20081026 Orthodoxy as the "Good Ground"
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St. Luke 8: 5-15 (Gospel) “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.
---
Christ is giving us an amazing parable today, describing how different people respond to Christ. All of the people he describes hear the Good News and accept Christ into their hearts, but it only flourishes in one group of people: the ones whose hearts are “good ground”. Unlike the others, they “hear the word with a noble and good heart, keep it, and bear fruit with patience.”
We cannot live life in joy without God. We cannot truly enjoy our relationships with one another unless we ourselves and those relations are grounded in the Truth. This is the way to salvation, so it is vital that we understand what Christ is telling us. What is it about the last group that allows them to keep the word in their hearts, that protected it from the thievery of the evil one; that allowed the Truth to take root and grow in them; to avoid the temptations that would pull them into error and lies; that would insulate them from the hedonistic cares, riches, and pleasures of life that would render them barren; in short, how does one develop a “good and noble heart”?
To develop Christ’s parable a bit, what can we do to prepare the grounds of our hearts for the seed of His Word? A farmer prepares the ground for planting in a very careful and intentional way. He removes rocks and thorns and weeds; and does whatever he can to make sure it is fertile. How do we remove the rocks, thorns and weeds from our hearts? How can we make it fertile so that the Truth will grow in us?
Let me give you the short answer: Orthodoxy.
Some people wonder why we have all this stuff: all the icons, the iconostasis, the altar, the vestments, the rituals, the prayers, and the customs; why we cross ourselves, bow, and make prostrations; thank God in the morning and the evening and before and after each meal; why we fast on Wednesday and Friday, before Communion, and in preparation for major feasts; why we get our houses blessed; why we make such a big deal about Baptisms, first Confessions, and Marriages; why we follow customs like kissing the bishops hand and asking for his blessing; and why we are gathered here today to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. The deep theological answer to “why do you have all this stuff”? is that it flows naturally from the Incarnation of God as Jesus Christ, and that His Incarnation continues mysteriously in His Holy Orthodox Church. But the more immediate answer is that we have all this stuff because it is what keeps our heart’s fertile for the flourishing of Christ’s word within us. All this stuff prepares the soil, removes the stones, pulls the weeds, and allows the seed within us to yield a “hundredfold” as described in the parable.
Plenty of people want to know if all this stuff is really necessary. Our pews are not full, so I have to assume that most people are trying for an “easier way”; that they are going to make a go of it without all the stuff. I wish them good luck, but the parable today leads me to fear for their failure, to wonder if they are doing enough to allow for a full harvest.
Friends will tell you that they love God and see Him everywhere. They do not need Church to keep Christ’s word in their hearts. They experience God in other ways: in a walk through the park, time spent with friends, caring for the poor, tending their garden, or taking care of animals. They really do not need something as old fashioned as Church. It may not be Orthodox, but the seed is the same.
Others will tell you that they have found an easier way to worship, a way that is simpler, more modern, more entertaining, and far less demanding. That it may not have all the stuff of Orthodoxy, but that all that stuff isn’t necessary – the only thing you really need is to accept Christ into your heart. The rest is just a celebration of this decision, so why make it so hard? Why not make it more fun? No, it’s not Orthodoxy, but the seed is the same.
On the face of things, both arguments have merit: you can and should see God everywhere; every motion and encounter should be a sacrament that works to bring you into closer union with Him. It is also true that the most important thing is to accept Christ into your heart. But when you look at the alternatives to Orthodoxy using today’s parable, you understand how incomplete and how dangerous they are. God would not be warning us about the many ways the Word can leave our hearts if it were as easy as all that. It’s not easy. Nothing worthwhile is. We can pretend it is easy – like when we buy lots of cool stuff on credit – but eventually reality brings this fantasy to an end. The farmer can pretend that all it takes is to have really good seed, and that all he must do to gain a good crop is spread it everywhere; that he can just sleep in, take strolls through the park, and have fun while it grows on its own, then harvest it all in the Fall. Yes, he can pretend that it is easy to grow a nice crop… right up until harvest time.
The seed that God has given us good. It has the potential to change our lives. To grow us into perfection. But just having the good seed is not enough. The soil must be prepared. The garden must be tended. Orthodoxy is the practical wisdom and practice of spiritual gardening. It’s not always easy, and you may be tempted to take short-cuts and compromise your faith. But when you are tempted to do this, to ignore some of the “stuff” of Orthodoxy, think of the parable of the sower. Cross yourself and keep gardening.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
20081019 Restoring Our Sense of Touch
20081019 Restoring Our Sense of Touch
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www.orthoanalytika.org
2 Corinthians 9: 6-11
St. Luke 17: 11-19
What is it that your heart desires? What is it that you long for? Or, to put it a different way, what is it that you fear; the one thing that you worry about so much that it keeps you from enjoying the manifold blessings we call life?
