Sunday 4th September 2011 - 11th after Trinity
(green)
Theme: Live in the light
Readings: Ezekiel 33:7-11 Romans 13:8-14
Matthew 18:15-20 Ps 119:33-40
Theme: Live in the light
Readings: Ezekiel 33:7-11 Romans 13:8-14
Matthew 18:15-20 Ps 119:33-40
Collect:
God of glory,
the end of our searching,
help us to lay aside
all that prevents us from seeking your kingdom,
and to give all that we have
to gain the pearl beyond all price,
through our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Comment
British citizens living abroad often become more British in their culture than they ever were when living in Britain. Missionaries are usually an exception – they are expected to do their best to fit in with their host culture. Citizens of heaven are expected to be more like the
former: we are expected to live according to the culture and values of heaven as much as possible, not adapting to those of the world around us.
Paul makes this plain in our first reading. Everything he says is summed up in the last verse: we are to ‘clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus’, and we are not to think about how to gratify the ‘desires of the flesh’
– the all-too-human desires for self indulgence, self satisfaction and self promotion. These desires result in ‘deeds of darkness’ such as those mentioned in verse 13: carousing and drunkenness, sexual immorality and debauchery, dissension and jealousy. I suspect not many of us are guilty of much of the first four; but dissension and jealousy can be big problems in respectable Britain and even in the Church of England, and they, as much as the first four, are deeds of darkness arising from self-centredness.
It is impossible simply to give up these deeds of darkness. The only way to drive out darkness is to turn on or let in the light. So how do we do that? Paul’s answer is, ‘Put on the armour of light’, ‘Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus’. ‘Put on’, ‘Clothe yourselves’ are the same words in the original; Paul imagines us dressing ourselves with spiritual clothes which enable us to combat the darkness. But what does that mean in practice?
Paul has already given us examples of the heavenly culture we are to make our own. He wants us to be free from other people’s demands, such as the demand for repayment of debts. In our situation that is difficult to achieve, with house prices and university education being so costly.
But the aim remains the same: do not rush into debt, do your best to free yourself from it as quickly as possible. (I suspect he would give the same counsel to nations!) The only exception Paul envisages is the obligation to love one another.
Love is the atmosphere of heaven, the most noticeable feature of the kingdom of God and its culture. God’s creation was supposed to be the same, and those who love their neighbours are living the way God wants them to. The problem is that such love doesn’t always come naturally, especially if the neighbours are a nuisance! That is why we are to ‘put on’ heavenly clothing: the love we need to live by is a love that comes from outside us, a love that has its source in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Love is the first fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22); it is the Holy Spirit who enables us to love when we feel incapable of it. We put on love (and other heavenly garb) as we believe that we truly belong to God’s kingdom and that God really is our Father ,and as we believe that the Spirit of our Lord is with us and is working in us to transform us and make us more and more like Jesus. As we pay attention to the nudges and prods the Spirit gives us, we find ourselves making Godly choices and love grows. We are growing into the clothes God gives us to wear!
The Gospel reading reminds us of other aspects of the heavenly culture.
On earth problems do arise between people, but we now deal with them in a godly way. Decisions by the church about what is right and wrong are ratified in heaven. Where Christians meet and work together, there is a little colony of heaven. Jesus is also present, and there is a direct line to the Father.
Let’s live in this light!
Questions
1) In what aspects of our lives do we detect the influence of heavenly culture, especially God’s love?
2) Is the night nearly over?
God of glory,
the end of our searching,
help us to lay aside
all that prevents us from seeking your kingdom,
and to give all that we have
to gain the pearl beyond all price,
through our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Comment
British citizens living abroad often become more British in their culture than they ever were when living in Britain. Missionaries are usually an exception – they are expected to do their best to fit in with their host culture. Citizens of heaven are expected to be more like the
former: we are expected to live according to the culture and values of heaven as much as possible, not adapting to those of the world around us.
Paul makes this plain in our first reading. Everything he says is summed up in the last verse: we are to ‘clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus’, and we are not to think about how to gratify the ‘desires of the flesh’
– the all-too-human desires for self indulgence, self satisfaction and self promotion. These desires result in ‘deeds of darkness’ such as those mentioned in verse 13: carousing and drunkenness, sexual immorality and debauchery, dissension and jealousy. I suspect not many of us are guilty of much of the first four; but dissension and jealousy can be big problems in respectable Britain and even in the Church of England, and they, as much as the first four, are deeds of darkness arising from self-centredness.
It is impossible simply to give up these deeds of darkness. The only way to drive out darkness is to turn on or let in the light. So how do we do that? Paul’s answer is, ‘Put on the armour of light’, ‘Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus’. ‘Put on’, ‘Clothe yourselves’ are the same words in the original; Paul imagines us dressing ourselves with spiritual clothes which enable us to combat the darkness. But what does that mean in practice?
Paul has already given us examples of the heavenly culture we are to make our own. He wants us to be free from other people’s demands, such as the demand for repayment of debts. In our situation that is difficult to achieve, with house prices and university education being so costly.
But the aim remains the same: do not rush into debt, do your best to free yourself from it as quickly as possible. (I suspect he would give the same counsel to nations!) The only exception Paul envisages is the obligation to love one another.
Love is the atmosphere of heaven, the most noticeable feature of the kingdom of God and its culture. God’s creation was supposed to be the same, and those who love their neighbours are living the way God wants them to. The problem is that such love doesn’t always come naturally, especially if the neighbours are a nuisance! That is why we are to ‘put on’ heavenly clothing: the love we need to live by is a love that comes from outside us, a love that has its source in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Love is the first fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22); it is the Holy Spirit who enables us to love when we feel incapable of it. We put on love (and other heavenly garb) as we believe that we truly belong to God’s kingdom and that God really is our Father ,and as we believe that the Spirit of our Lord is with us and is working in us to transform us and make us more and more like Jesus. As we pay attention to the nudges and prods the Spirit gives us, we find ourselves making Godly choices and love grows. We are growing into the clothes God gives us to wear!
The Gospel reading reminds us of other aspects of the heavenly culture.
On earth problems do arise between people, but we now deal with them in a godly way. Decisions by the church about what is right and wrong are ratified in heaven. Where Christians meet and work together, there is a little colony of heaven. Jesus is also present, and there is a direct line to the Father.
Let’s live in this light!
Questions
1) In what aspects of our lives do we detect the influence of heavenly culture, especially God’s love?
2) Is the night nearly over?