The Epistle reading for today picks up where yesterday’s left off in the Second Letter of Peter. The community is warned about false teachers:
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive opinions. They will even deny the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Even so, many will follow their licentious ways, and because of these teachers the way of truth will be maligned. And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their condemnation, pronounced against them long ago, has not been idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of deepest darkness to be kept until the judgment; and if he did not spare the ancient world, even though he saved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood on a world of the ungodly; and if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction and made them an example of what is coming to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man greatly distressed by the licentiousness of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by their lawless deeds that he saw and heard), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment —especially those who indulge their flesh in depraved lust, and who despise authority. Bold and willful, they are not afraid to slander the glorious ones. (2 Pet. 2: 1-10).
How does one discern what is false? How do we recognize a false teacher? This can be a difficult task.
First, prayer is necessary. We must be open and listen to the Holy Spirit. God speaks to us in the silence of our hearts.
Second, anything that separates us from God is, more likely than not, false. To be sure, there will be times in our lives when we will have dry spells and feel that God is distant, but a separation from God is usually indicated by what we do and how we treat others. If someone advocates lashing out at others, I would beware. People who thrive on division may very well be false teachers, and always being angry is a sure sign of someone who is a false teacher.
Let us pray: O God, by whom the meek are guided in judgment, and light rises up in darkness for the godly: Grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties, the grace to ask what you would have us to do, that the Spirit of wisdom may save us from all false choices, and that in your light we may see light, and in your straight path may not stumble; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
CALENDAR REMINDERS
Christmas Eve Eucharist Rite II: 24 December at 5:00 p.m.
Adult Christian Formation: The Advent series continues next Sunday.
Bishop’s Committee Meeting: Next Sunday.
Please remember everyone on our prayer list, especially, Cindi, Carol, Bob, John and Lee.
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive opinions. They will even deny the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Even so, many will follow their licentious ways, and because of these teachers the way of truth will be maligned. And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their condemnation, pronounced against them long ago, has not been idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of deepest darkness to be kept until the judgment; and if he did not spare the ancient world, even though he saved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood on a world of the ungodly; and if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction and made them an example of what is coming to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man greatly distressed by the licentiousness of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by their lawless deeds that he saw and heard), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment —especially those who indulge their flesh in depraved lust, and who despise authority. Bold and willful, they are not afraid to slander the glorious ones. (2 Pet. 2: 1-10).
How does one discern what is false? How do we recognize a false teacher? This can be a difficult task.
First, prayer is necessary. We must be open and listen to the Holy Spirit. God speaks to us in the silence of our hearts.
Second, anything that separates us from God is, more likely than not, false. To be sure, there will be times in our lives when we will have dry spells and feel that God is distant, but a separation from God is usually indicated by what we do and how we treat others. If someone advocates lashing out at others, I would beware. People who thrive on division may very well be false teachers, and always being angry is a sure sign of someone who is a false teacher.
Let us pray: O God, by whom the meek are guided in judgment, and light rises up in darkness for the godly: Grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties, the grace to ask what you would have us to do, that the Spirit of wisdom may save us from all false choices, and that in your light we may see light, and in your straight path may not stumble; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
CALENDAR REMINDERS
Christmas Eve Eucharist Rite II: 24 December at 5:00 p.m.
Adult Christian Formation: The Advent series continues next Sunday.
Bishop’s Committee Meeting: Next Sunday.
Please remember everyone on our prayer list, especially, Cindi, Carol, Bob, John and Lee.
Your servant in Christ,
Fr. Chester J. Makowski+
St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church
Galveston, Texas 77550
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