On this blessed feast day, may it be blessed
for you. This is election season, as you cannot
avoid, even in church. Let me make an extravagantly
bold and sweeping statement. A true statement,
unlike those that you will hear on the commercials
by the candidates. It's an extravagantly bold
and sweeping statement, but it's absolutely true.
And the statement is this. The entire history
from the beginning, from the creation, was directed
towards the day on which God would pour out his
Holy Spirit, as the prophet says, on all flesh.
That day came, and that's what we're celebrating.
Not history, not merely history. It came, it
happened, it is in history. But all the life
of the church and the saints and the faithful
show that it is immediate. It is true. And it's
for you and me. And today is our Pentecost. The
Old Testament feast of Pentecost. Occurred 50
days after Passover. I said the Old Testament.
The commemoration, that was the commemoration
of the exodus of the Israelites from captivity
and slavery in Egypt and in celebration of God's
gift of the Ten Commandments to those people
in the wilderness through Moses who went onto
the mountain and beheld the divine counsel. and
beheld the Lord himself. We are in the new covenant.
It carries forward from the old. We still practice
so much of the Jewish life because the Orthodox
Church is the continuation of the people of God.
And the Passover has taken on a new meaning since
the crucifixion of our Lord and his resurrection.
That is, that we have passed over, as he has,
from death to life. We worry about death. We
grieve for those who die. But brothers and sisters,
if we have followed our Lord and Savior, if we
have picked up the cross and denied ourselves,
and that's not nothing. That is truly to put
to death all those things within us. That are
opposed to God and that kill us and that kill
our soul. If we have done that and followed Christ
and been given the Holy Spirit. Then death is
something we will face. But not with fear. Not
with anxiety. Not with regret. Because we are
already living by the grace of the Holy Spirit.
The life of the resurrection. Beyond death. That's
what it means to celebrate Pascha. So, Passover,
Pascha, has taken on this new meaning of baptism.
From earth to heaven, the exodus of God's people,
us, from the sinful world to the eternal kingdom,
here in this world. Everyone's invited to share.
Every single person that is created is invited
for this. Every single person is invited to follow
the Lord Jesus Christ. But we that do, we listen
to him. And what he says, his invitation, follow
me. Come after me. But pick up your cross. You're
going to have to deny something that you want
to hold on to dearly. But it will kill you in
the end. And I will save you. We have to truly
die to sin and to the old broken, distorted,
wounded things. And here we are, asking God to
heal us. And I will say that extravagantly bold
and sweeping statement again. The entire history
of mankind is directed to the day in which God
poured out his spirit upon all flesh. And there's
the wonderful fresco of that up there. That day
has come. Here's what St. John says. Pardon me.
Here's what St. Luke says in Acts. When the day
of Pentecost had come, they were all together
in one place. And suddenly a sound came from
heaven like the rush of a mighty wind. And it
filled all the house where they were sitting.
There appeared to them as a fire distributed
as resting upon each one of them. And they were
all filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit
that Christ promised his disciples on the day
of Pentecost, like living water flowing out of
a person. And the apostles, who before the resurrection
would never be voted most likely to succeed,
Christ came to them on the day of the resurrection,
the eighth day. And it says in the Gospels, Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John, how he upbraided them.
He was all over them for denying the witness
of the women that the Lord was risen. And then
immediately he breathes on them and says, receive
the Holy Spirit, whoever sins. You forgive, they're
forgiven. Whoever sins you retain, you retain.
And he says to them on the Mount of Ascension,
go into all the world. These men who could do
nothing almost correct then became brave, courageous,
merciful, loving, full of miracles, full of the
Spirit of God, full of the Word of God. This
is an impossible thing that's given to us in
this world. Thank God, brothers and sisters,
for this day and for what has been given to us.
