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The best seats at the wedding banquet

“On one occasion when Jesus was going to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal on the sabbath, they were watching him closely. Just then, in front of him, there was a man who had dropsy. And Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees, “Is it lawful to cure people on the sabbath, or not?” But they were silent. So Jesus took him and healed him, and sent him away. Then he said to them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that has fallen into a well, will you not immediately pull it out on a sabbath day?” And they could not reply to this.

When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honour, he told them a parable. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honour, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honoured in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.””

Luke 14:1–11

The wedding guests are those who invited Jesus. Jesus is the bridegroom. The people who have invited Jesus to this meal have given themselves what they think is the “most important” seat. They expect to hear his eloquent teaching. In their minds, the “lesser” seat is for the sick to be healed. In their minds they do not need healing. In their minds the Sabbath only needs to be a day of teaching.

Jesus calls into question the whole notion of what the seat of honour is. He encourages his listeners to choose the place of the sinners and the sick. Choose to sit at the back. He is telling them to think of themselves as sinners, and to assign themselves the appropriate place: since that is where his healing occurs. The sick man who came to him was certainly at the back.

But in another sense, receiving healing is the best place. The guests at the dinner do not know which place is the best. Would the best place not be so sit with the ones who are not esteemed. Jesus is back there with the sick and outcasts. That is the best place, next to Jesus in that sense.

Jesus says that we should choose the place where we are asking him to give us what he determines that we need. We ask for the thing which, unknown to us, is the only thing we can receive in the beginning: healing. It is like St. Dionysios says: first cleanse your senses and your mind, and then ascend the mountain with Moses to receive the law.

In our state of sinfulness, the most “spiritual” thing we can do is to apply the teachings of Jesus in a practical manner. We must take our medicine. St. Ephrem the Syrian describes the warning of Jonah to the people of Nineveh as a bitter “medicine.” They fast and humble themselves. This is the level of “spiritual things” which is appropriate for us now. Real spirituality is to die with Christ in our confessions. It is to surrender and to trust boldly in God when we obey Him despite our fears. Only then are we worthy to ponder doctrines.

Enlightenment and theological discussion  come after humility. When we have received healing from our passions and our sins, when we have allowed God to create within us a pure heart, then we will be sent to the “higher place” of the learned.

Why would God allow us to come to that higher place? For our own enlightenment? Are we like the Eastern religions, where the ultimate goal is a state of consciousness? Many laymen read about the Orthodox monks and spiritual fathers, and mistakenly believe that their goal is simply a state of dispassionate meditation on the uncreated light. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Doctrine and wisdom and insights into the nature of the spiritual journey are given to us in order to equip us to give them to others. These things are seeds which we must sow. The hermit in his cave is sowing seeds among the lost by his uninterrupted prayer. His efforts are for the whole world, not just for himself.

If and when we are invited to take the “best seat” at the wedding feast, it is given to us in order for us to invite others to it. We are given the place near the bridegroom in order to be mediators and intercessors for the lowly. The guests at the dinner where Jesus is visiting should have been the ones to bring the sick man to Jesus. What is the point of being near the bridegroom if you do not desire for his bride to come sit with him? The sick and suffering and the sinners are his bride!

We are not allowed to have indifferent minds, disinterested in newcomers to our church. We look, instead, for new faces in the church, and we invite them to take the seat beside the bridegroom, Jesus. We are all on duty as hosts who usher any newcomer into the place next to Christ. Coming to church is not something you do for yourself. You have come to work at the feast, to rejoice with the bridegroom who has come to seek and save the lost.

Is someone broken-hearted? Bring the light of Christ to them with your empathetic conversations, bring them words of comfort. Coffee hour is a time for you to include those who are alone or new. Or simply the ones who have not yet had the joy of getting to know you.

As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying,

“Blessed is the king
who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,
and glory in the highest heaven!”

Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.””

Luke 19:37–44

Jesus weeps because the Pharisees are quieting down the crowds. These are the same ones who previously had invited him to their dinner. They do not understand that all the miracles are expressions of Jesus’ love and desire to save sinners. Jesus longs to see the faith and service of those he heals, because those are things for which they are created. To believe and to serve is to be truly human. Jesus longs for the outcasts and sinners to become righteous. He weeps now, because the Pharisees who could have joined his work will kill him. Who would have been better equipped to serve in the actual Kingdom of God than those who spent their whole lives studying the scriptures? But he knows that they will kill him instead because they did not seek to have a pure heart first.

He is not weeping because he will die, nor because those who kill him will prevent anyone from being saved. Rather, he is weeping because those who are not watching carefully for the opportunity to welcome the lost sheep – those people will be locked outside with the foolish virgins. Jesus does not want to lose the people who could have served with him. He says, “I am the good shepherd” to those who could be shepherds. But they did “not recognize the time of their visitation.” God is visiting them, bringing with him the lost sheep.

When the Church asks you to give money, time, attention and attendance, it is not a case of “them” (the Church) asking “me” for something. It is the King of Kings riding into Jerusalem with the needy following him, bringing you a treasure. You are invited to work with Jesus to feed the hungry and visit the prisoners. Make sure that you are seeking healing for yourself now, in order to be equipped for the work you are called to. You do not know when the master will return to the house. You do not know when the time for working will come. Do not fall asleep. Humble yourself so that you may be accounted worthy of martyrdom, mission, evangelization and service. This is the white wedding garment. Pray that you may be granted the place of a servant. You are not giving your gifts and tithes to an institution of the Church. You are investing your treasure in the project of bringing the bride of Christ – the lonely and weak – to their Lord.

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Women Disciples

Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat.

And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.

And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” So he said, “Teacher, say it.”

“There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?”

Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.”

And He said to him, “You have rightly judged.” Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”

Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with Him, and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities—Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from their substance.

And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?”

And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that

“          ‘Seeing they may not see,

            And hearing they may not understand.’

“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.

“No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.””

(Luke 7:36–8:18)

The following is a hymn from Holy Week:

“O Lord, the woman who had fallen into many sins, perceiving Thy Divinity, fulfilled the part of a myrrh-bearer; and with lamentations she brought sweet-smelling oil of myrrh to Thee before Thy burial. ‘Woe is me,’ she said, ‘for night surrounds me, dark and moonless, and stings my lustful passion with the love of sin. Accept the fountain of my tears, O Thou Who drawest down from the clouds the waters of the sea. Incline to the groanings of my heart, O Thou Who in Thine ineffable self-emptying hast bowed down the heavens. I shall kiss Thy Most Pure feet and wipe them with the hairs of my head, those feet whose sound Eve heard at dusk in Paradise and hid herself for fear. Who can search out the multitude of my sins and the abyss of Thy judgments, O Savior of my soul? Despise me not, Thine handmaiden, for Thou hast mercy without measure.”

We learn so many interesting things when we read long passages in the gospels, and piece various stories together. This gospel reading focusses on the presence of women in the ministry of Jesus. The woman who was considered untouchable and unclean came to Jesus with such great gratitude. What is remarkable to me is that we don’t know the back story about why she was weeping and anointing Jesus’ feet! Why Jesus? We know what sins she had committed, but why was she so dedicated to Jesus? She hadn’t even met him before.

They hymn of Kassiani tells us that the woman perceived his divinity. That really is the only thing that I think explains why she would come up to him and do that. To weep. To wash His feet. She has come to give him the sacrifice of her tears which come from “a heart that is broken and humbled.” She somehow knew that she was meeting her God, and she wanted to be reconciled to Him. She wanted to start a new life. We knew that only Christ, her God, could create in her a clean heart.

