WEBVTT

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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

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of the Holy Spirit, one God, amen. Glory to Jesus

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Christ. I want to begin this morning by reminding

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all of us that we are privileged to be in the

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season of light. We have the special privilege

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this morning of welcoming the newly illuminated

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Son of God, Herman, who is in a sense a visible

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reminder, a visible manifestation. of the great

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gift of the light that has shined upon all of

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us that we hear in the Holy Gospel today. We

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need to remember that whatever the world may

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be doing now, we remain in the season of light.

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And we remain in that season through the meeting

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of the Lord that comes up in early February.

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So it is especially appropriate for us to reflect

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a little bit on what this means for us. The Gospel

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is beautiful. It reflects, of course, the prophecy

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of... the prophet Isaiah. But when our Lord finally

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begins his ministry, what is it that he says?

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He begins to preach saying, repent for the kingdom

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of God is at hand. That word repent probably

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needs to be explained a little bit because if

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we actually look at what the gospels say in the

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original Greek, what the Lord is really saying

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is change your hearts, completely transform that

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which is most sacred to you and turn it back

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to me. That is really what repentance is all

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about. It is not about simply saying, I'm sorry.

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That's fine, but that's simply not enough. The

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difficulty and the great challenge and the great

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privilege that we as Christians have is to change

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our hearts. And we will not do this if we think

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of this as a solo act. We are saved in community,

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and it is through the power and presence of the

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Holy Spirit and with the aid of Christ himself.

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That we engage upon the task of changing our

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whole heart and our whole mind so that we, in

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fact, love only the Lord God. And in second place,

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our neighbor as ourselves. Now this, in fact,

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is a lifelong task. It is not something that

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comes easily to us. The epistle that we read

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today in Ephesians talks a little bit about this

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question. Because he talks about the fact that

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we are given grace according to each of us, according

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to the measure of Christ's gifts. So what does

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this measure mean? It means, of course, as the

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apostle explains, that there are different kinds

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of manifestations of the Spirit in the church.

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We're not all called to be apostles or evangelists.

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We're not all called to be bishops. We're not

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all called to be catechists. We have different

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kinds of tasks. that have been given to us so

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that we can begin to measure up to the fullness

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of the grace of God that has been given to each

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of us. We are to attain the unity of the faith

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and the knowledge of the Son of God. And remember,

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brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, when

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we talk about the knowledge of God, we mean a

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relationship with him. This is not an intellectual

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exercise. It is part of that transformation of

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the heart so that we deepen this relationship

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with him. And it is in that that we attain to

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the unity of the faith. If we go on actually

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a little bit further in this section from Ephesians,

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we're reminded that once upon a time in our infancy,

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you might say as non -believers or as beginners,

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we were tossed about by every word that might

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come across us. But it is precisely our task

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here. not to be tossed about, but in fact to

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come to a knowledge of the truth in love. And

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so that, as the apostle says, everything and

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everyone, all parts of the holy body of Christ

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work together for the building up of Christ in

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this world and in the world to come. We know

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that we have in fact come in the latter days.

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We know that the victory over death, sin, and

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the devil have been accomplished. But we also

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know that we in fact struggle. The powers of

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evil are in fact in retreat, but they are very

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dangerous. And we should make no mistake that

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this is what we fight against. And the only way

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that we have of guaranteeing that we come up

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to the measure of the grace that Christ has given

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us is to do precisely what we are doing right

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now. It is precisely when we come together to

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hear the word of God, to sing his praises, especially

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to give the great thanksgiving, which we are

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about to do. and which the newly illuminated

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Herman will be privileged now to receive for

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the first time, the body and blood of Christ.

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It is that which strengthens us. It is that which

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gives us life. It is that which makes us capable

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of beginning to come up to that measure of the

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grace of God that is given to us. And so in this

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season of light, fathers, mothers, brothers,

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and sisters of Christ, I encourage us all to

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take heart. There is so much that is going on

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in the world that is so depressing and is so

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upsetting. I don't care whether it's the political

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world. I don't care whether it's the condition

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of the churches in some cases or in our family

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lives or in our communities. But we should, in

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fact, know already that the victory has been

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won and that in this season of light that is

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given to us, we should rejoice because we know,

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in fact, that he has accomplished everything

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that is necessary and it is now for us to work

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out, as the apostle says, our salvation in fear

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and trembling, but that only happens with the

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grace and presence of God himself. And therefore,

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let us give thanks to him on this day, first

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of all, for witnessing the holy baptism and chrismation

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of the newly illuminated son of God, Herman,

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and for all the blessings of this life. And may

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the Lord Jesus Christ, our God, therefore, the

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Lord of all the nations, have mercy on us and

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save us. Amen.