WEBVTT 00:00:11.219 --> 00:00:20.379 From time immemorial man has desperately sought 00:00:20.379 --> 00:00:37.149 in some ways to grasp that which we call He has 00:00:37.149 --> 00:00:42.850 been both challenged and frightened by the unknown. 00:00:45.310 --> 00:00:49.969 One of the most important dogmas of the Orthodox 00:00:49.969 --> 00:00:59.350 Church is precisely this, that Christ in Christ 00:00:59.350 --> 00:01:04.620 and through Christ God was revealed to mankind. 00:01:07.400 --> 00:01:11.939 We have a number of scriptural references that 00:01:11.939 --> 00:01:20.180 point this out. Particularly the one that our 00:01:20.180 --> 00:01:25.439 Lord said to Philip when Philip asked him, Master, 00:01:25.579 --> 00:01:31.319 show us the Father. And Jesus said, Philip, he 00:01:31.319 --> 00:01:36.459 who sees me sees the Father. I and the Father 00:01:36.459 --> 00:01:42.780 are one. And St. Paul in that brilliant passage 00:01:42.780 --> 00:01:48.560 of Colossians tells us that Jesus is the image 00:01:48.560 --> 00:02:00.459 of God. Throughout the scriptures, we have many 00:02:00.459 --> 00:02:08.400 references about God's love, God's nature. And 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:14.719 one of the most revealing, one of the most intense 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:21.860 of all the parables which our Lord said, which 00:02:21.860 --> 00:02:25.280 we heard in today's Gospel lesson from the 15th 00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:33.060 chapter of Luke, the parable, of the lost son, 00:02:33.259 --> 00:02:40.819 the prodigal son. Our Lord in this passage gives 00:02:40.819 --> 00:02:46.719 us an unforgettable portrait, a beautiful picture 00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:54.099 of God's love. And this is what I want to speak 00:02:54.099 --> 00:02:59.439 about on the basis of this parable. Now there's 00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:04.300 no need for me to review or recount the parable 00:03:04.300 --> 00:03:10.479 of the prodigal son. All of you know this passage 00:03:10.479 --> 00:03:18.879 very well. But there are those who do not go 00:03:18.879 --> 00:03:25.900 far enough in, shall I say, unpacking the... 00:03:26.460 --> 00:03:32.639 profound theological implications of the father 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:41.759 as depicted in the prodigal son we all know it 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:46.240 and yet it is profoundly profoundly more than 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:53.319 a story about a misguided individual who wanted 00:03:53.319 --> 00:03:56.289 to go to the tender line tenderloin district 00:03:56.289 --> 00:04:02.449 of San Francisco and to express himself. Long 00:04:02.449 --> 00:04:11.289 before Sinatra sang, I'll do it my way, the prodigal 00:04:11.289 --> 00:04:24.519 listened carefully to those enticing words. Heard 00:04:24.519 --> 00:04:30.879 by Adam and Eve, said to them by Satan in the 00:04:30.879 --> 00:04:37.899 Garden of Eden. Do what you want to do. There 00:04:37.899 --> 00:04:42.279 should be no one to tell you how to do it. There's 00:04:42.279 --> 00:04:47.100 no one to say no, no, and yes, yes. You're old 00:04:47.100 --> 00:04:53.139 enough. Go do what you want. That's fine. Sounds 00:04:53.139 --> 00:05:04.019 fine. I know I've heard many times. No, this 00:05:04.019 --> 00:05:21.139 young man was a macho Don Juan. He knew his father. 00:05:22.860 --> 00:05:25.560 Had to give him one third eventually. That was 00:05:25.560 --> 00:05:29.199 the law of the land. The inheritance, that is. 00:05:31.560 --> 00:05:35.980 But how cruel it is to say, as he did, Father, 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:38.639 give me what belongs to me. I know you're going 00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:45.079 to die. So give me what I want now. And the father 00:05:45.079 --> 00:05:54.970 responded, okay. What makes this parable so meaningful 00:05:54.970 --> 00:06:11.329 and so revealing is that it tells us in a very 00:06:11.329 --> 00:06:24.699 descriptive way about human nature. About pride 00:06:24.699 --> 00:06:32.879 leading man to sin. But particularly and especially 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:47.420 about God's love. Notice when you reread the 00:06:47.420 --> 00:07:00.600 passage. About the father. He left the candle 00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:08.439 on in the window. He remained waiting. On the 00:07:08.439 --> 00:07:15.899 front porch. Straining his eyes. Hoping that 00:07:15.899 --> 00:07:21.959 he'll see his son again. And there in the distance. 