The word love has become difficult to define within the modern context, definitions and preferences now available to us. There are many examples of Christian Love throughout the History of the Church. By incorporating this worldview into our own daily lives, we can actually live as God intended us to live.
The retreat with Fr. Gregory will be hosted in our hall at St. Vincent’s on the 28th and 29th of November.
You can also e-transfer your donation to treasurer@orthodoxsaskatoon.com and earmark it for Project Mexico. We will send the funds to Project Mexico on Lucy’s behalf.
About Project Mexico
Project Mexico organizes groups of Orthodox Christians to build affordable houses for families in Mexico. Volunteers spend four days building houses like the one in the picture. Lucy will be part of the team that leads the building projects.
At that time, Jesus saw a great throng; and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a lonely place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass; and taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke and gave the loaves to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. Then he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.
MATTHEW 14:14-22
Previous to the events in today’s gospel, Jesus had sent out the twelve disciples to wander from village to village, doing what Jesus himself had done. They preached, they cast out demons, they healed the sick. They did this while making themselves vulnerable by taking no money on their journey. The disciples returned, and with great joy they reported what had happened. They knew the power of God that could come from their participation in Jesus’ ministry.
Then Jesus and the disciples got news of the death of John the Baptist, killed by Herod Antipas for preaching against Herod’s adultery. Jesus decided to withdraw to a deserted area so as to keep a low profile while Herod was enraged. We do not know how long Jesus and the disciples had isolated themselves before people found them, but eventually a large crowd came to them where they were.
People follow us when we stand for something. When we stand for it to the point that it costs us something, whether we are persecuted or simply on the margins, people see that we have something worth holding on to. So in today’s gospel the people go out of the cities to find Jesus
At this point, the supplies might have been running low for Jesus and the disciples. The disciples protest, “we have only five loaves here and two fish.” They did not have remotely enough food for themselves, let alone for a crowd. Sharing at that point was harder, in one sense and yet people with less are much more likely to share than people with much.
Jesus tells his disciples to feed the crowd. This sounds to me like an impossible task it’s like asking a child to lift a car. What use is that? Surely that would just exasperate the disciples? Is Jesus just preposterously unreasonable?
No.
It might seem that way, but earlier in the gospel, the disciples had already experienced that God provided for them when they went out on their first mission. Even though they took nothing with them on that first mission, they were able to give! Jesus even told them when he sent them, “freely you have received, freely give.” Give what? They had no money and no extra tunic! And yet it worked, somehow.
But now, when they are in the wilderness, when the euphoria had worn off, when they had been hiding out and nothing exciting had happened, they forgot that God can provide. They forgot that God does not just provide for me so that I can have. God provides for us so that I can give. The greatest poverty is not when you have nothing. The greatest poverty is not understanding that you are called to give. When the disciples withdrew into the desert to spend time alone in silence and contemplation, that prepared the disciples so that they had something to offer the people, but they did not realize it at the time.
On Tuesday, we begin the fast of the Dormition. This period goes until the 15th of August which is the feast of the death of Mary. The kind of quietness and contemplation that Jesus and the disciples practiced as they withdrew is a demonstration of what our fasting periods do for us. We settle down. We turn off the TV and the iPad and we focus on cleansing our own hearts so that we are of use to others. Our confessions and our attendance at church are a kind of offering to God which he multiplies so that it feeds others.
We are a counter-culture. We are boldly proclaiming through a silent and unobtrusive lifestyle that meaning is not found in acquiring things and experiences. We unapologetically tell the world that life is not better when I am unchallenged. Life is not better when I congratulate myself on my virtue.
We want to practice poverty so that we can teach poverty. We tell people what is not fulfilling by not looking for fulfillment in those things. We will pray a short prayer service called the Paraklesis on weekday evenings during the Dormition fast. Paraklesis means calling out. In that prayer service, we call out, singing things like “the passions disquiet me.” That means that my own impulses and my sins are causing me not to have peace.
