Sermon 184 - 2023 Theophany

 As preached by Brother Luke

Holy Wisdom Church

January 06, 2023

Mt 3:13-17, Ti 2:11-14, 3:4-8  Ez 36:25-28,33-36

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

        The image of the double-headed eagle is most frequently associated with the Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire. Its interpretations vary to include the double sovereignty of the emperor over both secular and religious matters and/or dominance over both the Eastern and Western branches of the Empire. Balancing the tension between the two realms of sovereignty was always problematic. In Christian faith we enter into another challenge: to balance in our minds and hearts the tension between human and divine.

       The Festal period bounded by Christmas and Encounter [Presentation] is also known as the season of lights. These feasts  serve as epiphanies of Christ as the Son of God, signs signaling Christ as both human and divine. Theophany, the Baptism of Christ, is the most unambiguous of them all, with the voice from heaven proclaiming Jesus as God's son. God entering into our world as a human being can be a frightening, overwhelming, prospect. The God we learn about in the Hebrew scriptures that we cannot look at without dying, is now flesh and blood facing us. However, Christ's message takes us in a direction away from fear.

       Christian doctrine clearly shows us the human and divine sides of God, but is there possibly another double image here that we might overlook? The inimitable grandeur of God, the God of magnificence, power and omniscience coupled with the unmistakable humility of Christ's life and teachings. Our Christian understanding of the sacred needs to hold at once both of these images in tension.

       Throughout this season we see the grandeur of God, the creator of the universe, entering into our human reality: becoming a little child, enduring circumcision, being presented in the temple and submitting to baptism. And John's baptism of Christ, inaugurates his ministry. A ministry revealed in the gospels where we encounter many other signs of Christ's humility, a humility he teaches by preaching, as in the Beatitudes; by parable, as in the publican and the pharisee; and by example, as when he washes his disciples' feet. And this lesson is a seamless one beginning, as it were, from on high, with God condescending to become a child and culminating with Jesus freely consenting to death on a cross.

       When we contemplate the enormity of God's power as the creator of the universe, we are humbled by our insignificance. But when we face ordinary challenges to our own sense of importance, we can easily forget humility and resist God's movement in the daily ebb and flow of life.

       In today's feast, John the Baptist had to deal with the humility of overcoming his objections and do what Jesus asked. The purpose was beyond what John could understand, but he complied with what Jesus' said needed to be done. It was a seemingly small part of a larger plan for our salvation.

       This is a conundrum that we face in so many of our tasks. They look small and insignificant and yet the fabric of our lives and circumstances is sown together by many small stitches. In the end, God sees and evaluates the entire tapestry from a viewpoint beyond our own. So we need not flinch from doing the those little things that seem so humble and unnecessary. After all, God chose what the world considers foolish to shame the wise. [1 Cor 1:27]

 

Glory be to Jesus Christ

Sunday after Theophany

 As preached by Sister Cecelia
Holy Wisdom Church
January 08, 2023

Isaiah 9:1-6, Ephesians 4:7-13, Matthew 4:1-17

After Jesus is baptized by John in the river Jordan, he is driven into the desert to be tempted by the devil. We usually think of temptations as being bad, as being enticements to do wrong or take a wrong way. But in other languages, the word “temptations” can mean to test a person.

A great and uplifting truth is that the tests are meant to enable us to conquer wrongdoing. We have all heard the saying: “If the stress doesn’t kill you, it will make you stronger.” Jesus passed the test by not succumbing to the illusions presented by the demons. Jesus had been led into a desert where he could be alone. His task had come to him from God, and he needed to consider how to go about the task God had given him. Being alone helped in overcoming these first three temptations. We need some time alone so that we can discern what choices to make in our own lives. It may be that we make many a mistake because we do not give ourselves a chance to be alone with God.

In the Scriptures we often read that Jesus frequently went off to pray. It seems obvious that the tempter did not stop with these three temptations any more than we only have to overcome one temptation and we have it made for the rest of our life. Vigilance is needed, as we do not reach a stage in this life where we will no longer be tempted. Frequently it is through our gifts, our strong points, that these temptations come. A person who is gifted with the power of words will be tempted to use this command of words to produce glib excuses to justify his or her conduct. A person with a vivid imagination will undergo agonies of temptation that some other person will never experience. A person with great gifts of mind will be tempted to use the gifts for himself and not for others, to be the master rather than the servant. Where our gifts are strongest is where we must be on the watch. Also, our weaknesses, our insecurities can make us want to destroy the gifts of others because we see them as a condemnation of our own brokenness.

