February 8, 2009 (Mathew 24:42-51)

Gospel Reading: Matthew 24:42-51

All Bible Readings for Sunday, February 8th 2009
[Remember all departed priests]

In last week’s reading (Mark 6:1-6), the people of Nazareth were unable to accept the Word because they let their real-world understanding block out their belief. Remember the reaction of the people … they were amazed and moved by the teachings, but then remembered this was Jesus who grew up in Nazereth as the son of Joseph and Mary and then they turned angry.

Remember that everyone has been given by God “free will”, and we can choose to listen to the teachings of Christ or ignore.

Today’s Gospel Reading from Mathew 24:42-51, i.e.,

“So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. 43 Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. 44 You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.

45 “A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. 46 If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. 47 I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns. 48 But what if the servant is evil and thinks, ‘My master won’t be back for a while,’ 49 and he begins beating the other servants, partying, and getting drunk? 50 The master will return unannounced and unexpected, 51 and he will cut the servant to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
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“Gnashing of Teeth” is a figure of expression used back when these text were written … basically, those people who choose to not follow Christ and be like Christ will be quite unhappy

What is this passage pointing to? The second coming of Christ!

And the third day rose again according to His will, and ascended in to heaven nd sat on the right hand of the Father and shall come again in his great glory to judge both the quick and the dead, and whose kingdom shall have no end.

This is something the Church professes on at each Qurbana during the Nicene Creed.

• 
  First Point:
  
  We don’t know when Christ will come again. So many readings and parables talk about not taking our Faith for granted, and to work at being like Christ.
  
  Just like the Master gave a job to the servants, our job as Christians is not easy … it is to be perfect like our Father in heaven is perfect (Mathew 5:48). We may feel lazy and take an easy path, or be tempted by the world’s distractions … but the warning from Christ is to always be prepared and always choose to follow and be closer to Him
  


• 
  Second Point:
  
  This is unfortunately not the time to get into an in-depth discussion of Final Judgment. case because many will choose to reject God. Deep theological differences exist between our teachings and other Christian denominations.
  
  The point to remember is that our Church teaches and emphasizes that God is Love, and His wish and desire is for everyone to be saved. However, He knows this will not be the
  
  Even we do this … none of us are perfect, right? We get angry, we get tempted … there is always a gap between us and where God wants us to be … the 10 commandments say “thou shalt not kill”, but remember Jesus taught later that it is not enough not to kill but to not even get angry.
  
  This is why throughout the Qurbana we say “Kurielieson” … the Greek word (with a Syriac accent) for “Lord have mercy!”. We also pray for Mercy for all in the Church, all outside the Church and our departed ones … why? Because that’s what God wants of us, to not only think of ourselves.
  


• 
  Point Three:
  
  Judgment is a scary thought, right? If you ever get confused on how Jesus who is Love can decide to throw someone into the fires and worms and all the other imagery that was used?
  
  But just as God is Love, if we don’t change ourselves to become more like God, that Love will be intolerable.
  
  St Maximus the Confessor used an analogy that God is the Sun of Justice … we may feel hot or cold and we can blame the Sun … But the Sun burns constant.
  
  Through our choices (and free will), we become like mud because we love the earth so much, or wax because of our love for God … and what happens when the Sun shines on mud? The mud gets harder and harder … but the wax gets softer and more changeable. And, when soft, God’s imprints can be seen more and more … that’s a good image to keep in mind if we ever get confused or angry at God.
  
  So again – always remember that our Church emphasizes that God is Love, and it His Love that we are always not worthy to receive but will receive.
  

February 1, 2009 (Mark 6: 1-6)

Gospel Reading: Mark 6:1-6

All Bible Readings for Sunday, February 1st 2009
[Fourth Sunday after Denaha, the Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Does anyone remember the key takeaways from last week’s reading? John 3:1-12

We all have the Holy Spirit within us, when we are born again through Baptism. But we may choose not to listen or obey. The Church teaches us that one of God’s blessings upon us is that of free will, we can choose to do right and wrong … and because of that loving gift we can choose (and we should) to listen to God’s teaching.

