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| On the Fast of the Seventh Month, III.
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Sermon
LXXXVIII.
On the Fast of the Seventh Month,
III1185
| 1185 That is the
September, or as we should now say, the Michaelmas Embertide. | .
I. The Fasts, which the ancient prophets
proclaimed, are still necessary.
Of what avail, dearly-beloved, are religious fasts
in winning the mercy of God, and in renewing
the fortunes of human frailty, we know from the statements of the holy
Prophets, who proclaim that justice of God,
Whose vengeance the people of Israel had again and again incurred
through their iniquities, cannot be appeased save by fasting.
Thus it is that the Prophet Joel warns them, saying, “thus saith
the Lord your God,
turn ye to Me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and
mourning, and rend your hearts and not your garments, and turn ye to
the Lord your God,
for He is merciful and patient, and of great kindness, and very
merciful1186
| 1186 Joel
ii. 12, 13, and 15, 16. | ,” and
again, “sanctify a fast, proclaim a healing, assemble the people,
sanctify the church1187
| 1187 Joel
ii. 12, 13, and 15, 16. | .”
And this exhortation must in our days also be obeyed, because these
healing remedies must of necessity be proclaimed by us too, in order
that in the observance of the ancient sanctification Christian devotion
may gain what Jewish transgression lost.
II. Public services are of a higher
character than private.
But the respect that is paid to the Divine decrees
always brings a special blessing, whatever may be the extent of our
voluntary services, so that publicly proclaimed celebrations are of a
higher character than those which rest on private institution1188
| 1188 He pursues the
same thought in chap. 2 of Sermon LXXXIX. e.g. tunc est efficacior
sacratiorque devotia, quando in operibus pietatis totius Ecclesiæ
unus animus et unus est census; publica enim præferenda sunt
propriis et ibi intelligenda est præcipua ratio utilitatis, ubi
vigilat cura communis. | . For the exercise of
self-restraint, which each individual imposes on himself at his own
discretion, concerns the benefit of a certain portion only of the
Church, but the fast which the whole Church undergoes leaves out no one
from the general purification, and God’s
people then become strongest, when the hearts of all the faithful meet
together in one common act of holy obedience, when in the camp of the
Christian army there is on all sides the same making ready for the
fight and for defence. Though the cruel enemy rage in restless
fury, and spread all round his hidden snares, yet he will be able to
catch no one and wound no one, if he find no one off his guard, no one
given up to sloth, no one inactive in works of piety.
III. The September fast calls us in this
public way to self-amendment.
To this unconquerable strength of unity,
therefore, dearly-beloved, we are even now invited by the solemn Fast
of the Seventh Month, that we may lift our souls to the Lord free from worldly cares and earthly
concerns.
And
because, always needful as this endeavour is, we cannot all adhere to
it perpetually, and often through human frailty we fall back from
higher things to the things of earth, let us at least on these days,
which are most healthfully ordained for our correction, withdraw
ourselves from worldly occupations, and steal a little time for
promoting our eternal welfare. “For in many things,”
as it is written, “we all stumble1189
.” And though by the daily
gift of God1190
| 1190 Cf. Serm. LXXVIII. 2.
donet licet sanctis suis quotidianam gratia Divina victoriam, non
aufert tamen dimicandi materiam. | we be
cleansed from divers pollutions, yet there cling to unwary souls for
the most part darker stains, which need a greater care to wash them
out, a stronger effort to destroy them. And the fullest abolition
of sins is obtained when the whole Church offers up one prayer and one
confession. For if the Lord has promised
fulfilment of all they shall ask, to the holy and devout agreement of
two or three, what shall be denied to many thousands of the people who
unite in one act of worship, and with one breath make their common
supplications1191
?
IV. Community of goods and of actions is
most precious in God’s
sight.
It is a great and very precious thing, beloved, in
the Lord’s sight, when Christ’s
whole people engage together in the same duties, and all ranks and
degrees of either sex co-operate with the same intent: when one
purpose animates all alike of declining from evil and doing good; when
God is glorified in the works of His slaves,
and the Author of all godliness1192
| 1192 Totius pietatis
auctori: cf. Collect for 23rd Sunday after Trinity, which is
based on that in the Gregorian Sacramentary. | is blessed
in unstinted giving of thanks. The hungry are nourished, the
naked are clothed, the sick are visited, and men seek not their own but
“that which is another’s1193
| 1193 Cf. 1 Cor. x. 24; xii. 6; 2 Cor. ix.
7. | ,” so
long as in relieving the misery of others each one makes the most of
his own means; and it is easy to find “a cheerful giver1194
| 1194 Cf. 1 Cor. x. 24; xii. 6; 2 Cor. ix.
7. | ,” where a man’s performances
are only limited by the extent of his power. By this grace of
God, “which worketh all in all1195
| 1195 Cf. 1 Cor. x. 24; xii. 6; 2 Cor. ix.
7. | ,” the benefit and the deserts of the
faithful are both enjoyed in common. For they, whose income is
not like, can yet think alike, and when one rejoices over
another’s bounty his feelings put him on the same level with him
whose powers of spending are on a different level. In such a
community there is no disorder nor diversity, for all the members of
the whole body agree in one strong purpose of godliness, and he who
glories in the wealth of others is not put to shame at his own
poverty. For the excellence of each portion is the glory of the
whole body, and when we are all led by God’s Spirit, not only are the things we do
ourselves our own but those of others also over the doing of which we
rejoice.
V. Let us then make the best use possible
of the opportunity.
Let us then, dearly-beloved, lay hold upon this
most sacred unity in all its blessed integrity and engage in the solemn
fast with the concordant purpose of a good will. Nothing hard,
nothing harsh is asked of anyone, nor is anything imposed beyond our
strength, whether in the discipline of abstinence or in the amount of
alms. Each knows what he can and what he cannot do: let
every one pay his quota, assessing himself at a just and reasonable
rate, that the sacrifice of mercy be not offered sadly nor reckoned
among losses. Let so much be expended on pious work, as will
justify the heart, wash the conscience, and in a word profit both giver
and receiver. Happy indeed is that soul and truly to be admired
which in its love of doing good fears not the failing of the means, and
has no distrust that He will give him money still to spend, from Whom
he had what he spent in the past. But because few possess this
greatness of heart, and yet it is truly a pious thing for each one not
to forsake the care of his own, we, without prejudice to the more
perfect sort, lay down for you this general rule and exhort you to
perform God’s bidding according to the
measure of your ability. For cheerfulness becomes the benevolent
man, who should so manage his liberality that while the poor rejoice
over the help supplied, home needs may not suffer. “And He
that ministers seed to the sower, shall both provide bread to be eaten
and multiply your seed and increase the fruits of your
righteousness1196
.” On
Wednesday and Friday therefore let us fast; and on Saturday keep vigil
all together1197
| 1197
Pariter. He thus keeps up the leading thought of this
sermon to end . | in the presence
of the most blessed Apostle Peter, by whose merits and prayers we are
sure God’s mercy will be vouchsafed to
us in all things through our Lord Jesus
Christ, Who lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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