WEBVTT 00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:05.700 Last week's celebration of Pentecost was beautiful, 00:00:05.879 --> 00:00:11.179 truly lovely. I want to thank those that spent 00:00:11.179 --> 00:00:14.080 so much time and effort and expense to decorate 00:00:14.080 --> 00:00:19.120 the church, to sing, to bring food to the potluck, 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:23.420 to barbecue, made a wonderful, wonderful feast 00:00:23.420 --> 00:00:27.399 day celebration. Today is All Saints. It follows 00:00:27.399 --> 00:00:32.729 naturally. From Pentecost, of course. All of 00:00:32.729 --> 00:00:36.049 us know when the Western non -Orthodox Christians 00:00:36.049 --> 00:00:42.670 celebrate All Saints. Yes, All Hallows Eve, Halloween 00:00:42.670 --> 00:00:48.229 on November 1st. There's interesting reasons, 00:00:48.490 --> 00:00:50.929 historical reasons for that date, but it's not 00:00:50.929 --> 00:00:54.369 important right now. But in the Orthodox Church, 00:00:54.450 --> 00:00:57.189 we have this Feast of All Saints on the Sunday 00:00:57.189 --> 00:01:02.570 after Pentecost. Why? Why after Pentecost? Because 00:01:02.570 --> 00:01:08.109 the Spirit of God is given to those who confess 00:01:08.109 --> 00:01:13.129 the Lord's name, to those who are baptized. It's 00:01:13.129 --> 00:01:19.349 to make saints. It's to make saints. God is glorified 00:01:19.349 --> 00:01:23.329 in his saints. The Spirit is given to us for 00:01:23.329 --> 00:01:29.219 our sanctification. And so, on this day well 00:01:29.219 --> 00:01:34.120 we remember that the word saint holy hallowed 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:40.879 sanctified all these words mean dedicated which 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:45.739 we are set apart which we are consecrated offered 00:01:45.739 --> 00:01:50.359 up to god and this holiness the source of holiness 00:01:50.359 --> 00:01:55.519 when we say spiritual it's from the holy spirit 00:01:56.359 --> 00:01:59.019 And so today we remember all saints, known and 00:01:59.019 --> 00:02:03.359 unknown, young and old, men and women, rich and 00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:07.379 poor, every nation, every people upon earth. 00:02:07.859 --> 00:02:10.479 There are more unknown saints than there are 00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:14.759 saints that we do know. And when we remember 00:02:14.759 --> 00:02:19.939 that, it should give us comfort that, as I said 00:02:19.939 --> 00:02:23.900 last night, sanctity is not some kind of graduate 00:02:23.900 --> 00:02:29.219 course of studies. For a small few. Yes, we have 00:02:29.219 --> 00:02:33.780 these up here that we see the church glorified 00:02:33.780 --> 00:02:39.060 because of their faith, their commitment, their 00:02:39.060 --> 00:02:43.659 love, their magnificent example of life. But 00:02:43.659 --> 00:02:46.099 each and every one of us is a humble offering 00:02:46.099 --> 00:02:50.580 to God. Each of us to be sanctified. What happens 00:02:50.580 --> 00:02:53.979 when you receive communion? You are sanctified. 00:02:56.079 --> 00:03:00.599 You're saintly at that moment if your heart is 00:03:00.599 --> 00:03:04.060 full of faith in God and if you give room for 00:03:04.060 --> 00:03:09.099 the Lord to work in your heart. It's for all 00:03:09.099 --> 00:03:12.460 people. The Gospel reading today offers us on 00:03:12.460 --> 00:03:16.319 this Feast of All Saints one of the most difficult 00:03:16.319 --> 00:03:20.840 sayings of Christ in the entire Gospel of St. 00:03:20.979 --> 00:03:28.060 Matthew. Earlier in the 10th chapter, before 00:03:28.060 --> 00:03:30.960 what you heard today, which comes from the 10th 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:34.719 chapter, St. Matthew records the Savior as emphasizing 00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:39.560 how much the Father in heaven loves us, cares 00:03:39.560 --> 00:03:45.319 for us, and knows when each and every hair is 00:03:45.319 --> 00:03:51.370 numbered on our head. Each person. The message 00:03:51.370 --> 00:03:54.789 there is, of course, it's trust in God. And then 00:03:54.789 --> 00:03:57.469 immediately, immediately Jesus says, therefore, 00:03:57.629 --> 00:04:00.770 because you accept this, because you know that 00:04:00.770 --> 00:04:04.370 God has this love for you and care for you. You 00:04:04.370 --> 00:04:07.689 