Homily on St. Luke 8:26-39

Posted on June 23, 2019August 30, 2019 by Fr. Matthew

St. Luke 8:26-39; 1 Kings 19:1-4, 5-7, 8-15a; Psalm 42 and 43; Galatians 3:23-29

Barekmor,

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,

Demon Possession

In our Gospel reading, we have the interesting topic of demon possession. A day or so before studying this passage, I was asked me if it is possible for Christians to be demon possessed or to come under the influence of demons. This question fit in with some of what I studied.

Why Do Demons Possess People?

We know that this man was possessed which brings up two questions. First, why do demons possess people, and second, how are people possessed? St. Cyril of Alexandria answers this first question by referring us back to Psalm 36:6,

Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep:

Not all the ways of God can be known. They are beyond us. There are some things that we just can’t understand with our human minds. We know that God purposely permits some to fall into their power. It is not that God wants them to suffer, but he wants a warning to be given to us, to keep us from opening ourselves up to the influence of demons. The suffering of one edifies many.

How Are People Possessed?

This brings us to the second question, how are people possessed? St. Cyril provides us with an answer to this as well.

If there is anyone among us who is wanton, swinish, filth loving, impure and willingly contaminated with the abominations of sin, God permits such a one to fall into their power and sink into the abyss of damnation. It will never happen that those who love Christ will become subject to them.¹

So, how are people possessed by demons? They play too close to the edge of the cliff of sin. I heard recently that John Piper has said that asking if something is a sin is the lowest question possible. It is asking what I can get away with rather than seeking Christ.

Danger of Falling

If I am attempting to see how close to the edge I can get and still have Christ and a love for Him, I am on dangerous ground. Our salvation is a continuous process, as our Metropolitan has pointed out before. We have been saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved. Until eternity there is always the danger that we may fall away. We remember the words of St. Paul,

But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

And again,

Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.

The danger of falling away is always present. It can happen as we give Satan little areas of our life, a piece at a time until we find that the evil one has control over us and we are running the risk of being possessed as this man was. Therefore, let us purpose to love God with all of our heart. When we fail, to repent quickly. When we see our brother or sister fail, to admonish them quickly and urge them back to loving Christ.

Confession of the Demons

The fathers found the confession of the demons interesting. They confessed that Jesus was the Son of God, and the heretics of their day did not. The very enemies of God knew who Jesus was, but those who had fallen away did not.

A Picture of Salvation

In the demon possessed man, we have a picture of us the gentiles. We were covered in sin, naked to error, and open to sin. God stepped in and delivered us from the forces of evil and clothed us in His righteousness. We also should not fear the evil spirits, because they couldn’t even enter the pigs without the permission of Christ. We are in His hands and he will look after us.

Christ healed or delivered this man from the power of the evil one. The philosophers couldn’t do this. The leaders of the synagogue couldn’t do this. Christ alone could heal him and us if we are but willing to be healed by Him. Christ will not force himself on anyone. If we want our own way, He will let us have it, but we run the risk of Satan ruling our lives and he is much harsher master.

After his deliverance, the demon possessed man became a temple of God, where formerly his mind had been a grave full of evil spirits. He is now sent to his people to proclaim the great deeds of God.

Victory and Fear

We turn now to the prophet Elijah. He was a man, and a just man at that who had announced a famine for Israel’s rebellion, killed the false prophets, had made fire come down on soldiers that came to take him away, but he ran from queen Jezebel. He was able to do all these things because he was submitted to God.

However, after these great victories, fear entered in. He was running well but perhaps overconfidence entered in and he took his eyes off of God for a short time and was overcome by fear. We see, however, in the midst of his fear he doesn’t fear death. He offers his life to God. We may stumble and be overcome by a sin, but if we turn again, God will receive us. Is the overarching attitude in our life that we love God or that we can participate in as much sin as possible?

It is interesting that he is running for his life and he hopes for death. St. Ephrem the Syrian explains,

He hopes for death, but not for the one with which Jezebel had threatened him, that is, the one that would have given the prophets of Baal the pretext to say that Baal had defeated the God of Israel,²

Desiring to Please God

In the midst of his fear, he is still desiring to please God, to honour God. He doesn’t want shame to come upon the name of the Lord. He fell to the temptation to run away in fear, but he has come to quick repentance. The Lord then interviews him and commissions him to go out once more as his prophet.

Longing for God

In our Psalm reading we see a longing for God. We saw this longing first in the demon possessed man. (He came to Christ.) Second, we saw it in Elijah. (Even though he ran for his life, he threw himself on the mercy of God.)

The longing that the psalmist describes is a longing to appear before God. Christ the Lord is this spring of water that he is longing for, and whoever receives this spring into them, they will be transformed. They will have the love of Christ that will keep us close to Him and away from the power of the evil one.

Joy in the House of the Lord

The psalmist remembers a day of joy in the house of the Lord. St. Augustin describes it as an everlasting party, telling us that the face of God is joy never diminished. We long with the psalmist for this eternal joy and celebration where we can worship God with the angels forever. When we are discouraged, we strengthen ourselves with this hope of joy.

Law the Preparation for Grace

“Deep calleth unto deep” Scripture of the first testament calls to Scripture of the Second Testament. The law prepares the way of grace. The Psalmist can see that salvation is coming. Salvation is coming, this is the encouragement of both these Psalms. We are to strengthen ourselves and to wait on God.

The law is preparing the way of grace and it is not a negative thing to be held in captivity under the law until faith was revealed. It prepares us for salvation. The greatest example of this is in the Jews response to the Gospel. For it is only recorded of them that they sold their possessions and laid the money at the feet of the apostles. We remember the words of Jesus,

Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

It is not necessarily that the Jews have been forgiven more sins, but they were more aware of them being raised under the law. For all creation is under the lesser law of natural revelation, which creates a limited awareness of sin. The Greeks were in a place kind of between the two. God gave them philosophy to prepare them for faith.

The Law our Tutor

The purpose of the law was to bring us to Christ, to bring us to our inheritance. Just as the tutor or custodian looked after the children until they were ready for their inheritance from their father. St. Jerome points out the ridiculousness of a child looking to the tutor for that inheritance. We must never elevate the law to the place of Christ.

Grace has come in the revealing of Christ. Faith has come now. Until faith and grace come, the law in its tutorship cooperated with grace. The problem with law occurs if it continues exerting its authority of a tutor after grace has come. It then forgets that it is cooperating with grace and becomes an opponent to it.

A Delicate Balance

For a long time, I really struggled with this. I saw the law as the end all, the goal to be pursued, and I believe it was the reaction of the low view that some had to the law, but I had overreacted. I had also received some teaching that the most important thing was to meditate on the law and that would give me understanding for the rest of Scripture. For example, if I was having difficulty understanding I Corinthians 13 then the solution was to meditate on the ten commandments. While this is close to the truth, I have since learned that we understand Scripture through Christ and living in love and not through the law.

This is kind of a delicate balance. It is not that the law is bad or that the law is everything but that the law works in a supporting role to Christ. We are not saying the law is gone, because then we run the risk of losing insights into God’s character along with many examples to follow. God has placed it as a tool of protection and instruction that we might know His Son and experience His salvation. If I have complicated this too much please comment below and I’ll try to explain better.

Our New Position

We are no longer under a custodian. What is our position now? We are children of God through baptism into Christ. We are clothed in Christ. The law is obsolete, and we now have the mind of Christ living in and through us. As St. Paul has testified earlier in the epistle,

For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

What is the result of being baptised into Christ, being clothed with Him? St. Cyprian tells us that this means that we are ready to receive the Holy Spirit. There are two immediate results – Unity and being children of Abraham.

Unity

First, we are all one in Christ. There is no difference between any believer we are all equal in God. We have all been clothed with the same Christ. Our disunity with a brother or sister, with someone of another ethnicity or different social status is a sign that we are out of fellowship with Christ.

He prayed for us to be one and in baptism St. Paul here tells us that we are one. Just over fifty days ago, we renewed our baptismal vows. Now here we have a means of determining are we walking in our baptism? Are we holding something against our brother or sister that is preventing unity with them? Are we seeking how we can be different from them or are we looking for similarities?

A good example of this is Pope Francis. Since the beginning of his term, he has been seeking to reconcile with both the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches. Two years ago, He and the Coptic Pope agreed to recognise the baptism of each other’s members. He has also met with the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox church along with several other Patriarchs, I believe.

Children of Abraham

Second, we are children of Abraham and heirs according to the promise. In Christ the promises to Abraham have been fulfilled. All those who have been clothed in Christ, are joined into that covenant, into that hope of redemption. In Christ we receive the blessings of God.

Therefore, let us view the law in its proper place. It is a necessary tool to bring us to Christ and guides and protects us until we receive Him.

Second, we must make unity with one another a top priority. Instead of looking for ways to tear down and criticize others, we must look at how we can build up others. We must look for ways to praise and encourage those around us. Let us join in our Lord’s final prayer and ask for unity in the body of Christ, and make it our goal to be reconciled with all believers. We ought to seek whether we are desiring to love Christ with all of our hearts, or are we wanting to taste of sin and still have Christ? If we fall, let us be quick to repent like the Prophet Elijah. God’s law has brought us to his grace.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

Amen

~ Fr. Matthew

1 Thomas C. Oden and Arthur A. Just Jr., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture New Testament III (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 140-141

2 Thomas C. Oden and Marco Conti, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture Old Testament V (Downers Grove , IL: InterVarsity Press, 2008), 115

Luke the Cypriot (active 1583-1625). Jesus, the Gerasene, and the Unclean Spirits, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56179 [retrieved August 9, 2019]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/medmss/7352474870/.

Homily on St. John 14:8-17, (25-27)

Posted on June 9, 2019August 22, 2019 by Fr. Matthew

St. John 14:8-17, 25-27; Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:24-34, 35b; Romans 8:14-17

Barekmor

Glory be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Doctrine of the Trinity

This passage is ripe full of deep doctrine. Some of which is the foundation of our Trinitarian theology. All of it comes from our Saviour’s mouth. We are not going to attempt a marathon expose’ of what hundreds of others have already done. (Their works are in the library – you’ve the riches of the ages are your fingertips. Specifically these five volumes on the Nicene Creed. not sure what to do with this)

The Nicene Creed

You’ve recognized it – right. We’ve had great discussions, lessons and do our best to follow. The exact wording of the Nicene Creed is here about the Trinity — The unique Three Persons as One in the Same. Our Saviour explains the Oneness of God very plainly … but it can only be received by those who have God abiding in them

The Father in Portrait

Philip couldn’t see, because his own eyes had not yet been healed. Or to say another way – he was still blind. He did not have the Holy Spirit indwelling him yet. To start, let’s consider how it is possible for Jesus to be the Father in the world …

Bp Ambrose:

“By means of this image the Lord showed Philip the Father. Yes, he who looks on the Son sees, in portrait, the Father.”¹

I think this describes a living – real – icon, and is much of the reason we don’t get confused about idols and icons.

