WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.740 receive a measure of a gift. There are in the 00:00:06.740 --> 00:00:11.640 church priests, prophets, healers, teachers, 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:14.980 and so forth. It's a partial list only he gives. 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:20.519 He doesn't give the whole list. And the purpose 00:00:20.519 --> 00:00:26.179 of those gifts, partially, is for us to build 00:00:26.179 --> 00:00:32.310 up the church. For me, to help equip you to use 00:00:32.310 --> 00:00:36.469 those gifts. Obviously, you know, not as an altar 00:00:36.469 --> 00:00:39.990 server or lighting candles or whatever. That's 00:00:39.990 --> 00:00:42.210 what we do in here, and it's blessed and good. 00:00:42.310 --> 00:00:48.049 But to be the light of Christ, to use the gift 00:00:48.049 --> 00:00:51.770 of the Holy Spirit that you have, which turns 00:00:51.770 --> 00:00:56.649 out to be many gifts in your daily work outside 00:00:56.649 --> 00:01:01.460 these doors. But this is a small congregation 00:01:01.460 --> 00:01:08.540 today. And so I'll make a little, let's say confession. 00:01:10.680 --> 00:01:16.560 Since there's not so many of you. You know that 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:19.019 at the second coming, any sin that we have not 00:01:19.019 --> 00:01:22.620 confessed is going to be pretty obvious to the 00:01:22.620 --> 00:01:26.060 rest of the universe. So when we do confess, 00:01:26.180 --> 00:01:30.500 we should be very clear and complete. Because 00:01:30.500 --> 00:01:33.000 St. Paul says if we confess our sins now, we 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:36.719 won't be judged. I believe that very, very strongly. 00:01:37.159 --> 00:01:39.219 But about what I'm going to say, this is not 00:01:39.219 --> 00:01:42.299 part of my sermon, so if I can tack on a few 00:01:42.299 --> 00:01:46.519 extra minutes at the beginning. What I want to 00:01:46.519 --> 00:01:49.239 say is, here we are again, as one parishioner 00:01:49.239 --> 00:01:56.019 emailed me. The title of the email was, etc., 00:01:56.019 --> 00:02:00.579 etc., etc. Well, here we go again, Father. And 00:02:00.579 --> 00:02:04.560 I'm not, she has some immune issues. I'm not 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:06.739 comfortable coming right now. Please forgive 00:02:06.739 --> 00:02:09.979 me for that. I want to come very badly. I want 00:02:09.979 --> 00:02:12.099 you to come bless my house, by the way, and so 00:02:12.099 --> 00:02:14.699 on and so forth. And I'm thinking, yeah, here 00:02:14.699 --> 00:02:18.520 we go again. And the church is not full. It was 00:02:18.520 --> 00:02:23.960 full last week. My confession is, I feel incredibly 00:02:23.960 --> 00:02:29.580 ill -equipped to equip you. To build up the body 00:02:29.580 --> 00:02:34.500 of Christ. My only consolation is everybody else 00:02:34.500 --> 00:02:39.659 is pretty poorly equipped to do their job from 00:02:39.659 --> 00:02:43.879 the highest levels of government, medicine, all 00:02:43.879 --> 00:02:48.240 the way down to us. It's a very difficult situation 00:02:48.240 --> 00:02:51.340 we are in, brothers and sisters. But if we are 00:02:51.340 --> 00:02:54.620 one body, as St. Paul says, and that's not just 00:02:54.620 --> 00:03:00.139 a metaphor. then we are united to one another. 