HARVEST FESTIVAL / THANKSGIVING SERMON

                                                               Dave Pressey November 2011

WELCOME TO THIS SPECIAL TIME OF BONDING AND CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY

Welcome to all our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus who have come to share in thanksgiving, faith, and worship as a fellowship of in Jesus the Christ.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are special times and seasons when we are drawn together as families and friends. It is a special time when we reach out to each other and to our God in gratitude and thanksgiving for all the blessings of this life, not just the material blessings, but the blessings in our relationships one to another. Thanksgiving and Christmas are a time of bonding with all that is sacred and holy in our families, among our friends and neighbor, our fellow workmen in the workplace, and the extended community. It is a time when mankind rises in holy appreciation.

SECULARIZED FEASTING AND ENTERTAINMENT

The secularized world has tried to reduced Thanksgiving to a bacchanal orgy of feasting and drinking followed by the entertainment. The “thanks” in Thanksgiving has been wrung out of thanksgiving by the commercialized emphasis of the day and season, yet, it remains a Holy Day for most people - And there is nothing wrong with feasting and enjoyment of recreational activities. But as one of sports loving parishioners has said, “I come to church first as my duty to God before I go home to watch the ballgames. God comes first. He is not second fiddle to entertainment.” Jesus was very involved in social events and feasting. He enjoyed tha company and companionship of real people. Much of his ministry was in those non liturgical settings.

DOES GOD EXIST AND DEPEND ON MANKIND

As Christians the question of “thanks” should be directed to Him who receives our thanks - Almighty God. We love and adore Him because he first loved us. You may ask, “Does Almighty God need and depend upon the thanks of his created creatures, humankind? I think the answer is that our God is never dependent upon man’s adoration and thanksgiving. But the Scriptures tell us that our righteousness, praise, and thanksgiving is pleasing to Father God, yet He exists above the adulations of man.

THE BENEFITS OF THANKSGIVING

Another question is: Why then is “thanks giving” so important? God wanted us to have life and life more abundantly. Thanksgiving is part of the equation. By our faithfulness we tend to live better lives, to live longer, be healthier, and more productive. We have better relationships in our families, the workplace, and in our community. The psychological benefit of worship and giving thanks is good for us. Among human beings, appreciation has a positive effect on the giver and the receiver. True happiness is a concomitant with the giving, more so than the receiving. It creates a sense of well-being when we can look beyond the immediate gratification of our needs and appetites. Thanks is an abstract and intangible aspect of human life and existence. It is in the same context as “love”, the most powerful of all human emotions, so powerful that it unleashes the creative energy of mankind for positive good.

THANKSGIVING A HUMAN ATTRIBUTE

I love animals. As a youngster, I was raised with goats and chickens, geese and ducks, and a pet rabbit. - Mankind has had a long relationship with domesticated animals. For many people, they provide comfort and companionship. But animals do not possess the abstract emotions of mankind- though some people may project their own emotions into animal behaviors. - Animals exist solely to satisfy their physical existence. Sometimes when I am eating a juicy barbecue, I will offer the begging dog a piece of meat. Of course, dogs respond to their master because they are hard-wired to respect the pecking order of the Alpha male or female. The dog will wolf down the meat so fast that it seems not to realize it has just eaten. They have no expression except, “Aren’t you going to feed me?” Thanksgiving does not exist in animal nature, but neither does it exist in people who are self centered and self satisfied, the people who feel they are entitled because they exist, people who acknowledge nothing beyond creature wants and human ego.

To us, the faithful remnant in Christ, we exist as a community of worship and praise to God, to give thanks for the many benefits received at his hand. In so doing, spiritual energy and right relationships strengthen our existence in this mortal life. As we show love and thanksgiving, we find that love is reflected in love and appreciation is multiplied. We are told that we cannot say we love God whom we have not seen and hate our fellowman who we have seen.

THANKSGIVING EMBEDDED IN OUR ANGLICAN PRAYER WORSHIP

Our Anglican worship and liturgy in our Morning Prayer service is centered on the concept of thanksgiving and agape and filial love. Today we sing the Canticle of the 95^th Psalm of David called in Latin, the Venite, meaning “Come”. A clause says, “Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and show ourselves glad in Him with Psalms.”

This is followed by the Canticle of the Jubilate Deo from the 100^th Psalm of David. It says, “Let us enter his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise, be thankful unto him and speak good of his Name.”

This is followed by the General Prayer of thanksgiving with specific details about thankfulness.

· We pronounce our thankfulness for God’s goodness and loving kindness to us and all men.

· We are thankful for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life.

· But the highest praise and thanksgiving is reserved for the blessing and grace of that inestimable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ- for a means of Grace – that unearned favor of God- and a hope of glory.

THANKSGIVING INSUFFICIENT WITHOUT LOVE, SERVICE AND OBEDIENCE

There is one more aspect of thanksgiving. It is beyond piety and ritual: We show how truly thankful we are by giving up ourselves to service and by walking in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives. The God of all Creation has instilled in us a need to look beyond self in service and love for one another. If we do not show love, the truth is not in us.

LASTLY, ST. JAMES, THE BROTHER OF JESUS STATES

Paul states in James 1: 17: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comest down from the Father of Light with whom there is no variableness, neither a shadow of turning. Amen”

In the Spirit

By Rev. Phil Ternahan

Today I want to talk with you for a few moments about “being in the spirit.”  The spirit I am talking about is the spirit of thankfulness.  This sermon is dedicated to Jack Phillips who always put God first in his life and was always very thankful. It’s what God wants,” Jack reminded me on many Sundays:  Jack truly was a Christian Spirit.  We’ll miss him a lot. 

