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Monday, February 27, 2023

When God commands Evil?

 

How do we cope with God's command to destroy children?

Sunday, February 26, 2023

The reason for temptation

Sermon for the first Sunday in Lent

Think now.

What was your last temptation?

How did it work?

In understanding the answers
to these questions,
perhaps we can get an idea
of how temptation affects us in this life.

Perhaps,
we can see more clearly
what we need to do
to progress away from sin
and towards God.

[PAUSE]

Let's look at
how Jesus is tempted
by the Devil.

In each case,
the Devil presents Jesus
with an action together with
some verses of Holy Scripture
which shows how that action
is a reasonable thing to do.

What do we see?

The first thing
that we must notice is that
the Devil always suggests
something that seems quite
reasonable and healthy for us.

He doesn't tell us
to poke out our own eyes
with a sharp stick,
for example.

The only way that
this might be attractive to us
is if we were taking the Lord’s words
to pluck out our eyes
and cut off our hands literally.

So you see,
essentially every possible action
that a human being can do
can be made to have
some Biblical support.

We can be tempted to adultery
because the Devil can use Holy Scripture
to show how adultery
might not apply in our case.

The Devil can tempt us to murder
by showing us verses from the Bible
that might suggest that
what we're doing is not really murder.

This is how the Devil operates.

Whatever action
he wants us to perform,
he can back it up with words
from Holy Scripture itself.

The Devil can use the words
of God Himself
to tempt us into ways
that separate us from God.

That's rather worrying, isn't it?

[PAUSE]

We can sort of see
how the World around us
struggles with Christianity sometimes.

The way the World expects us
to operate is according
to the World’s reading
of Holy Scripture.

 Let us be clear:
the words of Holy Scripture written down
mean nothing
unless they are accompanied
by the Church’s relationship
with Our Lord Jesus Christ.

We need the Holy Spirit
working through the Church
to guide us
into how to use the Bible
to justify our actions.

The moment we try to separate
the words of the Holy Scripture
from the mind of Christ,
Holy Scripture becomes
nothing more than any other book.

Without Christ,
the Holy Bible
is no different from
the telephone directory.

[PAUSE]

Of course
the Devil is trying
to tempt Jesus,
true Man and true God.

The Devil is trying
 to tempt God
to separate Himself from God.

That's the point!

All temptation is
to test our relationship with God.

Even God tempts us.

[PAUSE]

God tempts Abraham
to sacrifice his son Isaac.

That's the word that is used:
God tempts Abraham.

In this case,
God’s temptation
is to strengthen
Abraham's faith and to show him
how he puts God first
even before his well-beloved son.

It also reflects
the fact that
God Himself loves us
so much that
He will sacrifice His own well-beloved son.

God tempting Abraham
strengthens the relationship
between Man and God.

The Devil’s temptation
is to tempt man away from God
by using what is utterly reasonable
to make that separation.

[PAUSE]

If we are hungry
then it is reasonable for us to eat.

The Devil tempts Jesus 
in His hunger to eat.

He knows that Jesus
can easily turn stone into bread.

But Jesus knows that
to turn stone into bread
is contrary to how
His Father wants His creation to work.

The Devil takes Jesus
to the top of the temple.

If He wants people that
He is the son of God,
wouldn't it be a great idea
to throw Himself down
and let the angels lift him up?

Wouldn't that convince
everyone that
Jesus is the Son of God?

Wouldn’t that make
His message of salvation
more believable?

Isn't it a good idea?

We'll, no!

This turns Jesus
into a showman 
and His Father into 
a performing monkey
ready to catch His daredevil Son.

It shows God no respect.

It shows His Divine plan
for our salvation no respect.

It shows humanity
no respect.


The Devil then tempts Jesus
with another reasonable idea.

Wouldn't it be easier for Him 
to worship the Devil?

After all, 
worshipping the Devil
would be far less hassle,
especially if the Devil gives
Jesus control of all things.

And it is very tempting!

Surely control of all things
means an easy, happy life, 
doesn't it?

It is reasonable,
but it is not right,
it is not part of
God’s great and intricate plan
for saving humanity from sin and death.

