TRANSKRIP 🔗
WEBVTT
00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:04.160
Welcome to this weekly sermon from Trinity Episcopal Church in Vampiren, Arkansas.
00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:05.360
Thank you for joining us.
00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:07.679
Now let's listen to today's message.
00:00:15.679 --> 00:00:16.239
Oh my God.
00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:27.519
Well, the story's turn to the story is um we have your heart.
00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:42.000
And uh I just want to back up for a moment before I begin, and I just want to say, so uh last minute spiritually, and this ended, we heard a reading from Paul's letter to the Bible.
00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:44.079
That's the Lord.
00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:50.399
And do you know one of my favorite places in the whole world comes from the Holy Scripture?
00:00:50.479 --> 00:00:53.039
And we get to hear it again, again, again.
00:00:53.359 --> 00:01:03.280
And lastly someone said, and I'm so excited, and so I just had to reiterate it this morning, and sometimes you're a banduran person.
00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:05.519
What does that make you?
00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:07.040
You know?
00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:20.480
Um here, but that's a lot of means.
00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:22.640
Where does that even come from?
00:01:22.879 --> 00:01:24.000
That's a monica.
00:01:24.560 --> 00:01:28.640
That's the mica! That's right! The priest gets the open line.
00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:34.319
That's the Micah! Isn't that a great word?
00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:35.840
That's the Lanica.
00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:42.159
It's important to remember where things come from, is it not?
00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:46.480
We know that we come from Vancouver in Arkansas in this place.
00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:49.519
We know that we are God.
00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:54.799
But do we have him in our heart?
00:01:55.359 --> 00:01:57.280
And does he own ours?
00:01:59.599 --> 00:02:03.200
Could someone say that Christ lives in us?
00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:17.680
In 1997, a freshly mentioned high school graduate rather naively began applying for scholarships for college.
00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:31.280
He scoured the resources provided by the counselors at their school and ended up with one that sounded promising, sponsored by Signified Epsilon Fraternity.
00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:34.080
And guess what?
00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:37.520
It was in the school of their toys.
00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:42.240
And it was called the Balanced Man Scholarship.
00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:43.840
Sounds good, right?
00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:54.800
And it was so name because based on their position, that through membership and signified and so on, you would become what?
00:02:55.520 --> 00:02:57.199
A balanced man.
00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:10.319
The Frenchman to be embarked in a time of a great exploration and education to discern what the fraternity was all about and to be a better candidate for said scholarship.
00:03:10.639 --> 00:03:13.039
Because they were expert.
00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:30.000
And they found on November 1st, 1901, at
Load full transcript
Richmond College in Richmond, Virginia, that fraternity was founded on three principles: virtue, diligence, and brotherly love.
00:03:32.080 --> 00:03:36.719
There were the largest fraternities in the country.
00:03:54.080 --> 00:03:58.560
That would later be known as Sigma Pi Epsilon or the Sig F.
00:03:59.439 --> 00:04:12.400
The men who joined him were interested because they found in other fraternities there might have been some of the reasons behind them not joining.
00:04:12.719 --> 00:04:16.160
After all, most of them were divinity students.
00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:23.279
Jenkins would found that fraternity on this Jenkins lesson.
00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:34.800
This is the first dividend, and the second is my first women.
00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:33.519
This morning's gospel is a piece of scripture, so many of us know by heart, and that's a good thing.
00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:40.399
And if you're a signature, you absolutely know it by heart because you have to memorize it during your pledge period.
00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:48.720
But how many have truly delved into what it actually means to get at the nuts and bolts of it?
00:05:49.360 --> 00:05:57.360
How do we love God with our heart, our soul, and our mind in the day-to-day?
00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:03.519
Or better yet, maybe even just how do we love our neighbors as ourselves?
00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:12.480
Christianity has been at answering these two questions for over 2,000 years.
00:06:13.279 --> 00:06:18.399
For the moments, those words slipped past Jesus' lips.
00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:21.199
And so, thanks be to God.
00:06:21.439 --> 00:06:29.519
God has imparted to me once and for all the great answers to these two questions and how we carry them out in our lives.
00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:31.360
Aren't you excited?
00:06:32.800 --> 00:06:34.240
You don't sound excited.
00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:38.480
And perhaps God has not told me.
00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:42.079
I'm not most ridiculous as they say.
00:06:43.040 --> 00:06:44.160
But people like St.
00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:47.360
John of the Cross, he thought he had it figured out.
00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:52.000
And he talks about loving God in a most essential kind of way.
00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:55.360
Like a showtime kind of way, didn't I?
00:06:57.199 --> 00:07:03.439
Or for those who have ever seen and been to Rome the Bernini statue of the ecstasy of St.
00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:04.319
Teresa.
00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:08.560
But I don't think that that's it.
00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:17.920
Although perhaps possibly for some, this ecstatic kind of love and experience of God.
00:07:19.519 --> 00:07:35.279
But in the Bible, the meaning of the heart in Hebrew understanding refers to much more than just our physical organ in the middle of our chest or our fleeting emotions.