Our songs in the Paraklesis say that we are “surrounded by enemies.” The enemy is our own listlessness and insatiable appetite. We put aside time during the next two weeks to not be controlled by impulses so that we can the safe haven. We practice silence so that we can offer people a peaceful place to rest. We are telling them all to sit down on the grass so that we can distribute to them what Jesus has given to us. We offer our time in the services so that we can make a welcoming space for people to come to. We bring ourselves back to a place where we can remember to whom we belong so that when people wander into our church we can show them whose house it is.
Come to Paraklesis. Read the words. Fast in such a way that your life is calmer and quieter. Take long walks. Fill up your time with something else. That is our gift to give the world. No one else is offering that. There is other Church where people call themselves Christians and offer fasting and silence as one of their chief expressions of the Christian faith. This is true life. When people find us, they recognize that this quiet counter culture is something they need.
We get to be the ones who hand out the fish and loaves to the five thousand people when we follow Jesus out into the desert.
Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been accomplished among us, just as they were delivered to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilos, that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed. In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zachariah [which means “God remembers”], of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth [which means “God’s promise”]. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, it fell to him by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zachariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zachariah, for your prayer is heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth; for he will be great before the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
And Zachariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? (rhetorical: doubt) For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God; and I was sent to speak to you, and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things come to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”
And the people were waiting for Zachariah, and they wondered at his delay in the temple. And when he came out, he could not speak to them, and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he made signs to them and remained mute. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.
After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she hid herself, saying, “Thus the Lord has done to me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.” Now the time came for Elizabeth to be delivered, and she gave birth to a son. And her neighbors and kinsfolk heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they would have named him Zachariah after his father, but his mother said, “Not so; he shall be called John [which means “God is gracious”].” And they said to her, “None of your kindred is called by this name.” And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he would have him called. And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all marveled. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came on all their neighbors.
And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea; and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him. And his father Zachariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways.” And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness till the day of his manifestation to Israel
LUKE 1:1-25, 57-68, 76, 80
When Zachariah hears the Angel he says, “How will I know?” This is not a question. In Hebrew, when you want to make an emphatic statement, you ask a question. God says to Gideon (forcefully), “have I not sent you?” (Judges 6:14) It means “Look!! I am sending you!” Likewise, in the history books in the Bible, they say, “as for the rest of the story … is it not written in the records of the kings of Israel?” (1 Kings 16:14) That means, “everything about it is all written in that book.” In today’s gospel, Zachariah is telling the angel that he does not believe. That is why the angel confronts him for doubting.
The consequence of expressing doubt was that now Zachariah was not allowed to express his doubt to anyone else. He was not allowed to cause others to doubt. This was not “instant karma” or poetic justice. God made him mute out of concern for the community.
What did the Angel say would happen through the ministry of St. John the Baptist? He said that John would, “Turn the hearts of the fathers to their children.” I was surprised at this when I re-read the gospel this time. I would have expected the angel to say that the children’s hearts would be turned to their fathers, because that sounds like a conversion towards obedience. The children should obey their parents. To be sure, the angel did not say that children should not obey, or even that the fathers would obey the children. But the angel did say that the hearts of the fathers would be turned, in other words they would love their children. In what way did the fathers not love their children, then, that the angel would need to say that?
We have to remember that “love” in the bible is a description of actions that arise out of fondness and dedication. In the Bible, love is not an emotion or an attitude per-se. What he means is that he fathers will begin to do what is good for their children. What will the fathers do? The “disobedient will be turned to the wisdom of the just,” i.e. the wisdom that leads to being just. The fathers did not love their children, because the fathers were disobedient to God and did not follow (or even know) the wisdom of the just. The unjustness of parents is detrimental to children. Your sins are hurting other people, even the ones you say you love.
When we express disbelief in the promises of God, that infects our children, it affects our friends, our co-workers, people we do not know. When we speak words of disdain or contempt for that which God has called Holy, or when our actions show contempt for what is just, this is not love for our children, but hatred towards our children.
