Homily on the 11th Sunday after Pentecost
1 Corinthians 9: 2-12; Matthew 18: 23-35
One thing that is certain, as followers of Christ and members of His Church, we will all be called to account for the way we have treated others. People come with many characteristics, some good and others not as good. Yet the overarching message of the Gospel is to love as our Lord and Saviour loves.
Now what does it mean to love? Saints and Philosophers have pondered this question since mankind was created by the All-Holy Trinity. Yet we seem to be not the best at expressing this love which we are commanded to show one another.
To paraphrase Saint Paul in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8 -have we been patient and kind to others – even if we do not agree with their opinion? Have we resisted envying their successes or good fortune? Have we resisted the urge to shame people when we perceive that they have done wrong? Have we resisted the urge to gloat when someone who has done us wrong suffers misfortune? Have we done our best to protect those who are weak and fragile in our community? It is by reflecting on these questions above we have some clue as to what it means to love.
Whilst I am sure that you all strive to embody these qualities of love in your lives, doing so can be difficult as embodying these values can seem to go against our very nature. How then are we to show this love to our neighbours when doing so can seem difficult at times?
Well, the easiest way is to follow the example of our Lord and Saviour He is the perfect example of Christian conduct for all. In fact, in today’s Gospel, He makes it clear that we are not to be like the unforgiving servant for just as the All-Holy Trinity forgives us our wrongs, we must forgive the wrongs of others. This is not to say that once we have forgiven a wrong that we must become best friends. Rather, at the very least, we must pray for them for that is one of the greatest acts of charity a Christian can do.
St Leo of Optina puts it in this way:
“The most important way to make peace with those who offend and persecute us is to pray for them, according to Christ’s command.”
Thus, it is important to pray for those who seek to make our lives difficult for by doing so we conform to Christ’s law of love, and not the law of the world embraced by those who reject Christ’s love (John 13: 34).
Saint Seraphim of Sarov makes it clear that if we trust in God and know how to forgive then we will be given every blessing we need for he states:
“My dear one, put your trust in God and ask for his assistance, but know how to forgive your neighbour – and then you will be given all that you ask.”
We are told even more clearly in the Beatitudes Matthew 5: 2-12 how we are to be as Christians:
“Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven… Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the Earth… Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
If you think about it each of these qualities mentioned in the Beatitudes could not exist without a deep humility and love - without humility and love our efforts in the Christian life are in vain.
What is better - a meal made with attention to detail and love, or a meal slapped together because one has to?
Clearly, it is the meal which the person has paid attention to the recipe making sure that everything is cooked to perfection. This is how we as Christians are to be in our spiritual lives being conscious of our every action ensuring that we act out of love. For doing this will show others that we truly care for them and really value them.
If we fail to do this at times – it is fine because we have a loving God who will forgive us our wrongs if like Prodigal son, we come back to him with true sorrow for these wrongs. This does not mean that we act like some groups who maintain that as long as you have accepted Jesus into your heart you are saved no matter what you do – no need to seek any repentance for your actions.
This in and of itself, is a great act of presumption being one of the forerunners to the unforgivable sin against the All-Holy Spirit which the Pharisees of Jesus’s day fell into due to their great presumption that they were saved because they were perceived to be righteous by appearing to follow the Levitical Law (Matthew 23).
In fact, all their efforts amounted to was mere lip service – they might have looked holy but their prayers and alms giving amounted to nothing because they were not done out of love nor humility! What holy person needs the affirmation of the crowd? Many saints pretended to be insane to escape the admiration of the crowd and the spiritual pride which this admiration can bring – the so-called fools for Christ.
Yet this spiritual arrogance of the Pharisees led them to dismiss Jesus because He was not what they expected - Jesus preached love and forgiveness letting the people know that they could choose the right path if they so wanted. Yet the Pharisees were blind to the reality that this Jesus – the second Person of the All- holy Trinity incarnated – healed because He is the God-man who came to save.
This spiritual blindness caused them to mistake true Love- He who seeks to bring the lost and the broken to God- with the true hate of the evil one (Matthew 12: 22-32; Luke 11: 14-23). This attitude lead many of them to become hard and unrepentant – any sin is forgivable except final impenitence- which led them to reject God and His works through Christ!
Therefore, as Christians we are to have as one of our fundamental characteristics, a deep love for the All-Holy Trinity and others. No one is worthy of the graces which God bestows on us yet through the Holy Mysteries of the Church we are made worthy – especially through Holy Baptism, The Holy Mystery of Penance, and the Holy Mystery of the Eucharist.
