WEBVTT

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Two amazing accounts. Peter, as Acts records,

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doing exactly what Jesus said he would do. These

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things in greater works you will do. And the

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Lord raising up this man who had been paralyzed.

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Draw your attention to the fresco at the back,

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the south side. You will see The account there

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painted, Bethesda, five porches. Of course, it

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looks very solemn and dignified, but you can

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imagine the terrible suffering, the kingdom of

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sorrow that that little place was at the time.

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I want to follow up on the theme from last week,

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that is Christian activity based on faithfulness.

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Christian activity inspired by the Holy Spirit

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working within us. Christian activity which shows

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a change that has come over us as we are Christians.

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This gospel represents many, many things. One

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is the radical change of life that that man experienced

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from 38 years as a paralyzed man there, begging

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for food. And then getting up and walking. That

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kind of change. That's what we have to think

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about in our own life. Some other time, we will

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speak about some of the other themes in this

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gospel, the inevitable resistance that hits us

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once we start to walk with Christ in a serious

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way. The resistance within ourselves and without

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ourselves that happens when we truly define ourselves,

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orientate ourselves, identify ourselves, and

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act with and according to Christ. This is what

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Christians do. This is not news for you. I'm

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just reviewing this. You know this. So let's

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now focus on how we might meet Christ today in

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this gospel. Love for our neighbor is so important.

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This man begged for 38 years alone. Christ unites

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us together. We become one family. It's very

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frightening to live. We read reports. This terrible

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shooting in Buffalo. The war in Ukraine and other

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places in our world. For love of God and our

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neighbor. Let's think about that today as we

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ponder this gospel. You know, there's a good

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and it's fairly good dramatization of this account

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from John chapter 5 by the TV show The Chosen,

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by the way. You might want to check that out

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as you open your Bible to read about it at the

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same time. Have we all opened our Bible this

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week? Now, Jesus did not just heal this man and

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leave him alone. He first asked, do you want

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to be healed? This is not a sarcastic question.

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It's not a pointless question. The hearer of

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the gospel must be the one who wants to be changed.

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Unfortunately, I'm not sure that's always the

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case with myself. Often, we hear what we want

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to hear. Make the gospel fit whatever preconceived

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ideology we might have. Many people in a political

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way, on the right hand or on the left hand. But

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if we seek human things when we come to church,

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even if it's fellowship, even if it's the wonderful

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singing, even if it's the icons, even if it's

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love for one another, if we only seek the human

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things, that's what we're going to find. We won't

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find God. We won't see him. We have to seek God

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in all of this. The more we open our hearts to

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God and lay aside all earthly cares and agendas,

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the more we receive Christ. Don't take upon yourselves,

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says Elder Thaddeus in that wonderful book, Our

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Thoughts Determine Our Lives. Don't take upon

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yourselves the cares, the worries of the world

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so much. but preserve peace of heart and live

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with Christ. The gospel message is first and

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foremost about Jesus Christ, the invitation,

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yes, to lay down our sickness. And not pick up

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our bed, but pick up our cross and follow Christ.

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Otherwise, if we don't come for that reason,

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if we come for other reasons, you can expect

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problems, confusions, disappointments with me

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and with the parish. It's painful for me to say

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this, but that's what happened during COVID.

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So many places. Do we want to be healed? Let's...

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really answer that in the affirmative. Jesus

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asked that perceptive and razor -sharp question

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about wanting to be healed, after which he did

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not say to the paralyzed man, Brother, you're

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healed. I know it's been a long time. You must

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be exhausted by your ordeal. Just sit back. Rest

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for a little while before you begin to walk about.

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No, he did not say that to the man. He said,

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rise, pick up your bed, and walk. Immediately,

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Jesus called this man to begin acting in faith.