Jesus says no.

Only God is in control of all things,
not the Devil.

Jesus knows that
He must do His Father’s bidding.

He must go to the Cross.

[PAUSE]

Every temptation from the Devil
seeks to tear us away from God.

Each temptation
seeks to make 
a mockery of God
and Man
and our salvation in Him.

This is why we must be
very quick to pray
whenever we are faced
with temptation.

Saint Paul says that
we will always be given
a way out of temptation
if we look for it.

In order to find that way out
we need to find God first.

We need to strengthen
our relationship with God.

Saint John tells us that
we must test the spirits
that seek to influence us.

Test them against what?

We must test the spirits against
what is written in the Bible
what the Church Fathers teach
and only then what is reasonable.

We test the spirits
by bringing them with us
into the Church,
into the Mind of Christ.

We can only
overcome temptation
by Grace
and that means
we need the active presence of God
in our decision-making.

Too often
the World goes with
whatever is reasonable,
whatever makes sense,
whatever seems fair honest just equitable
to make its decisions.

It does so blindly,
separated from God,
mocking Him 
in its sightlessness.

It is our job, then,
to live those lives of repentance
turning from
Sin, the World and the Devil
toward God.

Repentance is
always a positive thing
because in repenting
we are turning to God.

[PAUSE]

We will always be tempted
with whatever seems reasonable,
but it is only in the Mind of Christ
that we see what is truly reasonable.

Whatever is not
bringing us closer to God
is separating us from him.

Let us therefore not allow
that which just seems reasonable
to lead us into sin.

Does that sound reasonable to you?


Wednesday, February 22, 2023

Revivification and Revival

I notice that there is talk of a revival at Asbury University in the US. It rather takes me back to my university days. 

At that time, the Anglicans (as I was back then in my youthful naiveté) were set together with the Free Church Christians. The communion "service" took turns at being ASB Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, "Celtic" et c. I can't say I was ever comfortable - back then I couldn't say why - but it certainly made me think about my faith and I cannot reject my time in that situation outright, though I would never wish to go through that again.

I remember very clearly that we were encouraged to experience God rather than follow the traditional worship that I was used to in my days as a choirboy. Even back then, a diversity of belief was encouraged. It wasn't how you worshipped, it was that you worshipped.

I do remember feeling "strangely warmed" during my reluctant times when the Charismatics had their turn and, truth be told, I rather miss that sensation but now I am convinced that Experience is not a source of Catholic authority.

As I have written, Experience provides the hypotheses that one tests against the Catholic Principles of Scripture, Tradition and Reason. There are only three cords in the rope that binds the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church together - another ikon of the Trinity in the life of the Church. The Orthodox Church seeks to encourage everyone to the experience of God, but this experience is tightly reined by the Divine Liturgy and centuries-old practice in keeping with the mind of Christ.

To give Experience authority is to allow that which is extrinsic to the Church to influence the Church away from its direct connection to the mind of Christ. We cannot suspend lex orandi lex credendi on the basis of something that might not be of the Holy Ghost. Test the spirits, first, but test them against what? This is utterly vital to understanding what's going on in Asbury.

What is this revival? People suddenly driven by a spirit to go to Asbury and worship? We'll, we've seen this sort of thing before, especially in Wales. The question that those who experience the revival need to answer is how they have tested the spirit calling them to revival. 

This may be a spirit which tempts us to believe that worship and love are things to be felt rather than done. This is a spirit of pious prattling and "sacred" sloth. Remember the slave girl who followed St Paul around babbling pieties was possessed by a Pythonian spirit. That spirit was not of God but used by the Devil and the slave girl's owner to make a profit by divination and pagan superstition. For St Paul to tolerate it would have discredited his ministry.

The Welsh Revival is still felt today which, by the Gamaliel Principle, suggests that it was divinely motivated. Of course, now that the Church in Wales and the Methodists have capitulated to the zeitgeist the pews are emptying leaving behind the smugly self-righteous.

