IN CHRIST ALONE!: Agosto 2012

“Excellent Loyalty"

August 26, 2012

The 13th Sunday of Ordinary Tine

A.K.A.

Kingdomtide

and

Time of the Church

Joshua 24: 1 - 2a; 14 – 25/Psalm 34: 15 – 22/Ephesians 5: 21 - 33 /John 6: 60 - 69

His Eminence

The Most Reverend Archbishop Loren Thomas Hines D.D.

Archbishop of Manila

and

Primate

of the

National Church in the Philippines

and

the Territorial Church of Asia

International Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church

The gospel today reveals to us the conflict of understanding and the conflict between the flesh and the spirit. Christ had said to the people, “Unless you eat My flesh and drink My blood, you have no life in you.” The people were astounded by such statement. They could not believe what they were hearing. Scriptures tells us that many of them who would follow Christ began to leave Him. It was more than what they could handle. They felt that their understanding and their thoughts to themselves were that which would lead them or take them from such a situation and circumstances.

As a people, we are very blessed. The freedoms that we have, the choices that we can make in a nation where the Church stands strong and vibrant. In a nation where the Bishops can speak loudly and even confrontationally against the leadership, yet at the same time, not fear condemnation or arrest. We are in a place wherein we might say that there is the beauty of liberty.

There are places where this may not be true. How would we handle our faith? If because we shared our faith with someone else what if we would end up in jail? Or perhaps, we didn’t pay attention to being jailed, and we continue to share our faith but yet were beaten, we were persecuted, would we give up? Would we be loyal to Christ and for what He has done for us? Would we feel that we could stand firm even though all around us there was the opposition, the enemy that was against us? Would we, after many times of being beaten, jailed, persecuted, be bold enough to go beyond just sharing the gospel, but build a church?

What is our faith? What is our loyalty to what Christ has given us? I share that story because I have been with a priest this week. Such an awesome thing! Even though persecuted, he will not give up his faith. Even though jailed, he would not give up his faith. Even though beaten, he will not give up his faith. He was so faithful, so loyal to his gospel that the police had finally given up. They realized they will never change him. Now, he has built a church.

What is our commitment to the faith that God has given to us? What is our diligence in fulfilling our obligations, our duties as Deacons, as Priests, as Ministers? Whatever our ministry may be, even the royal priesthood, what is our commitment to our loyalty in Him? We are paying Him, reflecting back to Him what He has given to us.

God says over and over to us, “I will never leave you, I will never forsake you.” Would we be that loyal to Him in the midst of opposition, persecution, tests and trials? In Judges 11, there is a story about a leader of Israel at the moment, Jephthah. He prayed to God because he was going to go fight the enemy. He said to God, “God, if you will just help me through this battle, if you will just give me the victory, when I return home, the first thing that comes out of the door of my house, I will offer as a sacrifice to you.”

God was faithful. God gave Jephthah the battle. He returned home in victory. He returned joyously, but from the front door of his home came his daughter. You can imagine the pain. You can imagine the conflict, the confrontation that came to him at that moment because he gave his word. “God, if you will help me, I will offer the first thing that will come out of that door.”

I don’t know what he was expecting. In my house, the first thing that would come out of the door probably would be the dog. But to Jephthah, it was his daughter. The turmoil, the tribulation, the stress he felt, but he said to his daughter, “I have given my word. I cannot take it back.”

Can we be that loyal to our words? Do what we speak have that much effect in our lives? Do we understand the price that may have to be paid? Could you stand in the shoes of this priest that I mentioned - be beaten, jailed, persecuted and yet not give in?

One time in our meetings, this young man travelling from the mountains by bus had been involved in a bus accident. He broke his foot. He had to go to a hospital and have it set, but he came to the meeting – only an hour late. He couldn’t walk; he hobbled. He was in pain, but his commitment, his word, his appointment meant more to him. What about us? Are we so spoiled that a little rain, a little traffic, a little headache, a little pain are major excuses so that we don’t fulfill our word?

Can you imagine what would happen to us in our lives today if Christ would have given up? They persecuted, mocked, beat Him and spat upon Him and put a crown of thorns on His head. They made Him carry His own cross down the Via Dolorosa, nailed to the cross, humiliated, shamed in front of the crowds, the lowest death a man could suffer in punishment at that time. Would we have given up? Are we so pampered and babied today that the slightest little opposition, we cannot handle it to take our word to its serious levels? Our commitments, our covenant we have made – are they so weak that we can break them just as the thought of a wind, a breeze, or the slightest word that irritate us?

