The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. John. (5:1-15)

“Do you want to be healed?” This is the simple question of our Lord God and savior Jesus Christ in today’s gospel text. “Do you want to be healed?”

As Christians we lose track of why it is that we come to the Church. Sometimes we come simply to socialize or because this is a religious habit. But the real reason why we must come to the Church is because we desire to be healed.

What sort of healing do we need? We require physical healing and more importantly we require mental, emotional and spiritual healing. We each carry many wounds and often these wounds exist due to our sinfulness. One of the primary tasks of the holy Church of God is to offer medicines to heal its people.

We are sick from anger. We are sick from impatience. We are sick from lust. We are sick from worry and anxiety. We are sick from egotism and pride. We are sick from the love of wealth. We are sick from materialism. We are sick from gluttony. We are sick from laziness. We are sick from the need for power. We are sick from busyness. We are sick from “entertainment.” We are sick for attention and for the need to be heard and respected. All of these things are affecting us as Christians. They are affecting us as human beings. They are walls between us and God.

The man in today’s gospel was sick with a physical illness for 38 long years. Sometimes we’ve carried our sins and spiritual infirmities for a long time. We carry these sins of jealousy, anger, lust, pride and the love of wealth. We’ve lacked faith in God and trusted ourselves instead. We all carry sickness as a result of our sins and unfortunately this is not as easy to heal as some physical illnesses might be. You can’t just take an antibiotic and be cured of anger. You can’t simply put a bandage on worry. You can’t take a pill to cure your problems with lust and the love of the flesh. So what now? How do we find healing from all of these ailments that are spiritual in nature?

It depends on how we answer the question “Do you want to be healed?” I suspect that if I ask you if you want to be cured of your anger, you will reply “Yes, I want to be cured.” But in the depths of your heart is that true? There is a difference between our words, and the actions that follow our words and that is what defines our relationship with Christ the master. God isn’t impressed by our outward appearance, He wants our hearts. We see that the Lord had great compassion upon the paralytic because the paralytic could not help himself and had not been offered help by others. In a manner of speaking, that is what God is looking for. God desires those who are hopeless and who have no other hope but Him. We have to learn to lean on God and pray to God with that kind of disposition.

Are we using our time in a way that demonstrates our true desire for healing? Our life is defined by what we do and how we use our time. How are we showing the Lord that we are genuinely waiting for healing? Are we filling our time only with work? Are we filling our time with to-do lists and plans for the future? Are we filling our time with social media, games and shows? Do these things help us with our desire to be healed? Do they bring us closer to Christ? We have plenty of things that take our time and attention, but how many of them are really profitable for us? Where is the reading of the word of God in our daily activities? When do we make time for prayer? Not short, routine prayers, but heartfelt prayers where we forget about time and space and simply sit in the presence of God? Do we run to the Church as to the body of Christ? Do we understand that all of Christ’s healing is offered here in the Church?

The paralytic waited for healing for 38 years and he even found his way to a miraculous pool that could offer such healing. What he could not imagine and did not expect was that the man standing next to him could offer him even greater healing, both physically and spiritually, in an instant. This didn’t happen once 2000 years ago in a remote part of the world. It happens daily. God heals physical infirmities and more importantly God heals the spiritual illnesses that divide man from his Creator and this type of transformation is apparent in the lives of the multitude of saints and holy men and women. Shall we stay paralyzed in our sins or shall we live as we were meant to live? It will come down to how we answer the question posed by the Master “Do you want to be healed?”

Source: Sermons

The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Mark. (15:43-16:8)

At times the Holy Scriptures and the New Testament are just as powerful for what they leave out, or what they don’t say, as for what they do say. Here is an example: nowhere in the Scriptures or the New Testament does anyone refer to God as “Mother.” Another example: nowhere in the New Testament or the 4 gospels does anyone refer to Holy Communion as a symbol. These are simple but powerful examples of how the word of God speaks to us and if we choose to add or subtract from the text, we are doing a grievous thing because it is no longer the word of God, it becomes the word according to our imagination.

Today we continue our celebration of Pascha, Easter, the resurrection of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. As you know this celebration continues for 40 days until we celebrate the feast of Ascension. The Church continues to focus on the resurrection of the Lord in the gospel text this week and we hear about the pious Joseph of Arimathea, whom we are told was a respected member of the council (likely the council of Sanhedrin). This man does what would have been unthinkable to the logical and rational mind. He went to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate and requested the dead body of the Lord Jesus so that he could see to His proper burial.