We do this when we ignore the small obediences that God has given us. Speed limits. Being careful about what we watch on TV so as to avoid immoral and unedifying things. Expressing opinions about other people, when they are not present. Pettiness and bickering and stubbornness, especially towards our family. This proclaims loud and clear, that we do not agree with Jesus when he says that our righteousness should exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees. We do not agree, because we do not do it.
We defy God in the small things, and still we expect to have credibility as the moral compass for society. Perhaps we express more disdain and more despair about the state of society around us than we express praise and love towards God. Perhaps we are more preoccupied with what society is doing wrong, than with the suffering of those who are right next to us. We would not have time for preoccupation with society if we were properly attentive to our families and our friends. Where is the defiant hope and stubborn faith that God will make all things new in the end? The gospel is “repent and believe … for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”
When we preach about politics more often than we praise God, that tells anyone listening that we do not believe that Orthodox Church is the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, because our attitudes and our alliances bind us together with a nebulous and ecumenical notion of a “Christian society.” We identify ourselves first and foremost as belonging to the “Conservative Christian” tribe, the majority of whom are people who reject our faith. When we adopt this heterodox worldview, even if it goes under the heading of “Conservative Christians,” that is like telling the world that the Orthodox Church has nothing to add, nothing different to offer. When our words about society are identical to the hand-wringing of all others around us who call themselves Christians, that is not the fulness of the faith. That is not love towards our children, because it muddies the waters and obscures the uniqueness of the church which has the fullness of the faith.
Perhaps we presume to correct the church and revise the gospel? We imply that, “yes, the Orthodox Church has the beauty of icons and incense, and a liturgy that enraptures us, but doesn’t the church need to modernize in its attitudes towards the things which are pressing and controversial in today’s society? Doesn’t it need to modernize a bit?” People normally do this because they fear, more than anything else, being rejected and not belonging in the secular world. Can we trust God to give us a fulfilled life even if we are outed as Christians? Even if we are known to be different, can we still feel accepted and loved somewhere? That is the fear behind these those who advocate for overturning the Church’s vision of morality and the God-given vision of order of the family and the hierarchical leadership. If we see obedience, submission and hierarchy as the enemy, and we talk about the Church in the same tone of voice, and with the same phrases as other people do when they speak of revolution, protests and activism, then we are proclaiming a false gospel. Perhaps, in our ambivalence towards the gospel of holiness, we are proclaiming that God’s promise to keep his Church forever, through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, is an ideal, and not a reality? Obedience becomes the enemy, and rebellion becomes salvation.
The children are listening. The world is listening and watching. It would be better for us, if we were prevented from acting with such presumption. Perhaps we too should be made mute so at least we would not cause the little ones to sin. Or if we are not made mute, at least we could be given prayers to pray, and psalms and hymns to sing, so that we learn to speak the right words. That is precisely why the church gives us these words of prayer and song which are tested by time, and passed down to us from generation to generation. The silent prayers of the priest at Orthros say, “for we know not how to pray as we ought unless Thou, o Lord, dost teach us.”
The angel said “John will turn the disobedient back to God.” And when Zachariah’s mouth is opened (i.e. when God makes him able to speak again), he says, “God … has visited and redeemed his people.” The angels says, John “will” preach, but Zachariah says, “God has redeemed his people.” Why?
It is because the salvation of God is unavoidable, unthwarted, a blessed assurance for those who love God. There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God.
In Romans 8, St. Paul writes,
“If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Today’s gospel says that John lived in the wilderness until the day of his manifestation. He was a Nazarite. What is that? In Numbers 6, God tells Moses that people may voluntarily dedicate themselves to God for a certain period of their lives. And during that period they do not cut their hair, drink wine or go near a dead body, which was traditionally interpreted as including meat. It was something kind of like how Orthodox monks live (in case you didn’t know, Orthodox monks and nuns do not eat meat).
