WEBVTT 1 00:00:04.599 --> 00:00:08.880 Welcome to Hill Country Homilies. Weekly homilies from Holy Annunciation 2 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:13.400 Orthodox Church in Liberty Hill, Texas. Holy Annunciation is an 3 00:00:13.400 --> 00:00:17.239 old calendar Orthodox church sharing the faith of the Apostles 4 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:20.519 and the love of Christ with all who seek His truth. Now, 5 00:00:20.600 --> 00:00:23.480 let's listen to this week's homily and the. 6 00:00:24.199 --> 00:00:25.399 Glory to Jesus Christ. 7 00:00:28.120 --> 00:00:36.399 Have a seat if you like, you know, in our 8 00:00:36.520 --> 00:00:41.119 modern culture, in our modern culture and even reaching back 9 00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:47.159 some generations, there's always been a special set of wisdom, 10 00:00:47.320 --> 00:00:51.359 if you will, that people pull out and apply specifically 11 00:00:51.399 --> 00:00:55.560 to matters of business, and particularly to matters of deal 12 00:00:55.640 --> 00:01:01.479 making and negotiations. Indeed, particularly in the last few decades, 13 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:06.000 there's an explosion of books giving advice on business and negotiation. 14 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:09.359 One of the most famous of those books you've probably 15 00:01:09.359 --> 00:01:12.239 heard of. It was written by none other than Donald Trump, 16 00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:12.920 entitled The. 17 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:13.719 Art of the Deal. 18 00:01:14.359 --> 00:01:17.040 And in the Art of the Deal, Trump says a 19 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:21.879 few things about negotiation. He says, for example, leverage is key. 20 00:01:22.359 --> 00:01:25.599 Don't make deals without it, rather use it to enhance 21 00:01:25.640 --> 00:01:26.200 your position. 22 00:01:27.120 --> 00:01:28.359 And later he says what. 23 00:01:28.280 --> 00:01:31.680 Economic theory tells us as the basis of any transaction 24 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:35.799 when he says deals work best when each side gets 25 00:01:35.799 --> 00:01:38.680 something that it wants from the other. Now, this is 26 00:01:38.760 --> 00:01:44.239 the essence of free market economic theory. Two otherwise unrelated 27 00:01:44.280 --> 00:01:49.319 parties enter into an agreement because one has something that 28 00:01:49.400 --> 00:01:52.000 the other wants and vice versa. One has a product 29 00:01:52.040 --> 00:01:55.040 or property, the other has money. They make the exchange, 30 00:01:55.400 --> 00:01:58.120 and the happiness of each is increased because they've exchanged 31 00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:01.200 something that they were willing to part with for something 32 00:02:01.560 --> 00:02:06.359 that they desired. Now I find these things interesting because 33 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:10.560 my undergraduate degree was in business economics and we studied 34 00:02:10.560 --> 00:02:15.840 this transactional approach that the free market theory requires. It's 35 00:02:15.879 --> 00:02:20.319 said that we can apply economic theory to every human decision. 36 00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:22.360 In fact, Ludwig von. 37 00:02:22.280 --> 00:02:27.520 Mesis, who is probably the foremost free market economy economists 38 00:02:27.599 --> 00:02:32.240 of our times, entitled his Treatise on Economics Human Action 39 00:02:33.319 --> 00:02:34.400 to indicate. 40 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:38.800 That all that we do is driven by economic utility. 41 00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:43.080 It's driven by this transactional evaluation as we seek to 42 00:02:43.199 --> 00:02:47.719 maximize our personal utility. And in one class discussion I'll 43 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:51.439 Never Forget, the professor asked the class, what do you 44 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:56.000 call it? When one person's individual utility is increased by 45 00:02:56.039 --> 00:02:58.800 the presence of another person and vice versa, and the 46 00:02:58.840 --> 00:03:02.479 whole class sat there with looks on their face, until 47 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:05.280 the professor looked at us and answer his own questions, said, 48 00:03:05.719 --> 00:03:09.960 we call that love even the greatest of emotions. In 49 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:13.159 our modern time, both in the world in an academia 50 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:17.919 is being reduced to a transaction or an exchange. But 51 00:03:18.039 --> 00:03:22.120 in our gospel reading today we hear a very different 52 00:03:22.159 --> 00:03:26.560 approach to human relationships and a very different ideal of love. 53 00:03:27.560 --> 00:03:30.639 In today's Gospel, we hear the words of Christ to 54 00:03:30.680 --> 00:03:33.919 the apostles. They are preparing to be sent out into 55 00:03:33.919 --> 00:03:36.960 the fields where there would be doubters, mockers. 56 00:03:36.879 --> 00:03:38.400 And to be sure of persecutors. 57 00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:42.840 They would soon face people who want nothing to do 58 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:46.159 with them or their message, and who would most prefer 59 00:03:46.280 --> 00:03:49.960 to seize and to kill their teacher. And Christ, with 60 00:03:50.120 --> 00:03:55.719 his words, both prepares them for this eventuality and guides 61 00:03:55.919 --> 00:04:00.000 us in understanding the true manner in which an orthodox 62 00:04:00.199 --> 00:04:03.560 Christian must relate to other humans, both those that love 63 00:04:03.639 --> 00:04:08.479 us and those that hate us. Christ begins by essentially 64 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:12.439 stating what we call today the Golden rule, as you would. 