WEBVTT

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Remember when we used to hear things like that,

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the clothes make a man. Don't hear that so much

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anymore, which is fine, but it's true, isn't

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it? It's true in the Christian sense. When we're

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baptized, what do we sing? As many as have been

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baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Christ

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is not your average polyester suit. He is the

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restoration of what it means to be a human being.

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And this we have put on. We call ourselves Christian,

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not because we agree, we adhere in an intellectual

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way to the tenets, the doctrines, dogmas, the

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teachings of the church. We do that, I hope.

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Although I know many Christians that seem to

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think a lot of that is optional and certain things

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they don't like, so they're not going to even

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investigate or struggle with those things, which

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we should do. We can't answer everything. We're

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Christians because we have put on Christ. We

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are members of his body. St. John tells us, God

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is love. We can love lots of things. Jesus himself

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says, men love the darkness more than they love

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the light. This is a frightening and horrible

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statement that our Savior made. And should tell

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us exactly why it's so hard for us to remember

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that we have put on Christ. That we are members

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of his body. That God is love, so God's love

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should be coursing through our veins. So the

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most natural thing we could ever do and be is

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loving, Christ -like human beings. The transfiguration

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is there to show us what we're to be like. In

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the life of the kingdom, which is yet to come.

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Some saints achieve that through God's grace.

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The baptism is there to show us that we are continually

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dying to ourself so that we will find our true

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self. And the cross is there because we bear

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one another's burdens. We carry the cross so

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that we can learn God's love, not our love. So

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that we can learn that the core of that love,

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God's love for us, the core of it, is forgiveness.

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It's justification. It's putting us all back

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together. So a Christian, an Orthodox Christian,

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lives that way. It's hard. And the theme of this

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Sunday, is the expulsion of Adam and Eve from

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paradise, and that tells us we're not living

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in paradise. That's why it's so hard. But when

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we enter into the realm of the church, that is

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the prayer that we do at home, the divine liturgy,

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when we cross ourself, when we come to church

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for the liturgy to pray, to confess our sins,

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then a little bit of paradise is rebuilt within

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us. It's restored. It's cleansed. But it can't

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happen unless we forgive and continually forgive.

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Peter says, Lord, how often do I have to forgive

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these people? Peter's looking for accountability.

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Like, they should know they did the wrong thing.

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And I should tell them. They should be accountable

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to me and fix it. But that's not what forgiveness

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is. You see, we want things to be right because

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we want paradise. We're not in it, and that's

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normal. But that's not going to happen in this

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world. We forgive as a statement, a confession,

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a commitment that we are Christians. We bear

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Christ. We have put him on. This is not a matter

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of how we feel. Nothing in the New Testament

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talks about our feelings. It hurts to forgive

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sometimes. It hurts to be wounded when we're

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misused or abused. But you don't want to keep

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that poison in you. You want the spiritual dialysis

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of forgiveness. We put on Christ, we forgive,

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and we become. like God. Because only God truly

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can be the forgiver. And if we have trouble with

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all that, and we're going to, that's normal in

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this fallen world. It's not paradise. Don't get

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used to this. No, we don't get used to it. Then

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we pray, and we fast, and God finds A place within

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our hearts and our souls and minds to impart

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his grace to us. And we start to bear that grace.

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And it cleanses us. And then we forgive with

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the love and the forgiveness that God has. I

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want to ask personally for forgiveness. This

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has been... Who can say what this year has been

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like? But as I look out at the congregation today,

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I see members of one another that have kept their

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love for one another because they have kept the

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true confession of the faith. You have remembered

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that God is love. You have remembered you want

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to always have peace in your soul. And so while...

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Around us, locally, in the county, in the state,

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in the country. Things have spun out of control

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with relationships and love among others has

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grown cold as Jesus said it would be at the last

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time. You have remained warm and loving with

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one another. This is no thanks to me. And this

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is what I want to ask forgiveness for. The many

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things I should have done, which you don't even

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know about. But if I had done them, things would

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be better. Things would be different. But you

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have kept the boat afloat. You didn't even need

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me. We're bailing out the water and we kept going

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through this whole last year by your consistent

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love for one another. So I bowed down before

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that and I asked that you keep forgiving me and

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you keep loving one another. With God's love.

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And always remember, we bear the name of Christ.

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We bear the name of Christ. This would crush

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us, as a philosopher said recently. Someone who

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was not ready to accept Christ. He said, this

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would crush me if I took it on. But it won't

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crush us. The Lord's burden is easy. It's light.

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He carries us. Always remember that you bear

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the name of Christ. What honor, what nobility

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there is. What glory there is to come to us in

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humility. So, it's going to be a little odd today.

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We usually have the spiral of forgiveness Sunday.

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We won't have that spiral today. But I ask that

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you would come forward so I can ask your forgiveness.

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And then the next person. a little ways over,

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then the next person a little ways over, and

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the next person out the door and around the corner

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and out the front. And as we contemplate the

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Lord's forgiveness in asking each other, the

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choir will sing the hymns of the destination

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that we are starting on now, and that's Pascha.