We do need a revival of the Christian Faith in this country. British Christian Spirituality used to be a force to be reckoned with but now, with fewer than half of the population declaring that they are Christian, the Faith seems relegated to a decreasing number of pockets of resistance to the dominant (and not entirely Godly) powers and dominions that are influencing our lives.

I rather think that a revival will be more along the lines of the recognition of the Prodigal Son to the depravity and degradation of the pig-sty and to the home he once knew. One day, English Cathedrals will be stripped of their helter-skelters, golf courses and paper doves, the High Altar cleared and dressed, and the sanctuary re-sanctified by holy and godly bishops intent on proclaiming the Faith once delivered to the Saints. Then will people remember the glory of true worship and that this worship will colour their conversation with Almighty God for the rest of their lives.

For those of us in the Remnant, we must keep offering our worship excellently even if it makes us feel lousy, for whenever worship is hard, then it is most truly offered.

Monday, February 20, 2023

On Breaking Communion

I note that Anglican Communion is finally showing the same sorts of signs of breaking up as after the Congress of St Louis. Following the changes to the sacraments, the emerging body (which was originally called the Anglican Church in North America, of all things) stated that it was no longer in communion with those Anglican provinces who accepted the alterations to the sacraments but with those that did not.

In principle, then, the Continuing Churches were still in communion with the CofE until the CofE voted to alter the sacraments in 1992. It seems to me that, at this point in breaking with the primus inter pares, the ACC has not pursued communion even with those provinces in the Anglican Communion who have remained orthodox. I don't seem to be able to find a formal statement other than that recorded in the Affirmation of St Louis that communion between orthodox provinces and the churches of the Affirmation should be maintained. Given the lack of interest from the Anglican Communion towards Continuing Anglicanism, I rather think that the relationship between orthodox Anglican churches both in the Communion and in the Continuum has lapsed rather than broken completely. Of course, as a johnny-come-lately to the ACC, I cannot claim that this is the case and I hope those of longer standing would correct me on the issue.

It would make sense though if the new ACNA would follow a similar trajectory. The old ACNA broke up over churchmanship with the Old High Protestants moving into the UECNA and the Anglo-Catholics into the APCK and what we now know as the G3. The fact that the G3 is a reunion of splits subsequent to the initial shows that reunion between bodies is possible and, speaking personally, mandatory.

Given that there are bodies that predate the Continuum, such as the Orthodox Anglican Church (OAC), possess a history and a continuity and integrity which should be respected, I would hope that other realignments are possible. This is why I regard the REC, the OAC and such like as Continuing Churches even though they have different origins. What needs to be examined, however, is whether communion has actually been broken. Could an OAC priest receive communion in a UECNA parish, for example? It would seem that they could. What may not happen, however, is the mutual recognition of authority of bishops and synods. A canon passed in the OAC is not binding on the UECNA, and vice versa.

This latter point is the key to an organic unity: a canon proposed in the ACC would require the relevant approval from the APA and the ACA. The concordat of Communicatio in Sacris allows for the transferability of clergy: each clergyman in the G3 is considered regular as well as valid and licit.

For the ACC, the orders of the Anglican Communion suffer from a dubiousness on the grounds of the altered sacrament. Alter a sacrament in its matter or intention and it becomes invalid. Any clergyman who comes to the ACC from the CofE is ordained sub conditione in order to remove this doubt and confer a more robust regularity. Any clergyman who values the Catholic nature of the sacraments will appreciate the necessity of doing so.

In the case of the GSFA declaring broken communion with the CofE, it is interesting to note that their impediment is not along the lines of sacramental ontology as in the case of the Congress of St Louis, nor along the strength of interpretive framework such as the rôle of the classical Anglican Formularies in the case of the REC or OAC, but rather of morals. The CofE states that it has not changed its doctrine on what marriage is but is recognising the "holiness" of same-sex partnerships.

As far as I know the UECNA and APCK are still Communicatio in Sacris with the ACC, though the UECNA has rather distanced itself from the rest since it places the Formularies over the Affirmation. I think this is a rather recent development in the 45 year history of the Continuum.