A few years ago, America’s funniest Home Videos showed a little four year old girl praying at the dinner table.  She had her little hands clasped under her chin, eyes closed and she began to pray grace showing how thankful she was.  She prayed for everybody at the table, naming each person, she prayed for all the food on the table, item by item, she prayed for every person she knew, she prayed for everything she knew and for everything she had.  She thanked God for a long time.   They couldn’t get her to stop: she went on and on. And that was why it was shown on the funniest video program.

Then, there was another little girl at the table who was not allowed to leave the table after eating until she gave thanks.  But I have no-thing to be thankful for, she told her mother.  Well, you’ll just have to sit there until you think of something.”  Finally in a small voice the girl said, “Well, thank God that broccoli didn’t make me sick.  Now can I get down?”

Thanksgiving is a special time for family.  After growing up, I still have special memories of large family get togethers, with family driving in from all over.  At least three of my Dad’s sisters and brothers were usually in attendance, weather permitting.  Mom and Dad had 9 brothers and sisters.  In an age where all the modern amusements hadn’t yet been invented, getting together for song and food was a popular pastime.  There was always a part of the afternoon or evening when My Aunt Elena would play the organ or my Dad played the guitar and all the brothers would sing songs in harmony like a “Barbershop quartet”    

My Mom’s a country cook, and she wouldn’t think of having Thanksgiving without going all out to prepare a large meal for her guests.  She has always has Jell-O salad, bread stuffing with sage to go with the turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy.  My cousins and aunts and uncles usually brought a potluck dish when they came, sweet potatoes, yams, or the brown and serve rolls.  The relish tray was full of olives, cheese, celery and carrot sticks in case you needed a little until dinner was served.  Mom is a firm believer that 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. is the best time for dinner to be served, because it gives lots of time to visit about what had been going on in each other’s families before the meal.  My Mom always served her very special recipe each year, creamed corn casserole with a cracker crust.  Which was always always a topic of conversation at the table.  We always said grace before eating.

Next week we’ll have our traditional harvest festival here at St. George’s and it’s appropriate that this Sunday we talk about giving thanks.  Being thankful should be in our minds.  Let’s stop our day-to-day busyness and take a breath and meditate on God’s great mercy and bounty.  You know, one of the English poets said that autumn was the season of mellow fruitfulness, a time to reflect back on the whole year. 

Our harvest celebration is also an opportunity to extend a hand to all of our acquaintances, friends, and family by inviting them to participate in two of the most basic of Christian endeavors, giving thanks to God for our creation, preservation and all of our blessings of this life and by sharing food with others. 

Harvest festival is traditionally held on the Sunday near or of the Harvest Moon. In England and Canada it’s in early October.  The Jewish Festivals of Booths, Sukkoth (Soo-Cote) is a thanksgiving for the Promised Land, is also held in early October in remembrance of the 40 years in the wilderness.

In Deuteronomy 8, Moses is talking to the people when they reached the Promised Land.  He reminds them that during the 40 years in the wilderness God humbled them with trials to burn out their iniquity.  The people were told to obey in order that they might live and multiply in the land God had promised Abraham.  The 40 years was God’s way of discerning what was in man’s heart: whether or not the people would keep his commandments.  For man was preserved by God from death by manna, that they might learn the lesson that man doesn’t live by bread alone.  The Lord had corrected man and now they received the fruits of the promise, a good land filled with water, springs, figs, pomegranates, wheat, barley, and all the necessities of life.  But the caution Moses gives is that man’s duty is to continue to obey God’s commandments and be thankful.  Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways and to fear him (Deut 8. Verse 6). 

I want to say why we at St. George’s should be especially thankful this year for our church, that we are still together.

There’s a church in our area that is going through a crisis because they have lost their focus.

·        This particular church has been in existence for about forty years.

·        recently there was a split in the direction of the church. 

·        The church’s focus has always been to bring souls to Christ. 

·        Recently, however, the elders of the church determined that a new building was a priority. 

·        They have demanded of the church’s members that they not only give a free will offering but also that they tithe to the building fund. 

·        If they don’t receive the monthly tithe, the people are getting phone calls, asking what is wrong, why aren’t they providing the tithe the church needs for the building fund? 

·        This has resulted in the minister departing, saying he could not support a body more interested in a building than in bringing souls to Christ.  It’s ironic that an empty building is more important to some of these elders than preaching Christ’s message

So at Saint Georges’ as we continue our 500 year old prayer book tradition, we continue to bring souls to salvation through the body and blood of Jesus.  Thank God for our long standing and good relations with the SDA church.

Every Morning Prayer we give our hymns of thanksgiving, especially the Jubilate Deo.  So being thankful is built into to our liturgical acts in the church. 

In the New Testament, Paul tells us to always give thanks to the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light by delivering us from the domain of darkness.  He has transferred us to the Kingdom of His beloved son, in whom we have our redemption through the forgiveness of sins.

We need to keep this great mercy at the forefront of our minds that we can never give enough thanks to God for all the gifts he has given us.

Paul reminds us of the importance of thanks in his letter to the church at Philippi where he wrote:

Philippians 4:6

6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  So you could say that the little girl who was praying at the table was praying just the way Paul told us we should—long and hard and without ceasing.

