More wise words from the pen of Fr David:

Acts 20:16-18; 28-36

The Holy Apostle Paul went throughout the world preaching the Gospel. He was the instrument by which the Holy Spirit brought the gentile believers into the Church. Like most of the other Apostles, he never stayed in one place permanently, rather he proclaimed the Gospel in one place, established there a congregation of believers, passed on to them the teaching given to him by Christ, and established local elders (bishops and priests) to whom he then passed on the care of the local Church. Then he would move on, repeating the process in every place that he stayed. In this way, many local Churches were established throughout the known world, united to one another in the life of Christ by baptism and their common faith. In the reading from the Acts of the Apostles today we see the Apostle returning to Jerusalem, there to celebrate the feast of Pentecost. Not being able to take the time to stop at all the local Churches on the way, he called the elders who had been left as the shepherds of those flocks to meet with him as he passed by. Today we heard part of his words to the elders of the Church in Ephesus as he gave them what would be his final instructions for the care of the flock entrusted to them.

The Apostle first warns them to beware the attacks of the evil one who would seek to destroy the Church by causing discord and confusion with false teachings rising both from without and within. This danger is just as real today as it was then. We are surrounded by all kinds of ideas and spiritual philosophies that seem to be filled with wisdom. Not only that we encounter these ideas in a culture which values diversity and encourages us to be accepting of everyone and not to criticize others for their beliefs. It is considered rude and uncivilized to maintain that we “have found the true faith” and others have not. We must not claim that this is indeed “the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church” to the exclusion of others – after all, everyone has the right to their own private belief – every opinion is valid, no one is wrong and everyone has a little bit of the truth (or perhaps there is not a single truth, but a truth customized to every person so that your truth is just as true as my truth despite the apparent disagreements). But this is not the teaching of the Church. There is one Truth and that Truth has been given to us in the person of the God/man Jesus Christ. He is (the one and only) Truth and only through Him is truth revealed to us. That revelation is preserved and passed on to us through the witness and teaching of the Holy Apostles and their successors, the hierarchs of the Church. Any addition, subtraction or deviation from that revelation takes us away from the Truth. It is just this danger that the Apostle Paul warned the elders of the Church of Ephesus (and us) to beware of. He gave the responsibility for preserving the pure revelation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ into the hands of the elders of the Church, who, in their ordination were given the divine grace to fulfill that task. Today we continue to proclaim this when we pray for our hierarchs in the Divine Liturgy that they might “rightly divide the Word of Thy Truth.”

The One Holy Catholic Church, that is the Orthodox Church, is that repository of pure and unchanged Truth and her bishops are the ones charged by Christ and the Apostles to be the guardians and teachers of the truth. If our personal ideas, beliefs and opinions are at variance with the teaching of the Church, then we have begun to fall into the dangerous place of false teachings against which the Apostle warned us. Therefore it is absolutely essential to us that we hold on to that which we have been given to us by Christ and conform our lives, even our opinions and beliefs, to the life of Christ which is found only within the life of the Church. The Church is, therefore, our safe harbor in the tempest of temptations which assault us in this world. Here in the Church we find that Truth that leads us without error and without compromise to union with Christ. The Church is essential for our spiritual well being and for our salvation.

For this reason, the Apostle Paul gives the elders of the Ephesian Church (and us) his next instruction. He cites the example of his own life where he gave all that he had to establish and maintain the Church – asking nothing but instead giving everything that the Church and the people who were within her might be firm and strong in the faith. In this he cites the words of our Lord that “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” In saying this, he puts the support for the Church as our greatest priority. This support is not only in spiritual terms, but also in physical terms. It is up to us to support and maintain this local Church so that it will remain and stand firm as a beacon of Truth in a world of compromise and falsehood.

The Apostle brought the Gospel to world asking nothing in return. Even though the Gospel of Christ is more precious than anything in the world, he gave it freely to all who would come. He asked nothing for himself and expected no reward in exchange for this great treasure. Having proclaimed the Gospel, he then invested all of his worldly possessions in the continuation of the local Church. He calls the elders of the Church in Ephesus to continue as he had – giving freely of the Gospel which they had received and investing the worldly resources that God had given them into the building up of the Church.