With that in mind, let’s listen to today’s Gospel Reading from Mark 6:1-6, i.e.,

Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

"Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given him that he even does miracles!

Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.

Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith.

Let’s think about the reaction of the people of Nazareth – first amazement, then ridicule .. anger ..

Even prior to the Resurrection, many believed that this man Jesus was indeed the Son of God, the Messiah .. people marveled at His teachings and miracles, but here in Nazareth they rejected Him since they “knew better”. In the Book of St Mark, this story happens at the time at a time when Jesus is becoming famous … huge crowds are following Him and amazed at his teachings and miracles (Remember the miracles where Jesus fed 5000 men with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish – not counting women and children! Another story he fed 4000 men with 7 loaves of bread and a few fish).

Luke 4:16-30 also talks of this event in more detail, but it is given before the great miracles … some good men like Simeon who saw Jesus as a baby understood that this was the Savior.

Does this remind of a parable Jesus used to teach? The Parable of the Sower (Luke 8:4-8). Some seeds fell on the road and was stepped on, some fell on rock where it grew initially but then died, some fell among thorns .. but some fell on good soil where it grew hugely.

(The Seed is the Word, Sower is the one who spreads the Word of God and Soil is the heart of man). The people of Nazereth were like the rock, the road, the thorns …
As we said last week, the purpose of sharing the Gospel reading now is to help us be more ready to understand the Gospel reading when it is read during the Holy Qurbana and spoken about in the sermon.

First point:

• Remember as Christians we have free will. The Church teaches this emphatically, and even in the story of Genesis we see that Adam and Eve chose to disobey God and gain knowledge without Him. The people of Nazareth chose not to listen, and that’s why Jesus left … not because He needed the people to believe in order to do miracles, but because their hearts and minds became clouded (maybe anger, or jealousy or just ignorance)
  

Second Point:

• What we must learn from this story in particular is never to come to conclusions in our head that may actually be against Christ’s teaching.
  
  Who would better know Jesus Christ than those who grew up with Him? The people of Nazareth, right?
  
  But, even when Jesus taught with clarity, performed miracles and fulfilled all the Scripture prophecies … even when St Simeon and Anna testified of Him even as an infant … they chose to ignore because it just did not make sense.
  
  This happens to us everyday, and again when in doubt reach out to your parents, teachers, Achens, elders, … the Church.
  

January 25, 2009 (John 3:1-12)

Gospel Reading: John 3:1-12

All Bible readings on Sunday, January 25th 2009
[Third Sunday after Denaha, or the Baptism of our Lord Jesus]

Points to Share:

• We need to remember as Christians we are called to understand the meaning of the Scripture ... we don't read the Bible to get all the answers of "why" and "how". When Jesus told Nicodemus that he needs to be born again, Nicodemus immediate reaction was, "How can this be?". We must always remember that all things are possible with God, even those that seem impossible to this world. There are many things which we simply have to accept and believe as Faith.


• We have to remember that all of us here are born again! We were baptized with Holy Water and prayer, and through the Sacrament of Baptism the Holy Spirit entered us and we were born again.
  
  Most of us were children at the time of our Baptism and do not remember. But is it bad or wrong that we don't remember because we don't remember the Holy Spirit entering our bodies, or that we as individuals did not invite or accept?
  
  To help us understand, let's think back to our actual birth ... none of us were like Benjamin Button and born as an 80 year old man. How did we grow from there and learn things? Through our parents, our brothers and sisters, our Appachans and Amachis, our teachers ...
  
  When we are Baptized, we are born again ... spiritually. Regardless of age, we are like little babies. So the question is who will raise us? The Church!. Just like when we were a few months old, our family - the Church! - will raise us, feed us .. our parents, God parents, Sunday School teachers, Achen, alter boys, elders ... through the Church, we learn how to become a Christian.
  
  Jesus talks in many places in the Gospel about the need to be like children to understand His teachings e.g., Mathew 18:12-4, Luke 18:15-17, etc.
  
  The Holy Spirit within us will guide us ... if we allow. Through the Church we will know Christ and grow more like Him because of being Baptized .. being born again. We have the Holy Spirit within us.