WEBVTT 00:00:12.939 --> 00:00:16.899 I'm so happy that we have the sound of babies 00:00:16.899 --> 00:00:26.660 in our church. We need, usually when we're trying 00:00:26.660 --> 00:00:32.850 to learn something, we need visual aids. They're 00:00:32.850 --> 00:00:36.229 helpful. Visual aid in the church, however, is 00:00:36.229 --> 00:00:38.450 much different than a visual aid in a classroom. 00:00:41.130 --> 00:00:44.750 Visual aid in the church, because of the way 00:00:44.750 --> 00:00:47.950 it's painted, not as a photograph, which makes 00:00:47.950 --> 00:00:52.109 us just be an onlooker, but because it's painted 00:00:52.109 --> 00:00:55.130 in a certain stylized and unique way, like the 00:00:55.130 --> 00:00:59.090 icons are, it draws us in, or rather, we become, 00:00:59.250 --> 00:01:04.599 yes. we become drawn into that scene, that event. 00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:12.540 We can share in the joy, the sorrow, the incredible 00:01:12.540 --> 00:01:16.620 event that happened. For the next few weeks, 00:01:16.700 --> 00:01:21.739 we get to have visual aid. This week, it's the 00:01:21.739 --> 00:01:25.359 man at the pool. You see the five porches. It's 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:31.480 that fresco on the third arch from me. You see 00:01:31.480 --> 00:01:35.000 he's picked up his bed, he's carrying it, and 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:37.519 he's going to receive opposition in just a moment. 00:01:37.560 --> 00:01:39.920 Why are you carrying your bed on the Sabbath 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:43.280 day? And the week after that, we're going to 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:45.640 have the woman at the well, the Samaritan woman. 00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:49.640 And then the week after that, we'll have the 00:01:49.640 --> 00:01:54.900 blind man. That's not yet painted, is it? So 00:01:54.900 --> 00:02:03.329 that's coming. Day of Pascha, we celebrate the 00:02:03.329 --> 00:02:07.769 resurrection. The amazing event. The second week, 00:02:07.870 --> 00:02:11.909 we remember Thomas saying, my Lord and my God, 00:02:12.150 --> 00:02:15.469 being confronted with Christ, the risen Christ. 00:02:15.849 --> 00:02:20.090 And the week after that, it was the women ministering 00:02:20.090 --> 00:02:22.949 at the tomb, coming to see Christ, to take care 00:02:22.949 --> 00:02:25.610 of his body. They didn't know how. The stone 00:02:25.610 --> 00:02:28.909 they didn't know was rolled away. And they become 00:02:28.909 --> 00:02:33.689 the apostles. To the apostles. Those first three 00:02:33.689 --> 00:02:38.310 Sundays. Pascha. Thomas Sunday. All about the 00:02:38.310 --> 00:02:40.930 celebration of the resurrection. Today the church. 00:02:41.169 --> 00:02:48.169 Turns our gaze. Away. From that exactly. On to 00:02:48.169 --> 00:02:52.449 what does it mean. That this is. This man is 00:02:52.449 --> 00:02:56.870 God. This man endured the cross. The tomb. And 00:02:56.870 --> 00:03:00.430 he rose from the dead. This man appeared. showing 00:03:00.430 --> 00:03:03.449 signs to his disciples. What's it mean for us? 00:03:04.629 --> 00:03:07.729 So this is why we have the story of the man at 00:03:07.729 --> 00:03:12.389 the pool, the Samaritan woman at the well, the 00:03:12.389 --> 00:03:16.409 blind man who's told to wash. Yes, it has to 00:03:16.409 --> 00:03:20.889 do with baptism. It has to do with the radical 00:03:20.889 --> 00:03:26.629 change that happens to a person's life when that 00:03:26.629 --> 00:03:32.250 person meets Christ. And is given the gift of 00:03:32.250 --> 00:03:36.610 being a child of God. You saw this incredible 00:03:36.610 --> 00:03:42.090 service this morning. Little Maria, now a servant 00:03:42.090 --> 00:03:49.030 of the Most High God. So we are going to be given 00:03:49.030 --> 00:03:51.969 readings that will help us trust in Christ more. 00:03:52.110 --> 00:03:55.150 Trust in the life of the church. It's so important, 00:03:55.310 --> 00:03:58.449 brothers and sisters. You do not miss church 00:03:58.449 --> 00:04:03.550 during these days. Don't miss it. It's a precious 00:04:03.550 --> 00:04:09.250 gift. Don't come late. You want it all. It's 00:04:09.250 --> 00:04:11.610 like the train leaves the station at a certain 00:04:11.610 --> 00:04:18.730 time. Be on it. Now, in the midst of the joy 00:04:18.730 --> 00:04:27.449 of the Paschal season, this story tells me That 00:04:27.449 --> 00:04:30.930 there's a warning. There's a warning that if 00:04:30.930 --> 00:04:34.629 we do not undertake the struggle, and this man, 00:04:34.810 --> 00:04:38.370 you know, Jesus says to him, do you want to be 00:04:38.370 --> 00:04:40.170 healed? Now that seems