WEBVTT 00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:04.500 Glory to Jesus Christ. Glory forever. In the 00:00:04.500 --> 00:00:08.199 name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 00:00:08.199 --> 00:00:18.660 Holy Spirit. Amen. There's a story about obedience 00:00:18.660 --> 00:00:24.800 and humility that typifies maybe a little bit 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:28.019 the humility and obedience of this centurion. 00:00:28.620 --> 00:00:31.079 from the 8th chapter of the Gospel of St. Matthew. 00:00:34.100 --> 00:00:39.560 Abba John the Dwarf went to the desert of Egypt, 00:00:39.659 --> 00:00:45.020 and he dwelt with an elder there. And the elder 00:00:45.020 --> 00:00:49.280 took a stick, just a dried up old stick, and 00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:52.219 he made a hole in the ground, stuck it in the 00:00:52.219 --> 00:00:56.820 ground, and he told Abba John the Dwarf, water 00:00:56.820 --> 00:01:04.920 this every day. And John had to walk many miles 00:01:04.920 --> 00:01:08.079 to get the water every day. And he was only back 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:13.000 by nightfall. And he did it for the first month, 00:01:13.180 --> 00:01:16.359 second month, third month, sixth month. At the 00:01:16.359 --> 00:01:21.079 end of the year, it sprouted. After that, fruit 00:01:21.079 --> 00:01:25.400 began to grow on it. And his elder took the fruit 00:01:25.400 --> 00:01:29.260 to the other brothers. at a common meal and said, 00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:34.180 my brothers, here's the fruit of humility and 00:01:34.180 --> 00:01:40.620 obedience. Seems kind of radical to us, but when 00:01:40.620 --> 00:01:44.500 there is trust, and when there's godly trust, 00:01:44.700 --> 00:01:51.859 healthy trust, then miracles happen. The center 00:01:51.859 --> 00:01:55.560 of this gospel has to be the recognition of Christ's 00:01:55.560 --> 00:01:59.590 power. to make things happen, fruit to be born 00:01:59.590 --> 00:02:04.790 in us. What you heard today in this gospel is 00:02:04.790 --> 00:02:07.650 not just another story of Jesus going around 00:02:07.650 --> 00:02:13.310 and healing everyone. It concerns the slave of 00:02:13.310 --> 00:02:17.969 a Roman soldier, a centurion. A centurion is 00:02:17.969 --> 00:02:23.539 to command 100 troops. He's a Gentile. He's considered 00:02:23.539 --> 00:02:26.479 unclean by the Jews. And it's interesting, in 00:02:26.479 --> 00:02:31.080 chapter 8, this is the second healing that happens. 00:02:31.319 --> 00:02:34.620 The first is to a leper, also considered unclean, 00:02:34.620 --> 00:02:37.060 and an outcast and a terrible sinner, or else 00:02:37.060 --> 00:02:40.639 he would not have leprosy. So Jesus comes to 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:44.860 the first two people he meets in chapter 8, who 00:02:44.860 --> 00:02:48.659 are not considered righteous by any means by 00:02:48.659 --> 00:02:52.479 the Jewish people. And this centurion is part 00:02:52.479 --> 00:02:56.180 of the military occupation. Why do we have this 00:02:56.180 --> 00:02:59.539 gospel today? What did we hear last week? Think 00:02:59.539 --> 00:03:04.639 about it. Why are you anxious about what you're 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:08.099 going to wear, what you're going to eat, what 00:03:08.099 --> 00:03:12.699 you will drink? Anxiety, anxiety, anxiety. Seek 00:03:12.699 --> 00:03:16.259 first the kingdom of God. Who can say such words? 