John dedicated himself to a life that was completely different than the lives of those he was sent to, so as to have the moral authority to call them to a higher path. It gave him the moral authority to say such harsh words as “you are a brood of vipers.” People put up with his bluntness because he was so obviously filled with the Holy Spirit.
His life of holiness lead him to the moment when he saw the Son of God descending into the water, filling the whole of creation with new life. John the Baptist was able to hear the voice of God at Jesus’ baptism. He told the crowd, “I saw the spirit descending,” in a way that makes me wonder if the others perhaps had not seen it. None of the gospels say that anyone besides Jesus or John heard the voice of the Father (they also do not explicitly say that the other people did not hear it).
We dedicate ourselves to humility, to the small acts of righteousness which are in fact enormous. We forgive those who are closest to us, those who hurt us the most with even the smallest of actions. We ransack our hearts so as to make the fullest confession of our sins, and when we do that, we receive the greatest joy, the most potent reminder of the forgiveness that is from God. We are faithful with our tithes, thoughtful with our words, softly spoken so as not to burden others with our opinions. We pray for others, looking eagerly for any opportunity to bless others. We follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit which has been given to the Church, even we fear that we will not be able to belong fully to the fallen world.
John the Baptist described Jesus’ ministry as the wedding of the Bridegroom with his bride (who is the church). We are on the road to the heavenly wedding banquet. This is the way to the true gathering place of God’s people. This is the joyful celebration of the brethren who dwell together in peace. This is the way to a pure heart, and those who are pure in heart will see God.
During the first week of Lent we had readings that spoke of urgency in our lives. It is fitting, since Great Lent is a season of sober assessment of our characters and our lifestyle. The readings said such things as, “watch and pray,” “do not be weighed down with drunkenness,” “when you fast and when you give alms, do not show off,” “Have faith to move mountains” and, “seek and you will find.” Today we will read from the gospel which we read on Friday of the first week of Lent, during the Akathist.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:1–7)
We were always created for a life in Jesus Christ from the beginning. From the beginning, we were always going to do what we do now, just a much more perfect version of it. We were created to work. We were created to have families. We were always going to have the joy of nurturing and sharing a home. We were always going to have community. It was always part of God’s plan.
We were created to remain in Christ as we read today. We do the deeds of Jesus. We remain in those deeds. We are united to his actions. The Fathers call these actions his energies. We do what Jesus does: love, teach, pray. Our prayers spread Jesus’ healing. We do not fear death, as Jesus did not fear death. And so we are heroes who lay our lives down out of love for our families and our community and our world.
We were always going to sacrifice; it was God’s intention from the beginning. We were always going to offer our work to God. We were always going to make our world holy through prayer. That is human existence by default. It would be strange to describe it as supernatural. It is our nature. It is not just what we do now that Jesus has risen. Sacrifice is the beating heart of the energies of God as he reveals them to us. Jesus sacrifices so that we can sacrifice with him. We remain in the life of Jesus Christ.
This, by the way, is what is meant when the psalm says, “blessed art thou, o God, teach me thy statutes.” Or, “He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth. (1 Chronicles 16:14) or “Mount Zion rejoices, the villages of Judah are glad because of your judgments.” (Psalm 48:11) The judgments and statutes of the Lord are an expression of the energies of God that we are invited to participate in.
God does not demand righteousness from us. God invites us because righteousness is what he wants for us. We can become united to God. This is called theosis in the Orthodox Church. The word theosis comes from theos which means God. We become divine by grace; gods by grace. The energies of God are part of God himself. We can perceive his energies. We see what God does and has done. What Jesus does express the energies of God and when we remain in Him we are journeying the path to theosis. This was always the point of creation. Theosis is what we were created for.