like an obvious question, 00:04:40.230 --> 00:04:43.069 but the man doesn't say yes, because he doesn't 00:04:43.069 --> 00:04:45.910 know that Jesus can do this, raise him. He says, 00:04:45.930 --> 00:04:49.769 I have no one. No one. It's true, brothers and 00:04:49.769 --> 00:04:52.930 sisters, we should see in our life those people 00:04:52.930 --> 00:04:56.079 that need some attention, that have no one. that 00:04:56.079 --> 00:04:57.939 are lonely, that are isolated. That's another 00:04:57.939 --> 00:05:02.399 sermon. But he doesn't just say yes. But then 00:05:02.399 --> 00:05:05.819 he is healed. He has to pick up his bed. He has 00:05:05.819 --> 00:05:08.420 to do something. He has to follow Christ. He 00:05:08.420 --> 00:05:11.259 becomes a disciple right away. And the Lord says 00:05:11.259 --> 00:05:17.660 to him later, be careful. Lest you fall into 00:05:17.660 --> 00:05:21.180 another sin, something worse will happen to you. 00:05:22.860 --> 00:05:25.620 So we have a warning that we need to undertake 00:05:25.620 --> 00:05:29.339 the struggle of being disciples for Christ when 00:05:29.339 --> 00:05:33.399 it is difficult and when it is easy. Because 00:05:33.399 --> 00:05:36.199 if we don't labor against sin in our hearts, 00:05:36.300 --> 00:05:39.379 we're so keen to labor against sin in somebody 00:05:39.379 --> 00:05:42.959 else's heart. If we don't labor against sin in 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:46.079 our own hearts, if we don't labor to acquire 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:53.300 godly love, to embrace discipleship fully, To 00:05:53.300 --> 00:05:57.100 receive by prayer the patience we need to live 00:05:57.100 --> 00:06:00.639 in this world. Patience from God, his generosity. 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:05.620 If we don't learn to pray deeply, if we only 00:06:05.620 --> 00:06:10.379 do these things half -heartedly, our state may 00:06:10.379 --> 00:06:15.339 become even worse than it was when we were called 00:06:15.339 --> 00:06:18.980 out of the world by Jesus Christ. Forgive me, 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:21.899 brothers and sisters. But I have seen this happen 00:06:21.899 --> 00:06:24.920 and it is terrible. I have seen the possibility 00:06:24.920 --> 00:06:28.860 of this in my own life pretty much daily and 00:06:28.860 --> 00:06:34.600 it frightens me. This is a good fear because 00:06:34.600 --> 00:06:39.199 it gets me off my self -indulgent and self -pitying 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:44.980 and foolish duff. And I can say, I don't want 00:06:44.980 --> 00:06:48.800 to waste any more decades. I probably wasted 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:52.680 more than 38 years. This man was at the pool 00:06:52.680 --> 00:06:58.800 for 38 years begging to eat. I think I've let 00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:03.740 way more than 38 years go by. Such wasted time. 00:07:05.620 --> 00:07:09.540 One of the hymns, we just sang it, has these 00:07:09.540 --> 00:07:15.839 words. As of old, thou didst raise up the paralytic, 00:07:15.980 --> 00:07:21.579 O Lord God. by thy godlike care and might. Raise 00:07:21.579 --> 00:07:25.560 up my soul, which is paralyzed by diverse sins 00:07:25.560 --> 00:07:30.220 and transgressions and by unseemly deeds and 00:07:30.220 --> 00:07:35.879 acts, that being saved, I may also cry out, O 00:07:35.879 --> 00:07:39.480 compassionate Redeemer, O Christ God, glory to 00:07:39.480 --> 00:07:46.079 thy dominion and thy power. The hymn asks us, 00:07:46.699 --> 00:07:50.660 like the icons to pull us in, asks us to identify 00:07:50.660 --> 00:07:56.379 ourselves with this man at that place. Honestly, 00:07:56.480 --> 00:08:00.540 I'm frankly afraid to even begin to do that. 00:08:00.899 --> 00:08:04.779 It's hard for me to think of myself in that desperate 00:08:04.779 --> 00:08:09.399 place, the sheep's pool, with the sick people, 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:13.899 the paralyzed people, the broken and sinful and 00:08:13.899 --> 00:08:18.680 desperate people. Why don't I, I ask myself, 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:23.259 why don't I see myself there? Because the hymn 00:08:23.259 --> 00:08:27.420 is saying to do that. Why don't I see the darkness 00:08:27.420 --> 00:08:32.960 in myself and wake up, stop wasting time? I was 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:38.059 baptized also. I was charismated also. Like the 00:08:38.059 --> 00:08:41.320 paralyzed man, I was also cured of the paralysis 00:08:41.320 --> 00:08:44.340 of sin in my heart. That's the first resurrection. 