Greetings. Gospel from the sixth chapter of St.
Luke. The epistle from the second Corinthians.
Very brief, very powerful. They're related in
my mind, and I hope to show you that very briefly
as well. The Lord's words, as he spoke to the
crowd gathered there on the plain. He gave a
sermon on the mount. That's in Matthew. He gave
a sermon on the plane, not the airplane guys,
just like, you know, a flat space. They didn't
have any airplanes then, just so you know. Imagine
the response of the people there listening to
Jesus. I think much more loaded than our own
response. We've heard these words so many times.
Love your enemy. Lend without expecting anything
back. Do good to those who don't do good for
you. Imagine the people there under the occupation
of the Romans, before that occupation of the
Greeks, before that occupation of the Babylonians,
the Persians, the Syrians. How do you think they
felt? Like, Jesus, we really love you, but now
what you're saying is impossible. And it is impossible
from our human point of view, from our human
action, from our human emotions and abilities.
It is impossible to do what Jesus asked us to
do. Lend to those from whom you hope to receive.
Big deal. Banks do that. Sinners also lend to
sinners. In other words, unbelievers, they do
this. But love your enemy. Do good and lend,
hoping for nothing in return. And your reward
shall be great. You shall be called the children
of the highest. For God is kind. to the unthankful,
and to the evil. It's impossible to do what Jesus
said unless we are children of the Most High.
This is where I think the epistle can help us.
St. Paul says we have this treasure, this light
of Christ, which reveals the glory of God, of
Jesus Christ, within our heart. We have that
within us. He says, This treasure in earthen
vessels that the excellency of the power may
be of God and not of us. We have this treasure
in earthen vessels. I know someone who's taken
a pottery class. Now, to do pottery, it takes
some finding to... looking to find someone to
teach you. It's something artistic. It's something
beautiful. Something we value. St. Paul is not
using the word, the phrase, earthen vessel in
that way. In ancient world of St. Paul, pottery
was utilitarian. We might compare it to, I don't
know, going to the grocery store and you get
a plastic bag or a paper bag. You put stuff in
it. The ancient world, archaeologists have shown
that the ancient world is full of pottery shards
all over the place. They were used also for writing.
They didn't have paper sometimes, and paper was
extremely expensive. They'd take shards of pottery
and they'd use it to write, scratch things on.
It was... It was expendable. It was breakable.
It was not precious. It's found in the trash
all over the place in the ancient world. So when
St. Paul says, and he's telling us, that the
light of God, his love, his glory, the gospel
message is in us, I think you all know we are
broken. We are broken people. We fall into sin.
We do things that are against our nature. We
have feelings and impulses that we regret. We
have all kinds of problems. We are just a broken
vessel. But the glory of God can even shine in
that, St. Paul is saying. And when things are
difficult, it shines even more. There was a gentleman
outside with his, I guess, a two -year -old on
the swing set on the playground playing before
liturgy for a good hour. So gentle. So engaged
with his two -year -old. So loving. and warm.
It really touched me. He's sitting up there,
this six -foot -five man, and playing with this
little two -year -old boy. And I'm thinking,
that's how God treats us. He wants to embrace
us and engage with us, be gentle to us. He does
that. And when We live our lives, we barely pay
attention to that. That fact of how gentle and
loving God is for us. And even playful. And then
difficult times come to us. Sicknesses, sorrows,
troubles of all kinds. We must do what St. Paul
does, what he says. This has got to be our attitude.
St. Paul is saying when things are rough, When
things are dark, the power of God is in us. We
are just the earthen vessels, but the excellency
is of him. He says, we're troubled on every side.
We're not distressed. We have the power of God
and the glory and his love within us. We are
perplexed, but not despairing. Because we have
the love and glory of God within us. We're persecuted,
but we're not forsaken. Cast down, but not destroyed.
Why? Because we always bear in our body the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is our life,
because he rose from the dead. And St. Paul says,
and you will also rise. So we don't despair.
If this light is within us, if the gospel life
is within us, we've been given the glory of baptism
and chrismation, communion, the liturgy. Certainly
all this is not an opiate for the people, something
fuzzy spirituality. No, it takes some effort
on our part. Despite the difficult things of
the darkness of the world around us, St. Paul
is saying to his Corinthian church, look at me,
brothers and sisters, and all the things that
have happened to me. It shows you I'm a real
apostle because God has not abandoned me despite
any of that. How does this relate to what Jesus
says? Well, if the excellency of the power is
of God and not of us, then we have this gift,
this light, not to hide away, not to be fearful,
not to retreat in disgust from the things of
this world. Let thy light so shine before men
that they may see your good works and glorify
your God who is in heaven. If indeed this glory
is in our bodies, how can we not then follow
the Lord's command to love our enemy, the person
directly opposed against us? It might not be
somebody you know even, but somebody that wants
what's worst for you, your demise, to harm you.
When the world meets a Christian, When the world
meets a Christian man or woman or child, the
world has the right to expect someone out of
the ordinary. Because if we affirm what the Lord
teaches, if we follow the one who loved to the
end and loved us before we could love him and
went to the cross out of love, saying, Father,
forgive them. then the world expects something
different from us. Mercy. Goodness. God's love.
I can't pat myself on the back for being decent
to those that love me. Although sometimes it's
a little hard for them in my case. I should be
falling down before the Savior. asking for mercy
and strength to love those who do hate us Christians,
who disregard us or oppose to us. It's so easy
to point fingers at individuals or groups, organizations,
easy targets, who celebrate beliefs and behaviors
contrary to what Christ tells us. I can't say,
well, I go to church. I'm a good person. That's
not going to work at the judgment seat. Maybe
that would be enough if we were part of a religion
that only called for superficial decency and
did not condemn self -righteous judgment, but
just looked at the outside. That's not the case
for Orthodox Christians. God really does call
us to become holy and loving because we are his
temple. We have the glory of God within us as
a vessel so that the excellency of the power
may be of God and not of us. We're to be merciful.
We're to be perfect like our Heavenly Father.
We're to be, if it's true, that we're created
in God's image, then we are to be partakers of
his. Let's not be scorekeepers, brothers and
sisters, about those who oppose us. You forget
all that. You press forward. When you're troubled,
as St. Paul says in Romans, you go to the gospel
because it's the consolation of the Christian.
May our Lord be glorified and may he send his
love to each of us. so that as we struggle to
keep his commandments, repenting often when we
don't, we may be then filled with his grace,
and then the world will meet a Christian and
know something different than what I thought.
This would be a revelation to a lot of people.
To our Lord be glory, honor, and worship, now
and ever, to ages of ages.