heard the reader. Many are the afflictions of 00:04:07.689 --> 00:04:10.669 the righteous, but the Lord will deliver them 00:04:10.669 --> 00:04:15.270 out of them all. We believe this and we trust 00:04:15.270 --> 00:04:18.170 this. There will be afflictions, but the Lord 00:04:18.170 --> 00:04:22.949 will deliver. Out of those afflictions. So then 00:04:22.949 --> 00:04:26.589 Jesus, after this message of trust in God, he 00:04:26.589 --> 00:04:30.449 says, therefore, therefore, whoever confesses 00:04:30.449 --> 00:04:34.589 me. To confess means what? It's not just with 00:04:34.589 --> 00:04:37.730 the lips. It's with one's whole heart to profess, 00:04:37.970 --> 00:04:40.829 to believe, to trust, to live according. Whoever 00:04:40.829 --> 00:04:44.870 confesses me, I will confess before my Father 00:04:44.870 --> 00:04:51.949 in heaven. Whoever denies me, I will deny. Whoever 00:04:51.949 --> 00:04:56.290 loses his life for my sake will find it. Whoever 00:04:56.290 --> 00:05:00.769 searches for his life will lose it. And so on. 00:05:01.230 --> 00:05:05.350 Including the invitation to take up the cross 00:05:05.350 --> 00:05:11.930 and follow him. Which was a vivid, and for those 00:05:11.930 --> 00:05:15.709 people listening to him, an alarming illustration. 00:05:16.550 --> 00:05:20.629 They had all seen people on the road. to Jerusalem, 00:05:20.870 --> 00:05:28.529 crucified. Sometimes in many, many dozens. What's 00:05:28.529 --> 00:05:32.810 this about? If you confess me, I will confess 00:05:32.810 --> 00:05:36.829 you. If you deny me, I will deny you. If you 00:05:36.829 --> 00:05:38.610 don't pick up your cross, you're not worthy of 00:05:38.610 --> 00:05:42.149 me. This is a hard saying. This is not a warning. 00:05:43.149 --> 00:05:46.970 This is not a threat of punishment. It's a description. 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:51.220 Of what being a disciple of Christ looks like. 00:05:51.560 --> 00:05:55.740 It's an affirmation that the holy martyrs did 00:05:55.740 --> 00:06:02.339 it. It's a prescription of how we ought to live 00:06:02.339 --> 00:06:08.160 our life. That God is glorified in the saints. 00:06:08.720 --> 00:06:12.379 And the martyrs who embody these verses. Well, 00:06:12.439 --> 00:06:17.019 we find it daunting. We find it daunting. But 00:06:17.019 --> 00:06:20.800 it's a choice. The Lord gives us a choice for 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:25.540 freedom in him who is the only free entity. If 00:06:25.540 --> 00:06:28.300 you can call Jesus an entity, that's not right. 00:06:29.459 --> 00:06:34.060 He is the only free one. And the rest of us are 00:06:34.060 --> 00:06:38.160 not. It's a choice between what is true and real. 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:42.540 What is godly and what is in opposition to that. 00:06:44.009 --> 00:06:46.930 What is false and fleeting? What is corrupt? 00:06:47.009 --> 00:06:51.389 Christ is telling us why if love of God is not 00:06:51.389 --> 00:06:55.430 first, then all the other loves we have will 00:06:55.430 --> 00:07:00.350 be dysfunctional and corrupt and probably idolatrous, 00:07:00.370 --> 00:07:06.100 including the love for ourself. He who does not 00:07:06.100 --> 00:07:08.620 take up his cross and follow me is not worthy 00:07:08.620 --> 00:07:11.639 of me. This is indeed a challenge. And the world 00:07:11.639 --> 00:07:14.100 certainly rejects this message about the cross, 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:18.899 which means reject self -denial. Perhaps we misunderstood 00:07:18.899 --> 00:07:22.240 this as well. Let me give you an illustration. 00:07:23.800 --> 00:07:31.339 The prophet Hosea was told to find a woman that 00:07:31.339 --> 00:07:37.040 was unfaithful. And to love her. And to pursue 00:07:37.040 --> 00:07:42.079 her. And to give his whole life, his whole heart 00:07:42.079 --> 00:07:45.680 to that woman. Why? It was an image, an illustration 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:49.300 of how God loves us. Now you might say, loving 00:07:49.300 --> 00:07:52.160 a woman who prostitutes herself and is unfaithful 00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:54.639 to us, well that's pretty dysfunctional. But 00:07:54.639 --> 00:07:57.899 maybe that's the only image we can have of how 00:07:57.899 --> 00:08:02.990 deeply God loves us. that he will go to every 00:08:02.990 --> 00:08:06.709 length, and he has, even