She was saying, “Please tell me that it is not too late for me to change, and for me to be forgiven.” All the horror and guilt she carried, and the fear of God’s wrath came gushing out. It is as if the slightest bit of hope caused a fracture in a dam, and suddenly all the waters that had accumulated burst forth because of the smallest bit of hope.

This is the model of the Orthodox Christian life. Our tears burst forth most forcefully when our greatest sorrow and pain, our fear and humiliation, collide with hope and joy. We become more eager and act with more urgency at that moment. That is the “sweet-spot” of the Christian life.

This is what Jesus means when he says to his host, “the one who is forgiven much loves much.” Notice that he says, “your sins are forgiven” after she washes his feet. The same is seen in the resurrection. The women came with myrrh to the tomb before they found out that he had risen. Before they knew that the stone was rolled away, they came anyway. It wasn’t until they had already left their houses, and were already walking on the road that they asked each other how they were going to accomplish their task. Who would roll away the stone? They began their journey first. A tiny hope of being allowed to give a gift to their Lord was enough to motivate them to get up early and do this.

When the sinful woman washes Jesus’ feet, he does not rob her of her urgency and longing immediately. He allows her urgency to work its healing power within her. Sorrow and shock at our sinfulness is a gift. It moves us. It can only move us to change because we have hope. Otherwise it would paralyze us. But we need it.

In our reading it says that Jesus continued his ministry and three more women are mentioned: Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Susannah. It explains who Mary Magdalene and Joanna are, but not Susannah. This is probably because it was expected that anyone reading this passage would know who she was. What does it say about the place of women in the church, that one of them is assumed to be that well known?

But we may also ask why it is that these women are mentioned in this specific place of the gospel? Why now, especially since it comes between the story of the woman who washed Jesus’ feet and the parable of the sower?

The text says that the women provided for Jesus. Joanna was the wife of a man who worked for a king, so she had access to money. So in this sense, the women are the sowers. They saw that Jesus was their only hope, and so they used what they had in order to allow that hope to come to more people. They responded to His love by giving a sacrifice.

The women do not know what seeds will bear fruit. They don’t know if it will work. Some seeds will not grow. Jesus mentions three types of seeds that did not grow, and only one group that did. We do not know what God will do with our gifts. We give it for our own sake, like myrrh on his feet. Urgent repentance does not buy our salvation. It is a result of the collision between our sorrow over our sins and the hope we have that there is redemption.

Giving is not something we do in order to accomplish specific projects. Urgent giving is the result of our hope that God will teach us compassion and holiness. Giving is an enactment of the life and the mode of being that we know God is able to create within us. We need to give thanks. We need to give alms. The more we have, the harder it is to give. But how great a gift it is for us to arise early in the morning and walk together with the myrrh bearing women, only to find that Christ is risen, and that the kernel of wheat which fell into the ground has sprouted and bears fruit!

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The Lord’s Prayer

(Luke 11:1–10)

Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” So He said to them, “When you pray, say:

“          Our Father in heaven,
            Hallowed be Your name.
            Your kingdom come.
            Your will be done
            On earth as it is in heaven.
            Give us day by day our daily bread.
            And forgive us our sins,
            For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
            And do not lead us into temptation,
            But deliver us from the evil one.”

Our Father

The prayer is in plural and collective. When “you guys” pray Our Father. The default voice of prayer all is collective. The disciples ask collectively to be taught to pray and he gives them collective prayer. Our Father in the heavens to call God father is to make ourselves the brothers and sisters of Jesus This is a very bold and presumptuous thing to do Jesus has taught them to call themselves sons of God But this is not a statement about who we are by nature but rather who we may become by grace.

When we unite ourselves to Jesus through our prayer with Jesus. Our prayer with Jesus is not simply a matter of words It is the prayer of the Word, Jesus. Prayer with Jesus is death with Jesus, since his death is a sacrifice, His death is a prayer and an intercession for the world. That is the nature of his death. Therefore if we pray with Jesus, we carry our cross with Jesus and our whole lives and our deaths are an offering of intercession. All this is implied just by saying “our father”

Hallowed be thy name

Hallowed means that it is holy Hallowed is simply an older word When we have learned to pray using certain words, we are very uncomfortable giving those words up, even when we no longer really understand what they mean. If we were to translate the Lord’s prayer into English for the first time today, we would write: “Let your name be holy.”

It is a strange thing to ask for. Is God’s name not already holy? This is a Greek way of asking for God’s name to be known to be holy. A good example of how this works is from John 5 when Jesus is accused of “making himself equal to God.” But he did not cause himself to be equal to God, and not at that time. He is eternally begotten from the Father. No, “making himself equal to God” means that he is telling people that he is equal to God. In that same sense when we say “let your name be holy,” we mean “let people know and see that your name is holy.”

Furthermore it is not simply that the name of God that is known to be holy because of the sounds we use to pronounce his name are holy sounds. In the Hebrew mind, the name of someone Is its essence. The name exists first before you say it. Discovering what something is, is to know its name. Think for example of Adam in the garden of Eden God brought all the animals to Adam to see what he would name them. The task was not to name an elephant an elephant, but to discover the nature of living things and understand how to interact with them.

“Let your name be holy” means Let people understand that you are a holy God. Let people fear and serve you As the only true God And let them all become sons of God By the grace of your son. All of that, in only two lines.

Thy kingdom come.

We are asking that our lives become part of the kingdom that Jesus announced by saying “repent and believe.” Jesus started his ministry with these words “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.” We are saying “Let repentance and faith become our reality. Teach us to leave our sin and to follow you.

Thy will be done

We are asking to be made obedient. We are turning our prayers into something holy. Prayer is not primarily “God, give me this thing that I want,” but primarily “let me do the things that you want me to do.” “Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God” (as we sing in the Great Doxology). You may always ask God for anything that is on your heart and God hears. God answers prayers: sometimes in the way we were hoping. Mostly prayer causes us to change, not God. God does not change. But you should always ask whatever is on your heart after you have prayed with the words that he has given you.

Thy will be done as in the heavens so on the earth

The will of God being done “in the heavens” does not simply refer to God telling the angels what to do “up there,” and they do it. “In the heavens” refers to the invisible reality of God, and his intimate but invisible connection with all of the world. God is not “up there.” That is not the meaning of “heavens.”

God is in our midst, right beside you He is present when each event happens, using all events for His glory, even though we cannot see how evil and sad events can possibly be sanctified. We cannot understand how our disappointments and grief would be turned into something good. But God is “in the heavens” right beside us, causing all things to become part of the Kingdom of God. We say, “Glory to God in all things.”

So we ask God, “Let this also become part of the visible reality. Let our lives and our choices and the things that we can see become visible manifestations of your presence. Though you are invisible, make yourself visible in us.” Of course there has been a time when God was visible. Jesus, God from God, light from light was the visible God who taught these words.

Give us this day our daily bread

What bread is that? It is the body of Christ. Give us the bread of communion Every day. Most of us do not attend a divine liturgy every day But Jesus has taught us to ask that his death and his subsequent resurrection be our reality every day. Help us to be part of your body which was broken for us. Help us to accept the calling to change our ways. Help us to make heroic self-sacrifices today and every day. Help us to pray fervently through our actions.