Again, in today’s world we face a situation that is not at all unlike that of the early Church. The upkeep of the local Church was entirely in the hands of the people of the Church. If they wanted to keep this beacon of Truth alight in their community, they were the ones that needed to do it. There were no government supports, no charitable grants, no corporate benefactors to support the Church. The Church was supported by the people who were part of her. Today we are in the same situation: there is no external support, no government grants, no private benefactor, not even diocesan support (the diocese instead depends on the contributions of the local parishes, like us, to pay its own bills). We have to support our Church.

We, each of us, have received priceless treasures from the Church. We have received the grace of the sacraments, the very Body and Blood of Christ. We have been washed of our sins and healed of the wounds of sin which afflict us. We are comforted by the hand of God and encouraged by His words. When we stray, we repent and our sins are forgiven without hesitation and we are received back into the arms of our Lord. Our marriages are preserved, our children are protected, our families are strengthened. . We are greatly blessed; we have received countless treasures; but as the Apostle reminds us, it is even more blessed to give than to receive.

First and foremost we give of ourselves to the Church: Our love for her and for her Head, our Lord Jesus Christ. When we love someone, we try to spend as much time with that other person as possible. This is also true of our love for the Church. The psalmist expresses this well saying, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord and enquire in His temple.” To come to the Church, to pray there, to spend time in the presence of God – this is our first and most important offering. But it is not the only thing.

Every member of the parish has to contribute according to his own ability. We each give whatever we can, because if we don’t there will be no money to keep the doors open and the lights on. The beacon of Truth, our haven from the storms of life, the means by which the path of salvation is revealed to us will no longer be here. The Church is our responsibility – given to us by God – and it is up to us to come together to pay the bills (because no one else is going to do it for us.)

Every Orthodox Church you see in this country was built not by some outside power, but by the contributions and labor of the people who come there to pray. Our parish is no exception from this. In the very beginning, the founders of this parish put up their own houses as collateral for the mortgage. From the very first days, we have labored with our own hands and our own money to continually create this beautiful temple. The mortgage, the lights, the water, all these expenses were paid out of the contributions of the people. And our expenses have not ended even now for we still are faced with monthly expenses which are necessary to keep what we have and we have hopes for even more. Every one of you here today is being called by the words of the Apostle to continue the work begun by those who have gone before us so that we might keep this beacon of Truth alight, so that we might continue to have this safe haven from the tempests of this life, so that we might continue to have a place in which to work out our salvation. This parish is our Church, given to us by God. This is the “treasure” that He has entrusted to us so that by our labors it might grow and bear fruit. Let us then take care of what God has given to us.

Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website: http://stseraphimboise.org/

Another homily from the great Archpriest David Moser, whose work always provides me with edifying reading:

“…the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” (Acts 11:26)

Today we are commonly called (and call ourselves) Christians. In fact it is not only those in the Orthodox Church who are called Christians, but additionally there are many religious confessions that are grouped under this name. All of these groups differ from one another in some way. What does it mean then to be a “Christian”? Why do we continue to take that name to ourselves?

To be a Christian, at its most basic level, means to follow Jesus Christ. Indeed the Gospel itself tells us that to follow Christ is necessary for our salvation (Mt 16:24). In Antioch, as we heard in the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, the apostles had come to Antioch where a great number of gentiles had believed the preaching of the gospel. There they spent a long time teaching those believers along with the whole Church how to follow Christ. In speaking to the rich young ruler (Nicodemous) who had come to Him by night, Jesus taught the disciples that in order to be saved, one must first follow all the commandments (that is deny oneself), and then sell all that they have (that is to take up the cross) and to come and follow Him. (Mt17). To follow Christ means that we not only hear His teaching and accept its truth, but that we leave behind our former life of following sin and adopt a new way of life set before us by Jesus Christ.

After the resurrection, Jesus came to the disciples and told them, “…he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” (Mk 16:16). From this we see that we must first of all “believe” and that if we believe, we then must act on our belief (be baptized). Here Jesus teaches the necessity not only of inner belief, but also of receiving the sacraments. If we hear Him and believe His words, then the test of our belief is whether or not we put His words into practice in our lives. If we do not act on our belief, then we do not truly believe.

