The Collect for the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity
Keep, we ask You, O Lord, Your Church with Your perpetual mercy; and, because the frailty of man without You cannot but fall, keep us ever by Your help from all things hurtful, and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Epistle Galatians 6:11-18
11 See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!
12 Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh.
14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 for in Jesus Christ neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. 16 Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God.
17 From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
18 Brothers and Sisters, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit Amen.
The Holy Gospel of St Matthew 6:24-34
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Bishop Ian’s Thoughts
Today’s Epistle Reading is taken from St Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians Chapter 6, Verses 11-18.
St Paul commences this portion of his Epistle by calling on the Galatian Church to note the size of the letters which he is using to write this letter to them:
“11 See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!”
This might seem a strange way for St Paul to commence a passage in his Epistle, however it may be a clue to a matter which St Paul mentions in Chapter 12, verses 7-10 of his second letter to the Church at Corinth:
"7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
There is no explanation of what this “thorn in the flesh” is. Some commentators suggest it was a disease or weakness in St Paul’s eyes which could have hindered the writing of his Epistles to the various churches throughout Asia Minor.
This theory is supported by the fact that St Paul, on a number of occasions, dictated his Epistles to a scribe who then penned them, with St Paul sometimes writing a greeting or benedictory note in his own handwriting.
The Christian Churches in Galatia were composed predominantly of Jewish converts to Christianity. Many of their number wanted to require all new Gentile (non-Jewish) members to believe in the Holy Gospel, and also require the males to undergo circumcision in obedience to the law of God, given to Moses (the Mosaic or Old Covenant) some 1500 years before.
St Paul immediately launches into the thrust of his Epistle to the Galatians, that being the value of circumcision in relation to the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus:
"12 Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ."
St Paul exposes the very heart of the circumcision controversy by telling us that the the main reason that many of the existing Galatian Christians, being of Jewish birth and heritage, were desperate to maintain their church’s devotion to the Jewish faith, and so sought to compel new Gentile (non Jewish) Christian converts to be circumcised, was to avoid being persecuted themselves, by the Jerusalem (Jewish Christian) Church for not enforcing compliance with the Law of Moses' provision that all males must be circumcised.
Faith in the Lord Jesus did not require physical circumcision to make a believer righteous before God, but many of the early Jewish converts to Christianity feared the Jewish authorities and saw circumcision as a way to appease the Jews by making faith, alone, in the Lord Jesus seem a less radical departure from Judaism.
St Paul then declares the truth about those Jews who boasted about being circumcised:
“13 Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh.”
St Paul then declares the only basis on which he would ever boast:
“14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 for in Jesus Christ neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. 16 Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God.”
St Paul calls the Galatian Jewish Christians’ requirement that new Galatian believers be circumcised, a “different gospel” to the Holy Gospel first given to them. This description by St Paul is found in his Epistle to the Galatians Chapter 1, Verses 6-9:
“6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!”
I like to describe the Galatian Jewish Christian teaching, as a “Gospel Plus” teaching, thus making it a false gospel.
Fourteen years prior to the current incident, that became known as the circumcision controversy at Antioch (a large city in Galatia), St Paul had been accepted, by the Elders (leaders) of the Christian (from a Jewish background) Church at Jerusalem, as the Lord Jesus’ Apostle.
The Elders of the Jerusalem Church accepted that St Paul had been chosen, by God, to minister to the Gentiles (non-Jewish people). These elders included Cephas (St Peter, the Lord Jesus’ Chief Apostle), St John, and St James, the half brother of Jesus and leader of the Church at Jerusalem.
The account of the circumcision controversy is recorded in Galatians Chapter 2, Verses 11-21:
“11 When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray."
14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?
17 “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.
19 “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
When St Peter visited Antioch, he, at first, ate and shared fellowship with the non-Jewish Christians.
This sharing of fellowship ceased, however, when a group of men, from the Church of Jerusalem (made up exclusively of Jewish Christians) visited Antioch.
St Peter withdrew from fellowship with the non-Jewish Galatian Christians, so as not to be seen to extend full fellowship to them lest he incur the anger of the group from the Jerusalem Church.
St Paul argued with St Peter at Antioch, face to face, about St Peter’s hypocrisy.
The issue was finally resolved at a later meeting in Jerusalem, which after much discussion, concluded with a decree by St James, the leader of the Jerusalem Church and recorded in The Acts of The Apostles Chapter 15, Verses 19-21:
“19 It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21 For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”
St Paul then declares that physical differences (circumcision) means nothing to God who judges all people by their relationship to the His Blessed Son, the Lord Jesus Christ:
“14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 for in Jesus Christ neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. 16 Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God.”
It is most important to note that in Verse 16, St Paul refers to all people who accept the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus as the “Israel of God.”
This declaration by St Paul informs us that all believers in the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus constitute Israel, the true Jews of the Old Testament, and hence the inheritors of God’s promises to Abram (later known as Abraham) given some 1,500 years before. God’s promises are recorded in the Old Testament Book of of Genesis Chapter 2, Verses 1-3:
1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2 “I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
The value of circumcision in relation of the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus is further revealed by St Paul in his Epistle to the Romans Chapter 2 Verses 25-28:
"25 Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. 26 So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? 27 The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker.