00:03:00.580 --> 00:03:03.860 And whatever we can do, our prayers for one another, 00:03:04.039 --> 00:03:06.919 staying in contact with one another, serving 00:03:06.919 --> 00:03:10.960 one another, helping, we build up the body of 00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:14.080 Christ. We strengthen each other. We need that 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:18.719 very much. I need it. My job isn't to do everything 00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:23.180 here. My job is to equip you to do things here 00:03:23.180 --> 00:03:27.439 and out there. I'm your priest. Here in this 00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:30.039 building and in your homes and wherever you see 00:03:30.039 --> 00:03:34.000 me. But you're the priests, the prophets, the 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:38.479 kings. Because you've been anointed. You've been 00:03:38.479 --> 00:03:43.400 washed. You've been crowned for those outside 00:03:43.400 --> 00:03:47.039 these doors. So let's support one another in 00:03:47.039 --> 00:03:52.879 these difficult times. We have issues that are 00:03:52.879 --> 00:03:56.759 facing the church. Let's not get distracted with 00:03:56.759 --> 00:04:05.919 masks and other things that are peripheral. So 00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:10.719 that's my confession. You've heard this term, 00:04:10.780 --> 00:04:15.099 post -feast. Frequently in the church, you read 00:04:15.099 --> 00:04:18.699 it in my bulletins, my announcements. Now is 00:04:18.699 --> 00:04:21.949 the time of the post -feast of theophany. The 00:04:21.949 --> 00:04:24.730 afterfeast, the afterglow, if you could call 00:04:24.730 --> 00:04:27.910 it that, as one clergyman said. Theophany is 00:04:27.910 --> 00:04:32.930 always January 6th. Often, therefore, it's movable. 00:04:32.970 --> 00:04:35.709 It's in the middle of the week. Well, you're 00:04:35.709 --> 00:04:40.610 back at work, mostly. After whatever Christmas 00:04:40.610 --> 00:04:44.129 break you had, you're back at school. So the 00:04:44.129 --> 00:04:48.389 church says this feast is so very, very important 00:04:48.389 --> 00:04:52.449 and profound. More so than Christmas, on the 00:04:52.449 --> 00:04:55.170 level of importance in the life of the church, 00:04:55.290 --> 00:04:58.350 theophany is way up here. It's kind of interesting 00:04:58.350 --> 00:05:02.529 that it's on the same level, because it's the 00:05:02.529 --> 00:05:08.370 chronological sequence. But we want, the church 00:05:08.370 --> 00:05:10.610 says it's so important that we're going to extend 00:05:10.610 --> 00:05:12.730 the feast. We're going to have a post -feast, 00:05:12.730 --> 00:05:16.110 an afterglow. We're going to keep going. The 00:05:16.110 --> 00:05:19.610 story keeps going. It wants to include... everyone 00:05:19.610 --> 00:05:26.850 in what it means that Jesus was baptized. What 00:05:26.850 --> 00:05:30.769 it means that the Holy Spirit descended on him 00:05:30.769 --> 00:05:34.769 and the Holy Spirit comes to us. What it means 00:05:34.769 --> 00:05:36.889 that the Father's voice was heard proclaiming, 00:05:36.910 --> 00:05:41.870 this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. 00:05:41.930 --> 00:05:48.920 Hear him. It's extended so we could rejoice in 00:05:48.920 --> 00:05:51.319 the fact that the waters, the creation itself 00:05:51.319 --> 00:05:54.480 is sanctified. That sinners, and not just sinners, 00:05:54.620 --> 00:05:57.620 but those of us who are lost, who are wounded, 00:05:57.740 --> 00:06:01.399 who are broken, who are unsure, who are anxious, 00:06:01.480 --> 00:06:08.240 can behold the Savior who comes and appears and 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:11.339 is revealed to us as one of the Holy Trinity 00:06:11.339 --> 00:06:14.860 at the Jordan River. and he comes not just to 00:06:14.860 --> 00:06:17.740 take us over the Jordan as Joshua did, not just 00:06:17.740 --> 00:06:20.519 to take us through the Red Sea, miraculous as 00:06:20.519 --> 00:06:23.279 both of those things as Moses did, but to take 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:27.720 us through death into life itself, to live forever 00:06:27.720 --> 00:06:31.500 as citizens of the kingdom of God. So the feast 00:06:31.500 --> 00:06:34.720 is extended, and here we are. On this Sunday, 00:06:34.800 --> 00:06:38.360 the church is saying, dear children, faithful 00:06:38.360 --> 00:06:42.800 children, let's also then ponder. What happened 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:48.420 after the baptism by John of Jesus in the Jordan? 