WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.919 Glory to Jesus Christ. Glory to God. In the name 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:08.820 of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 00:00:08.820 --> 00:00:16.179 Spirit. Amen. I've been a priest long enough 00:00:16.179 --> 00:00:19.780 that I could probably share on this Forgiveness 00:00:19.780 --> 00:00:25.059 Sunday edifying and some humorous stories as 00:00:25.059 --> 00:00:28.699 well about forgiving and lack of forgiving. But 00:00:28.699 --> 00:00:31.359 that's really not what we need, illustrations 00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:34.840 and stories. What I want to give you is some 00:00:34.840 --> 00:00:41.460 meat, something to think about this week. Let's 00:00:41.460 --> 00:00:45.700 start with where we have been. For the last several 00:00:45.700 --> 00:00:50.119 weeks, the Gospels we have heard on Sunday morning 00:00:50.119 --> 00:00:56.359 have presented to us events and parables with 00:00:56.359 --> 00:01:02.840 two categories. Tax collector, the Pharisee. 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:09.540 Prodigal son, the older brother. The sheep at 00:01:09.540 --> 00:01:15.219 the judgment and the goats. Today, those who 00:01:15.219 --> 00:01:19.280 forgive, opening their heart to receive God and 00:01:19.280 --> 00:01:22.019 their neighbor, and those who do not forgive. 00:01:23.719 --> 00:01:26.599 All this has been given to us. So that we can 00:01:26.599 --> 00:01:29.859 meditate on the path we need to take. To find 00:01:29.859 --> 00:01:34.819 ourselves in those stories somewhere. We're there 00:01:34.819 --> 00:01:38.700 someplace. And to remember that in each of them 00:01:38.700 --> 00:01:44.140 it is the mercy of God that saves. These weeks 00:01:44.140 --> 00:01:47.939 we've had this extended lesson. These two categories 00:01:47.939 --> 00:01:50.819 and what the Lord our God sort of like gave to 00:01:50.819 --> 00:01:56.000 Moses. To say to the people. I call heaven and 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:59.200 earth to record this day against you, that I 00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:02.640 have set before you life and death, blessing 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:07.840 and cursing. Therefore, choose life, that both 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:11.599 thou and thy seed, thy children, descendants, 00:02:11.939 --> 00:02:15.520 may live. That thou mayest love the Lord thy 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:19.120 God, and thou mayest obey his voice, and that 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:22.520 thou will cleave unto him, for he is thy life. 00:02:25.099 --> 00:02:30.060 to our sorrow and hurt. Many of us keep looking 00:02:30.060 --> 00:02:33.419 for a third way, somewhere between life and death, 00:02:33.620 --> 00:02:37.740 and unfortunately we find it all too often. Lent 00:02:37.740 --> 00:02:41.960 is the time when we recalculate, and I'll use 00:02:41.960 --> 00:02:46.139 the word reorient ourself. The orient is the 00:02:46.139 --> 00:02:52.360 east. We turn to Christ. So we're on the threshold 00:02:52.360 --> 00:02:54.520 of Great Lent right now, and the church wants 00:02:54.520 --> 00:02:59.680 us to begin at the beginning. So last week we 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:03.599 meditated on the end, on judgment, on the glorious 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:07.719 appearance of the Lord in our own place, in that 00:03:07.719 --> 00:03:11.439 scene, in that reality that will come to us, 00:03:11.539 --> 00:03:14.180 whether at some point in the future or when we 00:03:14.180 --> 00:03:17.860 die. Either way, we prepare ourselves now for 00:03:17.860 --> 00:03:22.520 it. And this week... We go back to the very beginning. 