Trinity XIV- Luke 17:11-19

 Like last Sunday's Gospel, today's  Gospel from St. Luke 17:11-19 shows a Samaritan in a positive light. Last week in St. Luke 15, the Good Samaritan in the parable showed great moral sensitivity by being a neighbor to the man who had been robbed and beaten. This week, the Samaritan leper shows great gratitude and devotion.

As Jesus passed through a village on the way from Galilee to Jerusalem, "There met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: and they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed " (St. Luke 17:12-14). Of the ten, only one bothered to glorify God and thank Jesus, the Samaritan. Christ emphasized this point, and then "he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole"(17:19). So the despised Samaritan who had also been a contagious and disfigured leper becomes the great example of faith in God and in Christ.

This event makes a significant point. Not only can a despised person exemplify good moral behavior, but such a person may also exemplify great religious faith. And faith is the ultimate issue. Regardless of all other human characteristics, faith in God through Christ is the core of a person's identity. Physical health, nationality, or membership in a certain religious group are less important than a person's faith in and gratitude toward God.

Thus, as we think about the basic identity of other people we encounter, we should think of their attitude toward God rather than obvious external characteristics. Furthermore, as we think about our own lives, we should not center our identity in worldly traits such as appearance, physical health, nationality, or denominational affiliation. Instead, we should ask ourselves whether we are humbly faithful and grateful to God for His work in Jesus Christ. For it is such faith that determines who we really are.

Trinity XIII- Faith and Love

 On the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, the Epistle from Galatians 3:16-22 and the Gospel from Luke 10:23-37 seem to be talking about very different aspects of religious teaching and experience. The Epistle highlights the importance of faith over the value of specific commands of the Law. The Gospel emphasizes the great commandments of the Law and the importance of loving actions toward God and neighbor. For many believers, the difficulty has been how to fit the two emphases together. Do we start with faith or with love?

In abstraction, love is paramount. God is love, and His dealings with human beings begin with His love. Human beings are called to respond to divine love. Because God first loves us, we are to love Him and our neighbors. This is beautiful, and it sounds simple, but in reality, loving God and our neighbors is not easy. It is complicated by the fact that human nature is fallen and corrupt. On our own, we are sinners who have lost the capacity to love as we should. 

This human condition means that love is not our first step. Our response to divine love must begin with repenting our lack of love followed by faith in God's love revealed in Jesus Christ. Without such faith, we are not really open to love. God's loving grace must first begin to transform us by creating faith in Him. Christian Faith then opens our hearts to love God in return. And as we begin to love God, we also begin to love our neighbors created by God. As Galatians 5:6 indicates, the core of the Christian life is "faith which worketh by love."

Trinity XII- Mark 7:31-37

The Collect for the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity emphasizes that God is the center of prayer. In other words, prayer is not primarily about us or others. It is an acknowledgement of God and His holy and gracious nature. We are inconsistent and weak in prayer as in other areas. So our focus must be on God. Although we are weak and sinful creatures, He is always ready to hear, forgive, extend His mercy, and give good gifts through Jesus Christ.

The Gospel from St. Mark 7:31-37 echoes the collect's emphasis on divine mercy and grace. It is the account of the healing of a deaf-mute. This miracle takes place in the Decapolis, a region east of the Jordan. In the first century, the region had both Jewish and pagan Greek-speaking inhabitants. This circumstance points to the significance of Christ's ministry for all people. The healing of deaf-mute of unspecified national origin also points to the fulfillment of Messianic prophecies (Isaiah 35:5 and Ezekiel 24:27). So this Gospel passage highlights the divine mercy and grace available to all people through Jesus Christ.

Trinity XI- Luke 18: 9-14

Both the Epistle and the Gospel for the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity are rich passages that bring up several important themes. Among other things, the Gospel from Luke 18 emphasizes God's mercy toward humble and penitent sinners such as the tax collector. This theme of divine mercy is also emphasized in the opening words from the Collect of the Day: "O God, who declarest thy almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity...."

Frequently, when we human beings think of divine power, we tend to think about creation, amazing miracles, extraordinary natural phenomena, or divine judgments against sin. We can certainly see manifestations of divine power in such things, and we should appreciate them. However, today's Gospel and the words of the collect point us in a very different direction. Although God's creative work and His justice are notable expressions of His power, His grace, pardon, and mercy are even more powerful. Like both the Pharisee and the tax collector, we are all sinners in one way or another. We all deserve judgment and separation from God. Nevertheless, God is loving and merciful, and if we are open to His grace expressed in Jesus Christ, then we can humbly repent, receive divine mercy, and be justified or set right with God. God's power is chiefly declared through His love, mercy, and compassion! That is certainly Gospel or Good News!