00:08:45.710 --> 00:08:48.289 But the struggle against sin in reality begins 00:08:48.289 --> 00:08:54.529 in earnest from that moment on. God came in the 00:08:54.529 --> 00:09:01.950 form of a slave. And he was raised upon the cross. 00:09:02.750 --> 00:09:08.389 And he died the death of a criminal. And he rose 00:09:08.389 --> 00:09:11.269 from the dead. And we celebrate this on Pascha 00:09:11.269 --> 00:09:17.830 and we hear these words. The Savior's death has 00:09:17.830 --> 00:09:22.350 set us free from the fear of death. The Savior 00:09:22.350 --> 00:09:26.309 has destroyed death. O death, where is thy sting? 00:09:26.450 --> 00:09:28.669 Quoting St. Paul. O Hades, where is thy victory? 00:09:30.289 --> 00:09:35.210 Hades took a body and met God face to face. It 00:09:35.210 --> 00:09:40.070 took mortality and met immortality. We're baptized 00:09:40.070 --> 00:09:47.980 into that reality. We have nothing to fear. Christ 00:09:47.980 --> 00:09:52.019 will not take away the suffering and the struggle. 00:09:53.379 --> 00:09:56.440 We all have that, but he changes the meaning 00:09:56.440 --> 00:10:00.379 of it so that when we take up our bed, that is, 00:10:00.419 --> 00:10:05.059 we lay aside all those sins. We struggle to come 00:10:05.059 --> 00:10:07.559 to church to pray, to fast, to love one another, 00:10:07.720 --> 00:10:11.399 to forgive, to keep our mouths shut when we should 00:10:11.399 --> 00:10:16.179 not be speaking, to say something good, nurturing. 00:10:16.779 --> 00:10:21.840 compassionate and truthful when we should. This 00:10:21.840 --> 00:10:25.759 is our struggle. The Lord will help us by communing 00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:29.320 his body and blood to us, by giving his strength 00:10:29.320 --> 00:10:35.620 in our needs by the Holy Spirit. So I say, why 00:10:35.620 --> 00:10:42.000 don't I see myself in that tremendously desperate 00:10:43.149 --> 00:10:45.870 And dark place, not a place of healing one person 00:10:45.870 --> 00:10:49.809 a year. It's a multitude of people. It's a tragic 00:10:49.809 --> 00:10:54.850 place. Why don't I see, well, St. Sophrony, Father 00:10:54.850 --> 00:10:58.850 Sophrony, the newly glorified saint. He says, 00:10:58.850 --> 00:11:05.590 when we look in our heart, we see darkness. The 00:11:05.590 --> 00:11:09.000 problem is, we have to look in our heart. In 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:12.159 my own case, I'm pursuing my worldly appetites 00:11:12.159 --> 00:11:14.759 and concerns, most of which are completely innocent 00:11:14.759 --> 00:11:19.080 in and of themselves. They're fine. They're meant 00:11:19.080 --> 00:11:22.860 to be blessings by God, whether it be food or 00:11:22.860 --> 00:11:28.559 a wonderful wine or time with somebody else or 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:31.720 reading a book or just doing nothing. These things, 00:11:31.779 --> 00:11:38.769 but when they get pursued as goals. Aggregately. 00:11:39.690 --> 00:11:42.370 These things that are supposed to be blessings 00:11:42.370 --> 00:11:47.129 make me blind and paralyzed and I cannot see 00:11:47.129 --> 00:11:51.669 the darkness in my soul. My soul is paralyzed 00:11:51.669 --> 00:11:55.690 by diverse sins and transgressions. We sing by 00:11:55.690 --> 00:11:58.809 unseemly deeds and acts. The knowledge of that 00:11:58.809 --> 00:12:01.610 darkness and that sickness and death and spiritual 00:12:01.610 --> 00:12:04.730 danger. We're in spiritual danger, you know, 00:12:04.730 --> 00:12:08.850 if we don't see this. It's like I'm out on Highway 00:12:08.850 --> 00:12:14.110 101, scrolling on my cell phone, doing text messages, 00:12:14.149 --> 00:12:16.309 listening to music, cars whizzing by. I don't 00:12:16.309 --> 00:12:18.809 see the danger. I'm about to get run over. But 00:12:18.809 --> 00:12:23.009 when I do see it, St. Luke the surgeon says, 00:12:23.269 --> 00:12:28.889 the doors of mercy are open. Because we are horrified 00:12:28.889 --> 00:12:33.129 by what we see. And we bow our heads low. We 00:12:33.129 --> 00:12:36.330 beat our breasts. We repent from before the Lord. 00:12:37.070 --> 00:12:41.509 And this vision of reality gives birth, gives 00:12:41.509 --> 00:12:45.350 birth to the most amazing thing, the most life 00:12:45.350 --> 00:12:48.409 -changing event, the power of Christ's resurrection, 00:12:48.610 --> 00:12:52.870 baptism in the Holy Spirit in our life. Fervent 00:12:52.870 --> 00:12:56.190 prayer, which starts as desperate prayer, which 00:12:56.190 --> 00:13:01.669 turns into merciful, joyful prayer to God, our 00:13:01.669 --> 00:13:06.190 true love, who loves us. Brothers and sisters, 00:13:06.370 --> 00:13:11.230 we've been given these accounts so that we can 00:13:11.230 --> 00:13:15.450 trust in Christ and not be afraid. Christ is 00:13:15.450 --> 00:13:15.690 risen.