Ut unum sint is Our Lord's prayer for His Church. That is something we should strive for with the Grace of God. I believe wholeheartedly in the integrity of Anglican Catholic doctrine which is exemplified within the G3 and, very probably, further. If that unity is to be achieved then humility and charity must be paramount. Failures must be recognised, the modern malaise of "being offended" exorcised and forgiveness freely and humbly available. 

We should be most wary of pretence and pretentiousness. There are too many episcopi vagantes whose position is down to having been "offended" by their original jurisdiction and now claim to have a greater validity than where they have come from. Clandestine motives and political machinations have no place in a Church that is completely devoted to the Truth.

I pray that we may all be one because that is what my Lord and Master exhorts me to pray. May the Lord unite us in His Spirit for His service.

Sunday, February 19, 2023

Wanning to know what Love is

Sermon for Quinquagesima

If you’re of a certain age,
you might remember
the rock group Foreigner singing,
“I wanna know what love is.”

You might wonder
whether they ever found out
but have you?

Do you know what love is?

Do you wanna know what love is?

[PAUSE]


A lot of people believe
that they can't really say
what they mean by love.

Why?

For many people,
love is something so personal
that they cannot express it fully.

They cannot say what love is,
because of all the feelings
it arouses in them.

Great poets and playwrights
try to capture 
how love works 
by helping us know
what they think 
true love feels like.

Perhaps this is part of the problem,
love arouses in us
such powerful emotions
that often we seem
to identify love with those emotions.

Love becomes feelings.

For many people today,
love is an emotion,
intense feelings,
a roller-coaster of experiences
that tug at the heart strings,
and make us lose
any sense of rhyme and reason.

But it isn't.

And you know that.

[PAUSE]

For us Christians,
we know that God is love.

And God is not feelings.

This might be
a bit difficult for us
to get a handle on,
because God is clearly beyond
any thought that we could possibly have.

But we do know
things about God,
however imperfectly.

We see through a glass darkly,
but we still see.

God is love.
God is good.
God is perfect.

We know these things
for our Lord Jesus Christ
tells us these very things.

So what does it mean to love
if God is love?

To love someone must mean
to desire to bring God
into the life of the person we love.

Indeed,
this is where we can 
say something
of what love is.

Love is the will
for the perfection
of our beloved in God.

To love someone means
that, with the most burning intensity
you want nothing but their good,
for God is good.

To love someone means
you want them to be perfect,
for God is perfect.

What we have to realise
is that it is not our perfection
that we want to someone else to have.

It is not our good that
we want someone to have.

 It is God Himself that
we want someone to have.

This is why love
cannot be an emotion,
nor something so personal to us
that it cannot be communicated to another.

If we cannot communicate love
then how can it be love?

A love that cannot be expressed,
is an infatuation,
an obsession for our beloved
that only involves our imaginings,
and thereby lies 
the great tragedies
of mankind.

 Love is an action.

It is nothing less
than participating in God himself
and bringing him
into the lives of our family and friends
and all those whom we desire and love
and hope for their best.

But love is not a force.

[PAUSE]

St Paul tells us very clearly
that love is patient and kind
and does not seek its own.

Love endures and puts up
with all manner of things.

It never forces itself upon anyone.

The person whom we love truly
will always be free from our control.

If we truly love them
we must let them 
be free to love us back
or to reject us completely and utterly 
of their own free will.

But love is not an action
that can be separated from God.

We can speak so many languages.
We can think so many deep thoughts.
We can even sacrifice all we have.

But these aren't love.

Unless we want nothing less
than our beloved finding
perfection and joy in God,
all our actions are useless,
all our actions are meaningless.

Actions that do not will the good
of our beloved are not love.

[PAUSE]

We live in an age
where we have to fight against
the idea that love is
just a feeling albeit powerful.

It is precisely this idea
that love is just a feeling
that is destroying relationships
between human beings.

When our society
removes God from 
the substance of love
all that is left 
is what we see around us - 
love is some indescribable feeling
that nobody really knows
but everyone demands to possess.

We cannot truly love our neighbour
if we water down the good
that we are supposed
to want for our beloved.

We are imperfect little beings,
we are sinners
and we cannot expect to live out
the fullness of love in our lifetime
especially without God.