Why is this unthinkable, illogical and irrational? Because it was an act of respect and love towards a man who was just betrayed by the Jews and was just executed by the Romans. When someone is hated and despised by the people and when that person is put to death, we would expect that everyone would scatter and go their separate ways. Yet we are told that Joseph took courage! He went directly to Pilate with complete disregard for his own safety and with disregard for how he might be viewed by the rest of the Jews including his own council. Such was this man’s love for God and for the Lord, His only begotten Son. Such was this man’s desire to show mercy to the One who had poured out mercy on thousands upon thousands of people who had flocked to Him during His three year ministry.

But as I told you at the beginning, the New Testament can be just as powerful in what is not mentioned as it is in what is mentioned. Do you know what is missing from the passage? The disciples. They are completely absent from this story about going to Pontius Pilate to receive the body of the Lord. They were not there at all! This should strike us as strange because they had given up everything and followed Him as their master for the last three years! Where were the disciples? Why didn’t they come to show their love of the Lord? Why didn’t they come to pay their respects and to honor the body of the Lord with dignity and a proper burial? They certainly knew what would happen to a body that was unclaimed; that it would be thrown into a common pit with the other criminals who had been executed. So where were the disciples?!

They were absent on purpose because they were terrified and hid for their lives. Their absence demonstrates so much about the courage of Joseph of Arimathea, it would’ve humbled them greatly. But more than this, their absence overwhelmingly and powerfully witnesses to the truth of the resurrection of the Son of God. Within a matter of three days the cowardly and timid disciples will grow bold and before long they will be like lions as they boldly preach and proclaim the risen Lord. Their activity is the most important movement in the history of the world, a movement that we are continuing here and now because we also believe in the risen Lord. But do we believe enough to proclaim this to the outside world? Are we pious, reverent, and respectful towards Christ even when doing so is unpopular and dangerous? Are we hidden and terrified as the disciples were? Are we terrified of what co-workers and classmates might say? Are we terrified of being labeled by friends or neighbors?

The disciples were terrified for their very lives. They believed when they saw Christ physically resurrected but Our Lord blessed those who would believe without seeing. Perhaps you’ve never given much thought to Joseph of Arimathea. Perhaps you quickly glossed over that part of the passion narrative. It shows us that every detail is important. Both what is mentioned and what is not mentioned. It shows us that the resurrection powerfully transformed the disciples who scattered as soon as the Shepherd was struck.

Finally, it also teaches us that Joseph showed mercy and compassion when it was not convenient to do so. He showed mercy to what he thought was a lifeless corpse, who could offer nothing in return. How much more should we show mercy and compassion to those around us, even when it is inconvenient to do so? May the example of Pious Joseph, his mercy, his piety and his courage, be an encouragement to each of us as we seek to be disciples of the risen Lord Jesus!

Christ is risen!

Source: Sermons

The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. John. (20:19-31)

Within the Orthodox Church all over the world we have been enjoying a wonderful celebration. Ultimately this is not the celebration of a neat idea or a famous story or a cleverly devised fable or myth. In a hundred years people will still speak of Harry Potter as a great story but they will not hold festivals and great celebrations in his name. Our celebration within the Church is of a different nature. For us it is the celebration of a life changing reality.

The resurrection of Christ which we celebrate is ultimately a celebration of truth over falsehood, life over death and light over darkness. It is through the crucifixion and subsequent resurrection that the Apostles fully understand the truth of the identity of Jesus Christ.

This week I read a news article about a group of university students who wrote a letter to the president of the school in order to protest the upcoming speaking engagement of a man who did not agree with their particular worldview. What was shocking was just how far these students were willing to go with their disagreement. Here are their exact words “The idea that there is a single truth–‘the Truth’–is a construct of the Euro-West that is deeply rooted in the Enlightenment…” They went on to claim that objective truth is simply a construct of racists that is used to silence oppressed peoples.

Our society is losing a grip on reality and ultimately that grip has to do with morality and that morality has to find a reference point with a moral law-giver and that moral law-giver must have an identity. And that identity must ultimately be rooted in something deeper than myths and inspiring stories. Star Wars is a myth and an inspiring story but it has no real power in our lives.

What we Christian peoples have been celebrating this week and for the last 2000 years is the truth that has been revealed to us through the experience of the Apostles. For us there are some matters that are life or death and the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is certainly among the most important of these.

In today’s gospel reading we hear these words from our Lord to Thomas, who doubted the resurrection until he had seen physical proof. The Lord said “Put your finger here, and see My hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing.” Thomas answered Him, “My Lord and my God!” We cannot ignore the power of this story because it demonstrates that what the disciples saw was not some ghost or vision. It was a real flesh and blood human being. And this human being still had the wounds which He had received 3 days earlier. He still had nail holes and a huge spear wound in His side. His presence shook Thomas and the others to their very core. In all of this we see that Thomas cries out “My Lord and my God!” It is one of the direct instances where Jesus is clearly called God and we notice that the Lord does not rebuke or silence Thomas. He doesn’t say to Thomas “Please don’t say that, it is blasphemy.” The Lord Jesus accepts the words of Thomas because they are full of truth.

