WEBVTT

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Glory to Jesus Christ. You've heard the phrase,

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when the times are tough, the tough get going.

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When wildfires hit, when Restrictions come down

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on us when people are getting sick, when national

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politics is a dumpster fire. Christians don't

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enter into the fray, at least not right away.

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Christians go back, go back to listen and to

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ponder. To contemplate the words of Christ. To

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be immersed in the liturgy. To read the scriptures.

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You heard a gospel that's about love. We don't

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have it. It comes from God. We can't generate

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it. And if you fake it, it's just hypocrisy.

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Everything the Savior teaches, everything he

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did as an example for us, because he did all

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those things that he taught us, the healings,

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the rebukes, everything he did was to lead us

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to, as Paul would say, to perfect holiness in

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the fear of God. So that, as you heard in this

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epistle from 2 Corinthians, you are temples of

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the Holy Spirit. Ponder that, brothers and sisters,

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as you walk around, as you do your daily chores,

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as you go to work, as you interact with people,

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as you watch things that maybe you shouldn't

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have even seen. Temple of the Holy Spirit. God's

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gift to us. He leads us to perfect holiness in

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the fear, the honor, the reverence, the beauty,

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yes, the joy, truth, light, and love, which is

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the most prominent thing available to us from

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God, his love. And everything in the divine liturgy

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leads up, up the road, not down the road, but

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up the road. the same blessed path of holiness.

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Notice at the beginning of the Divine Liturgy,

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what do we say? In peace, let us pray to the

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Lord. We ask for the peace from above. This tells

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us, this is Christ himself, to dwell in our hearts

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by the Holy Spirit. And I'll remind you again,

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as I've been saying, Frequently, have I said

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during this COVID time, week after week after

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week, the commandments of Christ, our blessed

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Orthodox Christian faith, is not, I must do this

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and not do that. This is forbidden. This is permitted.

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No. In peace, let us pray to the Lord. To be

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a temple of the Spirit means we identify ourself

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with our Father in heaven. To be children of

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the Most High, as Jesus said. Like God. Everything

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here, even standing outside with these tents

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and the icons and all this temporary thing, is

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to bring us so that peace, Christ, dwells within

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us. really reveal ourselves to be temples of

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the Holy Spirit. You know, what is natural is

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for the eyes to see. When they don't work right,

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we need some kind of corrective. Glasses. What

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is natural is for the mouth to speak. For the

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hands to give and to embrace. For the heart,

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what is natural? To love our enemy. That's what's

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natural. That's when we're healthy. To give without

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thinking of getting back, as Jesus said. For

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what credit is it to you if you give and you

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expect it back? Even non -believers do that.

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When the world meets a Christian, the world has

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a right to expect someone, something out of the

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ordinary, the temple of God. The profile of a

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servant of the Savior is one of holiness. Yes,

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perhaps we're slow in acquiring that, but anyway,

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it's in the process. And anyway, it's not ordinary.

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We follow the commandments. We become the friend

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of God. We become a reflection of God. Children

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of the Most High. A child looks like his parent

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or her parent. A couple years ago, I was downtown

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at one of my favorite coffee shops, Flying Goat,

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and I went in to have coffee, and the guy behind

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the counter, I didn't know him. I didn't know

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the guy. He says, oh, your son was just here.

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I said, really? How did you know? He says, well,

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he looks just like you. You see, we are to look

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like Christ in our actions, in our countenance.

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We are to sound like Christ. This is why when

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times are tough, we get going to the Lord so

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we can be strengthened. Be Christians on purpose.

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We may have been born, some of us, into the life

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of the church and baptized as children, but we

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have to be Christians on purpose or else our

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faith is irrelevant to the person you meet. It's

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irrelevant to this world. It will have zero power.

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And what is that power? In peace, let us pray

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to the Lord for the peace from above. The power

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is the power of God's love. Jesus said, as Father

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John pointed out in a sermon some time ago, he

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gives some parables which need interpretation.

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Sayings that are not quite understandable on

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the surface, and then the preacher, Gets up and

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he says, this is what it means. And after the

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service, Father, I finally know what that means

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now that you've explained it. But this doesn't

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need any explanation today. It's straight ahead.

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Love your enemy. Do good. Treat the other person

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as you would want them to treat you. But let's

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be honest with ourselves. Maybe we're having

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a hard time forgiving an enemy. Probably most

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of you have a couple of enemies that you see

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on the television or on Facebook. You don't even

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know these people. So this is a different category,

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possibly. But we still have to love them. Are

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you children of the Most High? Are you a temple

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of the Holy Spirit? If you're having trouble

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loving an enemy, somebody that's not lovable,

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that you think is going to hurt you and has hurt

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you, be like those 21 Egyptian martyrs in Libya

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who stood and said, Lord Jesus Christ, before

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they were martyred. They asked for forgiveness

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of the people killing them. as Stephen did, and

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guess who? Guess who else did that? Yes, the

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Lord on the cross. Are we children of the Most

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High? Maybe the difference between a disciple

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of Christ and one who is only observing and has

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not decided to live Christianity on purpose is

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that the disciple says, Lord, I'm unable to do

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this yet. Help me. And the observer, the one

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on the outside, is afraid of trusting Christ

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and says, well, I can't do this. Actually, I

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don't even want to do it. St. Silouan the Athonite,

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who died in 1938. So he saw plenty of the nightmare

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of the early 20th century. He said something

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that we would be wise to take heed of, to let

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his words be like a stethoscope, listening to

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the state of our spiritual heart like a thermometer

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gauging our spiritual temperature, like a scale

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that we might step on to show are we undernourished

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in the love of God? Are we overweight with our

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ego and love of self and fear? St. Silouan said

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this, the good man thinks to himself in the following

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way, everyone who has strayed from the truth

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brings destruction upon himself and is therefore

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to be pitied. But of course, the man who has

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not learned the love of the Holy Spirit will

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not pray for his enemies. The man who has learned

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love from the Holy Spirit sorrows all his life

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over those who are not saved. and sheds abundant

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tears for all people. And the grace of God gives

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him strength to love his enemies. Where there

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is pride, there cannot be grace. And if we lose

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grace, we also lose both love of God and assurance

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in prayer. The soul is then tormented by evil

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thoughts, does not understand that she must humble

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herself. and love her enemies. The Christian

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walks down the road with Christ, with his cross.

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So yes, forgiving our enemies costs us something.

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We don't give expecting a return. We don't love

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hoping to receive back. This is a cross sometimes,

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and it's a lot of sorrow. This is not karma.

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Love your enemies, and then, boom, everything

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good's going to happen to you. Give, and it'll

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come back to you. Probably not. This is not karma.

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Why should God care if you do something for someone,

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giving something you have that he gave you? And

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you expect something in return down the road.

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That really is an investment. That's a business

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proposition. Love isn't a means to get something.

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It is the goal. And God gives it without measure.

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He gives it without stinting. He gives it to

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us, even us who are sinners. Love is the way

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in which We imitate Christ, and it's the sign.

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You hear the litmus test all the time, and this

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Supreme Court hearing is going to come up soon,

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and it's going to be litmus test after litmus

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test. What's the litmus test for us? Do we love

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our enemy? Love your enemies, do good, and lend,

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expecting nothing in return. Your reward will

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be great. When will it be great? Now! This is

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the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven

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is at hand, and God is sending his love to us

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when we need it in the difficult times, and we

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can share that with anyone. To our Lord, who

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is gracious, who is kind, who said from the cross,

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forgive them for they know not what they do.

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To him be glory and honor and worship now and

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ever to ages of ages. Amen. Can I hear amen?