WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:09.759 Patristic nectar publications, nourishing the spiritually thirsty with the sweet 2 00:00:09.759 --> 00:00:14.919 teachings of the Holy Fathers and now Father Josiah. 3 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:16.920 In the name of the Father and of the Son 4 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:23.480 and of the Holy Spirit, Christ has risen. I prepared 5 00:00:23.480 --> 00:00:25.559 a homily for you this morning, dear ones, that I'm 6 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:31.480 entitling doing God's will, from the end of the account 7 00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:35.960 of the Samaritan woman that you just heard. Just after 8 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:41.119 this interchange with the people of her town of Sikhar, 9 00:00:41.719 --> 00:00:44.880 the disciples returned to Jesus, and they had gone and 10 00:00:45.200 --> 00:00:49.799 brought food to him. And when they presented the food 11 00:00:49.799 --> 00:00:54.719 to him, he said, I have food to eat that 12 00:00:54.759 --> 00:00:57.799 you don't know about. So my Sermont's going to be 13 00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:01.039 answering what is that food? But I'm not there yet, 14 00:01:01.159 --> 00:01:05.400 not there yet. First, a very happy Mother's Day to 15 00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:13.239 all of our mothers, grandmothers, great grandmothers, godmothers, spiritual mothers, 16 00:01:13.280 --> 00:01:17.920 all our precious nuns. We're so thankful to God for you. 17 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:25.159 We have some special treats for you later. This is 18 00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:28.640 the fifth Sunday of Pasca. The day of Easter itself 19 00:01:28.719 --> 00:01:35.239 is first Sunday. Saint Thomas and his faith after touching 20 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:39.760 the side of Christ is the second Sunday. After that 21 00:01:39.840 --> 00:01:45.000 we have the murdering women and their incredible devotion as 22 00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:49.439 a model. Then we have the paralytic that Jesus healed, 23 00:01:50.200 --> 00:01:53.959 and then today the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman. Next week. 24 00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:57.599 The marvelous gospel text on the blind Man Pasca is 25 00:01:57.799 --> 00:02:03.599 a treasure trove of edification from the Gospels, one encouraging, 26 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:09.280 miraculous gospel after the other. This text may be the 27 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:15.120 most rich theological text in the entire New Testament. This 28 00:02:15.240 --> 00:02:19.800 account of the Samaritan woman. So many amazing truths set 29 00:02:19.879 --> 00:02:23.960 forth in this engagement between her, Saint Foutini, the woman 30 00:02:23.960 --> 00:02:28.800 who would become Saint Foutini, and our Lord Christ. I 31 00:02:28.840 --> 00:02:32.199 want you to see a number of things. First, I 32 00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:35.960 want you to see the incredible humility that is the 33 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:40.520 backdrop of this whole account. Remember what's happening. Why is 34 00:02:40.599 --> 00:02:50.639 Jesus at the well? He's tired. He's tired, The co 35 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:55.960 eternal son of God is tired. Saint Ephim the Syrian, 36 00:02:56.800 --> 00:02:59.479 in one of his hymns, I think it's the seventeenth hymn, 37 00:02:59.560 --> 00:03:06.039 his collect him on Virginity, describes this incredibly gracious reference 38 00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:11.360 to Jesus being tired, Listen to what he says, Although tireless, 39 00:03:12.759 --> 00:03:19.080 he became tired in order to give you rest. Although 40 00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:23.919 tireless as the co eternal son of God in his humility, 41 00:03:24.039 --> 00:03:27.840 he condescended to take on our flesh and all of 42 00:03:27.879 --> 00:03:32.719 its natural passions and weaknesses in order to redeem us 43 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:38.599 and save us. Although tireless, he became tired in order 44 00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:44.800 to give you rest. This text also shows the incredible 45 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:49.319 thirst that Jesus has for the love of human beings, 46 00:03:50.879 --> 00:03:53.759 how much he seeks us, how much he wants us 47 00:03:54.680 --> 00:03:57.879 his mercy and love, which are highlighted in this text, 48 00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:04.719 especially his manifestation with this Samaritan woman. He sought her. 49 