WEBVTT

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

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of the Holy Spirit, my dear brothers and sisters,

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strange as it may seem, some of us outside, a

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few of us inside, I apologize for that. There's

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a sadness in that, but it's a necessity. I think

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we all know that, too. most well -known of the

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parables of Jesus Christ, even inspires a law

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in almost every state in the United States, the

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so -called Good Samaritan Law. That law states

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that when a person renders emergency aid and

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acts in good faith without expecting any compensation,

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that person won't be held liable for their acts

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of omission. You stop on the highway or you stop

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on the sidewalk, somebody's hurt, and you help

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them. Just because you're not a doctor, you're

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not going to get sued. You help someone in need,

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you won't be accused of some negligence, in other

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words, in what you just did. But I wonder how

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many in government realize the origination of

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the name of... this law the good samaritan law

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and actually uh the regulations having to do

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it that are kind of backwards according to the

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gospel we're directed to read this gospel as

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we begin or just before we begin today we actually

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begin the nativity fast this is a very beautiful

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bright time even though the days The night comes

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earlier. There's something bright and joyful

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about this fast. So we have this incredible story

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which gives us a direction about how we're going

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to keep the Christmas fast. So we have 40 more

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days. Forget the shopping part. 40 more days

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to pray. 40 more days to worship. 40 more days

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to give alms until Christmas. You've heard an

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explanation of the parable of the Good Samaritan

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dozens of times. Every year, in fact, one of

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us stands up here and tries to say something

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about it. So I'm just going to summarize very

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briefly for you. Jesus has a conversation with

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a Jewish scriptural scholar. He's called a lawyer.

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in the authorized version of the Bible. He's

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not a lawyer like what we think an attorney.

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No, he's an expert in the law of Moses. And the

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man comes and wants to trip up Jesus to win a

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religious argument because things are heating

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up between Jesus and the authorities. It's already

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Luke chapter 10 and things are going very bad

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already. Questions are asked. What do I need

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to do to have eternal life? Seems like a good

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question. Jesus says, well, you're the scriptural

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scholar. What does it say? The man quotes Deuteronomy

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6, I think it is. And Leviticus 19. And then

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the lawyer makes a lawyer mistake. And he asks

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a question to which he does not really know the

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answer. He wants to justify himself. He wants

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to prove himself superior. He says, oh, and who

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is my neighbor? Let's clarify this, Jesus. It

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can't possibly be the Samaritans or the Romans.

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You see, Jesus would get in big trouble if he

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started promoting something like that. They are

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unclean and they're violent towards us. Let's

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clarify this point. So Jesus tells the parable,

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you know it. A certain man. A certain man went

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down from the holy city of Jerusalem. And he

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went down to Jericho. What little geography helps.

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Jerusalem is 2 ,400 feet above sea level. So

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going down is really truly going down to the

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900 feet below sea level of Jericho. But this

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is not geography. This is a descent from God.

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This is a descent away from holiness. This is

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a descent into sin. And what happens when we

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sin? It's relative, but we usually get beat up.

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All of us, in our way, retrace those steps and

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fall victim to spiritual robbers. And when we

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get beat up, no one's going to care for us but

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Jesus. This is the compassion of our Lord. Christ

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is the Samaritan for us. So no, the parable is

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not essentially about doing good works during

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the nativity season. Checking off the boxes so

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that God will owe me and I can get to go to heaven.

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Let's not reduce the Lord's words to be a good

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person. Do some good works and you'll be saved.

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Didn't we just hear from St. Paul, By grace you

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have been saved by faith, and that not of yourself.

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It is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone

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should boast. At the end of our story, our Savior

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says, Indeed, go and do likewise. But go and

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do likewise what? Any good work done for the

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sake of Christ, says St. Seraphim, is for our

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salvation and brings the grace of God to us and

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to the person. Any good work done just for ourself

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brings no grace of God. When we have had the

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experience in our Christian life of being rescued

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by the love of God, of being able to repent and

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to confess and to be forgiven, to be baptized

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and clothed in the white garment and given the

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oil of the Holy Spirit and the wine of the body

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and blood of Christ and cared for by our Savior.

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We can then become like a Samaritan too, like

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Christ, to show mercy. Didn't we just hear also?

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God, who is rich in mercy because of his great

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love with which he loved us, even when we were

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dead in trespasses, made us alive together with

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Christ. By grace you have been saved. Raised

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us up together with Christ. Made us sit together

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with Christ in the heavenly places. Here's how

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I boil this down in my mind. These words of Elder

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Joseph, who died in 1959, St. Joseph the Hesychast

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of the Holy Mountain. When grace is energized

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in the heart of a person who prays, and prays

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simply, then the love of God floods his entire

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being to such an extent that he may not be able

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to take more. Then this love is transferred to

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the love of the world. and the human person.

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His love becomes so powerful that he suffers

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with those who are suffering, even the suffering

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of animals, so much so that he sheds bitter tears

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when he becomes aware of anyone's pain. For we

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are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus

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for good works. which God prepared beforehand

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that we should walk in them. Yes, this is beyond

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us. This is not how we love God with all our

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heart, all our strength, our soul, our mind.

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We are weak in that. And no, we don't love our

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neighbor as we love ourselves. But here we have

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the goal for us set for the Christmas fast. We're

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going to leave today from the church and go our

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way, and we'll meet more than one person, perhaps

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today, certainly during the course of the week.

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Can we love that person the way it's described

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in this gospel, the way Christ has taught us?

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Or will we pass by because of dangers, because

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of COVID, because of fear? No, God will equip

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us to do what we need to do, as simple and as

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humble as it might be. Because the Lord knows

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our capabilities. He knows our limits. He knows

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the blessings he's given us. Maybe we won't reach

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that level of love. But let's think of this parable

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as an itinerary for the Advent season. The coming.

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The coming of the Lord. The coming of Christmas.

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The coming of salvation. The coming of the second

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glorious coming and judgment. And the resurrection.

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Here's our spiritual agenda. Here's our outline.

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Let's act upon that as we journey, not to Jericho,

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but to Bethlehem. Amen.