With the huge government bailouts and a looming depression, our first inclination towards answering these questions may have to do with financial security. In recent polling, most Americans listed economic problems (to include employment and heating costs) as their greatest concern. A reported increase in stress and decrease in levels of happiness seems to be correlated with increased economic woes. It seems obvious that our hearts desire security and prosperity, and that we fear not being able to make ends meet.
God is our loving Father. He does not want us to suffer from stress and uncertainty. Look at one of the most obvious expressions of that love: God took on flesh. He was incarnate among us; lived among us. Some people knock the Church and stay away from her services claiming that they do not offer real solutions to real problems. They are deceiving themselves and refusing the very help they need. God’s help is immediate. It is real. And it is imminently practical. Today’s lessons are great examples.
Let us look at the Epistle reading. Are you one of those people whose financial problems keep you up at night? Is money what keeps you from enjoying life? Is it what poisons your mind so that you know only stress and hopelessness? St. Paul has an answer for you: give cheerfully. [In tough economic times, this may seem like an oxymoron: giving and cheerfulness do not seem to fit together at all: but our faith is full of such seeming contradictions. For example the cross of crucifixion; a sign of torture and agony, becomes a joyous sign of victory over sin and death.]
St. Paul writes; “he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully”. Some Christian pastors have perverted this into the “prosperity gospel”, claiming that if you give money to the church, then God will give you even more money back. This is heresy. Our Church is the Church of the martyrs, not of billionaires. St. Paul is teaching something far more fundamental than this: he is teaching us how to attain joy even in difficult times. Even in the midst of poverty. Giving of yourself and of your money changes everything. It empowers you, reminding you that you were put here for more than groceries and heating bills; and in so doing, it puts all these necessities into perspective. How can you be happy if making rent is your highest monthly priority?
God knows that we have to pay our bills. If you are interested in the nuts and bolts of Christian budgeting, there are plenty of good resources out there [Dave Ramsey is my personal favorite, and we at St. Michael’s will cover the basics of fiscal responsibility in our adult education classes later this Fall]. But unless you change your attitude towards money, then fixing your budget is like straightening the deck chairs on the Titanic. Cheerful giving and making charity a priority in your life redirects the ship towards safer waters.
Another, related, piece of practical advice contained in today’s epistle has to do with gratitude. You cannot be a cheerful giver if you are not grateful for the things you have. If you horde over your possessions like a miser, then you cannot enjoy them or anything else. When misers give to charity, they do so reluctantly, grudgingly. For the miser, things like parish dues and tips for service become obligations; the giving of which sucks even more happiness out of their souls because they drain money that might be put towards things that are deemed more essential. Do you see how this poison works? How it commodifies and perverts our transactions with others and leads us into greater stress and depression?
Gratitude is a strong anecdote. Teach yourself to be grateful for the things you have, and tipping a waitress and charitable giving become ways to express and share that gratitude. They actually increase happiness rather than draining it. Do not think of these things as bills to be paid for services rendered: you should not give to the Church in return for sacraments, good singing, or useful programs; nor should you give to your waiter simply for bringing you your food; or to the beggar on the street just to leave you alone. You give because things have been given to you. Because you are grateful. Give so that it can become who you are. Give because it reifies and restores your humanity, your relationship with others, and your relationship with God.
Today’s Gospel reaffirms this lesson. Christ the God-man heals ten lepers and sends them to the priest, but only one returns to thank Him. Let’s explore this for just a moment. Leprosy causes terrible suffering. First, it deadens the sense of touch. There is no feeling. No direct contact with the outside world. So all feeling turns inward, to the creeping malady there. Second, lepers are ostracized. According to Jewish law, lepers were complete outcasts, totally cut off from any kind of fellowship. They suffered and died separate from family; separate from community. This is a terrible combination. So when Christ healed these lepers, He did more than give them a new lease on life, He restored their sense of touch, gave them the potential to regain contact with the community, the potential to develop strong reciprocal relations with families and friends. They were no longer sentenced to a life focused on internal stress and misery, but could share their lives – their joys and concerns – in harmony with others. But would they? Perhaps their attitudes had been so poisoned by years of introspective worrying that they were no longer willing to connect with others at any more than the most superficial level. The lack of gratitude of the nine suggests this to be the case, at least with them. This is a great pity.
But one did came back! When God renewed the possibility of a full life for him, he jumped on the opportunity. He reached out of himself by showing his gratitude - and look at what that did for him: it truly restored his connections with humanity and with God Himself. He was more than thankful: through his gratitude he had become a cheerful giver; a positive force for joy and restoration.
