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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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What You Really Want Is Within Your Reach |
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Philippians
4:4-7, John 1:19-28 Fourth
Sunday of Advent December
20, 2009 Advent
was once kept in a manner similar to Lent.
It was a time of fasting, soul searching, and repentance.
It was followed by the Twelve Days of Christmas, which was a time
of celebration and joy. Advent was a time of longing and waiting.
"O come; 0 come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, who
mourns in lonely exile here" could well be the theme of Advent.
But Christmas was a time of church bells and gifts, and worship and
feasting. "Joy to the world, the Lord is come," could well be
the theme song of Christmas. Thus,
Advent is the Gospel: Part One. Advent tells us the Bad News, or, Why We
Need a Saviour. The Bad News
is that all have sinned. All have known to do good yet have chosen to do
evil. Therefore all are
without excuse and all are under God's wrath. Christmas is the Gospel,
Part Two: The Saviour Is Come. It is the Good News of forgiveness and
reconciliation. The gates of
Heaven have been opened to us. The
wrath of God has been appeased. The
price of sin has been paid. The
Sacrifice has been given. And
we are free of the burden that kills our souls. Because
Advent tells us of the Bad News, our readings and prayers in Advent
emphasise casting away the works of darkness, preparing the way of the
Lord through repentance and faith, and beseeching God to come among us in
His great mercy and grace to deliver us from wickedness and sin. But
Advent is not about Bad News only. Advent is also about hope.
In Advent we pray for help to cast off the works of darkness.
We ask God to come among us in mercy and grace.
We beseech Him to lead us to embrace Christ in everlasting life.
That's why the Saviour came. That's
why we have hope that, by patience and comfort of the Scriptures, as the
Collect for the Second Sunday of Advent reminds us, and, by the promises
"declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord," as the General
Confession from Daily Morning and Evening Prayer reminds us, "we may
embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life"
which God has given to us in our Saviour Jesus Christ.
So Advent is not just about mourning for sin and its consequences
in our lives and world. It is
also about a triumphant confidence that God Himself is actively working to
save sinners and to establish a Kingdom of righteousness and peace and
grace upon this earth. We are that Kingdom. Or,
as the Bible puts it in I Corinthians 12, we are the body of Christ.
In the Church we are members of Him and members of one another.
We are joined together more surely and more permanently than the
cells of our physical, human bodies.
That's the kind of unity, love, and grace God gives to us as
members of His Church. That's the kind of unity, love, and grace we are to grow and
sustain, not only as members of the Universal Church, but also as members
of the local body of Christ, Holy Trinity Anglican Church. After all, there is not a lot most of us can do about the
Universal Church, but we can all do much about Holy Trinity Church in
Powhatan, Virginia. So,
in the Hope, symbolised by Advent and boldly proclaimed in the Holy Bible,
we beseech the Living God; "raise up... thy power, and come among
us... [that] thy bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and deliver
us; through Jesus Christ our Lord." It is in this hope that we
comfort and exhort one another by the Scriptures, saying, "Rejoice in
the Lord alway; and again I say, Rejoice."
Why do we rejoice? Because, "The Lord is at hand." "The
Lord is at hand." How
similar these words of St. Paul are to the words of John the Baptist, and
even Christ Himself (Mt. 3:2, Mk. 1:15).
To be at hand is to be within your grasp, within your reach.
Paul, John the Baptist, and our Lord Himself are all saying the
Kingdom of God, the thing we need most in life and cannot attain for
ourselves, is right in front of us, within our reach, and all we have to
do is reach out and take it. But
even more is being said here, and this is very important.
Forgiveness of all sin, wellness in your soul, a new and different
way of life that the world can neither give nor understand, and all the
deepest needs and longings of your soul, and of the world throughout all
the millennia of human existence are being handed to you in Christ.
They're being placed into your hand as the free gift of God's
grace. They are yours as a
gift from God. Jesus bought
them for you. He purchased
them by giving up Heaven, by living among us as a human being, by sharing
our limitations, and fears and temptations and need to depend entirely on
the leadership of the Holy Spirit and the teaching of God in Scripture.
And He did it without sin and without flaw.
Having lived in this manner, and having taught us the things of
God, He went to the cross in our place and gave Himself as the price of
our redemption. And He offers
all the things we need most, absolutely free. You don't even have to unwrap it. It's not a secret. It's
not a surprise. It's only
wrapping is love, and it is ready to be fully enjoyed right now and for
all eternity. Jesus
is handing it to us. I dare
say that if you were to hand a hundred dollars to a homeless man, he would
gladly take it. Even
prosperous people would probably take a free hundred dollars.
But Jesus is placing Heaven in the hands of people who need a home
for eternity, and most people are pushing it away with all their strength.
People say they are looking for happiness, but when Jesus hands it
to them as a gift they push it away.
In Gone with the Wind,
Rhett finally gives up his roguish ways and marries Scarlet.
Many people don't see the transformation that has occurred in Rhett
Butler. He really tries to be a good husband to Scarlet.
He loves her and tries to give her all the traditional things of
marriage and family because he finally sees that they are good and right,
and are what he owes to the woman he loves.
It seems to us that Scarlet has it all; the complete adoration of a
loving husband, wealth beyond imagination, everything she could ever want.
But Scarlet enjoys none of it.
Rather than loving Rhett and devoting herself to creating a loving
home and family, Scarlet longs for Ashley, hoping he will leave his wife,
and the two of them will go away together, never to return.
In one scene, Rhett, realising this is Scarlet's real goal, tells
her she is "throwing away happiness with both hands."
It is a telling scene. And
yet, it is acted out in human souls every day as people pine away for the
passing fantasies of earth and throw away the real happiness of God with
both hands. Paul
is telling us to open our hands and receive the gift of God.
The peace that passes all understanding is being placed in your
hands. Everything you really
want and need is right in front of you. Open your hands and take it.
Open your heart and receive it. Receive it and rejoice. Let
us pray. Mighty
God, we rejoice that You have
risen in your mighty power, and have
come among us to deliver us by Thy great mercy and grace. We look forward to Thy return and the complete fulfillment of
Your Kingdom righteousness and peace on earth.
Until then, let us live in righteousness and love in Thy Holy
Church. Give us faith to receive the gift of Thy grace, and to live always
in Thy peace, through Christ our only Lord and Saviour. Amen.
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