Tag: christian

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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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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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Proskomedi (part 1)

How does the Holy Spirit speak to us? How does the Holy Spirit help us to make decisions? How do we know who has authority to discern the guidance of the Holy Spirit for the Church? These are the questions we are going to learn about today and in the next few Sundays.

In order to learn about this we are going to study the Proskomedi. The Proskomedi is a service of preparation that is celebrated by the priest before Divine Liturgy. When it is finished, the wine and the bread are ready to be carried into the church for the Eucharist. The priest celebrates this service on a table in the altar that stands off to the side.

The table is called the Prothesis. “Prothesis” means the act of bringing something forth. The Proskomedi service is a picture of how the Holy Spirit works in our lives. We are going to study the text of the Proskomedi for a few reasons. First of all, learning about the prayers of the church teaches us to think like the Church. Second of all, the Proskomedi teaches us what the words “authority” and the “inspiration” of the Holy Spirit mean.

Authority comes from the Latin word “augment.” In Roman law, authority was idea that you can only make new laws if they are a continuation of previous laws. You cannot make anything new. Christians took this concept and applied it to the doctrine of the Church. Like St. Paul and St. Vincent teaches us: we only repeat what we have heard.

The Proskomedi tells us about Christian authority and what makes for authoritative teaching. The Proskomedi teaches us who has authority. It does this by showing us what the original authority is and how it continues and reaches us.

The word Proskomedi means sacrifice. It is a Bloodless sacrifice. In ancient times and in the Old Testament, food offerings and whole-burnt offerings fell into this category of bloodless sacrifices. These were not animal sacrifices of blood or atonement. They were offerings from the people without blood. The Proskomedi is the sacrifice that we make, offering what we have to God. We offer our work to God by giving the product of our work.

The first prayer of the Proskomedi is, “God be gracious to me, a sinner.” That might sound like a generic introductory phrase. But in fact, this prayer captures the essence of all of our prayers. We are sinners who need God.

Today we read about Zacchaeus who was a sinner. Zacchaeus was basically like the mafia. He was an extortionist. Being a tax collector meant not only that he took people’s money but he had the power to put you in jail whenever he wanted if he didn’t get the money he wanted.

We read today how Zacchaeus turned his life around. Zacchaeus was numbered among the seventy apostles who Jesus sent out to heal and preach the gospel. Zacchaeus became an apostle and a bishop!

Zacchaeus is a good example of how God works in our lives. The “original” from which all authority derives is Jesus Christ. Jesus comes to Zacchaeus and sees him hiding in a tree. And Jesus says to him “come down, I am going to eat at your house.” Where did Jesus get the authority to tell him what to do? Where did Jesus get the authority to just say “I am going to your house?”

On the one hand Jesus got that authority because he is the creator of Heaven and Earth and is the Son of God. But more importantly Jesus has that authority because he created Heaven and Earth in order to die on the cross for us. Jesus has the authority to call Zacchaeus to repentance because Jesus is eternally the righteous one who died for Zacchaeus. Jesus leaves his Father’s house to come to save Zacchaeus. By his death, Jesus is showing Zacchaeus what Zacchaeus should do. “Go to the lost sheep,” he tells Zacchaeus. “Boldly go to sinners and enter their houses when everyone else thinks they are unclean, just like I have entered your house. Love the sinners. Believe in the power of God to heal the sinners.” That is what Jesus is calling Zacchaeus to do. Because Jesus is the one who does it first, he has the authority to cause Zacchaeus to do it. He is the original, Zacchaeus is the continuation.

Zacchaeus is there in Jerusalem at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit comes. He sees the power of the Holy Spirit to convert thousands of people. Zacchaeus receives the authority and the gift of preaching the gospel, the gift of guiding the Church as a bishop. He takes what he and all the apostles saw, what they together learned from Jesus. He takes what Peter, the leader of the apostles has said. He takes the guidance of the twelve chief apostles. Working within that framework he goes out to continue his own ministry as an apostle and a bishop.

The Holy Spirit moves in the Church. The Church received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Each person received their individual gift and calling of the Holy Spirit in the context of the whole Church. No one did it alone. No one is independent of the rest. No one speaks on their own authority. Not even Jesus speaks on his own authority, but rather he speaks what the Father has spoken to Him.

So when we continue to learn about the Proskomedi we continue to see how the life and death of Jesus has power and authority that spreads out from one person to the next, in the context of the Church, in the fulness of all the people in the Church who are called to various tasks and positions of leadership, and it continues down to each person in their place.

Each of you has the authority to spread the Gospel. Primarily you do this  by living the Christian life. In the same way that Jesus’ authority comes from what he does and he invites you to be righteous with him. He has authority because he knows how. He has authority because he has experienced suffering for righteousness’ sake.