00:04:05.080 --> 00:04:10.360 He broke all the rules, beautifully broke all the bogus rules, 50 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:14.159 all the made up rules, all the fallen rules, in 51 00:04:14.240 --> 00:04:19.319 order to save this woman, to make this woman participant 52 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:24.920 in his own love. You also see in this text 53 00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:30.360 God's amazing thirst for the entire human race. He thirsts 54 00:04:30.439 --> 00:04:32.800 for them to know Him and his father in the 55 00:04:32.839 --> 00:04:37.319 Holy Spirit. He thirsts for us to join ourselves to 56 00:04:37.439 --> 00:04:42.319 Him in worship. This is why he says what he 57 00:04:42.439 --> 00:04:49.800 said about it's no longer time to worship in Jerusalem, 58 00:04:49.879 --> 00:04:52.959 nor has it ever been time to worship on Mount 59 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:57.600 Gharrisiem in Samaria. But the Father desires that all men 60 00:04:57.639 --> 00:05:03.240 would worship him in space and in truth. We see 61 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:10.959 Jesus's resolve for the revelation of full trinitarian worship. Those 62 00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:15.800 who worship the Father must worship him in spirit and 63 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:19.879 in truth. This is the Father say, an affirmation of 64 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:25.560 full Trinitarian worship the Father in He who is the 65 00:05:25.600 --> 00:05:32.920 Truth Christ, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We 66 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:36.839 also see in this text that Jesus reveals himself as 67 00:05:36.879 --> 00:05:41.040 the Lord of history, the one whose hand is guiding everything. 68 00:05:43.079 --> 00:05:47.240 Whenever we're in political conflict, it's always a relief to me. 69 00:05:48.040 --> 00:05:52.279 Besides all the grief, the endless wars are such a burden, 70 00:05:53.319 --> 00:05:56.120 such a burden, they seem to never stop my whole 71 00:05:56.160 --> 00:06:00.920 bloody life. But what puts that's a smile on my 72 00:06:01.040 --> 00:06:04.800 face is when all of our arrogant political leaders telling 73 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:08.319 us what's going to happen the Golden Age, this, and 74 00:06:08.759 --> 00:06:11.000 this is going to happen for sure, and that's going 75 00:06:11.079 --> 00:06:13.000 to happen there for sure, and they don't know what 76 00:06:13.160 --> 00:06:15.680 in the world they're talking about, and Evidently they haven't 77 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:17.920 learned from the last war and the one before that, 78 00:06:18.040 --> 00:06:19.680 and the one before that and the one before that, 79 00:06:20.199 --> 00:06:24.399 where it never goes as they say it's going to go. 80 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:30.480 There's one who can tell you that one. That's him. 81 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:36.040 He's painted there because he sits at the right hand 82 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:39.600 of the Father, on the throne of God, until all 83 00:06:39.639 --> 00:06:41.800 of his enemies become a footstool for his feet, and 84 00:06:41.879 --> 00:06:46.519 his hand guides all the destinies of men. He causes 85 00:06:46.600 --> 00:06:49.040 men to rise up, and then he throws them down. 86 00:06:49.800 --> 00:06:53.160 He moves this left, and he moves that right. Listen 87 00:06:53.199 --> 00:06:56.519 to Jesus in this incredible account with the Samaritan woman. 88 00:06:56.600 --> 00:07:00.560 Three times he tells the Samaritan woman what the real 89 00:07:00.680 --> 00:07:07.439 time is, what's really going on? Historically? An hour is coming, 90 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:12.560 he says, when neither here in this mountain nor in 91 00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:17.319 Jerusalem will you worship the Father. Here he's telling you 92 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:20.839 that right now, the system of worship which they have 93 00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:26.160 had for over one thousand years, it's that's four times 94 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:29.600 as old as our country. They have had this system, 95 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:33.279 and it was revealed by God. Don't miss this. How 96 00:07:33.319 --> 00:07:38.040 extreme an affirmation Jesus is saying. Here, He's saying it's 97 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:45.920 done no more. An hour is coming when neither here 98 00:07:45.959 --> 00:07:48.920 in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 99 00:07:49.160 --> 00:07:51.800 I'm sure they were thinking, what what do you mean. 100 00:07:51.839 --> 00:07:53.879 It's been going on for a thousand years and God 101 00:07:53.920 --> 00:07:59.040 commanded it through Moses, and Jesus says it's over, despite 102 00:07:59.079 --> 00:08:02.759 the radical Zionists who are trying to reinstitute it. Right now, 103 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:06.839 it's been dead for two thousand years, and it was 104 00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:08.959 over because the Lord of History said it was over. 105 00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:14.000 Now the Holy Trinity will be worshiped throughout the whole world, 106 00:08:14.759 --> 00:08:17.240 as is the case and has been for two thousand years. 