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are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be
given to you in the hour...
Some of my brothers and sisters who preach see this passage as a message
to deliver only extemporaneous sermons. Some preachers are good in
expounding the gospel in this manner. One of my predecessors in a
certain parish said he never thought about what he was going to say
until he was in procession preparing to enter the nave. Although he
spoke well he seemed to wander in search of a theme and when he found it
and had revealed it he had difficulty finding his way to a closing. The
problem with the most inspired preaching is that though God is in it, so
is the preacher, and some preachers have more faith in their part than
is deserved.
It is not, I believe, a lack of faith in God, but some doubt about
myself-or pride-and a horror of boring my listeners that has kept me
writing sermons. There have been occasions on which I have been called
upon unexpectedly, and even then if I have a moment's notice I scribble
notes.
All that said, it is for every Christian to be ready, in the words of
the hymn, to "stand up for Jesus." It does not matter whether we are
eloquent or awkward. What matters is that we tell as best we can what we
know of him.
Psalm 5
1 Give ear to my words, O LORD; give heed to my sighing.
2 Listen to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you I pray.
3 O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch.
4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil will not sojourn with you.
5 The boastful will not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful.
7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house, I will bow down toward your holy temple in awe of you.
8 Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.
9 For there is no truth in their mouths; their hearts are destruction; their throats are open graves; they flatter with their tongues.
10 Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of their many transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you.
11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, so that those who love your name may exult in you.
12 For you bless
the righteous, O LORD; you cover them with favor as with a shield.
Psalm 6
1 O LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger, or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are shaking with terror.
3 My soul also is struck with terror, while you, O LORD—how long?
4 Turn, O LORD, save my life; deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love.
5 For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who can give you praise?
6 I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping.
7 My eyes waste away because of grief; they grow weak because of all my foes.
8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.
9 The LORD has heard my supplication; the LORD accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies
shall be ashamed and struck with terror; they shall turn back, and in a moment
be put to shame.
Jeremiah 36:27-37:2
27Now, after the king had burned the scroll with the words that Baruch wrote at Jeremiah's dictation, the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 28Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which King Jehoiakim of Judah has burned. 29And concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah you shall say: Thus says the LORD, You have dared to burn this scroll, saying, Why have you written in it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cut off from it human beings and animals? 30Therefore thus says the LORD concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah: He shall have no one to sit upon the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night. 31And I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity; I will bring on them, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the people of Judah, all the disasters with which I have threatened them--but they would not listen. 32Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the secretary Baruch son of Neriah, who wrote on it at Jeremiah's dictation all the words of the scroll that King Jehoiakim of Judah had burned in the fire; and many similar words were added to them.
| 37 |
1 Corinthians 14:1-12
| 14 |
6 Now, brothers and sisters,
if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I speak to
you in some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? 7It
is the same way with lifeless instruments that produce sound, such as the flute
or the harp. If they do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is
being played? 8And if the bugle gives an
indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? 9So
with yourselves; if in a tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how
will anyone know what is being said? For you will be speaking into the air. 10There
are doubtless many different kinds of sounds in the world, and nothing is
without sound. 11If then I do not know
the meaning of a sound, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a
foreigner to me. 12So with yourselves;
since you are eager for spiritual gifts, strive to excel in them for building up
the church.
Matthew 10:16-23
16 ‘See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; 18and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. 19When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; 20for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. 21Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; 22and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 23When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
SAMUEL ISAAC JOSEPH SCHERESCHEWSKY
SCHOLAR, TRANSLATOR, BISHOP (14 OCT 1906)
Collect
O God, who in your providence called Joseph Schereschewsky from his home in Eastern Europe to the ministry of this Church, and sent him as a missionary to China, upholding him in his infirmity, that he might translate the Holy Scriptures into languages of that land: Lead us, we pray, to commit our lives and talents to you, in the confidence that when you give your servants any work to do, you also supply the strength to do it; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Samuel
Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky was born in Lithuania in 1831, went to Germany to
study for the rabbinate, there became a Christian, emigrated to America, trained
for the priesthood, and in 1859 was sent by the Episcopal Church to China, where
he devoted himself from 1862 to 1875 to translating the Bible into Mandarin
Chinese. In 1877 he was elected Bishop of Shanghai, where he founded St. John's
University, and began his translation of the Bible into Wenli (another Chinese
dialect). He developed Parkinson's disease, was largely paralyzed, resigned his
position as Bishop of Shanghai, and spent the rest of his life completing his
Wenli Bible, the last 2000 pages of which he typed with the one finger that he
could still move.
Four years before his death in 1906, he said: "I have
sat in this chair for over twenty years. It seemed very hard at first. But God
knew best. He kept me for the work for which I am best fitted."
Largely because of the quote above, Bishop Schereschewsky has been chosen "patron saint' of the Anglican internet mailing list, sometimes known as the "cyberparish of St. Sam's". I strongly suggest that you find out more about him at their web site: http://justus.anglican.org/photo/SIJSbio.html
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