Authority and inspiration in the Church come from the life of obedience and worship and discipleship. And it is spread from you to others who see it in you. It comes through you to your children and grandchildren, to you nieces and nephews and other children in your life; to your godsons and goddaughters, to enquirers and catechumens. Your life in Christ is a conduit for the Holy Spirit to reach others. But only in the context of the wider Church.

Your authority is not to enforce canons. Canons are provided to bishops as a help for them to guide us. Your authority is not to decide how the Bishops should lead the Church. Your authority is not over priests and deacons. You do not have the right to make the bigger decisions about how the worship is done in the church. Each person in their own place and their own calling. Each person has their own type of authority and inspiration.

Each person only has as much authority and inspiration as the Holy Spirit has given them in the context of the Church. Authority and inspiration are given us first and foremost in order for us to obey Jesus, and to have a life of righteousness that they invite others to join.

St. Paul talks about this authority when he speaks about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He says that the body is one, and the head cannot say to the foot, “I don’t need you.” The leaders of the church must not disdain or ignore the people who follow them.

Our bishops need us to learn from them and to follow them. The church does not function well if we do not all follow their leadership. They need us to pray for them. They need us to do the work of serving and running the day-to-day tasks of the church. They need us to listen to them so that others can be saved: to provide a good example of cooperation and obedience to others.

The foot (that is us) cannot say to the head, “I don’t need you as my head” or “I can also be a head.” We have one head. The bishops do not need our guidance. One person is the father. All the others are children. The Head cannot say to the foot, “I do not need you.” But the head is still the head and not the foot.

I once heard Bishop John tell a group of people, “As the bishop, I need you to have a job. But you need me in order to be a church. Without me you are just a club. You might be a great club, but you are not a church without me.”

The Holy Spirit comes to each person through the whole of the Church. He comes to us through the teachings of the Church which come to us through our teachers. He comes to us through the scriptures when they are taught and explained to us by those whom the Holy Spirit has called to teach us. The Holy Spirit does not come to you by going around the Church, but through the Church, through the fulness of the life of the Church.

The inspiration of the Holy Spirit is not just a radio frequency that anyone can tune into without respect to training or ordination. The Holy Spirit guides us by providing us with people who have studied and are recognized by our bishops as being qualified.

So let’s read one of the first prayers of the Proskomedi:

Make ready, O Bethlehem for Eden has been opened for all. Prepare, O Ephratha, for the tree of life has blossomed forth in the cave from the Virgin. For her womb has become a spiritual Paradise in which is planted the divine plant, whereof eating we shall live and not die as Adam. Christ shall be born, raising the image that fell of Old.

This prayer is not just from the Proskomedi, it is also a hymn that we sing at Christmas. On the Prothesis table where we celebrate the Proskomedi we have the Christmas icon. Christ coming to us when we celebrate the Proskomedi. Soon we will receive the body of Christ.

We say that Eden is opened. The creation of the world and the garden of Eden was part of the story line in which Jesus would become man. That is the whole point of creation and human existence is for us to become like Jesus. The Tree of life is the cross. It is beginning to come to us when we prepare of the Divine Liturgy.

The prayer mentions the “Divine plant.” This recalls when Jesus says, “I am the vine you are the branches.” Jesus says “remain in me” Jesus’ love, self-sacrifice, total dedication to God are what we are called to make our lives about. They are the climax of creation.

The life we are created to live in Christ, that is the continuation from the original which is Jesus Christ. All authority and all inspiration from the Holy Spirit shows us how to be part of that. Authority brings about the continuation of the life of Jesus Christ in the life of every Christian. That authority begins in the altar where the Bishop serves together with his priests that he has ordained.

We come to the Proskomedi asking for help as sinners. When the Holy Spirit guides the Church by giving the gift of leadership to our bishops, and the gifts of teaching to our teachers, when the Holy Spirit speaks to us through them about how to live a life in Christ, that is the help we are given. Authority is the voice of the church calling us to a life in Christ, telling us how, guiding us. The hymn above says that we shall live and not die as Adam. Christ shall be born, raising the image that fell of old.

Next time we will talk about how the Proskomedi explains to us what the life in Christ is. What is it that the Church teaches us to do? How does it guide us? How does the work of the Holy Spirit become our own life? That is what we will discuss in the next part of this series.

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Praying with Jesus

At that time, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. But immediately he spoke to them, saying “Take heart, it is I; have no fear.” And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus; but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “O man of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they entered the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret.

MATTHEW 14:22-34

The disciples were rowing in the storm in today’s gospel. They were cold, wet and tired. It was also pitch dark. When you are in a boat on the stormy seas there is no break from the waves. You can’t press pause.