Jesus continues saying “Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.” The sight and the presence of the Lord shook the disciples and completely utterly changed their worldviews and ultimately changed the fabric of the society around them. They who were utterly cowardly became bold and courageous like lions. They went from place to place preaching the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Nearly every one of them was murdered for preaching, teaching and proclaiming that Jesus was risen from the dead.

At no time did any one of the disciples waver or change their course of action. At no time did any of the disciples say “It was all a story that we made up, it never happened.” They were thrown out of their synagogues and forcefully removed from the Temple. They were ostracized and laughed at. They were beaten and imprisoned. Through all of this, the message never changed and their joy also never changed. Their joy never changed and never failed because Christ had forever changed their understanding of the things that mattered.

He changed their understanding of suffering. He changed their understanding of death. He changed their understanding of God. He changed their understanding of the truth because He demonstrated that He is the Truth. Ultimately, He changed their very understanding of life. They were ready to leave everything behind in order to boldly proclaim this objective truth, that God exists, that God love us so much that He sent His Son into the world for us, that His Son suffered and died for us and that this same Son rose from the dead in order to give us renewed life and purpose through communion and fellowship with Him.

Far from being a tool of racists used to silence oppressed peoples, objective truth in the person of Christ is meant to liberate and free oppressed and enslaved humanity from the delusion of idols and the prison of false teachings that can never offer us healing, hope or salvation because they never actually bring us to the one true God!

But why am I saying all of this to you today? Because we are the people of the resurrection! I don’t want you to be enslaved and entangled in the world, in its materialism, in its lusts. We are reminded that life has no meaning unless it is married to truth. The resurrection of the crucified Lord, who is the only Son of God, should be the central truth of our life. It should shake us to the core as it shook the first disciples. It must change our lives.

Don’t fill your days with plans of what to buy next, what to eat next, what to do next. Fill your hearts with the joy of Christ’s resurrection and with the thought that while everything in this life is passing away, our life with God is still just beginning and it will continue forever through Christ’s glorious resurrection from the dead. This is the truth proclaimed by the Apostles and it is the truth and the reality of the people of God. Christ is risen!

Source: Sermons

The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Mark 10:32-45

“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 scourge Him, and spit upon Him, and kill Him; and after three days He will rise.”

We are now entering our final week of Great and Holy Lent. The Church today reminds us that we are not far from the climax of the story of our salvation. Before long we will again be reminded of God’s goodness towards mankind. We will again be reminded of the way that God has worked and continues to work to bring the human race to life, true life, and to peace with one another and with Him.

Just as we hear the gospel and we understand that the Church is preparing us for the whirlwind of events that will happen. We also understand that Our Lord Jesus is preparing His twelve disciples for what is to come. Yet we see that even after teaching them privately and attempting to prepare them for what was to come, what was to befall Him, they really never understand. Do we understand?

Do we understand the magnitude of this story which is central to our Christian faith? Do we understand the ramifications of the Creator of life choosing to voluntarily lay down His life as a ransom for many? Do we understand that the Lord Jesus had every opportunity to escape such a fate? The Lord wasn’t captured against His own free will. He chose to become a prisoner, He chose the mocking and the scourging. He chose to be spit upon and to be treated like dirt. He chose by His own free will to be put to death by those whom He had given existence and life.

This past week I read about one of the technology billionaires. He was interviewed and said that he was afraid of what artificial intelligence might do in the future. He envisioned that it was possible that one day the computers and robots that we have created would turn on the human race. He doesn’t know this to be true but he speculates that it is a possibility. I could not help but think about God’s mercy towards the human race. He fully understood that we would turn against Him. He knew this even before He formed the world. He knew that we would rebel and choose a life that was actually death because it was detached from Him and He is the source of life. He knew that we would choose false gods and that those gods would take many forms. He knew that we would so fully and completely turn against Him that we would not be satisfied by merely ignoring Him. He fully and completely understood that even those whom He called His own people would betray Him and sentence Him to death.

