The Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity.
The Collect.
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LMIGHTY and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity; and, that we may obtain that which thou dost promise, make us to love that which thou dost command; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Collect
How does one attain to the salvation of one’s soul? Does salvation come by personal merit, good works, a commendable spirit, sacrifice, or bloodlines? No, salvation comes by none of these according to Holy Scripture. Then from whence does it come and by what means? Please review the following text – parse every phrase and word – then, answer by what means we are saved: But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Eph 2:4-10) Did you discover a single thing that you can do to enter into the salvation of the Lord? At the moment of salvation, we were ‘quickened’ (made alive) to know and to love God. We did not love God before He came to love us. If we DO love God, when did we come to know and love Him? We love him, because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)
If we were, in fact, “dead in sins” how could we hear His voice or appeal to His mercy? We could not. A dead person can do NOTHING. It was His grace and love which spoke through our dead ears and pierced the chambers of our dead hearts – lying in state – in a dead and dying world. His grace revived us when we could not hear, see or speak righteousness just as the thief upon the cross.
Our Collect for this 14th Sunday after Trinity brings to our remembrance Scriptural Truth concerning our means of grace and salvation. ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, give unto us the increase of faith, hope, and charity. The beauty of the Collects of the English Book of Common Prayer is that each Collect is based wholly on Scriptural Truth, each word proven in biblical texts. Are we born with a faith in God, or do we somehow acquire that faith from some source along the way? For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast Many of us prefer to base our view of Scripture on the writings of some great theologian, and identify our understanding by that man’s name – Calvin, Arminius, Luther, or Cranmer. Admittedly, all of these were stellar biblical scholars; but these men do not define for me what I believe. I may agree with one, or more, of them in many respects; but I do not base my faith in those names but in that Name above every other Name – the Lord Jesus Christ!
I am a Christian, and not a Calvinist, or Arminian, or Lutheran, or Anglican, FIRST. Just the mention of these names or faiths will often needlessly open up a great division of distrust and misunderstanding. So I always insist on explaining my faith in biblical terms and not the writings of men. This is what the Collects do, as well. They appeal to that Name above every other Name – Almighty and everliving God…. Today’s Collect makes a petition of the Lord to be given – not wealth – but an increase of faith, hope, and charity. Of course, God is the Source for each of these mighty gifts. These three gifts are all of great merit; however, one is greater than the other two for, without it, the other two matter not. What is that one gift that surpasses all others? It is LOVE! And now abideth faith, hope, charity (love), these three; but the greatest of these is charity. (1 Cor 13:13) And did you love God first, or did He love YOU first? (1 John 4:19 above). Even our love comes from God. So the Collect petitions for an increase in these three gifts from the heart of God.
Do we wholly love God with all our heart, strength, mind and soul? If we do so love God, we will love every asset of God that defines Him – including His Holy Commandments. In fact, we will love ALL of His words and works from the beginning until now. “…..and, that we may obtain that which thou dost promise, make us to love that which thou dost command. What promise? It is the promise and seal of salvation by the Holy Spirit: In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. (Eph 1:13-14)
It is a truth revealed through our faith given us by God that we belong to Him. Why do we insist on spending endless ages arguing over finer points of Scripture to prove that our salvation came by the predestined Will of God, or by some decision made by us after gaining a knowledge of Christ. Isn’t the more important issue that we KNOW we belong to Him regardless the means of our coming? The Calvinist will relegate all Arminians to Hell, and the Arminians are no more merciful toward the Calvinist. It is a sad truth both base their understanding on different interpretations of Scripture. In fact, many Christians who decry Calvin actually believe what Calvin taught if the proof is not Calvin, but Scripture. God must be terribly hurt by our theological quibbling when we basically, as Christians, all agree that our salvation is the sole act of God.
The Collect reassuringly is concluded, again, by an appeal to that Name above every other Name: “…through Jesus Christ (not through Calvin, Arminius, or Luther) our Lord. Amen Do you label YOUR faith by a man’s name, or by that Name above every other Name? Are YOU Christian?
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ND it came to pass, as Jesus went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, 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. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan[1]. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole. (Luke 17:11-19)
Sermon - Gratitude
The casual (to us) beginning of this Gospel text – “And it came to pass….” – is not casual at all. In fact, nothing in Scripture is casual. It was determined from ages past to “come to pass” for it was an event in the foreordained ministry of our Lord. Jesus is on His final journey of His earthly mission to Jerusalem to suffer and die for remission of our sins. His journey includes the gentile region of Samaria as well as the Jewish sector of Galilee. This should comfort us in understanding that His ministry was to all people of faith, and not limited merely to a certain race of people.