107 00:08:17.879 --> 00:08:21.839 That's number one. Next, he says, an hour is coming, 108 00:08:22.839 --> 00:08:27.480 and now is when the true worshippers will worship the 109 00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:30.759 Father in the spirit and truth. So now he's proclaiming 110 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:34.600 that it's happening right now. It's not just coming, it's 111 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:39.919 now here that Christian worship, authentic Christian worship is breaking out. 112 00:08:40.519 --> 00:08:42.600 It was breaking out in his disciple group, but that 113 00:08:42.600 --> 00:08:45.720 disciple group would take it to the whole world. And 114 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:49.080 then a third word, the Lord of History issues about 115 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:52.159 the Gospel age. He says, do you not say there 116 00:08:52.200 --> 00:08:56.559 are yet four months? And then comes the harvest. Behold, 117 00:08:56.720 --> 00:09:00.159 lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that 118 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:04.639 they are white for harvest. Already, he who reaps is 119 00:09:04.679 --> 00:09:08.559 gathering fruit for life eternal. This affirmation by the Lord 120 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:11.240 of History probably was the hardest one for them to accept. 121 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:15.159 He had a few disciples, there ones a few disciples, 122 00:09:16.440 --> 00:09:20.240 and here he's saying, the hour right now is that 123 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:24.720 the whole world is going to be reaped. I'm going 124 00:09:24.759 --> 00:09:30.039 to gather them all into my storehouse. If you had 125 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:33.080 sat the disciples down and told them that this little 126 00:09:33.080 --> 00:09:37.480 bunch of fishermen, a dozen fishermen, and they were young, 127 00:09:38.679 --> 00:09:43.200 some were teenagers, teenagers, that they were going to convert 128 00:09:43.279 --> 00:09:49.039 the world, that in a very short time, like within 129 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:56.519 fifty years, we would have leaders writing significant treatises to 130 00:09:56.559 --> 00:10:00.399 the emperors to make apologetic defenses of the Christian faith. 131 00:10:00.559 --> 00:10:03.279 And within two hundred years a third of the empire 132 00:10:03.320 --> 00:10:06.320 would be Christian, and within three hundred years it would 133 00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:08.440 be completely Christian, and by the end of the fourth 134 00:10:08.440 --> 00:10:10.519 century it would become the legal religion of the world. 135 00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:13.279 The civilized Well, are you kidding me? They would have 136 00:10:13.320 --> 00:10:16.759 laughed at you. But when the Lord of History speaks, 137 00:10:16.759 --> 00:10:20.559 it happens. He knows what he's talking about. It's an 138 00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:27.840 incredible revelation. In this text, Jesus reveals himself as a 139 00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:31.279 radical missionary come to harvest the entire world. In chapter three, 140 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:38.000 just before this, he tells Nicodemus to forget the old 141 00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:44.840 stop being interested in propagating Moses's law and your pharisaic traditions, 142 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:48.639 because they have no future, and you made them up. 143 00:10:50.279 --> 00:10:53.480 Unless a man is born again, he will never enter 144 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:55.879 into the Kingdom of God unless he's born of water 145 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:59.799 and the spirit. He won't even see it. And Nicodemus 146 00:10:59.799 --> 00:11:02.080 said to him, what are you talking about? And Lord said, 147 00:11:02.120 --> 00:11:05.320 how could you be a teacher of Israel and not 148 00:11:05.559 --> 00:11:09.320 understand these things? How did you, Nicodemus, get so caught 149 00:11:09.399 --> 00:11:12.919 up in this made up rabbinic nonsense that you can't 150 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:16.240 even understand what the prophets have been talking about. He 151 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:20.000 tells them how people are going to be saved, how 152 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:24.600 they're going to be enlightened, and then he tells them 153 00:11:24.679 --> 00:11:27.799 that it's going to be all over the whole world. 