In the Gospel of Luke we hear the disciples ask who can be saved and Jesus answers them, “Strive to enter in at the strait (i.e. narrow) gate; for many, I say unto you will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” (Luke 13:24ff). From this we learn that it is not a simple thing to follow Christ, but that to follow Him is a difficult task, one that demands from us effort and all our strength. Even with all our strength, to enter the Kingdom of Heaven is beyond us and it is only with the help of God (Mt 19:25 & 26) – that is by the action of the transforming grace of the Holy Spirit – that we can indeed successfully follow Him into the Kingdom of Heaven.

In the parable of the sheep and the shepherd, Jesus told his disciples, “I am the door; by me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved …” (Jn 10:9) By comparing us to sheep He shows us the importance of following the One Who is the Shepherd, just as the sheep of the field follow their own leader who brings them into a safe pasture and who gives them water and who protects them within the walls of the sheepfold. Sheep will always follow their leader and we, as rational sheep, have chosen to follow Christ by our belief. But we must indeed follow Him and not just acknowledge His truth. To follow Christ means to make changes in our lives: to leave behind the world and our former sinful ways; to adopt His values and priorities as our own; to act according to His will rather than our own. We must not wander around seeking a pasture and sheepfold that suits our own whims and preferences, but rather follow the Good Shepherd into the pasture and sheepfold that He has established for us and with humility and meekness (setting aside our own pride and rationalizing) enter therein. That pasture is the Gospel and the sheepfold is the Church. If we seek our own pasture and our own sheepfold then we are not following Christ, but only seeming to do so. If we seek our own pasture and our own sheepfold then we do not believe in Christ, but rather we believe in ourselves and thus end up following ourselves rather than Him. When Peter sought to come to Jesus walking on the water, he left behind the safety of the boat and ventured out across the waves. But his faith faltered and he began to sink. Calling out to be saved, Jesus was right there to lift him up; but then Jesus did not set him back on the surface of the sea and call the other disciples to follow Peter’s example, rather He put Peter back into the safety of the boat and also entered the boat Himself. Peter was acting out of his own zeal and learned the dangers thereof. But Jesus, by his actions, taught us all that our salvation is not to be found walking on our own on the surface of the sea, but in the safe confines of the ark of salvation (that is the Church) which sails upon the sea life and wherein He also dwells.

In order to follow Christ we must also abandon our own provision that grows out of our own fallen reasoning and zeal, and accept the provision that He provides. We must enter into the Church; receive from her the nourishment of the sacraments; embrace the life that she prescribes for us; conform our own lives to the will of Him who is our Shepherd. To follow Christ means that we must abandon the ways of the world and follow the path of salvation that He has laid out for us through the life of the Church.

To be a Christian is to follow Christ. To follow Christ is not mere belief – but it is a whole hearted belief that changes our actions, that changes our will, that demands that we conform our lives to His. To follow Christ is not some simple acknowledgement that His teachings are true, but rather a radical act that begins with self-denial, passes through the cross and in the end demands we follow the path that He lays out for us. To be a Christian can only be accomplished on this path which is revealed to us in the Church and in order to follow that path, we must enter the Church just as Jesus placed Peter in the safety of the boat. To be a Christian can only be accomplished with the help of Christ Who pours out His grace upon us from the never-ending font of grace that is His Church. To be a Christian, we must follow Christ as He leads us through the doors of the Church, to drink at the waters of grace which flow from the sacraments, to graze in the pasture of the teaching of the Apostles, to find safety in the walls of His sheepfold that is His One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

Acts 6:1-7

Today we remember the Holy Myrrh-bearing women who, on the day the Resurrection, came to the tomb and discovered that our Lord Jesus Christ was no longer there, but that He had conquered death and rose from the dead. They were charged with the awesome responsibility of taking this news to the Apostles. By giving the Myrrh-bearers this task, our Lord demonstrated again that there was no barrier to women in the Kingdom of God, but that their role was no less important than that of men in the Church.

In the reading today from the Acts of the Apostles, we see a small scene from the functioning of the early Christian community – the Church – that had gathered around the Apostles. As we recall from last week this community lived “in one accord” with one another and with Christ, each doing what they were able for the benefit of all. A disturbance arose in the life of the community such that some complained that the widows and orphans from among the Gentiles did not receive the same attention as those who were from among the Jewish believers. When this complaint was brought to the attention of the Apostles, they also realized that they were unable to address all the needs of the community themselves for they would soon be swallowed up by the details and be distracted from their primary task of proclaiming the Gospel and of teaching the believers what had been revealed to them by Jesus Christ. In response to this they then appointed 7 deacons who would take on the responsibility to care for the needs of the community.