00:07:22.860 --> 00:07:28.959 And one day he saw someone coming. And the scripture 00:07:28.959 --> 00:07:34.420 tells us when he saw this angel coming, he didn't 00:07:34.420 --> 00:07:39.939 walk, but he ran. He ran to embrace his son. 00:07:40.920 --> 00:07:44.660 And before his son could tell him, Father, I 00:07:44.660 --> 00:07:49.439 have sinned before heaven and before you. I am 00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:52.920 no longer worthy to be called your son. Before 00:07:52.920 --> 00:07:59.040 he could say that, the father embraced him, loved 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:02.339 him, and quickly called the servants and said, 00:08:02.360 --> 00:08:07.079 listen, bring him a robe, bring him a ring, and 00:08:07.079 --> 00:08:11.519 bring him shoes. All of these are important things 00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:14.480 that I can't talk about at the moment because 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:22.360 it would extend the sermon. But it's important 00:08:22.360 --> 00:08:28.100 to remember what the Father did. It's so important. 00:08:31.500 --> 00:08:38.779 The Bible and the Church unerringly throughout 00:08:38.779 --> 00:08:49.299 history has pointed these things out. That God 00:08:49.299 --> 00:09:02.700 is love. And anyone who tries to restore life 00:09:02.700 --> 00:09:08.080 as God intended to be, that is, restore the image 00:09:08.080 --> 00:09:12.740 and likeness of God in human nature, is never 00:09:12.740 --> 00:09:20.059 going to do it and have peace of mind, heart, 00:09:20.279 --> 00:09:28.460 and soul unless... He responds to the love of 00:09:28.460 --> 00:09:34.120 God. You know, people are good at fixing things. 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:39.580 I know many of you are just incredibly gifted. 00:09:40.820 --> 00:09:48.720 You fix computers and cars and furniture. You 00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:51.759 can do it because these things were originally 00:09:51.759 --> 00:09:57.399 created and designed by man. However, when it 00:09:57.399 --> 00:10:04.440 comes to restoring human nature and become partakers 00:10:04.440 --> 00:10:12.720 of the divine, that requires not intellectual, 00:10:12.759 --> 00:10:20.519 scientific or technological expertise. You need 00:10:20.519 --> 00:10:25.159 more than that. Since God is the divine creator 00:10:25.159 --> 00:10:31.179 and designer of human nature. He alone. He alone 00:10:31.179 --> 00:10:38.840 can restore and redeem life. When it has faltered. 00:10:40.600 --> 00:10:49.039 Broken. And crashed. You all know that passage 00:10:49.039 --> 00:10:52.110 in John. The third chapter, God so loved the 00:10:52.110 --> 00:10:57.870 world. He so loved the world that he came himself 00:10:57.870 --> 00:11:04.929 in the person of Christ. And we are told whoever 00:11:04.929 --> 00:11:11.669 believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting 00:11:11.669 --> 00:11:20.070 life. Now looking at this parable, From a prosaic, 00:11:20.070 --> 00:11:27.370 non -theological way. The parable means that 00:11:27.370 --> 00:11:33.850 our Lord never goes out of the salvaging and 00:11:33.850 --> 00:11:44.750 redeeming business. God is with us. Emmanuel. 