When a man is ordained as a deacon for the first time, he is allowed to touch the communion bread that has become the body of Christ. That is a very fearful thing. We approach this task with the utmost care and reverence. And when he is ordained to the priesthood, he is given the “lamb,” that is, the cube of bread which has been blessed (the whole thing that is going to be communion for everyone in the church during that service) on a small plate, to hold in his hands for a few minutes while the service prayers continue before communion. The bishop tells the newly ordained priest to keep this carefully until the last judgment. The bishop is referring not only to the communion, not only is he telling the priest to steward these sacraments with reverence and faithfulness, he is also telling the priest to steward the body of Christ, i.e. the church. Hold the people of the body of Christ with the same care and reverence.

When people come to church and offer their time and their energy and their money and their whole lives to God, they are sacrificing to God. What they give is their “prosphora” (which simply means offering). They are bringing bread to the church, whether literally or figuratively. And when you the layperson serve in the church, teaching church school or cleaning or making dinner or serving on a committee, you are holding the holy things. Just like the priest holds the bread in his hands and says “the holy things are for the holy,” you are holding these offerings of the people in your hands. 

What a fearful thing it is! What a responsibility! What an awesome calling, full of joy and wonder, and yet it has such a heavy responsibility. We must not misplace a single crumb.  This is also what we speak about when we say, “give us this day our daily bread.” Give me the calling to serve your people with joy. Give me that fearful and awesome task.

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us

There are two versions of this line in the gospels. In Matthew it says, literally, “Forgive us what we owe, as we forgive others what they owe us.” In Luke it says “forgive us our sins as we forgive others what they owe us.” Matthew has written “forgive us what we did not do” And Luke says, “forgive us what we did that was not what we should have done. The notion of debt and the notion of sin were very closely connected in the culture of that time. To do right was to do what you were obligated to do You owe it to someone to do what you should do. So if you failed, then you had a debt to repay. We are asking for the debt to be cancelled and for our sins to be forgiven.

But the interesting thing is that we qualify this request Forgive us if we have forgiven. Forgive us if we are generous. This is a request for accountability. Do not let us become presumptuous and lazy. Help us to stay motivated and committed to the ongoing project of being conformed to the stature of the likeness of Christ.

And lead us not into temptation

Actually, it a truer translation into modern English would say “do not abandon us in our temptation” And temptation in this context does not mean a general desire to sin. We are not asking God “do not entice us and try to make us sin.” God never does that. He never causes or initiates that temptation.

Temptation in this context means persecution and the pressure we might feel to become apostates in the face of persecution. We are saying “We know persecution will come And we know that we will be tempted to deny you. We know that what we have committed to will be hard for us. We know that we will be tempted to give up. We will be tempted to stop coming to church. We will be tempted to stop trying to love our families. We will be tempted to stop trusting that you are with us. But do not abandon us in that hour. Deliver us from the evil one Who is trying to make us doubt you. Help us to stay the course.”

“For thine is the power and the glory …” are not part of the original prayer, but are something we have added to sum up what we are praying.

This is the essence of the Lord’s Prayer. We want to live as Jesus lived, and we want to die as Jesus died because that is the only true life that is available Everything else is misery and destruction.

Now Jesus continues

And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within and say, “Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs. “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

We are pestering God to give us this life in Christ that we have asked for. God will not fail to give it to us when we ask over and over and over. Jesus says ‘I say to you ask, and it will be given to you.” This is you plural. “You guys.” You guys ask and you guys will receive. He is not saying this to one person but to the whole church. Collectively ask. Pray with the church. Seek and knock together. Has God answered your prayers in the way you expected? It is so that you may continue your life of serving him together with the rest of the church. Has God not answered your prayers In the way you expected? He has simply answered them in a way you do not know about, or did not foresee. But he knows what you need and he will make all things good in the end.

That is easy enough to believe as far as it pertains to me as an individual. I can suspend judgment and believe that without seeing it. I can even believe that the church as a whole Is being provided for, even if I cannot see at a given moment how God’s will is being done. But it is a very different thing to believe that God is present in the lives of those I love, when I can’t see or understand it. How are the vulnerable being provided for when they suffer? Where is God when children suffer? We need to pray this prayer so often because we are being taught to hope and believe that God is present whenever distressing things happen. God is our father, the father of the little ones and of the big ones. God is giving us his body as our bread; giving this healing and sanctifying and life-giving mysteries to the little ones as well as to the big ones.

There is a great temptation that we face, and it is one of main temptations in which we ask God not to abandon us. This is the persecution and horror of watching those we love suffer or wander away from the true path. Do not abandon us plural in the face of persecution. Let me not falter in my belief that you are holy and good. Let your name be holy in my mind and in my heart. Let me continue to have your goodness and love in the centre of my consciousness, snd in that way do not abandon me or those I love in the time when (inevitably) the persecution and temptation comes.

God hears your prayers. That is why we pray in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, One God, Amen.

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All in it together

At that time, standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. This is the disciple who is bearing witness to these things, and who has written these things; and we know that his testimony is true. But there are also many other things which Jesus did; were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

JOHN 19:25-27; 21:24-25

There was a small cruise ship sailing in the Caribbean. A hurricane pushed it way off course. The ship blew up on a reef next to an island. Everyone got off alive. But there was no electricity to work the radio. There was no way to get a message to the outside world that their boat had not sunk in the hurricane. No one was looking for them in that location because it was so far away from where they should have been.

There were about fifty people. They had some food and water. For now. A few of the people understood what a predicament they were in. They needed to get rescued soon or they would all die of dehydration.

There were trees on the island. The people had some tools to cut the trees down and make a raft. But it would take a huge amount of work and effort to do it. They couldn’t get off the island unless everyone worked together.

Most of the people did not understand how unlikely it was that they would be found and rescued. Only four people did understand that they needed to get off the island as fast as possible Before their supplies ran out. No one would listen. Four people could not save everyone alone. The trees and other materials were too heavy. They could not even make a raft that was just big enough for the four of them let alone for the whole group.

In the “group of four” There was a football coach. This was a person who took no nonsense. He started to complain to the other three about the lazy and complacent majority. “You see!” he said. “It’s all because no one knows how to do an honest day’s work anymore… They are going to die here. Good! It is God’s righteous judgment that they perish.”

The football coach might have had a point, but that did not help anyone get off the island. His angry words did not convince anyone of anything. And if God’s “righteous judgment” doomed the larger group from getting off the island, it would simultaneously prevent him from getting off the island. No one could make it out alive Unless everyone worked together to get everyone out alive.

Another person in the group of four was a professor;  a rather bookish type who was used to everything being rational and logical. He started to ask, “Why did this happen to us? Why did God allow us to be stranded on this island? How is God good if He allows this?”

Those might be valid questions. Our society gives us a set of expectations About what God should be. And life hurts. So the questions are understandable. But they are very impractical questions. They are not questions that help anyone get off an island. Plus, you could just as easily ask the question, “Why should God intervene for you?” Laws of nature are laws of nature. Hurricanes happen. Death happens. It is just science. More importantly, proclaiming the unrighteousness of God or even proclaiming that God probably does not exist (and how could you possibly verify that, Mr. Scientist?) does not help anyone to do anything useful or selfless or virtuous. Objecting to the irrationality of God Only serves to make you feel smarter like you have figured it out. But it does not help anyone.

The third person in the “group of four” felt sorry for the large group. This was a very social person who got along with people. He didn’t like making the group angry. He asked, “isn’t there any way we can help everyone without making any demands of the lazy ones?” He wanted to shelter the majority of the group from the consequences of their actions.

