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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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Let Us Love |
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St. John 4:7-21 First
Sunday after Trinity May
25, 2008 We have entered the season of Trinity. The first half of the Church calendar takes us through most of the major doctrines of the Christian faith. Advent brings us face to face with the doctrine of God the Father and His purpose to save. Christmas is about the incarnation, God with us. Epiphany is about the global Kingdom of God which transcends the boundaries of race and nation, and even time. Lent is about the doctrine of sin and our need for God to act on our behalf if we are going to be saved from wrath. Holy Week, especially Good Friday, is about the atonement for our sin made by Christ Himself on the cross. Easter is about the resurrection of Christ and His victory over sin, and death. Ascension Day is about the exaltation of Christ to His Throne in Heaven where He rules His Kingdom, and also intercedes for us as our Great High Priest. Whitsunday, or, Pentecost is about the advent of the Holy Spirit, our Comforter who is Christ with us, as Christ was God with us. Trinity Sunday is about the Great One God who is three Persons, and the three Persons of the God-head who is One God. The second half of the Church Calendar emphasizes the Christian life. We could say it emphasizes our response of faith to the great doctrines emphasized in the first half of the year. This second half is called the season of Trinity, or sometimes, the season after Trinity, and it is no accident that before we start to examine the Christian life we are reminded in the prayer we call the Collect for the Day, that we are unable to do these things apart from the help and grace of God. “O
God, the strength of all those who put their trust in thee; Mercifully
accept our prayers; and because, through the weakness of our mortal
nature, we can do no good thing without thee, grant us the help of thy
grace, that in keeping thy commandments we may please thee, both in will
and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
BCP, p. 188 Indeed, left to our own devices, we would rush back to our sins and ungodliness, even falling back into unbelief. But, thanks be to God, the author and finisher of our faith, that He holds us securely in His almighty hand, and that He has put His Spirit in us to be the presence and the power of God for the life of faith that is before us. It is by the Spirit of God that we are enabled to live the life of faith. It is also no accident that the first emphasis of the Trinity Season is our duty to “love.” Our Epistle Reading for this morning gives an excellent statement of love, and should be read often by those of us who claim to be followers of Christ. It especially reminds us that “He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love.” Let us read this often, and along with it let us read that great explanation of Christian love given in 1 Corinthians 13. And let us compare these chapters with the Great Example of love, our Lord Jesus Christ who suffered and died on the cross for our sakes, that we might have life in God. We could look into these chapters today and find plenty to talk about. But let us instead turn to the second of the greatest commandments as given by our Lord, Jesus, which we read earlier this morning. You can find this on page 69 of our Prayer Book. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This
is the first and great commandment. And
the second is like unto it; thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” Here we see why the first emphasis of the Christian life is love. Love is the whole duty of man. Love is the summation of the Law. Love God first, and we will talk about that another time. And then, love thy neighbor. Notice Jesus never said, love yourself first, and out of your self love and self esteem you will grow to love God and others. According to the Bible we do not need to learn to love ourselves more. Our problem is that we love ourselves too much already. That, too, is another sermon. So let’s talk about loving thy neighbor. Love thy neighbor, and you will automatically keep the commandments of God regarding our human relationships. Love your father and your mother, and you will automatically honour them. Love thy neighbor and you will automatically not murder him. Love thy neighbor and you will automatically not commit adultery with him. If you believe you can love someone and commit adultery with him, your love is not for the other person but for your own pleasure. You cannot love someone and steal from him, or bear false witness about him, or covet what he has. Love will not allow us to act in this manner. There is another side of love also. Or, I should say, there is more to the commandments than simply not doing certain things. Just as love forbids certain actions and thoughts, it also requires other actions and thoughts. The sixth commandment forbids unlawful killing, and it requires positive action on our part to secure life and peace for others. The seventh commandment forbids sexual activity outside the bonds of Biblical marriage. It also requires that we actively promote the sexual purity and chastity of ourselves and others. So we will not talk in suggestive ways. We will not dress in suggestive clothing. We will not conduct ourselves in ways that seem to advertise to others that we are available and ready. Instead, our language, dress, and actions will be chaste. The eighth commandment forbids theft. It also requires that we provide for ourselves in a lawful manner, and that we conscientiously promote the right of others to enjoy their goods in peace. The ninth commandment forbids speaking untruth about others. It also requires positive activity to protect the good name and integrity of others. The tenth commandment forbids coveting, and requires the positive promotion of the right of others to enjoy what they have gained by godly efforts and work. It is very similar to “thou shalt not steal” in this respect. John, in our Epistle Reading for this morning exhorts us to love one another. Now of course this refers to all people. The parable of the Good Samaritan was given to show us that all people are our neighbors, and our attitude and actions of good will are toward them all. Even our enemies come under the benefit of our love. But especially is the Church to be a community of love. The Church is God’s idea. It is His intention that we who have called upon the name of Christ should be brought into a relationship with others who also call upon that Name. In fact, the Church is the new humanity, the New World Order. It is in the Church that those who have been renewed by the Spirit of God live together as God intended all people everywhere to do. Especially is this true of the local Church. Or, at least it should be. We are the local community of the love of God. If we are not, then we have seriously gone astray from the real teaching of the Word of God. So we should be able to look at our local congregation and say, “I love these people. I am part of them and they are part of me, and together we are the people of God in this place.” Of course it must be a Biblical church, not one that makes up its faith and practice on its own. We must withdraw from unbiblical churches and denominations. Our first love, our love for God demands that we do so. It is my belief that real Christian love is missing in most churches. It has been replaced with shallow emotionalism, or even by cliques and power struggles as people strive for the spotlight and control. This is a tragedy, and it is no wonder many people have been disenchanted with the church because of this. And so, I exhort and encourage all who are part of this fellowship of believers, committed to the truth of the Bible and to the Lord Jesus as Saviour and Master, “Beloved, let us love one another.” Amen. The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity Anglican Church,
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