There is no greater metaphor for the way we live our lives in this fallen world than leprosy. Our senses have become dead to the touch of others; we have turned inward, focusing on the many potential points of failure in our lives and in our budgets; we have cut ourselves off from the enjoyment of community. Our interactions with others have become obligations, things that drain us.
Earlier, I asked you what you feared. If you thought about money, I want you to look deeper. I believe that our stress over financial challenges is just a symptom of a much greater malady. This malady is the utter aloneness and desperation of life lived apart from the shared love of community (ecclesia) in one another through Christ. A malady that the world misdiagnosis and against which it offers only snake-oil and narcotics, the peddling of which has brought us nothing but financial ruin and even greater numbness. I believe that our greatest fear is to live and die alone, unloving and unloved.
The irony is that there is a real cure, and it is here. You are Christians. Through the Sacraments of His Church, Christ has healed your spiritual leprosy as surely as he did those lepers in Samaria and Galilee. You are free to join humanity, to feel love, to grow eternally in your enjoyment of fellowship and community. Or you can be like the nine who never came back and continue to live and die inside yourself.
What does your heart desire? You will find it in Christ. You will find it, feel it, enjoy it, and share it though your gratitude to Him and all that He has given you.
www.stmichaeluoc.org
www.orthoanalytika.org
2 Corinthians 9: 6-11
St. Luke 17: 11-19
What is it that your heart desires? What is it that you long for? Or, to put it a different way, what is it that you fear; the one thing that you worry about so much that it keeps you from enjoying the manifold blessings we call life?
With the huge government bailouts and a looming depression, our first inclination towards answering these questions may have to do with financial security. In recent polling, most Americans listed economic problems (to include employment and heating costs) as their greatest concern. A reported increase in stress and decrease in levels of happiness seems to be correlated with increased economic woes. It seems obvious that our hearts desire security and prosperity, and that we fear not being able to make ends meet.
God is our loving Father. He does not want us to suffer from stress and uncertainty. Look at one of the most obvious expressions of that love: God took on flesh. He was incarnate among us; lived among us. Some people knock the Church and stay away from her services claiming that they do not offer real solutions to real problems. They are deceiving themselves and refusing the very help they need. God’s help is immediate. It is real. And it is imminently practical. Today’s lessons are great examples.
Let us look at the Epistle reading. Are you one of those people whose financial problems keep you up at night? Is money what keeps you from enjoying life? Is it what poisons your mind so that you know only stress and hopelessness? St. Paul has an answer for you: give cheerfully. [In tough economic times, this may seem like an oxymoron: giving and cheerfulness do not seem to fit together at all: but our faith is full of such seeming contradictions. For example the cross of crucifixion; a sign of torture and agony, becomes a joyous sign of victory over sin and death.]
St. Paul writes; “he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully”. Some Christian pastors have perverted this into the “prosperity gospel”, claiming that if you give money to the church, then God will give you even more money back. This is heresy. Our Church is the Church of the martyrs, not of billionaires. St. Paul is teaching something far more fundamental than this: he is teaching us how to attain joy even in difficult times. Even in the midst of poverty. Giving of yourself and of your money changes everything. It empowers you, reminding you that you were put here for more than groceries and heating bills; and in so doing, it puts all these necessities into perspective. How can you be happy if making rent is your highest monthly priority?
God knows that we have to pay our bills. If you are interested in the nuts and bolts of Christian budgeting, there are plenty of good resources out there [Dave Ramsey is my personal favorite, and we at St. Michael’s will cover the basics of fiscal responsibility in our adult education classes later this Fall]. But unless you change your attitude towards money, then fixing your budget is like straightening the deck chairs on the Titanic. Cheerful giving and making charity a priority in your life redirects the ship towards safer waters.
Another, related, piece of practical advice contained in today’s epistle has to do with gratitude. You cannot be a cheerful giver if you are not grateful for the things you have. If you horde over your possessions like a miser, then you cannot enjoy them or anything else. When misers give to charity, they do so reluctantly, grudgingly. For the miser, things like parish dues and tips for service become obligations; the giving of which sucks even more happiness out of their souls because they drain money that might be put towards things that are deemed more essential. Do you see how this poison works? How it commodifies and perverts our transactions with others and leads us into greater stress and depression?
