Will of God - Third S in Lent
Third Sunday in Lent
The Gospel
St. Luke xi. 14.
JESUS was
casting out a devil, and it was dumb. And it came to pass, when the devil was
gone out, the dumb spake; and the people wondered. But some of them said, He
casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils. And others,
tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven. But he, knowing their thoughts,
said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation;
and a house divided against a house falleth. If Satan also be divided against
himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils
through Beelzebub. And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons
cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges. But if I with the finger of
God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you. When a
strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: but when a
stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all
his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. He that is not with me
is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. When the unclean
spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and
finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when
he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him
seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell
there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. And it came to
pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her
voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps
which thou hast sucked. But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the
word of God, and keep it.
Prayer for Today
WE
beseech thee, Almighty God, look upon the hearty desires of thy humble
servants, and stretch forth the right hand of thy Majesty, to be our defence
against all our enemies; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Luke 11:14-28 The Will of God is....?
Jesus was casting out a demon /devil
but even this action was questioned by the religious leaders of the church of
that day , the Pharisees. They were so incensed by Jesus that they said
," he casts out devils through Beelzubub, the chief of the devils."
11:15 Jesus challenges the religious leaders of then and as well as
today, " BUT if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the
kingdom of God is come upon you." Jesus challenges us to know God's
will and do it as well.
A woman in the crowd lifted up
her voice, " and said unto Him ( Jesus), ' Blessed is the womb that bare
thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. But he said, ' Yea, rather, blessed
are they that hear the Word of God, and keep it." We too as a people
do not adore people or movements. We listen to the Word for the Will of God for
the Word is God's inspired, without error and our way in this life and the life
to come. The Church can err; General Councils can err ( Article 19
in 39 Articles pb page 606), but the Word of our endures forever. Isaiah 40:8
" The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall
stand for ever."
When God speaks to us we could be like
the people in Jeremiah 5 ( our WED Evening Prayer reading of last week ):
" For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very
treacherously against me saith the LORD. They have belied ( lied
about-NIV) the Lord...and said...evil shall not come..." God speaks
to such churches and prophets who do not believe His Word, " Wherefore
thus saith the LORD of hosts, ' Because ye speak this word, Behold I will make
my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour
them." 5:14
We wish to be like the
people that Jesus said were blessed---those that hear the Word of God and keep
it, not those who say God is not truthful when He has spoken already. In Mark 3
we read words about how Jesus spoke to His family and doing God's will. His
mother and His brethren were seeking Him 3:32 and he said, " Behold my
mother and my brethren ! For whosoever shall do the will of God , the same is
my brother, and my sister, and mother."
The important thing is doing the
will of God. In all of our lives, that should be first. It is easy to get this
reversed and that are people that will help us do that unknowingly often.
The world has its own ideas of what we should be doing. Our world today
will let us have our religion, but that should not interfere with what
others wish to do. The world rushes on and does not take the necessary
time to listen to God. We live in such a society that keeps saying to us
to be happy we must have more and more and do more that entertains us.
Observing the Lord's Day is out of vogue for example. I was speaking to
someone this week about how we have gone from bad to worse with Sunday
observance.
The Scotsman, Eric Liddell
was portrayed in a movie that was very popular several years ago, "
Chariots of Fire". He ran in the 1924 Olympics, but refused to run on
Sunday because he wished to observe the Lord's day. He still ran on
Saturday and won a gold medal. People respected him for his strong
commitment to his faith. Later he became a missionary to China.
If we were to go through the
Bible itself we would find this a constant theme throughout, " doing the
will of God." It would be helpful for example to start with the
faith Hall of Fame, Hebrews 11. Noah was such an example in 11:7 . He
" moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house."
It was not easy I imagine to do all of this when others looked upon him as a
crazy person. But Noah was a "just man and walked with God."
Gen 6:9
We should be asking,
" How can I know God's will?" That is the best question we can ask
and the fact that we are asking it at all is wonderful. There are some
things we cannot know. God had His plan which we do not know ,i.e. the
future. He has revealed to us how to live. Deut 29:29 is a good vs. about
this, " The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things
which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do
all the words of this law." ( Sometimes we hear this called the decretive
will of God or secret and the one we know is the preceptive or revealed will of
God)
If you are
struggling with the will of God now for your life, I would say, start with what
you know. For example, we know we are to believe in God and in His Son to
have eternal life. Then we are to live in this world so that we may grow
more and more like Jesus . Too many people are neglecting the revealed
will of God because they are thinking that they want to know more. There
are some things we will not know and never know. But God is not leading
us astray if we acknowledge Him and let Him direct our paths. Proverbs 3:5-6
ST
Ignatius asked that we imagine ourselves on " our own deathbed, looking
back at the decision(s) we are now trying to make. What path do you wish
you had chosen? Another way of doing this is to imagine how your own
obituary will appear someday and what you hope it will say." in Hearing
With the Hear- A Gentle Guide to Discerning God's Will for Your Life, by Farrington.
We could
spend many hours talking about doing the will of God. Each of us despite our
age have a living relationship with God that should be growing every day as we
read the Scriptures, listen to the Word preached on the Lord's Day services
receive the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper gratefully. Jesus
followed the will of God all the way to the Cross. And He said in those
famous words in the Garden, " Not my will, but thine be done." Luke
24:42 This is the way of true life and happiness. " Yea , rather,
blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it."Luke
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