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:21.789 If I said to you, any of you, Oh, don't worry 00:03:21.789 --> 00:03:27.669 about your food. It's all taken care of. Don't 00:03:27.669 --> 00:03:31.090 worry about your parents. Don't worry about how 00:03:31.090 --> 00:03:32.610 you're going to get to work. Don't worry about 00:03:32.610 --> 00:03:34.530 your job. Don't worry about anything. Well, you 00:03:34.530 --> 00:03:36.930 look at me as if I was insane, because I would 00:03:36.930 --> 00:03:40.550 be insane to say such a thing. But Jesus says 00:03:40.550 --> 00:03:44.490 these things, not just to say them and to comfort 00:03:44.490 --> 00:03:48.719 us somehow. but because as a son of God, he has 00:03:48.719 --> 00:03:53.060 the authority to make it happen for us, for that 00:03:53.060 --> 00:03:56.780 trust to be fulfilled and not disappointed. St. 00:03:56.840 --> 00:04:00.000 Paul in last week's gospel says, we glory in 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:04.699 our tribulations. We glory in them. We don't 00:04:04.699 --> 00:04:07.000 complain about them, he says. We glory in them. 00:04:08.360 --> 00:04:11.780 Good courage, my brothers and sisters. Have good 00:04:11.780 --> 00:04:16.040 courage during this time. We're in a time, like 00:04:16.040 --> 00:04:18.899 the Soviets were, the church in the Soviet era. 00:04:19.060 --> 00:04:22.660 We're in a time like St. Paul was in the Roman 00:04:22.660 --> 00:04:26.120 persecution and in the persecutions after that. 00:04:26.899 --> 00:04:29.800 We're in a time in which we don't have everything 00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:32.740 we want, but we have everything we need from 00:04:32.740 --> 00:04:38.740 God. Be of good courage. We can trust him. We 00:04:38.740 --> 00:04:41.399 have this gospel today to show us that the words 00:04:41.399 --> 00:04:45.209 of Jesus last week are reliable words because 00:04:45.209 --> 00:04:47.750 it comes from the Son of God, not just from a 00:04:47.750 --> 00:04:50.730 teacher. Jesus didn't come just to teach us. 00:04:50.829 --> 00:04:53.850 He came to establish the church in which we are 00:04:53.850 --> 00:05:00.790 members of his body. This centurion approached 00:05:00.790 --> 00:05:05.389 Jesus, pleading with him, praying to him. Sir, 00:05:05.529 --> 00:05:10.490 he said, my servant, my slave, my slave is paralyzed, 00:05:10.769 --> 00:05:14.149 dreadfully tormented. It would have been easier 00:05:14.149 --> 00:05:17.490 for this centurion to just let his slave die. 00:05:17.610 --> 00:05:21.250 It would have cost a lot less. Slaves had no 00:05:21.250 --> 00:05:24.910 value. They weren't looked upon as humans. How 00:05:24.910 --> 00:05:27.949 did Jesus respond to this man's pleading, this 00:05:27.949 --> 00:05:32.490 man's request? Considering who this man is, what 00:05:32.490 --> 00:05:38.290 would we have said? If there was Twitter or Facebook 00:05:38.290 --> 00:05:42.949 reaction, what would that be? Jesus could have 00:05:42.949 --> 00:05:47.250 said a great many things. He could have said, 00:05:47.269 --> 00:05:51.230 you Romans are the problem here. In fact, you're 00:05:51.230 --> 00:05:53.810 going to crucify me. You're going to put nails 00:05:53.810 --> 00:05:56.990 into my hands and my feet, and a centurion is 00:05:56.990 --> 00:06:02.810 going to stab his spear into my side. You're 00:06:02.810 --> 00:06:07.310 unclean. You're sinners. You're violent oppressors. 00:06:07.350 --> 00:06:12.060 You're slave owners. pagan idol worshippers, 00:06:12.300 --> 00:06:16.899 and God won't return to our temple here in Jerusalem 00:06:16.899 --> 00:06:20.379 until you wicked people, along with tax collectors, 00:06:20.759 --> 00:06:25.579 prostitutes, and lepers, clear out. This is what 00:06:25.579 --> 00:06:29.220 the Pharisees thought. Jesus could have said, 00:06:29.259 --> 00:06:32.839 you should, right now, resign from your position 00:06:32.839 --> 00:06:36.889 in the Roman army and become a Jew. And you should 00:06:36.889 --> 00:06:41.310 oppose any policies of the Roman Empire. That's 00:06:41.310 --> 00:06:44.850 what the Pharisees would have said. Drive out 00:06:44.850 --> 00:06:49.050 the unclean from our midst and God will restore 00:06:49.050 --> 00:06:54.529 the kingdom to us. The Savior said, I will come 00:06:54.529 --> 00:06:59.430 and heal him. Because the Lord sees the heart 00:06:59.430 --> 00:07:04.490 and knows the person. He doesn't deal with ideologies. 