Gratitude is a strong anecdote. Teach yourself to be grateful for the things you have, and tipping a waitress and charitable giving become ways to express and share that gratitude. They actually increase happiness rather than draining it. Do not think of these things as bills to be paid for services rendered: you should not give to the Church in return for sacraments, good singing, or useful programs; nor should you give to your waiter simply for bringing you your food; or to the beggar on the street just to leave you alone. You give because things have been given to you. Because you are grateful. Give so that it can become who you are. Give because it reifies and restores your humanity, your relationship with others, and your relationship with God.
Today’s Gospel reaffirms this lesson. Christ the God-man heals ten lepers and sends them to the priest, but only one returns to thank Him. Let’s explore this for just a moment. Leprosy causes terrible suffering. First, it deadens the sense of touch. There is no feeling. No direct contact with the outside world. So all feeling turns inward, to the creeping malady there. Second, lepers are ostracized. According to Jewish law, lepers were complete outcasts, totally cut off from any kind of fellowship. They suffered and died separate from family; separate from community. This is a terrible combination. So when Christ healed these lepers, He did more than give them a new lease on life, He restored their sense of touch, gave them the potential to regain contact with the community, the potential to develop strong reciprocal relations with families and friends. They were no longer sentenced to a life focused on internal stress and misery, but could share their lives – their joys and concerns – in harmony with others. But would they? Perhaps their attitudes had been so poisoned by years of introspective worrying that they were no longer willing to connect with others at any more than the most superficial level. The lack of gratitude of the nine suggests this to be the case, at least with them. This is a great pity.
But one did came back! When God renewed the possibility of a full life for him, he jumped on the opportunity. He reached out of himself by showing his gratitude - and look at what that did for him: it truly restored his connections with humanity and with God Himself. He was more than thankful: through his gratitude he had become a cheerful giver; a positive force for joy and restoration.
There is no greater metaphor for the way we live our lives in this fallen world than leprosy. Our senses have become dead to the touch of others; we have turned inward, focusing on the many potential points of failure in our lives and in our budgets; we have cut ourselves off from the enjoyment of community. Our interactions with others have become obligations, things that drain us.
Earlier, I asked you what you feared. If you thought about money, I want you to look deeper. I believe that our stress over financial challenges is just a symptom of a much greater malady. This malady is the utter aloneness and desperation of life lived apart from the shared love of community (ecclesia) in one another through Christ. A malady that the world misdiagnosis and against which it offers only snake-oil and narcotics, the peddling of which has brought us nothing but financial ruin and even greater numbness. I believe that our greatest fear is to live and die alone, unloving and unloved.
The irony is that there is a real cure, and it is here. You are Christians. Through the Sacraments of His Church, Christ has healed your spiritual leprosy as surely as he did those lepers in Samaria and Galilee. You are free to join humanity, to feel love, to grow eternally in your enjoyment of fellowship and community. Or you can be like the nine who never came back and continue to live and die inside yourself.
What does your heart desire? You will find it in Christ. You will find it, feel it, enjoy it, and share it though your gratitude to Him and all that He has given you.
Monday, October 13, 2008
20081012 Our Great Counselor
20081012 Our Great Counselor
www.stmichaeluoc.org
www.orthoanalytika.org
Today, I would like to use the First Epistle of St. John to set the context for today’s lesson:
This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 St. John 1: 5-9)
God is Light: the purest perfection. The purest joy. The purest love. The purest beauty. The purest peace. He desires that we join Him in that light. That we become pure joy, pure love, pure beauty, and pure peace. That we transcend the sin and darkness of this broken world to live now and eternally in abundant and rational bliss.
Is this something that you think you might enjoy? Wouldn’t you prefer a life of peace to one where you are beset by worries; a life of purest joy to one where your happiness is dependent on the stock market, the size of your paycheck, or the vicissitudes of bodily health? Wouldn’t you enjoy a life of shared love, fellowship, and communion with others who walk only in beauty and joy and who desire only the best for you? Isn’t that kind of success better than anything the world offers?And I say to you as God says to you: this goal is within your reach. The path is before you. It will take you to your heart’s deepest desire. Will you take it?
