“From
Strength to Strength: Enter the King of Glory”
December 22, 2013
The 4th Sunday of the
Christian Season of Advent
Isaiah 7: 10 – 17/Psalm 24/Romans 1: 1 – 7/Matthew 1: 18 - 25
His Excellency
The Most Reverend Ariel Cornelio P.
Santos D.D.
Auxiliary Bishop and Locum Tenens
of the
Archdiocese of Manila
the
National Church in the Philippines
and the
Territorial Church of Asia
International Communion of the
Charismatic Episcopal Church
We come to the Fourth
and last Sunday of Advent. It is time for us to lift up our heads to our
soon coming King because our salvation draws near. Looking at the Advent
wreath, it teaches us that we are on a journey. Our goal is to reach the
fullness of faith, hope, joy, and love. Then, we will be ready to receive
our King and our Savior. Understand that we are on a journey. God
is in the midst of us, leading us, and taking us to the place where He wants us
to be as He has promised.
The readings today are
very interesting. All talk about how that Jesus is fully God, fully
Man. We hear of theological debates of the humanity of Christ and the
deity of Christ. I believe that most of these debates miss the
point. Why is Jesus God and man at the same time? To prove
that He was God, for the sake of proving it, you can put verses of Scriptures;
and to prove that He is man using Scriptures and finishing there, it doesn’t
really bring out the fullness of the reason. Why is He God and why is He
man?
In the fall of man, he
needed somebody to save him. Only God could save man, but it would be
illegal for God to do that alone. There were legal requirements that
needed to be satisfied and that it had to be satisfied by man. This is
why Jesus assumed humanity so that He could be one hundred percent God and one
hundred percent man. The Creed says, “For us and for our salvation, He came
down from heaven.” This is the reason why He is fully God and fully man.
Is He just fully man,
like us, with the same human DNA, same physical characteristics and
features. The meaning of wholly, fully and one hundred percent God and
one hundred percent man is not just about physical and physiological
make-up. It is about character.
Christ is fully God
because the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him, but He is fully man to show
us what God created in the beginning – the perfect, very good creation called
man who ceased being man. First Adam ceased; a second Adam had to come to
restore that and thus, bring us our salvation. Christ is perfect man –
seamless, obedient, and faithful. He is God because He is God. He
is one hundred percent God because the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him.
He is one hundred percent man because He is fully like God. This is what
perfect man is: like God.
This is our journey –
fullness of faith, hope, joy and love. If we have achieved that then, we
are ready for the coming of Christ. Then, we will be like Him.
Ephesians 4 says that
our goal, as His Body, is to attain to the measure of the stature which belongs
to the fullness of Christ. We are all going there; we are all getting
there. Because that is God’s will, He is taking us there and making sure
that happens. Jesus was born, as the Christmas carol says, “That man no more
may die." John 3:16 is the reason God sent Him so that whoever
believes in Him would have salvation. He made us perfect again. He
made us very good again and made us born again from above.
We are on a
journey. The Orthodox paradox is that we already have been perfected, and
yet, we are being perfected. Those virtues have all been provided for us,
achieved on our behalf by Christ on the cross; and yet, we are still in the
process of getting to the fullness of them. Already there but still
progressing to get there and still continuing to grow.
It is like a mystery,
just like the Sacraments. Sacramentum
tremendum, the great mystery, is only accepted by faith and no other way.
We don’t totally understand it; we don’t see it with our eyes; but
because we have heard it with our ears, our hearts believe it.
I would want to echo
the words of St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians, “Not that I have
already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on in order
that I may lay hold of that for which also I was lay hold off by Christ Jesus.”
He is saying, “I press on towards that for which Christ already has
given and attained for me.” What is the use of pressing on toward that
which is already given and provided for? This is the mystery. It
has been given to us and yet we live according to that which has been attained
for us. “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it
yet. But one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind, reaching forward to
what lies ahead.”
We sang this verse, “Awake,
Awake O Zion. Clothed yourself with strength.” It has been given to
you. It is a matter of us putting it on – strength. “Shake off your
dust.” We have been made perfect, and yet, we are still attaining to
perfection. In the meantime, we will still see weaknesses. We will still
see sin. People will still offend us. We will still offend people, and
we, sometimes, may still feel guilty for the sins for what we have done and the
mistakes that we have committed. “Shake them off! For you have been redeemed.” Have been is finished, redeemed by the precious
blood of Jesus! This is for all of us. Stop being guilty and stop
holding sins of others against yourself and shake off the dust.