Let us remember that other church I told you about, as we are all members of the universal church.  In the Creed we affirm we are all members of the body (the holy catholic church) and the body is what’s important-- not the denomination.  I have a story about how we are all connected.

This past week my wife observed a woman at her gym crying while exercising. She went over to ask if she could help.  The lady told her she had recently lost her husband and was feeling very lonely.  All her family resides in another State, and she may have to relocate. 

My wife listened to her and asked her if she had a church family and mentioned that she was a member of St. Georges.  The lady brightened up and was quite excited because she is a member of the SDA church, and thus knew of St. Georges.  I do not know if you remember a few weeks ago when the beautiful flower arrangement was in the fellowship hall?  There had been a get together of the church in remembrance of the lady’s husband.  She thought of us and left the flowers so that we could enjoy them.  What a great testimony to thinking of others in a time of grief.

Have you ever thought about what happens in heaven when we pray?  Do the prayers come whizzing in like email on our computers?  Do you suppose the angels are working in something like a mail room, putting specific prayers in specific slots for God’s attention?

And when God answers the prayer, or when we get an answer that perhaps seems like something less than what we want, maybe we ought to find a positive in His response like the second little girl and the broccoli.  Like the Israelites wandering in the wilderness for those 40 years, things happen in God’s time, not ours. 

When I was in the fourth grade, my teacher taught us in penmanship class how to write a “bread and butter note,” thanking someone for a gift.  My question this morning is have we been writing our bread and butter notes to God to thank him for all our blessings?  How we say it is not as important as just blessing him and thanking him.

Finally, consider this:  "If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead, and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world.  If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the worlds wealthy."

"As you worship this morning without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are envied by and more blessed than three billion people in the world that aren’t able to do so." 

When we look at the “big picture” it gives us perspective:  One that we must always be thankful for what we have, and also remember those who are less fortunate than we are.  Pray for the Phillips family, that they may receive the strength to get through their grief at Jack’s passing.  Pray for any who have suffered loss and remember to give those suffering a listening heart and consoling words.

So at this special time of year, as we get ready to give Thanks, through our prayers and offerings, let us remember that all we have and do and are is dependent on God Our Father.  It is up to us to remember each day in our prayers what we have received. 

As Jesus went to the Father lifting his hands to the heavens to acknowledge his greatness and majesty, let us take time each day to pause, to meditate and remember in our hearts all that we have received from God’s goodness and mercy. 

And finally, remember to say thank you before leaving God’s table.  Praise God from whom all blessing flow.

And now unto God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost are ascribed all might, majesty, dominion and glory now and forever more.

SAFETY AND SECURITY IN THIS WORLD

By Rev. Pressey- Revised July 30, 2011

The Greater Miracle – Transformed Viewpoint

Sermon on John 6:1-14

Rev. Henry P. M. Birkinbine III, St. Luke’s in the Desert Anglican Church, Victorville

Fourth Sunday in Lent, 2011

          You could say that this morning’s Gospel reading is less about the miracle of feeding five thousand than it is about the greater miracle of the transformation in viewpoint to trust in Jesus’ mastery of every situation -  of growth in understanding of God’s provision for life.  The last verse portrays that enlightenment:

“Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said,’ This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.’”

Jesus may well have had mixed feelings about being identified as the Expected One of God based on a miracle so very material as feeding a crowd.  After all, this is the same Jesus who said

“…An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign…”

Well, perhaps that is what it took for those present to see His identity and for them to gain a larger vision of God, a vision of a God of abundant generosity. *

          So there is a far greater story unfolding here than one of bread and fish. It would make an excellent short video, less than ten minutes.  To produce it, we would need a big lake with a big, grassy bank.   We need a big cast, five thousand men, ten disciples (the twelve minus Philip and Andrew), and four main characters:  Jesus, Philip, Andrew, and a boy.  Now don’t burn me for heresy, but casting Jesus would be the least important.  The story unfolds in the growth in Philip, Andrew, and the boy.  Jesus need only be (imagine, only) played by someone holy, authoritative, and caring.  We would spend more camera time on the others, on what they were learning.

          Each of the three other characters has a viewpoint (I  was going to say “attitude”, but that word has somehow gone negative in recent years), a viewpoint at the beginning.  Each emerges with a radically changed viewpoint.  Let’s examine them.  

          Viewpoint 1:  Philip:  We’re on our own, here, God doesn’t solve problems like this.

Jesus saw a real need.  Here were five thousand men, captivated all day by His teaching.  But still, after a while, tummies will rumble.  So, to test him, Jesus asked Philip what he thought about the problem.  He actually asked him “Whence shall we buy bread?”.  He was asking about a source, not the cost.  Why Philip?  Did Philip know where the bakeries were in the area?  Or perhaps at that time Philip was the treasurer, a job which at least, in later months, belonged to Judas.  Perhaps because Philip was as overly practical as Judas was impractical.  Or perhaps because Jesus knew the change in Philip’s attitude would be contagious.  We don’t know.  We do see Philip approaching the problem as some combination of worry wart and accountant.  To underwrite lunch for this crowd, not a catered thing, just a minimal cold lunch, would drain the wages of any one of them for let’s see, they can’t work on the Sabbath…7 3/4 months.  If they all pitched in, let’s see, 13 of them, that’s 15 1/3 days each.  At best, it would stretch into the middle of a third week.  And they had no plastic.  What a mess!  Jesus, we can’t do this.  No way.

Viewpoint 2:  Andrew:  Let us find everything positive, and see where we can go from there.  Still limited to the human perspective.