We talk about love. What manner of love is this that the Father of Our Lord God and savior has for each of us? What manner of love does God demonstrate towards us? He doesn’t punish us because of our rebellion. He doesn’t change His mind towards us because He knows that we will turn viciously against Him. He freely allows us to do what we will to Him, so that He may demonstrate His love towards us even more fully. He will accept death at the hands of His creation, our hands, so that He might pour out His life on us. Can we imagine any scenario where someone would react to such injustice and abuse with so much kindness, mercy and forgiveness? Yet this is precisely the gospel of Jesus Christ. God loved us so much that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

As we draw near to Holy Week we should take a few moments to reflect and meditate on this amazing Messiah, this Christ who loves each of us so dearly that He is willing to accept the worst that we have to offer in order to give us the best of what belongs to Him. He willingly takes our punishment, our disrespect, our dishonor and if these were not bad enough, He chooses to also take our physical death. In return He lifts up the human race and brings us honor, glory, dignity, and immortality through the divine nature which He shares with us, not because we deserve it, but because He desires that we would know Him and unite with Him more fully.

As we reflect on what is to come let us also examine ourselves and see whether we have raised our love and our faith to this standard that has been put forth for us to follow and to imitate. The compassion of our Lord is not simply something for us to observe. We have to enter into this compassion by following the way of Christ. As St. Silouan of Mt. Athos said “Unless you have love for your enemy, you do not know God.” May the love of God penetrate the darkness of our hearts as we boldly finish the course of the fast and prepare for the saving and life-giving passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ….to Him be the Glory with His Father and the Holy Spirit, AMEN.

Source: Sermons

The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Mark. (9:16-30)

Today’s gospel reading is given to to as we celebrate the fourth Sunday of Great and Holy Lent. On this Sunday we commemorate St. John Climacus, who is also known as St. John of the ladder since he wrote one of the most famous spiritual works called The Ladder of Divine Ascent. There are some important similarities between the life-giving words of our Lord Jesus Christ that we hear today and the message of St. John Climacus.

In the gospel reading we hear the story of a young boy who suffers with a terrible illness that is not unlike epilepsy. He suffered violent seizures. Only we learn that the illness is not simply one of the physical brain but that in fact the boy has been seized by demonic spirits. When the father of this boy asks the disciples for help, he finds that even the disciples who have been given power to heal do not have any power in this situation. So the father turns to the only one who can possibly help with this great difficulty. After the Lord Jesus heals the boy, we later find the disciples coming to Our Lord in private and asking him why they could not heal the boy. The Lord’s answer is direct and to the point. “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting.” Just as not all illnesses are equal, each requires it’s own particular medicines, so in this case we see the Lord telling His disciples that some demons are stronger than others. We should likewise understand that not all sins or sinful habits and behaviors are equal. Some can come out with a bit of resolve and short prayers. But others require stronger medicines.

The Church as a wise mother, reminds us during these holy forty days, that what we are doing these days through fasting and extended prayers is not easy but it is the best medicine. It is the medicine that clears our path to God. How blessed we are to have received the wisdom of the Church to guide us and to help us become saints! We don’t have to guess and to take a stab in the dark or reinvent the wheel. We know what it takes to be transformed and we have a rich multitude of saints that prove that our way is tried and true because ultimately it allows us to unite with the One who is Himself truth.

St. John Climacus writes “Do not be surprised that you fall every day; do not give up, but stand your ground courageously. And assuredly the angel who guards you will honor your patience.” We so often lose heart when we fail and stumble and fall, and make no mistake, we all stumble and fall at times. St. John encourages us to see our task as a process that requires time and patience. No great work is achieved overnight. God’s great work of molding and shaping and transforming us into holy men and women is not magic. It is not an instantaneous event. It is not simply a matter of superficial intellectual faith. It is a process that only happens through great and painful struggles that are felt deep within the heart. These struggles are energized by the grace of God.

St. John also reminds us that it is best to tackle these issues and sins as soon as possible because the longer they are left unattended, the more stubborn the wounds become. He writes “While a wound is still fresh and warm it is easy to heal, but old, neglected and festering ones are hard to cure, and require for their care much treatment, cutting, plastering and cauterization. Many from long neglect become incurable. But with God all things are possible [Matthew 19:26]” (Step 5.30, Ladder of Divine Ascent). When someone has terminal illness, everyone including the doctors gives up. But St. John tells us that even those who have “terminal” spiritual illnesses can have hope because with God all things are indeed possible.

The Church reminds us during this fourth Sunday of Lent that none of our efforts will go to waste. We aren’t fasting in order to lose weight or to keep a tradition or to look religious or to feel better about ourselves. We are fasting and praying because when these exercises are undertaken with a spirit of humility and when they are coupled together with the sacraments of the Holy Church, they will restore us, renew us and heal us completely.

No matter what you have been struggling with, no matter the number of times that you have fallen, what is required is perseverance in the ascetic disciplines that have been given to us and to add to them the heartfelt pleading of the father in today’s passage. “Lord I believe, help my unbelief!” When a man or a woman learns to fall on their knees with streams of tears running down their face and a heart that is broken, they draw the grace of God to them in a special way. God is our Father and He cannot deny the pleading and requests of His children that are offered up in faith. These heartfelt pleadings are powerful for us personally, and as we’ve seen in today’s gospel they are powerful on behalf of others.