The wind was blowing against them, otherwise they would have used the sail. And this sounds like the worst-case scenario, but it was not. When it is stormy, the best thing is to have the front of the boat point straight into the waves. What is dangerous is when the waves come from the side. The storm that Jesus left them in was difficult but not deadly.

This is the second time that Jesus is with the disciples in the storm. The last time there was a storm, Jesus was with them in the boat. This time he is on land, and they are rowing alone. He is training them for their work as apostles once he ascends into heaven.

Many interpret this story as “Jesus comes to us in our storm to comfort us.” That is part of the point.

But when Jesus comes to the disciples it is not comforting at first. The disciples think that they are seeing a ghost. You don’t look outside when you’re rowing and working so hard. You can’t see someone walking on the water in that darkness. But suddenly Jesus is right up next to them.

Peter says, Lord, if it is you, tell me come to you.” Peter did not say, “let me walk on the water too.” Rather, Peter says, “let me come to you, Jesus.” Peter did not say, “I am coming.” He waits to hear the voice of Jesus. He waits for a command.

Jesus says, “come.”

Peter is full of love but also eager to the point of recklessness. Jesus affirms his love because Jesus always receives us when we run to him. Jesus also allows Peter to learn how to be more sober.

By allowing Peter to first walk out onto the water, and then sink, Jesus is saying to Peter, “Yes, you want to come to me. That is a desire which will always be fulfilled. But no, you are not invincible in your faith. Take your weakness seriously. Be careful not to get caught up in ecstasy.”

Powerful and intense feelings are deceptive. An intense feeling is not a substitute for sober, mature thought. Feelings are like little children. They are precious and command our attention. They are hard to ignore. They become our darlings.

But feelings have to grow up. Feelings cannot always dominate our conversations. Every child has to learn not to interrupt. Every child has to learn that mom and dad cannot always read them books; cannot always give them a hug. Mom and dad have to correct them. Mom and dad need to expect them to work.

Affection walks hand-in-hand with steady direction. That is how our feelings must be managed. When we allow our feelings to be the boss, especially in our faith, then our world is ruled by a child. A child who is in charge of the house becomes the worst of tyrants.

Love the feelings. Be open to the feelings. But let your inner adult be the boss. That is the best thing for your feelings.

The disciples were on the sea, in the storm. They were almost home when Jesus came to them. The thing that had brought the disciples so close to their goal was not a feeling of ecstasy but hard work.

When Jesus comes to deliver them from the storm He waits until the “fourth watch.” That is something like 4 or 5 in the morning. The night was almost over. They got to their destination immediately after he came to them. Hard work and faithfulness and the mature sobriety brought them most of the way. When Jesus comes to the disciples, He does not calm the storm immediately. The storm is still raging when Peter gets out of the boat. That is why Peter starts to be afraid. Sometimes just as we are about to be delivered the storm gets much worse. That is almost a part of the proof that deliverance is at hand.

Jesus calmed the waters but he did not give them wind from behind to fill their sails either. They still had to row the rest of the way. But because they had been working so hard against the storm, the rest of the work was easy by comparison.

When Peter’s faith starts to fail, when he loses sight of who it is that he is walking towards, when it is less a matter of love and more a matter of being seduced by feelings of wonder, then he sinks. Jesus steps in and supplies what is lacking. At the ordination of a priest or deacon, the bishop prays that God will supply was is lacking.

This means something wonderful and unexpected: we too can be part of supplying the faith that is lacking in others. How is that?

The reason Jesus was not in the boat with them that night was that he withdrew to pray. Perhaps he was praying for them as they rowed. Think about that for a moment. Jesus, our Lord and God and saviour, prays. We pray to him. He prays to his Father.

When we pray, we are praying not only to Jesus but with Jesus. What else are we doing with Jesus? We come to church to serve and to make sacrifices with Jesus. Jesus is not only he who was offered. Jesus is he who offers. He is both the lamb who was slain and the High Priest.

We too make offerings together with Jesus. In the Divine Liturgy we say, “thine own of thine own, we offer unto thee in behalf of all and for all. We do this in behalf of all. We supply what is lacking in their faith by offering up spiritual sacrifices for our own sins and for the ignorance of the people.

Just showing up, just participating is an expression of divine faith. We have come to walk on the water by coming here to church. Even if we do not have an ecstatic feeling of faith, even if we struggle to even know why we are here we are still working together with Jesus to save the world. Faithfulness, showing up and working hard may bring a feeling of closeness to Jesus. But it always is a closeness to Jesus, even if we do not feel it.

And Jesus supplies what is lacking (often by allowing us to struggle, since he knows that we mature in that way). Jesus is with us so that we will become one with him in his prayer and in his ministry to the world.