Christ’s Answer to Philip

So in answer to his question – Christ showed Philip the Father, through the icon (or image) of his own flesh. Here Christ stands before him – a real tangible, touchable, “Image” of God. If you have seen Me, you have seen the father. Here – touch me, feel and now …Not to think, no but to touch, feel, hold, enjoy …

One of the Fathers try’s to explain it this way …

Philip did not deny that the Father could be seen – but only asked that he might see him. He did not ask that the Father should be unveiled so that he could see him with his bodily eyes, but that he might have some further indication that would enlighten him concerning how the Father could be seen.²

He is like you and me – we sing, “I want to know you … I want to touch you … and all kinds of other feeling songs. For he had seen the Son under the aspect of humanity – but, like us, cannot understand how he could thereby have seen the Father. When Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that is enough for us,” he understood well enough, that being shown the Father could satisfy him. But, if the one who is equal to the Father (here is where we often get stuck) was not enough for him, how would the Father be enough?

Only Jesus?

And for us, here, 2000 years later. We are often, ONLY Jesus, people. Well – how does that square with the word of God in the Flesh. He and “God” are one. How can there be only Jesus? This heresy (modalism) was settled by the church over a thousand years ago. It still surfaces in Oneness Pentecostalism and the Jesus Only movements of today.

We’ve lost our way as Philip would have, if our Saviour hadn’t corrected him. And then, as Philip needed correction – so do I, we …My earthly understanding is not God’s … Not from heaven, but from hell itself. The ruler of this world would blind us to the truth of the Trinity as taught from the beginning, before a Bible ever existed. The Bible is not God. Some have made it their God, but it is not.

Christ and the Godhead

So, here are some of the truths of Christ that give a glimpse of the Godhead:

To distinguish the persons he says, “He who has seen me (one person) has seen the Father (another person),” in case anyone should claim that the same person is Father and Son.
There is oneness of the “image” – Heb … 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power
Make man in our images – Gen … 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:
There is no separation of God the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit … This is critical to grasp.

Pentecost

So too – as we celebrate Pentecost – which, by the way didn’t start in the New or 2^nd Testament. The Jewish feast of Pentecost (Shavuot) was primarily a thanksgiving for the firstfruits of the wheat harvest after entering in to the Promised Land. We can not only have the Holy Spirit of God, exclusively…Many have tripped into this Heresy also – here even in Toronto …We have God, and Him in totality – or completeness.

Life From His Body

As we gather together, from house to house, we are His living body on earth. We ingest His Body and Blood – which is the life of God being worked into our physical being. His life fuels our motivations, joy and sorrows. The life of God – flows out of us. Yes – in Spirit and … in truth (or reality) I and the Father are One. What I do – He does through Me. Even if you don’t understand this believe because of the works you have seen done through Me.

Greater Works

Christ’s works are possible for us, and even greater, because He has gone to the Father and, as He obeyed the Father and did great works. If we obey, catch here is doesn’t say, “understand” – but obey! If we obey – the Spirit of Truth will come into us and empower us to do the works of Christ. Keeping His commandments is not burdensome, as some may think – it’s not a list. It is simply to love – both God and those around us.

The Advocate Helps

As we do our best to obey, the Advocate helps our weakness to accomplish His will. The love of God is poured into (the indwelling of) our hearts by the Holy Spirit – St Paul in Rom 5:5. We can not do God’s works without God, the Holy Spirit, enabling us. Our part is the obeying – the doing (which is the demonstration of faith) … His part is completing it. He (God) in the person of the Holy Spirit, will be with us forever – still, all of God, not just a slice …

A Look at the Trinity

Good to stop here and again see the Trinity – VRS 26 … (as in VRS 16, already). But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. The Oneness of God in the Three Persons is explained again here:

Christ says, He will never leave us – but He is going to heaven to where the Father is …And, just as Our Saviour explained in the opening, seeing Him we would see the Father. The Holy Spirit is the same as having Jesus with us continually.

God’s Peace

Peace – comes from the presence of God with us. I will never leave you or forsake you. Not as the world sees peace i.e. with riches, circumstances, ease or acceptance. St Paul tells us, that we are His “if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.” We read here Jesus’ words, “Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” Where we lose our peace is when we look at the waves, or the numbers or the tragedies.

Keeping Our Eyes on Jesus

“I am with you” Jesus says – as He was in the boat, feeding the crowds, raising the dead. God is the same in the Father and in the Son and in the Holy Spirit. But – it doesn’t take long for me to lose my sight again …For me I “leak” as some have said. I think it’s more like becoming dull of hearing and of obeying. We need constant reminders – all that we do, think and say should be pointing us and each other to God.

On Pentecost as we celebrate the receiving of the Spirit of God on the Church. We acknowledge the ability to receive Him through the Eucharist. As we put the Holy Body and Holy Blood of God into our bodies. And then, in obedience – we take Him, God, into the hurting and watching world. Through doing His works, we are proving our faith.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit

~ Rev Fr. Pat

1 Joel C. Elowsky and Thomas C. Oden Editors, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture New Testament IVb (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007), 129

2 Ibid.

Vrelant, Guillaume, -1481. Pentecost, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56943 [retrieved August 9, 2019]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Willem_Vrelant_(Flemish,_died_1481,_active_1454_-_1481)_-_Pentecost_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg.

Homily on St. John 14:23-29

Posted on May 26, 2019August 22, 2019 by Fr. Matthew

St. John 14:23-29: Acts 16:9-15; Psalm 67; Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5

Barekmor,

Glory be to the Name of the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,

Loving God

As we draw to the close of the Easter Season, we will take a look at how God initiates and directs His mission. We are called to keep the words of and love not only Jesus, but the Father also and indeed the Holy Spirit as well. As we know also from St. John’s further testimony in His epistle that love and keeping his commandments is synonymous.

We truly love, and God is able to dwell in us, when we don’t allow our heart to give in to wicked delights and pleasures of sin. We remember in our book study that the evil fruits i.e. the passions always look more delightful. They are the fruits that are always appealing and are never satisfying. It is like the Turkish delight that Edmund eats. So, when we say no to pride, anger, envy etc., God is able to dwell in us.

He Will Come to Us

He is also not too above us to come as St. Augustin testifies,

God is not too grand to come, he is not too fussy or shy, he is not too proud – on the contrary he is pleased to come if you do not displease him….To you who [the one] he had earlier called his friend, to you [the one] who obeys his precepts, the keeper of his commandment, the lover of God, the lover of his neighbour, he says, “We shall come to him and make our abode with him.”¹

The New Covenant

The commandments and the words are of both the Father and the Son. Now, we live after Pentecost and the Holy Spirit has come and explains the commandments and brings them to mind. In this way our faith is made more perfect and sure, for we are illumined with light from above. What Christ taught is now explained in our hearts. This reminds me of the Prophet Jeremiah’s words,

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

The Work of the Holy Spirit

Teaching

The New Covenant is written on our hearts instructing us just as the Holy Spirit is within us teaching us the words of Christ. For we take in the words of Christ i.e. we hear them, but we do not understand them unless the Holy Spirit is within us teaching us those words.

“The whole Trinity indeed both speaks and teaches, but unless each person worked separately as well, the whole would be too much for human infirmity to take in.”²

Interceding

He not only teaches us but look at the title that is given to Him – “The Advocate”. He is the one who intercedes for us as St. Paul also testifies in his epistle to the Romans.

In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.

However, this creates a problem because it is one who is of less importance who takes the function of pleading, but the Holy Spirit is equal to the other members of the Godhead, of the Trinity. What is happening then? St. Gregory the great explains,

The Spirit pleads, rousing those he fills to plead.³

It is in me. It is in you that the Holy Spirit has taken up residence and is causing us to plead for sinners. When we pray, and our hearts are broken for the lost, it is the Holy Spirit who causes this depth of compassion in us.

Our Inheritance

“Peace I leave with you”. The fathers see this as the inheritance that Christ has given to us. When I was studying, this idea of inheritance kind of leaped out at me. An inheritance is a treasure that is left to you. It is an honour to be received.

Looking back on my own life, I didn’t perceive peace to be a gift to be honoured and treasured. I have been more concerned with being right and letting others know that I am right than trying to be at peace with them. There is a place to stand and die so to speak for truth and convictions, but we must temper it with the peace of Christ. Saint Caesarius of Arles tells us,

Peace…teaches people to love because it does not know how to get angry, or to extol itself, or to become inflated with pride. It is meek and humble to everyone, possessing rest and tranquility within itself. When the peace of Christ is exercised by a Christian, it is brought to perfection by Christ.⁴

It is not that truth and the principles of the Christian faith don’t matter, but are we explaining these in love and a peaceful manner? Are we seeking reconciliation, or do we just want to be right? Our motives are key.

Examples of the Holy Spirit Instructing

St. Paul

The Holy Spirit comes to us, instructs us, and dwells in us. In the passage from the Acts of the Apostles we read of an instance where St. Paul was instructed. He did not know where to go, but the Spirit instructed him in a dream to go to Macedonia.

Lydia

We also see the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing Lydia to salvation. We see that God opened her heart, but she had to give heed to the words spoken. The fathers warn us that we must not make God responsible for those who are not saved. He will open hearts, but we must take heed to listen.

The presence of the Holy Spirit and the peace that Christ left with us is evident in the life of St. Paul here. For there was no pride in him that kept him from dwelling with a lowly manual labourer. Those who are indwelled with the Holy Spirit walk in humility.

Salvation for All

We see salvation and victory coming to one person – Lydia, but in the Psalm today we understand that it has come to all nations. This promise of blessing, first came to our Father Abraham in the words, “In your seed all nations shall be blessed.” He was a Chaldean, but his seed became the mediator for all the world. In Him, that is, in Christ, is found the one way for the soul’s liberation, and this liberation is for all peoples.

The earth has yielded its harvest. How is a harvest yielded? It is grown through the death of a seed. Our salvation has been produced to all nations through the death of a grain of wheat that is through the death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and the fruitful harvest that has come out of His resurrection.

Salvation Pictured in the Holy City

This salvation, we see a picture of in Revelation 21:10. The Holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven. The Fathers understand this city to be a picture of the church, the bride of Christ. This is Primasius’ explanation but they all said something similar,

Fittingly he says [that the city comes] down out of heaven from God, for [the church’s] beauty will then be seen more fully, when through the Spirit, by whom her bridegroom is believed to have been conceived and born, she has merited to bear the heavenly image. Therefore, it is this very bride that is the city.⁵

The Trinity and the Nature of Christ

The passage uses the terms God and the Lamb multiple times. God means the Holy Trinity. This is who we understand to be speaking of when we use the term God. Lamb speaks of God the Son. Why is God the Son singled out, or awkwardly added to the end. St. John could have easily said just God or listed all three persons of the Holy Trinity. The reason is related to a statement that Jesus made in our Gospel reading, “the Father is greater than I”.