Here now we have before us three different groups: the Myrrh-bearing women, the Deacons and the Apostles. Each group had its place within the Body of Christ and yet each group had its distinct role and composition. This reminds us that while we are all part of the same body of Christ and that we work together for our salvation, at the same time, we all have different roles within the Church. This was plain to us just this past weekend as we put on our annual festival. Everyone worked together, everyone was necessary for the successful completion of this labor, however no one could do everything. There were those who prepared food, those who served food, those who managed the dining area, those who cared for the money, those who picked up the trash, those who washed the dirty dishes and so on. No one was without purpose and all played an indispensable part in this labor.

In the Body of Christ, each one of us has a place and a role given to us by God. We too often think that there are only a few who are important and the rest are just interchangeable parts of less value. Nothing could be further from the truth for all are important and all have a place in the Church prepared for them by God. We depend on one another, we need one another as together we work out our salvation.

Of all these various people of whom we heard today in the early Church, there is indeed one thing which they all held in common. Even though they had different responsibilities and different places, they all realized that these roles always had to be completed to the glory of God. They never lost sight of the necessity to do all that they did with prayer and humility, trusting in God to bring all things to a good end. In our own experience, we try to remember that no matter how far we may seem to be from the doors of the Church during the festival, we are still in the presence of God and our labors are for His glory. Sometimes we forget that God watches over even the least of us and arranges the smallest details. We then take upon our own shoulders the responsibility to “fill in” for God and make sure that all the things that He had “overlooked” actually get done. We occupy our attention, our thoughts and all our energies with the doing of our task that we forget to pray, we forget to turn to our Lord for help and assistance. We easily remember to begin our labors with prayer and to finish with prayer – but sometimes we forget to pray in the middle. Like the Holy Apostles, or the deacons, or the Myrrh-bearing women, we cannot ever forget that our labors must always be bathed in prayer. No matter what you do, do not forget to pray and ask for God’s help and direction and provision while you do it. Be diligent that you do not allow your “responsibilities” to usurp the place of prayer in your life.

We are all part of the Body of Christ and we are all given those responsibilities that are best suited to our salvation. We do these things not for ourselves, but for the benefit of our brethren and for the glory of God. Above all, these things we do must never be allowed to push out prayer. There is a proper time, the preacher tells us, for all things (Eccl. 3:1ff) and so when it is time to work, we must work to the glory of God, however when it is time to pray, we cannot let our work prevent us from prayer. We all have a place appointed for us in the Church by God. Let us fill this place with humility and trust in God, doing all things for His glory.

Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website: http://stseraphimboise.org/

Acts 5:12-20

“They were all of one accord…” This is how the Acts of the Apostles describes the nature of the Church during the time immediately after Pentecost. What does this mean, to be “of one accord”? The Church at that time was gathered around all the Apostles (and the Virgin Mary). They came together at the temple to pray and to hear the teaching of the Apostles. They were “of one accord” because they shared the same mind, the same interest, the same value, the same purpose. What they shared was a belief that Jesus, Who rose from the dead, was the Messiah and had come to open for them the way into the Kingdom of Heaven. The Apostles, as the chosen companions and witnesses to all that Jesus had said and done – and most importantly to His Resurrection – were the ones who were recognized not only as the leaders of the community, but also as the ones by whom the teaching, the life and the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit was imparted to the Church and to the world. There was no question, no dissention, no argument because all lived in agreement that to gain the life of Christ was more important than anything else and that this life was poured out to them through the Apostles, as the chosen shepherds of the flock of Christ.

