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PENTECOST XVIII: October 7, 2001
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"And the Lord answered me:
"Write the Vision: Make it plain upon Tablets,
So he may run who reads it.
For still the Vision awaits its time;
It hastens to the end - it will not lie.’"
And until then Habakkuk says:
"The Righteous shall live by Faith."
Habakkuk 2:1-4
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Today our Theme is Vision - not just the ability to see -
But Vision is the ability even to see that which has not yet come to pass.
Vision is the ability to see beyond the present.
Vision is the yearning & longing for that which is not yet a reality
*****Story: The Opthamalagist*****
Vision is crucially important - for most any business or corporation
However Vision is most especially crucial for the Church,
For People of Faith,
For one who is not content for things to remain as they are,
But sees other possibilities.
The Bible is most assuredly correct when it says:
"Without a Vision - The People perish."
For the movement and the Way of God
Is always toward a Better World.
A World where God’s Good & Righteous Will,
Where The Kingdom of God,
Is coming to pass.
Jesus Himself taught us to pray:
That God’s Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.
I hope that as Parishioners of St. Matthew’s Church,
That you have a Vision for your Parish,
That you are not content to let things remain as they are:
For there is
so much more that awaits us,
Hopefully we can see on the horizon, though dimly,
A Vision of what God wants our Parish to be,
That we see the Church not only meeting our needs,
But that the Church is here to reach out to others
Outside our own Fellowship.
In the midst of the horrendous tragedy that
Our Nation and the People of New York City have endured,
As People of Faith, we have a Vision of a World
Where God will have His Way.
For in times of tragedy, we believe that God hears our cry.
That God cares and that God grieves with us.
The Psalms and the Book of Lamentations
help us to express our grief and to give our grief over to God,
that our grief might be assuaged and redeemed.
And yet - as People of Faith
we have a clear Vision that vengeance belongs to God,
That Vengeance is not our business.
As People of Faith we do not have to
trouble ourselves with vengeance,
for that is left safely in God’s Hands.
For when God says:
"Vengeance is mine - I will repay says the Lord,"
These are not empty words,
For we know for sure & we believe without any doubt,
that God means it.
For us to say that we affirm that
Vengeance belongs to God:
Is an act of profound Faith.
And as we cry to God:
"When will Justice be done ?"
In our Old Testament Lesson today from the Prophet Habakkuk:
God answers responds - with the assurance that:
His Divine, unyielding Justice will unfailingly come to pass.
Meanwhile:
"The Righteous shall live by Faith."
What a Blessing it is -
What a Blessing it is for us in the midst of darkness and evil,
To be a part of a Community of Faith.
A Community of Faith that earnestly strives to do God’s Will,
A Community that strives not to be overcome with evil
But strives to overcome evil with good.
I don’t know about you, but if you are like me,
I give thanks that I am a part of a World-Wide-Movement,
The Church, The Body of Christ,
that is committed to Love and Reconciliation -
I give thanks
That I am a member of a World Wide Community that is
Opposed and stands against hate and death and destruction.
Love & Reconciliation -
This is the real business of the Church,
And while the defense of our Country and our People
is an absolute necessity,
Nevertheless, we are determined to continue
to work for Justice and Peace,
that all the Peoples of the World
may properly have their place in the sun.
We must know that to subdue
the powers of evil & destruction requires
our dependence upon the power of God,
We depend upon God
To do that which we cannot do alone,
To prevail without -
becoming like that which we oppose.
If you ever had any doubts about Christian Evangelism,
If you ever had any thoughts about the need and
the purpose for Christian Evangelism -
Then all one has to do is to look out on
the turmoil of the World today,
And to see the desperate need
the entire World has for a Savior.
How could anyone possible miss seeing
our desperate need
For a Savior to save us from
that dark side of Human Nature that is
Committed to destroy the Creatures of God.
Hopefully, Our prayer is not that God is on our side,
But more correctly,
Our prayer is that we are on the side of God
in all of our struggles and battles.
Our prayer is that the Church of Jesus Christ
may be a beacon of Light & Hope in the thick, black
darkness of the evil that threatens us.