In that instance he was talking from His flesh and not from His divinity. Here one of the Fathers explains,

…when it mentions the holy Trinity and the Lamb, the passage indicates that one of the holy Trinity has become incarnate and that with his flesh the Son fills the holy Trinity and even now in heaven is not without is not without his flesh. For figuratively he signified the Son who became flesh through the name of God, who is the Son, while by “Lamb” he indicated the very same Christ incarnated, consubstantial with us and endowed with a rational soul, to which flesh the Word was united hypostatically.⁶

Symbols of the Trinity and the Nature of Christ

Our humanity is forever taken up into the godhead. We remember this in various symbols that we use. On the altar cover we have three panels reminding us of the three persons of the Trinity, but on the altar, we have two candles reminding us of the humanity and divinity of Christ.

When we make the sign of the cross, we touch the tip of our thumbs to that of our index and middle fingers. We keep our ring and little finger flat against our palm. The three fingers joined at the tip are symbols of the Trinity, and the two fingers descending to your palm represent the dual nature of Jesus as God and man.

As this Father has said and we see from these symbols, it is important to remember both the Holy Trinity and the two natures of Christ.

Indwelt by the Holy Spirit and Led by Christ

There is no temple in the city because in the resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit, God dwells in us and we in Him. There is no need for light because we are guided by Christ the eternal sun.

The kings of the nations will bring their treasure. This is just like what we saw in Psalms – salvation for all. God has redeemed all nations and made them into one church, one city. Every nation shall dwell together in unity.

The Importance of the Incarnation

In the beginning of chapter 22 we read,

And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

The Holy Trinity is seated upon the throne and the Lamb of God is before it. St. Jerome points out to us that unless the Lamb is before the throne the River of life will not flow out of it giving to us its graces. This tells us that unless we believe in the incarnation of Christ we do not receive those graces.

Baptism

What is this river? The Fathers tell us these are the waters of baptism that flow from the Throne of God. We confess that we believe in baptism for the remission of sins. This is its source. This is why it has power to cleanse from sins, because it flows from the very throne of God.

Let us purpose to love and heed the words of Christ, the Father and the Holy Spirit. If we are without understanding, we must ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten us. We ought also to ask him for the compassion to plead for and intercede for both one another and those who are outside his salvation. Let us be willing instruments like St. Paul who was the instrument so that Lydia could give heed and the Lord could open her heart. Finally let us be bold in proclaiming and confessing both the Holy Trinity and the two natures of Christ. We can do this through words. We can do this through making the sign of the cross. Let us proclaim and believe that Christ is Incarnate that we can receive the graces that flow from the Throne.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

~ Fr. Matthew

1 Joel C. Elowsky and Thomas C. Oden Editors, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture New Testament IVb (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007), 147

2 Joel C. Elowsky and Thomas C. Oden Editors, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture New Testament IVb (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007), 151

3 Joel C. Elowsky and Thomas C. Oden Editors, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture New Testament IVb (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007),149

4 Joel C. Elowsky and Thomas C. Oden Editors, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture New Testament IVb (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007),152

5 Thomas C. Oden and William C. Weinrich Editors, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture New Testament XII (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 364

6 Thomas C. Oden and William C. Weinrich Editors, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture New Testament XII (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 382

Homily on St. John 10:22-30

Posted on May 12, 2019November 2, 2020 by Fr. Matthew

St. John 10:22-30; Acts 9:36-43; Psalm 23; Revelation 7:9-17

Barekmor

Glory be to the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

The Feast of Dedication

It was the feast of dedication and it was winter. The Fathers tell us that the temple was dedicated three times twice in the fall and once in the winter. The first two are Solomon and Ezra’s dedication. The third took place in the time between the two testaments when Judas Maccabeus dedicated the temple. Today we know this festival as Hanukkah.

Winter

In the statement, “It was winter.” St. Augustin sees a lead in to the question that the Jews are asking. He compares the cold weather to the spiritual coldness of the Jews. He says,

They had become icy cold to the sweetness of loving him, and they burned with the desire of doing him an injury. They were far away, while there beside him.¹

Our proximity to Christ does not guarantee our warmth towards him. The Jews had been there observing and listening to his teaching for much of his ministry and they remained cool towards him.

Two Reasons

Ignorance

The fathers see two reasons why the Jews asked him this question. The first is because Jesus preferred to demonstrate that He was the Christ by His actions rather than by his words. So, there is a possibility of ignorance in some of the Jews in asking this.

Hatred and Spite

The second is from hatred and spite. This is taken from the fact that Christ was always at the feasts and said nothing in secret. They lead into their remarks with subtleness or flattery, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense?” They are speaking as if they are eager to know the truth, but they are merely looking for something to grasp a hold of which they might be able to hold against Him.

Jesus’ Gracious Answer

There were probably Jews in both of these groups. Notice, however, how Jesus answered them. His answer was full of grace and love. This fit both those who were asking from ignorance and those who were asking from spite. He did not bring up all the things that had been said against him in the past. As St. John Chrysostom tells us,

He did not reply, “What enquire ye of me? Often have ye called me demoniac, madman, and Samaritan, and have deemed me enemy of God, and a deceiver, and yes said but now, Thou bearest witness of thyself, thy witness is not true; how is it then that ye seek and to learn from Me, whose witness ye reject?” But he said nothing of the kind, although He knew the intention with which they made the inquiry was evil.²

What an example for us to follow! Our Lord and Saviour who knows the thoughts and desires of every heart, responds in love to spite. How much more for us ought we to respond in love and grace to those around us who seem to be acting toward us in spite. He did not hold those things that had been previously said against him by them.

Christ’s Sheep

In another place we know that he responded to a question by saying why are you tempting me, you hypocrites? But here, he said nothing like that “teaching us not always to rebuke those who plot against us, but to bear many things with meekness and gentleness.” Even in His response he was encouraging them towards himself with the words “not among my sheep”. He is offering to them what could be theirs if they became his sheep.

Characteristics of His Sheep

What is the distinguishing factor of Christ’s sheep? Isn’t it their willingness to hear? His sheep hear. St. Cyril of Alexandria tells us that included in the word to hear is obedience. He also says,

The mark of Christ’s sheep is their willingness to hear and obey, just as disobedience is the mark of those who are not his.³

Let us, therefore, purpose to be those who hear and obey the words and instructions of our Saviour. St. Cyril also says,

By a certain God-given grace, believers follow in the footsteps of Christ. No longer subject to the shadows of the law, they obey the commands of Christ and guided by his words rise through grace to his own dignity, for they are called “the children of God.”⁴

We can obey, we can live the words of Christ through the grace that has been given to us. It is through His power that we can become the children of God. He promises His sheep, that is us, eternal life. We are to understand this in a twofold way. First, we understand that we have eternal life with Christ freed from death and corruption.

Second, we understand it as the blessing of the Eucharist. In the Eucharist, Christ plants his life into us as we partake of the body and blood of our Saviour. Just as it says elsewhere, “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.”

Safe in His Hands

We are safe in His hands, and no one can take us from him. However, the Fathers warn us that while no one can take us from His hands from without, we can fall from his hands if we are negligent. We remember also St. Paul’s warning,

But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

Example of Listening to the Shepherd

In our passage, from the Acts of the Apostles, we see the example of one who heard and listened to the voice of the shepherd, namely Dorcas. She was completely occupied with good deeds and alms-giving. This is what described her life. There are some people that you meet, and it is hard to put your finger on it, but they just resonate with doing the will of God. At times they are annoying because they are a constant quiet rebuke, but they are a real example to how we should be living our lives.

A True Memorial

St. John Chrysostom tells us that living such a life is a better memorial than anything that we could build with money or materials. Generosity is a remembrance that will last for all eternity. The Venerable Bede tells us,

They interceded for the dead woman, not with their voices but by means of her own works, for almsdeeds free one not only from the second death but also from the first.⁵

This is what Fr. Pat talks about a lot. We are to live a sacramental life. Everything that we do is to be a prayer, a work to God. We serve him and pray to him in the ordinary things of life. May we seek to pray and serve God in our every activity.

Psalm 23 the Rebirth

Let us now turn our attention to the Psalm reading. It is quite a familiar Psalm, however, the Fathers bring out something that I had not thought about before. The previous Psalm as we know speaks a good deal about the Passion of our Saviour while this one lets us know the joy of our resurrection. It speaks of our rebirth. Cassiodorous comments,

Through the whole psalm it is the most faithful Christian, reborn of water and the Holy Spirit, who speaks; he has laid aside the age of the first man. He gives thanks that through the Lord’s generosity he has been led from the desert of sin to the region of pasture and the water of rebirth.⁶

Resurrection and Baptism

Resurrection and baptism are very closely related. If you remember a few weeks ago during our Easter morning services, we renewed our baptismal vows. Now is the season, where we are reminded to walk in the power of the resurrection, to listen to the voice of the shepherd in all that we do.

Pastures the Word of God

The pastures mentioned here are the words and commandments of God. Upon these we feed and meditate, and the waters are the waters of our baptism as it is testified by St. Augustin, Theodoret of Cyr and Cassiodorous.

We have the words of God and we have the new life imparted to us through baptism. We now walk along the paths where God leads us and suddenly we are in the valley of the shadow of death. Notice though, we are prepared before we walk into such a place. God has fed and washed us.

Christ our Victory

The fathers state that this valley is the devil and demons who assault us. St. Augustin phrases it in a way that is a little more easy to grasp.

As long as you remain in this present life, you are walking in the midst of vices, of world pleasures, which are the shadow of death. Let Christ shine in your heart, who lights the lamp of our minds with the love of God and neighbour; and you will not fear any evils, since he is with you.⁷

During the season of Easter and we have gold everywhere to remind us of that fact. We worship facing east not only because that is the direction that Christ will return from, but also because the rising of the sun reminds us of the resurrection. Christ is shining in our hearts and during this season we have extra reminders that He is shining there.

In the rod and staff, we have a picture of the cross. Two pieces of wood joined together form a cross. The upright staff strengthens and comforts those who believe in Him while his rod beats back the demons from harming us.

The Eucharist

A table in the presence of our enemies, the Fathers are unanimous on this. This is speaking of the Eucharist. In the same way as cares are set aside and the mind is relaxed through the drinking of wine, so in partaking of the Eucharist we set aside the memory of the old man and forget our former and worldly conduct. Our heart is made glad through the joy of divine mercy and we are no longer pressed down by our sins.

We shall dwell in the house of the Lord. This is the life that Christ has promised to us in our Gospel portion. It is living with Christ in each and every day. It is something that is now and also forever.

All the Nations as One People

Finally, let us take a look at our passage in Revelation. The fathers are quick to point out that it says, “I saw a people” and not “I saw another people”. This is the same people as the mystery of the 144,000. It is the whole body of the church. All the nations have been grafted into the root. This is also hinted at when Jesus tells his disciples that they will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. In the resurrection, we must remember that the church has become Israel or has become part of Israel. The two groups are joined together in one people as St. Paul testifies in Ephesians.