154 00:11:30.440 --> 00:11:33.080 He describes to Nicodemus the means of salvation is not 155 00:11:33.159 --> 00:11:35.279 keeping the law on the traditions of the Jewish elders, 156 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:38.080 but being born again of water. Having explained how one 157 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:41.919 is saved, he then shows exactly who he is seeking 158 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:45.559 to save by going and meeting with this woman, someone 159 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:51.399 they would never have spoken to. And the answer is 160 00:11:51.440 --> 00:11:54.919 given in that question. Just two days after this interaction, 161 00:11:55.080 --> 00:11:58.120 after he's done with the Samaritans, and what a witness. 162 00:11:58.159 --> 00:12:02.559 Can you imagine? The Lord exhausted, he had nothing to 163 00:12:02.639 --> 00:12:06.639 eat like we eat. And then they say to him, Lord, 164 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:10.919 the Samaritans, do do you think you could please stay 165 00:12:10.960 --> 00:12:13.919 here with us? I mean, you can't blame them. They 166 00:12:14.120 --> 00:12:17.840 just have become convinced that Christ is the Messiah, the 167 00:12:17.879 --> 00:12:20.360 long for Messiah, And they say to him, could you 168 00:12:20.360 --> 00:12:22.360 please stay with us? And he changes his whole plans 169 00:12:22.360 --> 00:12:25.360 and stays two full days with him, two full days 170 00:12:25.399 --> 00:12:33.799 with the outcasts, living in their homes, eating their food. 171 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:38.039 He shows Nicodemus how to be saved, and then he 172 00:12:38.039 --> 00:12:41.679 shows immediately afterwards who he wants to be saved, which 173 00:12:41.759 --> 00:12:45.960 is everyone. And he chose this woman for a reason. 174 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:51.519 A heretic and totally degraded, five husbands and living with 175 00:12:51.559 --> 00:12:55.879 a man. She just couldn't get it right. She just 176 00:12:55.879 --> 00:13:00.960 couldn't get it right. Poor thing, and then the Samaritans 177 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:03.200 hear him, and then they proclaim that it's not just 178 00:13:03.240 --> 00:13:05.240 for them. They come out and they said, we have 179 00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:09.360 come to believe that he is the savior of the world. 180 00:13:10.440 --> 00:13:13.080 Do you see how virtuous these people are, these heretics, 181 00:13:13.639 --> 00:13:18.559 incredible people. He had already performed all sorts of miracles 182 00:13:18.559 --> 00:13:21.159 in front of his own people, God's people, the Jews, 183 00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:25.000 and they didn't believe in him. These people, he didn't 184 00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:30.840 do a single miracle. It says that they had him 185 00:13:30.840 --> 00:13:33.320 for two days, asking him questions, and he talked, and 186 00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:36.279 then they proclaimed their utter faith in him, and not 187 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:38.039 just that he was telling the truth, but he was 188 00:13:38.080 --> 00:13:43.519 the savior of the whole world. This is an incredible text. 189 00:13:43.799 --> 00:13:47.440 You also see in this text the missionary plan that 190 00:13:47.480 --> 00:13:49.960 would govern the whole church's witness for the last two 191 00:13:49.960 --> 00:13:53.000 thousand years, very clearly in Saint Putini. And by the way, 192 00:13:53.159 --> 00:13:57.159 this woman ended up becoming an incredible missionary, Her sister, 193 00:13:57.480 --> 00:14:01.120 her kids, they all worked together, travel all over the place, 194 00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:07.120 ended up being martyred. You see the missionary plan. It 195 00:14:07.159 --> 00:14:13.120 starts with personal testimony, it always does. It leads then 196 00:14:13.159 --> 00:14:16.240 to interest on the part of those who hear and 197 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:20.960 an exposure to Jesus's words and then it leads to conversion. 