We've all had times in our life when people around
us, circumstances around us, were leading us
to try and understand something that we just
weren't getting that well. And finally, the light
goes on and we start to see that people are helping
us. Well, in the church, it doesn't work that
randomly. The church is a personal gift and a
personal message to our heart. Recent Gospels,
to my point about trying to get something over
time, recent Gospels have been obviously to me
directing and guiding and prompting us towards
something. Think back. Today we heard about...
The young rich man who went away sorrowful. And
notice how Christ, it says, when Christ saw that
he was sorrowful, he said. How hard it is for,
he didn't say, when Christ saw how rich he was.
That's important. Just keep that in mind there
for a moment. And we have the rich fool who built
the barns recently. We have the good Samaritan.
This is all within the last month and a half.
We had the rich man and Lazarus. We had the 10
lepers and that relates. Today we have an epistle
in which St. Paul says, God is rich. God is rich
in his love for us and in the riches of what
he will give us. And he goes on and on to speak
about that. And then we have the rich young man.
This is not about money. Not merely. It's not
about being sinful if you're rich because that's
not a sin. This is about the talk about that
this encounter that Jesus has with this man demonstrates
and illustrates to us the condition of the heart
first, the condition of gratitude. Gratitude.
We can express our thanks. To God, in whose hands
is our breath? It says at the funeral service.
I've done so many funerals now. I almost have
the whole thing memorized. In whose hands is
our breath? Every breath is a gift from God.
The breath you are taking right now, the beating
of your heart in this moment is a gift of God's
love. He didn't wind you up and just see what's
going to happen. He is so close. to each one
of us. And that should bring out an expression
from our heart of gratitude because all things
are from God. The rich man was, this young man
was incredibly blessed by God. But he, this is
my second point, trusted not in God who has all
riches, who can give everything to everyone,
but he trusted in the material things in his
life. That's what he pursued, and it made him
sad that he couldn't let go of it. Gratitude
and then trust. Each one of us has something
that we trust more than God, or else we would
all be saints. Now, we're a work in progress,
that's for sure. And we have to give it a little
bit of time to help us let go of whatever that
thing or those things are that keep us from truly
trusting God. Truly trusting our Savior. Because
when we read the New Testament, we see how rich
in love Christ is and that he has all things.
And this young man could have given up everything
and given it to the people. Poor, as Christ says.
Given it to the poor and had treasure. More treasure
than he could have possibly imagined. Come follow
me. My goodness. If our Lord is inviting him,
he's inviting us too. Christ has all things in
his power. The Christmas fast is asking us to
give up a little thing. Some food. We all eat.
So we can do something. If we can't say, as one
priest said recently, I'll have that peanut butter
and jelly sandwich or whatever on Wednesday and
Friday rather than the ham and cheese. There's
no chance that we're going to survive an assault
of temptation. Nothing. Because we trust in ourself,
not in God. So we've had our little Thanksgiving
break. That's nice. That's good. That's godly.
But let's get back now to the fast. Let's be
careful. Let's be zealous. Let's be consistent.
Let's be grateful. And the final thing, the final
thing that Jesus is asking this man to do is
out of his riches to give, to give alms, to share,
to help, to visit. We can do all of those things.
Let me give you. Very brief overview now, just
for five minutes, of the life of the saint for
today. Because he contrasts with this rich young
man so beautifully to illustrate how it is we
might be. There was this man, his name was Filaret.
He was born in Paphlagonia. That's the northern
part of Turkey, right by the Black Sea. And he
was instructed by his Christian parents. We're
talking about the 8th century, so the 700s. This
was a time of iconoclasm. It was a difficult
time in the church. As a youth, he was chaste.
He was virtuous. He was loving. He was pious.
He loved God. When he reached manhood, he married
an honorable, well -born, and very rich woman.
theosavia and she brought with her a considerable
dowry and a great house and everything well philaret
thought i heard this gospel rich man it's harder
for rich man to enter so i'm going to share and
he began to show mercy to the poor to treat them
as a father would his children. He fed the hungry.