St. Paul is saying,
“One thing I do, forgetting what lies behind. Reaching forward to what
lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God
in Christ Jesus.” As a Church, we need to hear this. We need
to move on.
Brother, sisters, hear
me! Move on! Let us press on toward the goal out there. Fix
your eyes on Him for you have been redeemed by the precious blood of
Jesus. Nothing else matters. We have been perfected, but realize we
are still trying to get there. Understand that there are still
imperfections, but we are to just shake them off and fix our eyes on Him and
press toward that goal for the prize of the upward call of God, in Christ
Jesus.
“Let us therefore, as
many are perfect.” We might think that this guy is double minded.
He is saying, “I am not perfect yet, but all of us who are perfect, you who are
like me perfect...” Already, but going there. “As many as perfect,
have this attitude.” Understand that we have been perfected, but
understanding that our goal is to reach that perfection because we are still on
a journey toward it at the same time.
“If in anything,
you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you. However, let
us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.” We
have attained the fullness of these virtues because Christ did it for us; but
St. Paul says, “Let us keep that standard.” You have been called to
be holy. You have been made holy. What is the command? Walk
accordingly. Because you have been saved, walk your salvation.
“Brethren, join
in following my example and observe those who walk according to the pattern you
have in us.” Already there, but still getting there. This is the
design of God. Is it any wonder? It is because God Himself is a
mystery! We say, “Emmanuel,” which translated is “God with us.” We
say, “I thought He is in heaven? Our Father who is in heaven?” He
is in two places both at the same time. He who can be in two places at
one time can put us in two stages at one time. He has made us perfect,
and yet, He has put us here where we are still moving toward perfection – both
in the state of perfection and in the state of growth. We are not in one
place more than the other. We are in both places.
Just like our being
CEC, in three streams. In the Convergence of three streams – are we one
third liturgical and one third evangelical and one third charismatic? No,
we are all of each. We are one hundred percent fully, wholly liturgical;
and we are one hundred percent charismatic; and we are one hundred percent
evangelical. We are one hundred percent flesh, and we are one hundred
percent spirit. It is not a half–half. It is a mystery. How
is that? Ask God! We accept it by faith. Meantime, we strive
together for the faith of the gospel
In college, one of my
spiritual mentors was a walking Concordance. I don’t remember any
Scripture that I would quote that he could not give me the chapter and the
verse. He was good. I asked him, “How do you know that you are
saved? How do you know that when you are babbling something, that is speaking
in tongues?” How do you know the Holy Spirit is in you?” He simply
said, “It is all by faith.” Thirty years later, I realized Romans
14 confirms that, “Whatever is not from faith is sin and should not have
anything to do with you.” Whatever we do must be out of faith, by
faith. Everything we accept must be by faith.
Romans 1 talk about
obedience by faith. We have used this term “blind obedience.” I have and
you have; we have tried to justify it. What is the definition of
faith? Faith is not seeing yet believing. Jesus said, “Blessed is
he who does not see and yet believe.” What is your basis of faith if you
don’t see? What will you believe in the first place?” You have to
know what to believe, which is why you have to hear the Word of God.
Faith comes by hearing,
not by seeing. How can they believe in Him whom they have not
heard? The greatness of faith is seen in the obedience despite the
price. Taking Joseph first as an example, Joseph receive news that his
betroth, Mary, was with a child. In those days, that means engagement, which
was as good as married. Shortly, they were going to be married and they
were called husband and wife. This is why Mary was called his wife. He
found out that he was with a child, and so, because of his understanding, of
the reason that he sees, Joseph is determined in his heart to put her away
secretly or divorce her until the angels spoke to him. The angel said, “The
child is of the Holy Spirit.” He is convinced but it doesn’t end there.
What did his friends
asked him? How come your wife is pregnant? He says, “Because the
Holy Spirit impregnated her.” I have no problem with that. Do
you? “The Holy Spirit impregnating a woman? Where is that in the
Bible? What did she feed you? Are you sure about this Mary?”
Doubts would set in, Joseph stood her ground. Imagine the
ramifications of believing the Word of God through the angel? Joseph
says, “Mary, my wife, is pregnant, but I haven’t touch her. It must be
God.” He believed it and lived with it. The whole time probably,
the people were thinking, “This is the guy that believed the impossible.”