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On September 11,
The Reverend Dan Matthews,
the Rector of Trinity Episcopal Church,
on Wall Street, New York City,
looking out of his office window,
Saw the second plane as it crashed into the World Trade Center.
And on Friday, September 14th, He
Phoned his Church engineers that look after Trinity Church.
He said that President Bush has asked that Church Bells be rung at noon.
Mike, one of the engineers said:
Dr. Matthews, I’m sorry, we can’t possibly do that.
You just can’t imagine what it’s like down here.
It’s hell down here. We just can’t do that."
(For actually the Bell Tower is over 360 feet high,
and with no electricity,
The Bell had to be rung manually).
About an hour later, Mike was on the phone and said:
"Dr. Matthew’s: Guess what? We got into the Church,
and crawling up into the wooden Bell Tower,
I saw an iron bar.
I picked up that Iron Bar & I and crawled up to that Bell,
And I beat the hell out of that Bell, 12 times,
while Jim held the flashlight so that I could see.
When I got back down, they told me that all
the Police Officers and all the Firemen, and the Volunteers
When they heard the Bell ring,
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That They all took their hats off.
And they all bowed & stood in silence as if to say,
"The Lord God reigns,
That the Lord God Reigns
even in the midst of this Hell."
Dr. Matthews said:
"God willing,
We will ring that Bell at 12:00 O’clock Noon,
every day as long as this Church exists.
Later that day, Dr. Matthews and his Clergy Staff
walked among the ruins & rubble,
Praying with People, Hugging the Volunteer Relief Workers,
Encouraging the people,
Constantly saying to everyone:
God Bless you - God Bless you - God Bless you.
As we think about that story:
In a real sense, the sounding of that Bell was like a sacrament -
That is, it was an outward & audible sound,
conveying an Inward & a Spiritual Truth.
For the Sound of that Church Bell aroused
Hope & Courage within the Hearts of those
experiencing a horrible disaster of unbelievable
death and destruction.
That Bell sounded the assurance that God was with them
giving them His Grace to get through this
demonic nightmare.
Brethren, the Church is here to proclaim
not only that our God reigns,
But that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is
the Hope of a World that is at war with itself
A World that is hell-bent on self-destruction.
What a Calling, What a High and a Noble Calling
To which Christ has called His Church.
To which Christ has Called each & every one of us.
It is in times such as this,
that we are faced with the realization that
The Church is not just a social club
for the comfort of those who go in for that sort of thing.
But that the Church is God’s instrument of Grace,
with a message of His Hope & Salvation,
Salvation from fear and evil, hatred and death.
There are many worthwhile organizations around us
that merit our support,
However, none measure up to the Noble Task and the
World-Wide Mission
That God has placed upon His Church.
As Christians, Let us not be lacking in
the day of peril and in the time of need and
in the time of opportunity,
to serve to be a Light, to be a Voice and
to be the hands and the feet of
the One whom we call Savior.
As we come to the Time of Stewardship Sunday
Brethren, the Time of Stewardship is the Call
to give liberally & generously of
our resources to make
the Church of God on this Earth Strong.
To make the Church strong and able
That with God’s Grace,
We may proclaim and witness to the Truth that:
Each and every single person in this World
is so precious, is unprecedented,
is unrepeatable and is irreplaceable.
That the Church with the strongest and
the most powerful voice possible,
May Witness & Proclaim:
The Sacredness and the Sanctity of all Human Life.
This is what we are all about -
this is the Vision of a Church
that lives out in no unmistakable terms,
God’s Love for His People,
for all His People.
This is the Vision ,
This is the Vision that awaits its time.
Meanwhile, in the midst of a broken World:
"The Righteous shall live by Faith."
Brethren - give thanks -
Give thanks that as the Church of Jesus Christ,
We have been called:
To Be Children of Light,
and not
Children of Darkness.
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So, remembering the word of Jesus:
He tells us to be God’s Beacon of
Light & Hope in this World
when He said:
"Let you Light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works and
glorify your Father in Heaven."
So Today:
As The People of St. Matthew’s Church
Let us commit ourselves
to be Christ’s Light in the World -
As Long as This Church exists.
A M E N & A M E N !!!
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