Homily
on The Feast of St Giles
Do
your Plans Accommodate God?
The Readings From Scripture
1 Kings 11:26-43
KJB:PCE
(26) And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda,
Solomon’s servant, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow woman,
even he lifted up his hand against the king.
(27) And this was the cause that he lifted up his hand against the
king: Solomon built Millo, and repaired the breaches of the city of
David his father.
(28) And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valour: and Solomon
seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over
all the charge of the house of Joseph.
(29) And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of
Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the
way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were
alone in the field:
(30) And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it
in twelve pieces:
(31) And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith
the LORD , the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of
the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:
(32) But he shall have one tribe for my servant David’s sake, and
for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the
tribes of Israel:
(33) Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped
Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the
Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not
walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to
keep my statutes and my judgements, as did David his father.
(34) Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand: but I
will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servants
sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes:
(35) But I will take the kingdom out of his sons hand, and will give
it unto thee, even ten tribes.
(36) And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant
may have a light always before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have
chosen me to put my name there.
(37) And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that
thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel.
(38) And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command
thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to
keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I
will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David,
and will give Israel unto thee.
(39) And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever.
(40) Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose,
and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt
until the death of Solomon.
(41) And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and
his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?
(42) And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel
was forty years.
(43) And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city
of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.
Psalm 16: Conservame, Domine
1 Protect me, O God, for I take refuge in you;
I have said to the Lord,
“You are my Lord,
my good above all other.”
2 All my delight is upon the godly that are in the land,
upon those who are noble among the people.
3
But those who run after other gods
shall
have their troubles multiplied.
4 Their libations of blood I will not offer,
nor take the names of their gods upon my lips.
5 O Lord, you are my portion and my cup;
it is you who uphold my lot.
6 My boundaries enclose a pleasant land;
indeed, I have a goodly heritage.
7 I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
my heart teaches me,
night after night.
8 I have set the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand I shall not fall.
9 My heart,
therefore,
is glad,
and my spirit rejoices;
my body also shall rest in hope.
10 For you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor let your holy one see the Pit.
11 You will show me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy,
and in your right hand are pleasures for evermore.
James 4:13-5:6
Living Oracles of the New
Testament
(4:13)
Come, now, you who say, Today, or to-morrow, we will go to such a
city, and will abide there one year, and traffic in merchandise, and
get gain;
(14)
who do not know what shall be to-morrow. For what is your life? It
is, indeed, a smoke, which appears for a little while, and then
vanishes away.
(15) Instead of which, you ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall
live, and do this, or that.
(16) But now you boast in your proud speeches: all such boasting is
evil.
(17)
Wherefore, to him who know how to do good, and does it not, to him it
is sin.
(5:1) Come, now, you rich men, weep, howl, on account of your
miseries, which are coming upon you.
(2) Your riches are putrefied, and your garments are moth-eaten.
(3) Your gold and silver are eaten with rust, and the rust of them
will be a witness against you, and will eat your flesh as fire. You
have heaped up treasure in the last days.
(4) Hark! the hire of the labourers who have reaped your field, which
is fraudulently kept back by you, cries; and the cries of the reapers
have entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts.
(5) You have lived luxuriously on the earth, and been wanton; you
have nourished your hearts as in a day of festivity.
(6) You have condemned-you have killed the Just One-he did not resist
you.
Psalm 22: Deus, Deus meus
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
and are so far from my cry
and from the words of my distress?
2 O my God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not answer;
by night as well,
but I find no rest.
3 Yet you are the Holy One,
enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
4 Our forefathers put their trust in you;
they trusted,
and you delivered them.
5 They cried out to you and were delivered;
they trusted in you and were not put to shame.
6 But as for me,
I am a worm and no man,
scorned by all and despised by the people.
7 All who see me laugh me to scorn;
they curl their lips and wag their heads, saying,
8 “He trusted in the Lord;
let him deliver him;
let him rescue him,
if he delights in him.”
9 Yet you are he who took me out of the womb,
and kept me safe upon my mother’s breast.
10 I have been entrusted to you ever since I was born;
you were my God when I was still in my
mother’s womb.
11
Be not far from me,
for
trouble is near,
and
there is none to help.
12 Many young bulls encircle me;
strong bulls of Bashan surround me.
13 They open wide their jaws at me,
like a ravening and a roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water;
all my bones are out of joint;
my heart within my breast is melting wax.
15 My mouth is dried out like a pot-sherd;
my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
and you have laid me in the dust of the grave.
16 Packs of dogs close me in,
and gangs of evildoers circle around me;
they pierce my hands and my feet;
I can count all my bones.
17 They stare and gloat over me;
they divide my garments among them;
they cast lots for my clothing.
18 Be not far away,
O Lord;
you are my strength;
hasten to help me.
19 Save me from the sword,
my life from the power of the dog.
20 Save me from the lion’s mouth,
my wretched body from the horns of wild bulls.
21 I will declare your Name to my brethren;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.
22 Praise the Lord,
you that fear him;
stand in awe of him,
O offspring of Israel;
all you of Jacobs line,
give glory.
23 For he does not despise nor abhor the poor in their poverty;
neither does he hide his face from them;
but when they cry to him he hears them.
24 My praise is of him in the great assembly;
I will perform my vows
in the presence of those who
worship him.
25 The poor shall eat and be satisfied,
and those who seek the Lord shall praise him:
“May your heart live for ever!”
26 All the ends of the earth
shall remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations shall bow before him.
27 For kingship belongs to the Lord;
he rules over the nations.
28 To him alone all who sleep in the earth bow down
in worship;
all who go down to the dust fall before him.
29 My soul shall live for him;
my descendants shall serve him;
they shall be known as the Lord’s for ever.
30 They shall come and make known to a people yet unborn
the saving deeds that he has done.
Mark 15:22-32
KJV:PCE
(21) And
they compel one Simon, a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the
country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.
(22) And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being
interpreted, The place of a skull.
(23) And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he
received it not.
(24) And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments,
casting lots upon them, what every man should take.
(25) And it was the third hour, and they crucified him.
(26) And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE
KING OF THE JEWS.
(27) And with him they crucify two thieves; the one on his right
hand, and the other on his left.
(28) And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith, And he was
numbered with the transgressors.
(29) And they that passed by railed on him, wagging their heads, and
saying, Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three
days,
(30) Save thyself, and come down from the cross.
(31) Likewise also the chief priests mocking said among themselves
with the scribes, He saved others; himself he cannot save.
(32) Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that
we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled
him.
The Homily
We can plan, but if
those plans are not in accordance with what God desires of us, they
may go awry.
It isn’t enough
to want to serve God. It isn’t enough to want to do God’s will
for us. It isn’t enough to want to do good. We have to do the
good that is God’s will. These are things that we might never plan
for, because they are literally off of our radar.
I doubt that Simon
the Cyrenian woke up the morning before Passover and said: “Today I
will carry the cross of Jesus.” Yet, that is what he ended up
doing, Granted, the Roman soldiers forced him to carry the cross.
But still. This is the type of random event that happens, and throws
off our plans.
Look at
unanticipated events like this. Jesus was so physically beaten up,
that he couldn’t carry his own cross. He needed somebody to help
him. The Roman soldiers picked Simon the Cyrenian at random. A case
of serving God, albeit apparently involuntarily.
Are our plans for
the future flexible enough to accommodate God?
Are our plans in
accordance with God’s proposals in serving Him?