Andrew volunteers something.  Andrew was often enthusiastic from the start.  He was an early disciple of John the Baptist.  He was the first apostle whom Jesus called, and when called, he ran to tell his brother Peter that he had seen the Christ.  So Andrew, quick to notice things about people, had noticed the boy with a lunch.  The twelve were surely acting as something like ushers and were  keeping an eye on the crowd.  Perhaps the boy, having the curiosity of youth, had worked his way to the front row.  Andrew says:

“There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?”

Was he being sarcastic?  I hope not;  I really want to think better of Andrew.  Then again perhaps Andrew remembered studying 2 Kings 4:42 where someone brought the man of God food for perhaps 20.  The godly man told his servant to feed 100 men.  The servant, like Philip and Andrew, said it wouldn’t work.  But he did as directed, and there were leftovers.  Whatever Andrew was actually thinking, he was just a half-step ahead of Philip-  still  thinking a human solution more likely than God’s provision.

          Viewpoint 3:  The Lad with the Lunch:  This is exciting;  This man knows God;  I’ll gladly give up my lunch to see what happens next.

          Again, don’t haul me into a church court for putting words into the boy’s mind. Yet many of us have been boys, and the remainder  have known boys.  So how could I be wrong?  If there had been a big scene over the boy’s contribution, the event would not have been included in all four gospels.  A growing boy, or his concerned mother, had brought the only thing resembling food to the gathering.  Among 5012 men, nobody is going to challenge a boy for his lunch.  The other 5011 will be outraged.  So we have to see him as a willing participant.  The boy, in the innocence of youth, is probably more open to possibilities than the grownups.  Even if he has reached his teens, has had his Bar Mitzvah and been encouraged to proclaim that he is now a man, he still has had a shorter span of years in which no miracles have occurred.  Remember Jesus’ reason for encouraging the young to come to him:  “for of such is the kingdom of Heaven”.  The younger we are, the less reconstruction Christ has to do to fit us for heaven.  Because doubt has not yet been learned so well.

***

Now this is the exciting moment.  If we were making a video of it, as suggested earlier, this is the part we have to get right—this is the moment of transformation.  The lighting must change, the music must change… Then show that God provides.  There are bread and fish for all.  But what is transformed?  Not bread, not fish, they’re just multiplied.  It’s the people, in their viewpoints, that are transformed.  Probably the boy, least of all.  He’s seen possibilities that he hoped for confirmed.  He’s now certain that God is working in this man Jesus, and that anything is possible.  The five thousand now know Him as the Promised One.  The greatest transformation is surely in Philip, Andrew, and the other ten.  They have been on the road with Jesus and seen healing after healing.  Yet they saw the gathering as a human activity rather than God’s activity.  They now have a transformed viewpoint:

Jesus is Master of every situation.  He doesn’t need to depend on the ordinary, on the observable.  James Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission put it plainly:  

“God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.”

1181

The People of the Church

By Rev. John Bylo

“It is one God that shall justify the circumcised by their faith and the uncircumcised through their faith;” all are justified according to their faith, (Ro 3:30, 31).

This morning we will look at the “People of the Church,” those who are the very foundation of this sanctuary of ours here on earth.  It is their individual, persistent, and humble prayer to a God, they personally know, that keeps alive and strengthens His providence in our world today.

All together, it is they who make the Church a strong haven for all those who have chosen God as their home and Christ as their righteous path to heaven.

I speak here not of the people who simply pass through the confines of the secular church, but rather of those who daily reach out in their thoughts and prayers and continuously renew their contact, with the Lord they love and whose comfort and fellowship they cherish above all other things.  I speak of those people whose awareness and conversation with God continues day and night and who have wedded themselves spiritually and as a matter-of-fact to him in their daily consciousness.  They look at the world and at themselves through His eyes.  They see themselves as belonging to and accountable to their Heavenly Father at all times and in all places and they have made Him their constant companion and the one who they unquestioningly serve.

The spirit of God is alive in the world only as it is alive in the hearts and minds of these faithful servants.  These servants of God have made that humble choice, void of complex, conditional rationalizations and have placed themselves in his eternal service as a simple matter-of-fact. 

Some come to God’s Church by their nature like the children Christ called for, when he said, “Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not for such is the Kingdom of Heaven.” Others come by the revealed word, anxiously receiving its truth as dry soil thirstily soaks up the first rains of summer, But, All must become the possession of God in their own Hearts! 

Their hearts must be marked with the obedience of the Law of Faith so that they will become and remain the children of God until their life’s end.  These servants of our Lord have been his righteous creation since the beginning of mankind and while Christ taught us that we are saved by grace through faith, it is the mark of the “circumcision of the heart,” in these disciples that is the indelible sign of His salvation.

And, it is this ancient and scattered fellowship of God’s faithful throughout the world that St. Paul tells us of when he says:

“For when the gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, they have the law unto themselves: And show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts meanwhile accusing or excusing one another,” Ro 2:14-16.

Our record of the ancient Church is in the Old Testament.  Its wonderful stories tell us of God’s providential hand continually at work in our vibrant and dramatic history.  There is one person, in particular, mentioned in this book, who comes to mind today as vividly as though I had just met her yesterday and she comes to our attention this morning from another early morning thousands of years ago. 