“You see,” he explained, “They may seem lazy, But they just want to enjoy the sunshine. Plus they are not used to hard labour. These are fairly well-off people, How do you think they could afford to be on a cruise? Hard work would be a shock to their system. These people are sheltered too. They have never had to deal with the harsher realities of life. It’s not fair for them to have to be confronted with a life-and-death situation. Can’t we save them from dying on the island, while also saving them from the discomfort of having to do the work needed to get off the island?”

But facts are stubborn things. Compassion is wonderful. The football coach needed to learn compassion. If the atheist had compassion he would probably stop speculating about the existence of God, and begin to do something useful for the people on whom he had compassion. But there is a difference between empathy and feeling sorry for someone. Feeling sorry for someone makes me feel virtuous, but it may not help them become virtuous. And it still did not change the fact that they were are all going to die together unless everyone worked together.

The group of four concluded that it was necessary for the complacent people to get  hungry and thirsty before they would be motivated to listen. So the four of them saved their breath and waited.

The fourth person decided to prepare everything he could to for the work of making the raft. He did this in anticipation, and in the hope that everyone would eventually decide to cooperate. He made plans. He collected whatever they would use to cut the trees. He prepared storage containers so they could bring supplies on the raft.

Focussing on what he could do now, and having the courage to hope stubbornly that everyone would do the right thing eventually, gave him the moral authority to lead and direct the work of the whole group when they decided to cooperate.

A few days passed. Someone in the larger group got seriously dehydrated and looked like she would die. That got everyone’s attention. Everyone banded together and gave the person an extra portion of water. They carried her in under the shade of a tree to revive. Now the people all started to cooperate. They got to work with the tools and the plans that had been prepared. They made their raft. They got off the island. They almost died at sea. Because no one ever promised that this would work. But it was the only thing that could work. Eventually they were rescued; half dead, but still alive.

The majority that had been lazy, sheltered and privileged had now matured. Because of the crisis, they came out skinnioer but tougher; shaken but also more responsible. Strangers became brothers.

In today’s gospel reading Mary and the Apostle John, were standing at the cross watching their beloved master and teacher die in horrible agony. Disfigured. Discredited. Discarded. The precious one is despised. The royal priest, whose prayers and whose power have protected the city of Jerusalem, has now been marched out of his city like a criminal and a slave. But John and Mary stand there.

St. Ambrose of Milan tells us that the reason Mary was staring at her dying son was not because she was horrified at the brutality of his death. We might have stood and stared, transfixed by the horror. But that was not why Mary was standing there. She was marveling at the miracle of salvation that was unfolding before her eyes. She understood that the disciples would have to reckon with their cowardice. She knew that each person in the world would one day have to look at the horrible truth of how ugly and horrific their own sin is. Jesus on the cross constitutes a just accusation against all of us. And yet, she does not stare in pity or fear. She stands in wonder at the goodness of God.

While Mary prays for us, she also knows that when we see that horror of sin, and our conscience is pricked, that will be for our salvation. As a mother, she knows that the child must be allowed to be confronted with the consequences of their actions in order to mature. Trying to save someone from the gospel truth about the evil of their sin, about how their sin is leading towards death, is to try to save them from Jesus.

Mary was not angry with the ones who killed Jesus And she was not angry with God the Father who sent Jesus. Mary knew, as she stood at the foot of the cross, that while we may never understand why evil exists, the cross reveals to us that the real tragedy of evil is that it is inside us. And yet God has come to destroy evil and death.

I want to read a part of a poem By St. Ephrem the Syrian. And it is about Jonah when he preached repentance to Nineveh. For anyone who doesn’t know this is a story from the Bible when God sends a messenger, a prophet, to an evil city. The prophet tells the people of the city that unless they change their ways, God will destroy them all. But the message works. They all focus. They all work together. And they all change.

And this poem takes some artistic license in imagining what it is like when a whole group of people work together for their common salvation. St. Ephrem is purposely using words that allude to the church, as Jesus describes it.

The young men laid restraint upon their eyes,
That they might not gaze on women;
Women laid aside their ornaments,
That those who looked on them might not stumble.
For they all were persuaded of this.
That the ruin was a common one;
If they became a stumbling-block to others,
They themselves would not escape.
The beautiful would not disturb
The penitence of the men of the city;
For they knew that on their behalf
The repentant were mourning.
They thus both healed and were healed,
The one by the other, through repentance.
No one caused his neighbour to sin,
For every man was persecuting unrighteousness;
Every one drew on his companion
To prayer and supplication.
The whole city became one body,
Every one was watching every one,
Lest one should sin against his kinsman.
Each one instructed his neighbour.
That he might be clear from his fellow-member.
No man there offered up petitions,
That he might alone be saved;
They were alike as fellow-members,
For each prayed the one for the other.
All the city had been summoned
To destruction, as though it were one body.
Nor were the sober among them able
To live apart from sinners;
For as members they were bound together,
The good and the evil equally.
Their righteous men were offering prayers
For sinners, that they might be saved;
And sinners again were intreating
For the righteous, that they might be heard.
The just among them prayed
For the unrighteous, that they might be saved;
And the unjust, on the other hand, made supplication
That the prayer of the just might be accepted.

Bonus material from St. Ambrose, Epistle LXIII (63)

108. Mothers, wean your children, love them, but pray for them that they may long live above this earth, not on the earth but above it, for there is nothing long-lived on this earth, and that which lasts long is but short and very frail. Warn them rather to take up the Cross of the Lord than to love this life.

109. Mary, the mother of the Lord stood by her Son’s Cross; no one has taught me this but the holy Evangelist St. John. Others have related how the earth was shaken at the Lord’s passion, the sky was covered with darkness, the sun withdrew itself; that the thief was after a faithful confession received into paradise. John tells us what the others have not told, how the Lord fixed on the Cross called to His mother, esteeming it of more worth that, victorious over His sufferings, He rendered her the offices of piety, than that he gave her a heavenly kingdom. For if it be according to religion to grant pardon to the thief, it is a mark of much greater piety that a mother is honoured with such affection by her Son. “Behold,” He says, “thy Son”. … “Behold thy mother.” Christ testified from the Cross, and divided the offices of piety between the mother and the disciple. The Lord made not only a public but also a private testament, and John signed this testament of His, a witness worthy of so great a Testator. A good testament not of money but of eternal life, which was written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, Who says: “My tongue is the pen of a quickly writing scribe.”

110. Nor was Mary below what was becoming the mother of Christ. When the apostles fled, she stood at the Cross, and with pious eyes beheld her Son’s wounds, for she did not look for the death of her Offspring, but the salvation of the world. Or perchance, because that “royal hall” [i.e. Mary is a throne room of the King Jesus] knew that the redemption of the world would be through the death of her Son, she thought that by her death also she might add something to the public weal. But Jesus did not need a helper for the redemption of all, Who saved all without a helper. Wherefore also He says: “I am become like a man without help, free among the dead.” He received indeed the affection of His mother, but sought not another’s help.

Imitate her, holy mothers, who in her only dearly beloved Son set forth so great an example of maternal virtue; for neither have you sweeter children, nor did the Virgin seek the consolation of being able to bear another son.

From Methodius, “Concerning Free Will.”

