First Sunday after Christmas - Propers with explanation – Rev Jack’s Sermon

The Propers are found on Page 99-100, with the Collect first:

 

There are three Collects today:

 

1.     One for the Feast Day

2.     One for the scheduled Sunday

3.     One for the season

 

However, Christmas and The First Sunday after Christmas are exactly the same, thus really only two!

 

Saint Stephen, Deacon and Martyr

[December 26.]

The Collect.

 

G

RANT, O Lord, that, in all our sufferings here upon earth for the testimony of thy truth, we may stedfastly look up to heaven, and by faith behold the glory that shall be revealed; and, being filled with the Holy Ghost, may learn to love and bless our persecutors by the example of thy first Martyr Saint Stephen, who prayed for his murderers to thee, O blessed Jesus, who standest at the right hand of God to succour all those who suffer for thee. our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen.

 

The Christmas Collect is found on Page 96:

 

The Nativity of our Lord, or the Birthday of Christ,

commonly called Christmas Day.

[December 25.]

The Collect.

 

 

A

LMIGHTY God, who hast given us thy only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a pure virgin; Grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit ever, one God, world without end.  Amen.

 

¶ This Collect is to be said daily throughout the Octave.

 

The text serving as the Epistle for this morning comes from the Acts of the Apostles, the Seventh Chapter, beginning at the Fifty-Fifth Verse:

 

The Epistle.

(Acts vii. 55.)

 

S

TEPHEN, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

 

This morning’s Holy Gospel comes from the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, the Twenty-third Chapter, beginning at the Thirty-Fourth Verse:

 

B

EHOLD, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. 

Sermon - Rev Jack Arnold

Church of the Faithful Centurion - Descanso, California

Today’s sermon brought the Collect, Epistle and Gospel together and is partly contained in the forewords above. 

 

Saint Stephen, Deacon and Martyr

[December 26.]

The Collect.

 

G

RANT, O Lord, that, in all our sufferings here upon earth for the testimony of thy truth, we may stedfastly look up to heaven, and by faith behold the glory that shall be revealed; and, being filled with the Holy Ghost, may learn to love and bless our persecutors by the example of thy first Martyr Saint Stephen, who prayed for his murderers to thee, O blessed Jesus, who standest at the right hand of God to succour all those who suffer for thee. our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen.

 

The Christmas Collect is found on Page 96:

 

The Nativity of our Lord, or the Birthday of Christ,

commonly called Christmas Day.

[December 25.]

The Collect.

 

A

LMIGHTY God, who hast given us thy only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and as at this time to be born of a pure virgin; Grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit ever, one God, world without end.  Amen.

 

¶ This Collect is to be said daily throughout the Octave.

 

As is oft the case, today’s propers all tie together to reinforce a point and build our understanding of what God wants and expects from each of us. 

 

Consider these words from the Collect where we ask God to …in all our sufferings here upon earth for the testimony of thy truth, we may stedfastly look up to heaven, and by faith behold the glory that shall be revealed; and, being filled with the Holy Ghost, may learn to love and bless our persecutors…

 

As is almost always the case, we are asking God to help us; in this case to see things from God’s point of view, to be filled with His Spirit and understanding with the help of the Holy Ghost that we might not curse, but understand and help those who cause us problems and pain, who seek to destroy us. We ask that we might help them towards God rather than curse them.  This is one of the hardest collects to pray with our hearts; probably because of all of them, it most goes against our nature. It may seem impossible for us, but with the Holy Ghosts help it can be accomplished! 

 

Stephen, the first martyr of the church, was stoned by locals for doing God’s work, for harming no one, for forcing nothing on anyone.  Yet, he will brutally killed by those he sought to help.  His dying words were a blessing and not a curse.  What an example!  An example close to impossible for most of us to follow.  Yet an example for our souls to attempt to emulate.

 

When Matthew relates Jesus’ warning to us, he is telling us the same thing Stephen found out; there are people in this world who do not want to hear the Word of God and will kill, murder and maim to avoid hearing it.  They are not content to just say, No thank you, and move on.  We must expect at least meeting one or two of those lives  and those encounters may terminate our short visit here on Earth. Yet, despite that grim possibility, we must continue to do our duty, to spread the Good News and move through this life unto the next, doing our duty as we see it. We must not let fear of such a possibility take over our lives and make it so we don’t perform any action of Him.

 

We must not fall into the trap many people have and let themselves be taken advantage of by the government and the state due to the induced crisis the governments worldwide have seemingly collaborated on to gain even more power. And as Paul relates we are struggling against spiritual wickedness in high places. Yet, we must still follow Saint Stephen’s example and persevere even if the cost is our own lives. For Jesus did the same for us, persevering to save us from eternal death at the cost of His own life.

 

He never let fear control him on His Journey to the cross, His Death and Resurrection. So too must we not let fear or worries control us.  We know that our eternal place is with Him. Our physical bodies may be destroyed but our spiritual selves will never be destroyed as long as we are on God’s team. 

 

Saint Stephen showed following Christ truly is not without risk. But it is risk we must bear and the Holy Ghost will help us to bear that risk, if we will let Him into our hearts and guide us in our actions. 

 

All in all, the remembrance of Saint Stephen is a painful day, with little feel good to it, yet it is reality.  

 

What matters is what you do when push comes to shove.  Action, not Diction is what counts.

 

Heaven is at the end of an uphill trail.  The easy downhill trail does not lead to the summit.

 

The time is now, not tomorrow.  The time has come, indeed.  How will you ACT?

 

It is by our actions we are known.

 

Be of God - Live of God - Act of God