I have benefitted from the advice of many counselors. In my junior year of college, I realized that I liked studying political science and thought I might like to go to graduate school. So I went to the graduate school admissions counselor to find out how to get there. He pulled out my transcript and immediately put a wall between me and my new dream, saying; “you don’t have the grades to get into graduate school; I just don’t think you would do well. There are plenty of other things I am sure you are good at. Graduate school is not for everyone.” You see, I had not applied myself during my first two years of college. I made some really bad grade, and would have had more if I had not dropped several classes before their grades stuck. I did well at the classes I liked, but lacked the discipline to work at the ones I didn’t. But that had been two or three years before. Since then, my time in the army had taught me the value of hard work, perseverance, and self-discipline. During a year at the army’s language school, a year in which we lost 50% of my class, I learned how to learn. I knew that I had the skills to succeed at graduate school. Rather than giving up, I asked; “what would it take for me to get into graduate school?” To his credit, he gave me a target:; “a 4.0 from here on out, and a really good score on your GRE”. I smiled, thanked him, shook his hand, and left. I am sure he thought he would never see me again. But I followed the plan he set out for me and, despite working two to three jobs and taking extra classes, I hit the target [of course, Pani Tina played a big role in this; we were married between my junior and senior year]. Unfortunately, while I was able get into graduate school, I still haven’t figured out how to get out. One day I’ll get around to defending a dissertation :-)
As you know, there are all kinds of counselors willing to give us advice about how to improve aspects of our lives: career counselors can help us get better jobs; financial counselors can help us save for retirement; credit counselors can help us get and stay out of debt; marriage counselors can help us gain greater fulfillment from our marriages. But the value of advice even the best of these can give pales next to that given to us by God. Those other counselors can help you be more productive in your life; but Our Great Counselor can give you a reason to live.
The counselor told me that graduate school was not for everyone. Those who did not enjoy reading, writing, and working hard would only be hurt by the experience. St. John tells us that God is light; and that if we have sin or darkness in us that we cannot be with Him. So how do we become creatures of the light? What is the path that leads to the only goal worth achieving?
Glory to God that He has made the way straight. In today’s scripture lessons He tells us what we must do.
1. The first lesson come from the epistle reading: St. Paul teaches us that if we want to be true “sons and daughters” of God; then we have to separate ourselves from all the things that defile us. He uses the metaphor of the temple. We are to be temples of the Living God. Our church is a temple. We would never bring or do anything in here that was not holy, that did not reflect God, that did not help us move closer to Him. All of our icons, literature, banners, candles; everything is specifically and intentionally put here for our edification and God’s glory. We are to do the same with our lives; intentionally surrounding ourselves with things that are holy and removing and avoiding those things that defile us. As St. John says, God gave us the sacraments to cleanse our hearts; but don’t stop there. Intentionally order your life in purity. Purify your time through morning and evening prayer. Purify your house by removing temptations and putting up icons. We are in the midst of a financial crisis: purify your budget by removing those things that distract you from the Truth. All these things will allow us to “perfect holiness in the fear of God.
2. The second lesson comes from the Gospel reading: Christ Himself tells us that must “love [our] enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return.” It is not enough for us to love those who might love us back; or give to those who might reciprocate; or welcome those who might join; or console those who might console us. We must do these things despite the expected return. When we say that “God is Love” we mean that it comes out of Him like light from the sun. The sun does not give light because we want to see, or even because it wants light back. It gives light because that is what it does. This is how we are to live. We are to be love. We are to radiate Christ to everyone and everything.
In summary, God desires us to live in perfect joy, to become partakers of eternal goodness. He has given us the straight path of His Son so that we might attain this goal. Order your life around Him and become like Him. This is our calling; our life’s work. It is also our blessed assurance, our peace, and our joy.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
www.stmichaeluoc.org
www.orthoanalytika.org
Today, I would like to use the First Epistle of St. John to set the context for today’s lesson:
This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 St. John 1: 5-9)
God is Light: the purest perfection. The purest joy. The purest love. The purest beauty. The purest peace. He desires that we join Him in that light. That we become pure joy, pure love, pure beauty, and pure peace. That we transcend the sin and darkness of this broken world to live now and eternally in abundant and rational bliss.
Is this something that you think you might enjoy? Wouldn’t you prefer a life of peace to one where you are beset by worries; a life of purest joy to one where your happiness is dependent on the stock market, the size of your paycheck, or the vicissitudes of bodily health? Wouldn’t you enjoy a life of shared love, fellowship, and communion with others who walk only in beauty and joy and who desire only the best for you? Isn’t that kind of success better than anything the world offers?And I say to you as God says to you: this goal is within your reach. The path is before you. It will take you to your heart’s deepest desire. Will you take it?
