WEBVTT 00:00:00.170 --> 00:00:05.129 and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. I greet 00:00:05.129 --> 00:00:08.369 you, brothers and sisters. I greet those of you 00:00:08.369 --> 00:00:14.529 weathering the storm. Hopefully your hearts are 00:00:14.529 --> 00:00:18.410 warmed by the Lord and by the Gospel message. 00:00:20.750 --> 00:00:25.550 Christians are accused of two things often. First, 00:00:25.750 --> 00:00:31.100 and I think it's reasonable to say, Christians 00:00:31.100 --> 00:00:35.399 are often accused of being obsessed with sin. 00:00:37.420 --> 00:00:43.240 Being obsessed with feeling guilty for sin. Being 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:48.179 obsessed with the possible punishment of hell. 00:00:51.539 --> 00:00:57.700 But that's not the orthodox way. We have today 00:00:59.240 --> 00:01:02.500 The commemoration of this marvelous icon to my 00:01:02.500 --> 00:01:08.280 left. Icon made without hands. We've just celebrated 00:01:08.280 --> 00:01:13.599 Dormition, the joyful feast of the entry of the 00:01:13.599 --> 00:01:16.560 Theotokos, the most pure one into the kingdom 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:19.200 and the life of the age to come. And before that, 00:01:19.260 --> 00:01:22.840 we celebrated the incredible feast of Transfiguration. 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:28.760 are anything but obsessed about guilt and sin 00:01:28.760 --> 00:01:31.579 and punishment. If anything, it's obsessed with 00:01:31.579 --> 00:01:36.680 the beauty and the glory of God. And particularly 00:01:36.680 --> 00:01:41.500 the feast day of this icon, Archio Orpheus, the 00:01:41.500 --> 00:01:44.319 one made without hands, the story which you can 00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:48.640 read about, in which Christ pressed a cloth against 00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:54.180 his face, and this image was imprinted on it. 00:01:54.650 --> 00:01:58.629 and it was sent to Abgar, prince of Edessa, far 00:01:58.629 --> 00:02:03.569 to the east, who had the disease of leprosy. 00:02:04.569 --> 00:02:09.389 So this is the first icon of the church. And 00:02:09.389 --> 00:02:11.590 it's important that it's the icon of Christ that's 00:02:11.590 --> 00:02:15.270 the first icon, because it tells us not just 00:02:15.270 --> 00:02:18.870 about sin, although it says something about that, 00:02:18.969 --> 00:02:23.270 and not guilt for sure, and not punishment, but 00:02:23.270 --> 00:02:27.669 the beauty. of our own calling, the beauty of 00:02:27.669 --> 00:02:34.629 what we are created to be in his image. Transfiguration, 00:02:34.750 --> 00:02:40.509 Dormition, this icon displays for us, first and 00:02:40.509 --> 00:02:44.750 foremost, our heavenly calling, what we as humans 00:02:44.750 --> 00:02:53.729 are called to be. Like God. Like God. And the 00:02:53.729 --> 00:02:56.590 other thing that Christians are accused of is 00:02:56.590 --> 00:03:02.729 being distant, especially Orthodox Christians. 00:03:02.810 --> 00:03:04.870 I don't know about evangelicals. They're accused 00:03:04.870 --> 00:03:09.830 of being too involved. Of being distant and uninvolved 00:03:09.830 --> 00:03:13.830 and mystical to the detriment of those around 00:03:13.830 --> 00:03:18.629 them. But this is also false. We have an understanding 00:03:18.629 --> 00:03:25.080 of sin and sorrow. And suffering. So the church 00:03:25.080 --> 00:03:28.080 gives us not only the commemoration of this incredible 00:03:28.080 --> 00:03:31.199 icon. But it also gives us this account from 00:03:31.199 --> 00:03:34.039 the Gospel of Matthew. Which we hear more of 00:03:34.039 --> 00:03:38.240 during Lent. From the Gospel of Mark. But essentially 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:41.439 the Lord is coming down from the Mount of Transfiguration. 00:03:43.659 --> 00:03:48.159 And like Moses. Coming down from Mount Sinai. 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:58.150 What does he find? Lack of faith. Chaos. Accusations 00:03:58.150 --> 00:04:03.430 against the disciples. Not very polite by a man 00:04:03.430 --> 00:04:06.250 asking something for Jesus. Your disciples couldn't 00:04:06.250 --> 00:04:09.889 do this. Doesn't speak well of this man's approach. 