WEBVTT

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Greetings. Gospel from the sixth chapter of St.

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Luke. The epistle from the second Corinthians.

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Very brief, very powerful. They're related in

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my mind, and I hope to show you that very briefly

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as well. The Lord's words, as he spoke to the

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crowd gathered there on the plain. He gave a

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sermon on the mount. That's in Matthew. He gave

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a sermon on the plane, not the airplane guys,

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just like, you know, a flat space. They didn't

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have any airplanes then, just so you know. Imagine

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the response of the people there listening to

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Jesus. I think much more loaded than our own

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response. We've heard these words so many times.

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Love your enemy. Lend without expecting anything

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back. Do good to those who don't do good for

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you. Imagine the people there under the occupation

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of the Romans, before that occupation of the

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Greeks, before that occupation of the Babylonians,

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the Persians, the Syrians. How do you think they

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felt? Like, Jesus, we really love you, but now

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what you're saying is impossible. And it is impossible

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from our human point of view, from our human

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action, from our human emotions and abilities.

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It is impossible to do what Jesus asked us to

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do. Lend to those from whom you hope to receive.

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Big deal. Banks do that. Sinners also lend to

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sinners. In other words, unbelievers, they do

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this. But love your enemy. Do good and lend,

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hoping for nothing in return. And your reward

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shall be great. You shall be called the children

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of the highest. For God is kind. to the unthankful,

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and to the evil. It's impossible to do what Jesus

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said unless we are children of the Most High.

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This is where I think the epistle can help us.

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St. Paul says we have this treasure, this light

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of Christ, which reveals the glory of God, of

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Jesus Christ, within our heart. We have that

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within us. He says, This treasure in earthen

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vessels that the excellency of the power may

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be of God and not of us. We have this treasure

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in earthen vessels. I know someone who's taken

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a pottery class. Now, to do pottery, it takes

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some finding to... looking to find someone to

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teach you. It's something artistic. It's something

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beautiful. Something we value. St. Paul is not

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using the word, the phrase, earthen vessel in

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that way. In ancient world of St. Paul, pottery

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was utilitarian. We might compare it to, I don't

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know, going to the grocery store and you get

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a plastic bag or a paper bag. You put stuff in

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it. The ancient world, archaeologists have shown

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that the ancient world is full of pottery shards

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all over the place. They were used also for writing.

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They didn't have paper sometimes, and paper was

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extremely expensive. They'd take shards of pottery

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and they'd use it to write, scratch things on.

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It was... It was expendable. It was breakable.

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It was not precious. It's found in the trash

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all over the place in the ancient world. So when

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St. Paul says, and he's telling us, that the

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light of God, his love, his glory, the gospel

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message is in us, I think you all know we are

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broken. We are broken people. We fall into sin.

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We do things that are against our nature. We

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have feelings and impulses that we regret. We

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have all kinds of problems. We are just a broken

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vessel. But the glory of God can even shine in

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that, St. Paul is saying. And when things are

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difficult, it shines even more. There was a gentleman

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outside with his, I guess, a two -year -old on

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the swing set on the playground playing before

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liturgy for a good hour. So gentle. So engaged

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with his two -year -old. So loving. and warm.

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It really touched me. He's sitting up there,

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this six -foot -five man, and playing with this

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little two -year -old boy. And I'm thinking,

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that's how God treats us. He wants to embrace

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us and engage with us, be gentle to us. He does

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that. And when We live our lives, we barely pay

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attention to that. That fact of how gentle and

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loving God is for us. And even playful. And then

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difficult times come to us. Sicknesses, sorrows,

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troubles of all kinds. We must do what St. Paul

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does, what he says. This has got to be our attitude.

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St. Paul is saying when things are rough, When

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things are dark, the power of God is in us. We

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are just the earthen vessels, but the excellency

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is of him. He says, we're troubled on every side.

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We're not distressed. We have the power of God

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and the glory and his love within us. We are

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perplexed, but not despairing. Because we have

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the love and glory of God within us. We're persecuted,

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but we're not forsaken. Cast down, but not destroyed.

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Why? Because we always bear in our body the death

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of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is our life,

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because he rose from the dead. And St. Paul says,

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and you will also rise. So we don't despair.

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If this light is within us, if the gospel life

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is within us, we've been given the glory of baptism

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and chrismation, communion, the liturgy. Certainly

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all this is not an opiate for the people, something

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fuzzy spirituality. No, it takes some effort

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on our part. Despite the difficult things of

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the darkness of the world around us, St. Paul

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is saying to his Corinthian church, look at me,

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brothers and sisters, and all the things that

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have happened to me. It shows you I'm a real

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apostle because God has not abandoned me despite

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any of that. How does this relate to what Jesus

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says? Well, if the excellency of the power is

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of God and not of us, then we have this gift,

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this light, not to hide away, not to be fearful,

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not to retreat in disgust from the things of

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this world. Let thy light so shine before men

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that they may see your good works and glorify

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your God who is in heaven. If indeed this glory

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is in our bodies, how can we not then follow

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the Lord's command to love our enemy, the person

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directly opposed against us? It might not be

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somebody you know even, but somebody that wants

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what's worst for you, your demise, to harm you.

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When the world meets a Christian, When the world

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meets a Christian man or woman or child, the

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world has the right to expect someone out of

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the ordinary. Because if we affirm what the Lord

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teaches, if we follow the one who loved to the

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end and loved us before we could love him and

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went to the cross out of love, saying, Father,

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forgive them. then the world expects something

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different from us. Mercy. Goodness. God's love.

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I can't pat myself on the back for being decent

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to those that love me. Although sometimes it's

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a little hard for them in my case. I should be

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falling down before the Savior. asking for mercy

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and strength to love those who do hate us Christians,

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who disregard us or oppose to us. It's so easy

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to point fingers at individuals or groups, organizations,

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easy targets, who celebrate beliefs and behaviors

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contrary to what Christ tells us. I can't say,

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well, I go to church. I'm a good person. That's

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not going to work at the judgment seat. Maybe

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that would be enough if we were part of a religion

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that only called for superficial decency and

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did not condemn self -righteous judgment, but

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just looked at the outside. That's not the case

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for Orthodox Christians. God really does call

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us to become holy and loving because we are his

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temple. We have the glory of God within us as

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a vessel so that the excellency of the power

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may be of God and not of us. We're to be merciful.

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We're to be perfect like our Heavenly Father.

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We're to be, if it's true, that we're created

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in God's image, then we are to be partakers of

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his. Let's not be scorekeepers, brothers and

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sisters, about those who oppose us. You forget

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all that. You press forward. When you're troubled,

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as St. Paul says in Romans, you go to the gospel

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because it's the consolation of the Christian.

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May our Lord be glorified and may he send his

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love to each of us. so that as we struggle to

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keep his commandments, repenting often when we

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don't, we may be then filled with his grace,

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and then the world will meet a Christian and

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know something different than what I thought.

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This would be a revelation to a lot of people.

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To our Lord be glory, honor, and worship, now

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and ever, to ages of ages.