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Immediately. So very interesting, isn't it? Also,

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that it is the Sabbath day, as Jesus' opponents

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pointed out, the day of rest. And the man is

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told, to carry his bed. On that Sabbath, carrying

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his bed was not carrying a burden, but it was

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proof, a sign, that he had entered into the Lord's

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rest. The rest of the Lord, God's rest, as Hebrews,

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the epistle tells us, is not sitting around and

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doing nothing. It's God's peace in our heart

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which rules the kingdom of God within us and

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God's holy work. which he calls us to do. Isn't

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it also interesting that the man is carrying

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his bed and someone says to him, you're carrying

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your bed, it's the Sabbath. The man said, well,

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the man who healed me, he didn't know who he

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was, Jesus came to him. The man who healed me

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told me to pick up my bed and walk. I didn't

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ask any more questions, I just did it. And you

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know what the response was? It wasn't, Who healed

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you? It was, who told you to pick up your bed?

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Isn't that ridiculous? That kind of legalism,

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which misses the point of the glory of God. If

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you want to know, if you want to come to know

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more, Jesus, the Word, as he is now, as he was

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there at the pool of Bethesda, for he is the

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healer and physician of our souls. If you want

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to know Jesus in the baptismal font, or the divine

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liturgy, or in many different ways in ministry,

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if you want to experience that godly rest, laying

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down your burdens and paralysis of sin and ignorance

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of God, to be where Christ is, to encounter Christ,

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to be transformed by him, to work with him, to

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be his disciple. There is a place where that

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is happening right now. Ground zero, as Father

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Stephen B. Young said in a recent podcast, are

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the church services. We didn't build this magnificent

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place with extravagant expenses on everything

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here you see so we could use it 3 % of the time

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of the week. That's insane. We built it so we

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could glorify God. As it says in Acts, the faithful

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were in the temple continually praising God.

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Ground zero is the church service, the liturgy,

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confession, holy communion, the scriptures, the

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Bible. This is base camp. But take up your bed

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and walk. act, be a disciple indeed. This gospel

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is given to us in Pascha time about water, of

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course, therefore reminding us about baptism

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and the transformation that will take place within

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us by the Holy Spirit. But like the paralyzed

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man, we have to do something. And this is where

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I'm following up from last week, to be an active

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disciple of Christ. We have to think about where

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Christ is. We have proof. I can give you proof.

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You can follow me around when I go to the hospital

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or a nursing home. That Christ, as the prayer

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of St. Basil says, is the help of the helpless.

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The hope of the hopeless. The physician of the

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sick. That he is all things to all of us, as

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the liturgy reminds us. This is what Christ is

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doing right now. He is the Savior of the world

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100 % of the time. Where Christ is now, he is

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with the helpless. He is with those who feel

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hopeless, who are sick, who are alienated, who

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are suffering, who are lonely, who are alone.

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That's where the scriptures tell us he is. Have

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you forgotten the lesson of... Judgment Sunday,

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Matthew 25, the least of these my servants. We

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can go to those people. We must go to those people.

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We will be asked if we went to those people.

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And we will see that we will encounter Christ

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there. And sometimes we will be Christ for someone

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else. We live Matthew 25. Very powerful change

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will take place in our heart and in our mind.

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Christ gives us hope when we are there. Help

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when we feel helpless. The action, this action

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of faithfulness is not a burden. Is the liturgy

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a burden? Is saying your prayers every day a

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burden? Is coming to church during the week a

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burden? Is reading the scripture a burden? Is

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doing the commandments of Christ a burden? No,

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he says, come unto me, all you that are heavy

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laden. I will give you rest. And if a man, he

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says, a person keeps my commandments, my father

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will love him and we will come and abide in him.

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This is what we want, to be the dwelling place

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of Christ. the Father, and the Spirit. In the

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days of our Lord's walking upon earth, the sheep's

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pool, which you can see now in ruins there in

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Jerusalem in the Moslem Quarter, next to the

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Church of St. Anne, it's been called a kingdom

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of sorrow. Find that kingdom of sorrow wherever

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you are and visit it. And bring Christ to someone.

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And meet Christ in someone. To our Lord be glory

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now and ever. To ages of ages. Christ is risen.