00:07:05.290 --> 00:07:09.529 and philosophies, and isms, and movements. He 00:07:09.529 --> 00:07:17.410 deals with you and me, the personal. I will come 00:07:17.410 --> 00:07:23.170 and heal him. And this centurion, who had humility 00:07:23.170 --> 00:07:27.029 and love for someone else, even someone below 00:07:27.029 --> 00:07:33.610 him, saw Jesus. who he is, saw the living, true, 00:07:33.769 --> 00:07:38.189 good, and loving authority, the grace to actually 00:07:38.189 --> 00:07:42.209 heal, to give that which he says he can do. So 00:07:42.209 --> 00:07:44.269 it's not a surprise when the soldier says to 00:07:44.269 --> 00:07:48.149 the Savior, I'm not worthy that you should come 00:07:48.149 --> 00:07:52.990 beneath my roof. Aren't those words familiar 00:07:52.990 --> 00:07:57.329 to us? We say them every time we prepare for 00:07:57.329 --> 00:08:00.420 communion. Lord, I'm not worthy. that thou shouldst 00:08:00.420 --> 00:08:06.100 come unto the roof of the house of my soul. Matthew 00:08:06.100 --> 00:08:13.040 says, Jesus is astonished at the man's faith. 00:08:14.920 --> 00:08:18.920 He says that this man, this Roman soldier, has 00:08:18.920 --> 00:08:22.240 greater faith than anyone else he ever met in 00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:26.500 Israel. Imagine the apostles standing there. 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:34.309 The shock. unhearing. You said what? The centurion 00:08:34.309 --> 00:08:37.370 came to Christ in supplication, in pleading, 00:08:37.370 --> 00:08:40.370 in humble prayer because he knew Christ in Christ 00:08:40.370 --> 00:08:44.029 was authority. Not like what you and I experience 00:08:44.029 --> 00:08:46.809 in the world. Do this, do that. This law, that 00:08:46.809 --> 00:08:52.870 law. No. Not secular authority. Not even worldly 00:08:52.870 --> 00:08:57.269 or family authority. No. but the spiritual, godly, 00:08:57.269 --> 00:09:00.950 loving, good, and healing authority, the power 00:09:00.950 --> 00:09:03.690 of which Jesus, who is the peace, the wisdom, 00:09:03.809 --> 00:09:07.570 the word, and power of God, exuded in abundance. 00:09:08.529 --> 00:09:11.570 He who made heaven and earth, he who will be 00:09:11.570 --> 00:09:15.649 all in all, says St. Paul. Pouring forth eternal 00:09:15.649 --> 00:09:20.409 rivers, oceans, oceans of transforming and divine 00:09:20.409 --> 00:09:27.250 love. It is he, their, And here now, nothing 00:09:27.250 --> 00:09:30.129 to stop him, just because our church doesn't 00:09:30.129 --> 00:09:32.269 have a bunch of people in it. Nothing to stop 00:09:32.269 --> 00:09:38.350 Jesus from breaking through our personal and 00:09:38.350 --> 00:09:41.330 our sinful limitations to make us free, as St. 00:09:41.350 --> 00:09:44.330 Paul says. Free from sin. Free from ourself. 00:09:45.309 --> 00:09:49.330 The impulses, the compulsions, the fears and 00:09:49.330 --> 00:09:54.179 the shame. Free from that. To live the life of 00:09:54.179 --> 00:09:58.139 Christ changes our consciousness, changes our 00:09:58.139 --> 00:10:02.899 heart, changes our behavior. And we live the 00:10:02.899 --> 00:10:05.440 life of Christ. I don't say the spiritual life 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:07.419 because that's not a phrase found in the Bible. 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:10.000 It sounds like something you might purchase somewhere. 