to depths and the depths 00:08:06.709 --> 00:08:13.610 of the grave, to save you and me from destruction 00:08:13.610 --> 00:08:18.110 and annihilation. That's what these words mean. 00:08:18.250 --> 00:08:23.730 They express God's profound arrows for us, a 00:08:23.730 --> 00:08:27.790 love that we would say is probably dysfunctional 00:08:27.790 --> 00:08:32.970 and wrong. But that's how God is. He is that 00:08:32.970 --> 00:08:36.909 giving to us. And these words then are a reminder 00:08:36.909 --> 00:08:40.690 of God's love for us. Someone's car alarm is 00:08:40.690 --> 00:08:47.070 out there going off. Then Peter answered, hearing 00:08:47.070 --> 00:08:51.269 all of this, and said to Jesus, well, look, see, 00:08:51.389 --> 00:08:54.830 because Peter thinks it's transactional. We do 00:08:54.830 --> 00:08:58.120 this, you're going to do that. But that's not 00:08:58.120 --> 00:09:04.159 the way God's love is, is it? God doesn't, his 00:09:04.159 --> 00:09:06.679 love for us doesn't depend upon you and me. And 00:09:06.679 --> 00:09:09.720 St. Maximus says, my love for you should not 00:09:09.720 --> 00:09:14.220 depend on you. That's how deep it should be. 00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:17.139 So Peter, thinking, well, it's a transactional 00:09:17.139 --> 00:09:19.620 thing. What am I going to get? We've left everything, 00:09:19.940 --> 00:09:25.419 which they did. We have followed you, which they 00:09:25.419 --> 00:09:30.159 did. Therefore, what shall we have? So Jesus 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:33.919 said to them, Amen, I say to you, that in the 00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:36.500 regeneration, that is the renewal, the resurrection, 00:09:36.679 --> 00:09:39.379 when the Son of Man comes and sits on the throne 00:09:39.379 --> 00:09:43.559 of his glory, you who have followed me will also 00:09:43.559 --> 00:09:46.860 sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes 00:09:46.860 --> 00:09:49.659 of Israel. Well, that sounds great for Peter. 00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:56.730 What about us? St. John writes, In the book of 00:09:56.730 --> 00:10:00.750 Revelation. That he was in the spirit. And he 00:10:00.750 --> 00:10:05.509 saw this magnificent and amazing vision. He says 00:10:05.509 --> 00:10:11.029 behold. A throne stood in heaven. And one seated 00:10:11.029 --> 00:10:14.850 on the throne. And he who sat there. Had the 00:10:14.850 --> 00:10:17.990 appearance of Jasper and Carnelian. And around 00:10:17.990 --> 00:10:22.070 the throne was a rainbow. That had the appearance 00:10:22.070 --> 00:10:27.000 of an emerald. Around the throne were 24 thrones, 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:31.179 and seated on the thrones were 24 elders, clothed 00:10:31.179 --> 00:10:34.059 in white garments and golden crowns on their 00:10:34.059 --> 00:10:36.179 heads. Think of the martyrs at the back there, 00:10:36.200 --> 00:10:38.620 the 40 martyrs with the crowns. That's where 00:10:38.620 --> 00:10:41.460 this comes from. And around them were a vast 00:10:41.460 --> 00:10:47.700 multitude of the faithful, all in white. It's 00:10:47.700 --> 00:10:50.379 good to remember, brothers and sisters, that 00:10:50.379 --> 00:10:54.080 those words and the words of the gospel were 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:57.220 written and read originally to those who were 00:10:57.220 --> 00:11:00.500 not just oppressed, but persecuted, for whom 00:11:00.500 --> 00:11:04.080 the Beatitudes about being poor, about persecution, 00:11:04.360 --> 00:11:08.200 about hungering, the words about crucifixion, 00:11:08.200 --> 00:11:12.220 about martyrdom, were very real and sometimes 00:11:12.220 --> 00:11:18.000 immediate. With all saints, will it be just something 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:22.840 up in the sky for us? Or just in a book? Too 00:11:22.840 --> 00:11:26.980 far to see, too far to inspire us. The thrones. 