65 00:04:12.159 --> 00:04:15.240 That men should do to you, do ye also. 66 00:04:15.159 --> 00:04:19.000 To them likewise, But then he directs them in what 67 00:04:19.079 --> 00:04:22.720 this means in a manner that is very contrary to 68 00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:26.079 the egoistic and self focused approach of man. 69 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:30.000 He calls them that same way, to that same way of. 70 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:34.279 Living that Jeremiah recorded in his prophecy, writing that the 71 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:37.519 Lord says, this is my covenant, and I will that 72 00:04:37.560 --> 00:04:39.439 I will make with the house of Israel. I will 73 00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:42.959 surely put my laws into their mind and write them. 74 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:46.120 On their hearts. What Christ calls. 75 00:04:45.879 --> 00:04:49.360 Us to is not the ways of man, but the 76 00:04:49.399 --> 00:04:53.360 ways of God written onto our hearts. 77 00:04:53.879 --> 00:04:54.720 Love ye your. 78 00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:58.600 Enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping nothing again, and 79 00:04:58.680 --> 00:05:03.959 your reward shall be great. And in doing so Christ 80 00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:09.759 decimates the transactional approach to human relationships. For if you love, 81 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:13.240 then which love you, what thank have ye for? If 82 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:15.959 you do for sinners, also love those well. Then if 83 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:19.519 you do good to those who do good to you, 84 00:05:19.639 --> 00:05:22.959 what thank have ye for sinners also do the same. 85 00:05:23.560 --> 00:05:26.120 And if you lend to those from whom you hope 86 00:05:26.120 --> 00:05:29.279 to receive, what thank heav ye for sinners, also lend 87 00:05:29.319 --> 00:05:32.560 to sinners to receive as much. Again, every example that 88 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:36.480 Christ gives is an example that is contrary to our 89 00:05:36.519 --> 00:05:40.519 fallen human nature, but fully emblematic of the nature of 90 00:05:40.519 --> 00:05:44.600 the divine, and whose image we have been formed, but 91 00:05:44.680 --> 00:05:48.399 whose like not, but whose likeness we were deprived by 92 00:05:48.439 --> 00:05:51.720 the fault. And Christ, in these words of the apostles 93 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:55.519 and to us, calls our fallen human nature back to 94 00:05:55.759 --> 00:06:00.040 the divine, where hate is met by love, where the 95 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:04.399 need is fulfilled without expectation of return. And the promise 96 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:08.720 he makes to us, should we do this is more 97 00:06:08.959 --> 00:06:12.680 than we could ever expect. Your reward shall be great, 98 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:17.759 and ye shall be the children of the highest and 99 00:06:17.879 --> 00:06:22.759 more than this. Christ makes clear that there is no 100 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:26.519 credit due to us when we act as the gentiles 101 00:06:26.519 --> 00:06:29.399 of the sinners of the time and love and give 102 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:33.120 only to those who love us or who we expect 103 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:36.160 to profit from their repayment. For He says, if you 104 00:06:36.279 --> 00:06:37.839 do good to them who do good to you, what 105 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:38.519 thanks you? 106 00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:40.600 And say? 107 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:46.959 Indeed, says Christ condemns this type of giving. He condemns 108 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:51.800 this type of love as unprofitable to us. Saint Gregory 109 00:06:51.839 --> 00:06:55.399 of Nissa goes even further, saying that when we engage 110 00:06:55.399 --> 00:06:59.079 in this kind of transactional approach to our fellow man, 111 00:06:59.439 --> 00:07:01.879 we're more like a criminal. He says, man ought to 112 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:05.600 shun that anxiety with which he seeks from the poor 113 00:07:05.639 --> 00:07:09.199 man an increase of his own money in gold, extracting 114 00:07:09.240 --> 00:07:10.680 a profit of baron metals. 115 00:07:10.759 --> 00:07:12.560 Rather, if a man. 116 00:07:12.439 --> 00:07:15.839 Should call for the harsh calculation of interest, theft or homicide, 117 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:19.920 he will not air for what is the difference whether 118 00:07:19.959 --> 00:07:24.040 a man, by digging digging under a wall, gainst property 119 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:28.680 or possesses unlawfully by the charging of interest. Note the 120 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:32.639 import of Saint Gregory's work. Even if a transaction were legal, 121 00:07:32.759 --> 00:07:35.279 even if it has the consent of both the parties, 122 00:07:35.560 --> 00:07:38.319 it can still be to the condemination of one or both, 123 00:07:38.879 --> 00:07:43.199 particularly where one party seeks to take advantage of the other. Now, 124 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:46.439 brothers and sisters, I don't think it takes too much 125 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:50.480 imagination to see how this reduction of human relationships to 126 00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:54.680 