We were created dignified. We were created to be a royal priesthood. We were created to live in a worthy manner, to shine with the uncreated light, the Glory of God., We are icons of God – the image and likeness of God. We have that royal dignity and honour inside us. But sin corrupted the world. Sin made our work difficult and exhausting. The corruption of sin means our work may not succeed. Without Jesus Christ our work is futile. And we die in corruption. We were going to have the joy of working and building and creating, but in the sinful world we can destroy. We voluntarily stop acting in a worthy and dignified manner. We stop being kings and queens. Instead, we becomes slaves. We become slaves to our impulses, slaves to selfishness, slaves to despair and giving up before we have even tried.
Sin also corrupted our homes and the community. Sin made the home a place where we hurt people; a place where we resent people. We have the power to destroy this too, when we could be nurturing instead.And we do destroy them.
We are born into a community that does evil as well as good. Our families and our community have taught us what is right, but they also taught us by their bad example. Then we become the ones who set our bad example for children. We were hurt and we cause pain to others. We share in the corruption and death of everything. We are dying and we are killing through negligence, by contributing to the corruption and death of everything.
What will God do? When God looks at us in our misery he sees the real person he created. Imagine this analogy: Someone has an elderly relative with dementia. And they think to themselves, “I knew my mother back when she was healthy. She was smart and funny and loved everyone. I know who the real person was. She still is that person, but old age has clouded over that person.” Or when we see sickness causing someone’s body to wither away. We think, “I know what that person looked like before.” God sees us in our slavery and our clouded judgment, but he still sees the person he created. He sees the kings and queens who are capable of dignity and virtue, capable of true worship. But what will he do?
Saint Athanasius writes:
For the word [Jesus], realized that the corruption of human beings could not be undone in any other way except, by him dying. But he is immortal and the Son of the Father, the Word, was not able to die. For this reason he takes to himself a body capable of death in order … [to] be able to die on behalf of all. [i.e. he could lead us by offering his life and death to God as a gift, so that we can do the same thing with our lives and our deaths.] And through the Word who dwells in us, we can remain incorruptible, and so henceforth everyone may be free from the power of corruption by the grace of the resurrection [the resurrection proves to us that it works]. Because he “lead his own body to the slaughter” [like a lamb being sacrificed] as an offering [which is] holy and free from all blemish [requirements for animals which are sacrificed – the best of the best, giving generously with pure intention], he immediately abolished death from all like him, by the offering of a like. [He made it possible for anyone to escape from the control that death had over people, since they can do the same thing with their lives and their bodies as he did with his life and his body]. The corruption of death no longer controls humans because of the indwelling of the word.
[Jesus] being with all [of us] through the body that is like ours, since he is the incorruptible Son of God [he is immune from corruption], consequently [made it possible for all people to be] clothed … with incorruptibility in the promise concerning the resurrection [i.e. we are free from the fear of death because we know that God can give us life]. And now the very corruption of death [the power of suffering to control us] no longer [controls] human beings because of the Word who lives in us, in the one body [the Church]. As when a great king has entered some large city and made his dwelling in one of the houses in it, such a city is certainly made worthy of high honor, and no longer does any enemy or bandit descend upon it, but it is rather reckoned worthy of all care because of the king’s having taken residence in one of its houses; so also does it happen with the King of all. Coming himself into our realm, and dwelling in a body like the others, every [plot or attack] of the enemy against human beings is completely powerless [to make us do what it wants], and the corruption of death, which had prevailed formerly against them, is defeated.
When we say, “Where, O Death is your sting,” we mean that death can no longer terrorize us into causing others death. We mean that our own sickness and shame, our own grieving, our own trauma, our own past failures can no longer force us to contribute to the cycle of death because Jesus not only forgives us, he also grants us remission of sins. Remission means that we are being healed of our propensity towards sin. We are can stop.
Jesus gives us a church to worship in. Jesus gives us a new perspective in which all the people in our life provide us with relationships as the context in which we can do what we were always created to do, which is to work with Jesus. These relationships are the context in which we love those people togetherwith Jesus. We become one with his energies; one with God.