Today we acknowledge that Lent is difficult. This is not fun and games. This is a spiritual battle and the Church has armed us with powerful weapons in this war. So let us not run from fasting and prayer at this crucial moment. But let us use these tools to put our enemies to flight and let us continually remember that none of these things will benefit us unless they are all blessed by the Almighty King Christ our true God, to Him be the glory, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages AMEN.

Source: Sermons

The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Mark 8:34-9:1

Today’s reading is given to us on this the Third Sunday of Lent. We are now halfway through the Holy 40 days and on this day the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates the veneration of the cross. In her wisdom the Church brings out the cross on this day as a way to strengthen and empower all her faithful children who are now weary and tired through fasting and prayer.

In today’s reading we hear some of the greatest words of Our Lord Jesus. He says “If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?”

We are constantly reminded by the Lord that the cross is not just for a few chosen individuals. Each and everyone who calls themselves Christian must take up a cross. Since we follow a master who chose the cross, we must also be ready to choose the cross. You know in our society pain is always seen as bad. It is something to be avoided at all costs. But think about what that would mean for us if the Lord Jesus had a similar mentality. It means that He would never have been crucified or suffered for us.

Sometimes I hear that Buddhism is similar to Christianity. But those who have studied them know that there is a great difference. In Buddhism the goal is to avoid suffering. Buddha left his wife and young child because he could not handle what life had dealt him. In Christianity the Lord Jesus did just the opposite. He walked straight into all manner of pain and suffering, proving that He is the real deal and unlike any other so-called religious leaders. He teaches us that we can’t be saved if we run away from the difficult things in life.

In our society we are taught that when marriage is tough, we should run away. When work is tough, we should run away. When my parents are tough on me, I should run away. When my schoolwork is tough, I will run away, I will drop out of school. When my very life is tough, I might even look for a way to run from it.

Let’s stand with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane and just imagine what would’ve happened if Our Lord said “Crucifixion is tough, I will run away.” It would be a normal, reasonable reaction. We are hardwired to avoid pain and suffering. We are hardwired to do everything possible to protect ourselves. But we stand in admiration and thank God that Our Lord did not do that but He proved just the opposite. If you want to defeat some problems, you don’t run away from them, you confront them as you are. In all your weakness and humility, you faithfully confront the difficult things that come up in life. That even means faithfully confronting ourselves in all our sins, our failures, our imperfections. That is the difference between being cowards and being courageous. It’s the difference between living in the realm of fantasy like an actor or being a real human.

In this, the halfway point of Lent, as we are hungry and tired and ready for a break, it should seem a bit strange that we celebrate with the cross. The cross is a sign of suffering, shame, ugliness, injustice, weakness and death. In short the cross is a sign of everything that is wrong in the world…but that is not what it means to us. Because the Lord Jesus Christ faithfully confronted the cross, it has been transformed for us. The cross is a now a symbol of beauty, love, faithfulness, hope, joy and even life! “Through the cross is joy come into all the world!”

The cross becomes our strength because through it Jesus made us strong. The cross becomes our life because through it, the Lord defeated death. The cross becomes our one enduring reminder that when the world is a lonely, dark and difficult place, there is still One who loves us and His love never ends. The cross reminds us that when a man is truly weak, God has the power to use his weakness, to make it strength. The Apostle Paul writes that “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” 1 Cor 1:18. The power of God is at work in the lives of those who live by the message of the cross! The cross is at work in us even now as we are struggling through the fast. I hope that this is an inspiration for you.

May God bless each of you as you begin the second half of this holy challenge.  Glory be to God forever AMEN.

(Originally preached on March 18, 2012)

Source: Sermons

The Second Sunday of Great and Holy Lent, St. Gregory Palamas Sunday

He was once called “the cause of all disorders and disturbances in the Church.” Now imagine that he was called “the cause of all disorders and disturbances in the Church” by the Patriarch of Constantinople himself. The year is 1344. This comment was made during a Church council and it caused this man to be thrown into prison for the next 4 years. The man who was “the cause of all disorders and disturbances in the Church” was St. Gregory Palamas. He has a long and complicated story but each one of us needs to know about this man St. Gregory Palamas, archbishop of Thessalonica. That is why the Church in her wisdom has set aside this the second Sunday of Great Lent as Palamas Sunday. Why was this man called “the cause of all disorders and disturbances in the Church?” What had he done that was so terrible?