Orthodoxus. The old man of Ithaca, according to the legend of the Greeks, when he wished to hear the song of the Sirens, on account of the charm of their voluptuous voice, sailed to Sicily in bonds, and stopped up the ears of his companions; not that he grudged them the hearing, or desired to load himself with bonds, but because the consequence of those singers’ music to those who heard it was death. For such, in the opinion of the Greeks, are the charms of the Sirens. Now I am not within hearing of any such song as this; nor have I any desire to hear the Sirens who chant men’s dirges, and whose silence is more profitable to men than their voice; but I pray to enjoy the pleasure of a divine voice, which, though it be often beard, I long to hear again; not that I am overcome with the charm of a voluptuous voice, but I am being taught divine mysteries, and expect as the result, not death but eternal salvation. For the singers are not the deadly Sirens of the Greeks, but a divine choir of prophets, with whom there is no need to stop the ears of one’s companions, nor to load one’s-self with bonds, in fear of the penalty of hearing. For, in the one case, the hearer, with the entrance of the voice, ceases to live; in the other, the more he hears, the better life will he enjoy, being led onwards by a divine Spirit. Let everyone come, then, and hear the divine song without any fear. There are not with us the Sirens from the shore of Sicily, nor the bonds of Ulysses, nor the wax poured melting into men’s ears; but a loosening of all bonds, and liberty to listen to everyone that approaches. For it is worthy of us to hear such a song as this; and to hear such singers as these, seems to me to be a thing to be prayed for. But if one wishes to hear the choir of the apostles as well, he will find the same harmony of song. For the others sang beforehand the divine plan in a mystical manner; but these sing an interpretation of what has been mystically announced by the former. Oh, concordant harmony, composed by the Divine Spirit! Oh, the comeliness of those who sing of the mysteries of God? Oh. that I also may join in these songs in my prayer. Let us then also sing the like song, and raise the hymn to the Holy Father, glorifying in the Spirit Jesus, who is in His bosom.

Shun not, man, a spiritual hymn, nor be ill-disposed to listen to it. Death belongs not to it; a story of salvation is our song. Already I seem to taste better enjoyments, as I discourse on such subjects as these; and especially when there is before me such a flowering meadow, that is to say, our assembly of those who unite in singing and hearing the divine mysteries.

From Methodius “Fragments from the Homily on the Cross and Passion of Christ

” Some think that God also, whom they measure with the measure of their own feelings, judges the same thing that wicked and foolish men judge to be subjects of praise and blame, and that He uses the opinions of men as His rule and measure, not taking into account the fact that, by reason of the ignorance that is in them, every creature falls short of the beauty of God. For He draws all things to life by His Word, from their universal substance and nature. For whether He would have good, He Himself is the Very Good, and remains in Himself; or, whether the beautiful is pleasing to Him, since He Himself is the Only Beautiful, He beholds Himself, holding in no estimation the things which move the admiration of men. That, verily, is to be accounted as in reality the most beautiful and praiseworthy, which God Himself esteems to be beautiful, even though it be contemned and despised by all else — not that which men fancy to be beautiful.

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Sermon for the feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos.

The feasts we celebrate which focus on the life of Mary before Jesus was conceived, come to us from the Protoevangelium of James. This is a document that we do not regard as scripture, but it is edifying reading, and I recommend having a look at it here: https://www.gospels.net/infancyjames/ Do not take it all literally, but it doesn’t hurt to be familiar with it. The feast of the entrance of the Theotokos into the temple celebrates events that are also told in the Protoevangelium, and it is also the only source of information we have about her parents, Joachim and Anna. If you would like to know why Mary’s cradle in the icon looks the way it does, read the Protoevangelium.

Anna, the mother of Mary, was of the lineage of Aaron the priest, and Joachim was of the family of David. As the synaxarion tells us, Mary brought together both the priestly and the royal lines, so that Jesus is descended from both. He calls us into his royal priesthood.

When we read the story in the Protoevangelium, we see the two personalities of the king and the priest in the characters of Joachim and Anna. Anna, of the priestly line, is a person of prayer. She prays for a daughter. This prayer is not just a prayer to have children. She desires to fulfill the commandments, particularly the commandment to increase the family of Israel. Bringing children into the world was a service to the community. Anna swears to dedicate the child to God in the temple. In St. Anna’s mind, life is intercession, born out of a solidarity with others and a longing for God. Prayer was so central to her nature, that the only possible purpose of having a child was to raise another intercessor who would live in the temple and serve the people through prayer. In fact, that is what Mary is still doing: serving her people through her prayers.

Joachim’s character is also inspiring, but it is different. Joachim is descended from David the great warrior king. Joachim brings his sacrifices (double the required amount) to God, with the same eager heart as David. But Joachim is turned away by the priest because he has not had a child. My immediate reaction was to be offended by the unfairness of that event. Surely it was not St. Joachim’s fault that he and his wife could not have children!

God has a way of nudging us towards prayer, even if it is in the midst of unfairness or misfortune. That is what happened with Joachim. In response to being barred from sacrificing he withdraws to fast and pray. Joachim could see that in our interactions with God it is unwise simply to focus on our “rights,” or on how we are being treated as individuals. God uses all situations for our salvation, and for the salvation of everyone. Would Joachim have sought God in such fervent prayer without the priest rejecting him? Would he and Anna have conceived? From the “unfairness” of the priest Jesus is brought into the world!

Not only does Joachim fast and pray, he even goes so far as to ask for God’s forgiveness! Just in case it he had sinned. Joachim does not need to be backed into the corner and forced to admit he is wrong before he repents. He just repents in case. This is the same heart as the heart of King David, when he wrote, “blott out my transgression … I know my iniquity and my sin is ever before me, against thee only have I sinned … create in me a clean heart … then shall they offer sacrifices and whole-burnt offerings.” (Psalm 50)

Joachim was beset by the challenges of infertility and social stigma. He turns to God and waits for God’s intervention, even though he is also a man of action. His decisiveness leads him out into the desert where he waits for God’s command. Joachim is like his ancestor David who also withdrew to the desert. Although David was a warrior hero figure, he was a special kind of hero. David constantly sought God’s guidance as he waged war against Israel’s enemies. Even though David was anointed as the one who would take over as King after Saul, still David did not take the opportunity to kill Saul and take the kingdom by violence. Saul was unrighteous. Saul was the king that God had appointed, but he acted unfairly. And yet David waited.

When we are angry and want to take action, we often fail to be the kind of heroes that David and Joachim were. Perhaps we are angry on behalf of those we perceive to be victims of the unfairness of the church’s teachings regarding holiness and obedience. Perhaps we are angry because of how the sinful world opposes God. David expressed both types of anger, but he waited for God to act. We, however, often take upon ourselves the mantel of heroes, and we feel compelled to “speak out.” If we speak out on behalf of the “victims” of God’s calling to holiness, we risk making ourselves the saviour of the people, and we end up portraying God as the enemy from which people must be saved. If, on the other extreme, we feel compelled to speak out because society has become unbearable sinful, we risk making ourselves the heroes and saviours who protect God’s honour. In either case, we think that what we are doing is borne out of love. But it is not love.

The heroic type of love is called agape. Agape love is brotherly love. It is also parental love. Agape is love that says, “I will suffer so that you can thrive.” Agape is the love which King David showed when he was willing to fight to protect. But David was also a shepherd in his youth who guided his sheep and later his people. David fought off wolves when he was a young shepherd, but later he wrote, “the Lord is my shepherd … his rod and his staff (the instruments of guidance and correction) comfort me.” He also wrote, “blessed art Thou, o Lord, teach me thy statutes.” This is the full picture of a hero. A hero does not simply defend; he also leads.

The Davidic hero realizes that we are all pieces of a bigger story; the story of how God saves the whole world. We become heroes when we pray, like St. Anna, for the opportunity to fulfill our own small part, allowing God use us as he sees fit. In their love for their fellow people, the heroes offer sacrifices of righteousness to God.