198 00:14:21.960 --> 00:14:25.440 That's it. It's not that complicated personal testimony. Someone you 199 00:14:25.559 --> 00:14:30.919 know has tasted life in Christ, has touched the church. 200 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:37.440 It gets talked about. It's followed by interest. What is that? 201 00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:41.200 Do you think I can come? If they come? Where 202 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:44.559 did you read that? Can I see that? What did 203 00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:48.600 you say he did for you? They get exposed and 204 00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:53.960 then He's got them? Then yeah, then there is and 205 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:59.679 then it works again and again and again. This is 206 00:14:59.720 --> 00:15:05.759 the sary plan. Notice also, by the way, I haven't 207 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:08.200 got to the main point in my sermon yet. I'm 208 00:15:08.200 --> 00:15:10.799 just telling you how incredible this text is. When I 209 00:15:10.840 --> 00:15:13.799 said it is perhaps the richest theological text in all 210 00:15:13.799 --> 00:15:20.240 of the Gospels, I wasn't joking. Other Zacharias, who you 211 00:15:20.279 --> 00:15:22.399 know I love so much is the great Elder at 212 00:15:22.679 --> 00:15:26.399 the monastery of Saint John the Baptist in England. He 213 00:15:26.519 --> 00:15:32.200 says that this text is where we find that the 214 00:15:32.279 --> 00:15:37.279 Lord gave the greatest teaching in the entire New Testament 215 00:15:37.919 --> 00:15:42.039 to a ruined woman who was a heretic without a 216 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:49.720 word of reproach. Let me repeat that the Lord gave 217 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:52.279 the greatest teaching and the entire New Testament to a 218 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:56.799 ruined woman who was a heretic without a word of reproach. 219 00:15:57.960 --> 00:16:05.480 Grace is more powerful than anything at all. Jesus makes 220 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:12.600 saints out of sinners. He has no interest in shaming anyone. 221 00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:17.720 And lastly, in this list of amazing remembrances from this text, 222 00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:22.279 since nineteen seventy nine, we have remembered the martyrdom of 223 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:27.320 Saint Philumenos, a beloved Hira monk from Cyprus. Our Cypriots 224 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:29.320 have to be happy about that. He was actually a 225 00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:33.960 monk of the monastery of Stavrovuni. He and his brother 226 00:16:34.360 --> 00:16:37.200 both became monks. His brother went to Mount Athos, and 227 00:16:37.559 --> 00:16:39.679 father Philumenos went to the Holy Land, went to the 228 00:16:39.720 --> 00:16:47.480 West Bank, and there he became the official hiromonk, the 229 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:53.240 priest at the church of Saint Foutini Innabolis, the church 230 00:16:53.320 --> 00:16:56.240 of Jacob's Well, which is still there by the way, 231 00:16:56.960 --> 00:16:59.039 and he took up his residence in that church as 232 00:16:59.080 --> 00:17:03.240 its guardian under the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and he did 233 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:11.640 services every morning and every evening. Hurt Confessions nineteen seventy nine, 234 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:19.000 he was hacked to pieces by fanatical Jews, Zionists, illegal 235 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:23.960 settlers who came to the monastery and to the church, 236 00:17:24.759 --> 00:17:30.119 interrupted the services, demanded that he remove all Christian symbols 237 00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:34.599 because this land is Jewish, it belongs to the Jews. 238 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:39.319 You know what he said. He looked at them and 239 00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:42.720 he said, this was in church. He said, look at 240 00:17:42.759 --> 00:17:46.000 the ground, and the three crazies looked down. He said, 241 00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:49.599 to see that mosaic floor. You know who installed that. 242 00:17:50.759 --> 00:17:54.799 His name is Emperor Saint Constantine. And if you notice, 243 00:17:54.799 --> 00:17:58.279 he put a date AD three point thirty one. We 244 00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:03.119 have been worshiping in this church, in this place for 245 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:07.799 seventeen hundred years. Whatever fantasy you've made up about this 246 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:11.440 being Jewish land, you're dead wrong. And they left, and 247 00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:16.200 they came back later and murdered him in the church. 