00:10:10.220 --> 00:10:13.320 I'll get myself a spiritual life. No, the life 00:10:13.320 --> 00:10:18.299 of Christ. His life we live. And we know we are 00:10:18.299 --> 00:10:22.539 loved by God. And that he seeks. our good he 00:10:22.539 --> 00:10:26.659 seeks it constantly and perhaps he's astonished 00:10:26.659 --> 00:10:30.779 at our lack of faith not our faith we can trust 00:10:30.779 --> 00:10:35.379 him we trust in christ why because we know him 00:10:35.379 --> 00:10:38.320 not something i know about him from what i read 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:42.480 in books and theology and heard on podcasts or 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:47.279 even in the bible But faith which comes from 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:49.700 knowledge of God, like I know my friends, like 00:10:49.700 --> 00:10:53.340 I know you, brothers and sisters. Not just something 00:10:53.340 --> 00:10:59.559 about you. Last week I quoted St. Isaac of Syria, 00:10:59.799 --> 00:11:01.759 and I'll give you the same exact quote again 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:05.139 because it's relevant. It carries forward the 00:11:05.139 --> 00:11:07.899 thought from last week. St. Isaac of Syria wrote 00:11:07.899 --> 00:11:12.799 that we call faith that light which dawns in 00:11:12.799 --> 00:11:15.789 the soul by grace and which By the testimony 00:11:15.789 --> 00:11:20.889 of the mind, our thoughts, our intellect, establishes 00:11:20.889 --> 00:11:25.129 the heart in freedom from doubt through the full 00:11:25.129 --> 00:11:30.210 assurance of hope and the hope we have in God's 00:11:30.210 --> 00:11:35.509 Spirit. We are not disappointed in it. This is 00:11:35.509 --> 00:11:42.090 freely given to us. Remember, however, that in 00:11:42.090 --> 00:11:44.940 our first steps to the approach of God, They're 00:11:44.940 --> 00:11:49.419 easy because God is extending himself to us. 00:11:49.580 --> 00:11:52.919 It's the feeling that we have wings, the enthusiasm 00:11:52.919 --> 00:11:56.440 caused by the certainty that we are approaching 00:11:56.440 --> 00:12:01.279 God. Father Alexander Elcheninov, one of the 00:12:01.279 --> 00:12:05.639 priests in Paris after the revolution, says that 00:12:05.639 --> 00:12:10.899 this is followed by a gradually cooling down 00:12:10.899 --> 00:12:19.370 by doubt. by cynicism, by troubles, by forgetfulness 00:12:19.370 --> 00:12:23.190 of our trust in God. In order to sustain our 00:12:23.190 --> 00:12:26.269 faith, he says, it is necessary to make an effort 00:12:26.269 --> 00:12:30.289 to struggle to fight for it, to astonish Christ 00:12:30.289 --> 00:12:36.070 about our fight for his love, to oppose ourself. 00:12:36.509 --> 00:12:41.610 Like any friendship, any relationship, if I don't 00:12:41.610 --> 00:12:45.470 put some time... into engaging with my friend, 00:12:45.690 --> 00:12:51.950 my wife, my children, my parishioners? What kind 00:12:51.950 --> 00:12:55.350 of relationship is it? Effort is required. I 00:12:55.350 --> 00:12:59.889 need time to walk with Jesus Christ and no one 00:12:59.889 --> 00:13:03.269 else during that moment. I need time to pray 00:13:03.269 --> 00:13:07.870 and not let myself get distracted by little things. 00:13:08.830 --> 00:13:13.379 I need time to sit with him and only him. be 00:13:13.379 --> 00:13:17.279 it only five minutes in the morning. I need time 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:21.759 to plead to him, as this centurion did, for the 00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:27.440 healing of my brothers and sisters, this place, 00:13:27.460 --> 00:13:36.659 this country, myself. I had a discussion with 00:13:36.659 --> 00:13:40.139 Father Maximus Benson yesterday about this gospel. 