00:03:22.860 --> 00:03:26.539 So last week the end, today the beginning. Back 00:03:26.539 --> 00:03:29.340 to Adam and Eve. We call this Sunday Forgiveness 00:03:29.340 --> 00:03:32.379 Sunday commonly, but our liturgical books call 00:03:32.379 --> 00:03:35.680 it the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise 00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:40.680 of delight. And you heard those heart -moving 00:03:40.680 --> 00:03:45.180 hymns that the choir sang a few moments ago. 00:03:45.639 --> 00:03:50.409 Adam outside of paradise. I'll share with you 00:03:50.409 --> 00:03:54.349 the words of St. Silouan, who died in 1938 on 00:03:54.349 --> 00:03:58.930 the Holy Mountain. In this poem, Adam's Lament, 00:03:59.150 --> 00:04:01.389 which is like the hymns we heard last night, 00:04:01.590 --> 00:04:07.150 he writes this. He said, Adam knew great grief 00:04:07.150 --> 00:04:11.629 when he was banished from paradise. But when 00:04:11.629 --> 00:04:15.469 he saw his son Abel slain by Cain, his brother, 00:04:15.770 --> 00:04:21.240 Adam's grief was even heavier. His soul was heavy 00:04:21.240 --> 00:04:25.360 and he lamented and thought, peoples and nations 00:04:25.360 --> 00:04:28.519 will descend from me and multiply and suffering 00:04:28.519 --> 00:04:32.060 will be their lot. And they will live in enmity 00:04:32.060 --> 00:04:37.360 and seek to slay one another. And Adam's sorrow 00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:41.100 stretched wide as the sea. And only the soul 00:04:41.100 --> 00:04:44.240 that has come to know the Lord and the magnitude 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:49.000 of his love for us can understand. Father Silouan 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:52.759 says, I too have lost grace. And I call out with 00:04:52.759 --> 00:04:56.339 Adam, be merciful unto me, O Lord. Bestow on 00:04:56.339 --> 00:05:02.040 me the spirit of humility and love. That's all 00:05:02.040 --> 00:05:08.240 today is about. Let's not imagine, however, whatever 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:14.160 Adam said. And however St. Paul frames through 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:17.110 death. Through one man comes death, but through 00:05:17.110 --> 00:05:20.310 Christ, the new Adam, comes life. Let's not imagine 00:05:20.310 --> 00:05:22.509 that our world is full of suffering and we are 00:05:22.509 --> 00:05:26.529 the victims of Adam. You are not the victim of 00:05:26.529 --> 00:05:32.550 Adam. We can't say, things are miserable, I'm 00:05:32.550 --> 00:05:35.410 miserable because someone else, Adam, it's his 00:05:35.410 --> 00:05:40.810 fault. I would never do that. That's simply not 00:05:40.810 --> 00:05:45.750 true. We know Christ. We know the gospel. We 00:05:45.750 --> 00:05:49.430 know the saints. We await the resurrection, and 00:05:49.430 --> 00:05:51.810 we share in the resurrection and communion at 00:05:51.810 --> 00:05:54.290 the divine liturgy and our baptism. We have the 00:05:54.290 --> 00:05:56.689 divine liturgy. We have miracles and stories 00:05:56.689 --> 00:06:01.329 and icons, and yet we still sin. So it is not 00:06:01.329 --> 00:06:05.990 Adam's fault. We may be created in the image 00:06:05.990 --> 00:06:12.129 of God, but we act in the likeness of Adam. And 00:06:12.129 --> 00:06:16.910 Lent. It's repentance. It's turning away from 00:06:16.910 --> 00:06:24.189 that. To be created in the image of God and to 00:06:24.189 --> 00:06:29.050 live according to that image. And the good news, 00:06:29.329 --> 00:06:33.529 the gospel, the victory news, the news that the 00:06:33.529 --> 00:06:36.970 war has been won. And yes, there's skirmishes, 00:06:37.069 --> 00:06:41.769 but the war is won. We're celebrating the fact 00:06:41.769 --> 00:06:44.629 that God sends his son, our Lord Jesus Christ, 00:06:44.889 --> 00:06:48.949 to be the real and final and last Adam who does 00:06:48.949 --> 00:06:54.149 not sin. We may, but he does not. We're celebrating 00:06:54.149 --> 00:06:58.089 the fact that he has searched us out. And he 00:06:58.089 --> 00:07:03.129 has found us. And he forgives us. And he cleanses 00:07:03.129 --> 00:07:07.240 us. and he washes us, and he refreshes us, and 00:07:07.240 --> 00:07:10.100 renews us, and restores us, and resurrects us 00:07:10.100 --> 00:07:13.000 from the dead, and takes us home to the house 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:17.139 of the Father, the church, where we have communion 00:07:17.139 --> 00:07:22.319 with one another, and our lives, our relationships, 00:07:22.439 --> 00:07:25.019 are restored to the way they're supposed to be, 00:07:25.160 --> 00:07:29.660 and we come to paradise again. We start with 00:07:29.660 --> 00:07:32.459 the beginning, but we are going to end with paradise 00:07:32.459 --> 00:07:36.889 too. And that's our aim now, now as we begin 00:07:36.889 --> 00:07:41.089 to enter Lent. Lent is the time for the way back. 00:07:42.769 --> 00:07:46.569 So during Lent, we begin the whole season by 00:07:46.569 --> 00:07:49.470 remembering our exile by the waters of Babylon. 