I have benefitted from the advice of many counselors. In my junior year of college, I realized that I liked studying political science and thought I might like to go to graduate school. So I went to the graduate school admissions counselor to find out how to get there. He pulled out my transcript and immediately put a wall between me and my new dream, saying; “you don’t have the grades to get into graduate school; I just don’t think you would do well. There are plenty of other things I am sure you are good at. Graduate school is not for everyone.” You see, I had not applied myself during my first two years of college. I made some really bad grade, and would have had more if I had not dropped several classes before their grades stuck. I did well at the classes I liked, but lacked the discipline to work at the ones I didn’t. But that had been two or three years before. Since then, my time in the army had taught me the value of hard work, perseverance, and self-discipline. During a year at the army’s language school, a year in which we lost 50% of my class, I learned how to learn. I knew that I had the skills to succeed at graduate school. Rather than giving up, I asked; “what would it take for me to get into graduate school?” To his credit, he gave me a target:; “a 4.0 from here on out, and a really good score on your GRE”. I smiled, thanked him, shook his hand, and left. I am sure he thought he would never see me again. But I followed the plan he set out for me and, despite working two to three jobs and taking extra classes, I hit the target [of course, Pani Tina played a big role in this; we were married between my junior and senior year]. Unfortunately, while I was able get into graduate school, I still haven’t figured out how to get out. One day I’ll get around to defending a dissertation :-)
As you know, there are all kinds of counselors willing to give us advice about how to improve aspects of our lives: career counselors can help us get better jobs; financial counselors can help us save for retirement; credit counselors can help us get and stay out of debt; marriage counselors can help us gain greater fulfillment from our marriages. But the value of advice even the best of these can give pales next to that given to us by God. Those other counselors can help you be more productive in your life; but Our Great Counselor can give you a reason to live.
The counselor told me that graduate school was not for everyone. Those who did not enjoy reading, writing, and working hard would only be hurt by the experience. St. John tells us that God is light; and that if we have sin or darkness in us that we cannot be with Him. So how do we become creatures of the light? What is the path that leads to the only goal worth achieving?
Glory to God that He has made the way straight. In today’s scripture lessons He tells us what we must do.
1. The first lesson come from the epistle reading: St. Paul teaches us that if we want to be true “sons and daughters” of God; then we have to separate ourselves from all the things that defile us. He uses the metaphor of the temple. We are to be temples of the Living God. Our church is a temple. We would never bring or do anything in here that was not holy, that did not reflect God, that did not help us move closer to Him. All of our icons, literature, banners, candles; everything is specifically and intentionally put here for our edification and God’s glory. We are to do the same with our lives; intentionally surrounding ourselves with things that are holy and removing and avoiding those things that defile us. As St. John says, God gave us the sacraments to cleanse our hearts; but don’t stop there. Intentionally order your life in purity. Purify your time through morning and evening prayer. Purify your house by removing temptations and putting up icons. We are in the midst of a financial crisis: purify your budget by removing those things that distract you from the Truth. All these things will allow us to “perfect holiness in the fear of God.
2. The second lesson comes from the Gospel reading: Christ Himself tells us that must “love [our] enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return.” It is not enough for us to love those who might love us back; or give to those who might reciprocate; or welcome those who might join; or console those who might console us. We must do these things despite the expected return. When we say that “God is Love” we mean that it comes out of Him like light from the sun. The sun does not give light because we want to see, or even because it wants light back. It gives light because that is what it does. This is how we are to live. We are to be love. We are to radiate Christ to everyone and everything.
In summary, God desires us to live in perfect joy, to become partakers of eternal goodness. He has given us the straight path of His Son so that we might attain this goal. Order your life around Him and become like Him. This is our calling; our life’s work. It is also our blessed assurance, our peace, and our joy.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
20081005 Now is the Time!
20081005 Now is the Time!
www.stmichaeluoc.org
www.orthoanalytika.org
2 Corinthians 6:1-10
St. Matthew 25:14-30
In these financial times, when people have taken our economy to the brink of destruction with bad loans and risky investments, it might be tempting to sympathize with the servant who buried his talent. But this is not a story about going into debt (which scripture routinely criticizes as unhealthy and dangerous), or about about taking on risk in an attempt to satisfy hedonistic desires for riches or property; or even about mortgaging the future to satisfy illicit desires now. This is a story about taking stock of what we have, rolling up our sleeves, and getting to work.
What have we done with the gifts God has given us? Have we used them for His glory, or have we been too afraid to do His work? Have we been so timid in our service to Him that we hid the gifts He gave us? Are we “good and faithful servant[s]”, or a “wicked and lazy” ones?
For there is no doubt that we are God’s servants: all that we have is given on loan to us as His stewards. In this sense, He gives us gifts as a farmer might give his tenants land and seed: so that they might use them to gain Him a great crop. To some He has given more than others; as He says in this parable, He gives “according to [their] own ability.” He does not expect a farmer who only has the strength to till and maintain one acre to farm ten; nor does he expect the weaker farmer with the smaller field to return as large a yield as the stronger farmer to whom he leased a larger field. Notice that God rewarded both the servant who returned five more talents and the servant who returned two more, calling them both “good and faithful servant[s]”, making them both “ruler[s] over many things”, and granting them both to “enter into the joy of your lord.” The problem with the servant who received one talent was not his ability, but his refusal to roll up his sleeves and get to work.