We are really challenged in the life we live today. We are so spoiled with so many things. We have lost much of our talent. Our imaginations have flown out the windows because we depend on electronics to tell us what to do; to remind us of everything that we need to be reminded of, and to keep our minds so that we don’t have to remember anything. Then we wonder why we are so easily discouraged, so easily downtrodden, so easily offended?

Scriptures today really challenge us. In the Old Testament, Joshua was confronting the people because they had taken on the gods of the people where they were living now that they have come out of the wilderness. He reminded them, “Did you forget what God has done for us? Do you remember the four hundred years of slavery, how that we were beaten, how we were threatened, how we were pushed? Do you remember that fatal night when the death angel flew over Egypt and all the first-born of the Egyptian families were destroyed, and yet none of our young men were touched? We then were pleaded, begged to leave. They bribed us – giving us all the wealth of the nation if only we would leave. They bribed us, giving us all the wealth of the nation, if only we would leave. We did. We left and started on our journey – free from the bondage and the slavery for four hundred years.”

All of a sudden they woke up and realize, “What have we done? We have nothing anymore. We have given them all of our wealth. We have nothing left. What about our work force? We have nothing. We are going to be in poverty. Let us go get them.” They got all the chariots and the horses and they go out after the Israelites.

The tribe of Israel leading sees the cloud a smoke arising from the chariots. Fear begins to creep into their hearts. God kept them from catching up. Then they got to the Jordan River. “What are you going to do now?” They begin to murmur and complain until Moses split the sea. They went across on dry land. They turned and they watched how that when the army of Egypt got into the middle of the sea, the sea came down on them and destroyed all of them.

“Do you remember what God did for us? Do you remember the deliverance, the miraculous events that took place? How can you easily forget such and turn your back on Him? Remember how He fed us in the wilderness? How that even though these little morsels that came every morning, how they nourished us and strengthened us? Even though we did not believe that it would take care of us, it kept us all that time. Do you remember that? Do you remember His promise that He was taking us into the Promised Land? Remember that He took us across the Jordan. He gave us Jericho. He gave us all of these. Have we forgotten this?”

How easily we forget the good things. How many times do we do something to help someone? At the moment of their need, they are so thankful for what you have done, but just in a little while they forget. Sometimes then, they cut your throat. How short our memory. How limited our loyalties. How weak we seem to be at times, and yet we are told in Psalms 15:4, which was written by David – a man who understood what it meant to be loyal, a man who gave of himself even to his enemy with his whole heart, “He swears to his own hurt, and does not change.”

Is this evidence of us? Can you see Christ turning back at the moment when death knocks at His door? He came to redeem man at all costs. He came to set man free. He came to restore the relationship with the Father. He did not turn back. Is this the character that we see in our own lives? Is it a pattern that we have set for ourselves?

Christ was the Cornerstone. The cornerstone was that which measured every other stone in a building. He sets the course for you and I. We are to be like Him. We are to grow into His image from glory to glory. We are to shelve off the flesh, the attitudes, the habits of the flesh and the world around us. We are to become different. We are not to follow those patterns, but we are to set the course and the direction so that in our own lives, we become a witness to the world around us.

At Jesus time, the people could not understand. “How can it be that we would eat His flesh and drink His blood? Are we cannibals? What is wrong with Him? What is the matter with Him?” Perhaps today, people would say, “Oh, Jim Jones.” Christ was saying something that they did not understand. He was speaking in those parables that He speaks that expresses things that only those who were walking with Him will understand. He turns into His disciples, to the apostles and says to them, “Are you going to leave also?”

They pondered it in their hearts. They were thinking, “What is this? This is crazy.” Peter then says, “What are going to go? We have no other choice. We are these on the rope. No one else has the words of life that You have.” They did not understand. There was a semblance of loyalty in them. They stayed with Christ. They did not have to leave Him.

The example that Paul gives us in Ephesians 5 is talking about marriage. He shares that marriage is an example of Christ and the Church. In Genesis, marriage is two becoming one. In Ephesians, we are told that Christ has brought unity to the Church and says very clearly that there is only one Body. There is only one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one God and Father. He then challenges us, “Preserve the unity of the spirit.” There is only one.

Paul gives us an example when he talks about marriage. How that the husband is the head of the wife and the wife is to be subject to her own husband as to the Lord. He is to be the savior of the body. His task is to bring unity, oneness, and salvation as far as the marriage is concerned. It is on his shoulders. He is to sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of the water and the Word.

This is the task of the man. He does the work. It is his responsibility to make certain that the unity, the joy, and the fulfillment of that marriage is fulfilled and brought to a reality. He is to present her wife in all of her glory He is to develop her to that point wherein she listens and glitters in glory because of what he has done – having no spot nor wrinkle. Nothing can be pointed against her because of his protection over her.