00:06:49.420 --> 00:06:52.100 What happened after the temptation? There's a 00:06:52.100 --> 00:06:53.699 sermon there. I'm not going to give it to you 00:06:53.699 --> 00:06:58.720 now. Our school principal, John Galuli, has a 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:01.060 whole class on that. When he gives that class, 00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:06.740 you'll sit in to hear what he has to say. Jesus 00:07:06.740 --> 00:07:11.100 completely confused Satan. who simply could not 00:07:11.100 --> 00:07:13.800 understand what was happening there, that Jesus 00:07:13.800 --> 00:07:18.220 is the divine son of the Father, both God and 00:07:18.220 --> 00:07:25.579 man. Why would that occur? And Jesus hears that 00:07:25.579 --> 00:07:29.060 John has been arrested. And of course we know 00:07:29.060 --> 00:07:32.639 how that story ends, since we mark that solemn 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:36.680 day every August 29th with a strict fast and 00:07:36.680 --> 00:07:41.399 a divine liturgy. So Jesus wisely then leaves 00:07:41.399 --> 00:07:45.439 Judea, that region around Jerusalem, and heads 00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:50.360 north into pagan lands, non -Jewish areas, to 00:07:50.360 --> 00:07:58.180 Galilee. And the prophet saw this. Isaiah saw 00:07:58.180 --> 00:08:03.480 it centuries before. He says, the land of Zebulon, 00:08:03.660 --> 00:08:07.379 the land of Naphtali, toward the sea across the 00:08:07.379 --> 00:08:10.439 Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people sitting 00:08:10.439 --> 00:08:14.759 in darkness saw great light. For those sitting 00:08:14.759 --> 00:08:18.300 in the land and shadow of death, light sprang 00:08:18.300 --> 00:08:24.120 to them. Jesus went, he sought people. It wasn't 00:08:24.120 --> 00:08:28.339 a one -off thing. What he did then, he does now. 00:08:29.379 --> 00:08:34.340 Seeks people who are sitting in darkness to bring 00:08:34.340 --> 00:08:38.559 them the light. All of us are called to be light 00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:43.799 bearers. You know that. But did you know that 00:08:43.799 --> 00:08:47.799 we are also called to carry that light and share 00:08:47.799 --> 00:08:52.360 it with others? Yes. In his Sermon on the Mount, 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:56.059 Jesus states very clearly that the disciples 00:08:56.059 --> 00:09:00.559 are not simply to be basking in the light, but 00:09:00.559 --> 00:09:05.059 they become light themselves. Chapter 5, verse 00:09:05.059 --> 00:09:09.379 14, you are the light of the world. In that same 00:09:09.379 --> 00:09:12.059 chapter, let your light so shine before men that 00:09:12.059 --> 00:09:14.500 they may see your good works and glorify your 00:09:14.500 --> 00:09:18.059 Father who is in heaven. Light bearers, brothers 00:09:18.059 --> 00:09:21.600 and sisters, that's what we are to be. Not bad 00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:28.960 news bearers. Not criticizers. Not downers, either 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:32.659 at home or in public. But light bearers. And 00:09:32.659 --> 00:09:35.519 we will struggle to achieve that because it is 00:09:35.519 --> 00:09:38.360 a struggle. It won't come naturally to us in 00:09:38.360 --> 00:09:40.480 our fallen state. And this is what I want to 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:44.960 talk about briefly. The land of darkness wasn't 00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:48.580 just there in Galilee where Jesus came. The shadow 00:09:48.580 --> 00:09:52.580 of death. Jesus gave the shortest sermon he ever 00:09:52.580 --> 00:09:57.000 gave right then. The most powerful sermon he 00:09:57.000 --> 00:10:00.779 ever gave. The one that we could quote and ponder. 