The Transfiguration of Christ- 6 August- Luke 9:28-36

The feast of the Transfiguration is based on a mysterious event from the Gospels (Matthew 17:1-9, Mark 9:2-10, Luke  9:28-36). This event provides one of the most distinctive and dramatic manifestations of Jesus' divinity. In the synoptic Gospels, our Lord takes Peter, John, and James up onto a mountain where He has a shining appearance during prayer. Moses and Elijah appear and converse with Jesus, and a divine voice proclaims, "This is my beloved Son; hear him" (Luke 9:35).

Despite its clear biblical basis, this commemoration has not always received very much emphasis. It was only a few years before the Reformation that the Latin church began to observe the Transfiguration as a universal feast on August 6. In liturgical simplifications after the Reformation, the Feast of the Transfiguration was removed from many calendars, including the calendar of the 1549 Book of Common Prayer. It was restored but only as a minor commemoration or "black-letter day" in the 1662 BCP. The celebration was restored more fully and provided with "propers" as a feast of our Lord in the 1928 BCP. Some recent Anglican calendars have adopted the Lutheran custom of observing the Transfiguration on the Last Sunday after the Epiphany. 

The Transfiguration of Christ is significant whenever we observe it. It shows that Christ's Gospel continues the Law and the Prophets. It illustrates that Christ's authority remains after Moses and Elijah have faded from view. It manifests our Lord's great inner glory and approval by God the Father. It is also a reminder that the Son of Man must suffer before His glory is more fully revealed (Matthew 17:12).

Trinity X- Luke 19:41-47- Weeping over the City

The traditional Gospel for the Tenth Sunday after Trinity comes from Luke 19:41-47. This passage is right after Luke’s account of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and it emphasizes our Lord’s concern for the city and its people. St. Luke 19:41 says, “And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it…”

It may be hard for us to grasp Jerusalem’s importance in first-century Jewish life and consciousness. It was more significant to Jews than modern London (or Canterbury), Washington, Ottawa, Canberra, Paris, or Berlin are to their nations. A first-century Jew could not ignore Jerusalem. It was the center of Jewish political, economic, educational, and religious life. It was the place of pilgrimage and the center of religious worship. Even daily prayers in homes or synagogues were said facing toward Jerusalem.

Jesus spent a lot of time in Jerusalem, and He acknowledged its importance. So His comments in our Gospel are especially notable. His sadness over the city has great significance, not only about ancient Jerusalem itself, but also about those aspects of human life that Jerusalem represented.

One aspect of Jerusalem that Jesus Christ wept over was political and economic corruption. Several groups competed for power, wealth, and influence. Some wanted to cooperate with Rome; some wanted reform; some wanted political or religious revolution. These groups would keep bickering and struggling. Thirty years later, politics led the city to rebel against Rome, and Jerusalem and its people were devastated by pagan Roman might.

A second aspect was Jerusalem’s role as the intellectual and educational center for all Jews. Most of the educated people of Jerusalem were convinced that they already knew what they needed to know. They scorned and rejected Jesus as a teacher from a backward area who threatened stability. They rejected His spiritual approach. Over the coming decades, these educated people would become more and more politicized, and many would join the doomed rebellion against Rome.

A third characteristic of the city was Jerusalem's role as the heart of the Jewish religion. The city was the place where the whole Jewish people focused their relationship with God. The people usually honored the religious establishment, but many religious leaders lacked living faith. As long as the forms continued, such leaders thought all was well. For them, Jesus was a troublesome outsider to be neutralized. Then the official religious leaders could continue their domination until they too were swept up in the rebellion which destroyed the city, the Temple, and their power.

Such then was the city over which Jesus wept. He wept because He loved His people, and He still honored the values which Jerusalem symbolized. He wept because of the corruption, spiritual blindness, and sin that endangered the city- physically, culturally, and spiritually.

Of course, this Gospel selection is about first-century Jerusalem, but it is also about us, and sadly it seems to have many applications to present-day Western societies. Like first-century Jerusalem, our societies do not know the things that bring true peace. Even many who profess Christ do not follow Him, and the problem is more than personal weakness and individual sins. Our political, intellectual, and religious institutions are permeated by many types of moral and spiritual corruption. So-called Christendom does have a great heritage, but so did ancient Jerusalem. The issue is whether we (both individually and corporately) will heed Christ and His values or continue on the route to destruction.

On the positive side, Jesus Christ offers us a different way. He offers true peace, peace with God. He offers new life through divine grace and living faith. The question that faces supposed Christians is whether we really accept Him and His peace or we refuse Him and continue on the way to destruction.