Homily on the 4th Sunday after Pentecost
Romans 6: 18-23; Matthew 8: 5-13.
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?
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 the parable of the unforgiving servant ( Matthew 18:21–35), 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.
One such person who showed this love was the Centurian who had a certain servant whom he cared about so much that he sought out our Lord and Saviour. In those days, such concern for a servant was very rare for if one was a slave or a servant one was almost considered as being on the same level as beasts of burden.
However, the faith of this man of authority is what Jesus admired. At once this man, a gentile, had expressed more faith in the All-Holy Trinity than even the people who were given the first invitation to his heavenly banquet.
Christ uses this moment to show that all are equal before God because He says to the people present:
“… Assuredly, I say to you I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! And I say to you many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Issac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven. But the sons of the Kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8: 10-12.”
This is Christ telling us, reminding us, that all have the opportunity to be saved should they so wish to come to Him who is the source of their existence. We are not to deny anyone the opportunity to come to Christ. He does not care about their race, culture or country of birth – rather He cares that they come to Him with hearts full of love for the All-Holy Trinity and hearts full of love for their fellow human beings.
Moreover, we are called to forgive others their wrongs so that our hearts are not choked with the weeds of hate and anger.
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 one 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 act ensuring that we act out of love. For doing this will show others that we truly care about them.
If we fail to do this at times – this 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.
Yet another quality we are called to exhibit as Christians is that of humility – something the Saintly Centurian exhibited in abundance. Without being humble we cannot live a Christian life for humility is the first step in coming to God and saying like the Centurian, ‘Lord I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but speak the words of life and I shall be healed (Matthew 8:8).’
We have the perfect example of how to be humble in our Lord and Saviour. Despite all His power, Christ, our King, chose to enter Jerusalem on a lowly colt. Showing us a perfect model of Christian humility which all are called to follow. Yet this humble entry goes against what the Jews of His day had hoped for, they wanted a strong warrior who would liberate Israel from Roman rule. Yet His kingdom is within for Saint Theofan the Recluse states thus:
“The Kingdom of God is within us when God reigns in us, when the soul in its depths confesses God as its Master, and is obedient to Him in all its powers. Then God acts within it as master ‘both to will and to do of his good pleasure’ (Philippians 2:13). This reign begins as soon as we resolve to serve God in our Lord Jesus Christ, by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Then the Christian hands over to God his consciousness and freedom, which comprises the essential substance of our human life, and God accepts the sacrifice; and in this way the alliance of man with God and God with man is achieved, and the covenant with God, which was severed by the Fall and continues to be severed by our willful sins, is re-established.”
Through His humble entry, Christ shows us that only a humble heart that seeks to do the will of God can enter into His kingdom.
This is one of the great mysteries of the Gospel for to the world strength is what is what commands respect. Yet the Church preaches a resurrected Lord who opened His arms on the Cross so that all may have the ability to be saved should they wish to follow Him. To the unbelievers a crucified Lord is foolishness, yet this is where the Gospel gets it strength; Christ emptied Himself so that man might be reborn of water and the All-Holy Spirit.
Saint Paul puts it eloquently in His first letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 1:18-19):
“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. For it is written – ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”
There you have it; the wisdom of this world is nothing compared to the wisdom of the All-Holy Trinity. This is why many people sink into the depths of spiritual suicide refusing to believe because Christ does not fit in with the ways of this world. He is opposite to many of the values of this world He does not command us to conquer nations with the sword or gun. Rather, we are called to win hearts hardened by sin and disbelief via love, via the preaching His saving words.
If Christ had wanted us to conquer the countries of the world, making an earthly kingdom, he would have not said to Saint Peter when he cut off the ear of the servant of the High Priest:
“Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will die by the sword (Matthew 26:52).”
For those who seek to subjugate people via arms will only be victorious as long as they have the upper hand through the force of arms. Yet the arms we are called to take up are not physical, but rather spiritual. We are all called to enter the spiritual battle wearing our spiritual armour.
Saint Paul makes this clear in his letter to the Ephesians for he writes:
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armour of God, that you might be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6: 10-12)”
How does one put on the whole armour of God? Principally, one does so via the frequent worthy reception of the Holy Mysteries of Christ’s Orthodox Church and prayer; these Mysteries being penance and the Holy Mystery of the Eucharist. Without these we are like the person in the land mentioned in Psalm 63:
“O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth after thee in a dry and thirsty land, where there is no water (Psalm 63: 1). “
Christ makes it evident that to have life within us we must partake of the Holy Mystery of the Eucharist for He says in John 6: 51- 59:
“I am the living bread which came down from Heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give is My flesh, which is given for the life of the world… Most assuredly, I say to you unless you eat of the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you have no life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise Him up on the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from Heaven – not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
There we have it, without receiving the Holy Mystery of the Eucharist we are spiritually empty and like the person in Psalm 63. When we receive the Holy Mystery of the Eucharist, we truly receive Christ’s Body and Blood and in so doing we are joined to Him and have life in Him. In a way, without this great Mystery of the Church man becomes like the prodigal son squandering every blessing give him by his God (Luke 15: 11-32). Without, receiving the Holy Eucharist man is weighed down with all the cares of this world and left to his vices with no hope of redemption.
Moreover, when we receive the Mystery of the Holy Eucharist, we do not receive a dead Lord and Saviour, to do so would make one a cannibal but rather we received the living totality of the resurrected Lord who is alive in a way beyond our mortal life– and when we receive Him in His totality, we are brought into to Him, joined to the source of our life. In this moment it is not Him who is consumed but rather us - for in that moment we are joined to Him in a way that is beyond what the world can understand.
What this means is that as soon as you partake of the Holy Eucharist the joining of your soul to Christ is complete and you are made alive in Him; the first step in the process of Theosis.
This is why, we do not see the words of John 6: 51-59 as symbolic but as the literal truth about the Eucharist.
Finally, let us pray for all those who are suffering due to war and the arrogant ways of men who seek not to love but rather who seek to hate. Let us pray that our Lord and Saviour may comfort them giving them the faith and courage to not despair.
Also, let us pray for those who cannot approach the Holy Chalice for whatever reason that our Lord and Saviour will mystically impart unto them the graces they wish to receive.
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