248 00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:19.319 They cut off his three fingers so he couldn't make 249 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:22.000 the sign of the cross, and then they took an 250 00:18:22.039 --> 00:18:24.759 axe and severed his head in the sign of a 251 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:28.920 cross and left him on the ground his precious relics, which, 252 00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:33.240 by the way, after five years, were incorrupt. His relics 253 00:18:33.240 --> 00:18:38.160 are in the church to this day. Let's never forget 254 00:18:38.200 --> 00:18:41.519 Saint Philuminos. May he pray for us now here's the 255 00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:45.000 point of my sermon. Here it is I got there. 256 00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:47.319 I got there. Let me just tell you that point 257 00:18:47.359 --> 00:18:51.400 of my servant. What I want you to see. What 258 00:18:51.559 --> 00:18:53.799 I saw more this year than I've ever seen. I 259 00:18:53.839 --> 00:18:59.400 never really noticed. It is how much this account Jesus 260 00:18:59.559 --> 00:19:06.359 used to teach his disciples to love doing God's will. 261 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:10.559 This is why I've entitled my sermon doing God's Will. 262 00:19:10.680 --> 00:19:14.799 Of course, throughout our Lord's ministry, he was constantly modeling that, 263 00:19:15.160 --> 00:19:18.119 showing us how to do his will, because he himself 264 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:20.799 labored always to do his father's will, and he did 265 00:19:20.839 --> 00:19:23.640 it perfectly. He set the perfect example. Think of the 266 00:19:23.640 --> 00:19:29.759 great examples of Getsemine in his Agonia there and he said, 267 00:19:30.039 --> 00:19:35.599 not my will, but thine be done. Think about Golgatha right, 268 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:40.599 the perfect example going to the cross. He didn't just 269 00:19:40.680 --> 00:19:44.559 model it, He also explicitly taught us the supreme importance 270 00:19:44.559 --> 00:19:49.319 of doing God's will. This is very much highlighted in 271 00:19:49.359 --> 00:19:52.599 the Gospel of John itself. Four different times Jesus says 272 00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:56.319 something radical about how he himself cared about doing his 273 00:19:56.359 --> 00:20:01.160 father's will. The first one is in John seven. Jesus 274 00:20:01.160 --> 00:20:03.640 so submitted his will to his father that he said 275 00:20:03.680 --> 00:20:08.240 he never spoke. This is unbelievable. He never spoke a 276 00:20:08.279 --> 00:20:11.680 single word that was not willed by his father. This 277 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:16.680 is John seventh, seventeen and eighteen. My teaching is not mine, 278 00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:21.240 but it is his who sent me. He who speaks 279 00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:28.240 from himself seeks his own glory. Not in any of 280 00:20:28.240 --> 00:20:30.400 his teaching did he get anywhere except from his father. 281 00:20:30.440 --> 00:20:31.960 His father gave him the words, and he said it. 282 00:20:32.079 --> 00:20:33.960 He said, if I spoke for myself without reference to 283 00:20:33.960 --> 00:20:36.440 my father, I'll be seeking my own glory. This is also, 284 00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:40.480 of course, why in imitation the fathers of the church, 285 00:20:40.519 --> 00:20:43.400 the church fathers, and the priests and bishops always labor 286 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:46.960 to speak from someone else, from the Lord and from 287 00:20:47.000 --> 00:20:50.240 the saints, not from ourselves. When you hear a priest 288 00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:53.000 saying something that you've never heard before and he makes 289 00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:56.640 no reference, you should be scratching your head. There are 290 00:20:56.640 --> 00:21:00.440 some ethical issues that are very contested in today's modern 291 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:04.359 Orthodox world. I won't mess mention them because it will 292 00:21:04.519 --> 00:21:06.359 steal your mind from what I'm trying to tell you. 293 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:10.440 But my point is the way that you can smell 294 00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:16.599 innovation is you look for references. Is there reference to 295 00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:19.519 the scripture, is there reference to the church fathers. Are 296 00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:24.160 they quoting saints or are they speaking from themselves? Ask 297 00:21:24.200 --> 00:21:27.920 that question you can discern a lot In John chapter eight, 298 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:30.200 verse twenty eight. He said, he who sent me is true. 299 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:33.640 And the things which I heard from him, the things 300 00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:36.119 I heard from him, these things I speak to the world. 