WEBVTT 00:00:00.720 --> 00:00:02.740 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 00:00:02.740 --> 00:00:11.419 of the Holy Spirit, glory to Jesus Christ. As 00:00:11.419 --> 00:00:24.100 you all know, this is an election year. One would 00:00:24.100 --> 00:00:29.579 hope that the theme of every election Sort of 00:00:29.579 --> 00:00:32.939 the slogan would be that last verse of the gospel. 00:00:33.219 --> 00:00:36.899 Did you catch it? Everyone who exalts themselves 00:00:36.899 --> 00:00:38.960 shall be humbled. Those who humble themselves 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:44.700 shall be exalted. But even to think like, to 00:00:44.700 --> 00:00:47.240 say what I just said and to think in that way 00:00:47.240 --> 00:00:50.380 puts us in a very dangerous spiritual condition. 00:00:53.000 --> 00:00:56.780 In this wonderful book called The Year of Grace. 00:00:57.280 --> 00:01:02.100 by a monk of the Eastern Church. The author, 00:01:02.219 --> 00:01:06.519 it's unidentified, the author says, do we have 00:01:06.519 --> 00:01:12.159 the right to condemn the Pharisee and to consider 00:01:12.159 --> 00:01:15.920 ourselves more righteous than him? If, first 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:19.200 of all, we break the commandments that the Pharisee 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:25.099 observes, prayer, tithing, Fasting. Yes, these 00:01:25.099 --> 00:01:26.859 are not optional for the Christians. It's the 00:01:26.859 --> 00:01:29.500 way we act in our life. Have we the right to 00:01:29.500 --> 00:01:32.379 place ourselves in contrast to the Pharisee on 00:01:32.379 --> 00:01:36.260 the same level as the justified publican? We 00:01:36.260 --> 00:01:39.060 cannot do that unless our attitude is exactly 00:01:39.060 --> 00:01:42.780 the same as that of the publican. Would we dare 00:01:42.780 --> 00:01:45.480 to say that we have the publican's humility and 00:01:45.480 --> 00:01:50.890 repentance if we ostentatiously condemn the Pharisee 00:01:50.890 --> 00:01:53.670 without truly becoming, like the public and ourselves, 00:01:53.950 --> 00:01:58.829 we fall into Phariseeism itself. People, enough 00:01:58.829 --> 00:02:02.930 with the political memes about your opponents 00:02:02.930 --> 00:02:07.870 on social media. You know what I'm talking about. 00:02:09.990 --> 00:02:18.449 So today, we begin to prepare ourselves for the 00:02:18.449 --> 00:02:24.750 great fast. in which we intentionally change 00:02:24.750 --> 00:02:29.150 the course of our life, change our activities 00:02:29.150 --> 00:02:34.069 as best as we can. Parents of little kids, this 00:02:34.069 --> 00:02:36.389 is a little different story for you, and we talk 00:02:36.389 --> 00:02:42.009 about that later. And we start with that realization 00:02:42.009 --> 00:02:45.449 of what that intention is going to be with this. 00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:49.780 Parable, five verses from chapter 18 of the Gospel 00:02:49.780 --> 00:02:54.919 of St. Luke, which begins with St. Luke's comment 00:02:54.919 --> 00:02:57.360 that the Lord Jesus told this parable to those 00:02:57.360 --> 00:03:01.560 who trusted in themselves and looked down on 00:03:01.560 --> 00:03:04.340 others. And then the five verses. Two men went 00:03:04.340 --> 00:03:08.379 up into the temple to pray. Instead of analyzing, 00:03:08.580 --> 00:03:11.620 brothers and sisters, the Pharisees' intentions 00:03:11.620 --> 00:03:16.139 and the publicans' intentions, Let me make this 00:03:16.139 --> 00:03:19.759 very simple. What's the underlying lesson that 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:23.099 we have to, one of them, one of them, a simple 00:03:23.099 --> 00:03:26.020 one, that we have to acquire today if we are 00:03:26.020 --> 00:03:29.080 going to go through the doors of repentance and 00:03:29.080 --> 00:03:32.539 start walking the way of Lent? Because this is 00:03:32.539 --> 00:03:35.560 our intention. We're Orthodox Christians. The 00:03:35.560 --> 00:03:38.259 church is saying, this is the signpost today 00:03:38.259 --> 00:03:41.560 on this Sunday. You heard the hymns last night 00:03:41.560 --> 00:03:46.479 