In fact, the Holy Mystery of the Holy Eucharist is the summit of our Church life for through it we are brought into the deepest of unions with the All-Holy Trinity. For Christ makes it clear that the only way to the Father is through Him (John 14:6); by partaking in the Holy Mystery of the Eucharist one’s connection to Christ’s Body, the Orthodox Church, is further cemented. This means, that by faithfully receiving the Holy Eucharist one is joined to the All-Holy Trinity by virtue of being part of Christ’s Bride the Church.
Moreover, in this mystical act of Holy Communion we are shaped and conformed into ‘icons of Christ; with the implication that we are to reflect Christ’s love to the world. This is why as members of the Church we must not let discord and hate take hold.
What happens when the immune system starts to fight healthy tissues in the body? The body begins to disintegrate and not function as it should. Likewise, whilst it is true that the Church can never fall as promised in Matthew 16:18, the Church cannot effectively minister to a broken world if all people can see is the world reflected back to them with all its political and social battles.
What this means, is that it is vital that when people look into the Church, they see that whilst we are human and imperfect, we seek to love one another and take Christ’s commandment of love seriously.
Moreover, it is vital that we treat each other with humility and not be like the Pharisees walking around condemning others whilst forgetting that we too are sinful. Christ makes it clear in Matthew 7: 3-5 that we must acknowledge that we too are imperfect and can do the wrong thing for He says:
“Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but not consider the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck in your eye’; and look a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite. First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
This does not mean that there will not be disputes in the life of the Church because there will be, this is why the Church has had the Ecumenical councils to settle theological and disciplinary disputes so that She can get back to her job of ministering to a broken world.
Therefore, as members of Christ’s Body the Church we are to be models of how to show forgiveness and settle disputes.
St John of Kronstadt points this out for he says:
“Never confuse the person, made in the image of God, with the evil that is in him: because evil is but a chance misfortune, a (spiritual) illness, a demonic reverie. (Do not forget) … The very essence of a person is the image of God, this remains in him despite every disfigurement.”
This means that as members of Christ’s Church we must acknowledge that every person is made in the image of God, and it is a sacred God given duty to respect them. As an acknowledgement of this, we must try and resolve every dispute in the life of the Church and our personal lives in a way which reflects that we are all made in God’s image.
This is why it saddens me when I see Christians who should know better treating each other so disgracefully. One only has to go online to see how toxic some people have become over what are often only trivial issues in the life of the Church. This toxicity leads to groups breaking away from each other even though they agree with each other. This is why everything which is done or said must be carefully though through and above all be done and said out of love - not an agenda, there are enough people pushing these at this moment in time!
This is not to say that there are not important issues which the Church needs to discuss but these discussions should be prayerful and most importantly loving with an acknowledgment that we are all sinners and as such should hesitate to cast the first stone (John 8:7).
What I mean by this, in life as in the Church, we should be quick to love and slow to condemn.
Yes, it is true that people are wrong all the time, but one does not win people over via anger, hateful comments, and bad behaviour.
Christ is the model of how to win people over to the truth of the Gospel - He was quick to forgive, love, and rarely if ever, expressed anger in His earthly ministry. We live in an age where all across the political and religious spectrum people have forgotten that we are all human beings deserving of love and respect. As result of being like this, we are often too quick to judge others as our enemies - this means we forget the commandment to truly love others as Christ has commanded.
This week let us focus on how we can more faithfully love others as God has commanded us showing great humility, and Charity. Though this can be difficult, as mentioned before with the grace of the All-Holy Trinity it can be done, if we are open to this grace and willing to listen to, He who is the source of all love.
Moreover, let us reflect what it truly means to be ‘Icons of Christ’ in the world, and how we can better show the light and love of Christ to all so that they may see that they are truly loved and valued by the All-Holy Trinity. For if we do this, many will come to the spiritual banquet of the Holy Eucharist -Christ’s Holy sacrifice – for many are spiritually hungry in this often cold and turbulent world.
Also, never forget to thank the All-Holy Trinity for the people whom He has gifted you with in your life whether they be family, friends or colleagues for the reality of our human condition is that we need the connection of others to be mentally, physically, and spiritually healthy.
Furthermore, as I keep saying, try and find ways in which you can help those in your local community – especially the lost and the lonely. One thing that shines through the lives of all the great Saints of the Orthodox Church is their care for these little ones who are often left behind and forgotten. One way you can do this is to pray every day for these poor souls for though we can be limited as individuals- together through prayer and deed -we can make a positive impact in our communities.
Finally, never forget to thank God for all the gifts and graces He has given us for they are many and are often not noticed by us because we are so busy living our lives. Let us be grateful for the beauty of His creation and take time to notice the beauty in the world whether this be reflected in humans, animals or nature in general.
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