So we cannot expect to get love right.

That is the point,
for we are striving for
our own perfection in God.

Our perfection isn’t in
this world –
it is in God.

That is what God wants for us.

Clearly, God loves us.

Every day,
we need to struggle
for our perfection in God
for love of Him
and for the perfection of others in God.

Love means a struggle –
a struggle to become perfect
even as our Heavenly Father is perfect.

[PAUSE]

This Lent
we need to sit down and,
in our prayers,
look at how
we are loving our neighbour
as ourselves.

We need to look at how
we are loving the Lord our God,
how we are trying to be perfect in Him.

The more we can bring
the true love into the world,
the more we can re establish
good relationships 
between human beings
and with God.

[PAUSE]

Love really is 
our burning desire
for the good and perfection 
of the Beloved
found only in God.

Did you really wanna know what love is?


Monday, February 13, 2023

The Lie of Hatred and the Hatred of Lies

 



Why understanding Hatred is crucial in our society.

Sunday, February 12, 2023

Going to seed

Sermon for Sexagesima

Did you spot it?

The seed is the word of God.

But we know Who the Word of God is –  
Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

So if we reread this parable
knowing that what is being sown
is not just the words of the gospel,
but Christ Himself,
doesn't His parable suddenly take on
a subtly different meaning?

[PAUSE]

We remember Our Lord’s words,
“Except a corn of wheat
fall into the ground and die,
it abideth alone:
but if it die,
it bringeth forth much fruit.”

We know that He refers
to Himself here.

He cannot fulfil
His mission of Salvation,
without dying and rising again.

We also know that Our Lord
refers to Himself
as the true vine
and that we are the branches.

All the way through His ministry,
there is an idea that
in some way Jesus is a seed
that requires growing.

But surely Jesus doesn't have to grow?

His humanity says that he must:
how can he become a man
from a baby without growing?

We too have to grow in order to become perfect.

We have to grow
in order that
we may be who 
God wants us to be.

So we look at this 
parable of the sower again.
We see God the Father
sowing His Word into the world.

And happens to our Lord in this world?

First this the seed falls by the wayside
where it is trodden down
and the fowls of the air devour it.

And our Lord tells us that
this is they who hear and
the Devil takes away the word
out of their hearts
lest they should believe and be saved.

These are the people
who do not love the Lord their God
with all their heart.

There is nowhere for the word of God
to begin grow within them.

Then there are those
who are like the seed
that falls upon the rock
which grows up
but withers
because it has no root.

How can Jesus wither?

He says they on the rock
are they which
when they hear
receive the word with joy
and these have no root
which for a while believe
and in time of temptation fall away.

These are they
which neither love the Lord
with all their soul
nor their mind
for they do not truly want
the Word of God
to become part of who they are
in their innermost being.

And then there are those
who are like the seed
that falls among thorns
which when the seed grows
it is choked up.

Our Lord says these are they
which when they have heard
go forth and are choked with cares
and riches and pleasures of this life
and bring no fruit to perfection.

These are they who do not
love the Lord their God
with all their strength

And so we see that
Christ does grow.

He wants to grow within us
for Christ is love,
and we are to love the Lord our God
with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.

It is the seed of love
that must grow within us to bear fruit
because God is love
and for God to grow in us
means that we become like him,
and because we become like him
we have the potential for learning
and living in eternity with him.

To fail to love the Lord God
with all our heart, soul, mind and strength
means that we fail to grow
that eternal presence.

We do not fit ourselves for eternity.

We can look at another parable
in which our Lord compares the world
to the wheat and the tares.

The wheat is gathered up at the end
and the tares are gathered up at the end.

The wheat bears fruit of eternity,
the tares bear no fruit,
are consigned to the fire
and burnt away.

The key to Our Lord’s life
 and work is His Love for us.

And this is no secret.

For His love for us is our good,
 it is what we strive for,
it is our happiness,
it is our purpose,
it is our joy.

[PAUSE]

Our perfection lies
in our capacity
to love and to grow in love.

We do this through
the grace of Christ
Who is the Sacrament of Sacraments.