“… the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen,
People know about God by default because the image of God is in humans.
being understood by the things that are made, namely, His eternal power and Divinity, so they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were they thankful, but they became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, they exchanged the truth of God for the lie, they worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. Just as they did not like to retain God in their consciousness, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; they are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things deserve death, not only did they do these things but they also approve of those who practice them.
I hope you have noticed that I do not preach to the choir you have no benefit from me tell you about what those people out there are doing wrong. It is not my calling to affirm what you already think about other people’s sins. God sends the preacher to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable. But St. Paul accuses us sinners of approving of what is immoral. And if someone asks me to tell them what the Orthodox Christian Church thinks about immorality, and the specific immorality of our time, I will not shrink from it. And the reason is that I do not want to set a bad example for children or anyone who doesn’t understand. I don’t want to cause them confusion, muddying the waters about what our church really teaches. Because I undertake allow the church to guide me in my choices. I do not want to steal from anyone else the opportunity of allowing the guidance of the church and the holiness of Jesus Christ to inform their choices. I do not want to deny anyone the opportunity to have that holiness cut them to the heart, and make them come to your senses. We are not doing anyone any favours by trying to save them from the piercing words of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
While the words of the church regarding immorality may cause people to say that they feel hurt and offended and targeted, at the right time, in the right place, we must at least not actively affirm their sin so as to rob them of the opportunity to see the truth. We should not affirm or approve. We do not need to judge. We simply do not affirm.
That does not mean we are obligated to stand on the street corner shouting and preaching doom. But be very careful never to actively and publicly approve of sin. You do not need to judge, just do not approve.
Let’s continue reading from Romans.
Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are when you judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.
But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge the people practicing such things, that you will escape the judgment of God when you do the same things? Or do you do you hold the riches of His goodness in contempt? [Do you hold in contempt] God’s forbearance, and patience? Do you not know that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and your unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: [God will give] eternal life to those who by persisting in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;
Those who cooperate with God will shine with the uncreated light of God!
but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey [listen to] the truth,
they do not obey the truth because they have something to hide and want the whole world to dance to the tune of their delusions
they do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—[to them God will give his] indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, … but God will give glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good … For those who have sinned without law will also perish without law, and those who know the law
that is, us who have the true faith
those who know the law and have sinned will be judged by the law … in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ,
We try to hide the truth but the secrets will come out and be judged
… You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law?”
Romans 1:18 – 2:23
Before the last judgment when we die, we will be faced with the horrible truth of our sins. And the equally terrible truth of God’s immense love for us. When we have tried to run from the truth we have been running from God. The bible verse I just read gives you a menu of sins and faults that I am sure each of us can find one or two of them to identify with. Let’s re-examine the list: Lying, vile passions immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; they are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; contempt for God, approving of sin, judging one another.
All of these are attempt to run away from the truth, the truth being that true life and true joy come from turning back to God; to the God who knows more than we do. True life comes from allowing the cool waters of Jesus’ love to wash over the red-hot iron of our hardened hearts. Our hearts are aflame with the wrong thing, and we need the living waters to quench those passions.
Why is it so hard? Let’s ask the thieves on the cross?
Then one of the thieves who were crucified with Jesus blasphemed Jesus, and said, “If You are the messiah, save Yourself and us.”
The truth of his own sin and of his own situation was too much. Jesus, who is the author of all truth, was right beside him, offering him true hope. He was offering the thief the true hope which is trusting in God, as Jesus was trusting His Father at that moment. True hope is to love. Jesus was not fighting back, or cursing. Jesus was not doing the things that this thief had done his whole life; the very things that got him into his current situation. And so the thief was angry and indignant at the notion that true holiness and the true hope and promise of God lie in not doing what he had been doing. He was indignant that what God was offering him was something he had been resisting his whole life.