Paul says, “This mystery is great but I speak of the Church and Christ. This unity cannot be broken.” This oneness cannot be divided. Yet in our world today, we thought, “We can just do our own thing.” Our theologians have split the Church into how many different divisions? Scriptures says, “Protect the unity. Preserve it. Don’t divide it.” We have no right to separate it.

Just like in a marriage, Christ has done everything for us. Because of His love and His effort in our behalf, we have been given everything pertaining to life and godliness. We have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. How can we be anything but thankful? How can we be anything but that which brings forth glory to He who has given to us so much?

A wife would not think of leaving a husband who is protecting her and providing for her and giving to her everything she needs – love, compassion, security. All of these things, she will never turn her back on. This is the task of men: to make certain that it is there because Christ made it certain for us. He took care of everything. Read Ephesians. Read Colossians. Find out what He has given to us and find out how secure we are in Him. Christ being in us, now out of us, He flows in our lives because of the security He has given to us.

Christ and the Church. What is our loyalty to? How committed are we? Are we diligent in His commitment? I shared the life of the priest – can we handle the difficulties? Can we handle the conflicts? Can we handle the opposition or do we panic in the midst of it and run from responsibility? This young man had begun four hundred churches in a place where it is not legal and not accepted by government, but he submits himself to a higher form of government. He submits himself to a higher power. He finds himself hands-off because he won’t give up.

Perseverance, loyalty. Is it any wonder why we have so many problems in our lives when we don’t persevere? When at the slightest little opposition, we give up. The slightest little pressure, we turn away. Just a little bit of rain or traffic, “I can’t do my work. I can’t commit to my ministry.” How many excuses do we have? Did Christ have any excuse when He went to the cross? Did He have any excuse when they confronted Him in Pilate’s hall? When they beat Him, did He offer excuses? When they hang Him on the cross, did He object or did He fight back? Did you hear the word that He speaks, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Talk about loyalty. Talk about perseverance. The evidence of this is seen on the third day. When Christ had destroyed the power of the enemy and harrowed the gates of hell and set the captives free. When He conquered death and rose again, He did not give up and He won the battle. Talk about excellence.

Here is the example set before us. Here is the pattern that is given to us, as His people. Why do we easily turn back? Are we that weak? Have we not been given the power of the Holy Spirit to strengthen us, to empower us, to give us the wisdom and the understanding? Why, if we have so much, would we give in so easily? Can we not see the hope that is ours? Can we not see the change that we can make in our nation, in our families, wherever we are, if only we were diligent in loyalty?

Perseverance is that which is seen in our lives. Not easily discouraged; not easily giving up. In fact, you have to fight with me to make me give up. Tell me, “No,” and I will show you, “Yes.” Should that not be who we are? Excellence in loyalty. This is our God. This is Christ’s commitment to us. He did not give up. We failed, we sin, and we rebelled. God is still there. He will not run. He will not hide. He will not reject us. Wherever we go, God is there with us.

We can go to the bar; we can go to the disco. We could go to the jail, to the court, to school, or to the business office. He is there with us. He sees us. He is with us at ALL times. He will never leave us or forsake us. Are we ashamed for Him to know what we are thinking and doing? God knows. Loyalty.

Scriptures says that when you go to the highest mountain, God is there. You go the lowest sea, He is there. You go the pits of hell, He is there. He is everywhere. This is the hope that we have. He will never forsake us. He will never turn His back on us.

May we be encouraged to be like Him. May we be filled with His confidence, this understanding that He has given to us. God told Gideon, “Be strong and be courageous. I will not leave you; I will not forsake you.” When fear is gone, strength can be there. When fear is there, strength flees. This is why God spoke to Gideon these words. Gideon is not the only one. He said the same thing to Joshua. He says the same thing to you and I, “Be strong and be courageous. I will not leave you. I will not forsake you. I will not desert you. I will not put you to shame.” No need to hold back. We need to move forward.

I love the words that God said to Gideon, “The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior.” He is speaking to us. He knows who we are because He created us. He empowered us. He gave us what we need.

It is time for the Church to wake up. It is time to get out of the covers and it is time for our feet to be on the floor. It is time for us to be loyal to Him and persevere in the life that He has given to us. He has made us one. How can we separate that? Who are we to make a decision to pull apart? It cannot be! Scriptures say that what God has put together, let no man put asunder. We have no right to separate because God made us one. He gave His life to make us one, in Him.

This is the challenge of Scriptures today in Ordinary Time. This is what we are supposed to be. This will become a witness to the world around us because we care for those with us. We take care of them. We do what God has given us to do, and we do not have excuses to stop us. May we awaken and may we be loyal to that gift that He has given to us that He paid His life to provide.

LET US CONTINUE OUR REFLECTION

WITH