00:10:02.509 --> 00:10:07.529 over and over again. From that time, says St. 00:10:07.549 --> 00:10:10.970 Matthew, Jesus began to preach and say, repent, 00:10:11.190 --> 00:10:17.110 for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. What is 00:10:17.110 --> 00:10:20.929 this kingdom? It's Jesus. He's there. What is 00:10:20.929 --> 00:10:25.110 this darkness and shadow of death? What's the 00:10:25.110 --> 00:10:29.690 condition of the people then, now, that he's 00:10:29.690 --> 00:10:34.840 going to be with? What was our condition? Before 00:10:34.840 --> 00:10:38.559 we answer those questions at baptism, do you 00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:42.279 unite yourself to Christ? I unite myself to Christ. 00:10:42.379 --> 00:10:45.440 Have you united yourself to Christ? I have united 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:50.700 myself to Christ. I'm not going to ponder with 00:10:50.700 --> 00:10:54.240 you the nature of sin and darkness and what it 00:10:54.240 --> 00:11:00.460 means to be wounded. I think we know that. St. 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:07.000 Theophilus says this about sin. Sin is the likeness 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:13.559 and silhouette of death. Very descriptive. The 00:11:13.559 --> 00:11:16.019 likeness and silhouette of death, which is scriptural, 00:11:16.080 --> 00:11:21.340 because sin, the wages of which are death. Jesus 00:11:21.340 --> 00:11:24.620 also gives the medicine and the cure for that 00:11:24.620 --> 00:11:29.399 darkness. Repent! The kingdom is here. Not some 00:11:29.399 --> 00:11:34.220 far off place, not a future reality, but now 00:11:34.220 --> 00:11:37.460 Christ is in our midst over and over again. Lo, 00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:41.720 I am with you even to the end of the age. For 00:11:41.720 --> 00:11:45.840 a person to repent, it isn't that you just say, 00:11:45.980 --> 00:11:51.840 I'm sorry. That's not what repentance is. It 00:11:51.840 --> 00:11:53.980 might involve that, but that's not the core. 00:11:54.700 --> 00:11:58.820 The word repent literally means I change my mind, 00:11:58.940 --> 00:12:02.200 I change my direction, I change my understanding, 00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:06.600 I change my orientation. That's interesting, 00:12:06.700 --> 00:12:08.899 isn't it? Which way do we have the catechumens 00:12:08.899 --> 00:12:11.960 face? After they face the West and spit on the 00:12:11.960 --> 00:12:16.879 devil, they reorient themselves. The word means 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:20.500 east, towards Christ. The day spring from on 00:12:20.500 --> 00:12:24.029 high as we just sang at Christmas. Repentance 00:12:24.029 --> 00:12:29.610 is our way of life. Why do I say that? What's 00:12:29.610 --> 00:12:34.990 the proof? What's the good of it? Why did Christ 00:12:34.990 --> 00:12:37.490 tell us to do it and keep doing it, not just 00:12:37.490 --> 00:12:41.409 a one -time thing? St. Simeon the New Theologian 00:12:41.409 --> 00:12:43.309 wrote this, he says, the careful fulfillment 00:12:43.309 --> 00:12:45.970 of the commandments, which we start to keep when 00:12:45.970 --> 00:12:53.759 we repent, teaches a person what? His own weaknesses. 