Today is the Blessing of Water, which connects with Jesus being baptized with water.  As the new Adam, Jesus’ baptism symbolizes the cosmic fact that everyone and everything can be washed, renewed, and energized with grace for all the tests and challenges that come to us whether through our weaknesses or our strengths.

 One of the recent talks on Ancient Faith Ministries brought up this idea: “Matter matters.” For centuries our prayers have indicated that Jesus came to save our souls – only the spiritual part of us. Death is welcomed, as it allows us to leave our bodies behind. These bodies of ours, though, are what we need to be united with divinity. Too often, the world and all material things have been linked with evil or that which takes us away from God. The Blessing of Water is a visible sign that all creation is filled with the holy-making presence of God. God became human so that we can recognize the God within everything.

Many people have a feeling that all living things, not just human beings, are living from the same LIFE, like leaves on a single tree. Whatever form, whether human, animal, or plant, is the basis for a sympathetic affinity, indicating a unity deeper than our everyday superficial relations. Are we not filled with a mystical longing, for belonging, for profound union in an ultimate meaning?

We have begun a new year. Let us trust the voice of God the Father, who invites us to walk with Jesus as we meet all the tests and challenges that come our way. ​

Sermon 183 November 27, 2022 LK 8:41-56, Gal 1:11-24, Is 41:8-13

As preached by Brother Luke
Holy Wisdom Church


In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

It is a common sight to see people enter an Orthodox church, approach an icon of Christ and then bend over and reach down to touch the ground before kissing the icon. The individual will often be offering a prayer at the same time. For people who are new to the Orthodox church, this pious act may be mysterious and even perplexing. These actions may very well be traced back to historic cultural customs in various societies. However, they also have a scriptural pedigree that is on display in today's gospel reading.

Notice what Jairus, the president of the synagogue, does as he approaches Jesus: "He fell at Jesus' feet and pleaded with him to come to his house." [LK8:41] And as Jesus was walking toward Jairus' house, he encounters another person seeking healing from him and the evangelist relates that: "The woman came forward trembling, and falling at his feet explained in front of all the people why she had touched him." [LK8:47]

We have on display next to the Golgotha an icon of Christ that is known as "Extreme Humility" and it is the image connected to Jesus' passion. We often say that Jesus, by his life, passion and death, modeled for us a way of being that runs contrary to that which is expected in modern society. After all, popular culture is all about self expression and self promotion, the current understanding of the idea of freedom. Humility, not to mention "extreme humility," are not part of our modern lexicon. And yet this is what Jesus modeled to us.

Jesus humility goes beyond any physical posture or expression. In both healings in today's gospel Jesus does not take credit for anything and does not point to himself as savior. What he does say to the woman with the hemorrhage is: "Your faith has saved you, go in peace." [LK8:48] When word of Jairus' daughter's passing reaches Jesus, he says to Jairus: "Do not be afraid, only have faith and she will be saved."[LK8:50].

Once the healing has taken place, he cautions Jairus and his family, as he does so often in the gospels, not to tell others what has happened. [LK8:56] His goal is not self promotion, but rather to teach, by example, those who come to him, what faith looks like. Over and over he encourages people: "Do not be afraid. Only have faith."

It's a hard call when tragedy is on one's doorstep. The individuals in today's gospel will live, but they will also die, as will we all. When Jesus' says "only have faith, do not be afraid," he is teaching us about more than just this life. It is about life eternal. Is is faith in the resurrection. A faith that transcends any earthly sorrow. It is the ultimate joy that brings us through sorrow to a place that abolishes all sorrow. It is why Isaiah says to us: "Do not fear." [Is41:13] It is the gospel St Paul preached. It is the lifeline we receive in Holy Communion. It is why we are Christians.

