WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.780 Glory to Jesus Christ. Most people are familiar 00:00:05.780 --> 00:00:10.699 with obstacle courses, but in case you are not, 00:00:11.320 --> 00:00:16.019 an obstacle course is a series of challenging 00:00:16.019 --> 00:00:20.239 events or physical obstacles on the way to the 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:25.100 finish line, usually timed. And some of you may 00:00:25.100 --> 00:00:29.460 have seen on television American Ninja Warrior. 00:00:30.219 --> 00:00:33.380 And if you have, you know there are competitors 00:00:33.380 --> 00:00:38.579 that race. They leap and climb over different 00:00:38.579 --> 00:00:42.100 structures and jump and sometimes fall into big 00:00:42.100 --> 00:00:46.240 ponds of water because they fail. And the various 00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:50.039 obstacles are there and they try to make it through 00:00:50.039 --> 00:00:53.820 them all to the end of the course. But sometimes 00:00:53.820 --> 00:00:56.740 they fall and are eliminated from the course. 00:00:57.280 --> 00:01:01.640 And this is a physical obstacle course. But you 00:01:01.640 --> 00:01:07.420 and I, as Orthodox Christians, we face a spiritual 00:01:07.420 --> 00:01:11.859 obstacle course. And we know the enemy would 00:01:11.859 --> 00:01:16.719 like to see us fall. But we also know the Lord 00:01:16.719 --> 00:01:21.239 will help us through the course. We are on this 00:01:21.239 --> 00:01:25.530 course towards sanctification. towards seeking 00:01:25.530 --> 00:01:29.549 to make it to heaven, towards holiness, towards 00:01:29.549 --> 00:01:35.090 an eternity in God's presence. The path to holiness 00:01:35.090 --> 00:01:40.170 is not easy, but it is before us. And this Sunday 00:01:40.170 --> 00:01:44.450 on the church calendar is the Sunday of the publican 00:01:44.450 --> 00:01:49.049 and the Pharisee. And in the gospel reading for 00:01:49.049 --> 00:01:55.200 today, Jesus presents us with a parable. There 00:01:55.200 --> 00:01:59.599 are two men who are on a spiritual obstacle course, 00:01:59.780 --> 00:02:05.799 and they are facing the obstacle of pride. One 00:02:05.799 --> 00:02:09.460 of them is a Pharisee, a religious man, trained 00:02:09.460 --> 00:02:13.419 in religious practices, and the other is a publican, 00:02:13.419 --> 00:02:17.800 that is, a tax collector, a profession in those 00:02:17.800 --> 00:02:21.800 days known for some corruption. And one might 00:02:21.800 --> 00:02:24.780 expect that the Pharisee would do much better 00:02:24.780 --> 00:02:30.979 being trained in spiritual things. We might expect 00:02:30.979 --> 00:02:35.659 the obstacle course to be passed by the Pharisee 00:02:35.659 --> 00:02:41.419 and failed by the tax collector. This is the 00:02:41.419 --> 00:02:46.919 irony. The gospel reads, two men went up to the 00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:51.379 temple to pray. One, a Pharisee. the other a 00:02:51.379 --> 00:02:54.439 tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed 00:02:54.439 --> 00:02:58.919 thus to himself, God, I thank you that I am not 00:02:58.919 --> 00:03:03.020 like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, 00:03:03.020 --> 00:03:07.659 or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a 00:03:07.659 --> 00:03:12.759 week. I give tithes of all that I possess. And 00:03:12.759 --> 00:03:16.599 the tax collector, Standing afar off would not 00:03:16.599 --> 00:03:20.919 so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat 00:03:20.919 --> 00:03:24.979 his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a 00:03:24.979 --> 00:03:30.580 sinner. And Jesus shows us the vice of pride 00:03:30.580 --> 00:03:35.800 and the virtue of humility. And the Pharisee, 00:03:35.800 --> 00:03:41.099 he's doing good things, but his heart is off. 00:03:41.300 --> 00:03:46.560 His eyes are on himself. and not on God. And 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:50.699 the tax collector's eyes are totally upon the 00:03:50.699 --> 00:03:54.460 Lord, on God. And though his actions have been 00:03:54.460 --> 00:03:58.960 sinful, he is repentant, and his hope is in the 00:03:58.960 --> 00:04:04.659 Lord, not in himself. Elder Arseni of Romania 00:04:04.659 --> 00:04:10.699 has said, humility is the only power that can 00:04:10.699 --> 00:04:16.600 free the human soul. Repentance before God is 00:04:16.600 --> 00:04:20.439 how we must start. And then God will work in 00:04:20.439 --> 00:04:24.879 us. And he will sanctify us. And so that one 00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:28.220 day we will be doing the good things that the 00:04:28.220 --> 00:04:32.660 Pharisee did, but with a good heart and our eyes 00:04:32.660 --> 00:04:36.980 on the Lord. In a few weeks, we will enter the 00:04:36.980 --> 00:04:41.600 Lenten fast. It will be a spiritual obstacle 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:45.829 course for us all. and many of us will be confronted 00:04:45.829 --> 00:04:51.370 with temptations of various kinds. And let us 00:04:51.370 --> 00:04:54.769 strive to stand against these with God's help 00:04:54.769 --> 00:04:59.569 and strength. But even if we do fall, God forbid, 00:04:59.629 --> 00:05:04.269 let us get up again and follow the example of 00:05:04.269 --> 00:05:08.300 the publican, this tax collector. who confessed 00:05:08.300 --> 00:05:12.100 his sins before the Lord and asked for God's 00:05:12.100 --> 00:05:17.319 grace and mercy and forgiveness. St. John Chrysostom 00:05:17.319 --> 00:05:22.819 says, In times of temptation, the weak look for 00:05:22.819 --> 00:05:29.540 who to blame, the strong look to God. And so 00:05:29.540 --> 00:05:32.879 if we do fall, let us take it upon ourselves 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:37.480 humbly and confess it before the Lord. Remember, 00:05:37.660 --> 00:05:41.339 it is God who saves. We do not save ourselves. 00:05:41.639 --> 00:05:46.480 We only let God work in us, sanctifying us. We 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:50.699 must acknowledge our own sins, confess and repent 00:05:50.699 --> 00:05:54.120 of them, and then strive with all our effort 00:05:54.120 --> 00:05:58.100 to follow Christ, to keep his commandments. And 00:05:58.100 --> 00:06:02.759 eventually, we will, because of what God will 00:06:02.759 --> 00:06:07.240 do in our life. did the right things for the 00:06:07.240 --> 00:06:11.420 wrong reason. God will enable us to do the right 00:06:11.420 --> 00:06:15.480 thing for the right reason. So during this coming 00:06:15.480 --> 00:06:19.459 Lent, let us determine to keep the fast for the 00:06:19.459 --> 00:06:22.720 right reasons, making it through the spiritual 00:06:22.720 --> 00:06:27.519 obstacles that confront us and in facing the 00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:31.720 obstacle of pride. Let us remember the words, 00:06:32.189 --> 00:06:35.149 of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ in 00:06:35.149 --> 00:06:38.610 today's gospel, who said of the tax collector, 00:06:39.449 --> 00:06:45.170 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified 00:06:45.170 --> 00:06:49.329 rather than the other. For everyone who exalts 00:06:49.329 --> 00:06:53.529 himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself 00:06:53.529 --> 00:06:57.850 will be exalted. Glory to Jesus Christ.