times. We just have to open our eyes and accept the power
of the Holy spirit into our lives and through repentance let us go away from the salty and deadly sea of
errors and rejoin our sweet origins in paradise, glorifying the Holy Trinity who was revealed to us today,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and forever and unto the ages of ages Amen.
[[@DayOfYear:January 12]]January 12, Baptism of the Lord
The Baptism of the Lord Jesus from The Patriarchal Journal
Sermon File Type
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Luke 2:46-49; Mk 1:11; Matt 3:13-15;
Luke 2:14; John 1:29; 2 Cor 5:19;
John 1:33-34; Gen 1:2; Matt 28:1920; Matt 3:3; Luke 1:10-17; Jn 1:37;
Lk 1:31, 35; Mt 16:16; Mk 1:1; Jn
1:14; Jn 20:31; Jn 3:3, 5; Mk 16:1516; Jn 1:12-13; Rom 6:4; Mt 17:5; Col
3:9-10, 27-28
Syriac Orthodox
Speaker
Venue
Date
Title
Occasion
Source
Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch:
Archdiocese for the Eastern United
States
The Patriarchal Journal Vol. 32 –
January/February 1994 – No.
131/132. Pages 2-7
1994
The Baptism of the Lord Jesus
http://www.syrianorthodoxchurch.org/library/sermons/thebaptism-of-the-lord-jesus
The Lord Jesus, after his amazing birth in the flesh, lived like all his contemporaries in the city of Nazareth.
He distinguished himself from them by his integrity, the purity of his conduct and clarity of his conscience.
Until he reached the age of thirty he was known as the carpenter, son of Joseph. The holy gospels were
silent about his daily activities during that period. They did not mention anything except his visit to the
temple when he reached the age of twelve, the age at which the Jewish boy was called “son of the law.”
He had to memorize the law and the religious duties, and had to visit the temple to appear before the
Lord. The holy gospel mentions that the virgin Mary and Joseph her fiancée lost the boy Jesus after
finishing their visit to Jerusalem since they thought he was among his companions.
They had traveled a day on the way back to Nazareth. When they asked for him and did not find him
among the relatives and those they knew, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. " After three days
they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.
And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him
they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your
father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” He said to them, ‘Why were you searching for
me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’" (Luke 2:46-49) With this explanation the
Lord Jesus announced the truth of his son-ship to God the Father. This is the doctrine that the heavenly
Father expressed with a voice coming from heaven, saying to the Lord Jesus, " You are my Son, the
Beloved; with you I am well pleased " (Mark 1:11). A crowd of people heard that heavenly voice on the
bank of the river Jordan.
At that time Jesus was at the age of thirty and came from Nazareth of Galilee to be baptized by him
(Matthew 3:13). The distance between Nazareth of Galilee and the Jordan river was a full day’s travel. The
Lord Jesus walked it and when he met John he asked him to be baptized, but John declined saying to him.
" ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? ’ But Jesus answered, ’Let it be so now; for it is
proper for us in this way to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he consented " (Matthew 3:14-15). This
righteousness that Jesus wanted to fulfil was the righteousness of humility that began in him through his
incarnation. When Jesus chose the poor, pitiful, orphaned, virgin, girl Mary as a mother for him because
of her holiness, her purity, and her chastity, he was born from her in the village of Bethlehem of Ephrata
in a simple cave. There his mother wrapped him and laid him in a manger and because of his humility the
heavens honored him and sent the angels to give the good news to the simple shepherds and to sing their
immortal song "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors "
(Luke 2:14). As for his baptism by John, his righteousness was completed when he presented to us the
greatest example of humility by going to John the Baptist and asking to be baptized by him like any other
sinner. He is the only one to have been born and been free from sin. The sinners had confessed their
personal sins and received forgiveness through repentance at the hand of John who baptized them with
the baptism of repentance.
The Lord Jesus confessed before John the sins of humanity that were placed on his shoulders by his will.
For that reason John later called Him the Lamb of God who was lifted up for the sins of the world. (John
1:29) Through his baptism the Lord made the water holy when it touched his pure body. John was made
complete in righteousness through his submission and obedience to Christ by baptizing him. Then the
Father honored his only Son for his humility. As he was praying after he went out of the water the heavens
opened and the Holy Spirit alighted on him in a bodily form like a dove and suddenly there was a voice
from heaven that everyone present heard saying to Jesus “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am
well pleased” (Mark 1:11). As the heavens were closed to the face of humanity’s sin after its fall into the
depths of sin, so they were opened in front of the Lamb of God the Savior who later offered himself to his
heavenly Father as an atoning sacrifice for the world so through him the reconciliation between God and
humanity was fulfilled (II Corinthians 5:19).
The Spirit that descended on him was also for John to recognize the one about whom he would say later,
“I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you
see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I myself have seen
and have testified that this is the Son of God” (John 1:33-34). The Messiah was not in need of the Holy
Spirit to descend upon him, for he was full of grace and truth, as John the apostle said about him. But he
is the one who became flesh by the Holy Spirit and from the virgin Mary. But the appearance of the Holy
Spirit in a bodily form like a dove during the baptism was to distinguish him from the crowd and to remind
us of who had come in the book of Genesis that says, "… while the Spirit of God swept over the face of
the waters " (Genesis 1:2).