They are dressed in robes symbolising that these are those who have been baptised. They are holding palm branches reminding us of the triumph of the cross. Salvation comes to them from God and the lamb reminding us of Christ’s statement, “That they might know you and Jesus Christ whom you sent.”

These sing salvation with a loud voice, or we could say in our more modern terms enthusiastically. They are full of joy because they recognise that their salvation is not from any merit of their own but because of what God has done.

White Robes Through Baptism

Their robes are white through being washed in the blood of the Lamb. Of this apparent contradiction, one of the fathers tells us,

To be sure, one might think that robes dipped in blood would be red, not white. And so how is it that they have become white? Because according to the opinion of all-wise Paul, baptism is completed in the death of the Lord and wipes clean every filth of sin, so that those baptised in him are made white and clean. However, the reception of the life-giving blood of Christ also gives the same grace, for the Lord said concerning his own blood that it was poured out “for many” and “for the sake of many” and “for the forgiveness of sins.⁸

The sacrament of baptism has made us white and the sacrament of the Eucharist continues to make us white. Let us not limit those who have been made white or clean to the martyrs only. This is true of all believers for it is not their own blood that cleanses them but the blood of our lamb.

Application

Therefore, let us partake with joy of the Eucharist knowing that it cleanses us, gives us life, and strength to endure going through the valley of the shadow of death. We ought to look to ourselves and examine ourselves are we listening to and obeying the voice of the shepherd? Have we grown cold toward the Lord? Let us look at the colours of the season and know that Christ is shining in our hearts, he is cleansing us, he is enabling us to live godly. We should endeavour to live a life of good deeds in actions, not only words in His power and in His strength, as Christ did through His actions. Let these be a testimony and a memorial after we pass on that we followed our Lord and Saviour with our life.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

~ Fr. Matthew

Trinity Church, Boston – Tabitha, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=51534 [retrieved July 31, 2019]. Original source: Collection of Anne Richardson

1 Joel C. Elowsky and Thomas C. Oden Editors, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture New Testament IVa (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 356

2 Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D Editor, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series Volume 14, Chrysostom: Homilies on the Gospel of John, Hebrews, originally published in the United States by the Christian Literature Publishing Company, 1889 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickoson Publishing Marketing, LLC), 222

3 Joel C. Elowsky and Thomas C. Oden Editors, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture New Testament IVa (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 356

4 Ibid.

5 Thomas C. Oden and Francis Martin, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture New Testament V (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 116-117

6 Craig A. Blaising, Carmen S. Hardin and Thomas C. Oden Editors, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture Old Testament VII (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2008), 178

7 Thomas C. Oden and William C Weinrich, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture New Testament XII (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 114

Homily on St. John 20:1-18

Posted on April 21, 2019April 13, 2020 by Fr. Matthew

St. John 20:1-18; Acts 10:34-43; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; I Corinthians 15:19-26

Barekmor – Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

The most appropriate thing we can do on this day is to receive His Resurrected Body and Blood – remembering Him! Feasting on Him and in celebration together around the table. It has been a long journey through Lent.

A Joyful Message

This day brings a message of joy: it is the day of the Lord’s resurrection when, with himself, he raised up the race of Adam. Born for the sake of human beings, he rose from the dead with them. On this day paradise is opened by the risen one, Adam is restored to life and Eve is consoled. On this day the divine call is heard, the kingdom is prepared, we are saved and Christ is adored. On this day, when he had trampled death under foot, made the tyrant a prisoner and despoiled the underworld, Christ ascended into heaven as a king in victory, as a ruler in glory, as an invincible charioteer. He said to the Father, “Here am I, O God, with the children you have given me.” And he heard the Father’s reply, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” To him be glory, now and for ever, through endless ages. Amen.¹

A Song of Praise for the Resurrection

The Resurrection

We read St John’s Gospel:

He does not say anything about how the resurrection happened. None of the other Evangelists give an account about it either. I’m sure they thought, like us, that they were unworthy, even unable to talk about something so overpowering to the created mind. They do all record how the resurrection appeared to them – and how, after they were convinced that it had actually occurred, they declared it so publicly.

It wasn’t necessary to have understanding of how – but to be convinced. They also record how willing they were to suffer for announcing it. They were told to speak no more of it and rejoiced to ignore that warning.

Salvation

Acts 10:34-43

St Peter clearly lays out our proper response and simple doctrine:

10:35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

Then also the facts of our Saviour’s life that we should be following:

10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

And underscoring the Scripture and pointing all men to the culmination of all time and prophecy:

10:43 To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.

The Righteous

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

Psalm 118:19-20 — Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord:

This gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter.

Who are these “righteous”? Those who keep His commandments. St Luke 1:6, James 4:17, 1 Tim 6:14

Incarnation and Death Destroyed

1 Corinthians 15:19-26

15:20-22 — But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

The resurrection from the dead proves that Christ was a man and therefore able to merit by his righteousness the resurrection of the dead. Even if the resurrection of the dead may be said to be through a man, the man we know it is through is the Word, begotten of God. The power of death has been destroyed through him.

St Athanasius, On the Incarnation: writing about 328, at the time of the Arian heresy and with many against him says …

“For since from man it was that death prevailed over men, for this cause conversely, by the Word of God being made man has come about the destruction of death and the resurrection of life.”²

He suffered in his flesh, but he did not receive the suffering in the nature of his divinity. Man arose because man died.

St. John’s Account

St. John 20:1-18

The Fathers teach us that each and every event that happened to our Savior is an outward sign of the mystery of our redemption. In this case, many parallels are drawn from the virgin birth to the resurrection from the closed tomb – to become the first born of the death. The First Day of the week has been reordered because of the Resurrection.

The exact time of when the resurrection occurred is not given to us, but “early dawn” and “late night” seem to indicate around the same time, they come from different starting points. St John records that St Mary Magdalene is the first witness, showing his high respect for her and for women – it was still dark when she arrived. The Church of St. Mary Magdalene is a parish of the Anglican Church of Canada located in Toronto. The text says “it was dark,” – it was certainly the end of the Sabbath – and, none but Mary found the Saviour there.

Events after St. Matthew’s Account

By this time in St John’s account, all that is recorded by Matthew had already taken place, the quaking of the earth, and the rolling away of the stone, and the terror of the guards – who were so frightened that they lay there like dead men. It is the women, who demonstrate more faith than even the disciples, Some of us discussed the open tomb – the Fathers agree, it was opened to let the news to be made known, not to let the Saviour out.

Because of human nature’s transgression in Adam, “Earth you are, and to earth you will return” was spoken to the entire human race in the first fruits of the race, and particularly to woman the sentence was pronounced, “In pain you will bear children.” Because of this, it was imposed on the woman to be in sorrow as a penalty.

Mary’s Weeping

After the disciples went back home. Mary, guided by her usual love for our Lord, stayed by the tomb and wept because she had not found the body buried there. While she was weeping, as usually happens to one who has a deep love, she kept looking, in her astonishment, at the place where the body of the Lord had been placed. While she took another look at the tomb— obviously she could not get enough of that sight—she saw two angels in white, one sitting at the head and the other at the feet [of the place where the body had been lying].

And they say unto her, [VRS:13] Woman, why weepest thou?

She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. [VRS:14]

When she had said this, she turned around—and through a special privilege of grace—saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. The two angels were there and Jesus at the same time – what a beautifully & frightening time for Mary who so devoutly loved Christ that even when he was dead she called him Lord – she was not unbelieving even when she thought he was dead.

Lifting of the Curse

It was appropriate, then, that the weight of the ancient curse was taken away by the voice of the one who imposed it, when Christ our Savior took away the tears of the woman, or rather of the entire female gender, in Mary, the first fruits. She was the first of women to be sorrowful because of the Saviour’s suffering and to grieve over it, and to be deemed worthy of the voice that stopped her crying.

Releasing her from the curse that subjected her to sorrow, he asks her to become the first messenger of the great good news and to tell the disciples the joy of his journey to heaven. This was so that just as the first woman, who was the origin of all was condemned for being a minister of the devil’s words, and through her the entire female gender was condemned as well, so also she who served our Saviour’s words and announced glad report that leads to eternal life, might free the entire female gender from blame.

Mary Fulfilling Prophecy

So the Lord grants to Mary not only that she stop crying and no longer have a heart that is easily inclined to sorrow but also that she have beautiful feet. According to the voice of the prophet, “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” though the first woman did not have beautiful feet, since she brought no good news when she advised our forefather to transgress the divine command. That Mary is worthy of admiration we may conclude from the fact that she was deemed worthy of mention in prophecy.

What did it say about her and the women with her who brought the good news of the Saviour’s resurrection to the holy disciples? “Ye women, who come from the sight, come hither; for it is a people that hath not understanding.” (Isaiah 27: 11 LXX) This divine prophecy practically commands these women, who truly love Christ, to come quickly to announce the events they had witnessed. It also condemns the Jews’ lack of understanding, since they ridiculed the message of Christ our Saviour’s resurrection.³

Jesus Continues where He Left Off

Zephaniah 3:8-9 – Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.

For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.

Do you recall Christ’s prayer in John 17? …

It is as he continues on teaching and revealing – all the events connected. Nothing has been interrupted by the last 3-4 days of agony.

The Nature of Christ

He calls God his God because it was from him that he obtained his existence with other human beings. And, because of his common nature [with humanity] he says, my Father and your Father, and, my God and your God. He separated his person from other human beings, however, by showing that he had received a more excellent grace through which he is joined together with God the Word like a real son and must be honoured by all men.

Conclusion

The fact of the resurrection — it is an historical event, it is important to our faith. There are so many details that are given – one of the greatest is the linen folded in one place and the head piece in another. Think – myrrh and aloes were wrapped with the cloths a total of 100 pound weight. The cloth was glued to the body. – to take time to remove is so carefully would be unthinkable while stealing it. Actually, it would be practically, impossible to remove in one piece. No, thieves or the Jews would have simply taken it, as they found it. This neatly folded cloth is one of the greatest proofs of the fact of the resurrection.

Who believed …

When they looked at the issues of events in the light of the prophecies – that turned out true, their faith was from that time onward rooted on a firm foundation. Christ, our God, is Risen from the Dead!

In the name of the Father, and in the name of the Son, and in the name of the Holy Spirit

~ Rev. Fr. Pat

Oostsanen, Jacob Cornelisz van. Noli Me Tangere, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=48997 [retrieved July 3, 2019]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jacob_Cornelisz._van_Oostsanen_001.jpg.