What about
Abraham? Abraham was told by God, “Through your seed, I will fill the
earth.” At ninety years old, God fulfills His promise by granting him a
son. You could imagine the joy of Abraham and Sarah, but when the son
approach his teens, God says to Abraham, “Now, I want you to offer your son as
a sacrifice to me.” He was old when the child was conceived, and now, God
tells him to sacrifice his son to Him. Abraham obeys by willingly
sacrificing His son. The angel stopped him, but he proved his faith in God not
seeing a sacrifice but hearing the Word of God. Abraham told his servants to
wait at the foot of the mountain and he and Isaac will return because he
believed God will provide a sacrifice for himself.
Peter cast the net on
the right side of the boat upon Jesus bidding. Being a veteran fisherman
and after having fished all night, and Jesus being a carpenter, what does a
carpenter know about fishing? He lectures Peter after he have desperately
tried catching fish all night? He comes ashore where there is no fish.
Jesus says, “Cast it on the right side.” Peter says, “You don’t
know what you are saying.” In his mind, Peter thought, “You are Lord, and
at your bidding, I will obey.” Because he obeyed by faith, they
caught a large amount of catch.
It is not blind
obedience if you get the Word. You don’t have to understand it. You
don’t have to see the reason because many times, there is no reason.
There is no explanation that our mind could fathom. This is why we have
to accept it by faith. The Lord mainly speaks through His prophets for
the Church. He mainly speaks through His prophet when He has a message
for the Church.
To an angel, meaning a
leader or bishop, “My word has to be spoken through them.” How can they hear
without somebody who is used by God to speak His word? He speaks through
authorities for their respective jurisdictions, like parents. For your
family, the word of the Lord is through your parents mainly. For the husband
and wife relationship, the word of the Lord comes through the mouth of the
husband. Authorities are not the only exclusive vessels. God can
speak through a donkey or anything else that He chooses because He is God.
Mainly, He uses authority.
We are not called to
see. We say, “I don’t see the point. I don’t get it, but I submit
and I obey because I heard the Word.” “I got the Word. There is a basis
for my obedience, for my faith through the Word that was given to me.” You
may have been or maybe you are still doing this, “How can we afford a place to
build a church? At the price of land? Will God give us His word?”
Yes! “Confirm now Thy word to Thy servant.” He has
given us His word. Can we see how it will happen? We don’t.
In our giving to the
land, what we give will not add up to what we need, but the land has been
given. Our attitude is that we press on toward there by giving little by
little, something at a time, until we get there. Our attitude, like St.
Paul said to the Philippians, should be going and getting there. God has
given us the land, and we are in the process of acquiring it at the same
time. We must not forget that He has already given us the land. Our
attitude should be: we must get there. How? He knows how and all we
need is His word: go and get there.
We can reason with our
minds and say, “Well, why don’t we just get this small piece of property or
this cheap property or this out of the way property because land in those
places are affordable.” What is the Word of the Lord? Israel could
have asked, “Why do we have to go to Canaan where there are giants? Why not
just go to the Philippines? It is easier to defeat the 4”11 Filipinos,
and they have a visa waiver program. It is tropical there and the
humidity is good!” Why not the United States? They have wide roads
and everything that you need. Why not? Because God said that it was
Canaan. That was the Word.
The Word of the Lord is
not subject to man’s approval. It is non-negotiable. This is why we
call Him Lord because His word is obeyed by those who call Him, “Lord.” We are
not called to see. Either we don’t see the point if we don’t see the
reason or understand that we are called to obey. This is what faith
means: obedience of faith. Jesus is the ultimate example of this faith
because He obeyed to the point of death. We all know that He tried to get
away from it and question it by saying, “Is there any plan God?” Then He said,
“Yet, nevertheless, Your will not Mine be done.”
This is why Christ came
– for us and for our salvation. The requirement for salvation is
number one, legal; the second is actual. It is for our actualization for
that which has been achieved legally. To use the Latin word, He has de jure saved us and we are to de facto live out that salvation. We are to
show that we have actually legally saved by walking accordingly.
Christ said, “Learn
from me. Do it according to the way I live as a man for this is
salvation.” Salvation is not getting one foot inside the door of heaven and
making sure that it is secure. Salvation is right here, right now.
Salvation is eternal life which begins now. It is true now! It needs
to be lived out now and for all eternity.
