WEBVTT 00:00:00.140 --> 00:00:02.180 In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the 00:00:02.180 --> 00:00:04.879 Holy Spirit. Glory to Jesus Christ. Glory to 00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:09.080 the Father. We heard the words of the gospel, 00:00:09.380 --> 00:00:13.099 and let's determine in our hearts that we will 00:00:13.099 --> 00:00:16.719 hear these words with joy. And the last words 00:00:16.719 --> 00:00:21.500 that we heard were, Be merciful as your Father 00:00:21.500 --> 00:00:25.920 is merciful. Now my voice comes and goes. Please 00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:31.289 excuse that. It'll go and come back. These words 00:00:31.289 --> 00:00:35.090 are from the sixth chapter of Luke, and they 00:00:35.090 --> 00:00:39.890 really parallel what's in the Sermon on the Mount, 00:00:40.009 --> 00:00:45.210 also in Matthew. In Matthew, we heard this, it 00:00:45.210 --> 00:00:50.130 was in June, and it's a familiar verses. The 00:00:50.130 --> 00:00:54.189 Lord says, therefore do not worry, saying, what 00:00:54.189 --> 00:00:56.829 shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what 00:00:56.829 --> 00:01:01.570 shall we wear? For all these things your Heavenly 00:01:01.570 --> 00:01:05.510 Father knows that you need. But seek first the 00:01:05.510 --> 00:01:08.950 kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all 00:01:08.950 --> 00:01:12.790 these things shall be added to you. We know that 00:01:12.790 --> 00:01:15.969 the Lord has given us talents. Each one of us 00:01:15.969 --> 00:01:22.849 has gifts and competencies and abilities, and 00:01:22.849 --> 00:01:27.670 we are given these talents to use. and we use 00:01:27.670 --> 00:01:32.390 these if we seek first the kingdom of God and 00:01:32.390 --> 00:01:35.549 his righteousness, and we use our talents, then 00:01:35.549 --> 00:01:40.189 God grants the increase. And this is how he makes 00:01:40.189 --> 00:01:45.590 sure that we have what we need. I was in a parish 00:01:45.590 --> 00:01:50.709 once in a farming community, and this farmer 00:01:50.709 --> 00:01:53.959 was telling me, he was a rancher, That he had 00:01:53.959 --> 00:01:56.900 just bought, right before I got there, a $3 ,000 00:01:56.900 --> 00:02:01.540 bull. And lightning struck it and killed it. 00:02:01.939 --> 00:02:07.099 He was out $3 ,000. And he just prayed to God. 00:02:07.260 --> 00:02:12.020 He said, Lord, I'm trying to do the best I can. 00:02:12.699 --> 00:02:15.680 This is in your hands. You're going to have to 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:18.960 make it work. I'll do my part. You are just going 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:21.870 to have to. Grant the increase. And he says, 00:02:21.969 --> 00:02:26.949 I have everything I need. My farm has paid off. 00:02:27.469 --> 00:02:30.289 I have a good job. I do the day. I got some cattle. 00:02:30.629 --> 00:02:34.710 I'm not as rich as I sometimes imagine I would 00:02:34.710 --> 00:02:39.169 like to be. But I don't lack for anything. And 00:02:39.169 --> 00:02:42.650 then he's just reminding himself to continue 00:02:42.650 --> 00:02:48.349 to do what he does. And God grants the increase. 00:02:49.740 --> 00:02:52.939 So the Lord says, seek first the kingdom of God. 00:02:53.020 --> 00:02:56.259 He was telling me that's what he's doing. And 00:02:56.259 --> 00:02:58.819 his righteousness, in which he understood that 00:02:58.819 --> 00:03:02.599 whatever God has given me, if I use it rightly, 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:06.460 I'm seeking God's righteousness, and God grants 00:03:06.460 --> 00:03:11.800 the increase. In Matthew, and then again, in 00:03:11.800 --> 00:03:14.319 the verses that follow this verse, and we didn't 00:03:14.319 --> 00:03:19.139 read them today, the Lord says, judge not. and 00:03:19.139 --> 00:03:22.460 you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you 00:03:22.460 --> 00:03:25.539 shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will 00:03:25.539 --> 00:03:28.900 be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:33.460 Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, 00:03:33.800 --> 00:03:36.900 running over, will be put into your bosom. For 00:03:36.900 --> 00:03:40.900 with the same measure that you use, it will be 00:03:40.900 --> 00:03:45.719 measured back to you. So this is... our practice 00:03:45.719 --> 00:03:50.020 in which we seek first the kingdom of God and 00:03:50.020 --> 00:03:55.139 we seek his righteousness through us. And what 00:03:55.139 --> 00:04:00.400 does he ask us to do? This is the end of the 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:03.139 sermon. It's the end of the gospel text that 00:04:03.139 --> 00:04:05.340 we heard today. It's the end of the sermon as 00:04:05.340 --> 00:04:11.520 well. He says, therefore be merciful just as 00:04:12.379 --> 00:04:15.340 your Father also is merciful. We are blessed 00:04:15.340 --> 00:04:19.720 in this parish to be surrounded with brothers 00:04:19.720 --> 00:04:24.220 and sisters who take these gospel words seriously, 00:04:24.439 --> 00:04:29.819 who do seek the kingdom of God, who do seek his 00:04:29.819 --> 00:04:33.399 righteousness, who are merciful, who do bless 00:04:33.399 --> 00:04:39.250 us. And in this context in which we receive Can 00:04:39.250 --> 00:04:43.970 we even keep up? Can we give our part, however 00:04:43.970 --> 00:04:48.769 big or little that may be? But the bigger question 00:04:48.769 --> 00:04:53.310 for us is can we do it beyond this parish where 00:04:53.310 --> 00:04:57.170 we don't have the continuous reinforcement? Because 00:04:57.170 --> 00:05:00.290 we are blessed here. And we are blessed for a 00:05:00.290 --> 00:05:03.470 purpose that we carry this blessing in us and 00:05:03.470 --> 00:05:06.569 carry it in the way that we are in the world. 00:05:07.129 --> 00:05:13.310 If any rector of any experience has heard people 00:05:13.310 --> 00:05:17.689 say, Father, I think the parish needs to do this, 00:05:17.769 --> 00:05:22.490 some service project, or this, some activist 00:05:22.490 --> 00:05:25.889 need, they typically are saying something that 00:05:25.889 --> 00:05:29.709 they need to do, and they want the parish to 00:05:29.709 --> 00:05:35.110 do it. But it's something that God is putting 00:05:35.110 --> 00:05:38.939 in their heart, that they need to do, not everyone 00:05:38.939 --> 00:05:43.120 else. So this is what we seek. We seek to do, 00:05:43.339 --> 00:05:46.759 we seek the kingdom of God and to do his righteousness 00:05:46.759 --> 00:05:50.980 and to be merciful one to another. So that's 00:05:50.980 --> 00:05:54.480 the task that's within our power. The last judgment, 00:05:54.680 --> 00:06:00.620 this was the encouraging news. When he said, 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:03.860 I was hungry and you fed me, he didn't say, and 00:06:03.860 --> 00:06:08.850 you solved world hunger. You just did what was 00:06:08.850 --> 00:06:13.870 in your power to do. And it's in our power to 00:06:13.870 --> 00:06:16.250 be merciful one to another and to give thanks 00:06:16.250 --> 00:06:19.050 to God for all things. Glory to Jesus Christ.