When God commands Evil?

 

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

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?

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.

Approaching Meribah in Lent

 

How do we cope with bitterness?

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.

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?

The Lie of Hatred and the Hatred of Lies

 

Why understanding Hatred is crucial in our society.

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.

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.

Unity for a divided Church? The dilemma for the Church of England

 Where do these divisive issues really come from?

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.