We too may offer our sacrifices by abstaining from the compulsion to “speak out.” We sacrifice the delicious feast of anger and indignance which keeps us coming back for more and more. We fast by abstaining from the passions which lead us into the delusion that we can save others through anger. When we acquire the “broken and humbled heart” which God will not despise, we can say, as Mary did, “let it be with me according to Thy will.” When unfairness and wickedness surround us, we listen for the voice of the good Shepherd. His sheep know his voice and will not follow the hireling. We save the world through mirroring the example of Jesus in his patience with the world. The result can be that through us, God, the good shepherd, will call our children, and all the lost children of the sinful world, to enter into His temple, like Mary entered when she was three years old.

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Sunday of the 1st Ecumenical Council

At that time, Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work which you gave me to do; and now, Father, you glorify me in your own presence with the glory which I had with you before the world was made. I have manifested your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world; yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you; for I have given them the words which you gave me, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you did send me. I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are mine; all mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me; I have guarded them, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

JOHN 17:1-13

Today is the Sunday on which we commemorate the 1st Ecumenical Council which took place in 325 AD, after Christianity was no longer persecuted by the Romans. The main reason for the council was actually to establish rules of good governance by the churches as well as church discipline.

But what the council is best known for is the rejection of the teachings of a bishop called Arius, who claimed that Jesus is not God. The council proclaimed clearly that Jesus is God, and more specifically the council taught that Jesus is “of one essence” with God the Father.

The reason Arius taught this heresy was that the ancient idea of God was one of a distant all-powerful force that could hardly be communicated with. Gods did not care, they just had power. This was taken to be the primary truth, and the gospel of Christ was something Arius tried to fit into the narrow box of his pre-Christian categories of thought regarding God.

Because of the victory of the council, our church has given us this particular passage from the gospel of John. In this passage Jesus speaks about the relationship He has with His Father. It speaks of the glory that the son had with the Father before the world was made.

Let us imagine that we were in ancient Rome at the time of the council of Nicea. Let us imagine that we were speaking to a man who was not a Christian, but who was born into a modestly wealthy family. The family had land and buildings and money. This man spent his life working hard to grow the family business. He knew that he needed to show respect to the gods and honour to the gods. This was because everyone knew that if the gods were angry, they would give you bad luck and misfortune. 

So the man made sacrifices to the gods … now and again. He had pretty good luck. He got a bit richer and a bit richer. It seemed that his life was both prosperous and religious.

But the man had slaves who had to work much harder than their master ever did. He had poor neighbours who struggled to have enough food to feed their children. All around this man there were people suffering to some degree.

The man in our story thought that other people’s problems are their problems. That’s between them and the gods. The gods help the people they want to help.

Along came a Christian who explained that the gift of God to us is that we may feed the poor, and treat all people as our brothers and sisters. The Christian explained that God himself had become a man. And what God did as a man was to feed the hungry, and to have mercy on the poor. When God became man he associated with the outcasts.

That was something unheard of for the Romans. How can it be a divine thing to show human kindness? The Roman argued that is not what gods do. The Roman argued that divinity is not the same as human compassion.

But the Christian argued: the glory of God is a man fully alive. What it means to be divine is to love your fellow humans. What God did when he became human was to love his fellow humans with a love that was so great that he was willing to die for them.

For the Roman in our story, this was a conceptual crisis. He thought: If I have been sacrificing to the gods all this time, but the gods do not care about sacrifice, how did I become so rich and prosperous? Do sacrifices have nothing to do with making the gods happy? Did they not give me what I have because I pleased them?

No. They did not. You do not have riches and material prosperity because you made the gods happy, the Christian explains. “But why did God allow me to be prosperous and rich then?” asks the man.

John Chrysostom would have told him that he does not have riches, but the riches have him. We justify having as much as we have by saying that we need these things. But would we not be freer if we did not need them? If I do not need things they cannot be taken from me, and I cannot be deprived.

God allowed you to have your riches so that you could do the same kind of things that God himself did when he became man. God’s generosity is that you have the opportunity to use what you have to show the love of God to other people. God is calling you to take care of others. When you do that you are one with God and you shine with the glory of God.

The Roman man again was faced with a crisis. How can I live up to this calling! It is too hard. The Christian explained to him that only the gift of the Holy Spirit is enough to help us be like Jesus.

If Jesus were just a man who did nice things, we would powerless to follow in his footsteps. But if Jesus is God who became man, then Jesus can make us alive with the same love that he has If Jesus is God, then he can make us who he is because he became who we are.

God’s super power is love. The glory and majesty and power of God is shown in the compassion Jesus showed to the widows, the sick, the poor, and the sinners. What is successful in the life of Jesus? What is admirable and excellent? What about his life is an expression of what we want to be? It is his love and compassion and prayers.

There are ways for us to live out this calling in our church. Consider the reading today from Acts.

IN THOSE DAYS, Paul had decided to sail past Ephesos, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. And from Miletos he sent to Ephesos and called to him the elders of the church. And when they came to him, he said to them: “Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God which he obtained with the blood of his own Son. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities, and to those who were with me. In all things I have shown you that by so toiling one must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, ‘it is more blessed to give than to receive.‘ ” And when he had spoken thus, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

Acts 20:16-18, 28-36

St. Paul built up his churches without receiving any compensation because he wanted to set an example for the new Christians of the kind of spirit of responsibility and empowerment that is needed. We are the church. No one else is obligated or even called to help to pay for our church. God has called us.

The first way for us to imitate Christ in his divine condescension is to practice tithing. God has called us to give 10% of our income to the church. But you are not giving money. You are giving Church School to children. You are giving spiritual care and hospital visits. You are helping to build a safe haven for others. You are providing this city with a strong witness to the Orthodox faith. You are giving youth the chance to grow in faith. You are giving the frail a place of rest.

The next way we participate in the life of Christ is by serving. In many organizations 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people. In this community the number is better than that, but we still need more people to be involved. If you do not have a specific task in this church, you need to have one. You are missing out and we need you.

Another way of shining with the glory of God is for us to welcome people to church. You are the face of this congregation. Visitors need to be welcomed by you.

We show that Jesus is our only hope by taking responsibility for making church happen and by providing church for others. This is the glory of God. This is true spirituality.

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Godly fear

A reflection at the Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil on the morning of Holy Thursday.

Exodus 19:10-19

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down to the people and solemnly charge them and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. Let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. Thou shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. Whoever touches the mountain shall surely die. Not a hand shall touch it, but he shall surely be stoned or shot with an arrow; whether man or beast, he shall not live. When the trumpets sound and the cloud is over the mountain, then they shall go up on the mountain.” So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes. And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near your wives.” Then it came to pass on the third day, that in the morning there were sounds and lightnings and a thick cloud on mount Sinai; the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder.

Job 38:1-21; 42:1-5

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Who is this who hides counsel from me and confines words in his heart and thinks to conceal them from me? Gird thy waist like a man; I will question thee, and you will answer me. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars were made, and all my angels praised me in a loud voice. I shut up the sea with doors when it burst forth and issued from the womb; I made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band; I fixed my limit for it and set bars and doors; and I said, ‘This far you may come, but no farther, and here you proud waves must stop!’ Have you commanded the morning since your days began and caused the dawn to know its place that it might take hold of the ends of the earth and the wicked be shaken out of it? Or did you take clay of the ground and form a living creature and set it with the power of speech upon the earth? From the wicked have you removed light and crushed the arm of the proud? Have you entered the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in search of the depths? Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death? Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell me, what is the extent of it? Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place, that you may take it to its territory and know the paths to its home? Do you know it because you were born then or because the number of your days is great?” Then Job answered the Lord and said: “I know that thou canst do everything, and that no purpose of thine can be withheld from thee. Thou didst ask, ‘Who is this who hides counsel from thee? Or who keeps back his words, and thinks to hide them from thee?’ Or who can tell me what I did not know?’ But hear me, O Lord, and let me speak; thou didst say, ‘I will question thee, and you will answer me.’ I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees thee.”