Yes, the Holy Trinity had appeared for the first time in history before the crowds at the event of the
baptism of the Lord Jesus. This is why we call this feast the feast of “DENH” (Syriac) which means “the
appearance, the illumination, the light, the splendor, the magnificence, and the brilliance.” For the Son
came out of the water after he had been baptized by John and the Spirit alighted on him from heaven in
the form of a dove and the Father called out saying to the Son from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved;
with you I am well pleased .” By his baptism the Lord established the sacrament of baptism as a door to
enter the Kingdom of God on earth and the baptized believers receive the grace of righteousness, holiness
and adoption. In their becoming children by grace in Christ they are the heirs of his heavenly kingdom.
Baptism is usually performed in the name of the Holy Trinity. As the Lord Jesus himself ordained it to be
when he commanded his disciples saying: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything
that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). At the beginning of the baptismal rite the believers
profess their faith by confessing in the Holy Trinity, the One God, and the divine revelation that was
announced to us from the beginning that God is One. That revelation itself announced to us that this One
essence is three equal persons in essence, and that Christ is the second person of the Holy Trinity and is
called the Son of God.
Yes, God sent John the Baptist to prepare the way before the Lord Jesus, the only Son of God, and Isaiah
prophesied about John saying "The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.’ " (Matthew 3:3) John was preaching in the wilderness of Judea saying: “Repent
for the Kingdom of God is near.” On that day the angel Gabriel brought the good news to his father
Zachariah that his wife Elizabeth would bear him a son and he would be called John. He had made clear
his message saying, “because he will be great before the Lord” (Luke 1:10-17). John carried out his mission
well and prepared the people for repentance and a return to God to be ready for baptism with the Holy
Spirit and fire at the hand of the long awaited Messiah Jesus the Christ whom John called “Son of God”
(John 1:37). The angel Gabriel announced this divine truth to the Virgin Mary the day he brought the good
news of the heavenly pregnancy by saying, "And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and
you will name him Jesus. The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the
Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the child to be born will be holy; he will be called the Son of
God’ " (Luke 1:31,35).
The pure apostles and the righteous disciples clearly discerned the meaning of this heavenly doctrine
when they believed in the son-ship of Christ to God the Father. The chief of the apostles, Peter, said to
the Lord Jesus, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16) and Mark the Evangelist,
the disciple of Peter began the gospel he wrote by saying, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
Son of God” (Mark 1:1). The apostle John, after he began his gospel by calling Christ “the Word” was from
the beginning saying: “the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen the glory, the glory
as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). At the end of his gospel he says: “But these
are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you
may have life in his name” (John 20:31). So, we do not acknowledge any group to be a Christian church
unless its followers confess that the Messiah is the Son of God, or according to the expression of the
Nicean creed (335 A.D.) “Christ is born of the Father before all ages and he is light from light, true God
from true God, and is equal to the Father in essence.”
Christ the Son of the eternal God had given us to become the children of God by grace after we are born
of the baptismal fount as a second birth from heaven; the matter that the Lord Jesus clarified to
Nicodemus by saying: “Very truly, I tell you no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from
above…Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit”
(John 3:3,5). Because of that the Lord commanded his disciples saying: “Go into all the world and proclaim
the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one
who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:15,16). So, the sacrament of baptism is necessary for
salvation. This is the reason why the church has received from the pure apostles and the ancient righteous
fathers the baptism of children fearing that death may take them in their childhood and they would lose
the kingdom of God. On this subject John the Apostle says: “But to all who received him, who believed in
his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the
flesh or of the will of man, but of the Spirit” (John 1:12-13).
All of us are one family born from one mother, baptism, which the Lord Jesus established the day he was
baptized by John as some of our Syriac fathers contemplated. Baptism symbolized the death of Christ, his
burial and his resurrection and the apostle Paul says about this matter: “Therefore we have been buried
with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,
so we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).
That is why we Syrian Orthodox baptize the believers by immersing them in the baptismal fount three
times. The verb baptize “AMAD” (in Syriac) means sink, dip, wash, baptize, dye, seclude and hide. This
symbolizes the burial of the dead in the tombs as the baptized are buried with Christ to rise up with him
in the new life.
We believe what happened at the river Jordan when the Lord Jesus was baptized is happening in an
unseen and unheard way to every believer when they are baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity by the
hand of a legal priest, even to the children who are baptized according to the faith of their parents and
god parents.
This faith is the confession of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Though this doctrine transcends the power
of our human minds, it is an established truth. God willed to reveal its secret to us in a tangible way
admitting no doubt at the baptism of Jesus Christ when heaven witnessed the truth of his natural sonship to God on the day of his baptism. Also, heaven repeated its confirmation during the transfiguration
of the Lord Jesus on the mountain in front of three of his disciples when the voice of the Father came
saying: “This is my Son, the Beloved; with whom I am well pleased; listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5). So, we
have to add faith to good works, by hearing which means obeying the Lord Jesus, Son of the living God.
After we have been dead and buried with him, we will be raised with him into new life. In another
expression Saint Paul commands us saying: “seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices
and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the
image of its creator…” (Colossians 3:9, 10). As he also says: “As many of you as were baptized into Christ
have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there
is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:27,28). Christ has made
us one in the spiritual family when we all were born of one mother that is baptism and he granted us to
be living members in his holy sacramental body, the Church.
So, let us behave like the children of heaven, as ambassadors of heaven. Let our words be the language
of heaven and our deeds the deeds of heaven to deserve as children of grace inheritance in the kingdom
of heaven: the condition I wish for myself and for you. In the grace of God. Amen.