at Vespers. This is why. Come to Vespers. Such 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:50.020 magnificent hymnography. It teaches us how to 00:03:50.020 --> 00:03:55.300 pray, how to worship. So the lesson is this, 00:03:55.319 --> 00:04:05.020 that I'd like to ponder just for a moment. Sometimes 00:04:05.020 --> 00:04:07.960 people go to Lent, especially that first week 00:04:07.960 --> 00:04:14.719 of Lent, Canon of St. Andrew, and... The opinion 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:17.980 might be, well, why should I beat myself up continually 00:04:17.980 --> 00:04:21.680 like this? Why should I be so negative? Wretch 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:24.560 that I am. Oh, my soul, you know that you have 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:26.879 failed this and the other thing. On and on it 00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:33.500 goes. And perhaps we don't understand what those 00:04:33.500 --> 00:04:36.959 hymns are trying to tell us. Perhaps we don't 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:40.399 understand what this parable is trying to tell 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:47.009 us. Let me... suggest to you that we have to 00:04:47.009 --> 00:04:49.689 acquire humility, but we don't know what humility 00:04:49.689 --> 00:04:53.709 is. We are neither the Pharisee with his zeal 00:04:53.709 --> 00:04:59.110 for the commandments and zeal for fasting, zeal 00:04:59.110 --> 00:05:03.829 for praying. We're not that. Hardly any of us 00:05:03.829 --> 00:05:10.060 can be accused of Phariseeism in... emulating 00:05:10.060 --> 00:05:13.500 the virtues that he tries to acquire. This is 00:05:13.500 --> 00:05:15.860 a big mistake on our part because those are the 00:05:15.860 --> 00:05:19.259 things we should try to acquire. And hardly any 00:05:19.259 --> 00:05:25.620 of us feel the sorrow, the alienation from God, 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:29.660 the distance from God that our sins have caused 00:05:29.660 --> 00:05:32.240 that the public had felt so that all he could 00:05:32.240 --> 00:05:35.120 do was stand at the back by the door with his 00:05:35.120 --> 00:05:39.149 head down. And beat his breast, O God, be merciful 00:05:39.149 --> 00:05:41.629 to me, a sinner. While the Pharisee up front 00:05:41.629 --> 00:05:46.629 is praying out loud, God, I thank thee that I'm 00:05:46.629 --> 00:05:51.350 not like other people. You know what I'm talking 00:05:51.350 --> 00:05:56.490 about. It wasn't thanks at all. If we are going 00:05:56.490 --> 00:06:01.189 to have true humility, true humility like the 00:06:01.189 --> 00:06:06.839 story in 2 Samuel. David is running away. He's 00:06:06.839 --> 00:06:08.660 not running away. He's being chased away. His 00:06:08.660 --> 00:06:14.860 son Absalom has taken control. He's living there 00:06:14.860 --> 00:06:19.740 in David's place with David's wives. David shouldn't 00:06:19.740 --> 00:06:23.959 have all those wives. And he's leaving, and he's 00:06:23.959 --> 00:06:27.459 with his retinue. And there's a man, Shimei, 00:06:27.639 --> 00:06:30.639 standing on the side of the road, throwing stones 00:06:30.639 --> 00:06:35.290 at him and swearing at him. and telling him what 00:06:35.290 --> 00:06:40.410 a loser he is. And David's general says, Lord, 00:06:40.550 --> 00:06:42.990 should I go over there and cut that man's head 00:06:42.990 --> 00:06:48.389 off? And David says, no, what he is saying is 00:06:48.389 --> 00:06:53.410 right. That's because of my sins. That's the 00:06:53.410 --> 00:06:56.389 kind of humility which I think we want to acquire. 00:06:56.389 --> 00:07:01.069 We're so far from it for myself. Humility can 00:07:01.069 --> 00:07:04.170 only be derived, say some of the Holy Fathers, 00:07:04.350 --> 00:07:08.110 from looking at two different things, two visions. 