He gave drink to the thirsty. He clothed the
naked. He accepted strangers into his home. You
could do that then. He offered them warm hospitality.
At that time, just as everything was wonderful,
God tested him like Job was tested. Not to see
what he would do because God is omniscient. He
knows all things. But he tested him like an athlete
is tested so he will gain strength and confidence
and have victory in a difficult circumstance,
just like an athlete. And what was that test?
Well, invaders came through that countryside.
They destroyed everything. They took the animals.
They took his servants. They left him only with
a pair of oxen, a cow, a horse. a servant and
one maidservant. It says he rejoiced in his poverty
as a man would in great wealth because he understood
that it is easier for one who is poor to enter
the kingdom of heaven than for a rich man. And
he thought, well, I was rich, now God is giving
me this. So the blessed Philaret, having very
little, was still giving away things. He saw
a man whose ox had died and he couldn't plow
his field. And so, so grieved with this man that
Philaret took his ox and he said, brother, take
my ox, plow your field, give thanks to God. Now
we shouldn't forget his wife. As he approached
his house, his wife caught sight of Philaret.
and says to him, my husband, where's the other
ox? I mean, you don't have much. And Fillaret
replied, well, while I was resting from my labors,
I loosened the oxen to allow them to graze. One
of them wandered off and became lost, or perhaps
someone took it. Not a good answer. She says,
Woe is me, woe is me, the wife of a heartless
man. And tearing her hair, she ran to her husband,
shrieking and wailing, you inhuman, hard -hearted
man. Why do you wish to destroy us with hunger?
She's a wife. She's protecting her family. We
have lost all our possessions because of our
sins, and it was only by God's mercy that two
oxen were left to us so that we could feed our
children. Oh, I know, she says, you're accustomed
to wealth and have never labored with your hands.
And now lazy that you are, you intend to remain
lying about the house. So you gave away the oxen
so you don't have to work. What answer will you
give to the Lord when your children and I perish
because of your laziness? The blessed Philaret.
looked at her and meekly, of course, meekly said,
hear what God, who is rich in mercy, as you heard
today, commands us. Behold, the birds of the
air, they sow not, neither do they reap, nor
do they gather into barns, yet your heavenly
father feeds them. Shall he not feed us who are
much better than birds? He says, God has some
riches for us, which I have stored up. And I
will bring them to you at the right time. Of
course, what he meant was he was awaiting God's
help. And he gave away a horse. And he gave away
his food. And he gave away his cloak. And his
wife gave him her cloak because he was standing
there in his underwear. You are not an angel.
You think you are an angel, she said. You are
a man. But you think you have no need of food.
If you required food, you would not be so anxious
to give away all our food to the poor. Well,
to summarize all of this, this man's faith was
so great. And God, it ends up, it's like a fairy
tale. His daughter is married to Constantine
VI, the young. emperor at the time of the seventh
ecumenical council and philaret is given riches
and he established orphanages hospitals churches
and he takes care of all the poor around him
constantly now why am i telling you this story
well for one thing it's in the lives of the saints
and it's important that we know our saints our
heroes of faith I'm telling you also this because
we can know that in times of distress, times
of difficulty, times of poverty, if we are seeking
the one thing needful, it's a radical thing to
do. We can trust our Lord Jesus Christ. He has
called us. I'm not asking you to give everything
away. Of course not. Although... That's what
the Lord said to this young man who was captivated
by his riches. But what I am asking us to do
is consider what keeps you and me from really
following Christ, from really giving to the poor,
giving to the church, and supporting that which
the Lord says, do this. Do this in my name. Let's
think about that, brothers and sisters, in this
time of the Christmas fast, when we were preparing
for the coming of our Lord and the flesh, who
was poor. Yet God, who is rich in mercy, has
seated us in the heavenly places. To him be glory,
honor, now and ever, two ages of ages.