Glory be to Jesus Christ

Our Lady of the Sign October 30, 2022 Isaiah 7:13-17, Hebrews 9:1-11, Matthew 1:20-23

 As preached by Sister Cecelia

Holy Wisdom Chapel

The first tabernacle mentioned in the Epistle this morning was a symbol of the divinity always with us. In Exodus, God said to Moses: “Make me a sanctuary that I may dwell in their midst.” Today’s feast commemorates the symbol of Mary, the Mother of God—the sanctuary of Emmanuel in our midst.

What does it mean that Jesus—God—is in our midst? When Joseph heard that the Child had been conceived by the work of the Holy Spirit, what might that have meant to Joseph? The Jewish idea was that the Holy Spirit brought God’s truth to humanity. It was the Holy Spirit who told the prophets what to say and holy ones what to do. The name “Jesus” is the Greek form of “Joshua,” the savior of his people. Jesus came to save us by telling us the truth about God and the truth about ourselves. Jesus assured his disciples that those who had seen Him had seen the Father. The truth about the Father is that God is love, compassion, and mercy.

Mary’s role is to bring us in worship into contact with Divinity. Her arms raised in prayer are a symbol that she is praying for and with the whole church—which is all of us. As members of the body of Christ we are no longer strangers and sojourners; we are fellow citizens with the holy ones and are members of God’s household. It is essential that we understand and embody what that means.

We sometimes believe that we are not worthy and do not matter. Yet, the apostles, as flawed as they might have been, were the first living stones of the church. We follow in their footsteps. We are necessary for the being that is the church, the body of Christ. While Christ is the capstone, God is the Great Builder, who calls us to be part of what makes the Body sacred and whole.

If we examine the life of a human being as it appears externally, we find in that life—as in all things—a common trait of being bound up with and limited by time. Every earthly thing lives for only a moment, joining one tiny interval to the next, just as one breath follows the other that life may continue. Everything we do, whether in the inner life or the external work of the body, takes place in time. We are born, and we die. Everything that has a beginning must come to an end in time. Both the wine of joy and the bitter wave of suffering end in death.

Still, there is something in these things that does not pass away. In the indifference of all coming and going, there mysteriously lives something full of meaning, something eternal. Each moment of time, and each human deed, leaves what is eternal in it—the good or the evil. Is it not both a comforting and a frightful mystery—that our deeds sink into nothingness, but before they do, they give birth to something eternal that does not disappear? The fluctuation of time ceases and sets free the ground of the soul that until now was seen by God alone. This means that an individual travels the path of their life through time into an eternity that is no longer time.

Mary traveled this path, as well as we. With her as with all of us on this earth, life was a restless coming to be and passing away. Her life began quietly and then ended. In between those two points, her life was filled with the changes that constitute life. It was filled with the cares common to all. Hers was filled with hours of utmost joy in God her Savior, joined with many routine, ordinary hours and of heart-breaking grief. Such a life did not come to an end. Her whole life entered eternity. Every joy and every pain, the great and the small, lives on in the eternal goodness of the one passing into eternity.

Mary’s role is to remind us that God is the Great Builder who calls us to be part of what makes the Body sacred and whole while we live in time. It is essential that we understand and embody what that means.

 

 

Sermon 182, October 23, 2022 - LK 5:29-39, 2 Cor 1:8-11, Is 25:6-10 Apostle James

As preached by Brother Luke
Holy Wisdom Church

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.



How often do I get in my own way? I'm not just thinking about tripping over my own feet, which I do. But rather letting my preconceived ideas and notions inhibit my ability to be open to new ideas and ways of thinking and doing things. I don't think I'm alone in this. Sometimes we may be prisoners of our own habits. In our current circumstances here at the monastery where we have moved into our guest house while the cloister is being renovated, I have come to realize just how much of my life was governed by rigid patterns of habitual behavior that are now disrupted leaving me often frustrated at how much longer it takes me to do anything. My autopilot crashed! And I am frequently pining for a return to the old ways and dreaming about how much better life will be when I can return to my old patterns of behavior in my old routines and in my old spaces. I think a big surprise awaits me when this project is completed!

This morning's scripture lessons should alert us to the reality that the past is past and new ways will impose themselves on us, with or without our approval. What is Jesus trying to tell us by dining with tax collectors and sinners, the outcasts of his day? For the Pharisees of his day the problem was not just eating with tax collectors and sinners, but eating AT ALL was looked on with suspicion if one is viewed as a prophet. Shouldn't they be fasting, like John the Baptist and his followers? But Jesus reminds the critics that these aren't the usual circumstances!