00:07:49.509 --> 00:07:52.769 There we sat down and wept. If I forget thee, 00:07:52.790 --> 00:07:55.329 O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither. Let my 00:07:55.329 --> 00:08:00.699 tongue cleave in my mouth if I forget thee. We 00:08:00.699 --> 00:08:03.120 remember our status, we remember who and what 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:06.579 we are, and we try to be honest with ourself. 00:08:07.860 --> 00:08:12.120 And turn that attention from out there, everybody 00:08:12.120 --> 00:08:15.259 else's problems, political problems, societal 00:08:15.259 --> 00:08:18.420 problems, whatever, and we turn that spotlight. 00:08:19.079 --> 00:08:21.759 And what is that spotlight? It's the light of 00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:25.319 Christ. And you will hear on Wednesday at the 00:08:25.319 --> 00:08:28.000 Presanctified, when I come out of these doors 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:33.370 with the candle, The deacon will say, let us 00:08:33.370 --> 00:08:37.669 attend. Command. And I'll say, the light of Christ. 00:08:37.870 --> 00:08:40.590 And you will all fall down on your face. Because 00:08:40.590 --> 00:08:43.429 the light that shines in the darkness is shining 00:08:43.429 --> 00:08:46.210 in our heart of the glory of God. And we can 00:08:46.210 --> 00:08:49.429 only fall down in adoration. I'll say, the light 00:08:49.429 --> 00:08:56.389 of Christ illumines all. So we see ourselves 00:08:56.389 --> 00:09:03.929 in that light today. And we become like him, 00:09:04.029 --> 00:09:08.370 especially in the divine act, the divine act, 00:09:08.509 --> 00:09:13.629 the act that God gives us to be like him. Father 00:09:13.629 --> 00:09:15.929 Zacharias, and that's forgiveness, Father Zacharias 00:09:15.929 --> 00:09:18.809 from England says that in order to come into 00:09:18.809 --> 00:09:21.309 the living presence of the risen Lord, which 00:09:21.309 --> 00:09:25.250 is what Pascha is, there's so many things we 00:09:25.250 --> 00:09:29.590 need to die to in this world. We need a heart 00:09:29.590 --> 00:09:33.149 enlarged by the grace of God, he says. A heart 00:09:33.149 --> 00:09:37.049 free from passions and hatred and lies and sin. 00:09:37.529 --> 00:09:39.950 From every form of hatred, a heart free from 00:09:39.950 --> 00:09:44.210 evil which resists divine love. A heart where 00:09:44.210 --> 00:09:46.210 the light of the humble spirit of Christ has 00:09:46.210 --> 00:09:48.909 driven back the black darkness of pride. For 00:09:48.909 --> 00:09:52.490 this reason, he says, at the beginning of this 00:09:52.490 --> 00:09:56.470 period, the Lord's word to forgive one another 00:09:58.299 --> 00:10:03.539 An absolute condition. It's not magic, and it's 00:10:03.539 --> 00:10:06.740 not a sudden transformation for us. We will struggle 00:10:06.740 --> 00:10:10.279 mightily. The Lord's mercy is not an instantaneous 00:10:10.279 --> 00:10:13.539 alteration of our character or wiping out of 00:10:13.539 --> 00:10:18.159 our past history. We heard the parable of the 00:10:18.159 --> 00:10:21.019 prodigal son. He was given a second chance. He 00:10:21.019 --> 00:10:24.759 came home. It wasn't automatically changed because 00:10:24.759 --> 00:10:29.000 of it. That guy... has serious struggle ahead 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:31.700 for him if he hopes to remain in the father's 00:10:31.700 --> 00:10:36.279 house. So does the older brother. When we hear 00:10:36.279 --> 00:10:39.580 these words from the gospel, if you forgive men 00:10:39.580 --> 00:10:41.919 their trespasses, your heavenly father will also 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:45.639 forgive you. That sounds good theoretically. 