Homily For The Fifteenth Sunday After Trinity 2025
Our Collect or Prayer for today is as follows - KEEP, we beseech thee, O Lord, thy Church with thy perpetual mercy; and, because the frailty of man without thee cannot but fall, keep us ever by thy help from all things hurtful, and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Our frailty, the result of our innate propensity toward sin, causes us to love the wrong things and this leads us to destruction. It is important that we seek the Lord and desire to be obedient so that He can keep us from all things hurtful and instead lead us to all things profitable for our salvation. In some sense, we are praying that God would help us with the proper value of things - that we may receive those gifts from God thankfully but not worship them, reserving our worship for our Creator alone.
The Old Testament Lesson teaches us about the loving provision of the Lord for Israel. This Lesson is taken from the Book of Deuteronomy. This is Moses final instructions to the second generation of those who had left Egypt. The first generation was old enough to understand the Law - to comprehend the blessings and curses of being God’s people. Blessing if they loved the Lord and sought to obey his commandments. Curse if they turned away from the love and service of the true God of heaven to serve an idol - anything created that replaced their love and service of the Lord. Israel fell in the Wilderness; they refused to obey the commandment to take the Promised Land and then they became idolaters preferring to worship gold in the form of a calf. They forgot the Lord’s work in their salvation from Egypt and they turned away, as all sinners are wont to do. Here, in Deuteronomy, Moses is reminding Israel of the wonders of a God who has chosen to bestow his love of them. Moses tells them they are a holy people unto the Lord. Holy in this context means “set apart”.
They have been set apart for the mission of being a lighthouse for the nations. Over time, their being set apart should lead to greater love and obedience which in turn should conform them more to the character of God - who is wholly other, righteous and pure. The Lord has set his love upon them so that they might love and serve Him. Moses reminds them that it wasn’t because they were numerous as a people - that God tabulated their numbers and decided he chose the most numerous. To the contrary, they were few in number when God chose them to be his people -their growth numerically is a testimony to his blessing. The ultimate cause for that choice lay in the mystery of divine love. It was his love and His promise that he made to their ancestors that the Lord had saved them from Egypt, redeemed, and purchased them out of slavery. It was his love known through keeping his word that is the foundation of their relationship and blessing.
Yet, the Lord wants this new generation to know that the Lord’s blessing rests on those who seek to obey Him. It is worth noting that the descriptive phrase “which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him” appears 245 times in the Old Testament. This phrase communicates God’s inner character that delights in showing mercy, kindness, faithfulness and love. The Lord made promises to them and they must not forget that they promised as a people to be obedient to the covenant - they too must love him and be loyal to Him. Israel, here, is warned against rejecting the Lord. Israel or individuals could hate God if they disregarded his covenant. There is no middle ground - here the Lord outlines the blessing of receiving his love and the curse, the retribution to be paid by the individual for hating God by serving anything else. Retribution, judgment will be paid by the individual in the very presence of God - to the face of the rebellious one.
Moses ends this section with a call to action - “therefore” because God’s loving kindness is known through all generations and also that he will judge those who hate him, therefore obey God’s commands, decrees and laws. Love him by obeying what he says.
The next section in the Lesson speaks to the consequences of being obedient, of loving God above all else. It is important to remember that “God takes the initiative in loving, choosing, and saving his people, all without any merit on their part.” If God has provided for their deliverance and has sustained them in the Wilderness, he will certainly give them what they need for their good in the Promised land. He commits himself to them and expects them to respond by loving and obeying Him. If they do this, the Lord promises blessing in the Land that they are preparing to enter. God anticipates their anxieties and speaks directly to them. He promises to love and bless them. They would have many children - their houses would be full of life.
The pressure of a large family is that of food - God promises that their crops will flourish and their livestock will be numerous. They will have all that they need - they will be blessed above all people.
The blessing of God will be so great, in fact, that Israel will be tempted to look at the abundance and make the prideful error of believing it all came from them. They may consider their work in the Land and declare it was because of their craftiness, wisdom, worthiness that they have blessing. God anticipates this as well: in the next Chapter, we read “10 When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. 11 Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: 12 lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; 13 and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;
14 then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; ….and thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. 18 But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. 19 And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.
There is always a temptation to love and serve things instead of God. To make one’s possessions, ambitions the center of life rather than love of God. Jesus preaches on this point in our Gospel for today. Our Old Testament Lesson is Moses’ sermon from the plains of Moab just outside the Promised Land. Our Gospel for today is taken from Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount.
Jesus, the second and greater Moses, states plainly the issue of the human heart and the danger of wrongly ordered affections. He says NO man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
The same Lord who promised provision for Israel as it anticipated entering the promised land addresses the same anxieties. How will I survive if I honor God rather than mammon. How will it work out for me if I don’t make success, financial prosperity, my ultimate goal. Jesus says there - do not be anxious, do not worry about the basics of your life. For God knows what you need. He will go before you and provide. Just look at his provision for the created order - the industrious sparrows have sufficient to eat even though they do not have a backup plan. The lilies are effortlessly beautiful even though they exist but for a short time.
How much more will God take care of those who he has covenanted to love and bless? He will do it. Love him by obeying Him.
Instead of serving mammon, instead of being characterized by anxiety over what you can’t control, focus your attention on the Kingdom. Jesus says - But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” In other words, love the Lord with singleness of mind, enjoy his goodness, rest in His righteousness. Find your purpose in obedience to Him and the same God who promised to love and bless Israel, to care for His redeemed people, will give you food and clothing, all things necessary for your life. Moreover, He will give you thanksgiving and joy. A sense of wonder in His works in this world. A vision for the new heavens and the new earth which bring color and life to the bleakness of this world ordered apart from God.
Let us enter into His joy in serving Him, by seeking first the kingdom, and allow the Lord to give us joy in His provision, true joy in the salvation that he promises to those who love, trust and obey Him. Amen.
