WEBVTT 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:11.080 Glory to Jesus Christ. Five years ago, July 2017, 00:00:11.640 --> 00:00:17.539 we were getting ready to leave Santa Rosa after 00:00:17.539 --> 00:00:26.000 two wonderful years as an intern family. We've 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:28.559 been very grateful for every time that we've 00:00:28.559 --> 00:00:32.929 been able to come back. And now, after three 00:00:32.929 --> 00:00:40.369 years, we've been able to return. Five years 00:00:40.369 --> 00:00:45.789 seems to go by really fast. But many things have 00:00:45.789 --> 00:00:50.250 happened in these five years. Back home in Norway, 00:00:50.409 --> 00:00:55.710 but also here. And it makes you reflect on what 00:00:55.710 --> 00:01:01.420 has changed in these five years. One of the things 00:01:01.420 --> 00:01:04.159 that I've noticed, and I've not only noticed 00:01:04.159 --> 00:01:07.319 it here in the US, but perhaps especially more 00:01:07.319 --> 00:01:11.659 so here than back home, is the increasing polarization 00:01:11.659 --> 00:01:18.760 that is happening between people. How things 00:01:18.760 --> 00:01:22.420 are becoming more black and white. You're either 00:01:22.420 --> 00:01:28.640 with or against. Nuances are gone. If you're 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:31.900 from the wrong we don't really listen to what 00:01:31.900 --> 00:01:36.640 you have to say anymore. Like Father James mentioned 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:40.620 last Sunday, people are angry, and it's hard 00:01:40.620 --> 00:01:46.659 to really know why. We don't want to understand 00:01:46.659 --> 00:01:53.920 each other. We want to be right. Right now, there's 00:01:53.920 --> 00:01:57.859 a war going on in the Ukraine, and... In Europe, 00:01:57.859 --> 00:02:01.000 we can feel this even more tangible than you 00:02:01.000 --> 00:02:05.879 guys, but still, everyone knows about it. In 00:02:05.879 --> 00:02:10.120 many ways, it seems like there is a war, not 00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:14.659 just in Ukraine or between Russia and Ukraine, 00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:19.199 but that there is a war within our own countries. 00:02:20.099 --> 00:02:24.240 Left against right, conservatives against liberals. 00:02:25.479 --> 00:02:29.719 Red against blues or, you know, whatever group 00:02:29.719 --> 00:02:33.620 you want to pick. With or against the current 00:02:33.620 --> 00:02:39.240 president, Trump or Biden. It even seems like 00:02:39.240 --> 00:02:43.620 a war is taking place in our churches as well. 00:02:44.379 --> 00:02:47.400 During COVID, we've been fighting over face masks, 00:02:47.900 --> 00:02:51.939 wearing them or not wearing them, vaccinations 00:02:51.939 --> 00:02:56.020 or not vaccinations. Are we with our bishop or 00:02:56.020 --> 00:02:58.740 are we against our bishop? Are we with our priest 00:02:58.740 --> 00:03:05.060 or are we against our priest? But listen. Today, 00:03:05.159 --> 00:03:11.340 Christ is calling us. Listen to the antiphons. 00:03:11.699 --> 00:03:14.639 And this was also the alternative reading for 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:21.319 this gospel. Blessed are the peacemakers, for 00:03:21.319 --> 00:03:24.819 they shall be called... the sons or the children 00:03:24.819 --> 00:03:33.020 of God. It makes you think, or we should think 00:03:33.020 --> 00:03:37.939 at least, what does it mean to make peace? Or 00:03:37.939 --> 00:03:47.099 what is peace? In worldly terms, peace often 00:03:47.099 --> 00:03:51.759 seems to be the cessation of hostilities. No 00:03:51.759 --> 00:04:00.939 war. stability, and the economy can develop as 00:04:00.939 --> 00:04:13.879 it should. But what is the peace that Christ 00:04:13.879 --> 00:04:18.910 has in mind? If we turn to the liturgy, and this 00:04:18.910 --> 00:04:20.949 is something that has really been on my mind 00:04:20.949 --> 00:04:24.529 since the war has been going on, and in our parish 00:04:24.529 --> 00:04:29.110 we have both Russian and recent Ukrainians coming. 