00:13:41.740 --> 00:13:44.879 I said, what's the core? What's the core? Because 00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:48.159 we could talk about how Jesus said, there are 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:50.899 going to be many in the kingdom of heaven that 00:13:50.899 --> 00:13:53.740 sit down at the great banquet feast with Abraham 00:13:53.740 --> 00:13:57.399 and Isaac and Jacob that weren't expected to 00:13:57.399 --> 00:14:03.500 be there. Roman soldiers, publicans and tax collectors 00:14:03.500 --> 00:14:07.139 going on before the Pharisees. And the children 00:14:07.139 --> 00:14:09.259 of the kingdom, many will be cast out into outer 00:14:09.259 --> 00:14:11.720 darkness. So there's this story about we should 00:14:11.720 --> 00:14:14.980 be careful lest we lose the gift we've been given. 00:14:16.159 --> 00:14:21.299 There's humility. There's obedience. But he said, 00:14:21.340 --> 00:14:24.659 here's the core. And I believe it. The core of 00:14:24.659 --> 00:14:29.539 the gospel passage is recognition. To recognize 00:14:29.539 --> 00:14:34.360 real authority awakens in us the spiritual power 00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:37.940 to overcome. the sinfully produced limitations 00:14:37.940 --> 00:14:43.299 upon our nature, and awaken the God -created 00:14:43.299 --> 00:14:48.919 potentials of who we are to rise above, go past 00:14:48.919 --> 00:14:53.620 the limitations of our nature and worldly circumstances. 00:14:53.659 --> 00:14:56.539 And we live according to the spiritual law of 00:14:56.539 --> 00:15:02.620 heaven because we trust Christ. And then we have 00:15:02.620 --> 00:15:05.740 genuine spiritual health and holiness and wholeness 00:15:05.740 --> 00:15:09.639 and goodness and the ability to receive and flow 00:15:09.639 --> 00:15:15.740 with the grace. I am a man under authority, under 00:15:15.740 --> 00:15:19.320 obedience, said the centurion. Christ gives us 00:15:19.320 --> 00:15:22.620 the perfect example for himself. I can do nothing 00:15:22.620 --> 00:15:26.480 on my own authority. As I hear, I judge, and 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:29.039 my judgment is just because I seek not my own 00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:32.460 will but the will of him who sent me. This is 00:15:32.460 --> 00:15:36.620 a difficult concept for us Americans, especially 00:15:36.620 --> 00:15:40.879 on July 4th weekend, because we have been taught 00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:43.840 to believe that I am my own authority, and that's 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:49.399 the freedom. We forget what St. Paul taught us 00:15:49.399 --> 00:15:54.379 in Romans. The wages of sin is death, and our 00:15:54.379 --> 00:15:57.860 own authority is a sinful authority. We need 00:15:57.860 --> 00:16:00.879 to be liberated from ourself most of the time. 00:16:02.539 --> 00:16:08.220 I am sovereign. But we humble ourselves through 00:16:08.220 --> 00:16:12.360 obedience, not forced submission. Christ's love 00:16:12.360 --> 00:16:19.460 for us invites us to trust him. We have the gospel. 00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:25.220 We have the example of the saints of whom many, 00:16:25.320 --> 00:16:29.600 many built a life of saintliness like St. Anthony 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:36.840 on just one One word, one teaching of the gospel 00:16:36.840 --> 00:16:40.860 which they took seriously and to which they devoted 00:16:40.860 --> 00:16:44.679 their energies, their life, transfigured relationships, 00:16:45.100 --> 00:16:51.620 human souls, human lives. Who of us would have 00:16:51.620 --> 00:16:55.100 said what the centurion said? Thy word is enough, 00:16:55.299 --> 00:16:59.960 O Lord. Don't come. I'm not worthy. Who of us 00:16:59.960 --> 00:17:03.200 would have said that? We want a new revelation. 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:08.140 We want a new word from Christ. Let's astonish 00:17:08.140 --> 00:17:11.079 Christ by being like the centurion. Perhaps a 00:17:11.079 --> 00:17:16.799 great miracle will occur in us. The paralysis 00:17:16.799 --> 00:17:19.859 of our soul will become free.