#2014-1102
The Laudable Service
-- by The Rev. Jason Ke (trans. J.L.)
(A Sermon for Sunday, November 2, 2014, at St. James' English Language Service)
Proper 26
Joshua 3:7-17
Psalm
107:1-7, 33-37
1
Thessalonians 2:9-13
Matthew 23:1-12
PART ONE: Regarding
the Collect
Good
morning, my dear friends in Christ!
The
Collect for Today, which
we’ve just read, is very special
and meaningful; it really has a profound significance. Why do I say so?
First
of all, the Collect for this Sunday – the Sunday closest to November 2 – starts with the title “Almighty and
merciful God.” This is a special
form of address to God. In most other
Collects, God is referred to as “Almighty and everlasting God” or
something like that. – Is there anything special and significant here regarding
the different way of calling upon
God?
Look
at well-known leaders in the world. Whether
they are leaders of a nation, a community, a company, or a particular religion,
the leaders always have some type of “authority” or “power.” But, generally speaking, a powerful leader with
absolute authority is very unlikely to be friendly and “merciful” toward
their subordinates.
If a
leader generously shows “mercy” to their subordinates, then the leader’s “character”
or “good nature” or so-called “leadership qualities” will profoundly affect
their subordinates.
By
the way, in the Chinese language we use xingge (性格) to
mean “all the qualities that a person has.”
And,
now, what I’d like to say is this: A merciful leader’s
xingge, or admirable character, will affect people in a
wonderful, mysterious way. And, in
that case, the subordinates will respect and love their leader very
much, and they will be willing to work really hard and even to
sacrifice themselves in order to achieve the goal that their leader has set
for them.
Basically,
“power” is very, very different from “mercy.”
The difference between them is just like that between fire and water. We still know how to make good use of fire
and water. But it is too bad that
a leader who has gotten more authority and power becomes less merciful,
having little or no sympathy for
other people’s ideas and feelings.
So I
have to say that the Collect for today, in which we call God “Almighty
and merciful God,” is very special and has a profound meaning.
In
addition to this, there’s something more that I’d like to share with you. In the Collect for this Sunday, we read, “… it is
only by your gift that your faithful people offer you true and laudable
service:…” First,
“laudable” can be understood to mean “being
worthy of praise.”
But secondly,
the
word “gift” in this phrase is “singular,” not “plural.”
But
last Sunday we had the plural form of the word – “gifts” – in in The Collect for
the Sunday closest to October 26. Why?
. . . For one Sunday, the word “gifts” is in the plural form; for the other
Sunday, the word “gift” in the singular form.
This is confusing, isn’t it?
Even
I felt confused at first. But now, after
pondering on the two Collects and carefully reading the Bible lessons for
today, I think I’ve come to some
understanding about the key word “gift.”
Last
Sunday we said, “Almighty and everlasting God, increase in us the gifts of
faith, hope, and charity …”
Obviously the gifts are faith, hope, and love. But now we say to God, “It is only
by your gift that your faithful people offer you true and laudable service.” I would boldly presume that the “gift” in
this sentence should refer to “the character or nature of God” – that
is, God’s admirable xingge (上帝的性格).
Remember,
God is not only almighty and everlasting, but also merciful. God’s nature, his admirable character,
including all the wonderful qualities that he has, is a great, great power that
human beings cannot resist. So, inspired
by the character of God, his faithful people are willing and able to work
very hard to “offer true and laudable service” to him . . .
and to other people!
PART TWO: Regarding the
Biblical Lessons
I.
To Serve through Obedience to God
Taking
the initiative, God appointed Joshua to lead his people to the other side of
the Jordan River. God gave Joshua clear
instructions as to how to get across the river.
Then
Joshua and all the people of Israel, including the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord,
obeyed God’s orders and got ready to cross the Jordan.
Joshua
did not ask God for a visible sign so that he could be more
confident about the challenging task of crossing the river; no, he didn’t ask
for any sign to prove that God was with him!
In
Chapter 3, Verses 15-16, The Book of Joshua vividly describes the
situation, saying, “Now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout
the time of harvest.” (You can see this in the New
Revised Standard Version,
which we quote from to make our Bulletins
for Sunday use.)