The Gospel tells us that the man refused to roll up his sleeves and get to work because “he was scared”. Specifically, it seems as though he was scared of failure. He was scared of failure, so he became lazy. Rather than confronting his fears, he did nothing. He did nothing, and as a result he was cast into “outer darkness”.
Being scared is not a sin. But anyone who has studied our catechism knows that laziness is. God can help you overcome fear; first and foremost by offering forgiveness as soon as we confess our shortcomings. You have to realize that God does not care about the talents, or the crops, or the obvious results of the work we do for Him: He is our great Father and Teacher, desiring only our growth and progression towards perfection and bliss. It is the work we do for Him more than the tangible results they produce [and that we then offer] that perfect us. What do we have that God really needs? All He wants is our perfection; and in order to grow us into perfection, He demands that we work. And He demands that we get to work right now.
Quoting and paraphrasing the prophecy of Isaiah, St. Paul tells us that “Now is the accepted time… now is the day of salvation”. There are things that we need to do, and now is the time to do them. Some of the things we are asked to do will put us outside our comfort zone; we might not like doing them. They might be hard. We might rather be doing something else. But let me share two pieces of advice my saintly grandmother gave me when I defended my [mile-wide] lazy streak: “everything worth having is worth working for” and the less philosophical; “they don’t call it work for nothing.” Work may be hard, it might move us out of our comfort zone, but look at the rewards God offers!
I agree with St. Paul: the time is now, this is the day of our salvation. Right now we are in the middle of the Divine Liturgy. [Some of you might rather be doing something else. We have many empty pews, and some are empty because some actually decided to do something else.] Liturgy means the “work of the people”. The “work of the people”. This is the Divine Liturgy. This makes it the most important of all the work we do. This may obvious for me as a priest [after all, this is what I am called and paid to do], but it is no less true for all of you.
So how are we doing at this Divine Liturgy? How are we doing at Our Holy Work? In what ways is it pulling us outside of our comfort zone, and how are we responding? This work demands our full attention – are we giving it our full attention, or is that too hard for us? Are we too lazy? I know that my mind is tempted to wander, but even more than in the secular world, my job here is not to daydream, but to serve attentively. Perhaps we are distracted by children or tempted to judge those around us; we may even be harboring hatred for past wrongs done to us or someone we love. These are real temptations, but they are no excuse: our Master told us to “suffer the little children”, never judge another, and to love everyone – even our enemies. This Liturgy, this encounter with Perfection, sanctifies us, but it takes effort. It takes work. It may not be easy for us. Unless we are already perfect, it probably should move us outside of our comfort zone.
Listen again, to how St. Paul puts it, as he describes the proper attitude towards doing this work:
This work of being a Christian can be hard, but look at the reward. In just a few minutes Christ will offer Himself to you; His Body and Blood for your salvation and eternal life. The time of salvation is now: Enter now into the Joy of Your Master.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
FWIW, this homily was matched with the following in the "Q&A section of our weekly bulletin:
Question: I know someone that has been away from the church for years, but wants to come back. What is the procedure?
Answer: Invite them to come home! In accordance with the Gospel (e.g. St. Matthew 20: 13-16 & St. Luke 15: 31-32), we welcome them with open arms: they are immediately restored to full communion through the Sacraments of Repentance and Communion (if penance is required, then that is largely a private matter). Again in accordance with God’s instructions (e.g. St. Matthew 18: 4-6), we should put nothing (to include grudges and hard-heartedness) between Christ and His children. The “devil” is only “in the details” if we put him there. It is my opinion that if we truly reached out to folks that have been away for whatever reason, not only would our pews be full: we would be one step closer to living the kind of life that Christ requires of those who bear His name. We always greet everyone who comes in our doors with love and compassion (e.g. St. Matthew 5: 43-48). This is how we grow (as persons and as a church).
www.stmichaeluoc.org
www.orthoanalytika.org
2 Corinthians 6:1-10
St. Matthew 25:14-30
In these financial times, when people have taken our economy to the brink of destruction with bad loans and risky investments, it might be tempting to sympathize with the servant who buried his talent. But this is not a story about going into debt (which scripture routinely criticizes as unhealthy and dangerous), or about about taking on risk in an attempt to satisfy hedonistic desires for riches or property; or even about mortgaging the future to satisfy illicit desires now. This is a story about taking stock of what we have, rolling up our sleeves, and getting to work.
What have we done with the gifts God has given us? Have we used them for His glory, or have we been too afraid to do His work? Have we been so timid in our service to Him that we hid the gifts He gave us? Are we “good and faithful servant[s]”, or a “wicked and lazy” ones?