A sunbeam had just pierced the gloom of the quiet room and landed with a glare on the far wall across from where Ruth and her Sister-in-law, Oprah, were sitting with their Mother-in-law Naomi.  She squinted at its brightness and turn aside her gaze.  It had been a horrible night with the passing of Ruth’s husband Mah-lon.  She was heart-broken and drained.  They sat in silence together with unspoken disbelief, pain, and apprehensions clouding their thoughts.  Since Naomi had come to Moab from Bethlehem, she had lost her husband and both sons.   She was now a woman without any means of support and in a foreign land with little hope for the future. 

Ruth and Orpah, similarly devastated yet devoted to their mother-in-law, sat quietly and waited for her to speak.  “The Lord hath dealt harshly with me,” said Naomi.  “I must return to Bethlehem.  The drought has lifted and I can find food and my kinsmen there.”  Both Ruth and Orpah told Naomi that they would also go and care for her.  She thanked her daughter-in-laws and told them that there would be no future for them with her and that they should remain in their homeland.  Orpah paused for a moment and then accepted Naomi’s offer with thanks.  Ruth also was silent and when Naomi’s eyes rested on her she said:

“Whither thou goest, I will go, and

  Where thou lodgest, I will lodge.” And

“Thy people shall be my people, and

  Thy God shall be my God.” and

“Where thou diest, I will die, and

  There will I be buried!

“The Lord do this to me, and more also,

  if ought but death part thee and me.”

    When Naomi saw that she was steadfastly determined to go with her, she said no more, (Ru 1:16-18).

As the women entered the land of Bethlehem, they were greeted with green landscapes and fields abundant with barley rippling in the wind.  Their spirits lifted as they entered the city and Naomi was greeted by her friends and kinsmen.  After they found lodgings for the night and rested from the journey, Ruth told Naomi that she was going out to join the barely harvest and glean from the harvested fields what she could so that they could eat. 

She walked along the road with the other women dodging ruts and carts ladened with grain along the way until she reached the fields where the harvest was in progress.  Ruth picked a part of the field where the men were hard at work and fell in behind them, yet staying far enough back to avoid getting in their way.   She and the other women picked up the shafts of barley from the ground that were left by the harvesting crews.

 Later, in the morning, Boaz, the owner of that part of the field, came to inspect the work and, noticing Ruth, asked his foreman about her.  The foreman said, “She is the daughter-in-law of Naomi who has just returned with her from Moab and she has been working hard since the early morning.”  Boaz regarded her as she diligently searched and gathered up the grain that was dropped and left behind.  After a while, he walked up to her and said, “Abide here with my maidens and don’t go to another field.  Look to the fields where my maidens reap and go after them and drink of the water of the harvest men.  I have told them not to touch you.”  Boaz knew how good Ruth was to Naomi and he asked God’s blessing upon her.  He said to her, “May the Lord recompense your work and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings You have taken refuge.”

Now, the people of the Church are much the same as Ruth, Martha, and all the saints of the bible, in that, they had built a life in righteousness with their Lord at its center.  They had inscribed the Law of Faith upon their hearts and live their days in Peace with their Heavenly Master.  And, in this Peace they felt their own unworthiness, and looked up to their Holy Lord in heaven for help and forgiveness, (Ro 3:27).  The Law of Faith, for them, was the only path to God and it is by this that all saints have walked, ever since, whether before or after the gospel,” (Ro 3:29).

They had found the pearl of great price and it was everything to them.  They had given themselves to their Lord in faith and love, not needing or expecting anything in return.  They treasured His company for its own sake; satisfied just to stand near him.  They were jealous of nothing, found rest in his sight, and yet were energized to new life in his presence and strengthened and affirmed by his comfort.

These are the dedicated persons who our Lord gathers into his net by which he safely leads them onto the shore of eternal life. 

And, it is also, these unique individuals who, in the sincerity of their prayers and actions each day, materially influence the well-being of God’s Church in the world.  And it is through the manifold strength of this paramount relationship, which they hold so dear, that they are able to resist the evil that abides within them and to turn away from the Church the continuous craft and assaults of the devil who works against it!  So that, “when the enemy does come in like a flood,” as scripture tells us, “The spirit of the Lord, on earth, by whom we all are united and strengthened, shall lift up in a strong defense against him,” (Isa 59:19).

And, so it is that, though they are tossed to and fro by the forces of this world, those who have set themselves to this task of discipleship, will continue to serve Him and live quietly in his Peace, (Collect).  And, it is in this obedience to their Lord in soul and body, in thoughts, life and their very heart that they, in their love for God’s Law will ever keep His Peace.

And finally, in all things, we must remember that, as the “People of the Church,” we strive for this “Peace of God” through His son Jesus Christ, with our eyes fixed constantly on him. 

And that, although, we seek our redemption through Jesus Christ and Ruth became the redeemed of God through her natural faith, all of us, WHO are redeemed unto our Heavenly Father by his grace, are marked in our body, soul, and mind by this Peace that comes from the Law of Faith that we hold in our hearts.

The True Vine

July 17th, 2011

Rev. Phil Ternahan

As Christians we hold the core belief that the Holy Spirit abides with us, and that as long as we follow the commandments of God He will not abandon us.

John 15 speaks of the parable of the vine and our Lord abiding in us and that without Him we can bear no fruit.  This could simply mean that if Christ speaks to our hearts and we neglect to listen, he will not hear us when we speak to Him.  He must be a force and a power in our character.  This is a privilege to have Christ live or dwell with us.  It is a relationship unlike any other.  We have Christ’s promise that he will continue in us as long as we hold on to His Word.  In this parable he gives us life, enabling us to produce fruit.