00:04:10.689 --> 00:04:16.589 The Lord comes down to sin and suffering. And 00:04:16.589 --> 00:04:19.389 the disciples who had been given the power to 00:04:19.389 --> 00:04:22.579 cure. all manner of diseases and to cast out 00:04:22.579 --> 00:04:27.339 demons just in the previous chapters could not 00:04:27.339 --> 00:04:32.139 do it. The man had no faith. The scribes and 00:04:32.139 --> 00:04:34.819 the Pharisees there wagging their fingers at 00:04:34.819 --> 00:04:38.319 his disciples saying, you can't do this. And 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:42.939 the disciples also, Jesus says, have little faith. 00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:46.939 There's no faith and there's little faith. Why 00:04:46.939 --> 00:04:53.350 could We not do this, they say. And Jesus says, 00:04:53.610 --> 00:05:01.550 you know, there's a strange idea out there, and 00:05:01.550 --> 00:05:04.490 it has been for some hundreds of years, that 00:05:04.490 --> 00:05:07.509 all we need to do is try harder, have a little 00:05:07.509 --> 00:05:10.329 bit more education, put money in the right places, 00:05:10.370 --> 00:05:13.829 and we will solve all kinds of problems in our 00:05:13.829 --> 00:05:19.209 society. Let me quote for you a very short three, 00:05:19.310 --> 00:05:22.970 four lines here from a famous preacher from the 00:05:22.970 --> 00:05:29.050 1960s. He said this, It's the strange conviction 00:05:29.050 --> 00:05:34.689 that if a man goes on thinking, inventing, and 00:05:34.689 --> 00:05:38.170 governing, he will be able to conquer by his 00:05:38.170 --> 00:05:42.149 own strength and his own ingenuity the nagging 00:05:42.149 --> 00:05:47.750 forces of evil. Remember, the boy wasn't a lunatic, 00:05:47.870 --> 00:05:52.089 wasn't ruled by the moon. He had a demon. There 00:05:52.089 --> 00:05:56.589 was evil present there. And this preacher goes 00:05:56.589 --> 00:06:01.670 on. He says, just give people a fair chance and 00:06:01.670 --> 00:06:04.689 a decent education, and they will save themselves. 00:06:06.129 --> 00:06:08.910 This idea has swept across the modern world like 00:06:08.910 --> 00:06:14.970 a plague, ushering God out and Escorting man 00:06:14.970 --> 00:06:21.629 in. Substituting human ingenuity for inner spiritual 00:06:21.629 --> 00:06:27.889 guidance. He goes on. But the problem that has 00:06:27.889 --> 00:06:30.389 always frustrated man has been his inability 00:06:30.389 --> 00:06:34.389 to conquer evil by his own power. He is constantly 00:06:34.389 --> 00:06:39.389 asking in pathetic amazement. Why can't I? Why 00:06:39.389 --> 00:06:43.259 can I not cast this out? Why cannot? I remove 00:06:43.259 --> 00:06:46.480 evil from my life. Whether it be addiction or 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:50.980 pornography or hatred, anger and resentment, 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:59.439 gluttony, desire to acquire, and so forth and 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:02.899 so on. People will make a resolution on New Year's 00:07:02.899 --> 00:07:04.399 Eve. We're going to stop this. We're going to 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:06.720 start that. Next New Year's Eve comes around. 00:07:07.079 --> 00:07:12.680 Nothing happened. St. Paul said today, We are 00:07:12.680 --> 00:07:19.800 not sufficient in ourselves. So, while the Orthodox 00:07:19.800 --> 00:07:24.620 exalt the beauty of Christ and his holiness and 00:07:24.620 --> 00:07:27.439 our calling to be with him, and while we also 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:30.139 can see sin and suffering and know that something 00:07:30.139 --> 00:07:34.259 has to happen, we are to minister to those. You 00:07:34.259 --> 00:07:36.839 know, the worst accusation a Christian could 00:07:36.839 --> 00:07:44.000 receive, the church could receive, would be what 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:51.180 this man said to Christ. Your disciples, they 00:07:51.180 --> 00:07:54.300 couldn't do it. Not to heal somebody, because 00:07:54.300 --> 00:07:58.620 Christ isn't asking us to do that. Not to solve 00:07:58.620 --> 00:08:01.220 world hunger. He's not asking us to do that. 00:08:03.740 --> 00:08:12.199 Your disciples, they did not reach out. did not 00:08:12.199 --> 00:08:16.500 give to the poor. They did not give of their 00:08:16.500 --> 00:08:20.879 time. They did not console. Your disciple didn't 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:24.600 call me when I was sick. Your disciple didn't 00:08:24.600 --> 00:08:29.060 come to see me when I was lonely. Your disciple 00:08:29.060 --> 00:08:32.960 gave me no clothes when I was naked or a place 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:38.419 to stay. We're called to do the thing in front 00:08:38.419 --> 00:08:42.720 of us, to be involved that way. But we're called 00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:47.860 to do something more. If we are to rise to the 00:08:47.860 --> 00:08:52.360 image from which we were created and of which 00:08:52.360 --> 00:08:55.700 we are to attain, the image of God, his likeness, 00:08:55.740 --> 00:08:59.820 this is not just about action at a social level. 