For there is no doubt that we are God’s servants: all that we have is given on loan to us as His stewards. In this sense, He gives us gifts as a farmer might give his tenants land and seed: so that they might use them to gain Him a great crop. To some He has given more than others; as He says in this parable, He gives “according to [their] own ability.” He does not expect a farmer who only has the strength to till and maintain one acre to farm ten; nor does he expect the weaker farmer with the smaller field to return as large a yield as the stronger farmer to whom he leased a larger field. Notice that God rewarded both the servant who returned five more talents and the servant who returned two more, calling them both “good and faithful servant[s]”, making them both “ruler[s] over many things”, and granting them both to “enter into the joy of your lord.” The problem with the servant who received one talent was not his ability, but his refusal to roll up his sleeves and get to work.
The Gospel tells us that the man refused to roll up his sleeves and get to work because “he was scared”. Specifically, it seems as though he was scared of failure. He was scared of failure, so he became lazy. Rather than confronting his fears, he did nothing. He did nothing, and as a result he was cast into “outer darkness”.
Being scared is not a sin. But anyone who has studied our catechism knows that laziness is. God can help you overcome fear; first and foremost by offering forgiveness as soon as we confess our shortcomings. You have to realize that God does not care about the talents, or the crops, or the obvious results of the work we do for Him: He is our great Father and Teacher, desiring only our growth and progression towards perfection and bliss. It is the work we do for Him more than the tangible results they produce [and that we then offer] that perfect us. What do we have that God really needs? All He wants is our perfection; and in order to grow us into perfection, He demands that we work. And He demands that we get to work right now.
Quoting and paraphrasing the prophecy of Isaiah, St. Paul tells us that “Now is the accepted time… now is the day of salvation”. There are things that we need to do, and now is the time to do them. Some of the things we are asked to do will put us outside our comfort zone; we might not like doing them. They might be hard. We might rather be doing something else. But let me share two pieces of advice my saintly grandmother gave me when I defended my [mile-wide] lazy streak: “everything worth having is worth working for” and the less philosophical; “they don’t call it work for nothing.” Work may be hard, it might move us out of our comfort zone, but look at the rewards God offers!
I agree with St. Paul: the time is now, this is the day of our salvation. Right now we are in the middle of the Divine Liturgy. [Some of you might rather be doing something else. We have many empty pews, and some are empty because some actually decided to do something else.] Liturgy means the “work of the people”. The “work of the people”. This is the Divine Liturgy. This makes it the most important of all the work we do. This may obvious for me as a priest [after all, this is what I am called and paid to do], but it is no less true for all of you.
So how are we doing at this Divine Liturgy? How are we doing at Our Holy Work? In what ways is it pulling us outside of our comfort zone, and how are we responding? This work demands our full attention – are we giving it our full attention, or is that too hard for us? Are we too lazy? I know that my mind is tempted to wander, but even more than in the secular world, my job here is not to daydream, but to serve attentively. Perhaps we are distracted by children or tempted to judge those around us; we may even be harboring hatred for past wrongs done to us or someone we love. These are real temptations, but they are no excuse: our Master told us to “suffer the little children”, never judge another, and to love everyone – even our enemies. This Liturgy, this encounter with Perfection, sanctifies us, but it takes effort. It takes work. It may not be easy for us. Unless we are already perfect, it probably should move us outside of our comfort zone.
Listen again, to how St. Paul puts it, as he describes the proper attitude towards doing this work:
- ...we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings; by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. (2 Corinthians 6:3-10)
This work of being a Christian can be hard, but look at the reward. In just a few minutes Christ will offer Himself to you; His Body and Blood for your salvation and eternal life. The time of salvation is now: Enter now into the Joy of Your Master.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
FWIW, this homily was matched with the following in the "Q&A section of our weekly bulletin:
Question: I know someone that has been away from the church for years, but wants to come back. What is the procedure?
Answer: Invite them to come home! In accordance with the Gospel (e.g. St. Matthew 20: 13-16 & St. Luke 15: 31-32), we welcome them with open arms: they are immediately restored to full communion through the Sacraments of Repentance and Communion (if penance is required, then that is largely a private matter). Again in accordance with God’s instructions (e.g. St. Matthew 18: 4-6), we should put nothing (to include grudges and hard-heartedness) between Christ and His children. The “devil” is only “in the details” if we put him there. It is my opinion that if we truly reached out to folks that have been away for whatever reason, not only would our pews be full: we would be one step closer to living the kind of life that Christ requires of those who bear His name. We always greet everyone who comes in our doors with love and compassion (e.g. St. Matthew 5: 43-48). This is how we grow (as persons and as a church).
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