When we go to hell, we have to walk past Jesus to get there. Think of the icon of the resurrection, where Jesus is standing above the gates of hell. If you want to get to hell, you have to go past the loving embrace of Jesus, the crucified one. You have to go past the truth of his holiness. You have to go past the beauty of his humility. You have to go past him when he says, “forgive them, Father.” But when we avoid the truth of our own sin, we are walking past Jesus on our way to death.
But the other thief, rebuked him, and said, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we deserved this, for we receive the just penalty of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”
Then he said to Jesus, “Remember me, O Lord, when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” Now it was about the sixth hour (noon) and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour (3pm). Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last.
(Luke 23:39–46)
It was not just the thief’s last-minute opportunity to repent, before he died. It was his last opportunity before Jesus died as well. Take the opportunity before you die and before Jesus comes back, because you do not know if you also only have three more hours to do it. Our sin is killing us. It is destroying the goodness that we have in us. You are all good. Fundamentally good. You were not born guilty of anything. But what you have learned to do, and chosen to do is mangling and deforming the goodness in you. You know intuitively that this is a terrible tragedy. In Holy week we sing this: “You O Lord, who on the very same day made the thief worthy of Paradise, (he didn’t just let him into paradise, he made him worthy of paradise) illuminate me also by the wood of your cross and save me.”
Illuminate. Show me the truth. The truth is that you long to be able to tell the truth to God and to say, “I have gotten myself into this mess. It was my fault, and no one else’s. But please forgive me, and make me worthy of your kingdom. This is a prayer we pray at Compline: “Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us, for laying aside all defense, we offer unto Thee as master this supplication: Have mercy on us.”
And Jesus will not only say to you “Today you will be in paradise with me,” the very fact that you repent, the very fact that you are telling the truth is paradise here and now. Learning holiness and righteousness is the sweetness that we long for.
The Lord said, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what should I compare it? It is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in the garden; it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”
And again he said, “To what should I compare the kingdom of God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”
Jesus went through one town and village after another, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?” He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. When once the owner of the house has got up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then in reply he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will say, ‘I do not know where you come from; go away from me, all you evildoers!’ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrown out. Then people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God.”
Luke 13:18–29
Today is the Sunday of the last judgment. We are preparing ourselves for Lent which will begin in one week’s time. But what is lent for? Jesus says that the Kingdom of God starts small. At its beginning, it is somewhat underestimated. Who would have guessed that a tiny mustard seed would become a big tree?
If you have never seen a tiny mustard seed, it is about the same size as a sesame seed or a poppyseed. Tiny seed. Big tree. Also the analogy about the baker: small yeast. Big loaf of bread. The Kingdom of God starts small. In particular, it starts with a very small amount of excitement. Holiness seems boring at first. There is no pomp and circumstance. If there is pomp and circumstance, or lightning and the choir of angels in your spiritual struggle, you are probably going in the wrong direction. There is a trap and a passion which, in Slavonic is called “Prelest” and in Greek is called “Plani.” It is spiritual delusion. People stir themselves into a spiritual ecstasy which they convince themselves is from God. But it is actually self-made. Carrying your cross means walking to your death. Very seldom is it anything but a challenge, and if the angels do show up, it is often in the midst of extreme struggle.
The Orthodox Christian spiritual path is not glamourous. It is not one that you would suspect opens into a great palace. It looks more like the servant’s entrance. A narrow door.
Jesus tells the people these two analogies today. And someone asks him “Are there only going to be only a few people who are saved?” What is Jesus’ answer? Jesus talks about the door to the household being shut. Get in while you can. To be sure, there is a deadline for repentance. There is a deadline for beginning the path of holiness. There is no deadline for completing the path to holiness, as that takes all of eternity. But make sure you are still pursuing it. Keep going. You do not know when the deadline is. It is either when you die or when Jesus comes back; whichever happens first. You do not know when that will be. So get busy now.