In Washington State where we went on vacation, there are a lot of grapes being grown.  When I looked at the grapes, which aren’t that large at this time of year, I noticed the care that goes into growing the vines.  After last year’s crop the workers cut away the dead wood to encourage new growth.  The vines are supported by wires attached to posts and they twine about the supporting structure as they grow.  Pruning and thinning encourages the growth of the fruits.  If a storm breaks the branch, it must be cut off.  It gains its strength and growth from the nourishment of the main vine, and once it is broken it dies..

You are probably asking what the vine has to do with abiding in Christ.  When we are marked as his sheep through Baptism, isn’t that enough?  The vine is symbolic of the living relationship we have with Christ, just as we are described as the body and he is the head.

So the vine is Jesus; our souls are the branches and flourish when we are connected with him.  If we are separated by man’s conceits from his love, our souls will wither and die. 

We flourish by studying Holy Scripture.  We nourish our souls with prayer.  We act on our faith by showing love to others and by serving them—these are the fruits.  We bring others to the faith by the Gospel.

Jesus reminds us he chose us to go forth and do good.  Our good works shall remain to our account because we glorify God and our fruits shall grow, as we spiritually mature. 

We must practice daily our Christian Virtues that come through the Holy Spirit.  We listen for that voice when we pray.  Jesus wants us to continue in his love, which means to act as he taught us, to practice every day to keep his commandments.  Relationships are the key:  Our relationship to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost and to our fellow man.

In my travels I saw a sign in front of a church.  On that church sign, it had this statement:  “We teach relationships, not religion.”  Jesus came to teach man.  Jesus taught us how to humbly serve one another.  When the Apostles contended to be first in his favor and sit near him, he rebuked them.  He even washed their feet as the humblest servant might.  He gave them the example, shaming them for their jealous acts.  Above all, Jesus the servant died to glorify his Father.  What are we doing to glorify Our Lord?

“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree (Gal. 3:13).  Jesus paid the price for all of us.  The Jews were so stuck in their rules they rejected Jesus as the promised Messiah.

When the proto-martyr Stephen was stoned to death, he pleaded to God not to hold it against the stone throwers.  In the moment of death he was concerned for the men throwing stones. 

Don’t we experience the world throwing stones at God’s people today?  We are told we cannot pray in schools or public buildings.  Preaching the Bible has become akin to the most egregious hate speech.  Billy Graham has said, “I firmly believe that Christians will be seen as a hate group by the State in our lifetime.”  We are derided and ridiculed for practicing what God has commanded.   In other countries, we are dying for Christ.  It is time to take a stand through personal commitment and action.

How can we keep Christ in our hearts and our communities?  By following his teachings and walking with him despite the naysayers.  We must listen to our consciences and reject anyone who tries to limit us from living the Gospel and bringing souls to Christ.  Walking with Christ is not a passive activity.

We cannot mature as Christians by sitting in Church and listening to sermons.  We must act in our lives as we believe in our hearts.  Otherwise, we devalue the great gift Christ gave.  Paul says that Christ made us free by his death on the cross.  He warns us not to jeopardize that freedom by following the world’s selfish rules instead of God’s rules and thus falling from the grace we have been given.  What is the consequence of following men’s rules?

Paul says we risk our eternal salvation.  He says:

“Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace”.

In other words, we risk ruining our relationship with God.

Paul tells us how to act when he tells Timothy

 “In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge:  Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season: correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 

Paul is telling us we must be persistent and not give up.

He says:  For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”  2 Timothy 4: 1-5

We must not backslide from Christ’s teachings to take the comfortable way of the world.  Let Christ be our vine.

So what is our charge?  It is to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.  What is our goal?  It is to be like Paul—as much as we are able—to reach the end of our lives feeling that we have made a difference.  

 If we are to fight the good fight, and continue to mature spiritually, we may not be popular with men, we may face disapproval and recrimination, but our true guide the Holy Spirit will comfort us and we will know the satisfaction that Paul felt at the end of his journey.  Let us all hope that we are able to meet Jesus and have him welcome us as good and faithful servants.  Let us hope that Jesus will tell us, “Well done!”

Using Prayer

“Less We Forget”

The Collect for the 3^rd Sunday after Easter

This morning is the 3^rd Sunday in Easter and our scripture reading for today reminds us how we are to conduct ourselves as members of Christ’s Church. And, it is in the spirit of this that, as a minister of Christ, I ask: How well do we know our God or even ourselves as His children? Do we say aloud in human society what this faith of ours means to us? Do we say in clear and simple terms to ourselves and to our friends what this faith has personally done for us? Do we ever ask ourselves, when did our faith last pull us back from a bad situation or when did it give us the strength to take that next necessary step that life demanded? And, when did we ever refer to our matter-of-fact experience with faith in conversation?

We share our experiences with other people all the time and if our faith is really as important to us as we might feel it is, do we ever say little factual things like; “That little prayer got me through,” or “just saying to myself, what would Christ have done, calmed me down just enough to get by;” and then leave it at that.

We were received into Christ’s flock – the community of Christian believers – at our Baptism. Promises were made then and later on, again, at our Confirmation. But what was it that we promised? We promised to “not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified, and to manfully fight under his banner, against sin, the world, and the devil and to continue as Christ’s soldier and servant unto our life’s end.” And, from this, we learned, as Christians, that “we are strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man” and that with “Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith, we may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Having made these promises who did we make them to? We made them to God and to ourselves!”