00:04:29.389 --> 00:04:33.389 What does it mean to be filled with the peace 00:04:33.389 --> 00:04:39.389 of Christ? Before we even start the liturgy, 00:04:39.509 --> 00:04:43.009 before we say blessed is the kingdom, there is 00:04:43.009 --> 00:04:46.079 a tiny portion that... you probably don't hear 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:48.319 the priest say very often, but it starts with 00:04:48.319 --> 00:04:56.339 the prayer to the Holy Spirit, Heavenly King. 00:04:56.899 --> 00:05:01.000 And then it goes on, if you look in your liturgy 00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:04.879 book, it says, Glory to God in the highest and 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:09.899 on earth peace and goodwill among men. These 00:05:09.899 --> 00:05:15.949 are the words of the angels to... the shepherds 00:05:15.949 --> 00:05:20.189 at the fields of Bethlehem. They were announcing 00:05:20.189 --> 00:05:22.769 the birth of Christ. They were announcing the 00:05:22.769 --> 00:05:25.470 new king and the peace he was going to bring 00:05:25.470 --> 00:05:30.689 to the world, the peace from above, from God. 00:05:31.670 --> 00:05:34.550 And then we start the liturgy with blessed is 00:05:34.550 --> 00:05:38.689 the kingdom, the kingdom where God reigns, where 00:05:38.689 --> 00:05:44.149 Christ is Lord. In ancient times, the gospel, 00:05:44.810 --> 00:05:51.709 was a word, or evangelion in Greek, is a word 00:05:51.709 --> 00:05:54.790 about good news. It's about good news that a 00:05:54.790 --> 00:05:58.149 king has established peace. And this is what 00:05:58.149 --> 00:06:00.750 we have heard today, what we hear in church. 00:06:02.089 --> 00:06:05.589 God has established peace on earth in Christ. 00:06:07.569 --> 00:06:11.050 And his kingdom is being established on earth 00:06:11.050 --> 00:06:21.819 in the church. In the worship in us. And then 00:06:21.819 --> 00:06:25.779 we continue with in peace let us pray to the 00:06:25.779 --> 00:06:31.259 Lord. In order for us to pray there must be peace 00:06:31.259 --> 00:06:36.720 in us and among us. Peace is a foundation or 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:41.420 a prerequisite for prayer. And this peace is 00:06:41.420 --> 00:06:44.459 not just the outward peace, but it's an inner 00:06:44.459 --> 00:06:53.439 peace. In our tradition, we value silence, inner 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:58.579 peace, hesychia, in order to pray, in order to 00:06:58.579 --> 00:07:02.620 hear the gentle words and voice from our Lord, 00:07:02.680 --> 00:07:08.560 we have to be silent and peaceful. And the next 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:14.000 word petition is for the peace from above and 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:20.040 the salvation of our souls. The peace that God 00:07:20.040 --> 00:07:24.160 brings in Christ is a peace from above. It is 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:26.660 a peace from above before it is a peace on earth. 00:07:26.920 --> 00:07:30.779 It is a spiritual peace. It's a peace within 00:07:30.779 --> 00:07:35.579 our hearts that Christ brings. And then we pray 00:07:35.579 --> 00:07:39.079 for the peace of the whole world. the welfare 00:07:39.079 --> 00:07:41.139 of the holy churches of God, and the union of 00:07:41.139 --> 00:07:47.120 all. In this, we see a hierarchy, a hierarchy 00:07:47.120 --> 00:07:52.879 in which God's peace is the foundation for the 00:07:52.879 --> 00:07:55.199 peace of the world. And in the true sense, there 00:07:55.199 --> 00:08:02.100 cannot be peace in the world, a true peace, without 00:08:02.100 --> 00:08:05.699 it being peace in our hearts, peace between... 00:08:06.699 --> 00:08:10.220 ourselves and among ourselves. And listen to 00:08:10.220 --> 00:08:12.759 the words of the liturgy, the words that are 00:08:12.759 --> 00:08:16.379 left. How many times the word peace comes up? 00:08:16.579 --> 00:08:20.839 How many times the priest is greeting us, peace 00:08:20.839 --> 00:08:28.439 to you. An offering of peace, a mercy of peace, 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:32.440 that we may offer this oblation, holy oblation 00:08:32.440 --> 00:08:37.360 in peace. Notice in the gospel how many times 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:41.340 Christ is greeting his disciple with peace and 00:08:41.340 --> 00:08:50.379 fear not. In order to have and make peace, we 00:08:50.379 --> 00:08:54.919 must forgive sometimes. We have to let go of 00:08:54.919 --> 00:08:58.100 something we are holding on to, a principle that 00:08:58.100 --> 00:09:01.740 might seem really important to us, but in the 00:09:01.740 --> 00:09:06.889 greater scheme, perhaps, Or it will fade away. 00:09:09.769 --> 00:09:13.549 We have to give up something. You have to give 00:09:13.549 --> 00:09:17.490 up something in your relationship in order to 00:09:17.490 --> 00:09:21.389 make peace. This is the nature of love. And love 00:09:21.389 --> 00:09:25.350 and peace are together. They are the fruits of 00:09:25.350 --> 00:09:31.049 the spirits that we hear in the epistles and 00:09:31.049 --> 00:09:36.279 in the gospels. There is no love without sacrifice. 