Pentecost Sunday is also called Trinity Sunday
because we are given the knowledge of who God
is, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And Pentecost
has happened to us. It happened to you when you
were baptized and you were chrismated. The grace
of the Holy Spirit, says St. Nicodemus of the
Holy Mountain, which is given mystically to every
person when he is baptized and chrismated, acts,
acts and is manifested in proportion to our obedience
to the commandments of the Lord. Think about
that. That is, if a Christian obeys the commandments
of the Lord more, grace acts more in that person.
Well, if he obeys them less, Grace acts less.
Not because God wants to take it away. No, it's
because we don't have the capacity to hold on
to it until we practice the commandments because
they heal us and they give us this capacity to
hold on to the grace. What you sow, that you
will reap. What you spend your time doing, that's
what you're going to get good at. What you practice,
that is what you will perfect. If it's prayer,
if it's the commandments, then you will be saints.
And he goes on. He says, just as a spark, when
covered in the ashes of the fire, becomes increasingly
manifest as one removes the ashes. And the more
firewood you put on it, the more the fire burns.
So the grace that has been given to every Christian
through holy baptism and chrismation is hidden
in the heart. And yet, often covered by our sins
and our passions. And he goes on. He says, however,
the more a person acts in accordance with the
commandments of Christ, the more he is cleansed
of the passion and the more the fire of divine
grace flames in his heart and illumines him and
deifies him. What a miracle this is. I thought
last night, that I might give a sermon to the
younger parishioners, the children. And what
I would say to them, I say to you now, what is
the goal of your life? If it's only limited to
this worldly plane, then you will miss the goal
of your life, the goal of every person. because
we are created in the image of likeness of God
by the one who loves us. The goal of our life
is exactly what St. Nicolaus just said. Divine
life, to be illumined and to know the Lord. And
we can check on that if we are on the right path.
Are we just on the worldly path, or we have mixed
them up a little bit, or we are truly on the
path of repentance and the kingdom of God? How
can we check? The Psalms say that we should have
joyfulness of heart at the presence of the Holy
Spirit. If the Spirit is within us and acting
within us, and we are conscious, and we are taking
the time and praying and worshiping and trying
to keep the commandments, though we will fail,
the Lord is not the district attorney looking
for ways to condemn us. The Lord is our advocate.
And the Holy Spirit is our advocate. And the
Father is the one who loves us. But we will have
that joy of heart. The kind of joy that when
you see somebody you love so much that you run
to embrace them. That kind of joy. The kind of
joy that when you're in nature. I remember standing
on that high point at Yosemite. that you have
to drive way up into. Back in the old days, they
would drop like fire off the edge at night. And
you could see Half Dome in the distance, and
you could see the peaks. And that kind of joy
that grips your imagination and your heart so
much at the glory and magnificence of creation.
Will that be with you every moment? No. But it
will be with you in measure. Even if you're afflicted,
it will be with you because it's the God who
is beyond all affliction that is with you. If
you are in joy, it will be with you because the
God who is king over all, you have confidence
and trust in him. We heard the words of the Lord.
If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
He that believes on me, as scripture has said,
out of his belly, out of his heart, his whole
being, shall flow rivers of living water. St.
John said, this means the Holy Spirit. So we
come to him. We believe in him. These are verbs.
We have to do something. We walk, we trust, we
follow, we're faithful in our actions. And when
the Lord's Prayer is said every morning, and
every evening, and maybe at the third hour of
the day, and the sixth hour of the day, and the
ninth hour of the day, when we say the Lord's
Prayer, we say, thy kingdom come. Yes, even that
is God's Holy Spirit coming to us, because the
kingdom is within our heart. His dominion, his
glory, and his honor, within my heart, and that
is the source of joy. When I recite the creed
at morning prayers, I confess that Christ has
ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand
of the Father and reigns and has all authority
in heaven and on earth and even here. Glory to
God for making us his children. Glory to God
for gathering us together in his holy church.
Glory to God for forgiving our sins. Glory to
God for sending down the Holy Spirit on us and
upon these gifts which we will offer. Glory to
God for having given us his Eucharist, so we
will be united to him and his church and all
the faithful. This gift of God through the gift
of the Spirit. Remember, this is the day. Amen.