In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ.
Glory to God. I pray God that he grant each of
us a feast day worthy of what we're celebrating.
Let me review here just a word from what you
just heard. Jesus was at the Feast of Tabernacles,
and he lifted up his voice and said, if anyone
would come after me, not pick up your cross,
that was earlier, but anyone that believes in
me, basically, to believe in Jesus is to come
after him. It's not just, as I said last week,
to think about him. It's to follow him. to live
according to his gospel. And he promises that
the one who does that is going to have not just
good times, smooth ride through life, everything
working out. That person will have welling up
within him or her. Could be a child, too. The
Holy Spirit. like a spring of fresh water, a
fresh life. This is why I said, I hope the feast
day for each of you is according to what we're
celebrating. Yes, it was important that the Jews
gathered, and they gathered in huge numbers,
as Orthodox Christians should do on this feast
day, because this is no less than Pascha. In
fact, it's the affirmation. It's the vindication
of Christ. The gospel said that Jesus spoke of
the Holy Spirit, but it wasn't given yet. Why?
Because he had not yet been glorified. What was
his glorification? The cross, the resurrection,
and the ascension. He says, if I go away, I will
send the Holy Spirit from the Father. And he
will teach you. all things, and bring all things
to your understanding. He will be your comforter.
He will be your guide. He will be your friend.
He will be your illumination. Jesus was glorified.
And so we are too celebrating this feast day,
and we should celebrate it with as much enthusiasm
and joy as those first Christians. In Jerusalem,
to read about and you heard about Acts chapter
2. My message today is very short. It's just
this. Out of the abundance of the heart come
our words. Out of the abundance of our heart
come our words. It's a misquote of what Jesus
said. Can't remember it exactly. When St. Peter
preached on that day of Pentecost, they were
cut to the heart, the thousands of people, it
says here in Acts chapter 2. Men and brethren,
he says, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch
David. that he is both dead and buried, and his
tomb is with us to this day, therefore being
a prophet, and knowing that God has sworn with
an oath to him that of the fruit of his body,
according to the flesh, he would raise up the
Christ to sit on the throne. He, foreseeing this,
spoke concerning the resurrection of Christ,
that his soul was not left in Hades, in other
words, in the grave, nor did his flesh seek corruption.
This Jesus God has raised up. of which we are
all witnesses. Therefore, being exalted to the
right hand of God, and having received from the
Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he poured
out this which you now see and hear. The people
thought the apostles were drunk. They were speaking
in other languages. Their lives were completely
changed from fear to glory. and joy, and understanding.
And the people said, when they heard this, they
were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the
rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what
shall we do? Peter said to them, repent. Let's
change your life. Let's change your life, change
your direction, and keep changing your direction
every day. The direction is towards the light,
towards Christ. Not towards the darkness. Brothers
and sisters, we consume, I would bet, between
you and me, we consume vast amount of information
that is dark, that is devious, that is foolish,
that is simply worldly or frivolous, and some
of it demonic. And we don't know. We consume
such great amounts of this. And this fills our
heart. Out of the abundance of our heart, we
speak. Our repentance is to turn to Christ, to
always look, meditate upon, rejoice in, and found
our lives on Christ's light. He said, if you
believe in me, waters, that is the Holy Spirit,
will not just come into you, pouring out of you.
This is why the people said, what shall we do?
They were cut to the heart. Repent. Let every
one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins and you shall receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is to
you and your children. I'll end with this quote
from Elder Thaddeus. In that wonderful book,
Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives, we can keep
guard over the whole world by keeping guard over
the atmosphere of heaven within us. For if we
lose the kingdom of heaven, we will save neither
ourselves nor others. He who has the kingdom
of God in himself will perceptibly pass it on
to others. like the apostles did, like Peter
did when he preached there. People will be attracted
by the peace and warmth within us, and some will
be opposed. Count on it. You heard the gospel.
They will want to be near us, and in the atmosphere
of heaven, it will gradually pass on to them.
It is not even necessary to speak to people about
this. The atmosphere of heaven will radiate from
us because of the Holy Spirit. even when we keep
silence or talk about ordinary things. Let's
change our, forget the word change, repent, turn
to Christ. Let your mind dwell upon things that
are high and heavenly and holy. I'm not saying
ignore the world around you, not at all, but
you will have nothing to give to this world.
You will have nothing to witness to about Jesus
Christ in your life, the experience of him, if
it's all about this world. We come here to be
changed, to be nourished, to be unified into
one body by the power and the grace of the Holy
Spirit. This is what you're going to hear in
a moment. The love of God, the gift of the Holy
Spirit. And the blessing of the Son be upon all
of you. Amen.