Our text today involves, again, the healing of lepers. Leprosy might be compared to sin in several particulars:
1. Sin is insidious in its onslaught. It is not usually obvious at what point an innocent child comes to age of reckoning and becomes an outright sinner – but the sin will grow to the point that it is obvious to all that the former child willfully sins. The same is true of leprosy. No one notices the early onslaught of leprosy – even the victim. But with time, spots and blemishes appear that grow more all-invasive and severe until the body appendages begin to rot and deteriorate.
2. Leprosy, like sin, has an increasingly reprehensible odor associated with its progress. At first, one might be able to cover the odor with ointments and perfumes, but even these cannot stench the growing unpleasant odor that the disease emits.
3. Leprosy, like sin, separates us from our loved ones. A leper is disposed to live apart from all others of society and to shout, “Unclean!” to all who might approach him. Sin separates us from God.
4. Leprosy is debilitating – so is sin. Many of the dreams and aspirations of the leper are interdicted by the disease. The same is true of the growing depravity of sin.
5. Leprosy finally kills its victim – so does sin result in spiritual death of its victim.
These are just a few of the parallels that can be drawn between leprosy and sin.
Jesus is the Great Physician – not only in healing the body, but also the soul. As we look at this text today, let us consider the condition of our own hearts in comparison with those of the lepers described.
Jesus is approaching a village at some point on his journey.
He is met by ten lepers outside the village – lepers were not allowed to mingle with the village people. They could not approach near to Jesus, but remained afar off. Sinners, too, cannot come near to Christ until they do so with penitent heart. Sinners are separated from God by their sin.
They believed that Jesus could help them though they could not fully understand the manner of healing. They believed strongly enough that they, in unison, lifted up their voices and cried, “Master have mercy on us.” IT is not necessary to beg for details of mercy. The mercy of Christ will always suffice for our healing.
Prayer will always get the attention of the Lord. Jesus had not yet seen the men until they called upon His name. “And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests.” Another point illustrated here is the fact that distance is not an impediment to healing where the Lord is concerned.
Why show themselves to the priests? It was not to complete any healing, for they were healed as they went away – it was to grant them entrance into polite society again. When we come to Christ, we are admitted to the society of other believers – we are accounted righteous though our righteousness is that IMPUTED righteousness of Christy and not our own.
“And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.” It surely MUST come to pass if Jesus issues the decree!
When we come to Christ, believing in faith, our faith must result in acting upon that faith. Obedience to Christ requires our immediate response. Immediately the lepers departed to see the priests. When we have repented of our sins and believed, we must walk in a different direction, and with a different purpose, than our previous walks.
“15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God.” The grant of great expectations requires a great response. One of the ten, realizing that his leprosy was gone, could continue no further without glorifying the Great Benefactor who had healed him. He was not ashamed to lift his voice and loudly glorify God. In fact, I do not believe he could resist doing so. How silent do we remain after Jesus has healed us of our great sins? Should we not bear witness, far and wide, of our healing by revealing that Great Physician that healed us to other lepers?
It is implied nine were Jewish, and clearly stated this one was a Samaritan that was healed. He could not resist the power of gratitude to fall at the feet of Jesus and thank him for so great a favor. “And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.” He was the very one least expected to come near to Christ – he was a Samaritan! But he was now cleansed and, as we must do also, he came near to Christ after his healing. After our forgiveness of sins, we, too, must draw near by faith to Christ and ever after remain so.
In our sins, we are all strangers to God, but once we are cleansed, we delight in His company. “And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? 18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.” Today in church, there are perhaps one in ten who are gracious and loving of Christ to kneel (in their hearts) at his feet and than Him for His many mercies to them. Where are the nine? They are no longer in fellowship with Christ. They have disappeared!
Only this stranger – this Samaritan – was made whole and healed to the fullest. The other nine had their leprosy healed, indeed; but they again drifted away and were separated from the most important One with whom they could have associated themselves. Many make public professions of faith and do the same thing. “And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.” The faith (and gratitude) of the Samaritan had made him whole to the fullest extent. Not only had his leprosy been healed, but, more importantly, his soul!
Everyone present in the worship service today has that opportunity to express their full faith and gratitude to Christ – through their public testimony, through their changed lives, and through their service to Him. Have you done so?
[1] Samaritans were descendants of those who had stayed behind during the Captivity and had been separated for many years from the body of Judaism. They had not developed, nor did they subscribe to them, all the rules the Jews managed to invent during their separation. The main body of Jews viewed them as lesser peoples, not really Jews
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