We, who are part of the Church today, also live within this same accord. We share with those first Christians the firm belief that the God/man Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life and that without Him there is no life. We believe, with those early Christians, that not only did our Lord give us new life and set us on the path of salvation, but that He has shown us the way to follow that path without wandering or getting lost. Like them, we believe that this way that He has shown to us, He has given to us through the witness of the Apostles empowered by the grace of the Holy Spirit bestowed upon them by Christ after His Resurrection(John 20:21-23). In that sense, we are “of one accord” with those Christians and live in complete harmony with them and with one another. But too often we do not experience that harmony. It is disrupted by competing interests, by differences of opinion, in short by our own self-centered sins. Here is the evidence of our own weaknesses, our own imperfections, our own immaturity in the faith. Surely there is nothing lacking in the work of Christ as He ascended the cross, suffered death, descended into hell and rose again conquering sin, death and the devil. Surely there is no fault or deficit in the grace that God has bestowed upon us through the sacraments and the work of the Holy Spirit in us. The imperfections and deficits that tear us away from the place of living “in one accord” with one another, with the first Christians, with the Apostles and with Jesus Christ Himself are the result of our own sins.

For this reason, it is our task to leave them behind that they might not pull us away and rob us of the joy and peace and one-ness which we gained in the Resurrection. We are given gifts of grace by the Holy Spirit which are the tools we need to enter into and maintain this “one accord” with Christ and with the Church. St Nicholas Cabasilas points out that we are given these things because we are expected to use them, “What would be the point of strengthening and arming him who was to remain and sleep at home? … Were there no contests for virtue, what would be man’s work? Or rather what would be worse than the case of those who achieve nothing… It was therefore necessary to grant to men a place for works and a time for struggles and to give to those who had already received perfection and ability from the Mysteries an opportunity to make the effort befitting their nature.” Therefore it is up to us to turn away from those things which tempt us and try to pull us away from Christ.

What then disturbs the harmony of the Body of Christ? First of all there is the “original” sin of our first parents who were convinced by the evil one that they were wiser than God and thus could act on their own ideas and impulses. This tendency is with all of us still and overcoming it is a basic part of the struggle we face. Our Lord, by giving us new life has put the “genie” of self will “back in the bottle” – but how fiercely it struggles to get out again. This is the basic element of “self-denial” – to submit our own ideas, our own reasoning, our own thoughts to Christ and allow Him to lead us through the Apostles and the Church rather than trying to forge our own path. Do not proceed according to your own ideas, but rather follow the path that our Lord sets before you each day which is bounded and defined by the witness of the Apostles, given to us by the tradition of the Church.

Another disruption of the harmony of the Body of Christ that erupts from our fallen nature is our passion. The raging demands of our passions for fulfillment at any cost create tempest of selfish demands that constantly threaten to overwhelm us. One of the primary means by which we weaken these demands of the passions is quite simply fasting. By keeping the fasting seasons (such as Great Lent which we just finished) in obedience to the tradition of the Church, we chip away constantly at the strength of the passions by bringing one of the strongest of them (that is the belly) under the control of the will (rather than allowing it to control the will). Every time we say “no” to the demands of our desires, we weaken the passions a little bit. Thus the fasts are the forefront of our war against the tyranny of the passions – and we continue that battle by every act of self-denial, every act of setting aside the fulfillment of our desires.

Most notable among the disturbances of our unity is the insistence of having one’s own way; of having one’s own opinion prevail. This goes back to the temptation to put our will above that of God. If we can’t tell God what to do – well then maybe we can at least tell our neighbor what to do. This is linked closely to pride, to putting oneself ahead of others. Also coming from this pride is the desire for praise and recognition. How often do we act not out of love for others or for the benefit of the whole Church, but rather out of a desire for someone to notice what we have done and praise us for it. The answer lies in humility. We must cultivate humility in our hearts. I read recently a saying that expresses the practice of humility very clearly and I would like to share it with you. To be humble is not to think less of yourself – rather it is to think of yourself less. It is good to act with confidence, to exercise to their fullest the gifts that God has given to you, however, do so in a way that does not bring attention to yourself, but rather in a way that builds up your brother or sister in Christ, or even your neighbor whoever he might be. By His grace, God has given you skills and gifts and innate talents that you should use to the best of your ability. In using them, however, do not think of yourself, of your gain, of your benefit, but rather think of your neighbor, his needs and his well-being. This is humility – to always put others before yourself.

The first Christians were all together “of one accord”, living in perfect peace with one another, striving together for the same goal – to follow Christ as He led them into the Kingdom of God by the care and teaching of the Apostles. So we too should strive to live in one accord with them and with each other – working together to follow Christ and to enter, together, into the Kingdom of God.

Archpriest David Moser
St Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (ROCOR)
Homilies: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/propoved/
Website: http://stseraphimboise.org/