I'm so happy that we have the sound of babies
in our church. We need, usually when we're trying
to learn something, we need visual aids. They're
helpful. Visual aid in the church, however, is
much different than a visual aid in a classroom.
Visual aid in the church, because of the way
it's painted, not as a photograph, which makes
us just be an onlooker, but because it's painted
in a certain stylized and unique way, like the
icons are, it draws us in, or rather, we become,
yes. we become drawn into that scene, that event.
We can share in the joy, the sorrow, the incredible
event that happened. For the next few weeks,
we get to have visual aid. This week, it's the
man at the pool. You see the five porches. It's
that fresco on the third arch from me. You see
he's picked up his bed, he's carrying it, and
he's going to receive opposition in just a moment.
Why are you carrying your bed on the Sabbath
day? And the week after that, we're going to
have the woman at the well, the Samaritan woman.
And then the week after that, we'll have the
blind man. That's not yet painted, is it? So
that's coming. Day of Pascha, we celebrate the
resurrection. The amazing event. The second week,
we remember Thomas saying, my Lord and my God,
being confronted with Christ, the risen Christ.
And the week after that, it was the women ministering
at the tomb, coming to see Christ, to take care
of his body. They didn't know how. The stone
they didn't know was rolled away. And they become
the apostles. To the apostles. Those first three
Sundays. Pascha. Thomas Sunday. All about the
celebration of the resurrection. Today the church.
Turns our gaze. Away. From that exactly. On to
what does it mean. That this is. This man is
God. This man endured the cross. The tomb. And
he rose from the dead. This man appeared. showing
signs to his disciples. What's it mean for us?
So this is why we have the story of the man at
the pool, the Samaritan woman at the well, the
blind man who's told to wash. Yes, it has to
do with baptism. It has to do with the radical
change that happens to a person's life when that
person meets Christ. And is given the gift of
being a child of God. You saw this incredible
service this morning. Little Maria, now a servant
of the Most High God. So we are going to be given
readings that will help us trust in Christ more.
Trust in the life of the church. It's so important,
brothers and sisters. You do not miss church
during these days. Don't miss it. It's a precious
gift. Don't come late. You want it all. It's
like the train leaves the station at a certain
time. Be on it. Now, in the midst of the joy
of the Paschal season, this story tells me That
there's a warning. There's a warning that if
we do not undertake the struggle, and this man,
you know, Jesus says to him, do you want to be
healed? Now that seems like an obvious question,
but the man doesn't say yes, because he doesn't
know that Jesus can do this, raise him. He says,
I have no one. No one. It's true, brothers and
sisters, we should see in our life those people
that need some attention, that have no one. that
are lonely, that are isolated. That's another
sermon. But he doesn't just say yes. But then
he is healed. He has to pick up his bed. He has
to do something. He has to follow Christ. He
becomes a disciple right away. And the Lord says
to him later, be careful. Lest you fall into
another sin, something worse will happen to you.
So we have a warning that we need to undertake
the struggle of being disciples for Christ when
it is difficult and when it is easy. Because
if we don't labor against sin in our hearts,
we're so keen to labor against sin in somebody
else's heart. If we don't labor against sin in
our own hearts, if we don't labor to acquire
godly love, to embrace discipleship fully, To
receive by prayer the patience we need to live
in this world. Patience from God, his generosity.
If we don't learn to pray deeply, if we only
do these things half -heartedly, our state may
become even worse than it was when we were called
out of the world by Jesus Christ. Forgive me,
brothers and sisters. But I have seen this happen
and it is terrible. I have seen the possibility
of this in my own life pretty much daily and
it frightens me. This is a good fear because
it gets me off my self -indulgent and self -pitying
and foolish duff. And I can say, I don't want
to waste any more decades. I probably wasted
more than 38 years. This man was at the pool
for 38 years begging to eat. I think I've let
way more than 38 years go by. Such wasted time.
One of the hymns, we just sang it, has these
words. As of old, thou didst raise up the paralytic,
O Lord God. by thy godlike care and might. Raise
up my soul, which is paralyzed by diverse sins
and transgressions and by unseemly deeds and
acts, that being saved, I may also cry out, O
compassionate Redeemer, O Christ God, glory to
thy dominion and thy power. The hymn asks us,
like the icons to pull us in, asks us to identify
ourselves with this man at that place. Honestly,
I'm frankly afraid to even begin to do that.
It's hard for me to think of myself in that desperate
place, the sheep's pool, with the sick people,
the paralyzed people, the broken and sinful and
desperate people. Why don't I, I ask myself,
why don't I see myself there? Because the hymn
is saying to do that. Why don't I see the darkness
in myself and wake up, stop wasting time? I was
baptized also. I was charismated also. Like the
paralyzed man, I was also cured of the paralysis
of sin in my heart. That's the first resurrection.
But the struggle against sin in reality begins
in earnest from that moment on. God came in the
form of a slave. And he was raised upon the cross.
And he died the death of a criminal. And he rose
from the dead. And we celebrate this on Pascha
and we hear these words. The Savior's death has
set us free from the fear of death. The Savior
has destroyed death. O death, where is thy sting?
Quoting St. Paul. O Hades, where is thy victory?
Hades took a body and met God face to face. It
took mortality and met immortality. We're baptized
into that reality. We have nothing to fear. Christ
will not take away the suffering and the struggle.
We all have that, but he changes the meaning
of it so that when we take up our bed, that is,
we lay aside all those sins. We struggle to come
to church to pray, to fast, to love one another,
to forgive, to keep our mouths shut when we should
not be speaking, to say something good, nurturing.
compassionate and truthful when we should. This
is our struggle. The Lord will help us by communing
his body and blood to us, by giving his strength
in our needs by the Holy Spirit. So I say, why
don't I see myself in that tremendously desperate
And dark place, not a place of healing one person
a year. It's a multitude of people. It's a tragic
place. Why don't I see, well, St. Sophrony, Father
Sophrony, the newly glorified saint. He says,
when we look in our heart, we see darkness. The
problem is, we have to look in our heart. In
my own case, I'm pursuing my worldly appetites
and concerns, most of which are completely innocent
in and of themselves. They're fine. They're meant
to be blessings by God, whether it be food or
a wonderful wine or time with somebody else or
reading a book or just doing nothing. These things,
but when they get pursued as goals. Aggregately.
These things that are supposed to be blessings
make me blind and paralyzed and I cannot see
the darkness in my soul. My soul is paralyzed
by diverse sins and transgressions. We sing by
unseemly deeds and acts. The knowledge of that
darkness and that sickness and death and spiritual
danger. We're in spiritual danger, you know,
if we don't see this. It's like I'm out on Highway
101, scrolling on my cell phone, doing text messages,
listening to music, cars whizzing by. I don't
see the danger. I'm about to get run over. But
when I do see it, St. Luke the surgeon says,
the doors of mercy are open. Because we are horrified
by what we see. And we bow our heads low. We
beat our breasts. We repent from before the Lord.
And this vision of reality gives birth, gives
birth to the most amazing thing, the most life
-changing event, the power of Christ's resurrection,
baptism in the Holy Spirit in our life. Fervent
prayer, which starts as desperate prayer, which
turns into merciful, joyful prayer to God, our
true love, who loves us. Brothers and sisters,
we've been given these accounts so that we can
trust in Christ and not be afraid. Christ is
risen.