301 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:39.359 I do nothing on my own initiative, but I speak 302 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:44.400 the things as the Father taught me. Credible. This is 303 00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:46.799 John twelve forty nine. For I did not speak on 304 00:21:46.839 --> 00:21:49.759 my own initiative, but the Father himself, who sent me, 305 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:53.720 has given me a commandment what to say and what 306 00:21:53.799 --> 00:21:58.559 to speak. And lastly, this is John fourteen ten. The 307 00:21:58.599 --> 00:22:01.039 words that I say to you, I do not speak 308 00:22:01.039 --> 00:22:04.720 on my own initiative, but the Father, abiding in me 309 00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:10.680 does his works. Can you imagine how much trouble we 310 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:14.240 would have avoided in our lives if we practice this 311 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:17.680 with our mouth, all the trouble we would have avoided, 312 00:22:18.319 --> 00:22:21.440 all the things we said that we dread giving an 313 00:22:21.480 --> 00:22:23.960 account for on the day of judgment, since Jesus said, 314 00:22:24.160 --> 00:22:26.599 we will render an account for every careless word that 315 00:22:26.599 --> 00:22:34.680 we have spoken. In this light curie liism, how wonderful 316 00:22:34.680 --> 00:22:37.559 it would be if we love God's will so much 317 00:22:37.640 --> 00:22:40.400 that we never even spoke a single word that God 318 00:22:40.440 --> 00:22:43.720 did not will us to speak. The Lord. Jesus modeled 319 00:22:43.839 --> 00:22:48.160 complete submission to the Lord God, and he also explicitly 320 00:22:48.200 --> 00:22:52.200 taught it. He didn't just model it and described himself. 321 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:54.880 He also taught it, especially in the Lord's Prayer in 322 00:22:54.920 --> 00:22:56.519 the middle of the Sermon on the Mountain, which we 323 00:22:56.559 --> 00:23:02.480 pray these words several times every day, Kingdom Come, Thy 324 00:23:02.680 --> 00:23:05.200 will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 325 00:23:06.440 --> 00:23:09.119 We make this a prayer, dear ones, every day, several 326 00:23:09.160 --> 00:23:13.519 times we say this, to do God's will. His will 327 00:23:13.640 --> 00:23:16.319 be done on earth, not ours. Learning to love God 328 00:23:16.440 --> 00:23:20.119 enough to do his will over our own wills is 329 00:23:20.160 --> 00:23:22.920 the process of Christian discipleships. It's what it means to 330 00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:26.400 take up our cross, to crucify our own desire when 331 00:23:26.440 --> 00:23:29.720 it's opposed to God's will. And this gospel text of 332 00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:33.160 the Samaritan Woman that we read today afresh is a 333 00:23:33.160 --> 00:23:36.920 magnificent window into how Jesus related to God's will. This 334 00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:40.200 insight is revealed when the disciples return to Sikar. Remember 335 00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:42.680 they've gone to get food, and that's the occasion in 336 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:47.279 which he talks to Photinique. When they come back with 337 00:23:47.400 --> 00:23:51.720 the food and the woman's God. They bring the food 338 00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:53.799 to Jesus and they urge him to eat, and he 339 00:23:53.839 --> 00:23:57.680 says something amazing, these words, I have food to eat 340 00:23:58.680 --> 00:24:02.119 that you do not know about. So the disciples were 341 00:24:02.119 --> 00:24:04.559 saying to one another, no one brought him anything to eat? 342 00:24:04.599 --> 00:24:04.839 Did he? 343 00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:10.240 Jesus said, my food? Do you know what we said? Next? 344 00:24:11.240 --> 00:24:15.559 My food is to do the will of him who 345 00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:20.920 sent me, and to accomplish his work. Don't miss this 346 00:24:21.119 --> 00:24:29.359 incredible and revealing insight. The great Saint Nikolai Velimirrovitch, who 347 00:24:29.400 --> 00:24:31.400 reposed in the Lord in nineteen fifty six here in 348 00:24:31.440 --> 00:24:35.480 America at Saint Tikon Seminary, he comments this. He says, 349 00:24:35.599 --> 00:24:39.799 see what a delight the Father's will is to Christ. 