Trinity V                                                                                        Fr. Forrest Burgett

Trinity Anglican Church                                                                             Given:  06/22/08

“And Jesus said unto Simon, ‘Fear not for henceforth thou shalt catch men.’  And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all and followed him.”

 My Father was extremely talented and kept it hidden quite well.  He was a child prodigy on the violin at the age of four.  When his father died, his mother moved to Western Kansas, married a farmer who played fiddle and chorded on the piano.  Before long, my father was following in his step-father’s footsteps.  Music was not his only talent, but he was a humble man of modest means.  He covered his talent with his favorite expression, “I’d rather be lucky than good.”  He attributed all the good things he accomplished to luck and took no credit for himself.  We know, however, that luck is where opportunity meets preparation.

I believe luck and miracles have something in common.  Just as luck is where opportunity meets preparation, miracles occur where a prayer opportunity meets spiritual preparation.  This does not imply that we control the occurrence of miracles.  Our only contributions to God’s gifts are love, trust and faith.  We are not in control of miracles.  We simply align our wills with God’s and watch his Will unfold.

 Today’s Collect asks that this world be so peaceably ordered that the Church may joyfully serve in Godly quietness.  Luck will not accomplish that.  It will require a miracle given today’s fascination with self.  Have you ever noticed that God does not just make things happen?  He makes things happen in response to the actions of his children.  This miracle will definitely require much from us and from all of Christ’s disciples.  Today’s Epistle tells us what is required to become true disciples of Christ.  The Gospel today relates St. Luke’s version of how Christ called James, John and Simon Peter to be disciples and ultimately apostles.  This is definitely Discipleship Sunday.

One of the events at the Diocesan Synod in Des Moines was a presentation on Prayer Life given by Fr. Garrett Wolfaardt from South Africa.  He was, of course, accurate when he said we could and should do more with prayer that we do today.  He gave many examples of miracles resulting from his experience in prayer.  He left the impression that he could produce a miracle just by praying.  I am sure that is not the impression he intended.  He intended to emphasize God’s gifts in every miracle and recognize they were a result of his asking.  Nonetheless, miracles do happen just as luck happens.  Luck happens when opportunity meets preparation.  Miracles happen when prayer opportunity meets spiritual preparation.

We all start praying without a spiritual understanding of what we should be praying for.  After Praising and Thanking God, our first request should be for understanding of God’s Will so we know what to request.  We are all thankful that God does answer our prayers even when we are lacking spiritual preparation.  But as we grow in spiritual preparation, we displace our personal desires with God’s Will;  our requests are directed away from ourselves;  and we begin to serve in godly quietness.  This is the environment in which miracles flourish.  God always hears our prayers but does not grant miracles that oppose His will.

Today’s Collect asks that the course of this world be so peaceably ordered by God’s governance, that the church may joyfully serve Him in all Godly quietness.  That would be a miracle of the first order and God is certainly capable of granting it.  That request is aligned with all the revelations in both the Old and the New Testaments.  But this is not Miracle Sunday.  This is Discipleship Sunday.  Jesus did not ask us to wait for God’s miracles.  He told us to spread the good news.  He told us it is not enough to increase our own spiritual preparation;  we must help others increase theirs as well.

We all remember Jonah’s experience in the whale.  We must also remember the essence of that story.  God wanted Jonah to spread the Good News and warn the people of Ninevah to change their ways.  Jonah said it was hopeless and he was sure they wouldn’t change.  He tried to avoid God’s assignment and the whimsical story of the whale ensued.  But look at the end of the story.  Ninevah did repent and was saved.  A miracle occurred but not by God’s fiat.  It occurred after Jonah’s reluctant but spiritual preparation met the prayer opportunity at Ninevah.  The point of the story is twofold.  First, we cannot divert God’s Will.  Second, God demands our involvement.  Throughout history, God used prophets and Jesus used disciples to spread the Good News and gather all the sheep into God’s fold.

All the Epistles show us how to accept God’s orderly governance.  Sts. Peter, Paul, John, James and Jude all had one goal in mind.  Their epistles were written to aid our spiritual development and exhort us to aid others.  Today’s Epistle is a great example.  “Be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another,”  “love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous.”  Knowing we will inherit a blessing, we are told to render blessings to those who rail or vent evil upon us.  We must speak no guile and eschew evil.  We must do good, seek peace and ensue it.  If we are required to suffer for righteousness’ sake, we will not be troubled or afraid of terror because we have sanctified the Lord God in our hearts.

I grant all that is easier said than done.  On the other hand, look at the miracle we asked in our collect.  How can this world be peaceably ordered by His governance if we, who know Christ, cannot follow his example?  Like Jonah, we deny our actions will have any impact on others.  Will the world even notice if we change our lives?  Jonah tried to replace God’s will with his own analysis of the situation.  Are we not doing the same thing when we hold back and maintain a low profile?  God demanded Jonah’s involvement and he demands ours as well.  We must not only accomplish our own spiritual preparation, we must make others aware of the need for their own preparation.  Then we must help them do so.  We asked, “that the church may joyfully serve thee in all godly quietness.”  We know that goal cannot be accomplished without the whole world being ordered by God’s governance.  That is where discipleship comes in.  We are to help others complete their spiritual preparation even as we continue to work on our own.

In the Gospel today, Jesus taught the people seeking his love, wisdom and truth.  He then granted a miracle to show the fishermen and those on the shore, the great power of God’s love.  Simon Peter reacted much as we do.  He was embarrassed at his sins and felt unworthy to be in Jesus’ presence.  Jesus forgave Simon‘s sins as he forgives ours.  When they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

Here is our guide to discipleship.  Forsake all things of this world and follow the teachings of Jesus.  We are not guaranteed a miracle.  We are, however, guaranteed grace.  We are guaranteed God’s presence in our lives.  We must hold on to that presence as we go into the world each week.  If we find ourselves figuratively in the belly of a whale, we must redirect our efforts to God’s will and there we will find the grace to continue as full Disciples of Christ.

As Deacon Grear pointed out last week, we must start to live eternally.  We must look beyond the trials and tribulations of this world if we are to receive God’s love for ever.  There were no hermits in Christ’s disciples.  If we are to see this world so guided by God’s governance that the church may joyfully serve thee in all godly quietness, we must make disciples of everyone and we must start with ourselves.

As we grow in our prayer life, our lives will affect others.  Granted the effect is small but so are the viruses that span the internet in microseconds.  Be a disciple.  Infect someone you love today.