1 Joel C. Elowsky and Thomas C. Oden Editors, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture New Testament IVb (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007), 337

2 Thomas C. Oden and Gerald Bray Editors, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture New Testament VII (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 154

3 Catena

Homily on St. Luke 19:28-40

Posted on April 14, 2019August 13, 2019 by Fr. Matthew

St. Luke 19:28-40; Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29

Barkemor,

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

The Triumphal Entry

Today, we draw to the beginning of the close of our Saviour’s life – His triumphal entry. A triumph that was still not completed and yet at the same time one that had been completed before the foundation of the world. Among our Orthodox brothers and sisters this Sunday is regarded as the equivalent of the western Christ the King Sunday in November¹.

What is his triumph?

In both our Gospel Reading and the Psalm reading the Fathers see the inclusion of the Gentiles into salvation. It was now time for Christ to begin the journey to His Passion for the salvation of the whole world. “He therefore goes up to Jerusalem to free the inhabitants of the earth from the tyranny of the enemy, to abolish death, and to destroy the sin of the world.”²

Pictures of Salvation

Two Disciples Sent

Let us take a look at some of the pictures that the Fathers see in these passages of salvation for everyone. First, two disciples were sent. This speaks of both the apostles and the prophets. Salvation wasn’t opened up to us Gentiles until after the apostles came. Once both had come we were brought in and are now subject to Christ.

New Olive Trees

Second, quoting the First Testament St. Ambrose tells us that Jesus was on the Mount of Olives planting new olive trees i.e. adding in a people to salvation that were previously excluded. He continues saying,

The Heavenly Gardener is on this so that all those who are planted in the house of the Lord may say, “But I am a fruitful olive in the house of the Lord.” Perhaps that mountain is Christ himself. Who else could produce such fruits, not in many round berries but in the fullness of spirit in the fruitful Gentiles? We ascend by him, and we ascend to him.³

He is both the means and the goal. He is the one who enables us to come to him. Formerly all the regulations of the old covenant were required, but now new olive trees have been planted and the Gentiles are welcomed in.

Christ’s Words

Third, just as when the two disciples were sent to unloose the colt were not to use their own words, so also the Apostles and even us today are not to use our own words when proclaiming the Gospel. The colt was tied. The Jews were bound under instruction of the Law and the Gentiles in their sins, but now through the word of Christ, liberty is offered to all. St. Cyril tells us that the apostles went out neither with their own words or in their own name, but in Christ’s and as a result,

they implanted the faith among the Gentile nations; and by the command of God the hostile powers ceased, which claimed to themselves the obedience of the Gentiles.⁴

The church is here today and thriving, not because of our own clever words, but because of the words of Christ and the power of His name. Glory be to God!

Laying Garments

Fourth, Christ comes with the apostles both laying their garments before him and praising him. Of the first, we can see a picture of the virtues of the Apostles. St. Ambrose tells us that, often in Scripture, garments are virtues. In this way the virtues that the Apostles had were laid before softening the hearts of the Gentiles before they proclaimed Christ by their words. In the same way the virtues that we have can be displayed for our friends and neighbours before we proclaim Christ to them.

Of the second, of praising him, the disciples praised him for all the wonderful works that he had done and his glory and of his sovereignty. This is an example for us. We should always praise and glorify God for all that he has done in our lives. We must also praise Him for who He is and how great He is.

Multitudes Praising

Fifth, the whole multitude began praising him. The Pharisees took issue with their praises and Jesus said that the stones would cry out if the people remained silent. The Fathers tell us that while this would be a great miracle, if the rocks literally began praising the Lord. However, they see this speaking of a different miracle. Israel refused to acknowledge Christ as their king and by the end of the week their praises would cease and turn to hatred. However, God raised up to praise him the stony hearts of the Gentiles. Those who were long bound in sin are now praising God. The message first proclaimed by the Apostles and now by those who have been sent by the Church, has brought forth fruit in the praises of the nations.

The Rejected Cornerstone

In our Psalm reading, we have a phrase that the Fathers were quite excited about.

The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.

This fits alongside of our theme that the Gospel has come to the Gentiles as well. One Father stated that this stone has been set over the building which is the Gentiles. St. Augustin states in a couple of different sermons that the cornerstone speaks of joining two things or in our case two peoples together. For example,

The church of the Jews comes from the circumcision; the church of the Gentiles from the uncircumcision. Coming from different directions they are joined together in the Lord. That is why the Lord is called the cornerstone…. Where there is a corner two walls connect; two walls do not meet in a corner unless they come from different directions; if they only come from one direction, they do not make a corner.⁵

We see then that in Christ the Church has joined two peoples together. The one grew up under the understanding of who God is and what his ways are and the other in ignorance. But now they are one body Christ being the peace that has made both groups into one. Let us praise Him and proclaim with the multitudes, “Blessed is the King.”

Therefore, we ought to praise God for His goodness in extending his salvation to us the Gentiles. Let us praise God that Christ is both our salvation and the means to be saved. After receiving this salvation, we must proclaim it, not in our words but in the words that Christ will give us. Let us remember to look to developing the virtues in our lives so that our conduct will soften the hearts of the ungodly, before we speak a word. Finally, let us rejoice that the Church is one body in the Lord!

~ Dn. Fr. Matthew

1 https://oca.org/reflections/fr.-lawrence-farley/christ-the-king

2 Thomas C. Oden and Arthur A. Just Jr., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture New Testament III (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 295

3 Ibid. 297

4 https://catenabible.com/bible/lk/19/28

5 Thomas C. Oden and Quentin F. Wesselschmidt, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture Old Testament VIII (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007), 309

Coecke van Aelst, Pieter, 1502-1550. Entry into Jerusalem, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56865 [retrieved June 6, 2019]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Entry_of_Christ_into_Jerusalem_by_Pieter_Coecke_van_Aelst_Bonnefantenmuseum_1246.jpg

Homily on St. Luke 13:1-9

Posted on March 24, 2019July 4, 2019 by Fr. Matthew

St. Luke 13:1-9; Isaiah 55:1-9; Psalm 63:1-8; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Barekmor

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

Repentance and Mercy

As I looked at the passage before us this morning, I noticed two things. Firstly, all those who do not repent will perish. Second, the Lord is merciful.

The Death of John the Baptist

We have two historical events or disasters if you will that everyone was familiar with at the time. The second one, the tower falling, the fathers have not commented on, but the first St. Ephrem the Syrian explains a bit more. If we remember, John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, was put to death by Herod. Saint Ephrem tells us this was done illegally. He continues,

The basic idea of what happened is that he couldn’t get at Herod, since he was a king. Therefore, he killed the accomplices who were the guests at the feast. This cause king Herod shame and disgrace and left him angry. It being an eastern culture, he probably lost face as well.¹

Pilate’s Retribution

Pilate managed to kill them by making it illegal for those present to offer sacrifices in Jerusalem. When they attempted to anyway, he saw them breaking the law and he sent his soldiers to kill them. With the result that their blood became intermingled with the blood of the sacrifices.

We see then, that though it would seem that those who killed John the Baptist had gotten away with it, but God avenged his death. St. Paul tells us in Romans, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” God looks after those who are his.

Sacrifices From a Pure Heart

So, some Galileans were killed, what difference does that make to us? St. Ambrose provides us with the answer.

…the symbolic interpretation appears to refer to those who under the devil’s power offer sacrifice impurely. Their prayer becomes sin, just as it is written of Judas the traitor, who, amid the sacrifices, planned the betrayal of the Lord²

It was with the religious leaders that Judas made the deal to betray the Lord i.e. in the midst of the sacrifices and the temple.

Let us take heed then that we offer our sacrifices to the Lord from a pure heart. The psalmist tells us, “Had I cherished evil in my heart, the Lord would not have heard.” In this Lenten season, let us examine ourselves and see if there is an evil that we are cherishing or loving in our hearts. If so, we must plead with the Lord to remove it and cleanse us. He will hear us and cleanse us.

The Lord’s Mercy

Let us now look at this parable that describes the Lord’s mercy. St. Augustin puts it beautifully,

Now it is though it should have been cut down, but the merciful one intercedes with the merciful one. He wanted to show how merciful he was, and so he stood up to himself with a plea of mercy.³

I just love that statement, “the merciful one intercedes with the merciful”. We have a merciful triune God, who just to show his mercy asks it of himself. I don’t think that our words and thoughts can comprehend this. He just delights in showing mercy. St. Basil also says of his mercy,

For it is the part of God’s mercy not silently to inflict punishment, but to send forth threatenings to recall the sinner to repentance, as He did to the men of Nineveh, and now to the dresser of the vineyard.⁴

Two Pictures in the Fig Tree

The Human Race

The fathers have looked at the fig tree in two different ways. First, they saw the tree as representing the whole human race. The three years in this viewpoint, saw God visiting the patriarchs, then in the time of the law and the prophets, and now with the coming of the Gospel the third year has begun.

Israel

Second, they saw the tree as Israel. In specific they say it is Israel during the ministry of Christ to the destruction of Jerusalem. They saw similarities between this parable and when the Lord said to Moses, “Permit me to destroy the people.”, but there were definite differences. Moses returned to the people and condemned them while the vinedresser offered a solution of mercy to enable the tree to produce fruit.

Jesus comes to Israel, His people, asks for mercy and then tends the fig tree. In this we see his ministry to the Jews. The destruction of Jerusalem is imminent, but He is desiring that they turn from that and not die like the Galileans and the eighteen from Jerusalem and lose their place. St. Cyril of Alexandria tells us,

It is as if he would say, “Let the place of the barren fig tree be laid bare; then some other tree will come up or may be planted there.” This was also done. The crowds of the Gentiles were called into its place and took possession of the inheritance of the Israelites. It became the people of God, the plant of paradise, a good and honourable seed. It knows how to produce fruit, not in shadows and types but rather by a pure and stainless service that is in spirit and truth as being offered to God, who is an immaterial being.⁵

St Cyril, is speaking of what St. Paul explains in Romans 11 picturesquely in Romans 11 and more straightforwardly in Ephesians two. Basically, the Jews were removed from the land around the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and roughly around the same time the church with the inclusion of the Gentiles was being established. In the first testament things were hidden in shadows and types. In the second testament what is happening and what is required of us is laid out more clearly. The church is the people of God just as Israel were the people of God.

Warning to the Gentiles

This morning then, let us be mindful that the Lord is merciful and extends mercy. If we are, however, living in sin and are refusing his entreaties to repentance, then judgement will come. St. Paul warns us Gentiles,

For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

Abundant Life

In the gospel portion this morning we have seen the call to repentance and to receiving the Lord’s mercy. Now in our first testament portion, we see a call to an abundant life. Who is called? Everyone who thirsts, i.e. those who have no good of themselves, or in other words everyone. They are to buy grain, wine, and milk without cost. How? The price is repentance. The gardener has come and has plead for the tree and is now working the soil through this invitation. St. Jerome records that in his day the Eastern Churches followed this Scripture and gave wine and milk to those who had just been baptised.

God is full of compassion and is always ready to give people to good things. Our God is merciful. He gives us good things not only this present life as St. James also testifies, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights”, but also in the hereafter.