00:10:46.940 --> 00:10:50.100 But then we hear, but if you do not forgive men 00:10:50.100 --> 00:10:53.399 their trespasses, neither will your father forgive 00:10:53.399 --> 00:10:56.990 you. your trespasses, and we hear that as a threat 00:10:56.990 --> 00:11:03.669 in our modern ears. Sounds like a threat. How 00:11:03.669 --> 00:11:06.950 dare he? He can't know. Yes, he does know your 00:11:06.950 --> 00:11:10.990 circumstances. It's not a threat. It's a condition 00:11:10.990 --> 00:11:14.669 of reality that without it, our heart cannot 00:11:14.669 --> 00:11:19.809 receive any forgiveness. The entire gospel, the 00:11:19.809 --> 00:11:23.980 entire Christian faith. is essentially the conviction 00:11:23.980 --> 00:11:29.759 that God forgives us. There's plenty of people 00:11:29.759 --> 00:11:32.019 who say, well, what does God have to forgive 00:11:32.019 --> 00:11:37.600 me for? What have I done? No matter what we do, 00:11:37.799 --> 00:11:41.980 however stupid, however silly, however ridiculous, 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:46.179 however obscene, however rebellious, God forgives 00:11:46.179 --> 00:11:48.759 us and God loves us. And when we come before 00:11:48.759 --> 00:11:52.590 the face of God, we begin to see ourselves because 00:11:52.590 --> 00:11:57.450 that light of Christ is shining on us. He relentlessly 00:11:57.450 --> 00:12:02.169 loves us. Can we discover that during Lent? God's 00:12:02.169 --> 00:12:06.149 love for us. And the sign of his love is that 00:12:06.149 --> 00:12:10.370 he forgives us. He sets the sin aside. Think 00:12:10.370 --> 00:12:14.029 of the cross. Father, forgive them, for they 00:12:14.029 --> 00:12:16.330 know not what they do. He didn't say, Father, 00:12:16.370 --> 00:12:20.509 forgive them. It's okay. Not a problem. I'll 00:12:20.509 --> 00:12:24.289 let it go. Because that's not forgiveness. That's 00:12:24.289 --> 00:12:26.649 some kind of psychological game. Forgiveness 00:12:26.649 --> 00:12:31.370 is knowing the evil and to expel it and to destroy 00:12:31.370 --> 00:12:36.230 it, to kill it, we forgive. That's how evil is 00:12:36.230 --> 00:12:41.250 expelled. That's why the cross is so great and 00:12:41.250 --> 00:12:44.370 that's why we stand before it in such, not only 00:12:44.370 --> 00:12:48.769 adoration, but fear and trembling and the mystery. 00:12:49.470 --> 00:12:54.789 of how great God is. He forgives us before we 00:12:54.789 --> 00:12:58.129 ask. He forgives us before he even created us. 00:12:58.289 --> 00:13:03.110 He created us, forgiving us. Our way to paradise 00:13:03.110 --> 00:13:06.470 depends on doing the same for others, not approving 00:13:06.470 --> 00:13:09.929 the evil, but defeating it by forgiveness. We've 00:13:09.929 --> 00:13:15.029 had so many lessons so far, my dear friends, 00:13:15.110 --> 00:13:19.100 to inspire us to give God... all the space in 00:13:19.100 --> 00:13:25.179 our heart for a dwelling place and we begin this 00:13:25.179 --> 00:13:28.659 season with the prayers of the great forerunner 00:13:28.659 --> 00:13:33.519 john the baptist his icon is here today is the 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:37.080 feast of the finding of his precious head of 00:13:37.080 --> 00:13:40.820 course you know he was beheaded by herod we have 00:13:40.820 --> 00:13:44.090 his prayers as we begin And what does Jesus say 00:13:44.090 --> 00:13:47.029 about him? He says, the kingdom of God is taken 00:13:47.029 --> 00:13:51.250 by violence and the violent bear it away. The 00:13:51.250 --> 00:13:57.210 moment you oppose yourself, you say no to the 00:13:57.210 --> 00:14:00.529 simple things, to the hamburger during Lent, 00:14:00.529 --> 00:14:02.950 to the mayonnaise, to the cheese, to the whatever, 00:14:03.169 --> 00:14:05.610 to this act, to that act, to clicking on this 00:14:05.610 --> 00:14:07.990 thing on that screen on your phone. The moment 00:14:07.990 --> 00:14:10.330 you say no, that's when the violence starts. 00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:16.059 Not by you, but against you. St. John was free. 00:14:16.679 --> 00:14:21.539 He was absolutely a man of freedom. Just look 00:14:21.539 --> 00:14:25.539 at his life and what he said. Let his example, 00:14:25.779 --> 00:14:30.759 let him lead the way for us through Lent. Crying 00:14:30.759 --> 00:14:34.179 in the wilderness to us, the wilderness of the 00:14:34.179 --> 00:14:37.919 spiritual life here in this world. Let him lead 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:41.320 the way for us as we go weak. by week, by week, 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:45.720 to reach Holy Week and to then participate in 00:14:45.720 --> 00:14:47.940 the passion and the suffering and the death of 00:14:47.940 --> 00:14:51.919 Christ ourself. In that way, we will participate 00:14:51.919 --> 00:14:56.659 in his very resurrection. O Lord, have mercy 00:14:56.659 --> 00:15:02.759 on us and lighten our way as we go towards that 00:15:02.759 --> 00:15:05.500 feast. To him be glory now and ever, to ages 00:15:05.500 --> 00:15:06.899 of ages. Amen.