1 Corinthians 11:23-32

Brethren, I received from the Lord that which I also handed on to you: that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread; and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said: “Take, eat; this is my body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same manner he also took the cup after supper, saying: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till he comes. Therefore, whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason, many are weak and sick among you, and many have died; For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world.

Matthew 26:2-20

The Lord said to his disciples, “You know that after two days the Pascha is coming and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.” Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and took counsel together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be a tumult among the people.” Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment; and she poured it on his head as he sat at table. But when the disciples saw it, they were indignant saying, “Why this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for a large sum, and given to the poor.” But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.” Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver Jesus to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray Jesus. Now on the first day of the Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the Pascha?” Jesus said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “my time is at hand; I will keep the Pascha at your house with my disciples.”’ “And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Pascha. When it was evening, Jesus sat at table with his twelve disciples.

John 13:3-17

And knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God, Jesus rose from supper, laid aside his garments, and girded himself with a towel. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not realize now, but afterward you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part in me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but he is clean all over; and you are clean, but not every one of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; that is why he said, “You are not all clean.” When he had washed their feet and taken his garments and resumed his place, he said to them: “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed art thou if you do them.”

Matthew 26:21-39

And as they were eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” He answered and said, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me, will betray me. The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” Judas, who betrayed him, said, “Is it I, Master?” Jesus said to him, “You have said so.” Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took the cup; and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them saying, “Drink of it, all of you. For this is my blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.” And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, “You will fall away because of me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter declared to him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” Jesus said to him, “Truly, I say to you this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And so said all the disciples. Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go yonder and pray.” And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then Jesus said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch with me.” And going a little farther, he fell on his face and prayed saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou willest.”

Luke 22:43-45

And there appeared to Jesus an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly. And his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

And, getting up from prayer, Jesus came to his disciples, and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “So, Could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, thy will be done.” And again he came and found them asleep, for their eyes were heavy. So leaving them again, Jesus went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep on now and take your rest. Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going. See, my betrayer is at hand.” While he was still speaking, behold, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign saying, “The one I shall kiss is the man, seize him.” And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Hail Master!” And Judas kissed him. Jesus said to him, “Friend, why are you here?” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot now appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But How then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that it must be so?” At that hour Jesus said to the crowd, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples forsook him and fled. Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest where the scribes and the elders had gathered. But Peter followed him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest. And going inside, he sat with the guards to see the end. Now the chief priests and the elders and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death; but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward and said, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’“ And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” But Jesus was silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God!” Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy! Why do we still need witnesses? You have heard now his blasphemy! What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.” Then they spat in his face and struck him; and some slapped him saying, “Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is it that struck you?” Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a maid came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” But Peter denied it before them all saying, “I do not know what you mean.” And when he went out to the porch, another maid saw him and said to the bystanders, “This man also was with Jesus of Nazareth.” And again Peter denied with an oath, “I do not know the Man!” After a little while, the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly, you are also one of them, for your accent betrays you.” Then Peter began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the Man!” And Immediately the cock crowed. And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus: “Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly. When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took council against Jesus to put him to death. And they bound him, and led him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor.

Holy Thursday is the day we remember the Last Supper. On this day we will consecrate two lambs at Holy Communion, and save one of them as the reserved sacrament for the year to come. The other theme for today is fear. We are learning about the fear of God, and the awesome and terrible moment at which we come face to face with Him.

Our first Old Testament reading is from the story of the people of Israel, when they had escaped from Egypt. The Israelites have come to Mt. Sinai, and God warns them not to touch the holy mountain. Anyone who does will die immediately. In the second Old Testament reading, Job hears the voice of God. This reading comes at the end of the book of Job, when Job and his friends have been reasoning about the nature of God’s providence. Suddenly God speaks. God impresses upon Job that Job is a mere human. God asks, pedagogically, if Job was the one who made the earth. The answer is obviously no, and so the implication is that Job is put in his place. In the epistle reading, St. Paul speaks about approaching the Holy Mysteries with reverence and awe. The consequence for the one who approaches the mysteries with presumption and irreverence, is that they eat and drink judgment.

In order to get a fuller understanding of the nature of the fear of God, we must consider the fact that all of these people were already afraid, but with a different kind of fear. The Israelites were afraid because all they had ever known was slavery. They were afraid that the Egyptians would recapture them. They were afraid that God would abandon them in the desert. They were afraid to enter the Holy Land.

We too are often afraid because of our enslavement to sin. Will God truly free us? We struggle to see how the law of God is also the warm embrace of a loving Father. We are afraid that those around us who are enslaved to sin may never be free.

In the story of Job, the voice of God is heard after Job and his friends have argued over whether God is just. Does God protect the righteous? Job does not think so. Everything was taken from Job. He lost his children, household, livestock: everything. Job is afraid that his trust in God was for nothing.

In adversity, we too fear that God has abandoned us. The more we invest in our faith, the more we have left behind to follow Christ, the more we have to lose if it all turns out to be a lie.

In the gospel reading we read almost entirely about fear. In the first part of the gospel reading, the apostles are all indignant because of the woman who poured out perfume on the feet of Jesus. They are actually afraid because for a few years now, they have been wandering from place to place with Jesus, not knowing where their next meal will come from, or where they will sleep. Judas is so afraid that Jesus might be a false Messiah, that he decides to ensure that he will be friends with the chief priests. At least he, Judas, will not be killed with Jesus when Jesus’ ministry is brought to a sudden end, in what Judas fears will be a defeat and failure. We too worry about our material wellbeing. We are afraid of being seen as failures, afraid of saving face. We fear that we have only ourselves to rely on.

Peter seems to be brave in the gospel readings. He professes his willingness to die with Jesus. But we know that he actually does not have the strong faith that he wishes that he had. Perhaps the outspokenness and eagerness of Peter is a compensation for a mind that is completely riddled with fear. Many of us also make loud and showy pronouncements of faith. We may overcompensate by trying outdo others in asceticism, knowledge of the lives of saints, seriousness and strictness. This is often because we fear that we will not be able to live up to the stature of a “true” Orthodox Christian.

When Jesus warns the disciples that they will run away from him, betray him and deny him, they are so afraid of this notion that they disregard it. When Jesus warns them that he will soon die, they tell themselves that he is just being dramatic. We also pick and choose which of the words of Jesus we will hear. When they are hard for us, we begin to negotiate and reason that Jesus couldn’t have meant what he said. In our fear we also run away from Christ and deny him when we sin. That is the nature of life-destroying fear.

In the readings today we are offered a picture of the life-giving fear of God, and it is completely different. In the story of the Israelites at Mt. Sinai, the Israelites are not simply told not to approach the mountain. They are given a few days to cleanse their garments (and also their hearts and minds). When they have prepared themselves with mindfulness, they are able to approach God with sobriety, gratitude, reverence and confidence. The life-giving fear of God has confidence in God’s love.