Gifts Prevented by Sin

What keeps us from receiving these gifts. In short, our sins, or in the words of the parable our inability to produce fruit. One of the Fathers says of this,

But the mass of your sins and ungodliness constricts you and hinders you from fleeing to him. But there would be no such great obstacle if you desire that mercy beyond words, for then such evils of yours would not defeat and overcome his compassion. For God is great in pity, and he will provide forgiveness for your sins and so will show you to be pure, so that no trace of your former sins will remain.⁶

How deceptive Satan is! Our sins hinder us from fleeing to Christ, but if only we’d see that to flee to him is the remedy and forgiveness. He is desirous to show us compassion. We must not only forsake our sins, but also desire the Lord. It is a difficult task to have victory, by merely saying no to evil, we must also say yes to good. We must seek the Lord with all our heart. As we turn to the Lord, we have forgiveness as another Father has said,

For great is the kindness of God that there is nothing that he is unable to loose for the converted person.⁷

Lent

The prophet Isaiah instructs us to seek the Lord. Here in our Psalm reading we discover how this is done. The fathers see these first few verses as referring to Lent. Maximus of Turin says,

The very body of the Christian is in a sense a desert when it is not filled with food and cheered with drink but is neglected in the desolation of parched fasting….Then Christ the Lord inhabits the desert of our body when he was found that our land is desolate because of hunger and parched because of thirst…Then the Saviour dwelling in this desert of our body overcomes there all the factions of the devil, and safe and secure from the thoughts of this world he takes it for his habitation so that from then on…we might think of nothing other than the Lord of the heavenly kingdom and the author of earthly resurrection.

It is through denying ourselves both of physical pleasures and spiritual passions that we make our bodies an empty and inviting place for our Saviour. As we seek the Lord, and deny ourselves, he comes in us and we dwell in communion with Him.

Baptism

In our Epistle reading, we return again to the subject of water. While Isaiah spoke of drinking, here we see baptism. All the Fathers see the Israelites going through the waters of the Red Sea as a picture of baptism for us in the New Covenant. The cloud they saw as the grace of the Holy Spirit upon our lives.

As St. Paul tells us in Romans that we die in baptism and rise to new life. Our old nature and other adversaries are dead to us, because we have been baptised into Christ. The Israelites also ate and drank in the wilderness from a miraculous source, but got no benefit from it. Here we are warned as well that thought we partake of the Holy Communion and are baptised, we will get no benefit as well unless we live a life that is worthy of that grace. We must bear the fruit of a holy life.

Trials

Finally trials are going to come and difficult ones at that. Of this St. Chrysostom tells us,

There are therefore temptations which we cannot bear. And what are these? All, so to speak. For the ability lies in God’s gracious influence; a power which we draw down by our own will. Wherefore that thou mayest know and see that not only those which exceed our power, but not even these which are “common to man” is it possible without assistance from God easily to bear⁸

Trials and temptations will come, this inevitable and in our own strength we cannot bear them. However, this morning let us purpose that as often as we encounter them, we ask God for his grace. Who will give it. In this way we can make it through temptation trial. We will overcome.

Application

What of us this morning? Just like Israel, we are in danger of judgement if we do not repent when the Lord beckons us. In this season of Lent that we are nearly halfway through, let us ask the Lord to examine us to see if there is an evil way in us, if there is wickedness that we are delighting in. We must leave it and choose to walk in an upright and holy way. As we remove certain foods from our diets, let us also remove sin from our lives. As we spend more time in prayer let us ask the Lord to make us more holy and upright. We can praise the Lord for His great mercy, but we must not abuse it, lest we find ourselves displaced and under his judgement.

Then let us seek the Lord buying through our repentance the wine, grain, milk and other good gifts. As we participate in Lent, we can anticipate greater fellowship with our Saviour. Let us rejoice that our adversaries have been put to death through our baptism and finally let us ask the Lord for the grace to overcome our trials and temptations.

~ Dn. Fr. Matthew

1 Thomas C. Oden and Arthur A. Just Jr., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture New Testament III (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 222

2 ibid.

3 ibid. 223

4 Catena

5 Thomas C. Oden and Arthur A. Just Jr., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture New Testament III (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003). 223-224

6 Thomas C. Oden and Mark W. Elliot, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture Old Testament XI (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007), 185

7 ibid. 188

8 Thomas C. Oden and Quentin F. WesselSchmidt, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture Old Testament VIII (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007), 54

8 Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., Editor, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Volume 12, Augustin: City of God, Christian Doctrine, originally published in the United States by the Christian Literature Publishing Company, 1887 (Peabody, MA, Hendrickson Publishing Marketing, LLC), 113

The Gardener and the Fig Tree, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54307 [retrieved May 24, 2019]. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/feargal/3923006489/.

Homily on St. Luke 6:27-38

Posted on February 24, 2019July 2, 2019 by Fr. Matthew

St. Luke 6:27-38; Genesis 45:3-11, 15; Psalm 37:1-11, 39-40; 1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50

Barekmor,

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Last Sunday of Epiphany

This morning is the final Sunday of the Epiphany with Transfiguration Sunday occurring next week. There has been a little dispute over when it should be celebrated over the centuries however, the RCL*, which we follow, places it next week.

The Greatest Virtue

In this final Sunday of Epiphany, we are looking at the theme of God works for our good and His glory. As we read last week, at the beginning of the Sermon on the Plain, that the people came to be healed and to hear Jesus. They were healed and now he teaches us about love. St. Ambrose tells us that he comes to this place last wisely. He has taught the basics and now he teaches us the greatest virtue – Love. He teaches us this virtue in the words – love our enemies.

Loving Our Enemies

In this teaching of loving our enemies St. Augustin sees an apparent contradiction. He explains,

We are also prohibited both from loving that world, and, if we understand rightly, are commanded to love it. We are prohibited, of course, where it is said to us, “Do not love the world.” But we are commanded when it is said to us, “Love your enemies.” They are the world, which hate us…. We are prohibited from loving the fault in it and commanded to love its nature. So we rightly love and hate it, although it perversely loves and hates itself.¹

The world has fallen, we are to love the good that God has created in it. I think we talk a lot about how our enemies are not people. (Although it often seems people are.) They are spiritual forces. We love men whom God has created, we hate the fault i.e. the sin nature and the sin that man has fallen into, but we love men who are the handiwork of God. Everything that God created is good and we cannot hate what He calls good.

Jesus’ Example

This loving of enemies, Jesus did not merely teach, but he also lived. (In our 1^st Testament reading, the patriarch Joseph prefigures this lifestyle as well, but more on that later.) St. Ambrose tells he intentionally prayed for his enemies as an example for us.

Indeed, when he was on the cross, he said in reference to his persecutors who were slandering him, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing,” so that he might pray for his slanderers, although he could have forgiven them himself.

Jesus chose to limit himself to his humanity on the cross, in the face of his enemies, in order to show us by way of example how to pray for our enemies. Because of His example, St. Stephen and countless other martyrs have had the courage to face their enemies with forgiveness, being preachers of the Lord’s suffering and also imitators of His patient gentleness. From our Lord and Saviour, to the lowliest saint we live a life of forgiveness and love for our enemies.

Compassion

In this passage Jesus deals first with the major way to love i.e. our enemies, now we turn our attention to the seemingly smaller form of love i.e. compassion. Loving our enemies can seem daunting and in certain seasons it is constantly in front of us, like right now for example, but we can we go through long stretches of time seemingly without any enemies. However, those who need compassion and mercy are always around us.

Think about it, there are beggars at busy intersections or the entrances of grocery stores. People come up to us in parking lots asking for money. Grocery stores often have a charity that you can donate to as you are checking out. Then of course we know the need in Asia and there are other ministries that request our help as well.

Will We be compassionate?

The opportunity to give to those who ask of us is tremendous, what are we going to do with it? Of compassion, St. Cyril of Alexandria tells us,

For it is a most excelling, and very pleasing to God, and in the highest degree proper for pious souls. It may suffice for us to imprint upon our mind that compassion is an attribute of divine nature. “Be merciful” he says, “as your heavenly Father is merciful.”²

In compassion, we show that we truly are the children of God. Are we truly willing to be compassionate though? In the circumstances that I have just recounted, I very seldom choose to show compassion. I don’t want to be pestered. I hadn’t prepared myself to give, but this isn’t what God has called us to. He has instructed us to give to those that ask of us, because that is what He does for us. Do we ever stop to think that our requests might not be convenient to God? No, we trust that he is merciful to hear us, and He is simply calling us to imitate him.

Judging and Forgiving

This leads us into judging and forgiving. Compassion deals more with physical needs, while judging and forgiveness deals with our relational life with others. If we have compassion for others, can we not also forgive them for what they do to us and others? Judging others is not our place and will cause the reaction of others as St. Cyril of Alexandria explains,

The lawgiver and judge are One. The judge of the sinning soul must be higher than that soul. Since you are not, the sinner will object to you as judge. Why judge your neighbour? But if you venture to condemn him, having no authority to do it, it is yourself rather that will be condemned, because the law does not permit you to judge others.

Whoever therefore is guided by good sense, does not look on the sins of others, does not busy himself about the faults of his neighbour, but closely reviews his own misdoings.³

My Struggle

In these three areas, the first is easiest for me. I follow the doctrine of non-resistance so loving enemies, turning the other cheek, giving the tunic make sense to me, and I have purposed that if a situation like that ever comes up to do that. I have had situations where I prayed for those who have cursed me.

In principle, I know that I am to be compassionate to other people’s needs. I struggle to do it, but I can very easily see that it is the way that I am to live. Not judging others, that is a tough one for me. The church context that I grew up was in the reaction to liberalism and modernism. It was loudly touted that it was because of a lack of church discipline and judgement we were headed in a bad direction. Which may or may not be true, that can be discussed at another time. I got in the frame of mind that I had the right and even the duty to judge and confront those who didn’t toe the line as I saw it in Scripture.

This is not the teaching of Jesus and it is the core value that I have struggled the most with. To be a person of grace and love in the culture that is ingrained in me is very difficult. However, by insisting on judging others I am bringing myself into condemnation, because I am placing myself over the law and by inference over God the lawgiver. In the words of St. Cyril, I lack good sense. For me and maybe for you, I have to rebuild a culture of grace and forgiveness for the faults of others.

Joseph’s Example

Joseph demonstrates for us what this lifestyle looks like. If you have ever studied the life of Joseph, you’ll see that his life prefigures Christ in many ways. In fact, St. Ambrose sees everything he says being echoed in the words of Christ in the gospels.