He was raised in Constantinople in a wealthy family. His family was even friends with the Emperor but from a rather young age Gregory was inclined to the life of the Church. It was no surprise because his parents loved the Church and frequently invited clergy and monks to come and spend time with them. As a young man Gregory left the comfortable life and traveled to Mt. Athos in Greece to be trained in the ways of prayer as a monk. He dedicated his whole life to God because he loved God and wanted to spend all his time in the service of God. He grew wise and strong through prayer under the guidance of some experienced holy men.

Unfortunately due to time constraints I can’t tell you all of his story but I will tell you that he advanced and gained the rank of Abbot, a leader of a monastic community as well as a very respected elder on the Holy Mountain (Mt. Athos). The real trouble began when a very gifted speaker and teacher, a monk from Italy, visited Mt. Athos. This monk was Barlaam. He taught the monks that,

“He believed the monks on Mount Athos were wasting their time in contemplative prayer when they should be studying. He ridiculed the ascetic labor and life of the monks, their methods of prayer, and their teachings about the uncreated light experienced by the hesychasts. Countering the traditional stance of the Church that “the theologian is the one who prays,” Barlaam asked: “How can an intimate communion of man with the Divine be achievable through prayer, since the Divine is transcendent and ‘dwelling in unapproachable light’ (1 Timothy 5:16)? No one can apprehend the essential being of God!” Barlaam was convinced that God can be reached only through philosophical, mental knowledge—in other words, through rationalism.” AGAIN Vol. 27 No. 1.

So this led to a great dispute among the monks and especially between Gregory and Barlaam. Why such a dispute? Because Barlaam was teaching that we learn and experience God through knowledge. That we know God in the head first. This was a type of rationalism. It is the belief that the only proper way to know things is through reason. This led to many of the problems in Western Christianity and led ultimately to the Protestant Reformation. The problem is that essentially it means that we know God only through logic as if God is a mathematical equation. It ignores the fact that for centuries illiterate but holy men and women, have had true experiences of God through the life of the Church. In addition it means that Barlaam thought that what was experienced by the monks through prayer was not actually a real, genuine experience of God but a lesser experience of something created by God, which he called “grace”.

We are told that Barlaam traveled to Constantinople and stopped at the monasteries. He refused to attend vigils, prayer or fasting and did not trust in spiritual experiences. In short, he behaved much like modern Christians, even so-called Orthodox Christians. He caused a division throughout the Church with his improper teachings and then blamed it all on Gregory. This sort of thing has happened before and will probably happen again.

Knowing God is not theoretical, it is an actual experience. Gregory Palamas taught that we could certainly know God. He made an important distinction. He said that there were two sides to knowing God. One was to know God’s essence. This is impossible for any human being. No human has ever seen God. No one can grasp His greatness or His glory. On the flip side, Gregory taught that we could know God through His energies: the way that He clearly acts through our world and visits us. He compared knowing God to the Sun. God is like the Sun. This Sun can never be grasped or even looked at closely. It is impossible and yet we can receive the energy from the Sun. We feel the warmth of the rays, we experience the light and heat.

St. Gregory suffered and was imprisoned more than once for defending his understanding of the faith in the living God. We may one day have to be courageous enough to suffer for our Christian faith. You can’t prepare by stocking guns and ammo. You can prepare by loving your neighbors and by stocking God’s words in your heart and by becoming men and women of prayer and teaching this life of prayer to your children. St. Gregory teaches us that it is possible to soak up God’s rays of love and blessings through genuine communion that is possible through the struggle to reach fervent prayer. It doesn’t happen automatically, but comes by the grace of God. God wants to affect us through prayer, prayer is not meditation or an intellectual exercise. It is communication with the Divine.

Today we are reminded that we can experience God, He is not a theory hidden in a book. Education and degrees only go so far, the experience of pure prayer is a true teacher. Right now as we’ve been struggling for a few weeks we are inclined to think…it is not worth it. Why fast, why pray more, why attend extra services, why do any of this? St. Gregory answers to us: these things open us up to receive the love and the grace of God which will dwell in us through our union and communion with the Holy Spirit.

So keep struggling, it is indeed worth it. Glory be to God Forever AMEN.   (Originally delivered March 31, 2013)

Source: Sermons

The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. (6:14-21)

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” These are the words of our Lord God and savior Jesus Christ given to us today as we are now at the edge and preparing to leap into Great and Holy Lent. Our Lord has this amazing way of reorienting our thinking and even removing our blindness in order to help us to see. He prepares us for this great and holy season with an important reminder. Forgiveness and fasting are not simply “religious observances” or “traditions.” They are tools that help us gain and regain heavenly treasures. Lent isn’t actually about suffering or denial. It is about moving our hearts to treasure and appreciate things that matter and those things have an eternal significance and weight.