While Job hears God “out of the storm,” he nonetheless is able to repent and take back his words. He admits that he had spoken about things he could not understand. He hears the admonition of God and he is able to ask for God to teach him. This too is the life-giving fear of God. This is the nature of the repentance which God has given to us as a gift. Repentance brings about a life-giving correctness, a holy seriousness, standing up straight in our full stature. The fullest respectability and dignity of a human is to revere God and hope in his love in spite of how much God is also to be feared. Peter sees that he has denied Jesus, just as Jesus had said. Peter’s tears and wailing are given to him as the beginning of the godly fear. He has tasted the utter despair of the one who turns his back on Christ. This is the dark night experienced by the who has lost out on the opportunity to suffer with Jesus. Peter abhors the idea of ever failing again that same way, and this fear leads Peter through his apostolic ministry, and strengthens Peter when he himself eventually dies as a martyr for Christ.

Jesus delivers the disciples and us from deathly fear by sojourning with us in the place of our fear. God asks Job, “Have you entered the springs of the sea? Or have you walked in search of the depths? Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death?” The implication is that God has entered the sea (with the Israelites), he has destroyed the gates of death (as the one who is crucified before the foundation of the world). He abides with us in the place that we fear the most. Jesus is afraid with us when he sweats blood in the garden of Gethsemane. He prays out loud (for the sake of the hearers), expressing his fear to his Father. And he also allows the disciples to know that the angels are there with him in his hour of fear. He shows us that the angels are also with us in the hour of our fear.

This transformation of the deathly fear into a godly fear is given to us on the day when we commemorate the Last Supper, because now we are approaching the body and blood of Christ as we hear him say, “take, eat.” We must approach Jesus’ body and blood with a godly fear. We do not touch the holy mountain or the Holy Things until we have cleaned our garments. We hear God’s mighty voice, and we ask him to teach us. Having confessed our sins, and having been healed with Holy Unction yesterday, today we stand with confidence but also with awe. We dare approach the chalice because we have been taught the correct type of fear. Holy fear is dignified. Holy fear is grateful. When we come to the Holy Communion, the deacon tells us, “with the fear of God, in faith and love, draw near.”

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Freedom from pride

MARK 10:32-45

At that time, Jesus took his twelve disciples, and he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him to the Gentiles; and they will mock him, and spit upon him, and scourge him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise.” And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him, and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant of James and John. And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Two brothers are taking their families camping in the woods. They stop to set up camp. They both want to be the camping boss.

“You’re starting the fire wrong. See it’s not working, let me show you how.”

“I know how to do this, I’ve been camping more than you have.”

“Well then why isn’t the fire going already.”

“We need to set the tent up over there.”

“No, you never set a tent up in that kind of a place. Everyone knows that.”

“When I was in the army we learned that you always have to do it like this.”

“Well we’re not in the army now, General!”

Each one wants to be the big boss man. After they ruin their families’ vacation the two brothers decide to try to talk things out. (Full disclosure: their wives decided that they would talk it out). Both brothers are thinking the exact same thing. They both say, “you never listen to me.”

What they both feel is, “I want to be heard. I want to be respected. I’m not a little boy anymore. Υou need to relate to me as an adult. I want to be recognized for my accomplishments. I want to feel loved.”

They both want the other brother to feel loved as well. As it stands now, the brothers are sacrificing every real need that they have to that one perceived need which is the need to win. They would both rather win, rather push the other one down, than build the other up. Who is going to blink or back down?

In this stalemate no one is winning. Both of these brothers have become slaves to their pride. They each have a rope around their necks. Pride is holding the other end of the rope. When pride says, “stick out your chest,” they must do it. If they don’t, pride will make them feel as if they are going to die inside. When we are enslaved by our pride it is very easy for someone to grab hold of that rope and yank itand make us do things we didn’t think we would ever do, such as destroy our relationships and make a scene over a campfire.

What is it that you are attached to so much that when it is threatened you become a slave to your passion?

In today’s gospel the Apostles James and John come to Jesus to ask him if they may sit at his right and left side when Jesus comes in his kingdom. Basically they want to be as powerful and as important as you can possibly get.

Jesus asks them, “can you drink the cup that I drink?” What cup is that? It is the cup that Jesus spoke of in the garden of gethsemane saying, “take this cup from me.” It refers to his death. Jesus asks the disciples, “can you be baptized with the same baptism with which I am baptized?” That is, the baptism in which Jesus enters into the depths of hades. It sounds like Jesus is simply asking them to swear a solemn oath of allegiance. But the question is actually pedagogical. These apostles will run away from Jesus when Jesus goes to “drink of that cup,” as he suffers and dies. So no, they cannot drink of it yet. But in this passage, James and John are eager, and they say, “yes, we can do that.”

Then Jesus says, “you will indeed drink the cup that I drink … but to sit at my right or my left hand is not mine to give.” We now know that they did die as martyrs later on, when they have reached maturity in their apostolic ministry. But they have not matured yet, at the time of today’s gospel.

Why did Jesus say that he is unable to grant the places of honour to the apostles James and John? There are three issues going on here. First of all, there is no right or left-hand place beside Jesus. Jesus sits alone upon the throne. Jesus is the lamb who is slain. He is the only lamb of God.

It is in our DNA to fall down before Jesus Christ and worship him as our Lord as our God as our Saviour. It is a fundamental part of how the universe works and of how we work. Whatever passion and desire we have become enslaved to it will undermine the “one thing needful” which is to serve Jesus Christ.

Second of all, Jesus has already told the apostles earlier that they will all sit on thrones in the kingdom (just not as his equals). When James and John are making this request they are not just saying that they want to be near Jesus. They actually wanted to be greater than the rest of the disciples. As long as the brothers are fighting they are losing the very brother from whom they want respect. They are destroying the very relationship that would be the place where respect and love would happen.

Third of all, notice, when Jesus says, “it is not mine to give,” he does not go on to say, “but my Father has decided who will sit there.” He does not say whose it is to give. Ruling with Jesus means dying with him, which is our choice and he cannot make it for us.

Jesus has given us a way out of this mess. Jesus says, “whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of man [himself!!] also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

The word “ransom” is interesting. Usually when we hear the word ransom we think of hostages or kidnapping. What Jesus is talking about is buying a slave. In our analogy the rutheless master controlling each brother is pride. How can they be free?

They can be free by becoming the servant of another master. When they are freed from the false master of pride, they are free to become the servant of the real master who is Himself the full essence of love. They are free to follow Him who created us, who holds us together in an inseparable bond of shared humanity.

In our gospel reading today the disciples want to be equal to Jesus. But a disciple will never not be a disciple. Jesus does not ransom us so that we have no master. Jesus ransoms us for true freedom, which is the freedom to be His servants and disciples. We will never have any higher place, never any higher calling than to sit at Jesus’ feet. In the heavenly kingdom we will still be disciples forever.

The master teaches us by revealing himself to be present in the person of our neighbour. We honour our teacher who is coming to us disguised as a needy brother. The master teaches us  by calling us to do what he does. We are Jesus’ apprentices. When we forgive we are growing into our true selves. When we cooperate and let the other person win the argument, we are becoming true man together with him who is also true God. When I build up my brother he starts to behave like a king with nobility of character  and magnanimity. And even if he does not I have my peace.

We proclaim our belief that Jesus can restore all people to the kingship which is the inheritance of the servant. The best way to achieve the restored relationships that we long for is to follow Jesus, showing those around us that our hope is not in pride but in love.

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