In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ.
Glory forever. We heard St. Paul's epistle to
the Ephesians about gifts. According to the measure
of Christ, each person is given a gift. And he
lists a limited number of ministers. And we heard
from the Gospel of Matthew these words. The people
that sat in darkness have seen a great light.
To them that sat in the region and shadow of
death, light has sprung up. From that time, Jesus
began to preach and to say, repent. for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand. Why this particular gospel
today? Why this particular epistle from Ephesians?
I'd like to speak mainly about the epistle briefly,
but let me offer an answer to those two questions,
why the gospel, that particular gospel, and why
that particular epistle. Last week we celebrated
the Feast of Theophany, Sunday morning, the pre
-feast. Sunday evening, the matins, beautiful
service. It was just wonderful. And on Monday,
the Feast of Theophany. You see this wonderful
fresco. I was reading a commentary by St. Gregory
of Nyssa and St. John Chrysostom on the feast
day. And they were rejoicing at how many people
were coming. coming to the feast. They said,
vast realms are coming to receive the holy water
and to praise God. Then they lamented. They said,
but you're not coming on Sundays. You're coming
only on feast days. And I thought, well, that's
kind of our opposite problem. We have work and
school starts again. So I'm going to remind you,
next year we will fill the church on the altar.
It's January 6th. Mark your calendar. This reminds
me of that quip, when a husband tells his wife
he's going to do something around the house,
she doesn't need to remind him every six months.
I'll remind you every three. So, I'm sorry for
the digression. Why these two? Because when Jesus
was baptized, it gave us baptism. We celebrate
our baptism too. And when Jesus was baptized,
and we put to death sin in the water, and we
rise again unto life eternal, we are given the
gifts of the Holy Spirit. So the Gospel, the
Epistle, Tell us about our life. It's not theoretical.
It's about how we live. St. Matthew tells us
what happened after the baptism of Christ in
the morning. He went out into the wilderness.
Just like after your baptism, you're confronted
with problems too. But you have the grace of
God. Jesus was tempted by the evil one and he
bested Satan. And then he came to this land of
darkness, pagan area. And a light is sprung up,
and that light is Christ. Those who are spiritualized
could see it. He bumped into lots of people who
didn't see it. And the Gospel tells us that we
have to, by saying, now is the time to repent,
is asking us to re -evaluate our baptismal vows.
Re -evaluate our repentance. to ask ourselves,
what does our daily relationship with Jesus Christ
look like? Is there prayer? And how important
is prayer to us? How important? Are we going
to the scriptures every day? How important is
that which you receive from the Bible? You know,
it's not just information. It is truth. It's
not just facts. What did I hear a couple years
ago about alternate facts? No, this is, this
truth is not informational. It cleanses us. It
gives us strength when we are tempted. It gives
us understanding of God's way and His purpose
for our life. So we re -evaluate. These are all
aspects of repentance. Repentance is our way
of life, you know. It's not a New Year's resolution.
We do it and we say it and then we forget about
it. We hear the words today which are always,
always, always relevant. They are current and
they are applicable. Repent for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand. Why else would we pray unless
we enter into the Kingdom of Heaven? If it's
not that, then what is it? Long -distance communication?
No. The Kingdom of Heaven is within. When I was
on the Holy Mountain, I heard the elder there,
St. Ephraim, he quoted the words of St. Paisios.
Ask for repentance in your prayer, he said. And
nothing else. Neither from divine lights, nor
miracles, nor prophecies, nor spiritual gifts.
Nothing but repentance. Repentance will bring
you humility. Humility will bring you the grace
of God. And God will have in His grace everything
you need for salvation. Or anything you might
need. to help another soul. Isn't that beautiful?
Let us follow, let us take heed for what he said
and ask God for a good repentance. And baptism
and repentance are connected, aren't they? We
can't have one without the other, on either side.
Because the first gives gifts, unites us to Christ,
makes us live this new life of the resurrection,
The second activates those gifts of the Holy
Spirit, enlivens them, implements them. These
gifts of the Holy Spirit, they're the presence
of God in our lives. And they're given to us,
as the elder says, everything you need for salvation
is there, or anything you might need to help
another soul. They're given us as a sign of God's
presence individually. And the second reason,
they're given to us as St. Paul makes so clear
in his epistle today, for the building up of
the body of Christ. I was reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
He's a martyr under the Nazis, the Lutheran Church.
Magnificent person. believer and Christian. He
says this about that grace and about those gifts.
This is the grace that is the treasure hidden
in the field. For the sake of it, a person will
go and sell everything he has. It's the pearl
of great price to buy which the merchant will
sell all of his goods. It's the call of Jesus
Christ in which the disciple leaves his nets
and follows him. That's interesting. That passage
about the disciples leaving their nets is the
next verse in the Bible from what I just read.
He says, costly grace is the gospel which must
be sought again and again, the gift which must
be asked for, repentance daily, struggle to enter
into true prayer. This is costly because it costs
a man his life. And it is grace. Because it gives
a man the only true life. Repentance blesses
this parish. Is what St. Paul is saying. He's
explaining how it is to be used in the community
of the parish. That each one has something from
Christ. Each one of you. To offer to the whole.
The gifts are not for ourselves. He writes to
the Ephesians, to each one of us has grace been
given according to the measure of Christ's gift.
It's a different measure for each person, but
the reward is the same, the kingdom. By virtue
of baptism, our baptism, and that baptism there,
Christ has given each of us an immeasurably infinite,
beautiful gift. What are we to do with the gift?
What is this grace for? Paul goes on, he says,
he gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets,
some to be evangelists, some to be pastors and
teachers, but that's just a short list to get
them started. Every gift is to get us out of
our seat, standing up and doing something. We
can't fail to notice there are no views here.
A visitor comes in weekly or maybe three or four
times a week and looks around and says, did you
take all the pews out? And then I get a chance
to explain why we stand here in worship. Someone
who sits is passive, expecting something. It's
like being at the dentist or the doctor's office
and waiting for your appointment to start. My
prayer for each one of us is that if you moved
away to go to a different parish, I won't say
left the church, may that not be. If you moved
away, that there would be a gap, a hole in the
ministry, the work of this parish, because you
weren't here. there'd be extra work for somebody
else then to have to pick up that slack. Not
all the gifts and ministries we do here are obvious.
Some are done secretly and at home and at work
in ways that you can't know. But there's plenty
to do for the edification of the body. Why? It
says, St. Paul goes on to tell us why he gave
each of us gifts of ministry. It's for the perfecting
and the equipping of the saints. Who are you?
The ones seeking holiness. He says it's for the
work of the ministry. He says it's for the building
up of the body of Christ. And what is the goal
of this ministry? Of equipping and edification.
And I'll end with this. It's for all of us, he
says, to come to the unity of the faith and the
knowledge of the Son of God, for us to come to
the perfect man, the perfect human, each of us,
to the measure of the stature and fullness of
Christ. What a calling! Perfect unity in faith
and to be like Jesus Christ, his humanity, his
divinity. within us. Yes, we are weak. But we
don't have to be limited by our weakness. Christ
himself, the humble Lord, shows us that in so
many ways by his life. We're all on staff here
at the church. No one is just a member. No one
is an ordinary Christian. You all have the gifts
of the Spirit. To him who has given those gifts,
be glory and honor now and ever, for ages and
ages. Amen.