In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Glory to Jesus Christ.
Glory to God. We are in a very festive time in
the church with the peace of Dormition, Friday
night, and yesterday, this summer Pascha, and
the baptism of these precious men and women,
their own Pascha. What a feast. Glory to Jesus
Christ. So at the end, a procession at the end
of the liturgy seems appropriate. If you're sorrowing,
if you're at difficulty, if you're anxious or
disappointed, turn your mind away from those
intrusive thoughts or those thoughts for a few
moments today. You're members of the church.
The body of Christ. Did you hear the reading
from the epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians?
It's amazing. Listen, Jesus, the Son of God,
his divine word, is the image of the invisible
God. It's true. Atheists will tell you, you can't
see God. And we will say, that's true. But Jesus
Christ, the word of God, took flesh and has revealed
him to us. He stood with his feet on the ground.
He was nailed to a cross through his hands and
his feet. And he rose from the dead bodily. So
we have this icon that we can see as validation
and confirmation of his incarnation. And it's
also up there on the other side of that arch.
He is the image of the invisible God. St. Paul
goes on to say, the firstborn over all creation.
For by him, all things, put that in your mind,
all things, not some things, not things you like,
all things were created that are in heaven, the
invisible, and on earth, visible and invisible.
Were the thrones or dominions, these are angelic
powers, were principalities of Jesus that we
have been baptized into that has delivered us
from the power of darkness and conveyed us to
the kingdom of the Son of his love in whom we
have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness
of sins. It is he, Jesus Christ. That has loved
us before we loved him. That has forgiven us
before we ever had a thought of doing anything
good at all. He has come close to us. He has
gathered us together. And we see his holy face
in these wonderful icons depicted here. And it
is he who loves us. Right now, lay aside all
earthly cares. What a joy to witness the Pascha
of these six people. I congratulate their godparents
because these are wonderful people. They will
be easy godchildren because they love God so
much. They have died to sin. They have died to
death. That's what it means to go into that water.
They have died with Christ, and they have risen
with Christ, and as St. Paul said, and you heard
it, they have been delivered from the power of
darkness and conveyed into the kingdom of the
Son of his love, in whom they and we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. It
is about forgiveness. Brothers and sisters newly
illumined, you are so grateful to God. For this
gift of being set right with God. Whatever sins
you had, they have been washed clean. Some people,
I've met such people. What do I have sin against
God? What does God care about that? I have nothing
to apologize to God for. And I would say to them,
what about your neighbor? What about your neighbor?
In Matthew 18, the selection we've read, I've
read, the Lord Jesus Christ is teaching about
how those in the church are to act and to live.
That whole chapter is about that. I suggest we
study it. So St. Peter, after hearing Jesus talk
about behavior of his disciples, latches on to
the last thing Jesus talked about. He comes to
Jesus asking for some clarification about forgiving
others. And he asks if seven times to do that
is sufficient. Because seven is this scriptural
number. It's this fullness. Seven days of creation
and all that. Seems fair. It seems quite generous.
And then, you know, Jesus says to him, not a
math problem, 70 times seven, but a number. That
signifies perfection. Won't go into that now.
Perfection from the man of Bethlehem. And Peter's
reaction. Well it's not recorded. But imagine.
His reaction. Skeptical about many things Jesus
taught him. So the Lord teaches a parable which
we just heard. About a man who owes what's called
10 ,000. 10 ,000 talents. A talent is this weight
of gold or money or some such thing. It's not
a sum, 10 ,000. Anybody could ever, ever, ever
pay back. Not even Bill Gates could pay that
back. What we're talking about here is what?
We're talking about our experience of God's love.
Our experience of forgiveness. In baptism. Our
experience of God's remission. Taking away our
sins. In our confession. Our experience of being
set right with God. That's what we're talking
about. We're talking about this 10 ,000. Our
value before Christ. Let's say 10 ,000 lifetimes
of wages. That is what you and I are worth to
God. Beyond calculation. Every soul. Every single
person is worth more, say the saints, than the
entire universe. Will you treat yourself with
that kind of care, with that kind of love and
compassion that you know God has for you, and
having received this forgiveness and baptism,
received his compassion, will you be able to
extend that to others? That's the meaning of
this parable today. It's completely upon us developing
a spirit of compassion, a merciful heart towards
people in our lives. Some of us tally up offenses.
We tally up slights, faults. We remember the
shortcomings of other people. How many times
have I heard, Father, I can't forgive. And I
always ask, well, what does forgiveness look
like to you? Well, forgiveness looks like to
that person usually that everything is going
to be okay. And that person is going to be accountable
to me for what they did. And then I can let it
go. But that's not forgiveness. Forgiveness is
holding the money bag of $10 ,000 and saying,
fine, you don't owe me a thing. Forgiveness is
standing before the throne of God at the last
judgment, says Metropolitan Anthony Bloom, and
saying to that person that's next to you that
you probably hate, or at least are apathetic
about, and have something against. It's saying,
Lord, I have nothing against that person. And
yes, you have suffered, maybe not with the shedding
of blood, says St. Paul, but you have suffered.
and you have carried that weight. And it is not
right. And it will not go right. And it will
not be restored between you and he or her. But
you say, I have nothing against that person.
Why? Because God has given me everything. Everything.
St. Joseph the Hesychast, who reposed... In 1959,
today we keep his memory, he died actually on
Dormition, and he told his brotherhood there
on Mount Athos that he would be departing this
life, and the Theotokos was calling him. He said
that weeks before, and sure enough, he left this
life on the Feast of Dormition. He wrote this
in a letter to a nun who was having trouble...
A nun having trouble forgiving. It's not just
us. Nuns have some trouble too. He said, we're
all human. Born of dust. We have all sinned.
We are clay. Remember Adam being fashioned? We
are clay. We are ignorant. Clay robs clay. Clay
insults clay. Clay slanders Clay. Clay is haughty
against Clay. Clay gets rich with Clay. Clay
rules over Clay. Clay beats Clay. Clay imprisons
Clay. And in general, Clay considers itself wiser,
stronger, richer, nobler, and more honorable
than Clay. Amassing wealth in his stupidity and
ignorance of his own existence, he does not care
about whence and where he is. how he was born,
what his purpose is, where he will end up, and
what is to come after this. All of us who remain
unrepentant suffer here as well in the other
life. This is not God in his anger. Please understand,
God does not change into a fickle, angry God
because you've insulted your brother or sister.
or won't forgive one that insulted you. God is
always love and compassion. We suffer because
our conscience, that's why. He says all of us
who remain unrepentant suffer here as well as
the other life. Therefore, anyone who can see
better and is slightly less dark in their spiritual
life must forgive and sympathize with his neighbor,
his brother, his sister of like soul. and troubles.
For this reason, he says, my beloved sister,
soul of my soul, set aside your rights and wills.
Blessed are the right, as not in the beatitudes,
for the sake of my immense love towards you.
To our Lord and Master, the one who gave us this
commandment, may he have pity on each of us as
we glorify him. Amen.