Another
English version, Today’s English Version, describes the same story this way: “It was
harvest time, and the river was in flood. When the people left the camp to cross the
Jordan, the priests went ahead of them, carrying the Covenant Box. And, as soon as the priests stepped
into the river, the water stopped flowing and piled up. …”
That
is, “When
… the feet of the priests … were dipped in the edge of the water, the waters
flowing from above stood still, rising up in a single heap …” (NRSV)
What
a vivid description it is! The priests
carrying the Ark of the Covenant
were moving ahead with confidence, and without fear or
worries. They were truly in obedience to
God!
Meanwhile,
all the other people – young and old, male and female – were just following
Joshua and the priests. They saw the
river overflowing, but nobody was against what Joshua had said. They were all
going to cross the Jordan. This kind of
obedience, which may be called “collective obedience,’ is rarely seen
here in our society, but I still think it would be worth mentioning.
In
this story we see how the people of Israel crossed the Jordan, and we also see
their individual and collective obedience to God. Let’s learn to
offer true and laudable service to the Lord God through obedience.
II.
To Serve through Laboring and Suffering
St.
Paul and his fellow workers “worked day and night” while
preaching the Good News from God. In his
First Letter to the Thessalonians, Chapter 2, Verse 9, St.
Paul wrote, “Surely
you remember, our friends, how we worked and toiled! …”
And
in the earlier verses, he mentioned that they “had already been mistreated
and insulted in Philippi” before they came to Thessalonica. And “even though there was
much opposition,” St. Paul clearly stated, “our God gave us
courage to tell you the Good News that comes from him.” (1
Thessalonians 2:2)
If we
read more from Paul’s epistles, we’ll see that St. Paul very often encountered
difficulties in missionary work. And
from time to time even his life was in danger, because he had been trying so
hard to preach the Christian faith.
The
believers in that period of time often suffered, too. They were likely to be persecuted just
because they believed that Jesus is God’s only Son,
that Jesus
is the Messiah (or Christ), and that “Christ has died,
Christ is risen, and Christ will come again.”
These
religious beliefs brought lots of suffering and hardship to the early
Christians, who had to face such difficult situations as being brutally
persecuted. But why did they not give
up their faith? – The point would be that they did truly believe what
the apostles had taught about the Christian truth.
Well,
in spite of suffering and hardship, those who had accepted St. Paul’s teachings
must have been comforted in this Christian truth. And when they saw how St. Paul or St. Timothy
had labored to preach the Good News, wouldn’t they naturally become more
convinced of what was preached about Christ?
Surely they would.
So,
let’s offer true and laudable service to God through working hard and suffering
– suffering physically or mentally!
III.
To Serve through the Good Example of Jesus
Jesus
told his disciples and the crowds something about the scribes and the
Pharisees. He
said, “The
teachers of the Law and the Pharisees are the authorized interpreters of Moses’
Law. So you must obey and follow
everything they tell you to do; do not, however, imitate their actions, because
they don’t practice what they preach.” (Matthew 23:2-3, in Today’s English Version)
Well,
the Pharisees’ faults and the scribes’ shortcomings are the kind
of “imperfection” that can be found in all parts of the world – from
Western cultures to Asian cultures, and that has existed at
all times – from ancient times to the present.
To be
totally honest, I would like to remind us
that nobody but our Lord Jesus is one-hundred-percent capable of “practicing
what he preaches.” Yes, only
Jesus can perfectly “practice what he preaches”; he himself has made a perfect
example for all his followers to learn from.
In
the Holy Gospel reading for this
morning, the last two verses, verses
11-12, say: “The
greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be
humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.” Here in this part of the story, Jesus seems
to be teaching and encouraging his disciples and the crowds; in fact, he is at
the same time revealing himself as the perfect example for all of us to learn.
Let’s
learn to offer laudable service to God, the almighty and merciful God,
through the good example of our Lord Jesus.
CONCLUSION
As
you have heard, my sermon for this morning is divided into two parts. In the
first part, we compare the different ways of calling upon God in different Collects, and we find something important:
God is almighty, everlasting, AND merciful.
Furthermore,
just because of the admirable character of God, which is described with such
adjectives as “almighty” and “merciful,” God’s faithful people are able to work
hard to offer laudable service to God and to other people.
In
the second part of my sermon, we have seen how we can offer true and
laudable service. Learning from the
Bible readings for today, we have made a list of ways: (1) to serve through
obedience to God, (2) to serve through laboring and suffering, and (3) to serve
through the good example of Jesus. Well,
what’s your favorite way to offer laudable service? … Through obedience? Through laboring and suffering? Or through the good example?
Think
about this.
Amen.
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