How do we prepare for
Jesus coming? By striving together to be like Him. Our calling is
also incarnational. We are His body, His flesh and we are to actualize
our being His flesh until we attain to the fullness of Him and then He will
come and we will recognize Him because by then, we will be like Him. We
have finished our journey and we are ready to receive Him. All of His
virtues, we have attained and we have finished our journey, and then we are
ready for Him.
Already but still in
process. Emmanuel, God with us, in us, both to will and to work towards
this fullness. For us and for our salvation so that we can be chief of
the mountains, be a witness to the Gentiles so that we can preach to them
obedience of faith. This is so that the world also can receive salvation.
My brothers and
sisters, this is the way it is in the kingdom of God.
LET
US CONTINUE OUR REFLECTION
WITH
CARDINAL OF
HOLY MOTHER CHURCH
AND
VENERABLE PRIMATE
OF
THE PHILIPPINES
THROUGH
THROUGH
THE WORD EXPOSED
“The
Gospel Proclaimed”
December
24, 2013
Eve of
the Feast of the Theophany
(Christmas
Eve Service)
Isaiah 9:
2 - 4; 6 – 7/Psalm 96: 1 - 4; 11 – 12/Titus 2: 11 – 14/Luke 2: 1 –
14
His Excellency
The Most Reverend Ariel Cornelio P.
Santos D.D.
Auxiliary Bishop and Locum Tenens
of the
Archdiocese of Manila
the
National Church in the Philippines
and the
Territorial Church of Asia
International Communion of the
Charismatic Episcopal Church
“Unto us a Child is
born. Unto us a Son is given.” This is good news of a great joy
which shall be for all the peoples.
I don’t know if you
fully understand and fully fathom the reality of the Incarnation. God
subjected Himself to this process and He became human. There is no undoing that
anymore. There is no reversing that. Jesus is forever in the
flesh. He cannot get away from it anymore. There is no turning back
from and to say, “I don’t want to be human anymore.”
This is
permanent. Christ is forever like us, in the flesh – forever and ever,
for all eternity. This is Incarnation. I am awed by this incredible act.
God voluntarily reduces Himself to become human – not taking away from His
deity. He voluntarily submits to the requirement of Him becoming human in
order to save us. He became an infant that is needing of diapers; an
infant to be wiped, to be cleaned up, helpless and limited with its
frustrations. He was bound in swaddling clothes.
Christ also subjected
Himself to the humbleness, the humiliation of being born in a manger. A
manger is a stable where the travelers leave their donkeys. Imagine the
smell of that place. He wasn’t born in a palace; in a mansion. He
could have gone to “www.hotels.com” and booked on line to make sure they had a
room, but He chose to be born in humble conditions. He chose to be born to poor
parents. His birth was announced not to kings, not to the chief priests,
not to princes and presidents whose mere entrance is announced.
This is the birth of
the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. The high King of heaven; the
Sovereign God! But who does He choose to announce His birth to? Shepherds
– not kings, not chief priests. It is the ultimate demonstration of God’s
love becoming flesh, becoming one of us. His love is not abstract
theory. It is real; actual; tangible; involved; participatory; “in your
face”. You cannot get away from it.
Emmanuel means “He is
with us.” He is not distant or watching us from a distance. He is
right here with us, among us dwelling. He is one with us forever!
Emmanuel – right with us. Not repulsed; not disgusted; not driven away by
our weaknesses, our imperfections. He chose to forever stay with us
permanently. He is with us because of His great love.
Christ can easily ask,
“How long do I have to put up with you?” He can easily say and He will be
justified in saying, “Why did I ever choose to be incarnate and be in the midst
of a people like this?” He can easily be justified if He left us, if He
divorced us because He would be on the right; but He chose to be Emmanuel.
He chose to pitch His tent among us and dwell with us permanently.
We must have the same attitude and commitment. Is it any wonder why He
says, “I hate divorce?” It is against His nature. He doesn’t leave
nor forsake. He is permanently with us.
The reading in the
epistle to Titus, St. Paul tells Titus, “The gospel comes to us bringing
salvation to all men.” The good news of a great joy is to all
people. The good news is for the people beside you. The Incarnation
was for all people including the people around you. Christ is Savior to
all men including each one of us; the very person beside you.
Probably, when you looked at them, you saw their imperfections. You
probably saw immediately something that reminded you that the person had
weaknesses. That same person, God chose to be with and not to ever, ever
leave, forsake, divorce, to get mad or to be angry at. That same person
is the one God chose to forgive seven times seven a day, a minute. This
is what the Incarnation means. God will never, ever forsake us.