Our lenten disciplines are meant to give us laser-like focus on God and His kingdom, which shall not pass away. We are among the most productive people in the history of the world. Yet our Lord continually speaks to us and cries out saying “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth. Where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal.” Reorient yourselves. Change your minds. Repent. Take the tools give by to us by the Son of God and work hard, work tirelessly. Become the most productive person in the world…but produce something worthy of the name “Christian”. Toil, labor and struggle…but only for that which is eternal, glorious, and heavenly. Our bank accounts and savings which are here, cannot possibly help us in our next and permanent home. So the Lord tells us to struggle to save in our heavenly savings account.

What are the ways that are mentioned here by the Lord?

He begins by reminding us that forgiveness is a key foundation for beginning your savings account. Why is this the case? Because when you hold something against someone else, you are holding a debt against them. This debt is worse than all others including monetary interest (which God hates). This debt is worse than all the others because it is a debt that the other individual can never repay. Why can they never repay the debt? Because you won’t give them a way to repay it. This is outrageous and unacceptable in God’s eyes. God does not like it when we are unfair and unjust to others and we are the definition of unfair and unjust, when we do not forgive others quickly.

What happens to us when we do not forgive others?

God is disgusted when He sees this type of behavior. It forces God to remember all of our sins, all of our wrongdoings, and all of our evil because He does not, He cannot recognize us as His own children. We are like the one who was caught trying to sneak into the wedding without the appropriate wedding garments. If we have not been merciful and loving to others, we have not understood God’s mercy and love. This is ultimately a sign that we have rejected God’s love and mercy! Forgiveness is not something we’d like to do. It is one of the things that we have to do. It is a necessity for our salvation because salvation itself presupposes the forgiveness from God and the Lord Himself says “If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

My brothers and sisters, these are not games that we should play. There is a better way. Today is the start of our recommitment to God. Today is the day to refocus and set our priorities. We are God’s children, and we are each meant to be sources of hope for others. We offer others the hope of God’s love, His mercy and His forgiveness by reflecting and incarnating these characteristics. We don’t talk about them in theory. We live them and in living them faithfully we find that what was once forced now becomes inseperable from who we are. The Lord who loves us, desires that we should be eager to receive God’s treasures. He says to us “come and take from my treasures which are piled high up to the heavens. Come and take as much as you can carry. Everything that I have is yours!” We are encouraged to take and to fill our spiritual inheritance to the brim. Let us start with Forgiving others so that God will not hold any debts against us. Let us continue by building up our heavenly accounts through heartfelt prayer that is powerfully united with fasting. Let us work for these eternal treasures and by the grace of God we will rightly treasure Him who alone is eternal. To the eternal God be the glory, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages AMEN.

Source: Sermons

The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. (25:31-46)

The teachings of Our Lord, God and savior Jesus Christ are often quite difficult for us. In fact, it cannot be any other way since God is speaking to man. God is attempting to raise man from his earthly nature which makes him similar to the beasts, and He is trying to raise him to the level and stature which alone is God’s. We do not take lightly the idea that God desires to call us “sons and daughters.”

As the Church prepares us for the coming of the great and holy challenge, we are indeed challenged by the words of Christ. Sometimes this makes us uncomfortable. Why is God always challenging us? Why does God expect so much from us? Really, if we think about it, we should really be troubled if God didn’t challenge us and didn’t expect so much from us! In man made religion everything is geared towards the pleasure of those who are at the top. But in our Christian faith, everything presupposes that the one who is at the top is ready to become the least of all, even to die for all. As our Lord says “He who desires to become the greatest, must be the servant of all” and He also says “True love is to give ones life for his friends.”

In today’s gospel reading our lord challenges us, challenges every fiber of our being in fact. The challenge is how do we respond to those who are marginalized and struggling in our society? How do we respond to those who have dire needs? There are people in the world (and in our own communities) who are hungry, who are thirsty, who are strangers, who are naked, who are sick and who are in prison. No matter which of these situations we see others facing, we know that the person who is going through these afflictions is in need of help from somewhere. We are expecting help to come from God but my dear friends, God is expecting help to come from us!

It is not that helping others is just a nice thing to do, it is the rule by which each of us will be measured. It is true that the Lord is challenging us, but in His divine mercy He is also preparing us and warning us about the coming judgment and He is giving us a roadmap to His kingdom. The privilege of being a child of God is to do what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for all of humanity. He made the fallen state of humanity His burden. And by making us His burden, He entered into our struggles. In fact our Lord became all of these that are here mentioned. Our Lord was hungry and thirsty when He fasted. He was a stranger when He travelled from place to place. He was in prison on the night in which He was betrayed, or rather gave Himself up for the life of the world. He was naked and sick when He hung upon the tree of the cross and according to Isaiah the prophet “we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted” (Is 53:4). So God understands what it is to suffer and to be associated with the downcast and downtrodden in society, and He wants us to also understand and to spring into action.