True Forgiveness Absolves the Offender

Joseph absolves his brothers of blame in his words, “Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you…. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.” St. Ambrose says of this,

What fraternal devotion! ….Christ would even excuse his brother’s crime and say that it is God’s providence and not humanity’s wickedness, since he was not offered up to death by humans but was sent by the Lord to life…When he was on the cross, Jesus said on behalf of the people, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”…And when they were startled and panic-stricken and thought they saw a spirit, again Jesus said to them, “Why are you disturbed, and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself…”⁴

Comfort the Offender

We see from this that forgiveness absolves the offender from blame. This is a hard truth, but we can accept that. When we forgive, it is as if nothing has happened between us, but then it is taken a step further. Joseph comforts his brothers and Jesus comforts the disciples. Our brother under condemnation, needs our comfort. We cannot allow him to wallow in his grief, we must comfort him. This is the intent of Christ’s teaching in the Gospel passage and Joseph’s example here.

St. Chrysostom explains it this way and challenges us,

That servitude, Joseph is saying, procured for me this position. That sale brought me to this prominence. That distress proved the occasion of this honour to me. That envy produced this glory for me. Let us not simply hear this, but also emulate it. In the same way let us comfort those who are badly disposed to us relieving them of responsibility for what has been done to us and putting up with great equanimity, like this remarkable man.⁵

Imitate Apostolic Doctrine

We have the example of Joseph, and the instruction and example of Christ, let us purpose to follow in it. Let us now look to the warning of David. We cannot afford to be provoked by evildoers, they may seem to get ahead by wickedness, but we must not imitate them. “Rather, be an imitator of apostolic doctrine, of prophetic grace and of the virtue of the saints. Then you will bear fruit and reap the harvest of your good deeds.”

Beware of Anger

Let us take a look at verse 8 as well, “Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.” Anger or forgiveness are the choices that we are presented with. St. Basil warns us of this vice,

If by the prudent use of reason, you could cut away the bitter root of indignation, you would remove many other vices along with this, their source. Deceit, suspicion, faithlessness, malice, treachery, rashness, and a whole thicket of evils like these are offshoots of this vice…. It is a wicked demon coming to birth in our very souls, taking prior possession of our interior, like a shameless tenant, and barring entrance to the Holy Spirit.⁶

We see what a great danger anger is. We must put aside our anger, absolve the blame of our offenders and forgive. If we do not, it will destroy us. When we are contemplating anger, we are standing on thin ice. We are in danger of barring the Holy Spirit from our lives. Is this a risk we are willing to take?

Resurrection From Sin

Now let us take a look at the epistle reading and while it does talk about the future resurrection and that is a glorious subject, it also speaks of our resurrection from sin, which we will concentrate on this morning. We see that anger is wrong and forgiveness is right, but how do we live that?

Our body is neither perishable or imperishable in itself, in just the same way our soul is neither good nor bad in and of itself. It is capable of becoming either of these by the choices that we make. Also we do not have one body that we use here on earth and a different one in the hereafter it is one and the same body. What does it mean that we can have a spiritual body? St. Augustin has an answer for us.

For as, when the spirit serves the flesh, it is fitly called carnal, so, when the flesh serves the spirit, it will justly be called spiritual. Not that it is converted into spirit, as some fancy from the words, “It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption,” but because it is subject to the spirit with a perfect and marvellous readiness of obedience, and responds in all things to the will that has entered on immortality,-all reluctance, all corruption, and all slowness being removed. For the body will not only be better than it was here in its best estate of health, but it will surpass the bodies of our first parents ere they sinned.

We live in forgiveness by subjecting ourselves to the desires of the Holy Spirit. This not only gives us better relationships with those on earth, but through continual submission to the Holy Spirit, we will be raised with a truly spiritual body. God came in an earthly body, so that this is possible. Now we can receive the Holy Spirit into our bodies making us spiritual bodies. We now bear the image of God as St. Chrysostom explains, “To ‘bear an image’ is not so much a matter of our nature as such, as of our choices and behaviour.”

Sin Cannot Enter the Kingdom of Heaven

Finally, in this passage it says flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The fathers are unanimous on this point and it would take too much time to read the quotes of Novatian, Ambrosiaster, Chrysostom, Jerome, Isaac of Nineveh and maybe others. To say it in short flesh and blood means disobedience and wickedness. It is not saying that our physical bodies cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. It is saying our sin cannot enter. Our bodies are and will be redeemed.

To sum up what the Scripture is teaching us this morning, we are to love, forgive, pray for our enemies, absolve them from guilt and comfort them. We are to show compassion to those who need it. Let us also show forgiveness and grace to our neighbours and not judgement. We are to keep from anger because this opens our lives up to all kinds of vices and bars the Holy Spirit from our lives, and finally we are to submit to the Holy Spirit in everything.

~ Dn. Fr. Matthew

*The RCL is a three year order of readings for the church calendar.

1 Thomas C. Oden and Arthur A. Just Jr., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture New Testament III (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 108

2 Ibid. 109

3 ibid. 110

4 Thomas C. Oden and Mark Sheridan, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture Old Testament II (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 291

5 Ibid. 292

6 Thomas C. Oden and Craig A. Blaising and Carmen S. Hardin, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture Old Testament VII (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2008), 291

7 Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D., Editor, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Volume 2, Augustin: City of God, Christian Doctrine, originally published in the United States by the Christian Literature Publishing Company, 1887 (Peabody, MA, Hendrickson Publishing Marketing, LLC), 255-256

Cornelius, Peter von, 1783-1867. The Recognition of Joseph by His Brothers, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54199 [retrieved May 24, 2019]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peter_von_Cornelius_004.jpg.

Homily on St. Luke 5:1-11

Posted on February 11, 2019July 2, 2019 by Fr. Matthew

St. Luke 5:1-11; Isaiah 6:1-8, (9-13); Psalm 138; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11

Barekmor,

In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

Community and Humility

In these passages we have three statements of humility – two from apostles and one from a prophet. Our theme from our Lectionary is Called to Build His Community. I believe that humility is a big part needed in building that community.

Let us first take a look at Simon Peter. I learned a song about this incident at a quite young age and I am sure that many of you have been familiar with the story for a long time as well.

Spiritual Pictures in Physical Events

There are physical tangible things in this story that are pointing us to greater spiritual truth, Jesus getting into the boat to teach, fish being caught, two boats, etc. Let us look at some of these in detail.

The Church

First, Jesus chooses to enter Peter’s boat. There were two boats, but one was chosen. Maximus of Turin tells us that this was the synagogue and the faithful church. Jesus chose the church as the instrument in the new covenant to reach the world. Both fish for the salvation of humankind, but in the new covenant the task has been given to the church.

This boat [the church] sails upon the deeps of this world, so that, when the earth is destroyed it will preserve unharmed all those it has taken in. Its foreshadowing can already be seen in the Old Testament. For as Noah’s ark preserved alive everyone whom it had taken in when the world was going under, so also Peter’s church will bring back unhurt everyone whom it embraces when the world goes up in flames. And as a dove brought the sign of peace to Noah’s ark when the flood was over, so also Christ will bring the joy of peace to Peter’s Church when the Judgement is over.¹

Two Peoples

The boats do not merely point us to the synagogue and the Church, they also point us to the two peoples i.e. the Jews and the Gentiles. Simon and the others had toiled all night reminding us that up to the time of Christ the prophets had been toiling in the words of warning and exhortation but now in Christ salvation has come to all.

Salvation

St. Ambrose of Milan points out that nets bring the fish alive into the boat just as we are pulled out from the depths of sin to the glorious life above. The Venerable Bede notes that the nets are broken, but the fish do not escape because the Lord preserves His own amid the violence of persecutors.

St. Peter and Isaiah’s Humility

After this miracle, Simon Peter says, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” (Luke 5:8) This parallels the prophet Isaiah’s words, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” (Isaiah 6:5). They are both cleansed and given a commission.

While Isaiah’s description of what happens uses a lot more imagery, what is happening is virtually the same. In the Gospel we hear Jesus’ words, “Fear not;”. In the prophecy of Isaiah we see what is happening behind the scenes in the spiritual realm. Fire is brought from the altar to purify the lips. Do not be afraid contains all of what we see in Isaiah. If we are feeling afraid in the presence of God, let us also ask for this cleansing.

The Essence and Existence of the Father

Let us back up a bit to the beginning of chapter six of Isaiah. We are brought into the throne room of the Lord. Isaiah, in his description, is revealing the Father’s existence but not his essence (which cannot be seen.) In other places throughout Scripture we see descriptions of his existence telling us of different facets of his being, but never of his essence which is beyond our understanding and does not have various forms. “God’s essence, however”, Theodoret of Cyr tells us, “does not have different forms, because God is incorporeal, indivisible, simple, invisible, and inaccessible.”²

The Father Sits

This description of the Lord has caused wonder in the eyes of the Fathers. He who does not have a body sits! He who is everywhere is lifted up! How can these things be? The description of sitting they surmise is to accommodate our feeble understanding. His being lifted up means not in a physical way. Cyril of Alexandria tells us “[t]hat would be foolish and absurd. Rather that the throne is said to be lifted up means that the reign of God transcends all things. That God is sitting refers to his immovability and that his blessings are everlasting and unchanging.”³

The Holy Trinity

The Fathers are unsure whether the two Seraphim are a concealed reference to the Son and the Holy Spirit or if they are merely angels. They are, however, agreed that this thrice declaration of holiness is indeed a reference to the Trinity of God. They say holy three times in reference to the three persons but use the singular for Lord so we know that they are referring to the essence of deity.

These angels also proclaim, that the whole earth is full of his glory. This is a reference to the Incarnation of our God and Saviour; because after the appearing of the Master, the nations received the illuminating ray of divine knowledge. This also has bearing on what we earlier saw with St. Peter and the Lord. Jesus had entered his creation and was able to directly say to St. Peter, “Fear not;”. Heaven has come to earth and purification can take place in the here and now and not just in visions.

Cleansing

For us how are our lips cleansed? Cassiodorus gives us the answer.

We must especially follow the commandments, and signing our lips with the seal of the cross we must pray to the Lord that he may cleanse our mouths, which are disfigured with human foulness.⁴

The Joy of the Saints

Our lips have been cleansed, let us sing with joy before the angels. St. Augustin says,

My song is my joy; but my joy in things below is before men, my joy in things above before the Angels…The wicked rejoice in his tavern, the martyr in his chain.

St. Augustin at this point relates the story of St. Crispina a martyr of the fourth century.

She rejoiced when she was being seized, when she was being carried before the judge, when she was being put into prison, when she was being brought forth bound, when she was being lifted up on the scaffold, when she was being heard, when she was being condemned: in all these things she rejoiced; and the wretches thought her wretched, when she was rejoicing before the Angels.⁵

Our joy and our song are not affected by what others do. Our enemies can merely rage against us they can do nothing more. They can take our money, strip, denounce us, banish us, afflict us with grief and tortures, at last if they be allowed, even kill us, but what else can they do? We are part of a church here on earth and we are joining the church above in our death. The saints who have gone before are all around us, the world can do nothing permanent against us. The Lord will take vengeance on those who rage against and we will dwell in peace forever with him.