What is the purpose of
this good news? According to St. Paul, it is not just so that we can
escape the fires of hell, but it is so that we can deny ungodliness and live
righteously. It is so we can look for the blessed hope of the Savior’s
coming and His appearing. Romans 15:4 says, “Scriptures gives us
instructions so that we may be encouraged by them and we may have hope.” Your
sins are forgiven now!
What did Jesus tell the
adulteress and other people? He said simply, “Your sins are forgiven and sin no
more.” Deny ungodliness. Live righteously. What comes
first? It is the forgiveness, then comes the instructions and the exhortation
and the encouragement. Now that your sins are forgiven, now that you have
been saved, now that you have salvation, sin no more. Live righteously;
deny ungodliness. Why? It is not just to escape the penalty, but it
is to be totally freed from sin and its bondage and slavery.
What is the big deal
about sin? None because it has been taken care of! Why was it taken
care of? It is because it got in the way of the relationship of man and
God. God created man so that He could have fellowship with Him.
Only man, among all of His creation, did He create according to His image and
likeness. Only man did He breathed His life into. Sin entered and
got between God and man which God does not like.
God wants to have
relationship with man. Sin is no big deal anymore. Sin is not the purpose
of the Cross. Yes, for our sins He died, but it is because ultimately, it
gets in the way of our fellowship and our communion with God. His will
is: that He and us sit down at Table. God and man at Table are sat
down. This is the reason He created us – to have fellowship with
us.
One theologian even
boldly proclaim, “The earth actually was created only for this reason: so that
there can be a venue for God and man to have fellowship.” The most
important is God fellowshipping with man. The theologian says that the
reason we have an earth is so that God and man could have a place for
fellowship with each other in.
The Incarnation is not
to escape hell but to restore fellowship and communion. It is the
communion that Adam enjoyed with God before sin entered into the world.
They talked face to face. They walked together in the cool of the day and
the night in the Garden. Adam was obedient and thus faithfully ruled and
reign and had fellowship with God.
This is the purpose of
Incarnation – our communion and fellowship with God. The shepherds heard
the news and then they were abiding. They were keeping watch by night.
They were alert. This Season of Advent encouraged and urged us to be on
the alert, to be always on our guard, and to be watchful. This was what
the shepherds were doing. They were abiding and occupying until the
Savior came. They were faithfully fulfilling their calling as shepherds.
They believed the message from God.
Can you imagine the
angels appear to you and says, “Don’t be afraid. I bring you good news of
a great joy. For today, a Child is born to you in the city of David. The Child
who is the Savior of all men. This is a sign for you. This Savior, this
King of Kings, this Lord of Lords, this High King of Heaven, the Sovereign God,
incarnate, you will find Him in a manger.” If you were the shepherd,
won’t you ask, “A manger? Why won’t He be born in a palace or in a mansion or
some luxurious and huge place? Are you for real? Are you an angel of
light or darkness? Are you playing us? Is this a TV program that is a
joke? A manger?”
The shepherds believed
the message from God from the angel. They responded. Immediately, they
went and they exchanged stories with Mary and Joseph. It is written in
Scriptures between the verses. Can you imagine Mary telling them how the
Child was conceived? Joseph telling them, “Oh, an angel appeared to me
and said, ‘This Child was conceived by the Holy Spirit.’” Can you imagine
the shepherds telling them, “Oh, we confirmed that because we also heard an
angel?”
The shepherds believed
the story of Mary and Joseph and the angels and they also gave a
testimony. They told people of the Savior that was born of a virgin; that
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. That He chose to be humbly born in a
manger. Scriptures says that all who heard them were amazed and in
wonder. Mary treasured all these things in her heart and pondered on
them. The shepherds rejoiced and glorified God and praise Him for the
good news that they had seen, heard and experienced.
Today, unto us a Child
is born. Today, we are given good news of a great joy. Emmanuel,
the Lord God is with us! We have great reason to rejoice because the
great news of a great joy is given to us. What else matters? What
is there to complain about? We have more than enough reason to rejoice
because this is good news of a great joy!
Together, let us shout,
“Hallelujah!” We have more than enough reason to rejoice! Unto us a
Child is born! This is God’s great love. This is the great love of
God. Never will He leave us; never will He forsake us. He is
forever with us.
This is the way it is
in the kingdom of our God!
FAITH EXPOSED
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