00:07:08.670 --> 00:07:16.470 On the one hand, we see our own failures. Realistically, 00:07:16.769 --> 00:07:22.870 not in a guilty, morbid way, we see our own poverty 00:07:22.870 --> 00:07:28.670 of soul. How often do we hear this incredible, 00:07:31.209 --> 00:07:34.389 quote, acquire the peace of God and thousands 00:07:34.389 --> 00:07:37.550 of souls around him would be saved. But if we 00:07:37.550 --> 00:07:40.490 apply that to ourselves, we can see that that's 00:07:40.490 --> 00:07:46.149 not true. It was for him, but not for us. So 00:07:46.149 --> 00:07:50.769 if we can see our poverty of soul, as St. Gregory 00:07:50.769 --> 00:07:54.949 Palamas says, the hideous mask, which covers 00:07:54.949 --> 00:07:59.329 the beauty that we have because we're creation, 00:07:59.850 --> 00:08:04.350 Of God himself. In his image. In his likeness. 00:08:05.149 --> 00:08:10.089 If we can see that. And on the other hand. See 00:08:10.089 --> 00:08:15.430 Christ. In his indescribable humility. Much more 00:08:15.430 --> 00:08:17.569 than David. Because Christ went to the cross 00:08:17.569 --> 00:08:20.329 for us. Father forgive them. For they know not 00:08:20.329 --> 00:08:24.290 what they do. His beauty. His love. His compassion. 00:08:25.509 --> 00:08:27.910 Everything he did was for someone else. Not for 00:08:27.910 --> 00:08:33.120 himself. We have this paradox. We have to have 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:36.740 this two -fold consciousness. My own nothingness, 00:08:36.759 --> 00:08:41.320 which is very painful to accept. And we should 00:08:41.320 --> 00:08:44.799 find it abhorrent. And on the other hand, the 00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:48.779 compassion and the condescension, the humility, 00:08:49.019 --> 00:08:52.399 the love of God. This is not a morbid thing. 00:08:53.059 --> 00:08:56.000 Lent starts us on this road. And if we don't 00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:58.120 understand this, then Lent is going to be a waste 00:08:58.120 --> 00:09:02.809 of time. It's not morbid. On the contrary, it 00:09:02.809 --> 00:09:06.230 leads us to freedom, the freedom of the children 00:09:06.230 --> 00:09:10.289 of God. Because if we see ourselves as unworthy 00:09:10.289 --> 00:09:13.769 as that publican did, that tax collector, of 00:09:13.769 --> 00:09:17.830 heaven and of earth, and we have condemned and 00:09:17.830 --> 00:09:20.409 judged ourselves, we're going to be quick to 00:09:20.409 --> 00:09:23.470 want to correct ourselves, number one, and we 00:09:23.470 --> 00:09:27.629 will not judge other people. We won't even notice 00:09:27.629 --> 00:09:34.889 what other people do. And when we start to fast, 00:09:35.110 --> 00:09:40.309 when we begin to pray more, we won't be content 00:09:40.309 --> 00:09:44.350 with external works, with the externalness of 00:09:44.350 --> 00:09:47.929 Lent. Coming to church, looking pious, you know, 00:09:47.950 --> 00:09:50.769 not buying milk and half and half, all that. 00:09:50.870 --> 00:09:56.129 We won't be satisfied with that. They might be 00:09:56.129 --> 00:10:00.370 good things, but we want the inner life of the 00:10:00.370 --> 00:10:03.720 kingdom. Because God does not dispense justice, 00:10:04.059 --> 00:10:08.240 as you see in this parable, but gifts and grace 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:13.379 upon his servants. The doors of repentance are 00:10:13.379 --> 00:10:17.679 opening. And we're asking and we're praying that 00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:22.940 we may be allowed in. And that first step is 00:10:22.940 --> 00:10:27.279 the publican's prayer. Heartfelt and self -understanding 00:10:27.279 --> 00:10:30.200 and the understanding of God's magnificence. 00:10:32.009 --> 00:10:39.009 This is our goal. May God direct each one of 00:10:39.009 --> 00:10:44.669 us so that as we begin this preparation time, 00:10:44.850 --> 00:10:48.590 we do it with some joy. We're going to sing in 00:10:48.590 --> 00:10:51.009 four weeks that magnificent hymn, let us set 00:10:51.009 --> 00:10:53.450 out with joy upon the season of the fast and 00:10:53.450 --> 00:10:56.710 prepare ourselves for spiritual combat because 00:10:56.710 --> 00:10:58.929 God is with us on the right hand and the left 00:10:58.929 --> 00:11:01.379 and we are with one another. To our Lord be glory, 00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:03.919 now and ever, to ages of ages. Amen.