And what about those tax collectors? Today people may view the IRS with disdain and distrust and may see the whole process as theft, but if you work for the IRS you most likely are not ostracized by society. Some may not like how the government uses "your tax dollars" but it is not a foreign occupier with local agents.

Jesus comes to these marginalized members of his society as the doctor for those who need a doctor. But the medicine he provides may not be the elixir his critics have in mind. He does not shun them, avoid them or dismiss them. He is not telling them how wrong or bad they are. Instead, the medicine he brings is the reminder that God loves his creation, all of it and everyone in it. And bringing God's love to those marginalized by society is a central feature of the Good News.

Wrapping our minds around a new reality is the difficult part. Later in the passage Luke relates the examples of old wine bursting new wine skins and new cloth patching old garments only to tear away from the garment. Jesus was challenging societal conventions and offering an alternative that emphasized God's love. Old paradigms no longer apply if we really understand God's true nature. So this new understanding burst the old wine skins and tore away from the old cloth of society. New wine needs new wine skins and old cloth needs to be replaced with new cloth. A new understanding of God brings with it a new way to approach the marginalized in society, with love and understanding, not fear and rejection.

Isaiah tells us that "God has wiped away the tears from every cheek...taken his peoples shame away... [so] rejoice since he has saved us." And Paul reminds us "to trust not in ourselves but in God."

And to take an example from last summer, this is exactly what Archbishop Elpidophoros of the Greek Archdiocese of North America did when he baptized the children of a same-sex couple in Greece not far from Athens. He put pastoral needs ahead of cultural sensitivities and societal conventions that too often hinder God's work rather than enable it. We want to stay in our comfort zone. Christ never stayed in his society's comfort zone. He constantly broke away from it just as the new cloth broke away from the old.

One might think that monastic life is as far removed from this paradigm as any life style could possibly be, but in fact it is just the opposite. It demands the very same thing of us. When we enter this life we must face the fact that we are entering into a completely new way of living, being and thinking. No matter how much our inner urgings may want us to simply continue to live our old life in a new location, that is not possible. We can't fit our old way of living into this life any more than people 2000 years ago could put new wine into old wine skins. The old wine skins will fail. And this teaching of Jesus is not just for monastics, it is for all of us.

Glory be to Jesus Christ

Sunday after Exaltation of the Cross - September 18, 2022 Isaiah 49:13-18, 22-23; Galatians 2: 15-20; Mark 8: 34-9:1

Preached by Sister Cecelia

Holy Wisdom Church


Last week I heard of a professional athlete who had a round medal engraved with these words: First God, Second Ron, Third self. He wore it always as a reminder of how to live. He explained that Ron was a nephew but symbolized all others.

First, God.

Second, neighbor.

Third, self.

It is pretty clear that following Christ entails self-denial. What kind of denial to ourselves is our task to discover. It is a lifelong challenge. We’ve often been told that Christ does not ask of us anything he has not been willing to accept or do himself. Jesus continually said “yes” to God and “no” to himself when a choice was demanded.

When making our own choices, do we intuit what is right and wrong, or do we depend on others to indicate what is right and wrong? What is good, better, and best; and what is mediocre, bad, and worse? For whom or what is it good or bad—ourself, our neighbor, our country, the world?

Throughout the ages, humans have looked to their leaders—be they kings, prophets, or religious leaders—for directions on how to live as they should, to be on the safe side. Humans generally like to be safe, but not always. When Jesus said “yes” to what he saw God was asking of him, he definitely was not being on the safe side.

Jesus prayed, listened, and then responded. When we realize that Jesus—our God—is with/in us, we pray to be able to respond as He did. We ask to be able to line up our will with the will of God. As Saint Paul has said, “It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.”

How often the directive to “love God above all and love our neighbor as ourselves” is repeated in the Scriptures we call our own. How often have we found ourselves behaving more like the rich young man who was directed to give all his riches to the poor and to come and follow Christ? That man went away sad because that was just too much to ask of him. Our own desires outweigh what we think God might be asking of us. The history of many of the saints shows that their enthusiasm about following Christ sometimes led them to extremes. In later life, they frequently apologized to their bodies for having mistreated them when they were younger. Attempts to be and do more than Christ did is a temptation to pride rather than to love.