00:09:40.220 --> 00:09:44.080 Something in us have to be put aside in order 00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:48.419 to love. Something that I want to do, something 00:09:48.419 --> 00:09:52.419 that I think is important perhaps, in order to 00:09:52.419 --> 00:09:56.679 have a marriage or in order to have in a family 00:09:56.679 --> 00:10:00.679 or with a friend or especially in the church. 00:10:04.649 --> 00:10:07.470 So this is what God is calling us to. Christ 00:10:07.470 --> 00:10:12.549 is calling us to make peace, because only when 00:10:12.549 --> 00:10:16.529 we make peace, or I should say, when we make 00:10:16.529 --> 00:10:19.830 peace, we will be called the children of God. 00:10:24.929 --> 00:10:27.830 And let me say a few words about small things. 00:10:28.289 --> 00:10:30.830 In times of war, and this is also something that 00:10:30.830 --> 00:10:33.419 has struck me, You know, when you have people 00:10:33.419 --> 00:10:36.799 from two warring nations, and we all feel in 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:38.899 Europe especially that we are a part of this. 00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:44.019 Norway is a NATO country, and being a chaplain 00:10:44.019 --> 00:10:47.320 in the Norwegian Armed Forces and being in a 00:10:47.320 --> 00:10:50.059 Russian tradition church, you kind of feel that 00:10:50.059 --> 00:10:53.340 tension very tangible every day in church and 00:10:53.340 --> 00:11:00.480 at work. But the small things, how important 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:04.480 they are. And how powerful they are in the times 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:09.720 of crisis. Small things between someone who are 00:11:09.720 --> 00:11:14.480 at animosity between themselves. Between, let's 00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:18.559 say, a Russian and a Ukrainian. A smile, a help 00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:22.659 lifting something for someone. Doing something 00:11:22.659 --> 00:11:28.480 very small. But because of the difficulty and 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:31.669 the circumstances around... We can see the significance 00:11:31.669 --> 00:11:35.009 of it. We can see the sacrifices that this small 00:11:35.009 --> 00:11:40.590 thing can do, how great power it has. And this 00:11:40.590 --> 00:11:43.210 is really encouraging, really, because we can 00:11:43.210 --> 00:11:46.649 all do small things. And we often despite the 00:11:46.649 --> 00:11:48.730 small things because we want to do great things. 00:11:49.929 --> 00:11:52.690 But very often the small things are the greatest 00:11:52.690 --> 00:11:56.789 things that we can do. And these are the things 00:11:56.789 --> 00:12:04.059 that God is asking us to do. In Norwegian churches, 00:12:04.340 --> 00:12:06.980 and this is from a tradition from the medieval 00:12:06.980 --> 00:12:10.980 ages, perhaps, who knows, maybe it was an Orthodox 00:12:10.980 --> 00:12:15.000 tradition back a thousand years ago, but in the 00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:19.980 narthex in Norwegian churches, it makes you kind 00:12:19.980 --> 00:12:23.379 of smile, I guess, but it's called Våpenhus, 00:12:23.620 --> 00:12:28.190 which means the house of weapons. And so you 00:12:28.190 --> 00:12:30.929 might imagine Vikings with helmets and swords 00:12:30.929 --> 00:12:33.110 and spears, and you're like, okay, I have to 00:12:33.110 --> 00:12:37.549 go to church. I'll hand in my weapons before 00:12:37.549 --> 00:12:41.710 I enter in. But I think there is something really 00:12:41.710 --> 00:12:44.629 important in this, and we might giggle and smile 00:12:44.629 --> 00:12:49.330 a bit. But maybe we should put a sign above our 00:12:49.330 --> 00:12:52.509 churches in the narthex. This is a house of weapons. 00:12:52.669 --> 00:12:56.759 Leave your weapons outside. Leave your weapons, 00:12:56.840 --> 00:13:02.480 your principles, politics outside. We are here 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:05.379 to worship God. We are here to love each other. 00:13:06.700 --> 00:13:09.720 And this is much more important. This is why 00:13:09.720 --> 00:13:16.159 we are here. And let us do the small things to 00:13:16.159 --> 00:13:24.360 love each other. Let us imitate the saints. that 00:13:24.360 --> 00:13:28.000 surrounds us, who are filled with the peace of 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:33.059 God, and who sacrificed, who even martyred, became 00:13:33.059 --> 00:13:37.179 martyrs, and let's become the children of God. 00:13:38.919 --> 00:13:40.440 Glory to Jesus Christ.