simple transactional exchanges should be of as much or more 127 00:07:54.720 --> 00:07:58.600 concerned today than at any time in the past. In 128 00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:04.360 our consumer driven relationships often come about from a transactional perspective, 129 00:08:04.439 --> 00:08:07.519 what can this person do for me? We see this 130 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:12.439 even at the youngest ages, as children or the parents 131 00:08:12.480 --> 00:08:15.560 of children may seek out friends of friends or play 132 00:08:15.639 --> 00:08:18.040 dates for their kids that they think can benefit them 133 00:08:18.120 --> 00:08:22.720 socially or even sometimes financially, and we take that same 134 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:26.439 approach into school, into our careers, and I think we 135 00:08:26.480 --> 00:08:30.279 can all think of examples even where that same approach 136 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:34.000 of seeking mutual benefit has gone all the way into 137 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:39.600 romantic relationships, family relationships, and even marriage. In fact, not 138 00:08:39.639 --> 00:08:42.759 to get off track, but what the West has done 139 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:45.879 to marriage is a testament to this unholy focus on 140 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:52.320 transactional relationships. Unlike the Orthodox marriage ceremony, which recognizes and 141 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:55.799 blesses a marriage ordained by God for the salvation of 142 00:08:55.919 --> 00:08:59.480 husband and wife, in the West, the marriage ceremony is 143 00:08:59.519 --> 00:09:01.080 a trans action in itself. 144 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:05.240 It's a recitation of vowels and promises. It's even called 145 00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:06.200 a marriage. 146 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:09.720 Contract at times, as if we conduce, as if we 147 00:09:09.759 --> 00:09:13.600 can reduce God's ordained lifetime matrimony to a. 148 00:09:13.639 --> 00:09:15.360 Legal obligation God forbid. 149 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:20.399 That Christ calls us to in this teaching is the 150 00:09:20.519 --> 00:09:25.080 love that the world scoffs at, that it dismisses as naive, 151 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:29.279 or that marks one who offers such love is allowing 152 00:09:29.279 --> 00:09:31.480 myself to be taken advantage of. 153 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:35.879 But what Christ is saying is that if we actually. 154 00:09:35.559 --> 00:09:41.039 Love the way that God loves, we will be scoffed at. 155 00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:43.320 We will be dismissed. 156 00:09:44.360 --> 00:09:49.240 Loving, we may even be taken of advantage of. But 157 00:09:49.320 --> 00:09:52.279 we are also in that same moment loving our brother 158 00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:56.600 as our father in heaven loves us. And we are 159 00:09:56.639 --> 00:10:00.960 doing unto others precisely how we pray that others would 160 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:02.960 do unto us if we were in a time of need. 161 00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:08.480 In this modern time, Today's Gospel challenges us to love 162 00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:13.879 family members, colleagues, and neighbors without expecting anything in return, 163 00:10:14.399 --> 00:10:19.080 caring for elderly parents, supporting struggling friends, helping coworkers without 164 00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:24.600 seeking or expecting two different things, without seeking or expecting 165 00:10:25.159 --> 00:10:28.960 personal gain, and even more calls us to love those 166 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:32.720 who have wronged us, to offer our coat at risk 167 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:35.120 of being cold, to offer the other cheek at risk 168 00:10:35.200 --> 00:10:39.480 of being struck, to love holy, knowing that we may 169 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:43.879 be rejected, just as God's own creation rejected him. It 170 00:10:43.960 --> 00:10:50.080 is this unconditional love that marks us as children of God. So, 171 00:10:50.200 --> 00:10:53.519 brothers and sisters, as we depart today, let us embrace 172 00:10:53.720 --> 00:10:56.320 this greatest counsel of the Lord to do unto others 173 00:10:56.720 --> 00:10:58.879 as we would have them do unto us. But let 174 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:02.879 us not do soach passively. Let us actively love. Let 175 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:05.559 us seek out those who are in pain and offer 176 00:11:05.639 --> 00:11:08.000 them relief. Let us seek out those in hunger and 177 00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:12.159 offer them nourishment. Those without means and offer them resources 178 00:11:12.159 --> 00:11:16.759 with no expectation of a thank you, much less repayment 179 00:11:16.919 --> 00:11:20.600 or recognition. And may we all embody the mercy of 180 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:24.000 our Father, that we two may be called children of 181 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:25.720 the Most High, in the name of the Father and 182 00:11:25.799 --> 00:11:26.840 the San Ho Holy Spirit. 183 00:11:26.919 --> 00:11:27.279 Amen. 184 00:11:28.480 --> 00:11:32.080 Thanks for listening to Hill Country homilies. For more information, 185 00:11:32.559 --> 00:11:38.679 visit Holy Nunciation Orthodox Church at www dot Denunciation, tx 186 00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:41.799 dot com, and please join us again next week.