Most of us are energized by being confronted by unusual challenges; we rise to the occasion. It is daily fidelity to our prime values that prepares us to deal creatively with unusual situations. We become saints not by waiting for an opportunity to display heroic virtue but by responding creatively to the niggling demands that come our way every day. God does not often ask us for heroic deeds, but rather steadfast perseverance in loving our neighbor as ourselves. It follows that we must love ourselves before we can know how to love our neighbor.

Loving God above all will inevitably cause us to be thankful for all we have received. Looking at the awesomeness of creation and our ability to give thanks for it ensures that we see the need to care for it whenever we can. These same scriptures show us, too, what loving our neighbor entails. Understanding what we as individuals can do in carrying out these two commandments takes reflection.

It is so easy to get caught up with all that is going on around us. We get caught up with friends and families, with our own health issues, with the war news, with fires, floods, and famine that taking the time to feed our minds, to reflect, to give thanks takes effort. It takes planning to find the time.

Do not worry about being safe. Be assured that even if we do not make the right or correct choices, God will make right what we do as long as our intention is to do what is right, which is: the will of God on earth as it is in heaven.



Give thanks for all the joys and sufferings that turn our hearts and minds to God.

Sermon 181 September 14, 2022 Jn 19:13-35, 1 Cor 1:17-28, Is 10:25-27, 11:10-12 Exaltation of the Cross.

 As preached by Brother Luke

Holy Wisdom Church

 

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
 
       Today we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Throughout the years artists have made striking icons of the cross, not to mention beautiful jewelry and of course the schema monk's traditional garment has the cross at Golgotha emblazoned on the front. Wonderful though they are, these images of the cross can obscure its horrific original reality. It was a sign and instrument of torture, humiliation, shame and death.

       As we read through the gospels we notice how many times Jesus turns traditional understandings of life and customs upside down. For example, think about the messages embedded in the Beatitudes. The cross is one more example of this grand reversal. An instrument of death becomes a sign of life eternal. I believe it is also a key to understanding what Jesus meant when he said that he has come so that we may have life more abundant.

       What does life more abundant mean? How can the cross be a symbol of that more abundant life? We are all called to learn from Jesus and to follow his example. And yet, the phrase "life more abundant" filtered through the lens of modern worldly understanding would put the stress on the word "abundant" whereas Jesus' way of living puts the stress on the word "life".

       Did Jesus live an abundant life according to the world's standards? No. He did not strive to acquire more and more possessions. He said: put your treasure in heaven where neither moth nor rust can corrupt. He didn't hold down a high paying job nor strive for worldly status. Pay unto Cesare what is Cesare's and unto God what is God's. Did he own the biggest mansion in the neighborhood? No. The Son of Man has no place to lay his head. He didn't own the latest, greatest chariot. He had to borrow a donkey to ride "triumphantly" into Jerusalem. Did he surround himself with sycophants who told him only what he wanted to hear? No. He even included amongst his closest friends the man who would betray him. He turned on its head all the world's standards of abundance. The prosperity preachers of the modern age have no clue into what Jesus is really about.

       He told the rich man to give away all his possessions to the poor and follow him. When the devil taunted and tempted Jesus he used scripture to counter all the evil and dishonest lures for wealth and power thrown at him. And then, he freely let himself be captured, tried, convicted and killed in the most painful and shameful way used by the political authorities of his day. Nailed to a cross.  By doing this he transformed our understanding of what abundant life is all about.

       When we honestly look at how we feel when we desperately strive after all the "good things" this world can offer, we might notice that this type of passion is insatiable. And rather than filling us up with joy and happiness, it leaves us empty and only yearning for more and more. The abundant life is not about acquiring but rather about self-giving. This is the example Jesus gave to us to follow. And the cross is the key because through it he made the ultimate sacrifice to save us. So to follow in his footsteps is to follow the two basic commandments Jesus told us to observe: Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the teaching of the prophets hang on these two commandments. Jesus' love was always going out from himself and never pointing to himself. And this is what his father and our father, that is God, is all about. Love, freely given. When you see the Cross, think love, and hold onto it tightly. Let it always be a reminder of the love that Jesus gave freely. The love we too can also give freely.

       Glory be to Jesus Christ!