Thinking on this, it is clear that, because of these simply promises and this fellowship here around us this morning, that we belong to a group of people who are known as “strangers and pilgrims” in this world, as the Epistle tells us, ever traveling, in search of a city of our own and a place in the Kingdom of God. And, when we talk, our conversation uses the words and thoughts of the culture of heaven. Words and thoughts expressing Charity and Mercy are not part of the language of the jungle and they were not part of the language of the Roman coliseum. They are of the nature and thinking of Almighty God and they are also present in each of us through the Holy Ghost.

As Christians we are that unique part of mankind which choses its destiny with promises and shapes it with single minded obedience in pursuit of one, all important goal, our union with the Creator and father of all. Our collect today reads: God help us “that we may avoid those things that are contrary to our promises and follow all such things as are agreeable to them.” In other words, we believe we are made of the substance of heaven and that heaven is our home and our single most treasured goal.

In Holy Scripture we are referred to as sheep in our singular love for Christ, but in God’s own image, we make a choice to follow Christ and, at the moment we make that choice, we begin to act on it and to be in an eternal relationship with Him. Then, throughout the rest of our life, we continue choosing, in all the moments that follow, to obey his commandments, glorify His name and deny anything which would compromise that relationship. To have a right relationship is the willful choice we make and we maintain that relationship by willful and continuous acts of obedience that support that choice. As Christian men and women it is only when we have “established our faith in this way and made it fast by a changeless decree,” #288 Hymnal, that we can look forward with honest hope to resting truly in the arms of God.

As we seek to make ourselves through choice - we discover we are saved by Christ. As we chose to repent – we find we are redeemed by God. When we chose to “humbly offer ourselves, our souls and bodies to be a reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice unto” God – we learn that we are born anew in the Holy Spirit.

In light of these considerations, do any of us see any structure emerging here, any energized, motivated behavior? Choice, action, and faithfulness are essential parts of righteousness and salvation. It is an ongoing process, a continual adventure towards a treasured, transcendent goal.

The other day, I saw a young girl tripping down the sidewalk with ear plugs in her ears listening to music and apparently not paying attention to anything else. To my shock, when she reached the corner she just continued out into the street, never breaking her stride or even looking to one side or the other. Well, nothing happened. No car past through the intersection or turned the corner, but the damage was done never the less. This person was out of touch with the reality around her; not even aware of it and although nothing happened, she will face a continually increasing chance of having an accident in the future she ignores. But, we, as Christians, live in the present with an eye on the future. We look to the future as having a value and a purpose because it was gained for us through the supreme sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. We make choices based on these values and purposes and we promise obedience in pursuit of the goal they represent. Such was not the case for this young woman.

Now, what does this, seemly unrelated, cautionary tale have to do with us this morning? Actually, it has a great deal to do with all of us. I challenge all of us including myself to ask ourselves privately, “Are we not, at times, so comfortable in the rhythm of our daily lives that we let our awareness of where we are in life itself be hidden and masked by superfluous priorities that have supplanted our treasured relationship with our Heavenly Father? This happens especially as we get older. We become busy doing other things and the priority of our worship and our relationship with God starts, almost unnoticeably, to decline and we begin to lose clarity of faith and spiritual awareness as well.

Our Lord spoke often and clearly on the value and essential need of absolute righteousness and the penalty to be paid in declining it. The Parable of the Talents is just one of Jesus’ parables that describes the sad outcome for the unprofitable servant who passively followed vain concerns and choose not to actively pursue a viable right relationship with his lord and master. It’s ironic to think how we, in this modern age of declining church attendance, can celebrate our natural intelligence when we take time to reflect that it was given to us only so that we could offer it back to our Lord in Heaven in righteous oblation. Our Lord’s gospel tells us that viable righteousness with our Heavenly Father is not an entertainment option; it is a requirement for life now and in the future.

As Christians, we believe that there is a better way to live than in the mindless pursuit of personal gratification. We use our intelligence, reason, and values to reach our goals. As Christians we believe that life has value and purpose in the righteousness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And, we believe, that the validity of this relationship is in the fervent and regular consummation of our promises in prayer and praise. This Sunday our church reminds us to not forget our faith, to “avoid those things that are contrary to our profession (as faithful believers), and to follow all such things as are agreeable with it.” She asks us to lay hold of again those thoughts and values that are the core meaning of our lives and character as churchmen and quietly reminds us that life has purpose and value and as Christians we must never allow ourselves to forget it.

Rev. Canon John M. Bylo, May 15^th, 2011.

By the Grace of God
By Rev. Ternahan

Today we celebrate the founding of St. Georges Church and the beginning of our 18^th year at this location.

 St. George’s Anglican Church was founded due to the Episcopal Church’s abandonment of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  In the early 1990s Reg Hammond wrote an article entitled “Why the 1928 Book of Common Prayer?”  This quotation gives the background about why he left the Episcopal church:

“As an Episcopalian, prior to the adoption of the 1979 BCP, I had the opportunity to attend church in Canada, in England, Scotland and a number of different States in the Union.  I was able to follow the service with no problem because the Orders of Service were “common”, they were the same, except for the Hymns, that may or may not be familiar.  Of course, if one was in the British Empire, one had to pray for the King or Queen and not the President, but that posed no problem. 

After 1979, in attending different Episcopal Churches, I found little ‘in common’ in the Rites or Services held.”