00:12:55.940 --> 00:13:00.240 And the focus goes off the other person's sins. 00:13:01.340 --> 00:13:03.919 Brothers and sisters, believe me when I tell 00:13:03.919 --> 00:13:09.419 you this. This is some advice. Don't watch the 00:13:09.419 --> 00:13:12.100 news in the morning. And don't watch the news 00:13:12.100 --> 00:13:14.539 before you go to bed. That's just advertisement 00:13:14.539 --> 00:13:22.539 of everybody else's sins. Pray. Pray again. If 00:13:22.539 --> 00:13:24.639 it's important enough, you'll hear about it. 00:13:26.299 --> 00:13:29.960 When we start to repent, we keep the commandments 00:13:29.960 --> 00:13:33.860 and we start to see ourselves, says Saint Simeon. 00:13:34.139 --> 00:13:37.159 He goes on, exactly as soon as one who believes 00:13:37.159 --> 00:13:40.039 in Christ begins to fulfill the all holy commandments 00:13:40.039 --> 00:13:43.480 of the gospel or also to perform the works of 00:13:43.480 --> 00:13:48.840 a renewed nature, one's fallen nature, one's 00:13:48.840 --> 00:13:54.360 sinfulness and potential too. is instantly and 00:13:54.360 --> 00:13:59.379 continually revealed to him, which has been hidden 00:13:59.379 --> 00:14:03.200 from sight until then. And then we enter into 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:07.519 a battle, a sustained battle. But God is with 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:10.919 us, so we are not defeated and we are not frustrated, 00:14:11.019 --> 00:14:16.899 even though we are contrite. Where does all this 00:14:16.899 --> 00:14:24.419 lead? Our intern, Joseph, gave me a stack of 00:14:24.419 --> 00:14:29.820 books that he translated the other day. Talks 00:14:29.820 --> 00:14:33.460 by St. Nectarius. And I saw this and I thought, 00:14:33.539 --> 00:14:35.940 I have to share this because this is where repentance 00:14:35.940 --> 00:14:38.679 leads. This is where banishment of darkness leads. 00:14:38.840 --> 00:14:41.120 This is what the Christian faith is all about. 00:14:42.279 --> 00:14:44.419 And we're hearing it now at the beginning of 00:14:44.419 --> 00:14:46.860 the year, after Christ's baptism, after Christmas, 00:14:46.940 --> 00:14:51.309 to encourage us in a very dark time. Christianity, 00:14:51.350 --> 00:14:54.129 says Saint Nectarios, his icon is right over 00:14:54.129 --> 00:14:58.090 there by Gabriel, is not intended merely to transmit 00:14:58.090 --> 00:15:03.490 religious and moral truths, rules, but also to 00:15:03.490 --> 00:15:06.529 awaken a new religious and moral life within 00:15:06.529 --> 00:15:10.549 us. Thus Christianity is a religious moral institution 00:15:10.549 --> 00:15:14.409 with the established goal of the formation of 00:15:14.409 --> 00:15:17.629 the heart and the illumination of the noose. 00:15:18.700 --> 00:15:21.899 And so its true followers are not those who only 00:15:21.899 --> 00:15:25.620 receive its teaching, but those who also arrange 00:15:25.620 --> 00:15:30.340 their life and their ways, Christianity is called 00:15:30.340 --> 00:15:33.320 the way in Acts, in accordance with the principles 00:15:33.320 --> 00:15:37.740 and teaching. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, 00:15:37.860 --> 00:15:40.480 Lord, said Jesus, will enter the kingdom of heaven, 00:15:40.519 --> 00:15:45.100 but he who does the will of my Father. Christianity 00:15:45.100 --> 00:15:47.960 does not intend to form man into a philosopher, 00:15:48.179 --> 00:15:54.159 but into an image and likeness of God. And this 00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:58.679 indeed he becomes. So long as man dedicates his 00:15:58.679 --> 00:16:02.259 heart to be a holy tabernacle, wherein the Lord 00:16:02.259 --> 00:16:07.460 dwells, abides, and tarries, in which he, Jesus, 00:16:07.720 --> 00:16:12.080 makes a dwelling place for himself. Can I hear 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:12.899 an amen to that?