28 A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God."
St Paul's argument reminds us that God desires that a person believes and loves the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus and displays the fruit of that love, rather than the observance of rituals and the display of emblems in the physical body. As God declared in the Old Testament Book of the Prophet Hosea Chapter 6, Verse 6:
“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.”
St Paul continues by asking for personal peace from other believers so that he may continue his Ministry without hindrance:
"17 From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus."
The Marks that St Paul bore on his body were scars of wounds from beatings inflicted on him by the Jewish religious enemies of the Lord Jesus, while he was preaching the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus.
St Paul concludes our Epistle Reading with a typical Pauline benediction for the grace of the Lord Jesus to be upon his fellow believers:
"18 Brothers and Sisters, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit Amen."
May God give us His Grace to trust only in the Holy Gospel of the Lord Jesus, to clothe us Eternally in the Holy Righteousness of the Lord Jesus, for Salvation from God's Holy Judgement, and to enable us to live, with Joy, as God's Adopted Sons and Daughters in His Eternal Kingdom. Amen.
Today’s Holy Gospel Reading is taken from the Holy Gospel of St Matthew Chapter 6, Verses 24-34.
This passage of Scripture forms part of the Lord Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which is possibly the most well-known and beloved portion of the New Testament.
The Lord Jesus carried out His Ministry by travelling around, with His Apostles, teaching in synagogues, market places, private houses, by the seaside and even in the street. From time to time, the Lord Jesus would utilize a convenient geographical location such as a hill or a flat grassy area.
Great crowds often followed Him as he travelled.
On the occasion recorded in our Gospel Reading, the Lord Jesus went up upon a mountainside that provided Him an elevated point from which to preach to a great number of people gathered on the slopes immediately below Him.
In the full Sermon on the Mount (found in the Holy Gospel of St Matthew Chapters 5, 6, 7) the Lord Jesus sets forth the fundamental principles of how a Christian must live and relate to other people.
Our Holy Gospel Reading begins with the Lord Jesus' teaching on divided loyalties and provides us with a very important rule on how to avoid unhappiness and spiritual disaster:
“24 No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."
Money can be a great blessing if obtained honestly by work, or received gratefully, as a gift from some other person. Money can buy food and shelter for our families, it can secure medicine for the sick, and provide relief for those who have experienced hardship or who have suffered some other disaster.
Used selfishly and unwisely, money can be a dreadful master, bringing down upon us great evil. Many lottery winners, gamblers, and drug addicts can testify to the pain and suffering that an abundance of money on one hand, or on the other hand a lack of it, has brought them.
Money itself can sometimes cause great harm in a person’s life. We have all heard people using the supposed Biblical quote “money is the root of all evil.” This is however an incorrect quotation of Holy Scripture.
The correct quotation from the Epistle of Timothy Chapter 6, Verse 10 is “For the love of money is the root of all evil.”
Love of money is a great sin as it puts money in the place of God and therefore money becomes an idol. The love and worship of money will consume a person to the extent they will not be able to enjoy the things that money has bought them.
I remember reading many years ago of a billionaire who ate boiled grass so he could save money!
Then the Lord Jesus teaches us that birds do not sow, or plant and they do not store food in barns, yet God feeds them:
“25 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”
How true is it that by worrying we cannot add an hour to our life!
The Lord Jesus then teaches us about clothing and its insignificance:
“28 And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them."
The Lord Jesus tells us to trust in God for all things. In the example of clothes, He tells us that King Solomon of ancient Israel, when dressed in his finest robes was not, as splendid as some of the flowers that grow in the field. The flowers are cut down and thrown into the fire after they have been displayed and have withered.
We are told that the Pagans run around, worrying about the necessities of life, food, drink and clothing, where as our God knows that we need these things.
We are worth far more than plants or birds in God’s sight so He will provide a way for us to sustain ourselves and our families.
It is important to note that there is a difference between what we need and what we want. God will always give us what we need but it may not be always what we wanted!
Our Gospel Reading concludes with the most solemn and wonderful promise of the Lord Jesus:
"33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
Verse 33 brings to mind the same wonderful care and protection, of God to us, as recorded in the Old Testament Book of Proverbs Chapter 3, Verse 6:
"In all your ways acknowledge (believe and obey) Him and He shall direct your paths."
Seeking God’s Kingdom with all the associated Glory and Blessings, brings fulfilment of all of our needs.
The Lord Jesus then teaches us not to be concerned about tomorrow:
"34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
We need not worry about tomorrow as tomorrow’s troubles will keep until then, and God will then deal with them for us.
Held safe in the arms of God, clothed in the Holy Righteousness of the Lord Jesus, we can want for nothing and need not fear any evil.
May God Bless this Holy Gospel Reading to our hearts, and make us always to trust the Lord Jesus for all our needs, and to never dwell on our wants, that we may obtain every blessing that God has in store for us, as His Adopted Children. Amen.
Bishop Ian