Dec 27. ST John. 1st Sunday after Christmas Day

 The First Lesson

Exodus 33:12-23

And Moses said unto the Lord, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth. And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

 

The Second Lesson

St. John 13:20-26, 31-35

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake. Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake. He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it? Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you. A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

 

The Collect

St. John the Evangelist

MERCIFUL Lord, we beseech thee to cast thy bright beams of light upon thy Church, that it, being illumined by the doctrine of thy blessed Apostle and Evangelist Saint John, may so walk in the light of thy truth, that it may at length attain to life everlasting; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The First Sunday after Christmas

ALMIGHTY 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.

Christmas Day

(to be said daily throughout the Octave)

ALMIGHTY 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.

Sunday After Christmas Day John 1

1st Sunday after Christmas Day John 1:1-18

" Theology is rather a divine life than a divine knowledge" 1613-1667, Bishop in England, who wrote one of the best books on the spiritual life, Holy Living and holy dying. The author this morning of our Gospel, John, tells us that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word, was from the beginning, and was with God, and was God. Yes, we must know our theology that is what the Scriptures ( the Holy Bible) can teach us. We must know our verses, but if there are just knowledge, that alone will not complete and sanctify us in this life as a witness to others of the true light which lightens every man that comes into the world.

The Word became flesh. John 1:14 Knowledge as the Apostle says puffs up without love. Puffs up is from physio in original greek and means air bellows, therefore swelled up, i.e., an ignorant person. Love builds up oikodomeo, to build a house ( oikos -house, domeo-to build). So our knowledge gives us the ingredients whereby we learn of the building blocks that lead us to Christ, as it said in the Epistle lesson, the law is our schoolmaster to lead ( bring-kjv)us to Christ.---Bible hub.com - " Among the Greeks and Romans the name was applied to trustworthy slaves who were charged with the duty of supervising the life and morals of boys belonging to the better class. " (paidagōgos) is used of the role of the Law (OT), especially the necessary "letter" (foundation, technicalities) needed to establish the doctrines of salvation, grace, faith, etc...biblehub.com

We need theology. That lit is the Word of God or study of God. theos-God; logos-word. We need the information for the mind and heart to apply these truths to our lives. I like what is said of salvation, "The early church Fathers and Reformers recognized three aspects or types of faith. In Latin they call it notitia (knowledge) assensus (assent) fiducia (trust)...." various sources on faith, knowledge, and assent.

What information, knowledge do we learn from John 1? Jesus is the Word from the beginning, is God , and was with God, i.e. eternal. He created as God did 1:3, " All things were made by Him." " In Him was life." Our Lord Jesus is called the " True light" 1:9 You and I can be born of God if we understand 1:13 ," as many as received Him to them He gave the power to become the sons of God..." We can fail here if we do not understand these eternal truths and the Truth . This is the gospel of good news that is grace by faith . We are given eternal life by God, not ourselves or our feelings or our own good deeds. Of course these things are important as well, but they are not the beginning of eternal life. That must be a Divine empowerment of the Holy Spirit. But go on...the Word did something in vs. 14

" The Word became flesh" 1:14 John . The word is flesh, not spirit. He lit. took upon Himself flesh, and was " born of woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive the adoption as sons." Gal. 4:4 As Bishop Taylor said above our " theology is a divine life, rather than divine knowledge" John 1:14- He dwelt among us, that is lit. tabernacled, spread His tent among us. He came to the field with us. He did not stay in the rear , so to speak. He was one of us, and lived among us, and shed His own blood for our salvation, redemption, etc.... WE can be so busy for God that we " cannot hearken to Him." Savonarola . Praying is good but where does it lead?

ACTS plus a C. Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication and Consecration.

The third point is we are going to a new Year on Monday. That point is to be written by you and I. What are we going to do with points 1 and 2 to make point 3? We all have knowledge. If we have consecration to Christ with the knowledge we have that we keep learning , and keep thinking about how to consecrate our lives to Christ, then point 3 is the result.

How will we write it? We have opportunties for service every day . The person who needs a visit by us to encourage them -we should be donating and the time we should be sharing with others....This is an opportunity.

The New Year is already being written by us in our plans. Plans to serve ourselves ? Or plans to take the life we have been given and use it to serve others....?

All of us have experienced some kind of loss in our lives perhaps this year...Can we use that to share that experience with others who need our lessons learned?

What can we do this year instead of just growing in knowledge ourselves ? This is what our Church asked us to do . We are going beyond convictions to purpose and outreach. That is what he asked. That is what our Lord asked us to do as well as He set the example.

As St. Teresa said with gentle irony, " We think we are giving all to God, but in reality we are offering only the rent or produce,...while we retain ...the land in our possession---a pleasant way this of seeking the love of God"

So let us seek in prayer and love to offer back to God what He has given us so freely.