00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:52.800
The Hebrew word for heart is love and represents the entire inner person, the center of our thoughts, your will, and your choices.
00:07:54.240 --> 00:08:00.560
And while we often contrast the head with the heart, the biblical authors solve them as one.
00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:18.399
You think with it.
00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:24.480
And that's why the Bible often links the heart to understand.
00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:32.960
If your heart is hard, it means that you're close to the truth.
00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:40.559
And if your heart is open, it means that you're willing to learn and grow.
00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:48.799
So when Jesus says heart, soul, and mind, he's really saying, love with your heart.
00:08:53.440 --> 00:08:56.159
Love with your heart.
00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:11.840
That's a big task.
00:09:16.639 --> 00:09:23.120
But I'm also cautioned that we shouldn't do it in some sort of sing and patronizing love.
00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:26.559
But instead of authentic love.
00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:39.679
For those of you who have been married a few years, perhaps in this place, or living together, or whatever the circumstance may be, you might find a kinship to this.
00:09:41.360 --> 00:10:03.200
It's the kind of love that wakes up next to your spouse or loved one after 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 years, and you still don't care for them.
00:10:04.559 --> 00:10:06.000
And what's more important?
00:10:07.039 --> 00:10:12.000
That you care that they still care about you.
00:10:14.159 --> 00:10:24.879
It's not a long-com type of love that makes a great comfort movie, but doesn't provide lasting comfort once the film ends and the world still.
00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:32.399
We would call this in the Greek agape.
00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:36.080
The love of God.
00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:45.279
That transpires even some of our understandings of who God is and how great God's love is for us.
00:10:47.360 --> 00:10:49.120
But what enough to be remiss?
00:10:49.279 --> 00:10:52.799
We can't forget to mention about the second that is like unto it.
00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:55.440
To love our neighbors.
00:10:56.159 --> 00:11:01.039
This is probably the most difficult for us as humans.
00:11:02.480 --> 00:11:09.039
Some will say that in this passage, the gospel is telling us in the Greek philea.
00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:14.960
It's the type of love that it is.
00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:26.720
But once again, the type of love that is described and used in the Greek New Testament translation is not philea.
00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:58.799
It's not just in addition, the word translated light means of the same kind.
00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:04.639
Jesus is not softening the second one.
00:12:06.159 --> 00:12:09.759
The love of neighbor does not come second to the love of God.
00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:15.919
He instead is placing it in the exact same category.
00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:19.679
Where the second is like unto it.
00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:22.559
Love it.
00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:28.159
Because the lawyer asks for one commandment.
00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:31.279
And Jesus gives him a twofer.
00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:36.080
It's a Black Friday special right there in the middle of Israel.
00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:37.679
A twofer.
00:12:43.039 --> 00:12:50.960
And lastly, remember the words thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:56.399
Where else did we hear that this morning?
00:12:57.600 --> 00:13:01.120
In our first reading in Leviticus 19.
00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:05.600
In 18, specifically, these words.
00:13:06.639 --> 00:13:09.120
Leave cleanings for the poor.
00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:12.240
Pay wages the same day.
00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:14.320
Do not curse to death.
00:13:14.559 --> 00:13:15.919
Judge fairly.
00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:20.399
Do not stand idle while your neighbor is in danger.
00:13:21.360 --> 00:13:29.840
You see, beloved, as thyself sets the standard by the care everyone naturally extends to their own interests.
00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:41.120
For if you were hungry, would you not ask that someone would leave scraps on the table for you and your children and your grandchildren?
00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:56.240
If you needed to pay your rent, would you not ask that your employer pay your wages on time so that you could live up to your commitments to landlord?
00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:04.480
Do you ridicule those who have some sort of disability?
00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:14.799
You never know the day or the time or the hour when you too might find yourself in a place of uncertainty around health.
00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:22.480
And wouldn't you like to be judged fairly in this world?
00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:27.200
And wouldn't you?
00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:34.240
If you were in danger, you want someone to say that and say no.
00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:19.440
Because it moves us from a sentimental faith to a deeply integrated commitment of the whole person.
00:15:21.519 --> 00:15:27.279
That's why we are called to feed the hungry and vampire and our surrounding area.
00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:34.240
That's why we offer Sunday school classes for those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.
00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:38.080
That's why we celebrate these holy sacraments.
00:15:38.320 --> 00:15:42.240
That's why we invite new believers to the waters of baptism.
00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:48.879
For we know that our loving God calls us to love with our love.
00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:52.480
Our everything.
00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:08.960
And why it is important.
00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:17.440
And ask yourself, what can I do to show God's love?
00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:27.519
We always make time to show God's love for our actions of Trinity.
00:16:28.639 --> 00:16:33.679
And continually ask God really have our heart.
00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:42.159
Thank you for listening to this week's sermon from Trinity Episcopal Church.
00:16:42.399 --> 00:16:49.200
We invite you to join us each and every Sunday and to follow the podcast so that you can stay connected with future messages.
00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:50.159
Until next time.
00:16:50.399 --> 00:16:50.960
God bless you.