00:09:01.960 --> 00:09:05.379 Who was this preacher I quoted? Anybody recognize 00:09:05.379 --> 00:09:10.889 him? That's Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. But what 00:09:10.889 --> 00:09:13.490 he couldn't go on to say, and what he did not 00:09:13.490 --> 00:09:16.649 go on to say, is that Jesus Christ gives us the 00:09:16.649 --> 00:09:20.669 two things we need in order to cast out evil, 00:09:20.710 --> 00:09:25.169 first from ourselves, and maybe in our community. 00:09:25.470 --> 00:09:30.870 And maybe then we can reach out. You know, people 00:09:30.870 --> 00:09:32.870 want to solve all the problems of the society 00:09:32.870 --> 00:09:37.250 right now. But we can't do two things, which 00:09:37.250 --> 00:09:40.559 are absolutely necessary, without which, our 00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:45.840 Christian faith will become irrelevant to us. 00:09:47.799 --> 00:09:50.120 And what are those things? The Lord was very 00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:54.700 clear. Lord, why could we not cast this out? 00:09:55.100 --> 00:10:00.500 This only comes out, he said, by prayer and fasting. 00:10:02.500 --> 00:10:06.919 Prayer, not as obligatory time set in the morning 00:10:06.919 --> 00:10:09.490 and the evening. which we kind of power through, 00:10:09.629 --> 00:10:11.570 and we're tired, and we've got something else 00:10:11.570 --> 00:10:14.629 to do that day, and we have to rush through it. 00:10:14.669 --> 00:10:18.769 No, prayer as conversation with God, and ultimately 00:10:18.769 --> 00:10:23.029 as prayer standing in his presence, being with 00:10:23.029 --> 00:10:28.610 him, and being enlightened by him. And fasting, 00:10:28.629 --> 00:10:31.409 not just as something, I'm not going to have 00:10:31.409 --> 00:10:34.549 a hamburger, but I might eat a whole bag of Lay's 00:10:34.549 --> 00:10:40.769 potato chips. Fasting as, for the same reason, 00:10:40.809 --> 00:10:43.350 if I'm going to play a piece of music, I practice 00:10:43.350 --> 00:10:46.350 it to gain capacity to play it. If I'm going 00:10:46.350 --> 00:10:49.529 to shoot baskets in a basketball league, I'm 00:10:49.529 --> 00:10:51.750 going to practice shooting a basket so I can 00:10:51.750 --> 00:10:54.929 hit the mark. I get the capacity to do that. 00:10:56.110 --> 00:10:58.950 If I want to be able to sing, I have to practice 00:10:58.950 --> 00:11:02.509 so my voice has capacity. If I want to be and 00:11:02.509 --> 00:11:06.330 stand as a Christian in likeness and image of 00:11:06.330 --> 00:11:12.450 God. and cast out from my own soul. He says, 00:11:12.570 --> 00:11:15.289 all you have to do is have faith as small as 00:11:15.289 --> 00:11:18.289 a mustard seed. That's small. It's living, though, 00:11:18.409 --> 00:11:23.309 and it will grow. Then the mountain in the heart, 00:11:23.509 --> 00:11:29.250 St. Ambrose of Milan said, will be made flat, 00:11:29.350 --> 00:11:35.409 and the valleys will be lifted up, as the prophet 00:11:35.409 --> 00:11:40.570 says. We're Orthodox Christians, brothers and 00:11:40.570 --> 00:11:43.330 sisters. Let us attain and always keep in our 00:11:43.330 --> 00:11:47.990 vision the beauty of Christ and our own pathway 00:11:47.990 --> 00:11:53.789 to be in his likeness. But it won't happen, and 00:11:53.789 --> 00:11:59.070 our faith will be irrelevant to us. And the church 00:11:59.070 --> 00:12:02.769 might be full, or it might be empty. But without 00:12:02.769 --> 00:12:08.149 prayer and fasting, we cannot. have the capacity 00:12:08.149 --> 00:12:13.529 to hold God's grace within us so that all that 00:12:13.529 --> 00:12:16.730 we need from God will be given and all that evil 00:12:16.730 --> 00:12:19.769 that is within us will be cast out and those 00:12:19.769 --> 00:12:22.230 whom we touch, those whom we are with, those 00:12:22.230 --> 00:12:25.389 that we bring charity to, they will be blessed 00:12:25.389 --> 00:12:31.330 too and as we will be. To our Lord who guides 00:12:31.330 --> 00:12:34.769 us on the way, shows us the light of his face. 00:12:35.389 --> 00:12:38.450 The honor and glory now and ever to ages of ages.