But He goes even further, He multiplies the blessing of serving the poor and the struggling. He tells us that when we do this we are not simply serving those who are struggling, we are in fact serving the Lord Jesus Christ Himself! What a Lord and Master we serve! He bows low to identify with the least of our brethren and then raises our service so that it will be counted as service to Him, the King of glory! So what more can the Son of God do to convince us to serve others? Let us go out of our way to help others during the coming season of Great Lent. You may be surprised to find that when you disconnect from the computers and televisions, there are many people who can use your help, right in your community.

Let us try hard to bring the love and mercy of God to them and there can be no doubt that God will see our love and mercy and will multiply this much, much more in our lives, both here and at the great and awesome judgement. Glory be to God forever AMEN.

Source: Sermons

The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke 15:11-32

By now you know that we are firmly in the Pre-Lenten period. We are only two short weeks away from the start of the awesome and wondrous struggle that we call Great and Holy Lent. Here during this time before the great fast, the Church gives us of her milk in order to prepare us with a foundation upon which to build. She starts us off with nourishing milk in order that she might later give us meat. Last week we heard the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee. The lesson was a simple one: humility is the start of the positive spiritual path. Today we hear another of the Lord’s famous parables: The parable of the prodigal son.

This parable should be familiar to each of us. Not only because we have heard it from year to year over the course of our lives, but because the parable is about each of us. Our daily lives reflect this struggle that is symbolized by the prodigal son. We have been given everything we could ever need in life. The proof that this is indeed the case is that you are here, alive. Life itself is a gift from God. More than simply giving us life, the Lord has continually poured out His many gifts and blessings on each of us. The problem is that humanity is notoriously good at making idols of created things and ignoring the One who is the source of all things. Humanity is also notorious for using people for their benefits without attaching proper reverence and love to those who have benefitted us. The “casual” dating scene in today’s culture is a sign of this fallen concept of using others for the benefits they provide instead of engaging in a relationship which requires an investment of time, reverence and love.

The prodigal son used his birthright (which came from his father) and used his inheritance (which his father had earned) in order to rebel against this same father who was the source of these good things in his life. The prodigal was like a man who is given part ownership of a boat with others. Yet in his greed and desire to go in another direction, he decides to divide himself from the others by taking a saw to the boat and cutting off his portion. Little does he realize that he will only end up at the bottom of the sea because of his selfishness and short-sightedness.

This parable is about each of us. We have each been rebellious in our lives. We have each fought God in order to have freedom on our own terms. This is not unlike the teenager that argues with his or her parents imagining that the parents are the enemy when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. The parents love the child and attempt to do only what is good for the child. Our rebellion from God is the very definition of sin. What you might find interesting is that God does not want unhappy slaves, actually He wants us to be free. He has created us with a free will. He does not force us to act in a certain way. He does not force us into anything. He doesn’t force us because He doesn’t want us to be slaves but sons and daughters and friends. What is most interesting is that when we choose to rebel against God and His teachings and commandments in order to gain our freedom, the opposite happens. We gain our freedom from God but we end up as slaves to our own desires, slaves to sin and ultimately, we end up slaves to death which is the fruit of sin.

Yet this parable should comfort each of us even more than it convicts us. Even though we have each been rebellious against God, just as the prodigal son was, we can also take comfort in the fact that we can come to our senses, just as the prodigal son did. What was it that led to his coming to his senses? It was his involuntary fasting and asceticism! Yes, even here the Church prepares us for the upcoming fast by showing us that the one who is rebellious can reclaim his heavenly inheritance by voluntarily choosing what the prodigal son received involuntarily through his hunger and difficulties. Through our voluntary hunger and thirst for God, we are sure to reclaim our senses and come to our right minds and turn from our wrong thoughts and wrong ways and remember and turn to the One who is the source of true freedom and true life.

No matter what you have done wrong in life. No matter your background or your history. There is nothing that you could do that would keep God away from you. His love is far greater than all of our sins. His forgiveness is generous and richly overflowing. Like the prodigal son, if we will simply come to our senses and turn towards our Father, we will find that before we have taken many steps, the Father will already be rushing towards us to embrace us and to clothe us with the white and brilliant garments of salvation. He will return us to His house (which is the Church) and prepare a great feast of joy, a feast of thanksgiving for our return, because we are His beloved children and nothing less.

Glory be to God forever AMEN.

Source: Sermons