For Jesus Christ
truly is the outward sign
of the invisible God.

It is His image that we must bear.

We are born with that image
blotted and blemished,
but through grace
and through a life of devotion and love
those blemishes and blots are wiped away.

Then we resemble more truly
Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Then we become part of the vine.

Then the seed that is Christ Himself
grows in us
having died for our sins,
He raises Himself in us.

Wednesday, February 08, 2023

Simple Logic

Given that this question seems to have come up again, I would like to at least express what I believe to be a simple orthodox position. It might not convince everyone, but it is a position which is held in the spirit of charitable enquiry.

1) Empirical Fact: Every human being requires two gametes in order to gestate and come to birth: a sperm and an ovum.

2) Definition: The provider of the sperm is called the father of the child.

3) Definition: The provider of the ovum is called the mother of the child.

4) Empirical Fact: The gestation of the child occurs in the womb of the one who provided the ovum who then proceeds to give birth to the child.

5) Lemma: The mother gives birth to the child.

Proof 
Follows directly from (3) and (4).

6) Lemma: Jesus is fully human

Proof 
"The Word was made flesh" plus the Nicene Creed.

7) Lemma: Jesus is male in His human nature.

Proof 
This follows from St Luke ii.21ff, in which Mary and Joseph follow the Mosaic Law for presenting a first born son. The New Testament is unequivocal in referring to Jesus as a man, as are even the apocryphal gospels.

8) Lemma: Joseph is not the father of Jesus. 

Proof
The Gospel narratives of the infancy of the Lord are in concordance.

9) Lemma: Jesus is the Son of God.

Proof 
The Nicene Creed among other things.

10) Lemma: Mary is the mother of Jesus

Proof
See the infancy narratives of the Gospel plus the Council of Ephesus in which Our Lady is proved to have the title Theotokos.

11) Lemma: Jesus had a biological father

Proof
From (6), Jesus is fully human.
From (1), Jesus required two gametes for His gestation.
From (10) Mary is Jesus' Mother.
From (3) Mary did not provide the sperm.
 Therefore someone else provided the sperm.
From (2) this someone else would be the father of Jesus.

12) Lemma: The Divine Person who begat Jesus is properly termed Father and thus is rightly referred to in male terms.

Proof
From (11) Jesus had a biological father.
From (8), this was not Joseph.
From (10), this was not Mary.
From (9), this biological father was God.

Excursus 
Objection: The Holy Ghost is fully God and is described with the feminine gender.

Reply to objection
Both the Hebrew and the Greek words for "spirit" are grammatically feminine. The Greek word for table (trapeza) is also feminine. It is conceivable that by allowing his small children to rest their toy tea set upon his back, a father can be a table. Thus grammatical gender is not determinative of the identity of the person to which it refers.

It is therefore possible for the Holy Ghost to be referred to in male terms of identity despite being grammatically feminine.

Since the Father and the Son are to be referred to in male terms of identity, both being fully God, the Holy Spirit too, being fully God, should be referred to in male terms.

Monday, February 06, 2023

Sunday, February 05, 2023

The going rate for the evil eye

Sermon for Septuagesima

Is thine eye evil because I am good?

We get the idea behind our Lord’s parable.

We get that the Lord gives
what he wants to give,
and sometimes it looks unfair.

Those who have put in hard work
from the first hour
are paid less per hour
than those who work
from the eleventh hour.

Per hour, it's unfair.

Per hour,
those who work at the eleventh hour
get twelve times more
than those who work at the first hour.

But do you see the problem with this?

[PAUSE]

We like to look at things,
particularly payment,
in terms of the going rate.

The amount paid by hour in this case.

But what these workers fail to see
is that the Lord has given
a fair day's pay
for a fair day’s work.

Per day, 
or part thereof,
they have received 
the same.

That is the going rate,
that is the rate they agreed.

We know that those
who have worked all day
have not been tricked or deceived.

They have enough to live on.

What they dislike
is the fact that
someone else’s time seems
to be more precious than theirs.

Is thine eye evil because I am good?

What we are beginning to see here
in this dividing the day into twelve hours,
is the idea of entitlement.