350 00:24:40.799 --> 00:24:43.880 He does not see the doing of it as his duty, 351 00:24:45.319 --> 00:24:50.359 but as his food. Oh, what a divine example, and 352 00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:53.160 what a gentle reprimand to all of us who speak 353 00:24:53.279 --> 00:24:58.759 every day of our duty as though it is a burden. Indeed, 354 00:24:58.839 --> 00:25:02.200 looking at the Lord and his willing performing of his crippingly, heavely, 355 00:25:02.440 --> 00:25:06.079 crippingly heavy duty among men, it must be said with 356 00:25:06.160 --> 00:25:09.079 good reason that no one in the world can do 357 00:25:09.200 --> 00:25:12.599 his duty to God if it has not become to 358 00:25:12.720 --> 00:25:21.680 him as pleasant as his daily food. Did you hear that? 359 00:25:23.880 --> 00:25:27.799 I'm totally undone by this. Many of us, I think, 360 00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:31.799 are hoping simply to remember God's will a little bit 361 00:25:31.880 --> 00:25:36.720 each day, Just remember it in our crushing zeal to 362 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:39.000 obey ourselves all the time and to do what we 363 00:25:39.079 --> 00:25:45.240 want when we want. We think that's freedom, that's slavery. 364 00:25:46.039 --> 00:25:48.359 Many of us are just hoping to remember God's will 365 00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:50.960 a little bit in this crushing zeal to obey ourselves 366 00:25:51.119 --> 00:25:54.680 our own desires. Some of us have learned to seek 367 00:25:54.880 --> 00:25:58.599 God's will and to be deeply suspicious of our own 368 00:25:58.640 --> 00:26:02.920 will and desire. Some of us. Don't make me be 369 00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:06.480 too honest as a pastor right now? I love you 370 00:26:06.519 --> 00:26:13.119 so zip. This is an exceedingly important transition to make 371 00:26:13.160 --> 00:26:16.359 as a Christian, from trying to use God and your 372 00:26:16.400 --> 00:26:19.400 plan to say no, no, no, I'm going to try 373 00:26:19.559 --> 00:26:22.759 to do his will and not my will. It's very 374 00:26:22.799 --> 00:26:25.279 important to learn to die, to pick up the cross 375 00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:27.079 and die to your own will, to seek God's will, 376 00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:30.039 to make that prayer that you say twice a day, honest, 377 00:26:30.880 --> 00:26:33.200 Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done on earth as 378 00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:35.680 it is in heaven. But here we see that Jesus 379 00:26:35.720 --> 00:26:40.160 goes far beyond that. He was not doing his father's 380 00:26:40.200 --> 00:26:46.680 will as his duty. No, he did his father's will 381 00:26:46.720 --> 00:26:52.599 as his very nourishment. My food is to do the 382 00:26:52.640 --> 00:26:55.319 will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work. 383 00:26:57.920 --> 00:27:01.640 It's his sustenance, his life. His true joy is ministry 384 00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:06.240 glory to Christ, God, who is such a perfect human being. 385 00:27:07.119 --> 00:27:09.359 This is the attitude we all should take, dear ones, 386 00:27:09.359 --> 00:27:13.400 towards God's will. We should pray, teach me to do 387 00:27:13.519 --> 00:27:19.039 thy will for thou art, my God. Let us honestly 388 00:27:19.319 --> 00:27:24.519 seek to do God's will, not just as a duty, 389 00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:27.000 but if it's not there in your life, at least 390 00:27:27.160 --> 00:27:32.319 as a duty, and then move to a joy. I 391 00:27:32.319 --> 00:27:35.640 think this is how we manifest likeness to Jesus. We 392 00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:40.240 can ask are we really like him? Are we his 393 00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:45.839 authentic disciples? Is he really our lord? Because he himself says, 394 00:27:45.880 --> 00:27:50.599 whoever does the will of my father in heaven, this 395 00:27:50.680 --> 00:27:54.200 one is my mother, this one is my brother, this 396 00:27:54.240 --> 00:27:57.799 one is my sister. He has this in his mind. 397 00:27:57.839 --> 00:27:59.599 He looks at us and he wonders are we related 398 00:27:59.599 --> 00:28:03.920 to him? Will show that by doing the Father's will, 399 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:08.799 to our God, our Heavenly Father, and to his only 400 00:28:08.839 --> 00:28:12.240 begotten Son, the perfectly Obedient One, and to the all 401 00:28:12.240 --> 00:28:16.359