00:11:49.419 --> 00:11:53.980 This is the constant recurring message of the 00:11:53.980 --> 00:12:00.080 New Testament. Jesus said, I did not come to 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:09.039 call the righteous, but the sinners. God does 00:12:09.039 --> 00:12:13.440 not have a junkyard where he places the Christians 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:21.330 who have fallen. He goes out and meets them. 00:12:23.690 --> 00:12:34.509 Seeks them out. Loves them. Forgives them. In 00:12:34.509 --> 00:12:39.250 this morning's parable, Jesus is telling us that 00:12:39.250 --> 00:12:47.769 God is like the father of the prodigal son. He 00:12:47.769 --> 00:12:52.429 kept waiting for his son. And one of the most 00:12:52.429 --> 00:12:57.149 wonderful passages, besides the one about the 00:12:57.149 --> 00:13:01.429 resurrection of Christ, for me, at any rate, 00:13:01.529 --> 00:13:08.129 I just imagine that the father didn't stand there 00:13:08.129 --> 00:13:15.370 waiting and fuming and ready to give his son, 00:13:15.549 --> 00:13:27.620 the wayward son, a lesson in. obedience. He did 00:13:27.620 --> 00:13:44.500 the opposite. He accepted it. This passage reveals 00:13:44.500 --> 00:13:51.129 the immeasurable mercy of God. In no other passage 00:13:51.129 --> 00:13:56.450 can you find this outreach of God's love in such 00:13:56.450 --> 00:14:00.029 an intense way. A love that's beyond description. 00:14:02.429 --> 00:14:06.750 And you know, throughout the liturgical services 00:14:06.750 --> 00:14:12.409 in the church, you will not hear the reference 00:14:12.409 --> 00:14:19.129 that God is, and I quote, the lover of mankind. 00:14:25.399 --> 00:14:33.059 The God who loves man, the God who created man, 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:40.620 and who did not want, according to the reading 00:14:40.620 --> 00:14:45.960 in St. Basil's Liturgy, did not want for man 00:14:45.960 --> 00:14:52.840 to destroy himself. The Lord is the good shepherd 00:14:52.840 --> 00:14:59.740 who seeks the lost sheep. He's the divine physician 00:14:59.740 --> 00:15:10.799 who heals. He's the Savior who forgives. And 00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:14.480 St. Paul in that magnificent passage says, God 00:15:14.480 --> 00:15:23.320 has shown us how much He loves us. While we were 00:15:23.320 --> 00:15:34.879 yet sinners, he died for us. There's one more 00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:43.559 person in this parable needs some comment. And 00:15:43.559 --> 00:15:49.559 I'm referring to the elder son. No, he did not 00:15:49.559 --> 00:15:54.230 go anywhere. geographically speaking, he remained 00:15:54.230 --> 00:16:00.529 with his father. Well, at the end of the passage, 00:16:00.830 --> 00:16:08.850 he locked himself out of the celebration of love 00:16:08.850 --> 00:16:12.250 when his father pleaded to come in. He said, 00:16:12.330 --> 00:16:16.190 look, look, my son was dead and is alive again. 00:16:16.289 --> 00:16:20.659 Come in so we could celebrate. his resurrection, 00:16:21.039 --> 00:16:30.600 his new life. No, he would not come in. No, he 00:16:30.600 --> 00:16:37.620 pouted and kept breathing the exhaust fumes of 00:16:37.620 --> 00:16:44.960 self -love, of self -righteousness, of prideful 00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:52.279 life. There's a marvelous book we had in the 00:16:52.279 --> 00:16:57.480 bookstore entitled The Dialogue with the Savior, 00:16:57.659 --> 00:17:05.259 written by an Orthodox monk. And the author hears 00:17:05.259 --> 00:17:15.400 Jesus saying, come, follow me. And he answered 00:17:15.400 --> 00:17:23.079 the Lord and said, Master, I have often and for 00:17:23.079 --> 00:17:31.579 many years heard you calling me. And I have followed 00:17:31.579 --> 00:17:37.619 you, but I have fallen. I have fallen many times. 00:17:42.819 --> 00:17:51.099 And the Lord said, I know. I know what you have 00:17:51.099 --> 00:17:56.160 done. But I want to say to you once again, get 00:17:56.160 --> 00:18:06.119 up. Get up and follow me. Master, said the monk 00:18:06.119 --> 00:18:13.720 to the Lord, do you mean that I am not rejected? 00:18:16.910 --> 00:18:19.970 Do you mean I still could follow you even after 00:18:19.970 --> 00:18:30.809 I have fallen and crashed and failed? And Jesus 00:18:30.809 --> 00:18:43.710 said, come, follow me, for I have come to give 00:18:43.710 --> 00:18:51.019 you life. and life abundantly. In the name of 00:18:51.019 --> 00:18:53.740 the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.