He goes on to explain that, with the 1979 prayer book, everything was totally different-- as each church used different bits and pieces to the extent he couldn’t be sure what the service would be or how it would be arranged.  To Bishop Hammond, this introduced the chaos that had existed back in the middle ages before Cranmer and others put out the prayer book of 1549.

Just an aside for a moment—I’m sure that many of you watched the royal wedding of Prince William and Princess Catherine and you heard the prayer book language, including the prayer we pray in the 1928 Communion service.  I wonder how many of the billion or so watching will be drawn to Anglicanism as a result?

 I believe leaving the Episcopal Church on principle was difficult for Reg.  You see, it was the “family business.”  Reg’s father had brought the family from Canada to settle in Fillmore and served as Rector of St. Paul’s for 20 years.  Reg’s brothers were priests.  After serving in the army in World War II, Reg became a teacher, eventually retiring from Fillmore as assistant superintendent.  He would be 79 years old when he became a priest in 1997.

When he and Anthony Egeland set up St. George’s a number of other disaffected Episcopalians joined them.  Early families were the Allens, the Presseys, the Gillespies, the Henrys and later on all of us.  I’ve heard we come from over 30 different denominations.  Some were called “cradle” Episcopalians, meaning they were in the church all their life, and as you know Lucille my wife was raised in the Anglican Church.

I need to tell you how we came to St. George’s in 1999.  We showed up at just when the service was ending at 11:30, not 10:30 when we should have done. 

But the way Bishop handled it was just the way he was.  He was always so glad to see visitors.  He didn't make me feel awkward.  He shook my hand, put his arm around my shoulders as he was always doing, and said, “I’ll see you next week, young man.”  And we’re still here.

Like the early church when Christians met in homes for centuries before dedicated buildings for service were created, St. Georges started small:  it was in a rented room above the Women’s’ Club. 

Now there’s another connection in my mind with the ancient church of St. Paul’s time.  You remember that Paul went to synagogues to spread the Gospel.  He also went by the river where small groups gathered who didn’t have a synagogue.  They’d worship by the water. 

We used to sing old songs at our annual picnic out at the Hammonds’ ranch.  Perhaps we even sang the one that goes,

“Shall we gather at the river?

where bright angel feet have trod,

with its crystal tide forever

flowing by the throne of God?

And the Refrain:

     Yes, we'll gather at the river,

     the beautiful, the beautiful river;

     gather with the saints at the river

     that flows by the throne of God.”

That teaches us an important lesson: God is everywhere, not just in a building called a church.

Elizabeth suggested to Dave and Reg they should talk to the SDA church who worship on Saturdays. St. George’s was growing by “word of mouth.” And the location was becoming increasingly inadequate.  Again, God’s Grace led Reg here.

When Reg talked to the SDA pastor, he found that they were both of Canadian background, and had much in common.  They got along very well, and so here we are, 18 years later.  The SDA Pastor and the church secretary are great friends.  We hope this friendly arrangement will continue.

We’ve been blessed over the years.  We’ve been blessed with people anxious to serve.  Volunteers step forward and carry out the essential functions.  You all are cross trained to do many necessary jobs.  St. George’s has no paid staff; everything is done in the spirit of love for one another and for the spread of the Christian faith.  Believe me; the clergy could not do this alone.  It is St. George’s people who make the church.  The fact that everyone pitches in is the reason that we keep going.  The AEC convention last year is just one example, when visitors said it was the best event they’d ever attended.

That leads me to the role of God’s Grace in the history of St. George’s.  I firmly believe, and I’m sure Bishop Pressey, Reverend Bylo, and Postulant Neubauer as well, that without God’s grace we would not exist. 

Bishop Hammond often said, “if God wants St. George’s to continue, we will continue.”  From Bishop Hammond, this was not a statement of uncertainty:  it was a statement of his strong faith that the model of St. George’s and the clergy who have been trained through St. George’s will continue our form of services for the future.  Just look what God has done through St. Georges:  Reverend Tom Brooks was trained up from the laity through the deaconate and is now the Rector of All Saints in Pensacola.  That church would most likely have folded without a Priest physically able to carry on.  That’s one example of the all-seeing, all-knowing God who prepared Tom.  Another of our former clergy now in another jurisdiction, Ron Ryan, is clear up in Alaska. Also, the Church of the Redeemer in Fairbanks has voluntarily associated with us.  Now we’ve trained Deacon Birkinbine in Victoria and here we have Nicholas carrying to torch onwards with the support of Brooke and his young group in Las Vegas.  Truly we are all blessed by this.

       The tradition of St. George’s starting with Reg Hammond and Anthony Egeland has been to serve others with a community of worship centered on Holy Scripture.  We know the church is not the clergy or a few people with certain abilities.  We are mindful of Paul’s statement, "Now you are Christ’s body and individually part of it." (1Cor: 12:27)

     Just as we can never separate Christ from the church, neither can we separate the Holy Spirit. The Church is the Temple of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is head of the body and the Holy Spirit is the Church’s soul.  We pray we may receive grace though His mercy on us.   

Paul described the variety of talents, services and ministries in the church as gifts from the Holy Spirit. He reminds us, "For in one Spirit we were baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and were all given to drink of the one Spirit."

And he offers us in Romans 5:5 the comfort that "The love of God is poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us." Love and concern for each other, for our families, our community and our country are hallmarks of St George’s people. 

In conclusion, I quote Bishop Hammond:

It is my fervent prayer that each of us will, through the Grace of God and the increasing use of the Book of Common Prayer, both in our homes and in our Churches, be drawn into the mind of Christ and to share in his love.”

Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.