These workers are dividing the day up
to suit their rate
regardless of the fact
that everyone will get a fair day's pay.

These workers from the first hour
believe that they are entitled to more
because they have worked 
twelve times more
than those who came at the last hour.

They believe that they are entitled 
to what they think is fair.

But the first workers
and the last workers have worked
one day for one day’s pay
in the eyes of the Lord.

[PAUSE]

Entitlement is very much
a word for today.

We look at entitled people
who try to get more,
or to get something extraordinary
based on their own sense of entitlement.

The trouble is that their view
of what they are entitled to
is not the same is that agreed
by the community,
by the country,
by God.

Is thine eye evil because I am good?

We see that entitled people 
suffer from Envy.

Envy is perhaps the saddest sin going,
because it is based on discomfort
surrounding another person’s goods.

There is nothing to enjoy in Envy.

Entitlement is born of envy.

It means that entitled folk
just cannot keep their eyes
on their own situation.

The consequence is simple
they kick up a fuss,
they scream and shout
and demand to be heard
by the boss,
the manager,
the Lord.

And they demand 
that their entitlement
be honoured
at the expense
of the good of others.

What they don't realise
is that they are not in control
of the goods that they receive.

The pay that they get is
already agreed with the employers.

As long as the pay is fair,
there is no problem
but someone else's pay packet
should not really be the cause
of demanding a raise.

To have an evil eye
for the goodness of God
is one of the saddest things going.

We can never enter
a relationship with God
or with each other
if we believe that
we are entitled to anything.

We need to realise that,
with God,
we are entitled to 
absolutely nothing.

[PAUSE]

Does that make you uncomfortable?

Knowing that with God
you have
no rights,
no entitlements,
no credit arrangements.

The thing that the Entitled need most
is humility.

The first gift that
God gives anyone
is that of existence.

We exist because
God has created us.

And also we have
the gift of salvation –
life with God.  

In this parable,
we see the people
who have been with God
for thousands of years
being regarded just as highly
as those who have come to God
at the last minute.

This eternal life with God,
is precisely God’s gift to us.

We don't earn it,
though we do play a part
in acquiring our salvation
because we learn to work with God
in our own creation.

We have to receive
the gift that is offered to us.

We have to be thankful truly for
the gift that is offered to us.

We have to use
the gift that is offered to us.

The first workers
are complaining about
the eternal life,
the salvation,
of those who have
only just come to Christ.

To concern yourself with 
another's salvation,
and to base your system of worth
upon another’s salvation
defeats the object of that salvation
because it denies God
His right as Creator
to say what is good, just and fair.

We do like to speculate
about other people’s salvation.

We do like to speculate
about the state of other people’s souls.

What we forget to do is
to look at the state of our own soul.

Of course,
we do have to look out for other people,
for that is what love requires.

If we are truly loving
then we are making a way
for other people
to achieve their perfection in God.

We can't achieve it
if we are envious of them,
for Envy denies the perfection 
of other people.

It begrudges their perfection.

 It even seeks revenge
in order to redress the balance
in their favour.

[PAUSE]

We should not be speculating
about who is in Heaven,
or who is in Hell.

We need to be worrying
about our own relationship with God,
and looking around and seeing
if there is any good that
we can do
to help someone else
achieve their perfection in Almighty God.

The first workers do not love
the last workers.

If they did,
they would rejoice in the fact
that the last workers
get the same amount of pay.

That would be a cause
for joy and celebration,
because it is good.

God's goodness should always be
an occasion of rejoicing,
of praising,
of thanking
and of worshipping 
the Great Giver of life Himself.

[PAUSE]

We can see how envy 
does make the eye evil.

It makes us look at everything
in terms of our own good,
our own rate of measurement
and not the goodness of God.

We need to put aside our entitlements
and accept the circumstances 
that God gives us.

For,
rich or poor,
better or worse,
in sickness or in health
we can be sure that
by learning humility
we will be richer than
we could ever possibly imagine in Christ.

And Lent is a good time
to examine what we believe
what we are entitled to
and looking for the 
Truth behind it.