Easter Even- I Peter 31:17-22; Matthew 27: 57-66

 Traditional Books of Common Prayer call this Saturday "Easter Even", while modern calendars  may use the title "Holy Saturday." Following the ancient Church, traditional Anglicans keep the day very low-key. For centuries most churches have not celebrated the Lord's Supper during this day. The Easter Vigil Eucharist is a relatively recent attempt to renew an ancient practice, but it is technically a celebration of  Easter Day, and in ancient times, the consecration took place after midnight. 

Personally, I prefer the more traditional Prayer Book practice of simply reading Morning and Evening Prayer. If a parish wants to add something more, one can use the propers for Ante-Communion or the Liturgy of the Word. The collect for the day has the main themes of Christ's death and resurrection related to Christian Baptism. 

The Epistle from First Peter 3: 17-22 has two main themes: 1) the importance of Christ's death for our salvation, and 2) the relationship between Christ's death and Christian Baptism. The Gospel from Matthew 27: 57-66 is the account of Jesus' burial in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathaea and the authorities sending guards to watch.

These readings drive home the reality of Christ's death and anticipate His resurrection. They also remind us that Christian Baptism unites us to both His death and His resurrection. We die to sin and rise to new life in Christ. This dying and rising takes place at our Baptisms and throughout the life of faith. Such themes make this a good day for quiet reflection. We can give thanks for Christ's redemptive work quietly as we look forward to the joy of new life with and through Him.

Trinity III- Resisting the Adversary- I Peter 5: 5-11

The Epistle for the Third Sunday after Trinity is a famous and striking passage from 1 St. Peter 5:5-11. This short selection from near the end of the letter contains important themes such as grace, humility, faith, confidence, perseverance, suffering, and temptation. In particular, let us notice 1 Peter 5:8-9, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. Whom resist stedfast in the faith...."

As Christians seek to grow in grace, we should always be aware that we do not merely struggle against natural conditions or only against our personal weaknesses. We are involved in the cosmic struggle between God and evil. We know that God in Christ has triumphed and will return in final victory. In the meantime, earthly struggles continue, and by divine grace, we must resist evil through faith in our Savior Jesus Christ. He is our only real hope and strength in a fallen world and a corrupt age!

Easter II- The Shepherd of our Souls- John 10:11; I Peter 2:25

On the traditional calendars of western churches, the Second Sunday after Easter has been called Good Shepherd Sunday (newer calendars shift this theme to a week later). Of course, this theme is related to the Gospel, in particular, John 10:11 where Jesus says, "I am the good Shepherd." This time, let us focus on a related statement in the Epistle. In I Peter 2:25, the Apostle Peter writes, "For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls."

This verse presents two truths. 1) Human beings are like sheep, and we go astray. We do not think or live as we should. We wander away on our own and get into all kinds of danger and trouble. 2) Despite our tendency to wander, Jesus Christ is our Shepherd. He wants to guide us and protect us. He is the bishop,  that is, the "overseer," who watches over our souls. So Christians are those who have returned to our Good Shepherd. We have returned to Jesus, and we need to stay close to Him. The risen Lord is the only one who can properly guide and care for us! Thanks be to God for this message of hope!

Trinity III- Luke 15: 1-10

The Gospel for the Third Sunday after Trinity is Luke 15:1-10, and it contains two brief parables- about the lost sheep and about the lost coin. The context makes it clear that our Lord is talking about sinners lost to God. Some extreme approaches to this theme have left a bad aftertaste, and nowadays, even sincere Christians may hesitate to speak of people lost in sin. 

Yet, Scripture in general, and our Lord Jesus Christ, in particular, are not hesitant to speak of lost people and the condition of being lost. Indeed, according to Holy Scripture, all human beings have been lost, and apart from divine grace, all remain lost. As the daily general confession in the Book of Common Prayer says, "we have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep" (based on Isaiah 53:6 and 1 Peter 2:25). So at some moments in time, all human beings are lost, and all need to be found by Christ and His Church.

Seeking the lost has two important applications in our lives. First, each of us as Christians should acknowledge that in differing ways and at different times, we have all been lost and that we have tendencies to get lost repeatedly. So we all depend upon divine mercy, grace, and persistence in seeking us out-- in the past, in the present, and in each new day. 

God seeks us in many ways such as through subtle promptings of the Holy Spirit, conscience, life events, general reading, and encounters with other people, but chiefly He seeks us through Word and Sacrament. Thus, we should be aware that God is always seeking us, and we need to be open to being found by Him.

Secondly, in addition to being sought by God, as members of the Body of Christ, we Christians are called to participate in the Lord's work of seeking and finding the lost. We are not to approach this calling with the wrong attitude. We are not to pretend to be some perfect paragons of virtue. Rather, we are to be humble. As sinners ourselves, we have benefited from the mercy and grace of God. We rejoice in divine mercy and grace, and we want to share that good news with others. We want each lost person to be found and to know the joy of returning to God. 

So let us be open to God’s work in our lives and to our participation in Christ’s work in the world. May each of us be found by God, and may each of us do our small part to help others be found by God!

Trinity Sunday- Matthew 3:16-17, John 3: 5-16, Ephesians 2:18, I Peter 1:2

Much has been and can be said about the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity.  It is appropriate that we focus on the doctrine of the Holy Trinity one week after celebrating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Church. Although human beings can use both reason and poetic language to talk about the nature of the Triune God, our personal appreciation of this unique Christian teaching depends on the divine grace which the Holy Spirit pours into our hearts and minds. In other words, perceiving, confessing, and appreciating the doctrine of the Trinity is not a natural human ability but a gift of divine grace. 

There are numerous Scriptural passages that both maintain divine oneness and unity and refer to all three divine Persons.  There are New Testament texts such as Matthew 3:16-17, John 3: 5-16, Ephesians 2:18, 2 Corinthians 13: 14, and 1 Peter 1:2 that express a Trinitarian understanding of God's self-disclosure to humanity. In particular, the Gospel for this day from John 3 alludes to the work of all three divine Persons in being born anew by water and the Spirit. These biblical teachings are also summarized and explained in the three ancient Creeds, the ancient church fathers, and statements in numerous Christian sources. In other words, the doctrine of the Trinity embodies and expresses core Christian beliefs about creation, redemption, and sanctification.

Third Sunday after Trinity- I Peter 5:5-11

This week, my attention has been drawn to the Epistle for the Third Sunday after Trinity: 1 St. Peter 5:5-11. In this passage, believers are urged to be humble. As surprising as it may be to some people, humility is the best way to withstand evil. In particular, the passage warns against the devil. Many modern people doubt the existence of the devil while some others have an exaggerated view of his presence and power. Even many professing Christians lack a sound biblical understanding of evil.

Of course, the New Testament, as shown by today's epistle from I Peter, takes the devil or Satan very seriously, and Christians are called upon to resist his influence. Pride is Satan's great flaw, and pride puts human beings in a vulnerable spiritual position. Humility, on the other hand, means that we are less likely to pursue evil. Humility is a recognition of our proper place in the universe and an acknowledgement of our dependence upon what God has done for us in Christ. We do not depend upon our own feeble efforts to defeat evil; we depend upon divine grace. Through grace, believers pass through the sufferings and afflictions of this world, and we look in faith and hope to our eternal future with Christ.