There is a second way of looking at the matter, which is that we observe this Sunday, the Sunday of the Last Judgment, every year. How many last judgments are there? The point is to remind us that the doors will close. This is meant to convince us do what Jesus says in this passage: Strive. Hurry up. Get to work. Do something! Your deed will be small and unremarkable like the mustard seed and like the yeast. They are both deposited and hidden. You have no control over what happens after that. You cannot make the tree grow or the dough rise, but they will.
There seem to only be a few people who can enter through the narrow gate. Or at least, it is difficult enough that many fail. Do it. Be one of the ones who strives. Be one of the ones who gives. Be one of the ones who deposits their fasting and their prayer into the earth and who believe that the creator of all will cause it to grow. Because while the level of difficulty might scare people off, the results will be out of all proportion to what you have done. Many will come from the east and the west and north and south to eat at the feast of the Kingdom Perhaps they will eat the bread that your yeast was put into. Perhaps they will eat food that has been flavoured with the mustard from the tree that your mustard seed grew into. I should not really say “perhaps.” It will happen. You will not see it in the short term.
Jesus says that the door will be shut, and the people will say: “Lord …” They call Jesus Lord. They say, “You came and taught in our cities, and we ate and drank with you.” These are largely passive matters though. Jesus was the one teaching, not them. Who did the cooking? These people were eating and drinking. They were members of the community, not servants of the community.
Do something. You are empowered. You are invited. What Jesus has done is not done in order that you do not have to do anything, but rather so that you will learn to do that which is good. Lent is given to you As that “something” to do.
If you must choose one thing to do during Lent (and you do not have to choose only one), show up. Practice the askesis of the feet: feet on the floor of the church. Your soul will be softened like a pebble in the stream because of all the prayers washing over it. You deposit your attendance, and the Kingdom of God will grow in you. But only if you show up. People tell me, “Father, I struggle to remember to pray, to make myself go to my icon corner and pray.” Well, lent helps you because you don’t have to organize your prayer yourself. You just show up at church. And you will be carried through a whole hour of prayer!
The second thing to do in lent is to search your soul and find more to give. Strive to come in through the narrow gate. Choose the challenge.
And third: fast. In the Orthodox Church, fasting means that we abstain from all or some of the following: meat, fish, dairy, alcohol, and sometimes from oil. This all depends on what kind of fasting day it is. During Lent we abstain from all of this except oil. Most of us should not attempt to abstain from oil. It is too much if you are not a monk, in most cases.
I am going to finish by reading two more passages which demonstrate the teaching of our gospel passage. One is from the Didache, which is a very early Christian document written only a few decades after Christ’ ascension. And the second one is the gospel reading which the deacon read a few minutes ago. Let’s see if you can hear any suggestions about what we can do.
There are two ways, one of life and one of death; but a great difference between the two ways. The way of life, then, is this: First, you shall love God who made you; second, your neighbour as yourself; and all things whatsoever you would should not occur to you, do not also do to another. And of these sayings the teaching is this: Bless those who curse you, and pray for your enemies, and fast for those who persecute you. For what reward is there, if you love those who love you? Do not also the Gentiles do the same? But love those who hate you, and you shall not have an enemy. Abstain from fleshly and worldly lusts. If someone gives you a blow upon your right cheek, turn to him the other also, and you shall be perfect. If someone impresses you for one mile, go with him two. If someone takes away your cloak, give him also your coat. If someone takes from you what is yours, ask it not back, for indeed you are not able. Give to everyone that asks you, and ask it not back; for the Father wills that to all should be given of our own blessings (free gifts). Happy is he that gives according to the commandment; for he is guiltless. Woe to him that receives; for if one having need receives, he is guiltless; but he that receives not having need, shall pay the penalty, why he received and for what, and, coming into confinement, he shall be examined concerning the things which he has done, and he shall not escape thence until he pay back the last farthing. But also now concerning this, it has been said, Let your alms sweat in your hands, until you know to whom you should give.
The Lord said, “When the Son of man comes in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.’ And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