00:11:27.279 --> 00:11:31.860 God is surrounded. He's not by himself. He's 00:11:31.860 --> 00:11:35.100 surrounded by the faithful, by those whom he 00:11:35.100 --> 00:11:38.700 loves, those who love him. It's the promise of 00:11:38.700 --> 00:11:43.080 what Jesus told the apostles. I mention this 00:11:43.080 --> 00:11:46.139 not as a Bible study, but to encourage you. And 00:11:46.139 --> 00:11:49.240 all the divine services, the vigils and the liturgies, 00:11:49.240 --> 00:11:53.480 what we do here today, are not... Religious services, 00:11:53.519 --> 00:12:01.120 in quotes. They're divine. Lifted up to the throne 00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:06.259 of God where we are with him in his kingdom, 00:12:06.340 --> 00:12:11.139 at his table, with the angels and the archangels 00:12:11.139 --> 00:12:15.779 serving him and glorifying his goodness. That's 00:12:15.779 --> 00:12:18.820 what we do here. The vision of Revelation is 00:12:18.820 --> 00:12:23.049 a vision also of the divine liturgy. And yet 00:12:23.049 --> 00:12:29.370 to be given, still in its fullness to us. This 00:12:29.370 --> 00:12:33.870 is wonderful, but I, and I hesitate to say, but 00:12:33.870 --> 00:12:39.090 our daily experience is not this vision. Nor 00:12:39.090 --> 00:12:43.129 do we usually meditate on this. Nor do we remember 00:12:43.129 --> 00:12:46.570 how deeply God loves us. Remembrance of God's 00:12:46.570 --> 00:12:50.549 love begins with intentional thanksgiving to 00:12:50.549 --> 00:12:53.960 God every day. intentional reading of the scriptures, 00:12:54.159 --> 00:12:59.639 and intentional prayer to him. But what we see 00:12:59.639 --> 00:13:05.080 and what we learn daily, most often, comes from 00:13:05.080 --> 00:13:08.720 those most unreliable of sources, not the scriptures, 00:13:09.080 --> 00:13:14.279 not the saints, but the news and the social media, 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:18.470 which one writer in an article I read a couple 00:13:18.470 --> 00:13:22.529 of days ago, described as a mental intravenous 00:13:22.529 --> 00:13:28.110 drip of hell that comes from the screen. And 00:13:28.110 --> 00:13:34.490 an acid bath of political machinations. All that 00:13:34.490 --> 00:13:38.990 distorts us and us and our vision and blinds 00:13:38.990 --> 00:13:41.950 us to that which is really holy and around us 00:13:41.950 --> 00:13:46.129 in God's world. The world is not evil, says... 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:52.120 The recent saint, Arseny Popachuk, a Romanian 00:13:52.120 --> 00:13:55.600 saint, he says, the world is not evil, but we 00:13:55.600 --> 00:13:57.820 don't know how to love. That's why we see it 00:13:57.820 --> 00:14:03.860 that way. Of course, there is violence and division 00:14:03.860 --> 00:14:08.519 and poverty and injustice and political confusion 00:14:08.519 --> 00:14:13.080 of the highest order and war all over the place. 00:14:13.159 --> 00:14:15.559 And this is what we see, and it comes to us in 00:14:15.559 --> 00:14:22.120 a rush. And great waters and great noise. Instead 00:14:22.120 --> 00:14:24.799 of the noise of the Spirit, it's the noise of 00:14:24.799 --> 00:14:30.019 all of this. All saints is the antidote. The 00:14:30.019 --> 00:14:33.740 portrait of the saint. Just look around. There's 00:14:33.740 --> 00:14:36.639 many of them. Some of them are sitting on the 00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:43.000 floor today. Look around. The portrait of the 00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:47.480 saint. His, her life. The child of God. As Father 00:14:47.480 --> 00:14:50.919 Stephen Mahalik said in a sermon, here's a portrait 00:14:50.919 --> 00:14:58.679 of me as I could be, as I should be, as I must 00:14:58.679 --> 00:15:03.059 be. Careful attention to our spiritual state, 00:15:03.179 --> 00:15:07.379 not blaming others or the world, or indeed God, 00:15:07.580 --> 00:15:12.600 allows the Holy Spirit to teach us in our heart. 00:15:13.080 --> 00:15:16.259 Not to be conformed to this world, but transformed 00:15:16.259 --> 00:15:19.360 by the renewal of our mind. The saints offer 00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:22.440 the antidote to our current state so that we 00:15:22.440 --> 00:15:27.299 can love God above all others. This radical love, 00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:30.879 which then makes all the other loves we have. 00:15:31.559 --> 00:15:35.779 Not to be sick, dysfunctional, and idolatrous, 00:15:35.960 --> 00:15:40.899 but to be full of grace and compassion and the 00:15:40.899 --> 00:15:45.740 holiness of God. This difficult passage today 00:15:45.740 --> 00:15:51.919 from Matthew challenges us. Are we prayerful 00:15:51.919 --> 00:15:55.220 enough to enter into it? To our Lord be glory 00:15:55.220 --> 00:15:56.960 now and ever to ages of ages.