The Resurrection of the Body

This now brings us to the Epistle reading. This morning we begin a look at the importance of the resurrection which will continue over the next three weeks. Death means nothing to us because there is a resurrection. If we stray from believing in the resurrection of the dead, we will lose everything that we have believed. As another Father put it,

The resurrection of the body is the whole point of our gospel message. Without it, all the works of prayer and fasting which we do are meaningless.⁶

Lent

We have Great Lent coming up very shortly as our Metropolitan told us in his Shepherds Letter today. There is also the Nineveh Fast that you can take part in this week. These fasts, however, are meaningless, if we do not believe in the resurrection of the dead. We have no hope beyond the grave without the resurrection.

The Gospel

Christ Died for Our Sins

St. Paul does a great job here of summing up the Gospel message. We’ll just go over a few of the things that the Fathers see as key in this brief summary. First Christ died for our sins. This means that our sins were not as great as the justice of the one who died for us. It also means that if he died for our sins then he must have been sinless and did not die the death of sin but the death of his body. We die because we have sin and therefore it does no one any good. Christ died without sin thus destroying death and sin.

Christ’s Resurrection

Second, that Christ rose again. He died a genuine death and therefore needed a genuine resurrection. In all of this St. Paul points us to the Scriptures for the proof. Some of the Fathers have listed some of these Scriptures if you’d like to search it out on your own. St. Hilary of Poitiers points out to us,

Paul reminded us that we are to confess the manner of the death and resurrection…strictly according to the testimony of the Scriptures, so that our understanding of his death might be in accord with the apostles…⁷

St. Paul’s Humility

As I mentioned, at the beginning of our blog, we have three statements of humility, we now see the third. St. Paul declares himself the least of the apostles. St. Chrysostom tells us,

Paul says this because he was a humble man and because it was what he really thought about himself. He was forgiven for having persecuted the church, but it was a shame he never forgot. It taught him the greatness of God’s grace toward him.⁸

It urged him on to toil ever so much harder for the Lord and probably in a large part the reason that we are here today. St. Paul laboured to open the gospel up to us Gentiles. We are for the most part the descendants of his ministry. He preached, and we believed. The second boat received the gospel through his ministry.

Application

For us then today, let us seek the Lord in humility. We ought to make the sign of the cross over ourselves and ask for his cleansing for our mouths and our lives. We too can boldly proclaim his message, by the power of the Holy Spirit that he has given us. Let us look to the forgiveness that St. Paul received, and know that for whatever we have done there is forgiveness also. We have this hope that when we are persecuted or abused, persecution cannot touch us past the grave. Let us rejoice that there is a resurrection and that we will stand before the Lord with St. Paul, St. Peter, Isaiah and all the saints.

~ Dn. Fr. Matthew

1 Thomas C. Oden and Arthur A. Just Jr., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture New Testament III (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 88

2 Thomas C. Oden and Steven A. McKinnon, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture Old Testament X (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004), 48

3 Thomas C. Oden and Steven A. McKinnon, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture Old Testament X (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004), 49

4 Thomas C. Oden and Steven A. McKinnon, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture Old Testament X (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004), 53

5 Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D Editor, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series Volume 8, Augustin: Expositions on the Psalms, originally published in the United States by the Christian Literature Publishing Company, 1888 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickoson Publishing Marketing, LLC), 633
6 Thomas C. Oden and Gerald Bray Editors, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture Old Testament VII (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007), 146

7 Ibid. 147

8 Ibid. 149

Basaiti, Marco, approximately 1478-1530. Call of the Sons of Zebedee, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56395 [retrieved May 10, 2019]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Basaiti_Call_of_the_Sons_of_Zebedee.jpg.

Homily on St. John 2:1-11

Posted on January 20, 2019July 2, 2019 by Fr. Matthew

Epiphany 2c

St John 2:1-11; Isaiah 62:1-5; Psalm 36:5-10; I Corinthians 12:1-11

Barkemore,

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

Wedding in Cana

According to the chronology in St John’s Gospel, the wedding was held three days after his baptism. Jesus and his disciples had been invited while His mother was already there, then the wine ran out. There are lots of other cool things that are details – I’ve heard many sermons about all these details. What we’re after in this blog, is – what do I “do” with this instruction from the Holy Gospel. I’m not really interested in filling my head – but, how can I be growing into Christlikeness …

Christ and the Church

The fathers make all this about Christ and the Church, – his bride. There are also certain ones who make note that – Christ’s acceptance of the invitation and his presence, sanctifies the sacrament of marriage. He instituted it and He here approves and even participates – by providing the joy. He makes the wine. At least 120 gallons of it — not much concern about being prudish. There would certainly be enough for the celebration and to provide for the couple in the future as well.

Honouring His Mother

Here is a take away from St John Chrysostom:

We know from the Gospel of St. Luke that Jesus greatly honoured his mother since he tells us that Jesus was subject to his parents.…For where our parents throw no obstacle in the way of God’s commands, it is our duty to be subject to them. But, when they demand anything at an unseasonable time or cut us off from spiritual things, we should not be deceived into compliance.¹

Fulfilling Prophecy

Certainly we can see this a fulfillment of specific prophecy – Isaiah 9:1

St. Matthew 4:13-16

And leaving Nazareth, he [Jesus] came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,

The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;

The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

Interestingly, and this may be a help to those who are really digging into the things we’re learning in our church – St. Matthew’s Gospel uses the text of the Septuagint, not the Hebrew versions: Regarded as the KJV (or best translation) of the 1^st Testament. The Septuagint is the earliest existing Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures from the original Hebrew. It is estimated that the first five books of the Old Testament, were translated in the mid-3rd century BCE and the remaining texts were translated in the 2nd century BCE. This and other texts were used in the 1611 translation – which includes what we call the Apocrypha. Not removed until Luther’s translation (1200 years later) – many still use it today.

Beginning of Miracles

Anyway – back to the lesson…“This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.” Just as the Septuagint reads, “Drink this first. Act quickly.”

For the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali were the first to see the miracles of Christ, that they who first saw the Lord perform a sign would be the first to drink the potion of faith. The evangelist John reports that Jesus performed this, his first sign, (our Lord had a ministry of signs) changing water into wine, when he was invited to attend a wedding in Cana with his disciples:

Lifting of Burdens Begun

According to the Hebrew, it is also said to be the first time that the [lifting of the] burden of sins was revealed, because the Saviour first preached the gospel in the region of these two tribes.…

One of the Father’s says,

“It is he who came down to earth to invite his beloved to marriage with his highness, giving her for a present the token of his blood and intending to give later the dowry of his kingdom.”²

A Miracle to Manifest His Glory

So, when the wine runs out, Mother Mary turns to Jesus expecting a miracle—but where did she get such an idea since this was the first miracle John relates to us?

It’s important to notice – there is no argument or lack of love between them. Our Saviour doesn’t scold her, as some have suggested. She, His holy Mother, also doesn’t respond back to Him. She simply directs the servants to “do what He says”

There is a lesson here for us …The miracle was not done out of necessity but rather to manifest his glory, which would only be fully manifested when his hour had come on the cross.

As the creator of time, Christ knew what the most appropriate hour would be for him to accomplish his work, but he also honoured his mother and so performed the miracle at the proper time.

Romanus³

A Miracle at St. Mary’s Request

There is much discussion here, that Mother Mary persuaded our Saviour to act as she requests. Certainly, He obeyed her while growing up. Of course then, this could lead to others asking her to intercede for them For Him this was no big challenge – He made the water from nothing, not much to make water into wine then. He who was tempted to make bread out of stones … this was also not a challenge for Him.

Pictures of the Incarnation, Resurrection, and Eucharist

The Incarnation

After Mother Mary’s body being sanctified immediately by His incarnation …We’ve talked about that already – the leaping of The Forerunner and Elizabeth’s exclamations. Water was the first element to be touched at His baptism. Now water is being turned to wine. Wine will soon be turned to His blood — for our healing. This demonstration of His deity and humanity combined, is proof of His recreation of the fallen world.

The Resurrection

Why did our Lord change natural things at the beginning of his signs, was it not to show that the divinity that changed nature in the jars – was the same that changed nature in the womb of the virgin? And at the conclusion of the signs, he opened the tomb to show that the unrelenting nature of death would not keep hold of him either.

Another says,

He sealed and confirmed these two uncertainties, that of his birth and of his death. For these waters, with regard to their nature were turned into the [fruit of] the vine, but without the stone jars [themselves] undergoing changed in their nature inwardly. This was a symbol of his body, which was wondrously conceived in a woman, and, without a man, miraculously formed within the Virgin.

He made wine from water, therefore, in order to give proof concerning how his conception and his birth took place.⁴

The Eucharist

Cyril of Jerusalem:

[Jesus] once changed water into wine by a word of command at Cana of Galilee. Should we not believe him when he changes wine into blood? It was when he had been invited to an ordinary bodily marriage that he performed the wonderful miracle at Cana. Should we not be much more ready to acknowledge that to “the sons of the bridal chamber” he has granted the enjoyment of his body and blood?⁵

Changing water into wine is no different from changing wine into blood and so we continue to obey, as we celebrate the mystery of the changed wine in every Eucharist service. The water was changed by a word, and the wine also is by words “this is my blood”.

Instruction on Partaking of the Eucharist

When we receive the elements (interesting that we call them that) elements – the building blocks of re-creation. We are agreeing – with the word “Amen” as we receive each of them. We make a cradle of our two hands to receive the bread and take it in to our mouths. Please don’t chew it – let it melt even as you receive the wine. As you taste the wine, remember where it came from. This is the account of re-creation from the Bible – just as Jesus told us, “this is my blood”.

Here again is another tactile, way of connecting our bodies with our soul and spirit. No wonder so many have been tricked into only “remembering”, a mind game – rather than experiencing God, in this way.

Application

Some application:

Take instruction from Holy mother Mary – “Do whatever he says, …” You will see His glory, as will others – The disciples believed in Him
And Jesus said, unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will have no part of me. (John 6)

Certainly we can obey His word, as his mother encourages us –as often as you do this, do it remembrance of me St. Mark 14:22-25,Luke 22:18-20,I Corinthians 11:23-25

Glory be to the father …

Amen

~ Rev. Fr. Pat

1 Joel C. Elowsky and Thomas C. Oden Editors, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture New Testament IVa (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 91

2 Joel C. Elowsky and Thomas C. Oden Editors, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture New Testament IVa (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 89

3 Joel C. Elowsky and Thomas C. Oden Editors, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture New Testament IVa (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 88

4 Joel C. Elowsky and Thomas C. Oden Editors, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture New Testament IVa (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 95

5 Joel C. Elowsky and Thomas C. Oden Editors, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture New Testament IVa (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 98

David, Gérard, ca. 1460-1523. Miracle at Cana, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=46657 [retrieved May 2, 2019].

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We read St John’s Gospel: